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MYSTIC:
Lisa walks out of the kitchen and sets a large platter of hotcakes on the serving counter. A grin brightens her face when David strolls into the dining room and sits down across from Alex. He’s even more handsome in the daylight.
Josh scoops scrambled eggs onto his plate and smiles at Lisa’s dreamy expression. “I’ve seen that look before.”
Lisa looks up at Josh and feels her face flush. “Is it that obvious?”
“It was that way with Bett and me, only I was the one with the crush.” He grabs a piece of toast and some bacon. “Speaking of which, I’d better go relieve her.”
Josh is grinning as he walks onto the bridge and looks at Bett sitting on the chair. “Breakfast is ready. Go get it while it’s hot.”
Bett steps down from the chair. “We should reach the island in about twenty minutes.”
Josh sets his plate on the control console. “All right. See you in a while.”
He checks the controls and looks out through all the windows, then enjoys his food. A flash of blue light on the horizon catches his attention, and he grabs the binoculars and aims them north. “Oh, shit!” He grabs the microphone for the intercom. “Alex? You’d better get up here.”
A moment later, Alex runs up the stairs. “What’s going on?”
Josh gives him the binoculars. “Look north.”
Alex brings the binoculars up and sees the sun reflecting off a new expansion, then sets them on the console. “We’re running out of time. How much longer to the island?”
“Fifteen minutes.”
The entire crew is suddenly crowding onto the bridge to find out what’s happening, so Alex explains. “The ice wall is only twenty-miles north of the island now. That means the device activated again. If we don’t turn it off soon, the ice will reach the island and the Mystic will have to leave the area or become trapped.”
Rita points through the window. “That must be the island straight ahead.”
All eyes look at the small brown rock on the horizon, taking turns with the binocular to see the whirlwind above the island and the wall of ice. When they are within five-miles of the island, the electronics shut down, and when they are within one mile, the whirlwind swirling up from the crater pushes against the side of the ship.
Josh compensates with the thrusters, and five minutes later, he slows the Mystic down, easing her around the island until she is floating thirty-feet from the V on the south side.
Alex looks at the anxious expressions on the bridge. “Okana, David, and I will tow the platform to the beach for a more permanent dock, then Okana will come back for the Doctor.”
“I’m going, too,” Lisa demands.
“That’s fine, once we gain access into the ship. For now, I’d like you to stay on Mystic, in case you have to leave in a hurry.” When Lisa gives him a nod, he looks at Okana. “Let’s get started.”
Alex goes down the stairs to get his coat, and Okana, Mike, and David walk out of the bridge and down the steps to the deck. Okana climbs up to the motorboat, disconnects the tie down clamps, and is ready to go.
Mike opens the storage locker and grabs the control pad. David attaches the straps to the end of the hoist arm, and a few moments later, the motorboat swings over the stern into the water.
Alex slips his ragged white coat on as he strolls across the deck and stops next to David. “We’re going to attach that tow cable to the boat. When Mike shoves the dock over the edge, we’ll pull it away from the stern. Once we get it close to that beach, you and Okana jump off the bow with the end of the cable, and I’ll back away so you can drag the dock onto the beach.”
“Got it. Don’t you have another coat? That one looks even worse in the daylight.”
“This is the only one I have, and it still works. Let’s do it.”
One end of the cable is attached to the dock, and Alex grabs the other end and drags it over to the boat. He hands the end to Okana, who attaches it to a stainless steel eyebolt fastened to the back of the boat, then he and David jump in. Alex gets into the driver seat and starts the outboard motor. With a nod from Okana, Alex eases the boat forward until the cable is taut.
Mike uses the extension arm of the hoist like a finger, carefully shoving the dock across the deck until it drops over the edge into the water. Alex stops pulling the cable to give Okana and David a chance to drag the dock close to the stern of the motorboat and shorten the tow cable. Once they are clear, he slowly drags it over to the shore.
The tide is even lower on this visit, and Alex feels bad for damaging the paint on the motorboat as he keeps it steady against the exposed flat face of the volcanic rock below the beach. Okana waits until David jumps down, then tosses him the end of the cable, and he forces the boat away from shore when he leaps onto the beach.
Alex watches them lift one end of the dock and drag it across the gravel until five-feet hangs over the edge in the water. When they lower the dock onto the beach, the other end rises out of the water, hanging four-feet out from the edge of the rock face.
David runs across the platform as Alex eases the side of the boat against the dock. “That was an amazing idea, Alex.” He kneels and holds the boat against the dock while Alex trades places with Okana, then pushes the boat away.
Okana drives across the water, eases the motorboat to the stern of the Mystic, and holds it in place while Henry climbs in.
Henry looks up and smiles when Mike hands him the briefcase. “Thank you.”
Okana looks over at Henry. “Are you ready to go, Doctor Heinz?”
“Yes, of course. Please call me Henry. Or just Doc, as Alex and David do.”
Okana pushes away from the Mystic and hurries forward to the driver’s seat. A few moments later, he eases the side against the dock. David secures the boat with the rope, and Alex helps Henry out onto the dock.
Okana picks up the briefcase and hands it to David. “What’s in this thing?”
“I don’t know. The Doc wouldn’t tell me.”
Alex puts his arm around Henry’s shoulder. “You’ll like this, Doc. Follow me.” Alex climbs the steps and helps Henry over the top.
Henry’s eyes light up and his mouth opens slightly. “Can you believe this, Alex? That spaceship was once deep inside the planet!”
“I know. Lewis’s relatives sure knew how to build them rugged.”
Henry looks up at Alex. “I would never have dreamed a manmade object could survive the temperature of molten rock.” He looks back at the spaceship. “It appears to be in one piece from here.”
“Hey, up there.” Okana hollers up from the beach. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Alex looks over the side, and can tell they are anxious to get started. He turns to Henry. “This way, Doc.”
Alex leads Henry down to the rusted deck so David and Okana can climb up from the beach, and waits until they joined them. “This deck is thin in some areas, so walk where I walk.”
The cold breeze from the whirlwind twenty-feet above their heads lightly tugs at their hair as they walk across the remains of the steel deck. Once down the gangway, they hear a soft whirring noise from the device as they continue up the beach to the side of the spaceship.
David sets the briefcase down and looks at Henry. “Can we open this thing now?”
“Yes, by all means.” Henry hands him a key, then shoves his hands in his pockets to keep warm as he watches David.
David kneels beside the case, opens the lock, and looks inside. A twelve-inch, six-pointed star rests on a gray sponge rubber pad. It appears to be made out of pewter, with small colored crystals slowly rotating on each of the pointed ends. He recognizes the shallow opening in the center of the star as the same opening he saw in the ships at Area 51.
Henry is excited to show them his secret and smiles at David’s reaction. “Place it against the side of the ship.”
David isn’t sure how to grab it and hesitates to touch it. He looks up at Henry and receives a nod. He slips his fingers around two opposing arms, raises it from the crate, then stands and walks to the spaceship. He touches one point against the side of the ship and it is instantly yanked from his fingers. He jumps back and stares at Henry, who looks just as surprised. The six points have latched onto the silver surface of the spaceship.
“Didn’t Lewis tell you that would happen?” David grumbles.
“No, he did not tell me the details.”
“I guess he thought it would be funny.”
A wry smile flirts across Henry’s face. “I do not think so, David. He does not have a sense of humor, remember?”
“You’re right. So how do we get in?”
Henry reaches into his pocket, brings out a small black box, and goes to the star. “He did instruct me on how to do this.”
He opens the box and grabs one of the five clear crystals, each the size of a silver dollar, and places it into the opening. He touches two of the colored crystals on the tips of the star, and steps back. A soft humming emanates from inside the ship for a few seconds, then the humming suddenly stops and the side of the spaceship becomes transparent.
Henry’s eyes light up when he sees into the slightly slanted main deck of the spaceship. He turns and smiles at his friends. “It is still in one piece. This is wonderful news.” He spins around, walks through the side of the ship into the control room, with David following him inside.
Alex looks at Okana. “Go look around. I’ll take the boat back and get my sat phone. After I drop Lisa off here at the dock, I’ll drive away from the island until I can get a signal. I have a lot of people to call.”
“I’ll go with you back to the dock and show Lisa the way across that ship.”
They return to the motorboat and Alex drives across to the Mystic, where a crowd is waiting on the stern. Alex ties the boat to a cleat recessed into the deck, climbs out, and looks at the expectant faces. “We got inside, and it’s in better shape than we expected. Now they need to find a way to turn off the devices.” As he starts walking across the deck, Lisa steps in his way.
“You said I could go over and help, Alex.”
“I want to see it too,” says Mike.
“That’s fine. I need to leave the area in the motorboat to make some calls, so I’ll drop you off on the way. Give me a minute to get my phone. I’ll be right back.”
Lisa watches Alex walk away and smiles at Rita, Bett, and Mike. “Can you believe it? A real spaceship!”
Neon blue light flashes overhead, and a moment later, they hear crackling and popping sounds echoing from the north. Josh steps out from the bridge and looks down at the stern. “The ice wall just got closer!”
Alex sees the blue light through his cabin window. “Damn!” He grabs the phone off the bed, runs up the stairs and out onto the stern just as Josh yells a warning, and looks up at the bridge. “How close is it now?”
“Only ten-miles, Alex. It doesn’t seem to be expanding as far south each time it activates.”
Alex runs over to the motorboat and climbs in. “We’re running out of time. Get in and see if you can help, and I’ll let my people know what’s going on.”
Alex helps Lisa into the boat, and once Mike, Rita, and Bett climb in, he drives them across to the island. Once they are safely on the dock, he shoves the throttle forward to full speed and heads out to open water so he can make his phone calls.