B008IFNJZM EBOK (33 page)

             
Two more hours passed before Chelsea and Hadiya could be seen off in the distance flying back toward the cave and its elevated entrance.  The group backed up as Crosley set out their clothes in front of him and then held the white towel up to extend a little privacy to the two women who would be soon standing in front of them nude.  The pair entered the cave and transformed back as women on their knees as further concealment. 

             
Chelsea reached for the clothes and slid Hadiya’s bag behind her for her companion to begin getting dressed as well.  Chelsea stayed down until Hadiya got her shorts and top back on and then Chelsea stood up and took the towel from Crosley as she too, was sweating and breathing hard as Iolana was earlier.  She shared the other end of the towel with Hadiya.

             
“What did you see?”

             
“Well first when you all start down these steps, you must jump over the last step or the entire staircase will slide back into the wall.  Only when everybody is in the valley, should someone step on that bottom step.”

             
Hadiya looked up.

             
“If you think those Bunyips are big wait until you see the animals down there!”

             
Nathan was curious.

             
“What did they look like?”

             
“Well they are fur covered and big, real big.  I have never seen anything like them.  They kind of look like fat cows with fur.”

             
“Taller than humans...”

             
“From the front, they look like rhinos without horns.”

             
“Do they look like bigger versions of a wombat?”

             
“Yeah kind a like that...”

             
Nathan, Jerrick and Crosley all had the same thought.  Nathan spoke the name.

             
“
Diprotodons
… They were a prehistoric relative to the wombat believed to go extinct about forty or fifty thousand years ago.  It is believed that they stopped existing at some point after the Aborigines settled in Australia.”

             
“Aye, they have even found skeletons with spears still stuck in between the bones.”

             
Nathan continued.

             
“You are right, they were taller than a human and I believe that some species found were fourteen to fifteen feet long.  Some of the larger males weighed over three tons.  They according to studies had strong claws on the front and pouches for carrying their young like any other marsupial.”

             
Berdy Hahn wanted to know one very important fact about these creatures.

             
“Professor, were they meat eaters?”

             
“Recent studies would indicate that they were not meat eaters, but there are over a dozen different species that no longer exist and I don’t think anyone can say if they were with certainty.”

             
“Even if they are not meat eaters, the males should charge at a man.  It appears that in their society only the strongest male mates with the females.  That means that male is always challenged for his role in their society.  Many of the skeletons show damage to the front of the heads of males from combat.”

             
“What else can you tell us Nathan?”

             
“Scientists think that while having large heads, they weren’t very intelligent.  The brain cavity was filled with they considered to be air pockets so the size of its actual brain wasn’t that big.  Other than that, I really don’t know much more about them.”

             
Crosley looked at Chelsea.

             
“What about the soil down there?”

             
“Not too much tall grass or tall weeds… some of the smaller ones appear to be grazing on the short grass…”

             
“That is probably because of the mushrooms are blocking a considerable amount of the light stunting the growth of the valley’s vegetation.”

             
“The ground is soft.  We didn’t land on it, but I think that your boots would sink and water would come over the top.”

             
Hadiya added her thought.

             
“Oh and Iolana is right about those mushrooms.  I flew close to one of the stems and it did respond and seem to flinch in a reaction to my presence.”

             
“How big are the stems?”

             
“The largest we flew by wasn’t more than a foot in diameter.”

             
“Yes, and they had a strange reddish color.”

             
Nathan is thinking about the mushroom’s closest water based relatives.

             
“Where there lines in the stem going from top to bottom?”

             
Both girls responded.

             
“Yes.”

             
Nathan looked at his fellow travelers.

             
“As we cross this valley to reach the river channel, try not to brush up against any mushroom stem.”

             
“Why is that professor?”

             
“Well its underwater cousins may just try to grab you for a meal.  There are species of mushrooms that will feed off of sunlight and those creatures living around them as well.”

             
The men gathered up their supplies and followed the pair of women down the stairs.  Each one jumped over that last step and landed on the marshy soil of the valley.  Nathan stopped Tom and reached back in his pack.

             
“Hang on a second Tom.”

             
He reached in and removed an aerosol can and shook it.  He turned Tom around and began to spray him.

             
“What is that?”

             
“It is a can of Elizabeth’s scented hair spray.”

             
“What is that supposed to do?”

             
“I have a theory.  Animals seem to be directing their attacks at you.  I think that somehow your pheromones are been altered by your condition and secreting a chemical compound that the animals find irritating and that is why they are constantly trying to attack you.  I am hoping this hairspray will conceal that scent.”

             
“If I haven’t said this earlier, thanks for coming along.”

             
“My pleasure...  Who knows, I might be saving the life of my future best man.”

             
“Have you asked her yet?”

             
“First things first… I have got to save the best man.”

             
Nathan kept spraying Tom all over with the can and even had him cover his eyes to spray his face.

             
“It makes my face feel like it has a wax coating.”

             
“Ah but look how wonderful you smell.”

             
Berdy Hahn came over and poked the two men to be quite.  He was watching the lieutenant, Platt Neander’s hand signals.  The two guides and the women froze and said nothing.  He whispered to the pair as he kept his eyes trained on Platt.

             
“There is a Bigfoot walking by us and heading off to our right… There is only one and he has… some type of knife…  Platt thinks he is not an adult but one of their young ones.”

             
Crosley handed his rifle to Berdy.

             
“Here, use our weapons.  The last thing we want to do is kill one just before we ask the Meeratts for help.”

             
“Okay, but you all stay here until we check this out.”

             
Berdy gave him his fifty caliber weapon and took the tranquilizer rifle.  Jerrick gave him his rifle and he signaled Platt to swap off his high powered weapon.  Platt set his down in the mud and Berdy quietly went over and handed the mercenary one of the sedative rifles with a full clip.  The two men moved out after the six foot tall male offspring and followed him in the opposite direction taking them farther away from the raised plateau area.

             
The two men followed the Bigfoot lad as he moved quietly through the short grass and mud under the tall light blocking mushrooms.  The rest of the group stayed near the steps.  Chelsea leaned over to Crosley.

             
“Why follow him if he is going in the wrong direction?”

             
“Because we are still wondering how the females we saw earlier traveled back home.  According to you, their plateau has a canal in front of it and a wall that cannot be scaled easily.  That young one might be leading Platt and Berdy to a trail that leads to a way up to their village.”

             
The former SEAL’s lieutenant took the lead and Berdy followed several yards farther back.  The two mercenaries had been partners for a long time and augmented the initial set of hand signals with a much larger vocabulary.  Berdy came up and viewed what his partner was observing.  The young Meeratt had crawled along in the muddy water through knee high yellow-green grass toward a group of young bull
Diprotodons
.  The alpha male of the group was lying on his belly watching them.  Berdy thought that the alpha was always waiting for another challenge from the younger males.

             
Slowly with his dagger in his mouth, the young Bigfoot creature slithered behind the supervising male and moved quietly past the bulls.  Berdy took a hand signal from Platt and pulled back farther away from the lieutenant’s position.  When he felt he could no longer be heard, he turned on his radio.

             
“Crosley, are you receiving me?”

             
“Aye, what is your status?”

             
“The Meeratt is sneaking past sever male
Diprotodons
.  He is apparently hunting something.  He has a metal dagger in his mouth.”

             
“Any idea what he is hunting?”

             
“Well it isn’t us and it is not Dodo birds.  He already made his way past a large flock of Dodo hens and now just passing these Diprotodons.  Should we continue to track its movements?”

             
“As long as you can continue to observe him from a safe distance… I am hoping for a way up to the plateau at the other end of this valley.”

             
“I don’t see any openings in the rock walls yet.  I’ll ring you back if I get more.”

             
“Roger.”

             
Crosley as a guide, knew by his experiences that they could not call him in fear that even the sound of a voice over the headset of one of the
mercenaries
might trigger a reaction from the wildlife and place them in danger.  He would wait for the next incoming transmission.  The others sat at the base of the steps and took some needed rest.  Willie stuck his head out of the cave above.

             
“Mind if I come down?”

             
“Sure Willie, just don’t use that bottom step.  You will have to jump over it.”

             
Willie came down and viewed the mushroom covered valley.

             
“I just thought I’d come here and give you an update.”

             
“What’s up?”

             
“All the males are awake and they all went back to their respective lairs.  It doesn’t appear that any of them were hurt.”

             
“What about that Meeratt?  Did he stay and see the cats were all well?”

             
“As a matter of fact, he did.  He just left before I came back here.”

             
“What are the others doing?”

             
“Most of them are now at the other end of this tunnel awaiting your orders.  Henry is up with Derrick giving him a break from scouting the valley… How are you doing?”

             
Nathan and the others gave Willie an update.