Lemuria, Burt Clinchandhill [adventure books to read .TXT] 📗

proof of ‘the green flash.’ The green flash was a rare atmospheric phenomenon that occurs immediately after sunset or just before sunrise. Basically, it’s a mirage of the Sun, where refracted sunlight delivers a green spot at the top of the Sun, lasting never more than a second or two. Daniel O’Connell, a Jesuit priest at the Specola Vaticana, took the first color picture proof of the phenomenon.

In 1935, the then state-of-the-art telescopes were placed on the roof of the summer palace. It was situated just outside of Rome, to have a free line of sight and not be bothered by the city lights. Unfortunately, in the 1980s, the light pollution moved beyond the southern borders of Rome all the way beyond the palace, rendering the telescope virtually unusable for serious discovery.

De Cremonese opened the door and walked onto the roof terrace. On a small bench, looking out over the Lago Albano, a young priest worked on his laptop.

“Morning, Matteo.”

The young man opened his mouth to answer, but De Cremonese didn’t wait for a response. “When did they first report it?”

“The report came in this morning, at around eleven, but the original sighting was at twelve, local time, so eight this morning.”

De Cremonese looked at his watch and counted mumbling. “It took them three hours to call us?”

Matteo didn’t react

“Show me.” De Cremonese joined him on the bench.

Matteo handed him the laptop.

“What am I looking at?”

Matteo leaned over De Cremonese and punched a few keys. On the screen, a black and white image of two bright spots against a starry sky appeared. “This was the first observation over the southern night sky.”

De Cremonese put his fingers on the screen and enlarged the two bright objects until they became two big bright blobs against a black screen. He took another close look and shook his head. “Do we know where they originated?”

“No. The trajectory suggests somewhere south of there, in the western hemisphere, but that’s all we know.”

“And what about their trajectory?”

Matteo again worked the laptop, and another black and white screen appeared, this time displaying a ten-second clip that repeated. On the screen, the two bright objects became smaller, and while next to each other, they found their way to the top of the screen, where they slowly separated from each other and disappeared.

De Cremonese rubbed his eyes. “I take it we’re still tracking them.”

“As you ordered on the phone.”

De Cremonese gave Matteo the laptop back and paced the rooftop. On the edge, he stopped overlooking the lake and looked up to the skies. Then he shook his head, searched his cassock and took out his cellphone. He dialed and looked behind him at Matteo before moving away to add more distance between them.

“I got a disturbing call this morning,” he half-whispered into the phone. “And now I’m looking at even more disturbing telescope images.”

He listened to the voice on the other end for a minute or two. “I’m sure he must have had his reasons, but you said you were in control of him, that you thought he would wait.”

The woman’s voice on the other end of the line grew louder. The more he continued, the more disturbed she sounded. De Cremonese took another few steps away from Matteo, preventing him from overhearing the conversation.

“Listen, do you have any idea what he’s up to? ... So, we don’t know what he’s planning or even why? ... Are we even sure it’s him? ... I understand your position, but I’ve got to say, this is all very disappointing. Let me think about it, and I’ll get back to you.”

He placed his cellphone back in his cassock. He realized he’d been naive to think he could control the situation. Some people simply cannot be controlled—or trusted, for that matter. What now? He raised his head to the sky for another moment as if looking for divine intervention that didn’t come.

“What do you want me to do?” Matteo was suddenly beside him at the ledge.

De Cremonese turned and looked straight at, and through, Matteo. For a long moment, they both stayed silent.

“Brother De Cremonese?” Matteo asked.

At the sound of his name, De Cremonese snapped out of his reverie and took a deep breath before walking to the door of the telescope room. “Follow me. I want you to help me pack. I’m going to the VATT.”

Chapter 6 – Kajaq

Reserva Indígena Mashco-Piro, Peru, The Present

“From here, we follow the Purus River to the village,” the officer in the Bell UH-1 helicopter called. “It’s about ten minutes now.”

Lindsey sat across from Bishop and Ignatowski. “What do you know about the Mashco-Piro?” she asked Bishop through the headset.

“Nothing more than I read online on the way up, and saw in the movie Fitzgeraldo, thirty-five years ago. It took me until today to understand they spelled his name wrong in that movie.” He smiled. “Any way, they are a tribe that once had contact with the modern world around the turn of the twentieth century. Fitzcarraldo’s expeditions to the inlands, where he subjugated the Mashco-Piro people as his personal slave-like workforce, are considered to be the reason the Mashco-Piro drew back to the inlands and disconnect from modern-day men. What I don’t understand is why the couple and the child were left.”

“Not a clue,” Lindsey said, while Ignatowski shook his head.

Bishop looked outside the wide-open helicopter door, leaned back and fiddled a bit with his seatbelt.

“Excited?” Lindsey asked.

Bishop nodded. “A bit. I’m not fond of helicopters. Especially the ones with open doors.”

“Let me say this,” she replied. “If you fall out, you’ll fall out a handsome man. Those camouflage coveralls look really good on you.” Bishop looked down at his green-speckled coveralls. All of them wore the same clothing, including army boots. The Policía Nacional del Perú and the U.S. Embassy in Lima had agreed to let them leave for the location, but only dressed in those army coveralls, claiming it was for their safety. Poachers had been extraordinarily active in the area recently. The only