Henry shook his head. “There is no way that I am letting you fall asleep until I know that you don’t have a concussion. You know that if you go to sleep with a concussion that you could wake up dead.” He smiled at his little joke as he eased her down into a chair in the crowded emergency room.
Gina looked around her at a room full of people who were suffering from all sorts of ailments. Clearly there was some form of gastritis or dysentery going around from the all of the people that were holding bags to vomit in. A good number of people were also coughing profusely and barely covering their mouths. Gina was not one of those people who was terrified of sick people, but she felt that staying in this hospital would do her health more harm than good. She stood up with ease as the effects of the blow to her head continued to subside. She was about to walk over to Henry when an old man wearing a seal skin outfit walked into the hospital carrying a girl who was severely wounded if not already dead. A frantic dock worker was walking behind the old man.
Several nurses ran over to the man. One of them grabbed the girl and rushed her into an operating room. The nurses were asking the old man several questions in Spanish but it was clear that he did not speak the language. Gina watched as the old man turned to the nurse and tried to communicate with her. To Gina’s astonishment, she heard the language of the ancient Incas being spoken by the man. The nurses turned to frantic dock worker who addressed them in Spanish. “He just rowed up to the dock in a canoe. I couldn’t understand what he was saying but as soon as I saw how badly the girl was hurt I immediately drove them here.” Several of the nurses moved the dock worker over the check-in table as the old man continued to try and address the nurses in ancient Incan.
Henry’s head turned to Gina. The two of them were likely the only two people in the hospital who spoke the man’s language. They were both also thinking that based on the man’s clothes and language that he might be a member of the tribe that they were looking for.
Gina ran over and she quickly asked the man in his own language what happened to his daughter. The man replied, “We have been traveling here for nearly three days by canoe from my homeland on the ice. She was taken by the Yeti and when he returned her to us she was badly injured. Please tell these people to save her life!”
Gina nodded and then she began speaking to the nurse, “He has traveled here from Antarctica. His has been traveling for nearly three days. He says that his daughter was attacked by…” Gina stopped for a moment when she realized that the man had said Yeti. In ancient Incan, the term is more like giant wild man but his intention was clear. In order to get the young girl help as quickly as possible, she rephrased the man’s statement, “By a large animal.”
The nurse nodded. “With a puncture wound that large and that deep, it must have been a walrus. It is their mating season. If she stumbled across a beach master looking for a female in heat, it may have attacked her.”
The nurse turned and ran back to give the information to the doctors. Gina introduced herself and Henry to the old man. Gina helped the old man over to a seat away from all of the people who were coughing and vomiting. Gina’s body was flush with adrenaline and the effects of her recent knockout had totally subsided. She spoke to Henry in English, “Quick, get him something to eat and drink. He looks nearly dehydrated.”
Henry ran off and Gina talked softly to the old man in ancient Incan,.“My name is Gina Murella and that is my husband Henry Murella. He will get you some food and something to drink.” She placed her hand on the old man’s shoulder. “What is your name?”
The old-man kept his eyes focused on the doors that led to the operating room. “Jun-Tuk.”
Gina smiled. “Look, I want to make sure that your daughter gets as much help as possible. Did you say that a Yeti took your daughter and returned her with that injury?”
Jun-Tuk nodded. “I did. It was a large and powerful Yeti. My daughter offered herself to the Yeti in order that he would protect our village from the demons that live in the valley which is sounded by the mountains of ice.” He took a deep breath. “She put her life in danger to protect my people and they would not risk letting the outside world find out about us in order to try and save her.”
Gina cursed herself for not having a recorder or at least a notebook handy to take down the details of Jun-Tuk’s story. Gina was anxious to try and get more information from the old-man, but despite her enthusiasm she knew that now was not the time to interrogate Jun-Tuk. Jun-Tuk was exhausted, and most importantly concerned with whether his daughter would live or die. Gina forced herself to stop being an anthropologist and to be start being a human. She placed her hand on his shoulder and addressed Jun-Tuk in his own language. “If there is anything that you need or that you need me to tell the doctors, just let me know.”
Jun-Tuk nodded and smiled at Gina. Henry came rushing over with a bottled water and a sandwich that he had gotten from the hospital café. Jun-Tuk drank the water but he only took a few small bites from his sandwich. Hours passed as they waited for news from the doctors about Shunu’s condition. The first rays of dawn had just pierced through the hospital windows when a doctor came out into the waiting room. He walked straight over to Jun-Tuk and Gina.
The doctor looked at Gina. “My nurses tell me that you are able to translate for this man.”
Gina nodded. “Yes doctor.”
The doctor knelt down beside Jun-Tuk. “I am sorry to have to tell you this but your daughter has died.”
Gina’s eyes began to tear up as she tried to form the words to tell Jun-Tuk but he could tell from the look on her face what had happened. The old man screamed, then he fell to the floor in a ball, and cried. Jun-Tuk began screaming even though Gina and Henry were the only people who could understand him. “They could have saved her! Had they only helped us reach the continent or halted the Yeti’s abductions, they could have saved her! Were it not for their superstitions, Shunu would still be alive!”
Gina sat down on the floor next to Jun-Tuk and she cradled him in her arms. Gina barely knew this man but she could only guess at the anguish that he was in. It took a few minutes, but Gina and Henry were finally able to walk Jun-Tuk outside of the hospital. The old man stumbled into a dark corner where he sobbed for nearly a half an hour before he finally walked back over to Gina and Henry. “You speak my language. That means that you are educated. No doubt you are leaders of your people and instruct them with your knowledge.”
Gina took a step closer to him. “Yes, that is exactly what we do. We teach people and we seek to gain new knowledge. Like knowledge about you and your people.”
Jun-Tuk looked off in the direction of the ocean. “For too long, my people have forsaken knowledge in favor of fear and superstition. They have let the Yeti and the demons of the valley rule our lives. This fear has cost my daughter her life and many other young girls their lives as well.” He placed his hand on Gina’s shoulder. “You are a teacher who seeks to gain understanding of my people and their ways. I am a person who sees that my people need to be taught in the ways of the modern world in order to move past their fears. I think that we can both help each other. I will take you to my people so that you may study them, but in order for them to allow you access to the tribe you must first prove that the Yeti is nothing more than a beast. That he and the creatures which inhabit the valley are not gods and demons but that they are simply animals.” Jun-Tuk looked into Gina’s eyes. “I warn you, Dr. Murella, that if you are to agree to attempt this expedition, it will place the lives and the lives of all of the others that you take with you in danger.” The hunter took a deep breath. “After my daughter was taken from me, I did something forbidden. I did what no other man in tribe has done before me. I went into the valley of the Yeti. I was only in there in for a short time but when I was in the valley, I saw beasts of tremendous ferocity and power, but they were beasts not demons. That fact that they are not the spawn of the underworld does not make them any less dangerous. The animals in the valley are as deadly as t
he Yeti himself. With that knowledge in mind, would you still lead your people into the valley?”
Gina bit her bottom lip and she was silent for moment. She took a quick look at her husband and then she nodded. “We’ll do it.”
Chapter 2
After helping Jun-Tuk make the preparations to have his daughter cremated, Gina and Henry were back in their hotel room. Gina had just finished contacting everyone who had accompanied them to Argentina to let them know that they needed to prepare for one last trip to Antarctica in the morning. Most of the people were hoping to return home rather than engage in another fruitless trip to the frozen wasteland but Gina promised them that this trip would be a success.
When she finally hung up the phone, she found Henry staring at her. She sighed. “Don’t start with me, Henry. Just don’t start. This is the best lead that we have had since we got here.”
Henry sat down on their bed. “Look, I will admit the fact that he speaks ancient Incan is promising, but isn’t possible that he is just an Incan descendant who lives in some remote area?”
Gina shrugged. “There are no recorded pockets of Incan descendants in this area. Even if that’s all that he is, at least that would be a find of some significance to justify our expedition here. Right now, we have nothing to show for it. Not to mention the fact that his clothing is similar to the accounts that we have from sailors who have sighted the lost tribe.”
Henry shook his head. “His story sounds crazy though. I mean come on, a lost tribe is one thing, but an actual Yeti? I mean even if you want to take a big leap and believe that Yetis exist, wouldn’t they be in Nepal?”
Gina smiled. “It’s a difficult translation and Yeti is the closest word that we have. First of all, I doubt it’s an actual Yeti. A much more likely explanation is that there is a less civilized tribe who dress in the skins of animals in order to get Jun-Tuk’s tribe to give them young women of a breeding age. Throughout history, tribes of people have taken women from other groups of people in order to diversify their breeding populations. If that’s true, how great would it be to find two lost tribes? The people back at Princeton would fund expeditions for the next decade if that was the case.”
Henry’s voice took on a serious tone. “Okay, let’s say there is another lost tribe of vicious wild-men. Did you see the wound on that girl? It looked like a walrus ran her through with its tusks. If this supposed second tribe exists as well, are we really prepared to deal with encountering a hostile tribe? I mean traveling across Antarctica is dangerous enough without encountering a tribe of killers. Not to mention the fact that Jun-Tuk talked about other dangerous animals living there.”
Gina grabbed her husband’s hand. “Henry, we have hunting rifles and shotguns if things get really bad.”
Henry backed away from his wife in surprise. “Killing a rogue polar bear or something is one thing, but what about your suggested hostile tribe? Are you saying that you are willing to kill another human being just to save our careers?”
Gina shook her head. “God no. I am sure that if this is a primitive tribe, simply firing a few shots into the ground will scare them off. If they have never seen firearms before then a simple example of what we can do will frighten them. Jun-Tuk himself has said that his people avoid the modern world out of fear of our technology. Surely a less advanced tribe would be even more scared of us than Jun-Tuk’s people.” She wrapped her arms around her husband. “Henry, this is the break that we have been looking for. It’s probably the last chance on Earth to study a culture that has evolved completely on its own without interaction with other civilizations. We’ll be fine. There is nothing that we are going to run into down there that we are not prepared for. We have a team of over forty people including grad students, guides, mountaineers, and don’t forget we have those hunters, Gordon and Rodgers. Even if there is a giant Yeti down there, they can more than handle it.“
Henry nodded as he considered all of Gina’s reasons for taking a chance on this last trip to Antarctica. Gina pushed him back onto the bed as she delivered the final reason for him to accept the expedition. “Besides, it’s really cold down there and I am going to need someone to keep me warm.”
The next morning, Gina was standing on the docks as she was taking inventory of the supplies that were being loaded onto the ship by her team. They had insulated tents, extra coats, thermal pants, goggles, face masks, insulated sleeping bags and portable heaters to deal with the cold. Gina checked off several snowmobiles, several large Sno-Cats, and even two teams of dog sleds in case of an emergency where their technology did not work. They also had four mobile barracks. One of the barracks served as a mobile lab. It was equipped with all of the materials that they would need to carry out an anthropological study. The lab barracks also contained the team’s polar expedition gear, such as tents and heavy coats. The last part of the barracks contained an area where the hunters stored their weapons. The second barracks was split into two halves. The first half contained a small kitchen that stored the team’s food. The other half of the second barracks contained several showers and restrooms. The final two barracks were set up to be sleeping quarters for the male and female team members. Each barracks would be towed to the campsite by one of the Sno-Cats.
Next, Gina moved onto the food. They had plenty of canned food and bottled water to use during their journey. If worst came to worst, they had enough supplies to the last them for five weeks until a rescue team arrived.
Once Gina was sure that they had everything they would need to make the journey, she started reviewing the materials that she needed to document whatever they found. She inventoried sample bags, cameras, notebooks, tablets, flares, and excavation materials just in case they needed to dig something out of the snow. She took special care to note that the dynamite they had for excavation was properly stored in order to ensure that it would not accidentally explode.
She did not directly check the specialist materials herself. She let the specialists in each field make their own inventory and then had them review it with her. The two hunters, Tony Gordon and Sam Rogers, were the first team of specialists to approach her. Tony Gordon was a tall, well-built man in his mid-twenties. He reviewed about a dozen shotguns and rifles that he was bringing aboard. Gina, Henry, and a few others had been given basic training and practice with these weapons. He also had a series of handguns that only he and Rodgers were cleared to utilize.
Sam Rodgers was much older than Gordon. He was in his fifties, balding, and he had a bit of a beer gut starting to form over what was once a well-conditioned body. While Gordon handled the firearms, Rodgers handled the other weapons. Rodgers had been on several hunting expeditions to the North Pole and Alaska. He had contended that on more than one occasion, he had seen firearms freeze up under sub-zero conditions. He insisted that he bring several crossbows and large hunting knives with him that he could count on. Only Rodgers, Gina, and Gordon were cleared to utilize the crossbows.
While Rodgers was an expert in his field, he was also the type of person who thought that he should be in charge of every situation that the team encountered. On several occasions, Gina and Rodgers had arguments over how the team should proceed when faced with an obstacle. Gina did not appreciate Rodgers questioning her authority in front of the rest of team and she made that clear to him at the expense of the hunter’s pride. While Rodgers did not like taking orders from anyone, Gina felt that he was particularly frustrated that he was taking orders from a woman. After several of their arguments, Gina heard Rodgers walking way and muttering things like, “Stupid broad.” Or “Probably her time of the month.”
While Gina did not care for Rodgers personally, she could not argue with his capabilities in the field. Gina and Henry had hypothesized that if there was a lost tribe in Antarctica, they would most likely rely on seals for food, fuel, and clothing. Seals were the only large animals that humans could hunt that would supply them with the resources they would require to meet their basic needs for survival. Based on th
is idea, Gina had decided to follow local seal populations in hopes that they would lead the team to the lost tribe. At first, the team was only able to locate beaches where the seals had landed but not the seals themselves. Still from the evidence that the seals had left behind, Rodgers had been able to determine the size of each seal group and the direction that the seals had traveled after they had left the beach.
Gina had decided to only follow seal groups that were large enough to sustain a tribe that had a population of at least five hundred people. Rodgers had been able to locate each seal group that Gina had suggested to follow. So far none of the seal groups had led them to any evidence of a lost tribe but that was not Rodgers’ fault. He had found the seals with little trouble. So while Gina was disgusted by Rodgers, she tolerated him because he was extremely efficient at his job.
After she had finished reviewing the hunters’ supplies with them, her next task was to check on the medical supplies. Dana Summers was the ship’s doctor. Like Gina, Dana was in her mid-thirties and tall with an athletic build. Outside of Henry, Dana was the only other person on the ship that Gina looked at as a friend. There were other young women on board the ship, but they were all there in the capacity of graduate students. Those women were Gina’s responsibility. They were not her friends. Unlike the students, Dana was Gina’s professional equal and as the ship’s doctor, she also bore numerous responsibilities. Being on equal footing allowed the two women to converse with and confide in each other. Gina truly felt that Dana’s friendship was one of the things that helped her to maintain her sanity during their expeditions.
Polar Yeti And The Beasts Of Prehistory Page 2
