Virgil was wrestling with the controls of his beloved bird. He'd had seconds of warning before whatever missile that was took out one of his VTOL's and caused some major damage.
They were going down.
They were going down in one of the remotest jungles in the world. Two was screaming at him, her voice panicking him almost as much as EOS' shout about a missile had. But this wasn't Virgil's first rodeo, not the first missile to have hit home. What was tricky was getting a good landing despite the trees. Steering was hard, and he listened as EOS talked about a cleared patch for landing. It wasn't anywhere big enough for his girl, but it would be preferable to the alternative.
The only problem was it was directly above Scott's last known position. Virgil really did not want to think how crashing Two down on top of an illegal mine might affect his eldest brother, he prayed that Scott had, somehow, managed to move from the mine. After all, his signal had been abruptly lost so it made sense to Virgil that his brother had been moved and cloaked so that they did not know where.
Yeah. That was the reason.
Either way, Two was landing on the clearing whether she should or not. She skimmed the clearing and ploughed into the trees. The noise was horrific, and the scrapping along her hull set his teeth on edge. That was going to be hell to clean up. He ignored the damage he knew the missile had caused.
By the time Two had come to a stop – gently and not abruptly as he had feared – they were quite a distance from the mine entrance. Virgil patted Two's console affectionately. Once again she had saved their lives, and although he could hear Gordon grumbling about the distance they would have to walk through the hot jungle, he knew from his brother's tone that he was just as relieved.
Now they had to find Scott while still keeping Two and One safe.
Virgil thought about getting Gordon to stay with his 'bird but immediately dismissed it. There was no way Gordon would stay behind while there were four potential gunmen around, and as Virgil turned to face his co-pilot Gordon had already picked up the trank gun and was almost ready to leave. He certainly wasn't going to leave Scott, so Virgil called EOS and told her to initiate protocol gamma on Two, giving her permission to do anything she saw fit to keep out the men.
The swathe that Two had cut through the jungle made both brothers wince. But it did give them a clear path back. As they made their way back to the clearing they kept silent, listening to the sounds of the jungle and keeping ears peeled for other human sounds. There was an eerie quiet that was unnatural, and Virgil supposed the noise he had made landing Two had caused this. Following the tracks it soon became evident that he had not come down in a straight line but had slewed about a bit.
At some point they had ploughed through what seemed to be a small stream, but as they waded across Gordon lost his footing and took a dunking. Coughing and spluttering as Virgil hauled him up, he started cursing whoever was responsible for their current predicament. Reaching the other side Virgil was visibly amused that his fish of a brother was upset by his impromptu swim. Gordon glared at him. He raised an accusatory hand, jabbing his big brother in the chest.
'It's not funny!' he fumed, causing Virgil to laugh out loud. But as Gordon lowered his arm, Virgil spotted something that was definitely not good, and he lunged forward to prevent Gordon moving any further. Gordon stared. 'What the hell, Virg?' In reply his brother simply lifted his arm higher and twisted it slightly.
There, on his upper arm was…was something. It was glossy with slime, around five centimetres long and, to Virgil's eyes, quite beautiful. Shades of brown and black with a chain-like pattern on its back, firmly attached to Gordon's wetsuit.
'Is…is that a leech?' Gordon asked, slightly put out by the audacity of the creature on his arm. Virgil nodded, very thankful that they were in uniform. Neoprene was not going to be a material the leech would like. Time to check there was nothing dangerous. 'EOS, can you identify this leech and if we need to take any precautions,' Virgil asked, showing the leech to the AI.
'It is a species of Phytobdella Catenifera. This particular one in Papua New Guinea is known to be zoonotic, but as long as there are no tears in Gordon's suit there should not be a problem.' Gordon rolled his eyes. 'Great. Just great. And how are we supposed to remove it?' EOS paused. 'There are three methods that can be employed. Many sites advocate salting the leech or using alcohol, and it will die; others say you need to use heat and it will drop off. The other method is to use your nail to slide under the mouth part and flick it off when it lets go.' They shared a look. 'Ok, Virg, you're up. Use your nail please, I don't want to kill it.' The leech came off the neoprene very easily and after checking there were no more clinging to his brother, they set off again.
It took 25 minutes from the time they crashed down to the moment they reached the mine. It looked like the sudden landing had not affected the hole in the ground that was the entrance. There had been no sign of the four men or of Scott – or anyone else for that matter, and Gordon was on edge. It looked like Virgil would have to stay above ground and that did not please either of them.
Well, needs must, and Virgil prepared to lower Gordon down into the mine.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Scott had attempted to follow the Hood as he made his way to where Two had crashed. At least that is where Scott assumed he was heading. The sounds his brother's 'bird had made had been awful, and he was desperate to know his brothers were alright. But walking through the jungle with a hole in his leg was hard work. Thank god for trees.
Still, he was hyperaware that the sounds gradually returning to the place were drowning out any other sounds. He swore at one point he heard a splash, but he hadn't come across anything that could have caused it. Nor had he come across any trace of the four men or the Hood, and didn't that just unnerve him even more.
He felt like he had been walking forever when he finally crossed the path Two had carved through the jungle. He couldn't see Two yet, and he was debating whether he should make his way to the craft or make his way back to the mine where he was sure his brothers would head. He was confident EOS would take care of keeping the Hood or anyone else out of their craft, so it seemed the better option would be to track back to the mine. Maybe he would be in time to prevent his brothers being snared as well.
It was getting more and more difficult to walk, and with no support from the trees now he was in the open, Scott began to stumble more and more. Blood loss coupled with the heat was making him dizzy, and he needed to stop. He knew that if he did stop it would be more difficult to get going again, so he pushed forward, following the grooves left by Two.
He didn't see the stream. He was too busy noticing the footsteps heading towards where Two must have been parked. Getting out of the stream was a nightmare, and he was thankful that it wasn't a steep bank, but he had travelled closer to the sludge Two had turned the stream into before he'd managed to escape.
Once upright again, having caught his breath back, Scott needed to know which way was best to go, and still-damp footprints gave him the direction he needed. He made the clearing just in time to see two of the four gunmen advancing on an unsuspecting Virgil.
