“OK then, last question,” asked David, “how are we going to find our way in the dark?”
Lauren walked down the steps and interrupted the search for torches and headlamps. “We won’t be needing them. In fact, if we start flashing torches around in the dark, we are only going to lead the enemy directly to us. We will let our eyes adjust and put our best man out in front. Tandin knows this trail intimately.”
Skye butted in, “When you say, we?”
“Yes, I will be coming with you. I’ll bring up the rear. Let’s leave in five minutes, all of you, stay away from the fire and put your torches out, let our eyes adjust to the darkness as much as possible.”
Jack nodded to Lauren, a relieved look on his face. “It will be good to have you along Lauren.”
“I thought you said that me coming along meant only one thing, trouble.” Lauren chuckled.
Jack thought for a moment, “Well, trouble seems to have already found us, you’re also good at getting us out of it.”
“I’m getting really cold,” Skye said, shivering away. “Can we get going?”
“Ok,” said Lauren, “Our eyes should have adjusted enough, let’s go.”
The small group fell in behind Tandin as he led the way into the forest.
Jack held Lauren back for a quiet word as they walked. “Lauren, be careful not to take control of this thing, whatever it is. It must be David’s show and I think you already saw how he is stepping up back there in the house. Support and advise, but let him lead. In the end, he is the only one who will receive the inspiration for what’s next.”
“Agreed,” said Lauren, breaking into a jog to make sure they didn’t lose touch with the kids. “Come on old man, show me what you’ve got.” She laughed as Jack ran past her.
As he overtook Lauren, Jack said, “The body won’t be a problem Lauren, it will be the night vision that lets me down, so I’m going to sit right behind someone with young eyes and step in their footsteps until the sun comes up.”
At that moment there was a crash and raucous laughter as someone fell down and another three piled on because they were following so closely behind. Luckily no-one was injured, and they were up and running again within seconds.
David was running behind Skye, who was behind Tandin. It was so dark that he could only just make out the trail in front of them. They were travelling well, at an easy enough pace, but fast enough to keep them warm without sweating. Tandin had been explaining that it was important not to sweat in these freezing conditions, as they would freeze in damp clothes when they stop to rest.
David could suddenly see a little more clearly. A fine, almost full moon was behind them, illuminating a massive snow-covered mountain up ahead.
“The Princess of the Himalaya,” Tandin said, pointing toward the mountain. “Jomolhari.”
Skye and David gasped at the beauty of the sight. And a sudden calm came over them as they realised that at some stage, they had emerged from the forest and were now above the tree line. There were still a few stunted low bushes around, but Lauren had been right, they could now see all around them, especially with the small amount of moonlight. If someone or something was going to attack them now, they would be able to see them coming from a long way off.
David started to think about ‘The Princess’, and what it all meant. How were they going to find her? Sure, the mountain was right in front of them, but if they were still two days away, this mountain was going to be a huge place to search. And what were they looking for? A cave? A house or a hut? He had no idea.
“Skye?” David asked between breaths.
“Yep? Hard to talk David, but I can listen.”
“How do we find the Princess? I mean, that mountain is huge.”
Tandin overheard the conversation. “May I say something on this subject David?”
“Of course Tandin. Speak up.”
“There is only one path once we leave Jangothang. No-one who I know has been beyond the base of the glacier in years. But when I was there on our last trip, the path continued on up the glacier. I could see it clearly. A path does not exist unless someone, or something is using it.”
“Hmm,” Skye mused. “It’s the ‘something’ bit that worries me.”
David focused. “I’m sure that Tandin is right, the path is clear, so let’s go with that. We have to put ourselves in the right place for the Princess to reveal herself.”
David had rolled the staff into his bedroll as he found it difficult to carry it while running. But he felt it calling to him, so he called a halt so that he could get it back out. He could feel that it was annoyed.
“Part Of The Team Too, You Know.” The staff read.
“Sorry about that,” said David as they broke back into a run. David swung the staff in one hand, he felt unbalanced now. “Did you have something to add to the conversation?”
“Nope, Just Wanted To Be Free.”
“Oooo K.” David rolled his eyes.
Catching a quick glance behind, David could see that the moon had really lowered in the sky, and the sky behind the mountain was starting to lighten. The sky was clear, apart from a few whispy clouds hanging around the peak. Tandin pointed out a white plume lifting off the peak. “That’s called spindrift. It is fresh snow being blown off the peak. It means it is quite windy up there and that there might be bad weather on the way, even though it looks quite clear at the moment.
David heard Priscilla’s engines coming up the valley behind them again, so he connected to Raj.
“Good morning Raj, you’re up early.”
“Good Morning David, not as early as you. I’ve taken a bearing from your signal, you guys are motoring along, well done.”
“I have no idea where I am Raj, just following the leader. What’s the latest on the weather, Tandin was just pointing out the spindrift coming off the top of Jomolhari?”
“Latest forecast is that the front is a little ahead of where we thought eight hours ago. I’d be planning on total white out by lunch time tomorrow David.”
David thought on that for a moment. “I know this might be complicated, but if you can pinpoint where we are, can you work out our average speed and suggest a time that we are likely to arrive at Jangothang?”
“Standby two minutes.” Raj replied.
David had copied everyone with Flashnet connections into the conversation. That way he could think his communications, which made it much easier to breathe. He wasn’t sure if the shortness of breath was the running, or the ever-increasing altitude. Probably a combination of both.
David then had a thought, he remembered that he could get a gps map overlay when they had been flying. “Raj, hold that thought for a moment, I just realised that I have the capability to work that out on my Flashnet, I just need to learn how to do it.”
“It’s no problem for me to do it for you David.”
“Thanks, but I think I am going to have to learn to do this myself. I have nothing else to do but running, and trying not to fall over.”
Meanwhile, Skye realised that she could do the same thing and had begun the process of first identifying where they were, “Wow.” Then, work out where they had started and laid in a track showing the path they had run since they left this morning, “Cool.” Next, a quick search for Jangothang, “There.” Click the directions tab, “Sweet.”
“Ok guys, I have the data. Why haven’t we been using this before, we are sooo dumb. We have to learn to use the resources at our disposal.” Skye shared the map link with everyone, including Raj.
The stats read:
Current Elevation 4100 meters
Distance to target straight line: 18klm
Distance to target actual: 23klm
Time to target based on current speed: 2 hours 58 minutes
“Wow, that is pretty good isn’t it?” said David. “The sun is just coming up, so let’s stop and eat quickly, then we will be there by mid-morning. I say we kick on to the glacier today to see if we can beat the weath
er.”
As they ate the cold food that Lurch had been carrying, Grandpa Jack came up to David for a chat. “I just want to say that you should be careful of demoralising everyone about kicking on to the glacier today. I don’t think you realise it, but just like me on the Takstang climb all those years ago, you are doing it easier than anyone else, even the local boys. So, you just need to take their capabilities into account as well.”
David looked around him at the shattered look on the faces of his friends and family. Only Lurch looked happy. How could he be doing better than the others?
David responded to Grandpa Jack. “OK, I see what you mean, but I still think we should push on to the glacier today if we can. If we can beat the weather, it will be so much easier. Let’s decide once we have had a rest at Jangothang.”
“Agreed,” gasped Grandpa Jack. “We are actually lucky it’s quite cold. That is what’s preventing us from sweating. Perhaps change the pace so that the three hours to Jangothang will be three and a half hours instead. That should have everyone arriving in good condition. If we have a good rest and hot tea, then we should reach the glacier late in the afternoon. Of course, we have no tents etc, so I have no idea where we will sleep tonight. You might want to get Tandin thinking on that one. Maybe he knows a place. I have been to Jangothang many times, but never to the glacier.”
The sun was getting much higher behind them and was now lighting up the snowy peak with brilliant orange and red colours. This was reflecting onto the underside of whispy clouds above Jomolhari, creating a spectacular sight.
Grandpa Jack explained to all of them, “That’s called a Halo, very few people have witnessed it before. What a magnificent sight. Let’s take a few minutes to watch the colours change. This may never happen again in our lifetimes.”
Even the Bhutanese boys were gobsmacked at the beauty of the scene. As they trotted away from their rest spot, they felt uplifted by the experience.
“I understand why you love the mountains so much Grandpa Jack,” said David, gazing at the view. “When all of this is over, I would love to come back here and truly explore.”
“The thing is,” replied Grandpa Jack, “I was introduced to the mountains in much the same way as you are now, with a mighty challenge. Maybe a grand adventure like this is the best way to discover what the Himalaya is truly about.”
The colours of the Halo began to fade as the sun rose higher. Before long they could feel its gentle warmth on their backs. David was amazed at how much easier it all became while they had such amazing things to look at. It hardly felt like he was working at all. This thought, however, made him check the current pace against the GPS in his Heads-Up Display.
“Tandin?” David said quietly, “Let’s dial the pace back a bit, keep everyone together.”
The pace slowed gently, and they found a rhythm that suited the whole group well.
“David?”
“Yes Druk, Good Morning, I Hope?” David looked skyward and could see Druk at the limit of his vision, virtually above Jomolhari.
“I don’t want to alarm you, but in my infrared vision I can see four small thermal signatures behind you. They are well back, and they look like Tigers. As soon as I go back that way, they go dark and I can’t see them, which is really strange, I don’t know how they can hide a heat signature.”
David thought for a moment. “So, is it better for you to just get overhead and go with visual, now that the sun is up?”
“I will try that, I am just concerned that I might force them into action. I will keep an eye on them, just keep doing what you are doing. If I must take action I will, four Tigers are no match for me. But something in my gut tells me that they are not Tigers.”
“Druk, what if they are a diversion?”
“What do you mean by that David, explain?”
“I will explain, but while I am, scan the ground closely ahead of the group.”
“Everyone? David said aloud so that they could all hear him. “Eyes wide open, I have a bad feeling about this.”
David connected everyone with Flashnet to the conversation with Druk.
“Druk. If a thermal signature can’t disappear, and I understand why. Then maybe they are using something to make us believe that we are being chased, but the ambush is actually ahead of us somewhere.”
“Yes, I agree David, but the landscape is wide open, there is nowhere to hide. I can’t make out any major lifeforms in the next two kilometres. I will start scanning further out.”
Flynn came into the conversation. “Druk? Can I suggest you look closely for recently disturbed ground? If there is nowhere to hide above ground, maybe they are below it.”
“I should have thought of that Flynn, thanks.”
Skye piped up. “David, Tandin, if they are planning to ambush us, they must know our intended path. Is there an alternative route at all?”
Tandin was admonishing himself when he said, “I’m sorry guys, I should have thought about this earlier. But there is a path that turns off to our left about two kilometres ahead. It bypasses Jangothang and heads to the old border crossing into Tibet and then joins the old trade route between Lhasa and Gangtok. There is then another path that turns right off that, and heads up over a very high pass and drops down to the Jomolhari Glacier well above Jomolhari base camp. It is a very hard trail, but it comes out exactly where we want to be. It just means we won’t go through Jangothang. The distance is about the same, but it is much harder and has a six thousand metre pass in the middle of it.”
David spoke to Druk. “Before we decide, we need to make sure that the ambush isn’t before the turn off. And Druk? It would really help a lot if we could identify who this group is who are hunting us.”
“Yes,” replied Druk. “It’s time for us to become the hunters, leave it to me.” Druk swooped down low over the small group, scanning the trail ahead. “Because of the rocks, there are not many places an ambush could dig in. It shouldn’t be too hard to spot where they are.”
“Lurch?” David continued. “Do we have enough food?”
“We have enough for two more snacks the size we just had. Probably enough to get us to the glacier on Tandin’s path, but not enough to get us back to Jangothang.”
David called the group to a halt. “We need to talk for a minute, take a break while Druk scans ahead. Skye, can you protect the group please?”
They gathered in close.
“Ok, I need advice from Grandpa Jack, Lauren and Tandin. What do you guys think?”
Tandin decided to listen while the others talked for a minute. He was amazed at the quality of David’s leadership.
Lauren was the first to speak. “I think the answer is obvious. There are multiple tasks that you are going to be given by this ‘Princess’ David, so there is no point arriving there without enough food to go on, wherever ‘on’ is. So, we must go on to Jangothang, re-supply, and hope that Druk can root the villains out of their hidey holes.”
“I tend to agree,” Grandpa Jack said thoughtfully. “Especially if we consider that they may just be waiting for us on the alternative trail as well. If they know about it.”
“I think we have to assume that they do,” Tandin added. “We should always assume that all knowledge is common, otherwise we will always be second guessing ourselves. David, can you see the trail I mentioned on your GPS display?”
“Yes, I already loaded it up while you were talking about it. Ohh, Ok,, I see what you mean about common knowledge. If we know, we must assume that they know.”
“Correct,” said Grandpa Jack. “But.”
They all raised their eyebrows at Grandpa Jack, wondering what he was going to say next when there was a flash of movement overhead followed by a mighty roar.
***
Ten seconds earlier.
“SKYE, STENGTHEN YOUR SHIELDS WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE. YOU ARE STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AMBUSH.”
***
David looked up and felt the ultimate disappointment o
f being betrayed. Druk was floating above them all, looking like she was about to spew fire all over them. David knew they were about to die a horrible death, but all he could do was stand there and watch it all happen.
He could see movement in his peripheral vision. Everything was moving in slow motion, but all he could do was focus on Druk’s eye and feel so very sad.
Someone grabbed him and dragged him violently to the ground and laid on top of him. He couldn’t move, and he couldn’t breathe. He had had his breath completely knocked out of him. His face was pushed into the muddy ground, but he could just see out of his left eye along the ground. He could see two hands holding together, somehow, he knew that it was Grandpa Jack lending all of his support to Skye. Beyond the shimmering blue shield, he could see shapes emerging from the ground all around them. They were men. Men who appeared to be in military camouflage.
Land Of The Thunder Dragon Page 24