Buried Treasure by Vincent Madison

Chapter 8

Meet Peter Black

Pacific Ocean - September 1944

  The U.S.S. Mauna Loa had crossed the Pacific and arrived at Palau. The trip had been uneventful, although on September 19th, while at Kossol Roads, an unidentified aircraft had come out of nowhere and attacked the ship. Fortunately no serious damage was sustained, and Peter Black's cargo was still intact.

November 10th 1944

  The Mauna Loa had set sail for Ulithi on November 8th, where the allied forces had set up a Naval Base of operations. At approximately 10:20am on the morning of November 10th, the Mauna Loa had just passed the Yap Island of Colonia when a low flying aircraft approached from the South East. Peter Black heard the approaching aircraft as he was standing on the deck along with several other crewmen. About an hour earlier, the ship had received a radio call from Port Seeadler on Manus Island, advising them that the U.S.S. Mount Hood had exploded and been destroyed in the harbor under mysterious circumstances. Because of this, the crew were on alert, and acted quickly when the aircraft approached. As the crew scrambled into action to take evasive action, the aircraft opened fire. The ship was slow to turn, so the crew manning the guns swung into action, grabbing the 'Big Gun' - the 5 inch - 38 caliber gun to fire back at the aircraft. The aircraft was quick and nimble and each time it made a fast pass, it came back around for another run.

  "Without help, unless you can shoot the bastard down, we are in trouble!" one of the gunners yelled. Peter Black was still on the deck, and was checking a compass.

  "What the hell are you doing?" a crewman yelled at Peter, as he ducked and ran for cover. Peter calmly continued to note the compass reading and then said:

  "Tell the captain to lay in a heading of 108 degrees now."

  "What?" the crewman questioned. "Are you nuts?"

  "Trust me - it's our only chance."

  "You tell him then!" the crewman shouted above the noise of battle. Peter made his way to the bridge. The plane was coming round for another run, approaching from the stern. The gunners struggled to get the Big Gun turned. As the plane thundered overhead, Peter was close enough to see that it did not have the markings of the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was a single engine, single-wing aircraft, but not a Zero and not Japanese. It wasn't German either. In fact, it had no markings at all. It was just a charcoal gray color all over.

  Peter had made his way to the bridge, and while the gunners had missed the plane, the plane had not inflicted serious damage on the ship, although it was just a matter of time until it did. The Captain saw Peter and barked: "What the hell are you doing here?" Peter replied calmly - "Sir, you must turn the ship on a heading of 108 degrees now."

  "Look Black, I know you have friends in high places - that's the only reason you are on this ship, but I'm still the Captain..." Peter did not let him finish.

  "Do you want to die today? Because if you don't, you will listen to me and turn this ship now. We only have a few minutes before it will be too late." The Captain looked around, and quickly evaluated the situation. There were no ships close enough to save them, and by the time aircraft got here, it would be too late.

  "OK Black, we'll do it your way. But if you are wrong..."

  "If I am wrong..." Black replied "...then it won't matter."  The Captain cranked the wheel around to the 108 degree heading. The ship slowly started to turn. In the distance the sound of the plane returning could be heard - the drone starting low and heavy and gaining volume, its sound menacing and determined.

The plane was about a thousand yards away and the ship was now on the right heading.

  "What now?" the Captain yelled.

  "Just wait." Black answered, still strangely calm.

  "Wait?" the Captain asked incredulously. "That is your plan?"  Peter looked out to the port and starboard, then looked up. The plane was almost on them. The Big Gun was blazing and the other guns were firing too. The plane screamed toward the ship, opening fire. This time it couldn't miss.

  Suddenly there was a strange high-pitched noise and a bright light. The ship started to shake.

  "This is it!" the Captain yelled. "We're doomed!" The ship continued to shake and the high-pitched noise rose to an unbearable level, drowning out the sound of the plane, and the guns. When the noise subsided, the plane was gone. The ship stopped shaking and everything was quiet.

  "What the hell!" the Captain shouted. "What happened! The plane just disappeared!" Peter looked at him, but did not respond. He looked out over the starboard of the ship, and pointed to a large island that had not been there before.

  "Head there." he said. "Drop anchor outside the reef. I have a delivery to make."

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November 11th 1944  

  "Just drop the tender with the crate. I'll go alone." Peter Black advised the Captain.

  "What is this place?" the Captain asked.

  "Classified." Black answered. "Above your clearance I'm afraid."

  "How did we get here? What was that bright light?" the Captain was looking for answers.

  "Sorry, but that's classified too." Black was matter of fact. "We would not want the enemy getting a hold of any of our newest technology would we?" Black knew that military officers understood when to stop asking questions.

  The tender was lowered gently into the water, with the crate inside. Peter got in, and with a wave to the Captain, shouted out: "I'll be back in three days. Stay here and wait." With that, he started the engine and headed toward the island.

  As the Mauna Loa got smaller behind the tender, the steep mountains of the island became bigger. Peter made his way around the point, out of sight of the ship. As he rounded the point, he saw a huge statue - at least 250 feet tall - Egyptian in style, that of a woman, but with a head of a creature with a long snout and sharp teeth. Near the statue, a fire was burning. He headed the tender toward the statue and the fire, and lay back and smiled.

  As the tender got closer to shore, a man could be seen sitting by the fire. He was looking out at the tender as it approached. He was not a military man, in fact his appearance was more like someone who had lived on the island for a long time, with handmade clothes and a weathered appearance.

  Peter stopped the engine and let the tender coast into the beach. The man from the beach got up and walked toward the boat. Peter nodded to the man and in a familiar way, said:

  "Jacob. Long time." The man smiled back and replied: "Peter. I've been expecting you." Jacob helped Peter out of the boat and they pulled it up onto the sand.

  "Hungry?" Jacob asked.

  "Yes." Peter replied. "Looking forward to some of your homemade stew."

  "Well let's go." Jacob said eagerly.

  "First, we need to unload the cargo." Peter indicated, pointing to the crate.

  "It can wait. It's not going anywhere." Jacob replied. Peter paused, unsure at first, then nodded. Jacob gestured him to follow and they both left the boat and walked toward the statue.