I look like a Celebrity, Get me out of here!

<snip>
“I... Oh, my science! – Yes, yes, right away!” he span back to the assembled crew, his brain inside the tank struggling to keep up with the sudden movement “One of my babies has gone missing!” he gasped “Please comrades, I need your help!”
With faultless dramatic timing, the air was suddenly split with the plaintive staccato bark of an unseen animal, not far away, out in the jungle...
</snip>

<snip>
Evelina could have sworn it looked right at her and the fuzzy creatures but didn't do anything. Out of disgust the tentacled shadowed monster went back the way it came.

Evelina was sweating bullets as the monster left. After the danger was passed Evelina fainted from exhaustion. Once it was gone the little fuzzy creatures picked Eve up and carried her off deeper into the woods.
</snip>

"I'll check the Jungle..." Jamie said, stepping over to his toolkits, and after a short rummaging, came out with what looked like a short sword, and a pack of knives. Both of which he attached to his belt, and started walking towards the treeline.

"What do you plan to do with those?" Artemis asked, obviously indicating the weapons.

"Save your kid if it's in danger." Jamie replied, rather blankly. Considering Artemis hadn't said which kid it was, he went with the robotic pronoun out of habit. With the sun fading for the day, Jamie smiled as he looked up at the treetops, and remembered the nights he spent with the Ssala under the starlight on Fernandos.

"good times..." he mumbled to himself, and eventually left the harsh openness of the beach, and entered the soft confines of the Jungle. He reached up a hand to a low branch, and pulled himself up. The soft bough bore his weight enough to elevate him to a viewpoint above ground level. He surveyed the ground from his position, taking the logical thought that the small robot wouldn't be able to leave the ground level.

One of the tricks he learned from the Ssala was the art of listening. Eyesight wasn't always enough in a jungle where creatures had camouflage. If you heard something approaching, you had a much better chance of survival.

He placed an ear gingerly against the wood of the tree, and listened for the soft hum of electronics. A sound he would be able to differentiate from life anywhere in the universe.

Nothing.

A vine shortened his trip to the next tree, as he swung expertly to another tree, at a slightly higher level. He kept hold of it as a way back down when he was done surveying, and stayed there only a few minutes before he had determined there was no one and nothing in range that wasn't meant to be here.

He used the vine again to swing deeper into the jungle. At the centre of the arc, where momentum should have changed to the upward swing, Jamie found himself continuing on the downward path. This was nothing new. Vines snapped all the time, they just usually gave some kind of audible warning, like a 'snap' sound when that happened.

He hit the ground a touch harder than he would have liked, and rolled into it, tumbling head over heels a couple of times before stopping. Unfortunately for him, this deceleration was aided by a large tree. A large tree positioned in such a way that winded him, and left him upside down.

A few forced breaths, and heavy coughing later, he managed to pull himself up, and brush himself down. His weapons had fallen from his belt, and lay a few metres away, undamaged. He gathered them back up again, and re-attached them to his belt. No one wanted to be caught in a tumble with sharp implements attached to them, so he'd designed a clip that came loose under certain situations. It had potentially saved his life several times.

He took a look around, making sure that he wasn't stood in a dangerous place. No nasty poisonous looking spiders, no snakes, or frogs; All looked good.

Then, all the chittering and rustling noises of the jungle stopped entirely, leaving Jamie in silence. He, too went silent, and stopped moving. When the jungle gave you a sign like that, you didn't ignore it.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

That sounds like movement He thought, trying to see behind him without moving. A task not easily accomplished without a few mirrors.

Then, a heavy breath. It felt like it was right behind him. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and adrenaline kicked in, preparation for the fight or flight maneuver that humans had evolved for survival. He fought it back. Right now was not the time for stupidity. More Ssala training, the mind tricks to fool the mind into behaving. His heart rate slowed back to normal, and the breathing behind him ceased as suddenly as it had started.

Then, the rustling of the trees and chittering of small creatures erupted to normal levels, and all felt normal. No more sense of presence, no more feeling of being watched.

He turned around. Nothing. The ground held no signs of footprints, or movement beyond his own. He reached down and grabbed the vine that he had swung on, and reached through it until he got to the cut end.

Wait a minute. There shouldn't be a cut end. It was a clean, straight cut. Only a blade, or creature with claws could cut a vine that cleanly.

He turned to walk back to the beach, and then he saw it. A strip of torn plants back towards the beach. Lying on the ground in the middle of it was a black bikini top. His mind flashed back to earlier, and remembered Evelina wearing it.

He shook the mental image away, buried it in the depths of his mind. Keep control of emotions. They are not the master of you.

He reached down, and gingerly grasped an end of it between two fingers. Picking it up as a child might when confronted with a mothers bra accidentally left in his pile of clothes for the first time, not sure quite what to do with it. He then retreated back to the others to tell of his discovery. As he left the jungle, the sunlight had disappeared completely, leaving the low hanging moon and starlight to illuminate his way back to camp.

<Tag.>