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The girl rummaged around in the rear of the cave and emerged with two bizarre, otherworldly fruits. They were unlike anything Steve or Dan had ever seen—smooth, bulbous orbs the size of a large grapefruit, their skin a shifting mosaic of iridescent teal and deep violet, etched with delicate, circuit-like patterns that pulsed faintly in the dim light. When she approached, her eyes sparkled with a mysterious confidence, and she set the fruits down carefully before the astonished pilots.
Without a word, she began a series of deliberate, silent gestures. First, she mimed gently tapping the fruit with her fingertips, as if checking its ripeness, then cradled it in both hands and drew her hands apart as though splitting something open. With a graceful motion, she pretended to peel away an invisible layer, revealing a glowing, translucent interior. Next, she brought her hand to her lips and mimed taking a small, careful bite—her eyes closing in satisfaction—and then swept her hand outward, as if letting the nectar flow over her tongue. Finally, she pointed at herself, then at the fruit, and finally at Steve and Dan, her expression earnest and inviting. Through her silent instructions, it was clear: the fruit was meant to be eaten gently, savored slowly, allowing its luminescent juices to awaken the taste and kindle a spark of hope even in this desolate place.
The two men grinned in unison as they exchanged a conspiratorial glance. With a newfound sense of adventure, Steve carefully picked up one of the alien fruits, its cool, iridescent skin glistening in the dim light of the cave. Mimicking the silent instructions of the mysterious girl, he tapped the fruit gently, then sliced it open with a precise, fluid motion that surprised even him. Inside, the pulp glowed with a soft, ethereal light, and its aroma—sweet, tangy, and slightly reminiscent of exotic citrus—filled the air.
Dan, ever the eager co-pilot, wasted no time. He followed suit, his eyes alight with curiosity as he bit into a slice of the unearthly fruit. The flavor exploded on his tongue in a burst of cool sweetness, tempered by a subtle hint of spice that lingered just long enough to be unforgettable. Steve mirrored his actions, savoring the taste as he chewed slowly, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. The two men continued to eat in a quiet, almost ritualistic manner, their grins widening with each bite as the strange fruit seemed to invigorate them, momentarily bridging the gap between the bizarre and the familiar in this desolate new world.
"Hold it right there!" Dan barked, halting her movement as his eyes fell upon a pair of airline wings pinned to Nova's skimpy, furry outfit. Its timeworn emblem, featuring silver eagle's wings framing a stylized "G," unmistakably marked it as a relic of the Spindrift Airfleet.
"Nova, who gave you those wings?" Dan demanded, his voice low and edged with disbelief.
Her face tight with fear, the girl cringed, lips trembling as if desperate to form words—only a frustrated whimper escaping. Then, with sudden urgency, she threw her head back and bellowed, "Marintha!"
"What's going on?" Steve demanded, springing to his feet as he scanned the scene.
Dan crouched down beside Nova, his eyes fixed on the set of airline wings pinned to her outfit. "Don't you recognize this, Steve?" he demanded urgently. "These aren't ordinary tokens—they're premium items that the airline only gives to its child passengers. And did you catch what Nova just said? 'Marintha!' That's the name of one of our sister ships, a relic from a suborbital flight that crashed in this very land. It proves we’re not the first to fall from the sky."
"You're scaring her, Dan," Steve said. He knelt next to her, smiling. "It's all right, don't worry."
Steve studied the worn airline wings pinned to Nova’s outfit, his expression darkening as he tried to decipher their silent message—a whisper from a bygone era. His eyes narrowed as he murmured, half to himself and half to Dan, in a trembling, almost hypnotic tone: “What does it mean, Dan? Where is that ship, and who were its pilots? What fate befell its passengers?” His mind raced back to the reports he’d heard: some months ago, the Marintha lifted off from Tokyo Airport on a flight just like ours. They now suspect a space warp was involved—something undetected at the time. The Marintha went up, but she never came down again. “Nobody’s ever figured out what happened to her,” Steve continued softly, the mystery of the lost sister ship hanging heavy in the air.
Dan shook his head slowly and said, "Remember the Anne? She was a sister ship that vanished on her flight from Cape Town to Seattle—swallowed whole by a space warp just like this one. Maybe our fate is sealed the same way, Steve."
"Listen, Dan, this was the situation: practically every passenger canceled in a wave of panic after that incident. But if they'd cancelled the flight altogether, it wouldn’t have just been a cancellation—it would have been an admission that something deadly was swirling above us, something the airlines discovered and then covered up. Think of the fallout: low-level flights would have been seen as suicide runs, and the public would abandon air travel altogether, scrambling for ground transportation. Space warps were an unknown factor until now, but if they started canceling flights because of them, they'd have been effectively sending everyone back to the roads. It would have been catastrophic for business—absolutely disastrous."98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwuOHooKtI
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“Neither ship had ever just vanished without a warning, but until now there was no proof that a space warp was behind it!” Dan paused for a moment, and then said, "Nova, can you...?"98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhONxIAde7t
The girl scrambled backward and got to her feet. Nimbly she avoided them and ran out of the cave. Steve and Dan rose and walked to the entrance. They could see her running into the trees. They sat down, still somewhat weak from their ordeal, and watched her disappear.
In a few minutes, the girl returned to the cave, accompanied by an old man, white-haired and dressed in the same skins and furs worn by the other cavepeople Steve and Dan had seen earlier. Appearing both apprehensive and fatalistically resigned, he beckoned the two aviators to follow.
The two men looked at each other, shrugged, and trailed after the old man and the girl, deep into the cave's nether regions.
The girl brought out some skins and gestured at Steve's torn leggings, which hung like rags from his muscular body. Dan laughed. "A change of wardrobe, Captain Burton!"
Steve nodded. "I'm in rags and you're almost like new." Dan smiled at him. "Some people are born to be fashion plates and others...."
Steve stared peeling off his jumpsuit. His boots were scratched and almost worn-out. In a few moments, he was dressed in the height of fashion---for a caveman.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLztCr6WJct
98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXwPzKUgj9
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Steve and Dan found a brief moment of privacy away from prying eyes. The two men exchanged cautious glances as they observed the local inhabitants moving about their own business.
“Dan, what do you reckon these people really are?” Steve murmured quietly. “Their features… that dark skin, almost like they’re descended from Indian tribes. Could they have come from somewhere like New Mexico or Arizona?”
Dan frowned thoughtfully. “It’s possible, Steve. I mean, they do have that look, but until we actually speak with them, we can’t be sure. They might be the end product of centuries of migration across this very region—evolving into something uniquely native.”
Steve shook his head, his tone firm as he cut the conversation short. “Enough speculation, Dan. Let’s focus on this medallion. It might hold the key to all of this.”
Steve walked over to the girl, aware that she was actually quite alluring----by any standards.
"They look so human," he said to Dan. "It's astonishing."
"Yeah, but they don't talk much."
"Women that don't talk are highly prized by chauvinists everywhere."
"Don't let Betty or Valerie here you say that...." Dan's gibe died in his throat, and he gulped, "Sorry."
Steve stared at the girl and quickly picked the medallion from her dress top.
"Listen," Steve said, leaning in close with a measured intensity. "What can you tell me about Spindrift? You know, that legendary craft from the '80s—the one everyone swore was the pinnacle of aerospace travel. Come on, Nova, spit it out. Do you remember what made Spindrift so special?"
Steve and Dan exchanged stunned looks, the eerie syllables still ringing in their ears. Dan exhaled sharply, shaking his head. “That almost sounded like Spanish—warped, but familiar. Their ancestors were probably Mexican.”
Steve waved a hand, dismissing the thought. “Forget that for now, Dan.” His eyes locked onto the girl’s. "Steve. My name is Steve. He pointed at himself several times. "Steve...."
Her face brightened and her tears stopped flowing. "Es'th'ban"
Dan frowned, his mind racing to piece it together. "Steve... she said something like 'Esteban.' It’s distorted, but that’s the Spanish name for you."
"Es'th'ban," the girl said again, pointing at Steve.
"And you. What's your name?" A frown appeared on her face and Steve pointed at himself. "Steve. Steve." He pointed at Dan. "Dan. Dan."
The girl’s eyes widened as she clutched at Dan’s sleeve, her voice rising in urgency. "Dh’aan... Dh’aan... Dh'aan..."
Steve smiled again, pointing at himself. "Steve." Then again, he pointed at Dan. "Dan." Then his finger pointed at her. He raised his eyebrows. "Who are you?"
"Y'za Nova."
"Nova?"
The girl nodded, smiling shyly, her dark eyes going from Steve to Dan and back. She pointed at herself, then at Steve and Dan and said, "T'rez—Es'th'ban, t'rez—Dh'aan, y'za—Nova."
Immediately there came the sudden deep-throated sound of a horn. Both the girl and the old man became instantly alert. The horn continued, and Nova grasped Steve's arm.
"Hh'flhur'n!" she said awkwardly.
"I don't get it."
"There's something happening outside," Dan said and trotted to the cave entrance.
Steve grasped Nova by both shoulders and said, "What's going on? Where's Redmond? How did you get the medallion? What's that horn for?"
But Nova twisted away from him and ran to the cave mouth. Steve joined her and saw the skin-clad figures of the cavedwellers running up from the forest into the caverns. Some swung up into the trees in what Steve though was a futile attempt to hide. For the second time, the pilots saw the cavepeople dropping their hard-found berries and fruit, and Steve even saw one man throw down what looked like a rabbit.
Frightened cavedwellers, squealing in fear, rushed past Steve and Dan into the shelter of the grotto as the two aviators searched for the meaning of the alarm.
Then they saw it!
A line of armed and uniformed figures, dressed in dark green and black, carrying assault rifles and other weapons, came up over the opposite ride and looked down at them.
