The face that Alan Sawner had seen belonged to his friend from college and fellow expedition crew member, Andrew Briston. Alan’s chauffeur driven limousine turned right and came to a halt on the highway, blocking the path of Andrew’s BMW.
Andrew looked the same as he had in his trucking photograph, except for the fact that he was dressed in a black suit, with a white shirt and a sky blue tie. The two men looked at each other for a second, then shook each other hands warmly and embraced. There was a gentle breeze playing across the grass on either side of the highway. Then it stopped abruptly just as the men let go and started laughing. There was no breeze for a long time, like the calm before a storm, but what was coming was much worse than a storm.
“How are you Alan? It seems like an eternity ago that I last saw you face to face.” Andrew said. “Never better…just in case you forgot, you saw me just eleven months ago in January.” Andrew laughed and began talking again, “I do remember Alan, but we used to see each other everyday at college. Comparatively, that’s quite a difference.” Alan replied with a slightly thoughtful expression, “You do have a point there Andrew.”
“How come you’re in Jakarta now? I was supposed to pick you up in Germany.” said Alan. “Well…I just received news that Martha moved to France, so I came to tell you.” Alan raised his left eyebrow and smiled slyly, “You could have just called or sent an e-mail.” “I doubt you could have found my e-mail in the tens of thousands that you get every day…” Alan still kept his expression and Andrew sighed, “fine, I wanted to come along when you gave our fellow crew members the good news.” Alan nodded, it was typical of Andrew. Be it the result of a competition or the names of selected members for their ‘Literature club’ in college, Andrew loved to be present when the results were announced. It gave him a sort of awkward satisfaction.
“When is your flight scheduled?” asked Andrew. “Three hours from now, I was just heading to the airport when I saw you and told Jimmy to stop.”
“Jimmy?”
“My driver.”
“I have a mansion by the coast, we can go there.”
“Is it too far?”
“No.”
“Alright, we can go in my car.”
“My house, my ride.”
The two businessmen climbed into the white BMW. Alan lowered the power window and said to his driver, “Jimmy, take the car back to the airport and then you can have the rest of the day off.” “Thank you Mr Sawner.” said the driver, barely containing his pleasure at having the day off, maybe he could take his family out for dinner now that he had a pay raise too. This was proving to be a very surprising day. What Jimmy didn’t realize was that the day wasn’t over yet and more surprises laid in store.
“Let’s go Henry.” said Andrew to his driver. “Where to sir?” asked the driver with a strong Australian accent. “The mansion please Henry.” Andrew had a British accent too but it was much deeper than Alan’s, who still had a slight Scottish influence in his speech. “Well, how have you been?” “Good,” replied Andrew, “phenomenal actually, my stocks are rising but most importantly there’s a new adventure awaiting. Brief me on our plan again.”
“Alright then,” began Alan “firstly we must exclude Dubai from our flight plan as Martha is no longer there.
In three hours we’ll be taking my private jet to Portland in the U.S. We shall be meeting Dr Kraig in one of his universities there. After his 2’o clock lecture, we shall be finishing lunch at my hotel and will stay there till 5’o clock. From there we shall be going to New York city where we’ll meet Patrick at his lab the next day. Again we’ll be taking a few hours off to rest.
We shall then be flying to Paris where we’ll collect Alex and Martha. According to Alex he still needs four days to prepare his equipment. Which means we will have to stay in Paris for a day. I think it’ll also be a good time for everyone to prepare themselves mentally for the journey ahead.
We would have visited Dubai but as you said, Martha isn’t there so we shall be directly heading to Hong Kong, stopping in Dubai only to refuel. We’ll arrive in the evening, so we can get a good night’s sleep before the journey begins. In the morning, a press meet will be held to mark the historic day.
Finally we will have to take a boat ride to the fourth island which is the closet to the central one as I previously told you over the phone. Then a boat carrying our specially modified transportation will take us to the main island’s South face where the opening in the cliff wall gives us easy access to the forest. Then what happens next is a mystery.”
“Perfect,” Andrew said, “though the mystery part does make me a little nervous.” “Everyone is pretty nervous. It’s not just a walk in the park, but just imagine the answers we’ll find, the undivided attention of the world will be focused on us. If we succeed, it will be a glorious day indeed.” “Let’s hope you’re right Alan, you do realize that if you’re wrong, it might cost us our lives.” “It’s difficult enough to carry that burden without you reminding me.” Alan replied in a low tone.
They travelled in silence after that. It had been half an hour since they had met on the highway when they arrived at the beach. It was plain except for a tall steeply rising cliff to the right and a white mansion at the bottom of it. It was apparently the only mansion there and could only have been Andrew’s. It was two storied and ‘L’ shaped. The main entrance was rather magnificent. Two large heavy wooden doors guarded the many treasures inside, which would soon mean nothing. There were several windows neatly arranged in grids. The other part which formed a ninety degree angle, had curved arches. There were no walls between the arches and the they formed a sort of veranda. The second floor of that part of the mansion was normal.
Alan whistled and said, “Impressive.” “Welcome to my humble residence.” said Andrew with a formal bow. “The view from the lighthouse is very good.” commented Andrew staring at the top of the cliff. Alan didn’t understand how he hadn’t noticed the massive stone column. It seemed very old and it was indeed.
Just then the ground shook violently and the men were thrown off their feet. Then the trembling stopped all of a sudden. “Earthquakes are quite common in Jakarta right?” asked Alan, pretty concerned. “Yeah pretty much, but…” Andrew’s words faded away. They watches with growing terror as the ocean water retreated, exposing coral reefs and leaving fish jumping about in the sand. A tsunami was seconds away. They had a minute at the most.
“The mansion.” yelled Andrew and began sprinting. There was no time for questions but if there was, Alan would have asked what good a mansion might do against a tsunami, but he just ran. They still had about a hundred yards to go when another earthquake struck.
The lighthouse could not withstand this one. It crumpled and toppled over the cliff. As it is with every hero’s luck, it landed on the mansion, crushing it like a tin can. The cliff had been so high that the lighthouse had gained enough momentum to level the mansion. Andrew swore and crashed down to the ground. Alan came to a stumbling halt beside his friend. “What…happened?” he gasped. “There was a tsunami bunker in the mansion, a tunnel leads far inland. We would have been safe.” Andrew swore again.
To their horror a wall of water rose above their heads. Their feet turned to lead. Andrew wanted to say something. A goodbye…anything, but he couldn’t muster the courage to say it. Not even the faintest hint of hope shown on their faces as the wave came crashing down and everything went dark, but they were nowhere close to the end, far from it as a matter of fact.
When he regained consciousness, Alan had an awkward feeling, not pain…this was different, he couldn’t find a word for it. Where was he, how did he get there and most importantly who was he? Then his memories came rushing back like a second tsunami. He remembered his meeting in Jakarta, his expedition, meeting Andrew on the way then the tsunami. After his memories set themselves right to some extent and he could think clearly again, his first thought was, Am I dead?
The answer to that question was that he was and he wasn’t. He had been inexplicably transported to a dimension where time was irrelevant. He was in the same timeline as his birth, life and death. Though he knew none of this, so he might as well be two years old and dead at the same time.
Finally as the last of his memories set in, he found the word to define what he felt. It was weightlessness. His eyes were closed and it felt like an eternity to open them. In that dimension, he actually might have. He slowly raised his eyelids, afraid of what he might see.
Alan Sawner was floating in mid-air. He couldn’t tell which way was up or down because there was absolutely no gravity. It was as if he was in space, except in space he would not be able to breathe unless he had an oxygen tank strapped to his back or if he was in a space shuttle. Neither of which was apparently visible. He took in his surroundings. There wasn’t much. It was white, just white everywhere. All around him as if he was inside a white ping pong ball. Andrew was also suspended in mid-air. Still unconscious, in the same suit that he was wearing in Jakarta.
Alan, said a voice in his head. He was definitely hallucinating the whole incident or was dead and it was God speaking in his ear. The latter was the more likely one, taking into account the fact that he had faced a tsunami head on. Is that you? It’s Andrew. Are…are we dead? Alan wasn’t sure how his unconscious friend had gained access to his mind, but he didn’t know what to do, spoke out aloud.
He began “Whether you’re Andrew or not, I have no answer to your question. I don’t know if I’m alive or not, let alone you. The last thing I remember is a tsunami crashing down on me and (if you are Andrew) you.’ Andrew replied, this time he spoke from his mouth, “You were in my head.” “You were in mine! Yet, were unconscious this whole time.” Alan said, “Is this heaven?” asked Andrew, still looking stunned. “I’m just as clueless and confused as you.” Andrew nodded, just as white mist that had appeared from nowhere began swirling in front of them.
The mist formed the vague shape of a reptilian creature and took on a red hue. The animal then took on a more solid form. It had a dragon-like head, the stereotypical long snout with slits for nostrils and cat-like pupils. Its entire body had red armored scales and had four muscular armed with long menacing talons. The chest merged with a long, serpentine body which melted into the mist.
Both Alan and Andrew heard a voice in their heads, supposedly the creature’s as it referred to them as ‘humans’. It began with a low growl and then a series of dolphin-like clicks, screeches, roars and barks all rolled into one. Finally it settled into a human language and kept switching till it reached English, “Do you understand now?” “Yes.” Alan and Andrew said in unison. The creature nodded, or at least that’s what the two humans thought it looked like.
Alan and Andrew were pretty tall for humans but they seemed minuscule compared to the massive creature.
“Find me humans. Find me if you want your planet and the rest of your species to survive.” it said in a gentle and warm tone. Andrew did not understand what was going on. He had over a hundred questions but his mind wasn’t under his control, he didn’t know why he was saying it, but asked, “Where do we find you?” “You will find me and the answers you seek in the islands that you are to come to in five of your days…if you are worthy you will find me, but be warned humans, enter only through one of the entrances in the wall of stone and leave through the other. Abide by what I have said if you value your lives. You must find me…soon”
None of this made any sense to either of them. After a brief moment, the creature shape shifted again, slowly it seemed to dissolve into the mist and was gone as quickly as it had materialised.
Immediately after it disappeared, the air before them shimmered and an image appeared. They soon realized that it was moving. It showed a city, set along a bay. Fires were raging and the whole city was glowing bright red. Smoke covered the sky above it and powerful winds were blowing massive waves into the city. The voice of the dragon returned, but it was dull and distant, “This is a mere fragment of the destruction that will occur if you fail to come. It will happen, unless you come. For their sake, you must come.”
Alan’s mind whizzed and he couldn’t see anything at all, though he was sure that his eyes were open. Andrew experienced a similar feeling.
Then Alan saw a boy who was walking towards an old, grey, stone house in his mind, somewhat like a video on a screen. Then the boy turned around. His face was familiar, eyes, short hair and there was something about that lopsided grin.
The truth struck Alan like a blow from a sledgehammer. The boy was Andrew, he had somehow gained access into Andrew’s memories. Not only that, he could feel a sharp pain in his right knee. He noticed that Andrew had fallen and his leg was hurt in the exact same spot that Alan’s knee throbbed.
The scene shifted and he saw Andrew, older now, probably thirteen, going to school with his younger brothers, Jonah and Lucas.
Now he was in a classroom, telling the teacher something. She turned to another boy and took something out of his bag. The anonymous kid clenched his fist and glared at Andrew as he was being scolded. As she turned around, Alan noticed a set of question papers (probably to cheat for an exam he figured) in the teacher’s hand.
Again the location changed, this was giving Alan a headache. The same kid, whose bag had the question papers, had cornered Andrew in an alley with a couple of others.
They started beating Andrew and Alan felt his pain…literally.
Several years rushed by like a movie on fast forward and stopped on the day of the freshman orientation of Oxford university in London. He saw himself shaking hands with Andrew. Then again years went by as Alan saw several events in Andrew’s life.
He now knew Andrew’s deepest secrets and worst fears. It scared him. This complete control and knowledge of someone’s life just gave a person so much power over the other.
Just as Alan saw Andrew’s memories, Andrew saw Alan’s too.
First he saw a boy, wearing a tiny, kid-sized suit. He saw Alan crying and mysteriously knew why. His father hadn’t shown up for his fourth birthday. His mother was trying to console him in Scottish, but he knew what she was saying, “Daddy will be here soon Alan, just another day. He’s on his flight right now.” Alan still sobbed as he cut the birthday cake.
The scene changed and now he saw twelve year old Alan, cooking up a fight between his classmates and smiling at his handiwork. Alan had a natural talent for manipulation, which explained his successful career as a businessman. He had just moved into that school and didn’t have many friends and the other kids teased him quite a bit. Due to this, he found joy in using his talents to make his enemies fight each other. This had been only for a few months, by the time which he had several friends. A year later, he even helped his friends by talking them out of fights with others.
Then he saw Alan standing next to a hospital bed. His father was lying on it, with a large bandage on his leg.
Mr Alastor Sawner had been in the military and had taken a bullet to the knee. Alan had told him this several times. Then he had become a political science professor at a university in the U.S just as Alan had graduated from school and joined Oxford where the two of them had become friends.
Finally as years rushed by, Andrew saw the entire meeting Alan had with the investors. What bothered him most was Alan’s secret fear that Sheik Halmeer al-Jilani might have been right.
Generally after such an experience, normal people would have cancelled the expedition altogether, but Alan and Andrew would not. If anything, they were even more fired up to unravel its secrets. Then again, it had threatened to destroy their planet which was hard to ignore coming a dragon that could turn into mist and disappear. They had to go, no matter the obstacles or fear. Even if not for them, for the world. Just as they decided this, they fell and hit something solid. It hurt.
Once their vision returned, they saw that they were on a cliff. The bottom half of a lighthouse stood beside them. It took them no more than a second to realize that they were on the cliff, next to the beach where they had been when the tsunami struck.
Andrew got up and walked over to the edge and took a peek. The beach was below them alright, except the fact that it was under twenty feet of swirling sea water.
Alan walked over and almost stumbled off the cliff. This meant that they hadn’t imagined it, there had been a tsunami, he had met a red dragon which wanted them to go to the Tenebris Chorés islands and they had seen each other’s memories.
Andrew wanted to confirm something, so he asked, “Alan answer this truthfully. Did you eat toothpaste when you were three?” “Yes, but c’mon I was a kid. How do you…” Alan’s voice trailed off. As childish as it sounds, this was all the proof they needed, no one had known about this. Both of them now knew for sure that it had happened.
After a while they heard helicopter blades in the distance. As the noise got louder and they noticed the rescue helicopter descending to their location. The two men screamed and waved both their hands in the air. Alan didn’t know what promoted him to say it, but he did, “Not a word about what happened to anyone till we reach the islands.” “Agreed.” said Andrew.
As the helicopter flew towards the airport, Alan and Andrew saw the horrendous scenes below. Several cars, houses and bodies were floating in the water. The airport was far enough inland and was not flooded.
As soon as the helicopter landed, Alan got out and ran towards the terminal, Andrew followed.
He borrowed a mobile phone from a police officer who was a little displeased at first, but was more than happy to oblige when the billionaire stuffed a thousand dollars in his hand.
“Colin,” Alan yelled into the phone, “where are you? Come to the airport at once. Also I want to know where Jimmy is. Immediately.” Colin’s brain took a while to process the questions and commands, “I am at the airport sir, waiting by the jet. Thank goodness that your alive. I’ll try and find Mr Van Lee as soon as I can.”
The rescue officers escorted the two men to a food store in the airport. After wolfing down a sandwich, Alan had told the officers that Andrew and he had gone to the mansion and had decided to head to the top of the cliff for the view. Then the earthquake had struck and the lighthouse had toppled over, crushing the residence. They had watched the tsunami from the top of the cliff and had been stranded there till the chopper had arrived.
This was a very convincing story and the officers believed it, though Andrew knew otherwise, he kept quite just as they had decided.
After a shower and changing into fresh clothes at the specially reserved suite at the airport, the men were taken to the Learjet that was waiting for them.
Alan and Andrew boarded the plane followed by Colin. This time Andrew repeated the story which Alan had told the officials.
After the flight had taken off, Colin received a call. With a grim expression he informed Alan that Jimmy was dead. He had been found floating in the debris with the limousine. Luckily his investors had survived. Though it wasn’t much consolation, it helped a bit. Though it wasn’t his fault, Alan blamed himself for his loyal driver’s death.
Alan wouldn’t let Jimmy’s demise be in vain. He would discover what lied in the Chorés no matter what stood in his way. Jimmy’s death proved to be the final motivation that Alan needed. He set his sight on the next leg of his quest, Portland.
In reality, the Chorés was being used as bait. The truth was much larger than any human could possibly imagine. When the Sheik had said that Alan was about to meddle with something other worldly, he had been right.