Jacob landed after an uneventful four hour flight. The transition from Miami to one of the highest airports in the world, two point eight kilometres above sea level, was dramatic. He noticed the altitude within minutes of stepping off the plane. He was expecting the thinner air, but Andy Huang was not, a little breathless and unsteady to begin with. The airport was in the northern part of the city, the Chaupicruz parish. He showed Andy the view of the surrounding mountains on the way in, flying over residential areas, bordering the edge of the airport. Jacob had arranged for someone to collect them by helicopter from Quito, and take them direct to the Arcadia a hundred miles off the coast. After passing through customs and using the paperwork provided by Paul to get the amulet into the country, which was not as straight forward as expected, they proceeded by the helicopter in the north.
Debra saw Jacob from across the field, and waved her toned tanned arms in the air, she saw a shorter man besides him, but at over six feet four Jacob was larger than most. The shorter man was Asian and was trying to carry a rucksack, carrier bag and laptop, he struggled slightly. His clothes casual but practical, hung off his light frame, Debra stepped forward, ‘Let me help you with that.’ Andy gratefully handed over his carrier bag, but clung onto his laptop. ‘Hi I’m Debra or Debs if you prefer.’ She glared at Jacob, who failed to introduce her.
‘Sorry, Debs this is Andy Huang, Chinese translator and historian. Andy this is the one, and only, Debra Sharpe.’ The sarcasm clearly showing, Debs nudged him in the arm, extended her hand to Andy, who hesitantly shook it. Jacob smiled at his reaction, ‘Don’t worry Andy, her bark is worse than her bite.’
‘And do I not get any help or introduction?’ Kevin feigning hurt feelings.
‘No you don’t Kevin, because, well you remember the snake in my bed?’
Kevin was unresponsive, looking at Jacob who was trying not to laugh, knowing about Debra’s Ophidiophobia. They climbed aboard the Bell 214, a rental from the Transporte Aérea Militar Ecuatoriana (TAME) the commercial part of the Ecuador military air force. Andy strapped himself in, Jacob stored their gear in a net at the back, and left the side door open. Debra started up the twin Pratt and Whitney Canada engines, the four blades increased rotation, Andy appeared nervous.
‘Problem Andy?’
‘No Debs, just I prefer airliners, to, this.’
‘Believe me, once you have flown in a helicopter, nothing else matches it, proper flying. Hang on.’
Debra hauled the Bell off the tarmac, swung the tail and tipped the nose forward, climbing rapidly. She looked back and saw Andy gripping with white knuckled fingers.
‘Best ride in the park Andy!’
Andy did not reply he could see Quito spread below. The ancient city nestled amongst the volcanoes overlooking it, all the detail just a thousand feet below. The wind blew his jet-black hair but he didn’t notice, he just took in the spectacle. Never realising he had released his vice grip on the chair. Jacob smiled, and thought not to interrupt Andy’s newly discovered wonder; he had seen Quito like this before, but chose to drink in the wonder of this city in the clouds. The buildings clinging to the contours of the basin like someone had spilled them, and they just drifted naturally into the space created by geological events.
The Arcadia was about one hundred miles north-west, off the coast of Esmeraldas the northern province, near the Isla Santa Rosa. Debra chose the most spectacular route, climbing up over the mountains and volcanoes overlooking Quito. Then down over the lush green valleys of rainforest, small clusters of low-lying clouds blowing past the helicopter door. An occasional cold snap of moisture caught the faces of the passengers. The wisps of vapour coming up as the jungle warmed in the morning sun, creating finger clouds reaching up to their cousins high above.
The coast was in view from this altitude, the Pacific glinting deep blue, reflecting the clear sky above. Below the various rivers and tributaries made serpentine sweeps onwards towards the sea. The Colombian border was just a few miles to the North, and Debs was careful on her position, the heavy radar monitoring of flights could invoke a military response if she strayed too far. She steered for La Tola, a small town on the banks of a river estuary. Jacob distributed some of his knowledge, ’Below us to the right is the Isla de la Tola once contained the La Tolita, an ancient race from before the Inca’s, who were fine metal workers. They made ceramics, silver, platinum, copper and of course gold, in fact they were the first goldsmiths in the world to work in platinum. It was once one of the prime religious and trading centres on the South American coast two thousand years ago.’
As Jacob was explaining the history of the area, Debra came over the headsets of her three passengers ‘Sorry to interrupt Jacob’s lesson, but we are flying over the area where we found the crater wall, if you look carefully you can see the silver circle of the lake.’
‘What crater wall?’ Kevin was more inclined to ask the immediate question than Andy.
‘Sorry Kevin, Katherine found a one mile wide circular wall, supposed it was an impact crater, but it is man-made. Laurent went up there a few days ago, but said it was nothing.’
‘How far into the jungle is it?’
‘About sixty clicks as the crow flies, past San Miguel on the Rio Santiago, but by canoe it is more like eighty.’
‘Can we fly in?’
‘No too much cover from the canopy, only place you could do it is hover over the lake, and drop into it, but that is if there are no occupants already?’
Kevin looked puzzled, until Jacob enlightened him, ‘Cayman crocodiles, local residents, they would be just under the surface, if you dropped in, you may never reach the shore.’
They flew lower over the jungle, after clearing the mountains, just a few thousand feet above the green expanse spreading around them. Kevin thought it looked like a large garden when you put your face at eye level and looked up, the scale of it completely changed, magnified. The few settlements nestled within the rainforest were hidden and secluded by the canopy, a tin roof winking briefly through the plant life, before being swallowed by the green again.
The river was widening, easily visible, the horizon had changed from green to deep blue as the Pacific approached. The town of Borbon below would be their last stop for supplies when they headed upriver, should they choose to explore the crater wall that Laurent had dismissed. The river merged with the Rio Cayapas and meandered out to sea, over a mile wide the large silt deposits from the forest and drawback of the tsunami evident. The waterway was normally navigable but the masses of silt had caused only two areas to be safe for boats, the water flowing was much faster than normal. The Arcadia had been working with the local people in the coastal town of La Tola to dredge and clear some of the river. They had no conventional equipment, so were having to improvise with pulleys and water jets, dragging the silt to the centre of the river, the water carrying away the surplus. As Debra circled the ship Jacob got his first look in seven months at his beloved vessel. Her bright blue hull with the Elements Institute name and logo emblazoned on the side in bold white letters illuminated in the mid-morning sun. He was refuelled with pride at seeing her again.
‘That gentlemen is the Arcadia, the first ship I bought from the US Navy. She was a Charleston class amphibious cargo ship, designed to transport boats, tanks and just about anything into a combat zone. She can lift all of our equipment, those trident looking structures on the bow and amidships are seventy ton lifting cranes, can pick up tanks. She could carry over three hundred and seventy five men, all their kit and support vehicles.’
‘So why did the navy let you have it?’