The next morning started out with a simple breakfast, as usual. No one was surprised that Marguerite looked tired, she had looked the same way for the last week and they were used to it. And they knew by now not to comment on it because they remembered the verbal lashings they had received previously for mentioning it.
Plans were made for the day, which were the same as the previous day�s plan. Marguerite and Challenger still stayed behind at the treehouse while the others expanded their search even further. They were using the Zangas� last known location as a center point and branching out in all possible directions from there to make sure nothing escaped them. So far they had no luck, but they kept searching hoping that the next day would bring them something positive to latch on to.
They bid their goodbyes to start their search leaving Marguerite and Challenger to start their own duties. Challenger immediately went down to his lab and Marguerite settled into her chair to start her almost impossible task. Every now and again, the meaning of a symbol would randomly pop into head, but her job was no less daunting. Her dream still plagued her, but it seemed that each night she saw it, she saw something that she didn�t see before. She was still mystified as to why she kept seeing it and why she couldn�t get rid of it. She was starting to believe that all these years on the plateau were starting to drive her mad.
Marguerite admitted to herself that the little progress she made on the translation was still no better than before when she knew absolutely nothing. Random words here and there still didn�t help her in figuring out what it actually said. Giving up for the moment, Marguerite stood up and went to stand on the balcony. She took a look at the landscape and admitted that on days like this, the plateau really was a beautiful place. If you managed to forget about all the dangers, that is.
She sat down in one of the chairs and listened to the usual sounds of the jungle and looked at the familiar scenery. She closed her eyes, but reopened them quickly. She jumped to her feet and looked out into the jungle again. She rushed into the main room and grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked out again.
�Challenger! Challenger!� She threw the binoculars carelessly to the ground and ran down the stairs to the lab. She saw him hovering over �Arthur� examining the map and ran over and grabbed his arm. �Challenger! Hurry!�
�Good heavens, Marguerite! What�s the matter?� He took hold of her hand that was pulling his sleeve and tried to get her to stop.
�Just come with me, George!� She grabbed his arm and practically pulled him up the stairs. She pushed him over to the balcony where she was standing moments ago. �Look out there! How we could have missed something this obvious, I don�t know!�
Challenger looked out into the jungle and frowned, not knowing what he was looking at. �What am I looking for, Marguerite? All I see is the normal sights of the plateau.�
�No, this is not normal, Challenger. Look to the east and tell me what you see. Or rather what you don�t see.� She pointed off the balcony and when Challenger opened his mouth to say something, probably to question her again, she stopped him by turning him in that direction herself. �Just do it, George.�
He sighed but did what he was told. He looked out and saw the sun in its normal position, and knew that wasn�t what she was talking about. He looked over the normal tree tops and saw the occasional pterodactyl and still couldn�t find what Marguerite had dragged him all the way upstairs for. He looked farther into the distance and frowned. �Where are the Krux Mountains?�
�They�re not there, Challenger, that�s what I wanted to show you! Then I looked around and noticed lots of things were missing. The inland sea is gone and the Summerlee Falls are gone too! And I know for a fact that that clearing to the west just past that range of trees was not there before! Are we even on the plateau anymore? We already know the Zanga Village is gone too!�
Challenger frowned and gathered his thoughts for a moment. �Well, we must be on the plateau, there is no other place that would have dinosaurs. And we are still in the treehouse, and there�s no reason for us to not be on the plateau�hmm, this is quite the conundrum.�
Marguerite saw Challenger starting to slip into his �I�m thinking about something fascinating and I�m ignoring you� mode and decided to stop him before he was too far gone. �George! Now�s not the time to marvel, we need to figure out what�s going on around here!�
Several emotions flitted across Challenger�s face: surprise, irritation, and resolve. �Calm down, Marguerite, and please give me a moment to think. Jumping to conclusions will not help the situation any.�
Marguerite resisted the urge to speak and bit back the retort that was on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she crossed her arms and started tapping her foot impatiently waiting for Challenger to come up with something.
�All right,� Challenger started speaking and Marguerite was relieved he didn�t keep her waiting to long, �the first thing we need to do is see what we�re dealing with.�
�And how do we do that?�
�Well, if you remember several days ago, we were planning to take a journey-�
�The balloon!�
If Challenger was annoyed at the interruption, he didn�t show it. He instead nodded and started again. �You and I will go up and have a look about and see what we�re dealing with.�
Marguerite frowned. �Just us? What about the others?�
�There�s no sense in waiting for them to return and wasting an entire day. We can go up ourselves and see what we�re dealing with.� Challenger turned and started to head down to his lab.
�Where are you going, George?�
�I need a few things from my lab, Marguerite,� Challenger said without turning around, �and then we can be on our way.�
She watched him go down the stairs and sighed. �Well, I guess I�ll just wait here.�
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The balloon was still set up and hadn�t been dismantled seeing as how things were chaotic over the past week. After getting rid of unnecessary cargo, Marguerite and Challenger took to the skies.
�Challenger, this may seem like a stupid question, but why on earth did you bring that with you?�
Challenger looked down at the sophisticated map and shrugged. �I thought it might be helpful to have a map of the plateau with us.�
�You couldn�t have found a map that took up more space?� Marguerite rolled her eyes but suspected that Challenger didn�t want to be separated from the thing until he figured out what it was and how it worked.
As if it heard what Marguerite said, the map folded in upon itself and turned back into the small gold quasi-beetle that Challenger saw beforehand. �Did you see that?!� Challenger looked at the object in his hand in complete awe.
�Bloody hell!� Marguerite reached over and took it from Challenger�s hand and looked at it closely. �Are you sure you found this thing in the middle of the jungle?�
Challenger took it back from Marguerite�s hands and looked at it closely. �Hmm, I didn�t notice this before. Mind you, I didn�t have a close look at it before it transformed before my eyes�.� Challenger trailed off as he touched something on the backside of the beetle. Immediately after, the wings opened up again revealing the map. �Remarkable! There�s a slight depression on the back that opens the map. Like a button!�
Marguerite looked at the contraption in Challenger�s hands curiously. �So how do you get it to close?� As soon as she finished her sentence, the wings again closed and reverted back to its beetle form.
�Amazing! It seems to react to verbal commands. This is fascinating! Obviously what I found previously was no mere beetle, this has to be some sort of advanced machinery, the likes of which I have never seen!�
Marguerite nodded her head in agreement but quickly shook off her own bedazzlement. �Well, let�s deal with one thing at a time, George, we still have work to do up here.�
�Quite right.� Challenger looked out into the distance, his eyes constantly scanning. �Most curious. Marguerite, does that look like the Malone Rift to you?� Challenger pointed off to their left and she followed his finger.
Marguerite looked through her pair of binoculars and nodded her head. �It certainly does, George. But what is it doing there?�
�I�m not sure, Marguerite.� Challenger made a rough drawing of the rift on a blank sheet of paper and started scanning again. �Ah, there are the Summerlee Falls.� Challenger made another drawing, this time he drew it on the far right side of the paper.
�What?� Marguerite squinted into the distance, �The Summerlee Falls aren�t that far away. It would take days, maybe even weeks to travel that far by foot!�
�Obviously something very drastic has happened to the plateau to cause a shift like this.�
�Challenger, do you know what�s happening?�
Pausing briefly from his sketching, he regarded Marguerite carefully. �I have an idea, but I do not want to say until I am absolutely certain. When I finish some of these sketches, we�ll head back to the treehouse.�
Marguerite didn�t want to wait until later to find out what was going on, she wanted to know now. She realized that if she put her mind to it, she could get Challenger to tell her, but then dismissed the idea. It was better for her to wait, that way she would be guaranteed to only having to hear his explanation once. �Sure, George.�