Trees Hold Up the Sky 27 William James Johnson

By the time Jess landed at Atabapo, it was late in the afternoon. His three associates and Gonzalo stood near the idling Severski, waiting for the blades to come to a stop.

"Travelling is nice, but it's always great to get back home," said Jess jokingly.

Estrelle rushed forward and hugged him. "Whoa! Maybe I should leave home more often." He saw the serious expression on Hank's face and felt instinctively something was wrong.

"Don't be mad chief. I had to go. Arumba was in a bad way. Couldn't just wait and let Obispo and his guys take him without a fight. But damn it, I was too late. By now they've probably have him locked up in Bogota. I guess what you were telling us Professor could happen here as well."

"There's no doubt in my mind," replied Gonzalo. "I'm just surprised the General has moved so soon."

"I don't think he had any choice," replied Hank. "After what happened when he ordered the attack on our camp, he probably felt a pre-emptive attack on Arumba and his men would cripple us. Don't think I wouldn't have approved of you hurrying to Arumba's aid. But you were putting us all at risk."

"How?... How was I putting you at risk?"

"Without the Severski, there was no way we could get out of here if those DEA thugs had decided to attack us."

"You're right Hank. When my juices get flowing, I stop thinking and just act. I'm sorry. After all, I can't forget how we could have all been killed during that attack on us, if Arumba and his men had not fought them off. What do you think we should do about Obispo?"

"Tell him Professor what you told me and Laura."

" When I return to Bogota I'm going to tell the General that I believe the mountain in the cave mural may be the legendary Sacred Mountain of Ahuntipec. Since it doesn't look as though we have much time left before Obispo will attempt to seize your project, Henry suggested you might be willing to take us in the Severski, so we could see for ourselves if there is anything which may relate to the cave message. This way we could explore the area from the safety of your plane. And having a helicopter, is the only way we could possibly investigate such a dense region. A regular plane would not be of much use except to take long range pictures. If there is something, I'm certain I could use it to convince Obispo to delay his plan to attack your camp."

"Can someone tell me why all of a sudden, you're interested in looking at what you think may be the real mountain depicted in the mural?" asked Jess.

"It's not just the mountain. Remember Peter's dying message. He was certain the mural was actually a map of this area. This could be our last chance to make some kind of connection with the real world and the cave message," said Hank. "It may be nothing, or it could give us a key to unlock the mystery of Atabapo."

"And as I've said," repeated Gonzalo, " Without a helicopter to search the area, Ahuntipec may never reveal its secret to the world."

"You're right Professor. We may never have this chance again. I'd like to see this so-called sacred mountain myself." He looked westward to the descending sun.

"Tomaso, refuel the plane. Ahuntipec is only about forty minutes from here. If we want to get there before dark, we better get going."

"Terrific Jess," said Laura. "I like a man of action."

"Don't I know it," said Jess, smiling.

"Can I come too?" asked Estrelle.

"Of course. I'm not going to leave you behind again. I was worried about all of you when I was away. This way I can keep my eyes on you."

They hurried to their tents to gather survival equipment in case they came down in the jungle. Laura and Hank took digital cameras to record their findings. Professor de Quesada was thrilled to be a part of an exciting adventure which he could only have imagined in his years of academic research.

Within the hour they were nearing the inverted cone on the distant horizon. Similar in shape to the sacred Mount Fuji in Japan, an eery glow framed Ahuntipec with a ghostly halo which faded into the dark fringes of a starless night. The whirling warm air currents cooling in the evening caused heavy turbulence, making it very difficult for Jess to control the Severski, as he attempted to descend. Flying south at about five hundred feet, he manoeuvered the craft carefully towards the light which emanated from the far side of the mountain. Suddenly they were stunned to discover, shining out of a vast opening an intensely bright glow which dazed them temporarily. The brilliant wall of light throbbed hypnotically like the vibrating canister in the mural when the ultra violet lamps activated it. A flat plateau stretched for several hundred yards in front of the sparkling cave. Working vigorously in the exposed area were numerous humanoid creatures. Startled by the sound and sight of the Severski, the creatures began hurling rocks and spears at the hovering aircraft, and bolted for the protection of the mountain.

"My God! What are they?" asked Gonzalo.

"I'm going to get closer. You and Laura try to get some pictures," said Jess.

The creatures of Ahuntipec were definitely humanoid in shape with bodies covered in tiny silvery grey, fish-like scales, which sparkled in the brilliance of the cave light. Jess was able to get close enough to observe the remarkable fact these beings appeared to be identical in size, and color. Unclothed, there was no indication of sexual differences. It was as if one of them had been made, and the rest were carbon copies.

"They're all the same," said Laura.

"How many do you think are there?" asked Estrelle.

"I estimated over a hundred when we first arrived," said Gonzalo.

"So what do we do now?" asked Hank.

"I could put the Severski down, and see if they would approach us," said Jess.

"Too risky," said Hank. "You saw how they threw rocks at us. If we were on the ground there's no telling how many would come at us. And besides, if you landed and we had engine trouble, this could be the end for all of us."

"If you want, I could hover closer to the opening so you could get more pictures." Saying this, Jess moved slowly, in an unthreatening manner into the area of the brilliant light, the loud pulsing of the helicopter engine amplified by the echoing effect of the cavernous mountain. Abruptly the sound of the engine became irregular as the energy rays from the opening drenched the Severski. Jess' first reaction was that this mysterious force coming out of the cave, may have disrupted the electronics in the aircraft ignition.

"Holy God. We've got to get to hell out of here."

Tomaso realizing the engine was starving for fuel, instinctively switched to the auxiliary tank, quickly regaining aircraft power. Below them was a winding, burning streak on the ground where the spilled fuel had been ignited by sparks from a thrown rock as it struck the hard surface.

"Nice work Tomaso. One of those goddamn spears must have punched a hole in our main tank."

"That's it Jess. Get us back to base as soon as you can."

"Okay Hank. Heading for the barn." He turned the plane northward, towards the rotating beacon they had installed for night flights. On the horizon the red and white strobe slashed across the inky sky. a welcome sight after the tremendous scene they had just witnessed. No one spoke. It was as if they had all experienced a momentary madness.

The strobe grew brighter, until it almost blinded them. Hovering over the landing pad, Jess put the craft down . Anxiously waiting in the dark for their return, were several zambos and Stuart MacGregor.

"So what did you see? Was there anything there? Come on guys, don't keep me waiting."

"We've got lots to talk about said Hank. First, I would like you to take our cameras and download the images."

Stuart ran with the cameras to the processing equipment in his communication tent and had the computers booted up and ready to capture the images for all to see before the others had entered. He could tell from Hank's excited expression something important had happened.

Gathered in front of the monitor, they saw snowy streaks of flickering lines until Stu adjusted the resolution controls. Then there it was, tall, man-like,two-legged lizards, panicking at the sound and sight of the Severski. The tremendous power of the glaring light shining out of the opening over exposed some of the images. A close up of one of the creatures amazed them with the beautiful symmetry of its face.

"It's Nefertiti," said Laura. "The high cheek bones and magnificent eyes."

"Nefertiti was a woman," said Hank. "This creature has no obvious sexual parts."

"Such an incredibly wonderful face," continued Laura. "It is so beautifully balanced, you don't even notice it is covered in those lizard-like scales."

"But no sex organs," said Stu, puzzled by the pictures they were studying. "How can that be. Not exactly the kind of creature you would want for a long time relation." His humorous observation released some of the stress they were still under after their harrowing experience.

"Leave it to Stu," said Jess. "Don't let our red headed Scot near a pile of rocks if he thinks there might be a chance of a long term relation lurking in there." They all laughed, even Stu, who wasn't quite sure what Jess meant.

"Why are they identical?" asked Gonzalo. "There's got to be some explanation."

Estrelle welcomed the chance to theorize. "Must be connected with the special energy source. Remember Professor you said there was a legend that long ago, creatures were believed to be immortal, and something happened that changed all that."

"Are you referring to the Biblical account of Creation," asked Laura?

"No Doctor Laura. This is different," insisted Estrelle. "Maybe there was a time in the beginning of our evolutionary history, when creatures were identical. There was no need to evolve because being immortal, there was nothing in their environment which would provoke change."

Hank admired Estrelle's creative ability, encouraging her to continue expanding her hypothesis. "What theory do you have about their lizard-like surface covering?"

"Evolutionists theorize that lizards were among the first creatures to come out of the oceans and develop limbs for land mobility. Such reptiles are cold blooded creatures whose bodys adjust to their environmental temperature, which makes them very successful in the survival business. These Ahuntipec creatures may have been on earth even before the receeding of the waters, and it is the lizards who may have adopted the creatures surface material to promote longevity, rather than these strange creatures modelling themselves after lizards."

"Incredible," said Jess. "Makes sense what she's saying. Not having a need to evolve, may account for the fact that they have no obvious sexual function. There's no need for unlimited procreation as we know it, because they never have to be replaced."

They continued to examine the monitor images. "See there's another one up close," said Jess. "And again, as you've said, they do look alike, and there's no evidence of sexual organs."

"But can't you see?" asked Gonzalo. "It is more than the mere appearance of looking alike. They are identical. Can you display two images side by side Stuart so that we can enlarge the facial details and see if there is a difference?"

An electronic genius, Stuart soon displayed before them the faces of two of the lizard creatures, splitting the monitor image in half, ready for analysis. He zoomed in on the detail of their eyes, and all drew closer to see for themselves if there was any apparent difference. The only obvious difference was the reflected image of the Severski in the penetrating dark green eyes of each of them, caused by the difference in relative position of the humanoids and the helicopter. Other than that, for all intents and purposes, the creatures were identical.

"Fantastic. Absolutely unbelievable," said Hank. "Do you realize this is what Ama was telling us about Eric and Peter."

"You've lost me Hank," said Jess. "What is the connection?"

"Our fellows were checked in detail during those two special autopsies, and Ama discovered their DNA analysis showed both men had identical chromosome distribution. And what was even more interesting, there was no error in arriving at this finding, because their files showed their new DNA was different than their original records."

"And he felt that this anomaly was probably caused by the exposure to the special radiation present in the cave," said Laura.

"And what we have here is the proof to validate Ama's theory." Hank continued.

"These must be survivors of the great explosion depicted in the mural. You were right Gonzalo, our brief trip to your sacred mountain has given us a connection between the past and the present."

"Hey guys," asked Stu, "These things don't have working mouths. See here. That's not a mouth. It's a ridge in the face caused by the shape of the skull underneath. No mouth, no sex organs. Probably no speech."

"They must communicate telepathically," suggested Laura.

"And without a mouth, they don't eat. Is that what you're saying?" asked Hank.

"Looks like we're back to that capsule again," said Jess. "The radiation from it must be their life force. I'm almost afraid to admit it, but I think we may have discovered an alien race."

"An alien something, that's for sure. But are they from another planet, or are they the result of arrested evolution millions of years ago?" asked Hank.

"Who is to say that life on our planet did not begin somewhere out there in the unlimited universe?" asked Gonzalo. "As far as we know, our cave message is man's oldest communication ever discovered on earth between an ancient civilization and our own era.. This may be just the beginning of understanding our origins. Could it be that immortal man did something to himself or his environment which resulted in his present mortal condition. And is religion the repository of man's unresolved dealings with existence. He may have felt the need to create a Creator, because he needed someone to blame for his new mortality. Our greatest mystery on earth is still, what comes after it is all over. Ahuntipec may be a piece of Paradise. What we must decide is whether the world is ready to share in our discovery."

"You folks must be getting tired of me repeating it, but I must caution you again, not to latch on to speculative theories without verifiable evidence," urged Hank.

"I've never experienced such a discovery in all the years I've been involved in studying the codes and artifacts of the past. It's going to take a lot of imagination to derive scientific truth out of this project. Maybe what we need is more creative input when it comes to reaching an understanding of our work," said Jess.

"You've already got her on the team," said Stu.

"We have?" asked Hank, unsure of Stu's meaning.

"Yes. I'm talking about Estrelle." To demonstrate what he meant he asked her another question.

"Besides appearing to be like lizards, do you have any other explanation for the body covering?"

Estrelle was enjoying the willingness to listen to her speculations by these world renowned scientists. "It may be integral to their immortality. Instead of comparing this structure with fish scales, why not see this outer covering as a protective surface like the chain mail armor worn by knights to protect themselves from external injury. It is flexible, permitting ease of movement. It may also be impenetrable, thus providing unlimited protection."

"With all these securities built in, why would these creatures attack us with primitive spears and rocks?" asked Hank, still reluctant to let them speculate freely.

"It's possibility thinking Hank," suggested Jess. "Stu is right. Estrelle has the creative instincts of an artist. It would sure be great if she could come back to Washington with us and be a full member of our decoding team."

Laura noticed the excitement building in the young mestizo beauty at Jess' suggestion.

"Oh Hank, that would be wonderful. Now that I know my father is dead, I'm free to go wherever you need me. Please Dr. Newton. Please let me come back with you."

"I must agree with Stu and Jess. You've been a valuable member of our project. Now I would think we should hear what the Professor has to say."

"Miss Garvas is the most outstanding pupil I have ever encountered," said Gonzalo.
"She was under a tremendous strain trying to serve two masters, in an effort to save her father. I endorse your suggestion that she be taken back to the U.S. to continue her work in the decoding, and I believe it is absolutely necessary for her protection. General Obispo is not to be trusted. We saw today how quickly he ordered the attack on Arumba, and I fear he will soon do the same to you."

Estrelle grabbed Gonzalo and kissed him on both cheeks. Then in turn embraced the other team members, her voice trembling with excitement.

"Thank you. Thank you all for this wonderful chance to continue working with you."

"Tomorrow I'll get a message off to Joe and tell him about the changes in our plans, and I'll tell him we need Estrelle's continued help. I know he'll agree. But as for now, we've all had a full day. We could use a good night's sleep."

See the original art of William James Johnson at www.noozoon.com.