Third wave.
All segments simultaneous.
A month and a half after the "attack", one Green-shirt's promotion, one new car for Gung-Ho after the parachute on one of the "bomb" failed, one vacation for an overworked Dr. Rich, and 19 sightings of surviving gerbils...the Moes are finished doing their rounds. "Hey fellas, we gats a letteh from ol' Tollbooth." Green-shirt Blais says outloud, and the rest head over.
"What's it say?" Heavy Metal asks him.
"Says hiz wife Sally done gat 'erself a dizchahge from da hazbital; ya'll break owt da cigahs cuz it's a boy!" Blais replies, showing a polaroid that was with the letter.
"Aw, he's so tiny."/"Look at that face; he's a Tollbooth, alr-oof!, Didn't...mean it...like that."/"...Who ya think they'll name him after?"/"Hol' on tuh yuh helmets, cuz he's a genu~whiny Joe."/"Haha, I'll go spread the word!"
In the intel room, Stalker hands a letter to Lady-Jaye. She reads it and shakes her head. He asks what it said. "The old civilian Spirit and i were with when we were looking for that satellite; he...he passed away a few days ago." She tells him, then leaves.
She passes Cutter (reading a magazine he got), flight mechanic Josh (who was speaking with Wild Bill), Deep-Six, and Crankcase, who tells her what Blais told him on her way to Duke's office. She sees him on the phone. "Just a sec." He tells her. "Just put him on a 6 mile hike to..I'll call you back, Major." He says, seeing her upset for some reason.
"Bad news, i take it?" He asks her.
"It's from a cousin of mine...says he noticed an obituary for Dr. MacIntosh, from the Primord episode." She replies. "I went to my quarters to phone his next of kin, seems his last request was to be buried near the caverns."
"And you want him to let you and Spirit off for the funeral?" Flint asks, leaning on the door after seeing her pass the window of his office door.
"...Can you Duke?" She asked after turning around.
"Probably is safer if they had an escort; just don't take too long, Cobra's been inactive for a while, and a quiet snake is the worst kind." Duke tells her as he gets on the intercom. "Spirit, report to my office, please."
"Want me to get Dusty, too?" Flint asks.
"Sounds okay to me." She replies. "I'll make sure not to drive over any bridges on the way."
Duke and Flint nod until he stops. "Wait, didn't Spirit say he was driving back then?" He asked, only for her to look away, whistling nervously.
In the barracks, Footloose is tossing his letter aside.
"How come ya did that?" Dusty asks him after putting down his mother's latest medical bill.
"Just another scam; those nra losers want me to join this time." He tells his bunkmate.
"Yeah, we're already fighting one bunch of braindead weenies; don't need associatin' with a second...how about the rest of you?" Dusty asks next.
"Jessie's class went to the state capitol for a field trip."
"My pop got a new security system for the store."
"Got some new magazines."
"Center-folds, too?"
"Just in the first one, and only if you got 6 bucks."
"Deal!"/"Me first!"/"No you don't, I'm first!"/"As if, I saw 'em before you did!"/"Ow, get off my foot!"
Following her confession that she was the one behind the wheel, Lady-Jaye and Spirit were only demoted to Pvt., managing to avoid worse due to the whole team vowing to quit. After landing in Africa, the four join the remaining family, friend's, and former student's of Dr. MacIntosh. "Ye mast be thae Joes we heard of." A man in his late forties says.
"That's us, Mr. MacIntosh, sorry for your loss; I'm Flint, and this is Dusty, Lady-Jaye, and Spirit." He replied before the eagle screeched. "Uh, and Freedom, too." He added while most of the group laughed.
"And I'm Lindsay MacIntosh, thae Prof was me dad." The person replied in a flat tone.
"As for me, I'm Dr. Massey, a paleontologist; Dr. MacIntosh was my late brother's former classmate back in the 40's." Another tells them.
"Was your brother in the expedition the Professor mentioned?" Spirit asks him.
"Actually no, Herman died fighting the Chinese in '52, but his dorm-mate was." He explained.
"Oh, that must have been awful either way." Lady-Jaye tells him.
"Aye, but we shood get moving, baefore the heat causes thae body tae reek." Lindsay tells them.
"You, uh...that sounds a lil bit harsh, doesn't it?" Dusty asks him before another woman in her mid-30's speaks up.
"Thae man's right, dad; yae shood nae speak ill of him."
"I'll bae as harsh as i wish, Sylvia, whut with noat hearin' fram him faer most of me life!" Lindsay tells her.
"...And I'm Kumbukani, we all here as trail guides." A local man (one of 5 men) says, to ease the tension.
The group moves for eight miles until the guides stop. "This were we stay put, Mr. MacIntosh. We will not go any further, not for any price."
"Bah, off wit' ye then, superstitious bunch a'..." Mr. MacIntosh grumbled before the rest kept going for one more mile...only to find an unexpected site.
There seemed to have been a firefight, with damage to the wall around all the caverns as well as the statues, and the sacrificial alter. "Damn snakes must have been here after we left." Dusty said, with a snarl.
"Atleast that damned "Ding-dong", or whatever the hell it was of theirs is busted." Lady-Jaye added, trying her hardest not to think about how close she was to being part of it's demonstration.
"Spirit." Flint says, motioning with his head while trying to calm her down. The tracker wanders around a bit before coming back.
"It was not Cobra this time, sir." Spirit says, and holds out some shell casings. "These rounds are too varied; some Ak-47's, some FN-49's, some H&K G3's." Flint is about to respond before Spirit raises a hand. "Seems some are still here." He says, and hear a startled shout to their right.
"D...Mr. MacIntosh, what happened?" Lady-Jaye asks.
"A bloody rock almost hit me arm, thaet's what 'appened!" Mr. MacIntosh shouts.
After they all dodge two more, Spirit cups his hands to his mouth. "Yo Joe!"
A few seconds later, they hear voices from above. "Uhlu, Uhlu; yoh joh!"/"Zhub'ma?"/"M'kehba!"
"What do ye thenk those hairy devil's are sayin', sair?" Mr. MacIntosh asks Flint.
"We just got off their crosshairs, folks." He replies, before a dozen Primords walk out.
"Hmm, i can't be sure, but i don't think i see the chief from before." Spirit tells him.
"Just look at them; amazing." Dr. Massey says, eyes wandering between them before getting a notepad out.
"Maybe, but lets noat farget why we came 'ere, Prufaessor." Miss. MacIntosh tells him. They all nod and open the coffin to show Dr. MacIntosh's body, which the Primords inspect. The lead one pokes the face a couple times before turning.
"Kuhthua, Mahc'n'toh...Jhulaka." The leader says to the others.
"That thing just said me name?" Mr. MacIntosh asks Spirit.
"He did; and they know." He replied, pointing to the Primords howling.
"Look, they're mourning; Franklin, the camcorder, get the camcorder. This is remarkable." Dr. Massey says quietly, but Flint turns to him.
"Shouldn't do that, they might think it's a threat."
"Er, right; guess I'll just sketch it instead." The Dr. mumbled.
After the exchange, Lady-Jaye and Spirit walk forward. "What are thaey doin', are they daft?" Mr. MacIntosh asks Flint and Dusty, and they watch the Primords notice them and step aside after a moment.
Spirit stops infront of the coffin and turns to the other two MacIntosh's, who join him. "If the Primords can mourn your father, can you do so?"
Mr. MacIntosh opens his mouth, but closes it again and looks to the tribe, and sighs. "Veary well...While ye played little part of me laif; ye still be me flesh 'n blood...was...faine to be with ye~at yaer fainal days, dad." He says, and lets Sylvia take her turn.
"I may~know even less of ye, but~i will miss ye,~gr~grandfather, faerwell." She says, and sobs into her dads shoulder as Spirit speaks.
"While not a relative; rest with your ancestors and await your descendants, old one." He says, and they all turn as Lady-Jaye takes her turn.
"Whether you're listening or not, i hope you can forgive me again for all the trouble we went through, Dr." She says, then takes a breath. "Leave, leave your well-loved nest, late swallow, and fly away. Here is no rest for hollowing heart and wearying wing. Your comrades all have flown To seek their southern paradise across the great earth's downward sloping side, And you are alone. Why should you cling still to the swiftly ageing narrowing day? Prepare; Shake your pinions long untried that now must bear you there where you would be through all the heavens of ice; Till falling down the homing air you light and perch upon the radiant tree."* She sang, bringing tears to all of them.
"...Thaenk ye, madam; a fair voice ye haeve." Mr. MacIntosh says, while shaking her hand.
"Don't mention it." She tells him, with a smile and a nod.
"Think she could go platinum, Flint?" Dusty asks, nudging him in the arm, but got no answer, not that he needed one.
"They seem to think so, looks like." 'Reynolds' replied instead, pointing to the Primords.
Following that, the three Joe men and Mr. MacIntosh get to digging the grave while the Primords watch, Lady-Jaye notices something while speaking with Miss MacIntosh.
"Uh, Flint?" She says to him.
"Three and a half feet to go." He replies, not looking up.
"Fl~int." She says again.
"I told you we don't have enough shovels, alright?" He says next, in an annoyed tone.
"Yeah, and quit kicking the edge just cause you're-" Dusty adds as he turns, and clears his throat to get the other's attention. The three turn to see a younger one pulling back some dirt with a stone.
"I thenk the lad; least i thenk it's a lad, be wantin' tae take part, sair." Mr. MacIntosh says after shaking his head.
"Want me to come over and check the tell-tale organ's placement?" Dr. Massey asks.
"No thanks; just stay put." Lady-Jaye tells him while keeping a grip on his shoulder.
"Kuluk'be...Bhunyu kuluk'be?" The small one asks, and the four diggers look to each other.
"Ah; yeah, what was that word again?, Started with an o, didn't it?" Flint say to himself.
"I believe it was "ort'tho"." Spirit reminded him.
"Oh." Flint says next. "Ort'tho."
The small one starts hopping about. "Ort'unuk; Bhunyu, yoh joh!" He/she says while running back to the others.
"You, uh, think Bhunyu is the kids name?" Dusty asks aloud.
"Very likely, young man." Dr. Massey replied.
After the funeral, the civilians head back to the guides, leaving the Joes to wander about. "You find anything besides those ammo casings, Spirit?" Dusty asks while looking at a fallen ladder.
"Just some drag marks; not sure who's though." The tracker replied.
"And where'd those Primords run off too?" Dusty asked next.
While that was going on, Lady-Jaye was back at a familiar spot. Her hand twitched while placing it where the satellite had been. She can almost hear the chief's voice and the machine's droning boops when she turns and raises a fist only to find Flint behind her. "Still bothering you, Lady-Jaye?" He asked.
"You mean that; as if a jeep sized rock can scare this Joe." She says while tilting her head up, then lowering it. "...Which it-Which it did." She said next as her eyes started to well up. "Aw, I'm getting sick just th~ink~ing ab~o~ut it." She said, before she felt his arms around her.
"At ease, Alison; It's in the past." He tells her quietly.
"Yeah; it was...thanks." She says, rubbing her eyes.
"You can get to smoochin' later; we found a tire!" Dusty shouts, with a smirk.
The two let go and walk over to look at a tire with some punctures in it. "This was hit with their spears." Spirit says, holding a broken one.
"What would you say this came off of?" Flint asked as he and Lady-Jaye crouch down.
"It was big whatever it was." Dusty tells him.
"Big enough to haul off most of a tribe of Primords?" Lady-Jaye asked next.
"I'd say so." He said back.
"...Is this a known Cobra tread pattern?" Flint asks Spirit.
"Not this one, I must say." The tracker replies, causing Flint to shake his head.
"In which case we better pack up; let H.Q. know we're done here." He says, and notices their mixed expressions. "Well come on, let's go."
Chapter ten. Read and review.
*The Late Swallow by Edwin Muir.