Janet & Carla's Jungle Peril. For Belle In Boots. Part 1.

By PrimeSlimeTime. UMD.net. DEC, 2019.

Carla couldn't believe what she was hearing down her phone. Her boss Janet was putting her in an awful position, forcing her to make a rushed decision without having the time to process the information and she always thought everything through carefully. The idea was ridiculous, something she did not sign up for. "I can't say yes to that right now she replied", her voice shaky, out of her comfort zone. She was the new undergraduate intern, and the expectation was that she did everything thrown at her without question, the proposal on her email either a bad joke or a horror story. "Well, you have until the end of the day to work out what your are doing or I will find someone else and you will lose the chance to work on your master's degree which is exactly why you are here I might add", Janet impatiently said down her phone then the line went dead. Carla googled the map as per the instructions in her email, the place so remote, that whoever thought of this for a fun trip at Erestos Espergo was completely out of their minds.

Carla was in her final year as junior geological surveyor and her university had finally found her a placement, after she had turned down several, the thought of being the only person on summer campus with no assignment and possibly having her grants stopped if she refused another. She was on thin ice here and was in no position to refuse the job. There was a tap on the cubicle screen behind her. She turned to see an internal university courier standing there patiently with a parcel for her. "Carla Bellamy", the young man politely said, "you have a delivery from England", and held out his scanner to the box he was carrying then waited for her to accept it. Carla got up from her chair, happy for the welcome moment of distraction and signed for the box, the courier saying to her in a cheerful voice as he left, have a nice day. Something about what he said covered her in goosebumps, and she shook it off as she returned to her desk looking over the box, happy to find it was from Berghaus Direct, her new hiking boots had finally arrived. She ripped into the packaging and tore open the carton, and carefully took them out inspecting them closely, the feeling of the plush soft leather making her hands tremble as she felt them all over. She loved hiking and walking boots, her new Highwalker II boots costing her plenty, taking a few painful weeks to arrive into her hands. Impeccably made and presented, without a scratch, mark, or other noticeable fault, her discomfort easing as she thought of trekking in them in and hopefully sinking herself in many weird and hopefully muddy places, she secretly loved trashing her boots and travel clothes in whatever mess she could find, her focus fixed on her new footwear. She called Janet back and cheerfully said to her, "I will see you for lunch to go over the assignment and yes I'm in".

Six weeks later the two of them were on a plane, geological survey contractors to a high profile oils and minerals exploration company, their task to visit a remote tropical jungle location and collect and record ground samples from a site that satellite infra-red images had found to contain good signs of mineral deposits near the surface and possibly oil and gas, both highly sought after valuable natural resources. The permits for entering the country and exploring the proposed site had taken months to organize, a delicate process due to the unstable nature of the government of the country they were visiting and this was her last chance to work on her final paper and finish her year on a good note. They met their guide and other government officials upon arrival, their equipment, passports and work visas seriously scrutinized with care, Carla getting the feeling that something was up and their presence not welcome here. After what seemed like hours clearance through customs approved, their duty free alcohol the only confiscation, apparently banned here and some men were very keen on closely inspecting their underwear in their luggage, wary of the two attractive foreign women who someone had given approval to allowing them into their country.

Their transportation an open tray partly broken down and beaten up truck, barely drive able down muddy bumpy tracks through the hot steamy jungle with their cases and equipment to their less than two star rated hotel another three hours drive from the airport, the best luxury they could find. The reception desk not manned, them not greeted upon arrival and had to wait for almost a half an hour, as their guide had to find the hotel staff, who were cleaning rooms or lazing somewhere, not at all interested in greeting their female guests, women possibly thought of with displeasure or even considered second-rate citizens. They were not off to a grand start, their living and working conditions deplorable.

Continued.