The Alien Orb

by V Bertolaccini

  Was there actually a winter? The sun seemed to stay in the same place in the sky, with the weather cycles repeating themselves. He constantly thought of different ways to prepare for winter. It was strange, thinking of there not being a winter. It was almost comical – the way the others reacted to there being changing seasons, especially when it began to be cloudy, and then they seemed to return automatically to thinking of it as being a permanent summer.

  He had noticed that the moon had disappeared somewhere. They had not seen it over the entire time that they had been on the island. Had a celestial object collided with it, knocking it out of its orbit?

  He was sure that if the inhabitants of the old world were all gone, that an ice age might have destroyed them. Could the island still have one of these winters? The moon had moved – could the world have also moved? Why were there not any normal fish, animals, and vegetation? Had an immense ice age destroyed everything out of existence? What was growing on the island could be what grew afterwards?

  The world might have spiraled into an outer orbit, and it somehow moved back towards the sun. The island might be an example of the original planet. He had already seen dinosaur-like beasts.

  He suddenly noticed that Darwin looking agitated.

  He barked loudly, and went backwards and forwards, then stopped, and looked into a bush. Then he barked at something.

  The bush shook, and it went still. Dirt sprayed outwards, until a dust cloud hovered over it, and a burrow was visible.

  Dexter attempted to view the island differently, searching for information, and he realized that he did not have enough information about it. If it was an island: they still had not checked behind some hills!

  The world beyond the island was a place of great mystery to them. It was as though they believed that the descendants of mankind lived there. They would eventually have to check the other side of the island.

  Dexter realized that there were no longer any sounds from Burrell. He had gone somewhere inland. He followed his footprints, with his eyes, going along the sand, between some trees and plants, and they disappeared into the dense vegetation, which still eerily shifted, in a way that they were unable to explain.

  The immensely colorful landscape surreally illuminated Selina, splashing through waves, skimming over the sand, while she moved out of the water. She finally rested at his side, with water pouring in streams over her tanned skin.

  Dexter could not imagine where the island was, but it looked like somewhere near Hawaii now. Were the remains of civilization beneath the sea – out there ...?

  “Where is he?” Basinger grumbled.

  “Shall we follow him?” Selina asked enthusiastically.

  “Okay!” Basinger answered.

  Basinger buried the food that they had collected under the sand. Then he handed Dexter his spear.

  The beach vanished behind them, but the sounds of rushing waves remained, and they continued to follow Burrell’s footprints. They did not seem to know where he was going. The angles and separations of his prints showed that he had been in a hurry, and that he might have been desperate. Had he seen something on the island – when they had left the cave that morning, up at the cliff – as he had climbed up a tree?

  The tropical-type vegetation about them started spreading out. It was a different place from the other part of the jungle.

  “What is he up to ...?” Basinger explained loudly, placing his hands on his hips, shaking his head from side to side.

  “He’s probably having a little fun, or something ...” Selina replied, smiling.

  “So he’s having fun!” Basinger mumbled. “He’s running about mad now! Look! What did I tell you ...!”

  His eyes popped out their sockets, gapping at the footprints, which went in wild strides over the ground. Then they went from one side of a stream to the other side, demonstrating that he had done a long jump over it.

  Basinger casually walked over the stream, shaking his head, while balancing himself upright.

  “Where has he gone?” his voice exploded, as he panted, trying to inhale properly. “Just think – we might have had a good day on the beach, instead of going after him!”

  “Is that him there?” Selina asked.

  They looked up at the top of a hill, in front of them, where a dark figure stood, facing something.

  “He seems to have found something ...!” Dexter spoke silently, keeping himself uninvolved.

  There would be a good explanation for Burrell doing what he was doing. One of his jokes might have annoyed Basinger. He had been awake for most of the night.

  The hill ascended more than they had noticed, and they strained themselves climbing it.

  A full view of the island below started to appear, and it curved out, for five miles across.

  He saw that it was the highest hill in a region that was flat.

  When they reached the top, they were all tired and hungry.

  “What is that ...?” Basinger mumbled, pointing to a structure, marching across to it.

  “Is that structure made of the same material as the tower?” Selina asked exhausted, reaching the top.

  “Yes, it is!” Dexter replied, from behind her.

  He saw a small forest of vegetation surrounding the square structure. Then he saw that the forest had a pool of water in it, and that the land looked moist. His excitement grew, when he saw some of the edible plants that they had discovered. Then he saw food on the trees. It was a good place for them to stay!

  It had a full view of their part of the island. The ground was fertile, and he thought about planting the seeds that he had collected. There only were small amounts of them, but they could easily get more. Their real problem would be to find enough meat.

  Dexter watched Basinger and Burrell squabbling. Then they stood at its edge, silently discussing something, and they went around the structure.

  He tiredly strolled over to Selina, and they eventually followed them around the structure.

  Its foundations had slightly sunk into the ground at one side, and it was resting at an angle. Fawn mud surrounded its base, and he searched it for prints. Selina followed him and Darwin.

  He could not imagine them scaling it, as it was too high, and it loomed above like a giant black box, with a smooth surface.

  As he went around the corner, he saw that Basinger and Burrell were in a knee-high hole, arguing about how they should continue digging. They agreed about something, and then they showed him and Selina their discovery.

  At the side of the structure, where Burrell had dug the hole, he saw faint lines, which was obviously a closed entrance. And he knew, by their attitude, that it was the only way that they could enter it.

  He rummaged through some sticks, scattered about the outer vegetation, for a strong one. He settled for a stick similar to the one that Burrell was using, and he knelt at the side of them, and pulled muck from it, pushing it onto a heap, at his other side. He scraped and dug at the soil, but he barely made any distinguishable progress.

  The trees hanging overhead allowed the sun through.

  Then dimness went across the edge of his sight again, as a gust of wind rushed past, blowing the trees across the sun, and Basinger suddenly fell backwards, and the entrance opened.

  Dexter instantly dropped his stick into the hole.

  Then he saw Selina, pushing a stick into the structure, where she had found an opening mechanism. They had not seen her, and Basinger had fallen into it, to where the light met the dimness inside. He had been resting on it, while it had opened.

  Its interior was remarkably clean, but incredibly dark and gloomy. There were no signs of water or dirt anywhere. The structure had to be airtight.

  “Are you all right?” Selina asked, helping Basinger.

  “Yes, I am fine!”

  “Good timing!” Dexter congratulated Selina.

  The sun’s beams radiated over them, and as Dexter moved into it, his eyesight adjusted to its dimness – and a large interio
r became visible.

  “What’s that there?” Burrell exclaimed, from behind him.

  It obviously was another entrance, which they soon found they could not open, and which did not seem to have anything to open it.

  Basinger finally led them out of it, and they went around the structure.

  “Do you want to go back to the cave to get a rope?” Burrell explained. “I made one long enough to throw over the top – to the other side – and we can fasten it to a tree.”

  “Why do we want to climb up onto the roof?” Basinger asked. “This is pointless ...!”

  “We could live here – instead of in that cave! There may be artifacts in it, which we could use ...!”

  “Why would there be a door on the roof? What would artifacts be doing in there, on top of an island?”

  “We do not need to go back to the cave ...!” Selina called out, towards Dexter, from an area at the trees.

  “Why do we not need to go back ...?” Basinger moaned.

  “There’s an old tree that we could climb up!”

  After they had surveyed the fallen over tree, they gripped its wide trunk, and they pulled it over to the structure, where they lifted the end of it onto the top of the structure.

  Basinger gripped the tree, and climbed up, using his arms and legs. Then Dexter began climbing it.

  At the top, he instantly saw two small pillars, and that one of them looked like an entrance. Basinger went over to the entrance, while he watched Dexter examining the rest of it.

  Dexter heard Selina and Burrell coming up the structure.

  “Have you tried pushing it?” Burrell enquired patiently.

  “Yes, at every angle ...!” Basinger replied.

  Basinger tried again, and he felt its edge with his fingers. Burrell found a stick, and he tried to insert it in parts of it, then he gave up.

  “Is that a keyhole?” Selina spoke, as she approached them, pointing at a mark, about half a meter away from them.

  Dexter took the stick from Burrell, and he carefully inserted it into the hole; then he twirled it about.

  A shuffling sound came from it, and a dark interior appeared, where the line of the entrance was; and Dexter saw a dark tunnel, going down into it.

  “Well, how do we get down – never mind back up again?” Basinger asked.

  “There’s something!” Burrell replied, holding his face close.

  A shine came off a pole, with handles going down its side.

  Basinger leant forward, and he grabbed it. Then he poked his leg into the entrance, putting it down upon a lower handle, and he climbed into it.

  Dexter waited until he had vanished below somewhere, and he climbed into it, and rushed down after him.

  At the bottom, he thought he saw Basinger standing, holding something, in a large black-walled room, but when he went near him, he saw him examining a machine, which resembled a black jukebox.

  Various machines became visible about him, at different positions about the floor, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  They had the same black material as the structure, which he believed was one of the few materials to survive.

  “If this is a computer – it may speak some English ...!”

  What did Basinger actually want to know? He had intensely investigated everything he had come across. He was sure that Basinger was going to activate everything on it.

  A high-pitched whistle screeched out startling him.

  The machine burst into life, making hair-raising sounds, which had similarities to cat purrs, and creature tones; while a vivid green light flashed about bright illuminations, with shadows of Basinger’s figure in it.

  “This thing may be dangerous! It may be better to just leave it – until we can at least test it – it could be anything!”

  “Of course, you are right! It could be very dangerous! And I do not have the slightest idea what it is!”

  Once the machine had ceased reacting, with its lights and sounds, one light remained illuminated on it. And they ignored it, and climbed back up the pole. But while they were struggling to get out of the entrance, a giant black shadow became visible, and they observed a twenty-meter disc soaring above the structure.

  Chapter 7

  The Unknown Species of Human

  In the crest of the morning sky, a bright whiteness soared against the upper atmosphere. For a brief moment its spectacular features deceived Dexter, making him believe that it was an aircraft, shining in the bright sun, but its distinct flame gave away its identity, and that it was another immense meteorite.

  Dexter felt a sensation of balancing over the world, as he towered over the darkened view of the island. The warm sea breeze gently blew at his face. A rustle of dried animal skins came from him. He once again saw how visible the structure now was, with its dish activated.

  He thought about building a plough, to plant the seeds that he would collect. His foot touched a small meteorite, embedded in the soil, at the edge of the hill, and he again wondered why the meteorites were so common, and the stars so densely packed. The others, who were resting in the structure, occasionally looked for them in the sky, as though they were a danger. But, as far as he knew, none of them had landed within a mile of them, so far.

  So far he had only discovered one animal that might pull a plough, but he had only caught sight of the one. The beast resembled a miniature ox, but the animal had looked as though it might tire easy.

  He believed that the structure was a good place to stay, especially with the lower entrance now open. However, it was not hidden, now that its dish was out; and they would regret it, if there were in fact dangerous occupants on the world. Yet their fears that there were humans left were gradually decreasing. They had not found one trace of humans. He was sure that the structure was a form of communications station. Dexter believed that it ought to be able to receive something – if there was anything in that part of the world.

  If they had used helicopters to land on its roof, there might have been other bases near it.

  Whatever it had been communicating with, surely had to have been in the direction of the other side of the island, where it was facing. However, they did not want to give away their presence, by using it. They did not know what they were dealing with yet.

  He listened to faint tones from Basinger and Burrell, mingled with distant surges of waves, but their voices were too vague to hear properly. However, he could imagine what they were saying. They would be discussing the food that they had collected from the remaining vegetation.

  He felt like searching the entire landscape for all the edible plants that there were. Their survival might some day rely on it.

  While he went to leave, his foot dragged over the ground, pushing something open under the muck, revealing a deep hole. He pushed it further forward, shoving his weight against it, and it moved under the surface of the ground.

  It had to be the cover of something; but he could only see a deep gap under it. However, as he removed the mud from about it, a perfect square shape became visible. He felt that it had a perfectly flat surface, without any blemishes; and as he wiped the mud from it, he saw that it had a shiny surface.

  He knelt on the dirt, and he hypnotically peered at his reflection. There was no corrosion to it – it had to be part of the structure.

  His unusual behavior soon drew the attention of the others. Basinger and Burrell casually strolled out of the structure, while they tried to see what he was doing; and Selina followed them. At their approach, Basinger saw the shiny side of it, and he briskly increased their pace.

  They stopped at the same distance about him.

  “What could it be?” Selina spoke, breaking the silence.

  “What would whatever it is be doing there?” Burrell asked, looking around himself, and he watched Basinger push his head down into its narrow space.

  “It’s deep ...!” Basinger explained, rubbing his fingers along its outer edge, covering his hand in muck. “Wait ...! I can h
ear some sounds, from something far below!”

  There were no signs of anything at the bottom of it, and no apparent ladder, or way to get down into it. Dexter knelt next to him, and he pulled out a rock embedded in the ground, and he balanced it between his hands, then he carefully dropped it down its center. He listened, with his ear close to it, and he heard a faint thud.

  “Let’s get some of the vines over there ...?” Burrell spoke anxiously. “There has to be something at the bottom of it!”

  “It might only have been a type of drain ...!” Selina argued, from behind him.

  “Why would they have made it out of metal, or whatever it is?”

  “It might have been used to pump up water!” Basinger quickly answered.

  “That would mean that there was something else here!” Burrell disclosed. “Well, why have we not found any bricks, metal, or anything ...?”

  “They might have moved it away!”

  “You have a point there!” Dexter replied. “Will we get all the vine ...?”

  “What will we attach it to?” Selina asked, looking about her. “There is nothing here!”

  “Yes, there is ...!” Basinger exclaimed.

  “Where ...?”

  Basinger bent over, and he pointed at what looked like a lump of metal, on the edge of it. He cleaned mud away from it, to show them a loop of the material, which obviously had something like a cable attached to it.

  As they went towards the vegetation, Darwin ran out of some nearby bushes, and he reluctantly followed them. Dexter considered the discovery from various angles, trying to give himself some kind of idea of what it was they were dealing with. He accepted that it might have been a source of water.

  If the island had many other structures, he was sure that it could have been a water pipe leading to a water supply. However, why did it need such a large pipe?

  Once they had piled up the rope-like vine at its edge, they fixed it together, into one large rope, which Basinger attached securely to the loop.

  Dexter fitted a harness, made from a piece of the vine, around his shoulders, and he attached it onto the rope. They then fed the vine down into it. The entire length of the pile fitted into it, but they were not sure if it reached the bottom.