He leaned back and looked at her, his eyes red, his body shaking violently.
“It’s all just too much baby...”
“We’ll pack up and get out of here my love. Then we...”
Jim got to his feet and glared toward the jungle with a hatred, he never knew existed within him. “Not yet...” His face contorted into a sneer that sent chills up Marti’s spine.
“I have some unfinished work to do.”
“Baby you can’t go after Rex, we...”
Jim slowly pulled her to her feet and moved her toward the lowered cage as Spider looked down from below. Jim motioned for Spider to pull them up and then looked Marti in the eyes.
“I can’t bury Sam... But by tomorrow in this heat, I have no doubt Rex will be back.”
Jim placed both hands on the waist high railing of the rising cage and stared out toward the jungle beyond.
Marti knew there was no talking her love out of revenge, but then again, deep in her mind she knew that she would shed no tears over Rex.
Jim told Spider about Sam. Together the three made plans to end the reign of their deadly nemesis. He had hunted them from the first day they had arrived and now Jim looked at Marti and Spider.
“That bastard is going to die...even if it kills me.” Jim looked over at the fear in his love’s face and smiled...
“Scratch that last part.” With that she smiled and hugged him. The old Jim was back!
Spider leaned toward the fire and looked across to his friends.
“Ok, so how? I mean...guys...that’s one huge mother.”
“I was thinking of maybe some sort of harpoon, cannon thing.” Jim looked to his engineer sweetheart.
“Well... We do have some plastic explosive. Not a lot, but using that reinforced well pipe. Hmmm...” the guys could tell her mind was running at top speed and both cracked a smile at each other.
“Sure, I can get you two to slide that smaller diameter pipe into it and Spider can weld them together....should be strong enough.”
The guys just shrugged knowing they’d just follow her plans and do as instructed. Everything else Marti had come up with had worked flawlessly.
“Let’s see, that’ll leave a three point five inch inner diameter and we have that three and a quarter inch pipe and...” Marti jumped to her feet and ran over to the still huge pile of things they had salvaged from the 777. She paced the pipes off and then turned to the guys that were just sitting there grinning at her.
“Baby, I can make you a fifteen foot harpoon. You can load it from the front; I’ll put the explosives in the rear and screw on the end cap. If we drill a small hole in the end cap, we can run the wires to the detonator. But baby, there isn’t a lot of wire left that’s that size.”
Jim grinned at Marti, “Ok baby as long as the wires are a long way from the explosion. That plastic is powerful stuff.” Jim remembered the face full of soot from Marti’s canon he fired to launch the grappling device over the ledge that first day and chuckled.
Spider frowned as he rummaged through the pile of supplies, “Maybe not to far...” he held up the remaining wire, “...looks to be about ten feet.”
Jim swore under his breath just before a wide grin broke out on his face. Marti looked over and saw the look and frowned at Spider.
“Oh... I so hate it when he gets that look.”
“Babe, remember that huge boulder we had to bulldoze out of the way to make the base for the lift? That thing is the size of a small car. If we make a frame for the harpoon canon, we can lower it almost in place. We all can run the dozer, so Spider and I can go down with the canon and drag it the last few yards to the boulder. We aim it toward that route Rex always seems to take and I’ll get to the other side of the boulder... When he comes to sniff at the dozer, I’ll set it off and...” Jim slammed his fist into his other hand and grinned.
Marti forced a nervous smile. “Nice plan...except the part where you are going to be down there with a FUCKING DINOSAUR!” she shouted loudly as she began to sob. “What kind of fuc...”
Jim enclosed her in his arms and gently kissed her head.
“It’ll be ok honey... I have you to come back to.”
With her head buried in her love’s chest, sobbing wildly, Marti never saw Jim mouthing the words... “Take care of her if I...”
Spider nodded.
Chapter 19.
The sun lit the valley below as the canon was lowered and the two men wrestled it the last few yards. They aimed it just toward the jungle side of the wreck where Sam’s body remained. Marti had created a cannon support and once the canon was locked into it Jim could even adjust it up and down to some degree.
Reluctantly Spider ceded to Jim’s insistence to return to the cliff as Jim laid out the dino-jerky they would not be taking with them... and the waiting began. Jim fought the urge to gag as the scent from Sam’s body began to waft through the hot morning breezes.
Slightly before noon, there was a muffled roar from the jungle, then others. Jim knew others had picked up the scent as well and it was Rex warning them away. As it turned out Jim was right. A loud roar shattered the air and Rex came crashing out of the jungle a mile away and sprinted not at the dozer, but at Jim.
Jim leapt to his feet and ran to the canon. He put his shoulder to the heavy firing end and slowly nudged it toward the fast approaching T-rex. Jim realized the end was now too far away for him to use the boulder for cover when he fired the canon. Again Rex roared in anticipation of having him for brunch.
“Too far away...” Jim muttered, but with Rex’s several giant sprinting steps, Jim sighted along the barrel of the makeshift canon one last time...
He laid flat on the ground as he grasped the detonator in his hand and looked up one at the charging T-rex. He glanced at the homemade canon and harpoon...and the explosive end that was much too close.
“Aww, this was a bad idea...” he muttered as the massive dinosaur neared. He pressed the button and there was a horrendous explosion. The blast was so loud that the shockwave stunned him. Smoke and flame belched from the pipe...from both ends...the end cap had blown!
Jim shook his head and raised it as he tried to desperately see through the heavy smoke and dust. The first thing he saw was the remains of the canon, both ends torn open by the blast. The second thing he saw was the smoke dissipating... and Rex standing fifty yards from him and he was still on his feet!
In its chest was the harpoon and it had caught Rex’s attention. The beast looked at the harpoon, then at the cloud of smoke that was blowing slowly away and then back to the long five-foot chunk of steel protruding from its chest. It tried to roar but a wheezing, gurgle sounded.
Rex pawed at the steel with its tiny front arms, then bent its head down and grasped the steel in its teeth and pulled it free with a gurgling roar. Blood streamed from its chest and this time a louder roar sprang from its mouth.
Jim realized the smoke cloud had completely drifted away and it was he, that Rex was staring at. It took no time for Jim to realize that even in its pain, it seemed to know who had caused it.
“Oh...shit! ...I think I just pissed it off!” Jim shouted and sprang to his feet. He turned and ran to the lift that Spider had lowered just in case. Jim reached the cage but turned when he heard a loud crash... Rex was down! The dinosaur had staggered almost twenty yards to its left and away from the lift where Jim had been headed.
Jim shouted and jumped into the air as he pumped his fist. He ran toward Rex, spit on the ground, and sneered as he now stood scant feet from Rex’s head.
“That’s for Sam you bastard. You got what...” Rex’s eyes popped open, he moved, rolled to one side, and then rolled to his stomach. With a struggle it got to its feet and staggered around a bit.
Jim was frozen. “What the hell does it take to kill you, you mother fu...” Rex screamed and charged at Jim. Jim turned and realized in his premature celebration he had moved along the cliff face and was no longer near the cage. He moved his eyes b
ack to Rex and saw a huge greenish-gray blur and dove out of the way as the massive weight of the T-rex hit the cliff headfirst. If he hadn’t jumped out of the way, no doubt Rex’s massive weight would have crushed him as it fell.
Jim looked at the dinosaur lying in a heap and kicked it.
“Broke your own neck didn’t you, you....you...” But the fight had left him and so did the anger. Jim turned and walked slowly back to the cage.
He waved up at Marti and Spider as they looked down at him from above.
Suddenly there was a snort and movement behind Jim. He was now about ten yards from Rex and about three times the distance from the lift. Rex snorted again and Jim realized Rex had just knocked himself out and if he got to his feet, there would be no way he could make the lift before...
Rex moved again and its head raised and stared directly at Jim. Even as blood ran from its mouth it gave a muffled roar and began to try to raise its massive body...One of its massive legs swung around and planted itself firmly on the ground as it braced itself on the cliff...the other leg began to move and Jim began to slowly step backward in disbelief. He knew he should run, but his legs just wouldn’t move any faster, his energy was gone.
There was a orange-yellow blur as the small six and a half ton dozer hit Rex on the head, blade first, as buried its self in Rex’s skull with a sickening crunch. Jim looked up to see Marti kneeling on the ledge looking down and within a second Spider joined her.
Jim broke out in a wide grin and found the strength to shout up the one hundred plus feet to them.
“Ooooo... nice shot guys!” They waved.
“Now get your asses down here before the smell of Rex’s blood draws a crowd!”
Without further prompting, Spider tied a rope around Marti’s waist and lowered her as far as he could. She untied herself as she put her foot into the brace that held the rail to the cliff face. She wrapped her arms to the rail and waited for Spider to climb down to the brace above her. Spider tied himself off and lowered Marti the rest of the way. Spider looped the rope behind the rail and repelled down. He began to pull the rope... Jim laid his hand on Spider’s shoulder and grinned.
“We won’t be needing that anymore my friend.”
Spider smiled and nodded. Soon all three were hurrying toward the valley’s edge and their questionable air transportation home.
They carried only what Spider had lowered with the small framed Marti, but it would have to suffice as none planned to go back up to the cave.
The trio reached the edge and looked down at the plane. Jim turned and looked at the massive T-rex lying beneath the cave they had called home for these many months.
“We should have just left old Rex alone guys...he was only doing what nature intended. Christ, we were the invaders here. The creatures that live here just kept on doing what they always have been since they were born...what their kind had been doing since the dawn of time. We came and screwed things up.”
Jim sighed as he lowered Marti into Spider’s awaiting arms and the pair carefully crawled into the shell of the fuselage. Jim climbed down and quickly undid the support wires that held the plane steady. Slowly he made his way along the step rail Marti had created for them to move along the length of the plane to the lower wing. Jim stepped off the step rail and onto the lower wing. He looked down to the clouds below as he climbed into the cockpit and smiled.
He glanced back into the dark space behind his make shift seat to make sure Marti and Spider were all set. The pair had strapped themselves in with make shift harnesses and Jim gave them a wink.
“All set?” he asked.
Spider sighed, “I guess now would be as good of time as any, my friend.”
“Do it baby...” Marti giggled, “Do it like you...” she glanced back to Spider and giggled again. “Well...you know what I mean.”
Jim put on goggles the miners used when blasting or drilling; due to the fact there was no large windshield, they would have to protect his eyes during flight. He took a deep breath, and grasped the release with his left hand. He sighed and pulled... Nothing!
From the back came Marti’s soft voice. “Maybe the plane’s too heavy to release?”
Jim snorted and then chuckled. “I forgot to pull the safety out of the release...be right back.” And with that he undid his seatbelt and climbed out of the cockpit. The two inside could hear him climbing on the rail outside and then some metallic sounds....and then a ringing ‘ping’ as the safety pin pulled free and hit the metal rail.
Two feet came into view and Jim slid back down into his seat. He looked back with a wide grin and chuckled, “Well, what say we give it another go?”
Jim turned and looked toward the front of the small homemade aircraft and wished for some sort of a bigger windscreen than the heated and bent Plexiglas he had in front of him. Beyond was the motor and propeller. Beyond that, nothing but clouds and the mountain peaks jutting from them. One quick glance over his left shoulder at the cliffs towering high above them and he grasped the release.
Turning back to the front and imagining the ride into the valley flashed through his mind, he took another deep breath, and pulled up on the release handle.
“I was slightly south on the way in, have to remember to go slightly north on the way out.” He muttered.
“What baby?”
“Nothing honey, just plotting a course in my head.”
At first it seemed as if they weren’t moving, but then a wind-muffled grating sound came as the plane slid along the launch rail. There was a terrible shuttering as the small plane slid from its last hold of the Earth and sailed...then dropped straight down!
Marti screamed and Spider reached forward and grasped her hand, as the only thing that kept them from falling into the very rear of the plane was their safety harnesses. Then a sudden snap of turbulence threw them backward even harder as once again their harnesses creaked under the strain of their weight.
They were falling so fast they thought they would pass out before they hit the mountains below and that could be a good thing. Marti worried if the wings would stay on the plane at this speed.
Marti managed to force her head forward to see if Jim was ok, but the seat obscured her view, so she began praying. It was then she heard a muffled voice from behind...
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of death...” then a muffled laugh as Spider added, “...what the hell am I saying? We were in the valley of death!”
And with that both Spider and Marti began to laugh as Jim turned his head slightly and asked over the sounds of the whooshing wind.
“What the hell is going on back there?”
Spider laughed and shouted back...
“Not a thing...just laughing in the face of death.”
Jim chuckled and shouted back, “Not today guys... Not today.” And with that he firmly pulled back on the stick and the clumsy looking airplane began to soar in the mountainous updrafts.
“I had to drop to get air speed; this isn’t a jet you know.” He laughed, “Not to mention get low enough to start the engine... We can’t glide forever.”
Jim reached to the ‘T’ handle stuck through the cockpit’s dashboard and pulled the rope.
There was a sputter and nothing. Another pull and the small motor that once provided power to the generator for light, now fired up to give them life. The propeller Sam had so carefully made became nearly invisible as it reached speed...and not a bit of vibration. Jim slowly reached out his hand and laid it on the dash.
“Nice job my friend!” he whispered softly as he swung the plane northeast back along the route they had arrived through all the other mountains...and home.
Chapter 20.
The aircraft seemed so, very small as it dropped through the billowing clouds and drifted downward among the lowest of the mountain.
Now out of the valley, the cold became quickly evident as the trio shivered as they huddled inside. The mountains continued farther than Jim had anticipated, but as they dropp
ed lower, in the distance a greenish hue appeared below the clouds. Ten minutes later, Jim dropped the aircraft through the lowest of the clouds and their tiny plane broke into cloudless open air as far as the eye could see.
Below them was the Amazon jungle in all its multi-green colors. And as if on cue, the sun broke through the scattered clouds above them and splattered the jungle in a light show that stunned Jim. “Had it been this long?’ he mused.
“Guys...unhook and take a look at this.”
First Marti’s head popped up behind Jim’s left shoulder. A few seconds later Spider’s head popped up to the right of Jim. She sighed... “My God flying never felt so good.”
Spider laughed gleefully as he felt the wind in his face as he looked over the side of the cockpit. “And warm...feel how warm! Not that steamy hot warm of the valley, but normal warm.” He almost was giggling with glee.
Over the lush green jungle they flew...barely! As the heat rose so did the small glider-like aircraft. Jim didn’t have the heart to tell the others he doubted it would keep flying once the rising heat of the day ended. Marti had designed an amazing aircraft, but sadly the small motor just wasn’t powerful enough to do all the work, he had to have updrafts as well.
“Look!” Spider shouted as he reached his arm out of the open cockpit and pointed below.
“I think that’s the Xingu... it’s one of the longest southern tributaries of the Amazon River.”
Jim shouted back over the wind and motor, “Guess it leads somewhere... Why not?” and with that he banked more eastward to follow the muddy river below. Now airborne for almost four hours he began to worry about the fuel. The generator fuel tank held eight hours of fuel, but the designers never figured the strain of using the motor to pull an aircraft.
Still soaring high over the Amazon, Jim played with the idea of dropping from the several thousand feet to a much lower altitude, but after a few turbulent drops of one hundred feet or more due to air pockets, he decided to chance higher. Marti’s design did glide fairly well and if the time came and they ran out of gas, Jim was sure he could glide safely down.
Valley of Lost Time. Page 18
