Second Chances

by Gayle, A. B.

  “The others…only Gil knows….about my body, I mean.” Lyle interupted.

  Stripping off his pants, Gideon smiled. “It really doesn’t bother me. It might bother a couple of my men. It might bother my mother… God rest her, she never did understand; to her ‘gay’ was a way of saying you were happy, queer was something odd. Different generation, but me…” Gideon shrugged and Lyle couldn’t help but notice how that made his muscles ripple.

  “Well, I’m something odd, that’s for sure. It’s how they got me here you know…they promised me surgery. I could never afford it on my own. Looking at this place I figure they lied, though”

  “They’ll keep to it.” Once again Gideon gave Lyle an appraising look. “If I know one thing about Eidolon, they keep their promises.” Gideon let his boxers fall and stepped out of them.

  17: No Way Out

  Miles Sutherland introducing Caroline Halapati and Lucas Olutopu

  with mention of Aiden Parker and Carter (Gil) Gillespie

  ___________________________________________________

  Evening 25th January, Rapatoka Island

  The air had cooled significantly as soon as the storm arrived. Miles gazed out the hospital window as rain lashed against the glass. It was only when lightning lit up the sky that he could see the dark shape of Mystery Island on the other side of the lagoon.

  He’d been gone for nearly twelve hours. His companions were probably wondering where he was. Without any means of contacting them though, he couldn’t do much about it. Hopefully Aiden or someone would look after Roofie. His dog had been a quivering mass of nerves back in Haven Falls when the fireworks went off, so chances were he’d hate the storm. Miles winced in sympathy for his mutt as another loud bang of thunder sounded.

  “Thank you. You saved my life.” The quiet voice alerted Miles to the fact his patient was finally awake. Her fever had broken, and she’d been asleep ever since he’d given her an injection of morphine.

  “You did most of it yourself, letting the maggots remain in the open wound.” Putting concern for his dog from his mind, Miles turned away from the window and crossed over to his patient’s bed. “How do you feel?” He’d managed to get a couple of bags of IV fluid into her, and the catheter was running clear urine into another bag. She did seem easier now.

  “A lot better thank you.” She struggled up onto one elbow and held out her hand. “Caroline Halapati.”

  “Miles Sutherland.” The pressure of her grip was firm enough. He checked her pulse as he took her blood pressure, her heartbeat was strong and steady now.

  “Doctor Miles Sutherland, I presume.”

  He grinned. “Doctor Caroline?” He lifted an eyebrow in enquiry. There was an unconscious sense of authority which seemed to come with the job sometimes.

  Her mouth twisted wryly. “Nurse, but at times I’ve had to adopt that role. Especially since I came back to Rapatoka to live.”

  Miles collected the clean sheets he’d found in a cupboard while she’d been asleep. He hadn’t wanted to wake her by shifting her too much. She only winced slightly as he gently rolled her backwards and forwards, easing the dirty sheet off and putting the new one underneath her at the same time.

  “Not many Doctors know how to do that,” she muttered as he settled her back into position.

  Memories of doing the same for Darren returned in a rush, and Miles had to turn away, pretending to be absorbed in finding somewhere to put the soiled sheets. Even if no-one here had medical knowledge you’d think they’d at least come in to take care of her. A flash of anger displaced the sadness. Apart from the young man who had assisted him before, he’d only caught glimpses of the other inhabitants of the island through the hospital window. None had set foot inside the building.

  Miles found a linen basket and dumped the sheets in before returning to her bedside. “Isn’t there anyone else here who could look after you?”

  She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. “Since the resort’s been empty, I’m the only one around here with any medical training.”

  “You don’t need medical training to change sheets or wash you.” Miles poured some water into the basin and started sponging her.

  She screwed up her eyes as he bathed her face. “Everyone’s been too busy clearing up. I’m not sure how much you’ve seen since you arrived, but the last cyclone hit us pretty hard.”

  Fair enough. Even given his limited viewpoint from the hospital window, Miles had seen evidence of the damage: sheets of bent tin and broken branches stacked into separate piles. Cyclones were a fact of life for the islanders. At least the hospital seemed to be well constructed. A few leaks in the ceiling had developed when the rain started, but a couple of well placed basins had taken care of them.

  Leaving the splint in place, Miles carefully bathed as much of the exposed area as he could reach. “How did you break your leg?”

  She snorted. “It was during the eye of the cyclone. I should have known better. I was down at the far end of the island when it hit, and thought I’d have time to make it back up here before the winds picked up again. I was running past a wall when it collapsed. My foot got trapped in the bricks. As soon as I heard the snap, I knew what had happened.” A shadow passed across her face. “I hit my head pretty hard when I fell, and it was twenty four hours apparently before anyone found me. In the meantime, I was lying in the mud with broken branches and tin flying all round. In a way I was lucky that fly laid some eggs in the open wound.”

  “Where was everyone else?”

  “Doing what they always do, taking cover and staying there until the cyclone had completely passed. Like I should have been doing.” She gestured impatiently with her hand. “Look, I’d rather forget it if you don’t mind. I need a cup of tea.”

  Miles studied her face; there was something she wasn’t telling him. He helped her move into a more upright position, poking in some pillows behind her back for support. Just the knowledge that people were able to travel to and from the island was a relief. He wasn’t stuck here forever.

  “Lucas,” she called out as soon as she was upright.

  That was the young man’s name. He should have remembered. Miles tuned out as Caroline gave Lucas gobbledygook instructions again. While his charge had been asleep, Miles had inspected the three room building. Whenever he moved to step outside, the young man had barred his way. What he lacked for in inches he certainly made up for in courage, smiling at Miles shyly and saying something that sounded like “Uru-kee”.

  Miles could have disposed of him easily, but until his patient was able to look after herself, he wasn’t planning on going anywhere.

  The small washroom and kitchenette had provided the essentials. The choice of food and drink had been weird, though. Interspersed with the basics: tins of spam and mackerel and packets of rice and tea were a few luxury items. He hadn’t hesitated to make himself a cuppa, but the presence of caviar and quince paste in the cupboard baffled him.

  Caroline studied her leg as he straightened her gown and replaced the covering sheet. “What’s the verdict?”

  “You’ll live. The maggots have nearly finished their work and already there are signs that the wound is healing nicely. I’ve given you some antibiotics so that should prevent any further infection at any rate.”

  “Thanks, Doc, I do appreciate the home visit.” Her warm brown eyes lit up with merriment.

  Miles returned her grin; good to see someone else around here had a sense of humour. “I’d like to get you to a proper hospital though. Is there any chance of getting airlifted out?”

  She looked at him as if he was stark raving mad. “From Rapatoka? There’s no airstrip and we’re over 2,000 kilometres from any airport. Helicopters and seaplanes can reach here, but they can’t get back as there are no refuelling facilities. Unless you’d like to conjure up a nice big aircraft carrier just for me.”

  He’d arrived by plane though. Miles tucked that anomaly away for the moment; the how wasn’t as im
portant as the fact she’d been able to get away. “But you said something about returning to Rapatoka, so you must have been somewhere else.”

  “I spent a number of years in New Zealand.” That explained her fluent English and the accent. Miles looked up as Lucas returned with the tea. He’d tried to talk to him a couple of times, but the young man had just smiled and nodded. He had the feeling the young man understood what he was saying but wasn’t sure whether it was natural shyness or an inability to speak the language.

  Lucas handed Caroline the cup, and she dismissed him with a quick wave, gesturing to the linen basket and barking some more instructions. As soon as the young man had extracted the sheets and disappeared she blew on the tea before taking a sip. As she replaced the cup on the chipped saucer she gave a wistful smile. “I fell in love with a Kiwi sailor who arrived on his yacht many years ago. He whisked me back to Auckland where I lived for some time. That’s where I did my training.”

  “So ships can land here.” That was the one point Miles wanted cleared up. How to get off this bloody island, away from his memories of similar places.

  She laughed and shook her head before taking another sip. “Only those small enough to cross the reef at high tide. There’s a deep water passage through the coral, but it twists and turns like a corkscrew. This must be the most inaccessible place on the planet.”

  Her forehead creased as she studied him silently for a moment, sensing his dismay at the news. “How did you get here? I assumed you must have come in by launch from a luxury cruiser. That’s how most of our visitors arrive.”

  “Seaplane.” Miles remembered her previous statement. Gideon had muttered something about the one they’d travelled in being unique as its range without refuelling was over 4,000 km. After two long sectors, their previous refuelling stop had been the shortest, but they’d still been in the air for over three hours. Miles tried to do the maths in his head. Given the airspeed he’d noted while sitting in the cockpit, that must have put their last landing about 2,000 km away. Unlike other flying boats and helicopters, there would be enough fuel to get back again or somewhere else. Seems that particular type of seaplane was the only way in and out by air, from a land base at least.

  Caroline’s voice broke into his thoughts. “I put the engine noise I heard earlier down to hallucination from my fever. So there’s a plane here… people?” The look of hope on her face was painful.

  “Just me and a few other people. The plane dumped us here and left.” Miles turned to look out the window as another jagged arc of lightning flashed down from the sky. A sharp crack of thunder booming soon after provided a suitable emphasis for his words and his mood. How am I ever going to get out of this place?

  18: The Reunion

  Aiden Parker and Flynn Archer

  ___________________________________________________

  January 26th, Mystery Island, early morning

  The storm that Gideon had said would come did pass through, and sadly for Aiden, it lasted until morning, forcing him to spend the night in the hot, cramped cell. The minute the rain stopped, he took the opportunity to leave before anyone else was up. The quicker he got his hut fixed, the sooner he could drag that moldy bed out and replace it with a clean one.

  Without saying a word to keep from waking the others, Aiden patted his thigh for Dante and took him outside. Roofie had disappeared not long after the storm began. Hopefully, he was alright. Maybe he’d gone to find Miles.

  The light was starting to brighten, and he didn’t know how much time he had before it got too hot, but he was going to work for as long as he could stand it. Aiden wasn’t sure if it was the effect from a storm having just passed or the shorter hair, but he felt cooler. While the storm had raged, he’d walked with Dante around the small complex to calm him and stumbled upon scissors in the kitchen. He was sure it wasn’t a neat cut, but it worked.

  Glancing at the huts around him, Aiden saw that of those that had fallen, their parts were still useful, for the most part. He would be able to cannibalize them once he figured out how exactly to put it together.

  “Maybe I should have brought a book on how to build homes or something, huh Dante?”

  Unfortunately his dog just stared at him from the ground, tail wagging in response. At least it was some sort of response.

  At first glance, the roof of his chosen home seemed to be unstable, but after climbing up on the bed and then the tables around the room, he realized it wasn’t the roof that was the problem but the walls. As long as he could replace the missing posts and leaves he would be fine. Just fine.

  The bookcase in the room was actually sturdy and large. Large enough to hold many more times the books he brought, which disappointed him. Had he known… there were many fantastic volumes he hadn’t brought because he had thought space would be limited. But here was a great display for them.

  A bathroom was attached to the room, and it was spacious enough. The lights didn’t come on and the water wasn’t working. He wasn’t a plumber either, so that someone else would have to help him with. He sighed. This is Hell. Complete and utter Hell. He looked at Dante who was sniffing around the small place and grinned wryly. Dante doesn’t have this level of hell in the Inferno. It’s hot enough, so where would it fit…

  The room was too dim to do much with yet, so Aiden ended up abandoning it for the early light of day. He sat on the steps leading up to the hut with Dante pressed against his side. In the distance he could hear waves crashing against something. The shore? A reef? He wasn’t sure as he hadn’t paid much attention and gone that far yet. Over the sound of the waves, though, was something else. Something man made. Aiden looked up to see a plane flying in and wondered if it were more supplies or if this plane would finally bring back Flynn.

  @—}–—}——

  Flynn wondered, for the millionth time, what these assholes were up to.

  So he had been brought to this “tropical island” (which Captain Haircut called “Lot 242”) for “good behavior”, which was total bullshit. No, he hadn’t broken anyone’s nose lately, but he was doing the absolute bare minimum to get by, and his attitude was frankly atrocious. Even he resented it. He chalked it up to another head game, one of millions they seemed to have in reserve. He’d probably run out of ways to be annoying before they ran out of ways to fuck him up.

  An uneventful and unenlightening flight had given way to a tropical island of white sand, turquoise water, and palm and coconut trees as pristine as any postcard, making him wonder how much of it was fake. Everything about Eidolon was calculated and fake, and he should know, as so was he. Takes one to know one, and all that jazz. But he hadn’t been able to crack the facade. He was outsmarted, outgunned, and any other out that was applicable. But if they thought he was going to give up, they obviously weren’t aware of that fifth grade incident with Mr. McKlusky, the bullfrog, and Lisa Smithers’s strawberry allergy.

  At the end of the rickety wooden pier, Mindy waited, all happy cow eyes and uncomplicated smile, a warm breeze moving her flat brown hair like a flag. Flynn was instantly sweating in his stupid gray boiler suit, and the punishing sun just reminded him of how he hated the heat. Not that he was a fan of cold either; he seemed to like the middle, out of the extremes. Maybe that’s why his brief stays in Portland and Seattle were so enjoyable, in spite of the random crimes attached to them. “So where the hell have you people put me?” Flynn asked, determined to get some reaction out of her.

  But Mindy just kept smiling, refusing to take this or any bait. Flynn was beginning to wonder if she was on 24/7 Prozac. “You have official quarters in the temporary building we’ve set up on the South beach, but I’ve been informed you may want to follow that path, straight as the crow flies.” She pointed towards a barely visible gap in a copse of trees, and he looked at her askance.

  “Why?”

  Her smile remained, unchanged. “You’ll see.”

  “If this is another test, I’m breaking something,” he snapped, before
heading into the trees. Eidolon and their damn stupid tests. He’d been told he couldn’t tell anyone of his training at Eidolon, but what was there to tell, and to whom? He still had no idea why he was with them, or what they thought they were doing. He didn’t belong with all their happy pod people college students; he felt like a cautionary tale in the flesh. “Look what happens if you don’t be the best you can be, kids.”

  He didn’t recognize most of the undergrowth, much of which was broken and storm tossed, enough that he could barely see a path at all. Eventually the path leveled out to a clearing, and what looked like a hut of some kind. Were they putting him in a hut? He was going to storm back to the plane and stay there then. No fucking way was he “roughing it” as some sort of Eidolon initiation. They could bite his rosy red ass.

  Aiden thought he heard someone stomping through the bushes and wondered if it was Miles finally returning from… wherever he had been. Dante sat up, ears pricked and scented the air. His tongue came out along with a yelp and he took off towards the sound.

  “Dante, come back!” Aiden stumbled off the uneven steps and ran after him to the other side of the small building.

  Flynn broke through the tree stand to see a furry blur coming at him, and he was ready to punch it in the head, but then it barked, and he recognized it. “Dante?” Holy shit.

  Dante jumped up and put his dirty paws on Flynn’s shirt, trying to reach and lick his face. Aiden reached out to grab him and pull him down, ready to apologize when he realized who stood before him.

  “Flynn?”

  “Aiden?” Was this a trick? Had to be. Those Eidolon bastards, pulling his strings. He didn’t know whether to be happy or furious.

  “Oh God, it is you.” Aiden shoved Dante out of his way and threw his arms around Flynn’s neck, holding him tight. He didn’t really care if he choked the life out of him at that moment; he was just happy he was there.