[ WP ] Recently a new tribe was discovered in a rainforest that has never been seen before . Rather than being behind the rest of the world technologically , they are far more advanced .

Paycheck ’ s voice came through Lancelot ’ s comm: “ All clear here, sir. ” 
 
 Lancelot would have rolled his eyes if anyone had been near enough to see. “ I didn ’ t ask, dickhead. ” 
 
 “ I know, sir! Just wanted to keep you apprised of how successful OBS is, currently. Over and out, sir! ” “ OBS ” was their nickname for this mission: Operation Bullshit. 
 
 Julia Child ’ s voice: “ Ain ’ t nothing clear. I can ’ t tell if this is haze or fog. Give me that dry desert air any day. ” 
 
 “ I ’ ll be sure and pass along your progress report to SOUTHCOMM, ” Lancelot replied, keeping his voice flat and not-at-all-amused. 
 
 But Paycheck had a point. This operation was bullshit. 
 
 They ’ d chosen the name Babysitters for this mission, and it was appropriate not only because it related to the designation of Operation Playdate. They were a four-man fire team, part of SEAL Team Seven. None of them had ever been deployed in South America before, but Team Four didn ’ t have as much jungle training. 
 
 And this was definitely jungle. 
 
 * “ Fucking* spiders, ” Barney said over the comm. Barney was the medic, the only member who wasn ’ t Direct Action. He was only a month out of 18Delta at Fort Bragg, and apparently he hated spiders. This was the fourth time one had assaulted him. So far he had yet to request weapons free. 
 
 Lancelot sighed and plodded along, walking upright, alert but feeling sluggish. He wasn ’ t used to the thick jungle air either. The huge trees were constantly dripping on them. It was sunny when they had landed, but under this dense canopy of old growth trees, it felt like a dark rainy day. 
 
 Their mission was to find and retrieve a group of civilian scientists from UCLA who had missed their last six check-ins. They hadn ’ t been heard from in over a week; no one knew why. They had no intel on this island off the coast of Brazil, but since it was uninhabited, that wasn ’ t surprising. The scientists had apparently been researching a new type of orchis with anti-cancer properties, or something, but none of that interested Lancelot in the slightest. His objectives were clear: find the scientists, bring them home. He would endure their fascinating stories about how their radio had broke, or the batteries had fallen out, or they had just forgotten to call in for a week. If any of them were injured, Barney would patch them up. 
 
 If they were all dead, they ’ d haul back the bodies, without having to listen to the stories. 
 
 What Lancelot *really* wanted to know was why this was a job for Navy SEALs. 
 
 There was a wooden crack from Lancelot ’ s right, maybe fifty meters. 
 
 “ That you, Barney? ” 
 
 “ Fucking rotten branches, ” Barney replied. 
 
 “ Let ’ s try to tighten up a bit, ” Lance said. “ We -- ” 
 
 Before he had even consciously registered the glimpse of white through the haze, he ’ d raised his weapon, sighted, and had his finger resting on the trigger. 
 
 Human. White shirt, moving toward him, slowly. 
 
 “ Contact, ” he said over the comm. “ On me, now. ” 
 
 No one replied, of course, but he knew his squadmates were rapidly and silently collapsing the line onto his position. 
 
 White male, nothing in his hands. Lance raised his head above his rifle, but kept it level and ready. “ Are you Harvey McKenna? ” he called out, not too loud. Harvey McKenna was the lead scientist of the group. If this wasn ’ t him, he ’ d know the name. 
 
 No reply. He was only ten meters away now. He crashed through the dense foliage, seemingly without caring what direction he moved. 
 
 “ Hello? ” Lancelot said again. * “ Você fala Inglês? ” * 
 
 His eyes were unfocused, his facial muscles tight. Lancelot heard movement from his left and right and knew it was his squadmates. He let his weapon rest on its sling and made a circle in the air with his left finger: gather around me. 
 
 The man was close now, about to walk right past him. Lancelot put a hand firmly on his shoulder, stopping him. “ Sir? ” he said, with authority. “ Are you Harvey McKenna? ” 
 The man looked at the hand on his shoulder with utter bewilderment. Slowly his eyes traced up Lancelot ’ s arm to his face. Still no comprehension. 
 
 “ Are you, ” he said, his voice cracking, “ are you here? Really here? ” 
 
 Lancelot said, “ Barney, ” and made a gesture. The medic came forward and took a firm, supportive grasp on the man ’ s elbow. 
 
 “ Sir? Sir? ” Barney said directly into his face. “ My name is Doug, sir, I ’ m a doctor. I ’ m going to check you out, is that okay? Can you tell me your name? ” He shone a tiny light into the man ’ s right eye, then away, back and forth a few times. 
 
 “ Why, what? ” the man said. “ Is it … are we done, already? ” 
 
 “ Sir, ” Lancelot said. “ You had nine people in your group, is that right? Can you tell me where the others are? ” 
 
 “ Others? ” he said, even more confused. “ You ’ re making them … you don ’ t …. ” 
 
 He collapsed. 
 
 Barney caught him, just as he ’ d been trained to do. He lowered him onto a relatively clear patch of dirt and began shouting at him to wake up in that friendly-but-detached way medics did, loosening clothing, his whole routine. 
 
 Lancelot took a few steps back. 
 
 Julia was at his shoulder. “ He ’ s been traumatized, ” he said. 
 
 Lance looked up at him. Julia Child was about six-six, weighed a hundred pounds more than he did. “ Clearly. ” 
 
 “ So what the fuck did that to him? ” 
 
 “ Shock. Dehydration. Who knows. We have to find the rest of them. ” He nodded the way the man had come. 
 
 “ This just keeps getting better, ” Paycheck said. 
 
 “ You gon na lose money on a bet if they ’ re all alive? ” Julia said. 
 
 Paycheck snorted. “ I wouldn ’ t bet *your* mom on this mission. ” 
 
 “ Paycheck, stay here with Barney. Don ’ t piss him off. Keep your fucking eyes open. Julia, we ’ re going right between those trees with all the vines on them. That ’ s where he came from. Just a couple hundred meters, see what there is to see. ” 
 
 Julia raised his rifle to low ready and nodded. Lancelot raised his rifle to match. They moved forward, much more cautiously. They could hear Barney still trying to revive the man. 
 
 “ Too clean, ” Julia said. 
 
 Lancelot nodded as he swept his eyes across the jungle. “ His shirt? ” 
 
 “ Yeah. Dude been in the jungle a week, but that t-shirt look like it just came out of its wrapper. Don ’ t make sense. ” 
 
 “ Nope. Same thing with his khakis. Not a drop of mud. You suppose they packed in a washing machine? ” 
 
 They moved forward, Julia Child a few meters behind and to the left of Lancelot. 
 
 They didn ’ t make it a hundred meters. 

