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Konrad Diels’ world had fallen
apart. The sudden appearance
of the Ludendorff in the hands of the enemy had demoralized his
troops. And he had lost several
men killed and wounded in the subsequent
battle. He was down to only fifteen
men fit for duty and many of these were in a mutinous
mood. To compound the disaster,
he was low on food and ammunition.
Ironically, it was the Ludendorff that was supposed to resupply his
expedition. He was isolated in
the heart of the Lost World without chance of reinforcement or
rescue. Still, he would not give
up. He could not let a handful
of women and a bunch of savages defeat
him.
He still had a few men he could count on, and he knew that the Ullabomba
capital was not far off. Somehow
or other he would pull this mission off.
A disturbance near the front of the column attracted his
attention. Heinz came running
toward him.
“Trouble, Herr Diels,” Heinz
exclaimed.
Diels swore under his breath.
“What is it?” he asked.
In answer Heinz just pointed. Diels
eyes widened. Standing in the
centre of the trail was one of the gigantic carnivorous
dinosaurs. It appeared not to
see them and the wind was blowing their scent away from
it. Slowly, Diels backed down
the trail, followed by the advance party.
If that beast spotted them…
They were down to only about thirty rounds between all of his
men. Not enough to stop a monster
of that size unless they hit a vital organ right
off. Suddenly the huge
creature’s head swiveled toward
them. Its yellowish eyes seemed
to glitter and then with a bellowing roar it
charged.
There was nothing for it.
“Shoot,” Diels shouted.
Every man present opened up. There
was a spattering of rifle fire and then it
ceased. Screams filled the air
as the dinosaur rampaged among them.
Diels’ men had run out of ammunition and the beast had not been
killed.
Diels ran harder than he had ever run in his
life. Behind him he could hear
the sounds of his men being torn to bits by the dinosaur, but he managed
to escape. He did not stop running
until he left the sounds of carnage far behind him and he was almost ready
to collapse from exhaustion.
He was alone in the rainforest.
Afraid to call out he listened for the sounds of his men calling to
him or one another, but there was only
silence. He stood absolutely
still, but only the buzz of insects and the call of birds disturbed the silence
of the forest.
Sweating from the tropical heat and his recent exertion, Diels looked about
him. What was he going to
do? He had no survival
skills. He would starve to death
in the forest or be killed by some wild beast if he did not find
help. Reluctantly, he began to
move back in the direction that he had
come. Perhaps some of his men
had survived. If he could find
them he might have a chance.
It was at that moment, that a pair of arms reached down from above, and hauled
him into the branches overhead.
Diels screamed in terror as he realized that the arms were not human,
and then he was lifted high into the
treetops.
Larra opened her eyes. She realized
that she must have fainted. The
first face she saw that that of John
Grey. She gave him a weak smile
of recognition.
“You’re safe now Larra,” Grey said, stroking her
hair. He held a cup to her
lips. “Drink this, it’s
the water from the spring.”
Larra drank. Almost immediately
she felt her strength returning.
The water from the mystical spring Grey had shown her had amazing
powers of healing. She knew that
with a little bit of rest she would soon be back to
normal.
She looked past Grey. A few feet
away stood Katie and Amy. The
anxious looks on their faces disappeared as Larra gave them a
smile.
“Everyone is here,” said Grey.
“Steiner and Jia Li are watching the
crew. We also have a few
‘guests’ helping them
out.”
Larra realized that she was on board the Ludendorff again, but she could
hear no sounds of the engines. Grey
seemed to guess her unspoken question.
“We are letting the zeppelin drift to conserve
fuel. I will be leaving shortly,
then you will be on your way. I
just stayed to make sure you were alright.”
Larra opened her mouth, but Grey placed a finger on her
lips. Again he anticipated
her. “I know you would like
me to stay, but we both know that cannot
be. I will never leave the forest,
and you have your own life to
live.” He bent forward,
and kissed her softly on the lips.
Larra knew that it was their last kiss.
“I will leave you now,” said Grey rising, “but I will never
forget you. And should you ever
return, I will be waiting.”
Larra nodded. She did not trust
herself to speak. Grey had said
it all. And then he was
gone. A few minutes passed and
Larra heard the sound of the airship’s engines coughing to
life. She closed her eyes and
settled back down into the bunk she was lying
on. Soon her gentle breathing
indicated that she was asleep.
Lisha stood uneasily outside the cabin
door. She had grown used to the
droning of the flying machine’s
engines. Although she understood
nothing of the technology behind the huge dirigible, she at least knew that
it was not a living creature. What
bothered her more was the strange pieces of cloth
her new companions had forced on her.
Apparently, nudity was considered improper by her new companions,
and they had insisted that she cover her
body. Beneath the tan shirt and
pants that had been given her by the one called Amy, she still wore her royal
regalia, but only her face, hands, and feet were now
bare. Amy had not been able to
find a spare pair of boots that would fit her and so she remained
barefoot.
She had not seen the woman she had rescued for two
days. She understood now that
none of the people on board the amazing flying machine were demons, but she
was still nervous about this meeting.
It turned out that the woman the others called “Larra,”
was regarded as the leader by the other members on board the flying
craft. She had been resting for
two days, recovering from her ordeal, and now wanted to meet her
rescuer.
The door opened. The woman called
“Katie” came out. It
was fortunate that Katie and the raven-haired woman called Jia Li spoke a
little of her language. She had
managed to learn quite a bit from the two of
them. But there was still much
she did not understand.
One thing that worried her greatly, was what was going to happen to
her. She now knew that she was
not going to be molested or tortured.
That was not the way of these people, but she was afraid that she
would not be accepted as a companion into their
company. She was even fearful
that they might think to send her back to the Lost
World. That would probably prove
fatal. Her own people would surely
punish her for what she had done and that punishment would almost certainly
be some sort of painful death.
Katie gave her a wide smile. That
was reassuring. “You may
go in now,” she said.
“Larra is feeling much better.”
Larra gave Lisha a smile of greeting as the girl
entered. She gestured to a chair
by the side of the cot. “Sit
down,” she said. Lisha
sat.
Larra studied the girl. Even
dressed in the unbecoming shirt and pants selected for her by Amy, the girl
was stunningly attractive. She
moved with a lithe grace that reminded Larra of a gazelle and her facial
features were symmetrical and
unblemished. High cheekbones
set off her chocolate-brown eyes.
Her nose was petite and set above full pouting lips and a strong
chin. Her jet-black hair, still
held in place by the gold combs, flowed down her back, extending right to
the curve of her derriere.
“I want to thank you for saving my life,” said Larra, speaking
Lisha’s language. “It
was a very brave act. But I must
know, why did you do it?”
Lisha told her story, leaving out nothing, not even the fact that she had
originally intended to kill Larra as an act of
mercy. When she was finished
Larra simply regarded her for awhile.
The steady gaze of Larra’s violet eyes made Lisha uneasy and
she looked at the floor.
“Tell me, Lisha,” said Larra slowly, after a long
pause. “What would you like
me to do with you?”
Lisha already had her answer ready.
She had been thinking about it for two
days. “I want to stay with
you, Larra, and be a part of your world.”
Her heart beating like a drum, Lisha awaited Larra’s
reply. Smiling, Larra leaned
forward and took Lisha’s hand.
“Welcome Lisha,” she
said. “I would be honoured
to have you as a friend and
companion.”
Three hundred miles away, Konrad Diels knelt before the new ape king and
clutched the post in front of him.
The ape king thrust forward.
Diels’ shriek of agony echoed throughout the ape
city.
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