Atlantis: chapter 2
Congrats again! You've gotten to chapter two of the Atlantian Escapade!
Please note this is a work in progress, the authors reserve the right to edit and/or re-format the book
Chapter II: Flashbacks
Fear. That was all he could remember. One entity, more overwhelming than almost any other. He was a new recruit aboard the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Explorer. And fear was all he could remember as the ship drove steadily onward through the relentless gale. It clung to him like a vampire, sucking his strength and willpower. His fear was the unknown. The Explorer was bringing him to Atlantis. It was everywhere. Everyone knew about it. No one knew how deadly it was to become. 'Atlantis has resurfaced!'...'Atlantis is back!'...'Atlantis'...'Atlantis'...'Atlantis'... Every scientist's lips were saying those words, but it was only a matter of time before anyone figured out the truth: Atlantis, yes, had resurfaced. Atlantis, was, yes, back. But, it also was inhabited. By men, among other things, but not modern men. Ancient men, Greek features. They shared this immense archipelago with Dinosaurs. Hundreds of explorations were made into the dense tropical rain forest. None were ever seen again. As soon as military espionage revealed the truth, everybody wanted to exploit the dinosaurs. People had been using biological enhancement for a while, and the idea of mixing human and T-Rex DNA together to create a superhuman was the least thought-out and most popular idea in the world. Everyone wanted to try it. But no one for-saw the incredible war which was to break out: World War III. Allies turned on one another. Enemies sought alliances. The entire political world was destroyed and reborn in a single night. The only two countries whose friendship remained intact was that of the U.S.A. and Great Britain. The two most powerful countries on the planet were joined together. They were guaranteed victory until the Middle East joined up with the Atlantians. The Atlantians were given guns, modern luxuries, and were bribed until they were hysteric with gold fever. In return, the Iraqis were given protection on Atlantis, support of the Atlantians, their unwavering servitude, and DNA samples of dinosaurs. The Atlantians especially savored the firearms, because before that, they were forced to arm their men with bows and arrows, javelins, spears, swords, knives, daggers, axes, clubs, and hammers, or else set a trap for a big dino using boulders, trip lines, and other stuff from the rain forest. Now they could just blast away with a huge rocket launcher.
The Iraqis especially savored the last two parts of their side of the deal, as they now had mindless, uneducated puppets and laborers at their service, waiting to do their every will, and they could finally make the horrible dream come true, and mix dino and human DNA. They also found a way to make Dinosaur clones if they had a complete DNA strand. To them, this was like money-making opportunity galore. Atlantis was rich in gold ore and diamonds, not to mention the enormous oil and petroleum deposits. Their new laborers were sent to harvest all this. They created tons and tons of dino clones and sold them at outrageously high prices. The other countries were forced to purchase them, because the natives and their dino mounts were hostile to any other nation. The Iraqis didn't want the U.S.A and England to have any dino DNA or clones, and the U.S. and Great Britain didn't like this. Moreover, the Iraqis were using the money made from the dinos and other island resources to build nuclear weapons. That was the last straw. In July of 2010, the United States of America and Great Britain invaded Atlantis and declared war on Iraq. However, they were not the only combatants in the war. Russia managed to grasp a piece of the pie for themselves, as did China. Many other nations also And yet, the war raged on at full fury, and so here Tom was, fresh meat for the island to swallow up and not spit out.
Now the picture was changing.
Home. Before the War. Before the death. Before Tom cared about the world.
The familiar homey smell of soft soapy air fresheners, comfy furniture, fireplaces, and his mother's cooking. His favorite thing to do here was sleep. That is exactly what he was doing at his mother's house in Washington. He saw himself actually in his own bed. Now he was groggily sliding back from the semi-conscious to the conscious as his mother announced from downstairs, "Hurry up honey! Breakfast in ten." He was both himself when he was 9 and himself now, yet at the same time he was just himself now. At any rate, he was moving downstairs now, dressed in a shirt and shorts. "Hey mom," the 4th Grader Tom began. "What's for breakfast?"
"Eggs and toast." His mother said.
"Mmm, yum."
The image skipped ahead.
The same Tom slouched into the room, tossing his book bag against a wall. He went over to the couch and idly flicked through the channels on TV. "How was school?" His mother asked. "Hmm? Oh, fine, fine..." He said without much attention "What was for lunch?" "Oh, good." Tom said robotically. "Thats not the answer to my question." His mom said. "Yeah, thats great." Tom replied. His mom was used to it. He did this same thing everyday.
Tom continued to flick through the stations. TNT. Bo-ring. Discovery channel. Bo-ring. Cartoon Network. Bo-Ring with a capital 'R'. CNN. Bo- what???
"...and now we go to a live helicopter broadcast. Earl, what's going on over on your end?" The reporter tried to sound unconcerned, and failed at it miserably. "Well Jim, we've certainly got a mystery on our hands. We have multiple sightings of a large land mass in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It looks like.. like... well, why don't we let you decide folks?" Another reporter said apprehensively. The camera turned, to view a gargantuan, lush tropical island surrounded by an endless stretch of sparkling azure water.
"Oh my god! It's beautiful!" his mother said.
The sight took Tom's breath away. It wasn't just beautiful. It was the most dazzling sight his eyes had ever feasted on. He wanted to stare at it all day. It was his dream vacation spot. Except for one thing:
"Rahhhhhhrrr!!" A distant roar punctuated the serenity.
"What on Earth was that?!?" the reporter yelled, not caring about the answer.
Several dark shapes rose from the island, and encircled the extent of the shore, uttering piercing shrieks as they did so. A large, fuzzy shape was seen on the land, crashing through the trees. It unwittingly charged into the water after a foolish fishing boat stuck in the rip tide from the island.
"Oh my god, I think it's a T-Rex!" Tom yelled hysterically.
"That's not possible..." his Mom muttered faintly. She was a woman who prefers the ordinary, appreciates the unexpected, and disdains the unbelievable. Yet before her eyes, a T-Rex charged into water about 20 feet high. Its snout could just be seen above the waterline, as it clawed and shoved its way along the bottom of the ocean. It stumbled on a sand bar, and rose up five feet out of the water, as it did so, lowering its head, as if to ram the boat. From the camera angle, it looked like something out of a bad action movie. The huge Rex dwarfed the tiny boat even as he charged towards to it: a toy boat with an attacking, demented rubber ducky. The Rex finally reached it, and its thick skull smashed the midget boat to pieces.
"Oh my god! Oh my god!!!" Shouting broke out on the helicopter, and in the distance screams of agony could be heard from the poor, unlucky fishermen as they were devoured. Soon after the T-Rex dragged three or four bodies off into the jungle, the dark, cloudy figures sped to the scene of the carnage, cleaning up the T-Rex's deserted dinner. Tom recognized them as Pterodactyls. Soon, their beaks were awash with hot blood, and Tom could barely watch the screen. "...Just get us out of here!!!" the reporter screamed at the pilot. The screen fuzzed out.
"What is going on over there?" someone asked. The scene changed back to the anchor man, and he was yelling hysterically at the camera, unable to comprehend what had just happened. The screen blacked out, and a chain of words rolled across the screen: Tune in at 8 o' clock for the full story.
Tom had gotten home at four. He had another four hours before he found out what that thing was.
5 o' clock. Tom was doing homework. Even in the 4th grade, he had about an hour to an hour and a half of homework. To make things worse, Tom couldn't think. The images of the T-Rex and Pterodactyls were constantly flashing through his mind.
6 o' clock. Almost done! Just one more math worksheet to do, then he was free of this stupid homework!
6:30. Finally! He was finished. Tom sat in a chair for a moment and rubbed his eyes. He yawned the biggest yawn of his life, then gave a satisfied grin. His mother was making dinner, and it smelled good. His father was about to come home from work. Tom would sit on the couch between them and watch a movie while they ate dinner until he fell asleep...
Tom woke up. It was only 7. He had fallen asleep. He almost cried. His dream had been so real. And no dad was going to come home to him today, or any day in the future. His dad was dead. Dead as in gone. Forever. No more dad. All because of a stupid plane crash!
Dinner was ready, and his mother and he ate in solemn silence. She tried to talk to him, and comfort him, but to little prevail. Eventually, Tom just curled up on the couch next to her and tried not to cry.
8 o' clock. Tom turned on the T.V. The first thing he saw when he turned it on was the gleaming and curt-looking face of the President of the United States of America. It was about to begin. It was being broad casted to every T.V. station so that all of the channels reflected his face, all the personal computers in America showing his shining bald head.
The President cleared his throat, then began: "Ladies and Gentlemen, of this glorious country: the United States of America, the peak of civilizations, the most powerful and peaceful place of the world, I have the extreme pleasure of announcing a spectacular miracle: Atlantis has resurfaced!" A startled outcry resounded from the audience. Various attitudes could be seen as the camera swept over them; wonder, shock, horror, and above all, disbelief. These faces reflected the feelings of all of those in their homes, going about their daily lives, giving no thought whatsoever to the world and its problems. "Quiet! QUIET!!!" The President's assistants roared. A full five minutes later, order was finally had. "I know this is shocking for all of us, and, indeed, upsetting," The President acknowledged. "But we have been given the opportunity of a life time, a century, a millennium! It is our job as America to harvest this abundance of scientific knowledge and power. This island holds the key to all biological and scientific oriented knowledge! Yet all is not well." The audience was stirred. "Various other countries on this fantastic Earth have had the same dream as us, yet at a more violent level: Many wish to harvest this power for themselves. Many wish America would stay out of it. Yet it is our right as a country born into technology, bravery, and curiosity to be able to share our findings with the world! Iraq wishes to drive our scouts off the island, and our spy satellites to burn. Russia wishes to conquer this territory and drive all from it. China wishes to pollute it and destroy it and eventually kill it, as they have their homeland. It is our duty to prevent all of this, our duty to control the rapid pollution of the planet. The World needs a wake up call, to show the damage it has done itself. The world needs a cure. We are that cure! Ladies and Gentlemen, I ask you to give me your support in this issue. Peace and prosperity are to become War and suffering unless we can help it. The Dawn of World War Three approaches. We must be ready, and this time we are not going to just fight for our freedom against Germany or Japan, we will fight for the Freedom of the World!" Thunderous applause ensued, and the President acknowledged it all with a nod. Clapping continued on and on and on. Finally fifteen minutes after it began, another random Government official stepped up.
"I have here a list of announcements, starting with..." as he launched into a long and uninteresting range of decrees and orders from the barring of any commercial travel within 50 miles of Atlantis to a reminder to wash hands before you eat. The last announcement was the best though, or at least in Tom's opinion at the time. "As a treat to all students of any age, all schools have been canceled for a week starting tomorrow." Tom elatedly ran into the pantry to make popcorn. In fourth grade, he didn't care about Atlantis. Sure, he thought it was cool and exciting, but the meaning of war didn't yet work itself into his brain. All it meant to him was one less week of school.
The picture changed again.
He saw Matt standing at the rail of a giant cruise liner. Matt was lounging by an pool, with a can of coke on a table beside him. He's one pampered puppy, Tom thought through the hazy vision. The ten year old Matt looked more familiar to Tom than Matt at any other age, because they had spent most of fourth grade together. His mother came and sat down next to him, two plates of food with her. The nine year old Tom was with her, and he came and sat down on Matt's other side.
A mounted plasma flat screen TV on the other side of the pool was displaying CNN NEWS in bright color, but nothing compared to the aqua water around them and the electric blue sky above them.
Oh, now the 18 year old Tom remembered. This had been a vacation trip that Matt had invited him on the day after the announcement of Atlantis. He remembered seeing Matt's reaction to the story when they were watching TV and Tom purposely flicked to CNN. First disbelief, then denial, then wonder.
At any rate, the screen was showing a reporter interviewing a fishing boat that had been in the area.
"...an when I 'eard dat growl, I just froze, even do' my body wuz screamin' at me ta high-tail it outta der." The fisherman said. "It wuz like a bad dream where I wanted ta run but couldn't."
"Thank you very much." The reporter said, cutting the interview to a close. "Ladies and Gentlemen, that was Mr. Bill Jones, thank you again for the story."
