An Unexpected Destination

A Unexpected Destination
She was beautiful. I had only been on this island a few hours but already I liked it. Sitting in the cool of a large frond, I watched entranced as she paused momentarily at the summit of her climb and then, gracefully, dived into the deep blue of the pool below. I had not intended to land here - my GPS had started to play up and I had interrupted my solo cruise reluctantly in search of batteries - but I now saw no reason to move on too fast. As she started her climb to the diving point, I enjoyed again her slight build and beautiful dark hair. She dived again, a flash of white against a hot green background. Scarcely a ripple interrupted the gentle splashing of an unseen waterfall nearby. As she climbed again, I liked her also for the fact that she was alone. She could be preening herself in public by some popular pool, drawing admiring glances from all sides, but here she was enjoying her own company.
I did not see the log, neither did she. The first I knew was the horrible thud as she next hit the water and the angry splash as the other end lifted from the water like the lash of a crocodile's tail. Then a terrible silence¦ I was out of my cover in a flash. Endless drills had my shoes and shirt off as I ran. The water was icily refreshing. Murkily I saw her, floating face down, motionless. Not good. She did not respond as I locked one arm round her and kicked out for the nearest shore. I thought I saw wisps of blood in the water. Still no movement as I dragged her onto a large flat rock surface that led down to the water' sedge. She was very light. I just had time to notice a small pile of clothes nearby, when suddenly she coughed and sat up.
"What happened?" Her voice was low and gentle - rather nice. English was unexpected.
"You hit a log." I waved vaguely at the pool.
" Did you pull me out?" she said, noticing I was dripping. She sounded puzzled.
"Yes. I thought your were badly hurt back there." I must have imagined the blood. Her puzzled frown deepened.
" I would have been alright¦" Suddenly her face showed a mixture of fear and disgust. "You're not a filthy, foreign Valth are you?" She started to back off.
"Don't be silly, of course not." I said, hoping I was convincing. I didn't know what a "Valth" was and I didn't want to be one, but I was undoubtedly foreign." I was just trying to help."
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry. Silly me." Her face cleared. "Thanks anyway."
"I'm Alice." She offered after a brief pause.
"Leonard," I replied. "Call me Len."
We sat down on the warm rock and began to introduce ourselves. She had a gentle voice and a shy smile. As we talked, my mind turned the last few minutes over in my mind. The log must have caused less damage than expected. Valth and foreigners must be related and since I was definitely one I might be the other. I resolved to keep my US dollars in my wallet and doubted if I would be able to buy new batteries for my GPS. She was a teacher in a nearby school; I was somewhat evasive about my origins and talked vaguely of "down south as I explained about my solo cruise and my arrival that morning at the bay (Errington bay apparently).
"Would you like to me to show you around? She smiled after a few minutes, "I've got a car just behind those trees.
"That would be good. Shall we move this, just in case? Pointing at the log bobbing gently at our feet. So we hauled out and, while I retrieved my shirt, shoes and rucksack, she slipped a white T shirt and patterned cotton skirt over her costume.
The car was an old green Morris Minor in excellent condition. No salt on icy roads here then. We drove along a sandy track for a few minutes and then turned onto a tarred road. A little later I saw a sign for "Seventia 100km. This island was bigger than I thought. If pushed, I decided, that I came from a town just south of Seventia.
"When we get there, "Alice started, I'm going to a Going Away Party at eleven. I'll drop you at the hotel and see you there for lunch at one, if you like.
"That would be great, thanks.
"How long are you thinking of staying?
"I'm not sure. There was the little problem of having only foreign cash. Were "filthy foreign Valth a general dislike?
We pulled up outside a whitewashed single storey building with a red corrugated iron roof that proclaimed itself to be Figtree Hotel. She brushed her hair, added a touch of makeup and looked very pretty.
"I would look around now, if I were you. She pointed up. The blue sky of the morning was being replaced by grey with ominous dark clouds following closely.
"See you oneish. And she walked off briskly in the direction of what I took to be the Village Hall.
Figtree was a small town on either side of a main road. Its principal buildings were a general store, a Post Office and a Church, in addition to the Hotel and Hall. All the buildings had white plastered walls and red iron roofs. I decided to see if I could exchange my cash at the Post Office. On the way, I had to pass the Hall. A large banner proclaimed "Goodbye Auntie Jane over the entrance where a nervous but excited lady in a smart suit was greeting guests. I noticed that the guests wore a surprising crossection of many different national costumes. As I crossed the road, an open top Land Rover rolled by with an elderly farmer and his wife and assorted farmyard junk. The Post Office had a long veranda with lots of green metal post boxes in the wall. Each had a keyhole and a small number¦1541, 1542 etc. At the end of the veranda was a notice board. One poster caught my eye and complicated my day. Under a heading of "Valth Alert it read. "Be alert! Valth do sometimes get through. Remember, they look just like us. Listen out for key words that give them away Then in bold red. "They can destroy our island. Remember Baby Sally- Anne. Ring the Police.
I suddenly felt vulnerable and decided to give the Post Office a miss. Following an idea I set off down the street to the General Store. This took me past the Church and the small graveyard. I felt safer here with less people around and lingered to glance at the headstones. In the middle of the beloved Wives and Generous Benefactors, I noticed that the ages were not recorded. This reduced the painful "Aged one month and "14 Years on the tombstones back home. One headstone stood out a mile. Lots of fresh flowers, even though the death date was two years previously. "Sally- Anne, beautiful daughter. Aged 4 years. SHE DID NOT COME BACK. There was a lot that did not make sense. Was this the same Sally- Anne?
A distant bang of thunder and some early spots of rain sent me moving with my puzzlement to the store. It was a typical agricultural community shop stacked high with everything imaginable. I moved to the counter where a lady was unloading a wire basket. It was Land Rover wife. I poked and inspected some washers. When she put down her purse to pack her purchases away, I reached over to some magazines and sent her purse flying.
"I'm so sorry. I bent down, "please let me.. She glared as I scrabbled. Smiling I returned it to her. She used US Dollars! She scowled as I bought the battery I needed.
A smell of freshly dampened earth greeted me as I stepped out into a pre-storm gloom. A stream of people from the hall prompted a time check ' five to one. I crossed the road again and saw Alice approaching her car. At least I could pay for lunch now.
"Hi! she smiled, "Change of plan, How about we go to a better hotel down the road. With this rain we'll be able to take our time over lunch. A chance to chat in peace. Her eyes twinkled at me and I decided I would like that.
Almost all topics of conversation in the car seemed to have an embargo. But we chatted happily about her job and water sports that we had in common. The rain started in earnest as we turned off the main road. Occasional bangs of thunder gave me brilliant snapshots of rural scenes lined with telegraph poles. As we approached a crossroads, I saw a farmstead slightly to the left and the Land Rover I had seen earlier. The farmer was on the veranda unlocking the front door and his wife was unloading shopping hurriedly.
Suddenly a terrific bang shook the car. Alice gasped as we watched, as if in slow motion, as the top two meters of a nearby telegraph pole splintered, snapped and fell, in a tangle of wires full onto the running figure of the poor lady. Everything was still except the rain. Alice screamed and wrenched the car into the drive. I leaped out of the car as the farmer rushed down the steps. With the rain stinging our backs, we pulled the wreckage off the motionless figure. There was no blood. Her shoulder and head were badly crushed. We lifted her onto the veranda and laid her down. No signs of life. Shocked, I turned to see how Alice was. She ran up the steps and, kneeling, took the limp white hand. Suddenly, and totally unexpectedly, the victim sat up!
"What the hell! I thought you were dead! I was staggered.
They all froze. Three heads snapped towards me. Three mouths gaped.
"What¦?
With a roar like a bull, the man launched himself at me. He hit me in the chest and sent me crashing to the floor. My head hit the wooden handrail and all went black.
When I came round, I couldn't move. I found I was firmly tied ankle, wrist and chest to a veranda chair. Mr Farmer was checking the knots and looking at me with open hatred. Alice was staring at me in wide-eyed horror. What had I done?
Mrs Farmer emerged from the house. She looked fine!
"The phones are down, "she scowled. A Scandinavian accent. "I distrusted him when I saw him at Figtree. Where did you meet him Alice?
"It was this morning, I was swimming¦., Alice stopped,Oh no¦ Her hands flew to her cheeks. Stricken she sat down and bowed her head. When she lifted her face, she turned tear filled eyes to me and mouthed "I'm so sorry. Then she jumped up, all brisk and decisive again.
"I met this valth at Figtree dam this morning. He said he arrived by boat at Marquand Bay. That didn't sound right but I was too shocked to quibble. "You two need to go and get the police quickly. I'll stay here and guard him. We must deal with him before news gets out and a panic starts.
The other two nodded and, with one last glare and a tug at the knots, moved to the Landy Once they had reversed around the fallen pole and departed, Alice came to me.
"Quick, we've got fifteen minutes.
This was one abrupt change too many. A thousand questions exploded in my head.
"Sshh, she said, Not now¦ I'll explain. We've got to get away.
She freed my hands and we soon had loosed the rest.
"Bring the rope. she ordered, "You drive, I'll direct.
With a whirling mind, but glad to be free, I obeyed.
"Tie me loosely, in case anyone sees. She was working to some plan ' very sharp.
Seconds later we drove out of the gate and turned left towards the crossroads, then left again. The rain had stopped, our damp clothes stuck to the seats but dried quickly in the renewed sunshine. She turned to me.
"We've got to get you off this island. We are going back to Diving Pool by the country way. With a bit of luck, when they return, I've sent them in the wrong direction.
"I didn't land at Marquand Bay did I?
She shook her head. I looked at her, splattered in mud with tangled hair, and was impressed.
"But. I started.
"Let me explain, she interrupted, " From the beginning. You are a foreigner on this island. Everyone will hate you, if they knew, for one simple reason. On this island, everyone dies the very minute that they turn seventy ' never before, never after.
"But can't they¦.?
"Be killed? No. You saw that with Mrs Mattiersen. We all carry Nekron genes that infinitely accelerate the natural healing processes. No lasting injury, no disease, no death. That "I thought you were dead gave you away, we would never say that.
"Ah! I said, "'the key words.' But why do they hate us? What are Valth?
"Variable lifetime humans is our term for you. We are terrified that your genes will get into our gene pool. We could not cope with even a small percentage of people who got ill. We have no health provision. She paused, "Straight on here. We fear for our whole way of life. A recent event reinforced our paranoia. Six years ago, an unmarried girl had a one-night stand with a stranger. Not totally unusual. However, the baby Sally- Anne fell ill and died when she was four years old. Imagine our horror. We expected her to recover. We expected that she would revive. But she didn't. Presumably the father was a Valth. For those who always live to seventy, this was deeply traumatic. The government increase anti- Valth propaganda. We are conditioned to hate you and our fears encourage us to give you no redeeming features.
"But you are helping me. Don't you hate me?
"I'll tell you why, she looked straight at me, tears in her eyes, This morning at the pool, you thought you were saving my life. I suddenly realised that to do this you were risking your own. We cannot risk our lives. You can lose yours anytime. I can't believe you would do that for me. You deserve to escape. You are not evil.
I couldn't immediately think what to say. "For us life is the most precious thing. Death is always bad, the end.
"Premature death I have seen and it is bitter, she seemed puzzled, but surely mature death is not bad ' it's not the end to us¦. Right after the bridge.
"Once you are dead, it's all over ' finish.
"Not for us. I saw Auntie Jane Fellows die today at her going away party. One minute fine, then gone. It didn't look like an end only a change of vehicle.
"For us, old tired bodies cannot struggle on. It looks like an end.
"But¦, she stopped, "Here we are. I recognised the parking spot from the morning. "Is your boat near?
"A couple of minutes.
"Good. Tie me tight. This way it looks like you forced me to come.
"But you could be here for days before they find you. I had an idea. "Take my cell phone. Give me an hour and then ring to tell them where you are.
"Okay Len. Hurry now. No knowing when they'll figure something out. Thank you for risking your life for me. I still can't believe it.
"One more thing, I said through the open window, "How come I've never heard of this island?
"We don't publicise ourselves, obviously. Surrounding nations are terrified of us. If we had an army, it would be invincible. By international agreement, we don't appear on any maps. GPS has been modified to lead people round us. I'm guessing that your GPS on your yacht is broken.
"Quite right! I was astonished. "What about¦.
"No more questions now. You really must go. Thanks for the phone. She smiled.
I went round to her window and put my head in and kissed her. My heart ached. I was so impressed by this girl.
"Goodbye. Thanks for getting me away.
I turned and hurried away, back to my dingy and to the boat. I headed out of the bay and round the headland so as to be out of sight¦

Later that evening, I sat on the deck with a beer mulling over some mind-blowing concepts. Would I want to know when I was to die? Was Alice right about another vehicle? Could Alice and I have a future together? But always wondering. Did she see the possibilities of the phone? Did she want to? "No more questions now.
The cabin phone rang. I answered.
"Hi, it's Alice.