Finally looking around properly at the clearing I was in the centre of I tried to accurately estimate the size of the trees. If the trees were three hundred metres apart then the clearing I was in had to be one kilometre wide at least. The branches of the trees reached almost halfway to the centre where I currently stood under the blue-green sky. Under the enormous branches the light struggled to get down to the ground and faded from the fringes of the clearing. The tree trunks I could see were only visible through the gloomy light that penetrated into the depths of the unseen forest beyond.
I needed to follow my own advice, I needed to act and stop this craziness from overwhelming me. I sat down next to my sack and carefully took out the contents taking the chance that whatever had screeched would not be interested in tiny me. I checked each item to see exactly what I had. Once satisfied I had taken inventory I packed it all carefully and put the sack on my back. As I moved away from where I had been, I realised I had been on top of a small mound right in the centre of the clearing. Stopping I considered this carefully. Moving back to the top of the mound I decided to take a 360-degree image.
Now I was beginning to think more clearly and practically I spent some time looking around in all directions carefully looking for any sign that may help me decide which way to go. I sat down again and checked the water reservoir on my sack. It had refilled. This cheered me up. I had a bivvy for shelter and water for the foreseeable future. Food was my concern, that and not being eaten if that screech was anything to go by!
I decided to look at the image on my phone. As I turned it on I saw Chase’s image which made my heart skip and a deep sense of grief flood over me. Why had I left?
“Really, Chris!” I said out loud chastising myself. “Get a grip. You’re not getting back if you don’t work out what the hell is going on.”
That was the first time I considered my situation as hell. It was no heaven. But I didn’t feel dead, having thought that, I wondered what death felt like.
It was while I was paying little attention, I noticed a line on the image leading away across the cycle in a straight line out to the edge of the clearing. It was a faint line made up mainly by the difference in the plants that grew along it. Like an overgrown track. I stood up and orientated myself to the image and then looked for the same line. I could see it and it looked manmade in the same way that lost Roman roads found under modern fields look manmade when viewed from aerial photos. Scars left across a landscape from centuries ago.
My mind started to race. I really had watched too many sci-fi films. Time travel had been proved impossible.
But this landmark was the only thing I could discern so I decided to follow it. Picking up my sack I struggled back to the base of the mound I had been on top of and turned to take an image of this too. I would try to document my journey. If and when I made it back home I wanted proof that I had not gone mad. It was then I realised that the images I had taken had no scale. The only thing I could feasibly use for scale was myself. I was not a fan of selfies but science was science. I took a selfie with the mound in the background and of where I was going.
To get to the edge of the circle I had to walk over and through the overgrown brush. It took about forty-five minutes and I was knackered I wished I had a machete but I had not been expecting a jungle bashing adventure or to have to break a trail. I checked my phone's MAP-APP. It had no GPS still but had recorded I had travelled eight hundred metres from where I had started. That suggested the circular clearing was one mile across. My head hurt contemplating that as the trees seemed to be as tall as the clearing was wide.
The light at the edge of the clearing began to fade as I continued under the branches which began to meet above my head and block the sky completely. I found leaves on the ground the same size as parachutes. The dinner plate sized leaves I’d seen in the centre of the clearing must have come from higher up on the trees or somewhere else entirely. How old could these trees be? Where was I?
I was tired again and hungry. I feared that the food I had was not going to get me home. I would have to chance the fruit-like plants that were able to grow in the gloom. Now was as good a time as ever. There was a fruit that looked suspiciously like grapes on a vine creeping along the ground. I decided to pick some and set camp. Having eaten what turned out to be a very sweet fruit I took a long drink and fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke I automatically checked my watch. It was 2.03pm the afternoon after I'd been at Puma Punku. I estimated the storm had hit at about 12am so I’d been gone about fourteen hours. I was, however, alive and felt okay after eating the fruit. Unless I was already dead but I couldn't die twice!
I could still see daylight beyond the branches but I had no way to estimate what time of day it was as I could see no sun. I also had no idea of north, south east or west. Then I remembered my compass. It was an app on my phone but should still work without a satellite signal. I hoped. A little ray of hope sprang from my gut. I knew I now had at least one local food I could eat and I'd worked out how to start triangulating my position. I reached for my phone and picked it up ready to start the compass app.
Turning on the phone I noticed an icon I had not seen earlier. A small plane.
“You BLOODY IDIOT!” I shouted to myself loudly feeling sick with anger at my own stupidity. The flight mode was on. Taking a deep breath I turned off flight mode and waited for the phone to refresh. The first thing I did was turn on the GPS app again and just as this refreshed to still show no satellites my missed call list went nuts. The list just kept scrolling. I just looked, Chase, Stu, Bolivia Stu, Barnacle; many from Chase. Man, I was popular today… As I stared at my phone transfixed by the scrolling list Chase's face appeared. She was calling; the small ray of hope turned into a flood light that lit my entire being with hope.
18Facing destiny - Familiar faces
(Earth Year 2041)
Slowly this time Chris came to. It was as if he was waking from a pleasant dream he did not want to leave. Sitting cross legged on the floor had been a much better idea than sitting on a rock. He did not lose his balance but instead just sat still and contented for a while remembering the feeling of hope and salvation that had washed over him when he had received Chase’s call. Unexpectedly he had found finishing his story to that point was like lifting a weight off his shoulders.
Standing slowly Chris began to walk the final few minutes to the house where he knew Adrii would now be waiting for him with Chase and Stu, that concept was still surreal. Chase and Stu here!
Now Chris found he was excited by the idea of sharing his story with his friends through the neural-net. He could not wait to see their faces again, to see how they reacted to experiencing the world through his eyes. As he walked with a slight skip in his step contemplating seeing them he pictured spending time with them, proper time. Not having to constantly be afraid and hide or run. They were finally safe.
As he walked around the edge of the mud brick city with the morning sun over his left shoulder and cool fresh breeze washing over him he felt euphoric. He had momentarily forgotten where he was and how he had got there. The sense of escape and survival from all that had happened had coalesced in the moment he had recalled receiving the call from Chase.
As the cool wind drifted down across the paddy fields it picked up a scent that suddenly washed a memory into focus. The smell of the paddy fields reminding him of treks through Asia, Earth, home. His mind quickly began to turn from elation to trepidation. That moment of a realisation that he was not on Earth but stuck in a Realm he could never have imagined stopped him in his tracks. What exactly were the three of them going to do? Yes they were now safe here after all they had been through, at least for the time being. Then another thought landed like a hammer on his consciousness. He had been so focused on finding his rescuers and then mad dash for survival that there had been no real opportunity to hear Chase and Stu’s story. Only now they were safe in Millham had there been time to listen. The kicker was Chase and Stu had
just slept since they’d arrived.
He and Adrii had only gone out for a short walk and to get some fruit earlier that morning. That now felt like days or even weeks ago and now here he was and he was and he was still not with them. Yet.
Chris began to run. He wanted to be with them, to hear their story and may be find a way home.
Book 2 - Connecting…
With Chris, Chase and Stu now safe with Adrii in Millham, on Pachamama they begin trying to understand everything that has happened to them and all they have learned. Not only how Chase and Stu found out about the Punku in Bolivia and got through but about all the people that now know of Earths connection with DiPacha.
Understanding who knows about the Punku, Earth and DiPacha is only the start of the intrigue and discoveries. Da’Cince and Ma’Kusi may have been right to be concerned for the safety of the Connected Realms.
Puzzles and Riddles - Lightning strikes twice
(Earth Year 2041)
Chase had been sitting up in bed, all sense of annoyance and embarrassment had now passed from when Chris had originally called. When he called that evening she had initially thought that she may need to tell him to give her space to adjust to their separation. He had to stop being needy. Had she misjudged his independence and character considering all the calls?
But calling from Tiwanaku and Puma Punku was forgivable! He'd had a good reason after all and he’d even had the decency to look embarrassed at seeing her in her night clothes, although she secretly liked that he looked excited about it. She'd never tell him that though.
But all the excitement had come to a shocking and sudden stop with the storm and loss of contact with Chris. She'd tried calling many times but there was no connection. She'd gone on the GPS-find-me app; nothing.
It was now almost 6am and Chase was nowhere near sleep. And very close to real worry. Chris could be hurt. But he was thousands of miles away in South America. It had been midnight there when the storm had cut them off. All her contacts would be asleep and even if she could reach them they would need to get to Tiwanaku. Still, what could she do?
“Are you OK?” came a sleepy knock on her door. She must have woken Amy.
“Sorry, Amy, yes and no. Come in,” answered Chase.
Chase’s door opened catching on the carpet as it always did making a noise like her dog used to make when it was clawing at its favourite chair. Amy entered wearing a long brown dressing gown that looked more like a monks robe than something comfy that you could cuddle in while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate. Her robe looked more functional than pleasurable.
“What’s up, Chase?” Asked Amy. “I can just hear you pacing up and down and swearing under your breath.”
“It’s Chris.”
“What’s he done? He hasn’t met someone and called to confess has he?” Asked Amy sounding genuinely concerned.
“No!” said Chase momentarily distracted from the real reason. “I believe he’s slightly classier than that, Amy!” Chase had gone a little red in the face. The force of the rebuttal had woken Amy up. She innocently thought she’d been asking an appropriate question. Obviously not.
“Sorry, Chase. No offence meant. What is up then?” She asked.
“Chris has disappeared. I think he might be hurt. We were on the phone. There was a storm and he was gone. Now he doesn’t answer and the GPS can’t pick up his phone on the app.”
“Er, okay. Let’s start slow for those of us who’ve had little sleep. You were on the phone with him and there was a storm yes?”
“Yes, Amy,” said Chase sounding exasperated. “And now he won’t answer.” Chase was getting increasingly frustrated with Amy. She was not being helpful.
“Okay let’s sit down and you can tell me everything from the start so I get the full picture. Tell me when he called.”
Chase spent the next five minutes telling Amy almost all the detail of the call. She left out some bits about teddies and red faces. She didn’t feel this was relevant.
Amy spent the time listening carefully and sat up straight paying detailed attention as soon as Chase had said Chris had been calling from Puma Punku. She was making a lot of ‘Oh!’ and ‘Um?’ noises. If Chase had been paying closer attention to Amy she would have said that Amy was trying to look like she herself was not paying attention.
Chase, however, felt better for hearing her story out loud. It gave her perspective. It had allowed her to gather her thoughts.
“Thanks, Amy,” she said as she finished.
“What for?” Asked Amy.
“For not letting me freak out any more. I must have sounded like a fanatic!” Chase replied smiling outwardly.
“Only slightly but I do think we need coffee and to check the news apps for any news of a storm at Puma Punku. I’ll go at put the kettle on and I’ll see you in the kitchen in five?” said Amy.
“Done, and remind me to get you a nicer dressing gown for Christmas.”
“Why?” said Amy. “I like this one. It reminds me of home.”
“I thought you had no memory of your home?” Asked Chase concerned for Amy now. They too had met at a refugee support group but Amy was even more secretive of her past than Chase or Barnacle. Amongst their immediate group of friends, only Chase knew anything of Amy’s past.
Amy stopped dead still at the door as she had been going through it. “I have no actual memory, but like a small feeling this robe, dressing gown, gives me feelings of a home I cannot remember.”
“Sorry, Amy. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’ll see you for coffee in a few moments. I’ll just freshen up first.”
“That’s okay, Chase. You could not have known.”
In the kitchen, both girls sat with a cup of hot coffee looking at news apps on their phones. There had indeed been a large storm in Bolivia that had blown in about sixteen hours earlier than forecast but no good information was available as it was now just after 2am in Bolivia. Chase tried Chris one more time. Still nothing. Where was he? How was he?
“Right!” said Amy. “Time to rouse the troops. Operation zombie apocalypse needs to be rolled out!”
“What?”
“We discussed this in the pub a few months ago,” replied Amy. “If one of us finds a zombie apocalypse has started we contact everyone else and meet at Barnacle's place. He’s got all the survival gear.”
Chase was very confused. “This is no zombie apocalypse. You’re Trumping, Amy, making it up as you go along.”
“Well I’m not talking out my ass like a good old Trump, but Barnacle does have tech that may help and Stu may know what Chris would be likely to do; so Zombie breakfast it should be!”
“Amy, you’re spot on. Let’s get the boys up. But I don’t want to spook them. So until we’re face to face let’s just say we have something we need to discuss urgently, and no it cannot wait.”
It was 8.30am before all four were at Barney’s flat. It was a first floor three bed flat. He only used one bedroom for sleeping and the other two were full of kit and tech. It was an Aladdin's cave of goodies. Barnacle rarely had guests and the kitchen was used for tinkering with tech as much as it was for preparing food, possibly less food in fact as Barnacle mainly ate out.
The one exception was breakfast as Barnacle rarely had an excuse to eat out for this. Rarer still were there breakfast guests and now he had three unannounced.
In contrast, Stu was hobbit-like and loved breakfast dearly so knowing his mate’s cupboards would likely be bare Stu had arrived with eggs, bread and coffee. Barney managed to find four clean plates and mugs, or at least four that could be cleaned. Amy, who had a thing for clean eating utensils, took charge of the kitchen sink which slightly upset and un-eased Barney who was frantically tidying away bits of tech so they did not get muddled.
“Look,” he said as he grabbed the second box of tools off the breakfast bar, “I love you all dearly, I really do, but this is not a zombie apocalypse dry run like Amy said on the phone. What is up?”
Chase too
k this head on. “Chris has disappeared in Bolivia. We were on a video call last night. He was at Puma Punku for an overnight bivvy. Supposedly it’s an initiation thing for the archaeology team he’s hooked up with. He was very excited and was showing me around the site at night. Come to that I was very excited once I’d gotten over being woken at 4 am! There was a sudden storm, lightning and everything. Chris was running for cover. I saw a white flash and then nothing. I have not been able to get hold of him since and his phone does not ping on GPS.” Chase stopped and looked at Stu and Barney who had both stopped what they were doing and were just looking at her.
Amy had put the kettle on and was busying herself making coffee.
“Well?” said Chase. These men of action were not really living up to their rep.
Then all hell broke loose. All at once Stu and Barnacle were firing questions at her and rushing to do things. Stu was going for news apps on his phone. Barney was firing up his computer to search for GPS.
“STOP!” yelled Amy. Taking them all by surprise. “What do you think Chase and I are, fools? We’ve done that. There was a storm that blew in earlier than forecast but its 4.30am in Bolivia and Chris’s phone is not showing on GPS. We need other ideas, people. It’s been four and a half hours since we, I mean Chase, lost contact.”
“Chase, you put Chris in contact with that professor didn’t you?” Asked Stu.
“Yes Stu I… Stu?” said Chase sounding unsure of a memory then suddenly she exclaimed “Stu. Chris said there was a Stu on Professor Chavez’s team, but he also said that the contact I gave him,” she paused again remembering the name, “José Perez knew you, Amy. You met him in Birmingham at a gym! Did you know?”
Disconnected (Connected series Book 1) Page 26
