Winds of Aerathiea

Chapter 20 - The Becky Thatcher Wakes Up

Zak was the first to regain consciousness. At first he thought he was dead, but then he turned around and could see the others beginning to stir. He quickly surveyed his surroundings, released himself from the harness and began checking the others. Ethan, Zak, Liam, Jackson, Mark Simmons and Daniel Pewter were all breathing but looking worse for wear. At least nothing appeared to be life threatening. Daniel had a welt and a bruise where something in the cabin had struck him, but that was all that was obvious. They began to stir.

"Easy does it," Zak said to Liam as his eyes fluttered open and began to roll around frantically. "Just take it easy for a minute and get your bearings.”

"Where are we?" Jackson croaked from behind, fumbling with his own harness.

"No idea, but apparently the storm is over," gesturing to the front window. Sunlight was streaming in, illuminating the cabin.

"Well, that’s a huge relief at least. That storm was starting to really grate on my nerves."

After helping Jackson and Liam, the three of them slowly woke the others and helped them out of their harnesses. Jackson obtained the med kit and helped Daniel treat the welt and cut on his forehead. The rest of them looked around the cabin.

"Apparently, the autopilot took over and landed us somewhere."

"Well, pop this hatch and let’s take a peek." Zak reached out and twisted the handle on the external hatch. It swung open wide, allowing the sunlight to stream in. The cacophony of sounds followed. The sounds of insects, monkeys and hundreds of varieties of birds filled the air to the bursting point. Zak and Ethan took a step outside while the others craned their heads at the door to take in the vista around them.

Daniel was the first to speak. "I know the cut on my head is making me a little loopy, but does anyone else remember Missouri looking like this?"

All seven of them were out of the hatch now. They stood speechless.

The little ship had brought them down on a long hillside overlooking a misty jungle. The humidity was the first thing they noticed, followed quickly by the heat. The din from hundreds of unidentified animals assaulted their ears from the tree line below their vantage point. Through the mist, they could see the noonday sun beating overhead. Something flew towards them, high overhead. Resembling a bird of prey, like a hawk or eagle, it circled overhead and then swooped back to the trees.

"I don't remember it being ninety degrees either," replied Liam.

"Wait a minute." Zak ducked back into the ship. He came back out with his chronometer that he bought during the war. He looked at his watch and then back at the sun and then handed the watch to Jackson. "Explain this?"

Jackson stared blankly at the watch. It read nineteen thirty-eight. It was evening in Missouri, but the October sun shone directly overhead.

Jackson then handed the watch to Ethan and Liam. "I have nothing," He said looking up at the sun again, shielding his eyes with his hand. He shrugged his shoulders.

Ethan took the watch. There was no reason to verify, but human nature dictated that he did anyway. Yep, the watch read seven thirty-eight in the evening. "Does anyone else have a watch or a tablet or anything? Wait, there was a pad in the launch. I saw it earlier." Ethan ducked into the launch to retrieve the pad.

Ethan motioned to Mark who was standing closest to the RV. "Come, help me with this gear." Ethan retrieved the pad from under a seat and the two of them started breaking out some of the kits and gear they had stowed. "Daniel, I think I found what clobbered you," remarked Ethan, pulling a tuft of skin and hair from the corner of the pad.

Ethan grabbed his drone kit, grappling it with both hands while Mark wrestled with the mess kit. They pulled them through the hatch and back into the clearing and started setting up a makeshift camp. Ethan tossed the pad to Zak who turned it on and shielded the screen from the noon sun. It came up with its internal time of day automatically, Seven Forty-One. "OK, guys, we've established that my watch isn't junk after all. It really is almost eight PM.

"Maybe whatever it was we flew through messed everything thing up?" said Mark

"Astute observation Mark," said Jackson. "That’s the best explanation I've heard so far." Leaning over the rations kit, "Anyone else as hungry as I am? Looks like we have quite an assortment here" He pulled out a couple of packages and the portable cooktop that ran on propane.

Mark and Ethan went back into the RV to retrieve the rest of the camp supplies while Zak retired to the cockpit to see what kind of sense could be made from the Becky Thatcher. He came back out a little while later with his assessment to the smell of beef stew cooking on the stove. They also had a working hydrator that could pull the muggy water vapor right out of the air and distil it into drinking water. It was so humid, the hydrator was working at hundred percent and already well on its way to filling up.

"What’s the word on Becky, Zak?"

"She's still with us. She took a beating, but most of the systems check out. I really do think Aerolon saved our asses back there Jackson. The strain gauges show some incredible readings, but she held together."

"When do you think we can have her flying again? We still have no idea where we are or where the Empress might be."

"Yeah, about that. Fuel reserves are really low. Fortunately, between the hydrators working so well with all this humidity and the apparent abundance of sunlight, the solar panels are working overtime refilling the hydrogen tanks. It will still be four hours or so before we have a comfortable buffer. I would like to get as much fuel in the tanks as possible before we lose the sunlight."

Ethan said, "Imagine if we still had to use jet fuel like they did ten years ago."

Zak looked around and replied "Then we would never make it out of this jungle, would we? By the way, do you remember any jungles in Missouri?"

Jackson thought back to a line from the Wizard of Oz due to the similar way in which they were brought here, "Zak, we're not in Missouri anymore."

"Don't you mean Kansas?"

"Yeah, I don’t think we are there either. I don't know where we are. Let’s get a rundown on your findings."