New Grenada: Jack Wellington UN Attaché

By Gerald Goble

Jack Wellington a UN Preservationist assigned to help Member States preserve and protect their cultural artifacts from natural disasters, war and criminals. Now he is off to Ecuador to help a museum damaged by an earthquake. He finds there has been looting at the museum and chases the thieves across Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. In doing so he becomes immersed in the shadowy underworld of South America filled with criminals, terrorists, and ex-pats from the US and Serbia. To add complications his mother is trying to arrange a blind date.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gerald Goble
• Release date: Jul 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370482498

Gerald Goble

Gerald Goble has PhD in Theoretical Physics and has been a research scientist, teacher, federal employee, businessman, manager, and martial arts instructor. He is author of several scientific publications, U.S. Army Publications on Ammunition and Explosives, non fiction books "The Way of Two as One“, "The Bear Slayer – Women’s Self-Defense“; the fiction books, the Bunko Club Murder series, and the Jack Wellington UN Attaché Series, Westerns “Jacob’s Coat”, "Strays" and "Warrior Woman" and Science Fiction, "The Majestic Committee."

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New Grenada

By

Gerald Goble

New Grenada

By

Gerald Goble

New Grenada

Copyright © 2011 Gerald Goble

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical including photocopying, recording, taping by or by information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author with exception of brief quotations.

US Copyright" pending

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either, the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

For Joan, my friend, my love

Chapter 1

Jack Wellington sat in the airplane seat with his eyes closed remembering the week he spent at home. He smiled as he had a memory of sitting on the beach in the sun with no pressures or deadlines. In his work for the UN, a week here and there spent at home was precious. He opened his eyes and sighed. He thought, Well I might as well get at it.

Jack reached down, unzipped the back of the computer bag, and extracted an envelope. He looked out of the window at the clouds and tips of mountains peeking through. He didn’t mentally take note of the scene other than it was calming. He extracted the orders from UN Headquarters in New York, and scanned through the usual boilerplate to the important paragraph on his mission. It read, Assist the local Ecuadorian Government and Museum officials in securing and protecting the antiquities in the Museo Casa de Sucre, due to the earthquake damage resulting from the eruption of the Tungurahua Volcano.

Following that paragraph was more boilerplate about the UN Treaty Authority and the funding stream to support the work. Jack thought, What a mouthful. I wonder how you correctly pronounce the name of the volcano. He sat there for a moment then whispered the sounds, Tongue wah rah ow. He thought, I bet there is a rhythm to the name. Guess I’ll figure it out the first time a native laughs at my pronunciation.

The landing at Marsical airport in Quito was smooth. There were puffy little clouds on the surrounding hills but not a hint of turbulence. The airport was a new modern two-story structure with a line of planes in front on the tarmac feeding passengers in and out of the building. The security check-in was relatively easy, compared to the airports in the middle east he had been in and out of for the last six months. He had a bag, computer, and camera, which was a load so he was glad to see the man in a blue uniform and cap holding the sign that read Wellington. The gold nameplate on his suit jacket read, Juan.

Jack said, I’m Wellington are you from the UN?

The man nodded and took his bag. He said, I am Juan and I was sent to bring you to the UN mission.

Jack said, OK but I would like to go by the Hotel Andaluz first to check in and dump the bag. Jack watched the expression on the chauffeurs face and watched him either mentally decode the words or mentally compute something else. The ride from the airport to the hotel was quiet. Jack thought, The man’s English is limited. It could be that he was just not a talker but I’ve never met a driver that was not a chatterbox but there is always a first.

The hotel was recommended by the one of the Ecuadorian staff members at UN Headquarters and lived up to every bit of its reputation. Jack checked in, turned over his bag, and computer to the bellman, and was again off in the car to the UN mission. His point of contact at the UN was the Cultural Minister a Mr. Fernandez. When Jack came up to the secretary outside of his office, Fernandez came out of his office to shake Jack’s hand. He said, Mr. Wellington, we have been expecting you. Please come into my office. The man was solid but not heavy, thinning black hair, with a precise black moustache, in brown suit pants, a yellow shirt with sleeves rolled up, and a tie pulled loose and hanging. He motioned for Jack to have a seat and asked, What have you been told about your mission here?

Jack handed him the envelope with his orders. He said, As I understand I am to help with securing antiquities at the museum Casa de Sucre after it was damaged by an earthquake.

Fernandez said, The particular room of the museum that was damaged contains hand written documents and paintings of Simón Bolivar. Damage was extensive to the room and the government engineers did not allow anyone into it to retrieve the antiquities. We asked for you to come down sooner because the room was in a precarious position. He paused then continued, But it worked out lucky for you because we had an after shock yesterday that brought down the remains of the room. Had you come down earlier you might have been in the room when it collapsed.

Jack thought, Yeah, yeah, yeah but that was the first time I’ve been home in six months and I needed a break. Trying not to let his personal annoyances show, he made a serious face. He said, Sorry, I couldn’t be here sooner but there was a lot of paperwork I had to finish from my last job. You know how bureaucratic UN Headquarters is. I’m here now, I need to see the problem. Oh by the way there was a package sent here for me, did it arrive?

Fernandez said, Yes my secretary has it. Do you need it now?

Jack said, No, it’s a satellite phone system, but I will need it tonight.

Fernandez said, I will have her send it over to your hotel while we go over to the museum.

The two men left the Mission in the car with the driver Juan. At the museum, the car pulled around the museum to the side. The damage was extensive. The wing on west of the building was destroyed. The main building was undamaged. Like most of the buildings in the center of the city, the building the construction was of large limestone blocks fitted to one another with the cement between them used primarily for caulking.

Jack got out of the car followed by Mr. Fernandez. He walked up to the pile of rubble and around the end. He turned to Mr. Fernandez and asked, Where were the antiquities before the quake?

They were in a room on the first floor, Fernandez said. As he spoke he pointed to an exposed doorway in the side of the building.

Jack looked at the doorway and the one above it also exposed, then the pile of rubble below. Jack said, It looks like the entire wing has fallen into the basement of the building. We need to be careful when lifting out the rubble. We need to remove the rubble by taking out one floor at a time. Do you have a contractor or workers you use at the mission? I also need a complete list of what was on each floor in this wing and where in the room it was located. Also, what state it was in before the quake, like in a frame, or table drawer, or lying on a desktop. Also any pictures of the rooms would be good to have.

Mr. Fernandez hesitated clearly going through something in his mind. He said, There is a Miss Maria Mendez that is an assistant to the curator that you can work with to get that information. But as far as the crew to pull all of this apart who is going to pay for them?

Jack sighed then said, Usually in these situations the UN Mission works it out with the local country to provide the workers under UN direction. The museum provides an advisor, and that person assists me in determining damage done to any items, helps in cleaning, repair, and secure storage of recovered items. The budget I have from UN Headquarters does not cover any tasks that rightfully should be done by the host country.

Mr. Fernandez patted Jack on the shoulder and smiled, Jack this is the first time we have done this. From your little speech, my guess is you do this all the time. I will arrange with my counterparts in the Ecuadorian government for the workers and get Miss Mendez to sit down with you on the museum information. For now, why don’t we take you back to your hotel and let you get settled in.

Jack said, There is one other thing. I noticed on the ride in from the airport and the ride over here, the damage due to the earthquake is to weaker structures. The poor always suffer from an earthquake. Here in the center of the city there is very little damage.

Fernandez said, That is because we have many earthquakes and the buildings have been built to withstand them.

Jack said, "Then why this wing of the museum, when the rest shows little or no damage. What this means is the construction of this wing was after the rest of the museum and the contractor or persons that build it avoided the regulations for building to withstand an earthquake. And that generally means the builder either knows someone in power or paid them off.

Fernandez made a face and was about to say something, but Jack held up his hand. Jack said, I know being from the UN we can’t speak about this such things, but in the treaty I operate under, I am not suppose to return any items I have custody over to an environment that is not safe. I have used it before as a way of opening the conversation about the previous buildings construction in a way that doesn’t get the host countries diplomatic nose out of joint.

Fernandez smiled as he said, I understand.

The two men walked back toward the car. Jack said, When you get the men from the local government have them bring an excavator with a grapple so the rubble can be gently grappled and lifted out of the pile. If a group of people come in here and try to scrape away the rubble, they will add damage to anything under the pile. If you can’t get a grapple make sure the back hoe operator knows what he is doing with a bucket.

The two men road in the car in silence for a while then Mr. Fernandez said, You know things are very deliberate here. He paused then said, At least compared to New York City.

As they rode, Jack thought, This happens again and again when I get into the field in these situations. If I don’t stay on them, I’ll be down here three months on this job.

Jack looked out of the car window at the sky and asked, How often does it rain here this time of year?

Fernandez said, This is the dry time of year so the most it we get is a shower late in the afternoon.

Jack said, Well with the rubble of both stories in the basement. A heavy rain could turn this into a swimming pool. It might be a good idea to locate some tarps just in case we need them to cover up the site.

Chapter 2

Jack had a good nights sleep at the hotel and a big breakfast the next morning. He was sitting in the restaurant enjoying a cup of coffee. He thought after six months in Iraq drinking that Espresso-like stuff they call coffee this is good.

He leaned back with a mouth full held it for a moment then swallowed

He could see into the lobby. Jack watched as a short slightly overweight woman in a black skirt and a yellow blouse with a square cut top came in and went to the front desk. The man at the front desk nodded in the direction of the restaurant and the woman turned and came toward him. Jack thought, This must be Miss Mendez.

Mr. Wellington, I am Maria Mendez from the Museo Casa de Sucre, she said.

Jack stood up and shook her hand when she reached the table. He offered her a seat. She plopped down in the seat and dropped a heavy briefcase on the floor next to the chair. Jack asked, Would you like a cup of coffee?

Her breating was labored. She said, That would be good.

Jack motioned to the waiter and lifted his cup nodding toward the woman. The waiter got the signal and began coming their way with a rolling cart with coffee and various baked goods. Jack asked, Did Mr. Fernandez tell you what I need?

Miss Mendez nodded and said, Yes, I brought several things so we could piece together what you need.

The waiter refilled Jack’s cup of coffee and poured Miss Mendez a cup of the black liquid. Jack saw her furtively glance at the array of sticky buns and cakes on the tray stopping for a second glance at a pair of small buns covered with a glaze and dotted with nuts. He asked, Would you like a treat?

She hesitated and said. I shouldn’t.

Jack thought, That means I could kill for one of these buns. He turned to the waiter and said, Why don’t you give us two of those little buns with nuts.

She smiled as she bent over and extracted some papers from her briefcase. She said, Carlos er ah, Mr. Fernandez said you need to know what was in the west wing before the quake. Here are some brochures that we give out to the visitors to the museum.

Jack looked over the brochures and asked, "Do you have any blank paper and tape in your briefcase?

She said, "I have some paper but I don’t have any tape.’ While she was getting the paper Jack went out to the front desk and got a roll of tape from the bellman. In a few minutes, Jack cut out the drawings of the two floors in the west wing of the museum and taped them to the blank sheets of paper. During the process, Miss Mendez daintily consumed one of the sticky buns and half a cup of coffee. On the third sheet, he drew in a rectangle to represent the basement room.

He started with the central display indicated on the brochure drawing of the first floor. He said to Miss Mendez, Describe this display in detail.

Miss Mendez said, There are two hermetically sealed boxes containing hand written documents by Simón Bolivar. Both cases are fifty centimeters square and twenty centimeters high. They are tilted display boxes so visitors can look into them. The lights in the room are special lights so they do not affect the documents.

Jack made notes on the side of the paper and drew an arrow to the center of the diagram. Jack asked, Were they sitting on a table or a solid cabinet, and was the top glass of Plexiglas?

She hesitated and twisted her head as she was thinking. She said, They were on a table, and I think the top was Plexiglas because as I remember one of them had a scratch on the top, that shown in the light at certain angles.

Jack went around the each of the diagrams making notes. At the end, the three pages detailed how all of