The Reluctant Warrior (3 page)

“I still want to know what it’s doing in Antarctica.” Rex was still staring warily at the sea monster when the boat shuddered suddenly as if it had hit something. Then it shuddered again.

“Fish,” Jonathon said excitedly, “a whole school of them.”

The monster stopped its race with the boat, and as they pulled away the water around it came alive as it thrashed and bucked in a violent frenzy of feeding.

“Fish,” Rex said in a daze. “Foxes, hares, sea monsters, and now fish, just what is going on here?”

As Jed peeled off his outer jacket and tossed it into the bottom of the boat Rex stared at him in bewilderment. “Will someone please tell me what’s happening here?” He gazed down at the discarded jacket. “Out here you should be dead within ten seconds if you take that off.”

“The way I figure it we’ve stumbled across a belt of intense volcanic activity,” Jed explained. “Somehow that’s created this warmer environment we’re experiencing.”

“Kinda like an oasis in the middle of the Antarctic wasteland,” Jonathon added.

Rex wasn’t convinced. “But mammals and marine life, is it possible?”

“Apparently it is,” Jonathon said. He pointed across the bow. “I think I can just make out the shoreline ahead.”

Within forty minutes they were close enough to see the outline of the high rocky cliffs that towered above the tranquil waters of the lake. Jonathon’s face dropped. “How’re we going to get up that lot?”

“If we want to live we’re going to have to find a way,” Jed said philosophically. “And we all want to see what’s on the other side of those cliffs…right?”

Both men nodded, only Jonathon less enthusiastically than Rex.

Another thirty minutes on and they were dragging the boat up onto the stony shore. “Right,” Rex said, rubbing his mitted hands together, “let’s tackle that cliff.”

Surveying it from top to bottom Jed could see it was completely devoid of ice. That was a blessing at least. He pointed to a cleft in the rock. “Looks like a way up through there.”

Jonathon shuddered at the thought, “if you’re a mountain goat maybe.”

Rex’s eyebrows moved downwards immediately. “If it’s the only way, then it’s the only way.” He strode towards the cleft and attacked the rock aggressively with his ice pick. “It’s soft enough for me to cut some footholds,” he called confidently over his shoulder, as the other two followed in his wake, a shower of rock fragments raining down on them at regular intervals. It was Rex who made it to the top first. “Good grief.”

Jed hauled himself up the last few feet to stand beside him, and what he saw struck him with awe. “I wouldn’t have believed it possible.”

Rex turned to him with a grin. “Ah but it is. We’ve stumbled on a whole new world that no one else in the history of mankind has ever seen.”

Jed couldn’t help noticing the masses of red flowers that clothed the forest canopy. “There’s the source of that pollen we saw,” he said with satisfaction.

“Come on,” Rex urged, already moving towards the shelter of the trees, “our adventure awaits.”

This was the moment Jed had dreamed of his entire life but never thought possible. Ever since he as a nine year old school boy had read stories of explorers stumbling across new lands he had wanted this. To discover a new land that no man had ever set foot on before. That was why he had come to Antarctica, though not seriously believing he would lay eyes on anything more than endless ice and an occasional mountain range to break the monotony. But here he was, walking in a pristine forest gazing up at gigantic trees that hosted a tantalizing array of exotic birdlife that neither he nor Jonathon could identify. It had his emotions running the gamut from fear to exhilaration and back to fear again.

What frightened him the most was not the vast variety of plant and bird life they were witnessing, but rather the impossibility of it existing in such an inhospitable environment as Antarctica could dish up. It was as if they had passed through to some parallel dimension. Not that he actually gave that theory much plausibility; he wasn’t much into those sorts of controversial theories. But could it really be they had stumbled into an area of intense volcanic activity that caused the ground and surrounding air to be so warm that bird and plant life could flourish? If so, where were the steam vents and volcanic rock that should pepper the area? He hadn’t seen any so far.

There was something so wrong about this. It was as if in the midst of this natural beauty there was something decidedly unnatural going on. That was the point when his fear had really kicked in. That very moment he realized that if this oasis could exist in an impossibly hostile landscape then what else could he expect to encounter up ahead? Anything, he now decided, was possible.

Emerging from the canopy of trees they set foot upon a huge grassy plain that stretched away before them as far as the eye could see.

“Some type of primitive prairie grass,” Jonathon commented, reaching down and plucking up a handful to examine it.

“I don’t believe it.” Rex was staring intently into the knee high grass. “Come and look at this.”

The two men strolled over and gazed down at a huge pile of animal dung.

“Elephant, if I’m not mistaken,” Rex said. “Only, it’s a big pile even for an elephant.”

Jonathon snatched something from the grass and handed it to Rex to inspect. “Might not be an elephant after all.”

Rex examined the long course hair Jonathon had found. “I could be wrong, but I think this might be mammoth hair.”

“You’re kidding me?” Jed took the evidence from Rex’s hand and checked it out for himself. “This is crazy, how can something that large exist here?”

“It appears Antarctica is not all snow and ice like we’ve been led to believe.” Rex pointed down at the dung heap. “We’ve stumbled upon a temperate region that can sustain creatures as large as that, and where there are large animals there will also be smaller ones.”

“But how, even intense volcanic activity couldn’t create an environment suitable for such large creatures to thrive?”

“I’ve no idea. All I know is that it’s here, and it’s real, and we’ve been blessed with the opportunity to explore it.” Rex looked from one to the other. “I think we should press on. If there’s more to see we won’t see it by standing around here.”

The plain was sparsely dotted with prehistoric looking trees, but even after three hours of slogging their way through the tundra they hadn’t come across a mammoth, or any other animal for that matter.

“Hang on a minute,” Rex said in a puzzled tone. “If that’s the sun,” he pointed up at the ancient globe, “then would someone please tell me what that is?” His companions locked their eyes onto the object of Rex’s concern. A dull red ball hung in the sky like a well lit Chinese lantern.

“How can there be two suns?” Rex asked.

“Might be a reflection of the real sun,” Jonathon suggested.

“But it’s actually giving off heat,” Jed postulated. “Even the real sun isn’t as warm as this one.”

“How can there be two suns?” Rex said again.

“Nothing here is making any sense,” Jed said. “I suggest we stop and sleep. We’ve travelled far enough for the time being, and who knows what dangers lurk out here.”
“Or how cold it’ll get,” Jonathon chipped in. He squinted at the sky. “That new sun looks to be getting a little dimmer as we speak.”

“Good point,” Rex said. “How about we collect some wood from around a few of these dead trees and get ourselves a fire going?” He playfully tossed a lighter in the air before catching it. “Bet you two are glad you brought a smoker along with you, aren’t you?”

By the time they realized the new sun wasn’t going to disappear but had merely grown dimmer they had a reasonable fire going. Although, with the weird sun still perched up in the sky the air did have a nip to it. Jed figured it must have something to do with the smoky haze that had developed around it. Somehow this smoke, or whatever it was, was blocking out some of the sun’s heat. As he cocooned himself in his thermal sleeping bag and lay back staring up at the new sun he accepted that by all accounts he should be dead by now. That blizzard left them hopelessly lost in the most inhospitable place on earth. And yet, here they were, not exactly breaking out in a sweat, but not freezing to death either, which is what they should be. In fact, they should have been reduced to three crystallized corpses somewhere out on the ice by now.

Not that he was complaining, this definitely beat being dead, it was just that he didn’t know what to expect next. This was a whole new ball game and he didn’t know the rules, so anything could happen, and as he had pointed out to the others, they didn’t know what dangers lurked out here.

As Jed slowly opened one eye it gradually dawned on him that he must have drifted off, then rolling over he stared into the most frightening pair of red eyes he had ever had the misfortune of encountering. “What the…?” He sat suddenly and violently upright, all thoughts of sleep now gone.

Rex joined him in the land of the living. “What’s wrong?” he half growled.

“Some type of animal…it was sniffing at me.”

“What did it look like?” Rex was beginning to shake the sleep from his head now, and Jed noted a hint of excitement in his voice.

“Didn’t get a really good look at it because it was off the second I yelled out. But it had huge red eyes and two ridiculously long teeth. I could almost believe it was a…no it couldn’t be.”

Rex’s interest was definitely peeked now. “Go on,” he urged. “What do you think it was?”

“Well,” Jed began hesitantly, “I know this sounds crazy, but it looked like a saber-toothed tiger.”

Rex chuckled with glee. “It’s like that movie was based on fact, first a mammoth and now a saber-tooth.”

Jed watched the fires light flickering across his friends face. “What movie?” he asked sleepily.

“You know…that Sam Neill thing.”

Jed processed the information in his tired brain. That Sam Neill thing… what on earth was Rex on about?

Rex could see his confusion. “You know… the one about the dinosaurs.”

“Jurassic Park,” Jonathon said, having woken up in time to catch the last part of the conversation. “What’s this about a saber-tooth?”

“Jed’s just seen one,” Rex said triumphantly.

“I can’t be sure that it was a saber-tooth,” Jed said quickly. “I was half asleep at the time.”

“But you’re fairly sure it was.” Rex was almost daring him to deny it, so desperate was he for it to be true.

“It had big eyes, a huge head, and teeth that almost touched the ground,” Jed admitted. “If that fits the description of a saber-tooth then I guess that’s what I saw.”

Rex was more than awake now. He was on his feet and all but dancing around the fire in his excitement. “I bet we’ve stumbled on some top secret wildlife sanctuary right here in Antarctica, something to do with genetic engineering. Hey,” he looked down at Jed, “do you think it’s ours or Russian?”

“I don’t know whose it is, but I know it’s starting to scare me. Mammoths are one thing, but man eating tigers are a different kettle of fish altogether.”

It was as if Rex hadn’t heard him. “I can’t wait to get moving again so we can see what else this place holds in store for us.”

Jonathon threw some more wood on the fire. “If we don’t keep this thing blazing we might not live long enough to get moving again. I figure that tiger didn’t drop in to pay us a social call.”

“Good point,” Rex said, in a more somber tone. “He’s never seen fire before so wasn’t prepared to attack.” He looked at Jed. “Some of us still need a bit more sleep. Tell you what…I’ll stand guard first then wake one of you up to take over if I get tired.”

When Jed next opened his eyes the other two were already up and moving around.

“Didn’t have the heart to wake you,” Jonathon confessed, as Jed unzipped his sleeping bag. “Besides, I only took over from Rex about a couple of hours ago.”

“Thanks,” Jed managed, before kicking the bag free of his legs and easing himself to his feet.

Jonathon noticed him gingerly stretching his torso. “Back hurting?”

“My back and just about every other part of my body, it comes with reaching the grand old age of thirty-four I guess.”

“I’ve told you before that you’re only as old as you feel,” Rex said, rummaging in his pack.

“About a hundred and two this morning,” Jed whimpered, as a shot of pain hurtled down his tortured spine.

“You’ll soon warm up and be running around like a spring chicken,” Rex said annoyingly.

Jed hoped that Rex wasn’t going to be so chipper all day long. He could be more than a little irritating when he was in one of his positive moods. It wasn’t difficult to see why Jonathon needled him sometimes. It was a sort of payback for all those irritating moments.

They moved on a short time later, the prairie gradually giving way to rockier terrain more heavily wooded than what they had just travelled through. Animals were appearing here and there, everything from a type of small deer to cattle that bore a striking resemblance to Bison. This place whatever it was and wherever it was definitely contained an abundance of wildlife.

Several hours tramping through the tall prairie grass brought them to a sizeable stream. Rex was just about to suggest a break for a light meal when Jed spotted something on the far bank a little further downstream. “I might be mistaken,” he said cautiously, “but I think there’s a person lying on the far bank.”

Rex and Jonathon snapped to attention. “Where…?” Rex demanded, his eyes already scanning the far bank.

Jed pointed to a spot seventy or so feet away where a dark green shape lay motionless just above the water’s edge.

“I think you might be right.”

Jed was about to suggest they cross over to investigate, but Rex had already taken the initiative and was scrambling down the bank to the water. “Come on,” he yelled over his shoulder, “whoever it is might need our help.”

His companions slipped into the stony bottomed creek behind him and made their way to the inert form as quickly as they could. Rex getting to the scene first carefully rolled the body over and began to check for signs of life. “He’s still breathing,” he reported, “but only just.”

Jonathon stared down at the khaki clad stranger. “What’s he doing out here?”

“I suppose if he were able to he’d be asking us the same question,” Rex said. “Maybe he’s an explorer who lost his way too.”

Jed was staring intently at the fellow’s clothes. “If I’m not mistaken, and I don’t think I am, he’s wearing the uniform of a world war two infantryman.”

Rex studied the faded uniform carefully. “I didn’t notice it at first,” he admitted. “But it definitely looks like Second World War kit. Thing is, what’s he doing wearing it out here in Antarctica?”

“His eyelids just flickered,” Jonathon said suddenly. “There they go again.”

“He’s sustained some kind of head injury,” Rex noted, “if all that congealed blood on his temple is anything to go by.”

“Not accidental either,” Jed added, carefully examining the site. “It looks to me like a bullet wound. Fairly large bore too, I’m surprised he’s still alive.” The army man began to stir. “I think he’s coming round.”

The eyelids opened to reveal the saddest brown eyes Jed had ever seen. “It’s all right,” he said quickly, “we won’t hurt you. We’re here to help.”

The stranger’s hand shot out and fingers enclosed tightly around Jed’s wrist, his breathing coming in short sharp rasps. Jed leaned in closer. “I think he’s trying to say something to me.”

“Beware…of…” the eyelids closed again, and Jed realized it had taken all his strength just to get those two words out.”

“Beware of what?” Rex demanded impatiently. “What is it that the fellow is trying to say?”

“Give him a chance,” Jed barked, and because the outburst was uncharacteristic of his friend Rex knew to hold his tongue.

The eyelids opened again. “Beware… of…Montrose.” Their eyes locked for what seemed an eternity until it dawned on Jed that the eyes he was staring into were now lifeless.

“He’s gone,” he said, letting the strangers hand drop from his wrist.

“Who the dickens, or what the dickens, is Montrose.”