“Understand. All okay. Do you need anything? Over… ”
Ben took a few steps trying to get rid of some of his tenseness. “Roger, Lee. We are waiting on Dane and Hugo. We don’t need anything now. Everything back there okay? Over… ”
Lee responded, “All okay here. I’m in contact with Princeton. They are sending personnel down now. I don’t know what their intention is yet. Over… ”
Ben grew concerned. “Lee, do not let anyone follow us. It is very dangerous. We need to find out what we are up against before we send anyone else into the jungle. Do you understand? No one comes in no matter what anyone says. Over… ”
“Roger, Ben. Understand. If they get here before you get back, I will keep them here. Any idea when you will be back? Over… ”
Ben answered, “No. We are waiting for Dane and Hugo to return. Hopefully they will be back soon. I will call you back tomorrow and let you know where we stand. Over… ”
“Not a problem. Call me back tomorrow to let me know what is going on. Over… ”
“Will do, over and out.”
“Roger, over and out,” Lee responded.
Ben placed his radio back into his backpack. So the Princeton guys were sending someone down. That’s all we need; some administrative bureaucrats getting involved to help us out. Bullshit! They haven’t a clue as to what is going on. He hoped they would all be back at base camp soon to help Lee with those folks. Then Ben smiled and laughed to himself. What was he saying? Lee could handle anyone short of the President of the United States when they got here in the jungle. She was one helluva lady even though she was his sister. Ben went back over to the tarp and sat down to wait for Tecal’s other man to return to report in. He looked over at Tecal. “Hey, what’s for lunch?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Hugo used a pallet jack to move several stacks of flour and other supplies around in the back of the storage room. They decided to make this area a small base of operations. The sheer size itself lent its use as an excellent hideout. Since the room was a secondary storage area, according to the cook, Dane and Hugo decided that it was as safe as they were going to find. Besides, if the cook and his girlfriend thought this was a good place for a discreet rendezvous, it was good enough for Dane and Hugo.
Hugo set himself up behind some flour sacks near the door so that he could hear anyone coming down the hall and trying to enter the room. Dane was in the back with the two captives going over the setup of Fortress Alpha.
“You are Americans,” said the cook. “Why should we tell you anything?”
Dane silently pointed his weapon at the girl. He did not say a word. The cook’s eyes got big and he swallowed hard.
“I think you are smart enough to answer a few questions or… ” Dane looked him in the eyes.
“Why do I care what happens to her?” the cook said indignantly. Dane smiled and glanced at the girl.
“Well, number one, she’s pretty. Number two, you guys did not show up unannounced. If I were a betting man, I would say you two have a thing going.” The cook swallowed hard. His bluff had been called. The girl sat there quietly.
“Okay. She’s my girlfriend,” said the cook meekly.
Dane sat back. “Well, in that case, I would think that you would want to tell us what we want to know so no one gets hurt.” Dane had no intention of hurting the girl but using her to get info from this guy was another thing. The cook sat there and said nothing.
“Ich spreche nicht. We have nothing to say,” said the girl defiantly. “You go to hell!”
“Yeah, right, two tough guys,” smiled Dane. Dane stood up over the girl.
“You said you were a technician,” started Dane. “What kind of technician?”
The two folded their arms and sat without saying a word. They were acting like indignant children. Dane was getting impatient.
“Listen to me very closely. This is not a game. If you talk, you will be released unharmed. If you do not talk, well, one of you will be on the receiving side of some pressure and the other will talk. Do you understand me?”
The two sat there.
“Okay,” said Dane shouldering his weapon. “I’ll let ‘Hugo the Butcher’ go to work.” The two looked at each other and looked back at Dane. Hugo, listening to the conversation, stepped out of his lair and walked over to the two captives and pulled his combat knife from a scabbard strapped to his lower right leg. He took his thumb and ran it across the razor-sharp edge. He looked at Dane.
“I’ll start with the bitch,” his voice menacing. He reached over and grabbed the girl by the hair and pulled her up. The cook almost fainted as Hugo ran the backside of the knife over her cheek.
“Wait; no, please, wait,” he cried. The young girl was scared to death and sobbing. The cold steel stung her face slightly. She thought Hugo had sliced her face. She waited for the flow of warm blood. Hugo stopped and Dane looked at them.
“Talk or she gets sliced up,” hissed Dane. “Last chance.”
“Okay, okay, please stop. Please let her go. I’ll tell you anything,” cried the cook. “Don’t hurt her.” Hugo dropped the girl down on a flour sack. She immediately crawled over to the cook, checking for blood on her face, sobbing all the while.
“Now talk,” demanded Dane, “or we’ll cut her to ribbons.” Hugo stood behind Dane trying to keep from laughing. These kids were scared to death. And even Dane knew they weren’t going to slice anybody up. He hoped they didn’t call his bluff.
Dane began asking questions and the answers flowed like a river. The questioning continued for twenty minutes.
Dane and Hugo learned there were thousands of personnel in the complex and the prime objective was research with various elemental transformations. The girl worked with one of the groups responsible for generating power for the transformations. That is what interested Dane the most.
They also learned the complex was huge. It was completely underground except for a hangar level that housed several helicopters and other land-based vehicles. Ninety percent of the personnel at the site were born and raised in this complex. They were well trained in their particular occupations and educated in at least two other occupations. The cook was trained as a lab technician as well as a horticulturist. As a lab technician he had knowledge of some of the core alchemy work being done.
“So,” continued Dane, addressing the cook, “what exactly did you do as a lab technician?” The cook, still scared, fidgeted in his seat.
“I worked in the gold lab,” he said. “I worked with the gold transformations.”
Dane was puzzled. Gold transformations?
“What kind of gold transformations?” he asked. “Transformations into what?”
The cook looked at Dane as if he were stupid.
“Not to what. From lead to gold,” he answered calmly. The girl nodded in agreement.
Dane sat back. From lead to gold? What the hell were these idiots talking about, alchemy? That was impossible. Dane pressed him more. ”You mean changing lead to gold? Is that what you are saying?” He looked at Hugo, who was as surprised at what he had heard as Dane.
“Yes,” answered the cook.
These folks were turning lead into gold! And they had succeeded, according to the two captives. So that is the big secret with all the gold, thought Dane. Things were definitely getting clearer.
“Bullshit!” said Dane, trying to get a reaction. “That’s impossible. People have been trying to do that for centuries.”
“Yes, I know,” said the cook, now feeling a bit more comfortable. “Dr. Swingler and Dr. Koch made the discovery in the late 1940’s after the war. They brought all of their research teams to Brazil along with the German gold. They used the captured gold to build this complex and carry on the research for all of these years.”