Dane looked at Hugo.
“I normally would not ask someone this question, but how much money are we talking about here?”
Hugo paused for a few seconds and then answered quietly, “Let’s just say tens of millions.”
“Tens of millions?” exclaimed Dane, turning to Hugo totally astonished.
“Hugo, are you serious?”
Hugo grinned.
“Yeah, millions and millions.
At my parents’ death I inherited it all as well as their share in the oil fields back home.
Some of those fields are still money-makers.
They give me a pretty good income from the wells alone.”
Dane was stunned.
He had no idea Hugo was a rich man.
“Why in the world didn’t you tell me about this?
What the hell are you doing working as a lifeguard?”
Hugo looked down at his feet, embarrassed.
“Dane, I wanted to tell someone, especially you, but I was scared to death it would change my relationship with you and my friends.
I mean, I had finally achieved the life that I wanted.
I didn’t want money to get in the way,” he explained.
Dane sat there for a few seconds.
“I guess I understand that point of view.
It’s your life, your money, and you have to do whatever you think is right, but damn, what a surprise.”
“Well,
anyway, let’s agree we have a nice bankroll for this rescue mission.
I can’t think of any better way to spend some of this stash.”
“Wow,” Dane said, shaking his head.
“Wow!”
“So I think we can agree that we shouldn’t have any problems getting what we need to get Dana and Randall back,” stated Hugo.
“No problems.”
Monday, July 11, 2011
Fortress Alpha; 11:00 a.m
The doctor had come and gone.
A nurse cleaned and attended to their wounds.
They showered and were issued a pair of gray overalls which they happily donned.
They both felt much better after the cleanup.
Dana and Randall were able to get some sleep after a few pain shots.
Randall looked over at Dana, who was just waking up.
“Hey, babe, how ya feeling?” he asked quietly as to not startle her.
He tried to run his hand through her hair but it dried a bit tangled after her shower.
She tried to sit up, grimacing and holding her stomach and side as she arose.
“Whoa now, let’s not have you moving around so much.
You took a really bad beating,” said Randall in a soothing voice as he sat up and eased her back down.
Randall bit his lip trying to hide the intense pain of his own injuries.
Dana looked at Randall.
“Who the hell are these people?
Why are we here?” she asked.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m a bit beat up but I’m okay.
How do you feel?”
“Everything hurts,” replied Dana.
“My God, I’ve lost teeth!”
Dana was suddenly realizing some of her injuries.
“And my face hurts like hell.”
“Yeah, I would think it would.
They beat the hell out of you.
I think you have broken ribs and I know your nose is broken,” explained Randall, beginning to choke up.
“I thought they were going to beat you to death.
I was so scared.”
Dana looked around the room.
Vastly different than cells they were in before, this room looked like a normal, simple bedroom.
It was sparsely furnished with two cots and a chair and painted a pale yellow color.
There was only one door, steel, and no windows.
The ceiling was solid.
It looked like painted concrete.
The floor was linoleum, not bare concrete.
And the room was heated or air conditioned.
She could not tell other than it was somewhat comfortable as opposed to the cold, dank cell where they were earlier.
“Where’s Manolo?” she asked, suddenly realizing Randall was the only one there with her.
Randall’s face went serious.
“I’m afraid he’s dead, Dana.”
“Dead?
They killed him?” she gasped.
“Yeah.
Thank God you were out.
It was not pretty,” said Randall.
“But why kill Manolo?” she asked, tearing up.
“He didn’t hurt anyone.
Why kill Manolo of all people?”
“Shhh…
I don’t know.
I thought they were going to kill us too.”
Randall put his arm around her to console her.
“What day is it?” Dana asked, suddenly realizing the concept of time.
“I have no idea,” answered Randall standing.
“I could not tell you what day it is or for that matter how long we have been here.
If I had to guess, I would say we’ve been here several days.
Actually, I could not tell you we are still in the Amazon. This place cannot be in the jungle.”
Randall stood up slowly and walked over to the door.
He tried the doorknob.
It was locked.
Not that he had expected anything else but it was worth a try.
He walked around the room dragging his hand along the wall.
It all felt solid.
It felt like smooth concrete, not drywall.
While the room looked nice, it was clearly still some type of containment cell.
Dana watched as he circled the room.
“What are they going to do with us?” asked Dana.
“I don’t know.
So far they know who we are and why we are in the Amazon.
They are also very concerned that we had a radio and a GPS.
They also wanted to know about our base camp. “
“Did you tell them?”
“Dana, I had too.
They were beating the hell out of you.
I had to tell them what they wanted,” Randall said.
“If I had clammed up, they would have killed you or worse.
Look what they did to Manolo.
They never asked him one question.
They shot him in the head.
Besides, what’s the big secret?
We are doing our job, trekking through the Amazon looking for artifacts.
We aren’t spies or anything like that.
What’s to hide?”
Dana grimaced and tried to sit up again.
This time she made it up before Randall could make her lie down again.
She sat there for a second to let her head clear.
Randall was right, she thought.
Why did they want to know so much about what they were doing and where they came from?
Someone had beaten the hell out of her to find out.
Her head hurt.
She was missing teeth.
She could barely see out of her swollen eyes and face.
Her whole body was bruised and it hurt to move.
“Well, what do we do now?” she asked.
“I don’t know.
They said they would interrogate us later.”
“I hope they talk to us and don’t beat us anymore,” Dana said.
“I don’t think I can take anymore.
We will tell them what they want.
We don’t have any secrets.”
“That’s it, Dana,” said Randall.
“There’s this one big guy in charge that knew who we were.
He asked a few questions but I really don’t think he wanted answers.
He wanted to beat us up.
These guys are sick.”
Both Dana and Randall froze at the sound of the door being unlocked.
Randall recognized the same two guards as they walked in and stood by the door.
Then there was Maas.
Randall knew him all too well.
But this time someone else walked in; a tall thin woman dressed in black.
She stepped inside the room and silently looked both Dana and Randall over.
They must have looked a mess.
Slowly she placed her hands behind her back and took a step toward the two.
“I would welcome you to our base but you are not welcome here.
I hope you realize our predicament,” Kaete Grimme began.
“You have come here uninvited.
I cannot tolerate that.
I think that after your experience with this gentleman you will answer our questions,” she said, turning and glancing at Maas.
Randall stood beside Dana.
“Look, we said we would cooperate.
But you still beat us.
Please.
We have nothing to hide.
We’ll answer all of your questions.
Then please let us go.
We don’t even know who the hell you are or even where we are,” pleaded Randall.
“I’m afraid that is impossible,” said Kaete with little emotion.
“You will remain here indefinitely.
I strongly caution you, however.
You will obey every order.
No exceptions.
Failure to do so will put this man to work again.
He will not be so gentle next time.”
Randall stared intently at Maas.
If only I could wring his neck, he thought.
“I want to know about your radio and GPS,” began Maas in a low tone.
“Who were you contacting with the radio?”
Dana spoke for the first time.
“We communicate regularly with our base camp with the radio.
By now they know we are missing and will be sending a search party for us.”
Maas smiled at Dana.
“So the pretty one can talk.
What about the GPS?”
Randall took over, seeing Maas’ interest in Dana.
“The GPS pinpoints our location at all times so we don’t get lost.
That’s how they will find us.
Even here,” showing a slight smile to Maas and Kaete.
Maas was not amused.
His smile turned to a scowl.
“Dr. Finley,” Kaete began with a deadly serious stare.
“Let me make this perfectly clear.
It is not in you or your wife’s best interests to have such an attitude.
I assure you I will have no hesitation to give your wife to this gentleman for his personal use.
Do you understand me clearly?”
Kaete looked directly at Randall.
Randall swallowed hard.
He knew exactly what that meant.
He had stepped out of bounds with these monsters.
He said too much too fast.
Now he had to calm everything down.
“I did not mean any harm, ma’am.
We can handle this without any more violence,” Randall said meekly, stepping slightly in front of Dana.
His intention was clear.
He must protect Dana, even if he sacrificed himself.
“I thought you would agree,” said Kaete curtly.
“I have seen what he can do with a woman.
I assure you that you do not want to see that happen to your wife.
Now, about the GPS; you were saying…”
Randall was relieved.
They seemed to be placated.
“The GPS information is sent automatically back to our base camp and relayed to our expedition headquarters at Princeton University back in the U.S. via satellite.
It is part of our normal operations.
We are tracked both locally and from Princeton when we are on an expedition in uncharted areas of the world.
If anything goes badly, they can quickly send help.
It’s not our prerogative.
It is a condition of our funding and work with the university.”