Thornes cursed inwardly. As suddenly as it started, he felt the Houston catch on something, and the slide downward was arrested.
Captain Thorne again closed his eyes in a silent prayer, and when he opened them, he saw the frightened faces of his sonar men. He was starting to run out of encouraging words for the crew. His gaze went from young face to young face.
“What do you say we find a solution to our ballast problem and get the hell out of here?”
The faces relaxed as Thorne delivered what he thought would be his last encouraging words.
If the Houston had windows, the crew would not be as happy at Thorne’s words as he thought. The USS Houston was only sixteen feet away from the precipitous drop of two and a half miles to the seafloor far below.
Charlie had named the new island Compton’s Reef. The name was funny to most, but Collins had cringed when Ellenshaw had mentioned the director’s name. That would be something Jack would take up with crazy Charlie later.
As they moved, the sounds of life were all around them. They smelled food cooking. They smelled the grasses that lined the trail they traveled upon. They also heard the sounds of laughter, playing, a community living life the only way they knew how — day to day.
After only ten minutes, Jack broke into a clearing, and the sight that met his astonished gaze almost made him weak in the knees. For the first time, he wished Sarah could see what it was he was seeing at this very moment.
“Wow!” Ryan said as he stepped out of the bush and stood beside the colonel.
Inside the clearing, there were well over three hundred huts of varying size and shape. The largest one in the center of the large village looked as if it were some form of community center. Women sat around its exterior and did their chores, chopping leafy vegetables and other cooking activities. Men were off to the side, repairing nets and fishing spears, while other men placed the baskets they had observed being brought down from the mountain in even rows at the edge of the large community. Even the children, who were still playing, laughing, and running, were involved in the village’s activities by carrying water from the large stream-fed lagoon.
Jack quickly estimated that the inhabitants must have been at the very least three to four hundred strong. The most amazing thing was the fact that outside of mere curiosity, the folk of this community gave them only cursory looks and glances. Even several of the blond-haired women looked over at the men and giggled as they noticed them. Their worlds were not that much different, Jack figured.
“This is amazing,” Charlie said as he adjusted his recovered glasses and took in the scene. “It’s like something out of a Jack London or some South Seas romance novel.”
Ryan was looking at a group of young women who were sewing items that looked as if they came from a bolt of sharkskin material. They looked his way, and he smiled back at them.
Jenks popped a cigar into his mouth, thought better of it with their present company, and then pocketed the stogie.
The Russians eyed the scene, and Collins didn’t know what their thoughts were. They stood and watched the activity with mild interest. It was Salkukoff who joined Jack, Ryan, and Everett.
“As you can see, Colonel, these people are not a threat to our ships. So, may I suggest we cut this visit short and get back to saving ourselves?”
Collins was curious as to why the Russian was so adamant about not spending time in this village of innocents.
“Forget it. We have to learn all we can about these people.” Charlie angrily looked at the Russian colonel. “We can draw conclusions on our own environment by study,” he said as he looked sideways at Salkukoff as if he were a barbarian.
Ellenshaw immediately went to a group of men who had large nets strung up in the branches of two trees as they used large wooden needles to repair the links of line that made up the net. He immediately smiled and watched silently. The men nodded at Ellenshaw and then continued jabbering and sewing.
Jack was mystified at the easy way Charlie took things. His naïveté amazed him. How simply the cryptozoologist looked at life. Jack smiled as did Everett and Ryan.
“Never stand in the way of science, Colonel. I thought you would have known that doing the things you do with history.”
The shocked look on Salkukoff’s face told Jack he had hit pay dirt on the Russian. The small brief supplied by Compton’s new orders had come in handy on just who this man was suspected of being.
“And suddenly, you know far more about me than previously thought, Colonel Collins.”
Jack just dipped his head and then moved off toward the center of the village.
“Ryan, did you bring that package from Shiloh you got from their mess?”
Ryan looked at Jack and then remembered. He quickly reached into his small pack and brought out a clear neoprene bag. It was full of individually wrapped saltwater taffy in varying colors. He tossed the bag to Collins.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to feed the animals, Colonel?” Salkukoff said with a dirty little smirk.
Jack noticed the Russian’s eyes constantly meandered over to the assembled baskets lined nearby and then just as quickly looked away. The American, after noticing this, pretended to ignore him, and then he opened the bag. He caught the attention of a small girl as she moseyed across to the stream running in the center of the village by holding up a piece of the tantalizingly colorful taffy wrapped in paper. The girl, not knowing what the item was, just went about her business.
The small child had several large halved coconut shells and used them to dip into the stream. After filling the coconut shells with freshwater, the girl placed the other half of the shells over them and sealed the small containers. She was about to get up and return to her chores when the dark shadow of Jack fell upon her. She stood quickly, spilling some of the water. Her eyes were big, round, and the bluest Collins had ever seen. He was joined by Everett and Ryan as the girl’s eyes went from man to man. Jack smiled down at her. He unwrapped an orange-colored piece of taffy and offered it to the small blonde. She looked from the gift to Jack.
“She won’t take it, Colonel.”
Everett looked at Ryan and smirked. “Five bucks says she does, flyboy.”
“You’re on. You’d better—” Jason stopped when Carl started laughing.
The small child had placed her containers of water on the ground and accepted Jack’s offer without much trepidation. She examined the orange-colored candy and then sniffed it. She squeezed her fingers closed and squished it somewhat, and then she smiled up at Jack.
Ryan and Everett examined the child. She was wearing what looked like sharkskin shorts and a halter top of grass. As the girl popped the taffy into her mouth, it remained open as the sensation and taste of sugar hit her taste buds. Her eyes widened, and all the visitors to the village that day smiled and laughed at her reaction — everyone with the exception of Salkukoff, who watched without mirth or humor. He shot Kreshenko and Dishlakov an angry look, but this time they ignored him and then joined the rest of the landing party as more children came over to where they stood.
When Jack saw the curious children start to advance on them, he quickly handed out handfuls of taffy to the men around him. Soon there were over seventy-five children ranging in age from a couple of years to fifteen or so. The amazing part was that the parents of these children watched and smiled at not only the scene before them but the strangers themselves.