Archivers:  Suze, always; anyone else just tell me where.

Category:  Action/Adventure

Thanks to Bri for beta-reading for me.
 
 

The Most Dangerous Game

The sun’s glare beat on his battered face.  Tentatively he cracked his eyes open enough to let the intense light in, and then he squeezed them tight together again.  Moaning he rolled to his stomach where the shadow of his body could better shade his eyes.  He opened them again, half way, all the way.  He blinked.
After giving his eyes a minute to adjust to the light, he studied his surroundings.  He was on a beach, on an island most likely with his luck.  There was soft, fine sand all along the beach that met with a dense jungle not 20 feet from the water’s edge.  Other than the open sea ahead of him and the confined brush behind him, there was nothing.
He looked down at himself now that he was standing.  His jeans were ripped from the knee down on his left leg and the right was almost as tattered and useless.  His shirt was dirty and worn.  At least his shoes, though wet, were still in good shape and very useful.
Licking his lips he began to plan how he would make it out of this place…alive.  Turning over as well, in his head how he’d gotten there.  There was the sudden, unexplained engine failure, how convenient, he thought cynically to himself.  After the engine failure, the crash had been inevitable.  How’d he’d gotten separated from the rest of the Quest crew from there, he couldn’t remember.
But now to get out of this predicament…  There was no going back the way he came, and if he stayed out here, exposed like this, he’d most likely croak.  He turned to the dense array of the trees.  Taking a deep breath he headed into them, keeping good mental track of where the shore lie.

The soft billow of smoke coming out of the brick chimney of the quaint house, seemed to be a mirage to Jonny, whose parched throat had made him somewhat delirious.  He walked up the perfectly flower lined path to the white paneled house.  How in the world did a Grand Victorian house end up in this god-forsaken place??  the bewildered, but desperate teen wondered, reaching the door and raising a hand to knock.  Before he could let his hand fall to rap on the door, it swung open and in the doorway stood a tall, heavy set…familiar, Russian.
“Vostok!”  Jonny said aloud in astonishment and confusion.  Then, he lowered his voice, “Of all the bloody…”
The older man’s laughter made him stop, but he continued to glare at his old enemy.  “One would think that after-”  Vostok stopped a moment to look at his watch, “…5 hours of wandering alone, with nothing to eat or drink, and certainly nowhere to rest where you could be sure you were safe…you’d think that a person in your condition at the moment would be more welcoming to seeing someone else, who could- help.”  He said the last word in such a way that made a chill go up Jonny’s back.  It was sort of the way a person could say ‘an old friend’ so that you knew there was some sort of major conflict between the two.  Race and Surd was the first example that came to his mind.
“Let’s just say that finding you here, by some strange ‘coincidence,’ makes this whole mess seem a lot less like an accident,”  Jonny replied, his voice hoarse for lack of water.
Vostok just smiled.  “Certainly you don’t want to talk about such matters out here…why don’t you come in and share a lunch with me?”
Jonny didn’t have much choice, so he didn’t say anything to Vostok’s invite.
“Good, now come along, Nicolie will help you get cleaned up,”  The man clapped his hands and another, huskier man appeared.  “Nicolie, why don’t you find young Mr. Quest some clothes for him to change into?”
The man apparently called Nicolie just gave Vostok a puzzled look, then turned to Jonny and shrugged and led him into the house…

“Ah, I was wondering if you’re coming,”  Vostok turned from looking out the window to Jonny as he entered the room.  How he’d known that he was there, Jonny didn’t suppose he could guess.
“I don’t have any doubt that you’re the reason our plain went down…and now we’re about to eat dinner together.  I’m confused to say the least.  So tell me, why am I here?”
Vostok smiled and approached the table that lay in the center of the room.  “I think that you and I started off on the wrong foot, a long time ago, perhaps we should try again.  But please, sit down and let’s talk about this over a good meal.”  Vostok pulled out a chair and sat down.  Jonny didn’t make a move.  His eyes gazed coolly at the man.
The silence made them both uneasy.
“Do you want me to explain?”
Jonny turned his head slightly, so as to get a better look at the man he believed had brought him here.  Then he walked to the table, pulled out a chair and sat.
“Good then,”  Vostok clapped his hands, “Nicolie…”

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