Part 3 (1/2)
”Pilot?” Lazada looked surprise
Dr Okola hastened to explain ”I neglected to tell Mr Lazada that you are bringing your own plane Of course, sir, permission was obtained in advance from the Philippine Aeronautics Authority”
”A helicopter, of course,” Lazada said ”Nothing else would be of value in Mountain Province The only air-field is at Baguio”
”It's a four-place Sky Wagon,” Rick said ”We hoped there ed ”Perhaps there are, but they are not regular airports
Planes do not fly in that country Both the ht it not be possible for theo over the mountains to Banaue by truck?” Dr Okola asked
”Perhaps” Lazada didn't seeolden skull?” He added, ”I can tell you more about the transportation you will need when I know that”
”We only know that it should be so the rice terraces,” Tony Briotti said ”I realize that they cover entire mountainsides That is e came prepared to stay for some time if need be There is so much territory to cover with our equipreed ”What is the expression? A needle in a haystack? Surely you must have soon Isn't that so, Dr Briotti?”
Tony nodded ”That's what the translation of the Kwangara Island artifacts said The dragon is supposed to be guarding a cache of religious objects, including the golden skull and other gold objects”
”You ilt skull, of course,” Lazada said
”No, the description was quite clear A skull of old”
”A miniature, probably”
”No, sir The skull is actually larger than life size”
Lazada stopped slouching in his chair ”Incredible!”
Dr Okola spoke up ”After all, Mr Secretary, gold is ht here in the Philippines In Mountain Province, in fact And it is found inas he watched Lazada's face The assistant Secretary see so It was al sums in his head
Gold is heavy It would take a lot of gold to make a life-size skull, even a hollow one Gold is worth thirty-five dollars an ounce, legally If s twice that
”Tell lad to oblige Next to actually working at his profession he enjoyed talking about it ”The dragon is of the greatest ihout the culture of the East We followed its trail froreat temple of Ankor Vat in Cambodia all the way to the sunken temple of Alta Yuan”
Rick remembered vividly He had been at the controls of the Submobile, a hundred fathoms under the waters of the Pacific, when the first Alta Yuan dragon caon was the incarnation of the chief God of the Alta Yuan people When an earthquake sank the temple, the people of the island lost their Gods When we hauled the dragon back up and gave it to theood for us” He paused ”By 'we' Ithe lucky ones, since I had not yet joined the Spindrift group”
Okola shared Tony's excitement over the Alta Yuan find ”I, too, was very much interested in that expedition And when I heard that the artifacts brought from the bottom of the sea provided a possible connection between the Philippines and that ancient culture, you can iine my excitement”
Rick could see that Lazada could not possibly iical find, but was too courteous to say so
”Then finding a si the rice terraces would show a link between our country and the ruins of Ankor Vat?” Lazada asked
”Exactly,” Tony replied