The Alien Orb (36 page)

The creatures were turning around
everywhere, about the vehicle, and they stared in through the
windows. The crowd grew dense, in front of them, and one of them
went in front of the vehicle; and it swerved around it. Its
features stuck in his mind, and he realized that it was similar to
the creature that had been on the machine
’
s projection, in the
structure.

The creature stood steady, with its top
limbs at its sides, staring at them, behind the vehicle.

A sudden jolt, made him jerk forwards, and
the vehicle almost stopped.

“
What in the hell were
they?
”
Burrell yelled out, jumping up from where he was
sitting.

The crowd of creatures were pursuing them,
with increasing speed, as the vehicle maneuvered about a hill.

“
Just keep calm!
”
Basinger exclaimed.
“
And
don
’
t do
anything
–
remain where you are!
”

As it floated on, and it increased its
speed, Dexter realized that he was now even more confused than he
had been. Why were there two races of them? Had that race descended
from the other race?

The creatures definitely were not descended
from mankind. Their features were not the same, and they obviously
had their own ancestors that had to be a four-legged creature with
claws, and their jaws were similar to a reptile.

Surely the machines in the structure would
have some information about this other race. He realized again that
the world now had many deadly creatures. He was beginning to
believe that they should have stayed there. This entire race might
now know of their presence! Could they actually return? If they
left this island, would they eventually meet a more deadly race?
Yet if they stayed here these creatures might find them.

As the vehicle moved further away from them,
he realized that the creatures were more advanced than he had
thought, and that he was exaggerating the situation. Some of the
creatures had greeted them.

He realized that the creatures were
definitely the ancestors of the other creatures, who had built the
structure. They were like a tribe of ape-men, of their race. He had
heard them make three silent grunts, which had been a greeting,
which he was sure that the other race had adapted into their
language.

As the vehicle went out towards the other
side of the island, he saw the other massive tower, in the
distance, and he realized that it had only been a large version of
the tower in the jungle, at the beach.

The vehicle moved over endless lines,
covered in fawn dirt and sand, which he was sure once had been old
streets.

He did not believe that the creatures, which
had built the civilization, would actually kill them. The others
had given many nervous glances at the projected creature. He could
not imagine them fighting and killing them. So far he had not seen
with any weapons.

A hand appeared beside his head, which
he recognized as Basinger
’
s. He pointed outwards, and Dexter gasped,
when he saw that it was heading towards the sea, which was less
than a few miles away, behind some hills of sand.

Basinger stood at his side, and he pressed
another of the buttons, but the vehicle continued on going. He then
began pushing buttons and levers, as the sea slowly stretched out
in front of them, and the vehicle continued to race towards it.
Dexter knew that the other controls, which were not destination
buttons, only adjusted the way that it maneuvered, and, for some
reason, none of them would stop it. Moreover, he did not know if it
had enough power.

The wind sprayed water against
Dexter
’
s
hand, at the back of the vehicle, and he watched it move over the
waves.

Burrell sat down, at the front, where he had
been.

The water was clear, but it was too far out,
across the sea, to see the bottom. A large group of multicolored
sea creatures swam alongside it, and then shifted away to the
right.

Darwin peered over the edge of a
window, and he went back to smelling about him. The island grew
small, and turned to another shape about them. Their plan, of
moving away from the island, was taking place
–
but the mainland had not
been at the horizon, where they had believed it had
been.

He realized that it might have been
the creatures
’
fire that he had seen on the island, when they had arrived at
the island. But it could also have been a volcanic eruption near
the shore.

The strangeness of it grabbed him, as he
vividly recalled its surreal glow beaming out, from the island. It
had looked deliberate, like a beacon, though. He had sometimes
wondered if it actually had been a fire. Furthermore, how did the
others get ashore?

He rested, and imagined himself skimming
over the sea, with the island sinking into the sea, behind him.

What kind of strange place existed beneath
the waves, down at the seabed? If he only had his scuba-diving gear
at the island ...

The red sunshine brightly shone down,
engulfing the sky, in tints of crimson. Shadows and reflections of
small clouds wavered on the surface of the water.

The strange redness seemed to be in
every shadow and reflection, and especially in the sparkles of the
waves, swirling about under it. A cloud
’
s reflection mingled with the
sunlight in whirling eddies.

A slight scent of the water was in the warm
air, rushing through it, from the front. For a second, he thought
that he caught a glimpse of something at the most distant point of
the horizon.

The island completely disappeared, and
nothing could be seen anywhere, on the water. With his eyes shut it
was as though it were not moving but hovering on a breeze.

A gust of wind appeared, at the side, and he
heard the sea gurgling beneath the vehicle; and he saw a huge surge
of bubbles coming up from below. A type of seaweed surfaced about
them, and it was all over the surrounding sea.

The sky was growing pale, and he saw that
the sun was edging its way down to the sea, behind them.

The world looked surreal. The island
had been like something out of a weird dream. He had never realized
that things could change so much. He still believed that the world
had been changed by some form of catastrophe
–
an ice age had to have
occurred.

However, he believed that the creatures that
had built the structures, and their ancestors, had appeared after
it. Yet had any people actually survived? Yet he had not seen one
life form on the island that he had recognized. Perhaps mankind had
also changed. Perhaps civilization had eventually changed all the
life on the world before the ice age?

Whatever it was, there must be clues
somewhere. He rummaged through his memories, trying to discover
something, from what he had seen on the island.

Many bright stars appeared in the darkening
sky, and cold air replaced the warm air.

Burrell stood up, and he adjusted the
remains of his clothing.

“
I could do with something to
eat!
”

Dexter stretched out his arms, and
yawned.

Basinger and Selina took out some food.

An odor, like roast pork, came to him,
through the wind, and he rubbed his cold hands together. Then he
grabbed a chunk of food, which he had kept, at his side.

He then went to where he had chosen to
sleep, and the others moved to places.

Once he had finished chewing a morsel, which
was in his mouth, he rested and went to sleep, feeling the slight
movements of the vehicle.

A mysterious sound entered his light
dream, and he realized that it was a voice
–
from the real
world.

Blackness was all around him, and he
felt Selina
’
s warm body, huddled around him.

Basinger
’
s loud snore came from somewhere
else.

What had produced the sound? He gently
lifted Selina
’
s head and shoulders from him, and he put her
back down on some thick fur. The sound of the sea surging against
itself grew, as he stood.

In the starlight at the front, he spotted
Burrell pointing outwards into the dark. He went to him, without
making any loud sounds.

“
What is it?
”
Dexter spoke wearily, trying to
observe what it was.

“
It has not altered our
course!
”

“
So what is it then?
”

“
There
’
s another island over
there!
”

Dexter stared, forcing his eyes to focus,
and to adjust to the blackness, which was swallowing his sight. A
faint outline became visible. It was so distant that he wondered if
he could really see something.

“
Do you want me to stay up
...?
”

“
No, I will stay here! I like being
here.
”

“
Thanks!
”
Dexter replied, returning to where
he had been, feeling himself falling back asleep.

The vehicle was still rapidly going over the
dark sea, when it became apparent that the region had a storm
engulfing it. And Dexter once again realized that he might have
made a mistake, and that he should have stayed on the island.

The whole sky about them was changing, and
grew more menacing by the minute.

Thick clouds, with a firm winds, were edging
in, to them.

The drizzle glowed, under the stars, and the
wind picked up momentum.

Some faint streaks of light came from bright
starlight, going through scattered clouds, and drizzle blanketed
rugged waves. And the vehicle wildly rocked, and waves went up and
down.

A dark mass of swirling clouds covered the
sky, and it pelted them with large drops of rain.

The sun still had not ascended to the
horizon, and the powerful storm was blasting through the
dimness.

Dexter felt like slapping himself hard
across the face for making such a blunder, and taking such a
risk.

How much force could the small vehicle
sustain?

His eyes searched the darkness,
scanning for any signs of land, or if it was going to hit
something, undetected by it, in the storm. Rain trickled through
the windows, and poured in through the front. And a confounded
rattle came from their loose objects banging into to each other
about the floor. Then he saw another problem
–
all the water pouring in
was swiftly making a pool, across his front.

Basinger and Burrell started using their
hands to throw the water out of the vehicle, as it violently rocked
about. And Dexter helped Selina to collect the loose objects on
floor.

Basinger managed to get them to increase
their pace, and they ignored the howling wind.

The outside grew dark, and it hid the
blasting rain, pouring in, over them. Then lightning erupted,
dazzling their eyes, as well as giving them a horrific fright with
an extremely loud thunder roar.

As lightning continued erupting about them,
it illuminated the soaked vehicle.

The thunder exploded over them, and Selina
snatched Darwin out of the water, from the floor.

The lightning rhythmically flashed at
different angles, about the sky, making the sea glow, and shadows
of the vehicle shift about them.

At times he believed that he was definitely
going to die, as they clung onto the vehicle, while massive waves
pounded into it, and he could only hope that it had enough energy
to sustain it. It was as though it would never go away, and that it
would be impossible to survive.

Rain, wind, and coldness blasted at him. It
flooded the vehicle, and made him numb, until he could not feel
anything. Yet the long night, and final nightmare, subsided,
leaving them in a thick mist.

His eyes roamed the deep cloud that they
were left in, trying to recognize anything in it. The last gush of
rain still streamed about the floor, shaking from the vibrations of
the vehicle.

Slight turbulent winds occasionally rocked
them, as they rested, and recovered from the incredible
experience.

Burrell rested at the front, with his head
facing downwards, out of the window, still trying to examine the
way ahead.

Dexter felt himself going to sleep,
and he realized that he could not properly see anything. The
vehicle
’
s
speed did not seem to have decreased, and the amount of energy in
it had surprised him. However, he would not be happy until the mist
cleared away, or thinned to a reasonable density, and they set foot
on land.

Then, once again, something
occurred
–
a thud came from the front, sending a shudder through the
vehicle, knocking Burrell over, and onto the wet floor.

“
What was that!
”
he yelled.

Where the mist thickened, and hid the sea
behind it, a black shape slowly emerged. It loomed out of the sea,
and it moved towards the edge of the vehicle, coming at their
startled faces, like a sea monster.

Basinger moved across the floor to see it,
and he leaned out, as it went by. And, as it disappeared, the
others ran to the sides looking at it.