Jim staggered back and sat in the inches thick dust on the floor. He just sat there looking at the huge pile of bones.
“My God... Mankind just can’t seem to stop destroying things can we?” He pulled out his phone and took two more pictures from the sitting position, then got to his feet and looked at Spider.
“That’s it...battery is dead, but I have them all on the memory chip.”
Spider nodded, “Easy Jim, it wasn’t we that killed them.” he chuckled, “Well, science will have a field day with all the info you’re going to hand them.” Spider snorted wryly, “Just promise me I’ll get to be there when you show them what you have... I want to see the look on their smug faces.”
Both men sadly nodded and headed back out of the cave. They had seen something else at the rear of the cave, a solid granite wall. There was never a way in...or out! This meant back to the ‘fly or die’ plan. They dared not risk another trek to the jungles they had found beyond Rex’s jungle.
Upon reaching the narrow cave entrance, the two saw the waterfall had become a bit stronger. That meant it had once again rained in the mountains far above the valley. Jim held out his hand and felt the water and looked at his friend.
“You know Spider I was just thinking...we’ve never seen the tops of these cliffs.”
“You lost me my friend. Climb up hoping for a way down? That’s as high as or higher than the cliff down.”
“Not what I was getting at Spider. At this altitude, sure there are storms, but not as much rain as we’ve been seeing. I was wondering if there might be another valley several hundred feet above us. If it is as big as or bigger than this valley, maybe that’s where all the water is coming from. Maybe it has artesian springs or other sources of water.”
Spider nodded toward the waterfall as they walked under it and back toward their home cave.
“My friend, this is the dry season if you can call it that. No matter where the water comes from, I guess we have maybe two more weeks to get the plane assembled and get out of this valley. After that, your guess is as good as mine when the next flashflood will be and we could lose everything if it catches while we’re in the process of building the plane.”
Jim patted Spider on the back and grinned, “Well then my friend, what say we get back to the cave and get things started. If there is another valley up there, it will have to wait for someone else to find it.”
The men turned the last curve on the ledge and Spider pointed to the west.
“Damn Jim, how long were we in that cave?”
Jim looked to the west and saw the sun at the mountaintops and knew night was quickly approaching. He smiled back to Spider.
“Well then, how about we get started in the morning?”
That night the two men told the others the lizard men and the humans that had been called the old ones. Marti brought up the fact that the tribes below had been the ones that had told the other races of the old ones. Even told the Spaniards of the Indians that lived up there after they had killed off the old ones.
Marti had put in the last piece in the puzzle with her theory. All the writings, the stories of the old ones, were never about the humans that went up to the valley of time lost... It was the lizard men, that were the old ones. A race of beings that the tribes had known about somehow. Perhaps even had traded with them. At some point in time, the tribes below the mountains showed other ancient races how to go up... and the rest was history, sad history!
The survivors imagined the joy of finding a totally new race of beings...here on our Earth. Of talking to them, of seeing how they had evolved... Now they faced the sad fact it would never happen. They sat around the campfire for a long time...in silence.
The rest of the night was spent planning for the next morning. All the components for the power-assisted glider had been completed. Sam had run the motor with the propeller for six hours steady and it showed no signs of failure... They were ready!
Snuggled within the arms of her love, Marti nestled her head into his chest and shuddered.
“Marti? ...Baby? ...What’s wrong?”
Jim could feel a tear trickle down his chest as she whispered softly.
“Oh Jim, so much depends on me being right. I’m a mining engineer, not an aircraft designer. What if I didn’t get something right? What if...”
Jim’s finger found her soft lips and he softly whispered, “Baby, it’ll be alright. You’re a great engineer; the plane will fly just great. But if you want to talk about pressure...
What if I can’t find a good updraft? Or what if I can’t control the plane? Remember I’ve never flown a bi-wing...Or a glider and they handle diff...”
Jim’s lips were silenced by Marti’s soft lips. A warm kiss stopped both their fears. She gently kissed his neck as her hand slipped down his chest. Jim sighed....then gasped, as her hand found its target. Her lips brushed against his.
“Besides if either of us are wrong... We’ll only regret it for a few seconds... Sooo...” she cooed in his ear, “...if this is going to be our last night together....let’s make the best of it.”
And with that she slid atop her love and within seconds...neither worried about the morrow.
Chapter 18.
The strange thing was that in the morning, the five survivors hesitated on getting started. So many had died, yet living in a world where danger was present every second, was enthralling. They had never felt so alive...or frightened. It was the frightened part, that finally spurred them into starting their escape plan.
The rail for the body and the fuselage were carefully lowered onto the large bulldozer’s heavy steel roll cage, secured, and off the four went, leaving Armondo to run the small dozer on the ledge.
The rail was fastened to the ledge that was just below the edge of the valley. The very same one that had saved some of them earlier when Rex first appeared. That fact they kept in their minds as they constantly looked over their shoulders.
Eventually the rail was secured to six anchors embedded into the rock and tight tie downs were attached. The rail only protruded six inches above the valley floor. The rest of the nearly thirty-foot launch rail was suspended out and downward into the air below. Strong braces attached the rail to the ledge and again ten feet below the ledge as Spider and Sam swung from ropes, hammering the lags into the rock face. Finally the rail was secured and they met at the dozer.
Slowly the body of the plane was slid off the roll cage using the winch on the dozer’s rear. They ran the cable over the top of the dozer to lower the heavy fuselage over the front, down Sam’s rails, and mated with the plane’s ‘take off’ rail. The prop was installed and the plane was lowered into place over the cliff and out of Rex’s reach should he come back.
The plane was locked into its quick release and a tie down attached to either side.
“Well, kiss my ass and slap me hard if that doesn’t look like...” Sam froze.
From the distant jungle Rex roared. The four froze... They had become use to Rex’s roar, that and the fact they had figured out they were in Rex’s hunting territory. Never once had they seen other T-rex’s or any other meat eaters. They listened to the next roar...then a third.
“Whew!” Spider muttered as he wiped sweat from his brow. “He’s moving away from us.”
Jim looked at Sam and grinned, “Yeah well when we go back drive slow and don’t rev the engine too loud...we don’t want to ring the dinner bell.”
The four took their time going back over the rocky dry part of the flood plain. Upon getting back Armondo had already loaded the two lower wings into the elevator cage and had it lowered to the big dozer’s height by the time they got there. Armondo signaled for Spider to come up and let him go on the second trip.
There were several kinds of herbs, Armondo picked for his fantastic meals. As it turned out, they were right next to where they were working so Spider agreed. Armondo’s Chindesaurus stew was to die for and would make a fine feast for their last night in the valley.
<
br /> Spider was raised and then lowered Armondo, and the team headed back to the edge of the valley. Upon arriving with the dozer and a few more parts for the plane, Armondo walked over to his herb area near the cliff face to hunt for more his herbs.
The others installed the lower wings. They were slid into the connecting supports and bolted tightly and then the wire anchors were tightened so the plane’s wings wouldn’t be thrashed about by strong wings during the night.
There was a shout from Armondo as all eyes turned in his direction. There hanging from the valley’s edge was the rotund man with nothing but one thousand feet of air below him.
Sam, who was still up top, raced over to him and with a flying leap, hit the ground and grasped his arms. “I got you pal!” he shouted as he struggled to grasp Armondo’s heavy denim jacket and hold him until the others arrived.
Jim cupped his hands and Marti put a foot in them and he almost sent Marti flying as he tossed her up and over the edge to the valley floor. She scrambled on hands and knees to right herself as Jim clambered over the edge into view. Getting to his feet, he and Marti raced over to grasp Sam’s legs as he was slowly being pulled over the cliff. Once Jim landed and grasped both of Sam’s legs, Marti let go and slid back to grasp Jim’s legs. They now formed a chain and tried to pull the two men back... Sam was being pulled over the cliff slowly so now only below the waist was on the flat surface. Jim screamed back to Marti...
“Armondo’s losing his grip... Sam’s got his...”
There was a strange scream, as Marti realized it was actually three intertwined screams, she heard.
Armondo had shouted he was pulling Sam over with him and ripped free from Sam’s grip. Sam was screaming as Armondo fell from sight, and her love Jim, was screaming his frustration of losing another life.
Sam was almost limp as Jim and Marti managed to pull him back onto the flat valley floor as all three lay there gasping for air. Sam looked over to the others and with tears in his eyes gasped, “He pried my hands loose... He was afraid he was going to pull me...over...he...”
Jim reached over and gripped Sam’s arm tightly. “You did the best you could Sam. Armondo was a strong man and he wanted to save you, there’s no way you could have stopped him from ripping free.”
“I know...” Sam began to get control of his breathing. “I know guys, it’s just we keep losing people...friends.”
Jim arose and gently pulled Marti to her feet. Sam crawled into the driver’s seat of the dozer and they headed back to their cliff-side dwelling, hopefully for the last time. All they wanted to do was leave.
Spider took the news hard as he and Armondo had known each other for over twenty years and spent many years working together on various mining expeditions. They ate dried dino-jerky that evening and every bite reminded them of the jolly, lovable, over-weight man that had made it. His ever-cheerful outlook on life, his deep laughter... Armondo was the last one of them they had figured would die... He would be greatly missed.
It was a fitful night with little sleep, but the morning did come, and the four prepared for the assembly of the top wing and struts. This was the largest of the components and would be the trickiest to assemble. The aircraft was sitting on its launch rail that was at a forty-five degree slope away from the cliff. Although the frame of the bottom wings were strong, installing the top wing meant standing on the lower wings and a thousand feet of nothing below. One wrong misstep and it would be all over for that person...and Jim knew Marti would have to be one of those on the wings. Sure they would be tied off with safety ropes, but the danger was there and after Armondo’s death, everything was worrying him.
The morning winds were blowing upward in gusts as the sun heated the cliff face.
Jim and Marti slid the wing off the dozer’s rail downward as Sam grabbed onto it from above.
Marti jumped down to the ledge, tied off her rope, and carefully climbed out onto the lower left wing. She glanced down and saw nothing but clouds below her, gave a little gasp, steadied herself, and then went to work.
As the guys slid the upper wing to her, end left first, Marti slipped it over the pivot she had fashioned and pinned it into place.
“Got it!” she shouted as Sam jumped down, tied off, and ducked under the fuselage, climbed on the rear straddling the body. In the gusty winds he held the wing high enough to clear the tail and by the time he began to lower it Marti was on the right wing guiding it into the last bracket.
By this time Jim had jumped down and was attaching the struts that held the wings to each other, while Sam bolted the braces from the wings to the fuselage.
Marti ran the pre-cut wires to each strut and Jim went behind her and tightened the wires by twisting them on the small turnbuckles that held them to the wing frame.
An hour, then two passed, but finally the makeshift plane was done. Marti and Sam sat on the valley’s edge, legs dangling over the ledge below, admiring their work.
“Well guys,” Sam chuckled, “the damned thing actually looks like it’ll fly.”
Marti added, “I hope those tie downs hold, look at it trying to get airborne even now.”
Jim climbed out of the small cockpit, climbed up the small ladder Marti had created the night before, and joined the two. He sat down and kissed Marti on the cheek.
“Great job honey... Those flight controls work great! They’re smooth and have good motion.” He jumped to his feet and grinned.
“Let’s go back and get our supplies for the trip and get the hell off this mountain. That top wing is so much longer than the bottom ones, I don’t know how long those tie downs might hold.”
“He’s right Marti. There is a lot of gusty wind coming up from below... We really need to get moving. You two stay here.” Sam snorted wryly, “Christ it doesn’t take three of us to get the few supplies we have room for here... Plus I have to bring Spider after he lowers them down. You too stay here and watch that damned plane and make sure it’s still here when Spider and I get back. Sit on the freakin’ wings if you have to...” he laughed, “...I want to see a plane here when I return.”
Marti frowned, “Guys... We never talked about how the last one gets down. We raise and lower the cage by driving the dozer back and forth after the short winch cable plays out. But it can’t reach the ground and...”
Sam laughed as he cranked up the dozer.
“Hell Marti, Spider can shimmy down those tracks you made for the cage to slide up and down on. Christ you had us put supports in the cliff face so close together, it’s almost like having a hundred and thirty-foot ladder.”
Jim smiled, “Sure babe, remember he’s done a lot of free-climbing in the past. Plus he can use the rope to loop through the rail mounts for safety. The most he could fall would be what, five feet?”
Sam nodded, shifted the dozer into gear, and waved at the pair.
“Look guys, it’s only a little over a mile. We’ll be back in an hour or two...depending on how fast Spider can climb down.” With a roar of the engine the large dozer headed on back to the cave as Jim and Marti walked over to one of the large boulders to sit on.
Marti leaned back and undid her top button, “Might as well get some rays.” She giggled as Jim whistled teasingly as her sweat soaked blouse clung to every part of her anatomy.
“Good God baby, the rest of the guys have gotten used to seeing my nipples through my blouse, why haven’t you?”
Jim leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.
“Because the others don’t know what happens when I grasp hold of those hard little...”
An ear-splitting roar made both lovers sit up abruptly. Both at shouted at once, “REX!” But it wasn’t Rex coming for them; he was headed toward the cave and the dozer moving below.
Jim and Marti slid off the boulder and began running toward the cave keeping low and running from boulder to boulder. As they crept around one large semi-truck sized boulder, they saw Rex heading back into the jungle... and the dozer flipped over on i
ts cage.
As Jim neared the dozer he couldn’t see Sam, but could see the cage had been nearly flattened. As Marti caught up to Jim, they ran around to the side to see the cage had been not only flattened, but broken, and some of the steel bars protruded in all directions. They got to their knees and peered in...
Sam was lying in the tangled mess and as Jim belly-crawled in and reached for him. Sam turned his head and looked at Jim with a half grin.
“That fucker got me...I thought I could beat it back to the cage. God damn it Jim, I lived through two plane crashes just to get killed by a fuckin’ dinosaur. Who’d-a-thought...”
“We’ll get you out of there Sam, I’ll...” Jim softly spoke as he belly-crawled deeper under the heavy bulldozer.
Sam reached over his head and grasped Jim’s wrist. Sam nodded slowly.
“My legs are numb Jim...and my right is mangled and pinned. Hell, that little dozer can’t lift all this weight, even if we could stretch the cable over here, I’d still bleed to death first...” Sam smiled at his long time friend.
“...How about we just sit here and talk about the old days for a bit?”
Jim slid in as far as he could as Marti fought back tears. Sam grasped Jim’s hand as pain racked his body. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and he wiped it away with his other hand.
“Do you remember Margret?”
Jim forced a smile, “Uhh... Oh, that red head in Mexico City?”
“Yeah, she always said I was the type of guy to find adventure...” he laughed weakly and coughed up more blood. “Boy would she have gotten a laugh out of this place. I’ll bet she’d have shit her panties... when she... saw old Re...” Sam gave a soft sigh as his head slumped to the side.
Jim slowly nodded, “Yeah my friend, this has been the ultimate adventure hasn’t it?” Tears rolled down Jim’s cheek as he laid Sam’s limp hand across his chest. Unable to reach the other hand, Jim slowly belly-crawled backward until he got out from under the wrecked dozer. Marti grasped her love and held him tightly as Jim wept over his loss.
Valley of Lost Time. Page 17