0 comments/ 19340 views/ 0 favorites Tongamundo Ch. 01 By: jthserra Tongamundo Ch 01 Investigation From across the fire, I could see Lilya peek out of the tent. She nodded her head as I waved and quietly unzipped the netting and stepped out. Her hair was tied up in a strange ponytail that seemed to jut off the side of her head. It looked a little odd, but on her, it looked good. As she walked toward the fire, her eyes reflected the flames, masking their true color. She tugged on her shorts, pulling some of the wrinkles out before sitting down next to me. "Can't sleep?" I whispered. "Who can, with all that clanging all night long?" she smiled with a slight twist of her head. She leaned her head in the opposite direction and I heard a faint "pop". "Ah, that's better." "Looks like we have a few heavy sleepers," I said, nodding toward her tent. "Yeah, I think he'll sleep through anything." "It also looks like we are not alone here. I began to suspect it when my watch suddenly disappeared, but of course when the clanging started I was convinced. What's it been, three nights now?" She nodded, yawning. "Perhaps it's time we did some investigation. We could take a handful of others and hike over the mountain there. They've slept on the boat because they were wary of the local inhabitants, but I would think in daylight they might be better." "Well, Jacob had wanted to let them approach us. They must know we are here. Anyway, he was afraid if we suddenly appeared in their territory, they might run off, or even worse, attack us." "I don't think they would be much of a match for our guns." "No, but we don't want to hurt them, or frighten them. They might... no, I'm sure they hold the clues to many of the plants and animals here. I mean, to survive here, they must be using the resources." "Well, with everything we found here on Tongamundo, all they have to do is look out the window and they have a complete pharmacy here." "That's pretty much what we found on the other items. The natives have made ample use of their surroundings," she said, stretching her arms. "Look, if this clanging goes on till dawn, like it has the last few nights, I'm not going back to sleep. You game for a hike?" Her mischievous smile was inviting. "What about..." "Jacob? He's out for the night. I'll just leave a note that I went out looking for the Bird of Paradise. I'll take my camera." She quietly walked to her tent and reached inside. She returned with a pair of socks and the camera. Settling back beside me, she pulled off her boots and slid he feet into the cotton socks. Something about the way she did it had me thinking of stockings, of how they carefully slid them over their knees and up the thighs. Her thighs... "Okay, you ready? We'll need some good flashlights." I paused a moment, not wanting to stand up right at that moment. She looked into my eyes as I sat unmoving, and I wondered... Suddenly, the clanging stopped. We both looked toward the mountain, then she wandered to the edge of camp. I quickly got up, adjusted myself, and then went to my tent for two flashlights. I grabbed then and walked toward her. The clanging has started up again and she stood looking out at the mountain. I saw her silhouetted against the moonlight, and I realized I needed to be careful. The jungle was dangerous enough without me clamoring for some peep show as we fought our way through the brush. "You ready?" I asked. "Let's go," she replied, grabbing one of the flashlights. "Which way?" "Toward the sound. There's a trail just past that tree. I found it yesterday as I was photographing some of the plants. That's how I found the "Paranoius" I showed you." "That was some scary stuff there." "Tell me about it," she laughed. We soon picked up the well-worn path and made good time up and over the ridge of the mountain. The natives had obviously used the path, since we saw several human footprints alongside the Nohav prints. "They must hunt the wild hogs along this trail'" I whispered to her. "Yes, there looks to be a few snares just off the path here," she said, pointing. Jake and Lilya had brought me on the expedition because of my jungle experience; I realized she was better than I was here, more at home. Of course, I was distracted. She motioned for me to come closer and as I pulled back some vegetation she wordlessly motioned with her hands, showing me the bent tree, tied with a vine and the trigger device. As she motioned, I looked at her eyes a moment too long, and she noticed my gaze. We paused motionless, my hand inches from her hair. I slowly moved my hand and touched the clip for the ponytail. The silence echoed between us, we didn't even breathe. I pulled the clip from her hair and felt the dark strands cascade over my hand. We moved closer, both finally remembering to breathe. Her head tilted to the right... The clanging had stopped. I don't know for how long, but it had stopped. We both shook our heads, and without a word we headed up the trail. Lilya pulled her hair to the side in that strange ponytail and clamped it. I followed her for another mile or so, when she slowed down and held a finger to her lips. She signaled me to come closer and we both peered out over a clearing. There were several groups of natives, each in a small circle around some shiny cylindrical objects sticking out of the ground. As we surveyed the scene, we noticed several craters singed in black. The natives were circling slowly. Lilya took her camera and took a picture. The auto-wind whirred, but it appeared we were too far away for them to hear. She took several more shots as the natives stopped their circling and sat down. Each group apparently had a leader with a thatch crown. Each leader picked up a nearby rock and in unison clanged it on their cylinder. "This is amazing," Lilya whispered. "Apparently, we were watching some sacred ritual of a native cargo cult. The cylinders were something left behind from an earlier expedition or dropped from planes." "Yeah, worshiping those cylinders." "Damn, I'm out of film. We'll have to head back." She looked at me, "Lets go back and figure out some supplies and come back tomorrow night. We can watch it from the beginning." We began walking back down the trail when I felt her hand brush mine. I tensed, not sure how intentional that was, when she took hold of my hand and pulled. I turned to face her. I was thinking now, about an hour to sunrise and a thirty-minute walk, the quickest Jake could get here... I wondered if she was thinking the same thing. I looked into her eyes and then suddenly she got the strangest expression. Fear? I spun around expecting to see Jake behind me, but the path was empty. Lilya had released my hand and was running back up the path, toward the natives. I shouted "Lilya, wait," and began to chase after her. "Bombs!" she shouted. "Bombs?" "The cylinders are bombs!" "But...." Then I heard it. A massive explosion from the clearing knocked me off my feet. As I stood back up, I could see a plume of smoke rising over a fireball. "Lilya!" She was on the ground, pulling herself up to one knee. I helped her up and we both rushed to our vantage point above the clearing. There was a large crater with smoke rising from it. The flames had died down to a few smoldering fires on the blast perimeter. The several bodies were strewn around the crater, but I could not find that group's leader. The rest of the tribe hurried over to the bodies, picked them up and carried them toward the beach. Several canoes awaited them, as they carried their tribesmen's bodies. The canoes were quickly loaded and the entire group cast off and began paddling away from the island. "What has happened?" a voice from behind us asked. "Jake? When did you get here?" I asked. "I got here just a minute ago, just after the explosion. I woke up and heard the clanging. I figured you two came out to look around, so I found the path and followed it. I only wish I had gotten here a bit sooner, no telling what I would have seen." I just stared at him, wondering what he saw. He must have noticed the question in my eyes. "I would have loved to see what they were doing before the explosion." Lilya jumped in, "I have pictures. It must be some type of cargo cult; they were worshiping those shiny cylinders. Turns out they were bombs of some sort." I added, "Yeah, this must have been an ammo dump or something. It looks like they have been worshiping the ammunition for years." Jake started back down the trail. "Let's go get the rest of the crew and look this place over." Lilya walked along beside him, but then paused and turned back to me. "Come on," she waved. Then she pulled the clamp out of her hair and watched me watch her hair fall loose again. She turned and ran a bit, catching up to Jake. I could only smile and follow her lead. Tongamundo Ch. 02 Tongamundo 2 Experiments Motion was water, a dark current washing my arms and legs in a cool burn of blood, oxygen, respiration, inhalation, and breath. The waves, a rhythm, building in a slow, steady rise, a pulsing swell of need arching in a smooth, perfect curve, held for a moment, a breathless moment more, then leaning, falling, crashing into chaos, into the seething white foam, a hiss and sigh embracing the sand, then returning, only to begin again. A moon phase, bright in a full orb of light, commanded the tides, the ebb and flow of ocean, a salty sea, the moments with her and the hours away. Lilya was a sea that crashed upon me in the infinite intimacies of the waves, from the calm morning swash, gently washing onto shore, to the tepid, rolling surf of a windy afternoon, to the seething power, crashing breakers and surging tides of typhoon. When we were together, she rolled over me like a tsunami, taking everything I had, everything I could ever hope to have, then leaving me soaked and breathless. Yet, I sat on the beach and waved to her and her husband as they rode in a small boat back to the ship. The island had become my home, and it would stay that way. I would be happy as long as she continued to engulf me in herself, beyond that, I would survive I guess. Survival here wasn't difficult since we were fully provisioned from the supply ship. But, beyond that, the island itself was very hospitable. Even without the support ship, someone with even the basic survival skills could survive; hell... could live comfortably here. The plant-life offered a wide variety of fruit and some vegetables, as well as several with some medicinal and recreational possibilities. As long as you were wary of sharks, the water had plenty of fish and mollusks for food, and onshore there were the Nohavs. The Nohav is an odd wild pig that was fast as can be. The thought of ever capturing one as food seemed impossible. Impossible until you learned the animal's strange weakness. While they are very fast and seem clever, they have an almost obsessive curiosity. The secret to getting a Nohav is to take advantage of this curiosity. Early in the expedition, Lilya and I came across some unique snares set up by one of the native tribes who use the island for a short period of time for a ritual sojourn. We were never able to meet or talk to the natives before they departed, but we did find the snares. The snares were not baited; they were merely a loop of vine that formed the rim of a woven pot of some sort. The natives would set the pot on its side and wait for the curious Nohav to slide its head into the dark vessel and snap, a tree would snap up into the air and the pig would dangle, ready to be cut down. We tried the snares a few times and brought back some fresh meat for the ship's cooks to handle. They were not keen on dressing out the animals and politely informed us they had plenty of food and did not need any supplements from us. We quit using the snares, but did occasionally get a laugh, as a stray Nohav would bolt through camp with its head stuck in a pot, squealing like... well, squealing like a pig. Besides the exploration of the island, we pretty much stuck to our work. I was studying a number of different plants and their affects on humans. Tongamundo had a wide variety of plants, many of which, when ingested in different means provided interesting affects on humans, and I guess animals for that matter. This explained why the Nohavs, for instance, varied so much in their behavior. Depending upon what they had recently eaten, the pigs would act extremely suspicious, just outright silly, or incredibly amorous. It just happened to depend upon what plant they ate that day. Dr. Stansfield, or Jake to most whom knew him, was my department head back at the university and was in charge of this expedition. While he hovered over my tests and experiments with intense interest, his own work was typically haphazard at best. In our department it was pretty much understood that his best years were in the past, and his retirement was a perennial subject of gossip. Lilya Stansfield, Jake's wife, was also the subject of gossip. Initially, given her appearance, everyone had decided she was Jake's trophy wife, someone beautiful enough to turn heads as Jake tried to remain in the public eye at the university. I had decided to stay pretty far away from her, having no interest in raiding Jake's trophy chest. It was not until this expedition that I learned she was far from a shiny trophy adding luster to Jake's life. She was definitely something more. Lilya specialized in anthropology and was intensely interested in the local native customs. She seemed particularly drawn to the cargo cults that arose in some of the islands in the region. Both the Japanese and Allied forces had used the islands as isolated outposts and storage facilities during World War Two. Lilya had discovered an old ammunition dump that the natives had been using for some religious type ritual. Unfortunately, some of the ammunition was still live and it appeared some natives were killed before they fled the island on their canoes. Lilya's interest in the natives and their customs kept her in pretty close contact with my work. She surmised that the nearby-inhabited islands had similar plant life to Tongamundo, so she wanted to know how the plants affected humans. It also provided us an opportunity to work closely, albeit under Jake's scrutiny. Jake always thought I was a bit flaky at times, so he really didn't pay much attention to how I acted and Lilya somehow could work, eat, drink and play as if she and I were simply acquaintances. It was uncanny how she could act and smile as if nothing was going on between us. Except.... Except on that rare occasion, she would look at me with that "look", that look that burned like the sun, that seared deep into me, that screamed over the beaches, that echoed from the mountains, "If I don't touch you now, I will explode." All I could do was feel the heat and simmer beneath her husband's steady gaze and aimless pondering. It was a delicious torture that I endured each day as the three of us worked together, because I knew times would come, where Lilya and I would be alone, together. At Lilya's request, Jake kept the remainder of the scientific party aboard ship most of the time. She was concerned that too many people trampling over the island, contaminating possible sites and convinced Jake that three people on the island were enough. Most of them were lab technicians and preferred the more comfortable labs onboard. Of course this arrangement allowed plenty of time for Lilya and I to be alone, since Jake made extensive use of the lab assistants and computers on the ship. Lilya and I were very careful when we were alone and made sure that whenever Jake came back from the ship, each of us was on opposite sides of the island. Fortunately, we had discovered an intricate cave system that allowed us quick passage from one side of the mountain to the other. Jake's precise schedule allowed us to spend the time together and then carefully position ourselves for his return. It worked like clockwork... until today. We had waited patiently until Jake's boat dipped out of site just past the breakers and around the edge of the cove. With hardly more than a glance, Lilya walked to her tent. I followed. "Damn, the clock seemed to crawl today and then I thought he'd never get the outboard running," I said, finishing the buttons on her blouse and reaching for her belt. "I know. If I had to chop up one more of those "Lusticus" roots I was gonna scream," she said stepping out of her shorts and pulling at my belt. I knelt before her and rested my face against her stomach, just feeling her close, breathing her scent, feeling the rise and fall of her breathing, listening to her heartbeat. As I had so many times before, I blocked out the right or wrong of what was happening, and turned myself over to the moment. I held her tight; feeling the slightest tremble in her, knowing this was everything. "Wait, stop," she whispered. I paused and then heard the boat motor. "Jake's coming back." "Quick, get dressed," I said, grabbing her blouse and handing it to her. I quickly fastened my shorts and belt as she peeked out the front of the tent. "He's too close, he'll see you leave. Quick, crawl under there," she said, pointing under her cot. The boat motor had stopped. "Jake, hi. That was quick, did you forget something? You need me to find something for you?" she said, stepping out of the tent, barefoot, but otherwise basically clothed. "No, I need to see Justin. Where is he?" She paused a moment, a moment too long before saying, "I think he headed up the beach. He said something about an orchid and walked that way. I was going to take a nap..." she started. "I don't see him, I need to..." "Look Jake, I'll help you. Come on, I'm sure he headed this way." I had rolled out from under the cot and peeked out of the tent opening. Jake and Lilya were just disappearing around some palm trees. I grabbed my shirt and ran in the opposite direction, towards the tunnel. As I ran, I noticed the boat in a different place than normal, as if Jake didn't come from the ship, but from somewhere in the vicinity of the tunnel entrance. It was odd, Jake never went off alone, but I didn't waste any more time on the boat, I just ran as fast as I could for the cover around the tunnel. I could hear Lilya and Jake calling me, as I dove into the brush. I peeked through the "Yellow Bellium" plant and saw them come back around the palms. Had Jake seen me? What would happen? I crouched until Lilya pointed toward the ship and Jake turned his head. I ran into the tunnel, absolutely terrified. I had no flashlight but ran into the tunnel, more afraid of the light than the darkness. Tongamundo Ch. 03 Tongamundo 3 Survival It seemed odd when I first considered it, but the turbulent seas that threatened to cover the island in its deep, black, wet blanket actually saved me. The lower level of the cave filled with water as the waves rolled up the sloped beaches and crashed over the lower cave wall. The rising water let me swim up and out of the trap I had fallen into. I lay on the upper cave floor (safely above the water) and slowly worked the circulation back into my leg. Since my watch disappeared mysteriously only a few days after I arrived on the island and between the pain and drugs I experienced while trapped, I completely lost track of time. I could hear a deafening howling outside and the cave mouth was so dark, I could barely tell if it was day. I crawled to the mouth but all I could see was a wall of gray. The ocean and air seemed to merge in a violent fog that hid everything from sight. It was what we feared most: a typhoon. A typhoon in most islands was terrifying, but the geography here seemed to create a tunnel, where all the water and wind would press between the mountains increasing in force to two, maybe three times the strength of the storm in open seas. We had not witnessed any storms here, but observed the devastation in our investigation of the island. And now I had a front row seat to this great, gray beast. The ship had obviously left, undoubtedly with Lilya and Dr. Stansfield on board. Too bad, I would like to have seen the look on Stansfield's face as I suddenly appeared on the beach. While hazy from the effects of some of the local plants, I clearly remember him refusing to help me, telling me how he would claim the credit for my work, and telling me that he knew about Lilya and me. "Ah, Lilya," I said to myself. I tried to stand, but pain shot through my leg. I grabbed the remaining leaves in my vest pocket and began chewing them. In a short time I drifted into a dreamless sleep, not waking until well after sunrise. The storm had passed and I could see the sunlight outside of the cave mouth. I crawled out into the bright sun and tried to get my bearings. What used to be our camp was now a river, with water flowing from within the island, back into the ocean. Feeling suddenly thirsty, I realized this expedition was no longer about research, it was about survival. Depending upon how far the waves had washed into the island, most of the fresh water holes would now be brackish. Any provisions we had stored before the storm were surely washed away, and the supply ship would not return for several days, if at all. I needed to do something now. Searching the beach, I found a nearby branch that would work as a crutch, and then limped to the newly created opening in the forest. Water was an immediate priority and to be completely safe I would have to boil it, although I did have a couple of iodine tabs in my vest pocket I could use today. If only I could find some fresh water. Rainwater would pool in some of the plant leaves, but most of the plants here have some medicinal or hallucinogenic properties. Rainwater collected from the leaves could have the chemical residues. The chemicals had some powerful possibilities and made for some interesting experimentation, but if I wanted to stay alive now, I needed a clear head. I headed up the slope to the rocks above the cave and found some water pooled there. The rocks were too high for the waves to dump saltwater here, so obviously, this was rainwater. I found a pool about 4 feet around and several inches deep. I broke up two iodine tablets into the water and swished it around. After a few moments, hoping any organisms were now gone, I put my face in the water and drank. The iodine gave the water a slightly metallic taste, but I was too thirsty to care. Sated for now, I sat back and looked over the island from the rocks. Fire became my next priority, but I did find a dozen or so matches in a waterproof case in my vest, so I wasn't too worried. I needed to find some food, and something to cook it in. Something large, like the Nohav could be cooked on a spit over the fire, but they were almost impossible to catch without a snare and it would take some time to scrounge together everything I needed for that. The plants didn't offer much hope either. Again, some were fun to play with when there was time to play, but I needed something that would provide energy, not some eerie effect. There were several bird species on the island, but again, without a trap or bow I had no real means of catching them. I also realized that the storm most likely disturbed the snake population, so I would need to watch for them in some unlikely places. Before, if you just stayed away from the Broken Heart Orchid, you were pretty safe from the snakes, now they were surely scattered. I looked again toward the clearing and noticed several large, new tidal pools that formed beyond the high point of the beach. The water, which should have been still, swirled about in several places. I quickly climbed down from the rock, but before I reached the pools, I knew my food problem was solved. The storm washed hundreds of fish up into the interior of the island; effectively marooning them in the pools as the water subsided. With evaporation, the pools would decrease in size increasing the density of the fish. From the edge of one pool, I could see that even now, spearing one would be an easy task. Balancing on one leg, I used my crutch and after several attempts, I knocked one fish out onto the sand. So easy! It looked like I would have fish for dinner. I gathered some firewood, eventually got a fire burning and cooked up my catch. My first catch was not real tasty, but I believed I had a considerable choice of fish in the pools. As the sun began to set, I sat near the fire and tried to remember before the storm. I remembered the work I was doing with the plants, work that seemed important for a while at least. And Lilya, I missed Lilya. The time we stole together while her husband worked on the ship was some of the happiest times of my life, our lives. It was all so beautiful, and yet now it seems all so faded. I sat by the fire, trying to remember what happened. Everything seemed so clear until just before the storm, when everything got.... I just can't remember. Did she make it to the ship? Even now, as I feel the chemicals from the plants work out of my system, I realize somewhere I lost it. Something happened. I fell asleep trying to recall, trying to remember something. By morning I felt stiff and confused. Rather than work on the fire to get the embers burning again, I got up and limped beyond the clearing and into the forest. Trees and branches were twisted in a tangle mass of green chaos. I felt my hands shaking and my mouth watered as I looked at some of the different plants. My head throbbed and I knew if I chewed a combination of several of the leaves, it would go away. But something drove me onward. I remember now, a small boat heading out into the surf. The waves tossed it as it roared out to the supply ship. Only one person was on the boat. I could see the storm closing in over the ship. I followed what was left of a narrow path. It was slow going with the debris all around, but I eventually made it to the base of the mountain. From there, I could see the mass of color. While nothing like before the storm, the foothills were ablaze in a bright red. A sticky, sweet fragrance seemed to drip from me. Dr. Stansfield was on the boat, without Lilya. The ship was preparing to run from the storm leaving Lilya and me behind. I walked out into the orchids. The red petals were shaped like a heart, a heart with a deep tear down the middle: a broken heart. I found her body where he told me it would be, amid the Broken Heart Orchids. I remembered now. As the storm approached, Stansfield came back to where I was trapped: "She found out about you," he said. "Didn't you think..." "It doesn't matter now. She can't help you." "What did you do?" "Me? Nothing, I did nothing to her." "Then what happened?" "Well, in the wind, one of the cages came open," he whispered, "the red viper cage. It was over in just a moment. They really are terribly deadly." "Damn you!" "She didn't suffer mind you. Nothing like you will." "What will you tell..." "The crew? Ah yes, such an unfortunate accident. You see, she wandered into the orchids, and we know what lives in the orchids. We'll come back after the storm and if she's not washed away, we'll find her there. A sad, sad accident." "And me?" "Hell, you're an accident that already happened. I have to leave you now, they are getting impatient," he said, nodding toward the cave mouth. I could see the water and the ship in the distance. The waters raged around it and storm clouds were rolling in. He walked out of the cave and turned down the beach toward the boat. I had felt the water splashing me from below, but I was still stuck as I looked out to the water and saw his boat heading into the waves. I bent to pick up her body, but as I reached for her I felt the sting in my arm. The red viper was coiled at the base of the orchid. It looked almost black in the shadow. I looked at Lilya, her beautiful hair, I touched her shoulder and fell to my knees. I bent to kiss her as Tongamundo went black.