It was too late. The plant had a self-defence mechanism. The bulb on the base of the flower popped and the pollen went straight into his face. I quickly pulled him away from the tree.
“Water!” I cried out to no one in particular. “We need to wash his face!”
I was already pulling out my water bottle and as he slowly sunk to the ground, coughing and wheezing, I rolled him onto his side and poured water on his face. I had to get the pollen off. The others helped me and poured some of their water on him as well.
Memories of the horrific hallucinations I’d experienced from this plant raced through my mind. My hands shook as I tried to move faster. It was already too late. The pollen had started to affect him. He was disoriented and looked at us with a dazed expression. This guy was in for a rough time.
Darion knelt down next to me, looking me over. “Are you okay? You didn’t get any on you?”
“No. I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
His eyes were intense. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’d tell you if I did. There’s no way I want to go through that again.”
I couldn’t blame him for worrying. He saw what I’d gone through last time. And helped me use my telekinetic ability to expel the poison from my body.
I gave him a reassuring smile and looked up at the commander. “He needs to go back to Jannali, right now.” Station Jannali was the underground base we were working from. “The hallucinations will hit him hard and fast.”
Some of the men just looked at each other. Darion stepped forward. “I’ll take him and be back in a few minutes.”
Everyone looked to Kozienko. “Do it,” he said.
As Darion approached the guy, he started to scream and lash out with his arms and legs. “No! Keep away from me!”
Darion moved back. “We need to take you to Jannali,” he told him.
“No! How could you— What— No, no, no, no, no!” He batted his arms at an invisible foe and screamed again.
Darion turned to us and said, “I’ll be back,” and before anyone could say anything more, they both disappeared.
The rest of the group looked dumbfounded.
Kozienko finally spoke. “You all need to listen up,” he barked. “You were briefed on this. There is a good reason that Tamisan is on this mission with us. She’s been in the jungle before and has experienced this shit first-hand. Some of you have been out here too, but others haven’t. Anyone else who refuses to listen to her warnings from now on, gets teleported back to base immediately and will have to answer to me! Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sir!” was the hasty reply.
He looked at each person in the group. “Good! Now we wait for Andiyar to get back. Be alert.”
I couldn’t help wondering how I was supposed to give these men guidance if they wouldn’t listen to me. I had to hope that they’d listen now that the commander had spoken to them.
Once Darion reappeared, we travelled through the jungle along a wide animal track. I shuddered to think of what might be able to easily walk through here, but pushed it aside. We were armed and alert. We understood what could come trudging along on its way to the river for a drink.
When I was in the jungle by myself, I narrowly escaped being the next meal of a smallish Allosaurus look-alike. I say smallish, but it was at least two metres tall.
I looked up as it seemed to be getting darker down here on the floor of the jungle. It was hard to see through the canopy but it looked like it might rain.
At the sound of crashing footfalls through the underbrush, I turned and jumped back a couple of steps as a large dinosaur that resembled an Anatosaurus stumbled out onto the track and veered away from our group. Relief flooded through me once my mind registered that it wasn’t a predator.
Everyone raised their weapons and I shouted, “Don’t shoot!” They didn’t lower them, but they didn’t shoot either. “It’s not dangerous! It is a herbivore. A rhodon.”
Everyone visibly relaxed and watched the rhodon as it tried to decide what to do. I was so glad they’d listened to me as I didn’t want to see it hurt.
We stood still and watched it pass. It had four solid legs similar to an elephant’s, and a long tail protruding from its large body. Its neck was thicker and shorter than the tail, with an oval-shaped head. It finally chose to avoid us and trudged off into the foliage.
Once it was gone, I added, “I told you about them in the briefing. The natives have domesticated them and use them like horses, although that one looked wild.”
They all lowered their weapons and we started moving again as the sounds of its footsteps died away. It took a while for my heartbeats to return to normal. Having two hearts was good for swimming long distances, and I assumed that to be one of the reasons why the Waikari had more than one, but having both pounding against my ribcage the first time I woke up in this body had made me think there was something wrong with me.
As we walked, I looked at the trees that seemed to go on forever. I hoped that Kozienko knew the way back to the shuttle, because I hadn’t been paying attention while trying to wrestle with my fears. All I knew was that we were still near the river.
In a pinch, I could teleport back to where we’d landed. I could easily picture the fallen trees in my mind.
There was an order from the commander to halt and we gathered around where he crouched in the middle of what looked like a smaller animal path heading off through the bushes.
When we reached him, he pointed at the ground. “There,” he said, as if we could all see what he was seeing.
I looked closely, but couldn’t see anything unusual.
He looked at us, then clenched his jaw in frustration. “Can’t you see it? Look. A boot-shaped print.”
He pointed at an area to the right and I leaned closer. There was an indentation in the soft black soil, but whether it was boot-shaped was up for debate in my mind. But then again, what would I know?
Just as I was straightening up again, someone screamed, “Incoming!” and all hell broke loose.
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Author's Note: How did this chapter make you feel? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to know.
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