Chapter 15
Ambush
"Where in the hell are we?" said Guiterrez angrily, throwing his rucksack onto the floor and sitting down in a heap.
They had been walking through the jungle for over two hours, led by Wu's compass, but so far they hadn't found what they were looking for.
"I don't understand it," said Wu, scratching the back of his head thoughtfully. "We should have come across the power station over an hour ago."
"And yet, here we are. Stuck in this crap hole of a jungle," Guiterrez pointed out, scowling as he rooted around in his bag for his water.
The group paused reluctantly, panting in the heat of the day. The sun was now high in the sky, and the temperature had risen tenfold. While the trees provided protection from direct contact with the sunlight, underneath the canopy, in between all of the clumps of closely spaced foliage, it was stiflingly hot. Around them they could hear the growls and hoots of various animals emanating from the depths of the jungle, along with the usual chorus of cicadas and frogs.
Malcolm and Sarah sat down together on the floor, and watched Wu walk in circles, waving his compass as though it might change the reading. Tim stood motionless, watching him with raised eyebrows.
"I don't see how we could have missed it," said Wu, pulling out a topographical map of the island and laying it on the floor. The map was laden with contour lines and red squiggles that represented the old paddock fencing. Wu pointed to a small black grouping of squares near the bottom of the island, and beckoned them all over.
"See?" he said, "that's the geothermal power station, and here's where we crashed," he pointed to another spot to the left of the power plant. "According to my calculations we should have found it over an hour ago."
Guiterrez turned to look at Wu.
"Henry, I could swear that we've been in this spot before. We're going in circles."
Wu shook his head.
"No, there are no footprints, or disturbed plantation.
Guiterrez ignored Wu's comment, staring at his hand.
"How old is that compass?" he said.
"My father gave it to me, why?" said Wu, looking down at the compass with concern etched onto his face.
"Oh, I don't know. I was just wondering whether it's been lying around a little too long, and maybe it's broken," he said sarcastically.
Wu shook his head.
"No, it was working fine on the mainland," he said.
"You know, a 14 ton helicopter landing on it might throw a compass off a tad," Guiterrez murmured as he took a swig of water.
"It's still our best bet at navigating."
Guiterrez made a comical face, and gave a sarcastic laugh. Wu frowned and threw his bag to the ground, and bunched his fists.
"Hey, what the hell is your problem?" he shouted.
Guiterrez gave a hoot of humourless laughter, and stood up to face them all.
"What's my problem? My problem is that we're stuck here, in this endless jungle, 80 miles from civilisation. Nobody knows we're here, and we have no way to contact them! And now we're lost, possibly miles from where we're supposed to be, surrounded by predators that would like nothing better than to kill and eat us!"
Anderson stepped between them, raising his hands to block their path. "Calm down, now," he said. Guiterrez scowled at them, and sat down.
Wu sighed, and turned back to the map, inspecting it carefully. Perhaps it was inaccurate, or maybe his compass really was broken. Anderson knelt down beside him, and held out his hand, palm up.
"May I see the compass?" he said.
Wu shrugged, and handed it to him, his eyes still scanning the map. Beside him Anderson was holding the compass up to the light that was filtering down through the trees, turning it carefully in his hands. Wu guessed that he was looking for some kind of damage, but he didn't know. A moment later, Anderson handed the compass back to him and stood up.
"It looks fine to me," he said.
"You know about this sort of thing?" said Wu absent-mindedly, running his finger along the route that he thought they had taken.
"I spent four years training in South American rain forests, and I had to use a compass all the time."
Anderson leaned against the trunk of a tree, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. He was frowning, apparently deep in thought. He eyed the map lying on the ground, and his eyes widened.
"Mr. Murphy," he said, "was there any record of a magnetic anomaly on the island?"
"I don't think so," said Tim, "but it's possible. I didn't have time to go through the entire database, and an anomaly would account for the incorrect readings."
"A what?" said Guiterrez.
"A magnetic anomaly," repeated Anderson, "a magnetic field that can create a disturbance in the usual workings of objects such as a compass."
"Where would a magnetic anomaly come from?" said Guiterrez, shaking his head."
Anderson picked up the map, and pointed to the north and west, where the contour lines were most concentrated.
"Magnetic anomalies usually come from specific metals within nearby mountain ranges," he said.
"This seems to be a little far-fetched to me," said Marty, frowning.
"Have you ever navigated yourself halfway across a continent through a jungle like this?"
Guiterrez sighed. "No."
"Well then, leave this to us if you please," said Anderson.
Guiterrez gave an airy wave of his hand.
"Okay, so we know that our compass is broken-"
"-It's not broken, it's just being thrown off."
"Fine, thrown off. The point is it doesn't work," Gutierrez said, "how does knowing that help us? In case you haven't noticed, we're still lost."
Anderson walked forward, and sighed. "According to my knowledge, any magnetic anomaly can account for perhaps one to two percent variation of the needle. Can you add that into your calculations?"
Wu shook his head. "No, I'm afraid that it's too little, too late. If you had told me this earlier then it might have helped, but now...," he sighed, "If you're right, then I have no idea where we are."
Guiterrez snorted. "Oh, great."
Anderson stepped forward, standing impressively in his uniform, his automatic rifle glinting in the sun.
"Ok people," he called authoratively, "let's split up and take a look around. We'll pair up into two's, and try to find out where we are."
"Is that safe?"
"Not really, but we don't have any option. Now, I'll go with Wu. Tim and Guiterrez, you two will go that way", he said, pointing behind him. "Malcolm, Sarah and..." he looked questioningly towards the pilot.
"My name is Rodriguez," he said quietly.
"Right. You three will go left. Meet back here in two minutes. Try not to stray too far."
They split up, and walked into the jungle in silence. Wu let Anderson take the lead, who continued to cut away at the branches with his machete. All around them they could hear the jungle animals calling to each other, and the occasional growl. But they didn't see anything.
They continued through the trees until Anderson called a halt.
"Okay, that's far enough," he sighed, "I can't see this going anywhere."
Wu shook his head, looking ahead. He could see sunshine showing through the foliage. The jungle ended; perhaps it was another clearing. If so then they may be able to get their bearings. He stepped cautiously towards it, and stepped into the light.
The ground seemed to disappear from underneath him, and he gave a yell as he began to fall. Wind milling his arms, he tried desperately to keep his balance, but he slowly tipped forwards, and looked down at a massive grey expanse below him. A sudden jolt at his throat brought him to a halt, hanging over the edge of the grey cliff. Breathing heavily, he turned his head fractionally to look behind him.
Anderson had grabbed his shirt collar to stop him falling, holding him suspended over the edge of the cliff. Wu breathed a sigh, and righted himself.
"Thanks," he said shakily.
"No problem," murmured Anderson, peering over the edge of the grey cliff. He gave a whistle; a vast chasm ran all along the edge of the jungle, made of concrete. At the base it was filled with stagnant green water, full of multicoloured detritus. On the other side the chasm the jungle began again, as suddenly as it ended on their side.
"What is it?" Anderson said.
"One of the moats," said Wu, "one of the secondary boundaries of the individual paddocks. They're placed in strategic locations throughout the island."
Anderson gave an annoyed grimace.
"Well, we can't go this way. Come on, let's go back," he said.
A long, growling hoot came from the jungle from the other side of the moat, echoing through the jungle, reverberating in the enclosed space. It was hardly louder than a breeze, but they had both turned to look into the jungle. A crash made them jump in the silence, coming closer to the edge of the trees. Beside him Wu sensed Anderson's hand snaking towards the strap that held his rifle on his shoulder. He took Wu's shoulders, and steered him gently back into the jungle, putting a finger to his lips. Neither of them could shake off a disturbing and ominous feeling; they were being watched.
"Well, what did you find?" asked Tim.
They had all met up where they had split up a few minutes before, staring at Anderson and Wu.
"We found one of the moats," said Wu, pulling his shirt collar away from his neck slightly.
"There aren't any moats anywhere near the power plant, so it's not that way."
"It's just that...we heard something, on the other side of the moat. There may be something around here."
"Well, never mind that now. What did you find?" Tim asked, indicating Malcolm.
Ian merely shrugged.
"Nothing," he said.
"What did you find?" said Sarah.
Guiterrez laughed. "Let's see. Leaves, leaves and, oh, more leaves."
"What are we going to do now then?" asked Rodriguez.
"Oh, click our heels together and say 'there's no place like home'," said Guiterrez in feigned happiness.
Everybody ignored him, trying to think of what to do. Wu was looking up at the canopy. The canopy. He snapped his fingers, and dived into his bag, rooting around. He brought out a large bundle of rope, and held it up for them all to see. It was a thick, tough rope, easily a hundred feet of it. They all stared back at him quizzically, none the wiser.
"The trees!" he exclaimed.
Guiterrez looked back at him for a moment, one of his eyebrows raised. "We've only been here a few hours, and he's lost it already," he said.
Wu scowled. "No, I mean we climb a tree! If this anomaly can only throw the compass off by a degree or so, we must be pretty close to the power plant, we just can't see it through the jungle. If we get up to the treetops, we should be able to see it."
Anderson was nodding. "Could work," he said.
"Are you kidding?" said Guiterrez, "those trees have got to be over 50 feet high! If you fall you'll break your neck!"
"Which is why we need the rope; if we loop it over a branch, we can hoist ourselves up," said Wu.
"I'll go," Anderson murmured, taking the rope and looking upwards, looking for a suitable tree.
"I'll come with you," said Wu, running his hands over the trunk of one of the largest trees around them. The tree was sturdy and looked stable enough to climb.
"This one looks good," he said, standing back to pick out a branch high enough. He spotted a large bare branch that poked through the canopy a little, perfect for giving them a lookout point over the jungle. He nudged Anderson, and pointed to it.
Anderson nodded, and squinted at the branch. Coiling the rope up in his right hand, and taking a smaller length in his left, he aimed carefully, closing one eye to see it better.
"Step back a little," he said to the others. Wu stepped back, and watched as Anderson began to swing the rope in his left hand in vertical circles powerfully, his arm becoming a blur. The rope began to give off a strange buzzing sound as Anderson continued to swing it faster. He gave a loud grunt of effort, gave a huge heave, and released the rope in his left hand. The rope flew upwards, the coils in his right hand snaking loose. Wu held his breath as gravity overtook the rope, and it shot over the edge of the branch just in time. Slowly, the tip snaked downwards, and Anderson loosened his grip on his end, allowing the rope to find its own path.
Eventually, two equally long pieces of rope dangled in front of them, hanging from the branch fifty feet above them. Anderson stepped forward, and grabbed one length in each hand, and rested his weight on them to see if it would hold him. The branch gave a squeaking groan, but held in place. He grunted his approval, and handed one of the lengths to Tim.
"The rest of you line up and grab the rope," he said.
As they complied, Anderson threaded the end of his rope through the holes in the top of his trousers like a belt, and handed it to Wu, who did the same.
"Wait!" called Guiterrez, "what if something comes while you're up there?"
Anderson considered them for a moment. "Who here has handled a weapon before?"
Sarah replied immediately, "Me. I have to carry one at all times when observing African predators."
Anderson took out his pistol, and threw it to her. She caught it easily, studied it briefly, nodded and tucked it into the back of her jeans.
"Alright, now, on three."
Tim, Guiterrez, Rodriguez and Sarah tightened their grip on the rope, and leaned back slightly.
"One, two, three!"
They gave a unanimous shout, and pulled with all their might. Anderson and Wu were lifted eight feet into the air. The rope gave a fibrous stretching sound, but held. Another shout and they were fifteen feet up. Wu looked up at Anderson, dangling above him, clinging to the rope, and the sunlight filtering down through the trees far above.
A few minutes later Wu's head poked through the ceiling of the canopy, and blinked in the sudden burst of sunlight. Anderson appeared beside him a moment later, clinging to the tree. They both swung their legs over the thick branch, letting it support their weight. The rope went slack, letting the others below relax. They both sat for a few moments, letting the cool air wash over their faces. Then they turned to scan the surrounding forest, looking for a gap in the tree line.
"There's the moat," said Wu, pointing to a long gap to their left.
But Anderson wasn't listening. He was looking up at the sky, which was deep blue, and cloudless.
"What is it?" said Wu.
"Which way would you say is north?" asked Anderson, as if he was a teacher and Wu was a student.
Wu shrugged, and looked at the sky.
"Well, the sun's going to set over there, so that's west. The island it beginning to taper over there, so that's south." He pointed behind them, towards a range of distant mountains. "That's north."
Anderson nodded. "Yes. That's where north should be." He glanced at the compass, and waved in a direction slightly to the right of where Wu had pointed. "Yet that is North."
"So, there is a magnetic field throwing it off?"
"Yeah."
Wu sighed, and shrugged.
"We can't be far from the power station," murmured Anderson, turning towards the forest.
From their vantage point in the tree they could see for over a mile around them. But apart from the odd gap all they could see what a blanket of leaves, swaying in the wind.
Wu frowned.
"We should be able to guess its general direction, right?" he said.
Anderson took out the compass from his jacket pocket, and studied it briefly.
"If this compass isn't broken, and it is only a magnetic field that's throwing off the needle, then the power station should be in a general…" he swept his arm in a narrow arc to their right, "…that direction."
They both turned towards it, and stared at the treetops, looking for a gap. Wu gripped the branch harder and very slowly got into a staggered standing position.
"Wouldn't happen to have a pair of binoculars in your arsenal, would you?" said Wu, eying Anderson's numerous pockets.
"As a matter of fact…" said Anderson slowly, and slipped his hand into his inside pocket and withdrew a pair of black miniature binoculars. Wu took them, and then paused, smiling.
"Wouldn't happen to have a nice peanut butter sandwich in there somewhere, would you?" he asked, lifting the binoculars to his eyes.
Anderson grinned, shaking his head slowly.
Wu scanned the area in which Anderson had indicated through the binoculars, checking every nook and cranny of the forest. After a minute of searching he found it. A slither of grey was poking into view in between a pair of palm trees in the distance, on the very edge of the area that Anderson had pointed out.
"There," he said, pointing to it, and handing the binoculars over to John.
Anderson looked through them, and followed Wu's finger. "That grey thing?" he mumbled, his eyebrows raising above the line of the lenses.
"It's the communications spire," said Wu, taking the binoculars back to examine it more thoroughly, "it allowed the engineers keep in touch with the control room."
Anderson was smiling. "Finally, some good news." He took another look at the compass, inspecting it.
"Right," he said, "even though the compass it being thrown off, we can follow the heading in the direction of the power station. Now, according to this, the power station is North-North-West."
Wu nodded, and smiled. "Ah, we've overcome our first obstacle, a magnificent triumph," he shouted in a mocked pompous voice.
But Wu noticed that the entire forest had suddenly gone silent, and the chorus of insects had ceased abruptly.
Oblivious, Anderson was laughing next to him.
Before Wu could silence him Anderson began to speak again. "Ok, now all we have to do is—"
A yell of terror floated up to them from below, followed immediately by a low, growling hoot. The sound of thrashing underbrush surrounded them on the ground. Wu and Anderson scrambled back into their sitting position to see below the branches. Wu shivered at the scene that was spread out before them.
Malcolm, Tim, Sarah, Guiterrez and Rodriguez were slowly backing away from the tree that Wu and Anderson were in, dragging the rope with them. A few meters away, five dark shapes were looming over them, snarling and hooting. Slowly, the shapes stepped into the light. Their skin was dark brown, with slightly yellow striations running along their flanks, making them look like inverted tigers. They were ten feet tall, and almost sixteen feet long. Their forearms were long and powerfully muscled, with four clawed fingers waggling in the air. The hind limbs were light and springy, ending in a splayed three toed foot. The tail was long, and held high off the ground. Its head was over a foot long, with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth protruding from the ragged mouth, thick droplets of drool flowing from the open jaws. Running along the top of its head was a double edged crest, running from snout to neck in a V formation. Two of the animal's crests were bright red, while the others were mottled with the same yellow as the striations on their sides.
"Dilophosaurs," breathed Wu.