CASSANDRA 13

The flight to the coast was uneventful. Neither of the women had ever seen the ocean. Its grandeur was breathtaking. Fifty-foot waves crashed into the rocky shores filling the air with a thunderous din. The coastline was a continuous cliff-line as far as the eye could see. great fjords broke the sheer cliffs and intruded inland making sea size lagoons. The whole area had become a haven for sea birds. Millions nested and eked out a living amongst the rocks. The copter noise caused the sky to fill with a multi-colored mix of wings and feathers. The avian had found a paradise in this raw environment.

"Did people live here?" Beth stared out awed by the sheer number of birds.

"Yeah, but the coast used to be hundreds of miles west of here. People lived there by the millions. When earth caught the second moon the plates reacted here like no other place on earth. It was like squeezing an orange. The bulge was this place. A huge landmass included land areas called states. California, Arizona, Nevada all just disappeared into the sea. This place was a mountain range." Cassandra stopped talking and started fighting the stick. Sweat appeared on her brow. "Damn birds."

"My God, that must have been awesome."

'No witnesses. Fifty million or more died in the first hour."

"It must have been quite different then."

Cassandra relaxed." If you can believe it the coast was a place of tranquillity. Sandy flat beaches down to blue water. The ocean under one moon was a different creature. People swam in it, darkened their skin lying in the sand, rode the waves with planks, and sailed on its gentle surface. Not that storms didn't shake things up- just not like now. They wouldn't recognize the storms on the seas now."

'I guess the birds moved in when people moved out." Beth murmured. "They are thriving now."

"Life is resilient." Cassandra swore as a new flock of birds rose beneath them.

A loud bang interrupted the women. Smoke filled the cockpit.

"A rotor must have hit a bird. We are going down."

Cassandra reached over and flipped the switch to the shield. "That may help. Hang on girl it will be rough."

Long seconds later the ship hit hard.

***

The darkness was oppressive. The lamps the band carried acted as swords of light piercing the darkness with pipe like beams giving no understanding of the whole of the cave they were in. Each feared what the darkness hid from sight. Odd noises added to the group's unease. Jonathan would switch on a light globe the size of a softball every few minutes so that they could get their barring. Each member was given a special set of glasses to protect their eyes from the blinding luminescence. The cavern once revealed was a cathedral of flowing stone. Stalagmites and stalagmites one hundred feet in length further gave the look of a church awe inspiring in color and splendor. Jewels cast back light in flashes of every color in the rainbow. The water was as clear as glass. To the surprise of the group it was teeming with life. Large fish flashed their scaled sides scattering schools of smaller fishes.

"Why can't we keep the light on? I hate it when it turns off…I go dead blind. And I'll tell you this place gives me the creeps." Hawk put aside his macho veneer.

Elizabeth answered, "The energy supply in these balls are limited. When we found them there was a warning label that stated that even of a short duration could cause retina damage. My husband and I have learned to heed the labels on this old stuff."

The boat did an abrupt jolt that silenced the bunch.

" What the hell…did we hit a rock." Snake held the railing to stabilize herself.

The boat lifted out of the water and came down with a splash.

"That's no rock…damn!" Jonathan blurted.

"This isn't good is it?" The boss shifted trying to get a look into the water.

'Lord!" Elizabeth fell back staring at a tentacle a foot thick raising out of the water. A second slithered into the boat searching for something to latch onto. It found the Bosses leg causing him to let out a yelp.

"Shoot the gaddamn thing.'" he screamed.

The tentacle lifted him into the air and held him over the water.

"Look there." Snake pointed to an odd reflection in the water. "By the cave wall. I think we are dealing with some form of giant squid."

" All very fine people but this son of a bitch has me at a disadvantage. I get the idea that it is eyeing me to see if I could be its dinner. Do something!" Boss hollered.

A loud retort sounded and the tentacle exploded just below Boss. He fell into the water with a splash. He surfaced quickly and swam over to the boat. Hawk pulled him in.

"Oh no!" Elizabeth pointed to the walls above where the squid was seen. Odd shapes scurried over the walls. A large shadowy figure came out of the water being pulled up by tentacles. The massive body heaved itself up and perched on an outcropping as two plate-sized eyes rotated clearly looking at the boat. To smaller appendages searched the rocks with hand like ends. Finding loss rocks it threw them with incredible velocity at the boat. The crew fell to the floor of the boat dodging the missiles.

"The damn thing has hands. Let's get the hell out of here." Hawk fired his pistol at the beast. A high pitched whine indicated that it was a hit. Other bullets riddled the bag like body. The beast fell into the water.

Jonathan revved the boat causing its riders to spill to the deck.

"Sorry, I don't want to be here anymore." The fat manned giggled then sobered. "We are going to risk eye damage. I am not going into the dark until we are out of here."

No one disagreed.

Elizabeth broke the silence. "These cave systems are enormous. Even sea size cisterns…lakes. It all happened when the world changed."

"Do you think there are more of those things?" Snake responded.

"Who knows. But I can tell you me and the mister have seen a lot of animals that were not here a few hundred years ago. At least from the 'pre-chaos day' vids we have looked at. Apparently God can make animals in a day. The whole evolution thing may be wrong. Environmental stressors seem to create DNA changes in one or two generations. If there is one there's probably a breeding population."

"That’s scary." Hawk reacted.

"Yeah, considering that this squid may not even be the top predator. Never mind the creatures it feeds on that require twenty foot tentacles." Boss added with a low whisper adding to the creepiness of the surroundings.

" I have always been claustrophobic and this place creeps me." Hawk murmured.

'Keep it together all of you. We will get out of here." Boss scolded turning to look ahead.

The fat man revved the engine again. "Let's get out of here. I would rather face here then not here midgets than these slimy things and their friends."

***

Raul awoke tired, hungry, thirsty, aching, and apparently no longer with those winged monstrosities. He shook his head trying to clear the fuzz. He thought he saw Samson but put it off as a hallucination. A large commotion was going on, he wasn't alone after all. The bloody bird things were screeching and throwing the dead off the ledge. It sounded like his Uncle's doing. Maybe he was here but that wasn't possible.

An hour passed and the din subsided. Raul passed out again.

"Get ups tu." A rough sounding voice roused him. He looked into the beaked creature.

" Vee goes." It lifted him to his feet.

Talons digging painfully into his shoulders. The monster dragged him to the ledge. Raul started a prayer thinking that he was going to be tossed over like yesterday's garbage. Instead he was soon being carried through the air. Except for the pain and the thought that where ever he was going it would no doubt end in his death, the view was amazing.

The pain in his shoulder was almost unbearable and the air was getting thin. Every cough was torture. It took a moment for Raul to realize that it wasn't the plain he was looking down on but a narrow valley between two peaks. There must be a passage out of this range. Even Samson wasn't aware if this pass.

He passed put again.

***

"Damn…damn…damn!" Samson stomped his boots in frustration. "Why didn't I see it coming. I must be getting old."

"What's up Boss? Benning had watched Samson mutter curses to himself for about a half an hour before he could wait no more. Whatever happened, it didn't bode well for his son.

"My plan worked…sort of. I was trying to make them think that Raul was haunted. These birds are really superstitious. I thought they would drop him in the valley for fear of being cursed. Their religion would allow them to drop him some place where nature would kill him and leave them blameless. That means there must be a way out of the valley I don't know about. They took him somewhere else. Let's load up. We'll head west and north and trust that we find the pass."

"So he is alive?" Benning hoped.

"Yes my friend he is alive. And he's heading…" Samson closed his eyes and let out a long exhale. "He's that way. Oh no!"

"What?" Benning stopped as he was picking up his bedroll.

"She's over there too. I got a bad feeling." Samson strapped down his gear on his horse.

"What kind of bad feeling?"

"Don't mind me. Let's get going."

Benning swallowed his fear and finished up and mounted. They rode off. Samson slowed a minute and looked over at his friend.

"I think your son is going to fine. I just fell that red headed vixen is going to make things a lot more complicated. She has decided to screw me before she kills me."

Benning looked puzzled.

"I don't mean cheat me in some deal. She wants to have congress…."

Benning still looked confused.

'Damn son. She wants to bed me. Wants me to boink her."

"Oh. That does make things complicated. What are you gonna do if we catch up with her?" Benning could not help but smile. Something he hadn't done in a while.

"You know. I'm usually pretty organized. But this time I'm not sure. I was sort of winging it. I can tell you this …if that vixen things I'm gonna dip my wick in her she is crazy. And I know she is. It would be a black widow thing…if you get my meaning."

"I had a gal like that once. She was a beauty but had a hard heart…"

"Glad to have you back buddy." Samson urged his horse on.

"Any way. She gets in this card game and tells everyone I was staking her. So the first hand is dealt…"

***

Beth opened her eyes to see a beautiful face framed by a fiery halo of red hair.

"I like it when you wear your hair down." Beth sat up rubbing her neck.

"Tough girl aren't you? Sorry about the crash. The mind knew but the hands wouldn't pay attention."

The copter lay on its side about one hundred feet from them. The rotors were bent but otherwise the craft was intact.

"What happened?" Beth asked.

"What happened? Damn girl we were up there and now we are down here and we are still sucking air. Nothing else makes much difference." Cassandra smiled and helped Beth to her feet.

Beth gave herself a self -examination making sure she wasn't injured.

"You 're fine. I looked you over. We need to figure out what's next. This is some rough terrain. We need to head north and soon I have a feeling." Cassandra turned and headed for the downed craft. Beth followed.

"We had food and water?"

"Fell out…in the sea." Cassandra answered over her shoulder.

"Guns, ammo?" Beth hoped.

'Yeah, We have weapons and some survival supplies just no food and water. Just before we went down I saw a waterfall just north." Cassandra pointed.

Beth ordered. "Give me a rifle. Let's us see how these birds taste. Seems fair since they brought us down."

"Fair enough!" Beth climbed in the copter and handed out cases. Beth took them and staked them a bit away from the ship.

A loud screech filled the air and the women turned their eyes skyward. A huge flying monster flew over .In its talons was a man. It flew north and disappeared over a crest.

"I'll be damned." Cassandra smiled at Beth. "I think you are about to get laid."

"What?" Beth yelped.

"I got good and bad news."

"Tell me."

""The good news is that man with the dragon attached to its shoulders is your soon to be lover."

Beth put up her hand to shade her eyes." The bad news?"

"My soon to be lover will be coming for him."

"Well, if I am to be had by this man we better go see what kind of shape he's in." Beth slung the rifle and started walking north toward the last point they had seen the apparition.

                  ALL MATERIALS KEN LEHNIG (c) 2006  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED