A few hours by mule

"Just a few hours by mule."

"By Mule?"

"Yes. We are of limited resources I'm afraid, oh Great One," said Carl. "It's the best we have to offer. Come I'll show you."

Carl led them through the edge of the village where there were open flooded fields with villagers tending crops angle deep in mud. Carl took then into an overgrown fibre-glass shed which contained various run-down farming machines.

"Here are the mules," he said gesturing towards a pair of battered old machines which looked like overweight motorbikes without any wheels.

Stacy and Astra examined the machines. Stacy wiped off the dry mud splattered on the side of one of them to reveal the writing underneath, embossed on the bodywork.

M.U.L.E.-3000

There was a high pitched whining from outside.

"What's that?"asked Astra.

"I don't know," said Carl frowning.

Astra took a peek out the door. "Looks like we've got company."

Stacy went to look and saw a dark grey, snub-nosed vehicle floating across the fields like a hovercraft. It pulled into the village and four Solidarity troopers stepped out wearing green camouflaged spacesuits, black carbines at the ready.

Astra turned to Carl. "These MULEs, how fast do they go?"

"Well, I don't really know. We've never taken them up to top speed. It would just be too dangerous."

Astra smiled and climbed on the the back of one of the MULEs. "Stacy, you want to go for a ride."

Stacy hopped onto the other MULE and took a look at the controls. "I think I can work it out."

"Carl," said Astra. "You know the way to the temple, right?"

Carl nodded.

"Then hop on," said Astra. She started the engine, which throbbed with a deep rumble and the MULE gently floated up off the ground.

Carl tentatively climbed up behind Astra and Stacy got familiar with the controls. She powered it up and shouted, "Hey Carl. You might want to hold on tight!"

Right on queue Astra squeezed the throttle and the MULE shot out of the shed. Carl rocked back and managed to grab onto Astra's waist just in time. Stacy gently tried the throttle and the MULE crept forward. Then she gritted her teeth and went to full power. The engine roared and she zoomed out after Astra.

Astra actually flew the MULE straight at the Solidarity soldiers but then swerved at the last second, hitting them with a jet-wash that knocked them off their feet. Stacy followed Astra across the field, muddy water blasted out sideways from under them.

Astra didn't slow down at all as they hit the tree-line, and Stacy focused all her attention on staying on her tail as trees flashed past. Once they were deep in the jungle Astra slowly came to a halt and Stacy came along side her. Carl had his eyes tightly shut, his arms wrapped around Astra's waist and his head locked against her back and covered in the canopy of Astra's red hair.

"You can open your eyes now, Carl," said Stacy.

"You're meant to be guiding us, Carl," said Astra. "You're not going to be able to do that with your eyes closed."

"I just ... need to ..." stammered Carl, "I just need to get my ... bearings." He got off the MULE and looked around, standing on a fallen log. After a moment he pointed with a trembling finger. "That way ... we need to go that way."

Stacy smiled at Astra. "Maybe go a bit slower."

Astra shrugged. "As you wish."

Astra was true to her word and took them on a more gentle ride through the jungle. After a few hours, they broke through into a large clearing that was entirely dominated by a huge stone pyramid, overgrown with creepers.

They pulled up at the edge of the clearing at looked up at the temple towering over them.

"Well, it's bigger than I expected," said Stacy. "I wonder what we'll find inside?"

1. Inside the Temple

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