I'd love feedback on this chapter because I'm not sure if it was the right way to go. Taking steps to the next big event but not sure if I'm on the right path. That's why the update took a couple days. Please let me know what you think! :)
Throughout the morning, the group followed rift energy readings from the damaged area of the ravine to the basin of the river. The blast had given them a starting point and the data seemed to suggest the underground rift was roughly parallel to the flowing water. After mid-day, the signal veered east, forcing them to start a trek into the jungle.
Before the foliage obscured the view, Alex could make out large hills and mountains on the horizon. He and his team had been this way before and, fortunately, it seemed like a fairly quiet area. There were a few small towns or villages, rice fields and live stock. Nothing that made him overly anxious about what might lay in their path. Still, he had sent Toynbee ahead to scout for any possible dangers.
Alex lead the rest of their pack through the brush, taking redirection from Professor Song as needed to stay on the track of the rift. At some point, Barnes had made his way up next to Alex, slightly apart from the others.
"So what's the intel on this area?" Barnes asked, "Ever heard of anything... weird going on?"
Alex took a few more steps before responding, "Weirder than a bunch of soldiers with mutant powers?"
His tone was hard but Barnes chuckled, glancing back at his crew mates.
"That's not so weird where I'm from," he replied.
"And where are you from?" Alex shot back.
"Brooklyn," Barnes said and grinned, "Seems like the bomb blast shook some of my marbles back into place. What about you? Where you from?"
"Hawaii," Alex said, "Lived there until my folks died, then ended up state side."
They walked on in silence for a few moments, then Alex asked, "What kind of unusual things should we be looking for?"
Barnes shook his head, "I don't know exactly. Rimmer has this whole catalog of... monsters, I guess... that can show up if a rift gets too big. But, I don't know, man. Seems a little too Boris Karloff to me."
Alex gave a small snort of laughter at this. Maybe it was just the memory of his parents lingering, but Barnes suddenly reminded Alex of his father. He thought of going with his father to see monster movies when he was a kid. Karloff had been one of his favorites.
The greenery to the east shook and moved as Toynbee returned to report in.
"There's something you might wanna see over here," the crouching soldier said, jerking a thumb back in the direction from which he came.
Alex nodded and then gave Barnes a wary look.
"If we run into the Bride of Frankenstein out here, she's all yours," Alex said, earning another chuckle from his companion.
Barnes signaled for the rest of the group to halt as he and Alex followed Toynbee forward to investigate.
A short distance from their team, the trio spotted what had been discovered in an open break in the trees.
Alex frowned as he entered the clearing, feeling a tingle of alarm. The nearly empty space was encircled by a dozen rocks jutting from the ground like poorly carved obelisks, each at least fifteen feet tall. Lines of smaller stones radiated from each spike to a circle, which had been tended and contained a variety of flowering shrubs.
He walked toward the center with slow, cautious steps. Despite the towering stones, the area seemed quite tranquil, beautiful colors among the jungle's sea of green and brown.
Alex heard Barnes ask Toynbee, "Was anyone here when you found it?"
"Nope," the other soldier replied, "Found it just like this. What do ya think it is?"
"No idea," Barnes replied, "Might just be some local's garden."
As Alex arrived at the middle patch of flowers, he reached down a picked up a smooth, polished stone about the size of his palm. There was a symbol engraved on its surface and Alex recognized the Vietnamese character for 'mountain'. It had been a common word used on maps of the area.
He placed the stone back respectfully in its place then turned back to the others.
"Barnes, you wanna call the others and tell them to track us here?" Alex asked. Barnes nodded, spoke into his wrist computer and told Jack to bring the others to the circle of stones.
Alex was continuing his slow pace around the center of the clearing, when Toynbee let out a yelp of alarm. Alex spun, and held out his right arm defensively, a red glow encircling his fist. Barnes was on guard as well, rifle raised toward the new threat.
Toynbee was being throttled from behind by a wood staff at his neck, a thin but strong arm holding it in place. The attacker's other hand held a knife to his abdomen.
Behind his teammate's shoulder, Alex saw the fierce face of a Vietnamese woman, dark locks of hair straying down over her milky white eyes. With trained control, Alex drew back on the cosmic energy coursing through his body and loosened his fist. He held both arms up, hands open in a sign of truce.
"Easy..." he said, "Just... take it easy... Toad, don't move... "
The woman yelled something at him but Alex's Vietnamese was limited and he did not understand. He shook his head as he spoke calmly.
"Sorry. I don't understand you."
With a dark glare, the woman spoke again, in clear English, "Who... are... you? What are you doing here?"
"We're soldiers from the base camp by the river," Alex replied, "We're not here to hurt anyone. Please. If you let the Private go, we can talk..."
The woman did not yield, "How many are with you?"
"Eight," Alex said, "Five more plus the three of us."
The attacker shifted her feet into the dirt, her white eyes narrowing. Alex noted for the first time that she wore no shoes. Alex could hear the rest of their group getting closer. He could see Barnes shifting carefully toward the tree line, hoping to intercept them in case their arrival caused the young woman to lash out against Toynbee.
"You should not be here," the woman hissed, "This place is..."
She paused, tilting her head, as if listening. She called out in Vietnamese and received a response in English.
Someone scolded in a soft voice, "Let him go."
Alex saw the young woman stiffen and scowled back toward the trees.
"But, teacher!" she said, "There are... oy!"
In her moment of distraction, Toynbee was able to twist himself out of her grasp. He leaped away, impossibly far for an ordinary soldier, and landed just behind Alex and Barnes. The young woman grasped at the air, looking confused, until finally she seemed to register where her prey had gone.
"You alright?" Alex asked Toynbee, who nodded and glared resentfully back at his attacker.
The remainder of their party arrived to the unexpectedly tense situation, looking to Alex for explanation.
"Private Summers?" River Song asked, "What is..."
Her words fell away as the Professor began to gape at the stone structures. Haze and Ink moved to defensive positions around the research team. Alex shook his head at them once, indicating they were not to strike out at the strange woman.
More crunching steps could be heard and a hooded man emerged from the leaves. His face was obscured as he glanced around, pausing significantly to stare at Alex.
"Teacher, they shouldn't be here!" the young woman protested, twisting the wooden staff in her hands. Before the new arrival could respond, Alex took the lead.
"We apologize to you, sir," Alex said, "I think we're encroaching on your land. We'll leave and go around..."
"Private Summers," River interrupted, paging through her red note book, "We really can't. This place is... "
"Not now, Professor," he shot back.
"Please," the man said calmly, "No need for apologies. I've actually been wondering when you would show up."
The man pulled back his hood and Alex inhaled sharply. The face was paler than he remembered, pock marked and scarred. But the eyes were the same.
"Darwin?" Alex asked in shock and the man smiled.
"Been a long time, Alex," he replied.
"You are... you were dead," the mutant soldier stumbled over his words, "I... Shaw killed you."
"Adapt to survive, remember?" Darwin said, his tone kind.
To the surprise of the rest of his team, Alex Summers walked over to his old friend and embraced him.
"How? Just... how?" Alex stammered, "How'd you get here?"
Darwin placed a hand on his shoulder, "Let's get back to the village and I'll try to explain."
The woman who had attacked Toynbee let out an angry grunt before turning on her heals and running into the jungle. Darwin seemed somber as he watched her go.
"Will she be okay on her own?" Alex asked.
"She'll be fine," Darwin said, then gesturing to the assembled party, "Come on... this way..."
As the group followed his old friend, Alex overheard Jack and Barnes speaking together in low voices.
"Did you notice?" Jack asked.
"Notice what?" Barnes replied.
Jack continued, "That woman. I'm pretty sure she was blind."