A RAMDON SAMPLING FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGIST REBORN: <\/p>\n
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR<\/p>\n
THE ORDEAL<\/p>\n
Standing there horrified, I exclaimed, \u201cOh-My-God!\u201d Finally regaining my senses, \u201cI can\u2019t believe that monster is swallowing my husband like an appetizer,\u201d I said. And now the beast\u2019s hungry eyes are turning toward me.\u201d
\nSobbing, I cried, \u201cOh John, why did you have to take this last trip?\u201d I ran to the runabout and picked up a laser rifle, aimed, and fired at the monster. But to my surprise, the blast went wild.
\n\u201cDamn! How do you shoot this blasted thing?\u201d
\nThe beast continued toward me with an ever-quickening pace.
\nI frantically reset the rifle and then fumbled with the settings control to get it on maximum power. As carefully as my shaking hands would allow, I took aim with the brute almost on top of me.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no way you’re having me for dessert you son of a bitch!\u201d I screamed.
\nThis time, as I fired, the monster\u2019s head exploded into a thousand pieces, and the animal fell dead.
\nI felt an uncanny calm come over me, and my thinking became quick and clear. \u201cI am a veterinarian,\u201d I whispered, \u201cand more than once I\u2019ve saved the life of a calf or colt back on Earth by taking it from its dead mother.\u201d
\n\u201cOh God,\u201d I said, realizing that I had absolutely no knowledge of Mega monster anatomy. \u201cBut if John is to have any chance at all, I\u2019ve got to do something, and do it now.\u201d Strangely, my fear vanished. It was almost as though some power beyond my understanding was trying to help me.
\nI became aware that my right hand still had a deathly tight grip on the laser rifle.
\n\u201cI hope this works.\u201d I used my left hand to switch the rifle to its lowest setting and immediately started to cut open the monster\u2019s belly at a spot where I hoped to find John.
\nAfter a few seconds of cutting, the laser power source went dead.
\nTrying desperately to keep from losing it, I loudly said, \u201cThink, Winona, think! There has to be a way.\u201d My heart sank as I remembered that the runabout was equipped with only one laser rifle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chain saw! John always takes that old antique with him.\u201d I dropped the useless rifle and darted back to the runabout. \u201cI don\u2019t even know how to start the flipping thing,\u201d I said.
\nWiping a tear from my cheek with the back of my hand, I jerked open the lid to the equipment storage area and quickly located the chain saw. Turning toward the dead monster, I said, \u201cNow we\u2019ll see \u2026\u201d But then my feet stopped, and I felt my stomach tighten.
\n“Oh Lord, no, not this too,” I cried. \u201cThere\u2019s no fuel!\u201d
\nFighting to remain calm and still not willing to be defeated, I began looking around, hoping. A strong feeling of helplessness settled on me like a great weight pushing me down.
\n\u201cNo!\u201d I yelled at the top of my voice. \u201cI can\u2019t just stand here! There must be something that I can do.\u201d
\nFinally, in desperation, I started searching the runabout. My hand touched something smooth, extracting a large bottle from under the seat that was half full of a dark liquid. I said,
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s this?\u201d Quickly scanning the label, my eyes caught the phrase, \u201c100 proof.\u201d \u201cAnything rated 100 proof has be flammable,\u201d I shouted.
\n\u201cGod, if you\u2019re really there, please help me now.\u201d I poured the contents from the bottle into the chainsaw\u2019s fuel tank.
\nNothing happened upon pushing the primer button. I became more desperate and franticly looked for a start button. But instead, I found a small rope with a wooden handle on the end of it.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s this for?\u201d Frustrated and looking toward the heavens, I said loud and clear, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to lose now,\u201d as my right hand grasped the handle and yanked.
\nThe small engine shuddered. I yanked again and again, and on the third try, the engine kicked over and continued running. I ran back to the monster and took up where I had left off with the laser rifle.
\nHenry and his wife, Betty, returned to the sight of splattering blood and ripping flesh.
\n\u201cGood God!\u201d Betty shouted. \u201cWinona has lost her mind!\u201d
\nHenry ran toward me. \u201cGet away from it, Winona!\u201d he shouted. \u201cThat thing\u2019s dangerous.\u201d
\nOblivious to Henry\u2019s shouting I felt the chain saw start to shudder. \u201cCome on \u2013 please don’t quit on me now.\u201d The antique saw ricocheted off a shoe, sputtered a few times, and died \u2026 out of fuel.
\n\u201cNo! Not now.\u201d I threw the chain saw as far as I could and just sat sobbing. But from the corner of my eye, I could see John\u2019s shoes protruding from the gaping slit in the monster’s belly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp me,\u201d I screamed at Henry as I grabbed John\u2019s feet and began to pull. Managing to pull his legs free to the point where his belt buckle had just become visible, I begged, \u201cHelp me \u2026 please.\u201d
\nHenry arrived at my side and, amidst the blood and slime from the monster, grabbed hold of John\u2019s belt with both hands and, as I pulled for all that I was worth, he pulled and yanked as hard as he could.
\nWith a plop, John came out and landed on the ground beside the huge monster. His eyes were glazed over, and his face was a bloody mess.
\n\u201cOh my God, it\u2019s John,\u201d Henry said. \u201cHe\u2019s dead.\u201d
\n\u201cNo, it can\u2019t be,\u201d I whispered weakly.
\nI tore off part of my favorite blue blouse and quickly cleared his nostrils and mouth, then cleaned his face as much as possible.
\nI turned to Henry as I became more rational and pleaded, \u201cPlease help me Henry. I know you\u2019re familiar with the old style CPR.\u201d I turned back to my husband and began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
\nA few minutes later, exhausted and broken-hearted, I looked up as a tall black man touched me on the shoulder.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ll take over now, Mrs. Cayman,\u201d the Martian said……<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A RAMDON SAMPLING FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGIST REBORN: CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR THE ORDEAL Standing there horrified, I exclaimed, \u201cOh-My-God!\u201d Finally regaining my senses, \u201cI can\u2019t believe that monster is swallowing my husband like an appetizer,\u201d I said. And now the beast\u2019s hungry eyes are turning toward me.\u201d Sobbing, I cried, \u201cOh John, why did you have to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbpra.com\/thomasemartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbpra.com\/thomasemartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbpra.com\/thomasemartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbpra.com\/thomasemartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sbpra.com\/thomasemartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sbpra.com\/thomasemartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10,"href":"https:\/\/sbpra.com\/thomasemartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions\/10"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sbpra.com\/thomasemartin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}