Trees Hold Up the Sky 24 William James Johnson

Jess Martin and his co-pilot Lt.Tomaso Gonzalvos paced anxiously outside the ramshackled hangar at the San Fernando de Atabapo airport. On the distant horizon they could see the dark speck of an executive helicopter, and feel the pulsing vibrations as it drew closer. As it descended near their Severski 210, the logo of the U.S. Air Force identified the craft as the vehicle which was carrying Dr. Ama Kahn from Washington.

A tall zambo approached Kahn's aircraft and was handed the scientist's luggage and made a few more trips to carry his special equipment to the cargo hatch of the Severski.

"Jess Martin, Doctor Kahn, and my co-pilot Lt. Gonzalvos."

"I'm pleased to meet you. I've heard a lot about you Jess," said Kahn. "If you don't mind just call me Ama.

"No problem. Ama it is. I must say though, your visit comes as a surprise to all of us."

As they spoke, a delicious brunette in her early thirties presented a sight to behold, as she backed down the ladder, and came towards them.

"This is my assistant Dr. Monica Lamb," said Kahn, aware of the impact she was having on their new friend.

"My pleasure Dr. Martin," she said extending her hand. Jess was impressed by the firmness of her grip.

Looking at the special crates of equipment which had been loaded on the Severski, he could not control his curiosity any longer. "What's going on? Are you here to replace us on the project?"

"Not a chance Jess. Its something completely different, although related to the cave indirectly. I would rather hold off any explanation until Monica and I have had a chance to conduct some tests. It's not something which could be explained by fax, so I convinced the bureaucrats we needed to see for ourselves what you are doing."

The low level flight to the project overwhelmed the Washington visitors. A massive, unending sea of green vegetation, undulating in the wind, with infrequent openings for small villages amazed Dr. Kahn.

"With all the protests we have back home about the destruction of the rain forest, it would appear not much is happening here to despoil the wonders of nature."

"It is happening though," said Jess. "We've been told about 30,000 acres of trees are being bulldozed everyday, somewhere in the rain forest."

"I would doubt that estimate," said Kahn. "There certainly doesn't appear to be that kind of devastation going on here."

"You've got to realize," said Jess, "the so-called rain forest is larger than the entire land area of the U.S. Even at the numbers of trees being destroyed daily, this enormous resource will take years to disappear."

"But that is what is sad about all of this," said Monica. "The rain forest is the world's most important purifier of the toxic garbage man's industrial progress has spewed into the atmosphere. Despite its enormity, it is still finite. Seeing this wonderful abundance of greenery first hand makes it almost impossible to think that in time, this all could be a barren, unproductive, desert."

"Wow! What do we have here? A genuine American tree hugger."

"Dr. Lamb is one of our most talented researchers on the destruction of our environment and its eventual devastation of civilization. To call her a tree hugger is far too limited. Monica is a generalist who sees the connection of the various human activities which in the long run may have a terminal result on our existence. She links the external forces, with internal changes at the biological level."

"Well thank you Dr. Kahn," said Monica smiling. "That should be sufficient to deter the famous Dr. Jess Martin from pursuing any further interest in getting to know your assistant."

"No way sweet lady. I've never let a woman's brains get in the way of my wanting to know her better. We have a great team working on the cave, and the fact that two of them are great looking gals has not diminished our efforts."

"Did you hear that Ama? Great looking gals. You're Dr. Martin is a sexist as well."

"Don't get me started," said Jess, smiling. His co-pilot Tomaso broke into a grin when he saw where the conversation was leading. There had never been any doubt that the rugged individualism of Jess Martin and his earthy approach to life had always attracted bright, beautiful ladies.

By the time Jess touched down on the landing pad at the cave site, the noise of the arriving giant chopper had alerted everyone. Hank removed his hat and wiped off the bits of vegetation which the rotating blades had whipped into the air. When the engine stopped, Dr. Kahn carefully followed the zambo down the exit ladder, with Dr. Lamb close behind. Jess and Tomaso exited from the front of the helicopter, and joined the greeting party.

"Welcome to Atabapo my friends," said Hank. "We received word you were coming just a couple of days ago. I hope you are bringing us good news."

"Give me just a few moments to put our equipment out of the weather, and then we'll talk," said Ama. When the cargo was stowed, Hank took his guests and his team to the dining tent, and after offering drinks, looked inquiringly at Dr. Kahn.

"We're here because of an anomaly discovered during the detailed autopsy on your two men, Peter and Eric."

"They died of cave radiation right?" asked Jess.

Dr.Lamb responded. "That's what we thought at first. But there is no radioactive material we know which could cause a DNA shift. We think there is an unknown radiation source in the cave which altered the normal DNA of your two associates. Since we were unable to identify the source, we decided to use the electron microscope to examine more closely the result of the exposure."

"And that's when you discovered the anomaly. Couldn't it just be a freak of nature?" asked Laura.

"We considered that possibility at first. No scientist worth his salt wants to discover unreproducible findings. We pulled their records and both men had normal chromosome distribution. After the electron scanning, we discovered both subjects now had identical distribution factors, which differed massively from their original results listed on file."

"Are you talking about a form of cloning?" asked Estrelle.

"That seems to be the only explanation which appears to fit at this time," said Dr. Kahn. "We've come here to use our latest radiation test equipment to measure the level in your cave and determine if we can, where this radiation resides in the energy spectrum."

"We are also going to take specimens from each of you back with us for further study in Washington," said Monica. She continued with her explanation. "At Washington Medical Centre in 1982, in the search for a method of synthesizing interferon, scientists used gene engineering to produce this cellular protein in bacteria. The experiment was so successful, that the world now has an abundant supply of this natural virus-fighting substance. This has led to the production of other genetically designed tools called monoclonal antibodies. Using these new antibodies, hybrids are being produced which could end disease in the world. If the antibodies have an unending supply of cells, as in the case of metastasizing cancer, the resulting hybrids are virtually immortal."

"Then why did Peter and Eric die?" asked Hank.

"The radiation source was too powerful for their bodies to supply the antibody with a source of cell cultures to maintain its existence. We call these cellular antibody factories hybridomas. Your friends ran out of material for the hybridoma factory."

Laura had been silent during the discussion, reflecting on Arturo's death, remembering how despondent she had become when she thought she too might have AIDS. Then there was that elation when Dr. Oberon told her the test results for HIV were negative. Now she had to face again the possibility she had been damaged by an unknown source of radiation in the cave.

"What about us? We've been going in the cave on a daily basis. Are you telling us we are in the same danger as Eric and Peter?" asked Laura.

"That is why we had to come and see for ourselves," said Kahn.

"You have been wearing the protective suits Ama gave you?" asked Monica.

"Of course," assured Hank.

"The risk of radiation exposure is determined by time and strength. Your men were exposed for hours at a time to a source which probably like most radiation is cumulative in the body. But then of course our calculations are based on known forms of radiation. We haven't been able to identify this source, nor do we know its strength."

"So what do you think? Are we going to make it back to the good old U.S. of A. in one piece?" asked Jess.

"You all look fine to me," said Ama. "We'll know better after we finish our analysis."

After breakfast, accompanying Laura and Hank, Ama and Monica donned the protective suits they had brought with them and trudged up the grassy knoll which led to the cave opening. They were relieved to feel the cool cave air as they entered the blackness of the enormous cavern. Hank turned on the power, illuminating the mysterious limestone tunnels which lay ahead, revealing the spectacular cave paintings which went endlessly beyond the reach of their lights.

The visiting scientists were stunned by the enormity of the cave art and its exquisite beauty. Unable to speak, Monica hurried ahead, trying to absorb as much as she could. Then rushing back to the others she expressed with great feeling what was happening to her.

"This is not of this world. It is beyond religion. Henry nothing like this has ever been discovered before. These symbols are as important as a voyage in a time machine."

Dr. Kahn was as speechless as his associate. Slightly embarrassed by her hyperbole, he reluctantly agreed with what she had said. "A time machine...maybe. If and when your team decodes the message, it will be as valuable as a trip into the past. You've already established the pigment used to create the cave inscriptions is dated 500,000 years ago. Why would a race of creatures in the past go to all this trouble?"

Laura was delighted to see that these outsiders confirmed her evaluation of the significance of this scientific discovery. "Jess and I have begun working on the meaning of the cave message, and what is most important is the fact that whoever did this, intended it should be of value to some future people who would find it. To ensure this, they have included in their symbols what we believe is a pictorial glossary, somewhat like the Rosetta stone. There is no doubt the forms of people from this ancient past, are humanoid."

"What I have found to be most interesting," said Hank, "is a pictograph of several creatures bowing before a glowing canister, almost as if they are worshiping it. In fact you may find this a good place to begin your investigations."

"Why is that?" asked Ama.

"The ultraviolet lights seem to activate the special material in this portion of the mural, which causes it to release a low humming sound, and the canister form vibrates visually, almost hypnotically."

"Then let's start there. Do you agree Ama?" asked Monica.

"By all means."

"Follow me. It's about 200 metres along the cavern on the left."

Carrying their special recording equipment, they followed Hank to the symbolic canister area, pausing occasionally to look in wonder at the intricate detail of the gigantic mural. In one position they observed what appeared to be a cataclysmic event, devastating large numbers of human victims.

"This is horrendous," said Kahn, traumatized by the vision of total destruction which was depicted in fantastic detail on the cathedral size wall which expanded as they reached the canister image.

"My God! What is this place?" asked Monica. "It's like Michelangelo's Last Judgment. It's about endings."

"Exactly Monica. That's what I feel too," said Laura.

"Don't be too quick to judge," warned Hank. "I think we can get into trouble if we try to invest these symbols with meanings before we've seen the whole picture."

"I think that so-called canister looks more like a missile Hank," said Ama.

"It does at that," agreed Hank.

"Can we turn on the activating lights and see what happens," asked Monica.

"Not yet Monica. Let's measure the radiation present now, and then we will use the ultraviolet," suggested Ama.

They put down their duffle bags and removed their testing meters. Even before they aimed them at the mural, the instrument began to emit the familiar clicking sound caused by the presence of ambient radiation.

"My God! No wonder your men died of radiation poisoning. This cave atmosphere contains more radiation then you would normally find in a pile of spent nuclear rods." Their meters filled the cavern with a loud ratcheting sound when the two scientists pointed them at the mural.

"Unbelievable. Change the scale on your meter, and let's see if we can get a workable reading Monica." Both doctors had to recalibrate their equipment to read only one tenth of the radiation emanating from the mural. Even with this drastic change in sensitivity, they recorded more than half scale deflection.

"I hope you are all wearing your dosimeters. I'm anxious to confirm these outfits are protecting you from this hot zone."

"Do you want to see what happens when we illuminate the canister symbol with ultraviolet?" asked Hank.

When Hank threw the switch, a low rumbling noise began to build in the cave like the sound of an approaching distant train in a tunnel. The symbol began to vibrate as Hank had described, pinning the four scientists to the floor of the cave, as if they had seized a live electric cable, and could not release it. Suddenly the meters began to glow red hot, and the glass face on both instruments shattered in their hands. With concerted effort, Laura switched off the ultraviolet lamps, and everything returned to an eery silence.

"We've seen enough," said Khan. "I think we should all get out of here."

"But we still have more recording to do," said Laura.

"Please Dr. Mason. Can't we continue this conversation outside. In the fresh air."

"You're right Ama," said Hank. "I think we've had enough excitement."

Outside the cave, they felt the heaviness of the humid jungle air. The morning temperature was more than twenty-five degrees above the steady sixty seven degrees Fahrenheit inside the cavern. Removing their protective gear, they each looked at the small radiation dosimeters which were suspended by a nylon cord around their necks.

"Good," said Ama. "That's good. Our special suits are doing the trick. Let me see each of the dosimeters."

He checked each of the small recorders, confirming he was confident his suits were protecting them from the cave radiation.

"I still want to take blood samples back to Washington," said Monica. "I don't know what we are dealing with. And I'm willing to admit, we may never know."

"When the mural is decoded, there may be something in the message which will explain what it is," said Laura.

"Enough of this speculation," said Hank. "Pick up your equipment and let's go down the hill and tell the others."

Other novels by William James Johnson can be read at www.noozoon.blogspot.com.