The Alien Orb (29 page)

After a few handfuls of the plankton,
they grew sickening, and he knew that they could only consume so
many of them. Therefore, they searched for other things, as they
silently staggered along, beside the sea. There were many types of
algae, but they did not touch them
–
their appetites now demanded proper
food.

The coast was so unreal that he was sure
that he was walking in a dream, and had consumed some form of
hallucinogenic.

Along a stretch of the beach, he saw that
the vegetation still was too dense, and that they still could not
enter it. Its shapes shifted continuously, as though things in it
were shuffling about, with some kind of an itch. Its complexity was
tremendous, and his mind could barely grasp what he was observing;
and he continuously glanced into it. However, what grabbed his
attention even more was that there was no wind or anything that
could account for it.

He knew that she had no explanation for it
either: she was more concerned about where she was.

To his astonishment he realized that the
trees were not normal: they were mostly similar to giant plants,
going up to at least fifty meters high, and others resembled
immense mushroom-like plants, with feathery seeds falling from
under their domed tops. In one direction they formed part of the
jungle, going out as far as the eye could see.

Distant shrieks of wild creatures came from
within them.

Dexter briskly sharpened the end of a stick
of vegetation, on a sharp stone, making it pointed, and into a
reasonable spear.

It would do, until they could make something
better.

Dexter occasionally climbed up small trees,
hanging over the beach, to remove some of the fruit-like vegetation
growing on them. Their shapes and sizes varied greatly, and he
easily pulled some off, but he needed to cut many off, with sharp
stones. Some were much like coconuts, and they had to be smashed
open, to reveal their nutritious contents.

After they had tried the majority of the
varieties, they started collecting the best ones.

Suddenly, as they were about to
finish, Darwin did a strange thing
–
he ran away at full speed, and he
disappeared into part of the jungle. His loud bark then went
through the vegetation.

They swiftly left what they were doing and
ran after him. It was not like him to leave when there was food
about. Furthermore, if there was something dangerous, why had he
been so enthusiastic to encounter it?

The dog stood peering into a more dense part
of the vegetation, trying to find a scent, as though whatever had
been there had escaped. Some mysterious thing had hidden
itself!

However, he realized something even
more bizarre, which he had seen and had just ignored. In a shallow
pool of black mud, at his side, there was a footprint, which looked
like his own. It was a faint impression, and neither of them could
explain it
–
or even be positive that it belonged to a human.

He did not know if humans still existed.

Why was it a bare footprint? Had humans gone
back to living in the wilderness? How many of them would there be?
How dangerous were they ...?

At their side, he spotted a newly fallen
tree, creating a gap, which would allow them to get further into
it.

Once they had climbed through it, he saw
that its density decreased, and that they could scramble through
it.

Their heads darted about, looking for traces
of any signs of life, and anything that would indicate the presence
of humans. Even though it was hard to believe that humans were on
the island.

Apes had human-like arms, hands, and
feet. Could there be an animal such as this hiding in the
vegetation
–
like a Bigfoot? As he thought about it, traces of two pairs
of footprints actually appeared in the soil at his feet, and he
found a clear set of them.

What had they been doing here
–
at the beach?
They were fresh, and they were differently sized footprints, almost
identical to theirs. They had walked through to the beach, and they
had gone back into the island. He was sure that they had been
actually watching them, from further up the beach.

Deep musty scents like flowers and pine
mingled through the hot air, while he carefully placed his feet,
treading quietly over the ground. And he crouched, ready to
shelter.

It was a mysterious jungle, and it created
an extremely intense atmosphere. At any moment, he expected to see
a tiger-like animal hiding in the tangle of vegetation.

Their pace stayed slow, at a speed that they
could see anything dangerous in their path, while staying
hidden.

There were no signs of them. Where were they
going?

Just ahead of him, where the footprints
went, a white shape emerged in the multicolored vegetation. And he
approached it cautiously, searching everywhere he could. And he saw
that it was something resembling a giant egg, with size of him.

Even though he thought of it as a form
of plant, it had to be a creature
–
it had a white leathery skin, which
pulsated ...

It shuddered when it sensed them near
to it, and they tenderly followed the prints passed it, ready to
escape; and they swiftly continued away from it. He soon saw what
it was that they were going to
–
a short distance away, there was an
artificial tower, stretching high above, where its top bulged out,
loomed over the trees, at least fifty meters above.

They approached it, in stages, examining
bits of it through gaps, trying to figure out what it resembled. In
the distance, the shapes of shrieking creatures hung on
branches.

“
What do you think it
is?
”
Selina
gasped, breaking the silence, as they moved into a clearing, about
its base.

“
It could be some sort of observation
station ...!
”

“
How old could it be
...?
”
she
uttered, looking at its black surface.
“
If we can establish that, we may be
able to establish how far we have traveled into the
future!
”

“
And how long ago a civilization
existed ...!
”

“
It
’
s made of a material like
metal,
”
she
muttered,
“
and it
’
s not corroded anywhere ...
”

Dexter unsuccessfully attempted to dent and
scratch its surface, and they wandered around its base, until they
came to an entrance, which looked as though someone had recently
opened. Its inside was dark and gloomy, and, except for a pole
ladder, it was empty.

“
Will we proceed
...?
”
he
asked.

“
It
’
s to dangerous ...!
”
she replied, looking at its leaning
black shape, towering overhead, at fifty meters above.

“
They must have gone up it
...!
”

“
Where are they?
”
she said, looking straight
up, with her hand over her eyes.

“
Stay here
–”
he spoke tediously, and started to
climb up the ladder pegs, into the darkness.

The only sounds that he heard were the
clangs of the ladder echoing upwards, as though he were clambering
through a sewage pipe.

The hot air drifted up from beneath him.

There was little for him to see above.

Sometimes he believed that he saw
someone climbing down to him. He now saw Selina
’
s point of view, and that it
was not worth it
–
but if he could just find one clue that
would answer his queries about the world.

A freak wind made a hollow whistle through
the entrance, and died away. The temperature had to be reaching its
maximum limit. He tried to imagine what was up at the top of it,
but he had no evidence of anything.

He plodded on, while the light under
him grew fainter; and he realized that he had underestimated its
height. He had been climbing too fast
–
it had exhausted him! He felt his
legs give way under him. It was not a normal ladder
–
he had to grip
the handles to stay on it
–
the handles were at large distances from
each other, and he could not properly rest on it. He was soon
hanging on for his life, with the pole swaying under him. However,
he managed to rest, in a different position.

In the blur overhead, a vague illumination
became visible, and he vigorously moved towards it.

When he reached it, he saw an entrance to a
room, where faint beams of red sunlight shone, and he fell over
onto its floor exhausted. Then, from somewhere in the surrounding
darkness, a black shape shifted over the light.

Chapter 4

The Mysterious
World

A spectral shape floated over him, but his
unfocused vision simultaneously altered, allowing him to see a
crouching figure, looming above him.

“
So you made it ...!
”
Basinger murmured, grinning
at his face.
“
It
’
s Dexter!
”

“
Wait until you see the other tower
...!
”
Burrell spoke, as he appeared at his side, humoring him,
while holding back a smile.

Dexter reluctantly dragged himself upwards,
from where he had just managed to rest.

“
Come over here ...!
”
Burrell called out, moving
over a gap in its outer shell.

Once at it, Dexter stumbled backwards,
stunned at the height that it was leaning over.

Selina
’
s figure was at the edge of the
jungle, where she was examining the vegetation.

Another gigantic tower was looming up in the
sky in the distance, where Burrell was pointing.

There must have been some danger in
regularly climbing up the towers! Who had built them? What function
had they had? Had their descendants just been energetic?

A glance about outside showed him that the
island was far more different from what he had believed that it
could have been. In many directions, there were miles of jungle
terrain going far into the distance.

“
So what do you think it
is?
”
Burrell finally enquired.

“
It might have been a communications
tower.
”

“
You may be right!
”

Basinger and Burrell returned to what
they had been doing, over in the darkness. Dexter followed the
bulged out outer wall in the opposite direction, going in a circle.
It was peculiar
–
it looked as though nothing had been in it
–
there only seemed to be the
blank surroundings, and he finally arrived at where the others were
standing.

It confused him, because it was entirely
empty. Had they emptied it of everything that it had contained?

Then he saw that there was another entrance,
in front of Basinger, which they were trying to open. It was at an
area on the central section, where the other entrance was behind,
through a wall.

Basinger fiddled about with a type of
keyhole, and stepped back bewildered.

Dexter saw a faint gap in it, further along
from them, and he pulled at part of it, sticking out. Then he
pushed his fingers into the widened gap, and yanked the jammed
entrance open.

“
You did it!
”
Burrell proclaimed, congratulating
him.

“
Would you like to go first
...?
”
Basinger said, and held out his arm.

Dexter immediately climbed into it, gripped
its ladder, and pulled himself up.

He was soon on its roof, over the top of the
structure, where there were just curved edges around it. Its view
was astonishing, especially with it dangerously sloping.

Selina gazed at what appeared in front of her
as though she thought that reality had finally gone haywire. And
when she saw them she dropped the vegetation that she had been
examining, and strolled towards them.

“
Deputy Commander Basinger
...?
”
she
called out, extremely alarmed.
“
What are you doing here?
”

She stood studying the two of them, and she
looked at their bare feet. They had also lost their shoes swimming
ashore!

They were barely recognizable to her, in the
glare from the peculiar sunshine, in the strange surroundings.

“
How did they get
here?
”
she
spoke, looking more startled than he had ever seen her.

“
And why did they not see us
...?
”
Dexter murmured, looking at the remains of their clothes,
hanging on them.

They looked wilder, in the light. Their
beards gave them an appearance of being castaways, which had been
on the island for weeks.