Missions of the Retrieval Team - Land of the Kilts

[davedove]

Scene 13

Nearby in the Jungle

The young hunter watched as the tall pale skinned man walked away with the shaggy beast. The strange pale man wore a lower garment similar to the hunter’s, but also strange garments on his upper body.

Could this man have come from the same place as the Great Konnal? The man’s skin was pale as the Konnal’s was said to be and there was much hair on the man’s face, as the people of the Konnal were said to have.

The hunter was disappointed that the shaggy beast he had been tracking would now escape his arrows, but this was so much more fascinating. The shaggy beast had actually faced down the great jaguar.

And the pale man was talking with the beast, as if he were a friend. Did this man have the magic to talk with animals, or was this beast some strange demonic familiar?

This was indeed a strange day for wondrous things. First the great roaring bird that trailed smoke passed overhead and now this pale man and his shaggy beast appear in the jungle.

Whatever was going on, the young hunter would follow this strange man and his shaggy beast.

Oh, the stories he would be able to tell the others around the night fire.

[Standard]

Good boy Wompet.

[Wompet]

Huh - and here I thought that pain in my leg was from wrenching my knee while shoveling snow ...
So, since I'm the gunshot victim in this story, who's going to tell Livingston that it's safe to come out?

[Livingston]

Guns don't scare me any more since I have my kevlar kilt etc. But those bows and arrows along with the spears? OUCH!!!

[Jock Scot]

Guns don't scare me any more since I have my kevlar kilt etc. But those bows and arrows along with the spears? OUCH!!!

To go with those sharp pointy things we, well you actually, had better not forget the no antidote covering that those things have.

[Livingston]

Too true, Jock. Now, if Ms Pleater had thought to bring me back one of those force fields things during her travels I wouldn't be so concerned.

[davedove]

Scene 14

The Guyana Highlands

Wompet led me for several minutes until we entered an area where the trunks of the trees were further apart, although their branches still blocked the sun. Wompet ran to the middle of the gap, stopped, and then looked up. I looked up to see what was there.

Hanging from the branches by a parachute, was Frank McGrath. Unlike my own landing, however, Frank was high enough that falling would probably break some bones.

Frank appeared to be dozing as he hung from the branches.

“Frank!” I called up to him. When he didn’t respond, I called again. “Frank, wake up!”

He stirred after I called the second time and looked around.

“Frank, are you okay?” I asked.

“Dave? Oh, man, am I glad to see you,” he answered.

“Are you okay?” I asked again.

“As good as I can be, considering I’m dangling from the trees with no way to get down.”

“Just release the straps on your parachute; you’ll get down,” I said, chuckling a little.

“Right, and break both my legs in the process. Help me.”

I looked around for anything I could use to get Frank out of the branches. Nothing I saw looked favorable.

“I have an idea, Frank, but you could still get hurt,” I told him.

“What is it?”

“Well, I’m going to try to fashion something to break your fall. It will be rough and you will certainly get bruised and perhaps cut a bit, but you shouldn’t break anything.”

“Is that all you can think of?”

“Without someone to help me and more equipment, I think it’s the only option.”

He thought for a moment. “Okay, let’s do it.”

As I moved away to begin work, I heard him mutter, “I could really use a drink about now.”

For the next hour or so, I worked to fashion a crude cushion for Frank. I managed to move the hard objects from under him and then cut ferns and bushes from the clearing with my survival knife. I piled up the plants under Frank and then draped my parachute canopy over them, tucking the chute in around the edges to create the cushioning effect.

“Okay,” I called up to him. “This is probably the best you’ll get.”

Frank looked down skeptically. “You think this will work?”

“It’s the only shot you’ve got without either more help or equipment. Come on, unhook your harness and do it. It’s not going to get any better.”

I could tell Frank was working up his nerve. He reached for the buckles of the parachute pack with both hands and flipped them open. He dropped straight down onto the cushion.

By tucking the edges of the parachute in, I had trapped a bit of air within the canopy. As Frank hit, this air was forced out. The plants beneath the chute absorbed most of Frank’s momentum and he gave a slight grunt as he hit.

I quickly moved over to him. “Are you okay?”

Frank took stock of himself and answered me. “Yeah, I’m okay, but next time I get to rescue you, okay?”

“It’s a deal,” I said and extended my hand to help him up.

[davedove]

Scene 15

The Guyana Highlands

“Wait a minute,” Frank said as he got a better look at the dog with me. “Isn’t that Wompet?”

Wompet recognized his name being spoken and trotted over to Frank to greet him.

“Yes, it is, and you can thank him for my finding you.”

“But if Wompet’s here, wouldn’t that mean the lost party must be somewhere relatively close.”

“I would assume that to be the case, as long as they weren’t taken away in a vehicle. That’s not all though; somebody shot at Wompet.”

“So they encountered trouble.”

“That seems likely, especially considering what happened to us over the clearing.”

“You think the same people had something to do with our guys?”

“Probably, those people at the clearing were obviously trying to hide something. Why else would they shoot at us?”

“Who do you think they are?”

“They’re probably not regular military, but you never know in this part of the world. My guess is they are part of the criminal element around here. Either drug or slave traffickers.”

“That doesn’t sound very favorable for our people.”

“No, it doesn’t. So we need to rescue them as quickly as we can. We need to be smart about it though. First, we need to find the rest of the team. I don’t suppose you saw anyone else?”

“No, I saw the chutes of those who jumped out before me. I’m not the most experienced with paratrooper operations though. I’m lucky I didn’t break my neck.”

“Ms. Swan left the plane after you. You must have drifted far enough away from her bearing that she missed you. I’m not surprised at that, considering the jungle. If it wasn’t for Wompet, I would have missed you too.”

“What’s our plan?”

I looked up at the dimming light. “First, we’re going to have to stop for the night. As hard as it is to see things in the jungle, it would be impossible at night. Then we try your radio and see if we can reach any of our team. In the morning, we follow the bearing back and hope we can find some sign of our team.”

[davedove]

Scene 16

Outside the Camp

The young hunter watched as the two pale men arranged the strange skin into a shelter.

Again, such wonders he was seeing. The strange shaggy beast had led the pale man into a clearing where another pale man was hanging by strange vines from the trees. But how had the second man come to be hanging from the trees. It was almost as if he had dropped from the sky.

The second pale man also talked to the beast and petted its thick fur. As the hunter watched, he could see that the great beast must be some sort of pet; much like the younger children of the tribe would befriend small jungle animals. But this beast was so much larger than the pets of the children.

There was strong magic in the strange skin they were using to make the shelter. When the first man had laid it over the plants, the second man had been able to fall very far without breaking his limbs.

As the hunter watched, the first pale man pulled something from a pouch on the strange garment he wore over his chest. It seemed to be some odd fruit as the man peeled off the tough looking skin before breaking off pieces of some strange food within. It must have been food, as the man shared it with the other man and the shaggy beast and they all ate it.

The first man asked the other for something and the second man pulled a small tool from his vest. The first man performed odd gestures and spoke into the tool. A strange hissing sound seemed to come from it.

The pale man seemed discouraged and passed the tool back to the second man. The two continued eating until their fruit was gone.

As night fell the pale men went inside their shelter and soon sounds of their sleeping could be heard. One of the men sounded like a great beast as he slept.

The young hunter kept watch over the shelter through the night, too fascinated to sleep.

[davedove]

Scene 17

The Guyana Highlands

Except for the normal jungle sounds and Frank’s snoring, the night passed quietly. In the morning we broke down our shelter and packed up the canopy again. Unfortunately, we had been unable to reach anyone using Frank’s radio. It still appeared to work, but we only got static.

The three of us backtracked to where Wompet had saved me from the jaguar and then resumed travel on my original bearing to find the rest of our team.

The sun was almost directly overhead when I called a break.

“Shouldn’t we have seen some trace of the others by now?” Frank asked.

“Yes,” I answered with concern, “unless everyone is scattered much more than I thought. That’s not a good thing though.”

Suddenly, we heard the rip of automatic gunfire ahead of us, answered by the single shots of an automatic pistol.

I drew my own handgun and signaled for Frank to follow me with Wompet. We pushed through the jungle as quietly as we could while still maintaining some speed.

As we neared the source of the gunfire, it suddenly stopped. I quickly motioned for my companions to stop and conceal themselves.

I slowly moved forward to determine the situation. As I examined the jungle around me, I could make out a small squad of men creeping through the jungle. Each of them held an assault rifle, AK-47’s from their appearance, and they were moving towards a small mound of rocks. Two men were slowly advancing directly towards the rocks, while another two men were flanking the position, one from each side.

As I watched, I noticed someone peeking over the rocks. He only exposed himself for a second, but I was sure it was Greg. At least one member of my team was trapped behind those rocks.

I motioned Frank forward and he moved up with Wompet. I quickly related the situation to him and told him my plan to rescue whoever was trapped behind the rocks. Frank would take Wompet and circle towards Greg while I would go the other way and try to distract the armed men. We only had the pistols against their rifles, but hopefully between Greg and us we could succeed.

As I moved to my position, I searched the ground for a suitable rock. I found one that was the right size and bent to pick it up. I glanced over to Frank’s position and then to Greg’s shelter.

I quickly threw the rock towards a large tree. As the rock struck the tree loudly, the armed men turned their rifles towards the sound.

As the men turned, I raised my pistol and fired twice quickly, hitting the two men in front of me. At the same time, Frank and Wompet jumped the man in front of them, pinning him to the ground.

Greg, thinking quickly, fired his own pistol at the remaining man, dropping him with one shot.

Our surprise attack had worked.