Hanging in the top of a tall oak tree, he could see the bright red plane as
it began its descent. The faint sounds of the engine cutting out could be
heard in the stillness of the woods around him. It disappeared from his
sight, and he estimated that it would crash about ten miles from him. He
could be there in two and a half hours.
Reaching under the back of the brown jacket he wore, he removed a long knife from its sheath and began to cut the harness of the parachute that ensnared him. Holding on with one hand, he cut the final line and found himself dangling precariously above the ground. Replacing the blade, he swung himself back and forth until he was able to reach one of the sturdier limbs.
The climb down was easy for him. He moved quickly from branch to branch, descending to the earth. Using the instep of his boots to slow himself, he slid down the last 30 feet of the tree that was devoid of any limbs.
His plan had not worked quite the way he had wanted it to. He had originally been going to sneak from his hiding spot and overtake his target with no fuss. If it hadn't been for that beast, he would have been able to simply capture Tracy, kill the pilots, and gain control of the aircraft. Oh well, he thought. Plans changed and one had to learn how to be flexible.
Once on the ground, he removed a small device from his pocket. The red light on the transmitter, flashed at him. He grinned. It was working. With one touch of the button, his agents would be able to close in on his position with a hovercraft. If Tracy was still alive, he would be able to throw him in a transport and whisk him away.
And if he was alive, he was a force to be reckoned with. Their brief encounter on the plane had given him a sense of respect for his adversary. Tracy was cunning and quick. He had nearly gotten the better of him on the plane. His opponent would be on the lookout for anything suspicious, and a hovercraft was not a piece of equipment used by any search and rescue organization in Canada.
The man sighed. As tiresome as the idea was, he knew he was going to have to track Tracy on foot. It would set him back, and time was of the essence. Still there was something about the situation that appealed to him. As he set off through the woods, he began to like the idea.
He was going hunting.
************************************************************************
Waking up was not pleasant.
Jeff groaned, every noise around him magnified, thundering in his ears. He heard water, birds, and wind. He became aware that he was moving, the bobbing motion he could feel was doing very little for his stomach, which seemed to be doing somersaults in his gut. Suddenly, the motion stopped. A loud splash sounded beside him, and he was moving again. The sound of rubber squeaking was followed by gentle rasping on his back. Mercifully, the rolling stopped, though his stomach continued to flip.
He was reluctant to open his eyes, knowing from experience that the vertigo he would most likely be subjected to would cause him to vomit. Still, he knew he had to do it. He became aware of where his hand lay across his stomach, and ordered it to move. Reaching for his forehead, he felt the tinge of blood on his fingers. The wound there wasn't gushing, but it was oozing.
"Mr. Tracy?" A vaguely familiar voice questioned from above. "How're you doing?"
He wanted to retort at the inane question, but he didn't have the strength to start another argument. Jeff sighed and opened his eyes. The late- morning sun hit him square in the face, momentarily blinding him. His eyelids snapped shut again.
Kai's warm touch on his forehead was strangely reassuring. "Try again." He did, finding her hand shielding his eyes from the light. "That better?"
"Yeah," Jeff's voice sounded weak, but at least he had found it. He blinked, adjusting his sight. Kai's worried face was the first thing he saw. He took the opportunity to scrutinize her. "Are you all right?" She was sopping wet, but seemed fine otherwise.
"I've had better days, but I can't complain." Kai removed her hand and patted him on the shoulder. "Just hang out in there for a little while and relax."
Jeff turned his head cautiously, trying to determine where 'in there' was. He found himself in a rubber raft that apparently was not on the water. Kai had been pulling it out when he woke up.
He attempted to sit up, but a round of dizziness hit him full force. He quickly gave it up.
"You listen so well." Kai said ironically.
Jeff ignored her as he lay on his back once more. "What happened?"
"We crashed," Kai stated, inspecting the gash on his left temple. "But that bastard you were wrestling with parachuted out before that."
"Do you have any idea where we are?"
"Yeah," she nodded, her delicate fingers brushing back some of his hair that been clotted in the blood, "the middle of nowhere."
Jeff's second attempt at sitting was more successful. He expected the dizziness and pushed his way up despite it. The first thing he did was look at his wrist, lamenting as he saw the cracked glass of the watch face. His communicator was dead. He would really have to talk to Brains about making them more resilient. If one little scrap busted them so easily, he could only imagine what his boys would do to them.
Jeff took in the scene around him. They were in the middle of a wilderness, tall trees surrounding a lake valley. Mountains jutted up from the land in every direction he looked. There was no sign of any civilization. "The plane's out there?" He nodded towards the water.
Kai turned her eyes away from him to stare out across the water. "About 30 feet down." She replied as she steadied him.
"Do you have any more specifics about where we are?"
"We are in about 400 square miles of wilderness that is owned by an outdoor adventure company. The charter service I work for holds a contract to deliver their patrons." Kai looked around her. "They don't use this part though. It's only about 20 miles from the nearest town."
A backpack sat on the sand, open and some of its contents on the ground. Her dog lay near it and appeared to be dozing. Aside from that, there were no signs that another human had ever set foot in the area.
"Where's you co-pilot?" he asked, suddenly noting the absence of the large, quiet man.
Kai didn't answer him, and Jeff saw the tears begin to form in her eyes. She pushed away from the raft and moved to the backpack. He studied her as she picked up a first-aid bag and started back towards him.
Kai had lost some of the self-assurance she had displayed so boldly earlier. Before him was a frightened girl who couldn't quite understand the events that had just transpired around her. To her credit, she seemed to be holding up remarkably well under the circumstances. "I'm sorry," was all he could think to say.
"He'll pay for it. They'll find him. As soon as the search and rescue guys get here, somebody will get him."
"We aren't going to be able to stay here."
"What are you talking about?" she gave him a curious look as she approached.
"It's only 20 miles you said?"
"To McPhereson?" she asked. He nodded. "As the crow flies it is, but you're forgetting about all those things like mountains and rivers and ravines that need to be negotiated. That would put it closer to thirty."
He began to climb out of the raft, stumbling and nearly falling as he did so. "We need to get moving. We have about six hours of daylight left and we could make at least fifteen miles today. We'd be in McPhereson by late tomorrow."
Kai caught him before he fell face first in the dirt. "You're nuts," she said. "The easiest way to get found is to stay put. Even a five year-old kid knows that."
Jeff didn't have time for this. "Look, this isn't a department store." He said forcefully as she deposited him beside the trunk of a tree and knelt down beside him. "There is a man behind us with a gun, who seems very intent on killing us."
"Correction," Kai said, "killing me. He had plenty of opportunity to shoot you after he clobbered you. Al and I were the ones he was taking shots at." She rooted through the bag, coming up with an antiseptic swab and a latex glove.
"All the more reason for you to get your ass in gear." he replied, wincing as she cleansed the wound and wiped away the blood that ran down his face.
"I say no." She threw the swab away and put a piece of gauze on his temple.
"Let me lay this out for you, Ms. Taylor." Jeff said. "Were you in contact with air traffic control at all?"
"Only right before take off. The weather was perfect."
"Did you get out a mayday call before the plane went down?"
"No." She was taking the hint, but he kept going.
"And when is the earliest that someone is going to take notice of our absence?"
"It would be the two hours to Edmonton, and then probably another couple of hours before anyone started to get worried about a missing bush plane." She rubbed her forehead. "We don't keep exact schedules like the commercial flights do."
"That would be more than enough time for that killer to get here and finish what he started." Jeff leaned towards her. "And with no wreck to point us out, it could be a day before search and rescue gets any idea of where we are."
"Well I do apologize," Jeff could see that arguing with him was bolstering her confidence once more, "Next time we crash, I'll be sure to do it in a town square."
She stood up and began to walk away from him. "You're far too sensitive, young lady," he called at her back, "I was merely stating the facts of the situation."
Kai stopped walking and her head drooped a little. "I don't mean to be sensitive, Mr. Tracy." She said, turning around. Her manner became more reasonable and even as she spoke. "I'm just trying to help you understand what you're up against. The only training I have in outdoor survival is what my Dad taught me when we lived in Montana, and it's been years since I've had to 'live off the land' or whatever. What's your background?"
"I've been stranded before. My space plane crashed on an island in the South Pacific when I was with the WSA."
Kai raised an eyebrow, amused. "If I were you, I would seriously consider avoiding airplanes." Sensing that he was no mood for jokes, she continued. "How long?"
"A few weeks. I managed to survive that."
"Okay, but there are no palm trees out here." Kai gestured to the stately forest around them. "What we have plenty of is crazy weather, rugged terrain, and bears."
"That's where you come in." Jeff said, pointing at her. "You said you fly here a lot. Do you know the area?" She nodded. "Then you can point us in the right direction."
"Okay, how about a reality check?" Kai put her hands on hips. "How far do you really think we're going to get with you stumbling around? That guy could overtake us with no problem."
Just to spite her, Jeff got to his feet with a minimal loss of balance. His head reeled. "All we can do is try and the longer we stand here arguing about it, the better the chance that you're right."
"It's one of those 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situations, huh?" Kai threw her hands in the air. A smile flashed. "What the hell. I can die here or I can die ten miles from here."
"That's the spirit." Jeff grumbled, sarcastically.
For the first time, he noticed she had no shoes on. "Please tell me you have boots."
"Thank you for your concern." She gestured over to where the packs sat. "I've got some extra clothes I always keep with me, just in case. I'll go change and then we'll get the compass out of the survival pack."
"Don't leave anything behind," he said, testing his legs. "I want to make this as hard on our murderous friend as possible."
Reaching under the back of the brown jacket he wore, he removed a long knife from its sheath and began to cut the harness of the parachute that ensnared him. Holding on with one hand, he cut the final line and found himself dangling precariously above the ground. Replacing the blade, he swung himself back and forth until he was able to reach one of the sturdier limbs.
The climb down was easy for him. He moved quickly from branch to branch, descending to the earth. Using the instep of his boots to slow himself, he slid down the last 30 feet of the tree that was devoid of any limbs.
His plan had not worked quite the way he had wanted it to. He had originally been going to sneak from his hiding spot and overtake his target with no fuss. If it hadn't been for that beast, he would have been able to simply capture Tracy, kill the pilots, and gain control of the aircraft. Oh well, he thought. Plans changed and one had to learn how to be flexible.
Once on the ground, he removed a small device from his pocket. The red light on the transmitter, flashed at him. He grinned. It was working. With one touch of the button, his agents would be able to close in on his position with a hovercraft. If Tracy was still alive, he would be able to throw him in a transport and whisk him away.
And if he was alive, he was a force to be reckoned with. Their brief encounter on the plane had given him a sense of respect for his adversary. Tracy was cunning and quick. He had nearly gotten the better of him on the plane. His opponent would be on the lookout for anything suspicious, and a hovercraft was not a piece of equipment used by any search and rescue organization in Canada.
The man sighed. As tiresome as the idea was, he knew he was going to have to track Tracy on foot. It would set him back, and time was of the essence. Still there was something about the situation that appealed to him. As he set off through the woods, he began to like the idea.
He was going hunting.
************************************************************************
Waking up was not pleasant.
Jeff groaned, every noise around him magnified, thundering in his ears. He heard water, birds, and wind. He became aware that he was moving, the bobbing motion he could feel was doing very little for his stomach, which seemed to be doing somersaults in his gut. Suddenly, the motion stopped. A loud splash sounded beside him, and he was moving again. The sound of rubber squeaking was followed by gentle rasping on his back. Mercifully, the rolling stopped, though his stomach continued to flip.
He was reluctant to open his eyes, knowing from experience that the vertigo he would most likely be subjected to would cause him to vomit. Still, he knew he had to do it. He became aware of where his hand lay across his stomach, and ordered it to move. Reaching for his forehead, he felt the tinge of blood on his fingers. The wound there wasn't gushing, but it was oozing.
"Mr. Tracy?" A vaguely familiar voice questioned from above. "How're you doing?"
He wanted to retort at the inane question, but he didn't have the strength to start another argument. Jeff sighed and opened his eyes. The late- morning sun hit him square in the face, momentarily blinding him. His eyelids snapped shut again.
Kai's warm touch on his forehead was strangely reassuring. "Try again." He did, finding her hand shielding his eyes from the light. "That better?"
"Yeah," Jeff's voice sounded weak, but at least he had found it. He blinked, adjusting his sight. Kai's worried face was the first thing he saw. He took the opportunity to scrutinize her. "Are you all right?" She was sopping wet, but seemed fine otherwise.
"I've had better days, but I can't complain." Kai removed her hand and patted him on the shoulder. "Just hang out in there for a little while and relax."
Jeff turned his head cautiously, trying to determine where 'in there' was. He found himself in a rubber raft that apparently was not on the water. Kai had been pulling it out when he woke up.
He attempted to sit up, but a round of dizziness hit him full force. He quickly gave it up.
"You listen so well." Kai said ironically.
Jeff ignored her as he lay on his back once more. "What happened?"
"We crashed," Kai stated, inspecting the gash on his left temple. "But that bastard you were wrestling with parachuted out before that."
"Do you have any idea where we are?"
"Yeah," she nodded, her delicate fingers brushing back some of his hair that been clotted in the blood, "the middle of nowhere."
Jeff's second attempt at sitting was more successful. He expected the dizziness and pushed his way up despite it. The first thing he did was look at his wrist, lamenting as he saw the cracked glass of the watch face. His communicator was dead. He would really have to talk to Brains about making them more resilient. If one little scrap busted them so easily, he could only imagine what his boys would do to them.
Jeff took in the scene around him. They were in the middle of a wilderness, tall trees surrounding a lake valley. Mountains jutted up from the land in every direction he looked. There was no sign of any civilization. "The plane's out there?" He nodded towards the water.
Kai turned her eyes away from him to stare out across the water. "About 30 feet down." She replied as she steadied him.
"Do you have any more specifics about where we are?"
"We are in about 400 square miles of wilderness that is owned by an outdoor adventure company. The charter service I work for holds a contract to deliver their patrons." Kai looked around her. "They don't use this part though. It's only about 20 miles from the nearest town."
A backpack sat on the sand, open and some of its contents on the ground. Her dog lay near it and appeared to be dozing. Aside from that, there were no signs that another human had ever set foot in the area.
"Where's you co-pilot?" he asked, suddenly noting the absence of the large, quiet man.
Kai didn't answer him, and Jeff saw the tears begin to form in her eyes. She pushed away from the raft and moved to the backpack. He studied her as she picked up a first-aid bag and started back towards him.
Kai had lost some of the self-assurance she had displayed so boldly earlier. Before him was a frightened girl who couldn't quite understand the events that had just transpired around her. To her credit, she seemed to be holding up remarkably well under the circumstances. "I'm sorry," was all he could think to say.
"He'll pay for it. They'll find him. As soon as the search and rescue guys get here, somebody will get him."
"We aren't going to be able to stay here."
"What are you talking about?" she gave him a curious look as she approached.
"It's only 20 miles you said?"
"To McPhereson?" she asked. He nodded. "As the crow flies it is, but you're forgetting about all those things like mountains and rivers and ravines that need to be negotiated. That would put it closer to thirty."
He began to climb out of the raft, stumbling and nearly falling as he did so. "We need to get moving. We have about six hours of daylight left and we could make at least fifteen miles today. We'd be in McPhereson by late tomorrow."
Kai caught him before he fell face first in the dirt. "You're nuts," she said. "The easiest way to get found is to stay put. Even a five year-old kid knows that."
Jeff didn't have time for this. "Look, this isn't a department store." He said forcefully as she deposited him beside the trunk of a tree and knelt down beside him. "There is a man behind us with a gun, who seems very intent on killing us."
"Correction," Kai said, "killing me. He had plenty of opportunity to shoot you after he clobbered you. Al and I were the ones he was taking shots at." She rooted through the bag, coming up with an antiseptic swab and a latex glove.
"All the more reason for you to get your ass in gear." he replied, wincing as she cleansed the wound and wiped away the blood that ran down his face.
"I say no." She threw the swab away and put a piece of gauze on his temple.
"Let me lay this out for you, Ms. Taylor." Jeff said. "Were you in contact with air traffic control at all?"
"Only right before take off. The weather was perfect."
"Did you get out a mayday call before the plane went down?"
"No." She was taking the hint, but he kept going.
"And when is the earliest that someone is going to take notice of our absence?"
"It would be the two hours to Edmonton, and then probably another couple of hours before anyone started to get worried about a missing bush plane." She rubbed her forehead. "We don't keep exact schedules like the commercial flights do."
"That would be more than enough time for that killer to get here and finish what he started." Jeff leaned towards her. "And with no wreck to point us out, it could be a day before search and rescue gets any idea of where we are."
"Well I do apologize," Jeff could see that arguing with him was bolstering her confidence once more, "Next time we crash, I'll be sure to do it in a town square."
She stood up and began to walk away from him. "You're far too sensitive, young lady," he called at her back, "I was merely stating the facts of the situation."
Kai stopped walking and her head drooped a little. "I don't mean to be sensitive, Mr. Tracy." She said, turning around. Her manner became more reasonable and even as she spoke. "I'm just trying to help you understand what you're up against. The only training I have in outdoor survival is what my Dad taught me when we lived in Montana, and it's been years since I've had to 'live off the land' or whatever. What's your background?"
"I've been stranded before. My space plane crashed on an island in the South Pacific when I was with the WSA."
Kai raised an eyebrow, amused. "If I were you, I would seriously consider avoiding airplanes." Sensing that he was no mood for jokes, she continued. "How long?"
"A few weeks. I managed to survive that."
"Okay, but there are no palm trees out here." Kai gestured to the stately forest around them. "What we have plenty of is crazy weather, rugged terrain, and bears."
"That's where you come in." Jeff said, pointing at her. "You said you fly here a lot. Do you know the area?" She nodded. "Then you can point us in the right direction."
"Okay, how about a reality check?" Kai put her hands on hips. "How far do you really think we're going to get with you stumbling around? That guy could overtake us with no problem."
Just to spite her, Jeff got to his feet with a minimal loss of balance. His head reeled. "All we can do is try and the longer we stand here arguing about it, the better the chance that you're right."
"It's one of those 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situations, huh?" Kai threw her hands in the air. A smile flashed. "What the hell. I can die here or I can die ten miles from here."
"That's the spirit." Jeff grumbled, sarcastically.
For the first time, he noticed she had no shoes on. "Please tell me you have boots."
"Thank you for your concern." She gestured over to where the packs sat. "I've got some extra clothes I always keep with me, just in case. I'll go change and then we'll get the compass out of the survival pack."
"Don't leave anything behind," he said, testing his legs. "I want to make this as hard on our murderous friend as possible."