by Tom Hunter
“I think we’re needed,” Thomas explained, indicating Mochni and the woman.
Twenty-One
As the group made their way deeper underground, they were greeted not with hoots and hollers of fanfare as Robbie might have expected. Instead, they saw the grim scene of a once-thriving village, with bodies strewn and stacked; a warning to all. Doors that once stood open were now slammed closed to the outside world as the newcomers passed.
Littered amongst the bodies were stone spears, bullets, broken bones, and sunbaked brick. As they walked the pathway, Mochni and the woman gathered the spears and bore them cradled in their arms. The stone doors Thomas and his team had seen bore no resemblance to these doors of sod and sunbaked brick. Many dwellings had no doors at all. There had been no reason to have them—until now.
Each lost in their own thoughts, Thomas was jolted from his reverie with the whoosh and pop of a bullet as it grazed the air near his ear and found its home in a wall. Though they could see well enough, Thomas cursed not having night vision goggles and turned his head to see if they’d been followed.
No, this is coming from ahead of us. And would explain the bodies and the smashed property.
It was dark. Only their lights showed the damage and destruction that pervaded the area. He was glad for his heightened senses from a career dedicated to exploring dark, quiet places.
“Go to ground!” bellowed Thomas to his team. As he dove for cover, he heard a thick German accent say, “It’s Thomas Knight! Achtung!”
Another voice chimed in. “Ramon wants him alive. The others are expendable.”
A chill ran through Thomas. The voice was devoid of expression and dished out life and death decisions without fanfare.
From his hiding place, Thomas peeked over a large stone, mentally kicking himself. Who am I kidding? Not one of us can see down here. Mochni maybe, but that’s it. He was sure their attackers bore state-of-the-art night vision goggles, much like he’d seen Miss Welker wear. On the other hand, if their goggles were any good, they wouldn’t have missed.
Much to his chagrin, Thomas turned to see Mochni slide toward him and raise his head slightly to look over the stone. But, as he did so, bursts of fire rained down on them, pinning even Mochni down.
“You got an extra one of those?” Robbie asked as Thomas pulled a gun to return fire.
“Why?”
“Give one to Mochni. He’s taller and could reach further into the squad,” Robbie replied matter-of-factly.
“Um, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” exclaimed Pediah, who’d overheard the exchange.
Thomas agreed, “Me, neither.”
“Besides,” Thomas went on, “what makes you think he even knows how to use a gun?”
“Does it matter?” asked Robbie. “Point. Shoot. Bad guy dead,” Robbie volleyed.
“Oh, come on. Do you think shooting a gun is really that simple?” replied Thomas. Then, laughed a hollow laugh. “Okay, it is that simple. But, the point is, son, this discussion is getting us nowhere except distracted, and that’s a helluva place to be in a gunfight.”
“Good Lord!” Alexia exclaimed. “Do you hear yourselves? You sound like an old married couple.” She continued, her voice strained, her frustration evident by her clenched jaw.
May I never make her that mad at me, Thomas thought idly, a small smile twitching at his lips.
Unfortunately, for Thomas, that smile was the last straw for Alexia. “I don’t know about you, but, I have no intention of dying as you two old biddies bicker over what to do. I am a woman of action,” she finished, as she heaved an electric lantern with all her might toward Ramon’s mercenaries.
It landed with a crash and a flash, exposing the mercenaries’ location. The men all turned their heads, jaws dropped.
Thomas wasted no time, and fired a few shots, scattering the men as Mochni joined in, throwing the stone spears he and the woman had collected from among the bodies.
Thomas’ adrenaline pumped, as he spoiled for another round. The others knew that look well by now, and shook their heads in a nonverbal suggestion that the battle was over.
Thomas strained, listening for any sounds they might have missed. Then, realizing all was quiet for now, he slumped against a stone and watched his team. He was very happy to see that no one was hurt. For the first time in what seemed like days, Thomas Knight let out a deep breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. His team was safe. For now.
Warning cries and shouts from Mochni’s relative were cut off in what Thomas could only imagine was mid-sentence as stone doors exploded outward. Men and women of varying sizes, but all giants, had them surrounded. They held them at bay with their stone spears. They leveled the spears at the small party of explorers and began signaling. To some, it looked as though they were being asked to surrender.
“But, we just…” began Pediah
Thomas cut him off with a “Shh!”
“Okay, got ya, Thom,” answered Pediah. He raised his hands in supplication. Do they know that meant they were surrendering? He hoped the giants knew that gesture, and watched as the others followed suit; Thomas last.
Abby looked askance at Mochni, who wouldn’t meet her gaze. Alexia echoed her thoughts with a quick whisper. “What’s going on here? Didn’t we just…help them?”
“Told you I had a bad feeling about this,” offered Robbie tremulously as he watched the tips of the spears leveled at them.
“Relax. Everything will be fine,” explained Thomas, trying to calm Robbie down. “It’s strange, I know. But, I don’t think they plan to hurt us.”
At Robbie’s questioning expression, Thomas explained, “It’s simple. If they wanted us gone, we’d be dead by now.”
Twenty-Two
Miss Welker plopped her small purse and backpack combo on the nearest empty bed and sat down beside it. The Knight camp was alive with activity, leaving her to her own devices as she settled into the volunteer tent Matthews had pointed out to her.
With a quick look around, Miss Welker confirmed she had the tent to herself. For now, at least, she thought idly. She reached into her purse, retrieved a wireless earbud device, and placed it in her ear.
Two quick taps, and she had a direct connection.
“Noah,” came the reply, a slight tinny, crackling sound. You’d think by now telecoms would have worked that out, she mused as she listened to him adjust papers and click away on his laptop.
“Noah, I’m in. Do you have a visual?”
“Yes, I can see you.”
“They think I’m a volunteer sent by that Director of the California Museum,” she explained. “Seems Mr. Knight has gone once more unto the brink. Some of his team has left the camp, and yet more seem to be exploring the caves independently. No idea why.”
“Why not?” asked Noah, sharply.
“My work is not easy as it looks, Ashbridge,” Miss Welker explained hotly. “What do you think would happen if I began asking questions I was already supposed to know the answer to?”
Like a chastised child, Noah mumbled, “You’d draw too much attention to yourself which would lead to me which would lead to trouble.”
“Good boy,” cooed Miss Welker. “Now, to business. Dr. Donald Cunningham will be arriving later today. When he does, I’ll confirm what artifacts the team has discovered and will take only what I can carry, including any maps I might find…” Her voice trailed off, as her eyes alighted on just such a map.
“You’ve found one already, haven’t you?”
“Yes, look. I don’t think they meant it to be seen…” she finished, the micro camera she wore backing up her claim.
“Excellent! I knew you were the person for the job,” Noah gushed, his excitement almost tangible.
Miss Welker heard the cane tap against the tile floor in Noah’s RV and waited. He’s got a job that’s no job for a woman and I’m the only woman who can do it.
After a long silence, Noah spoke. “I have something else for you while
you’re there.”
“Shoot. What’ve you got?”
“Seems we’ve been spotted. Ramon spied a drone heading toward the camp.”
“And you want me to erase any data it might have picked up,” guessed Miss Welker.
“Boy, you’re quick,” said Noah, as he snapped his fingers and waved them across his chest. A rustling at the tent flap caused Miss Welker to shush Noah. But when she realized who it was, she smiled.
“Leave it to me, Noah. A woman has her ways, as I’m sure you are aware.”
“Very,” Noah said, the smile evident in his voice.
A warm smile spread across Miss Welker’s face as long fingers fumbled on the flap and opened it.
“Well, hello Birdie,” Matthews breathed, as he rubbed the white band on his left ring finger.
Twenty-Three
Thomas Knight and his team walked in the midst of the Woidnuk villagers, dwarfed by the giant warrior class. It felt strange, Thomas thought, to not have the weight of his spelunking gear. He imagined Pediah felt as though he was missing an arm.
As soon as they’d packed up and stowed their gear, they had been required to surrender it, plus their weapons. But, that’s the price you pay when you walk on someone else’s turf, Thomas ruminated, as he watched more and more villagers gather with them. They began to lead the team toward a building with a heavy stone door and no windows.
Ah, so it’s like that is it? Thomas thought. He immediately began looking for an escape route. Thanks Noah, this is becoming second nature. This welcome party would have been a lot more favorable without your boy Ramon and his party crashers.
The woman they’d helped save in the battle earlier held open the door and encouraged them inside. Mochni came to her side shaking his head vigorously, demonstrating their work in the battle.
She shook her head in return and in an escalating indecipherable language, it seemed the woman had won the verbal battle. Mochni was angry, frustrated, and chastised as he looked at the ground, scuffed a large toe in the dirt, and looked at Abby helplessly in a shrug. “What can I do?” it seemed to say.
Abby smiled and walked in, saying to Thomas over her shoulder, “Bring up the rear, Thomas. It will give you time to see…”
As his team was ushered into the stone building, Thomas turned and watched the goings on around him. The villagers were rounding up their dead. There would be a funeral tonight, he surmised.
Most of the team was amenable to their confinement. But not all.
“What the hell! We saved your asses!” shouted Robbie pounding his fist against the stone walls of their jail.
“Save your breath, Robbie. They don’t know us, we don’t know them. Strangers have come, killed, and destroyed. Be patient,” Abby advised, speaking slowly in a low voice.
“I will not calm down!” challenged Robbie. “I mean, c’mon guys. We don’t even know if they speak English. They haven’t said a word—okay a word we understand—to us. If we can’t communicate with them, then how can we expect to reason with them? That’s all I’m sayin’.”
“While that is true, Robert, we have managed to find a way to talk to them. Pictures. Or rather, drawings,” explained Abby gently. “But yelling and screaming isn’t the way to get anything done.”
Frustrated, Robbie turned to Pediah, “Aren’t you at all worried?” he asked.
Pediah smiled. He remembered something his grandmother had said. With a steady gaze, he seemed older than his years, and explained, “I come from a German Amish community. It can be strict and is firmly religious. But, Gott, er God to you, does not put anything in our path he does not think we can handle. We are at the mercy of his will. If we are meant to survive, it will be so.”
“I thought you gave all that stuff up when you left…Ohio,” said Robbie.
“It doesn’t work that way. Besides, it’s not the community I was thinking of. This is different and my convictions come from a place of ‘it just feels right.’”
A look of “this could get out of hand” passed between Abby, Pediah, and Thomas. “You’re the leader of this outfit,” offered Abby in a stage whisper. “Do something.” Thomas nodded, and cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.
He spread his hands, palms down as if to smooth the air, and stated simply, “Relax, guys. Things are not as dire as they seem”—at least I hope not. “There is more going on here than meets the eye and more than young Robbie realizes,” he explained.
He held up his index finger, “First, even if these cave dwellers, villagers, whatever you want to call them, don’t understand English, they do understand tone of voice. Think about it. What emotion went through you when Mochni and the woman were arguing? Fear? Anger?”
As team members began nodding their understanding, he finished. “Right, so the wrong tone of voice could be construed as a threat.”
He held up another finger. “Second, our mission here is one of diplomacy. With that comes a certain level of trust; ours and theirs.”
“Lastly, if we make trouble, then who’s to say they won’t throw us to the lizard creatures?”
A slow sly smile began to creep across Thomas Knight’s face as he finished with, “and if I recall, Robbie didn’t want to list lizard lunch on his resume. Right Robbie?” he teased.
As Thomas finished speaking, the tensions that had permeated the room evaporated in chuckles, as Robbie’s face turned red and he backed off.
Alexia giggled and exclaimed, “If he’s the only one throwing a hissy fit then I think the rest of us are safe.”
Abby smiled, took Robbie’s hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze, “Sorry son, you started this. But, looks like it’s had the desired effect,” she explained as she nodded to the others’ mirth.
Abby reached toward her throat, slim fingers dipping beneath her neckline. She retrieved a locket. The brooch she wore on the outside. But, her locket was a private oasis containing the two faces of her most dearly beloved: her husband and her daughter.
Thomas walked over, ruffled Robbie’s hair, and smiled. Then, he took Abby’s hands in his, and squeezed them reassuringly. Alexia and Pediah prayed quietly in a corner. Though their tension wasn’t completely dissipated, there was a lightness that hadn’t been there before.
Finally, after the laughter had passed, and the silence set in, Thomas broke into their thoughts, and began, “Okay guys. We can’t do too much down here right now, except get some sleep. I’ve no idea how long we’ll be down here, or if and when we’ll get our gear back. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, either,” he explained, glancing at Robbie. “But, whatever happens, we should all be well rested.”
Twenty-Four
As Miss Welker settled into her new digs, she looked around in a militaristic assessment of her surroundings. She was laying out her few sparse things at the foot of the bed, when she heard movement outside the tent. Before she could say “hello” or “who is it?”, Stephen B. Matthews poked his head through the tent flaps.
“Uh…mind, uh…if, uh…” he stumbled, suddenly tongue-tied, and not sure how to ask permission to enter her tent.
Hiding her surprise with a bright smile, she nodded and urged him further in, “Come in, then. You’re letting all the cool air out with the flaps open like that.”
To herself she thought, “come into my web,” said the spider to the fly. Ooh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.
“So, let me guess. You were in the area and….” She stopped herself, and exclaimed, “Where are my manners!” Motioning to a chair, she added, “Have a seat. Now, here’s the real question.” She sat on the bed opposite him, and leaned in close. “What brings you around these parts?”
Her broad smile and coy look, somewhere between innocent and sultry, made his blood run hot.
“Oh, I just wanted to make sure you were, ah, settled in alright, Miss, er Birdie,” the man stumbled.
“I’m settling in just fine, thanks,” she said in her best 1950s sit
com voice. Then, her brows furrowed. “So, why does this tent have extra space?” Without giving him a chance to answer, she continued, “Seems for a project such as this, what with volunteers, workers, students, and the like, you’d be filled to the brim.”
“Well, he began, in his best campfire ghost story voice, have you heard about the cave dwellers we discovered?” He looked up, recalling something, and corrected himself. “On the other hand, I guess you could say they discovered us!”
“Why yes, Dr. Cunningham did mention something about cave dwellers. A new civilization he said,” Miss Welker confirmed. Then, after a brief pause, she asked, “Didn’t one of the men in this camp get attacked or something?”
Matthews looked at her sharply, as Miss Welker held up a hand. “Just something I heard. Through the grapevine. You know how these places are.”
“Well, you heard correctly,” confirmed Matthews. “These cave dwellers are much stronger than our history books would have us believe. Did you know these dwellers can control giant lizard type creatures? Imagine that. Some kind of domesticated dinosaur.”
He shook his head in disbelief, then looking at Miss Welker, he said reverently, “He almost didn’t escape you know. I mean, they almost didn’t survive.”
Miss Welker arched an eyebrow, and as if in answer to her unspoken question, Matthews trailed off, ending softly with, “I was glad to be there. Proud to help.”
“Wow, you were there?” breathed Miss Welker in assumed awe. Matthews nodded, and blushed.
Miss Welker sidled up closer to him, reached out and took hold of him by the biceps. She squeezed and smiled, an unspoken acknowledgement of the hero, and said, “Then, that makes you the best man for the job!”
Confused at her sudden turn from his story, Matthews asked, “What job?”
