The Doctor Discovers The Key To Escaping The Island.

The Doctor stepped back from the entrance of the cave mouth, taking a gasp of air.  ‘God dayum, I knew it,’ he whispered to himself.

The tribal Shaman was beckoning the Doctor back into the cave, he had something else to show Mad Myx. 

Cautiously, the Doctor stepped forward, back into the twilight of the cave, where a number of torches burned in the darkness.  Along the walls of the cave, the Shaman was pointing towards carvings that told a story, a very interesting story, thought the Doctor as he followed the Shaman’s finger pointing towards the images.

The Doctor could clearly make out the scenes portrayed that seemed to be coming to life in the dancing flickering torch light.  A strange aerial creature seemed to be delivering people to the island where they were greeted by the villagers.  

‘Incredibleâ€Ķ’ said the Doctor, ‘incredibleâ€Ķ’

He continued scanning through the dozens of images, the story slowly becoming clear in his mind.  

The Doctor Discovers The Key To Escaping The Island.

The Doctor stepped back from the entrance of the cave mouth, taking a gasp of air.  ‘God dayum, I knew it,’ he whispered to himself.

The tribal Shaman was beckoning the Doctor back into the cave, he had something else to show Mad Myx. 

Cautiously, the Doctor stepped forward, back into the twilight of the cave, where a number of torches burned in the darkness.  Along the walls of the cave, the Shaman was pointing towards carvings that told a story, a very interesting story, thought the Doctor as he followed the Shaman’s finger pointing towards the images.

The Doctor could clearly make out the scenes portrayed that seemed to be coming to life in the dancing flickering torch light.  A strange aerial creature seemed to be delivering people to the island where they were greeted by the villagers.  

‘Incredibleâ€Ķ’ said the Doctor, ‘incredibleâ€Ķ’

He continued scanning through the dozens of images, the story slowly becoming clear in his mind.  

Back around the fire the party didn’t look like slowing down any time soon, with the villagers and most of the band still dancing, swooping around the fire casting huge shadows across the dirt floor.  

The Captain was wondering what had become of the Doctor and was considering going to look for him in the thick jungle; but just then Mad Myx came strolling out of the dark undergrowth, flanked by the village Shaman and a few of his followers, emerging into the light of the central fire. 

‘You’re back,’ said the Captain, somewhat relieved. 

‘With good news Captain, with excellent news.’ replied the Doctor. 

‘What did you find?’ asked the Captain.

‘I’ll tell you all about it,’ said the Doctor, ‘ all about it, but we’re going to need a plan, and I’m going to need a swig of that alcohol banana brew firstâ€Ķ

*** 

The next morning as the sun rose over the tropical paradise, the band were waking up from a short night’s sleep, mostly slumped down around the dying embers of the fire.  

 

The Captain and the Doctor were waiting for them, sipping coconut water out of the shell.  

 

‘Alright boys,’ said the Captain, ‘enough sleep, we’ve got work to doâ€Ķ’ 

‘What’s happening?’ asked Master Jay, rousing himself with eyes heavy from too little sleep.  

 

‘We’ve got work to do,’ repeated the Captain, ‘you, Quartermaster, get some coconut water for this lot, and you, Bad Brad and Brandon, come with us.’ 

 

Bad Brad and Brandon followed the Captain and the Doctor as they headed off quickly into the jungle, trailed by the village Shaman and a few of the village’s warriors, all dressed in their huge feathers and bones. 

 

As they walked down the jungle path Bad Brad and Brandon were looking cautiously at the rows of skulls on spears that fenced in the path; ‘What the hell?’ said Brad glancing at Brandon.

 

They entered the square and hurried into the cave, where the torches were still lit.  Bad Brad and Brandon rubbed their eyes as they entered the cave, ‘Amazing’ said Brandon, ‘what is this place?’

 

‘I’ll let the Doctor explain,’ said the Captain, ‘Doctor, take it away.’

 

‘It took me a while to figure it out at first,’ said the Doctor, savouring the moment, ‘but after I studied the carvings,’ he waved at the wall of the cave, where the images etched into the rock danced in the flickering light, ‘it all came clear.’

 

‘It appears,’ the Doctor went on, ‘that we landed on our feet, you see; here,’ he said pointing towards the carvings, ‘sometime ago, it looks like during WW2, a couple of planes crash landed here on the island, the pilots survived the crash, but probably never got off the island alive amidst the chaos of war,’ see he said, pointing towards the figures climbing out of the wrecked planes. 

 

‘And so,’ went on the Doctor, ‘our friends in the village here dragged the planes to a safe place, right here, to this cave, and made it into a temple.’

 

‘But why?’ asked Brandon. 

 

‘Because they believed the pilots were gods falling out of the skies after a huge aerial battle, remember that the Japanese and American planes were fighting in these skies for months; so our village friends here imagined that the pilots were gods, and hence it was only natural to venerate their sky chariots!’ concluded the Doctor. 

 

‘So how does that help us?’ asked Brad, wincing through an increasing headache.

 

‘It helps us because we’ve stumbled onto a cargo cult my compadres, and they believe that we, just like those American pilots, are the gods returned to the island after all this time.’ 

 

‘Impossible,’ said Brad.

‘That’s what I thought, at first,’ said the Captain. 

 

‘It wouldn’t be the first cargo cult in this region,’ explained the Doctor, ‘there was the famous John Frum cult, which is actually quite close by, now that I think about it.’

 

‘So how does that help us?’ asked Brandon.

 

‘The planes are in pretty good shape, and with a bit of work, I think we can cannibalize their engines to replace the parts we need on our ship; but we will have to trade something for the engine parts with the tribe, and promise to come back soon.  Anyway follow me,’ said the Doctor theatrically. 

 

He led Brad, Brandon and the Captain into the back of the cave where two old WW2 planes sat quietly in the shadows.

As I sat in the hotel garden looking out at the waves crashing onto the vast beach of the Gold Coast, sipping a Bloody Mary, I was making notes, trying to come up with a plausible explanation for the newspaper editors as to why I had no news on the band’s progress, yet alone their whereabouts.  

I was just about to get up to go to the bar when the hotel concierge came rushing over holding a cordless phone, ‘It’s for you Sir, it’s urgent!’

Oh God, I thought, I bet it’s one of the editors, but how did they track me down? 

‘Who is it?’ I asked angrily.

‘He just said it’s the Captain,’ replied the concierge nervously, 

‘What!  Give me that,’ I said, snatching the phone. 

 

‘Hello,’ came the voice down the crackly line. 

‘Captain, is that you?  Where the hell have you been?’

‘It’s a long story, you lily livered pen pusher, but we’re on our way, we’re back on the waves.’

As I sat in the hotel garden looking out at the waves crashing onto the vast beach of the Gold Coast, sipping a Bloody Mary, I was making notes, trying to come up with a plausible explanation for the newspaper editors as to why I had no news on the band’s progress, yet alone their whereabouts.  

 

I was just about to get up to go to the bar when the hotel concierge came rushing over holding a cordless phone, ‘It’s for you Sir, it’s urgent!’

 

Oh God, I thought, I bet it’s one of the editors, but how did they track me down? 

‘Who is it?’ I asked angrily.

‘He just said it’s the Captain,’ replied the concierge nervously, 

‘What!  Give me that,’ I said, snatching the phone. 

 

‘Hello?  Hello?’ I shouted down the phone,

‘Hello,’ came the voice down the crackly line. 

‘Captain, is that you?  Where the hell have you been?’

‘It’s a long story, you lily livered pen pusher, but we’re on our way, we’re back on the waves.’