BridgeWorld

[BridgeWorld: Night 2]
Jackie nervously waited with the others as Dmitri and Sherry ventured out to find a way to the top of the cliffs to recover the conduit pipes that had been launched up there during the fight. The sun had set, and the longboat still had yet to return, making their foray up there even more risky. But Sherry was a tough gal, ready and able to brawl with the best of them in most of the bars they had played in. Dmitri, he admitted, wasn’t nearly that athletic or skilled as a fighter, but he did have a good arm with the bow, and he claimed to be quick and nimble.

In addition to their bows and arrows, they each took a flashlight and walkie-talkie with them and stayed in frequent but short communications with the people back at the yacht. They reported they were able to find a climbable route about half-an-hour after they had left, and shortly after that, they were locating and tossing the conduits over the cliff edge. They even tried to dislodge the conduit stuck in the cliff by dropping the other conduits down upon it. After the third pipe struck that one, it too, finally fell back to the beach. When the last bolt was sent over, they let everyone know they were on their way back.

Jackie was finally able to relax when they showed up nearly an hour after their last call that reported they managed to get back to the waterline without breaking their necks going down the cliff.

“The creatures apparently retrieved their dead,” Sherry told them as everyone helped with gathering and cleaning the conduit pipes that had been dropped and taking them back to the stock of pipes waiting by the large catapult units on the ship. “We clearly did quite a number on them, given the number of bloodstains.”

“That could be a good thing, and it might be a bad thing,” Dmitri added. “Depending on how social those things are, they might be coming back for revenge rather than for food. That would make them even more dangerous.”

Sherry and Dmitri both helped with moving the two raptor carcasses that had fallen to the beach closer to the ship where they could examine them. It was about this time that the others in the longboat finally arrived.

Willy whistled in awe at first sight of the dead raptors.

“Nasty buggers!” he whispered.

“Yeah,” Dmitri agreed. “Three fingers and thumbs, large cranial development. Their bows are pretty decently made for normal bows. Clearly intelligent,” he added, examining the three weapons recovered. “Two are recurve, but this one’s like a long bow, like the British used. Fucking heavy ass draws on them, too, which means these fellows are a hell of a lot stronger than we are. Oh, and they are evidently smart enough to gather up the weapons of their dead and wounded, too. Along with their bodies.”

“And those feet claws!” Amanda Anderson exclaimed.

“Indeed,” Dmitri, Sherry, and Willy all replied simultaneously. The three all looked at each other before bursting out with a laugh.

“You can guarantee these guys are going to be very proficient with those!” Dmitri said.

“And they’re long enough and sharp enough to easily open you up from head to toe with a single strike,” Sherry added, making most everyone, including Fred Anderson flinch.

“I’d advise, don’t get underfoot,” Dmitri quickly quipped.

Despite the brightness of the moon, it was quickly decided to not try taking the longboat up the coast in the other direction in the dark. Instead, everyone got busy on digging the trench, with the standard two-man watch keeping eyes on the approaches. With the extra help and the urgency of their situation, they worked throughout the night without taking a break, and the trench was extended nearly all the way to the original shoreline by the time the sun was about to rise again.

[Day 3]
Everyone was still on edge, knowing that moving the catapults and their ammunition off the yacht at the start of dawn was very risky. A counterattack from the raptors could be expected at any time. But trying to tilt the ship with them still mounted to the side of the Bridge would shatter them and leave everyone defenseless.

Alan, Dmitri, Fred Anderson, Sherry, and Willy all worked out the procedure they needed to take to undermine the sand beneath the yacht, fully trusting everyone else to warn them when the ship would begin to move so they could run to get out of the way.

Equally spaced along the length, they began to attack the sandy wall holding the weight of the yacht. That was the easy part, as the sand showed every bit of willing to cooperate by pouring out by several shovelfuls’ worth with every swipe. That’s what made their action even more risky, the loose sand was quickly piling up around where they were working and was soon waist-deep for each of them.

Just a few minutes into their effort, the sand began suddenly began flowing without their needing to dig. Alan, Dmitri, and Willy realized the danger all at the same time and began yelling for everyone to get away even as they ran, too. The rest watching out for them also began yelling.

Fortunately, Fred and Sherry were quick to react and rushed to the far side of the trench just as the boat began to roll over. It slammed down noisily and rocked a little in the overshoot, but quickly settled back down on its wide keel.

“That was fun!” Willy quipped.

“Let’s do it again!” Dmitri quickly blurted out, and the men all began laughing in relief.

Prior to the effort to roll the ship, the ends of the long rope ladders that had been tied to the port railing had been rolled up and secured for when the work would be accomplished. Now, those rolled up bundles sat at the bottom of the trench on that side of the yacht.

Using the ladders, Sherry and the men climbed up to the deck, then pulled up the ladders behind them. Once they had the ladders fully in their hands, they unbundled the lower ends and measured out enough of the ladders to reach the bottom of the sandy trench again. At that point, they retied the ladders back onto the railing. The excess, they now cut off and moved that half of the rope ladders to the starboard side and tied them to the railings there. Then, they dropped the ladders down that side for the girls to be able to climb up to where they could discuss the next step: remounting two of the catapults to the deck in front of the Bridge, and third to the canopy on top of the structure.

Everyone worked well together, in relay teams to haul up the giant compound crossbows and the conduit pipes, while Alan, Sherry, and Willy worked to secure the catapults onto the ship plating. By the time that was finished, the daily solar eclipse had begun. After that, everyone sighed from a sense of relief that their defenses were back in order, and they were all looking forward to being able to take a rest from their exertions.

However, they still first needed rearrange their sleeping quarters, plus they still needed to maintain their security watch with a pair of very tired Jackie and Alan for that shift.

“Good God! I’m glad that’s over!” Alan exclaimed as she leaned back in the Skipper’s chair, letting his hands holding the binoculars drop to his lap.

“Just like it was in Budapest,” Jackie quipped, making him burst out laughing.

Alan then scowled a little as he looked over the right hand of the yacht.

“That extra bit of trench on our left side,” he muttered. “I just realized it gives us a bit of a moat over there. I think we need something like it on the right side, too. A gap there would keep them from being able to get close enough to try getting on board.”

“Leaving the rock at the nose of this thing the only practical route for the lizards to come at us,” Jackie agreed, and Alan hummed in agreement.

“Still a bit of a leap for them, and I wouldn’t put it past them that they could make it,” Alan replied. “But it may make their attacks more manageable. I’ll definitely mention the idea to Sherry. We all know that vicious streak in her and she might have some ideas to make it rougher for those things trying to jump across.”

“Agreed,” Jackie said, nodding. “But let’s not forget to mention it to Willy and Dmitri, too. They’re the ones who came up with the giant crossbows, after all.”

Fortunately, their watch was uneventful, and they handed off to Willy and Fred Anderson. They listened to their suggestions, and both agreed to the need for a port side trench. Fred further pointed out that the shattered overhead windows of the forward lounge needed to be blocked off somehow to keep the creatures from getting inside the yacht, and Willy suggested creating and mounting something like punji stakes to cover the caved-in portion of the bow.

After that, Jackie and Allen retired for the rest of the day.

[Night 3]
She didn’t wake until the night’s lunar eclipse had begun. By then, the rest of them had rested up from the recent exertions, and clearly Sherry and Dmitri had been updated and consulted about the suggestions discussed between her, Alan, Willy, and Fred.

Willy had been busy during his watch removing most of the boat’s main deck railing and had over three dozen sharpened three-foot long steel stakes ready for mounting. In addition, he reported that he and Fred had checked the flooding condition of the lower deck, which had over two feet of seawater after righting the boat. They were able to use a portable sump pump to remove all but the final two inches from the engine room, and that the cracked keel was slowly allowing water to leak out for the rest of the deck.

As they all ate some of the salvaged food, they discussed the matters about the trenches and securing the boat from attack in greater detail. They all agreed with the necessity and urgency. Although Dmitri noted it would be rather costly in terms of time and labor, meaning no more excursions in the long boat for the time being, he was totally in agreement to the ideas. He was just being pragmatic in his assessment in how long it would take. There was also concern about how they could secure the main lounge from attack due to all the broken sunroof windows.

“We should be able to chop down some of those trees up there and use them to make slats to cover the openings,” Willy suggested. “I’ll have to go through the boat to see where I can dredge up some screws or nails to secure them to the main deck.”

“Good idea,” Sherry spoke up. “Though I would suggest you leave some gaps in the slats, just wide enough to catch the lizards’ legs. It might slow them down if they get onboard and end up breaking a few ankles and shins trying to get at us.”

“I like how this girl thinks!” Dmitri quipped, getting several of them to chuckle at that and making Sherry blush.

“Her father was a Sergeant Major in the Army. He taught her a lot about fighting,” Allen tossed out, making her blush even harder. “She helped get us out of a lot of jams in our tours.”

“Dad was only a First Sergeant, Alan!” she growled at him. “I’ve told you that several times!”

“Hmm… Been awhile since I’ve looked at the other branches,” Dmitri muttered. “What enlisted level was that, again?”

“E8, similar to a Master Sergeant,” she replied.

“Ah, equivalent to a Senior Chief,” Dmitri said, nodding. “Not bad. Good on dad for teaching you so well.”

“So, what rank did you make, again?” she inquired, showing a little interest in his attention.

“IT1, similar to your Staff Sergeants, although that was when I got out of the Navy,” Dmitri replied. “I was informed my positions in the State Department made me the equivalent to warrant or lower ranking commissions, but I never looked into that. My last assignment was as IMO at Suva before I retired there, so at minimum, I should have been something like a Chief Warrant Officer.”

They then got back onto the matters pertaining to securing their situation and preparing for future attacks. That was when Dmitri pointed out that, given the raptors’ evident recovery of their dead and wounded along with their dropped weapons he didn’t think that they should give any thought into using the three dead raptors in their possession as a food source.

“Instead, I think we ought to take their carcasses back up to the top of the cliffs and leave them there,” he said. “When those things come back, they should get the message that we don’t consider them mindless beasts, and we’re at least are respectful of their dead. If they come at us for revenge, hopefully that may give them pause.”

“Good point, but it will leave us rather short on food,” Fred agreed with misgivings.

“True,” Dmitri replied. And with that, they all agreed with that idea.

When the eclipse was over, they dropped rope ladders over the side and most everyone climbed down with shovels to tackle the task of digging the starboard side trench, starting from the rear of the yacht, while Patty and Sherry focused on working the port side trench a bit more to extend it around the point of the bow. Willy got busy fixing the punji stakes to the crushed cavity in the bow, while Amanda Anderson and Cathy stood watch.

[Day 4]
By the time the sun came up, their work had surprisingly gone far smoother than anyone had anticipated. Patty and Sherry had quickly completed the port-side trench around to meeting the large rock outcropping and shifted their work to assist with the starboard trench. As the sun peeked over the horizon, they had just reached the massive sarsen from that side, and Willy had just affixed the last of six dozen stakes to his project. Patty and Dmitri were on watch by this time, and Dmitri called a halt to the work. Grateful, everyone was quickly climbing the rope ladders to get to on board.

“Well, now the fun part,” Dmitri said when everyone was assembled. “We’ve got three dead raptors to move, which means we need six of us to carry them, and we need at least two additional people for guard duty until we’re all coming back down. And it’s not an easy climb up or down the cliff with the route we found.” Willy looked pensive.

“What about if we go up there with some ropes and block and tackle?” he suggested. “Get up there, secure the block and tackle and haul the critters up using the same route they came to us?” Both Dmitri and Sherry chuckled at his phrasing while Fred frowned at that.

“Well, that works, too,” Dmitri replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Makes for more guards and fewer ants to carry them up.”

Jackie and Kylie were standing watch as Adam, Fred, Dmitri, Patty, Sherry, and Willy set out with the gear they were going to use to haul up the raptors’ carcasses. Everyone was armed with their own bows and quivers. It was nerve wracking, waiting and worrying about the potential for all of them to be ambushed up there. And it was almost time for Mrs. Anderson and Jessica to take over the watch by the time the team finally appeared at the edge of the cliff top and got to work at setting up the block and tackle. Jackie and the rest then chipped in and got to work moving the raptors over to the base of the cliff below them and waited for them to send down the rope.

Prior to departing, Willy and Alan had fashioned rope harnesses to be worn by the dead lizards to which the hauling rope would be tied to, one at a time, for lifting them up.

It was another half hour before they tossed the end of the long rope down for them to beginning the retrieval. Hauling the carcasses up was relatively quick, and after the last raptor disappeared over the top, Willy called down to warn them to stand back as they were going to toss the gear back down to them.

All the girls laughed at the loud noise made when the block and tackle landed, followed by the rope harnesses, long rope, and the metal sawhorse was last, coming down beside the rest of the pile.

“Okay, that’s the last we’re sending down right now!” Willy yelled down at them. “Get that stuff back to the workroom and I’ll deal with it when we get return! In the meantime, we’re going to get some of these trees and then direct them to go over when they fall!”

“Roger, wilco!” Cathy called back, having fun getting into the hang of the military jargon.

Ten minutes later, the first of the trees toppled over the top of the cliff and landed on the beach, top down. Three more followed, ten minutes apart.

“Okay!” Fred bellowed out from up there. “That’s all for now! We’re coming back to the ship!”

“See you soon!” Amanda Anderson happily yelled back, waving.

“And now, we wait,” Jackie muttered.

Everyone pondered how they would best pull the large trees to where they would work on cutting them up, but they felt it would be better to wait for the others to return. None of them were the physically stronger members of the castaways, after all. Instead, they waited onboard the yacht.

Then, about twenty minutes into their vigil, Kylie screamed and pointed. There were dozens of raptors suddenly lining the top of the cliffs.

“Raptor!” she yelled as she ran over to man one of the catapults.

At the same time, the others finally appeared, running in along the shore like the hounds of hell were on their heels.

“Get on the crossbows! Get on the crossbows!” Fred was bellowing as he came in view, shouting over both Dmitri and Alan repeatedly yelling “Battle stations!” Willy paused to turn as he drew back on his bow before shooting off at an unseen target before turning to continue running. He evidently didn’t bother to confirm if he had hit what he was aiming at. Patty and Sherry soon appeared as well. Jackie sighed in relief.

At least everyone is accounted for, if not yet safe, she thought.

It didn’t take long to see what they were all running from: more raptors, running right behind them, and running way faster than any of them. And they all clearly knew it as they kept their heads swiveling around to see their pursuers.

Halfway to the yacht, Dmitri suddenly stopped to turn, and yelled out, “EVERYONE! Volley fire! HIT THEM WITH VOLLEY FIRE!” as he drew back his bow and took time to take aim. Willy and the girls immediately stopped to join him and likewise turned to aim their bows. Alan had to turn around to run back to them, but Fred continued on toward the yacht.

“Shoot down their throats!” Willy yelled, standing beside Dmitri.

“NO! Aim for center mass!” both Dmitri and Sherry shouted as everyone lined up.

“FIRE!” Sherry screamed and they all launched their arrows, catching the entire first wave of raptors.

“AGAIN!” Dmitri yelled, yanking out another arrow from his quiver and drawing his bow. The others instantly followed suit.

But before the remaining raptors caught up to their unfortunate comrades, several bellowing screams from the clifftop sounded out, and the raptors on the beach hesitated their rush, but didn’t completely stop. Another series of screams, however, did make them stop and look up at their fellows.

“Hold fire!” Dmitri quickly yelled. “Hold fire! Keep your aim but hold your fire!”

There was nervous anticipation among all of the castaways. Jackie, manning one of the mounted giant crossbows on the main deck, shifted her aim from the group following their people to take aim among the raptors up on the cliff instead.

“This is it,” she heard Dmitri say to the people with him. She also noted that Fred joined to help his wife to man the other of the main deck crossbows.

A series of screams sounded out again from the raptors up above them, and Jackie focused on that guy. But she kept shifting her eyes to look over at what was going on along the shoreline. Evidently, these things had a language among them. Their leader was saying something to make them pause their attack.

“Maybe Dmitri’s idea of turning over their dead is working?” Jackie nervously spoke out.

“We can only hope,” Cathy, who was ready to reload should Jackie have to fire, replied.

Then one of the raptors at the shoreline called back to the ones on the cliff, and an evident discussion began going back and forth.

“Okay, let’s start falling back to the boat,” Dmitri said, easing his draw on his bow. “Slowly!” The others agreed and eased their draws, too, and began cautiously retreating, one slow step at a time.

After a few more exchanges, the raptors on the shore began slowly approaching once more, but their evident goal was to their fallen comrades, some of them were not killed outright. Several helped those to their feet where they could, while the others began collecting those who couldn’t walk. Then they, too, slowly retreated.

That’s when Jackie finally noticed how dark it was becoming, and she looked up to see the sun was being eclipsed once more.

Soon, the raptors on the shore were gone, as were the ones up on the cliff.

“We get to live another day,” Cathy said, sighing in relief.