“Oh no,” Second Captain Dishlakov said as he saw what was there.
Crumpled in a heap was the small blond girl with the golden smile Jack had shared candy with earlier. Collins went down to one knee, and he felt the sadness invade his soul like a virus striking his system. He checked the broken girl for a pulse but found none. A familiar anger filled his mind as he lowered his head.
“Why would someone do this?” Kreshenko said as he looked around the darkness.
Jack reached into his small pack and brought out a flashlight and clicked it on. The remaining villagers jumped back at the magical object Jack had used to bring a false sunlight to the gruesome scene before them. With an ease of motion, Jack moved one of the villagers out of the way, and with his free hand, he grasped the long spear, and with delicate care, he removed it from the chest of the little girl. Collins stood as Kreshenko stepped forward and pushed by the silent men of the village and removed his black class-A navy jacket and then reverently placed it over the girl’s still form. He took a step back and looked at the men, who had lost all enthusiasm or anger at what had just happened to a child of their clan. Kreshenko didn’t understand these people.
“It looks like she was taken right from the gathering. Look.” Jack shined the light on the girl’s exposed wrist. It was red and discolored as if she had been pulled. All eyes also locked on the same thing Jack had seen. Clutched in the girl’s right hand was the melted, softened piece of saltwater taffy. The child had never eaten her candy. She must have admired the color and its softness too much to waste by eating it. Collins swallowed the lump in his throat. “She must have at least been free enough to scream, and then whoever did this plunged this into her,” Jack said as he retrieved the spear from the ground at his feet and easily tossed the long shaft over to Carl. “Look at it, Swabby.”
Carl did as he was asked and examined the long spear. The differences were noticed right away. The bloody tip was not flint or any other kind of natural material. It was iron.
Immediately, the newcomers started looking around them. They now knew there was danger here facing these native villagers in this tranquil place.
Collins moved the flashlight around the clearing, and he saw that a long line of perpetrators had used the trail recently. The underbrush was trampled, as whoever it was had headed toward the opposite beach from the side of the island that they themselves had landed on.
The Americans and Russians were eased aside by the villagers as they gathered around the still form of the covered body. They easily picked up the small bundle, and they moved off with it. Kreshenko and Dishlakov started to follow the slow and sad procession out of the jungle.
“No,” Jack said as he clicked off the flashlight.
The Russians stopped and turned to face the American with a questioning look.
“Let’s get the others and get back to the ships and leave these people to grieve in their own way. I don’t think they’ll think us rude or anything like that. As a matter of fact, it worries me that they almost seemed emotionless or maybe even expectant of what happened. We’ll leave them alone for now and get answers tomorrow.”
“Colonel, you are thinking deep thoughts, and as a captain of a capital warship, I have come to learn the signs of a man who has something on his mind.”
Collins looked from the retreating forms of the villagers and faced Kreshenko.
“Yeah, Captain, I do have something on my mind.”
“What is it, Jack?” Everett asked with the spear still in his hand. He noticed the weapon and then easily snapped it into two pieces over his knee and then angrily tossed it to the ground.
“These people just had a child murdered by something or someone. But their reaction was one of resignation. It’s like they experience this all the time. I think they originally thought the child may have been taken by an animal, maybe a big cat or something, and that was their intent, to kill or stop whatever it was. Then they saw what had killed her, and they all became not angrier but frightened or even resigned to the situation.”
The night became stiller than it had been earlier, or was it that the newcomers had just felt the night close in around them far more than it was before they found the murdered child?
“We’ll learn more tomorrow. We’ll expand the search of the surrounding seas and see what else is out there. Right now, we need daylight,” Jack said as he started to move away.
“Yes, in the daylight,” Dishlakov said as he eyed the dangerous world around him.
In the bush only a few feet away, the bright green eyes with black pupils watched as the men moved away. The long-fingered hand reached out from the brush and grasped the broken spear that Everett had just discarded. The eyes blinked, and the creature stood erect. The eyes watched, and its recessed ears, buried deep into the sides of its head, listened. It hissed, opening its mouth, exposing the clear, small, and very sharp teeth of the predator.
The creature moved back into the darkness and was engulfed by the night.
Jenks and Ryan found Charlie Ellenshaw, who was lurking behind a tree. They thought the crazed cryptozoologist was still back in camp, but here he was in the middle of what was fast becoming a dangerous jungle. Jason eased up behind Ellenshaw and tapped him on the back, which made Charlie yelp in fear as he fell forward, thinking that whatever was out here had come upon him. He looked up and then exhaled a pent-up breath.
“Jesus, Captain, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“Come on, don’t be a wimp, Nerdly,” Jenks said with a chuckle.
“What in the hell are you doing out here, Doc?” Ryan asked.
“Following Colonel Farbeaux. He looked very determined to get somewhere.”
“Damn,” Jason said as he looked at Jenks. “I hope he hasn’t done anything yet.”
“Done what, Commander Ryan?”
They turned and saw Henri standing only feet away from them. Jenks grabbed his chest and yelped just as Ellenshaw had just done a brief moment before and cursed the Frenchman.
“Where’s Salkukoff?” Ryan asked pointedly, almost afraid of the answer.
“Right over there,” Farbeaux said with a gesture of his head.
“Why did he vanish?” Jenks asked.
“I don’t know, but he was speaking with someone on the radio.”
“I thought he didn’t have one,” Charlie said, confused by the inquiries being made.
“He wasn’t issued one by us or the Russian captain. Their equipment wasn’t working when we left. Our radios were shielded, at least the handheld radios were.” Ryan looked around and tried to catch sight of the Russian. “Who was he speaking to?”
Farbeaux kept his gaze on Ryan. “All I can say is that the language returned was Russian.”
Before Jason or Jenks could ask another question, they heard the underbrush being parted and footsteps as they approached. Colonel Salkukoff stepped out in his expensive bush clothing. The only thing that was missing, the Americans had joked earlier, was the pith helmet seen in old Tarzan movies.
“Out for an evening stroll, gentlemen?” the arrogant man asked as he pushed by the group. He stopped and faced the Frenchman and the others, including Ellenshaw, who was just now standing up. The Russian’s eyes took it all in. “Or were you on a spy mission sent by your clever Colonel Collins?”