‘What do you suppose that is?’ Oli posed.
James moved to the student’s side. ‘What are you looking at?’
‘Right there. You see that open clearing about a half-mile away?’
Scanning the expanse below, he spotted it. A couple of hundred feet around, the clearing was surrounded by trees at odds with the other greenery: a lighter shade.
‘I don’t know. Seems strange that a different kind of tree should grow inland like that.’
‘Hmm,’ Oli mumbled. ‘As interesting as the shades of leaves might be to some people, I wasn’t talking about the trees. If you cast your eyes into the centre of the clearing, something stands out as a kind of focal point, if you know what I mean.’
Oli was right. There was something there for sure, some kind of structure.
‘What the hell is that?’
Back at the northern edge, Oli gasped, ‘Never mind that…what the fuck is that?’
Tearing his eyes away from the mysterious clearing, James stepped over to Oli, his breath catching in his throat.
‘James?’ the student pressed.
Stretching out into the water like a pan-handle, a natural pier had been formed out of an arm of solid rock. It did the job of separating one bay from the next. Pressing against it in the mild tide was a dark mass, parts of it broken away and resting on the sand.
James placed a hand on the kid's shoulder. ‘Enigma solved, Oli.’
‘I didn’t realise we had an enigma.’
‘We sure did. You just found the rest of the bodies.’
Oli took an uneasy step back from the ledge. ‘No, that’s not possible! Look at the wreckage, how did they get way over there? The geography doesn’t work, man!’
‘I don’t know. Strong currents must’ve swept them beneath the surface to the eastern bay. If they hit an eddy they would’ve been whipped around and thrown back on themselves. That outcrop must’ve caught them.’
‘Awesome,’ Oli mouthed quietly. ‘So what now?’
James shrugged. ‘Guess we go check it out.’
The student sighed. ‘That’s what I thought you were going to say.’
16
The trek down the northern slope proved to be a walk in the park compared to the plateau climb. From the base of the hill, the walk through the trees back to shore measured only about a mile.
They pushed their way onto the beach about two hundred yards from the outcropping, the rocky handle splitting the Indian Ocean in two, its beauty grotesquely marred by the large black mass pressing against it.
‘There it is,’ James said quietly.
Oli’s gaze settled on the abomination, ebbing and flowing gently with the tide. Visibly he paled, hesitated.
‘Oli, it’s okay,’ James sympathized. ‘I’ve got this.’
‘No, I’ll…I’ll be fine.’
James took another look. ‘There’re sights down there that will probably stay with you forever. Honestly, is it worth it?’
‘What, and let the jocks be right about me?’
Hesitantly they walked towards the bodies. As they neared, Oli’s pace slowed further.
Several of the bodies had made it onto the sand, split from the pack as though trying to escape.
When the two of them reached the first cadaver, it was clear the small broken figure was that of a child no older than six. She was lying on her back, the scorching afternoon sun baking her.
Oli turned his back and vomited.
James crouched by the slightly bloated figure of the girl. He guessed she’d been out of the water for most of the day, one of the first to break from the group.
He understood Oli's nausea. This girl wasn’t meant to die here, so young, and in such an horrific way. How could it be that she’d wound up on a beach in the middle of nowhere, small desecrated body on exhibition? It didn’t make sense.
Oli had relinquished his bravado. He’d retreated towards the trees and planted himself down on the sand, face buried in his hands.
The stench of death inhibiting, James was finding it difficult to move closer to the mass. He glanced back at the student. ‘What did you say?’
Oli looked puzzled. ‘Nothing! I didn't speak.’
He turned back to the sea. 'Come on, James,' he muttered to himself, 'get a grip.' He placed one foot forward and watched it sink into the sand. A second step; one more dry footfall.
The notion of the third rolled away on the waves. ‘Oli, seriously, shut the hell up!’
Oli raised his hands, palms up. ‘I told you, man, I’m not making a sound.’
‘I just heard a cough,’ James insisted.
‘You’re going insane, man!’
‘Oli, I’m sure of it.’
‘The sun’s getting to you.’
Running from body to body, James began flipping those facedown, checking pulses. Six had made it onto the sand. Only one was breathing. Lying on his side, the large black male coughed again.
‘Jesus, Oli, this guy’s alive!’
Oli sprinted over. ‘Holy shit, you sure?’
The man had colour, and it had nothing to do with his origins. Easily in his fifties, he had closely cropped hair and a big round belly.
‘Oli…look at that,’ James whispered.
Oli examined the man’s clothes. ‘Is this who I think it is?’
‘Who do you think it is?’
‘If I didn’t know better, I’d say we’ve found the captain.’
*
‘He doesn’t look too hot, man!’ Oli announced.
Despite the pilot’s functioning internals, his externals had taken a hit. Grazes and scratches aside, James couldn’t tear his eyes away from the open wound above the man’s knee, stretching halfway up his thigh. The gash was wide open, angry red flaps of skin peeling away from the oozing mess. If it wasn’t infected already, it soon would be.
‘We need to get him back to the camp,’ said James. ‘Maybe one of the others will know what
