The Phantom

by Wayne Mansfield

  Toby nodded.

  “Try telling our captain,” Toby whispered into Pete’s ear.

  “We are. At this moment he is being told the same as you have been told, although I am sorry to say he is not taking the information as well as you, Toby and Pete.”

  “How do ya know that?” asked Pete.

  As the last of the Atlanteans joined the small crowd Makos gave Pete a strange look.

  “How do we know? Can you not see it yourself?”

  Pete and Toby both scanned the cityscape for signs of Sandy and the Captain but could find none.

  “Not out there,” said Makos. “In here.” He gestured to his temple. “Do you not see him now? See his hand forming a fist? His red face? He is defeated and afraid.”

  “I’m sorry, Makos,” said Toby, “but we have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Makos lifted a hand to Toby’s head and placed the middle and index finger of his right hand on Toby’s temple. Sentra placed the same two fingers of her right hand on Pete’s temple.

  Immediately Toby could see the Captain and Sandy in the space just before his eyes. Yet the image wasn’t where he saw it. He knew that. It was inside his head. It seemed as though it were somehow being projected out in front of him.

  The Captain had attempted to hit the Atlantean called Feros. Toby had no idea how he knew this unpleasant fact, but the whole experience was so surreal that he didn’t waste any time contemplating the whys and wherefores. The Captain was being restrained by an invisible force field while Feros tried again to explain to him the reason why no artefact or relic should be removed from the sunken land of Atlantis. Toby could sense that Sandy understood. He was in agreement with the Atlanteans, just as Toby and Pete were, but even though the Captain was weakening in his resolve, his pride was preventing him from caving in completely.

  Makos and Sentra removed their fingers simultaneously and the vision stopped.

  Toby looked wide-eyed with mouth agape at Pete and then back at Makos.

  “How did you do that? I mean…how did you do that?”

  The steady smile on Makos’ lips widened a little. “It is a skill we all possess and which we Atlanteans are trained to hone from a young age. It seems that somehow the people of the land have forgotten it.”

  “Well I wouldn’t mind bein’ able to that,” said Pete. “Come in handy for the Saturday night Lotto numbers.”

  Makos, Sentra, and the other Atlanteans furrowed their brows, though none of them took their eyes from the ‘people of the land’ as Toby and Pete had been labelled.

  “Would you like to see the grand Atlantis?” asked Makos. “The way it was before the great submersion?”

  “We should be getting back to the ship,” said Pete. “Come on, Toby.”

  Pete turned to leave, but Toby remained where he was.

  “No, Pete. I want to see it. I really want to see it. I’ve come all this way and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get much else for all our troubles.”

  Pete considered what Toby had said.

  “Come on then,” he said, directing the statement to Makos. “Show us.”

  Chapter 10

  Makos stepped in front of Toby and looked him directly in the eye. Immediately Toby felt as though he was just about to cum. The sensation took him by surprise, but when he realised it was just Makos’ proximity making him feel so orgasmic, the feeling slowly abated. Makos placed the middle and index finger of his left hand on his temple and then placed the same two fingers of his right hand on Toby’s temple.

  At first there was a slight warmth which soon became a tingling sensation that almost had Toby laughing out loud.

  “Close your eyes,” said Makos.

  Toby glanced at Pete and saw Sentra had her two fingers on his temple. Knowing Pete was being taken care of, he closed his eyes.

  After no more than a few seconds, Toby began to hear voices and was tempted to open his eyes.

  “Keep them closed,” said Makos as though he had heard Toby’s thoughts.

  The voices became louder and there were other sounds too. The darkness behind his eyes faded to reveal a scene more breathtaking than any he had ever beheld before. Surrounding him was the grandeur of Atlantis as it was when it was capped by blue skies and the cool blue of the Mediterranean lapped at its borders. Immense public buildings and elaborately carved monuments towered over the smaller, though no less impressive, dwellings of its citizens. As the vision flew like a bird over Atlantis, Toby could see the roads that criss-crossed central Atlantis and the intricate system of aqueducts that brought fresh water to the inner city and fed the green fields around it, all the way to the coast.

  Its citizens were dressed simply in togas and loincloths. Some were even naked, though all had at least some adornment of gold. By the southern shores a group of men were hauling a fishing boat onto the sand where women had gathered to get the first pick of the fresh fish. Gulls wheeled overhead, eyes searching for the scraps of meat and fish heads that would soon litter the clean white sand of the beach.

  The island was also possessed of small groves of olive trees and orchards of fruit, fed by the aqueducts. Houses punctuated the countryside and on one road Toby saw a man in a cart laden with produce making his way towards the gleaming white metropolis that could be seen from almost every vantage point on the island.

  As the tour came back towards the city, Toby noticed a small bridge of land that connected Atlantis to the mainland. A mighty river flowed from Greece, along this bridge and into a vast dam which fed the aqueducts. It literally was a lifeline to the community.

  Having seen a good deal of the island, Toby’s journey brought him back down to earth. His feet touched the rough, pebble-strewn ground. He walked alone for a mile or two, past olive groves and small pens of goats and sheep. Chickens clucked and pecked at the seeds and grains scattered by the roadsides, not the least bit bothered by Toby’s presence.

  The sun bathed him in a warm light while a cool breeze tousled his hair and continued across a field of ripening wheat. A man accompanied by a young girl wearing a simple smock and boy of about five, naked and dirty, passed him by.

  “Hello,” said the man.

  Toby didn’t know the word spoken by the man, but he replied using the strange word and then wondered how it was that he had come to know its meaning.

  In a short while he found himself surrounded by more and more buildings. The streets were busy with carts and people and livestock on their way to market. Overhead, women hung their washing out on thin ropes stretched between the buildings while chatting to each other. Tantalising aromas, of bread baking and meat cooking, wafted on the breeze, causing Toby’s stomach to rumble though his attention was soon drawn by a group of small children chasing each other up the narrow street, shrieking with laughter and leading his eyes to a teenage couple kissing by a fountain that sparkled in the summer light.

  The longer Toby stayed in Atlantis, the more he felt he knew about it. A group of well-dressed teenagers was climbing the steps to a grand building with great columns along the front and statues watching over them from the roof. He knew this was the university. Beside it was the House of Knowledge, a vast library containing thousands of scrolls of parchment and papyrus, and blocks of clay tablets from civilisations already ancient even in these times. There was a beautiful park filled with shady trees and fragrant blossoms where people sat having philosophical discussions and sharing gossip in equal amounts.

  Everyone seemed happy and no one lacked for anything. It was a good time to be alive in Atlantis.

  Suddenly his attention was snatched away by the sight of a large saucer-shaped spaceship whirring by overhead. With his own eyes becoming saucer-shaped, he observed the vessel landing in a large paved square.

  “The gods have come!” shouted a young woman carrying a naked babe on her hip.

  Some of the people moved towards the saucer while others did their best to hurry to places of concealment. To be on the safe
side Toby hid behind one of the massive pillars of the university. The door to the shiny craft slid to the ground to form a ramp down which a handsome man, bedecked in a glowing white toga lined with gold that glimmered in the sunlight, walked. Upon his head he wore a crown of golden laurel leaves and on his feet he wore bejewelled sandals. His fingers were a riot of jewels and precious metals.

  An entourage of finely dressed men followed; every one of them as perfect as if they had been carved from the finest alabaster by the finest craftsman. Some wore togas that barely covered their cocks, which were hidden in ornately decorated golden penis sheaths, while others were naked. Their heads were slightly elongated and their eyes slightly too big for their faces.

  The group led by the handsome, muscular god in the glowing white robe walked purposefully across the square to a large building where the Senate met. The Atlanteans bowed and genuflected as the small procession passed them and continued to do so until the otherworldly visitors were out of sight.

  The next thing Toby knew the spaceship was ascending into the sky and people were fleeing from the Senate building. He knew something dark was on its way, although he did not know from where it would come. He wanted to leave this place. He sent his thoughts to Makos. Get me out of here. I’m frightened. PLEASE!

  Yet there was no response. He was on his own.

  Then the vision blurred and when it cleared again the sky was thick with threatening clouds. The Heavens were alive with thunder and lightning that flashed behind the clouds. Toby stood by his pillar as faint sounds of scholars teaching reached his ears. All of a sudden the ground began to shake.

  The voices inside became silent.

  The shaking stopped, though only for a few minutes. When it returned, it seemed to have brought with it more strength. The quaking threw Toby to the ground and he was just getting to his feet when a third and more violent tremor sent the students inside running, screaming, from the building.

  Toby backed himself up against the pillar and looked out at the scene of chaos escalating before him. Men and women dropped what they were holding and ran for cover as lightning bolts hit the earth and sent up clouds of acrid smelling smoke. The tremors became longer and more violent; a toppled statue from the roof smashed to pieces just inches from where Toby was standing.

  A space ship flew overhead and disappeared into the storm, soon followed by another larger craft that paused for a while over the metropolis before shooting up into the clouds.

  A mighty crash, like an explosion, made Toby gasp. He spun around to see the pillars of the Senate building fall to the ground, bringing the roof down with them. A huge, swirling ball of dust rose into the air before the rain started and brought it falling back to the ground as mud. More and more buildings toppled, crushing all those inside and those within a few metres of their walls. Toby wanted to flee but somehow he knew he was safe. If he stayed where he was, he’d be all right.

  Suddenly there was an almighty cracking sound and the ground beneath him fell away. Toby fell through the air until his body made contact with the ground as it slid down into a gaping fracture in the earth. A distant rumbling sound, quite unlike that of the thunder, grew louder and louder until a mighty wave crashed over the city filling the gaping hole where the city had been. His body was buffeted with debris, dead bodies and drowning livestock as he struggled to keep oxygen in his lungs. When a second wave swept over his head, he took a deep breath and felt himself being tumbled through the water like a sock in a washing machine.

  Toby opened his eyes, gasping for air. His heart was pounding and his body was flooded with adrenalin. At first he didn’t see Makos. His one thought was to flee. He pushed against Makos’ grip until he realised he was back in his own time and the disaster was thousands of years behind him.

  “Be calm,” said Makos, taking hold of Toby’s arm.

  Toby looked into Makos’ deep dark eyes and saw reflected in them the look of panic on his face just before it melted away.

  “I can’t believe how real that was,” he said, struggling to get his breathing under control.

  “Memories are powerful things.”

  “But surely they’re not your memories,’ said Toby.

  “Collective memories,” replied Makos. “We’re born with them so we never forget what happened to our ancestors and therefore how important it is for us to protect all of this.”

  Makos began walking. Sentra and Pete accompanied them, as did the others, albeit a good distance behind.

  “We are aware that remnants of this memory remain with some of the people of the land, too. Your Captain, for example, must have had some knowledge of Atlantis for him to travel so far to find it,” explained Makos. “He is very lucky that he did. Had it not been for a small group of errant teens you would never have known where we were.”

  “Errant teens?” echoed Toby. “It was a small pod of dolphins that showed us the way not any Atlanteans.”

  There was the sound of laughter in his head, but when he scanned the faces of those around them, he only saw glimmers of light in their eyes.

  “Those were the teens I mentioned, in their sea form. We are now in our land form. It is the only way we could meet you. Our people have been following you from Fremantle. We can communicate through the water and were able to trace you from Australia to Africa and along its coast to the Red Sea and then to here.”

  Toby began to shake his head. He looked across at Pete, who was holding his hand up as if to stop Sentra from speaking.

  “Dolphins,” he heard Pete scoff. “You lot are bloody dolphins?”

  Toby looked at Makos. “You’re not, are you? I mean, how is that even possible? It’s not possible.”

  Makos smiled back at him. “It is possible because we are indeed the dolphins that roam your oceans. The people of the land know in their hearts that we are connected, that there is a bond between the people of the land and the people of the sea. You recognise in us something of yourselves, for indeed we share much but for our physical form when we’re at sea.”

  They continued walking, bypassing great mounds of rubble that had once been impressive buildings and walking across bare patches that had once been parks.

  “How, though?” asked Toby. “How can people become dolphins then change back again?”

  “Something unexplained happened as Atlantis was inundated. Many who would have otherwise drowned simply transformed, or were transformed, because of a determination to survive. Whether that determination was ours or that of the gods is not certain.”

  “So were there dolphins before you or were you the first dolphins? Are all dolphins former Atlanteans?”

  Makos laughed out loud. He placed an arm around Toby’s shoulder.

  “You have so many questions and I’m afraid the more I tell you the more questions you’ll have. We could be here for days. But the light grows poor and already your people are waiting above the sea for your return. “

  “We’ve got to find the Captain first.”

  And just as the words fell from Toby’s lips another group of Atlanteans along with Sandy and the Captain appeared around a corner.

  “It has been a pleasure hosting you,” said Makos.

  “And for me as well,” said his counterpart from the second group.

  “But we must bid you farewell and you must return to your world,” said Makos. “We only ask that you say nothing of what you have seen or experienced here. Our very existence depends on it.”

  “You have my word,” said Toby, shaking Makos’ hand.

  “You have mine as well,” said Pete.

  “And mine, too,” said Sandy. “Now can we get out of here? I’m bustin’ for a fag.”

  The people from the land and the Atlanteans made their way to the entrance and while the men were getting dressed, several of their hosts walked past them, stepped through the wall of water and with a couple of kicks from their legs transformed into dolphins that sped away through the water leaving nothing but bubbles behind
them.

  “I’ll never forget today for as long as I live,” said Toby.

  “No one will,” said the Captain casting a dirty look in the direction of the Atlanteans still hovering near the entrance.

  Toby pulled on his fins and leant into the water which sucked him into its liquid embrace. He swam for the entrance followed by Pete, Sandy, and the Captain. On the other side, in the open sea, the light was dim although there was just enough to be able to see two dark shapes bobbing on the surface above. As his legs paddled like mad beneath him, Toby’s eyes stayed on the target and after only a few minutes his head was pushing through the surface.

  “What kept ya?” asked Bird as he helped Toby onto the dinghy. “We’ve been waiting out here for an hour. Thought you’d bloody-well drowned or a shark had got you.”

  Toby was panting. He pulled off his fins and then removed the tanks from his back.

  “You’re not going to believe it,” said Toby. “So I’ll wait till the Captain gets here and he can tell you.”

  Two more heads appeared and then a third as Bird and Toby helped Pete into the boat. A few metres away Zeke helped the Captain into his dinghy.

  “Where’s all the treasure?” asked Zeke.

  Toby was glad he was in a different boat. He didn’t hear the Captain’s answer, but he was sure the atmosphere aboard the other boat was anything but cordial.

  “Whatever ya do, Bird,” said Pete. “Don’t mention anythin’ about what happened down there.”

  Bird looked directly at Toby. “But you said to ask…”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind,” said Toby, after taking a swig from a bottle of water that was being passed around. “You’re liable to get your head bitten off if you mention anything about what happened in Atlantis.”

  * * * *

  Bird got the motor going and soon they were speeding over the water towards The Phantom. Fortunately they arrived back before Zeke and the Captain did, although while Toby and his crew mates got the boats back on deck, washed down the equipment and stored it away, the Captain retreated to his cabin and slammed the door behind him. No one heard from him for the rest of the night. Not even for dinner.