Free The Society of Orion: The Orion Codex by Gerald J . Kubicki, Kristopher Kubicki

sure they were all in running condition while kicking the tires. If one of them broke down on the trip, he knew it would jeopardize his goal.
    A huge unlit Cuban cigar filled his mouth. He wore military camouflage fatigues and a red beret on his head. He was armed with two handguns which road high on his hips. He felt a leader should look the part and patterned is attire after heroes he had seen in movies about Vietnam.
    “Make sure the two mortars are not in the same truck,” he ordered as he pointed to the back of one of the vehicles.
    “Why?” one of the thirty men standing around asked. “We’re all going to the same place.”
    “In case something happens to one of the trucks we will still have one left,” he replied.
    “Should we divide up the grenades too?” the man asked nervously. He was just beginning to realize that the jungle was a dangerous place.
    “That was going to be my next order,” the colonel muttered as he lit the huge cigar.
    “I believe that we are ready then,” another German man said. “All the provisions are loaded.”
    “We leave in two hours.”

 
     
    Chapter Twenty-Five
     
    As the Banyon expedition traveled down into the vast Amazon basin, the temperature quickly shot up from a moderate seventy degrees to over ninety. The travelers began to shed clothes and toss them into the back of the Hummer. Soon they all were dressed in just shorts and clinging tops.
    The air suddenly became very heavy with humidity and the smell of rotting vegetation became stronger as they drove deeper into the jungle. The foliage along the side of the road became denser. The trees got taller and the road got bumpier.
    Everyone was chattering away about visiting the largest jungle on the planet. Loni was reading from a brochure one of the monks had given her. Banyon sat beside her, but said nothing.
    “It says here that about eighty percent of all the foods we eat originally came from the rainforest,” she told everyone. “That includes: coffee, tomatoes, potatoes and even corn.”
    “I’ve read somewhere that many medicines are coming from the plants in the jungle too,” Mandy said.
    “That’s right,” Loni agreed. “According to this brochure, over twenty-five percent of the medicines we use today originated from plants in the Amazon rainforest. And scientists have only tested about one percent of the millions of different plants here.”
    “What about animals?” Maya asked.
    “Over half of the world’s animal species live in the rainforest,” Loni offered.
    “But aren’t the rainforests in the world shrinking?” Carol inquired.
    “Not shrinking,” Loni answered. “The rainforests are being deforested to make farmland. At the rate of one and a half acres per second I might add.”
    “That can’t be good!” Carol exclaimed.
    “Stop the car,” Banyon suddenly roared. “I have several things to tell all of you.”
    ***
    Once they had pulled off the road, the travelers piled out of the Hummer and congregated in a semi-circle around the back of the vehicle. There was a look of concern on their faces. The excitement of the adventure was suddenly washed away. Something was wrong.
    “I need a few minutes to collect my thoughts,” Banyon explained. “Just wait here.” He then went off into the foliage.
    When he was far enough away from the road, Banyon asked Wolf a question.
    “Is what Father Hector told me true?”
    “He doesn’t lie, but he does at times omit some things,” the spirit replied.
    “So the Germans will have mortars and grenades?
    “Yes,” Wolf answered.
    “And what about the Tayos caves? Is that also true?”
    “Yes, I’m afraid what he told you is also true.”
    “So the only reason we are heading into the jungle is to put a stop to the German threat. Is that right?”
    “Father Hector is a devious man with a strong desire to help humanity,” Wolf answered. “I would not tell your team about the caves though. Let them find out for themselves after the