David Golemon - Primeval

"Madam, I assure you, I am only here to assist the colonel in the task of finding his sister."

A stern, motherly look came to the husky woman's countenance.

"You hear me good, Hindershot, don't go lookin' for something you shouldn't be lookin' for; that something could jump right up and bite you and whoever's with you right in your asses. Some places weren't meant for people, and that area you're askin' about is one of them. You were there once; stay by the river, and you just might make it back to your lavatory," she said with not an ounce of humor.

"You mean, laboratory, and I again assure you—"

"Doc, that's enough. Why don't you go help the others load up?"

Charlie turned to see Collins standing by the counter with his hands on his hips; he didn't look happy at all.

"Yes, Colonel."

Jack watched the professor leave and then rubbed his eyes.

"Ma'am, there isn't another phone nearby? A radio?" he asked as he looked at her with his now red eyes.

"No, there's no phone lines this far out. We're on our own until the fishermen come back in two days."

"I'm leaving lieutenants McIntire and Ryan behind to assist just in case."

"Colonel, we've not needed babysitting in our many years here on the Stikine; it's others who need to take care."

"I understand, but, well, the small woman, Miss McIntire…"

"She'll be safe here," the old woman said, knowing what he was going to say because of the intense look in his blue eyes. "There is one thing I remember my granddaughter said about some of them Russian's equipment. She said they had what she thought was some kind of electronics, a lot of it, and some heavy firepower, so you best be careful and not run into another ambush."

"Electronics?"

"That's what she said. Anyway, good luck, Colonel. We'll send help upriver as soon as we can," she said, holding her large hand out for the American. "And we'll make sure nothing happens to your two lieutenants."

"Thank you, ma'am." Jack started to turn but was stopped by the woman's powerful grip.

"Mind me here, Colonel Collins, stay out of them woods north of the river. I think maybe you should let them Russian boys look for what they came for, because in the long run, the result will be the same, so get your baby sis out of there and come back and leave them murdering sons-a-bitches to their own devices."

Jack's hand was finally released, thoroughly confused by the large woman's last remarks. As he left the store, he stopped and watched the camp around him. The supplies were almost loaded and he looked up to see Sarah standing at the bottom of a small ladder, holding it steady while her eyes were burning a hole through him. Ryan was busy taking out his frustrations on the engine cowling of the RCMP helicopter.

He shook his head and started down the steps when he saw the breeze bring the trees to life again around the fishing camp. He stopped walking and looked around. He was totally confused as to why the sound and movement of the trees made him uncomfortable — it was primal in nature and it was if he and the others were not only being watched, but that whoever was watching was a danger. He took a step and then felt eyes on him. He stopped and turned and saw the old woman standing in the doorway. She wasn't looking at him. She was also watching the trees, while wiping her hands on her long leather skirt. Her eyes finally looked at Jack, and then she turned away and entered the store, the darkness inside swallowing her up.

Lynn Simpson stood at the edge of the river and stared at the woods across the way. The late afternoon was still filled with brilliant sunlight as it dappled off the fast-moving Stikine. Her eyes roamed over to ten of the Russians as they uncrated several small devices that had been encased in Styrofoam. Of these, one very large and powerful man loaded a small rifle. It was short, and the barrel was wide and fat. He attached one of the small, round objects they had just uncrated and then attached a short pole to it. He then rammed the pole into the weaponlike device and raised it to his shoulder. He pulled the trigger and there was the sound of a compressed air blast that sent the object hurtling over the Stikine until it disappeared three hundred yards into the trees. The large man continued until six of the rounded objects had been sent across and deep into the far woods at about four hundred yards' separation.

As she watched this strange delivery method of equipment, other men started sitting up a large tent and they began filling it with small consoles that sat upon tables, while others began digging a large pit. Soon, they pieced together a small generator and placed it into the hole. They soon had it covered with large branches cut from the trees, surrounding the camp forming a weatherproof cover for the generator.

That morning they had traveled more than seventy miles upriver, arriving at a large bend that actually started to turn south on the eastern side. Now, instead of crossing onto the north side of the Stikine, the Russian leader, Sagli, had made camp on the southern shore, for what reason Lynn couldn't fathom. Thus far, he had kept his distance from her as he supervised what looked to be their final camping spot.

Lynn became more curious as a large, fifty-foot-tall antennae was raised just outside of the large blue tent where all the sophisticated equipment had been setup. When they had the guy wires in place and taut, the men went about setting up their tents and then after that it actually looked as if they were preparing defensive fire pits around the camp. As she admired the efficiency of the developing base of operations, she saw Sagli with a set of papers. He was looking from them and then surveying the woods around them, even looking up and out across the river a few times. He was deep into thought. That was when Lynn decided to approach the ponytailed Russian.

"Since I am more than likely going to remain behind when you leave here, maybe I can learn what it is you are looking for?"

Sagli didn't even look up from the papers he held in his hands. "These are copies of the Lattimer note and a description of this area as written by a Russian colonel long ago in 1918 that we received from our friend—" Sagli caught himself before he disclosed something he swore never to divulge. "In them, this colonel describes the area where he had left two wagons full of gold. I am now in the process of correlating his description with the area I have chosen to begin the search."

"It would seem to me you would be looking for an area against the plateau and not out in the open like you are, that is if it is gold you are looking for."

"Observant, Ms. Simpson; however, that is not our purpose here." He finally lowered the papers and looked the beautiful woman over. "I have found the landmarks described in the letters, it is right over there across the river. Do you see the rise of the plateau about a mile and a half into the woods?"

"Yes," she said as she held her bandaged hand to her eyes to shield them against the setting sun."

"The three largest veins of limestone running horizontally down its face, that is the only such variant that comes close to what Lattimer and this Russian colonel had described. His find has to be nearby." Sagli looked at Lynn and then seemed to decide something. He reached into his right pants pocket and brought out a small plastic case. He opened it and removed a large gold coin. "Do you know what this is?" he asked, handing it over to her.

Lynn turned the heavy coin over in her hand. The gold was cool to the touch and, of course, she recognized it immediately. "It's an American-minted gold double eagle, circa 1891. Value in today's gold market at about nine hundred fifty dollars, give or take ten dollars. If memory serves me correctly, the twenty-dollar gold piece weighs approximately.9675 ounces of pure gold."