It was 8:00am in Paris. The Paris-Charles De Gaulle airport was filled with tourists. The airport was awaiting a special arrival. The controller gave a white Learjet clearance for its final approach. Anxious journalists watched as the plane taxied towards its specially reserved apron and came to a halt.
Four very important individuals got down. First to disembark was a tall man with dark hair and chocolate brown eyes in a designer suit. He waved a hand. His smiling face masked the anxiety within.
Any experienced psychologists would deduce that this man showed high levels of confidence and the traits of a leader in his body language. This was none other than Alan Sawner.
Even a five year old would recognise Alan’s face from the newspapers and television channels due to his expedition to the eerie and mysterious Tenebris Chorés islands.
The next to set foot onto the asphalt was an equally prominent gentleman, Andrew Briston. Alan’s college time friend and fellow expedition member was dressed in a silk polo neck shirt and grey trousers.
Andrew and Alan knew something which they had sworn not to reveal to the other crew member until they reached the island.
This secret was the meeting they had with a mysterious dragon-like creature in Jakarta. They had been on a beach when the third largest tsunami ever recorded had struck the coast. Yet they had miraculously survived. The dragon had said that they would find it and the answers to their questions if they were worthy. If they could survive the trials that the island held in store for them, they would definitely be the worthiest humans on planet Earth.
The other two passengers of the plane were Dr Delton Kraig and Mr Patrick Maple.
Delton was the world’s leading astrophysicist. His greatest achievement was discovering the secret behind the Bermuda triangle disappearances (at the cost of a few lives).
Patrick was the greatest geologist of all time. His scheme to colonise Mars was a truly humongous step in the history of mankind. To colonise another planet…incredible!
Just a day after Patrick’s automated col-bots (colonisation robots) had started recreating Mars’s atmosphere, Delton had come up with his expedition and stolen the world’s attention. Patrick had become old news and Delton had become a star.
The only two occasions that Patrick had surfaced in the news was when he launched a calculated nuke to kick-start the resurrection of Mars’s magnetic field and the time that he had received a Nobel prize for his project.
Patrick loathed Delton for stealing his spot as the most famous scientist (in general) in the world. Patrick held the second spot and still earned millions. Immature indeed, but when it comes to competitions, even adults tend to act childish.
This was Patrick’s big chance to regain his status. If he unravelled the island’s mystery before Delton, the world would know him again. Not that they already didn’t. In fact countless people admired him. Alas, Patrick’s arrogance wouldn’t allow him to be satisfied with the attention of the entire galaxy.
Alan, Andrew, Delton and Patrick were greeted my charging journalists. A flurry of questions followed.
“Any comment on the flare yesterday?”
“Are you still going to proceed?”
“What do Miss Frost and Mr Maple say?”
“What is your plan now Mr Sawner?”
“How long will you stay in Paris?”
“Are you scared?”
Alan and company squeezed through, answering any question they could decipher through the noise. Finally they boarded a Land Rover and drove out of the terminal.
“Where is Martha’s lab by the way?” asked Patrick. Andrew answered, “Not too at from here. Its on Rue Ronsard.” Patrick nodded and they travelled in silence. Everyone was under a lot of pressure. The constant travel and stressful thoughts had taken its toll on the men. A day’s break was exactly what they needed.
The traffic was moderate and it took the troop approximately twenty minutes to reach Martha’s lab/greenhouse. The structure was really impressive. It was a glass dome with a projected entrance. The door was a reinforced aluminium alloy. One may point out that a thief could just break the glass and the door wouldn’t be of much use, but what that person may not realize was that the glass was just under a metre thick and had a custom designed alarm system wired into it. Even Houdini might not have been able to escape the lab if he was locked inside.
They walked over to the door and Delton spoke into the intercom, “Miss Frost it’s Dr Kraig, we’re here.”
The lot of them were no older than twenty-four and hated being formal. They had been dumped with more a hundred times more responsibilities than the usual rookie out of college. Maybe it’s true that people do well under pressure.
Martha buzzed them in and the crew entered. The jutting passageway was pretty plain with nothing more than a tiled floor and potted plants on either side.
The dome was a completely different set up. It was literally a miniature jungle. The centre of the circular dome had a massive glass box. The box was further divided into four. Each of these boxes had an entrance and held a variety of tress, shrubs, bushes and wildlife. The dome was larger than it appeared from the outside. Each box had a different variety of plant and animal life. The lab gave Delton the creeps. He could have sworn that he saw at least twelve snakes in one of the boxes.
Martha Frost walked around the curve of the wall, wearing a suit beneath a lab coat. Her eyes were covered with protective goggles and her blonde hair was tied behind in a ponytail. The four newcomers to the lab shook her gloved hand, greeting her in turn.
Alan was the first to speak, “Hello Martha, it gives me great joy in knowing that you will accompany us. We need to get as much information of the place as possible. That includes knowledge of the island’s vegetation and wildlife.” Martha tried her best to conceal her excitement but was doing a poor job. No one blamed her, they were all pretty tensed. Who wouldn’t be? After all they were about to make a journey to an islands from where no one had returned. Anyone who went close either had crazy hallucinations or went completely insane.
Martha had indulged herself in her work to get her mind off the expedition, but the sight of her the crew had brought the anxiety and tension back up. Eager to change the topic, she said, “Well, before we get on about the Tenebris Chorés, I would like to show you my latest piece of work.”
After that statement, Martha walked over to a table which none of them had noticed and lifted what looked like a hypodermic syringe, except it was made of metal and had a digital display panel. “This device can analyse the cell structure of plants and animals to determine which family they belong to.” explained Martha. “For example, a lion and a cat being of the same family. Its database can trace a species back to the cretaceous period. One of Alex’s inventions.” There were a few occasions when Patrick felt jealous of his own brother. This was one of them. Alex invented this and Alex invented that. How irritating.
Alan knew that they had another day to go, but felt that there was no point in standing here and talking about plants. He began, “Not to be rude Martha, but we should get moving now. Have you got your things?” Martha was a bit taken aback by Alan’s interruption but quickly recovered and said, “Sorry Alan, I just got a bit too involved in explaining the device’s usefulness in this expedition. Yes I’m ready, we can leave.” She grabbed a suitcase from the table which they had also failed to notice.
They took the same Land Rover. Alan decided to drive and sent the driver away. Andrew sat next to him. Delton and Martha were behind the two businessmen. Patrick sat alone at the back, silently thinking, This is the last time you put me behind you Delton. With this childish thought they drove off towards ‘The Royal Group of Hotels: Paris’
The hotel was on Rue Villedo. It towered above the smaller buildings, a massive steel and glass structure seemed to glow as it reflected the sunlight. The Paris branch was one of the largest of Alan’s hotels.
The driveway curved around a statue of some Greek god. It was covered by a dome, held up by six columns.
The former four, now five passengers of the car climbed up the dark marble stairs and into the hotel through sliding glass doors. Alan and company were greeted to a series of ‘oohs’ from the tourists. Those who weren’t so surprised ran towards them to shake their hands. Some nerdy kid with glasses even asked Delton for an autograph. Patrick swore under his breath but kept a decent look on his face.
Alan felt a hand close around his forearm and was dragged out of the crowd. He was surprised to see Montres Phillepe. “Bonjour Alan. Having a nice time I presume.” Alan knew that Montres lived in Paris but he hadn’t expected to run into him. “Hello Montres. I wasn’t expecting to see one of my investors here.” Montres let out a laugh and said, “Well I do live in Paris. It is a big city and bumping into you would have been quite a coincidence, but this isn’t one. I came to invite you to my little celebration today. On account of my investment in your expedition. It will be great to have the other expedition members there too.” Alan considered for a while and said, “I would be glad to attend, but I must speak to the others too. I’ll inform you in about an hour.” “Sure. Take your time.” with this last sentence, Montres walked away.
Alan and the rest of the group went to one of the many restaurants. “Montres has invited us to a party this evening.” Andrew sighed and said, “It’s clearly a publicity stunt. Having all the expedition members attending his party.”
The group hesitated a bit at first, but agreed to go. Patrick on the other hand excused himself by claiming to be ill. The truth was slightly more sinister than that. He was waiting for a package from a geologist, his friend, Marcus Shaw.
Patrick’s brother, Alex, was too busy with preparing their equipment and so couldn’t go. It was just going to be Alan, Andrew, Delton and Martha. Alan made the call to Montres and told him. “I am delighted,” he had said, “but it is unfortunate that the Maples won’t be able make it. I shall expect your arrival in the banquet hall at 8’o clock this evening.” A party may be just the thing to get it out of my head, thought Alan. By it, Alan was referring to his confusion regarding the incident in Jakarta.
Alan and company headed to the banquet hall on the thirtieth floor that evening. They were welcomed by Montres, “Always a pleasure Alan. Greetings to you too Andrew, Martha and Delton. I see that you are on time.” Andrew replied as he shook Montres’s hand, “It’s better than being late at least.”
The crowd piled in soon enough. As they walked on, Alan noticed a familiar face and his heart sank. His first thought was, Not him again. The face belonged to Sheik Halmeer al-Jilani.
Andrew had shared Alan’s memories when they had met the dragon and he knew why his friend was so disturbed at the sight of that man. As though on cue, the man walked towards them with a broad smile on his face.
“Mr Sawner, how are you?” beamed the Sheik. Alan swallowed, forced his lips into a smile and replied, “I’m doing great Sheik Halmeer. Truly a pleasant surprise to see you here.” The Sheik’s expression changed and he said, “Did you consider of what I said in Jakarta.” The truth was that Alan thought about it almost every five minutes but he said, “Well Sheik Halmeer, I gave you my reply right there and I for one am very firm in my decisions. Why would I have to reconsider?” The Sheik sighed in an almost sympathetic manner, “Well Alan…I still think that the island is a place that are to be left alone by mankind.” Alan kept a peaceful expression, but those words haunted him every second. The biggest question in his mind was: Will this venture lead to discoveries or death?
Andrew had been watching from afar and saw Alan clearly struggling not to yell at the Sheik to shut up. He decided to help and called out to Alan. His friend was glad for the rescue and politely excused himself.
An hour after the crew had arrived, the last of the guests entered the hall and Montres took the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he began. “I would like to thank you all for coming. Today we have some special guests here. Alan, Andrew, Delton and Martha…the stage is yours.”
Naturally the other three allowed Alan to speak. After all the whole expedition was his. He stepped onto the dais and said, “Good evening everyone. I have just one thing to do. I wish to think my good friend Montres and of course all my other investors. This expedition is sure to unravel countless secrets and bring answers to various questions. I promise that we will put all our efforts into discovering the truth behind the Chorés. Well I must take your leave now. We’ll see you the day after in Hong Kong at the press meet. Thank you.” There was a round of applause. It was a fairly good speech considering the fact that Alan hadn’t expected to be delivering one.
The rest of the party was pretty much the usual. There was a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian section. A few guests danced and some others had either champagne or wine.
At around 10’o clock the expedition members went back to their rooms. Before sleeping Alan and Andrew thought for the sake of sanity, What the Sheik said was just nonsense. The dragon was a figment of our imagination. With this calming thought they began dreaming of two dragons, similar to structure as the one they had seen, fighting with two large staffs above an ocean of lava. Not quite the peaceful slumber they had expected.
The scene changed and Alan saw himself standing on a hill. There were no tress but plenty of grass. There was a guy in what appeared to be a pirate’s costume. There was an age old pistol in a holster on his belt. He also had a sword. Another person was next to him, wearing glittering purple robes. This individual also had five rings on his right hand. Each one with a different coloured stone.
There was something about that scene though, something that disturbed Alan. He concentrated on their faces and was shocked to find that they all had the same face, his face.
The next morning was rather uneventful. Their flight to Hong Kong was scheduled that evening. Alan met the others at the restaurant that they had decided the previous day.
Alan’s friends were sitting at the fifth table from the left in the luxury end. He was dressed in one of his brown, designer suits that matched his eyes. Delton waved him over with a grin and for some reason Alan felt that Patrick had rolled his eyeballs or it could have just been the lighting.
“Good morning Alan.” said Martha. “Good morning to you too. Did anyone contact Alex yet?” said Alan. Patrick set down his fork and said, “Yeah, I did. He’s ready, except that he has to sign some papers regarding the arrival of our transport on the island.”
The group decided to do whatever they wished to, until lunch time when they would leave for Alex’s place. Andrew’s exact words were, “You have the rest of the day to yourself. Meet back at the hotel lobby at three. I would recommend finishing lunch as we’ve got a long journey ahead to Alex’s residence.”
The rest of the day was enjoyed differently by each of the members. Alan preferred to stay at the hotel and listen to music the whole time. Andrew and Delton headed to the gaming room for a face-off. Patrick choose a peaceful swim. Martha opted for a visit to the Eiffel tower. Before they knew it, the time had come to leave.
They had all finished lunch at one of the hotel’s restaurants and assembled at the lobby. The employees had loaded their luggage into the Land Rover and they left for Alex’s house.
It had taken them over two hours to reach since they had left the hotel. Patrick was driving and parked in front of an extravagantly built white bungalow. The gates swing open automatically and a beep sounded. Though none of them were aware of it, the beep signified the disabling of the alarm system. If it had been on, they would have been falling through a tunnel which had seemingly appeared from nowhere, that led to a chamber where they would have been netted and subdued with a special gas to make them unconscious till the police arrived. This could definitely be certified as paranoia but Alex’s inventions were too precious to be lost or worse, stolen.
Alex appeared at the doorway and raised a hand. He said as he walked towards them, dragging his suitcase behind him, “Hello everyone. I’m packed and ready to leave.” Some of you may consider it rude not to invite the group in for tea, but time was short and they had to hurry up. They exchanged a few words and turned around towards the car. Out of curiosity, Delton asked, “Hey, Alex, what’s our transport anyway?” Alex was happy to break the awkward silence, “Its a camper.” Andrew didn’t think he heard him right, “I don’t think I heard you right. Did you say a camper?” Alex nodded, “Yes, a camper. Its armour plated and has modifications that you won’t find in any run of the mill family picnic vehicle.” No one objected. They all knew of Alex’s capabilities.
The next one and a half hours were spent navigating through the ever increasing traffic and pondering about the expedition ahead.
As usual, the car drove straight to the plane. This one belonged to Andrew. Not to forget that he was an equally successful businessman too. What no one else knew was that Andrew had been a hidden investor. His funds had replaced the Sheik’s since they had run into a minor financial shortage.
The plane was just being refuelled as they boarded. One of Andrew’s employees loaded the luggage. A few minutes for them to get clearance and the plane taxied onto the runway.
One thing was sure though, the stage was set and the true journey, that would decide the fate of the world, was about to begin.