Bungle in the Jungle
Abramowitz waits until the drinks are brought in from the other room. They are jade green and a little luminescant. Tastes like melon and a lot of tequila. I look at Lou as he takes a long draw... he approves.
"Gentleman, we have moved into an emergency situation. We haven't heard from Christoper for three days. There is a standing order that he is to check in every forty-eight hours."
Lou smirks, "Check in... it's not like he's in high school."
"No, it's not like that at all. Mr. Antonelli is now the head of a multi-billion dollar empire and we need to know that he is safe at all times."
"So what happened to him?" I straighten up and watch as a wall panel slides back to reveal a huge LCD.
The Earth comes up, spinning gently on the screen. Abramowitz types in some numbers and it spins and settles over Brazil then begins to dive. He smiles like he really has something.
"Google Earth, wonderful... isn't it?" Lou tells him.
Abramowitz' smile slackens. It is obvious that this is a new toy for him.
"Gentlemen, several weeks ago after Mr. Antonelli flew the both of you to Northern California, he took the G4 to this location."
Google Earth stops its descent over a small town on the Amazon called Coari.
"This town was the closest he could get to his objective with the jet." Abramowitz closes in on the town now and we see the landing strip.
Lou tosses back the rest of his Puerto Loco and sets the glass back down in front of him, turning it in his hands.
"So what? Is he broken down there? They probably have mechanics closer than Jake here right in Sau Paulo."
Abramowitz pulls back from the airport and then moves north about fifty miles.
"Christopher was investigating a business opportunity... a gold claim, against our advice, north of this lake... Lago Piorini. He and several of his men took a float plane and landed here."
He places the cursor mid-way up the north eastern bank where another a river snakes out into the jungle.
"That was three days ago. We talked to him as he stepped off the plane and they were loading supplies onto a couple of long boats to take them up river to the claim."
"How long were they planning on staying at this gold claim?" I ask, finishing my drink and then wiggling the glass at the man that brought them to us. He comes and collects both of our glasses and leaves the room... hopefully to bring us another.
"They were to spend the day and then return. Along with him was a man named George Stroud. He is one of the top men in the field of geology and the only man to call if you want to get more yield out of modern mining equipment."
Google Earth is now replaced with a picture of Stroud and Chris standing by a large pallet of equipment. "There was a possibility that the task may run into the next day, but even if that was to occur, Christopher has a satellite phone that works anywhere on the planet with maybe the exception of the South Pole."
"So he didn't check in."
"No... he did not."
Lou looks perplexed, "So... you called us to go find him?"
Abramowitz pulls a briefcase below the table and opens it. He removes a red leather folder with a locking clasp and sets it on the table.
"This is a contigency folder... emergency instructions written by Mr. Antonelli himself. Once he was outside the forty-eight hour window we opened it. You two are at the top of his list." He snaps to attention, almost as though he were startled.
"Find him."
We turn to see a well maintained middle aged woman, fatigue and worry show on her face like a Days of Our Lives marathon.
"Find my son."
As she speaks we all stand, out of respect... well, we stand because the lawyers jump up.
"Mrs. Antonelli, may I introduce Jake Allen and Lou... Lou..."
"Just Lou is fine." He smiles, "It's a pleasure to make your aquaintance Ma'am."
She nods and then walks slowly toward the table. She waivers slightly, feeling the gentle swell of the Caribbean sea beneath us.
"He spoke of you two. Christopher trusts you boys with his life."
She gives us a look that only God himself or a mother who loves her son could muster.
"Find my son."
The room is silent as she exits, then there is an audible sight of relief. It was as though the Queen of England had come and gone.
"Jesus, why wouldn't she be heading up the family?" I ask as I take my seat.
Stinkle loosens the tie around his neck.
"It is not within the code that these people live by. When Senior died, Chris took his place. Mrs. Antonelli is most certainly the matriarch of this family but is not allowed to be involved directly with any business dealings."
As we get back to our briefing, one of the ship's crew bolts into the room with a sheet of paper.
"The Breitling, sir... we've got a report of a signal." He sets the paper in front of Abramowitz.
"The Breitling?" I look at Abramowitz.
"Yes... Mr. Antonelli's watch. It has an emergency beacon."
"No shit."
"Breitling... a hundred mile radius, hundred and twenty-five point one megahertz for forty-eight hours." Lou rattles the information off like he is reading it from the back of a cereal box.
"Who the fuck are you? Rain Man?"
Goldfarb takes the floor, "Gentlemen, please." He watches over Abramowitz' shoulder as he inputs the coordinates into Google Earth:
3 degrees 19' 10.71" s
63 degrees 18' 23.19" w
The Google pulls back for a moment, then settles in up river from Lago Piorini about fifteen miles into the jungle.
"Oh my." Abramowitz seems stunned.
"What? What's up there?"
"Nothing... that's the problem. The gold claim he was to investigate was at the end of the lake, here."
He uses the cursor to point to the foggy end of the satellite snapshot of the area. There is a main river that feeds the sky blue enhanced lake.
"The actual claim is at the base of this loop." He points once again and circles the area with his arrow.
"Why would he have gone that way then?" Lou looks at the map. Nothing but jungle and a squiggly line of river that can barely be discerned from the jungle.
"I don't believe he would have... not voluntarily." Abramowitz stands and closes the red folder.
"Gentlemen, this is extraordinary news."
"Sounds like a fucking tragedy." Lou shakes his head.
"No, sir, it is not. Christopher is alive and well as of... " He takes the paper that the radioman had brought in, "This signal was received in Coari seven hours ago."
Stinkle perks up as well. "The Breitling is meant to be set off by hand if there is a need to declare an emergency. No one would even know to use it except for him. This means that only seven hours ago did he realize that he is in danger."
I look at Lou, "Yeah... he's in the middle of the Amazon Jungle. Of course he's in danger."
"We have every resource available to you, men. Find Christopher... bring him back to us."
They leave us for the moment and we join Jerry and Ollie in the lounge next door. We brief them on what has happened. We only have forty hours and change before the signal stops. We are at least two thousand miles away, and I haven't even got a change of underwear.
I knew this would happen.
"Gentleman, we have moved into an emergency situation. We haven't heard from Christoper for three days. There is a standing order that he is to check in every forty-eight hours."
Lou smirks, "Check in... it's not like he's in high school."
"No, it's not like that at all. Mr. Antonelli is now the head of a multi-billion dollar empire and we need to know that he is safe at all times."
"So what happened to him?" I straighten up and watch as a wall panel slides back to reveal a huge LCD.
The Earth comes up, spinning gently on the screen. Abramowitz types in some numbers and it spins and settles over Brazil then begins to dive. He smiles like he really has something.
"Google Earth, wonderful... isn't it?" Lou tells him.
Abramowitz' smile slackens. It is obvious that this is a new toy for him.
"Gentlemen, several weeks ago after Mr. Antonelli flew the both of you to Northern California, he took the G4 to this location."
Google Earth stops its descent over a small town on the Amazon called Coari.
"This town was the closest he could get to his objective with the jet." Abramowitz closes in on the town now and we see the landing strip.
Lou tosses back the rest of his Puerto Loco and sets the glass back down in front of him, turning it in his hands.
"So what? Is he broken down there? They probably have mechanics closer than Jake here right in Sau Paulo."
Abramowitz pulls back from the airport and then moves north about fifty miles.
"Christopher was investigating a business opportunity... a gold claim, against our advice, north of this lake... Lago Piorini. He and several of his men took a float plane and landed here."
He places the cursor mid-way up the north eastern bank where another a river snakes out into the jungle.
"That was three days ago. We talked to him as he stepped off the plane and they were loading supplies onto a couple of long boats to take them up river to the claim."
"How long were they planning on staying at this gold claim?" I ask, finishing my drink and then wiggling the glass at the man that brought them to us. He comes and collects both of our glasses and leaves the room... hopefully to bring us another.
"They were to spend the day and then return. Along with him was a man named George Stroud. He is one of the top men in the field of geology and the only man to call if you want to get more yield out of modern mining equipment."
Google Earth is now replaced with a picture of Stroud and Chris standing by a large pallet of equipment. "There was a possibility that the task may run into the next day, but even if that was to occur, Christopher has a satellite phone that works anywhere on the planet with maybe the exception of the South Pole."
"So he didn't check in."
"No... he did not."
Lou looks perplexed, "So... you called us to go find him?"
Abramowitz pulls a briefcase below the table and opens it. He removes a red leather folder with a locking clasp and sets it on the table.
"This is a contigency folder... emergency instructions written by Mr. Antonelli himself. Once he was outside the forty-eight hour window we opened it. You two are at the top of his list." He snaps to attention, almost as though he were startled.
"Find him."
We turn to see a well maintained middle aged woman, fatigue and worry show on her face like a Days of Our Lives marathon.
"Find my son."
As she speaks we all stand, out of respect... well, we stand because the lawyers jump up.
"Mrs. Antonelli, may I introduce Jake Allen and Lou... Lou..."
"Just Lou is fine." He smiles, "It's a pleasure to make your aquaintance Ma'am."
She nods and then walks slowly toward the table. She waivers slightly, feeling the gentle swell of the Caribbean sea beneath us.
"He spoke of you two. Christopher trusts you boys with his life."
She gives us a look that only God himself or a mother who loves her son could muster.
"Find my son."
The room is silent as she exits, then there is an audible sight of relief. It was as though the Queen of England had come and gone.
"Jesus, why wouldn't she be heading up the family?" I ask as I take my seat.
Stinkle loosens the tie around his neck.
"It is not within the code that these people live by. When Senior died, Chris took his place. Mrs. Antonelli is most certainly the matriarch of this family but is not allowed to be involved directly with any business dealings."
As we get back to our briefing, one of the ship's crew bolts into the room with a sheet of paper.
"The Breitling, sir... we've got a report of a signal." He sets the paper in front of Abramowitz.
"The Breitling?" I look at Abramowitz.
"Yes... Mr. Antonelli's watch. It has an emergency beacon."
"No shit."
"Breitling... a hundred mile radius, hundred and twenty-five point one megahertz for forty-eight hours." Lou rattles the information off like he is reading it from the back of a cereal box.
"Who the fuck are you? Rain Man?"
Goldfarb takes the floor, "Gentlemen, please." He watches over Abramowitz' shoulder as he inputs the coordinates into Google Earth:
3 degrees 19' 10.71" s
63 degrees 18' 23.19" w
The Google pulls back for a moment, then settles in up river from Lago Piorini about fifteen miles into the jungle.
"Oh my." Abramowitz seems stunned.
"What? What's up there?"
"Nothing... that's the problem. The gold claim he was to investigate was at the end of the lake, here."
He uses the cursor to point to the foggy end of the satellite snapshot of the area. There is a main river that feeds the sky blue enhanced lake.
"The actual claim is at the base of this loop." He points once again and circles the area with his arrow.
"Why would he have gone that way then?" Lou looks at the map. Nothing but jungle and a squiggly line of river that can barely be discerned from the jungle.
"I don't believe he would have... not voluntarily." Abramowitz stands and closes the red folder.
"Gentlemen, this is extraordinary news."
"Sounds like a fucking tragedy." Lou shakes his head.
"No, sir, it is not. Christopher is alive and well as of... " He takes the paper that the radioman had brought in, "This signal was received in Coari seven hours ago."
Stinkle perks up as well. "The Breitling is meant to be set off by hand if there is a need to declare an emergency. No one would even know to use it except for him. This means that only seven hours ago did he realize that he is in danger."
I look at Lou, "Yeah... he's in the middle of the Amazon Jungle. Of course he's in danger."
"We have every resource available to you, men. Find Christopher... bring him back to us."
They leave us for the moment and we join Jerry and Ollie in the lounge next door. We brief them on what has happened. We only have forty hours and change before the signal stops. We are at least two thousand miles away, and I haven't even got a change of underwear.
I knew this would happen.
posted by Jake Allen at 6:02 AM
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