CHAPTER 8
First order of the day, he realized, was to find West. Much as he hated to admit it, he needed the Major to come up with a workable rescue plan. Given sufficient time, his fertile and cunning imagination could have devised something, but that would have meant taking on the part of " hero", a role he had no intention of playing. That was West's or Robinson's job, pure and simple.
"Let them bask in all the glory," he muttered somewhat petulantly, wishing just once that he could drop his typical cringing facade long enough to publicly take charge of the situation. Take charge for real. Show that he was more than just a bumbling idiot, or a sniveling coward every minute of every day. But just one slip, one tiny deviation from his carefully crafted persona, and the Robinsons or West might come to doubt his innocence concerning the sabotage of their vessel. As long as he pretended to be totally inept and perpetually fearful, they wouldn't dream of seeing him as any threat. He liked it that way. And he intended to perpetuate that image at all costs, even now when he really needed to act for himself.
And so, without further thought, he slowly crept back toward the village, ears straining for the slightest indication that he was being pursued. Retracing his path, he found where he had left grossly obvious signs of flight. But that wasn't what he was scanning for.
Finally, Smith found it…several broken branches about 20 feet off to the right of his path, then several more farther on, where they finally ended at some sort of plant-choked path. Once more heading away from the village, he followed the winding trail. After about twenty minutes time, the path ended rather abruptly at a small stream.
Groaning at his stiffening muscles, he crouched down low enough to wash his filthy hands in the stream and then scooped up enough water to sample it. Hazardous Food and Water Protocols were meaningless at this point. He desperately needed the fluid in order to avoid dehydration. Carefully he tested it with the tip of his tongue and was rewarded with the cool, crisp, mineral tang of normal spring water. Nevertheless, he cautiously took only a few sips before straightening up. Slowly, he stepped across the stream, to continue looking for signs of West's passage.
Overhead, a brilliant hued half avian, half lizard creature shrieked its displeasure at him. Watching it with a wary eye, Smith looked around for a burrow or nest. If the creature was protecting its young, then he planned on being elsewhere.
Suddenly a branch cracked loudly to his right and an involuntary shriek raced through his lips before he could control it.
"Well, well, fancy meeting you here!" West said nonchalantly, as he parted the broad-leaved bushes before him.
"It's about time you made an appearance, Major," Smith growled in his most haughty tone. "I was growing weary trying to follow your mindless meandering through this jungle!"
West gave him a 'same old Smith' smirk and simply stated, "Okay, you've found me. And now it's time to figure out how to get the others out of the village."
"I'd hoped you would have already pondered that very subject."
"Yes, I had, but with you here that changes things," the Major said, not without a hint of frustration.
"Indeed!" Smith retorted, knowing full well that West was implying that he was a liability rather than an asset.
Unable to let the moment pass, West added, "Smith, you and I both know that you are the personification of Murphy's Law. If you want the truth, I'd just as soon truss you up and leave you here until I'm finished, but I'd be too worried that one of the carnivores hereabouts would eat you, get sick, and I certainly wouldn't want to be blamed for cruelty to animals!"
Smith's spine straightened like a steel rod and his face turned a dangerous crimson color. "How dare you," he sputtered in rage, wishing now that he had gone after the Robinsons himself and left West to rot in the jungle. "For your information, Major," he added, putting at much loathing into the title as possible, "I was the one searching for you. At least I wasn't hiding in the bushes!"
West shook his head. "Yeah right! I was avoiding pursuit." Abruptly he shut his mouth, wondering why he felt the need to defend himself to this sniveling jellyfish. "Which reminds me…the last time I saw you was just before I made a break for it."
Suddenly he started to laugh and pointed at Smith's lone piece of apparel as if noticing it for the first time. "And at the moment I'm certainly seeing more of you than I ever wanted to see!"
"You're just jealous!" Smith stated calmly, folding his arms defensively across his chest.
"Not hardly," West giggled at the sight of a discomfited and nearly naked Smith. When he had recovered sufficient breath to continue, he asked, "So what happened to you after I escaped?"
"That foul beast kicked me all the way to the shower." It was a partial lie designed to elicit some pity from West, which was actually like trying to squeeze water from a stone, but he couldn't help himself.
West bestowed a dubious glance his way but said nothing, much to Smith's relief.
"I took the opportunity to clean up, I mean, why should I walk around with that horrible stench, and then they brought me this," he paused long enough to point down to his sole form of covering. "Suffice it to say that I made a convenient escape from there shortly thereafter."
"And what happened to the guard?"
"The clumsy oaf slipped in the shower," Smith explained through upturned lips.
West's raised eyebrows spoke volumes but he wisely didn't argue. "So as soon as he…uh…slipped….you ran away."
"Not away, Major. I headed into the forest in the same place you did." He paused as if dreading his following words. "I…ah…required your services in formulating a rescue plan."
"You need ME?" said West, feigning shock. "Now that admission must have hurt!"
"More than you could possibly imagine," ascertained the doctor flatly. "Nevertheless, even if I could get the rest out of there, which I doubt, they wouldn't have left you here, and so, against my better judgement, I decided to find you. Besides, if anyone should get killed rescuing the Robinsons, I say 'better you than me'!"
"You're all heart, Smith," West said, throwing his hands up in exasperation.
"Quite true!" Smith stated with a smug smile. "And now that we are through exchanging pleasantries, let's get back to the task at hand."
West looked as though he had no interest in letting the verbal battle end there, but decided not to waste his breath in more insults.
"Okay, the way I see it, we need to wait until nightfall. The moon was fairly full last night and we should have enough light to scout around the village. If these sailors are like human seamen, they will be partying somewhere tonight. But they will probably leave at least one or two guards to keep watch over the prisoners. Those are the guys we need to locate. If we are lucky, we will find everyone in some sort of stockade area. Then we'll try to see if John and the rest are together before we take out the guards."
Smith's wide-eyed expression of doubt spoke volumes. "We?"
"You betcha," West grinned at the dismayed doctor. "Well, you have a choice, either you play decoy, and I'll hit him. Or I'll play decoy and you hit him. Which one would you prefer?"
"First of all, I'd much prefer if you would do the honors all around, but if I must chose one, then I suppose I'd much rather be the decoy."
"Yeah, I agree. You sure are good at running like heck."
"Well, hardee har har," Smith twanged. "Your tasteless sense of humor is only matched by your stupidity." Before West could make a suitable come-back, the doctor added, "Have you given any thought as to what we will do if there is more than one guard? And what we'll do if they aren't in some obvious place like a stockade? For instance, just because a guard is posted in front of a building, that doesn't necessarily mean our stalwart companions are contained therein."
"Quite true, Doctor, and if you have any better suggestions, I'm open to discussing them."
Sighing, Smith decided not to argue further. He desperately needed a few hours of sleep before attempting anything foolish. "Have it your way, Major. Scout first, bash heads later. But first, I suggest we get some shut-eye so we will be alert later on."
Absentmindedly, he scratched at some of the cuts created during his flight through the brambles. "With the way my luck has been running lately, this will turn out to be the alien equivalent of poison ivy!" He muttered as he scratched.
"Try going down to the stream and rinsing the resins off your skin," Don suggested, then smiled smugly at Smith's pruney expression.
"Of course, Doctor West, anything you say, sir!" Smith replied curtly, but he did make his way to the stream just the same. Using the sand from the bottom of the stream, he lightly scrubbed his exposed skin as much as he was able, and found that he did indeed feel a bit better. Silently, he muttered a few choice words aimed at Don just for the sheer joy of venting his frustrations on someone other than himself.
"Now there's a truly terrifying sight," Don's voice echoed down the shallow ravine.
Smith stiffened. "You just wish you had a physique like this Major!"
Don gave him an evil chuckle. "Yeah, maybe like when I'm a hundred and ten, I would."
"West," Smith said with a deadpan expression, "Bite me!" Without waiting for the nasty comeback he was sure would come, he headed immediately back to camp. With a loud groan, Smith finally sank back onto a thick patch of moss and immediately closed his eyes without waiting to see if Don was following him.
Without even realizing it, he dozed off almost immediately into a sound and dreamless sleep.
By the time the Major woke him up, rather roughly if the truth be told, Smith felt rested enough to take over the watch.
As Don settled down into the still-warm spot that Smith had just vacated, he cautioned, "Fall asleep, and if we survive the night, I'll kill you myself."
"And you think I take that threat seriously? Please, Major, your are really growing quite tedious. But, in any case, rest assured I shall not doze."
Don stared intently at Smith and debated contradicting the doctor's assurances. Instead, he closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep. It didn't work. He kept thinking about desperately he needed the rest, yet he was certain that Smith would fall asleep, and in short order, they would be pounced on by either a band of aliens or some hungry forest denizen. Consequently, sleep came more slowly but ultimately he surrendered to its persistent call.
When he awoke, it wasn't a slow return to consciousness. Instead, it was a leap to instant, skin-prickling awareness. A firm hand was clamped over his mouth. He thought about struggling but worried about a spear tip entering his ribs if the aliens felt threatened. As his eyes adjusted to the moonlight, he noticed it was Smith hovering over him, a pointer finger pressed to his lips.
Once Smith was certain that West would remain quiet, he removed his hand from Don's mouth. Ever patient for a chance to needle the Major, he promptly wiped his hand off on his thigh, but declined to speak until a minute had passed.
"We are about to have visitors," he finally said in a voice not above a whisper.
When Don responded, he spoke no louder. "The aliens?"
"Them or perhaps others from the village. They were down by the gully, and are drawing nearer, though I am uncertain if they are searching for us, or if they are about for some other devious purpose."
"How long?" he asked, straining to hear whatever had alerted Smith to the problem. Finally, faintly, he heard some distant rustling of brush, and a grunt of pain as a brush snapped, presumably into someone's exposed skin.
"I don't understand."
"How long have they been coming this way?"
Smith shrugged enough for it to be visible in the moonlight. "Uncertain. I have been hearing them for perhaps five minutes. I had hoped they'd bypass our hiding place but since I'm no longer sure of that, I decided to rouse you from your slumbering state."
Unbidden, a sarcastic comment crept to West's lips but he bit it back down. This may not have been the Smith he was used to, but under the circumstances, he was grateful for the change, no matter how brief it might be.
Carefully, quietly, he got to his feet, and grabbed Smith's upper arm in his strong grip. "This way," he murmured and began to lead the doctor away from the creatures wandering in the woods. After about ten minutes, he veered back toward the village and prayed that the hunters were heading in the opposite direction.
The scant light of a red crescent moon was just barely enough to find their way back to the village. Both men tripped over exposed roots at least half a dozen times, not to mention the number of instances when the hapless stowaway was resoundingly whacked with rebounding tree limbs. Only after Smith let out one particularly loud howl of pain did Don make a mental note to warn the doctor to duck, and then only because he didn't want the 'fool' to warn the enemy of their approach.
Somehow they made it to the perimeter of the town without getting lost or detected. Crouching behind the nearest building, they caught their breath and massaged bruised limbs. And listened. Carefully. Though Don wasn't a praying man, he silently sent out beseeching prayer to the powers that be to assist him in finding the Robinsons before dawn broke or Smith gave their position away. In truth, he was tempted to drop their plan to work as a duo, and tell Smith to wait where he was, but two factors changed his mind.
The first was that he didn't want to risk splitting up. It would do him no good to find the Jupiter 2 crew only to have Smith blow his cover and get recaptured. Had it been up to him, he would gladly have left the man behind, but he also knew the others would never forgive him for it.
Secondly, for once in his life, Smith had been working with him instead of against him. Though he knew it was too good to be true, and certainly too good to last, West sighed and decided he had no choice except to drag Smith along. He heard Smith exhale as if trying to psyche himself up to the task ahead, but he didn't protest when West grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the center of the village.
Ears tuned in to any sound out of the ordinary, they cautiously crept closer to the waterfront. And then they heard it, twittering bird-like laughter off to their right. In unison, two heads turned in that direction, and a second later, with backs plastered to the adobe-like wall of one building, they peered around a corner to see where the sound was coming from.
In the dim light shining from a tiny window, they saw shadows moving inside one small, shack-like structure.
Just as the two men were about to sneak closer, the solitary door opened unexpectedly. West crashed into Smith in his haste to get back behind the wall. Smith, though startled, wisely kept silent.
Once the alien had disappeared, or at least once Don assumed the alien had left the area, the Major peered around the corner. The coast was clear.
They had taken about five steps into the more open street when they heard a muffled scream. The two humans froze instantly, hurriedly gazing around them. Smith's eyes darted around in panic. West, ever the more calm of the two, simply started looking for a way to escape if the sound brought curiosity seekers.
To their amazement nothing stirred. And then the pained cry pierced the silence again, this time sounding distinctly more human.
Without even looking over his shoulder to see if Smith was still there, Don used the dim window light to illuminate a come-along gesture. To his relief he heard another set of feet shuffling along behind him. The low, rapid, raspy breath told him it was still the doctor and not some adversary.
Looking in the window turned out to be more difficult than they imagined. For one thing, it was a bit too high for either man alone. And Don knew Smith would never go for the idea of giving him a lift up. So, reluctantly, he cupped his hands and waited for Smith to place a foot in them.
Smith wasn't at the window for more than three seconds however. He immediately jumped down and hissed in Don's ear.
"We go in there…Now!"
The urgency in his tone was not ignored. Don was at the door in a heartbeat. Quietly, he nudged the latch open and swung the door inward, bounding in right behind it.
What he found made him madder than a nest of irate fire ants. One of the creatures, naked except for his crest beads, was atop a still struggling Judy, his multi-jointed fingers clamped securely over her mouth and nose. Judy's eyes were rolling back as precious oxygen was blocked from entering her lungs.
In a fury, born of protectiveness and perhaps a touch of insane jealousy, Don was upon the creature. His dense human muscles, stronger than those of the alien, hurled the creature off the nearly unconscious woman. However, the creature was more agile and quicker than Don. As soon as he freed himself of the Major's grasp, he spun and sent a long limbed arm crashing backward into Don's face.
West staggered at the blow, not even feeling the blood that was beginning to trickle from the corner of his mouth.
Already struggling to a sitting position, Judy was looking for some way to aid West. The guard had placed his spear in the corner but well out of her reach. Instead, she tried to jump on him from behind but he slung her off him as if she weighed no more than a feather pillow. She felt her head connect with the wall amidst a dazzling display of lightning behind her eyelids, and a well of blackness threatened to overtake her. With superhuman effort, she fought it off. Regaining her feet, she looked for another way to end the fight quickly before the sounds drew attention.
While Don battled with the guard, Smith hung back. He saw no reason to interfere. The way the two were still going at it, he was likely to get kicked or punched by accident. So he waited. And watched…that is until Don fell in a heap by his side.
Laughing in that awful deep tittering sound, the creature exposed needle fangs at Smith. But the doctor stood rigid and unmoving.
Knowing the older human was absolutely no threat to him, and seeing that the other one was unconscious, the alien simply shut the door, barred it from the inside, and turned his glittering gaze upon the cringing female. As she drew breath to scream, he once again clamped a hand over her mouth and with his free hand slapped her hard enough to make her knees sag.
As her knees hit the dirt, she turned terrified, imploring eyes on Smith but all she could see was him standing in the corner, shaking visibly with terror. Was he just going to stand there and watch her get raped, she wondered, horrified that he would probably do just that rather than risk his neck for any of them.
The creature dragged her back to the lone bench, threw her roughly on it, and got ready to force himself on her. Too dazed and exhausted to put up much of fight any longer, she went limp and prayed that he wouldn't kill her after he was done, if the act itself didn't take her life first.
Dimly, she was aware of a fast-moving shadow overhead, and she imagined it was the guard swooping down to bite her. Instead she heard a loud thud of something very solid hitting bone. For a moment the creature sagged, but as a snarl rumbled up from deep within his chest, he moved off of her, and turned toward his attacker. Judy's heart soared with thanksgiving to Don for once more coming to her protection.
Again, the spear staff flew at the alien who made an attempt to dodge it. The creature's fury reached new heights when he realized he'd grossly underestimated his assailant. But he didn't have time to dwell on it as he watched the blunt end of the weapon arch back at him, giving him no time to close in.
One arm instinctively went up to block the blow. It rebounded painfully off the furred skin, and then he made his move to grab for it but it was no longer there. At that point, he realized he had made another major mistake. He should have called for help. Pride kept him from it then but not any longer. He took a step back, filled his lungs with air, and opened his black lips.
A slithering sound suddenly drew his attention. Instinctively his head spun right to find the female moving up behind him. Growling a curse at allowing himself to be distracted from an armed opponent, he whirled back toward off his attacker and was rewarded with the flat end of the spear haft catching him between the eyes.
Rocking backward, he fought to stay on his feet as his mind cried out for rest from the pain. Feigning dizziness, he made as if to slump down to his knees and was rewarded by the sight of the haft drop toward the floor. Like a pendulum it almost brushed the ground. Enraged beyond reason now, his muscles coiled to spring. All he could thing of was how he was going to rend and tear the human with his teeth. Arms reaching forward, he unleashed his bent limbs, turning himself into a living missile. What he failed to notice in his blind fury was the spear haft angled back toward the wall and wedge against it. In the next instant, a fierce river of molten rock burst through his chest and out his back. Gagging on the blood that bubbled up in his throat as he attempted to cry out, he coughed once, twice, and went limp.
Revolted by the sight of the spear point protruding from her attacker's back, Judy stood paralyzed for several seconds. Then, with blue eyes widened in shock, she stared at Smith, who was still holding the spear gripped in his hands.
The doctor looked at her, revulsion etched deeply on his features. Slack jawed, he gaped at the havoc he had just wrought, and the lifeless body still dangling from the spear tip. He had been so charged with adrenaline that he hadn't even been aware of the weight he was still bearing. Slowly, claw like fingers unfurled. Spear and alien body dropped to the ground with little more than a dull thump. One arm flopped limply across West's back causing the Major to groan and roll over onto his side.
Bombarded by an enormous sense of relief, Judy propelled herself into Smith's body, hugging him for all she was worth. Somehow, thank you's just didn't seem sufficient to say all she was feeling. 'Of all the people to come to my rescue', she thought in disbelief, hugging him tighter. She felt a hand comfortingly pat her back, like a father soothing a frightened child, which, to tell the truth, was exactly how she felt at the moment.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" West, staggering upright, gave Smith an evil glare.
At first, the doctor was tempted to come up with some suggestive comment, for the sheer joy of fanning the tiny spark of jealousy already in West's eyes, but he thought better of it. "Really, Major. Judy is distraught, and well she should be. Don't go looking into it farther than that!" Slowly, he pulled away from the beautiful blond, and gently stroked the flawless satin skin of her cheek. "Feeling better?" he inquired in a soothing tone.
Judy sniffed a bit, sighed and nodded. Then, as if realizing for the first time where she was, and who she was with, she turned to Don, put her head on his chest and let the tears fall.
While still holding his sweetheart protectively, Don nodded at the hirsute body on the floor. "How did that happen?" He didn't bother to keep the incredulous inflection out of his voice. Since he figured Judy wouldn't do it, and he himself was incapacitated, that left only one person and his mind refused to accept that possibility. Nevertheless, he had to ask anyway.
"It was an accident," Smith relied pointedly, as if daring Don to dispute it. "Isn't that right, my dear? You saw it all, didn't you?'
Don frowned, not wanting to accept the evidence of his senses for a single minute, and pointed at the corpse. "Doesn't look like an accident to me." He looked down at the beautiful blond still nestled against him. "Judy?"
"Uh, yeah, I mean, yes. It was an accident. Honest." She turned to look at the Doctor, wondering why he was acting like this. The Smith she knew should have been strutting with pride. And once again, she wondered just who he really was 'underneath it all'.
"Really," Don replied, still not sure who to believe.
Smith shrugged expansively. "Can I help it if he had the misfortune to run directly into the spear as I was picking it up." Seeing that wasn't exactly working, he added. "This monstrosity wasn't too happy with you and I thought he'd use the spear while you were incapacitated. I was going to toss it out the window so he couldn't get it. He charged. And he promptly impaled himself. Looking down at his handwork, he muttered, "In either case; as the quaint colloquial saying puts it, if they found out what we've done, we will be in deep doo doo."
Still looking for confirmation, West glanced down at Judy but, with her cheek crushed to his chest, her expression was unreadable. Smith, however, standing within eyesight of the elder Robinson daughter, didn't miss the wry look she gave him.
Reluctantly disentangling himself from Judy, West extinguished the sole lamp in the room, and went to unbar the door.
"Time to find your parents," he told Judy. "Can you get us to where they are being kept?"
"I-I think so. It was dark when they came to get me. I'm not exactly sure if I could find it quickly, but, I mean, this place isn't all that large so how hard can it be?"
"Do we take the spear?" inquired Smith, bestowing a grimacing nod on the weapon.
"No, leave it." Don answered as he moved toward the door. "More trouble than it's worth. I'm not that familiar with using it, and if I carry it and we are discovered, they will quickly attack if I'm armed. Now if you want to take that risk, be my guest."
"I? Not a chance, Major. In this instance, I am in full agreement."
After a quick moment of surveillance, Don deemed it safe to exit. The trio slunk away into another dark alley, pursuing their course toward the beach. Nearer the rank smelling water, but still nestled in an alley between buildings, Judy took Don's strong hand in hers and led him toward the dim dark outline of what looked like a tall fence, just past the last structure.
"Stockade?" he whispered.
The answer was barely audible. "Yes. They were in there when I was led out. Dad tried to stop them and the two guards whacked him pretty hard."
"What about the other prisoners?"
"I don't know. Several guards came and took them away. That's when they took me too, but they didn't bring me to the same place."
Still speaking in a whisper, Don said, "Okay. Time for Plan A, Smith. I see a dark outline in the center of the wall. Sentry probably. You count to one hundred. That should give me enough time to circle around, come up from behind the stockade and along the wall. Make some sort of sound to get him coming this way, and I'll jump him."
Smith had the good grace not to do more than sigh and wave his acceptance. As soon as West disappeared from his side, he started counting. Upon reaching the assigned number he made a low 'psst' sound. Ahead of him, the sentry stirred. Smith couldn't quite make him out that well, but he heard the rasp of sandals on sand. Again, he made the sound, louder this time. And the shadowed figure began to loom larger.
The guard hadn't taken more than ten steps away from the safety of the wall, when a large body plowed into him from behind, forcing the air from his lungs with a whoosh. This was followed by the sound of several loud cracks as Don's fists pummeled the guard into an insensate state.
Before she was even certain that the sentry was out of the battle, Judy was already running for the stockade and trying to toss the crossbar aside. Unfortunately, it was too heavy to lift.
"Dr. Smith, don't just stand there…wherever you are," she said with urgency. "Get over here and help me with this!"
From about ten feet behind her, she heard Smith's voice, barely above a whisper. "My dear, with the condition my back is in at the moment, I couldn't lift a piece of paper, let alone that enormous block of wood."
Another voice cut off any further protests, as a shadowy figure joined hers. "Forget it, Smith. I'm here now." Grunting, he pushed the bar clear of the door and yanked them open.
Judy, heedless of the noise she might have been making, dashed inside and by instinct alone, threw herself into her father's embrace. She felt the comforting, warm hands of her mother stroking her shoulder, and she fought the urge to sob. Two smaller shadows stood nearby and in the pale light of the moon she could just about make out the faces of her younger brother and sister.
Before she could do anything further, her father, still holding her tightly against his chest, murmured, "Let's save the greetings for now. Time to put as much distance between us and 'them' as possible."
"Excellent suggestion, Professor. I heartily agree."
"Shut up, Smith," hissed West in warning.
"Really, Major, is this the way you treat the man who assisted in your escape?"
"I'll debate that with you later." And he gave Smith a light shove toward the forest.