44. Edgar

Edgar hadn"t expected to enjoy the traditional Tibetan beverage of black tea, salt, yak butter, and milk, but it was growing on him. As his phone rang, he reluctantly put the cup down to pull it out of his pocket.

Seeing Aru"s avatar picture on the screen, he tensed. "What happened? Is Jasmine okay?"

"Jasmine is fine." Aru"s voice sounded as if he was inside an echo chamber. "We found the pod."

All around Edgar, murmurs of excitement started, and the others huddled closer to listen.

"That"s incredible," Edgar said. "Did you find the twins?"

"We didn"t open the stasis chambers yet. We want Julian to get here with his medical equipment before we attempt it. It seems like most of them are not working, but I"m getting minimal energy readouts, which gives me hope that some occupants might have survived."

Julian got closer to the phone. "Don"t touch anything until I arrive."

"We won"t," Aru said. "We also need more ropes and pulleys to remove the stasis chambers. The pod is about thirty meters deep, and the ropes we have with us are too short. We also don"t have enough ropes or pulleys for pulling the chambers out."

Edgar had no idea where he would get those things. They had brought some equipment with them, but the operation Aru described required a crane and not just some ropes and pulleys. They had assumed that they would have time to get what they needed in Shiquanhe, which was still an option, but it seemed like Aru was in a rush.

"It won"t be easy to get all that here," he said. "Do we have time to get what we need from the city?"

"I don"t think so," Aru replied. "We might be too late already."

"I"ll do my best to get what I can locally. I need your coordinates."

"I"ll text them to you. But just be careful to avoid the military base. Come in from another direction. We don"t want to draw their attention."

"Understood," Edgar said. "Is there enough clear space for me and the other helicopter to land? The payload will be too much for one helicopter, but if you don"t want him to assist, I will do it in two trips."

There was a long moment of hesitation. "The military base is a pain in the rear, but we have permits for operating two helicopters, and we might need all that medical equipment when we open the chambers. Besides, going back and forth will look just as suspicious."

"What about a landing pad?"

"There is plenty of room. The top of the mountain is a flat plateau, covered mostly by low bushes and some grasses. The chasm is in the center and roughly the size of the pod, so I assume that the pod melted the rock going down when it crashed here. I doubt it"s clearly visible from the sky, but take a look when you get over here. I"m curious to see how it looks from above."

That was indeed interesting. Unless the chasm was small and looked natural, someone would have come to investigate, especially since there was a military base nearby, which had to have air traffic since there were no roads leading up to it. The pod actually making the small crater made much more sense than it finding its way into it by accident.

"Don"t forget to send me the coordinates," he told Aru.

"I"m sending them right now."

As the coordinates appeared on his screen, Edgar started mentally plotting the best route to avoid notice from the base. "I"ll let you know as soon as we are in the air," he said.

"One last thing, remind Julian to bring his earpieces, and don"t forget yours."

"I will do that."

As the call ended, Edgar shoved one more momo into his mouth and rose to his feet. "I"m going to see about the ropes." He looked at Julian. "Did you hear everything?"

The doctor nodded. "I"ll load everything I have into the helicopter."

"Do you need help?" Frankie asked Edgar. "If you tell us what you need, Margo, Gabi, and I can do the rounds and buy what you need to save you time."

Edgar"s first instinct was to say that he had this and that he didn"t need help, but the truth was that he did. It would be great if they could help him secure the supplies faster.

"I"d appreciate any help I can get." He told them what kinds of ropes were needed, their lengths, and what other gear was needed for lifting the chambers. "I hope the general store has it. If not, you can check the warehouse at the end of the street. They collect odds and ends that tourists leave behind and resell them."