Many thanks to Jamie, K. Presson, Jules6, Christine, Teresa, Swasthi,
Moonbeam's Predilections, two2feet, Sara, Frankie2, Treachery89 and anyone
else who read and reviewed Chapter 6.
Two2feet - not every plane crashes, the seaQuest crew managed to fly the first leg of their journey with nothing worse than a bit of turbulence... they were ok until they got into the second plane ;o)
Frankie2 - Happy Birthday!
This one is up a little bit earlier than planned, just for a change from the chapter being post later than planned - which is usually the case :o)
Please see previous chapters for all-purpose disclaimers.
Chapter 7.
Blood.
Miguel froze with his hand half way to his mouth. Blood was rarely a good sign. Slowly he let his eyes follow the red strands back to their source, scared of what he might find there.
From where he was crouching the blood seemed to be coming from a large boulder, and you didn't have to be a geologist to know the popular proverb... Standing up Miguel moved further up stream to get a better look. The young enlisted man peered across the water and he saw the corner or a parachute poking out from behind one of the rocks.
Not bothering to think about the temperature, nor the depth of the water, Miguel plunged in and tried to swim across to the other side. It's not easy to swim in a freezing cold river, especially if it's a fast flowing river... and your fully clothed... and your trying to drag a bag full of survival kits along after you... with your only good arm.
Miguel kick furiously trying to keep his head above water, but no matter what he did his head kept slipping back beneath the surface.
Everything seemed to slow down, the water turned into treacle and sucked him down. Miguel tried to scream, but mistimed his attempt and instead swallowed several mouthfuls of river water. It's strange the little things you notice when your about to die, and Miguel noticed how the cold water sent a spike of pain through his sensitive teeth.
***** ***** *****
"Commander, why are you singing?" Katie asked, in that special tone of voice all officers' use to superior officers when they are not sure if said superior has going completely around the twist.
"Bears." Ford stated emphatically.
"Bears?" Lucas asked.
"Yep - I saw it in a film - if you're in the woods then you have to sing, when you sing, bears hear the noise and they keep away from you. Very logical. It's a very good idea not to be attacked by bears. Should be standard military practice." Ford Looked from Lucas to Katie and back again. "Why aren't you two singing?"
"Ford, are you feeling ok?" Katie asked hesitantly.
"Not Ford."
"You're not Ford?" Katie asked, trying to keep up with the conversation.
"That's right?"
"So who are you?" Lucas queried, dreading what kind of answer the Commander might come up with.
***** ***** *****
Miguel also noticed something, something far more important than his sensitive teeth, he realised that his last frantic kick had connected with something hard - something that felt suspiciously like solid ground. Throwing his body weight in what he hoped would be the right direction Miguel lunged and grappled for a riverbank.
His hand slid off the first clump of weeds he clutched at. He pulled the second clump out by the roots, the third hand full of weed held long enough for Miguel to clamber on to the rocky riverside.
As he pulled himself from he water, Miguel tried to look on the bright side - at least the old water had numbed his shoulder - it was no longer throbbing. In fact he had very little sensation at all in his shoulder... or his hands... or his arms. He could feel his teeth though, they were chattering together in rapid staccato.
Collapsing on to the rocks, Miguel once more caught site of the parachute, and the blood. The blood was trickling down from behind one of the rocks towards the water and a shivering Miguel traced it back, bracing himself against what he might see there.
When he convinced his feet to manoeuvre him around the rock Miguel saw Tim. He looked so peaceful lying there staring up at the sky, as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Miguel felt the tears clog in his throat. Tim was his friend, his best friend aboard the seaQuest, and his best friend off seaQuest come to that.
"Why did you have to die?" Miguel muttered. "Why?" Without conscious thought Miguel let himself slide to the floor next to Tim's unmoving body. Rested his head against Tim's chest Miguel let himself cry, he let himself cry for Tim, and for the others, because he felt sure that Tim would not be the only one who failed to survive this journey
Miguel felt another shiver race though his bones, and couldn't help but think back to the 30min session of first aid training he'd been given before he came aboard seaQuest. He'd wished they'd included some useful information, information like, how long it takes to die from hypothermia.
***** ***** *****
"I'm not Ford. Why does everyone always call me Ford?"
"That's your name." Katie said gently.
"Makes me sound like some kinda old fashioned makea car..." Ford slurred to himself.
"Commander, why don't you come and sit down over hear, by Commander Hitchcock..." Lucas said gently shepherding Ford over to where Katie was still lying.
Katie seemed to be trying to look behind Fords back. Lucas smiled slightly.
"He's not drunk Commander. He has concussion - it can look the same if your not used to it."
"Concussion?" Katie said, before looking suitably guilty when she realised Lucas had seen her looking for a bottle.
"Probably banged his head on the way down." Lucas suggested. Moving around to the other side of Ford. Lucas found the small cut on ford's head, there was a lot of blood, there always was with a head injury, Lucas's memory supplied.
Tearing a strip of parachute Lucas handed the material to Ford and placed it, along with Ford's hand, on the cut.
"Just keep pressure on it, and you'll be ok." Ford nodded, but didn't seem to be listening. "Ford?" Lucas asked.
"I'm not Ford."
"Well, who are you then?" Katie snapped, annoyed with herself for being confused, and annoyed with Ford too, because he was the one who was confusing her.
"I'm Jonathan." Ford stated emphatically.
Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Well... um, Jonathan... I need you to do me a favour."
Ford looked at Lucas expectantly.
"Katie hit her head when she landed, I need you to stay here with her, and make sure she doesn't go to sleep. Do you think you can do that?"
Ford nodded happily, and when Lucas glanced over Fords head at Katie she nodded her understanding too.
***** ***** *****
Ben trudged along unhappily. He hadn't seen the same film as Ford, and so he wasn't singing to avoid bears. The giddiness had passed, and been replaced by an aching desperation to find the others.
Someone - someone named Commander Jonathan Ford was going to pay for making him jump out of a plane.
***** ***** *****
"You're cold."
At first he thought he was imagining it. But then the voice came again. "You're shivering."
Miguel looked up into the sky guiltily. His grandmother had always told him that God spoke Spanish, but he had never believed her. Now he wondered if that was going to count against him. The voice of God didn't sound too omnipotent though, in fact it sounded just as scared as he felt. But who else would be speaking Spanish to him in the middle of Russia.
He looked down at Tim's body, and cleared a six-foot leap from a sitting start when the body moved.
Tim's eyes blinked open.
"You're dead." Miguel said - a line that will never go down in history as one of the most encouraging things to hear when you've just regained consciousness.
"No, I'm not." Tim rasped. "If I was dead there would be angels and things... and it wouldn't be so cold... and my back wouldn't hurt so much..." He added.
"You're really alive?" Miguel asked suspiciously.
"Trust me on this, I know weather I'm alive or not," Tim looked around. "Where are the others?"
"I don't know, you're the only person I could find." Miguel explained. He turned away from Tim and brushed what he hoped were the last sign of his tears away from his face - crying in front of a corpse was one thing, crying in front of a real life person was something else entirely.
Tim pretended not to notice, instead he told Miguel see if there was any chocolate in the survival kits.
***** ***** *****
Lucas walked a short distance away from the others and leaned wearily against the trunk of a convenient tree. No matter what he did all he could hear was Katie's scream. She'd tried not to yell out, but somehow that only made it worse. Of course Lucas knew that he leg had to be splinted properly, that if he hadn't straighten the leg now Katie wouldn't have thanked him when it had to be done later.
He remembered the first time his leg had been broken. He knew from experience that the longer you left the break the more painful it was to adjust and splint later. The grating sound his leg had made when he'd finally built up the courage to straighten the limb had kept him awake nights on end.
Lucas suspected Katie's scream would grant him another bout of seemingly perpetual insomnia. The accusing look Ford had flashed at him hadn't helped either.
Trying hard to pull himself out of his depressed mood, Lucas told himself that he didn't have time to self indulgent, he didn't have time to mope. He was the only one who could do anything to help them. Miguel, Tim and Ben were still missing somewhere in these woods, Katie couldn't be moved easily, and Ford was dropping in and out of reality on a fairly regular basis.
Somebody had to do something, and the only somebody who appeared to be available was him.
Lucas straightened up and walked back over to the others. He was trying to convince them that he had to go looking for the others when they heard a noise coming from behind them.
Something, something big, was making its way through the trees. It was in a hurry, and it didn't sound happy.
Lucas swollowed the lump in his throat and looked across at Ford.
"Did you say something about there being bears in these woods?" Katie whispered.
"The film said bears avoid confrontations with humans..." Ford replied, sounding less and less sure by the moment.
"Maybe the bear saw a different film..." Lucas suggested, as the animal came closer.
Lucas remembered reading a book when he was a little boy, and he was pretty sure that bears could smell blood from a great distance, the material Ford had held to his head wound was now dark red and sodden with blood.
Carefully, Lucas picked up a fallen branch, tested the weight in his left hand, and took a practice swing. Then he moved in front of Katie and Ford and prepared to do whatever he could before the worse happened.
Somewhere in the back of his mind a little voice said - if I die first, then at least I won't have to watch the bear hurt them...
***** ***** *****
To be continued...
***** ***** *****
That's it for now; next one will be up as and when I figure out what's going to happen in it. If you have any comments to make, I'd really like to hear them - please review :o)
Thanks again for all the support so far :o)
Two2feet - not every plane crashes, the seaQuest crew managed to fly the first leg of their journey with nothing worse than a bit of turbulence... they were ok until they got into the second plane ;o)
Frankie2 - Happy Birthday!
This one is up a little bit earlier than planned, just for a change from the chapter being post later than planned - which is usually the case :o)
Please see previous chapters for all-purpose disclaimers.
Chapter 7.
Blood.
Miguel froze with his hand half way to his mouth. Blood was rarely a good sign. Slowly he let his eyes follow the red strands back to their source, scared of what he might find there.
From where he was crouching the blood seemed to be coming from a large boulder, and you didn't have to be a geologist to know the popular proverb... Standing up Miguel moved further up stream to get a better look. The young enlisted man peered across the water and he saw the corner or a parachute poking out from behind one of the rocks.
Not bothering to think about the temperature, nor the depth of the water, Miguel plunged in and tried to swim across to the other side. It's not easy to swim in a freezing cold river, especially if it's a fast flowing river... and your fully clothed... and your trying to drag a bag full of survival kits along after you... with your only good arm.
Miguel kick furiously trying to keep his head above water, but no matter what he did his head kept slipping back beneath the surface.
Everything seemed to slow down, the water turned into treacle and sucked him down. Miguel tried to scream, but mistimed his attempt and instead swallowed several mouthfuls of river water. It's strange the little things you notice when your about to die, and Miguel noticed how the cold water sent a spike of pain through his sensitive teeth.
***** ***** *****
"Commander, why are you singing?" Katie asked, in that special tone of voice all officers' use to superior officers when they are not sure if said superior has going completely around the twist.
"Bears." Ford stated emphatically.
"Bears?" Lucas asked.
"Yep - I saw it in a film - if you're in the woods then you have to sing, when you sing, bears hear the noise and they keep away from you. Very logical. It's a very good idea not to be attacked by bears. Should be standard military practice." Ford Looked from Lucas to Katie and back again. "Why aren't you two singing?"
"Ford, are you feeling ok?" Katie asked hesitantly.
"Not Ford."
"You're not Ford?" Katie asked, trying to keep up with the conversation.
"That's right?"
"So who are you?" Lucas queried, dreading what kind of answer the Commander might come up with.
***** ***** *****
Miguel also noticed something, something far more important than his sensitive teeth, he realised that his last frantic kick had connected with something hard - something that felt suspiciously like solid ground. Throwing his body weight in what he hoped would be the right direction Miguel lunged and grappled for a riverbank.
His hand slid off the first clump of weeds he clutched at. He pulled the second clump out by the roots, the third hand full of weed held long enough for Miguel to clamber on to the rocky riverside.
As he pulled himself from he water, Miguel tried to look on the bright side - at least the old water had numbed his shoulder - it was no longer throbbing. In fact he had very little sensation at all in his shoulder... or his hands... or his arms. He could feel his teeth though, they were chattering together in rapid staccato.
Collapsing on to the rocks, Miguel once more caught site of the parachute, and the blood. The blood was trickling down from behind one of the rocks towards the water and a shivering Miguel traced it back, bracing himself against what he might see there.
When he convinced his feet to manoeuvre him around the rock Miguel saw Tim. He looked so peaceful lying there staring up at the sky, as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Miguel felt the tears clog in his throat. Tim was his friend, his best friend aboard the seaQuest, and his best friend off seaQuest come to that.
"Why did you have to die?" Miguel muttered. "Why?" Without conscious thought Miguel let himself slide to the floor next to Tim's unmoving body. Rested his head against Tim's chest Miguel let himself cry, he let himself cry for Tim, and for the others, because he felt sure that Tim would not be the only one who failed to survive this journey
Miguel felt another shiver race though his bones, and couldn't help but think back to the 30min session of first aid training he'd been given before he came aboard seaQuest. He'd wished they'd included some useful information, information like, how long it takes to die from hypothermia.
***** ***** *****
"I'm not Ford. Why does everyone always call me Ford?"
"That's your name." Katie said gently.
"Makes me sound like some kinda old fashioned makea car..." Ford slurred to himself.
"Commander, why don't you come and sit down over hear, by Commander Hitchcock..." Lucas said gently shepherding Ford over to where Katie was still lying.
Katie seemed to be trying to look behind Fords back. Lucas smiled slightly.
"He's not drunk Commander. He has concussion - it can look the same if your not used to it."
"Concussion?" Katie said, before looking suitably guilty when she realised Lucas had seen her looking for a bottle.
"Probably banged his head on the way down." Lucas suggested. Moving around to the other side of Ford. Lucas found the small cut on ford's head, there was a lot of blood, there always was with a head injury, Lucas's memory supplied.
Tearing a strip of parachute Lucas handed the material to Ford and placed it, along with Ford's hand, on the cut.
"Just keep pressure on it, and you'll be ok." Ford nodded, but didn't seem to be listening. "Ford?" Lucas asked.
"I'm not Ford."
"Well, who are you then?" Katie snapped, annoyed with herself for being confused, and annoyed with Ford too, because he was the one who was confusing her.
"I'm Jonathan." Ford stated emphatically.
Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Well... um, Jonathan... I need you to do me a favour."
Ford looked at Lucas expectantly.
"Katie hit her head when she landed, I need you to stay here with her, and make sure she doesn't go to sleep. Do you think you can do that?"
Ford nodded happily, and when Lucas glanced over Fords head at Katie she nodded her understanding too.
***** ***** *****
Ben trudged along unhappily. He hadn't seen the same film as Ford, and so he wasn't singing to avoid bears. The giddiness had passed, and been replaced by an aching desperation to find the others.
Someone - someone named Commander Jonathan Ford was going to pay for making him jump out of a plane.
***** ***** *****
"You're cold."
At first he thought he was imagining it. But then the voice came again. "You're shivering."
Miguel looked up into the sky guiltily. His grandmother had always told him that God spoke Spanish, but he had never believed her. Now he wondered if that was going to count against him. The voice of God didn't sound too omnipotent though, in fact it sounded just as scared as he felt. But who else would be speaking Spanish to him in the middle of Russia.
He looked down at Tim's body, and cleared a six-foot leap from a sitting start when the body moved.
Tim's eyes blinked open.
"You're dead." Miguel said - a line that will never go down in history as one of the most encouraging things to hear when you've just regained consciousness.
"No, I'm not." Tim rasped. "If I was dead there would be angels and things... and it wouldn't be so cold... and my back wouldn't hurt so much..." He added.
"You're really alive?" Miguel asked suspiciously.
"Trust me on this, I know weather I'm alive or not," Tim looked around. "Where are the others?"
"I don't know, you're the only person I could find." Miguel explained. He turned away from Tim and brushed what he hoped were the last sign of his tears away from his face - crying in front of a corpse was one thing, crying in front of a real life person was something else entirely.
Tim pretended not to notice, instead he told Miguel see if there was any chocolate in the survival kits.
***** ***** *****
Lucas walked a short distance away from the others and leaned wearily against the trunk of a convenient tree. No matter what he did all he could hear was Katie's scream. She'd tried not to yell out, but somehow that only made it worse. Of course Lucas knew that he leg had to be splinted properly, that if he hadn't straighten the leg now Katie wouldn't have thanked him when it had to be done later.
He remembered the first time his leg had been broken. He knew from experience that the longer you left the break the more painful it was to adjust and splint later. The grating sound his leg had made when he'd finally built up the courage to straighten the limb had kept him awake nights on end.
Lucas suspected Katie's scream would grant him another bout of seemingly perpetual insomnia. The accusing look Ford had flashed at him hadn't helped either.
Trying hard to pull himself out of his depressed mood, Lucas told himself that he didn't have time to self indulgent, he didn't have time to mope. He was the only one who could do anything to help them. Miguel, Tim and Ben were still missing somewhere in these woods, Katie couldn't be moved easily, and Ford was dropping in and out of reality on a fairly regular basis.
Somebody had to do something, and the only somebody who appeared to be available was him.
Lucas straightened up and walked back over to the others. He was trying to convince them that he had to go looking for the others when they heard a noise coming from behind them.
Something, something big, was making its way through the trees. It was in a hurry, and it didn't sound happy.
Lucas swollowed the lump in his throat and looked across at Ford.
"Did you say something about there being bears in these woods?" Katie whispered.
"The film said bears avoid confrontations with humans..." Ford replied, sounding less and less sure by the moment.
"Maybe the bear saw a different film..." Lucas suggested, as the animal came closer.
Lucas remembered reading a book when he was a little boy, and he was pretty sure that bears could smell blood from a great distance, the material Ford had held to his head wound was now dark red and sodden with blood.
Carefully, Lucas picked up a fallen branch, tested the weight in his left hand, and took a practice swing. Then he moved in front of Katie and Ford and prepared to do whatever he could before the worse happened.
Somewhere in the back of his mind a little voice said - if I die first, then at least I won't have to watch the bear hurt them...
***** ***** *****
To be continued...
***** ***** *****
That's it for now; next one will be up as and when I figure out what's going to happen in it. If you have any comments to make, I'd really like to hear them - please review :o)
Thanks again for all the support so far :o)