CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Unaware that Parker's machinations caused the destruction of two of their convoy, the other trawlers traveled down the coast, disguised as fishing boats, and gradually made their way south to the Panama Canal where they waited until they got the okay to go through the docks.
It appeared to be tourist season by the numerous ships ahead of them. They all got in the rowboats and went ashore, stopped at customs, got the necessary papers, and directions to the nearest shops. Since their cover were of European artistic refugees, a few of the passengers carried easels, paint brushes, and did a few scenes while others nosed around the crafts offered for sale in the marketplace. Soon, however, they gradually separated, the ladies going to get diapers, blankets, and other essentials while the men to get weapons and gardening implements. To keep suspicions down, one of the quieter men in the group said, "Are you sure it's safe where we're going? I heard they're bandits!"
"I guess then we need to get some rifles," said Valdez, "before I ran afoul of the Nazis, my father ran a hunting lodge. I am an expert shot although I don't have much time since I refused to let that Von Hoffner put his painting in my gallery and for that my whole family was persecuted." He made a good show of being offended.
"That's all right," whispered Morgan, "You mustn't over do it. You know, 'he doth protest too much'."
"Sí, Claro."
"We'll get the supplies here," said Carmichael, pointing to a group of shops that appeared more like warehouses than actual stores, "I'll need at least three men. The women can get the baby things."
"Right," said Morgan who checked his wallet for extra currency.
"But first we have to get to a bank," said Valdez, "Perhaps I can help. I know the language. You don't think they're all expecting twins, no?"
He took their money and went to the main teller.
"¿Buenas tardes, señor, cómo puedo ser de assitance?" asked the man behind the counter.
Valdez opened his wallet, showing the teller, the denominations as a variety of coins and bills of various denominations all fell on the counter , "Querría este cambiado en pesos mexicanos, por favor."
"Pero por supuesto, señor. Ahora la tasa para el cambio es..." His eyes appearing to not comprehend the task of converting all this loot, the teller nevertheless remained calm and brought out a chart.
"So what's going on?" asked Morgan.
"I believe he asked the teller to exchange the bills into Mexican pesos," said a young man in his twenties. He had dark blue eyes and came from Andalusia.
"Your name?"
"Tomas, I won't give you my last name, but you might recognize it " he said, "part of my family went to Mexico with Cortez."
"I've never had a chance to talk to you since we started. You come from..."
"My family has a small restaurant five miles out of Seville. We're famous for our tapas. It's a small place and only known by what you say word of mouth."
Carmichael smiled with recognition and wiped the sweat off his face. It was hot and sultry and even though the shopkeepers were kind, they often had to sit down and rest from the humidity. Valdez who had come from Northern Spain also had difficulty in bearing the heat but not much difficulty getting the various guns, rifles, and machetes plus ammunition as well as the digging implements needed.
"We will have to get some seeds as well." He checked over the various packages and sacks. "These carrots are no good. They have to be able to stand the heat. Morgan, put them back."
"Right."
"Over here. We need some pepper seeds. We can start them on board and then have them planted when we get there. Normally we can start them there, but it will be too late in the season." . At last, the passengers and the supplies were on the ship and they went through the various locks until they reached the Pacific. Meanwhile, the women put the boxes containing cans of Evaporated milk, baby food, diapers, pins, bottles, and soothers as well as training bottles plus blankets and other things away. The men were similarly occupied placing the weapons behind closed locked doors and the seeds and gardening implements in the cargo hold.
It was impossible to tell if any other trawler bearing the Hercules banner was behind them. There were so many. The Major had chosen the right season to avoid them being detectied. Valdez thought he saw one, but, "We won't be sure until they've all gone through. Carmichael do you know?"
"The Major didn't tell us."
Suddenly one of the passengers pointed to a trawler who had just come through the locks. "There's one!"
Carmichael rushed for his spyglass, but by the time he had it, the ship was gone. Disappointed, he assumed his was the only vehicle.
For a time, all was busy with the preparations until Morgan thought he saw another trawler and then that vanished. And then other passengers thought they saw others. They were thinking that it was something like a ghost ship until the other military officer assured them. "It was Southam's idea. To get them to mingle with the various fishing fleets. We, of course, were the lead and since we're supposed to be an artistic colony."
"Oh so any former Nazis would assume there's just one of us. How many are there?" asked Morgan.
"Possibly at least five."
The thought that five other trawlers were coming after them, assured the passengers. They landed at Oaxaca at night, taking off their equipment, using flashlights only occasionally, and relying on the moonlight for illumination. They had rehearsed this during the voyage and before that secretly on an isolated part of the English coast, a part notorious for manmade shipwrecks.
"We're to meet the rest of the group, if there is any at that hill over there and then will go to our destination," said Carmichael.
"Right," said Señor Valdez.
"Correct." Alfred looked over at his wife.
By now, they had the jeeps and trucks off the trawler, a slow process because they had to coast them because the motors would attract attention. They were waiting until a storm arose, using that as cover and if there were others, they instructed them to do likewise. It would take hours to reach their destination. Once there, Carmichael had no idea how they would proceed.
They piled the women into the trucks and jeeps, and made their way driving slowly, stopping when the sound was quiet, and driving quickly when a storm erupted. It was amazing how rare these storms were in this area when you wanted them.
At last, they reached the hill and waited for the others to arrive. And group by group, they came, men and women, bearing the first seed of the New Species.
"We will have to go deeper in the forest," said Alfred, "Away from civilization. I am sure that in twenty years from now, these infants will have the intelligence far surpassing ours and that they will lead the world into a new era."
"In time, the world will learn of us," said Morgan.
Two hours later, for they had to drive slowly and coast most of the way, they reached their destination. The area was out of sight from the other villages, surrounded by hills and the soil was quite manageable. Since this area had for centuries been cultivated by the natives, most of the original forest was gone.
Suddenly, Alfred's wife clutched her belly as she groaned in pain. "The babies are coming!" She let out one shriek. Men brought out blankets and diapers, looked for streams to get water, places to start a fire—the normal dealings of husbands when wives were about to give birth. Susan was in pain and all anyone could do was to hold her hand while Morgan's wife searched for the necessary painkillers. She finally found some codeine but by that time, Susan had a major contraction and the baby's head started to appear. Two hours later, a first probably in the annals of history since Eve gave birth to Cain, a small infant lay on the blanket along with three others, all emitting a high-pitched cry and all perfectly formed..
She soon had company for in a matter of days, given that some women were later than the others in conceptual matters, the whole area rang with several high pitched cries of several newborn. The sound was hardly discernable to the ear and yet it rang in the adults's skulls, and when Carmichael looked in the eyes of the infants, he saw a glitter of something predatory.
Unaware that Parker's machinations caused the destruction of two of their convoy, the other trawlers traveled down the coast, disguised as fishing boats, and gradually made their way south to the Panama Canal where they waited until they got the okay to go through the docks.
It appeared to be tourist season by the numerous ships ahead of them. They all got in the rowboats and went ashore, stopped at customs, got the necessary papers, and directions to the nearest shops. Since their cover were of European artistic refugees, a few of the passengers carried easels, paint brushes, and did a few scenes while others nosed around the crafts offered for sale in the marketplace. Soon, however, they gradually separated, the ladies going to get diapers, blankets, and other essentials while the men to get weapons and gardening implements. To keep suspicions down, one of the quieter men in the group said, "Are you sure it's safe where we're going? I heard they're bandits!"
"I guess then we need to get some rifles," said Valdez, "before I ran afoul of the Nazis, my father ran a hunting lodge. I am an expert shot although I don't have much time since I refused to let that Von Hoffner put his painting in my gallery and for that my whole family was persecuted." He made a good show of being offended.
"That's all right," whispered Morgan, "You mustn't over do it. You know, 'he doth protest too much'."
"Sí, Claro."
"We'll get the supplies here," said Carmichael, pointing to a group of shops that appeared more like warehouses than actual stores, "I'll need at least three men. The women can get the baby things."
"Right," said Morgan who checked his wallet for extra currency.
"But first we have to get to a bank," said Valdez, "Perhaps I can help. I know the language. You don't think they're all expecting twins, no?"
He took their money and went to the main teller.
"¿Buenas tardes, señor, cómo puedo ser de assitance?" asked the man behind the counter.
Valdez opened his wallet, showing the teller, the denominations as a variety of coins and bills of various denominations all fell on the counter , "Querría este cambiado en pesos mexicanos, por favor."
"Pero por supuesto, señor. Ahora la tasa para el cambio es..." His eyes appearing to not comprehend the task of converting all this loot, the teller nevertheless remained calm and brought out a chart.
"So what's going on?" asked Morgan.
"I believe he asked the teller to exchange the bills into Mexican pesos," said a young man in his twenties. He had dark blue eyes and came from Andalusia.
"Your name?"
"Tomas, I won't give you my last name, but you might recognize it " he said, "part of my family went to Mexico with Cortez."
"I've never had a chance to talk to you since we started. You come from..."
"My family has a small restaurant five miles out of Seville. We're famous for our tapas. It's a small place and only known by what you say word of mouth."
Carmichael smiled with recognition and wiped the sweat off his face. It was hot and sultry and even though the shopkeepers were kind, they often had to sit down and rest from the humidity. Valdez who had come from Northern Spain also had difficulty in bearing the heat but not much difficulty getting the various guns, rifles, and machetes plus ammunition as well as the digging implements needed.
"We will have to get some seeds as well." He checked over the various packages and sacks. "These carrots are no good. They have to be able to stand the heat. Morgan, put them back."
"Right."
"Over here. We need some pepper seeds. We can start them on board and then have them planted when we get there. Normally we can start them there, but it will be too late in the season." . At last, the passengers and the supplies were on the ship and they went through the various locks until they reached the Pacific. Meanwhile, the women put the boxes containing cans of Evaporated milk, baby food, diapers, pins, bottles, and soothers as well as training bottles plus blankets and other things away. The men were similarly occupied placing the weapons behind closed locked doors and the seeds and gardening implements in the cargo hold.
It was impossible to tell if any other trawler bearing the Hercules banner was behind them. There were so many. The Major had chosen the right season to avoid them being detectied. Valdez thought he saw one, but, "We won't be sure until they've all gone through. Carmichael do you know?"
"The Major didn't tell us."
Suddenly one of the passengers pointed to a trawler who had just come through the locks. "There's one!"
Carmichael rushed for his spyglass, but by the time he had it, the ship was gone. Disappointed, he assumed his was the only vehicle.
For a time, all was busy with the preparations until Morgan thought he saw another trawler and then that vanished. And then other passengers thought they saw others. They were thinking that it was something like a ghost ship until the other military officer assured them. "It was Southam's idea. To get them to mingle with the various fishing fleets. We, of course, were the lead and since we're supposed to be an artistic colony."
"Oh so any former Nazis would assume there's just one of us. How many are there?" asked Morgan.
"Possibly at least five."
The thought that five other trawlers were coming after them, assured the passengers. They landed at Oaxaca at night, taking off their equipment, using flashlights only occasionally, and relying on the moonlight for illumination. They had rehearsed this during the voyage and before that secretly on an isolated part of the English coast, a part notorious for manmade shipwrecks.
"We're to meet the rest of the group, if there is any at that hill over there and then will go to our destination," said Carmichael.
"Right," said Señor Valdez.
"Correct." Alfred looked over at his wife.
By now, they had the jeeps and trucks off the trawler, a slow process because they had to coast them because the motors would attract attention. They were waiting until a storm arose, using that as cover and if there were others, they instructed them to do likewise. It would take hours to reach their destination. Once there, Carmichael had no idea how they would proceed.
They piled the women into the trucks and jeeps, and made their way driving slowly, stopping when the sound was quiet, and driving quickly when a storm erupted. It was amazing how rare these storms were in this area when you wanted them.
At last, they reached the hill and waited for the others to arrive. And group by group, they came, men and women, bearing the first seed of the New Species.
"We will have to go deeper in the forest," said Alfred, "Away from civilization. I am sure that in twenty years from now, these infants will have the intelligence far surpassing ours and that they will lead the world into a new era."
"In time, the world will learn of us," said Morgan.
Two hours later, for they had to drive slowly and coast most of the way, they reached their destination. The area was out of sight from the other villages, surrounded by hills and the soil was quite manageable. Since this area had for centuries been cultivated by the natives, most of the original forest was gone.
Suddenly, Alfred's wife clutched her belly as she groaned in pain. "The babies are coming!" She let out one shriek. Men brought out blankets and diapers, looked for streams to get water, places to start a fire—the normal dealings of husbands when wives were about to give birth. Susan was in pain and all anyone could do was to hold her hand while Morgan's wife searched for the necessary painkillers. She finally found some codeine but by that time, Susan had a major contraction and the baby's head started to appear. Two hours later, a first probably in the annals of history since Eve gave birth to Cain, a small infant lay on the blanket along with three others, all emitting a high-pitched cry and all perfectly formed..
She soon had company for in a matter of days, given that some women were later than the others in conceptual matters, the whole area rang with several high pitched cries of several newborn. The sound was hardly discernable to the ear and yet it rang in the adults's skulls, and when Carmichael looked in the eyes of the infants, he saw a glitter of something predatory.