Off the beaten track

Who:- "Team Phoenix" - Jay, Jessie, Kevn, Katrina and Efof in one jeep, Joe, Vanessa, Rufus, Yuri and a dead giant hamster in t'other
 
The Jeeps headed off back down the track.
"How did you tame that hamster back there.." Jessie asked Jay "It was giant!!"
"Used to work with one, you learn how to handle 'em..." Jay replied matter of factly
"You used to WORK with a giant hamster?"
"Uh-huh...he was captain for a while..."
"A Hamster was captain?"
"Yep..he died a few years back"
"They DO only live for two years..."
"He was 40-ish....killed in a swordfight.."
"Riiiight"
Yuri, in the other Jeep was expressing concern.
"The wind is getting up, the snow getting heavier, if we don't hurry, we could be caught out here in the snow" he said.
"Are you saying we're going to have a blizzard?" Jay replied, over the radio, which had been replaced with a standard issue Space Corp communicator.
"Certainly looks that way" Yuri answered
"How far to the city?" Jessie asked, sitting up front with Jay
"A few miles...drive carefully"
"Easy for him to say..." Jay said, as he turned into a small skid as the rear wheels slipped on ice "He's used to this stuff...."
Jay was immediatley proven to be wrong, as Yuri's jeep up ahead spun off the road, rolled, throwing the giant hamster out of the back, and came to a halt against a tree, it's rear wheels hanging over a mountain precipice, upside down.
"Smeg!" Jay yelled slamming on the brakes, and slipping on the same patch of ice, but keeping the vehicle under control.
"Yuri!!" Yelled Kevn, as he, Jay, Jessie, Efof and Katrina leapt out of their jeep, Jay grabbing the towhook from the front of the jeep and running over to Yuri's jeep.
He dropped to his knees and gazed inside. "Hang in there people, GUYS!! GIVE ME A HAND HERE!!" he shouted back to the others.
Kevn, Jessie and Efof came dashing over, Efof, able to lend four hand's other than the one Jay had asked for.
"Efof, we've gotta get the guy's in the back out first, or this thing's gonna go over the edge" Jay looked over as he said this "Jeez....that's a smegging long drop too..."
Efof and Jay both shuffled as near to the edge as they could on their respective sides of the jeep, while Kevn hooked the tow cable to the front of the jeep, to stabilise it.
Jay opened the rear door on his side, and held out his hand to his sister, who was hanging upside down, while Efof did the same with Rufus on the other side.  
The jeep shifted as they each unbuckled their seatbelts, and began to move, Kevn, who was now sat in the drivers seat of the other jeep, compensated for this by tightening the cable.
"KEEP IT STEADY KEV!!" Jay yelled
Jessie and Katrina grabbed the tow cable from the front of Yuri's jeep and wrapped it around a tree, "That should keep it where it is Jay!" Jessie yelled "Now get em out of there!"
"Goddam it sis, you've got heavy..." Jay mumbled as she climbed out of the jeep, and her entire weight was now supported by Jay, sat on the edge of the cliff, leaning back to hold Vanessa, who's feet were just barely on the cliff edge. "Well..I DO have a body nowaday's Jay!"
"You just had to go get re-born didn't ya....this would have been a lot easier if you were still a hologram!!"
"Well excuse me for ruining your day!" Vanessa said, as Jay pulled her up, Vanessa falling on top of her brother as he did so, Efof having four arms, and more of a foothold found it alot easier to pull Rufus out and had now begun to pull Yuri from the driver's seat.
"Uh guy's..." said Joe in the front passenger seat, "Little help!" as the jeep slipped again.
Jay and Vanessa got to their and Vanessa opened Joe's door Jay reached inside and grabbed Joe's hand, then heard something..
"Vanessa..." Jay said "look over the edge and tell me that wasn't the cliff edge crumbling I just heard..."
"Jay..." Vanessa replied "I can't tell you that...it would be a lie.."
"Smeg...EFOF HURRY!!"
Efof yanked Yuri out. "Got him!!" he yelled, then clapped insanely with all four hands.
Jay tried to unbuckle Joe's seatbelt, but it was stuck fast "GODDAMN IT MAN!! HOW DID YOU STUFF THIS IN THERE THAT TIGHTLY!!"
He grabbed Joe's combat knife, and sliced through the seatbelt and pulled him away from the jeep, Jay and Joe rolling backwards pover each other as the ground beneath the jeep collapsed, and the tree to which Jessie had attached it toppled. "KEVN!!" she yelled, as the second jeep headed for the edge. Kevn' leapt out just in time, as both jeep's tumbled over the edge, taking the tree with them.
"Well" said Jay "That's made things easier...."
Yuri was solemn "I am sorry...I lost concentration..."
"No you didn't..." said Katrina, looking at the ground where the jeep had spun off. "Your front tyre was hit by a bullet..."
She showed the team the mark left in the ice. 
"The bounty hunters.....they must have escaped!" Yuri said.."and they must think they finished us when they saw the jeep's go over, and are on their way to collect the bodies..."
"Surely they must have seen us?" Katrina asked
"Doubtful..the snow's so think, all they would have seen are the headlights...we must keep moving...the blizzard's nearly upon us"
"How long will it take to get back to the city without jeeps?" Rufus asked. 
"Two days.." said Jay "In good weather..." 
The wind was howling by now.
"C'mon.." Yuri said "I don't want you to be caught out here when the Hunter's arrive..." 
 
<tag...don;t get us back to base yet.....Joe, you know the plan>
 
 

-----Original Message-----From: JMC_Blue_Dwarf@yahoogroups.com [mailto:JMC_Blue_Dwarf@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of MiriamSent: 08 July 2006 07:47To: JMC_Blue_Dwarf@yahoogroups.comSubject: [JMC_Blue_Dwarf] Making tracks

Who: Team PhoenixWhere: New RussiaWhen: Several hours after last post.Team Phoenix had, after several more hours of hard climbing, finally made it back to where they had left the jeeps. They had decided to let the now-docile hamster go, instead dragging the dead one out of the collapsed burrow. They'd been forced to haul it all the way down the mountain - the hardest part was stopping the carcass sliding ahead and being lost in a snowdrift.When they reached their vehicles, it took them some time to start off again - loading the ex-hamster proved a difficult task. It would've been easier to blend it first, but no-one (except possibly Yuri) wanted to stay out in the icy wasteland any longer than they needed to.When they eventually departed the Siberian Mountains, the team made tracks for the Phoenix as fast as they could. For all they knew, there could be more bounty hunters out there, searching for them, or biding their time, just waiting for their moment.<tag>Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com