Excerpt from Congo Spider Fangs Copyright © 2016 Gerard Doris.
TREASURE REBELS #2:
CONGO SPIDER FANGS
SAMPLE
...Twenty minutes later the Chinook continued soaring across the African sky, following the Congo River which twisted through the almost haunted looking and impenetrably dense rainforest. Far in the distance storm clouds could be seen, but for now the weather was flawless, and the searing hot sunlight glistened off the helicopter’s fuselage.
"I’d say we have a couple hours before the storm hits us."
The older pilot, whom everyone simply called David, adjusted the controls and as the chopper picked up even more speed he replied, "I’m going to make sure we’re there in under fifty min."
The minutes passed, and after looking back at the cargo compartment Terence undid the bucket seat belts and said, "I want to double check the medicine."
David didn’t even look up as he simply responded, "Roger."
Terence stepped past the bucket seats into the lengthy cargo compartment which was wide enough for a car to drive through. But with the three cases and strange looking crate lined up along the sides, he only had a few feet of walking space through the centre.
He examined the straps to ensure they were still tight, an unnecessary formality with David or him at the controls. The helo hadn’t even dipped or shaken enough to spill a cup of coffee in the last half hour, while Terence’s take off had been picture perfect.
He then looked at each case timer, smiling for the first time in hours, honoured and happy he had been given the opportunity to deliver the medicine and help save lives.
Suddenly the helicopter lurched and the tattered wooden crate belonging to the botanists slid against his leg. He looked up in surprise and pushed the crate back against the wall and retightened the suddenly slackened strap. He looked up and spoke through his headset intercom.
"What was that?"
David responded calmly, "What do you mean? Nothing happened."
"The quick bank to the left."
"We’ve been flying straight for ten minutes."
Terence uneasily double checked the strap to make sure it would hold and after sitting back down into the cockpit he said as he buckled himself in, "The old crate broke free and I had to retighten it. If you didn’t move then the crate’s weight must have caused it to come loose. Must weigh over a hundred pounds! My Uncle’s men must not have known what they were doing when they tied it in."
"What did Jabari say over the intercom before we left…that it was filled with plants?"
"And botanist equipment."
Both pilots looked at each and David replied sombrely, "I don’t care what Jabari said, let’s have the doctor in the village run it through that x-ray machine. I don’t want to risk leaving drugs or illegal weapons there."
Terence looked out at the storm still three miles away in the distant sky. "No complaint from me."
Another minute passed and David pointed ahead. "See those series of waterfalls a half mile up ahead?"
"Yeah?"
"Once we pass over them we’ll start flying over the rapids, and then the village is only ten minutes away."
"Copy that."
Suddenly the helicopter shook, as if a gale of wind had briefly brushed against the helo’s side. Both pilots looked at one another then looked back.
The crate had broken free of the yellow strap once again, and this time the crate’s lid had popped open as well.
Terence stood up but froze at what he saw.
Without turning his eyes away from the view ahead David asked anxiously, "What’s wrong!?"
"The crate moved."
"I know that!"
"On its own."
"What??"
Suddenly the crate toppled completely over and Terence saw the spiders.
Nine hairy arachnids each the size of a large dinner plate, with strange black and purple lines across their bodies, crawled out of the crate and quickly began to hop onto the steel cases and crawl up the cargo compartment’s ribbed sides, ceiling, and everywhere else.
"Close the cockpit door!"
Before Terence could react one of the creatures jumped five feet through the air and landed directly onto the back of David’s leather chair.
"Get the thing off!"
But before Terence could move the spider bit through the chair and David yelled in pain as the two inch fangs easily sliced through the chair and into his back.
Acting on instinct Terence reached forward and grabbed the purple haired spider, throwing it as hard as possible back into the compartment where it smashed against one of the medicine cases and dropped onto the metal floor squirming and stunned.
Terence slammed the door and for half a minute David assured Terence he felt fine, until suddenly he began coughing and blood appeared out of his nose. Terence reached to help but before he could two more spiders that had crawled inside unseen before the cockpit door closed jumped up and onto the control panel.
Then everything flew in every direction as the helicopter began spinning and losing
altitude.
Terence picked himself up and reached forward for the control stick wondering what had happened. Then he looked and saw David was motionless and no longer in control.
With the helicopter still spinning and dropping Terence barely held on, and after climbing back into his seat regained almost full control…until one of the spiders jumped straight onto his face.
He instinctively reached up and swatted the arachnid away, doing everything in his power to keep control of the helo at the same time. But when he looked up he knew he wouldn’t prevent the crash in time.
Through the cockpit window all he could see was open sky, then the very top of one of the waterfalls as the helicopter dropped and crashed directly into it.
A sharp horrific screech filled the cabin as the chopper’s right side was breached by a sharp jagged stone, protruding a full foot into the Chinook’s cargo hold.
Water began to pour in and Terence opened his eyes to see his right shoulder was covered in blood, and the entire helicopter was resting at a 45 degree angle. He crawled across the damaged instruments and shattered glass to check his friend’s pulse who sat lifeless.
He then punched the control panel in rage.
David was gone.
Terence then opened the cockpit door and looked through the cargo compartment. Water was pouring in rapidly through the breach, and to his surprise the spiders didn’t crawl away but towards the growing pool of water.
He quickly realized what had happened. The helicopter had smashed onto one of the sharp outcroppings of stone lining the rim of the waterfall, and because of the choppers sheer weight, force of the crash, and immense size of the sharp stone, the helo was now pinned to the very top of the waterfall. Shocked he further realized that half of the chopper was now hanging over the edge of the waterfall out into open space.
He looked at the radio. Broken.
He then looked down at the cargo in fear.
Could he save the medicine?
He could see the spiders were crawling atop the medicine cases that were still tied securely to the wall opposite the stone breach.
Could he run forward and grasp one of the cases without getting bitten?
He didn’t have a choice. The fishermen in the village were doomed if he didn’t save some of it.
He stepped forward and approached the closest case, hearing the helo groan in protest with every step he took forward. With the tear in the Chinook’s fuselage, including the endless pounding it was taking from the surging water all around it, he guessed it could topple over the falls at any moment.
He covered his hand with his jacket sleeve and aggressively pushed one of the spiders off the case. It fell into the rising pool of water on the floor and didn’t resurface.
He quickly undid the strap holding the three cases in place and lifted one of them. He stepped back and cautiously walked towards the cockpit by stepping over another spider that had suddenly dropped down from above in front of him. He reached the cockpit and not seeing any spiders inside he quickly locked the cockpit door, hoping there weren’t any hidden from view. He then grasped the case and tried opening the digital lock, wanting to pull out the vials of medicine because he would never be able to swim with the cumbersome case.
Nothing worked.
He then opened the pilot’s door and looked down in terror at the sixty foot drop. He wondered about the likelihood of whirlpools at the bottom of the falls, or how strong the river current was. Suddenly he froze as a strange sound met his ears.
He looked up at the strange sound of hissing and saw three of the arachnids slowly approaching as they crawled atop the underside of the cockpit roof… towards his head.
He knew what he had to do. He would have to hope the helicopter would remain pinned to the falls. And he would have to hope he could reach Jabari before the timers ran out on the cases.
He leaned forward and kicking the cockpit door back open slid the case back into the cargo hold. Then just before the spiders reached his head he jumped through the open door and disappeared into the roaring water, his descent completely concealed by the jungle mist which hung over the falls.
(END OF SAMPLE) Books2read STORE LINKS. STORY DESCRIPTION.
TREASURE REBELS #2:
CONGO SPIDER FANGS
SAMPLE
...Twenty minutes later the Chinook continued soaring across the African sky, following the Congo River which twisted through the almost haunted looking and impenetrably dense rainforest. Far in the distance storm clouds could be seen, but for now the weather was flawless, and the searing hot sunlight glistened off the helicopter’s fuselage.
"I’d say we have a couple hours before the storm hits us."
The older pilot, whom everyone simply called David, adjusted the controls and as the chopper picked up even more speed he replied, "I’m going to make sure we’re there in under fifty min."
The minutes passed, and after looking back at the cargo compartment Terence undid the bucket seat belts and said, "I want to double check the medicine."
David didn’t even look up as he simply responded, "Roger."
Terence stepped past the bucket seats into the lengthy cargo compartment which was wide enough for a car to drive through. But with the three cases and strange looking crate lined up along the sides, he only had a few feet of walking space through the centre.
He examined the straps to ensure they were still tight, an unnecessary formality with David or him at the controls. The helo hadn’t even dipped or shaken enough to spill a cup of coffee in the last half hour, while Terence’s take off had been picture perfect.
He then looked at each case timer, smiling for the first time in hours, honoured and happy he had been given the opportunity to deliver the medicine and help save lives.
Suddenly the helicopter lurched and the tattered wooden crate belonging to the botanists slid against his leg. He looked up in surprise and pushed the crate back against the wall and retightened the suddenly slackened strap. He looked up and spoke through his headset intercom.
"What was that?"
David responded calmly, "What do you mean? Nothing happened."
"The quick bank to the left."
"We’ve been flying straight for ten minutes."
Terence uneasily double checked the strap to make sure it would hold and after sitting back down into the cockpit he said as he buckled himself in, "The old crate broke free and I had to retighten it. If you didn’t move then the crate’s weight must have caused it to come loose. Must weigh over a hundred pounds! My Uncle’s men must not have known what they were doing when they tied it in."
"What did Jabari say over the intercom before we left…that it was filled with plants?"
"And botanist equipment."
Both pilots looked at each and David replied sombrely, "I don’t care what Jabari said, let’s have the doctor in the village run it through that x-ray machine. I don’t want to risk leaving drugs or illegal weapons there."
Terence looked out at the storm still three miles away in the distant sky. "No complaint from me."
Another minute passed and David pointed ahead. "See those series of waterfalls a half mile up ahead?"
"Yeah?"
"Once we pass over them we’ll start flying over the rapids, and then the village is only ten minutes away."
"Copy that."
Suddenly the helicopter shook, as if a gale of wind had briefly brushed against the helo’s side. Both pilots looked at one another then looked back.
The crate had broken free of the yellow strap once again, and this time the crate’s lid had popped open as well.
Terence stood up but froze at what he saw.
Without turning his eyes away from the view ahead David asked anxiously, "What’s wrong!?"
"The crate moved."
"I know that!"
"On its own."
"What??"
Suddenly the crate toppled completely over and Terence saw the spiders.
Nine hairy arachnids each the size of a large dinner plate, with strange black and purple lines across their bodies, crawled out of the crate and quickly began to hop onto the steel cases and crawl up the cargo compartment’s ribbed sides, ceiling, and everywhere else.
"Close the cockpit door!"
Before Terence could react one of the creatures jumped five feet through the air and landed directly onto the back of David’s leather chair.
"Get the thing off!"
But before Terence could move the spider bit through the chair and David yelled in pain as the two inch fangs easily sliced through the chair and into his back.
Acting on instinct Terence reached forward and grabbed the purple haired spider, throwing it as hard as possible back into the compartment where it smashed against one of the medicine cases and dropped onto the metal floor squirming and stunned.
Terence slammed the door and for half a minute David assured Terence he felt fine, until suddenly he began coughing and blood appeared out of his nose. Terence reached to help but before he could two more spiders that had crawled inside unseen before the cockpit door closed jumped up and onto the control panel.
Then everything flew in every direction as the helicopter began spinning and losing
altitude.
Terence picked himself up and reached forward for the control stick wondering what had happened. Then he looked and saw David was motionless and no longer in control.
With the helicopter still spinning and dropping Terence barely held on, and after climbing back into his seat regained almost full control…until one of the spiders jumped straight onto his face.
He instinctively reached up and swatted the arachnid away, doing everything in his power to keep control of the helo at the same time. But when he looked up he knew he wouldn’t prevent the crash in time.
Through the cockpit window all he could see was open sky, then the very top of one of the waterfalls as the helicopter dropped and crashed directly into it.
A sharp horrific screech filled the cabin as the chopper’s right side was breached by a sharp jagged stone, protruding a full foot into the Chinook’s cargo hold.
Water began to pour in and Terence opened his eyes to see his right shoulder was covered in blood, and the entire helicopter was resting at a 45 degree angle. He crawled across the damaged instruments and shattered glass to check his friend’s pulse who sat lifeless.
He then punched the control panel in rage.
David was gone.
Terence then opened the cockpit door and looked through the cargo compartment. Water was pouring in rapidly through the breach, and to his surprise the spiders didn’t crawl away but towards the growing pool of water.
He quickly realized what had happened. The helicopter had smashed onto one of the sharp outcroppings of stone lining the rim of the waterfall, and because of the choppers sheer weight, force of the crash, and immense size of the sharp stone, the helo was now pinned to the very top of the waterfall. Shocked he further realized that half of the chopper was now hanging over the edge of the waterfall out into open space.
He looked at the radio. Broken.
He then looked down at the cargo in fear.
Could he save the medicine?
He could see the spiders were crawling atop the medicine cases that were still tied securely to the wall opposite the stone breach.
Could he run forward and grasp one of the cases without getting bitten?
He didn’t have a choice. The fishermen in the village were doomed if he didn’t save some of it.
He stepped forward and approached the closest case, hearing the helo groan in protest with every step he took forward. With the tear in the Chinook’s fuselage, including the endless pounding it was taking from the surging water all around it, he guessed it could topple over the falls at any moment.
He covered his hand with his jacket sleeve and aggressively pushed one of the spiders off the case. It fell into the rising pool of water on the floor and didn’t resurface.
He quickly undid the strap holding the three cases in place and lifted one of them. He stepped back and cautiously walked towards the cockpit by stepping over another spider that had suddenly dropped down from above in front of him. He reached the cockpit and not seeing any spiders inside he quickly locked the cockpit door, hoping there weren’t any hidden from view. He then grasped the case and tried opening the digital lock, wanting to pull out the vials of medicine because he would never be able to swim with the cumbersome case.
Nothing worked.
He then opened the pilot’s door and looked down in terror at the sixty foot drop. He wondered about the likelihood of whirlpools at the bottom of the falls, or how strong the river current was. Suddenly he froze as a strange sound met his ears.
He looked up at the strange sound of hissing and saw three of the arachnids slowly approaching as they crawled atop the underside of the cockpit roof… towards his head.
He knew what he had to do. He would have to hope the helicopter would remain pinned to the falls. And he would have to hope he could reach Jabari before the timers ran out on the cases.
He leaned forward and kicking the cockpit door back open slid the case back into the cargo hold. Then just before the spiders reached his head he jumped through the open door and disappeared into the roaring water, his descent completely concealed by the jungle mist which hung over the falls.
(END OF SAMPLE) Books2read STORE LINKS. STORY DESCRIPTION.
