The three of them went running towards the make shift helipad and waited as the choppers began to descend down. As soon as the doors opened, the three began to run towards the disembarking crew. “Hey, you! We need help, we gotta find John Stroff! He’s been missing for over two hours and we can’t seem to…,” said Mike as he was cut short by one of the military personnel. “We are aware of what’s happened and we have a search team looking in that area right now. But we need to close down your operation here, as a storm is coming this way and it is unsafe for you to be out here,” said the military agent. “Like hell we’re leaving! John’s still out there, somewhere. You’ve got to let us remain here and search for him,” screamed Nigel. “Mr. Greenback, please. We have direct orders from Commander Chidi to transport all of you back. Rest assured, our search team will find Mr. Stroff!” responded the military agent. “Give me a break you bloody idiot. I’m not going anywhere,” said Nigel as he raised his finger at him. “Nigel, please let’s not make this worse. If they have orders, then let’s trust them to do the right thing,” said Adrian. Nigel looked at him and at Mike. “Adrian you can’t be serious about this?” Nigel pleaded. “I mean, John would have come looking for any one of us if we got lost out there,” said Nigel. “Mr. Greenback, please we are doing everything that’s necessary. Do believe me when I say that,” said the military agent. “Come on Nigel, let’s not delay. There’s a storm coming this way. We’ll pick things up again from the hangar,” said Adrian. “I agree with Adrian, let’s go Nigel,” said Mike. Nigel looked at both of them and finally relented. Within an hour the entire base was packed up, with all equipment stored on-board. Nigel looked dismayed as he stared outside the chopper window and gazed at the growing inky blackness. As the aircraft pressed straight ahead, he caught sight of the lightning in the distance as it illuminated the clouds with different shades of purple, white and grey. Soon, drops of rain streaked across the chopper window and blurred the world outside.
◆◆◆
Recovery
Dorenland Continent
A bright, full moon rose above the mountains, towards the west. The stars shone brightly and decorated the sky in a magnificent array of cluster waves of diamonds. A light wind blew signalling the departure of the storm that had coated the landscape around with its watery fury. Only the sound of crickets could be heard as they chirped from amongst the trees and bushes. The man lay unconscious in his chair and his breath was shallow. However, given the fall he had just taken, it was nothing short of a miracle that he was still alive. A snake slithered into the cockpit through the shattered windshield and soon glided up his left arm, rubbing its body against his face. It stopped to consider the strange object it was on before carrying on its journey further into the wreckage. The final flip of its tail caused John Stroff to stir and he gently opened his eyes. He could see nothing at first, but then his vision sharpened and he began to perceive the flow of moonlight falling on his lap. He stirred and felt his whole body ache with pain. He touched his head and then wrestled to get his seat belt off. He heard the click and then pushed himself forward through the broken windshield. He slipped over the nose of the chopper and rolled onto the grass. He gasped and looked up at the sky. John cleared his throat and let his eyes scan the stars that were illuminating this brilliant night. He kept taking in deep breaths and moved his head against the ground he was lying on. His mind began to drift and he thought that somewhere among the constellations he was looking at, lay his home, planet Earth. How he longed to be there right now, with his family.
A set of shrieks brought him back to reality and he raised himself up. He turned quickly from side to the other, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. Then he heard the crashing sound of trees and the long trumpeting that followed. “Elephants,” he thought. He raised himself to his feet and looked around. A short distance away, he made out the general shape of a herd that was moving towards a shiny surface, which he quickly understood to be a lake. Judging by the distance from where the trees were moving, they were not too far away and could easily attack. More so, if they had young ones, they would charge and he was in no condition to run. He began to move behind the wreckage of his chopper, while cursing the noise his boots made in the wet mud. He placed his back against the machine and waited for a couple of minutes. Satisfied that the herd had not noticed him, he checked himself. Apart from some discomfort and minor bruises he was happy that he had not broken any bones in his crash landing. He tapped at his armlet to see if it still worked. Nothing appeared on screen. He tried again but to no avail. John came back around to the side of his chopper and began to open one of the doors very gently so as not to make any noise. Thankfully it did not take too long to open, but at the last instant, it emitted a loud metallic squeak. The Elephants having heard it began to trumpet and shriek even louder. John froze and kept a careful watch in the direction of the trees ahead.
After several intense minutes the tearing of branches resumed and he began to breathe easy once again. As the moonlight was strong, he was able to see the rough outline of objects in the back and managed to pull out the kit he was looking for. He opened it and found a set of food rations, a head mountable torch, a Walter 280, and an assistant pod for which he was immensely thankful. He drained one of the water bottles out and had some of another before placing it back in. He counted five extra bottles and closed the kit. John looked further and found a holographic GPS device. He tapped it and it showed his current location, which placed him at about 4 miles away from the fly zone boundary. John rummaged in the back for an additional communications armlet but could not find one. After five minutes of searching, he decided to move on. Just then the trumpeting started again. John jumped out of the wreckage and walked a short distance away before halting and then looking back. Nothing seemed to be following him. Satisfied, he strapped on the pack and pressed the flashlight head set on. He held the GPS device and connected to the pod. He then pressed his right thumb against one of the triangular sides. A light emitted, which scanned his thumb print and the pod flew out of his hand to about a foot away, where it began to flash red and displayed a holographic map and the route to be taken ahead. It moved forward and he followed it along a game trail, which gradually grew steeper as it went into the hills. “I guess this is how Corbett felt,” said John to himself, recalling the famous wildlife hunter and novelist, whose documented exploits took place in the early part of the 20th century in India.
He could hear the squawking of bats as they fluttered through the trees and the occasional hoots of owls in the branches above. He then began to feel his own teeth chatter as the wind picked up speed and rubbed against his bruised skin, causing him to wince with the dull pain shooting through his body. He paused at the top of the hill and looked around. Towards his front and stretching southward was a low mountain range and towards the right lay another valley, which stretched off into the distance. “Display time duration to Amyrot base camp,” said John. The pod displayed the terrain ahead and showed a time span of 4 days and 13 hours. “That’s terrible,” he said as a strong feeling of despair crept over him. Navigating across a hostile environment, with no communication device and very little rations was horrible. He then remembered about the tracking beacon on the pod and asked for it be switched on. Another holographic message displayed in front of him, which showed that the beacon was not working. “Damn it,” said John as he gritted his teeth a bit. He thought about returning to the wreckage but felt that currently it would be too dangerous given the Elephants. He decided to spend the night nearby and in the morning head back to the chopper, where hopefully the animals would have moved on from there. “That’s my best chance of getting rescued,” he thought. He signalled for the pod to continue and eventually the path led down the hill. After a while he sat on a rock listening to the sounds of the wild jungle about him. His nostrils filled with the pungent smell of moist soil and putrefying leaves spread across the ground.
John tried to recollect what
had happened in the last few hours since he crashed landed. Every detail he went over could not really tell him what went wrong except that for some reason there was a complete system failure followed by an explosion. He regretted not being able to inspect the chopper to determine where the eruption had occurred. He checked the time on the GPS, 11:20 p.m. He got up and began walking once more trying to focus his mind on covering as much ground as possible before midnight, where he would then find a tree to rest in. After twenty minutes, he found himself once more at the top of a small hill range that overlooked the same valley as before. He gazed at the reflection of the sky on the surface of a river below. John surveyed the ground. The rise he was on was solid granite with a clump of trees, on all three sides, with the view of the river in front of him. He marked out a tree he would rest in for the night. He walked to the edge of the cliff and noticed a ledge towards the right just below. Below it, the drop to the valley was at least 90 feet. Satisfied with his progress, he switched the flash light off and pulled out a medical kit from his pack. He checked his vital signs, which showed normal. He then placed it back and pulled out a plastic box that contained some corned beef, boiled carrots, baked beans and pudding. He devoured the lot quickly as his hunger was desperately high by this point.
John listened to the jungle for a while after he finished his meal and noted that things had become unusually quiet. He checked his watch, which flashed 12:23 a.m. “What a day,” he thought. He turned to look over the scene once again and suddenly heard a soft rustle from somewhere behind him. John turned quickly and grabbed his gun. He touched the trigger and stood up. He slowly scanned the trees ahead of him and waited. The moonlight by now was almost as bright as day and provided him with a great deal of visibility. There was silence for a few minutes and then he heard it; a low growl drifted from somewhere behind the trees far to his left. The rustle started up once again and grew a bit louder and he took a step back not realizing that he was at the edge. His foot lost its hold of the ground and he tumbled backwards, but luckily he fell onto the ledge, a little below. He hit the ground hard and lost his breath for a few seconds. He began to breathe heavily and slowly raised himself. John checked his hand and luckily he hadn’t let go of the gun. He pushed himself up and looked above him. The ledge was about 12 feet below from where he was originally standing. Nothing appeared for minute but then he heard the sound of gravel being moved and he readied himself for whatever might appear.
At first, there was a slight movement above him, which was soon followed by an enormous head with a shiny pair of blue eyes. John starred in amazement as he stood face to face with a Greenleaf Tiger. Though the beast stared at him menacingly, he was awestruck by its majestic beauty. The beautiful stripes that ran across its face, the snow white underbelly and dark coloured coat made it seem like a creature pulled out of a fantasy novel, something surreal in every way. The wind blew against its fur and very quickly the deep sense of fear returned to him. He clutched his gun and raised it towards the Tiger. The Tiger did not react but continued to watch him. John felt unsure of what to do next and sensing that the shock was freezing his actions, he decided to pull the trigger. But before he could react, the Tiger leapt onto the ledge he was on. Though John was himself 6 feet in height, the animal’s head was higher than his own. Its enormous body clearly made him realize, that it was a creature that was indeed built for the kill. There was no escaping it and he felt numbness in his hand as it refused to rise again.
“Why…why don’t you just get it over with?” stammered John. The Tiger then sat down on its haunches. This surprised him and he seemed to regain his self-control. He quickly glanced at his left and saw the drop, which would spell instant death if he fell. John moved his hand to fire when a voice called out, “Don’t, John. There’s no need to.” John looked up onto the higher ground and there to his amazement stood Kenneth Anderson. “What! President Anderson? You here...get me out of this mess,” said John. “It’s alright, John,” said Kenneth and he called to the Tiger. “Shiv, come,” he commanded. The Tiger immediately raised itself up and in one quick leap was on higher ground. “John, please relax. I’m here to help. I want you to grab a hold of this rope and we’ll pull you up,” said Kenneth. “We?” asked John. “Yes, we. Now don’t delay, just do as I say,” said Kenneth as he tossed a rope to him. John grabbed his end and tied it around his waist. He then began to feel himself being pulled up. Once at the top, he saw the Tiger still there and five more people behind it, one of whom he recognized as General Ansari. “Are you alright, John?” asked the General. “Yes, I am now. How did you find me? And, more importantly, what are you doing out here?” asked John. “All will be explained John, trust me on that. But right now we need to move out from here. There’s our car waiting below this hill. Come, let’s get going,” said Kenneth as he turned and walked toward the trees.
As the group turned to leave, John saw the other men, use a type of wind blower device that blew across the ground. “They are covering our tracks for us John, so we don’t have any one following us,” said Kenneth. “Follow us? Who would follow us?” asked John puzzled. “Our rescue team, who is out looking for you,” said Kenneth, stopping for a moment. “I’ll explain why later, but for now don’t ask any more questions,” he said and began to walk again. The group moved downwards and soon turned left onto another trail. As they navigated the path, John saw the Tiger towards his left, as it followed them downhill. He found it bizarre and had so many questions, as to why this animal was keeping in such close proximity to them.
Upon reaching the base of the hill, he saw that there was an Oryx parked, with several armed guards standing by it. “Come, please do get in, John. We’ll have you checked in our medical unit inside and I am sure that you must need some water and food,” said Kenneth. “I’m fine, I had my pack with me. I ate just before your furry friend knocked the senses out of me,” said John. The group laughed. “Very well, then. But before we depart, there is a favour I have to ask of you,” said Kenneth. “Yes, what is that?” asked John. “I ask that you take an oath, John. I don’t just mean any oath but one that is most sacred to the people of Greenleaf. To break it, would be certain death for you. I am sorry to be so dramatic but there are reasons for it,” said Kenneth. “What! Have you lost your mind?” asked John. “Please, John. Trust me on this. I wouldn’t ask if there wasn’t a profound reason,” said Kenneth. John looked around at the group and General Ansari, who stood next to him nodded his head. “Yes, alright. What is your oath?” asked John. “Raise your right hand, yes, that’s good. Repeat after me. I do solemnly swear, by the people of Greenleaf and the ancestors of our planet of origin, Earth, I will never divulge any information about the Assiross and their secrets, until it is required for me to do so. Till that time comes, my lips will be sealed, so help me God. Thank you,” said Kenneth. He then touched his gloved hand against the top of John’s right hand. John felt a slight burn and pulled himself away abruptly. He saw what appeared to be a yellow triangle mark glow on his skin. John stared in amazement at Kenneth. “I know you may think I’m crazy. But it’s time that you know the truth of our history, John. Don’t worry about the mark, it will become invisible to the naked eye in a few minutes. It can only be detected with a special scanner or eye piece that we have in our possession. But remember, that mark inducts you into our circle, so do be wise to keep your oath,” said Kenneth, as he moved into the Oryx.
◆◆◆
The Revelation
Dorenland Continent
The moonlight flashed through the windows of the main cabin of the Oryx as it sped along an open track. The thick line of trees soon began to give way to more sporadic clumps and patches of open fields that would eventually disappear as the vehicle navigated its way out of the Amyrot jungle area. The driver engaged the auto drive system and scanned through a slew of information while also coordinating with the team waiting for them at the rendezvous point. John along with Kenneth, General Ansari and his group of his men hudd
led in the back storage area. John sipped at some tea he was given as he listened carefully to President Anderson. “The Tigers are the guardians of the forest, so they act as our eyes and ears in the wild. When you had crashed, Khalid and I were in the area and did witness what happened. At first, we weren’t sure who it was in the helicopter, till we listened in on the conversation being relayed back to the Halo Airbase. Upon hearing that discourse, Khalid and I knew that foul play was involved. However, we couldn’t act immediately as the place where you fell was being closely watched. Hence, we had to wait for a while till it grew dark and once we were confident our movements wouldn’t be tracked. But in case the satellites were still tracking you, we sent Shiv ahead of us to check. An animal coming next to where you were, wouldn’t draw any suspicion you see,” said Kenneth as he drew a deep breath. “Though I must apologies for the scare he gave you,” he added while looking at John. John said nothing and waited patiently for Kenneth to continue. “When we reached the spot of your crashed aircraft, we found no one inside. We there upon instructed Shiv to track you down,” said Kenneth as he cleared his throat. “However, aside from that John, I’m glad for it as this setback has given Khalid and me the opportunity to get you away from everyone at Alita and allow us to show you something of the utmost importance to our people here. But most of all, it must remain a secret that you hold deep within your heart until we inform you as to when it may be revealed to the outside world and even to your team,” he added as he stared straight into John’s eyes.
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