of words scrolled across the screen:
END--- THIS--- WORLD--- NOW--ONLY--- CHANCE--CHANGE--- PATH--- POWER--GET---MAP Then Rachel dove out of sight.
***************
Foreman finally tore his gaze from the picture of the Nazca Plain. “What do you suggest?”
Dane felt as if he were playing a game of chess, but much of the board was blocked off from his sight. He could only see a move or two ahead at best and he had no idea what reaction would come from those moves. He also knew that—despite what Foreman believed—that there were other pieces on the board on his side and that he just hadn’t met them yet. “I think at the very least we need to recover Sin Fen’s skull and the Naga staff and get the skulls that Ariana collected.”
Foreman seemed relieved to be able to order something within his capabilities. “All right. I can arrange that.” He pulled out his phone, then paused. “There’s something I should have given you.”
Dane waited, but Foreman didn’t continue. Dane sensed confusion and embarrassment from the CIA man, something that he had never picked up from him before.
“Sin Fen,” Foreman finally said.
There was sorrow coming off Foreman, a thin layer covering a deep pool of a lifetime of pain.
“Yes?” Dane asked quietly.
“She left you something. A tape.” Foreman opened a drawer and pulled out a bulky, sealed manila envelope and handed it to Dane. He ripped it open and a videocassette fell out into his hands.
“You didn’t watch it?” Dane asked.
A flash of anger crossed Foreman’s face. “I know what you think of me. Yes, I thought about it. I’ve been thinking about it ever since we lost her and I found it in her gear. It’s been there—” he slapped the desk hard, drawing unwanted attention from others in the control room—“all this time.”
“Why didn’t you give it to me before?” Dane asked. “It could hold important information.”
“Sin Fen wouldn’t have held back information that could have helped us,” Foreman said.
“Than why not—” Dane paused as he realized why the old man hadn’t handed it over— jealousy, something Foreman would never admit to. Sin Fen had been like a daughter to him and she had left a tape for Dane, a newcomer in her life, rather than Foreman who had rescued her from the streets of Phnom Penh.
Dane nodded. “It took you a while to come clean.”
Foreman’s reply was interrupted by Doctor Martsen’s excited entry into the control center. She bounded over to the table and slapped down a single piece of paper with eleven words written on it in front of Dane. “That’s the translation of part of the dolphin message that the Connecticut picked up.”
Dane read it, then passed it to Foreman. “We know we have to stop the power drain, but what is this map?” he asked.
Ahana came over and read over the CIA man’s shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Marsten said. “There’s more to the tape, but that’s the first thing Rachel translated.”
“Nazca’s the key,” Dane said. “Maybe those designs on the plain are a map of something. We need to get this person,” he tapped the small dot.
“That person,” Ahana said, “is probably Doctor Leni Reizer. A German woman who is considered the expert on the Nazca Plain. I did an Internet search and her name was constantly mentioned. And she lives right next to it.”
“I need to go there,” Dane said.
Foreman nodded. “All right. I’ll arrange transportation.”
He turned on his SATPhone. Dane handed the translation back to Marsten. “You get any more done, please forward it to me.”
“I’ll do that.”
Dane left the control room and went to his bunkroom. Chelsea was waiting inside. Her tail thumped against the wall as she greeted him.
“Hey, big girl,” Dane leaned over and scratched behind her ears. He felt the comfort that the Golden Retriever always projected but the tape was heavy in his hands.
A small TV with a built-in VCR was bolted above the
END--- THIS--- WORLD--- NOW--ONLY--- CHANCE--CHANGE--- PATH--- POWER--GET---MAP Then Rachel dove out of sight.
***************
Foreman finally tore his gaze from the picture of the Nazca Plain. “What do you suggest?”
Dane felt as if he were playing a game of chess, but much of the board was blocked off from his sight. He could only see a move or two ahead at best and he had no idea what reaction would come from those moves. He also knew that—despite what Foreman believed—that there were other pieces on the board on his side and that he just hadn’t met them yet. “I think at the very least we need to recover Sin Fen’s skull and the Naga staff and get the skulls that Ariana collected.”
Foreman seemed relieved to be able to order something within his capabilities. “All right. I can arrange that.” He pulled out his phone, then paused. “There’s something I should have given you.”
Dane waited, but Foreman didn’t continue. Dane sensed confusion and embarrassment from the CIA man, something that he had never picked up from him before.
“Sin Fen,” Foreman finally said.
There was sorrow coming off Foreman, a thin layer covering a deep pool of a lifetime of pain.
“Yes?” Dane asked quietly.
“She left you something. A tape.” Foreman opened a drawer and pulled out a bulky, sealed manila envelope and handed it to Dane. He ripped it open and a videocassette fell out into his hands.
“You didn’t watch it?” Dane asked.
A flash of anger crossed Foreman’s face. “I know what you think of me. Yes, I thought about it. I’ve been thinking about it ever since we lost her and I found it in her gear. It’s been there—” he slapped the desk hard, drawing unwanted attention from others in the control room—“all this time.”
“Why didn’t you give it to me before?” Dane asked. “It could hold important information.”
“Sin Fen wouldn’t have held back information that could have helped us,” Foreman said.
“Than why not—” Dane paused as he realized why the old man hadn’t handed it over— jealousy, something Foreman would never admit to. Sin Fen had been like a daughter to him and she had left a tape for Dane, a newcomer in her life, rather than Foreman who had rescued her from the streets of Phnom Penh.
Dane nodded. “It took you a while to come clean.”
Foreman’s reply was interrupted by Doctor Martsen’s excited entry into the control center. She bounded over to the table and slapped down a single piece of paper with eleven words written on it in front of Dane. “That’s the translation of part of the dolphin message that the Connecticut picked up.”
Dane read it, then passed it to Foreman. “We know we have to stop the power drain, but what is this map?” he asked.
Ahana came over and read over the CIA man’s shoulder.
“I don’t know,” Marsten said. “There’s more to the tape, but that’s the first thing Rachel translated.”
“Nazca’s the key,” Dane said. “Maybe those designs on the plain are a map of something. We need to get this person,” he tapped the small dot.
“That person,” Ahana said, “is probably Doctor Leni Reizer. A German woman who is considered the expert on the Nazca Plain. I did an Internet search and her name was constantly mentioned. And she lives right next to it.”
“I need to go there,” Dane said.
Foreman nodded. “All right. I’ll arrange transportation.”
He turned on his SATPhone. Dane handed the translation back to Marsten. “You get any more done, please forward it to me.”
“I’ll do that.”
Dane left the control room and went to his bunkroom. Chelsea was waiting inside. Her tail thumped against the wall as she greeted him.
“Hey, big girl,” Dane leaned over and scratched behind her ears. He felt the comfort that the Golden Retriever always projected but the tape was heavy in his hands.
A small TV with a built-in VCR was bolted above the
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