Adventures
in the Lost World
Episode 1
Atawna and the Lost World
Email:
Lespion@msn.com
Chapter
14
Encounter
Damn rain, Larra
muttered. There was no chance
of picking up the trail of her two children
now. Not even Ayashes and
Lishas forest skills could track them after the heavy downpour that
had occurred yesterday. If they
found them it would be purely be chance.
However, the raft pulled up on the rocky beach gave her
hope. It showed that Lin Yao
and James had survived. And James
was certainly old enough to look after his
sister. This would be a test
of how well she had trained her two oldest
children.
We may as well head back to camp, Larra said
to the other three women.
With any luck James and Lin Yao will already be
there. If not well just
have to organize a proper search.
The other three women murmured
agreement. There were more than
thirty Africans back at the camp.
They could divide into search groups and work their way through the
forest. With any luck they might
stumble across the missing pair.
Larra sighed.
She didnt like this.
Risking herself was one thing.
Risking the lives of her children was quite
another. So what if the expedition
was supposed to be a fairly safe
operation? She should have left
James and Lin Yao at home.
Adjusting her pack she swung off in the direction of her base
camp.
Antonov watched from the shelter of the
trees. Four women had been spotted
moving toward the camp. No doubt
it was
Antonov checked the placement of his
company. They seemed to all be
in position. There were twenty-five
of them altogether; not counting himself, Vashinsky, and the foreigner who
he had now learned was some sort of archeological
expert. It was damned annoying,
but at least he could depend on the 23 men he had personally
selected.
The two women he was not
too sure about.
Sonia
Gurov and
Yalena
Belenki
were both barely eighteen years old.
They were certainly attractive enough and that was part of the
problem. He had a hard time making
it clear to the male members of the expedition that they should keep their
hands off the enticing duo. He
had managed to do that by making them his personal
assistants. It was the only way
he could be sure that nothing happened to either of
them. Blonde Sonia, still wearing
her Young Pioneers red scarf, was standing directly behind
him. Raven-haired Yalena was
right next to her. Both young
women wore looks of eager anticipation.
This was their first mission and their excitement was more than
obvious.
He shook his head.
Who had authorized their addition to the
expedition? He felt as if he
was being constantly undermined. He
was all in favour of the Marxist philosophy of equality, but adding these
two inexperienced females to the expedition was hardly conducive to its
success.
His mind went back to the problem at hand, capturing
Wait, said
Larra. Theres something
wrong. Just ahead was her
camp, but it seemed a little too quiet.
She had hired 35 porters to help her with her archeological
expedition. By now she should
have been able to see a few of them, especially as the headman had been ordered
to keep a lookout in case James or Lin Yao showed
up.
She unsnapped her holster strap, freeing her heavy Browning
semi-automatic. Behind her Ayashe
levered a round into the chamber of her
Ill go ahead, Larra
said. You stay here and
cover me.
Wait, said
Lisha. You have the
firearms. Would it not be better
if I went first and you provided the cover?
Larra looked at the tall beautiful
African. She was
right. Nodding her head she replaced
her Browning and unslung her
Antonov cursed.
His little trap must have been
spotted.
The tall African had stopped, her eyes sweeping the camp
and the vegetation on either side.
His men were well hidden, but he suspected that the slightest movement
would reveal their location. He
studied the tall black woman.
Through the sheltering leaves he could see her quite well, and she
was spectacular.
She was over six feet tall and perfectly
proportioned. Dressed like the
other women in khaki shirt and pants, her statuesque charms were still
evident. High full breasts, an
almost impossibly slender waist, and full hips, made her almost irresistibly
attractive. Her face completed
the picture. High cheekbones,
dark mysterious eyes, and pouting lips made her a vision of
loveliness. He caught his breath
as he looked at her. At that
moment, her gaze fell full upon him.
To his surprise she did not panic.
Instead a slow smile came to her lips, revealing dazzling white
teeth. Come out,
she said. Come out and
show yourselves.
She spoke English, a language with which Antonov was
familiar, although he was not competent enough in it various forms to appreciate
Lishas charming accent.
Fuming, he stepped forward, his rifle at the
ready. A dozen of his men followed
him. To his further amazement,
the tall black beauty showed not the slightest hint of fear, nor did her
companions who now advanced their weapons at the ready.
Dont shoot, Antonov
cautioned. We need them
alive.
Thats reassuring, comrade, said one
of the women sardonically. She
spoke perfect Russian.
Antonov turned in the direction of the
speaker. So this was
Would you prefer another language, comrade?
the violet-eyed woman asked?
I speak several.
Russian will do, Antonov
stammered. He couldnt help
noticing that although the famous archeologist was completely surrounded
she was acting as if she was in control.
He also couldnt help noticing that the very efficient-looking
rifle she was carrying was pointed directly at his
mid-section.
Lay down your weapons, Antonov
ordered. You are
surrounded. Any attempt to resist
and you will be killed.
And why should I do that comrade? the woman
smiled. I suspect if I
do I will most seriously regret it.
By the way, there is no possibility that any of your men can shoot
me before I put a round through your heart, so would you please ask them
to ease up on their triggers.
Antonov felt his blood go
cold. He now noticed that the
other two women all had their weapons pointed at
him. This is
foolishness, he blustered.
You will all be killed.
That was not my point, the violet-eyed woman
smiled. You will not be
around to enjoy it. And I suspect
whoever sent you to apprehend me will be far from pleased with your
performance. I hope that you
do not have any family members who might suffer.
Antonov tried to mask his
features. His brother and sister
had just been accepted as junior members of the Communist
Party. His failure to carry out
his mission might rebound to affect them.
Comrade Stalin had been dead for three months, but the oppressive
security apparatus he had constructed was still in place and its chief architect,
Beria was still ensconced on top of the Soviet
pyramid.
Lower your weapons, he ordered his
men.
At that moment Vishinsky pushed forward.
Comrade, he
growled. Are you
mad? You are giving way to three
women?
His emphasis on the last word reminded Antonov that Vishinsky
really hated women. Well, not
hated so much as despised. In
his mind they were good for just two things, sex and serving
men. It went completely against
the Marxist doctrine of equality of the sexes, but he was not alone in his
sentiments. But it was the use
of the word
three that really bothered
Antonov. What had happened to
the fourth woman?
Who is this charming gentleman? the English
archeologist inquired. I
had supposed you were in command, but I see that I was
mistaken.
Antonov coloured.
He had been afraid of this.
Vishinsky was challenging his
authority. Control yourself,
comrade, he ordered. I
will deal with this.
Just see that you do, Colonel, Vishinsky
sneered, otherwise I will take over this
expedition.
The violet-eyed woman smiled at
Vishinsky. Apparently this
is the man I should be dealing
with. Lowering her rifle
she slowly raised her left hand.
Crack!
The sound
of a rifle shot came from the trees.
Vishinskys hat flew from his head, taking a little bit of his
scalp with it.
The fourth woman! Antonov thought as he hit
the ground along with the rest of his
company. The three women remained
standing. Antonov couldnt
help thinking that he and his men resembled medieval serfs bowed before their
masters. Angrily he attempted
to raise his rifle, but suddenly there was a gun at his
head. He froze, noticing that
Vishinsky was threatened by the tall black woman who had her spear at his
throat. The rest of his men and
the two girls appeared bewildered by the turn of events, looking first at
him and then that the tree women.
I am not pleased, comrade, the violet-eyed
beauty said. You raid my
camp and drive off my porters and then threaten
me. If you have harmed a single
one of my porters I shall be very unhappy.
Enough of this! cried a voice next to
him. Antonov recognized it as
that of Illya Kreskin, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War who had served
with Antonov against the German invaders.
Kreskin got to his knees, leveling his rifle at the arrogant British
bitch.
Boom!
Almost
as if by magic the sidearm of the British woman appeared in her
hand. The bullet blew away the
back of Kreskins
head. Then absolute chaos erupted
as almost every man present sought to avenge their dead
comrade. Unfortunately, they
were all too slow. With incredible
rapidity and devastating accuracy the violet-eyed woman and her tall companion
fired their pistols at point blank range into the scrambling
men. Other bullets came from
the forest. Only the tall black
women used no firearm. She, did
however, kill two men with the razor edge of her
spear.
It was too much for the remaining
men. They broke and ran for their
lives, leaving the women in control of the
battleground.
Assholes, said Melissa Gallant, using her
usual blunt language. If
it isnt Nazis its Commies.
When is the world going to leave us alone?
Larra shook her head.
What a bloody mess.
She didnt like pointless killing, but she had been forced into
this situation. On the ground
around her were a dozen bodies. She
and Melissa, with Ayashe firing from the forest,
had devastated the Russians. It
seemed like such a waste.
A few minutes later she wished that she had killed more
of them. Bastards,
she murmured. In front of her
was the fly-covered body of Juma, one of her
porters. He had clearly been
tortured to death.
Melissa and Ayashe came and
stood beside her. They stared
at the body of the porter.
Murderers, said
Melissa. We ought to go
after them.
I agree, said Larra,
but were not going to.
Let the jungle deal with them.
They were in such a hurry to leave they left all of their
equipment. I suspect they are
going to have a very unpleasant return journey.
What about our porters? Melissa
asked. It is going to be
difficult to finish our expedition without them.
Lets wait a day or so and see if they come
back. After all, all the food
and shelter is here. They might
return when they get hungry enough.
The other women
nodded. It made
sense. Well post
a guard at night, Larra said.
Just in case the Russians decide to
return.
Larra sighed. First James and Lin Yao had disappeared, and now there was this disaster. It seemed that bad luck and trouble seemed to follow her everywhere.
PREVIOUS
CHAPTER WIZARD'S
LAIR MAIN PAGE
L'ESPION'S
STORY PAGE
NEXT
CHAPTER