XXXIII - Hazards

Kamon and Jasmine came to a wall of vegetation unlike any other they had encountered thus far -- tall leafy green plants topped by rich violet flowers.

"They're beautiful!" Jasmine exclaimed. "And they're everywhere!"

Indeed they were. The wall of flowers was very wide and stretched for a hundred meters. They were taller even than Kamon.

"Are you ready to crawl on your hands and knees for a while?" Kamon asked.

"Sure," Jasmine answered.

"It'll be tough," Kamon said, "but well worth it."

"I'm ready," Jasmine said quickly. "Let's go."

Kamon dropped to his hands and knees and crawled forward. "Make sure you keep your head low," he advised. "Don't let any of the leaves touch you." Kamon noted that Jasmine did not ask why. Someday he must have an explanation from her. Things were going well. Hopefully, they would be alone soon and he would have that moment.

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First Commander Agon jumped from the cassell plant and into the tall grass. Solid ground! At last!

First Corporals Audia and Selibro and Second Corporals Epira, and Denata were right behind her, all four caked in mud that had yet to completely dry. First Corporals Opulus and Dormus, and Second Corporal Incurv, and Ensign Notus were the last to step onto the firm ground. Only Captain Pescus and First Lieutenant Cemsus remained on the X-49. There was no need for anyone else to stay on the vessel. Captain Pescus' assessment had been very accurate. The X-49 was definitely grounded. It would be no easy task to free it. Certainly, nothing they had available at the moment would allow them to do so.

Retrieving the four women floundering in the mud had been eventually accomplished. It took less time to figure out the secret of safe passage across the swamp. Though they knew not the name, they were quick to use the cassell plants, easily spotted by their yellow grass.

Agon took the walkie-talkie from her hip. "Captain, this is Commander Agon! We've made it out of the swamp! We're going to pursue the Councilman and Jasmine! I'll call in and ask for updates on the arrival of the M-23 hovercraft! If you hear anything in the meantime, let me know! Understood? Over!"

"Understood, commander! Over! " Captain Pescus replied.

"Agon out!" There was a certain glumness in her voice. The first commander replaced the two-way radio on her hip. Help could not arrive soon enough as far as she was concerned.

She turned and searched the weeds. Grass had been flattened, bushes shoved aside. There was a path to follow! At times, the councilman seemed ingenious; at others, he acted as stupid as any normal man. "Let's go, women!" Agon barked. They plunged forward. The first commander hoped the dense side of Kamon held forth for a while.

Eventually, the company came to the same wall of vegetation Kamon and Jasmine had encountered earlier. The fragrance from the beautiful violet flowers atop the plants was most pleasant.

Agon and her troop charged forward. The first commander was feeling better. They were moving well, doing something, and the councilman was stupidly leaving a clear trail for them to follow...although it did seem much less clear as they entered the strange but eye-catching vegetation.

The soft leaves of the plants brushed their arms and faces. It was fairly easy going. The plants were thick but not particularly bothersome. Halfway through the flower patch, however, First Commander Agon noticed that her face and arms were beginning to itch. She began scratching. The itch grew rapidly worse. She scratched more vigorously.

By the time, Agon emerged from the patch, she was scratching frantically. She turned to see her women coming from the flowers. They too were scratching their arms and faces with great vigor. Their faces were also turning red, as if they were burned.

"What the hell is going on?" Agon muttered. The itch on her body was spreading; her neck and shoulders were now affected. No amount of scratching could make it go away. Her women were in similar straits.

By the time her eyes began to puff up, First Commander Agon had concluded that they had passed through a patch of poison plants. Every woman in her company was breaking out in hives. Their skin burned, the itching was almost unbearable. They had walked right into another trap! That damn councilman was proving to be clever!.....And she stupid!

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Kamon was careful to stay hidden among the boughs of the big tree, a fairly easy task given its leafy limbs. He peered across the valley. His eyes spotted the company of soldiers. A smile came to his face. They had all returned to the lake and were bathing. Everyone was scratching herself. They looked quite red. At this distance it was impossible to make out details, but he could imagine the size of the welts on their skin. He climbed back down the tree.

"They're back at the lake," Kamon announced with a grin as he jumped from the tree. "They've lost a little interest in chasing us."

"What kind of plants were they?" Jasmine asked.

"Elatos," Kamon answered. "Contact with either the flowers or the leaves causes a severe allergic reaction. "The base of the plant is fairly safe but there is some slight residue from above. My skin tingles a little bit and I imagine I'm a little red, but otherwise I'm fine. What about you?"

"I feel fine," Jasmine replied. "I seem to be unaffected."

"Agon and company are bathing at the moment," Kamon explained. "They're ready to crawl right out of their skin."

"It won't hurt them, will it?"

"There'll be no lasting effects," Kamon assured her. "But they'll be very uncomfortable for at least a week. The first few days will be the worst." He began stepping west through the grass. "Let's go."

It was easy to stay concealed. The grass was over their heads.

Kamon and Jasmine moved as quickly as they could. A half hour later they came to the base of a cliff. The valley was fenced in by sheer bluffs. They were at the southwest corner.

Kamon probed the brush for a short while, he looked up a couple of times, then he stepped confidently to a thick bush and pulled it aside. The opening to a cave was revealed. "Get in," he commanded.

Jasmine slipped in, Kamon followed. The bush fell back into place. Some light managed to find its way through the foliage; it was gloomy at the cave entrance but not completely dark.

"You're in your natural element, Kamon," Jasmine commented. "You always seem to know where you're going."

"I thought it took me longer than it should have to find this cave." Kamon was not impressed by his own performance.

Jasmine smiled. "You were beset by indecision for a few minutes at most. The vegetation must change here as time passes. That would confuse anyone. But you commit permanent landmarks to memory very well. I thought you did an excellent job," she concluded.

"Thanks," Kamon said, but his attention was already focused elsewhere. He moved to the back of the shallow cave. He knelt and began removing rocks from a pile. He soon uncovered a small case. He opened it and took out a knife. A sheath with a strap came with it.

Kamon pulled the knife from the sheath and brought it to the entrance of the cave. The blade was clean and shiny. It was a hunting knife and it was in excellent condition. It looked new. Kamon began strapping it to his waist.

"Very conveniently located," Jasmine commented at last.

"Yeah." There was a slight smile on Kamon's face. He looked not at Jasmine, but into the past. "My father gave it to me. When I was six years old, he gave me a hunting knife for my birthday. A week later he asked me what I'd done with it. I told him I hid it. He asked where. I told him it was in a 'secret' place, not in the cabin, but a place where I could get at it in case of 'great need'. On my next birthday, he gave me another hunting knife. He told me, 'Here's another knife to hide in case of great need.'" Kamon's smile widened at the recollection. "Every birthday after that, and on some special holidays, he'd hand me another knife." Kamon looked at Jasmine with a full grin. "I hid them all."

"And they're all in these mountains?" Jasmine asked.

Kamon nodded. "Yes. We never stopped doing it -- he giving, me hiding." Kamon's smile faded. "I hid the last one six months before his death." Kamon's eyes moistened just a bit.

Jasmine put her hand on his arm. "It was a wonderful act between father and son," she said softly. "Precious."

Kamon said nothing for several moments. He stayed in the past. Then he suddenly returned to the present. "We'll stay here until dark," he spoke soberly once more. His grim determination had returned.

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"When, Captain?!" First Commander Agon demanded impatiently, gripping the walkie-talkie tightly. "Exactly when will they get here?!"

"They did not give me an estimated time of arrival," Captain Pescus' voice squawked back at her.

"Well ask them!" Agon barked. "And I want a precise answer! Is that understood?!"

"Agon out!" she groused. The first commander sat down on a mound near the edge of the lake. She felt absolutely awful! The lake waters had done little to ease the burning of her skin. The itching was still nearly unbearable. It was hard to breathe and her eyes were nearly swollen shut! And the X-49 jet-hovercraft was grounded! Beached like a Graphian whale! How could she have let this happen?!

She had been bullheaded! was the obvious answer. Arrogant! Outsmarted by a man! The councilman was practically toying with her!

"Commander," First Corporal Audia spoke, "where should we resume the search for the councilman and Jasmine?" It had taken them a long time to get back to the lake. Then they had spent much time by it. Audia did not wish to further anger First Commander Agon by delaying a resumption of the search.

"We're not going anywhere, you idiot!" Agon snapped. "Not until help arrives! Isn't it obvious what the councilman is doing to us!?" She did not wait for an answer to the rhetorical question. "I want you and the women to maintain your lookouts!"

"But there's nothing to see, commander." Audia was quite puzzled. "There's just the tall grasses around us and the sheer bluffs ringing this valley. We can't see anything that might be hiding and no one can scale the bluffs."

"Captain Pescus to First Commander Agon!" The voice interrupted their conversation.

Agon snatched up the walkie-talkie. "What?!" She remained very irritable.

"Four hours!?!" Agon nearly screamed. "What's taking her so long!?!"

"Captain Matious said it's difficult for her to gather together everything you've asked for," Captain Pescus replied. "Should I tell her to leave immediately? Over!"

"No! I need everything!" Agon paused and glanced up at the sun. Four hours from now would leave them with about two hours of sunlight. That might be enough time. More importantly, it was their only chance. "Tell her not to leave until she has everything! But I'm holding her to that four hours! Over!"

Agon put the walkie-talkie down. Two hours of sunlight. It was possible that this mission could yet be salvaged. She could right all her blunders in two short hours. There was hope.

"Commander," First Corporal Audia spoke again. "Even if we don't find the councilman today, we will surely catch up with him tomorrow. He cannot leave this valley. With these sheer bluffs it's a natural prison."

"It's not a prison," Agon disagreed in a calm voice. The first commander had quieted. She had a chance now. She must remain resolute but clear headed. "It may be for us but not for him. The councilman lured us into that swamp. Then he led us through that patch of poison plants. Both acts were deliberate and well thought out. He's been here before," Agon concluded with certainty. "He knows his way into this valley, and he most certainly knows his way out. Despite what we think are unscalable cliffs, come nightfall, he will leave.....and then we'll never catch him." Agon cast a determined gaze at Audia. "I intend to find him before darkness falls."

END OF CHAPTER