THe Sentinal Satellite Read online

  As she suffered the memories of an unredeemable past, trying to smile back at the video image, the computer to her right signaled an alert. Recognizing the significance of the downloading information, she immediately left her lover on the monitor and mechanically jumped into action. Her allegations of robotic behaviour sprung to the forefront serving her well. As fingers blurred over the keyboard, the screen quickly produced the demanded data. When she was satisfied with the information, she accessed a contact coded and called Santo.

  Santo and Maria were soaring high in the stratosphere returning to the cave of the Three Sisters. Just minutes ago, they had dropped off a very stunned Reginald Cunningworth the Third near his hometown of Stoneham England. Because of the success of the mission, the return trip should have been pleasant. However, it was quickly turning very bad for Santo.

  He looked to Maria and saw that cold expression he so hated. She was glaring frozen icicles at him and hoping they stung him as hurtfully as he had hurt her. Although he regretted looking at her, for he should had known better, he shook his head, stuck to his guns and said,

  “Oh, I get that look now do I? The answer is still no.”

  With the caustic scowl still in place, while repeating the question, she tried to suppress her anger as much as possible.

  “But why? It’s only a few minutes away.”

  Exasperated at her nagging persistence, his military manner surfaced. He tried to make it sound final.

  “For the last time, we can’t risk it. We don’t even know who the enemy is or their capabilities. Things like that must be identified first. For all we know they could be tracking us right now. I understand your desire to see Belle. It is a desire as strong as mine, but we have to face the cruel reality. Fearing that somebody could track the signal, we cannot risk leading the enemy to her location.”

  Maria was no fool, she had been with Santo long enough to understand military protocol and the importance of concealment. Most certainly, she understood the capability of enemy spying. However, cold facts did not rule her emotions right now. Above all else, Maria was a mother. Despite Santo’s damned cold logistical reasoning, she needed to hug her daughter. Risking his wrath, she tried once more.

  “But she is only a child. Why would anybody want to hurt her?”

  Her answer was silence and a stone face looking straight ahead.

  Santo was not successful at ignoring Maria’s stare. For that reason, he was glad to hear Jessika Reynaldi’s voice come over the radio.

  “Captain Martinez, I have you on our new grid code, 14.4 by 7.13. Please confirm.”

  Saved from Maria’s icy stare, he was glad to hear Jessika’s voice and thankfully responded,

  “Our location is confirmed. What’s up Jessika?”

  Both snapped alert when hearing her cold tone.

  “Confirm secure communication.”

  “Confirmed. I have you on scramble code and there is only Maria and myself in the D-wing.”

  Although still wounded at her rejection over what she thought to be a logical request, Maria snapped her attention to the conversation. Jessika came back,

  “I have received a response request from an agent in Manaus, Brazil regarding three Kamov Ka-52 Alligator helicopters arriving there.”

  Suddenly Santo’s blood started to flow like a wild river. He responded,

  “Those are Russian attack choppers. What are they doing in the Amazon jungle?”

  Maria suddenly felt the full weight of contacting Belle against Santo’s orders. A nagging coincidence of where Belle was as well as why attack helicopters were in the same jungle started to press down on her. She was hoping against hope that this was unrelated to her disobedience.

  Jessika came back, saying,

  “Our agent there understood the complicated logistics as well as massive bribes needed for such a military force getting permission to enter Brazil airspace and land in Manaus. They paid double the price of fuel and bribed many of the officials for co-operation. When our agent asked them for departure coordinates they simply stated that they were not here and threw more money at him.”

  There was urgency in Santo’s demand.

  “Give me Intel.”

  “They arrived in three Kamov Ka-52 Alligator helicopters fully armed with missiles. There were six Russians, all in military fatigues demonstrating military familiarity.”

  His next question was dressed in fear.

  “What direction did they fly off in?”

  “Well, this is why I called you Sir. They flew off in a south-west direction. I know what is in that path therefore alerted you right away.”

  “Thank you Jessika. You did the right thing. I will divert to those coordinates.”

  After hurriedly punching in a new GPS location, the D-wing swung west. Santo, more to himself sounded both mad and confused.

  “Russians? The destruction of the island could not be their doing. They do not have the technology to reprogram the Sentinel Satellite or a desire to destroy us.”

  He triggered the mike and asked Jessika a question that hit Maria hard.

  “How on earth did they find out where we hid Belle? Is there a breach in the communication satellites? ”

  Strangely, Jessika departed from her military tone to an uncomfortable one.

  “No Sir, all sleepers were triggered according to procedure.”

  His demand for answers prompted him to say,

  “Very well. However, there has to be a breech somewhere. Make this one of your priorities.”

  Jessika knew who was responsible for the breech. Not needing anymore assigned ‘priorities’, she responded,

  “I could use some help with that Captain. Perhaps Maria can assist me.”

  While wrapped tight in a military mode, his mind snapping in this direction and that, Santo was surprised at that request. Maria was a scientist, a DNA profile specialist, how could she possibly help trace a communications leak? When he looked at her for an answer, he thought he would see an equally confused Maria. All he saw was guilt and aloof eyes trying to look nonchalantly up into the distant stars. Recognizing her bad attempt at innocence, he snapped,

  “What is going on here?”

  She did not want to, in fact feared to tell him but knew that silence in this case might make things worse and so she swallowed hard and practically whispered,

  “I might have had something to do with that.”

  Santo’s expression suddenly turned as hard as a rock. Suffering his glare, she confessed to contacting Belle a few days ago. For the first time in their long relationship, Santo got mad and yelled at her. In quick fashion, void of compassion for their relationship, she heard the harsh words of ‘ irresponsible disregard for orders putting their daughter’s life in peril’. Despite a height of fifty miles, the hurtful allegations made her want to open the hatch and jump out of the D-wing.

  A guilty soldier might understand a harsh rant about intolerance to disobeyed orders and take it like a staunch warrior. Maria was not a soldier and took his outburst as hateful and disrespectful to her motherly desires. She wanted to scream back at him but feared Santo’s rage. She shrunk hard into the seat and took his reprimand as she deserved. With eyes closed to his anger, she heard him call and alert Liana of the incoming danger.

  Chapter 28

  In the jungle, the noon sun was so scorching that it drained energy. Most animals sought out shade for an afternoon nap. The nights were the cooler times, better for strenuous activities such as hunting and foraging. Generally, the jungle slept in the afternoon. In the native village, most were idly passing the time in the shade or gently rocking in hammocks.

  So it was with Belle, Quastima and Liana. Liana preferred to pass the heat of the day in her favorite chair in the shade of the giant Kapok tree just off to the side of her house. Quastima, ever one to take advantage of an opportunity to nap, usually took what he called a very long nap in the cool comfort of the house.

  Belle, as well as her best friend
Jinga, a little native girl, was passing the time away in a large hammock slung in the shade between two trees. Next to the drowsy Belle rested Monks, her little Golden Lion monkey. In this manner, they suffered the midday sun. All was peaceful and quiet in the jungle.

  Monks was the first to suspect danger. His large ears suddenly perked alert and his sleepy eyes snapped open. Jinga was the second to snap alert. Her eyes opened to see Monks intently staring out over the trees. Knowing that something was wrong, but not what, she roused Belle with a jostling elbow. Belle reluctantly woke with an inquiring expression. Jinga said,

  “Danger from sky.”

  Belle listened but heard nothing. However, she was wise enough in jungle ways to understand that both Jinga and Monks had a keener sense for danger.

  To convey the warning, Belle got out of the hammock and walked toward Liana. She did not have to go far because Liana was already alertly looking toward the village. Quastima was at the door doing the same thing. Belle approached the concentrating Liana and fearfully took her hand. She asked,

  “What is it grandma, what’s wrong?”

  Trying her best to sound calm, with Belle in hand, Liana approached Quastima and asked,

  “Did we get a warning?”

  “Yes, Santo called in the ‘Tallest Tree’ code.”

  Becoming infected with the same aura of fear surrounding both adults, Belle asked,

  “What does that mean?”

  With a tight grip on Belle’s hand, Liana started walking toward the high dirt mound. She explained,

  “It is the code you never want to get. ‘Tallest Tree’ means the highest security risk of all. I fear something terrible is about to happen.”

  Nevertheless, safety for herself was not Belle’s immediate concern. While hurrying to the mound, she asked,

  “Are mom and dad okay?”

  Not sure of the reason for the alert, Liana did not want to frighten Belle and so lied.

  “Yes dear. If they were in danger they would never have been able to send us the alert.”

  At the entrance to the dirt mound Liana stopped and looked toward the hammock where the children had been sleeping. She was pleased to see Jinga running for the cover of the thick jungle. Liana then looked to Quastima and asked,

  “What was in the report? What is the danger?”

  With eyes to the sky, he replied,

  “Military helicopters are coming.”

  Liana asked,

  “How many?”

  “Santo reported three.”

  Liana then looked back at Jinga and saw her eyes peeking out from behind some thick foliage. She indicated for her to stay hidden and Jinga was very pleased to obey that order. From her hiding place, Jinga watched as Monks ran to Belle and jumped into her outstretched arms. They all then disappeared into the mound.

  Minutes later the roar of approaching helicopters roared from the treetops. High branches reacted to the intrusion of the whirling blades. Although Jinga had never seen a helicopter before, judging from Liana’s fearful reaction, she understood they were bad. She crouched further down and observed.

  The three helicopters stopped and hovered over Liana’s house. As there was only room for one to land, the other two hovered about fifty feet off the ground. From the airborne choppers, ropes dropped, and from each rope well-armed Russian vigilantes rappelled to the ground. From the helicopter already on the ground, Jinga observed a tall ominous man jump out of it. She did not need sharp jungle sense to understand that she should remain hidden.

  Each of the three men wore battle fatigues and were heavily armed with Russian AK-12 automatic rifles. Large black sun visors attached to combat helmets made Jinga wonder if they were in fact humans. She watched as they ran into the house only to slowly come out a minute later. They then turned their attention to the great mound of dirt and after a quick scan of the surrounding jungle ran into the mound entrance.

  Inside the mound, in a narrow downward tunnel, Liana led the way into the darkness. There was expediency in each hurried step. Belle’s young legs found it easy to keep up with the slower pace of older and struggling legs. She knew that deep inside the mound were two pyramids in a strange configuration. That was where she thought they were going. Confused by their downward direction she asked Quastima,

  “Why are we going down? I thought we were going to hide inside the pyramid.”

  Between huffs and puffs, he struggled to explain,

  “Like most pyramids in the world, it is not what is in them so much as what is below them.”

  Belle did not understand but like so many other things they had told her, she learned to ignore cryptic responses.

  At the bottom of the tunnel, a huge boulder blocked their way and Belle thought they had reached a dead end. However, with no more than a leisurely gesture of her hand, Liana waved at the obstacle. As if it were an electric door responding to an approach, it rolled aside. Impressed with what seemed like magic, Belle asked,

  “Will you teach me how to do that Grandma?”

  While hurrying into an exposed chamber Liana responded,

  “I’ll teach you later dear.”

  Once inside the vastness of the chamber, Quastima waved his hand and light appeared. Liana turned to the boulder and with the same ease the boulder lifted slightly off the ground and then back into place. Belle examined the cavern. Aside from wondering where the light was coming from, in the middle of the floor she saw a rickety wooden table with four wooden chairs. Apart from that amenity, the cavern was empty.

  Exhausted from the hurried pace, Quastima was the first to sit at the table and Liana was not far behind. She pointed to a chair and said to Belle,

  “Come and sit. We are safe here.”

  Although burdened with confusion, Belle did as instructed. Monks however saw no advantage in hiding and so scampered out of Belle’s protective arms to sit on the table quizzically staring at all three. Liana warned,

  “He must not leave the protection of the table. Hold him tight in your arms.”

  While wondering how a wooden table could protect them, Belle nevertheless reached out for Monks who obeyed the request to return to her arms.

  On the other side of the boulder, blocking the way into the chamber, the three pursuing Russians stared at the blockade. It was clear by the disturbed dust on the ground that their objective had somehow moved the boulder and escaped to the other side. After jointly struggling to push it aside, it quickly became apparent that muscle was not going to work. Ivan, the leader, then attached explosives to the boulder, set the timer for ten seconds and all three ran for the safety of distance.

  Belle, not understanding the impending danger was still mature enough to recognize both Liana and Quastima were very concerned. When it became apparent that they were not as safe as they were pretending, she hugged Monks tighter to her chest. As all three sat silently at the table, Belle saw something that greatly confused her. While questioning something clearly wrong and going against all the senses, she cast confused eyes to Liana and Quastima. Both also saw the anomaly but remained calm and silent.

  Perhaps it was because a little girl’s mind better accepted fantasy that the impossible did not startle her to panic. It was clear to her innocent eyes that the boulder blocking the entrance had somehow disintegrated as if blown apart by an explosion. Nevertheless, it all happened in silence. She heard no explosion. Rock fragments blew into the chamber but that was not what confused her. The shrapnel blew through the air but instead of falling to the floor it somehow turned upward to crash onto the ceiling as if gravity had somehow pulled it in the wrong direction.

  Belle again looked to Liana who did not seem concerned at all. Quastima had clearly accepted an opportunity for a nap. Looking back to the now cleared entrance, she saw the three Russians charge into the room with drawn rifles. However, they were not walking on the floor, rather upside down on the ceiling amongst the debris up there.

  As Belle curiously looked up at the misguided pers
pective, she wondered if they were the upside down ones on the ceiling and the invaders were on the floor. Either way she understood that something was wrong with gravity and one of them should have fallen.

  It was a bizarre vision but she tried her best not to panic at the sight of the gravitational abnormality. She had mastered control of the deviation but Monks had not. In his primeval mind there was only up or down, there was no in-between or exception. Not able to process the unacceptable, he panicked, fought out of Belle’s protective arms and jumped off the table. As Belle yelled for Monks to come back, Liana could not help to blurt out, “No.” Disturbed from his nap, Quastima’s eyes bolted open.

  The three Russians had searched the empty room and were about to leave when they heard Belle’s command to Monks. They heard a little girl’s voice but did not know where it came from. All three scanned the chamber, even checking the ceiling but saw nothing. Confused, Ivan said,

  “You heard that right?”

  The other two, still frantically searching up and down but seeing nothing, nodded. One said,