CHAPTER 23


   There was some kind of excited and incoherent mumbling that was coming from beneath him. Tony could even feel the vibrations from the sound and then he realized the other sensation was a damp moisture that was coming from only one thing. Then Danni stopped talking and used her mouth for another purpose. She bit right into Tony’s hip and even past four layers of  thick, padded, clothing he could still feel her teeth!
Tony slid down just a little and suddenly Danni started coughing. Then, with no small amount of anger he exclaimed, “what did you bite me for!”
After the coughing died away Danni yelled back with the exact same level of fury, “cause you were gagging me with your…” She became mildly embarrassed and then yelled again, “I’m not that kind of girl!” After a moment of silence she qualified her statement more calmly, “not on the first date anyway.”
Suddenly they were both laughing until the dust made them stop. Tony took a moment to rest and catch his breath. Then he told her, “first date huh? Have to say Danni, I can sure pick some four star holes, can‘t I?.”
Danni wanted to laugh and cry. Even exhausted like this, with her lungs filled with dust, he still made her laugh. She forced out her words since it was hard to speak, “if you start with the jokes about putting your something in a hole, I swear I will bite something more vital next time.”
This time, as Tony’s laughter trailed off, he sounded a little more serious, “I see what the problem is.”
Danni’s laugh was one of exhaustion, “you mean besides the fact that you’re not getting a blow job?”
Tony had to stop and laugh again. He sounded as tired as Danni felt, “no I’m serious. I mean this hole is almost like a natural trap door. This root up here is working a flap of dirt and grass like it’s a spring. Soon as something falls in it just flips that little plug right back in place.”
“I see,” which was not a literal truth because Danni could not see much above Tony’s waist line at the moment. Looking up was also still a problem since every time she tried it, dirt was falling in her eyes. There was one thing she was detecting, “where’s the light coming from?”
“That flap isn’t as solid as it looks,” Tony told her, “unfortunately.” Tony began to sound strained and he told her, “I can almost reach it.”
Danni tried to look up again and just as she got her head turned the right way, a clump of dirt landed in her face. That negated the question she wanted to ask. She spent the next few minutes trying to recover from that disaster. All that Tony could tell from above was the fact that her face was furiously rubbing up against his flight suit and, was she actually spitting?
“Uh,” Tony started breathing heavy again, “Danni!”
She snapped back at him, “what!”
“That’s making it really hard to concentrate,” and that sounded very true coming from Tony’s lips. She did as he asked and Tony was almost sorry about it. He then tried to get himself back on track, “we don’t have long. I can tell it’s not as light up there now.”
Danni just grunted, “so?”
“If we’re going to get those filters cleaned I’d like to do it before dark,” Tony told her. Then he added, “I kind of don’t want to spend the night out here. You know, your friend with the hunting rifle?”
For a moment, Danni just accepted that but, as she hung on for dear life, while Tony worked above her, a thought crossed her mind, “wait a minute. You don’t have any tools?”
That sounded almost like a set up. Danni was at first infuriated but, then found herself strangely complimented. She even found herself just a tad excited. Did he really set her up? Wow! That was kind of romantic and, she was going to enjoy every minute of it, after she killed him, of course.
Then Tony did what he was really good at. He stuck his foot in his mouth by saying, “somebody has to be looking for us by now. That mean’s Barbara’s probably already in the area. All we have to do is radio our position and we got tools.”
Danni gulped and it had nothing to do with the dust. “Um, Tony?”
He stopped working for a minute to rest again, “what?” Her first couple of tries were muffled again. Tony had to finally be serious and tell her straight up, “just spit it out and I’m not making a dirty joke.”
“I,” Danni was being very coy when she said, “kind of broke the radio?” There was no response. There was no movement. There was nothing so Danni meekly asked, “Tony?”
“Nothing Danni,” he said as she could feel him going back to work. “We’ll worry about that when we get out of here.” He was definitely pulling and digging hard as he said, “to be honest. I’m more worried about how I’m going to explain all this to Barbara.”
“Why?” Danni was genuinely puzzled. “How can water in the line be your fault?”
He kept right on pushing, pulling, and she could feel his body twisting against hers. He also managed to say, “cause I got this kind of reputation, you know. I guess after everything with Amy, that’s just what people think I’m like.” He suddenly stopped, became reflective, and told her, “and I’m not.”
Danni was even more confused, “you mean, you guys weren’t doing it out on your surfboard? Where the hell did all that sand come from?”
“No,” Tony sounded almost biting now, “I mean yes, we were. If that makes you happy, yes. That’s exactly what we were doing.” He deflated and said, “and did anybody ever stop and wonder why?”
What was there to wonder? He’s a guy and she’s got pretty red hair. That was all Danni ever figured it was. Now, she was starting to think otherwise and the sinking feeling suddenly had nothing to do with the hole. Danni mumbled, “you still love her.”
Of all the things that he had not heard her say, why was it that Tony picked this instance to have clarity of sound, “yeah, I guess I do Danni. I’ve been asking myself that question for a while and, that’s just kind of what it keeps coming back too.”
Now he was banging away at something, with gusto. Danni did her best to shield her face from the falling debris. Finally it came to a stop and after a few coughs, Danni had to know something, “why did you break up with her then?”
Tony sounded very surprised at that question, “is that what she told you?”
“Actually,” Danni suddenly realized something, “she didn’t tell me anything. I just.. You know? It kind of figured.”
The only answer that Danni got was Tony going back to work and, this time, the result was a sudden flood of light. Tony sounded relieved now, “I can get out. Hang on to something.” He wasn’t kidding either. His body slipped up past the tangled roots with an ease that Danni had almost come to think impossible. She also found herself covered with more dirt and debris than at any point since she got stuck down in the hole. She had not been ready for the one two punch.
Tony had very little time to celebrate the victory. He had his own one two punch of sensations to deal with. His body was overreacting to the sudden freedom while the sweat and mud, that covered most of this clothing and skin, felt like they were instantly freezing in the cold air. Tony had thought it was cold down in that hole but, the reality was, it had been rather warm compared to the surface.
It took him a second to realize that he had kicked a lot of dirt loose and that all of it fell right back in the hole. It was not very much, at least, not when you were standing around on the ground. That hole was not all that big though. Down below, for Danni, it must have seemed like an avalanche. Tony heard her screaming while something crashed down there. He quickly spun around on his belly and looked back down in the hole.
After yelling her name a couple of times Danni finally replied with some more coughing, “I’m here. Tony, I-uh, think I’m stuck again.”
A smile grew on his lips and Tony collapsed on the spot. He breathed a sigh of relief and then finally he told her, “it’s ok Danni. I got out. We do have rope up in the chopper. I got some at the hardware store. I’ll go get it, lower it down, and we can get you out easy.”
Danni did not sound entirely sure of his plan, “um, ok. Just, you’re not going to take that long are you?”
Tony pushed himself to his feet and told her the stupidest thing he had ever said in his life, “just stay right here. I’ll be right back.” If she said any angry words to him then Tony figured he kind of deserved it. He did not care. If he had to take shit from her, for the next year, then that was good. It meant they would both be alive. That’s all he cared about at the moment.
He ran out into the field and came to a sudden stop when he saw what was sitting up on the little ridge where his bird was parked. There was another chopper sitting not far from it. Even better was the fact that Tony knew that other chopper. It was Barbara’s! They’d already been found! Things were getting even better now! From that point, Tony ran right up the hill to his chopper without even realizing he had done it. When he reached his bird he noticed that the engine covers were off. The fuel lines were detached as well. The back compartment spaces were even open and an air hose was plugged in to the compressor. He almost tripped over the air wrench that was attached to the other end of the hose and just lying around on the ground.
That all looked good to Tony’s eyes, until he asked a very relevant question. Where the hell was Barbara? Then Tony remembered that there was a homicidal maniac running around on the loose. Everything looked to be just abandoned in place. Did Barbara have a run in with this guy? Tony started to panic all over again. He cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled out her name.
The answer came from right behind him and it was quite hostile, “you have a lot of explaining to do.”
Tony screamed, spun around, really tripped over the air wrench this time, and fell flat on his ass. Then, from the ground, he snapped at Barbara, “don’t do that!”
Barbara sat the fuel filter down and then grabbed a rag from her back pocket. She watched Tony get to his feet and studied him closely. It was hard to miss all the mud, dirt, and grime that she could not even begin to identify. She also softened her tone, “what the hell happened to you two?” Suddenly Barbara was a little concerned, “where’s Danni? Tony?”
Tony started stumbling for words, “it’s a long story, I mean, it got long when I was looking for wood and then I kind of got stuck in Danni’s hole and I had to pound away at…” Tony went to a knee, almost collapsed from exhaustion, and then looked at the horrified expression on Barbara’s face. He finally managed a coherent sentence, “that didn’t come out right.”
Barbara crossed her arms and huffed, “you had best explain yourself.”
“Danni,” Tony got out between heavy breaths of both panic and exhaustion.
“Yes I got that part, Tony.”
“She’s stuck in a hole,” Tony finally told her as he pointed back towards the tree line.
This was not a story that Barbara would have expected had it been anything but true. She reached in to the open back door of her chopper and pulled out a canteen that she quickly tossed too Tony. Then, as he drank, she quickly checked him for obvious signs of injuries and trauma.
As soon as the canteen was emptied, and it took no time at all, Tony was ready to go back and get Danni. He brushed off Barbara’s examination. He also felt more coherent now, “she’s still down there. We’re wasting time. I’m fine.” Then Tony looked up at the engine compartment and back down at the filter. It was one of several and, as he very well knew, it was also the biggest, “how did you get that down by yourself? I know it’s possible but…”
“I didn’t,” Barbara said as she reached in the storage compartment and grabbed some rope, “I had help.”
Tony wondered and then asked, “did Kent fly out here with you? Where is he? I thought…”
A portly man with a scruffy looking face came walking around the chopper with one of the filters in his hand. Tony had never seen anyone else out here but, Danni had described her attacker well enough. They had plenty of time down in the hole to talk about a lot of things and that had to be the single biggest topic. Tony really thought of the chances of two people, walking around way out here and dressed pretty much the same, were virtually nil. What was even more important was that Tony saw the rifle slung on his shoulder and the look on the guys face when their eyes met.
The man went for his rifle and Tony went for the gun that was always strapped under his pilot’s seat. Unfortunately, Tony discovered, the gun was also another of the items that Chuck had removed. Tony was swearing as the pudgy guy leveled his hunting rifle and said, “you’re that douche bag that fell in the hole. How did you get out?”
Barbara raised her hands as if she were telling them both to stop. She was also a bit confused, “everybody just calm down here. What the hell is going on?”
“Barbara,” Tony said in a semi rage, “this guy tried to shoot us earlier.”
“What?” Barbara was even more confused now. She looked at the guys leveled rifle and her hands went up a little higher as she realized the guy was serious. She asked him, “why would you do that?”
Tony had an edge in his voice as he asked his question, “and then turn around and help her?”
The man was practically snarling now, “you’re here to jump my claim. Just like those damn gorilla’s that Benthic sent out here. Who sent you? Was it Benthic? How much do they know?”
Barbara tried to be rational, “mister, look. It’s like I told you. We’re Rangers. We just flew up here from the Arch to deliver some drugs.”
The man laughed in her face, “tell another one lady. They disbanded the Rangers a long time ago.”
Tony slapped his forehead, “oh god not that again.”
Barbara remained steady as she told him, “it’s the truth. You can see we had some mechanical trouble. That’s all. Nobody wants your claim.”
“Bullshit,” he was not convinced.
Barbara played a hunch, “well I guess if you don’t believe us. You’re just going to have to kill us.”
The man steadied his rifled on his shoulder, pointed the barrel at her head. His eyes narrowed in on the sight as he told her, “guess I am.”
Tony flinched at the sound of the gun.