In the Land of Eternal Spring: Adventures of Ben and Bob

By Bob Haider

In this novelette Ben and Bob descend into a dormant volcano and encounter something they did not expect in the Land of Eternal Spring.  Ben is an entrepreneur, whose knowledge, success and insight are sought worldwide.  Bob, published in many scientific journals, is a renowned inventor with numerous patents and winner of The Noble Prize in Physics.  Together, Ben and Bob form SWAMP---Strategies with a Meaningful Purpose---and team their skills to combat a menacing threat or solve an age-old mystery.  Follow the exploits of these two modern day knights as they crisscross the globe confronting intrigue and danger while exhibiting extraordinary physical ability.  After reading one, you will want to read another and another…until you have read them all.  Join Ben and Bob in their adventure as they travel to the jungles Guatemala…their next exciting experience and yours is only a CLICK away…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bob Haider
• Release date: Dec 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223644590

Bob Haider

In addition to Brothers and the short stories, Tree of Life, Bob has authored the Ben & Bob adventure series, as well as full-length novels Pictures on the Wall, his initial novel on political courage, Whispers in the Night about revenge on a criminal empire and The Game Begins about an elusive serial killer. Raised in Downers Grove, Illinois, Bob is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and lives in Glenview, Illinois with his long-time companion, Mary Ellen.

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My grateful acknowledgement is extended to my dear friend Ben Cusomato for his contributions to this piece.

Prologue

In the northern most area of Guatemala in the region known as Petén, Garcia Nieva ran frantically through the steamy undergrowth of the hot Guatemalan jungle.  Wounded, his crimson blood streaming down his arm, he desperately ran from his pursuers with every ounce of strength he could muster.

The murderous drug trade was deeply embedded in Guatemala.  Drugs were so prevalent that Guatemala had passed Panama as the number one drug trafficking country in Central America.

In the mountainous region just south of the Mexican border, Guatemalans cultivate poppies, convert the crop into paste and sell it to Mexican traffickers who process the substance into heroin.

Garcia glanced quickly over his shoulder...terror etched deeply on his face.  He tripped on the exposed outer root of a Ramon tree and fell face first to the forest floor.

In merely three years the total area of poppy cultivation quadrupled and Guatemala moved into fourth place in the world among opium producing countries.  Cocaine was an even bigger business as more than four tons of the white powder passes through Guatemala, Mexico and into the U.S.A. in a single month—-every month.

Garcia Nieva picked himself up only to stumble yet again.  Exhausted and gasping for oxygen in the heavy humid air, he rolled over onto his back unable to rise again.  He had been running for miles...how many he didn’t know.  His lungs heaved and burned from exhaustion while his arm throbbed in pain from his wound.  He closed his eyes in utter fatigue.  He opened them briefly as he looked blurrily overhead through the forest canopy, the sun flickering through the leaves and branches above him.  He closed his eyes again...too weak to even keep his eyelids open.

The opium yield from a single pod varies greatly but the average yield per pod is about 80 milligrams.  Excessive moisture and heat can cause the opium to deteriorate but, once dried, opium is relatively stable and if dried properly, the opium can be stored indefinitely.

Mexico is also a major drug producing country and it additionally acts as a transit country for the pass-through of even more drugs, as in the case of Guatemala.  Mexico produces a mere fraction of the world’s cocaine, but estimates are that 90% of the cocaine entering the U.S.A. transits Mexico.

Suddenly, flocks of herons, egrets and wedge-tailed shearwaters fled from the tops of the emergent trees of the rainforest in a flurry of frenetic activity...instinctively aware that danger approached, frightened by the intrusion of an unwanted visitor.

Garcia Nieva knew his pursuers had narrowed the lead he once had on them and were closing in on him.

The iron hand controlling drugs—-in, through and out of Guatemala—-was that of the Colombian drug lords.  Characteristic of their operation in South America, brutal, bloody murders occurred throughout Guatemala...those killings often preceded by vicious, cold-blooded, sadistic torture.

Herons flew wildly into the distance as they heard the excruciating screams of Garcia Nieva.

Killing someone was not enough for those who ran the Guatemalan drug trade.  Anyone who attempted to cheat them certainly died...but slowly...in excruciating pain.

Chapter 1

Ben placed a call to Rome where Bob lived in a small apartment off the Piazza Navona.

When Bob answered, Ben skipped the social amenities, as he usually did with his partner, and omitted the usual banter as well.  He didn’t even bother to say hello as he went straight to the matter at hand.

Did you receive the instructions and the formula I sent to you a month ago? Ben asked.

Oh, yeah.  Since you didn’t mention when it needed to be ready for our next project, I prepared several gallons without delay as to your specifications, Bob answered without his usual rejoinders, as he realized immediately when an assignment was at hand.

"Good, there’s a plane leaving Rome in three hours to New York City.  I need you and all the mixture you prepared on that flight.  A ticket is waiting for you at the check-in counter at that da Vinci airport.

That’s the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino airport, Bob stated.

Yeah, that one.  I’ll meet you at La Guardia in the International Terminal after you’ve cleared customs and immigration.

Not skipping a beat or asking why, Bob simply responded by straightaway entering negotiations, as he stated, "For a flight across the