Having found one of the criminal's base camps, Bruce and Lilac are doing a little investigating. Will they continue to elude their enemies?
Creeping as close as they dared to the tent, they heard a man talking, through thick static. "This won't take too long. With sentries posted on the highest point of each island, they're grounded. We have the advantage."
"Good. How long before you can deliver the prisoners?"
"I can't predict that, Sir. The cover is extremely heavy. But we can stay indefinitely. Search parties will begin arriving tomorrow, and there really isn't that much ground to cover. The dense vegetation might make hiding easy, but I have assigned an expert tracker to each team. This shouldn't take too long!" the voice laughed, static making the rough sound even more coarse.
Bruce and Lilac backed away from the small camp. Once they were far enough away, they made quick work of the downhill hike.
Bruce was deep in thought. "We have to make a run for it, in the middle of the night. Tonight. If I kill the lights and fly by moonlight, we stand a good chance of getting out undetected. They seem to think we plan on staying, and honestly I did."
Lilac smiled. "We have the advantage now, Bruce. We know where the camp is, so we can avoid it on our way out. He will be asleep, and unlikely to hear the chopper. We also know that we have to stay away from the other islands. It's time to go home!"
Bruce nodded, then a grin spread across his face. "I knew this place would be lucky for us."
The two walked into their well concealed camp, looking at the temporary home with fondness.
"Let's get busy packing," Bruce said regretfully. Quickly packing up the plant samples and gear, Bruce and Lilac were soon ready to go.
Lilac leaned against a tree, savoring the contact. "I know I haven't been here long, but I'm going to miss this place. It's a real paradise."
"We'll come back soon," promised Bruce.
"Let's eat while we're waiting for our friend to go to sleep," suggested Lilac.
Bruce nodded. "I could use some food."
Lilac picked extra fruit when she collected their meal.
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "That's a lot of fruit."
"I want to take some with us. It's one of the best things I've ever tasted," Lilac replied.
Bruce laughed. "Better than pizza?"
She thought for a second. "Nothing's better than pizza. But let's call it a tie."
"Let's get some sleep," suggested Bruce as he helped load the extra fruit.
After some hours spent sleeping in the chopper, they rose at 2 A.M.
The full moon was bright enough to illuminate the trees, making navigation easy. Bruce took the shortest route to the ocean, and almost skimmed the water as he sped for freedom.
To be continued!
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