Over the next hour, Higgins and Evans tailed the Nazi armada that lived in this strange world inside their own. As they traveled they quickly learned that the mountainous terrain upon which they stood circled this world (which Evans quickly took to calling “Inner Space”) and that the large glowing orb that appeared much like a sun for this world never moved from its noon time position. The main land mass below them proved to be anything but. In fact, past their point of entry they quickly found the strange land to be mostly ocean with several islands breaking up the vast amounts of blue.

The pursuit of the Nazis proved fairly easy, as the enemy soldiers didn’t do much to watch for anyone on their tail. Instead they continuously looked to the sky. Higgins could understand that without an Allied presence and in their position high above the dinosaurs below, the Nazis didn’t need to fear pursuit, he was quite confused by the constant nervous looks at the sky. His question was answered about fifteen minutes in to their trek as a massive creature swooped down from the sky.

The creature seemed reptilian with a strange pattern of scales that reminded him of the Gila monsters back home. But unlike the Gilas the creature had to be the size of a fighter plane and its massive leathery wings held it aloft in much the same way as a Spitfire. Its beak-like mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth, though they were not as fearsome as the massive talons on its feet. It was the talons that the Nazis feared, and as Higgins watched the pterodactyl swoop down and carry off a Nazi soldier, he knew why.

As it carried the soldier off, Higgins shuddered at the thought of the man’s death. No one, not even a Nazi, deserved to die at the hands of such a beast. Higgins and Evans quickly joined the Nazis in their glances towards the sky. Neither wanted to share the soldier’s fate.

The Nazis passed several rough but still easily traversable footways to the islands below, but they took none of them, continuing ever onward. Finally, they seemed to reach a place to stop as they moved around a long wall in to a large recess in the cave’s wall. Higgins waited for the Nazis to disappear behind the wall completely before he moved forward to have a look.

The sight shot a cold shiver down his spine. At least a hundred Nazi soldiers stood on the large plateau and with them came several tanks and a plethora of heavy artillery. Higgins couldn’t believe it; how could they ever hope to stop such an armada?

Evans came up behind him to look around the corner and as he peered around, it happened. Evans stepped upon a bit of loose dirt. He caught himself before he fell forward, but a ration kit he was nibbling on slipped from his hand and fell. Time seemed to slow as it fell, and to Higgins, its landing sounded like a giant crash.

The pair of Nazi soldiers nearest to the wall immediately turned to see the source of the noise and in that moment, Higgins locked eyes with the enemy.

“Hell,” he muttered as the soldiers raised the alarm. He grabbed Evans by the arm, turned, and ran.

He charged back the path trying to remember the nearest place to make their way down on to the land below. Their only hope lay in that jungle, where they could find cover from the enemy.

He heard the sound of a rifle firing a distant behind him. He dared a glance backwards and found the enemy soldiers to be out of range. The Americans’ head start had been enough to keep them safe for the time being, but Higgins doubted that the Nazis would just let them escape. They’d send jeeps next.

Higgins came around the next bend in the winding trail and as he did, he found a walkway to the island below. “Down, Evans,” he cried. “Down to the island! We can take cover there!”

“But what about the dinosaurs?”

The familiar sound of a jeep engine came from the road behind them. “I’d rather take my chances with a possible danger than a certain one.”

Higgins dropped off of the main road on to the pathway down to the land below. He continued to take large bounds down the path. He cared more to escape than for his own safety. It wouldn’t do to be safe from falling only to take a bullet in the head.

Evans remained only a few steps behind. The path was long and the Nazis had reached the top of the trail before they were much past half way down. The first soldiers opened fire and dust flew from the rocks near Higgins as the bullets landed dangerously close.

“Go,” Higgins yelled to Evans. “We’re going to have to jump the last few feet than make a break for the jungle!”

“Are you crazy? It’s at least twenty feet.”

A bullet struck a rock no more than inches from Evans’s head. Evans gasped but Higgins could see in his eyes that he’d come around. Higgins grabbed Evans by the sleeve and the two men dove off the cliff and in to the rain forest below.

They both landed feet first and rolled forward in to a heap on the ground. Higgins yanked Evans to his feet and the two stumbled together in to the jungle.

The two men crumpled in to a heap after several minutes of running in to the confines of the jungle. Evans hoped it would be enough to lose their Nazi pursuers.

“What the hell are we going to do now?” Higgins knew Evans was in danger of becoming hysterical.

Higgins slapped Evans across the face. “Get a hold of yourself,” he cried. “I don’t like any of this better than you do, but right now, we’re the only thing that stands between the Nazis and conquest of this inner space. And there’s no doubt in my mind that the Krauts could use this land as a staging ground for another attack on the Allies.

“We can’t let that happen.”

Evans nodded in agreement, but said nothing.

“Good,” Higgins said. “Let’s rest here tonight, and tomorrow we can go in search of a way to go back and warn command.”

The pair settled in to an uneasy position in the mysterious jungle. The “sun” blazed at high noon as it always did, but it did nothing to stop sleep from overtaking the two men.