Authors: Arthur Hailey
-Gustavo was back within moments. He announced, "They left by the river!
Some boats are gone, others sunk
!”
In a tearing rage, Miguel hurried to the jetty. The havoc that he
found-mooring lines cut, boats and engines missing, some boats sunk in
shallow water-was enough to send him into a frenzy. He knew, though, that
unless he cooled and took control, nothing would be salvaged from this
disaster. With an effort of will, he began to think objectively
.
Continuing in Spanish, he told Gustavo, "I want the two best boats that
are left, with two motors on each. Not ready in ten minutes, but now! Use
everybody! Work fast, fast, fast! Then I want everyone assembled on dock
,
with guns and ammunition, ready to leave
.”
Weighing possibilities, he decided that whoever engineered the prisoners'
release almost certainly came by air into the area; it was the fastest
,
most practical means of transport. Therefore they would leave the same
way, though it was unlikely they had done so yet
.
Ramon
had just reported that he was relieved by Vicente soon after I
a.m
, when all was well and the prisoners safely in their cells. So even
if their release occurred immediately after, the maximum head start of
the intruders was two hours. Miguel's instincts-aided by the fact that
Socorro's and Vicente's bodies were still warm when found-told him it was
substantially less
.
He continued reasoning: From Nueva Esperanza, a departure by river for
rendezvous with an airplane involved a choice
between two possible jungle airstrips. One airstrip, the nearer, had no name; it was simply used by drug planes. The other was Sion-almost twice
the distance and where the Learj
et bringing Miguel, the other conspirators and the prisoners had arrived slightly more than three weeks ago
.
There could be reasons for using either airstrip, which was why Miguel
decided to send one armed boatload to the nearer strip, a second to Sion
.
He decided to go with the Sion-destined boat
.
Even while he had been thinking, activity around the jetty had speeded up
.
Two of the partially sunk boats were now pulled nearer to shore and being
emptied of water. Those in the Sendero group who were working had been
joined by other hamlet residents. They all knew that if Sendero Luminoso's
leadership became enraged at Nueva Esperanza, the organization could wipe
out the entire populace without compunction. Similar acts had happened
before.
Despite the haste, getting started took longer than Miguel would have
liked. But a few minutes before 4 A.m., both boats were under way, heading
northwest with the current, the twin motors on each opened to full
throttle. Miguel's boat, heading for Sion, was substantially faster and
pulled ahead soon after leaving the Nueva Esperanza jetty. Gustavo was at
the helm
.
Miguel, nursing a Beretta submachine gun which supplemented his Makarov
pistol, felt his anger rise again. He still had no idea who had released
the prisoners. But when he caught them and brought them back-alive, as he
intended
they would suf
fer slow and horrible tortures.
As the Aero
Libertad Cheyenne II
lifted off from Lima airport in the first gray light of dawn, some words remembered from an earlier time came back to Crawford Sloane: If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea . .
.
Yesterday, Sunday, they had taken the wings of morning, not to the sea but
inland, though without result. Today they were heading inland again-toward
the jungle
.
Rita was beside Sloane in the aircraft's second row of seats. Ahead of them
were the pilot, Oswaldo Zileri and a young second pilot, Felipe Guerra
.
During the preceding day's flight, which lasted three hours, they had flown
over all three prearranged points. Though Sloane was informed of their
arrival at each, he had difficulty distinguishing one from another, so
continuous and impenetrable did the Selva seem when viewed from above
.”
It's like parts of Vietnam
,”
he told Rita, "but more tightly knit
.”
While circling each point, all four aboard scrutinized the area for any
signal or sign of movement. But there was no activity of any kind
.
Sloane hoped desperately that today would be different
.
As dawn changed t
o full daylight, the Cheyenne II
climbed over the Andes
peaks of the Cordillera Central Range. Then, on the far side, they began
a slow descent toward the Selva
and the Upper Huallaga Valley.
Partridge knew he had miscalculated. They were seriously late. What he had not allowed for in choosing Sion over the nearer airstrip was a problem with their boat. It happened about two hours after leaving Nueva Esperanza, with another hour to go before reaching the place where they would abandon the boat and begin their trek to the airstrip
.
Both outboard motors had been running noisily but smoothly when an
internal, strident horn abruptly sounded on the port-side motor. Ken
O'Hara throttled back at once, took the engine out of gear and switched
off. As he did, the horn and engine went silent
.
The starboard engine continued operating, though the boat was now moving
at a noticeably slower speed
.
Partridge moved to the stern and asked O'Hara, "Whatever it is, is it
fixable
?
”
"Unlikely, I'm afraid
.”
O'Hara had removed the engine cover and was
examining beneath
.”
The engine's overheated; that's why the horn sounded
.
The raw water intake is clear, so almost certainly the coolant pump has
gone. Even if I had tools to take the engine apart, it would probably
need new parts and since we don't have either . .
.”
He let the words
trail off
.”
So we positively can't repair it
?
”
O'Hara shook his head
.”
Sorry, Harry
.”
"What happens if we run it
?
”
"It will run for a short time and go on overheating. Then everything will
get so hot, the pistons and cylinder block will fuse together. After
that, all an engine's good for is the garbage dump
.”
"Run it
,”
Partridge said
.”
If there's nothing else we can do, let's get
the most out of it for as long as we can
.”
"You're the skipper
,”
O'Hara ac
knowledged, though he
hated destroying an engine which, in other circumstances, could be repaired
.
I Exactly as O'Hara predicted, the engine ran for a few minutes then, with
the horn blaring and a smell of burning, it stopped and would not start
again. The boat returned to its slower speed and Partridge anxiously
checked his watch
.
Their speed, as far as could be judged, had been reduced by half. The
remainder of their river journey, instead of taking an hour, would take
two
.
In fact, it took two and a qu
arter hours and now, at 6:50 a.m
., their
landing point was coming
into sight. Partridge and Ferna
ndez had identified
it on the large-scale map, also from signs of previous use-soda cans and
other debris littering the shore. Now they would have to cover in an hour
the three miles of difficult jungle trail to Sion airstrip. This was far
less time than they had anticipated. Could they do it?
"We have to do it
,”
Partridge said, explaining their problem to Jessica and
Nicky
.”
It may be exhausting, but there's no time to rest, and if we have
to, we'll help each other.
Fernandez
will lead. I'll be in the rear
.”
Minutes later the boat keel scraped on a sandy beach and they walked ashore
through shallow water. An opening in what was otherwise a solid jungle wall
was immediately ahead
.
If they had had more time, Partridge would have attempted to hide the boat
or push it toward midstream and let it drift. As it was, they left it on
the beach
.
Then, about to enter the jungle,
Fernandez
halted, motioning everyone to
silence. Cocking his head to one side, he stood listening in the still
morning air. He was more familiar with the jungle than the others, his
hearing more finely attuned to its sounds. He asked Partridge softly, "Do
you hear
?
”
Listening, Partridge thought he could hear a distant murmuring sound from
the direction they had come, but wasn't sure. He asked, "What is it
?
”
"Another boat
,”
Ferna
ndez answered
.”
Still a good distance away, but
coming fast
.”
Without further delay they moved into the jungle.
The trail was not nearly as difficult to follow as that from the highway
landing point to Nueva Esperanza which Partridge and the others in the
rescue team had traversed three days earlier. It was obvious that the
trail they were on was used more frequently, because it was only slightly
overgrown and not at any point impassable, as the other had been
.
Just the same, it was treacherous underfoot. Uneven ground, protruding
roots and soft patches where a foot could sink into mud or water were
continual hazards
.”
Watch very
carefully where you step
,”
Ferna
ndez warned from in front
where he was setting a fast, forced pace
.
Partridge echoed, trying to be flippant and keep spirits high, "We don't
want to have to carry anyone. I'm sweating enough
.”
And so they all were. As during the other jungle trek, the heat was
sweltering and steamy and would get hotter as the day advanced. The
insects, too, were active
.
The uppermost question in Partridge's mind was: How long could Jessica
and Nicky last under this grueling pressure? After a while he decided
Jessica would make it; she had determination and also, apparently, the
stamina. Nicky, though, showed signs of flagging
.
At the beginning Nicky hung back, clearly wanting to be close to
Partridge, as he had earlier. But Partridge insisted that the boy and
Jessica be up forward, immediately behind Fern
a
ndez
.”
We'll be together
later, Nicky
,”
he said
.”
Right now I want you with your mother
.”
With
obvious reluctance, Nicky had complied
.
Assuming the boat they had heard was carrying their pursuers, Partridge
knew an assault would come from behind. If and when that happened, he
would do his best to fight off the attack while the others continued on
.
He had already checked the Kalashnikov rifle he was carrying over his
shoulder and had the two spare magazines in a pocket where he could get
to them easily
.
Again Partridge checked his watch: 7:35 A.m. They had been on the trail
almost forty
minutes. Remembering the eight
o'clock rendezvous with AeroLibertad, he hoped they had covered three quarters of the way
.
Moments later they were forced to stop
.
Considered afterward, it seemed ironic that
Fernandez
, who warned the
others about stepping carefully, should himself misstep and fall heavily
,
his foot trapped in a muddy mess of roots. As Partridge hurried toward him
,
Minh was already holding
Fernandez
while O'Hara struggled to free the foot;
at the same time
Fernandez
was grimacing with pain
.”
I appear to have done some damage
,”
he told Partridge
.”
I am sorry. I have
let you down
.”