SURVIVIAL OF THE FITTEST

By Susan Zell

Disclaimers: See Chapter One

CHAPTER SIX

"Remains"

"Where the hell are they?" muttered Marguerite as she paced the boundary of their camp. Shadows were creeping across the jungle floor.

Late again, Marguerite griped. This plateau was worse than London traffic on a good day. She knew from experience that time meant little in this godforsaken place, and that any one of a hundred reasons would make Roxton the others late. Of course, eighty percent of them were also highly dangerous reasons.

She exhaled sharply. This was doing nothing for her nerves.

It irritated the heiress to even behave like this, over the likes of Roxton no less. If she were saner, she wouldn't give a second thought to the man, tardy or not. But something was changing inside her, something she had suppressed for many years. Of all the rotten luck for it to happen on this undertaking, she mused.

She turned around and commented to Professor Summerlee who was cleaning the dishes from the evening's meal. "I can't believe they haven't returned."

Professor Summerlee leaned back, holding his pith helmet on with a damp hand. "There's still a bit of light remaining. Don't worry. They'll come."

Slapping her hand against a tree trunk in frustration, she withdrew to the other side of the camp. Professor Challenger was somewhere tying up the various shrubberies in more burlap, apparently unsatisfied about how they were originally done.

She found it odd then that here she was intending to seek out company to ease her annoyance. Another unusual habit for her. She was garnering quite a few of them thanks to her new associates.

Damn them all.

"Challenger," she called out.

There was no answer, which only irritated her more. She knew the man was there. She could see his white jacket from here. No doubt his nose was buried deep into some crazy plant. She couldn't fathom what interest this plateau could hold for anyone, but Challenger thought it was a gold mine. Too bad it hadn't been a gold mine for her. Every stash of riches were either claimed by someone else, and thanks to her new conscientious friends she couldn't steal any of it, or it was protected by some dinosaur or cursed beyond reason.

Lord, she hated this plateau.

"Challenger," she shouted again, this time louder.

"Here," came the mumbled reply.

"Didn't you hear me?" she groused as she approached him.

"Of course, I heard you," he answered. How could one not hear Marguerite Krux? She was most demanding, especially when her patience was at an end. He continued to break off some leaves and shred them, stuffing them into test tubes and jars for examination later.

"Well, a little acknowledgement goes a long way." She squatted on a large protruding root and watched him as he methodically went about picking ingredients for his next experiment. No wonder he had been so eager to help Summerlee gather his botanical specimens. Obviously Challenger had more than a vested interest in some of the varieties.

"You were due to arrive at any moment, Marguerite. I saw no reason to strain my voice, unlike yourself. Our camp is only so big."

Marguerite's long lashes lowered dangerously over her flashing gray eyes.

Challenger wondered if perhaps had made a mistake in baiting the irate young woman. But luckily, she seemed to move past the exchange and onto other matters that bothered her more directly.

"Dusk is almost here and they aren't back yet. Doesn't that concern you just a little?"

"Eventually. But not right now. Roxton and Veronica are both quite capable. I'm sure if they don't make it back this evening, then tomorrow morning surely." He looked up from his planting with a sudden thought. "Do you want to go out looking for them?"

The heiress immediately balked. "What? No, of course not. I hate traipsing about in this blasted hothouse, especially in the dark." But that wasn't the whole truth. A side of Marguerite that had never had a voice before was suddenly insisting that it was exactly the thing to do. That finding out what happened to Roxton, to all of them, would ease the anxiety within her heart. She found it troublesome. When had this happened? When had she started to care for anyone other than herself?

Challenger merely grunted and dropped his head back down to his organizing to hide his grin. Marguerite was certainly a fascinating creature. If his field was more tuned to the human condition than to science, he could certainly make a career out of her mood swings and complex motivations.

"I was merely stating a concern. The jungle's not safe at night." She paused and mused, "Not that it's safe during the day either."

"I'm sure they're fine."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me. You better be right."

"Of course I am. I have the utmost faith in Lord John Roxton. So should you."

She returned his grunt and folded her arms across her chest, casting her gaze aside into the ebony jungle night. Even though the sky was still streaked with light the thick foliage plunged the ground into darkness.

However, thanks to the flickering firelight near Summerlee enough light penetrated the jungle's shroud and illuminated something shiny in the distance. Curiosity now perked the heiress. It was far too small and too near the ground to be a weapon clutched in the hand of an enemy. Unless the guy was completely prone, which more than likely meant he was dead and therefore his possessions were up for grabs.

She never stopped hoping that someone knew the way off this plateau or had intimate knowledge of a cache of riches that she could rightfully claim or gave her a clue to that which she sought most, her past. The means to that answer was here somewhere. Eventually she'd find it, but at the moment its elusiveness irritated her beyond measure. She had thought she would have found it long before now. Instead she was trapped on this ridiculous plateau with nothing to show for it.

She could investigate the flickering light. What would be the harm? But then Roxton's voice echoed in her brain. Think of the consequences of your actions. Think of more than just yourself for a change. She glanced over at the two professors sitting quietly oblivious in their camp. Summerlee was far too exhausted to be keeping watch in addition to cleaning the dishes. And Challenger was so absorbed in his ..., well whatever he was doing in order to see danger.

But what if it was something creeping up on them? Someone should investigate. And being the youngest and the smartest, it seemed to fall to her. Her own self survival always made it much more of a priority than either of the two professors who allowed their sciences to dictate precedence. In Marguerite's mind, it stood to reason that if one didn't live long enough to enjoy one's hobbies, what was the point. Survival first, obsessions later. So it fell to her to investigate the shiny thing regardless of whether it was a jewel or not.

Standing abruptly, though not abruptly enough to distract Challenger from his work, she set out into the darkness toward the shiny object. It wasn't too far out and she could always cry out to the professors for help should she need it. Of course, just in case she pulled her pistol from its holster and pointed it forward.

Thick branches and heavy leaves pushed and slapped at her, but she slogged onward aiming for the still flickering reflection on the ground. It hadn't moved so why not look closer. If it were an animal it would be long gone by now or at least springing to attack she was that close. But nothing happened. Even if it were human she was close enough to hear breathing and she didn't hear anything that raised her alarm.

So she continued on. Peering through the last layer of annoying branches she sneaked a peak at what had enticed her. She could see small white objects strewn on the ground, though they didn't appear to be the reflecting culprit. Then the object caught the flickering firelight again and suddenly she noticed them. They were spread over the ground interspersed with the white things. Her curiosity gaining the better of her she stepped out into the small clearing. It was overgrown at the edges but it appeared to be the remnants of an old camp. There were hints of objects like chairs and crates. To her surprise she discovered the white objects were bones. Human bones to boot.

Death had hit this little camp. Most of the bones had all the indications of something chewing on them. Raptors most likely. They seemed to be the culprit of most of the ill doings around here. She poked through the litter of bones and exposed one of the flickering objects.

There were a lot of them dropped all over the place. One of the crates had been broken into and had been strewn all about the ghostly little camp. Obviously the treasure had meant little to whatever had destroyed the camp, if they had even been human. But to Marguerite, this was indeed a treasure.

"Challenger!" she called out. "Come here!"

She gave the man credit. His large frame came forward very quickly, far faster than he would have if he had been taken unawares. He must have been watching her. With his shotgun in hand, he took only minutes to get to her side. It was obvious the professor could tell the difference between something important and something trivial when she called him. He was a great deal more observant than she gave him credit for, keeping an eye on her as she explored.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"A fortune!"

"Marguerite," he sighed in exasperation.

She held up one of the flickering objects between her fingers. "Really, Challenger," she exasperated. "I'm not all about money."

He raised an eyebrow at her and then diverted his attention to the object she held in her hand. "This is a find! What luck!" Then he saw the bones and his bent immediately to examine them. "But what's this?"

"The unfortunate owners. So I don't see any reason why we can't take all this. There's no curse, no angry villagers. It belongs to us now."

Challenger held up a femur bone. "These remains have teeth marks on them."

"Raptors probably."

The bushes parted and Arthur Summerlee appeared. "I say, what's going on?"

"Marguerite has found an old camp."

"Look!" Marguerite exclaimed, displaying her find with pride.

However, Summerlee too was more interested in the bones than in Marguerite's find and crouched beside Challenger to examine the remains of the previous explorers. Marguerite was a bit miffed that they seemed more concerned about the skeletons. They were dead after all. What did it matter anymore? They had been dead for a very long time.

Challenger pointed out smaller gashes that went deep into the bone's exterior. "See here?"

"Raptors. So what else is new?" Marguerite huffed.

"No, not raptors," Summerlee mused. "Cats I would imagine. You can see where they gnawed down to the very marrow. Raptors aren't that particular. They don't waste that kind of energy."

"So, what does it matter? It could have been a T-rex for all I care. We still have the prize, right?" Her hands were full of the little objects, ready for pocketing.

Challenger nodded but he didn't stop examining the bone.

"These poor souls no longer have a need for it," Summerlee agreed.

"This wasn't done recently, was it?" Marguerite inquired in a low whisper so that only Challenger could hear. "Is it significant somehow that they were killed by sabertooths instead of raptors?"

"I'm not sure," Challenger muttered. "But something tells me it should be."

Tbc