Missions of the Retrieval Team - Land of the Kilts

[Wompet]

Now, where has Wompet scuttled off to? My eye sight is not what is was, I would hate to put a hole in one of the home team!

Jock, I would be the large, shaggy white blur.
The large green blurs are the trees, which are, understandably, fair game.

[Jock Scot]

Jock, I would be the large, shaggy white blur.
The large green blurs are the trees, which are, understandably, fair game.

Don't laugh Jock! Oh please don't laugh, Jock! You know it hurts to laugh, Jock! Oh B----- H --- it hurts to laugh! OOOH, OOOOO, OUCH, OWWWW!

[Livingston]

Jock, I would be the large, shaggy white blur.
The large green blurs are the trees, which are, understandably, fair game.

Don't laugh Jock! Oh please don't laugh, Jock! You know it hurts to laugh, Jock! Oh B----- H --- it hurts to laugh! OOOH, OOOOO, OUCH, OWWWW!

Bad dog. Down Wompet, behave yourself or I'll have Jock pointing his rifle in the "wrong" direction.

[davedove]

Scene 43

Jungle Outpost in the Guyana Highlands

Ms. Stork and I sat there with Ms. Hawk, watching over her. Greg and Jock had come to check on us, then moved away to let us be alone with our associate. We all knew there was nothing we could do for her and that it was only a matter of time.

I didn’t realize the natives had come into the building until I felt the hand on my shoulder.

I looked up to see the Captain. “Mayja, we hep ur.”

I looked back to see that Pivat had brought the Captain and another of the natives. This man carried a large bag with him. As Ms. Stork and I moved aside, the man knelt down to examine Ms. Hawk. I looked at Pivat in confusion.

“Esswell, Mayja. Ee surgun.”

The man gently pressed his fingers all over her bruised body, intently examining the extent of her injuries. He then reached into his bag and pulled out a small handful of tiny leaves. He crushed them in his hands and then placed them under her nose.

It took a few moments, but the fumes released from the leaves triggered a reaction from Ms. Hawk. She began to cough and her eyes flickered open. She saw the native over her and tried to rise up.

“Easy, Karen,” said Ms. Stork, “he’s trying to help.”

Ms. Hawk looked over at me and I nodded, taking her hand to hold it.

The doctor smiled in satisfaction and again dug into his bag. He pulled out a small cup along with a different kind of leaves. He crushed these leaves in the cup and poured water over them.

He then gestured for Ms. Stork and I to raise Ms. Hawk. We gently brought up her head and he placed the cup to her mouth, making her drink his brew. After she managed to cough down all the liquid, he gestured for us to again lower her.

The doctor looked up to the Captain. “She needa go Hekata,” he said.

The Captain looked to me and I nodded. If the doctor could help her back at the village, we would do everything we could to get her there.

The Captain went to the door and called out. When he came back, several natives were with him. At his command, they surrounded the cot and lifted it, then carried it outside. Ms. Stork and the doctor followed.

Marta was moving among the women, calming them. I turned to Greg and Jock.

“Everything seems to be okay here, gentlemen. Let’s go see about the men,” I said to them.

“There’s a problem with that,” Greg said to me. “Come see for yourself.”

We all left the building and looked toward the mine. We hadn’t noticed it during the combat, but it was all too apparent now. The trap Secuaz had set for us had collapsed the cliff over the mouth of the mine.

The men were trapped in the mountain.

[davedove]

Scene 44

Jungle Outpost in the Guyana Highlands

All of us quickly rushed to the mound of rock covering the mouth of the mine. I carefully climbed to the top of the pile and saw that there was a small gap. That was good; it meant that those inside could still get air.

“Hello in the mine!” I called through the gap. “Is everyone okay in there?”

I paused to listen for a response, but heard none.

“Watch out,” I said to those behind me. “I’m going to make this hole bigger.”

Those gathered around the base of the rock pile moved back as I started to pull rocks away from the gap. I took several minutes before the gap was big enough for me to slip through.

“Toss me a light,” I said to Greg, who quickly pulled the flashlight from his vest and tossed it up to me.

I turned on the light and directed the beam of light into the hole. I couldn’t make out anything, so I slid through. Unable to catch myself on the other side, I slid to the floor of the cavern.

“Jamie, Todd, are you in here?” I called down the corridor.

My foot hit something softer than a rock, so I glanced down. There, half covered in rocks, was the body of a guard. I examined him and found he was dead.

I began to make my way slowly into the mountain. There had to be someone alive in here.

As I rounded a corner, I felt a body hit me and I fell to the ground. The flashlight was knocked from my hand by the impact. Whoever had hit me grabbed the light and pointed it directly at my face. I was nearly blinded, but I could just make out a second body pointing a rifle at me.

“Wait, I’m here to rescue you!” I called out desparately, as I held my hands in front of me.

“Dave?” I heard in disbelief.

As the light was taken from my face, I felt hands pull me up and take me into an embrace.

“Is that really you?” came the voice from behind the rifle, who I now recognized as Todd.

The man holding me released his grip and I could see that it was Standard.

“Yes, it’s me,” I answered, “and I’ve got help outside. Where are the others?”

“Farther back in the mine,” Todd answered. “When we heard the rock slide, we came to investigate. We found the guard dead under the rocks and took his rifle. What happened out there?”

“Time enough for explanations later,” I told him. “Is anyone hurt?”

Todd shook his head. “None of us are in very good shape. A week of hard labor and little food has taken its toll.”

Just then we heard more rock slide behind us and we turned to see what caused it. We saw the young native hunter climbing to his feet. Pivat had followed me through the hole to help.

“Mayja, aye kum hep yu!”

“Who is that?” Todd exclaimed in disbelief.

I chuckled a bit. “Todd, let me introduce you to one of the people you came to look for. This is Pivat from Hekata.”

[davedove]

Scene 45

The Land of Hekata, atop a tepui

The natives had kept digging on the rock pile and soon the entrance to the mine was cleared. The rest of us helped all the captives out of the mine. It turned out that Todd and Standard were the least affected, although they were weak from the forced labor.

Jamie, being of a slight build, was more affected by the deprivation, so two of the natives helped him walk. Some of the men, who had been captives longer, had to be carried.

We made our way back to Hekata, with Todd looking on in amazement the whole time. He couldn’t believe he was actually seeing a legend brought to life.

As we walked into the village, I heard a girl cry out. “Daddy!” Emily cried in joy as she ran across the clearing and threw herself into the arms of one of the former captives. I had told him that his daughter was safe and unharmed as we made our way to the village.

He looked at me through his tears. “Thank you,” I saw him mouth quietly.

Ms. Stork came out of a building and walked over to me.

“How is she?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. I don’t know what the doctor is doing, but you can almost see her recovering as you watch. She is conscious and alert. The bruises are shrinking and the cuts healing. It’s amazing.”

“And take a look at that,” she said, pointing towards the corral. There we saw Kevin, walking with a limp, on a leg that had been broken only a few days earlier.

“How is that possible?” I asked in amazement.

“I don’t know, but it definitely warrants some research,” she answered. “There is one more thing.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

She led me back to the building she had come from. As we stepped inside, I saw that many sheets had been hung to divide the building and create individual rooms. She led me to one of the sheets and pulled it aside.

There, sleeping restfully on a cot was Ms. Falcon.

“Apparently a hunting party brought her in just after we left to assault the compound,” said Ms. Falcon. “She was hurt pretty badly from the crash, but based on what I’ve seen from the doctor here, she should recover easily.”

“So, we’re all together again,” I said. “But there is still one problem. Without a plane or any other transport, how do we get all these people out of the jungle?”

[Tartan Shortbread Jock]

Looking forward to scene 46.
The suspence is killing me.
Hope there is a twist at the end.

[Livingston]

Dave, give Jock and me a little time to hunt around and I think we'll be able to come up with something. The late LT should have some type of transportation that we can use.

[davedove]

Scene 46

The Land of Hekata, atop a tepui

Two days later we all gathered together to discuss our options. The Captain let us use his office for our meeting.

“Ms. Swan,” I asked, “any luck with the radios?”

“No,” she answered. “Whatever it is that’s stopping reception is constant. Maybe I could figure something out if I was back in the lab with all my equipment, but not here.”

I turned to Greg. I had sent him with a small team to examine the compound for any type of transport.

“All Jock and I found was a small boat down by the river,” he answered. “It won’t hold more than a few people. It was probably an escape craft for the Lieutenant.”

“We’ll keep that as one option. A few people could take the boat and seek help. How did they get the slaves out?” I asked. “There wouldn’t be much profit if you couldn’t transport them elsewhere.”

“We searched the Lieutenant’s office for any information,” said Jock. “Apparently, there is regular traffic to and from the compound to either bring in new slaves for training, or to ship out others to be sold.”

“How many will that transport hold?”

“We don’t know for certain, but we found records in the last year for shipping out up to twenty slaves. Since the transport is by boat, the size of the craft is limited to what the river can accommodate, say maybe up to forty.”

“Even forty isn’t large enough to take all of us and the captives. When is the next scheduled transport due?”

“Tomorrow,” Greg answered.

“Well, then we caught it just in time. It looks like we need to plan a little piracy operation.”

[Jock Scot]

Piracy? Oh piracy! Perhaps Jamie could get someone to take the plank for a walk? Er, sorry, I mean walk the plank!