Missions of the Retrieval Team - Land of the Kilts

[davedove]

Scene 18

Nearby in the Jungle

The young hunter pressed himself against the tree in terror. What strange magic was this? The pale man had raised his hand holding a strange tool and suddenly thunder barked from it and the two darker skinned men had fallen. And another pale skinned man behind the rocks had done the same.

These men must come from the people of the Konnal. It was said that the Konnal had strange tools that roared with thunder and killed.

Why were they here and what did they want? The young hunter knew he must follow these people. The chief would want to know what they were doing.

The young hunter peered around the tree to see what was happening. He saw that in addition to the third pale man, another person was also behind the rocks. From the shape of her body, this person must be a woman.

And what was this? Two more strange beasts came from behind the rocks. They looked similar to the shaggy beast, but they were not as shaggy.

What was happening here?

[davedove]

Scene 19

The Guyana Highlands

I quickly examined the two men I had shot. The bullets had hit them squarely in the torso and they had died quickly. I picked up their rifles and removed their load-bearing equipment.

I looked over to see that Greg had done the same to the man he had killed and was helping Vmac from behind the rocks. Her two dogs bounded out of cover and ran to where Wompet had tackled the fourth man. The dogs proceeded to examine one another as all dogs do upon meeting.

Frank had picked up the man’s rifle and was keeping watch over him. “What are we going to do with this one?” he asked as I approached.

“Let’s have a chat with him,” I answered.

I leaned over the man as he lying on the ground. “So, do you speak English?” I asked him.

He shook his head and answered in Spanish, “I don’t speak English, only Spanish.”

“Very well,” I answered, “we’ll talk in Spanish then. Why are you men out here? What are you doing?”

“I’m not answering you, American pig. You’ll not get any information from me.”

“Well, then you’re useless to us and we’ll have to kill you.”

The man just spit at me and stared defiantly.

I slowly wiped the spittle from my cheek and smiled evilly. “Or, I suppose we could just let the dogs eat your testicles.”

The man’s eyes went wide and he looked over at Wompet. At that very moment, the dog’s tongue came out, as if he were licking his lips.

The man looked at me again with fear in his eyes.

“What about it, friend?” I asked him. “I don’t think the ladies would like you too much after the dogs are finished with you.”

At that, the man couldn’t tell me enough. He served as a guard for the mine, apparently located in the clearing we had seen earlier. His job was to help oversee the slaves that worked there. His lieutenant had sent him and the others out to find out what had happened to the plane that had flown over. They had spotted the couple with the dogs and were closing in on them when we ambushed them. He couldn’t give me any more useful information, as he was apparently just a low level guard.

I stood up and told Greg to watch the man. Frank and I moved over to make sure Vmac was okay.

“I’m not real sure of my Spanish,” Frank said to me, “but did you just tell him the dogs were going to eat his testicles?”

“That’s right.”

“You weren’t really going to do that, were you?”

“Of course not,” I chuckled, “but he didn’t know that.”

[Livingston]

Wompet, come sit over here and growl at him a few times for me.

[davedove]

Scene 20

The Guyana Highlands

As we sat and discussed our situation, we quickly caught up with each other’s experiences. Apparently, Greg and Vmac had landed near enough to each other to meet up quickly. They had been headed in my direction when the guards had spotted them. They were making a stand at the rocks.

“Vmac went out the plane just before I did,” Greg said, “and Frank was right behind me. I did notice that he seemed to be drifting off to the side quite a bit.”

“Yeah, he did,” I said. “Have either of you seen Ms. Swan? She was the last person out of the plane before me, so she should have met up with you.”

“No, we haven’t seen anyone else,” Vmac told me. “Are you worried about her? Do you think something happened?”

“A bit, she’s well trained, but she’s not an expert in the jungle. If I wanted to hack into the Pentagon’s systems, she’s the first person I would ask, but she’s not a survival expert. Another question, have either of you tried your radios?”

“Only static,” Greg answered.

“We need to find the rest of the team. Then once we find them, we need to find our lost research party. On top of all that, I need to find out what happened to Ms. Falcon.”

“Do you think she survived the crash?”

“It doesn’t matter. I have to find out, so I’m going after her.”

“We all will go,” said Greg.

“Then why are you all standing around chatting?” asked a woman’s voice from the jungle.

When we turned towards the voice, we saw Ms. Crane walking towards us.

“I heard the gunfire and came as quickly as I could,” she said.

“We’re glad to see you,” I told her. “Have you seen any sign of the rest of the team?”

“Only one, I found a spot where a firefight had taken place. Several nine-millimeter casings, rifle casings in several locations around that, and a lot of blood, more than one person could produce. From the way it looked, one person was putting up a heck of a fight before their pistol ran out of ammo.”

“Ms. Hawk?”

“That would be my guess. There were just too many of them for her to take on alone with one pistol. No bodies though, so I suspect they captured her. They left a pretty good trail to follow, but I thought it would be better to find everyone else first.”

“It’s the only thing we have to go on right now, so we’ll check on that first.”

“What about our prisoner?” Greg asked.

I pondered the question for a moment. “We’ll have to leave him here,” I answered.

“Is that wise?” Frank asked me.

“No, but I’m not going to execute him. I’ll tie his hands so that it will take him a while to get loose. That will buy us the time we need. Plus, we’ll leave him a knife nearby so that he’s not completely unarmed.”

[davedove]

Scene 21

Nearby in the Jungle

The young hunter watched in fascination. Another of the Konnal’s people was here, this one another female.

But this one was different from the others. She moved with the stealth of a hunter. He hadn’t seen her at all until she announced herself as she approached the others.

How many of the Konnal’s people were here in the jungle? Were they coming to rejoin his tribe?

The young hunter watched as they bound the hands of the dark skinned man and then walked away into the jungle.

When they were far enough away, the young hunter carefully followed them.

[davedove]

Commercial Break

A Jungle

We see several people breaking down a camp, preparing to leave. We zoom in on a well-dressed gentleman.

“Hello,” he says. “How many times have you been out in the wilderness and been unable to examine your outfit properly? The only way to really get a good look at yourself is with a full-length mirror. Such a mirror is terribly bulky though, requiring at least two bearers to transport, making it very impractical to bring along.”

“But now there is an answer to this dilemma.”

The man walks over to a small box and opens it. He pulls out an object and begins to unfold it. When he is done, it has become a full-length mirror.

“This is the Perfectly Portable Mirror, from the Brooster Company. It is constructed of a lightweight, highly durable plastic frame and a flexible Plexiglas surface. It unfolds to its full size in only a minute and folds down to a completely portable size for transport.”

“Its viewing surface is a highly reflective sheet, making it easier than ever to make sure your attire is impeccable.”

“And best of all, it folds down so small one man can carry it along with his other load, freeing up your other bearers for other necessities.” We see another bearer loading up a padded box with several bottles of gin.

“So, I highly recommend the Perfectly Portable Mirror for all your expedition needs.”

“After all,” he says with a wink. “One must always maintain ones gentlemanly appearance.”

[davedove]

Scene 22

The Guyana Highlands

As we made our way through the jungle, Ms. Crane stepped close to me and spoke quietly. “We’re being followed.”

“More of the soldiers?” I asked.

“No, it’s much too quiet for that, unless he’s spec ops, which I doubt.”

“An animal?” I asked, remembering my encounter with the jaguar.

“No, it’s human, but he’s a sneaky one, probably a local hunter. I almost didn’t notice him.”

“Is he a threat?”

“He’s staying just close enough so that he can watch us. If he wanted to attack, he could have done so at any time.”

“I still don’t like the idea of anyone following us. We’ll keep moving. You slip off and see if you can get behind him.”

“If?” she asked me, as though I had stated the most ridiculous thing ever.

I chuckled under my breath. “Just do it.”

Ms. Crane moved ahead of us and then disappeared from view. We continued in the same direction. After a few minutes I heard her call from behind us.

“Got him!”

We turned to see a small native man lying flat on his back with Ms. Crane squatting over him. She held her survival knife to his throat.

As we neared I noticed that she had tossed his bow and quiver of arrows to the side and relieved him of his basalt knife.

“He appears to be a native hunter, but I’m not familiar with his markings. Also, look at his hair. I’ve never seen hair that color in this jungle.”

The man’s hair was a light brown color, almost blond, definitely not the same as the typical black hair of the local natives.

The man was looking up at me with fear in his eyes. “Pipple a Konnal, na urt.”

“I think you can put your knife away,” I told Ms. Crane. “What language is that?”

Ms. Crane sheathed her knife, but kept a close eye on the native. “I don’t know. It’s not a dialect I’m familiar with.”

I squatted down to see the man more clearly. He reached up and took my hand in both of his, holding it to his cheek. “Pipple a Konnal, na urt ma. Aye begut.”

“I think he’s friendly,” Ms. Crane said with a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

“Yeah, he does seem to be trying to befriend me.” I examined the man and my eyes rested on his clothing. “Look at that,” I said pointing to the man’s skirt-like garment. “Doesn’t that pattern look vaguely familiar?”

Livingston bent to look at the dark blue and green pattern. “It almost looks like the Black Watch tartan,” he said.

“That was my thought as well. It’s not really the same tartan, and it’s obviously died animal skin, but it is remarkably close.”

I rose up from my squat. “But we don’t have time to be examining the natives right now; we have people to find. He doesn’t seem to be a threat, so give him back his stuff. We need to keep moving.”

Ms. Crane handed the man’s knife back to him, but he refused to take it. Instead he grasped my leg and clung tightly.

“Pipple a Konnal, pipple a Konnal,” he repeated.

I pushed the man away and gestured for him to leave.

The man hesitated, so I gestured more forcefully. He slowly backed away, confusion in his eyes.

“Give me his things,” I told Ms. Crane.

She handed the man’s weapons to me and I threw them into the jungle.

“Go!” I commanded, gesturing again.

I could see both confusion and hurt in the man’s eyes as he turned away and ran into the jungle.

[davedove]

Scene 23

Nearby in the Jungle

The young hunter fled into the jungle and retrieved his weapons. How had they known he was behind them? And who was this woman with the Konnal’s people? How had she captured him so easily? She moved as quietly as the best hunter in the tribe.

And what had he done to anger the Konnal’s people? Why did they reject him? Did they not know he was from the tribe?

He could not return to the tribe now, with this shame hanging over him. He would have to somehow show the Konnal’s people that he was worthy of their friendship.

He watched as the pale strangers again moved away into the jungle and then slowly followed them.

[davedove]

Scene 24

The Guyana Highlands

We continued to move through the jungle. Ms. Crane informed me that the hunter was still following us, but was keeping his distance. We moved until we came to where Ms. Hawk had made her stand. Ms. Crane quickly described the action to us.

“Ms. Hawk was surprised here,” she said as she pointed to minor disturbances in the undergrowth. “It looks like she was moving towards you when she encountered a patrol.”

“She quickly moved to cover here,” Ms. Crane continued, moving towards a small group of large stones.

She motioned me over and showed me the bullet casings littering the ground. “As the patrol closed in on her, she attempted to fight them off. I don’t see any blood here, so it doesn’t appear that she was shot.”

“That’s some comfort,” I said. “What else?”

“There are definite signs of a struggle. It looks to me that at least four men were able to rush and subdue her, probably after she ran out of ammunition.”

Ms. Crane walked me around the surrounding jungle. She showed me several places where insects had gathered around blood spots. “As would be expected, Ms. Hawk made a good stand. These are where members of the patrol were shot. You can see some rifle casings nearby.”

“But there were too many and she ran out of ammo, right?” I asked.

“Exactly, I estimate at least twenty people were in the patrol. She managed to shoot ten of them before she was taken.”

“But there are no other bodies, right, so they must have either only been wounded, or their bodies were carried away?”

“Correct,” Ms. Crane answered, moving towards a break in the jungle. “The entire group, including Ms. Hawk, went in that direction, towards the clearing we saw from the plane.” She pointed into the jungle.

“The clearing where we were shot,” I replied. Ms. Crane nodded somberly.

“Okay,” I said to everyone. “It looks like Ms. Hawk has been taken by the very people who shot down our plane. Right now, she is the only member of our team that we have a lead on, so we go in her direction. I have no doubt we will be moving into trouble, so we move with appropriate stealth. That means we keep the dogs under control.”

We continued into the jungle towards Ms. Hawk.

[davedove]

Scene 25

Nearby in the Jungle

The young hunter bent to examine the ground. A struggle had happened here where the dark haired woman had examined the ground. It was obvious that she was a hunter and tracker.

The tall man also seemed to be the leader of the hunting party. The others in the party all reported to him. They were looking for something, possibly whoever had been taken in this struggle. Maybe that was why the Konnal’s people were here; they were looking for a companion.

The hunter picked up the small tubular object and looked at it. It was not wood and it was not stone, but was very hard. He did not know exactly what it was, but it seemed to be made of the same material as the tools of the Konnal that the chief kept. He smelled the small object and noticed it bore the same smell that the thunder weapons of the Konnal’s people produced.

The hunter quickly gathered up a handful of the strange objects and placed them in his pouch. These items must bear strong magic and the chief would want to see them.