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Old 01-22-2013, 09:26 PM   #107
Johnny1A.2
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Default Re: The First Interbellum (1918-1939)

LATER.

Let us take a closer look at one of our parties, in the midmorning hours of the day
after our previous evening.

The air was still, and hot, even by the standards of the Amazon
Basin, and the only saving grace was the fact that the thick overhead
canopy prevented the blazing sunlight from reaching the ground.
Under the shade of the canopy, Jurgensen and his men worked
their way through the thick growth, making their way toward their
destination, which they felt sure was now very close at hand.

The original accounts all spoke of a river running directly through
the settlement they sought, and that also matched the story from
the sailor who had apparently seen the place. However, things
could and did change, and Jurgensen had concluded that the path
of the river had shifted somewhat. His calculations suggested
that the best way to reach their goal was to leave the river slightly
down stream from the site, and work their way overland.

At first there had been little sign of anything to support his idea,
but as the hours passed and they cut their way through, they began
to see definite signs of human activity. The further they went,
the more such traces they discovered, and the traces were things
like worked stone, polished rock, pathways and paved trails, more
and more as they went. The further they went, the greater the
excitement felt by Jurgensen, who had sought this place for so
long and with such effort.

It was at that point that one of his men, taking the forward point,
called back in tones of excitement, then sudden fear. Jurgensen
came forward, and immediately saw why his scout had been so
startled, and why that surprise had been followed on by dismay.

There was a clearing, or so it appeared at first glance. There was
a gap, anyway, in the thick foliage, an area about twenty meters
in diameter in which no trees and little brush grew. In the hot
bright Brazilian sun, the contents of that clearing were all too
visible. Space about three meters apart in rows of ten, were some
thirty tall wooden posts, about half again as tall as a tall man.

Attached to each post was a human skeleton, the bones bound
together by fine strands of some unknown fiber, carefully and
precisely arranged in anatomically accurate precision. Those
bleached dry bones were of all sizes, and closer examination of
a few showed that both sexes were present, and all ages.

Curses and fearful mutterings rose amid his men, and even the
iron callous soul of Jurgensen was shaken by this macabre sight.


At just about that time, back at the river, the two men Jurgensen had left to watch
over their boats were looking back and forth from the river to the jungle wall on
either side, trying to stave off the mixture of boredom and nervousness that was
in them. These two were far from the best men ever to work for Karl Jurgensen,
it would be true enough to say that they were neither paying proper attention to the
watch, nor as alert to their surroundings as they should have been.

These facts might help to explain what happened next, though in truth, it might
not have made much difference if they had been on guard. After all, when the
Aces came upon them, the guards were outnumbered, outweaponed, and the Aces
came at them from both sides. Even without the element of surprise, the outcome
would likely have been the same.

Still, the Aces would certainly admit that having the element of surprise was nice.

The guards were taken alive, mostly because Conners wanted prisoners to interrogate.
Again, these were not the best men Jurgensen had ever employed, and they quickly
decided that the better part of valor was discretion, when faced with over a dozen
very heavily armed men, men displaying no sign of a sense of humor. What they
knew, they told, but what they knew proved to be little enough other than at the level
of the immediate situation. They were employees, nothing more, hired muscle, more
or less, and Jurgensen had not told them much beyond what they needed to know.

Still, what they did know about the immediate situation was quite useful.

MORE LATER.

Last edited by Johnny1A.2; 01-22-2013 at 09:32 PM.
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