A Drop in the Ocean

by James Cooke

  'Okay you three move along, don't try and run for it. We will shoot to kill.'

  'Where the hell are you taking us, we have rights you know,' Sarah responded.

  'Shut up, and just follow me, everything will soon be explained,' said the lead goon.

  They were all unceremoniously ushered into separate interrogation rooms. The room Brian was in was a cold and unfurnished room apart from a table and four chairs. On the opposite side of the room, a large darkened window offered only a sad reflection. Unbeknownst to Brian, Eghert and Foss sat behind the one-way mirror peering into the room he sat in.

  Shortly after being asked to take a seat, a short, bespectacled middle-aged man sporting a grey crewcut and wearing a short-sleeved white shirt with a dark blue tie entered the room.

  ‘Please sit down, make yourself comfortable,’ said the interrogator.

  ‘Firstly, let me explain why you are here. We take National Security in this country very seriously as you can imagine. Our job is to ensure that there are no uninvited guests as it were. We are fully aware of what happened three nights ago, up in Canada and of course, we want to make sure that none of our citizens are put at unnecessary risk. So, let’s take you first, Mr Hopper, Mr Brian Hopper.’

  Before Brian could reply, two more people entered the room and sat down opposite him.

  'Okay Smith, we'll take it from here, you can leave,’ snapped Eghert.

  Once the interrogator left the room, Eghert announced, 'I'm agent Eghert, and this is agent Foss.'

  Brian stared at the black eye patch Eghert was wearing and wondered what might have occurred to warrant it. Without realising, Brian’s mind slipped into an argument with itself.

  For god’s sake, be totally honest with them, tell them everything, and then you should be okay.

  Are you crazy, you made a commitment to Lucy remember!

  Maybe, but you've got your daughter to think about.

  Fair enough but since I've done nothing wrong, I'm gonna tell them jack shit.

  The voices in Brian’s head went on for what seemed like minutes until they reached a crescendo.

  He felt as if he was spiralling down a one-way tunnel into madness, and he knew that he had to snap out of it or risk appearing totally gaga.

  ‘Oh Jesus, stop it!’ he shouted out.

  Eghert frowned, ‘Stop what Mr Hopper?’

  Foss, on the other hand, showed some concern, ‘Are you all right Mr Hopper?’

  Christ almighty, they must think I’m a fucking lunatic or something.

  Brian glanced at Foss, she had an air of compassion about her.

  ‘Sorry it's nothing, I'm just a bit stressed out, as you would be if you were kidnapped against your will and dumped in an interrogation room. Who the hell are you people anyway?’

  'Relax Mr Hopper, we just want to ask you a few questions.' Eghert replied.

  'Look, whoever you are, you have to understand that, as far as I’m concerned, we haven’t done anything wrong.’

  Eghert grinned and shook his head slowly.

  ‘Fuck you, I want to talk to my lawyer.’

  ‘Oh, really Mr Hopper, and who might that be?’ Eghert replied.

  Foss could see this going nowhere, and she decided to intervene.

  ‘May I call you Brian?’ Foss asked.

  Foss appeared to be more relaxed and less adversarial.

  ‘Yeah, why not, perhaps we can all be on first names terms, that’d be nice.’

  Foss smiled.

  ‘If it makes it any easier, I’m Carol. So Brian, why don’t you just explain to me what happened from the time you got up on the morning of the second of March?’ asked Foss.

  Brian could feel himself calming down a little, and decided to be economical with the truth.

  ‘Not much to say really, like most days, I’d set off early from the Lupin mine and on the way back huge moose ran into the road, it just stood there in the middle of the road looking at me. I couldn’t help but swerve, the last thing I wanted was the damn thing hitting the windscreen. So yeah, I lost control of my truck and ended up in a sort of a large ditch. I think I might have been out for a while, I can’t remember, but anyway I managed to climb out and decided to start walking. It’s the only option up there, either that or freeze to death. I managed to hitch a lift back into town, and later on, met up with this girl, who was travelling across the country. And then.’

  Eghert, who had been staring at Brian, listening to his pathetic lies, expressionless, abruptly pushed his chair back and got up.

  ‘Thank you, Mr Hopper, that will be all for now.’

  Brian was confused, he wrongly assumed that he might have undergone a more dramatic form interrogation, the infamous dentistry scenes from the Marathon Man film had crossed his mind at one point.

  ‘So, I take it we’re all free to go?’ he asked, confidently.

  ‘Not quite Mr Hopper, we still have to talk to your two associates and see if their stories match yours.’ Eghert replied.

  Well, that was the truth, up to a point. They can’t disprove there wasn’t a moose and why shouldn’t I have met Lucy in town?

  ‘That’ll be all, for now, Mr Hopper. Just wait here, someone will be along shortly,' Eghert said as he locked the door on the way out of the room, Foss following him.

  Brian rested his head on the desk, at that moment, he wished he’d never met Lucy. Another hour either way and it would have been somebody else sat at this table, and he’d be home by now with Megan. Instead, here he was, digging himself into a very large hole probably.

  Brian contemplated the worst, not ever seeing Megan again, and he wondered if all of this was an elaborate hoax of some sort. Yet he could find no good reason why that should be, he had after all seen the dead aliens, you couldn’t make up the stench they made, they just had to be real. After pacing around the room for a while, he returned to the table and sat with his feet on the top. As uncomfortable as it was, he fell asleep. Someone was saying his name, and it was getting louder. He startled awake to find agent Foss shaking him by the shoulder.

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, Brian, but you were well gone.’ Foss said.

  ‘That’s okay, was I snoring?’

  Foss smiled, ‘Just a little, well, actually quite a lot, and you were dribbling.’

  Brian sat upright, rubbing his stiff neck.

  ‘Where’s the other one, Mr nice guy?’

  ‘Don’t worry about him, he’s not here.’

  ‘So, what’s it to be, am I under arrest or what?’

  ‘No, not at all, Brian. Listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you.’

  Brian did as he was asked, the tone of Foss’s voice was all the more courteous compared to the abrupt timbre of Eghert’s intonation.

  ‘You see, I’m not quite who you might think I might be. Although it may appear that I'm working for these people....’, Brian cut Foss off mid-flow.

  ‘Hold your horses. People! What people? Just who the hell are you?’ he interrupted.

  ‘Brian, if you’ll please just calm down a bit and allow me to explain.’

  ‘Okay, sorry, I’m listening.’

  ‘I work for the U.S Government, just as does Eghert, and all you need to know is that I am going to help you get out of here and allow you to complete your mission for want of a better word. You can trust me on this.’ Foss explained.

  ‘What mission, what the heck are you on about?’

  ‘I know all about the crashed UFO, Brian and how you met Lucy. Sarah told me all about it.’

  ‘And what else did she tell you?’

  ‘She told me about your plans to go to some Island in the middle of nowhere, and it was all about saving the world, is that what you mean?’

  Brian glanced at Foss and thought there was no point in denying any of it.

  ‘Okay so now you know. But if that’s the case, I don’t understand, why would you do that? This sounds like a set up to me.’ Brian replied.

  ‘I pe
rfectly understand why you would think that Brian. All can ask is that you trust me when I say that I work for a different Government agency to that which agent Eghert works for. My superiors would prefer for you to succeed in your planned trip to Marion Island, whereas Eghert’s people simply don’t, and that’s the truth of it, Brian.’

  Brian observed Foss closely, trying to detect any signs of deceit. But the more he delved deeper into Foss’s eye’s, the more he was convinced that she was telling the truth and that she was being utterly candid with him.

  ‘Okay, okay, so let’s imagine that what you are telling me is the truth, what now then?’

  ‘Thank you, Brian. What I can assure you of, is that as a result of carrying on with your plans, you, Lucy and Sarah, will categorically not be held to account or charged with anything, period. Furthermore, we will make sure that your family will be kept safe and ready for your return.’

  ‘How can I be absolutely sure of that?’

  ‘Well, like I said before, I’m afraid you’re just going to have to trust me on this Brian. I’ve arranged for you and your two companions to be provided safe passage out of here. This might sound a bit strange, but please believe me when I tell you it’s a genuine offer.’

  ‘Offer! So, I do have a choice then?’

  ‘Not really I suppose, you see the choice is either stay here and face arrest and probably jail time or accept this offer in good faith and carry on as you have planned and get to see your family again.’ Foss put it to Brian. He didn’t take long too long to weigh up the choices.

  ‘Okay, but I still don’t understand exactly why you want us to succeed?’

  ‘Well, let’s just say certain people in Eghert’s organisation are not, how shall I put it, not entirely ethical in their work. My organisation recognises this and are attempting to resolve certain issues. All I ask of you is that you flatly deny, if it ever becomes necessary, that we ever had this conversation. That is very important to me, and just for that, in return, I will guarantee that you will get through this successfully. Do we have a deal, Brian?’

  Brian was tired, just a few days ago, things were normal, life was normal, or so he thought so, and he was going home. Now he was in a strange new world full of people outside of his routine life, people he only ever imagined to be in the movies. He’d had enough; agent Foss had spun a convincing argument.

  Brian keeled in.

  ‘Yeah sure, why not? I agree it’s a deal. I just want to get this over and done with as soon as possible and then go home. I’m really not cut out for all this cloak and dagger stuff,’ Brian explained.

  Foss smiled warmly in acknowledgement and reached out, placing her right hand on Brian’s.

  ‘You will definitely go home, Brian, mark my words and in the knowledge that you assisted in a life-saving mission. Now, this is very important, Brian, just sit tight for a short while longer. I’ll be back very shortly.’

  Don’t exactly have much choice in case you haven’t noticed.

  True to her word, Foss came back a few minutes later with Lucy and Sarah.

  Sarah was beaming.

  ‘Hi Brian, are you okay? It seems agent Foss here has come to our rescue, isn’t that wonderful,’ Sarah effervesced.

  ‘Yeah, aren’t we the lucky ones. What about you, Lucy, everything okay?’

  ‘Yes, I am – okay. I was put into a locked room on my own until this woman named Foss, came to fetch me.’ Lucy answered.

  Foss cocked an eye in bemusement.

  ‘Okay listen up guys, we don’t have much time. Please follow me very closely. It’s now or never,’ whispered Foss as she beckoned for us to follow her.

  They all followed Foss quietly down the fire exit stairwell and into a basement parking area. It was dimly lit and typical of any city underground car park. In the far corner was a locked door which had the words “Keep out – Engineering Only.” Foss forced it open with a crowbar that she had been carrying and stepped through.

  ‘Hurry up guys, there’s no time to waste. Now, do you see that other door over there, it won’t be locked. Go through it, and you’ll find another stairwell that leads down to the boiler room and service tunnels. Follow the main steam line, that’s the large diameter pipe, along with the tunnel, for about two-hundred yards until you come to another basement. That will be the building, which when you ascend the stairs, you can follow the signs to the fire exit. It will lead you out into a back alley. Just around the corner, there’ll be a yellow cab waiting for you; it should have the number B6174.

  Get in it.

  The driver will take you anywhere you want to go. I suggest you avoid the airports from now on. Eghert’s people are monitoring those very carefully. Road and Rail should be okay. We’ll be keeping an eye on you as best we can as you make your way to Marion Island. Now go!’ Foss said hurriedly.

  Brian nodded a thank you. Sarah wasn’t quite as emotional.

  ‘Oh, for god’s sake, c’mon Brian let’s get the hell out of here.’ Sarah cried impatiently while grabbing hold of Lucy’s hand. Seconds later they had left Foss behind and made their way through the opposite door and down a concrete stairwell; which lead to another rabbit’s nest of small rooms filled with workbenches and various tools. Brian observed in the far corner of the larger room, the exit which he hoped would lead into the narrow concrete service tunnel that Foss had mentioned. It was definitely narrow, about four feet wide and illuminated with yellow lamps every few yards. On both sides ran several pipes and cable trays hung from the ceiling. The larger pipe, about twelve inches or so in diameter, was covered with an aluminium heat conservation jacket and marked every yard with the words “CHP STEAM MAIN - CAUTION HOT.”

  ‘This must be it, but which way?’ Brian asked.

  ‘Left down there. It’s leading away from the direction we came,’ Sarah replied.

  ‘Hold on Sarah, what the heck was going on back there in the interrogation room?’

  Sarah gave Brian a quizzical glance.

  ‘Jesus Brian, didn’t you ask?’

  ‘Ask what exactly?’

  Sarah rolled her eyes at Brian’s simplicity.

  ‘The cute little agent Foss is a Fed; she works for the FBI. By the way, did I detect a thing between you two? Oh, never mind. Well, it seems like they are trying to hold someone to account for something terrible that happened many years ago on the same god damned Island we’re headed for.’

  The cogs in Brian’s brain revolved painfully slow.

  ‘I’ve got the feeling that it’s that other guy, what was his name?’ Brian asked.

  ‘You mean that miserable motherfucker, Eghert?’ Sarah replied.

  ‘Yes, I remember now.’

  ‘Well if you ask me, I don’t think we have much of choice, do you?’

  Brian was relieved to hear that she felt exactly the same way as he did.

  ‘No, you’re absolutely right, let’s get this over with, we’ve already wasted enough time.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Okay Lucy, are you ready to head down the yellow brick road to see the Wizard? Sarah asked.

  Lucy cocked her head in puzzlement; she didn’t ask Sarah to explain.

  Rolling his eyes, Brian shook his head, ‘I’ll let you explain that later to her.’

  They followed the service tunnel for a good fifteen minutes before they arrived at an opening. The steam pipe went vertically upwards and disappeared through the ceiling. Ahead lay another door with a re-enforced wire mesh window. It was the entrance to another concrete stairwell; the only way was up. They ascended four flights of stairs until they arrived at the basement of what appeared to be an abandoned hospital. The room was littered with old and rusty wheelchairs and trolleys which indicated they’d seen better days. They searched for an exit and soon found one. Just as Foss had said, it opened out into a dingy back alley with trash cans lined up on both sides of the alleyway. To the left was a dead end, but to the right, Brian saw that it joined onto a larger street. The wet alley was
awash in a myriad of reflected neon signage under a variety of street signage. Vehicle oil spills created multi-coloured psychedelic patterns in the pools of water from a recent downpour. As they crept past the corner into the side street, it was Brian who first caught sight of a yellow cab on the opposite side facing away from them. Cautiously, he approached the cab until its number could be read, B6147, ‘bingo!’ he muttered to himself.

  ‘C’mon guys, here’s our ride, let’s get in,’ Brian whispered.

  Lucy and Sarah didn’t hesitate. Once they were all in, the driver glanced over his shoulder and asked, ‘Where to?’

  Brian bent over to Sarah, and whispered, ‘Okay, Sarah where to?’ as if to imply that she should already have it all figured out.

  Indeed, she had.

  ‘Take us to Central Rail Station driver. Use the back streets, please don’t rush, got it?’ Sarah instructed the driver.

  ‘Whatever you say, Miss,’ came the reply and off they all went.

  Enjoying the warmth of the car as it glided smoothly along the shop lit streets, Brian took a moment to reflect; it seemed to him that the more time he spent with Sarah, the more he understood what she was all about. She evidently knew a hell of a lot of stuff about the inner workings of Government, and it was blindingly obvious that she was very passionate about getting to the truth of things when it came to classified occurrences. Brian realised that he and Lucy were fortunate to have met Sarah and so long as they had her with them, he felt assured that they were in a safe pair of hands, at least insofar as knowledge of the dangerous world of clandestine forces was concerned.

  That reassurance was shortly to be put to the test when Brian later learned that Sarah hadn’t chosen to share with him straight away, the fact that not only had Foss exchanged their id’s, passports and credit cards in exchange for three replacement sets of id’s and passports; but she had also subbed Sarah $75,000 in cash to cover expenses. Sarah shared out the new id’s and passports with Brian and Lucy saying that this was all part of Foss’s plan. At the time she hadn’t mentioned the cash, and Brian surmised there could have been many reasons for that.