David Golemon - Legend

"So this is the missing east end of the Rio Negro," Jack said as he reached for the intercom. "Okay everyone, we're through. Welcome to Captain Padilla's Black Water Tributary."

Before starting down the long corridor of darkness, Jenks inspected the engine room and declared engine number one down. He, Mendenhall, Shaw, and the amazingly and hereto unbeknownst mechanically inclined Professor Charles Hindershot Ellenshaw III, who volunteered his services in their capacity, began to change out the head gasket on number one and replace the fuel line that had split. They would run in the meantime on engine number two, as Jenks didn't think they would be calling for speed anytime soon. He inspected the rest of Teacher , and aside from a few rubber window gaskets that had leaked, she had come through the falls just fine. They were under way at five knots ten minutes later, still running low in the water through the blackness that engulfed the boat.

Farbeaux was amazed at what he had just witnessed through his glasses. That strange-looking craft actually went through the falls.

"These people never cease to amaze me," he mumbled as he handed the field glasses back to the captain. "And to think our lady friend, Professor Zachary, also found it and made it through — surely we must respect them. Do you agree, senor? "

"So, what do you plan to do?" Mendez asked annoyedly.

"I expect we will wait for two hours, and in that time we will prepare to follow them. Captain, get your crew ready and let's cut the profile of the Rio Madonna down some so we may attempt to enter the cave; the barge is low in the water so should not pose a problem," Farbeaux said as he walked off the flying bridge.

" Si, senor ," the captain responded, and started shouting orders to his tenman crew.

Mendez felt better that Farbeaux was taking such complete charge, it gave him the benefit of not having to coordinate the effort but still be critical if need be. He walked back to the fantail and sat down with Rosolo and his team of twelve bodyguards.

Farbeaux walked to the port side of the Rio Madonna , stood by the gunwale, and lit a cigarette. He was getting an old familiar feeling that came upon him when things were not under his complete control. He felt there were more elements involved than he had accounted for. As he looked around the jungle surrounding them, he was starting to feel like a small piece of a much larger puzzle, a puzzle that could become very dangerous if he wasn't the one to figure it out first.

There was a knock on Niles's door. He rubbed his eyes and looked over at his nightstand. It was only ten at night and that was when he realized he had fallen asleep in his clothes. He shook his head and reached for his glasses.

"Yes?"

"Sorry to disturb you, Niles, but you'd better see this, Boris and Natasha are now on the job and they caught something," Pete Golding said from outside the door to Niles's quarters.

"It's open, Pete," he called out as he turned on the nightstand table light and put his stocking feet on the carpeted floor. He stood and made it over to his desk, where the day's paperwork still lay undone.

Pete walked in, holding several pictures in his hand. "Your computer up?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Good, we won't have to use these wet stills, then."

Pete stepped up to Niles's computer. He quickly typed in some commands and his security clearance, then he turned the monitor toward Niles.

"These are only twenty minutes old and were taken on Boris and Natasha's first pass."

Niles looked down at the monitor. It displayed a night shot that the KH-11 satellite had taken over its new position. He could see the river in dark relief, and then he spotted many small, glowing objects. The photo, obviously infrared, showed about fifty warm bodies moving along the river in the only section for thirty miles that had any clear opening through the massive canopy of trees.

"Where are these people?" Niles asked.

"The exact coordinates the major reported from this afternoon. Now, Jack says he suspected they were being trailed by a boat with a barge attached, which has disappeared, by the way, but he doesn't know anything about people on the ground. And look at this," Pete said as he typed in another command on the keyboard.

The picture started to resize itself. White squares appeared upon white squares and they started to swirl. The picture had been enlarged by Natasha until Niles could clearly make out the men walking along the river in the dark.

"Goddammit!"

"Yeah, those are troops; you can even make out most of their equipment," Pete said.

"Just who in the hell are we dealing with?"

"Could be anyone, but my guess would be Peruvian, most likely," Pete ventured as he leaned back away from the picture he had been studying for the last hour.

"For a goddamned secret valley, enough people seem to know about it," Niles said, rubbing a hand over his balding head. "We have to contact Jack."

"We tried. There's nothing since Jack reported they were going into the cave."

Niles slumped into his chair and pushed the daily reports away from him. "Contact Lieutenant Ryan," Niles said as he looked at his watch, "he and his twelve-man team should have arrived in Panama by now. Tell him Operation Conquistador is now on full alert."

"You got it, Niles," Pete said as he gathered up his photos. Then he thought better of it and placed them back on the director's desk, and then left the room.

Niles studied the monitor briefly and then pulled the topmost wet photo off the pile and stared at it. He hoped Jack would be able to make contact if and when they exited the cave. Because if they couldn't at least get a signal up and out to Boris and Natasha, they would be cut off with no chance of help arriving.

As Niles contemplated the images, he knew there was a whole lot of trouble heading their way.

Hell , he thought, also trouble from a source that was probably already there waiting for them , just as it had been for the Padilla and Zachary expeditions.

Teacher was cruising in the dark at a revised three knots. Thus far they had been in the cave for three hours and had been amazed at the carvings they had documented that covered the rock walls — depictions of wild men in different hunting poses, Incan gods and warriors, and strange beasts and fish. Thus far they had cataloged three hundred different carvings. The work had been meticulously worked and showed in minute detail what life had been like for those who traveled the ancient tunnel before them.

Carl was at the helm in the cockpit, kept company by Jack who assisted with fathom soundings and as a lookout for rock projections, which had nearly done them in twice. Teacher was still riding low in the water with the extra ballast they had taken on, as the roof was only ten feet above them and as low as a mere yard in some spots. Every once in a while they saw bats flutter in and out of the floodlights.

Jenks was in section seven, assisting the science team with the expandable observation module, which would be lowered to allow them a view of their new underwater domain.

The center of the section was taken up by a large boxlike structure made mostly of glass and aluminum framing. There were seats inside this eight-foot-long vessel for six crewmen, and it was fully equipped with small cameras, for both still photos and video. Jenks assisted Danielle, Dr. Nathan, Sarah, Mendenhall, Heidi Rodriguez, and Professor Ellenshaw into the observation module and checked to make sure the hydraulic pressure was up. Then he removed his cigar from his mouth.