Scene 7

Rented hangar, Georgetown Airport

“According to the suppliers and government officials we have questioned,” I said to my assembled team, “Todd and his team were headed to the Guyana Highlands in the southwest portion of the country, near where the borders of Guyana, Venezuela, and Brazil all meet. Unlike the better-known tepuis in Canaima, in Venezuela, there are some smaller, completely unexplored tepuis. We suspect Todd was heading for one of those.”

“Unfortunately,” said Ms. Crane, “that region is still very wild. We could search for years to find traces of a team as small as Todd’s.”

“Is there no way to narrow down the search area?” asked Jock.

Ms. Crane pointed to the area on the map on the wall. “The tepuis we are interested in are all in this general region. If we first do an aerial reconnaissance, there is a small chance that we could locate some sign of the missing team. If that doesn’t work, we have no choice but to go in on the ground.”

“I have arranged for us to use a small passenger plane,” said Ms. Falcon. “It’s big enough for our entire team with lots of windows. We will search the area with that as long as fuel holds out.”

“Hopefully,” I said, “we can find a clue to the team’s whereabouts and then search the narrowed area from the ground. We have the last location of their tracking signals, so we can start there. Unfortunately, it has been a few days and they could have covered a lot of ground in that time.”

“There are other concerns,” said Ms. Hawk. “The national borders in that area are not clear and are in dispute. Both Todd’s team and our own have clearance from the Guyana government, but we have been unable to obtain the same clearance from Venezuela.”

“So we may run into the Venezuelan army?” asked Greg.

“The possibility exists,” I answered. “Hopefully our Guyana permits and a fast explanation will convince them that we truly are a rescue party and not trying to sneak across the border for illegal purposes.”

“Which brings us to my next caution,” Ms. Hawk continued. “There is a lot of illegal activity that takes place in Guyana, most notably both drug and human trafficking. Not only will we need to be careful, it could be an explanation for the loss of Todd’s team.”

“One other thing,” said Ms. Swan. “We still don’t know what caused the loss of the tracking signals. Whatever stopped their signals could affect us as well.”

“Any questions or concerns?” I asked.

When no one brought up any more issues, I continued. “Okay, I will contact the League to let them know our plans. I suggest you all get some rest. We take off at first light tomorrow.”