Polar Yeti And The Beasts Of Prehistory (5 page)

Chapter 7

Rodgers finally had the team ready to embark on the rescue mission. There were a dozen snowmobiles heading into the valley. Each snow mobile would carry two riders, meaning that more than half of the people who comprised the initial expedition would be part of the rescue team. Most of team consisted of graduate students who had taken basic first responder classes. Aside from Rodgers and Gordon, there were a few amateur hunters on the team. Rodgers had the amateur hunters take rifles or shotguns with them but he kept most of the team unarmed because he did want inexperienced people handling a weapon under a potentially stressful situation. Those who were unarmed carried other vital equipment such as tents, flares, medical supplies, and communications equipment.

Gordon was giving out the final orders to the team members as they were mounting their snowmobiles. “I only want certified people to carry weapons. We are going to move in two groups. Those of us who can use the rifles will move in a circle around the first responders. If you are not cleared to use a rifle then do not exit the inner circle unless if I give you the express permission to do so. I don’t care if you see Professor Murella bleeding to death. Do not leave the inner circle unless I give you permission. Is that clear?” The hunter stared at the gathered team members with a look of superiority on his face. “Furthermore, we are likely to encounter strange and dangerous animals like the Yeti that took Professor Murella. This monster and the other beasts that we are likely to encounter in the valley are not typical animals. They are monsters. They will kill us without a second thought. Professor Murella does not want more lives to be lost in this rescue mission and neither do I. If we see any of these beasts, our policy will be to shoot first and ask questions later. I am going into that valley with over twenty men and women and I plan on leaving with that many. If there is anyone who has problem with the way I am running things then get the hell off of my team because you are putting the lives of everyone else at risk.”

Rodgers was standing next to one of the snowmobiles like he was an Old West sheriff standing next to a horse and addressing a posse who were about to pursue a bunch of thieves. Henry could see that the man was on a power trip and thinking mainly of only bagging some rare trophies for himself. Everyone else saw this journey into the valley as a rescue mission but Rodgers saw it as a hunting trip. Henry was good at realizing how group dynamics worked. Rodgers was blowhard but he was also a charismatic speaker. If he did not do something to change the groups’ perception of Rodgers, they would follow him into the valley and blindly carry out any order that he gave.

Henry didn’t give Rodgers the chance to continue to spread his rhetoric to the gathered graduate students. He walked up next to Rodgers, and as subtly as possible, took the hunter’s power over the group away from him. “Mr. Rodgers is right. It will be dangerous when we enter that valley. We will run into all kinds of strange and dangerous creatures that we are not familiar with and we do not know how they will react.” Henry took a deep breath of cold air as he prepared to put his faith in a man he had only met a few days ago to save the love of his life. “Luckily, we have a man here who is accustomed to seeing these animals. He is Jun-Tuk, a native of these lands and a lifelong hunter himself. Mr. Rodgers has put together an excellent plan for entering and traversing the valley. When we are in the valley, we will follow the lead of Mr. Rodgers and he shall operate under the guidance of Jun-Tuk.” Henry pointed to the old man. “With the skills of the greatest hunter in the world, under the guidance of a hunter who has unprecedented knowledge of this area and the animals that inhabit it, we will not only find and rescue my wife but we will learn a great deal about the greatest scientific discovery of the last two hundred years! Now quickly to your snowmobiles! We need to get into that valley before nightfall!” The graduate students were motivated by Henry’s speech. They cheered and ran to the snowmobiles.

Rodgers grabbed Henry by the arm. “What in the hell is this, Henry? There is no way that I am going to follow the lead of that savage. We agreed that I would lead this team!”

Henry pulled his arm away from the hunter. “We agreed that you would coordinate the efforts to get the team prepared to head out. I am still in charge of the expedition and Jun-Tuk knows more about what’s in that valley than you do. I am going to trust in him to get us and Gina out of there alive.”

Rodgers shouted at Henry, “If you think that I am going to let the damn Eskimo lead us to our deaths then you are delusional!”

Henry shrugged. “Look Rodgers, I could really use your expertise in there but if don’t want to follow Jun-Tuk’s lead then you can stay here but just remember two things. First, Gina and I are the people who sign the checks, so if you want to stay here that’s your call but I will stop paying you as of today. Also, if neither of us returns from that valley then no one will be signing your checks and you won’t get paid at all. So it may be in your best interest to go into the valley with us to make sure that you get paid when you go home. The choice is totally up to you.”

Henry mounted a snowmobile and Jun-Tuk climbed on behind him. Henry revved the engine and then he started off in the direction of the valley. The rest of the rescue team followed Henry as he drove across the frozen tundra. Rodgers cursed at Henry and then he too climbed onto a snowmobile and drove off in the direction of the valley.

Gina kept her body as compact as possible in Yukon’s grip. She was well aware that were it not for the Yeti’s body heat, even with her thermal gear she would have frozen to death. As she was trapped within the Yukon’s hand enduring both his strength and the bitter cold, she continued to do her best to study the monster. The stamina of the creature was astounding. After fighting the mammoth, Yukon continued to trek across the valley at a fantastic speed. Based on the position of the sun, Gina was fairly sure that they were still heading further south. What she no idea about though was where exactly Yukon was taking her. This thought had no sooner crossed her mind than Yukon once more veered to the base of the mountain range that made up the edge of the valley. Gina thought the Yukon might have been heading for another cave to rest but then she heard a splashing sound coming from the Yeti’s feet. Gina looked down to see a thin stream of water moving across the snow. The Yeti continued to walk through the thin stream until it began to widen and become deeper.

Gina could see steam rising out of the water and she guessed that there must have been a hot stream that kept the water from freezing. She surmised that this stream served as a water source for the animals in the valley. Once the water was deep enough that Yukon could place his entire head in the water he put Gina down on the frozen bank of the stream, fell to his knees, and then he began drinking the life-giving fluid from the stream. Gina realized that she had no idea when she would have water available to her again. She could live for two weeks with minimal food but without water she would die from dehydration in a matter of days. Like the monster next to her, Gina also fell to her knees and took several deep mouthfuls of water.

Gina was drinking her fill when Yukon quickly pulled his head from the stream and began searching the surrounding area. Gina could not see anything but she heard a loud growl that sounded like a cougar. Yukon roared in return and then stepped in front of Gina. Gina’s heart was racing as she peered out from behind the Yeti’s leg. Yukon could see whatever was there but all that Gina could see was the snow. Then she saw a patch of snow suddenly move forward. She focused her eyes to see that it was not the snow itself moving, but rather something that was blending in with the snow. It was at the moment that Gina realized exactly what was moving toward her. She could see a large feline-like body with canine teeth that extend at least two feet from its upper jaws out of its mouth. Gina immediately realized two things. The first was that the saber-toothed cats in the valley had evolved to the point where their coats were white to help them blend into the snow. This camouflage would help them approach their prey just as snow leopard’s white coat did a hare or a deer. As she started at the cat’s long saber-like teeth, the second thing that she knew was exactly what had killed Jun-Tuk’s daughter.

The saber-toothed cat stalked forward a few more steps then the monster crouched down as if it was going to pounce. The cat stood perfectly still and stared at Yukon. Gina could see the fur on Yukon’s back bristling as anger and adrenaline coursed through the Yeti’s body. Gina was transfixed by the stare down as she waited to see who would make the first move. The saber-toothed cat was by far the largest cat that Gina had ever seen. The beast stood over six feet tall and it was at least twelve-feet long. At a quick glance, Gina surmised that the predator was about half the size and weight of Yukon.

It was the fact that all of her senses were in a heightened state that helped Gina to hear the snarl behind her. Gina didn’t think; she just reacted on instinct and dove to her left. She had no sooner landed in the snow than a second saber-toothed cat with a furry mane pounced onto Yukon’s left calf and buried its claws into the Yeti’s leg. Yukon howled in pain then he quickly swung his right hand toward the back of his leg and backhanded the saber-toothed cat off his leg before the cat could drive its long fangs into him. Yukon turned back toward the cat in front of him to see the beast pouncing at him. The first cat landed on Yukon’s chest and used its claws to latch itself onto the Yeti. The first cat had no mane and Gina figured that it was a female and that the cat with a mane was a male.  

The female cat lifted her head up as she prepared to drive her long canines into Yukon’s heart but before she could bring her head forward, Yukon swatted the female off his chest. The female landed to the right of Gina. She looked at the female for a moment before the male jumped at her from her right. The male was in mid-air when Yukon’s leg connected with the cat’s ribs and sent the male flying to the right of Gina. Yukon stepped in front of Gina and turned his head to the female. The Yeti threw his arms out in a threating gesture and roared at the female cat. Gina knew that she would only live as long as Yukon could protect her from the saber toothed cats. She looked to her right to see the male regaining its footing.

The cats seemed to favor the method of leaping at Yukon one at time so that while the first cat took the brunt of Yukon’s counter attack, the second cat had a free shot to injure the Yeti. Yukon was facing the female who was crouched down and ready to pounce. Gina took a quick moment to look to her right to see the male crouching down as well. Yukon was her protector but she also had to be aware that the Yeti might accidently crush her as he was attempting to fight off the two cats. She decided that she needed to time her movement with those of the cats. The female cat sprung at Yukon. The cat was still in the air when Yukon backhanded the female in the ribs and sent her flying away from both himself and Gina. Yukon had no sooner stuck the female than the male went to pounce on the Yeti’s left leg. At the exact moment that the male jumped, Gina turned and ran, putting some distance between herself and the primordial battle taking place in front of her.

Yukon spun around and dug his own claws into the male cat’s back, but before he could pull the male off his leg, the female landed on the Yeti’s back and drove her claws into Yukon’s shoulder blades. Gina thought the Yeti was about to meet his end when to her astonishment the primate changed tactics. Yukon threw himself to the ground then he started rolling across the snow away from Gina. The soft snow from the storm the night before helped to keep the saber-toothed cats from being crushed under Yukon’s weight but it did force them to release their claws from the Yeti’s flesh.

Yukon stood and turned to find the two cats standing next to each other and staring at him. The Yeti roared and once more threw his arms out to his sides. It seemed to Gina that the Yeti had the upper hand now that he would not have to deal with simultaneous attacks from the front and from behind. The Yeti roared again at the cats but they simply turned away from Yukon and looked at Gina. She cursed herself for being too caught up in the battle to realize that the cats were now between her and Yukon. Gina didn’t think about her next move. She simply turned and did her best to run away from the cats through the ice and snow.

The saber-toothed cats took off after Gina and they were quickly gaining ground. Yukon did not try to pursue the cats. Instead, the Yeti bent down and began digging in the snow. Gina’s lungs burned from the cold air that she was breathing in and she felt her right hamstring tighten up on her. The pulled muscle caused her to fall to the ground. She turned around to see the saber-toothed cats coming toward her, but behind the cats she could see Yukon standing up from the snow with a large chunk of ice in hands. The Yeti lifted the block of ice above his head then he threw it at the cats. The cats were less than ten feet away from Gina when the block of ice came crashing down on top of them.

The ice shattered on top of the cats as it forced both predators to the ground. Gina crawled backward as she watched the two stunned cats trying to stand up while Yukon sprinted toward them. The female cat had regained her feet when Yukon ran up next to her. The Yeti lifted his fist over his head then he quickly brought it straight down into the female’s back. Gina heard a loud snap that she was sure was the female’s spine. The female’s limp body fell into the snow. Yukon lifted his massive foot up and then brought it down onto the female’s head crushing her skull.

The male reared up and latched his claws onto the Yeti’s hip. The male was tearing into the Yeti until Yukon wrapped his arms around the male’s midsection. Yukon lifted the male over his head and then he tossed the male in the opposite direction of Gina. The male slid across the ice and snow for several feet before he was able to stop his momentum and regain his footing. Gina was still sitting in the snow, and despite the fact that her body was freezing, she could not take her eyes off the sight before her. The two prehistoric monsters were staring at each other preparing to engage in battle once again. The pure white fur of both monsters was streaked and matted with the bright red blood of both themselves and their opponent.