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Chap/21
BBI_fiero
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Knuckles, Rawhide, Thunder, Tommyboy, and Perfect Tommy hiked to the research basecamp.
Tommyboy was desperately reviewing their maps.
Rawhide was observing her while carrying some of her gear.
She felt his attention upon her. After a moment, the young lady felt the need to explain herself. "I'm searching for the nearest body of water, be it a pond, river, lake?"
"I trust you?"
Tommyboy turned around.
"I was more or less watching your ankle."
TB smiled as she realized the cowboys' faith in her was unconditional.
Perfect Tommy spun around. Turning to BBI_Thunder, he asked.
"Where's Professor Blair?"
"He's with Jim at their research outpost."
Knuckles cut in.
"Well, he better hurry up collecting his notes, this fire will catch up to us in no time!"
"I know, I know?But you try telling that to him!"
They traversed a mile when they reached the hill.
Knuckles yelled out, "Jim! "
Radar walked off a few steps. He took a look at his tent, the Di-pole, the equipment.
After reminiscing a moment on all the work they did setting up the instruments,he slouched in defeat.
"?.Bloody hell?"
Perfect Tommy was standing on high rock, peering over the terrain. Something caught his eye to the south. Straining his eyes, he focused on what appeared to be the police officer.
"Hey! I spotted Jim!"
Knuckles immediately ran over to the Hong Kong Cavalier. She concurred.
"That's him?But what in the world is he doing?"
"I think he's chasing Blair !! Yo, Rawhide! We're going after Jim!!"
The cowboy nodded as Knuckles and Perfect Tommy trotted down the hill after the couple.
Rawhide stayed behind with Tommyboy. He kept the channel open on his Go-About waiting for any messages.
BBI_Thunder joined Radar in his moment of woe.
Tommyboy shoved the map at the cowboy.
"'Here' according to this legend, there's a small spring at these coordinates. Looks like about 3 miles."
"Nice work?..We better reach it before the fire does."
Blair was slowing to a crawl from jogging down the valley. Jim was right behind breathing heavily.
"Blair! You're worse than a sleepwalker, you know that?"
His words seemed to fall on deaf ears as the professor began to tremble and shake.
"Jim! "
The peace officer turned around.
"What the?"
He saw Perfect Tommy and Knuckles sprinting towards him.
After a few seconds, they arrived.
Knuckles squinted. " You know there's a Fire back there! Why did you-"
Jim held two fingers to his lips.
"Shhhh!!!?.I believe the Professor is having another vision."
PT muttered. "Hope it's not another white mans' burden deal."
"Shhhh!!!?.The Hong Kong Cavalier was shushed.
This time it was Knuckles.
"Better hear him out, perhaps we could learn something?"
- - - - - - - - - -
"What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm shoveling!"
Radar was confused. BBI_Thunder glanced up from the ditch he stood in.
"Look, I hate to see a grown man cry, perhaps if you'd join me, we can bury your most important instruments."
He wasn't the survivalist as his compatriot was, but after a moment the Brit put two and two together.
"I see it! The fire can't destroy what it can't touch! Beastly idea!"
Radar grabbed a shovel, some plastic lining from the tent. He first wrapped a layer around the Di-Pole to protect it from the dirt, then assisted Thunder with digging a trench.
Rawhide shook his head glancing at the two men back towards Tommyboy. They only had a few minutes to remain here waiting for Jim & Blair, but he figured it was their time to waste.
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pt. 22
By Nicki Knight
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Knuckles paced back and forth, pausing every few steps to look at the smoke in the distance. "Come on, come on, come on." she growled, throwing a glare at Blair.
The Professor stood in the middle of the small valley, his head thrown back, his body shivering and jerking. He seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings, occasionally mumbling in some language Knuckles couldn't any sense of. Her personal pride wanted her to believe that he was making it up. But her reality check smacked her with a reminder that she did not know EVERYTHING there was to know.
"I think he's making that up." Perfect Tommy mumbled. Being immune to his own reality check, he KNEW damn well that he knew everything... well, at least everything worth knowing. "Can't we, like, throw him over a shoulder and get out of here?"
Jim shook his head. "I think it might be sorta like sleep walking. Interrupting him might hurt him."
"Yea?" Knuckles growled. Giving up her pacing for a more direct approach to protesting, she stomped up to stand directly in front of Blair. "You telling me that that damn fire is going to be pleasant?" Despite her desire to be out of there and on their way to safety, she approached him carefully. "Blair? Yoe, dude. You've gotta snap out of it, buddy." she said softly.
For a moment there was no response. Just when Knuckles thought she was going to have to do something drastic (shooting him had leapt to mind, but Rawhide's response soon followed, and she decided to hold that idea in reserve), the Native American's head suddenly snapped forward, his dark eyes locking on the girl before him. He frowned. "You are not white." he declared.
Knuckles smiled slightly. "Think so, huh?" She shrugged. "I'm Indian... from India." She wanted to make sure he got it straight.
"So, people... " Perfect Tommy stepped forward. "Think we can discuss ancestry somewhere else?"
Blair's eyes snapped to the Cavalier. "You! You do not belong here!" he roared. he suddenly pushed Knuckles behind him as he turned to face PT. "White man!" he spat. "The fire will wash away your stinch and renew the earth."
"Umm..." Tommy frowned, looking over the top of the little man to where Knuckles, equally confused, back away. "Jim, not that I'm the possessive type.... but what is he doing with her?"
Jim started forward, holding his hands up in peace. "Whatever he's connected with has recognized her as not being like us. She's not white. She's not the enemy." he guessed.
Blair dropped to his knees. Reaching up, he yanked Knuckles down beside him. With his finger he began to draw pictures in the dirt.
"Talk to him, Knuckles." Perfect Tommy suggested. "If you're not the enemy, maybe he'll listen to you."
"Yea, right." the bounty hunter mumbled. But she gave it a try anyway. "Blair, we gotta get out of here. There's a fire headed straight for us." Knuckles warned him.
The Professor looked at her and smiled. "Trust in the fire. We will be born again with in its warm embrace; renewed as it will renew all that belongs here." He glanced up at the two men. "It is they who should fear."
"Don't worry. We do." Perfect Tommy assured, sarcasticly. He looked back at the smoke.
It had grown from one little plum to another and another, spreading out and down the edges of the crevasse that lead into the valley.
"You know what's gonna happen when that thing reaches the floor of that canyon?" Jim mumbled.
"It'll funnel the flames right down on top of us." Knuckles answered. She glanced around, noting four more like crevasses leading into the valley. "It's supposed to do that." she concluded.
"What?" Tommy exclaimed.
"This valley..." Knuckles started to stand up, but Blair yanked her down again. "This valley; It's almost like it was designed for the fire to come here. Anywhere around here a fire starts and it's gonna fall into the canyons and the canyons will bring it right here. We're sitting in the center of a fire storm waiting to happen!"
"Yea, yea, bad situation." Perfect Tommy looked up, almost longingly, to where Rawhide and the others were waiting for them at the secondary camp. "I'd like to officially go on the record as saying I want to get the hell out of here!"
"Ditto." Knuckles agreed. Before Jim could stop her, she drew her Starr revolver and whipped it across the back of Blair's head.
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Chapter 23
By The Chronicler
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Oddity had stayed by Tommy Boy's side as he had been so commanded to. Knuckles had pointed to her and ordered "Oddity, guard!" Even if he hadn't been given the command, the dog's basic pack instinct came in to play: Tommy Boy was part of his pack and she was hurt. It was his duty to protect her.
Even when Rawhide had knelt down to look after her ankle, Oddity wined, nudging him with his nose and nipping at his hands until Tommy Boy assured the dog that she was alright.
Wrapping an arm around his neck, Tommy Boy pulled the dog close as she looked up at the smoke. "They gotta get out of there, Rawhide."
Rawhide looked up from her wounded ankle. He followed her gaze to the smoke, then looked down into the valley. "They will. Knuckles knows everything about the woods. Perfect Tommy knows everything about self preservation. A team like that isn't about to stand there and get burned." Besides, he reminded himself, Buckaroo had told him to bring the pair back in once piece... whatever their excuses.
Oddity suddenly came to his feet with a bark.
Both Cavaliers looked down at the dog, startled.
Oddity spun about, then sat back on his haunches, looking up at TommyBoy. With a wine, he jerked, as if he was gonna take off, but remained where he was.
"O-kay." Rawhide frowned. "Anyone speak dog?"
"I think he wants to leave." Tommy Boy guessed.
"Don't we all." But Rawhide noted Oddity's quick glances and jerks were toward the fire, not away.
"Knuckles told him to stay with me." Tommy Boy sighed. "I suppose that would be best for us both. Him to look after me, me to make sure he doesn't get lost in the fire." She bit her lip. "But, if he knows something we don't..."
"Which he often does." Rawhide shook his head. "Release him. Knuckles says he'll obey his ward."
TB looked at him. She didn't want to see the dog hurt. But she also knew that Oddity would never leave her unless it was important. "Alright." she breathed. "Oddity. go!"
The dog didn't hesitate, but spun about and leaped back down the trail.
"God, I hope that was the right thing." Tommy Boy mumbled.
"It was." Rawhide assured both her and himself.
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Oddity raced through the forest, weaving left and then right, dodging trees. He leaped down drops and sailed over fallen logs and boulders. Faster and faster, nearly as fast as the fire growing around him.
He had caught the scent of something on the air. Just barely, but it was enough for the animal to leap into action. He had been trained to protect humans. And a human was back there somewhere, somewhere in the middle of the danger. Despite his animal fear of fire, his need to protect was too strong to ignore.
A branch dropped down in front of him, showering him with sparks.
With a yipe, he skidded to a halt, only to leap to the side and continue on.
And then he saw him: the man... the man his humans had fought earlier. The fire nearly circled the man, creeping in on him as he laid, unmoving on the ground.
Oddity jumped around the flames and crawled up beside the big man. He barked and pawed at the body, but there was no respons. With no other choice, the dog grabbed the man's pant leg between his teeth and began to pull. Inch by slow inch, he dragged the man back to where he knew his humans would be.
But it was a big man.
Oddity was just a dog.
And the fire was quickly swallowing up the forest around them.
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Part 24
By Regalo3000
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Bolderdash awoke with a start. He screamed when he thought what he saw was some kind of a wolf nibbling on his leg. He looked for his gun, but, it was nowhere to be found. Then he remembered how he had crawled away from the burning trees and fallen down a hill to the spot where Oddity had then found him. The dog began to bark at him and fear filled his heart. Then another sound could be heard above the wind and the roar of the fire and the dog's barking.
A baby crying.
What is that? cried Bolderdash. He tried to stand and realized his left leg was broken. He screamed in agony, and he soon began crawling. The dog followed. The sound was getting louder and louder, and the crazy man searched the ground and found a small trap door made of twigs and leaves. There was indeed a baby lying in the small hole. What worthless pile of trash would do this to a baby? he cried out. Not even I'm as evil as to do something like this ...
He recalled the arguments between the two lawyers during his trial. Your Honor, my client has shown much remorse. It is quite evident that he came forward of his own volition and confessed to the crime due to the fact that a child died as a result of his actions ... etc etc etc.
He ripped his pants leg and tore off a strip of long cloth. He tied it around the blanket already wrapped around the toddler. He handed the baby to the dog. Go! Get the hell out of here! The dog ran off quickly, the baby firmly in its jaws. He watched as the dog disappeared. The fire was getting closer. The crazy man was laughing now. How do you like that, dad? he was screaming as the fire starting nibbling on him. Huh? How do you like that? Your son does good! And then the flames engulfed him!
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Tommyboy could swear she had heard a scream but decided it was just her imagination. Now they were all delayed because of the dog, which had taken off into the woods. She was glad to see the dog suddenly come out of the woods, but could not believe what Oddity was returning with, a crying baby wrapped in a blanket! Good boy, Oddity! Soon after Tommyboy had taken the baby in her arms, the dog turned around and looked back at the forest as if it had forgotten something.
Rawhide had Blair's unconscious body slung over his shoulder and the entire team began moving, leaving their useless vehicles behind. They could hear them exploding in the distance. Damn, but the fire was close, too damn close and they had wasted too much time, valuable time they just didn't have. Tommyboy was limping, being helped along by Knuckles.
Then the fire was suddenly in front of them, and they stopped and looked around for another way to run. Then the fire was all around them!
Dammit, yelled Perfect Tommy. We're trapped!
It was then that the choppers appeared overhead, and someone was speaking out of a bullhorn. This is Buzz! Everybody lower your heads! We're going to land!
The two choppers set down, and boy was the Team glad to see Hillary and Hayden and Ohio once again! The teens knew more or less exactly where they had left Team Banzai and had talked several pilots into flying in.
Buzz's dad is rich, Hillary was saying with a big smile as the choppers began their ascents, he owns these birds!
Woo! Woo! Ohio was yelling. We saved Team Banzai! I'm gonna be in a comic book!
Hayden said, This has turned out to be the best ride in Yellowstone we ever had!
The last one aboard had been Oddity. The dog barked at the fire below as the choppers lifted. The Team got their first look at the enormity of the blaze.
Knuckles and Tommyboy were taking a good look at the baby. They smiled and looked at the dog. Good boy, said Tommyboy. Wonderful boy!
The dog barked. And if they understood dog-speak they would have understood. Hey, I had very little to do with this. Then the dog turned and looked at the burning blaze below and barked again, saying, Goodbye!
This is really odd, said Jim, looking at the fire blazing below.
What? asked Rawhide.
I'm thinking of the drawing that Blair was making in the dirt with his finger just before he was knocked out. I'm pretty damn sure now why he was doing it. He was delaying us for a reason, don't you see? The baby!
No, said Rawhide, I don't see, but that's okay. No time to figure it all out now. Something has to be done about this fire, and we're going to try and help as best we can.
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Ch. 25
by Tommy Boy
Jackson Hole, WY (located south of Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons)
Community Hospital.
After x-rays on her ankle, Tommy Boy's ankle was confirmed a slight fracture. They casted her lover leg and foot and told her to stay off it. She was lucky not to further damage it with the walking she had to do. Thank goodness for boots, she thought.
The baby, the mystery that still had to be unraveled. Oddity saved a baby boy in the middle of the woods. By what Radar and Rawhide could figure, with help of the kids was that they were near a camping area. It had several campers listed to be there and either something happened to a few or they left in a rush. But to leave a baby behind. Only the worst scenario could come to mind to leaving the baby on its own.
Knuckles sat on the ground giving her dog a big hug. "You are the hero this time."
Sandburg had come too while in flight. Jim did his best to keep the man calm, he didn't want to think about what could have happened to his friend and guide. The doctors couldn't explain what had happened, and were reluctant to release him but could not find anything to hold him.
Slowly Rawhide gathered his weary troop in front of the hospital. Tommy Boy was safe and there. Thunder and Perfect Tommy looked like they could sleep for a week. Knuckles a was beaming at her dog, the hero. Radar stayed his distance, looking at the group himself. Jim exited the Hospital with Blair beside him.
Thunder moved to help support Tommy Boy. Rawhide didn't let it show he noticed the move. It wasn't the time or place to start vexing strength of who should be TB's suitor.
Rawhide nodded to Jim once we was standing within the group.
They had all survived a wild ordeal.
Rawhide addressed the troop. "We are waiting for Buzz's dad to pick us up. Seems we have been offered to recoup a few days at Buzz's ranch."
Everyone seemed to relax to that thought.
Two Explorers pulled up to the patient pick up area and Hillary opened the door. "Hi ya folks, ready to get out of here?"
With affirmatives, the group walked to and got settled into the motorcade.
"What will Blair do now about his findings?" TB asked Radar.
"With the area being burned like it is, either it will reveal more items to the satellite by being cleaner or we may have lost some of the items that were on the surface. Won't know till it clears out.
Buzz's dad turned his head to comment. "Funny thing, once we got you out of there and settled here, the fire died down. It's under control and slated to be put out within the next few days."
TB turned to Rawhide then looked over to Radar. "Weird." She commented.
Radar sat back, "Welcome to the Twilight Zone."
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Chap 26
by BBI_fiero
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Blair and Jim shook hands with Rawhide and Tommyboy.
"We sure appreciate the help, despite the misfortune what with the fire an' all I've learned quite a lot from this excavation."
Rawhide replied, "Well, perhaps you'll stumble across another grant; resume your research."
"Yes, I'm sure I will return here."
Jim nodded and shook hands with the cowboy.
"Next time we meet, I'll have to show you my Gun collection from the city."
"Do tell."
Jim and Blair stepped into the waiting Taxi cab. It slowly departed. Radar and Thunder waved from a distance.
"Godspeed, Professor!" yelled the British Technician.
Knuckles was outside with her luggage, she whistled and Oddity jumped into the Red Explorer.
Perfect-Tommy was riding shotgun with his yellow Gameboy, pecking at the conrol knobs.
Radar and Thunder took their bags and entered the Green Explorer.
"See you at the Buzz Ranch." said Thunder as he closed the door.
Rawhide was left with Tommyboy. They had agreed to partake in a Western restaurant and spend some private time to talk. They would later meet up with the Team.
The Cowboy adjusted his hat and muttered.
"We seemed so close with the Rock symbols, and the markers. ..then that mountain man & the kids stumble across our camp."
TB just slouched in silence.
"Well, guess there's always next time." continued Rawhide.
Tommyboy had her hands in her jacket pockets.
"I don't know, think chocolate syrup on toasted Beetles is tasty?
Rawhide was a bit irked at the comment. He imagined a bunch of fried critters scattered among black dirt. But he knew TB had spoken in jest.
Just then a nurse greeted the two. The shapely RN held out an object.
"You forgot your camera."
TB turned around.
"Thank you, must have left it during my X-rays."
Rawhide observed the nurse. As a man of psychology he detected something was on her mind.
"You seem preoccupied?"
"Oh, just thinking about that Baby you found in the woods."
Tommyboy slung the digital camera over her shoulder. With a tone of sarcasm, she responded.
"Nothing our wild boy Perfect-Tommy can't explain."
Rawhide grinned as he thought of the many interludes PT had at the Banzai Institute.
The nurse turned red as she remembered the blond Hong Kong Cavalier hitting on her earlier in the break room.
"I doubt he had any involvement."
"What do you mean?" inquired the cowboy.
"This baby is native American."
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Fini
