Vortex of Evil

by S D Taylor

  Doug nodded. “You are building a cover story that they can monitor biologically as to why you were here.”

  “Yes. I would have suggested actual sex for a more convincing story, but from what you have told me, I knew you would object to that. Despite your casual attitude, I can tell you are deeply in love with that woman back on the island. I can respect that.”

  “So what is it I need to know that brought about the elaborate ruse?”

  “You will be joined by several other people shortly. You will join up with one of them and go to a place called Lopfa. It is a resort about two hundred miles from here on the end of the peninsula we passed on the way here. You will be approached by someone. You will know them and they will have more details. That is all.”

  “Can I ask questions? I mean think questions?”

  “No, we have already risked too much. Remember what I have told you.”

  With that, Dara put her arms gently around his neck and began to kiss him lightly on the cheeks and lips. He responded by putting his arms around her slender body and pulling her closer to him and kissing her full on the lips. Her thoughts betrayed the sense of humor again. “Hey, tiger. Don’t oversell this. I may forget about the get up and leave part.”

  Doug suddenly realized he had gotten too wrapped up with the pretending part. It had been a little too easy with this beautiful woman lying next to him and expressing so much feigned interest in him. He was a man and he wasn’t dead yet but he was acutely embarrassed by his reactions. He was appalled at his willingness to forget all the evil things she had done in this unexpected moment of faux passion.

  “I am glad you think I am attractive, even if you continually remind yourself that I am evil to the core. Since my husband died, I have felt like my life was reduced to being a temporary caretaker for the boys while I waited to die. It was nice to pretend to be romantic again, even if it was just a sham. Thank you for understanding, Doug.” Doug thought how this sharing of their thoughts was far more intimate than the hugging and kissing.

  “You have shown me a lot of trust, Dara. I hope this all works out for all our sakes.”

  Dara kissed him one more time. He thought it was one kiss beyond what was absolutely needed for pretending. Her final thoughts mirrored his. “I hope so too. Good luck.”

  She pushed him away firmly, so much so that he nearly fell off the edge of the bed. “But I just can’t do this, Dara!” he said loudly. “I love somebody else.”

  “Fine. Then you are not worth a second thought. Sleep well.” She got up and walked around the bed. As she went by Doug, she touched him lightly on the cheek, holding it for just a second until he looked up into her eyes. Then she winced slightly and sent the stunpulse through him, causing him to blackout and fall on the bed.

  Dara stared at him laying there, verified that he was still breathing and quickly left the room. He awoke thirty minutes later with a bad headache and a lot of questions. Since that time seven days earlier, he hadn’t seen Dara alone and neither of them gave any indication about their clandestine rendezvous.

  Doug wanted desperately to tell Erin the whole story but he couldn’t. He would have to save it for a time when they were away from Transarctica and they were free to talk. Even then, he wasn’t sure either Erin would want to hear about his romantic interlude with Dara.

  “What is it, Doug? You look troubled.” Erin wondered what planet he had suddenly gone to visit since he didn’t seem to notice her sitting next to him.

  “Just thinking about our trip. We need to get going. I would like to spend some time in Selenton the next two days. Why don’t we go into town and see what we can find for breakfast?”

  “Sounds good. What about Peter and Gaby?”

  “They aren’t here anymore. They were gone when I got up. The doors to their rooms were open and the stuff was gone. I have no idea where they went.”

  Erin took a deep breath at this news and sighed. “I guess I am not surprised. They seemed to be planning to stay here since they didn’t have much life to return to on the island. But I am disappointed they didn’t say goodbye. Maybe they were worried about having their plans changed by discussing them with us.

  Doug seemed slightly irritated. “At a minimum I think they should have told us they were leaving? I thought you guys were in sync with each other.”

  “I think they just figured you and I will be together to get through this and they were free to go. Unless there is something else going on that we don’t know about. You don’t think Dara did something to them do you?”

  Doug shot her a glance and realized he hadn’t considered that Peter and Gaby could have been approached by Jelk or Dara as well. Or something bad might have happened to them. Was the mission for him and Erin to go to Lopfa real? Or was it just another part in an elaborate evil game where they were all being used as pawns. He was definitely ready to find out. “Let’s check their rooms one more time to be sure and then head into town. Maybe we will run into them.”

  Chapter 31

  Tom was reeling in a salmon when he heard the two shots. He didn’t know if they were meant to be a warning signal or not, but he knew trouble when he heard it. He called out to Megan, “Get Alannah and these salmon and hide somewhere around here. Maybe in one of those caves further up the beach. I will come get you when I figure out what’s happening.”

  Megan ran up to him and started to protest. “I don’t want to be separated from you.”

  “I understand, but in this case, we need to be sure Alannah is safe. That takes precedence. We can’t go running into a firefight with her, and I am better equipped to fight than you are.”

  “I can fight too, Tom.” Alannah didn’t understand their concern. This was her island and she was tough enough to stand up for it.

  “I know you are, Ally, but I couldn’t face your mom if I did anything to put you in harm’s way. You and Megan can be our reserve force if we get into trouble. If I am not back in twenty-four hours, come rescue me. Ok?” Tom her the AK-47 that was leaning against a rock. Megan took the rocket propelled grenade launcher and backpack with extra grenades. “You should be able to fight a small war with this stuff if needed. But be careful and keep your heads down.”

  Ally nodded, but she believed she had the heart of a lion and hiding from a fight was for little kids. She was ready to do her part. “Be careful Tom. Call if you need our help.”

  Megan couldn’t argue with Tom’s logic and she knew that she wouldn’t want a daughter of hers fighting if there was any way to avoid it. “We’ll watch for you. Take care, my love.” She kissed him on the cheek and he hurried away, carrying his machine pistol at the ready. Megan turned to Alannah. “Let’s get the fish and the fishing gear and head to that cave you told me about that is just up the coast from here. There may be dangerous people around and you never know when they will drop by.”

  The young woman and her “aunt” grabbed the two salmon, their weapons and the makeshift fishing gear that was a key to their survival on the island. “It isn’t far from here, so at least we won’t have to carry these darn fish too far.” They had a piece of wood pushed through the jaws of the fish so they could carry them easily.

  “You know, some exercise is good for you, Aunt Megan. It helps you older gals stay in shape.” Alannah laughed at the indignant look she received from Megan. “Staying in good shape helps you catch a man, not just fish.”

  “You are lucky I can’t throw this salmon very far, but don’t push your luck. I am armed.”

  “Point taken. I’ll try to be nicer.” The two women smiled as they made their way cautiously along the trail that would take them to the one of the caves in the nearby cliffs. It was just to the north of their usual fishing spot. The wind had died down to a light, steady onshore breeze, but they still needed to be mindful of the occasional large wave that could hit the narrow stretch of rocky beach they needed to cross.

  Rin had taken the girls to the cave a few years earlier when they were studying geol
ogy. She wanted them to see one of the seaside caves and this one was the closest to their camp. Megan had never been there, but the girls had told her about it one night when they were telling stories. She was very interested in every detail of this island since she had made up her mind that she would likely be spending the rest of her life there. With Tom. Hopefully on the other shore in the cabin they would build in the “clothes drying meadow” as they called it.

  “Is it really strange to have an identical copy of yourself running around? You and my mom, I mean.”

  “I don’t know if I have gotten used to it completely, but it isn’t so bad. She is like a sister to me. Erin is. I am still not sure what your mom is to me. An older sister, maybe?” Megan thought what a great story she would have to tell her daughter if she was ever lucky enough to have one. But in this case, it was Rin’s daughter that was the one with the stories to tell. Megan wanted to hear them all. “How much farther is it to the cave?”

  “Not far. We need to get around that rock outcropping and then the cave should be above the next little stretch of beach.”

  A finger of rocky land came out from the high ground to their right and extended into the ocean. It was no great obstacle, but with the constant mist from the crashing waves, it was going to take some cautious work on their part to get over it safely while carrying the fish, fishing gear and their weapons. “There is a crack in the rocks about half way between the water and the cliffs. We might be able to climb through there. When my mom brought me here, it was low tide and we went closer to the water than we could go now.”

  “I guess we could try it. If it is too hard to climb through there, we can wait for low tide.” Megan crossed the rocky beach and started to balance on the first rock, looking for a path to go forward. It was at that moment that Alannah grabbed her by her belt and pulled her backwards. They both fell roughly to the pebble-covered beach in a pile.

  “What the hell? Why did you . . .” Megan felt Ally’s hand clamp over her mouth as she heard a desperate “Shhhh!” from Ally.

  The girl leaned close to her aunt’s ear and whispered, “There is a boat of some kind just off-shore. I don’t think they saw us yet.”

  Megan rolled over and saw what appeared to be a navy sailing ship from the 1700s coming into view from the north. It was heading south and hugging the coastline. It was the size that would probably be called a frigate, she thought, trying to remember what movie she had seen where they explained the various navy ships of that era. It only had one row of gun ports so it wasn’t a Man of War, the battleship of that era. It was flying the flag of France.

  “Have you ever seen that ship before, Ally?”

  “No. But passing ships are not all that rare. A couple of them stopped at the island a few years ago, but there was some disturbance that scared them away.”

  Megan smiled. I am sure there was, she thought. Doug might have had something to do with that disturbance. She hoped these Frenchmen didn’t run into the Vikings since their cannon would give them a distinct advantage over the Viking swords and axes.

  Megan and Alannah held still and hoped the ship would not see them. It was several hundred yards offshore and proceeding at a slow pace in the light breeze. Then suddenly, there was a commotion on deck. With the binoculars she could see several of the men pointing towards the two women lying on the sand with the two fish. The order to lower the sails went out and they dropped anchor. Clearly, they were going to take a long boat and investigate what was happening on the beach.

  “Let’s stand up and see what they do.” Megan stood up and set the fish next to the rocks.

  “Is that wise? What if they are hostile? They probably think we are natives?” Ally looked at the ship nervously.

  “Or they may think we are just women. That would be worse. Especially if they have been at sea a long time. But they don’t realize we have assault rifles with us. I can probably hit anything on the deck of that ship from here. I am guessing that will cool their interest in us.”

  The officers on the ship wore tri-corner hats and blue coats with red vests and pants. She held up her hand and waved at the officer who was training his spyglass on her. He turned to the man standing next to him who then took the spyglass and looked for himself. Megan waved again. This was followed by activity to launch one of the boats.

  Megan decided it was too risky to let these guys think they could come ashore. She waved both hands over her head and then with her right hand tried to signal them to move on. Repeatedly. But it was clear they were ignoring her suggestions, even though they were still watching.

  She held up the rifle for them to see and then sat down on the beach to adjust the sights like Tom had shown her. She didn’t want to start a war, but she needed to impress them that they were outgunned by the woman and girl on the beach. Several men were lowering a longboat with two pulleys. It was about halfway to the water when Megan decided to put a hole in it. She aimed for the center of the wooden craft then fired, striking it about ten inches below the railing where the oar holders attached. The high velocity rifle bullet far outpaced the sound of the rifle and the sudden shower of woodchips and splinters caused quite an effect on the men lowering the long boat. The right hand crew abandoned their positions altogether and their rope made a quick trip through the pulley, dropping the one end of the wooden boat straight into the water so it now hung from the other pulley vertically.

  “Ally, go climb up into that crack in the rocks. I think they may lob a cannon shell our way next.” Megan headed the other direction and waved again for them to move on.

  It was not more than a minute when they opened one of the gun ports and rolled out one of the twelve pound cannon. They fired the first shot for effect without really sighting it very effectively. The ball fell about fifty yards short of the shore and made an impressive splash. Megan decided to approach the decision-makers in the drama and fired a shot at the ship’s wheel on the quarterdeck where the officers were standing. She hit the housing of the wheel and again sent a shower of wood on all those around, causing the officers to dive in all directions. But these were intrepid sailors, unlikely to go down to defeat easily. A second shot from the cannon sailed long and thumped into the cliffs above where Megan had stood for her second shot.

  She again moved, this time to the right. She aimed right at the cannon that fired and managed to put a shot through the gun port. Although she was trying to avoid casualties, her third shot struck one of the sailors, causing a commotion on deck. At that point, several other gun ports were opened and the frigate prepared to fire a broadside. Suddenly, Megan heard a loud whooshing sound behind her and watched as the rocket-propelled grenade arched towards the ship. It struck amidships, just above the level of the gun ports and exploded in a large fireball. There was a gaping hole in the side of the ship and a number of the guns and their crews were permanently out of action.

  Megan turned around and looked back at Alannah in shock. Her ‘niece’ was preparing another grenade, but it turned out that one was enough for the French captain. He decided that this engagement wasn’t going his way since the range, accuracy and firepower of his cannon wasn’t sufficient to engage these well-armed natives. He had six guns knocked out of commission, many dead and wounded, and a fire onboard. Time to move out of range and rethink his strategy. He ordered the crew to set sails and the frigate was soon underway.

  Megan and Alannah stood there and watched in disbelief as their first naval engagement ended in victory. Megan could tell that there had been some carnage from the exploding grenade, but it seemed that military force was all these people understood. She had tried to demonstrate her superior technology in less harmful ways, but they persisted in preparing to come after her and Alannah.

  Alannah put her arm around Megan. “Dad always believed it was best that if these ships give this island a wide birth. He would have done the same thing if he had been here. They needed to be impressed by the danger of coming here.”

  Megan was s
orry for the loss of life, but she realized that Alannah was probably right. “Thanks for saving us. I wouldn’t have been so bold.”

  “Do you think they will leave us alone now?” Ally stared after the still smoldering ship as it slowly moved to the south and out of view.

  “No. I imagine they will be back again. And with reinforcements. More of the people who try to solve things with guns, axes and explosions.”

  “Sounds like what we just did, Aunt Megan.” Ally smiled at Megan’s surprised look and then resumed climbing over the rock outcropping. “Sometimes guns, axes and explosions are what’s needed.”

  Chapter 32

  Tom was halfway back to the camp to check on the gunfire there when he heard a shot from behind him, back on the beach. It was Megan firing at the ship off-shore. He quickly turned back, trying in his mind to work out the priorities between the people at the camp, and Megan and Alannah back on the beach. He decided that Rin and Doug could probably handle things at the camp, so he headed back to the beach. There was another rifle shot, followed a minute later by what sounded like a couple of old style cannon shots. Shit, he thought to himself. Are we being attacked on multiple fronts at once?

  He reached the cliffs above the beach in time to stare in amazement as Alannah’s RPG caused a large explosion on the port side of the navy frigate. Tom felt completely stunned as he watched the two women standing there holding their weapons and watching their vanquished opponent sail away. They are fine, he thought to himself. Back to the camp to help there. But then he saw it. There was a flash of orange light and the future people’s boat suddenly appeared about two miles off shore. He wanted to go to Megan and Alannah, but from his vantage point he had to see what the new arrivals were up to. The two remaining antiaircraft missiles were back at the camp, so if the hover vehicle came after them, he would have no defense. And they would surely see him if tried to cross the open beach.

  The damaged frigate continued south as the crew worked to put out the fire caused by the explosion. When they suddenly saw the strange new boat appear, the frigate came about and set a course that would bring their starboard guns into alignment with this new threat. The frigate fired a warning shot at the futuristic boat, ordering it to stop. That was probably a mistake, Tom thought to himself. He watched with considerable interest as the hover vehicle lifted off and quickly approached the ancient sailing warship. Since the people on the sailing ship were in their own time and space, he wondered if they would be attacked by the future people. He didn’t have to wonder for long. A bright orange pulse emitted from the hover vehicle and hit the wooden ship, shattering it into a swirling mass of wood chips, metal and human flesh. Within seconds, there was just a lot of debris floating in white, churning foam where the ship had been a moment earlier.