Submitted for the May 2024 prompt: Gothic Sci-Fi

“Loading the skiff.”

 

"This will take a few minutes. Review what we know," ordered the Admiral.

 

An aide responded, “Contact was lost with Edwin Roanoke and team, on Umetum Island for a one-year biological survey. Regular contact ceased after about 34-35 weeks. Two local police and Dr. Ismail found much of the equipment smashed. While reviewing lab notes, Ismail heard shouting and gunshots, and fled to the boat, leaving her backpack in the lab. She also claims she heard pursuers but saw nothing.”

 

“Approaching the dock.”

 

Everyone appeared calm except for Ismail, who thought, again, that this was a mistake.

 

“She found all the boat electronics smashed, the engine idling, blood on the bridge, and the pilot missing. Injured and fearing for her life, she left the island for the mainland.” The aide sat.

 

The room filled with the sounds of wind, boots in sand, and bodies in the brush. The Marines went straight up the beach and secured the skiff.

 

“No visible activity. Heading to the lab.”

 

The Admiral stared at Ismail. “Why were you the only civilian in the group?”

 

“A history of false alarms from these kinds of research teams: they wanted a scientist along. I’m an ethnobiologist. I’ve been doing diving and fieldwork here for years. They knew me.”

 

“And your injury?”

 

“I don’t know how it happened. I lost a lot of blood and had to navigate by compass and sight. I felt lucky to get off the island, mostly in one piece.”

 

“Approaching compound.” Words were getting fuzzy; rain and wind were gathering force.

 

“Mayday. Mayday. Ship—”

 

The Admiral punched the speaker. “Who was that?”

 

“Admiral, that was Jones, our pilot. We’ve lost contact; we’re heading back.”

 

“Tell us again what you found in Roanoke’s journal.”

 

Ismail took a deep breath. “He’d written he’d found evidence of another race: he was reviewing tissue and blood samples. He seemed to think he was looking at a bipedal cartilage skeletal structure. I didn’t have time to find or review what specimens, if any, he was basing all these speculations on.”

 

The Admiral scowled. “You’re still claiming that one of these shark people bit your finger off?”

 

Ismail opened her mouth to talk but stopped when the speaker came back.

 

“Our boat’s gone. I’m sending the skiff out to search for Jones.”

 

The silence in the room was broken by a knock. Another uniform came in and whispered to the Admiral; he and his aides left. One officer remained.

 

“Dr. Ismail, I’m Colonel Harrington; those are my boys out there. I read your report several times. You seem like a pretty clear-headed scientist.”

 

Ismail looked at him. This was the first person to seem interested in what she found, not just what happened.

 

“I see your injury. I’m betting there are facts you didn’t want written down.”

 

Ismail took a deep breath. “These beings, they must be, as a species, much, much older than us. They can breathe underwater, and above. They have the ability to regenerate limbs. I was captured, and I watched one bite off her finger. Regrowth started immediately. She bit mine off to show that they mean business.”

 

“Skiff’s capsized.”

 

“Do you know why they are attacking us?

 

“Tell your soldiers to leave the beach; these beings are at home in the water.”

 

He enabled the speaker. “Major, this is Harrington. Head back to the compound. Secure your men until we get a rescue craft to you.” He turned to Ismail. “I need to know my enemy.”

 

“It won’t do any good. They’ve been watching Homo Sapiens for a long time. The stories they could tell us about our ancestors. There’ve been folktales and sightings about the island for centuries; that was the real reason Roanoke’s team was there.”

 

“Do you know what happened?”

 

“Roanoke’s journal was, let’s say, thin on circumstances. At least one of the beings died.”

 

“Killed?”

 

“I don’t know. What little I read, they didn’t realize who they were dealing with.” She held up her maimed hand. “This was a warning: ‘Your kind doesn’t recover. We do.’ ”

 

“They were angry about the murder?”

 

“They were most angry about the dissection.”

 

“What else were you told?”

 

“They know our history; they speak our languages. They look like us. Humanity’s been polluting the oceans for over a century: now it’s affecting them. Regeneration sometimes fails; their children are born deformed. They tolerated pollution for decades now: no more. They want us out of the oceans.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell us any of this before?”

 

“I was in shock when I reached port. Someone asked how I was injured; I told them. After that, I kept my mouth shut.”

 

“My men’s lives are on you.”

 

“No, Colonel — maybe I didn’t tell you everything, but who would have believed me? Do you, even now? What I did say was, don’t go back, ever.”

 

“The compound’s trashed. The police are bound, but alive. Looks like the original team has been gutted by wild animals. A name’s written on the wall, looks like in blood: Lex Maria.”

 

Ismail turned to Harrington. “Not a name; Latin. Law of the Seas.”

 

The Admiral returned: “Colonel, come with me. We’re getting reports of problems at the Suez Canal, and Naval Base Guam. Ms. Ismail, stay in town a few more days.”

* * *

 

Ismail stood on the steps of the building. She said to the woman approaching her, “Storm’s coming.”

 

“A deeply ignorant race.” She held a hand up, her index finger sized like her thumb. “Almost healed; how’s your hand?”

 

“My stroke’s messed up. I’ll never again be as graceful as a manta ray.”

 

“Funny, that; you humans recently discovered a manta passes the mirror test.”

 

“We reach for the stars while killing the oceans. So much for self-awareness. How long do you think this war will last?”

 

“How long does it take to grow a finger back?”

 

The wind began to howl.