Alex took no pleasure in that, though he was glad the mighty beast was still alive.
“I will have a story to tell our grandchildren now, when I am old and bent,” Harta-ak said with a smile. “That’s one obstacle down, one to go. How do we get rid of the wasta-ta?”
As one, Senta-eh and Versa-eh said, “Manta-ak has a plan!”
Alex actually had several plans, each of them increasingly dangerous.
The dead tree that the wasta-ta had built their hive in was not far from the southern lip of the caldera. The group headed back to the entrance, which was now partially blocked by the two fallen trees and the fallen boulder.
They set to work clearing the trees, though doing so with the boulder proved much more problematic. The rock seemed to have moved from one resting place on the lip to another in the middle of the entrance.
After a few minutes of pushing and pulling, Alex admitted defeat. “The way it sits right now, its blocking the entrance to the bowl enough that there’s no way a wagon will be able to get in. That may be good or bad, depending on how things work out. For now, though, it is what it is.”
The way the boulder had fallen, the rope they had looped around it was partially hidden beneath it. It was obvious there would be no way to get the rope loose, so Alex took his knife and cut it. He looped the rope around his right shoulder, measuring as he did.
Once he knew the remaining length of the rope, he eyeballed the distance from the tree to the lip of the bowl.
“I think this will still be long enough. Come on, let’s give it a try.”
Ever since they had arrived at the salt deposit, they had crept quietly from spot to spot, never speaking in a normal tone of voice. They had not wanted to attract the attention of godat-ta. With the bear gone and licking its wounds, they reveled in not having to be so quiet.
They climbed back up to the lip of the caldera and worked their way around until they were right next to the tree. It was a seventy-five-foot drop from the lip to the base of the tree, but even so, the tree rose another twenty-five feet over their heads. It had once been even taller, but there had been a lightning strike at some point and now there was a single jagged edge that pointed skyward.
Versa-eh tied another lasso out of the edge of their homemade rope and threw it at that jagged edge. Her throw fell short, but no one else stepped forward and said, ‘Here, let me try.’ They all knew Versa-eh was the best at this skill.
It took her half a dozen tries to get the rope over the top, but she managed to nestle the loop softly over the top. It fell a few feet down, then was stopped by the nub of a branch.
Proudly, she handed the rope to Alex and said, “Now what, Manta-ak?”
Alex grinned a bit at the simplicity of the plan. “Now we pull.”
Senta-eh looked at the rope, then the tree, then the rope again. “You think we can pull the tree down?”
“Actually, I don’t know. It’s just the easiest solution.”
Monda-ak danced at the edge of the cliff, wanting to add his prodigious strength to the project, but Alex said, “Sorry. This is one of those jobs where opposable thumbs are needed.”
Monda-ak immediately turned away and looked for some shade to lie down in.
The four humans gripped the rope tightly and pulled.
Nothing happened.
Senta-eh turned her face to Alex while she pulled. She didn’t say anything, but it was easy to see that she did not think this was among his better ideas.
After a few minutes of straining, the most they were able to accomplish was to make the top of the tree sway a bit. Even that was enough to agitate the wasta-ta, though and a few dozen of them swarmed out of the hive and rose toward the humans.
A few dozen bees flying at four humans is not a big deal, unless those bees are each the size of a large man’s hand.
The fight or flight instinct kicked in for all four of them at once. They dropped the rope and hurried down the edge of the bowl, hoping to escape. Monda-ak, whose feelings still seemed to be hurt, barely opened his eyes to notice their leaving.
Escape was not that easy. The wasta-ta looked slightly awkward in flight because of their sheer size, but once they got up to speed, they were able to cover ground quickly.
Alex glanced over his shoulder and saw that the wasta-ta had not given up the chase. In fact, they were closing in. Because godat-ta had constantly been in the bowl, the humans hadn’t dared get close to the wasta-ta before. Now they were getting much more of a close-up view of the insects than they wanted.
ALEX LET THE OTHER three pass ahead of him. “Run to the stream!”
Harta-ak jumped into the lead and cut over toward the burbling water.
Alex took off behind Senta-eh, but he had fallen behind and the first of the wasta-ta punished him for it. It zeroed in on his exposed right leg. It landed and deployed its stinger.
An explosion of pain burst from Alex’s right thigh. It was so burning, so intense, that it made him stumble and almost lose his footing altogether.
Fall now and those things might sting me to death.
Alex found his balance and redoubled his speed, trying to catch up to the others.
Harta-ak reached the stream first. He turned and extended a hand to Versa-eh. “Go under!”
She did as he instructed, picking out the deepest part of the water. She made a flat dive, cut the water, and submerged. Senta-eh followed next, just as a wasta-ta closed on her. She hit the water running, ducked under, and the bee
