Return To Primordial Island by Rick Poldark (read my book .txt) 📕

and replaying like a catchy song, ‘Bring Peter to the Temple of the Simian King.’

Chapter 9

After walking much of the night, Collins, Nielsen, Peter, Tracey, and Marcy encountered the outer perimeter guard at base camp. “Chief, is that you?” asked one of the guards.

“Yeah. We’re back.”

“Where’re the Jeeps and the truck?”

“It’s a long story.” Collins checked his watch. “It doesn’t make sense.”

Nielsen looked at his watch. “Mine’s been acting screwy, too. Time seems to have passed at rather uneven intervals. I couldn’t even tell you how long we’ve been walking.”

“It’s the island,” said Peter. “Time, the way we measure it, is different here.”

“My feet are killing me,” said Marcy, shoulders slumped and eyelids heavy.

“Do you want me to get a Humvee to take you back?” asked the guard.

Collins looked at Tracey and Marcy, who both looked exhausted. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

The guard got on his radio, and a Humvee was there within minutes. The driver stopped right in front of the group.

“Are we all going to fit?” asked Marcy.

Collins shook his head. “You go ahead. I’ll debrief the perimeter guard and head back on foot.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Nielsen hopped into the front passenger seat. Peter, Tracey, and Marcy all got into the back.

Peter scanned the grounds as they drove through, trying to ascertain Poseidon Tech’s true purpose. However, the ride back passed quickly, and Peter hadn’t gleaned any new information. When they reached the center of base camp, everyone got out.

“I’m going straight to bed,” declared Marcy. She placed a hand on Tracey’s shoulder. “Good night.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” said Nielsen. “We need our rest. We have a lot to figure out tomorrow.”

Marcy was gone before he could finish his sentence.

Peter and Tracey headed back to the tents. They saw Marcy disappear into hers, and Nielsen walked over to the main tent. Peter supposed Nielsen wanted to oversee whatever was currently happening. “Where are we going?”

“To my tent,” said Tracey.

Peter did a double take. It hadn’t occurred to him until this very minute that he wasn’t a part of this expedition, and as such didn’t have an assigned tent. “I-I…Nielsen can give me a tent…”

However, his stammering was cut short as Tracey pulled him into her tent by the front of his shirt. Kneeling on the ground, she pulled him down to his knees and close. He felt her hot breath in his face.

“We have to be very quiet,” she whispered.

“Wh-why? What’s going to happen?” squeaked Peter.

She shushed him, stuck her head back outside of the tent, and popped it back inside. “Okay, we’re alone.”

Peter’s palms became sweaty, and his heart was beating out of his chest. Was this it? Was this really happening? “Tracey, I had no idea…you felt this way.”

She looked at him cockeyed. “What do you mean…? Oh, no. I-I don’t…”

Peter’s face flushed hot with embarrassment. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. I mean…that’s not what I meant.”

She arched an eyebrow. “That’s exactly what you meant. You thought I brought you here for…”

Peter shook his head emphatically. “No. Absolutely not. Why would you want to do…that with me?”

Now Tracey’s face turned red. “Don’t say it like that.”

“I-I-I figured maybe you liked me. I’m stupid.”

“I-I do like you,” stammered Tracey.

“I know. I’m your friend.”

Tracey stamped her foot. “No. For Christ’s sake, it has to come out. I have to just say it.” She turned around, pacing back and forth, gesticulating wildly. “Why am I such a damned coward? Why can’t I just say it?”

Peter looked perplexed. “Say what? I don’t understand what’s happening here.”

Tracey turned and faced Peter, locking eyes with him. “For crying out loud, Pete, I came back to a dinosaur infested island in another dimension for you. If that doesn’t say ‘I love you,’ I don’t know what does?”

Both of them appeared stunned into silence. There it was. It was finally out, and the words hung out in the night air between them.

Peter broke the silence first. “You…you love me?”

Tracey waved her hands around. “Of course I do. I always have. At first it was as a friend, but then we got to know each other. We worked together on the same projects, taught in the same department. The feeling just grew and grew, and now I can’t stand it anymore.”

Peter looked staggered. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

She looked down at the ground. “Because I was afraid.”

“Of what?”

“That you didn’t feel the same, or if you did and it didn’t work out, I’d lose you.”

Now Peter paced back and forth, running his hand through his hair. “Holy smokes. That’s crazy.” He turned and met her gaze. “You’d never lose me, Tracey. You mean too much to me.”

Tracey’s face lit up. She let out a big sigh. “Well, that’s a relief. I should’ve done this a long time ago.”

Peter withered.

“What? What’s wrong?” Her eyes were searching, pleading.

“Tracey, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What?”

He swallowed hard. There was only one way to tell her, and it was by being direct. “I’m in a relationship with Mary.”

Tracey stared at him, dumbfounded. She didn’t appear to process what he had just relayed to her. Then, as it dawned on her, she appeared crestfallen. “Oh, I see.” She turned away from him in embarrassment.

“I didn’t know how you felt,” pleaded Peter. “You were gone. I thought I’d never see you again.”

“You?” she spat. “You?”

“Tracey…”

“I could see her ending up with Jason. But, you?”

Peter shrugged his shoulders. “It all kind of just happened. She came back for me.”

“When everyone else left. When I left.”

“That’s not what I meant. You didn’t leave me. I told you to go, to save yourself.”

“I can’t