Hi! As I'm new to this, if you read it, would you be kind enough to comment (as the feedback will help me in writing the rest of the book) and vote if you like it and would like to see more uploaded.
I hope you enjoy the story,
Thanks,
Mark.
By the way, the cover is a real photo of a tiny, blind, albino crab that I took myself on holiday!!
(the photo that is, not the crab. That would just be stupid, taking a crab on holiday!!!!)
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Chapter 1
Mike Baker stared out of the window and smiled. He wondered how he had managed to be on this flight. The sea below was a smooth expanse of turquoise blue, intersected by thin white stripes- the wakes of merchant ships and private cabin cruisers slowly traversing between the lands. He knew he had a desk piled with work, and countless unread e-mails back at the office in Manchester, but he was looking forward to this break. Steve Elliot, his boss, had told him he deserved it too. Maybe it was Steve's way of saying he needed it. Pressures had been mounting in the last few weeks.
"Drinks or snacks sir,” Mikes musing were suddenly broken by the gorgeous and seemingly genuinely warm smile of the stewardess.
"Just a coffee please." Seeing the stewardess’s smiling face reminded Mike just how long it has been since he has seen Kirsty . This holiday would be the first time they’d spent together since her assignment in New Zealand, Benchmarking business processes, whatever the hell that was, he thought. Mike didn't much care what she had been doing as long as he was going to see her soon.
He checked his watch and ascertained that Kirsty would have landed in Arricife by now, and he would again be with her in about 2 hours. He reclined his seat the four inches or so economy class seats allowed and sipped his coffee. The sun’s rays felt war down one Side of his body. He smiled to himself, and looked out of the window again.
I'm going to enjoy this holiday, he thought.
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15 thousand feet below the plane, and about one and a half Kilometres off the coast of the island, Grant Kennedy and Michelle Jamison were scuba diving. One of the many things they loved to do together on holiday and this was their fifth.
They’d heard that this was the area where the underwater tunnel started. The tunnel had been formed millions of years earlier by volcanic activity. It had somehow locked in some species, endemic to the island area, in a naturally sealed eco-system time capsule. Some of the species were rare and normally only found in much deeper waters, but had somehow been raised to higher levels during past Volcanic movement.
Grant tapped Michelle on the arm and gesticulated toward a giant manta ray that was skimming the bottom like some organic hovercraft in its habitual search for food. The accepting indifference of the all the marine life toward the divers was much more apparent than normal, and gave Grant a really rare feeling of awe with God's power of creation (strange as he was a Darwin man at heart).
Grant looked at his watch and Saw that he had twenty minutes of air left, and knowing Michelle would have about the same he signaled to Michelle five more minutes. Then they would have to start back up to the surface. Michelle felt strangely privileged to be so close to nature, and was happy to just be doing something together with Grant that they both enjoyed So much. Although, they were quite deep, visibility was really good because the water was crystal clear. It was perfectly illuminated by the mid afternoon sun. Then suddenly Michelle thought she caught sight of it out of the corner of her eye. Its white albino-like form digging frantically into the sand after its vibratory senses had alerted it to the presence of potential predators. Millions of years of evolution had never deemed necessary to endow this creature with eyes. Thoughts flashed through her head. Was it really what she thought? Could it mean a concealed entrance to the tunnel is close by?
Michelle pointed two fingers at her eyes then her index finger to where the blind white crab had buried itself, to show grant that she had seen something. Grant gave the okay sign, and held up three fingers indicating how long they had left to look before surfacing. They both moved in on the area of sand between two volcanic rock formations that looked for the entire world like giant slices of cake piled haphazardly on top of each other. Michelle started to prod and poke at the spot where she thought she saw the crab disappear. She was electrified at the prospect of her find, completely oblivious to the nature of the shock they had in store.
Chapter 2
“Oh, dad, I didn't have time to come home and see you first. It was the only time Mike and I could get away together. I promise we will both come and visit just as soon as we get back to England."
"Well, poppet, be sure you do. You Know granny and I are always pleased to see you and she's not getting any younger you know. And if lover boy wants to come too, you know he will be made very welcome."
"I know, I know, " she lied..
Since Kristy’s mother had died and her father, Edward. C. Jackson, had Sold his company and retired, and he had become so possessive. She knew he had a deep-seated dislike of Mike. Just as he had with all the men she chose. He had wanted to leave his company to a son and a daughter just wouldn't do.
"I promise I’ll stay for a few days before my next assignment. Mike won’t be able to, as he doesn't have any more time off."
"Oh, shame. Still, I guess those beans won't count themselves. You know if he wants a meaningful Job that earns value… I could still speak to David... "
“Bye, dad. Speak to you next week. Love you. Bye… bye."
Kirsty's father was such a biggot, but of course she loved him anyway.
Kristy checked her mobile for messages, and then gently tossed it on to the King-size bed. She Kicked off her shoes, opened the French doors and stepped onto the balcony, the breeze gently refreshing her body through her thin floral pattern dress. The small fishing port looked so beautiful this afternoon. The only noise was that of the traditional food market just packing up. She decided to go down and see if she could get some fresh food for dinner before all the stalls closed.
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The sudden impact of rubber on Tarmac woke Mike with a jump. His mostly empty coffee cup had miraculously disappeared from his hand and his table was folded back up into the stowed position.
"Please remain in your seats with your Seatbelts fastened until the aircraft has come to a complete stop, and the seatbelt lights have gone out.”
Mike switched off flight mode on his mobile and waited for a signal. There were two messages.
Man c 1. Man u 0. Haha! Enjoy your hols. Steve.
At the apartment. Please call when u land. Missed U. Love, K . X X
Mike pushed his mobile into his jeans pocket, grabbed his brown leather hold-all and got ready to disembark the plane.
Chapter 3
Michelle new she didn't have much time. She quickly felt all around the area where she had seen the crab. Suddenly she saw sand cascading into a hole like an hour glass. Grant Looked at his watch again. Michelle scraped the sand away with her hand, and then she saw the crab really close, no bigger than a 2 euro Coin, only this time it was not scurrying away, it was arching back!
Suddenly it struck. The speed and stinging on her face between her top lip and her mask stunned Michelle as she recoiled away from the hole. She realized it was still there, trying to burrow under her mask, then… it was in.
She immediately ripped her mask off, but it had now entered her left nostril. Grant could see her panicking, but didn’t understand the exact problem; he just knew he had to get her to the surface. He grabbed her by the arm pushing her towards the surface. Michelle was blowing air out of her nose, and frantically clawing at her face. Grant continued to kick towards the surface with all his might.
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Mike noticed a girl, pretty, blond hair, maybe twenty or twenty-one, struggling with her large bag; it had slid right to the back of the overhead locker.
"Here, let me help."
"Oh, thanks, I could really use a few inches"
The girl blushed, realising her faux pas. She smiled when she saw Mike smiling and trying to suppress a laugh.
Mike tried to think of a funny reply, but decided to let it go.
"Mike," he said offering his hand.
"Kate," she replied, shaking his hand.
A bit formal, she thought, but cute!
Mike let Kate go first, and then followed her down the aisle and off the plane. She was petite, but perfectly formed, he couldn't help but notice. Other passengers got in-between them, and Kate didn't look back.
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Kirsty was in the shower when her phone rang. It kicked to answer phone.
"Hi, it’s Mike. Just landed. Will be with you in an hour and a half or so. Can't wait."
Mike was stood at the baggage reclaim, phone in hand, when he felt a presence just behind him and to his right. He could feel the faintest of touches against the back of his right arm. He turned slightly and saw it was Kate. They both smiled.
"It can take ages for the bags here. Sometimes they even arrive the next day!" said Kate.
"I hope not, I’ve only got..."
Mike was interrupted by an announcement.
"Passengers of flight EC1045 from Birmingham, please note that there has been a baggage handling delay is in the airport, due to a technical issue, it will be twenty to thirty minutes before the baggage is available for pick-up. We apologise for this slight delay."
"Hey, Mike, can I buy you coffee... for helping me earlier"?
"Oh, it was noth......"
"That's if you don't mind my company for twenty minutes."
"Well, okay, I guess we can't do anything here. Thanks, but only if you let me pay."
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As they burst to the surface, Michelle's lungs felt as though they were about to explode. She was gasping for breath and realised the centre of her face felt numb.
"What happened Michelle?"
Michelle just shook her head. She was too out of breath to speak a word. She was still holding her face.
Grant noticed a single trickle of blood from her nose, but then it stopped.
Grant helped her back to the side of the boat. His head was all over the place. He couldn't understand why she had pulled her mask off under water like that. She was not a new diver after all! At least she was okay, that's the main thing, he thought.
After they had scrambled back onto the boat, Grant asked, as calmly as he could, what had happened down there.
"That thing- it attacked me and bit me or something. It was horrible. I'm sure it went up my nose, everything from my mouth to my forehead is numb, like at the dentist."
"Here, let me take a look. Well, you'll be happy to know it’s not up there now. In fact, it's probably the cleanest nose that I've seen for a long time. Probably all the slushing out with salt water," Grant let a small smile just start to dance on his face.
"Grant, it’s not funny," punching him on the arm, "you shit bag. It was really frightening, and I could have drowned down there."
Grant put a towel around her shoulders, and wrapped his strong arms around her, giving her a gentle squeeze.
"We need to get you to a doctor now," he said, starting both engines.
"Why?"
"Well, we don't really know what that thing was… do we? And if you have been bitten or stung, we need to get you checked over. I'll call Michelle, and see if she can fix up an emergency medic."
With a roar, the Princess cruiser's bows rose in the water. It banked sharply to Port, and accelerated back in the direction of the land, just visible on the horizon. Grant reached for his radio phone. Michelle glanced back at the wake behind, to the place where they had been diving. She didn't feel ill, she felt strangely invigorated. In fact, apart from the twitch in her eye, she feltreally great.
Far beneath the waves, unbeknown to anyone, another member of this unique and localised prehistoric family, that had been thriving in organised communities well before mammals, let alone hominids, took up its post at the small entrance to the post volcanic chamber.