A Drop in the Ocean

by James Cooke

  ‘Careful Jones, for god’s sake, don’t get too close. I don’t want to have to retrieve your dead body if you fall in, the paperwork would be horrendous.’ Jones threw Carter a wide-mouthed stare. ‘I’ll try not to Mr Carter, I wouldn’t want to cause you any extra work.’ Bloody charming, thought Jones.

  They both got on their hands and knees and carefully peered into the darkness below, and initially, that is all they could see. But slowly, as their pupils dilated, something in the inky blackness below morphed into view. First one, then another; metallic spheres that seemed to be interconnected with large cylindrical tubes. As more of the object became clear, they could see that the overall structure of interconnected sphere’s appeared to form a cuboid shape, with a sphere at each corner.

  Then it happened - the same shade of green that Jones said he had previously seen. From the bottom of the cinder cone, a green light glowed, increasing in intensity before waning again, and at the same time, illuminating the cuboidal structure. Both Carter and Jones were so mesmerised by what they were seeing, that they didn’t notice at first, a pair of enormous eyes reflecting in the green illuminance. It was only when whatever it was that housed those eyes, slowly moving towards them, that they both feared what they might be; something horrible.

  Jones instinctively screamed with fright and fell backwards, rolling back down the outside slope of the cinder cone. Carter meanwhile froze rigid in horror, like a rabbit caught in a cars’ headlights. The eyes belonged to an alien creature that continued to climb up the cuboidal structure. By now it was too late, for Carter, the creature reached out with its insanely long fingers, each tipped with a long-pointed nail and grabbed Carter by the head. Jones who by this time had risen to his feet, just caught sight of a grotesque hand, grabbing Carter’s head before he screamed. Jones lumbered as fast as he could away from the cinder cone, back up the slope of the valley, screaming.

  He didn’t get far, however, before running into Eghert and his men who had just seen what had happened through their binoculars, from further up the valley.

  ‘Whoa there, science boy, what’s your rush?’ Eghert demanded.

  Jones stared back at Eghert in horror, and staggered backwards, fighting to catch his breath. He struggled to get the words out coherently.

  ‘It was horrible. Mr Carter, he’s been attacked by something horrible, back there inside the cinder cone, please you’ve got to help him.’

  ‘Mr. Carter eh, that lying son of a bitch. Thought you’d fool us, eh. Well, let’s see who the fools are now. Show me this cinder cone right now,’ Eghert shouted, pointing his M16 rifle at Jones.

  Jones nodded, still panting, and reluctantly staggered back down to the cinder cone under the threat of being shot and indicated the rim where Carter had seemingly been attacked.

  ‘I’d advise you to be very careful; there’s something in there.’

  ‘Really, you don’t say. You needn’t worry about us; I think you’ll find that we can take care of ourselves.’ Eghert retorted. His men chuckled in agreement.

  ‘Go right ahead then, you bloody fools, don’t say I didn’t warn you.’ Jones muttered under his breath.

  Eghert signalled for two of his men to go up opposite sides of the cone, with a flick of his hand. When they reached the top, Jones figured that they too might have seen something. Without hesitating, Eghert raced up and stood at the rim. ‘Pass me that rope soldier, hold on to the end.’ Eghert commanded. He then abseiled gung-ho straight into the cinder cone, and he was quickly followed by the other two soldiers. Eghert had seen something moving at the bottom of the cone, underneath the cuboidal structure, and when he reached the floor, he cautiously explored the immediate area and soon noticed that there was a tunnel leading off in a particular direction, north if his compass was to be believed. Using his flashlight, he illuminated the dark spaces underneath the cuboidal structure, which by this time was humming loudly. Suddenly out of nowhere, a strange rustling noise coming from behind him made him jump in fear.

  As he swung around with his torch, the beam lit up the monstrous face of the alien, with two enormous black eyeballs. It was too late, in that split second of frozen terror, the creature had grabbed Eghert by the head with its long bony fingers and pointed nails and squeezed hard. Eghert cried out and somehow managed to fire a couple of shots off with his Desert Eagle. But it was too late to prevent the damage. The alien creature had hooked one of its fingers into Egherts right eye socket and severed his optic cord, taking his eye out at the same time. The 0.50 calibre dum-dum slugs tore into the aliens’ torso, inflicting a significant amount of damage. As it fell away, so did the remains of Egherts right eye. The other two soldiers came rushing down and pumped a few more rounds into the creature for good measure. Jones meanwhile stood dumbfounded, shaking with fear and wondering what the hell had occurred and if they were still alive.

  He didn’t have to wait long. Eghert was the second soldier to emerge from the cone having climbed part way up the cuboidal structure and onto the rim of the cinder cone. Blood was streaming down his face.

  ‘My god, what’s happened?’ Jones cried out.

  Eghert was breathing heavily, he then cleared his sinuses and spat out a bloody mess.

  ‘Not sure, but whatever it was, I killed the little bastard. I think we have found what we are hunting for. Now we can contact our ship and arrange for evacuation.’

  ‘But what about Mr Carter, where his he, did you see him?’ Jones pleaded.

  ‘Sorry, fella didn’t see any sign of him.’ Eghert replied and then ordered the radio officer, ‘Hail the ship, inform Trent the mission was successful. Request immediate recovery. Prep the Sirkorsky for a retrieval. Oh, and tell them, I’ll need some medical treatment for this!’ he said, pointing to his eye.

  Within twenty minutes, Trent and a medical team had arrived by helicopter. Trent came over to Eghert.

  ‘Good work Eghert, we’ll see that you get the best treatment for that and properly commended for this outstanding mission. Are there any more of those fucking things down there?’

  ‘I honestly don’t know sir; we didn’t see any more.’

  He hesitated and then said ‘But there are other tunnels, leading off the main chamber. God knows what might be down those.’

  ‘Don’t worry about those, we’ve got what we came for. Good work Eghert, we’re out of here.’

  Chapter 23

  Brian, Lucy, and Sarah entered Dr Carter’s office. He appeared to be frantically searching for something. Van den Bough cleared his throat, in a discreet attempt to get Dr Carter’s attention.

  ‘Dr. Carter, our guests are here to see you.’

  Dr Carter stopped was he was doing and faced them.

  ‘Ah yes, good work Van den Bough, please close the door on your way out. Oh, wait a minute, see if you can find out where those bloody Americans’ are would you.’

  Dr Carter pointed to a row of chairs and said, ‘Please, take a seat. I think I know why you are all here. Let me explain what happened here on this Island thirty-seven years ago.’

  Brian and Sarah smiled, appreciating the civility of Dr Carter’s tone.

  ‘Please go-ahead Dr Carter, we’re all ears,’ Brian replied, nodding at Sarah.

  Dr Carter explained, as best he could, the events that occurred in 1979, from the arrival of Eghert, and up to the point of being dragged into the cinder cone by something evidently not human. He continued, ‘and then when I awoke, I could see that I was still in a cave of sorts. There was light, but nothing like I’d ever seen before. It was green, and it seemed to be radiating from the surface of the walls, from all over in fact. I felt terrible, sore and bruised as if I’d just gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson, although strangely I had no visible injuries. There was a low-pitched throbbing noise, as well. I knew that I had to get out, else risk dying down there, all alone. Somehow, I managed to find my way back to the main chamber. All along the walls, I noticed strange markings as if something had been dragged along th
em, causing deep scratches.’

  ‘My god, you must have been terrified.’ Sarah interrupted.

  ‘Absolutely. Anyway, I moved towards the light, where the sky shone down into the cinder cone. I could see the rim of the cone up above, but it was too high for me to reach it. But someone had conveniently left a rope ladder in place to one side. I tried to climb up it, but I was too weak and kept falling off, so I ended up sleeping on the ground. Besides, it was getting dark, and there was a terrible gale blowing from the sound of it, so I thought I’d try again come first light.’

  ‘I guess there were no cell phones in those days, Dr?’ Brian asked.

  ‘Certainly not like today’s phones’ at least. I don’t mind admitting that I was scared shitless being on my own down there, with the possibility that whatever grabbed me earlier might still be around, lurking in the labyrinth of caves.’

  ‘Sounds like a horrible nightmare, you must have been very brave?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘It was, but what choice did I have? The green glow remained all night, so I wasn’t ever in total darkness. I must have fallen asleep, and I remember having this weird dream or so I thought at the time. While I laid down, trying to sleep, I became aware of something standing over me, and the worrying thing was I couldn’t move, at all. Then I realised it was the same creature that had grabbed me earlier, something not of our world, that’s for sure.’

  Its eyes were the most notable feature, huge black things, cold and emotionless. I could see it was breathing, two streams of its breath from small slots on its face. I was paralysed with fear, thinking this is it, I’m a goner. Then it reached out to me with its incredibly long and bony fingers, I closed my eyes and then the next thing I remember is waking up, with the sun on my face. As the morning sun rose higher, daylight crept into the base of the cinder cone, replacing some of the darkness. I could hear sea-gulls in the distance, and it sounded incredibly peaceful.

  The strange thing was that I felt good, very good in fact, full of energy and not a single ache in my body. I managed to climb the ladder quite easily, and after reaching the rim, I quickly scanned the area. That’s when I saw Jones sitting further up the main slope of the volcano. I shouted out to him, “Jones over here man, I’m okay.”’

  ‘Wow, he waited for you, that says a lot about the man.’ Sarah exclaimed.

  ‘Yes, Jones was a good man, he’d stayed behind for me. He ran down when he heard me. When he saw me face-to-face, I could see that he was visibly shocked. Then he said, “ Dr Carter, thank god you’re alive. I couldn’t leave you, not without knowing what might have happened to you”.’

  ‘He sounds like a hero to me, he could have assumed the worst and headed back to the base, I guess.’ Brian added.

  ‘Yes, he could have done, but it proved to me what a decent man he was,’ Dr Carter replied, ‘Anyway, Jones told me that after Eghert had emerged from the cinder cone covered in blood, he radioed for backup and about thirty minutes later a huge sky-crane helicopter arrived. The damn thing was enormous by all accounts and able to straddle the cinder cone. After they had winched up, what I now understand was a spaceship, into the helicopters cargo hold, they took it away somewhere, with Eghert and his men aboard too. They simply left Jones behind, to make his own way back to the base station.’

  ‘So, they took something away, an alien spaceship, is that what you’re saying, Dr Carter?’ Brian asked.

  ‘Isn’t that what I just said?’ Dr Carter asked with a hint of annoyance.

  Sarah glanced at Brian and frowned.

  ‘Sorry Dr Carter, yes you did say, please go on.’ Brian apologised.

  ‘Okay. Where was I?. Ah, yes, Jones and I slowly made our way back to the station. The weather took a turn for the worst and the thought of spending another night out in a freezing blizzard without any shelter spurred us on to get back even if it killed us. Fortunately, there was a full moon that night, so we were able to avoid the deadly ravines that cover the Island. Once we saw the lights of the station in the distance, we felt that we had made it, but in reality, it took us another three hours to get back. Eventually, we did, and the next day, we contacted the institute back in Pretoria. I told them what had happened and fully expected them to mobilise the Army, the Navy, whatever. But Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened.’ Dr Carter explained.

  Both Brian and Sarah frowned, not understanding why that should have been the case.

  ‘What do you mean, nothing Dr Carter?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘Exactly that, they did nothing, they sent no one to help us, they were in total denial of the facts. They even had the audacity to suggest that I might require psychiatric help, can you believe that? They practically suggested I had lost my mind.’ Dr Carter continued.

  ‘Why on Earth would they do that? It doesn’t make sense.’ Brian said.

  ‘I don’t know for sure, but I have a theory on that.’ Dr Carter replied.

  It all sounded very bizarre, and Brian wondered if he might be missing the obvious.

  ‘Okay Dr Carter, what do you think was going on?’

  Dr Carter inspected the room as if he wanted to make sure no one else was listening in.

  ‘It has to be something to do with those bloody American soldiers who pitched up just before you did, yesterday.’ Dr Cater replied.

  Sarah appeared horrified at the news.

  ‘Yesterday, what soldiers? How do you mean Dr Carter?’ she asked.

  ‘The same ones, the same commanding officer in fact. Eghert is his name, only this time he’s wearing an eyepatch, but I still recognised him.’

  The penny had dropped, oh fuck we’re in deep shit now, though Brian.

  ‘So, you’re telling me they’re here, now, on this Island?’ Sarah continued.

  ‘Oh God, not you as well, am I not making myself clear, please tell me if I am. Yes, Eghert and his entourage arrived out of the blue yesterday, probably making their way to the cinder cone right now I would imagine. My theory is that they somehow struck a deal with our Government leaders, behind closed door's back in 1979. Don’t ask me how they did it, but they did somehow. They got them to turn a blind eye to everything and let them get away with whatever it is they took away. Now he’s back, but I don’t know why. Perhaps you can tell me.’ Dr Carter replied.

  Sarah shook her head in disbelief. ‘That bastard, how did he get here before us?’ Sarah piped up.

  ‘It doesn’t matter how Sarah, the fact is, he’s here now, and there’s nothing we can do about that. What matters now is that we help Lucy with her mission.’ Brian replied.

  Now it was Dr Carter’s turn to appear totally confused.

  ‘Mission? Okay what the hell is going on, would you please tell me why you are here.’ Dr Carter demanded.

  Time to spill the beans and come clean thought, Brian, there’s no point in holding back now.

  Brian gazed at Sarah, then said, ‘Hold your horses, Dr Carter. Lucy would you be kind enough to explain to Dr Carter exactly what you are and why you, Sarah and I are here, please.’

  Lucy clearly explained the reason why she was on a mission to save all life on earth from being eradicated, why the previous mission back in 1979 had failed, and why her creators, the Quassac’s, wanted to leave earth alone.

  Twenty minutes later after Lucy had explained everything, Dr Carter sat back with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

  ‘My god, so Lucy is to be our saviour. I knew it, it all kind of makes sense now. Of course, I can help you, but we must hurry. You see for years I have studied the cinder cone and its cave system. There are things down there which I don’t understand, but now that Lucy is here I think I soon will.’

  ‘Thank you all for helping me this far, it was not easy to get here. As you all know, I have to retrieve and destroy the machine. If I do not, then at some point the machine will activate, and within a few months all life on your planet will cease to exist.’

  Sarah was the first to rise, ‘Okay, what the hell are we waiting for? I
suggest we don’t waste any more time,’ Sarah cried out.

  Dr Carter raised his hand, ‘Just a second my dear. Before we go rushing anywhere, first of all, I’ll get Van Den Bough to get you kitted out with some waterproofs and a few extra items. Believe me, if we’re going to be out there for a day or two, we need to be adequately prepared. It shouldn’t take long. Oh, and I’ll bring Mr Jones along too, I presume you won’t object.’ Dr Carter explained.

  Naturally, they didn’t mind in the least, and later that day after they had set off from the base shortly before six a.m., the sun rose on cue, ahead of them, to the west. It was a good call Dr Carter had made, in wearing the wind and waterproof parkas, without which, they knew that they wouldn’t have gotten get very far, such was the ferocity of both wind and rain. Brian and Sarah were unanimous in agreeing that they were in better control of the situation now that they had Dr Carter entirely on board with them. Dr Carter knew precisely where to go, having spent half a lifetime negotiating the island's terrain. He would ensure that they didn’t fall into any of the hundreds of crevasses that littered the island nor spend days getting lost in the undisturbed primaeval landscape.

  In Brian’s mind, the whole Island seemed insane, he could never have imagined such a place existed had he not actually been there, walking on virgin terrain, battling the constant wind and with no sign of human intervention, anywhere. The fact that there were no tree’s or bushes only added to the mystery of the place, which was strangely dominated by the ice peaked dormant volcano in the centre of the Island. From the north-west of the Island, they climbed slowly towards President’s Peak, the highest point.

  ‘Don’t worry, the volcano is dormant, she’s not likely to blow anytime soon.’ Dr Carter shouted above the roar of the wind. Brian gave him the thumbs up. From the summit, they could see most of the Island including the only habited area, the research station, on the north-west coast.