Lost At Sea by Arthur Limbada (simple ebook reader TXT) 📕

    “Alright, I have called each of you here because, as you could probably have guessed already, you’re all going to be working together on the same mission.”

 “I presume all of you are aware of the Loco disease, correct?”    

   Since everyone did, she continued. “However, I doubt any of you here know that there is a known cure for it, am I correct?”

     The half dozen humans in the room nodded their assent.

  “That is because you weren’t supposed to know, not yet at least. Very few people in the world know about this. That is why you can’t let anyone else know what I am about to share with you in this room.”

   “The United States government had been secretly negotiating with the government of Egypt over the past month for the purchase of a very important mineral which has been found to be situated in parts of Egypt. There is only a very small quantity of this mineral available, and because of that, it is extremely valuable. As far as we know, Egypt is the only known country to have this mineral.”  

  “According to a few American scientists who have obtained a small portion of this precious mineral, it can be used with some other elements to form a cure for the Loco disease. This is why the United States government have been trying their hardest to buy more from Egypt. “

   “You should all be aware about the basic aspects of this disease, but for those who don’t, I’ll explain the basics. I’m not going to go into a large lecture but I will try and describe it as simply and concisely as possible.”

   “Loco disease is an extremely dangerous and highly contagious viral disease.”

    “As far as we know, it originated in Mexico, but since then it has spread throughout the entire world. It has killed hundreds and hundreds of people already. From the doctor’s reports, the disease seems to happen in three different stages.

  “For the first step, you catch the virus. For about a week after that being infected you don’t realize that you have it, since no symptoms are visible or present.”

  “In the second stage, you get an extremely high fever, drastic hot and cold flushes, and cases of delirium. This is said to go on for about a week until finally, the third stage starts.”

  “This stage lasts much shorter than the other two; usually only two to three days maximum. What happens during this period however is horrendous. It is not clear about what causes this, but the carriers of the disease go insane after two weeks of having it. In fact, the Loco disease is similar to Rabies in that aspect, except it is much more severe.”

  “Up until now, approximately 570 people have died in relation to that disease, and the number keeps on rising”.    

   “So, back to what I was saying before I got sidetracked. Two weeks ago, on the first of this month, the United States government purchased a small quantity of this mineral, which is called Azite. It was roughly five percent of the entire amount of that mineral known in the world. The American freighter designed to transport it left from Said, an Egyptian port city, on the sixth. That was exactly nine days ago. This transport ship with the precious mineral Azite departed from Egypt, accompanied by two U.S. Navy Destroyers.”

  “Now, I think that it is important for me to emphasize the effort the U.S. government put into the security of this ocean voyage so as to make sure it was free of trouble of any form.

   Firstly, Egypt and the United States were the only two countries aware of this transaction. Only a very few, and select amount of people from the two countries was informed about it.

  Whichever country creates and sells the medicine that can cure the Loco disease will make a large profit and the USA knew this. That’s why they put as much caution into this ocean voyage as possible, afraid some other country would try and steal it.

     “The two battle ships travelling with the freighter were the most advanced Destroyers the United States army possessed. For the people who are not informed on specification of these ships, Destroyers are light, fast, and hard-hitting ships, used for multitudes of different functions. They are used as protection against all forms of adversaries since they are equipped with anti-air, anti-surface, and anti-submarine warfare capabilities. If anyone were to find out about this voyage and try to interfere with it, which was highly unlikely, they would have a large problem to deal with.”

  “It seemed like their plan was flawless.”

  “They kept the two destroyer ships in constant contact with people situated in USA and Egypt just in case anything went wrong. I have some of the transcript with me that I’d like to read to you. It’s a dialogue of the radio dialogue from one of the Destroyer’s second lieutenant”.

     She walked over from where she was standing between the semi circle couches towards the black coffee table. Once she was there, she picked up a black rectangular folder and pulled out a sheaf of papers from it. Putting on her glasses, she began to read.

* * * * *

   William Tucker, 2014, June 6th, 09:30 a.m.: We have just met up with the carrier ship, coming from the port in Said; they have the cargo with them. We have received clearance to sail our destroyers inside the Mediterranean Sea. So far we are making swift progress, and should have travelled 390 miles by the time it is 10:00 p.m.

   William Tucker, 2014, June 7th, 07:00 p.m.: The day has gone by uneventfully, we are now 36 37 North, 13 15East.

   William Tucker, 2014, June 8th, 08:00 a.m.: Time has passed without incident.

   William Tucker, 2014, June 14th, 10:00 p.m.: We are quite close to our destination; I would say we should get to Miami by the 16th latest. We are now 25 33 North, 69 39 West.

  William Tucker, 2014, June 14th, 10:15 p.m.: For the first time in our voyage a small sea vessel has sailed into our radius; on further conference, the captain says it is to be ignored. (I am guessing it is most likely a fishing boat….)

  It has suddenly seemed to become extremely misty, and the visibility is dangerously low. I went for a walk about on deck and strangely enough I can hardly see anything further then five feet in front of me. Now the lamps are giving off an eerie glow. I am feeling slightly dizzy, and I have talked to a few members of the crew and they are feeling the same peculiarities.

   (Perhaps there is some kind of machine on the small vessel creating the fog?... Drugs in the fog?.. Trying to think logically)

   William Tucker, 2014, June 14th, 10:27 p.m.: I am suddenly seeing strange flashing colours around the ship. The only object on our radar is the same small vessel we saw before. I have tried getting in contact with it but whoever is on it is not responding. We have orders to ignore everything and go as fast as we can. We are however set on high alert for any form of intrusion. I am having an eerie feeling though and after having talked more with some of the men, I find I am not alone with these feelings.

* * * * *

    The lady closed the leaflet of paper and put it back into the folder, which she then set back on the table. A moment of silence reined over the room, everybody contemplating what had just been read to them. The lady looked around the room quickly and then set the papers back into her folder before standing straight up again.

   “Before I say what I’m about to, you must know I am a very reasonable human. I am not one for believing myths or legends. However, the spot that all the trouble happened to the transport ship and destroyers was over the feared “Bermuda Triangle” also known as “The Devils Triangle.”

   There are a large amount of ridiculous hypothesis about this area and why ships seem to disappear when they sail over it. I personally do not believe that hogwash but I cannot dismiss that there is something very unusual about this vicinity.

   The final paragraph I read by William Tucker was the last that was heard from any of the three ships and the precious metal Azite that was on it. We still can’t be sure what happened to that ship but we are busy getting satellite images of that area as we speak.

   Another thing I must tell is that this was not the only disappearance to happen over the Bermuda Triangle. A week ago, a large cruise ship vanished as well while crossing it. This was the first time in about a hundred years that a vessel of any form had went missing while sailing over this area.

    There’s a large possibility that whatever happened to the cruiser happened also to the transporter and destroyers.

     Alright, that is the basis of what this mission is about. On the coffee table there are files for each of you to read over as soon as I am finished speaking. A very very important and rare mineral is missing and it’s your duty to find out what happened to it and retrieve it if that is possible. You have been paired into two groups.  

   “Terrance and Andrew,” she started, turning towards the two men and looked at them. Terrance grinned and shook hands with his friend sitting beside him. “Are the senior detectives here,” she continued, “and will be working separately.”  

    “Oh damn!” Terrance joked and pushed Andrew away. Andrew felt a bit disappointed they wouldn’t be working together on this case but he shrugged it off.

   “Terrance,” the lady resumed speaking, “you will be working with Chevan Goy and Tyron Fernly.”

   She indicated two of the still unknown people sitting in the room, obvious excitement showing on their faces.

   Tyron was sitting on the edge of his seat with his hands on his laps, tightened into fists. He had long black hair that was tied in a pony tail at the back. He was wearing a black formal shirt but it looked like he had forgotten to button all of the buttons. His large black boots stuck out of his baggy black pants.

   “Was he in mourning?” Terrance wondered, “Or was black his usual dress code.” This “Tyron” reminded Terrance of a biker, probably a rash, aggressive young man. He’d have to keep an eye on this one.   

   Chevan sat properly, legs crossed, back straight. Rich and sophisticated, was what came to mind. She had blonde hair reaching slightly past her shoulders, cut in the latest fashion probably. She obviously cared a lot about self image. Terrance her perfectly manicured fingernails fidgeting as she sat with her hands in her lap.

   “I wondered why she chose this line of business,” Terrance thought to himself.

   Then the lady faced the remaining two detectives in the room that hadn’t been named and motioned to them.    

  “Andrew, you will team up with Gene Fay, and Gerald Hudson.”  

      Andrew glanced at the man and woman sitting beside each other on the plush leather couch, trying to determine how it would be like working with his two new companions. It would be different working as a senior in the group since he was always used to being the guy who gets told what to do.

   From their appearances, Andrew guessed they were in their early twenties, not much younger then he was. They both had that nervous, excited