David Golemon - Primeval

With that and before Sarah had a chance to respond, Lynn passed out and slumped against the two women.

"Yes, I'm Jack's girlfriend, and you must be his sister Lynn."

"It really is a small world, isn't it," Marla said as she took most of the American woman's weight on her own.

"Yeah, well, we'd better get back to Jason before we have company other than our animal friend."

Sarah, Marla, and their newest friend, Lynn, stepped through the fire and then walked fifteen feet to the cave opening.

All three suspected they were in the realm of something they didn't understand, and little did they realize they had entered the forest home of the fiercest creatures that had ever lived on the North American continent.

The ancient brother of man was no longer a myth.

Alexander and his tech team were just twenty feet behind the advance recon team. Altogether the Russians were heading into the bush with fifteen Spetsnaz, five mercenaries, and seven technicians. Alexander had five of the commandos watching Collins and the three additional captives with strict orders to keep Jack alive.

One of the technicians reached out and stopped Alexander, who was intent on following his point team as quickly as possible through the woods. With the rain lessening somewhat, Punchy turned and saw his main technicians hold up the visual metal detector. As he took in the small LED screen, he could see that they were in the middle of a dense minefield of metal. He quickly looked around his feet and spied one of the objects they were chasing. He bent over and picked it up and smiled. It was a two-foot-by-eleven-inch piece of aircraft aluminum. Punchy tossed it away and they continued through the trees, trying to get to their goal as quickly as possible.

As Jack, Carl, Will, and Farbeaux were pushed and pulled through the dense undergrowth beneath the thick canopy of trees, Everett quickly stepped up to Jack.

"Okay, boss, this little trip of ours has turned into something extraspecial, so it would be helpful if you said your baby sister was great in the field."

"She couldn't tell you a walnut from a rock, buddy," Collins said as he tried to keep Alexander in his sights through the falling rain.

"So, she won't be bringing any cavalry this time out."

Jack looked over at Everett and just raised his brows, and Carl took his meaning.

"You, get back in the line," a voice said and pulled Everett backward by his wire-tie. Carl eyed the mercenary and tried not to let on to the fact that he felt the plastic strap break. He followed orders after being released and fell into line just in front of Henri.

"You seem to have injured your wrist, Captain Everett. I hope you understand the severity of that cut," Farbeaux said as he saw the snapped plastic around Carl's bloody wrist.

"Yeah, Henri, it's not as severe as it looks. I'll hold off getting attention for it until the colonel says to."

"A wise decision," the Frenchman said believing that they might have a shot if Everett moved at just the right time.

Suddenly, they were stopped abruptly. Men were ahead of them and they were brightly silhouetted in the flash of a flare being lit. The red tinted glow made the scene eerie at best as Jack tried to see what was happening as many thoughts swirled through his mind; Deonovich and Lynn, the worst-case scenario was Lynn, of course. Was she lying up ahead where the large Russian had caught her? Or was it their prize that they were examining? As he thought this, they were pushed to the ground by the guards and made to sit still.

"Ow!" Mendenhall said as he sat. He wiggled free of something and then literally bent over backward to see what it was. His fingers curled around a small object and he twisted around to see it, bringing his arms up close to his left hip. As soon as saw it, he dropped it in disgust. "Jesus!" he said out loud.

Jack turned back to see what was wrong with Will when in the red glow of the flare up ahead he saw what it was as Mendenhall leaned away from it. It was a skeletal hand. As Collins squirmed over he saw that something was wrapped around the terminated wrist bone — it was silverfish in color and rusted almost through.

"Lieutenant, pick it up," Jack whispered.

Will got a sick look on his face, but knowing the colonel, he had a reason for the macabre request. So he once again went through the maneuvering involved to pick the human hand up once again. When he twisted back around, Jack had turned his back to him and then removed the still attached bones from his grasp. Collins twisted in his restraints to look at the hand and what was wrapped around it. He grasped the small object and saw the band momentarily expand and then the years of rust did its job — it snapped. Jack held the wristwatch in his palm and looked it over. It was a simple Timex watch and he could see the small hands through the fog-clouded crystal: they were frozen at 1:58 and ten seconds. He didn't know if it were A.M. or P.M.

"What have you got there, Jack?" Everett whispered.

"A watch; its hands are frozen at almost the exact same time as right now."

"That's interesting, Colonel, but does it have a particular significance to our current situation?" Farbeaux asked as he tried to huddle closer to the others without getting hit with the butt of a weapon or getting shot.

Collins turned the watch over and looked at the back. The inscription etched by a jeweler many years before was hard to make out, but Jack managed to turn the watch toward the bright light from the trail ahead. His eyes betrayed his surprise to the others. He looked up, and when they saw their curious faces, he examined the writing once more and then read the inscription.

" 'Commander John C. Phillips, USN, with admiration — your mates (CVN) 62, VF-13, 1960—Best of Luck!' "

Collins looked up at Carl who was deep in thought.

"Does that remind you of something, Captain?" Henri asked.

"CVN 62, I think that was the USS Independence. VF -13, I believe, was a fighter squadron."

"Are you thinking what I am, Colonel?" Farbeaux asked.

"It looks like our long-lost naval aviator there had volunteered for a particularly dangerous mission back in October of 1962."

"I agree, coincidence in this very strange affair has to end sometime," Henri said as he spied one of the Spetsnaz coming over from the area where the flare was glowing.

"Jack, we have company," Everett said. "Just to let you know, I'm loose."

Collins just nodded his head as the large commando reached down and pulled him to his feet.

"I'll keep that in mind, Captain; for now, just take it easy and enjoy your surroundings."

Jack was pulled along until he was met by Alexander. As the colonel looked around in the light of the flare, he saw Sagli squatting by a large tree and he had a look of sadness on his face as he stared at his hands.

"I'm going to ask you something, Jack, and be straightforward with your answer, because I believe your life, as well as mine and my men, may be at stake."

Collins didn't say anything. He looked up through the thick branches of the trees as the rain had almost stopped. He then looked back down into the face of the Canadian.

"I know Lynn has no field prowess to speak of. Is there another of your men that you had along that has yet to be accounted for?"

Collins was almost amused. He gave Alexander a curious look but remained noncommittal.

"That's what I thought. No, if you had a man that wasn't accounted for, he would have made some sort of move by now." He raised his eyebrows at Jack. "You see, I know you train your people to be aggressive."

Alexander was out of patience with the silent Collins as he grabbed him by the collar and pulled him over into the bright light cast by the dying flare.