Horizons Read Online Free PDF Page B

contemplating the fate that could have been theirs, and counting their blessings that they’d somehow miraculously escaped.
    “Was it a bomb, do you think?” Alita asked.
    “I’d put my money on that bolt of lightning,” Zach said.
    “That’s my bet, too,” the steward concurred. “It sounded like a direct hit, which could have fried all the electrical circuits and basically put the craft out of commission.”
    “If that’s the case, what are the chances the pilot got off some sort of SOS?” The soldier voiced the question now uppermost in everyone’s mind.
    The steward shrugged. “I’d say slim to none. The radio equipment was probably knocked out. But the black box might still be sending out a signal.”
    “You think so?” Kelly inquired soberly. “Even after a crash and fire of that magnitude?”
    Again the man shrugged. “Possibly. To borrow a saying from the Timex people, those things can take a licking and keep on ticking.”
    “I hope you’re right,” Blair commented bleakly.
    As did they all.
     
     
    T heir trek down the mountain—from the height and size of it, it could be termed nothing less—was difficult and fraught with its own varieties of hazard. Like many of the islands in this part of the world, it had been formed by cooled volcanic flow, and the jagged rocks underfoot were razor-sharp. This, plus having to forge their own path through the dense vegetation, slowed their progress to a snail’s pace. Of necessity, the men took the lead, taking turns hacking at the impeding undergrowth with sturdy branches, to which they’d tied their pocket knives. The others followed, single file.
    Amid the trees, there was no cooling sea breeze. The humidity was nearly unbearable, making it seem as if they were sucking in water with every labored breath. Their clothing clung limply to their sweat-soaked bodies as they trudged wearily along. The endless tangle of rain-dampened plants only compounded their discomfort, slapping at them with sharp wet leaves that cut like knives and smearing them with dirt and bugs of every imaginable variety. Clouds of mosquitos hovered all around, feasting on every exposed inch of human flesh. Added to their constant buzzing were the raucous cries of island birds, disturbed by this rude intrusion into their habitat.
    Vines as thick as a man’s wrist latticed across the ground and between tree limbs. Alita minced across them in her spike heels, cursing fluen tl y in Spanish. The third time she tripped, launching herself into the brawny Southerner’s back, he stopped. With nary a word he tucked her under his arm like a stray pup, plucked her shoes off, and calmly snapped the three-inch heels from the soles. Then he shoved the shoes back on her feet, set her down, and went on as if nothing untoward had occurred.
    Alita came out of her shock-induced stupor and promptly went ballistic. “You imbecile! ” she shrieked after him. “You … you dumb ox! You just ruined a two hundred dollar pair of shoes!”
    “So sue me!” he replied on a terse laugh. “And while I don’t mind having your sweet lips bumpin’ my backside every three steps, I’m a might busy now, sugar. Try me later, when I’m buck naked.”
    As she guided the old lady and the hobbling steward around Alita, Kelly couldn’t hold back a snicker. “What do you know! Insta-flats! Maybe you’ll start a new trend, Gomez!”
    “Screw you!” Alita spat. “And that giant ape, too!”
     
     
    T hey stopped in a small clearing about halfway down for a brief rest. By this time, Zach would have sold his soul for a machete. His shoulder hurt like all hell. It felt as if someone had taken a two-by-four to it, then set it aflame with a blowtorch. He’d dislocated it once before, playing college football, but he couldn’t remember it ever hurting this badly. Though the boy he was toting downhill was about a hundred and forty pounds under normal circumstances, his inert condition added weight to his limp