Black Water

EELONG

(CONTINUED)

The green gigwhistled through the sky, plummeting toward the ground, past Courtney and Spader, who were carefully making their way down the steepest part of the inside of the crater.

“Whoa, what was that?” Courtney yelled, almost losing her grip.

“A flying machine!” Spader announced. “More like a falling machine,” Courtney corrected. “Could it be Saint Dane’s attack?”

“We’ll know soon enough,” Spader answered. “Really, how?”

“We’ll be dead.”

Kasha struggled with the control stick to keep the gig upright and prevent a tumbling free fall. The craft bounced back and forth as she expertly coaxed every last ounce of lift from the failing rotors.

“If I can keep us upright, we’ve got a chance,” Kasha said, sounding strained.

“The lake!” Bobby shouted. “Can you put us down there?”

“Maybe,” Kasha said. “But I can’t swim.”

Bobby shot her a quick look and said, “Let’s hope we have that problem.” The gig abruptly fell a few more feet, sending Bobby’s stomach into his throat. “Seriously, we’ve got a better chance landing on the lake than crashing into a tree or a rock… or the freaking ground.”

“All right,” she said nervously. “But if we land safely and I drown-“

“I won’t let you drown,” Bobby said with such conviction that Kasha actually smiled.

“I believe you,” she said, and guided the falling gig toward the lake. They were buffeted back and forth inside the small cockpit so violently, Bobby feared his arms would be too bruised to swim. Kasha forced the gig into a tight spiral, desperately trying to slow their descent so the craft wouldn’t break up on impact. Bobby glanced to see they were over the lake. The water was coming up fast. Very fast. It was going to be a rough landing.

“Brace yourself,” Kasha yelled.

The gig slammed into the lake with such force, Bobby felt like his brain had broken loose inside his head. Kasha had maneuvered the craft so that they landed square on its bottom, like a space capsule splashing down. The impact caused a huge wave of water to shoot out all around them. Bobby thought sure the force of the landing would drive them so deep, they’d be swamped. But the gig bounced back. Like a cork, it lifted back to the surface, still in one piece. Bobby and Kasha were still in one piece too.

“You okay?” Bobby asked, shaken.

“I think. You?”

“Yeah,” Bobby shouted. “You did it!”

The gig tipped over and water poured into the cockpit.

“Sort of…”

“Get me out of here, Pendragon!” Kasha screamed. It was the first time Bobby saw her scared. He quickly unlatched his seat belt and reached to release hers. Water filled the gig quickly. Kasha panicked. She scrambled over Bobby to get out, forcing his head underwater. He felt her fur brush over his head and prayed that one of her claws wouldn’t lacerate him. Bobby was good in the water. His junior lifeguard training was permanently ingrained. Once Kasha cleared the gig, he resurfaced and looked around the sinking craft for something to help her float.

“Pendragon!” she screamed, gulping water. She was floundering, which meant more trouble for Bobby. If he wasn’t careful, they’d both drown. The seats of the gig were padded. Bobby took a chance and yanked one loose. A quick test showed that it floated.

“Kasha here!” Bobby shouted, and held the pad out to the drowning klee. “Grab on to this. Relax. It’ll help you float.”

She grabbed the pad like it was her last chance at life, which it probably was. It wasn’t a perfect flotation device, but it definitely gave her enough confidence that her panic came down a notch.

“It’s okay,” Bobby said soothingly. “Hold it against your chest. Lean back. It’ll keep you up.”

Kasha did what she was told and was soon floating on her back, staring up at the sky, trying to calm herself.

“I’m going to tow you in, okay?”

“O…kay,” Kasha said weakly.

Bobby didn’t want to get too close to her. If she panicked again, he’d be in trouble. So he spun her around and towed her in by pulling on her back paws. They weren’t far from land. It only took a few minutes to get to where it was shallow enough for them to stand. Kasha awkwardly got her balance and dragged herself out of the water, her fur dripping, and collapsed on the sandy shore. Bobby fell down next to her, exhausted.

“You’re a great flyer,” Bobby said, gasping for breath. “But you gotta work on the swimming.”

They both burst out laughing. It was a complete release from the terror that had gripped them for the last leg of their flight.

“Thanks,” Kasha said. “I’ll remember that.” She looked to the sky and said, “This is good. The gigs can’t fly until the cloud passes. I’m sure they put down back in the valley. That gives us a little more time.”

Bobby stood up, did a quick look around and said, “There’s our waterfall.”

Courtney and Spader slid down the last steep portion of the rocky wall and took their first steps inside the crater of waterfalls. They found themselves a few feet from the opening of the crevice they would have come through if they hadn’t been ambushed by the tangs.

“We’re not dead,” Courtney said. “I guess that wasn’t the attack.”

“Then we’ve still got time,” Spader said as he scanned the inside of the vast crater. “There it is!” he said, pointing. “Second waterfall from the right,” Courtney declared. Boom!

A huge explosion erupted from inside the crevice, knocking Courtney and Spader to their knees. Seconds later, a cloud of dirt blew out of the narrow fissure.

“What the heck?” Courtney coughed.

“Somebody’s trying to clear the rockslide,” Spader said. “I think the first gars have arrived.”

“Or Saint Dane and his klees,” Courtney said.

“Either way, we gotta go.”

The two got back on their feet and ran down the steep incline of the crater, headed for the waterfall.

It took Mark a long time to untangle Boon from the net. He wasn’t good at tying knots. He was worse at untying knots. As he worked, Boon told him what had happened in the crater of waterfalls.

“I jumped on the back of the tang and pulled him off Gunny,” he said. “But that monster was ferocious. I mean, he was crazed.”

“Is Gunny okay?” Mark asked.

“I don’t know,” Boon answered. “I slashed at the lizard and caught him across the arm. It jumped back, and I yelled at Gunny to run. The tang started after him, but I jumped on its back and bit it in the neck. Man, do you know how bad tang tastes?”

“Uh…no.”

“I hope you never find out.”

“I’m not worried,” Mark said.

Boon continued, “I clamped onto its neck and it kept thrashing around, trying to throw me. But I wouldn’t let go. He threw me around real good, too. I finally got so tired that he spun me off.”

“Did he attack you?”

“No, I must have hurt it pretty bad, because it ran off into the jungle. I figured Gunny would try to circle around to the waterfall, so that’s where I went. Big mistake. I found the cavern behind the falls, but the gars jumped me. I told them I was with Gunny and we were there to help protect Black Water, but they didn’t want to hear it. They tied me up in this net and threw me in here. Can you believe it? I’m here to save them, and they threw me in here like I’m a criminal.”

“I know the feeling,” Mark said.

“What are we going to do, Mark?” Boon asked.

Mark untied the final knot and pulled the net off Boon.

“We’re gonna get outta here” was his answer.

Bobby and Kasha worked their way through the forest at the bottom of the crater, headed for the waterfall that would lead them into Black Water. Bobby kept glancing up to check the movement of the clouds. The storm that had first been their enemy and forced them to crash was now buying them time. As long as the sunbelt stayed covered, the poison-carrying gigs would be grounded.

“The clouds are moving,” Bobby announced. “But I can’t tell how fast…oops!” Bobby’s attention was so focused on the sky, he wasn’t looking where he was going and tripped over something. He stumbled and hit the ground.

“Look out!” Kasha screamed, and leaped in between Bobby and the thing he had tripped over. “Tang!” she growled, ready to attack.

Bobby jumped up quickly, ready to run. But one look back told him he had nothing to fear. It was a tang, all right. A dead tang.

“I thought it was a rock,” Bobby said with relief.

The two crept closer to the dead tang. It was covered with multiple slashes, with one seriously nasty gash on the back of its neck.

“Those are the marks of a klee,” Kasha announced. “I’m thinking Boon’s been through here.” She reached down and touched the lizard’s body and said, “It didn’t die long ago.”

Bobby felt something wet drip on his cheek. He brushed it away and said, “It’s starting to rain.”

“Good,” Kasha said. “Maybe the storm will be around for a while.”

Another drip fell on Bobby’s cheek. He wiped it off and looked at his hand to see… blood. “Hey, I’m bleeding!” he exclaimed. Kasha gave him a quick look and said, “No, you’re not.”

“Then what’s this?” Bobby said, holding out his hand with the bloody smear. “I must have cut something when we crashed.”

Another drip of blood fell on his hand. Kasha and Bobby both realized it didn’t come from Bobby, it came from up above. They both slowly looked up to see…

Dangling high in the trees was a net trap, with its victim still inside. Bobby dodged back to get away from the dripping blood. The trees above them were so thick it was hard to see the trap, let alone what was caught in it. Bobby strained to see. Once his eyes adjusted, his heart sank. There was a gar arm poking out from the net. A dark gar arm.

“Gunny!” Bobby shouted.

Kasha sprang for the tree that held the trap, climbed up by digging her claws into the bark, and reached the rope that held the suspended net. She slashed at it with one claw, while holding the rope with the other.

“I’ll lower him down,” she announced as she slowly let the rope slip through her hands. Bobby stood beneath to guide the net down gently and lay Gunny on the ground.

“Help me get this off!” he shouted to Kasha.

She jumped down from the tree and slashed at the net, freeing the unconscious Traveler.

“Gunny!” Bobby called. “C’mon, man. It’s me!”

Bobby felt Gunny’s neck, checking for a pulse. Kasha held up Gunny’s arm that was missing the hand. “He was cut,” she said. Bobby saw that the arm had a few deep tang cuts on it, which accounted for the dripping blood.

“He’s alive,” Bobby announced. He gently tapped Gunny’s cheek. “Wake up, Mr. Van Dyke, we need you.”

Gunny stirred. His eyelids fluttered and opened. He looked around with confusion until he focused on Bobby.

“No offense, shorty,” Gunny croaked. “But I was kind of hoping I’d wake up in my bed at the Manhattan Tower Hotel.”

“Sorry, we’re not done here yet,” Bobby replied with a relieved smile. He helped Gunny sit up while Kasha used some rags to dress his wounds.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” Bobby asked.

“Nah. I got a pretty good headache, though.”

“What happened?” Kasha asked as she worked.

“We got jumped by a tang,” Gunny explained. “Mark and Boon and I. Boon saved my life. He pulled that monster off me and cut it up pretty good.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Bobby said, pointing to the dead tang.

Gunny looked at the body of the lizard and shook his head. “Violent place, this Eelong.”

“Where are the others?” Kasha asked.

“Boon sent Mark off on the zenzen toward Black Water. He told me to run. I couldn’t do much to help him, so I did. I tried to circle around toward the waterfall, but the tang was tracking me. Those beasties must like the way I taste. The tang jumped at me; I backed off and stepped right into the trap.” Gunny chuckled. “Never thought I’d be so happy to do something so stupid. I must have banged my head when I hit the ground, I don’t remember. But it pulled me up and away from that beast. Last thing I remember is looking down to watch it leaping up at me. But I was out of reach. Then I guess I passed out.”

“He must have bled to death trying to get you,” Kasha said.

“Serves him right,” Gunny said.

“What about Courtney and Spader?” Bobby asked.

Gunny frowned. “The tangs caused a rockslide in the tunnel leading here, Bobby. I can’t say if they were hurt, or trapped outside.”

“Neither!” came a familiar voice.

Bobby, Kasha, and Gunny looked over to see a welcome sight: Spader and Courtney jogged toward them through the trees.

“You can’t stop a couple of intrepid types like us with a couple of rocks and a mountain, no sir!” Spader said with a wide smile.

Courtney ran right to Bobby and gave him a hug. Bobby was more than happy to hug her back. “Are you okay?” Bobby asked.

“I am now,” Courtney answered. “Was that you in the helicopter?”

“Yeah, nice entrance, aye?”

“Where’s Mark and Boon?” Spader asked.

“I don’t know,” Gunny answered. “In Black Water, I hope.”

Kasha said, “We’re running out of time.”

Bobby pulled away from Courtney and got back to business. “Here’s the deal. Nine helicopters are grounded back in the valley, loaded with the Cloral poison. As soon as the clouds clear, they’ll have the power to take off and make their run on Black Water.”

“We lost one tank of the antidote, mate,” Spader announced. “Couldn’t be helped.”

Kasha said, “Without Mark, we’ve only got one tank left.”

“Can you walk, Gunny?” Bobby asked.

Gunny struggled to his feet. He was weak, but determined. “You don’t think a little conk on the head and a couple of cuts is going to slow me down, do you? Follow me!”

The team was reunited, sort of. Gunny led them on the final leg of their journey through the crater of waterfalls to the entrance to Black Water. They arrived at the second waterfall from the right, following Gunny across the underwater path of stones. Bobby was the last of the group to step behind the waterfall. He took one last look at the sky to see the thick clouds were still covering the sunbelt. No gigs could fly. But he also saw something new… the trailing edge of the large, dark cloud. Behind it was clear blue sky. The clock was ticking.