BENEATH - A Novel

by Jeremy Robinson

  Amazing.

  Connelly didn't have a chance to scream or react as a barrage of blue tendrils snapped out of the wall, wrapped around her body and pulled her into the wall. Connelly sank deeper and deeper into the wall. A jolt, like an electric shock, paralyzed her. There was no pain, just immobility.

  Like jellyfish tentacles, she thought. Even humans weren't immune to the effects of jellyfish, whose tendrils caused severe burning and immense pain. The effect of the Europhid tentacles on Connelly's body was overwhelming, even with the PMS on.

  As Connelly was swallowed up by the wall, the view through her facemask became stark blue…like she was floating in the sky. She felt her mind slipping away. Her thoughts became jumbled, tired, like sleep induced by a sedative. A blanket of total and complete peace had been laid over her. Her anxiety had been reduced to nothing. Here she was, about to face a death unlike any human had experienced before and she felt better than she had in all her life.

  * * * * *

  The void that enveloped Connelly was all consuming. She attempted to look at her hands. They were gone. She tried to turn her head, hoping for a better view, but she lacked a neck. In fact, she had no body at all. For a brief moment she thought that maybe she had been killed and the Catholics were right all along, there was a purgatory and she was there. She'd always thought of purgatory as all white.

  Why not blue? she thought. It's not the most extravagant color…but it wasn't bad either…just somewhere in the middle. In limbo.

  But the blue void began to change. Light filtered down from above, the beams reflecting off of a cloud of tiny bubbles. The light shimmered and shook. There was a surface above her. As the density of her surroundings increased, Connelly felt that she was underwater and that the illumination from above was sunlight glimmering through the surface.

  The world around her became real. She was in a tropical lagoon. Snorkeling. She was seven years old.

  A memory.

  Her parents had taken her to Hawaii on her seventh birthday. Not really for her birthday, but she had always pretended the vacation was in honor of her birth. After a day seeing the smaller islands from the air on a helicopter tour, her mother, father and two brothers had retreated to a small beach, hidden inside a cove on the big island. Her father had bragged that discovering its location had only cost him fifty dollars. While her brothers built a sand castle out of the fine grey sand and mom and dad laid out to tan, she had taken to the ocean with snorkel in hand.

  She was an avid and skilled swimmer, but she had never used a snorkel before. She'd seen it done, though, and needed no lessons on how to use the device. The feeling of freedom the snorkel had given her was like nothing she'd experienced in her seven years of life. For the next half hour, Connelly had swum in circles, circumventing the small cove, admiring the snails, crabs and multicolored fish, and never once had to come up for air.

  Thirty-one minutes in the water marked the point where her experience changed drastically. Her insistent splashing had attracted the attention of a small tiger shark, a dwarf at only three and half feet long, but still more than a match for a seven-year-old girl in the water. Connelly had heard her father give warnings about sharks, about what attracted them: constant splashing, blood, and waving white skin on the palms and soles of feet. It was the first and last of the three that Connelly had been tempting the shark with for the past thirty minutes. It was the middle of the three which the shark would add to the mix.

  Connelly saw a dim shadow swish past her off to the left, deeper in the lagoon. She'd already seen the light play tricks on her, though. Every time a cloud passed in front of the sun, the light would change, causing shapes to emerge and swirl through the water. The first few times caused her to catch her breath. But by now, she was so used to it, she didn't give the new shadow a second thought.

  What happened next became a blur in her waking memory, something she had never fully recalled. But now, she was seeing it all as though the day were repeating itself in full detail. First came a horrible burning on her left calf. It was followed by an intense pressure that shot the air from Connelly's lungs as she screamed through her snorkel tube. She spun in the water as the pressure decreased and saw the black eyes of the small shark turn white as its protective eyelid snapped shut in preparation for a second attack.

  Gripped by the pain lancing up her leg Connelly could only watch as the shark opened its jaws again and lunged at her face. The water above her head exploded as a fist broke through the surface of the water and connected solidly with the shark's snout, causing it to thrash and bolt away. The hand clasped onto Connelly's wrist and pulled her up out of the water. As she cleared the ocean waves, she looked up and saw the silhouette of her father standing above her like a statue of a Greek god. He was amazing. He was her hero.

  Her father yanked her up out of the water, onto the backside of a boat.

  Connelly became confused. Her father had been on the shore. He had pulled her onto the beach. They never even owned a boat!

  She looked to her father again, expecting to see his scruffy face, dark eyes and tan skin, but instead she was met by an awkward smile, thick glasses and an explosion of hair. Robert…ten years ago. The day they first met.

  Echo One, her first research ship, was little more than a decked-out pleasure boat. She and Robert both worked as consultants for Environ-O, an ocean conservation unit dedicated to studying the ocean and lobbying for a change in maritime laws that would protect Earth's endangered species. The job this time around had been laborious and time consuming: crab counting in the Florida Keys. Crabs were difficult to keep track of, most looked alike and there wasn't time to map out each individual's minute differences. More than that, crabs didn't always want to be found. It was the daunting scope of the task that caused Environ-O to hire both scientists at once. Connelly had always been glad they did. Robert saved them days of work by using a mathematical equation to estimate the number of crabs throughout the Keys by extrapolating the data from three separate islands, the closest to the mainland, one in the middle and the one furthest from shore.

  The survey was completed in four days. It would have taken three weeks. They spent the following weeks vacationing together on board Orca One. It was the beginning of their bond…one that would eventually lead to more. Connelly felt slightly sad as she looked into the younger Robert's eyes. His attraction to her, even then had been obvious. But they had both been blind to it.

  This was the second to last day of their vacation and Connelly had just been snorkeling for two hours. She'd been hooked on it, on the entire ocean and all its creatures, since that fateful day in the lagoon. She didn't fear or hate the shark for what it had done, she loved it for its perfection—Galeacerdo cuvier— the perfect eating machine. And she devoted her life to the study of all water dwelling creatures, even the microbial.

  Connelly remembered the rest of this day in a flash. She and Robert drank a few beers, grilled a few fish, played a few rounds of chess and then sat on the deck, staring up at the stars until both fell asleep, side by side. She knew what Robert was about to say. She had been wearing a very skimpy bathing suit and one of her breasts was beginning to slide out as she was pulled from the water. Robert, seemingly unaffected by the view said, "You're slipping out up top." He had turned away as he hoisted Connelly onto the back of the boat and gave her ample time to adjust her suit.

  She was shocked when events didn't play out as she remembered. "My God," Robert said. "You're just as stunning as I remember." And then he didn't turn around. His eyes lingered on her slipping bikini top, which was just beginning to reveal the top of her nipple. She stood on the deck and quickly adjusted her suit.

  Robert chuckled. "You know, I kicked myself for years for not waiting to see if you fell out of that thing. Looks like it was all for nothing."

  Connelly smiled, feeling as relaxed as she did on that day ten years ago.

  "Could have fooled me. You hid your interest well."

  Rob
ert looked surprised. "Wait a minute. You didn't say that."

  "And you didn't gape at my boobs."

  "Then you're you? You're really you?"

  Connelly realized that she was talking to the real Robert. She wasn't sure how, but she knew it was him, the current version. She wrapped her arms around him and planted a kiss on his young lips. It was the first kiss they should have had, but never did.

  "Hate to break up the party, guys, but where the hell are we?" Connelly jerked away from Robert and looked toward the source of the familiar voice. Willard, looking just like Willard, was sitting behind the steering wheel, looking back at she and Robert. He was wearing shorts and a gaudy Hawaiian shirt. "And why did I just relive my eighth grade class portrait?"

  * * * * *

  The small door that accessed Orca One's inner cabin opened from inside. A woman dressed in a flowing, see through, white skirt and a matching tube top stepped onto the deck. Her golden hair hung down past her shoulders and seemed to reflect the blue water rippling around the boat. She stood sensually next to a stunned Willard, yet her brilliant cobalt eyes revealed an intelligence beyond her years.

  Connelly didn't recognize the woman and she certainly hadn't been on the Orca One with her and Robert. When Willard finally found his tongue, it was apparent he knew the woman.

  "Ms. Tamworth?" Willard's eyes were wide. His lips spread in a wide smile.

  The woman nodded and flashed Willard a smile that seemed to paralyze him. He slowly shook his head. "But…"

  "A friend of yours?" Robert asked, scratching his bare, curly haired chest.

  Connelly noticed that apart from the amazement on Willard's part, neither she nor Robert felt threatened by the woman's sudden appearance. In fact, everything felt fine. This ranked at the top of Connelly's weird events list, but she was taking it all in stride. Even the realization that she felt no fear or anxiety failed to spur some kind of negative emotional reaction.

  "It's Ms. Tamworth…Heather Tamworth…my eight grade teacher," Willard said as his eyes followed the outline of her scantily clad curves. "But I never saw her like this."

  "Why are you here?" Connelly asked. She may be experiencing some kind of bliss, but she still knew how to get down to business.

  Heather turned to Connelly and said, "You have all experienced defining moments in your life. You have just experienced them again. I was watching…to understand."

  "Ms. Tamworth," Willard said, "Are you…were you an alien?"

  Heather laughed loudly. "Ethan…I was your first love. When you think of me, even to this day, you feel a real, physical pain in your chest. You're feeling it right now."

  Willard leaned away from Heather. "How?"

  "The Europhids," Connelly said, "They're doing this."

  Heather nodded and looked at Willard. "I am the consciousness that you rescued from the belly of the oceanic predator. I was on my way to the surface, to attempt direct contact with your crew. The predator, whose mind is too feeble to control, did as nature commanded, ate me as it later did you. But you, in your act of mercy, saved me."

  "You're a Europhid?" Willard asked.

  Heather nodded again. "That is the name you have given my species, yes."

  "Why do you look like Ms. Tamworth?" Willard asked.

  "After sensing your feelings for this woman…I wanted to repay your kindness by fulfilling the desires of your heart." Heather leaned towards Willard, took him by the back of the head and laid her lips upon his. Willard's rigid body soon went slack and he enveloped Heather in a tight embrace. When they separated, Willard slouched back on wobbly muscles. His face was gleefully relaxed.

  Heather turned to Connelly, who had watched the entire event as though it were a Broadway play. When she met Heather's other-worldly blue eyes, she remembered that this was a real experience.

  "I have questions," Connelly said. She crossed her arms as if to accentuate she meant business. It was hard to do considering how wonderful she felt.

  Heather sat in the seat opposite Willard and crossed her smoothly tanned legs. She smiled and bounced her foot back and forth. She was waiting for Connelly.

  "You're speaking English," Connelly said.

  "We're communicating directly mind to mind," Heather said. "Pure thought has no language. You hear my words as English, because it is the language of your thoughts. My species has no language. We do not speak at all." Heather shifted in her seat and leaned forward, elbows on knees. "Let me clarify. I am what you would call a blue Europhid. We have no name for ourselves, so Europhid is appropriate for your understanding. We are conscience. We are logic. We are thinkers. Like you, we seek to understand. We value life. All life."

  "We've been attacked continually since arriving on Europa," Robert interjected.

  Heather looked at Connelly with an intensity that almost broke through Connelly's misty sense of joy. "We sent a warning."

  "My dreams," Connelly said.

  Heather nodded. "Unfortunately, you did not understand the origin of the message."

  "But why attack us at all?" Robert asked.

  "The attacks on you and your crew have been and are being carried out by what you call red Europhids. While we represent the mind of Europa, intelligent as they are, the red Europhids represent instinct. They are the protectors of this sphere and their work has kept our world alive."

  "Can't you stop them?" Connelly asked.

  "Can you stop your white blood cells from acting when a germ enters your body?"

  Connelly didn't answer. She didn't need to. She understood perfectly now. Europa was like a living creature, a body unto itself. The blue Europhids were the brain. The red Europhids were the immune system, reacting to perceived threats as they had been programmed to do by millions, perhaps billions of years of evolution. They attacked, and would continue to do so until the invaders has been wiped out. She and the crew of the Surveyor were simply germs invading a body.

  Germs that needed to be exterminated.

  "Yes," Heather said, "You understand. While we recognize that you mean us no harm, the others sense that you are a threat…and to be honest, after seeing into your minds, I believe they are correct."

  CHAPTER 30 -- ESCAPE

  If fear, outrage and defiance were emotions Connelly were capable of feeling at that time, she would have been filled with all three. A blue Europhid in the form of Willard's eighth grade teacher had just accused her of being a threat to the denizens of Europa. Few things made her angry more than being falsely accused. She wanted to deny the accusation, but she couldn't bring herself to say a word.

  Instead, she thought about things from the perspective of the Europhids. Her crew had come from space, landed on the surface of Europa, taken and killed sample Europhids, even genetically altered one in a plant incubator. They had unintentionally committed atrocities against sentient beings.

  Europhid Heather was right.

  "I'm sorry," Connelly said quietly. "We had no idea…we didn't understand what you were. We thought…we thought you were—"

  "Vegetables," Heather said. "I know. And the mistake is forgivable given your ignorance. Knowing what you know now, you would never repeat those mistakes." Heather stood and walked to the starboard side of the boat, her taut frame bobbing up and down with the motion of the ocean waves. "Your world is beautiful and full of creatures as spectacular as those on our world…but your people must never learn of our existence."

  Robert huffed lightly. "We can't just hide what we've discovered from the world. This is our first contact with an alien species."

  "This is our first contact as well," Heather said. "I would say it's not going well, wouldn't you?"

  "We can learn from our mistakes," Robert said.

  Heather crossed her arms across her breasts. "Neither species is ready for prolonged contact."

  Robert took a step forward, "But—"

  And then he was gone. He simply vanished as though he had never been there. Willard quickly protested, placing his hand
on Heather's shoulder. "Eighth grade crush or not, you better tell me what you did with—" In a blink, Willard ceased to exist.

  Even with the disappearance of Willard and Robert, Connelly felt no fear or ill will to or from Heather.

  Turning to Connelly again, Heather's eyes took on a seriousness that locked her into a forced staring contest. "I have seen into your hearts and minds and know your crew has the best intentions, but your people do not always."

  After mulling over the statement, Connelly nodded slowly, ominously. "We would destroy your world for resources, in the name of science and…"

  "For pleasure," Heather finished, a hint of sadness in her voice.

  Connelly agreed. She could see the hunting excursions that would bring Europian species to the brink of extinction, the territorial wars fought between humans over parcels of ice. They had put Europa in danger by coming here.

  "But that's not the worst of it, is it?" Heather asked.

  "War?" Connelly said.

  Heather nodded. "You've seen the defense system of this world. The only way to exploit Europa would be to exterminate my species. There would be casualties on both sides, but ultimately, I fear we would be eradicated."

  Tears brimmed in Connelly's eyes. It seemed she was still able to experience despair, or the Europhid was allowing her to experience it. Either way, Heather was right. Humanity could never know about what they'd found on Europa. It would inevitably lead to the destruction and exploitation of all life on Europa. It was the same sick pattern played out on Earth time and time again. When a new resource, biological or mineral, was discovered on Earth, it was consumed until it ceased to exist. The cycle was threatening to continue on Europa, and Connelly had brought it. She cursed herself for it.

  Heather took Connelly by the hand. Her skin was unusually soft and warm. "The burden is not yours to bear alone."