The Mayflower - Ch. 2

Assignment # 2 – Crucial Discoveries

Don’t take the deal.

Cpt. Jack Ferrell sat on his bunk, gloomily mulling over those four words. What deal? Apparently he was going to make a decision, strike a bargain with someone that would eventually result in their destruction. But, how was it even possible that he’d heard his own voice? Where had they found that other ship?

As he ran his fingers through his salt and pepper hair, he began to consider the ramifications of such a warning. He’d now be second guessing all decisions he makes, and if they were to meet with other people in this vast universe, there’d always be an underlying distrust. It would make him more cautious in all future bargains he’d undoubtedly have to make; such caution could also prove detrimental. Jack sighed with inner disquiet and leaned back on his bunk.

Louisa had been beside herself. She’d told him time and again that it couldn’t be him. She’d pointed out that in order for it to be his voice, there would have had to have been some type of time-travel involved. She was a disbeliever in science fiction, to which Jack pointed out that travelling through space in a space craft was very science fiction in itself. Nothing was beyond the realm of possibility in his mind.
It had been four days since they’d heard the eerie warning; Jack, Louisa and Kent had decided that it was best they kept the cryptic message to themselves. There was no need to spread panic and uncertainty among the people on the ship. It would cause nothing but trouble.

“Sir!” Kent Slayer burst unceremoniously into Ferrell’s room. Jack was about to scold him for not knocking, but the frenzied look in Slayer’s eyes stilled his tongue. Kent was usually a man full of composure, his demeanour typically stoic. Ferrell couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen any emotion in the young man’s dark gray eyes but today they seemed torn between panic and excitement.

“Sir, you have got to see this!”



“You are the picture of perfect health.” Dr. Colton Brady smiled as he flipped through his chart. Nicky Vance, who was sitting on a bench in Brady’s office, breathed a sigh of relief at the statement. The room was small, one of the smaller in the ship, and reserved as Dr. Brady’s medical office and personal sleeping quarters. The walls were the typical muted gray but Dr. Brady had hung a single photograph of a young woman by the door. 

Nicky had been trying to get onto the military team aboard the ship. Since he’d been on board, he’d passed his time sparring with the other military boys and found the practise both exhilarating and stress reducing. On earth, he’d been a frightened youth who just went along with whatever life had thrown his way. He decided this new life, though monotonous and melancholy was a way he could reinvent himself. He wanted to make a difference. Kent Slayer had said it would be alright, provided he passed a physical exam.

“That’s great, Dr. Brady!” Nicky said excitedly.

Colton pulled out a sheet of paper affirming his health and Nicky snatched it giving it a quick once over. Colton smothered a smirk at the teenager’s exuberance. He was warmed by the fact that the young man could find something so exciting, given the enormity of their circumstance. Losing earth, being on a ship in the middle of space was a lot for some to handle. Nicky Vance was taking it all in stride.

“Just bring that paper to Kent Slayer.” Dr. Brady said, indicating the sheet in Nicky’s hand. “He’ll get you set up with the other army brats on the other side of the ship.”

Nicky was about to turn and dash out the door, he knew Kent Slayer spent most of his time lately in the ship’s cockpit. The Senior Officer used to come and watch the sparring matches all the time; he’d stand on the sidelines with his arms crossed behind his back staring at the competitors. It had made Nicky uneasy at first; he typically shied away under such scrutiny, but he pushed through it and soon came to realise Slayer was just keeping an eye on his men. Possibly even gauging future recruits.

“How is Becca doing?” Dr. Brady’s question halted him before he could take a step.

“Not much has changed,” Nicky admitted, turning to face the doctor again. “She’s still quiet, moping about the ship. Mrs. Tyler has been talking to her, trying to help get her spirits up, but she just sits and stares.”

It was an understatement. Nicky hadn’t heard one word from her since they’d awoken in the medical bay that fateful first day. Every time he’d seen her, she’d been silent and staring. She’d walk around the ship sometimes, gazing off into space like there was nothing going on around her. It seemed to Nicky like Becca was in a trance. Mrs. Tyler was constantly trying to get the girl out of her entranced cocoon, but nothing seemed to work.

Dr. Brady nodded and gave a weak smile. He was trying to wear an expression of professional indifference, but Nicky could sense the man’s concern. In fact, it seemed that concern was the rampant emotion throughout the entire ship.

Nicky left Dr. Brady’s office and started towards the cockpit. He was eager to hand over the forms and get started on his training. Maybe they’d even let him fire a gun! He’d never done that before. It seemed he hadn’t done much in his sixteen years, and a lot that he wouldn’t be able to do. He’d wanted to windsurf, skydive, and explore Gaza and the Outback. None of those were possible now and he regretted the time he’d wasted in his youth not doing anything. He’d been so comfortable in his every day complacency that he’d forgotten to live.

As Nicky charged past, he spotted Becca in the mess hall. She was seated in a far corner gazing dolefully into space. She looked drab and unkempt, her red hair pulled back in a half hazard ponytail. Mrs. Tyler sat next to her. She’d taken to reading aloud from her textbook when she failed to engage Becca’s attention.

When Nicky had most recently visited Becca and Mrs. Tyler, he had been nearly overwhelmed with a crushing despair. It had felt like his stomach had been turning inside out; he’d felt hopeless and incredibly distraught. Mrs. Tyler had voiced her fears that Becca might be lost to her anguish. She said that she’d taken to reading from her textbooks, just so Becca would have a familiar voice to hold onto. A beacon in darkness, she’d referred to it as.

A sudden lurch nearly knocked Nicky off his feet. He reached an arm out to steady himself against the wall. He could feel it vibrating and instinctively knew that meant the ship had picked up speed. Nicky stuffed the sheet of paper in his pocket and started to run towards the cockpit. There was something going on; he needed to find out what.



For a second time that week, Jack Ferrell was rendered speechless. It was becoming apparent to him that there was a gap in the ship’s security features. If sights such as these could just seemingly pop out of thin air without any security forewarning, there was a loophole somewhere. He was staring at an island.

It was a huge sheet of rock shaped somewhat like a jagged green ice cream cone. The top was covered in what looked to Jack like foliage. He could see no water; just a lush green that came to an abrupt end around the edges, beneath the island-like surface hung sharp spires that reminded Jack of hanging stalactites in caves, except granite. The island was being orbited by a tiny star and a tiny moon.
Exploding spaceships and floating islands, Jack thought ruefully to himself. We definitely need a security upgrade.

“Why wasn’t I notified of this earlier?” Jack demanded.

“Sir,” Louisa said as she stood off to the side with Muriel Egglestaff. Jack was surprised to hear his wife address him so formally. “This island just seemed to materialise out of thin air. There was nothing on our radar and then when we looked outside, it was there.”

“Sir, If I may,” Muriel began uncertainly. Jack was unsure what Muriel was doing in the cockpit since she rarely left the medical wing, but he acknowledged her with a nod. “I recommend we commission a landing party to excavate any resources we can; there could be food, water, or medicinal supplements on that island.”

The same thought had crossed Jack’s mind. “Slayer?”

Slayer stood facing the window with one hand clenching the opposite wrist behind his back; he was staring out at the island. “There doesn’t seem to be any sentient life. None that’s apparent anyways.” He turned a dark look to Jack. “It doesn’t mean there is none there. Any landing will be dangerous, but with the amount of greenery I’m confident we should be able to breathe.”

A sudden shaft of blinding white light burst from the island. It pierced through the night and enveloped the ship. Jack blinked his eyes furiously trying to regain his sight, when the ship suddenly lurched forward. He could hear the startled cries from the others as they were swept off their feet. Jack stumbled forward and felt a brutal stunning impact. He felt blood trickling down his temple as his world slid into darkness.



Mrs. Tyler was still trying to gather her wits after the sudden jolt had knocked her to the floor. She’d been reading casually from the textbook one moment and had been thrown to the floor like a sack of bricks the next. Becca had simply sat and stared, seemingly unaffected. She pressed her hands against the floor to push herself up and noticed that it was vibrating. She’d never felt it do that before.

Becca suddenly let out a scream of unbridled terror. She suddenly leapt to her feet and raced for the door, leaving Mrs. Tyler to stare after her for a dumbfounded moment. The other people in the mess hall seemed as astounded as she was. They watched her go and as one had turned to look back at Mrs. Tyler who was still on the floor.

Mrs. Tyler pushed herself to her feet and dashed after the girl. She was deeply concerned for Becca’s mental health. Before they’d been taken, Becca Rae had been charming and exuberant. She had loved to laugh; she’d had many friends and had been incredibly intelligent. Now she was a shell of her former self. She lacked any of the traits that had defined her as a youth. It made Mrs. Tyler sad.

When Becca was in school, she’d reminded Mrs. Tyler of her own daughter. They both were outgoing and friendly. They were both intelligent and even shared the same blue eye color. Thinking of Hannah only added to Mrs. Tyler’s sadness, so she pushed those thoughts away as she searched for the screaming girl.

It wasn’t difficult; she could hear Becca’s terrified screams and simply had to follow the sound. She was unsure why after all this time of stoic detachment her first response would be fear. No, it was more than simply fear. Her scream had sounded primal, it had sounded filled with dread. It was definitely more than fear.

When she found Becca the girl was weeping. She was on her knees facing away from the door, her shoulders shuddering with inconsolable sobs. They were in someone’s room, but Mrs. Tyler didn’t know whose. The room had been torn apart. The mattress leaned against one wall, the locker emptied, there were papers scattered on the floor. Mrs. Tyler was stunned the girl had time to make such a mess in such a short time.

She took a step forward and noticed something in the girl’s hand. It was about the size and shape of a goose egg. It was a milky orange color and seemed to pulsate in Becca`s hand. When she leaned in for a closer inspection she realized it wasn`t pulsating. The surface of the object was moving; it twisted and whirled with different shades of orange at different intervals. It reminded her of a choppy sea, the motion had simply made it seem like it was pulsating.

“What do you have there, Becca?” Mrs. Tyler asked quietly. The sobbing girl threw her head back and laughed. Mrs. Tyler could only stare in shock as Becca sobbed with hysterical laughter. The girl vibrated and gasped, she was laughing so hard. It was the first time Mrs. Tyler had seen someone so overtaken by glee. Becca shook her head back and forth, a ravenous look in her eyes.

Becca screamed with a high-pitched, fevered, gale of laughter and clutched the milky orange object to her chest. There were tears streaming down her face as she shook with rapturous joy. Mrs. Tyler stared at the girl holding the strange object, certain she’d gone mad.



The milky white light in the window was the first thing Nicky noticed as he ran into the cockpit. It covered the entire view, illuminating the cockpit with a silver incandescence. The sense of fear and urgency in the room was palpable. He spotted Muriel Egglestaff and Louisa Marsh kneeling around an unconscious Jack Ferrell. Muriel was dabbing at his temple, while Marsh held his hand.

“Sir!” Nicky rushed to Kent Slayer’s side. The man stood near the glass staring at the white light that had enclosed them. Slayer gave him a hard glare.

“What are you doing in here?” Slayer’s voice was clipped and to the point.

“Sir, I’ve passed the exam.” Nicky explained as he rifled through his pocket for the paper. He handed it over to Slayer who gave it a brief glance. Slayer nodded and folded the paper neatly, tucking it in his shirt pocket.

“Very well, you may go.” Slayer said dismissively. “Move your things into the military wing. There’s an extra bed in room G.”

“Sir, what’s going on?” Nicky couldn’t help but ask. He could almost feel the tension radiating off the man. His eyes betrayed nothing, but Nicky knew the man was worried. They all were. Nicky heard a stifled gale of laughter from somewhere else on the ship. Perhaps not everyone was worried after all.

Nicky suddenly grabbed onto a guardrail as the ship suddenly came to a halt. His stomach heaved with the motion and he was struck with a dizzying sense of vertigo. The silvery light vanished and was replaced by a softer, yet somehow brighter light. Slayer made a low grunting noise, which sounded to Nicky like a self-affirmation.

He noticed the white milky light was gone from the windows, and when he gazed out he was thunderstruck. They were on a large grassy plain! To his right he could see the beginning of what looked like a forest, and trees forked high into a black sky. He was struck dumb by how immense the trees looked, even in the distance. The grass which was a brownish-green color, stood still; there was no wind to rustle the grass about.

With the lack of movement outside, the area looked deserted. Louisa and Muriel sidled up beside them also staring out in wonder. They’d landed. Nicky then realised that none of them knew the answer to his question. None of them knew what was going on.

He heard another gale of laughter from behind him as he stared out into the plain.