Masters of the Broken Watches

by Razi Imam

  ~ Rumi

  “DO YOU GUYS feel something?” Shiloh asked.

  “Like what?” Fabienne replied.

  “I can’t say for sure, it’s like I feel a premonition of some sort,” Shiloh responded.

  The particles from the maroon side of the nodule had a powerful neurological effect on the entire team. Each of them had a strange psychic experience, a strong intuition regarding their most pressing need and current location. It was odd—to some it felt scary, and to others it appeared illogical. It was a bizarre conviction, a strong premonition to be at a certain place at a certain time. They weren’t in a hypnotic state, gazing into the mist. For the next twenty-two minutes, they kept going about their work, but in the back of their minds, a spark of an idea formed, growing stronger. The premonitions were subtle, yet unyielding.

  Maria had been thinking about finding an expert on the Paracel Islands and the underwater caverns of the region. She had been struggling to develop a strategy for Sebastian on how to get to the source of the specimen. Current maps, satellite pictures, and knowledge of the area weren’t enough—she needed an expert. She felt a strong desire, almost to the point of certainty, that she needed to get to the Island Girl’s Coffee ‘n’ Quenchers soon. There, she would run into this expert. Why she had this sense of clarity baffled her. She just somehow knew.

  Shiloh had a similar conviction. He had been having difficulty getting in touch with the base’s procurement head, who for the last day or so hadn’t gotten him the crystals he needed for the portable laser device. He too felt a strong sense that if he went over to the mess hall—the Magellan Inn—in the near future, he would run into him having dinner. Why there, he didn’t know—he’d never been to the place.

  “What just happened?” Sebastian asked. “There was no time dilation or warping. Did you guys feel something odd?”

  Maria walked over from her table. “I’m not sure how to describe it, but I believe that if I went to the coffee shop in the next two hours, I would end up meeting the expert I’ve been searching for. It’s not just a random thought, rather an absolute feeling of surety. Don’t ask me why I feel that way. I just know it to be true.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Shiloh said. “I had this strong feeling to be at the Magellan Inn. I’ve never been there. Hell, I don’t even know where it is. But I know without a shadow of doubt that if I go there, I’ll run into the procurement officer who owes me my crystals.” Shiloh’s eyes ready to pop out of their sockets. “What’s happening, are we all getting some kind of ESP?”

  Fabienne spoke up. “I’m just glad we didn’t experience any time dilation. But now we seem to have a dark matter particle that’s connecting to the neurons firing in our brains, and the neurons firing in someone else’s brain—which I think is even scarier. The first two particles were capable of creating linear, one-directional fast or slow time fields, whereas this time particle displays capabilities of quantum entanglement. The particle seems to connect the neurons in our brains that carry information of our most important goal with the neurons of people who may help us with it.” She paused. “The scary thing is we all felt the representation of time and space for when and where that entanglement would occur.” She stopped to think about what she just said. “In other words, our minds are telling us when and where to go to get what we need. Oh, my God, this is giving me goose bumps.”

  “Okay,” Sebastian said, “let’s test the theory. We’ll go for a run in an hour and see if Maria’s Paracel Island expert is at the coffee shop.”

  “I’ll head out to the Magellan Inn and see if my premonition is correct,” Shiloh offered. “He’s been ignoring my requests. I tell you, if I end up meeting this guy, then this is some spooky weird stuff.”

  Sebastian turned to Michelangelo and Nidal. “What about you guys, what did you feel?”

  Nidal glanced at Michelangelo, unsure if he should share his premonition. “I had a powerful thought to be here, close to the specimen tonight.”

  Sebastian nodded, feeling uncomfortable. “So did I.”

  Fabienne shook her head in disbelief. “Same here.”

  Shiloh’s hair swung left to right as he shook his head vigorously in disbelief and made his way out of the hangar. He walked over to the Magellan Inn, a renovated facility capable of feeding 1,200 airmen at a time. It was about 5:00 p.m. and the place was filled with military personnel. Some were lined up at the counter picking out their meals, others were sitting at the tables, eating. There was a level of orderliness to the place, quite unlike a mess hall in a school or university. There was an air of respect, and when people spoke, they whispered. The only sound was the clinking of forks and knives on ceramic plates. The one very odd and out of place personal were several Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders in their NFL uniforms. They were moving from table to table taking selfies with the officers.

  He chose a vantage point, darting his eyes around the tables to see if he could spot the head of procurement. He had seen the man’s picture on the web and there was no sign of him. Just as he was about to leave, he spotted a man sitting by himself at the end of the hall. Shiloh, unsure of his actions, walked up to him, his heart racing. The man glanced up and immediately his facial expression changed. “Hi, you must be Shiloh?” he asked with a smile.

  Shiloh flashed a smile. “Yes, I’m Shiloh. How did you know?”

  The procurement officer didn’t answer, instead asking him another question. “What brings you here?”

  Shiloh wasn’t at all prepared for the question and blurted out, “I was hoping to meet you here.” The instant he spoke, he knew he’d made a mistake.

  “Meet me here?” The officer said, surprised. “Did you call my office?”

  “No, I just took a guess,” Shiloh said, digging an even deeper hole for himself.

  The officer chuckled and coughed. “It’s just that I don’t ever come to the Magellan Inn. Today the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders are visiting and they are about to put up a show, so I decided to catch their act.” He then sobered. “You know, I’ve been thinking about you. I have the crystals you ordered, they should be delivered tonight.”

  Shiloh nodded, still looking a bit dazed. He kept staring at the man.

  The officer reached for something to say. “So, if my office didn’t tip you, then tell me, how did you know I’d be here?”

  Shiloh glanced about, uneasy. “Yeah, I took a shot in the dark. I thought since it was close to dinnertime, you might be here.”

  The officer looked like he wasn’t buying Shiloh’s explanation.

  “Okay, thanks for getting me those crystals,” Shiloh said, turning and walking away before the officer could ask any more questions. He was about to reach the door when a cheerleader jumped in front of him.

  “Hi, you don’t appear to be an officer, I love your hair.” The cheerleader said flashing her signature smile.

  Shiloh smiled back. “No, I am a visitor.” He attempted to sidestep her.

  “Stay, why are you going, we are just about to start our performance.” She said moving her hands through her hair.

  “Ordinarily I would have love to stay and watch. Today is not the day. Have a great performance.” Shiloh said and then noticed that the procurement officer was now walking toward him too.

  “I really have to go. Thank you.” Shiloh said and hurried out of the hall.

  “HOLY CRAP, YOU won’t believe what just happened!” Shiloh shouted, bursting in to the hangar. “It worked, it really did! I met the procurement officer at the Inn. He never goes there, but today he’d made an exception for the cheerleaders. Look at my hands, they’re shaking! How is this even possible?”

  “Calm down, walk us through what happened,” Sebastian said.

  Shiloh explained in detail everything that had happened in the mess.

  “Okay, why don’t you relax and catch your breath,” Sebastian advised. “We’ll chat more in a bit.”

  Shiloh nodded—he knew what he needed to do to relax. He walked over to
the kitchen and pulled a tub of chocolate ice cream from the freezer.

  A LITTLE BEFORE 5:30 p.m., Maria, Fabienne, and Sebastian started their run to the coffee shop. Maria wore the same determined expression she had in Panama when she and Sebastian ran back from the mountain to catch the boat. Sebastian noticed that Maria was running faster than when they had jogged this route the last time. Her stride was effortless, her heels curling right up to her knees with every step in perfect running form. Her feet landed right under her body, her elbows were tucked in to reduce drag, and her head was straight, keeping her breathing uniform and consistent. Her eyes, however, kept darting around, checking their surroundings.

  Fabienne, running along them noticed a unique wall art that she had missed during her first run. On the other side of the road ran a continuous half-wall that was painted with elaborate murals. Near the base, the art was of C130s, F16s and soldiers. The farther from base they got, the art began to reflect their surroundings—palm and coconut trees across from a park, then nuns, crosses, and churches when they passed a beautiful Mexican church. The art changed to represent the local population, in their native traditional clothes, and men fighting with wooden clubs and spears when they passed a building with a sign for Guam Social Heritage Center.

  As they approached the Island Girl’s Coffee ‘n’ Quenchers, Fabienne’s eye caught a rare treat—an actual mural artist stood across from the coffee shop near a wall, holding a can of spray paint. He was working on a composition of coffee cups and coffee beans to represent the shop.

  She headed toward an outdoor table and sat down, catching her breath, while Sebastian and Maria walked over to the window to grab their usual drinks. There were four people working inside the shop—the two owners, Franc and Sue, one staff member who stood at the counter, and another at the drive-through window. The woman at the window was new—she appeared to be a native of Guam, with strong Chamorro features of high cheekbones, almond shaped eyes and long straight black hair.

  Franc came up to the window to greet them. The two owners had gotten to know Maria during her earlier visits to the shop when she was exploring the blue hole.

  “Hi, Maria! How are you these days?” Franc asked.

  “Great, thank you,” Maria mumbled. Her eyes were fixated on the Chamorro woman. “Franc, who is she?”

  Franc turned around to look, a bit surprised. “Why, that’s Adora. She just joined us three days ago. Why, do you know her?”

  “I was just curious. I hadn’t seen her before,” Maria said.

  “Shall I introduce you?” Franc offered.

  Maria smiled. “Let me catch my breath and drink some of this delicious tea first.” She took her drink and walked back to the table with Sebastian.

  They joined Fabienne and started scouting the coffee shop area. Other than the artist across the road, his spray cans making their familiar rattling noise as he shook them, there wasn’t a soul in sight. A short time later, the rattling stopped and the artist began walking toward the shop.

  The same Chamorro woman, Adora, came out and ran in his direction. She was an athletic girl, wearing the coffee shop’s uniform of an orange tank top and a printed sarong. She embraced the artist, and it was more than a casual hug. They both walked back and sat at the table across from Sebastian and the others. She’d made coffee for him, which he sipped as they spoke in low, affectionate tones.

  Fabienne observed the artist had heavy tattoos of strange animals all over his arms and legs. He wore a trucker’s cap and had strong facial features not native to Guam, but more European. He had a square-cut jaw line with a heavy red beard and moustache, and he carried himself with an intellectual, rugged vibe.

  Franc came out of the shop and walked over to the team, sitting down on the other side of the table. “How are the drinks?” he asked.

  “Good, thank you,” Sebastian said. “I see you’re getting your shop represented on the wall.”

  “Yes, I’ve been meaning to get that done,” Franc said. “I was lucky to run into an artist. He turned around. “Hey, Adora and Charles, I’d like to introduce you to our friends.” Adora looked over toward them, a bit surprised. She smiled as they got up and walked over. She and Charles sat on the bench next to Franc. Maria and Sebastian also noticed the large tattoos on Charles’s hands. They were of roses with eyes, a spider web that had an odd insect, two eagle heads attached to one body, and a shape that looked like sails.

  Sebastian started the conversation. “So, what brings you guys to Guam?”

  Before Charles or Adora could speak, Franc got up. “Folks I will let you chat. Adora enjoy your break.” He headed back into the shop.

  Charles spoke up, his voice strong and understated with a slight cadence. “My wife Adora is from here, and we wanted to be close to her family. And since I love to paint, Guam seemed like a good place to find my favorite subjects.” He paused and took a sip of his coffee, avoiding eye contact. Sebastian noted the uneasiness in Charles’s mannerisms and his well-rehearsed, canned answer.

  “Interesting,” Sebastian continued. “And what are the subjects in Guam that you like to paint?”

  Charles took another sip of coffee and glanced at Adora. Her eyes asked him not to say any more.

  “It’s a crazy hobby, and Adora wouldn’t want me to go into it,” he said, smiling at her.

  “Well, we’re scientists,” Sebastian said. “Not much surprises us, so if you don’t mind, please share.”

  Charles paused, almost sizing them up. “Okay, what the hell. I’m a cryptozoologist.”

  “Cryptozoologist?” Maria asked, interested. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s a combination of zoology, geology, and folklore,” Charles explained. “Cryptozoologists search for hidden animals, mysterious creatures upon which Hollywood has based a number of blockbuster movies. You may have heard of them as the Yeti, the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, and the Chupacabra.” Charles took a sip, blinking hard.

  “So, you’ve come to Guam in search of these hidden animals?” Sebastian asked.

  “Yes, and, no,” Charles answered. “I’m not looking for the mythical animals from famous folklore. My research has been in a much different area. I’ve been searching for actual marine animals considered to be myths. For example, for the longest time, giant squid were considered to be a myth until one was filmed in 2004, and again in 2012 by a Japanese deep-sea research team.

  “The blue hole in Guam is connected to the Paracel Islands via underwater caverns. In the world of cryptozoology, the Paracel Islands are a hotbed for hidden animals, and no one has explored them. And, they’re now under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government.”

  Maria, Sebastian, and Fabienne shared a meaningful glance. “Fascinating,” Sebastian said.

  “According to myths and legends,” Charles continued, “one such hidden animal has caused some of the world’s most famous mysteries—the lost ships of the Bermuda Triangle. Even in today’s age of technology, over a thousand experiences have been registered of captains stating that they lost track of time. Cryptozoologists believe these unexplained mysteries may be due to one or more hidden animals.”

  Adora stood up, adjusting her sarong. “It was a pleasure meeting you all. I have to get back to work.” Sebastian stood up and shook her hand. Fabienne and Maria waved her goodbye. She gave Charles a kiss and walked back into the shop. His eyes followed her, full of affection.

  “Charles,” Sebastian said, “let me ask you this—you mentioned Paracel Islands. How familiar are you with them?”

  Charles regarded them with surprise. “Well, in addition to being a cryptozoologist, I have completed my PhD in cartography at the University of Surrey. My dissertation was on the Paracel Islands.” He said with a sheepish grin. “I guess you could say I’m quite familiar. I’ve studied blueprints and charts of the Paracel Islands dating back to 1747. I also met Adora at the University. She was doing her master’s in ancient languages with a focus on hieroglyphs.”

 
; Sebastian asked for a moment. He took out his phone and pretended to take a picture of the mural, placing Charles’s face within the frame. With a press of a button, he sent it to Poseidon. Within seconds, Poseidon ran a full background check against the FBI, NSA, Homeland Security, Interpol, and the national police databases of New Zealand, the U.S., and Australia. Poseidon sent a text message, All clear.

  “Would you like to hear a fantastical story of coincidence?” Sebastian asked, putting his phone away.

  Charles smiled and sat up. “Sure.”

  “We three are part of a special task force funded by the U.S. government. We’re at present working out of Andersen Air Force Base, researching a deep-sea marine life that we believe originates near the Paracel Islands. In our initial experiments, it exhibited unique unexplained properties, or as some would call them, supernatural capabilities. I believe we may have found one of your hidden animals.”

  Charles’s eyes grew larger by the second, shaking his head in disbelief. “Now I know how people feel when they hear my stories.”

  “Charles, we’re dead serious,” Sebastian said, trying to calm Charles’s nerves. He gestured toward Maria. “My colleague, Maria, has been looking for an expert on the Paracel Islands, and during one of our experiments with the marine life, she was exposed to certain particles emitted by it that gave her a strong premonition to be right here, at this precise time. And, strange things have been happening to us for the last twenty-four hours as we’ve continued to experiment on the specimen, and as outlandish as it appeared to us, we decided to test that premonition. So, here we are. And, lo and behold—here you are.”

  Charles’s eyes grew even wider. “El Sitio,” he blurted out.

  “El Sitio?” Fabienne repeated.

  “It means ‘the place’ in Spanish—being at the right place at the right time,” Charles explained. “If what you’re saying is true, then you guys may have found the hidden animal called Isikhathi Isilwandle, or translated from Zulu, ‘The Time Animal.’”