Missions of the Retrieval Team - Land of the Kilts

[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?”