Doug went into the cabin refrigerator and storage bin and started getting things organized for the weenie roast. “Hey that’s my job, mister,” and Terri put her wine down and began helping to organize, also. Terri efficiently got all of the food out of the fridge and handed it to Laura, waiting in the water by the boat.
Tom went to look for wood and kindling to get the fire going, and found plenty of brush at the far edge of the beach. He gathered it up, dug a pit in the sand, and put a match to the pile. By the time the group gathered round, the fire was just beginning to burn and sending sparks into the air.
“I hope we don’t catch something on fire, Tom, it looks pretty dry around here,” Doug worried.
“Not to worry, mon,” Tom replied mimicking the island boys he had heard that morning. “We’re far enough away from the brush line. But I’ll get a bucket from the boat, just in case.”
While Tom was on the boat, Amie came up on board beside him and asked him if he would turn down the volume on the music, admitting that it annoyed her. Tom did so, smiling and whispering to Amie, “Terri has had a big glass of wine by now. I bet she won’t even notice.”
They enjoyed the hotdogs, more so because they were half-burned by the fire, than that they were that appetizing. It was an adventure, and neither couple had eaten around a campfire in a long time. They drank the contents of the three bottles of wine that they had brought from Florida, which made Doug and Tom merry enough to begin to tell ghost stories, competing with each other for the scariest tales.
Amie ate little and drank less. She had a small plastic cup of wine, and made that last the entire evening. She took a few bites of her peanut butter and bun, stating in mind-speak to Laura, that her people did not have the voracious appetites displayed by the human population. But, in truth, her thoughts were not on food and drink.
Neither Amie nor Laura spoke much during the cookout. During a lull in the spooky stories, Terri confronted Amie about her plans for the evening. “So will you be doing all that chanting and stuff again, Amie?”
“I will be calling to the stars,” Amie spoke audibly to Terri.
“Wow, finally got an answer out of you,” Terri chided, taking another gulp of wine.
Doug followed up, slurring his words a little, “So those space people of yours, they will definitely be coming for you tonight?”
“I am positive they will,” Amie spoke to him.
“Okay,” and Doug winked at Terri. “Well, not so much of that carryin’ on up there on the bow tonight, okay Amie? The wife and I might be carryin’ on ourselves down below, if you know what I mean. I’m going to leave the hatch open tonight, so don’t sit up there, okay? You might fall in, on top of us.” He laughed at his own joke, and he pinched Terri playfully. She laughed also.
It was nightfall now, the waves were gently lapping on the shore and the last embers of the fire were glowing. The crew had enjoyed themselves, even though “roughing it” was not what they had expected to do that evening. The bugs were really starting to come out on the beach, the wine bottles were empty, and everyone was ready to attempt another night of sleeping on the boat.
“Listen everyone,” Laura spoke up to the group, as they began packing up the remnants of their meal. “This is serious business for Amie. It is nothing to joke about. She has waited for many years for this opportunity to come. Tom’s father has risked his career to help bring this about for her. And we have come this long way by boat, all so that we can help Amie in her quest.”
“Okay, okay. Stand up for Amie. Worry about Amie. You and her are pretty tight. I sometimes wonder if she has you under her spell or something.” Terri was getting irritated about being lectured.
“I promise you all that tonight is the night,” Amie spoke audibly and slowly, fearing another quarrel might be building among the couples. “I bid you all farewell now, and thank you for your help.”
“Well, we have tried to help you to the best of our ability,” Doug conceded. “But it’s time for bed now, so I bid you good night and good luck. Hope you make it back to your home planet.”
Snickering, Doug tugged on Terri’s arm, signaling for her to join him in packing up the things from the beach.
“Yeah, good luck. It’s been nice knowing you. Glad we could help,” Terri called over her shoulder, as she and her husband waded back to their boat with a bag of trash and the condiment jars.
“They don’t believe me, do they?” Amie spoke to Laura and Tom.
“No, but we believe you. Don’t we, Tom?”
“Oh yeah, I do,” Tom replied.
But Amie read Tom’s mind. She got the clear impression that Tom did not believe her. He, like the Peytons, was highly skeptical, suspecting that this was one big run-around. He was beginning to think he might be on some sort of “mission impossible”, that his father, possibly under the influence of an alien friend, had sent him to complete.
The couples finally fell asleep, to the gentle lapping of the waves against the bow. It was a clear night and the sky was very dark and full of beautiful, pulsating stars.
About two hours after midnight, Tom woke up to the sound of Amie humming loudly nearby. Amie was sitting on the aft seat, looking up at the stars, and holding the medallion she wore to the crown of her head. Tom became aware of a slight vibration, which seemed to be passing through the hull of the ship. It was faint at first, but seemed to be increasing, along with the volume of Amie’s humming.
When the vibration increased, moving the boat around in the water to the point that it felt like a gentle back massage on their air mattress, Laura awoke also. She reached for Tom’s hand. “What’s going on?”
The waves lapping at the boat sounded like they had changed from a gentle rocking to a slight roiling motion. Although Tom could not see anything unusual, he began to feel nervous. He was lying down on the air mattress and it was very dark all around them, except for the blue courtesy lights on the boat, and he began to sense that something was about to happen.
Suddenly a powerful, bright, blue light shot out of Amie’s medallion and beamed upward into the sky, much like a laser light show at a concert. Tom’s eyes followed it. The strong beam seemed to go endlessly into the night sky, a brilliant blue shaft of light.
“Oh, my God!” Laura exclaimed.
“What the hell was that?” Tom asked out loud.
No one spoke. He then shouted, “Amie, what’s going on?”
Amie did not reply. She seemed to be in a trance state. The couple watched for about five minutes longer, with the boat now moving back and forth noticeably in the churning water.
“What is she doing?” Laura whispered to Tom.
“I don’t know, I guess she’s sending a signal of some kind.”
The boat vibration stopped abruptly, and Amie placed the medallion around her neck. Her trance state seemed to be broken. Her mouth turned upward in a smile, as she directed her gaze at the young couple lying on the deck, near where she was seated cross-legged.
“I made contact,” she stated to them.
Doug and Terri had left the cabin door open for air circulation. Now Doug came out groggily, awakened by Amie’s vibrations and the roiling water.
Doug could see Tom had pulled himself up to a seated position, and Amie was on the aft seat. “What’s going on, Tom? What was that strange noise I heard? Sounded like a motor humming, and it felt like a giant vibrator was massaging my boat.”
“Something like that, actually. Amie just signaled her people, we think. Not really sure.”
Suddenly a narrow cone of brilliant, white light seemed to emanate from the sky above and strike the water, about a yard from the back of the boat. It was so bright, that the three humans had to momentarily shield their eyes.
Then the white light vanished, as quickly as it had arrived. None of the humans could see a thing for a minute or two, until their eyes adjusted to the darkness once again.
“What the hell was that?” Doug shouted at Amie.
Terri was now standing behind Doug in the cabin doorway. She had missed the pulse of light and was wondering what everyone was concerned about. “What’s going on?” she queried in a startled voice.
“It’s my people, they know exactly where I am,” Amie spoke in a calm, flat voice to answer all the questions.
Amie then voice-spoke to Laura explaining how the craft had sent the white beam of light as a signal that she had been detected. Help would soon be arriving. “Tell them”, she ordered Laura.
After Laura had finished her translation, Amie spoke verbally again. “Don’t worry, everything will be alright,” she assured the group.
Amie then made a strange gesture. She walked over to Laura, removed the medallion from her neck, and held it out to the young woman. Laura was reluctant to take it. She was afraid, having seen the power it seemed to hold. But Amie persisted, holding it in her outstretched arms toward Laura. “Give this to Nick for me. It will be, for him, a token of my affection.”
“Don’t you need it, Amie?” Laura asked verbally. “You seemed to use it just now to send up a light beam. It seems like a powerful piece of jewelry. Maybe you need to hang on to it.”
“No, I do not need it anymore,” Amie spoke forcefully. “I want Nick to have it. I want him to remember ‘Sky Woman’. Give it to him.”
Amie leaned toward her, waving the necklace a few inches from Laura’s face, and Laura knew she had to take it. She reached for the medallion tentatively, as though holding it might burn her hands.
“Thank you, I will present it to him,” Laura audibly promised.
Chapter 28
Tom and Laura hugged Amie good-bye and Tom would later say that the little alien felt “all fired up and ready to go”. Laura described her body as red hot to the touch, so intensely had she been meditating.
There would be no more sleeping that night as both couples positioned themselves to see what would happen next. Doug and Terri moved from the cabin onto the boat’s deck seats, while Tom and Laura sat on the gunwales. Everyone was waiting anxiously for Amie’s next move.
For several minutes nothing happened. Then Amie stripped off her wig and human clothes and, dressed only in her protective underwear and vest, lowered the boat’s ladder and climbed off. She waded about in the dark water, as if waiting for some signal.
“What’s happening, Amie?” Laura called out anxiously.
“Be still! They are coming for me,” Amie voiced back. It was the last words the group would ever hear her speak.
They didn’t see it at first because the scattered clouds, which had now gathered in the night sky, obscured a view of the object’s descent. Now, a glowing, shimmering band of alternating blue and white energy lit the clouds overhead in pulsating colors of purple and silvery-blue. The intense light surrounded the ship, defining its distinct, oval outline. The craft was now looming almost directly overhead and motionless, seeming to observe them as they sat on the boat. The glow of the energy band was so intense that the crew was almost blinded by it, and the noise the spacecraft suddenly made was frighteningly loud, as it moved away from the boat and attempted to land.
As the craft descended, its intense energy wave pushed the water directly below it away like Moses parting the Red Sea. Along with the displaced water, sand, shells, and sea grass were driven in all directions, striking everyone on the boat and forcing them to drop to the deck for protection.
Suddenly, like a mini-tsunami, a 10-foot wave, responding to the pressure of the energy, hit the stern of the boat, lifting it and throwing it sideways. The huge wave almost propelled the boat onto the beach.
The crewmembers were tossed about like fallen leaves in a windstorm. Tom and Laura were pushed along the floor of the deck, Tom cracking a rib on the gunwale as he tumbled and then bounced back and forth across the floor. Doug, who had not sunk to the deck fast enough, was flung backwards and out of the boat. Terri, who by sheer will, held onto the stanchions that supported the hardtop, began screaming as her feet were lifted high into the air.
The kayak, which had been poorly lashed that afternoon to the hardtop, quickly freed itself. With another burst of wind, it was flung like a child’s toy into the ocean, narrowly missing Doug, who was scrambling away from the violently rocking boat, trying to keep his head above the water as he moved toward the safety of the shoreline.
“Running Free” began to shudder and vibrate so much that Tom and Laura, now holding each other for support, were fearful that it would rip apart. Seawater continued to crash into the hull, rocking the boat and twisting it around until it was abeam the waves. Lying on the floor, Tom and Laura were soaked by the surf, which continued to crash into the boat and flow up and over the sides. Salt spray blew into the boat, drenching Terri, who was still standing, but hunched over and looking away from the craft. Sand drove into her pores and scalp with such intensity that it began to abrade her skin. She yelped with the pain of the stinging.
Suddenly the boat received a power surge. It was mayhem for about thirty seconds, the crew later estimated. The AM/FM radio and the VHF radio turned on, the volume blasting Led Zeppelin music into the night air. At the same time, Doug had crawled to the safety of the beach, and saw the boat’s navigation lights come on, brightening to a high, unnatural intensity. Then, music and lights shut off, as quickly as they had turned on.
Amie had moved away from the boat, before the ship descended, hoping to make her way to the safety of the beach. But she had been thrown, face down into the water, and rolled over and over by the waves, until she hit the beach shoreline stunned, with the waves crashing over her. Recovering, she pushed herself out into the water, further from the shore.
Doug, on shore, and Amie, floating near the shore, were the only ones that saw the four, spidery-like legs of the craft unfold in preparation for landing. The spacecraft made its final descent into the shallow waters, the legs supporting the craft as they touched the ocean floor, about fifty feet in front of Doug’s boat.
Abruptly everything went calm. The craft’s landing noise ceased, the ocean waves began to once again lap gently at the hull of the boat, and a light sea breeze replaced the howling, gale force winds. Tom and Laura stood up on the slippery, wet deck, Tom holding onto his aching side. Laura had been battered also, as she slid back and forth on the deck, and began rubbing her bruised arms. Terri had recovered and, mindless of her pains, was yelling frantically for her husband. “Doug? Doug, where are you?”
Doug yelled back, instantly reassuring his wife. “I’m on the beach. Hurry up, all of you need to get off the boat before that thing takes off or you’ll probably get tossed around again.”
All three heeded Doug’s words, not wishing for a repeat of the terrifying experience of a few minutes before. As they hurriedly struggled through the water, toward the safety of the beach, Tom wondered aloud why the spaceship didn’t land on the shore.
“Probably thought they might catch the brush on fire. This beach isn’t very wide,” Doug reminded Tom.
From the beach, Laura looked around for Amie. “I don’t see Amie,” she cried out to the crew. “Do you see her? Is she alright?”
Tom strained his eyes, looking out to sea. Yet, all he could see ahead was the upper half of the hull of the huge, partially submerged craft. Water lapped at the spaceship’s sides, shimmering in the moonlight and reminding Tom of the giant sea turtle they had passed on the way to Walker’s Cay.
Then Tom spotted Amie, slowly making her way towards her rescue ship. “She’s in the water,” he called to the group. “Out there, look!” Tom pointed towards the diminutive figure threading purposefully through the water, her little arms pumping rapidly and her feet frantically churning up the seawater behind her as she swam.
The crew watched from the beach and saw a hatch open three quarters of the way up the hull; a faint light from within the craft illuminating the opening. Laura held her breath, observing Amie’s struggle through the water and cheering her on quietly, “Come on, Amie. You c
an do it.”
Amie finally reached the spacecraft and then struggled to ascend its hull. Her thin arms reached out and embraced the sides, which apparently were not smooth but must have had purposely designed indentations in the hull for a hand or foothold.
Then Amie began climbing slowly; lifting herself out of the water and clinging to the side of the craft, making her way up to the opening where help awaited her. From the shore, it looked as if Sky Woman was ascending the shell of the Great Turtle, clinging to its silvery side in desperation to escape the beckoning arms of the ocean. Suddenly, a dark figure appeared in silhouette in the hatchway and reached out from the door opening, its hand grasping one of Amie’s outstretched hands. She was pulled up into the entrance.
Safe at last, Amie stood briefly in the opening to the hatch, her figure illuminated by the light. She turned toward the boat, as if searching for her friends, and then, eventually spotting the four humans watching her from the shoreline, she raised both arms and waved to them in farewell. Amie then moved into the craft, out of sight, and the hatch door closed.
The spacecraft wasted little time, powering up and ascending from the water. As Doug predicted, the craft created the same disruption to the ocean as it had on its descent. The wind howled, “Running Free” was tossed around violently, and several enormous waves hit the shore, causing the crew to draw back toward the brush line further back from the beach.
Yet, within seconds, the spacecraft had lifted upward, the roaring sound it had been making receding to a faint hum in the distance. And then, it was nearly silent on the beach once more.
SKY WOMAN OF GROOM LAKE Page 25