by Chad Josey
“An absolutely wonderful day,” Mary said as she smiled at Sami.
“I wanted to check if you needed anything… a drink by any chance?”
“Yeah, I’ll have a beer, please,” Joe said as he applied sunblock across Mary's upper back.
“And, you, Mrs. Bishop?”
“Uh… um… just some water, please.”
“Anything to eat?”
“Could you bring more of the fruit you brought to the room yesterday?” Joe asked as the white lotion disappeared into Mary’s skin. “Would you like some too, Sweetie?”
“No, only water for me. I’m still paying the price for drinking too much on our flight.”
“Okay. One beer, one water, and fruit… I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Sami left. Spits of sand flew to them from Sami's bare feet as he trudged through the beach back to the main building.
Joe’s legs straddled across the beach chair. His feet planted deep into the warm sand. As he finished applying the sunblock to his face, he wrapped his arms around Mary sitting in front of him on the same chair.
She tilted her head back kissing his lips and leaned into him. Joe supported her in his arms as he leaned back into the chair. The swaying palms behind them balanced the sound of the lapping waves before them.
“It’s so relaxing here, isn’t it?” Joe said. His heartbeat slowed to a pace not experienced in years.
“Yeah, it’s like we’re lost in paradise.”
“No kidding, it’s like we’re sitting in the middle of a postcard, isn’t it?” Joe said squeezing his Mary against him.
“I know we will have to leave, but I could stay here, forever.”
Wow, this will be the last time we see the ocean?
The thought transfixed his mind to the unspoken secret he still had to tell Mary.
“Me, too… hey, I’ve got an idea… let’s run away and stay here,” Joe said. Part of him was serious; the other revealing the true reason they were in Mauritius.
“I’ll go anywhere with you, Honey,” Mary said as she rubbed the inside portion of his legs wrapped around her on the chair.
23-Deception
PRESENT - Mauritius
1,683 Days Prior to Impact
PARADISE IS WONDERFUL. Beauty and astonishing views are everywhere. Cares are gone, melted away under the bright sunshine. Real life seems another world away; time is in slow motion.
Morning number three in Mauritius had arrived as the sun rose over the breaking waves in the distance across the lagoon. Mary had risen early to walk the beach, no longer having ill-effects from the overindulgence on the flight.
Joe took advantage of the rising sun to explore the lush, aromatic gardens on the grounds in the morning light. A purple dragonfly hovered above the lily pads in the pond ahead. Its flight was hypnotic. Joe was alone with his thoughts.
This waiting to leave is killing me.
“Pretty neat, isn’t it?”
Joe recognized the familiar voice behind him. “Gabriel, it’s about time you showed up.”
“Joe, I’m sure you’ve been having a relaxing time and Sami has been taking great care of you, both.”
“Oh, we have, and Sami’s been great. But, that’s not what I’m talking about… when are you telling me how to tell Mary? I’m tired of keeping this from her.”
“We are getting closer. Trust me.”
“Trust you? Hell, that’s all I’ve got at this point.”
Joe and Gabriel continued down the pathway through the botanical garden. Gabriel said, “Actually, I came to find you. I wanted to tell you about an excursion we’ve planned.”
“An excursion?”
“Yes, it is a day-trip for you and Mary along with six others who are going to Salvation.”
“Six others? So, eight of us are leaving?”
“Yes, plus three crew members… so, you finally will meet some of the others. And, since you will spend the rest of your lives together, we wanted to send you all on this trip to begin building relationships.”
“A team-building trip?”
“Well, yes… we can call it that. You will learn more about the others… where they are from… ”
Joe stopped walking. Gabriel had his full attention.
“But, the same rule applies as before… I am telling you and the others not to talk about Salvation. We are confident these conversations will not happen. No one knows whom among you knows what.”
“Don’t you think the real team-building starts by letting us talk with each other? About what we’ve experienced… or about what our roles will be at Salvation?”
“All those conversations will come soon enough. There are others like you with a partner who knows nothing about what is happening. You do not want Mary to find out this way. Trust me, I have seen it happen before.”
The pathway twisted through the botanical garden ending at the main pool area. A free table by the poolside bar welcomed them.
Joe blocked out the scenic beauty of his surroundings. “So, others are bringing their wives too?” Joe asked.
“Wives, husbands, partners… some are single.”
Two beers arrived at their table. The staff of the resort knows all the preferences of its guests from months of observations by Eden.
Joe and Gabriel reached for their beers at the same time. Gabriel lifted his glass toward Joe. Over the clinking glasses, Gabriel said, “Cheers.”
“Cheers,” Joe said in return.
The humid, morning air sent condensation droplets racing down the ice-cold glasses. Beads of water dripped from the bottom of each to the table.
They chugged their beers like long-lost fraternity brothers reunited after years apart. Joe slammed his empty glass on the table.
“Ah… that’s good stuff.” Joe wiped his lips with the back of his hand and watched Gabriel. “When do I tell Mary?”
Gabriel finished his beer. “I promise, after your flight, I will give you the instructions.”
“Flight? I assumed this trip was happening here on the island.”
“Actually, on Thursday morning, you all will board a van. We will take everyone to the local airfield where you fly out to Reunion Island nearby. There, you will spend the day.”
“And, we couldn’t do this here?”
“It is an easy hike through the jungle there to a lake with two waterfalls. You think it is beautiful, here?”
Joe spun his head around taking in his surroundings. He forced a grin as the ocean emerged from his Gabriel-focused blinders.
“Wait until you see this little place. Sami will give you more details this afternoon about the arrangements.”
“Gabriel, you have to understand why it’s been killing me keeping this secret from her, don’t you?” Joe motioned to the bartender for another round. “Hell, I’ve not even asked if are you married or have a girlfriend, and what in the hell do they think you do?”
Gabriel leaned backward. A slight wrinkle appeared in the middle of his flawless forehead. He paused for a moment before responding to Joe.
“I was in a relationship before I got into this work.”
“And, what happened to her? Why aren’t y’all together now?”
The bartender brought them another beer as Gabriel stood. “Well, she was a he… He and I were from the same small town in Iowa. As you can imagine… we had to leave home to be together…”
Gabriel stepped to the edge of the bar’s platform overlooking the pool. Joe watched as Gabriel turned away. Gabriel's normal perfect posture slumped.
“We moved to Los Angeles and were happy together. Then, the Foundation recruited me to join… and like you, they told me not to tell Jason anything.”
“So, you must have told him or left him because he doesn’t sound like he’s in the picture anymore?”
“One night, we were down at Venice Beach watching the sunset… and… I couldn’t take it any longer and told him.”
“And, what happened? That’s when he left you?”
“Why do you think he left?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? He thought I was crazy… our lives were already crazy enough… and… that was just too much for him to take.”
Confidence had left Gabriel’s voice. He rejoined Joe at the table.
“To be honest, I realized I was foolish to tell him.”
“Foolish? What part? The part about a manufacturing Moon-base supporting the construction of a Martian facility. A place where the human race will escape… that part, you mean?”
“Yeah… that part.” Gabriel pounded the second beer in seconds. As Gabriel slammed the table with his empty glass, the momentary slip of his posture had straightened. The wrinkle on his forehead vanished.
“Okay, I have to tell the others about the trip.” Gabriel stood and followed the stone pathway between the bar and pool. He stopped and said to Joe, “I will see you after your flight. Then, I will help prepare you to tell Mary.”
“Fine. I’ll need all the help I can get… I’m trusting your experience here with others on how to do this.”
“Well, have fun Thursday,” Gabriel said, as he left the bar area. Joe remained behind enjoying his beer, and the next one, and another.
Gabriel walked around the pool to the thatched-roof building. Once out of Joe’s view, Gabriel reached into his front pants’ pocket pulling out a black, leather wallet.
The well-worn leather opened. Between various currencies of cash, Gabriel slipped into his hand a small two-inch-by-two-inch picture. A young Gabriel was arm-in-arm with an equally attractive young guy with black hair.
Gabriel slumped his posture again staring at the picture. After a few moments, he slipped the picture back into his wallet and straightened himself. He walked down the pathway from the building. A purple dragonfly buzzed behind him.
Gabriel opened the door of the spa and walked inside. Two young women, each wearing nothing but a white cotton robe, stepped out of a steamy sauna.
“Pretty neat, isn’t it?”
PRESENT - Mauritius, 9:11 a.m.
1,681 Days Prior to Impact
AFTER BREAKFAST, Joe and Mary waited in the open-air lobby of the thatched-roof building in front of the resort as Sami had instructed. Another gorgeous day was before them.
“I’m actually happy to see other people. It’s been kinda strange being so isolated here,” Mary said.
Two attractive women entered the lobby area where Joe and Mary waited. From their looks and the way they carried themselves, Joe guessed they were in their early twenties. One was blonde, the other brunette.
“Isn’t it so beautiful here? Hi, my name is Joanie, and this is my sister, Heather,” the blonde woman said.
Joe is usually first to do the introductions, but Mary was quick to shake their hands. “Hi, I’m Mary, and this is my husband, Joseph.”
“Nice to meet you,” Joe said smiling at the young women.
They look too young to be scientists.
“Can you believe how like awesome it is here?” Heather said, “I still can’t believe how like lucky we are.”
The two sisters walked to the pond area behind where Joe and Mary stood. A large, orange fish swimming around the lily pads captured their attention.
“So, where are y’all from?” Mary asked.
Heather spun around to Mary. “Oh, I love your accent. We’re like from Santa Monica.”
Joanie joined Heather in giving Mary her attention. “So, how did you two win this trip?” Joanie asked.
“Win this trip?” Joe asked as Mary grabbed his hand.
“Yeah, like how did you like win? This guy like approached us on the beach, and he asked us like some questions—”
“Those questions were hard, too,” Heather said interrupting her sister.
“Hells yeah they were,” Joanie said as she took her sister’s hand, “he gave us two tickets to come here.”
Joe stood quiet, unsure what to make of what the two sisters were telling them.
What the hell? Why would you leave to go to an island with some stranger?
“So, y’all trusted this guy?” Mary asked.
“Honey, we’re approached all the time back home with men giving us things,” Joanie said.
Heather continued almost as if she knew what her sister would say next. “Yeah, and when that limo arrived the next day, we were like, yep we’re going.”
“Hello, how are you all doing?” a man’s voice from the front of the lobby area said. “Gabriel said this is where we were to meet for our trip.”
Joe introduced himself with Mary followed by the two sisters. “So, where are you from?” Joe asked.
The man introduced himself as Gary, who appeared about the same age as Joe. “I’m from Seattle.”
“What line of work are you in, Gary?” Joe asked.
Please don’t tell me you won a competition.
“Me, oh… I work as a systems engineer at Boeing on the communications and electrical systems for new jets the company designs.”
Okay, that’s more like it. So, you’re like me and know what’s really going on here.
“That’s cool,” Joe said.
“And, I’ve worked as a private consultant part-time. That’s when the Eden Foundation approached me to help with some engineering designs.”
“So, you’re like my husband then, where the Foundation sent you here as a reward for your work?”
“Sure... uh... exactly,” Gary said as he stuttered and lifted one eyebrow making eye contact with Joe.
Is that a hint, Gary?
The two sisters became bored with the conversation and stepped back over to watch the fish. Gary asked, “So, Joseph, what is it you do?”
Joe explained his work in genetic research and his promising developments in finding cures for various cancers. During the conversation, Joe and Gary could only hope the other could read their true thoughts. Both struggled with the real knowledge of what is happening.
After a few moments had passed, the group of strangers saw Gabriel walking through the open-air hallway from the swimming pool. Three people followed him, all chatting together. They approached Joe’s group.
“Good morning, everyone. I hope you are all excited about our little adventure today?” Gabriel said. He followed by introducing the three people with him, including the others.
With Gabriel was Chantal, an African woman from Uganda, who looked to be in her early thirties. Chantal is in the food nutrition industry. She had developed a unique system for delivering nutrients to foods grown in drought-stricken areas of Africa.
Next, Gabriel introduced Mr. Lin Wu from Shanghai. Wu had developed nano-structures with the ability to travel to specific cells within the human body to administer specialized medication.
And, the last person Gabriel introduced was Heinrich Dieter from Austria. At over six-feet-tall, Heinrich was a chiseled statue of a man. His muscular features erupted through his shorts and tank-top.
“Heinrich is the world-record holder in the decathlon,” Gabriel said. The sisters gave their full attention to Heinrich’s introduction.
After Gabriel had provided the background of the sisters, Gary, Joe and Mary; the group introductions were complete.
“Well, good news,” Gabriel said, “I have cleared my schedule. So, I will join everyone today for the trip.”
His announcement made Joanie giggle as she gave a flirtatious smile to Gabriel. Her sister seemed not to mind Joanie’s obvious advances as Heather rubbed Heinrich’s biceps with her frisky hands.
“Okay, our ride is here. Let us head to the airport shall we.”
All eight, including Gabriel, got inside a parked, black mini-van. They left following the same two-lane road everyone had taken earlier when they had arrived.
Idle conversations continued between the strangers. Gabriel and the driver held their own, p
rivate discussion.
Mary, sitting beside Joe, turned to chat with the two sisters, who sat behind them. Joe stared out of the window at the passing scenery. New questions filled his mind.
Who knows the real reason we're here? Obviously, the lady from Africa and the guy from China. Oh, and Gary from Seattle… we all seem like people needed at Salvation… but the Austrian and the sisters?
Joe's questions were short-lived. After fifteen minutes, the mini-van had arrived at a small, grass-covered airfield. A plane sat at the end of the grass runway with two propellers, one on either side of the cabin. What caught everyone’s attention were the combination wheels and water skis for ground or sea landings.
As the mini-van parked beside the plane, Gabriel said, “Okay, everyone. We are here.”
The lone mountain hid the airfield surrounded by a thick forest of coconut palm trees. During World War II, the Allies had built the airfield. Today, it serves the locals, separate from the international airport on the north-end of the island.
Gabriel and his guests stepped inside the plane. The pilot greeted everyone and instructed them to put on their headsets after fastening their seat belts.
The headset allowed Gabriel to speak to everyone during the flight. He planned to explain different things about the location and history of the area.
Everyone was ready. The plane bounced down the flat, grassy runway. Palm trees lining the airfield approached fast as they climbed clearing the treetops.
The plane flew in front of the lone mountain and crossed over the turquoise lagoon encircling the island. A chorus of ooh’s and ah’s accompanied the view of colorful corals through the pristine, clear waters. The plane continued its westward ascent to a cruising altitude.
Gabriel’s voice came over the headsets. “I will pass around small bottles of water. Please drink these because we want to make sure everyone stays well-hydrated today.”
Gabriel passed through the cabin water bottles with tiny, black labels with the resort’s red triangle logo. Yet, another hot-and-humid day easily persuaded everyone to drink.
“We will be there in about thirty minutes,” Gabriel said through the headsets.
Gabriel left his microphone open allowing the passengers to overhear the conversations in the cockpit. “Looks like clouds are building up,” the pilot said.
