13

Two hours had passed since the order was given to lower the radar tower and jackstay. Collins, Mendenhall, and Everett were on the upper deck of section four, bolting down the retractable tower that was now laying along two whole sections, while the rest of the crew was below making ready for a rough ride in case they ran into something other than a tunnel leading to the mysterious east end of the Rio Negro.

Jack had been the first one to notice, but he kept working. It was Mendenhall who cleared his throat.

“I see it, Sergeant,” said Jack. “Just stay busy like you don’t see them.”

“How long have they been there?” Carl asked as he lashed down his last tie to the tower.

“About twenty minutes that I know of; wouldn’t have noticed it at all if I hadn’t caught the sun gleaming off their glasses.”

“With the tower down, so is our radar, so we won’t be able to confirm who they are,” Carl said, straightening.

“Probably that boat and barge we saw on the river coming in this morning. Can’t you feel our friend Farbeaux close by?”

“I sure can,” Mendenhall said.

“Come on, let’s get this show on the road,” Jack said as he headed for the hatch.

“Stand by,” Jenks said into the intercom as he fired up both of the Cummings diesels. “Is our board green, Toad?”

Carl checked the status of all hatches and windows. The companionways in between sections all read green—closed and secured.

“Board is green, Chief.”

“Major, pull down that jump seat in the aft bulkhead and strap yourself in; this could get bumpy and I don’t need you in my lap at the wrong time,” Jenks said as he lit his cigar and started Teacher forward toward the falls. “Everyone, strap in at whatever station you’re at. You can follow our progress on the nose camera at the bow; it promises to be the must-watch TV show of the year.” He laughed loudly as he throttled forward to two knots.

In the sciences compartment, Sarah looked at Virginia and cringed. “That guy makes me a little nervous,” she said.

“A little?” Virginia asked.

“Here we go,” the master chief said as he eased back on the twin throttles and let Teacher’s forward momentum carry her into the falling water. Suddenly the boat rocked violently from side to side, just as Snoopy had done two hours earlier. The sound of water striking the hull was deafening, and all the while Jenks had a smile from ear to ear as he edged Teacher into the darkness.

Carl reached out and flipped on the exterior running lights as water covered the acrylic windows in the bow. Jack flinched as the first of the water struck; he thought the nose glass would cave in. But the boat slid neatly through the falls. The roar slid down the entire length of Teacher as the crew felt every inch of her entry. Then the bushes and vines snagged her and she bounded to a stop. The chief bit down on his cigar and throttled her engines forward. Teacher lurched into the water plants and undergrowth, making a screeching sound as her hull came into contact.

“There goes the paint job,” Jenks said loudly as he goosed the engines again.

“Low ceiling!” Carl called loudly above the din of water striking the hull.

“Give us another three thousand pounds of ballast,” calmly ordered the master chief.

Carl turned on the ballast pumps. Although he couldn’t hear them engage, he was satisfied as he saw on the digital readout that the distance between keel and the bottom was decreasing.

“She’s down a full three feet, Chief,” Carl reported.

Outside their windows the crew could see the greenish waters lapping six or seven inches above the sealed frames.

Jenks applied more power as Teacher strained to break free of the under-growth. Her engines were churning up water as she struggled for momentum. “Going to fifty percent power, hang on!”

Teacher seemed to be stuck in place. As they viewed the situation in their monitors, the crew each willed her either forward or for their pilot to back off.

“Going to seventy-five percent power,” Jenks called out and pushed the throttles forward to the three-quarters mark, but still the bushes, roots, and vines clung to the hull like tentacles of an octopus, refusing their advance.

“Engines are overheating,” Carl shouted.

“No news is good news. Can that shit, mister, going to redline!” Jenks shoved the dual throttles all the way to their stops.

Strapped into their seats, Mendenhall and Shaw were standing by in the engine compartment, sweat rolling down their faces. The heat was overpowering the air-conditioning, and the section was slowly becoming unbearable. The diesels were so loud that the two men couldn’t converse. Suddenly something popped and a small fire broke out as a gasket failed and diesel fuel sprayed out onto the deck.

“Fire!” Mendenhall shouted but Shaw had his ears covered and couldn’t hear him. The sergeant unsnapped his harness and ran for the fire extinguisher. He emptied the extinguisher, momentarily smothering the flames. Mendenhall threw away the empty and grabbed another, as the engines seemed to strain even louder as they went to full power.

Suddenly and very slowly the vines started to separate with loud popping and tearing sounds. Still the master chief kept full power to the engines. Then all at once they were through. Outside the view ports of the cabin, they saw the vines and bushes suddenly slide by as Teacher was sling-shot into the giant cave. Her lights picked out rock walls and sides as she sped into the void.

“Engine shutdown!” Jenks cried. “Toad, hit the forward jets, stop this goddamned thing before we slam into a wall!”

Carl engaged the two forward water-jet thrusters and applied full throttle to them both. Teacher started to slow. Then before they knew it, the large boat was at a standstill. All was silent except for the forward thrusters. Carl reached out and shut them down. The voyagers found themselves in a giant cave sitting in the middle of a slow-moving underground grotto, with the river leading out to the east.

“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, señor?”

“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.

“Sí, señor,” 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.