Adventures
in the Lost World
Episode
1
Atawna and the Lost World
Email:
Lespion@msn.com
Chapter
12
Mummy
Enough!
A few feet away, her close companion Melissa Gallant moved toward
her. Right, then Im
going with you. Lin Yao and James
are just as important to me as they are to you.
Larras violet eyes smiled as she turned toward her
friend. Of course,
she said. I was expecting
nothing less.
Two other women stepped forward.
I too will accompany you, said a tall dark-skinned
woman. I am much more familiar
with this environment than anyone else.
Larra nodded toward Lisha. The
Ullabomban princess had been with her ever since the day she had saved
Larras life almost 15 years ago.
She had given up her people and her culture in order to join Larra
in a life of adventure.
The other woman was dramatically different from the tall
African. Lisha stood slightly
over six feet tall and her skin was a black as
If you think I am staying here to watch the camp you are sorely
mistaken, Ayashe said.
I love Lin Yao and James as much as anyone and I am going with
you.
Larra smiled, her beautiful face slighting
up. She had expected nothing
less from her companions.
Well then, she
grinned. I guess we better
get started.
Larra and her female cohorts quickly began to assemble the equipment they
would need for their rescue expedition.
They wasted little time, their movements practiced and
efficient.
Any observers watching the women in action would have found any of the women
incredibly attractive. Few would
have guessed that the youngest of them, Ayashe was almost thirty years old
and that their youthful leader was pushing forty
five. But neither would they
know that Larra had long ago found the secret of eternal youth, a mystical
stone called the
Eye of Thoth that was capable of reversing the aging
process. As a result none of
the women appeared older than twenty-five, an age that Larra found appropriately
mature while allowing her to maintain her youthful
appearance,
They loaded a rubber dingy similar to the one in which Lin Yao had been swept
away. Larra and her friends had
nothing more to go on. They would
follow the river in the direction they had last seen her daughter and
son. With luck they might find
them somewhere along its banks.
They pushed off into the stream.
Unlike Lin Yao, Larra and her companions knew how to handle the
raft. Two aside they manned the
paddles and stroked the craft into
midstream. Immediately the current
caught the raft and swept it downstream.
Within seconds they were tracing the route taken by James and Lin
Yao.
It took all their skill not to overturn as they rushed past huge boulders
thrusting up from the streambed. As
she paddled furiously Larra could not help but wonder how James and Lin Yao
had fared as they hurtled past the giant
rocks. It would have been so
easy to strike one and be pitched out of the raft into the foaming
water. What would be their chances
of survival if that happened? The
river was roaring between step cliffs.
Once in the water it would be almost impossible to find any way to
get out. She would just have
to hope that somehow her son and daughter had made it
through.
The river swept the raft several miles
downstream. It took an hour of
hard paddling to keep the raft from overturning before they finally came
to a stretch of calm water. Here
there was a rocky beach between high
cliffs. There was a possibility
that James and Lin Yao might have survived to reach
it. The four women paddled toward
the shore and spotted the raft almost at
once. It was pulled neatly up
on the beach and secured to a large
boulder.
Larra breathed a sigh of relief.
Here was proof her son and oldest daughter had
survived. Beaching their own
raft the four women piled out. It
didnt take them long to figure out what had
happened.
They must have gone up the cliff, said
Ayashe. There would be
no way for them to return
upstream.
Almost as one the other women murmured
agreement. Well,
Larra said. Well
just have to go after them.
They unloaded their raft. With
Ayashes tracking skills it didnt take long to find the spot where
James and Lin Yao had scaled the cliff.
With practiced efficiency they packed up their
equipment. A few minutes later
they were headed for the top. With
any luck they would be able to find Lin Yao and James without
difficulty.
It didnt take long for all four women to reach the top of the
cliff. Unlike James and Lin Yao
they had come prepared with climbing equipment and proper
footwear. They hauled their packs
up after them and prepared to move off.
Larra guessed that James would try to make his way back toward their
base camp and so they headed off in that
direction. Well armed and welled
equipped they strode off with confidence.
With any luck they would find Larras missing children in short
order.
Larra kept up a brisk pace. James
and Lin Yao were not well-equipped to survive long in as dangerous a place
as the Lost World. It was a bit
annoying really. She was hot
on the trail of a most interesting archeological discovery and this distraction
was an unnecessary diversion. When
she caught up with her wayward children she would give them an
earful. Her thoughts mellowed
a little as she thought about James and Lin
Yao. She hoped that they were
alright. If anything happened
to either of them she would never forgive
herself. She had only brought
them on the expedition because they had both begged to be taken
along.
Jamess arguments had been most
convincing. What am I going
to do with all of this education and
training? Im twenty-two
years old and all Ive ever done is
study. Surely Im old enough
to go on my first expedition.
Larra had finally agreed. James did belong with her. Lin Yao was another matter, but Larra had always found it difficult to refuse anything her vivacious green-eyed daughter wanted. Once Lin Yao had found out James was going she had nagged Larra every day until she had finally given in. Now she regretted that she had been so indulgent.
A few miles away Colonel Vasily
Antonov spat in the dust as he looked around the
deserted camp. The black
Africans had fled the instant he and his men had shown up, an event that
did not surprise him. What was
surprising and most annoying was the fact that the four women who were supposed
to be here were missing. Stupidly,
not one of his men had thought to stop any of the Africans from
escaping. Now they had captured
an empty camp and had lost any element of surprise they might have
had. If
Oleg, he called.
Yes Comrade Antonov, a hulking brute of a man replied. He shambled closer and Anotonov had to hide his distaste. He did not like Oleg Vishinsky, but he had to admit the man was good at what he did. He had been trained by Lavrenti Beria himself and that meant Antonov had been forced to include him in the expedition whether he wanted to or not. It was almost certain, however, that Vishinsky had been sent as much to spy on the expeditions members for his brutal master as he had been to help in the capture of the mysterious Miss court.
He didnt like the way
things were developing. He had
been placed in charge of the expedition only to have Vishinsky and the strange
foreigner added at the last minute.
It was bad enough with Vishinsky hanging over his shoulder watching
his every move, but now he also had to put up with this foreign
agent.
The bastard
wasnt even Russian, even though he spoke it
fluently. And he had a name that
was almost impossible to pronounce.
Unfortunately, orders were orders.
He would just have to put up with the foreigner until the mission
was completed.
The problem was that the
man had considerable
authority and was allowed independent action in the
expedition. That did not make
a lot of sense. A well-led company
could only have one leader and now there were
three. Theoretically Antonov
outranked the other two men, but their special status meant that they could
be trouble.
Antonov had tried to puzzle out exactly why Beria wanted the famous woman
archeologist and Nazi hunter captured but he was at a
loss. If the British discovered
what he was up to in central
He had almost had her. He had
missed her by just a day, closing in on her estate near
It made sense.
He had spent the last month chasing her around the world, always a day or so behind. He had no idea where she was going so he had been forced to trail along in her wake as she flitted from place to place with her entourage. And that was another thing about her. Why did she travel in the company of so many women? He had his suspicions. No doubt the exalted explorer used her expeditions as a way of indulging her lesbian passions.
Yes, Comrade? Vishinsky said again. He was waiting for orders.
Take five men and see if you can run down one of the blacks who scattered into the forest. We need to find out what happened to that capitalist bitch and her collection of whores.
Vishinsky nodded. Turning he shouted orders and soon had a squad of five men to accompany him. Without waiting for further orders he headed off in the direction he had seen some of the blacks run. With any luck they wouldnt have gone far.
Antonov headed for the centre of the
camp. The largest tent was there
and he figured it was probably the one used by
Inside the tent everything seemed in
place. It was a womans
tent alright, containing various feminine articles and personal
items. However, it offered no
clue as to her mission.
Discouraged, Antonov left the tent just in time to see Vishinsky
returning. Behind him were the
men he had taken with them and they were escorting a very frightened looking
black African. Finally something
positive. Perhaps now he would
learn what he had been sent to find and what
An hour later Antonov walked away shaking his
head. Vishinsky certainly was
good at what he did. Too
good. The black porter had screamed
horribly as he was questioned.
There was no doubt in Antonovs mind that he knew
nothing. All he had been able
to tell them was some garbled story about
PREVIOUS
CHAPTER WIZARD'S
LAIR MAIN PAGE
L'ESPION'S
STORY PAGE
NEXT
CHAPTER