Countermeasures, Pt. 9 of 25.

          Cliff watched the moon's watery reddish image gradually sink below the horizon before going back inside into his suite.  He was doing much thinking about the events of the day and was considerably restless.  He felt there was a strange evil presence surrounding him and that it was going to strike the inhabitants of the warm tropical island, but the fact that he did not know how, when, or where sent a chill up his spine.  He pictured the mermaids in his mind while thinking of the evil force and felt it was his responsibility to tell or warn the people of their presence -- somehow.  Who would believe him?  What could he do?  

          He looked at his camera with its contents nearby that he had stored in the evening after Jocelyn's dreadful experience and thought of John Silverman.  If there was anyone on the island who would believe him, he would.  Now was the chance to prove his story to others, he thought.  John would have to believe him.

          A few minutes later, he was walking down a hall toward suite number ten.  He had his camera tucked under his left arm, and passing Jocelyn's suite, he saw the "do not disturb" sign on her doorknob and assumed she was asleep.  She had ample reason to be.  He was so glad and lucky she was safe.

          When he reached John's suite door, he heard voices inside his room.  He felt better that he would not be alone with him and knocked twice on the door.  It opened shortly, and upon facing him said, "I have something here that may be of interest to you, Mr. Silverman.  May I come in?"

          He opened the door wider and let him in.  After shutting it behind him, he said, "I had a feeling that I'd be seeing you one of these days, Cliff.  What have you got?"

          "Is this a good time to show it?  I mean, if you're busy now, I'll -- "

          "No problem," he assured.  "These are my friends and co-workers on this project.  This is Donald Seth and his associate, Tom Macklin.  His secretary, Patricia, is behind you.  What do you have there?"  

          He reached to his right for a chair, briefly looking about.  He noticed Tom was tall and lean, whereas Donald was considerably more heavy-set and powerful, being more aged.  At least a decade of time separated the two.  Donald's secretary looked very plain. She had short brown hair and wore large librarian-type glasses with thick oval lenses for correcting myopia.  Her attire simply looked out of style for the Bahamas; she held a notepad and remained silent and inert to his presence.  

          Setting the equipment down and turning back to John, he replied, "I may have pictures of your aquatic extraterrestrials here."

          "Is that right?"

          "Yes, and you probably won't believe me if I told you that I was attacked by them with my model during a shoot this afternoon."

          "You mean Jocelyn?"  

          "Y-yes.  You met her this morning.  She, I, and my photo assistant were going to have supper together, but I cancelled it after that ugly experience.  Besides, Aimee never showed up anyway," he replied.

          "Who is Aimee?" Donald said.

          "She's another of my models and is usually my photo assistant.  She helps Jocelyn underwater when she does her stunts and drowning acts."

          "So, Jocelyn is an actress of sorts too.  Where is she now?"  John said again.

          "She's in her room all tuckered out.  I don't think we'll be talking to her tonight."

          "You said that you and her were attacked.  Did you see what they looked like?"

          "Well, yes, but . . .  you probably won't believe what they looked like," he replied, showing skepticism.  

          "Try us, Cliff."

          "Mer-maids.  They all looked like . . . mermaids."

          Nobody laughed when they heard his detailed descriptions.  John and Donald looked surprised at first and then looked at each other.  They knew his comparison matched precisely what they saw earlier in the year and eliminated any doubts about the validity of his experience.  They wanted to know more then.  

          "Did they hurt Jocelyn in any way, Cliff?"  

          "I'm not completely sure, John.  She was enjoying herself underwater, and when I went to join her, they were covering her in some kind of binding green glop that came out of their mouths and expanded.  It kept her from drowning but also kept her trapped and helpless.  What was really weird was the way and speed that it evaporated when I got her out of the water.  It even came out of her lungs, and she could breathe air again.  I was so glad then!"  

          "She is a very fortunate woman.  Donald and I lost our wives to them and -- "

          "I love Jocelyn very much, and when I saw them taking her away, I had to fight to get her back.  I won't let anything on this Earth or anywhere else take her from me!" he more emotionally continued.

          "I do not think that what's been happening to so many people in the water over the world so strangely is earth-related," John remarked.

          "If what you told us about that 'glop' of theirs is true, our wives may not be dead, as we previously thought.  We just might be able to get them back alive."  

          "That's right, Don!  They may be holding Ingrid, Sharol, and who knows how many others captive somewhere up there, using them for only God knows what.  With your help, Cliff, we can and will get our missing wives back," John added.

          "How can I then be of service?  Those things are at home in the water and are deadly."

          "You can show us what's on that disc and tell us where you were working first.  Tome will help you view its details better on his computer.  You can describe the basics.  Patricia will take down notes and record what is said."  

          "She smiled faintly at him with confidence and clicked her pen three times fast and loud.  A short time later, they had the room dimmed some and were viewing the monitor with better contrast.  Patricia sat by a shielded light at the opposite side of the room and began to go to work.  All sat down and were full of anticipation as the digital slideshow began.

          The computer CD revealed a little more than he could actually see at the time the pictures were taken, with the help of some enhancement effects.  Still, details in them were near or at the limit of visibility; he explained that he could not approach them too close without being detected.  The pictures were viewed carefully over nearly thirty minutes and were tantalizingly convincing.  The last picture even showed an intriguing hint of a submarine craft resting on the bottom in deep water.  The computer was shut off afterward, when the pictures of Jocelyn inside the glass trunk appeared, and the room lights were brightened.  

          "That was very interesting, Cliff.  Something's there in some of the shots.  It looked like there were two of the mermaids carrying some elongated mass with a body inside away," John said.  "You have any idea what it could have been?"  

          "Your guess is as good as mine, John."

          Donald spoke next.  "I noticed the last image showed what looked like some kind of submarine.  How deep down do you suppose it was?"  

          "Oh, I'd say about twenty meters, maybe just a little more."  

          "Could you show us where that thing would be approximately located by boat?"  

          "Sure.  It's just past the reef.  Using landmarks and GPS, I could easily get there again.  Why?"

          "Because with your help, we are going to carry out an assault on that thing when it is most vulnerable," John  said.  "Hopefully take one of them alive too."  

          Cliff turned to him expressing doubt.  "Just how do you plan to do that?"  

          "That thing has many mermaid aliens in it, and I am convinced that in the very near future, they will carry out an attack from beneath the water on the shore of this resort island and take more people away.  We must therefor attack their ship when they are invading the shore.  It will be most vulnerable then, when most or perhaps all of its occupants will be gone doing their barbaric mission unaware of our intentions.  They would never expect an attack from us air breathers above them," he explained.  

          "Why do I have to be so involved in this operation of yours?  Jocelyn needs me now more than ever."  

          "Because you found them here already, and it is your responsibility to help us fight them off here in any way we can.  Think of how they abused Jocelyn.  Right now, it is WE who need you more than ever to enable proper countermeasures against them.  Jocelyn is a big girl and can take care of herself, now that she's safe and stays out of the sea."

          Cliff delivered a stern look when he mentioned Jocelyn's status but readily understood him.  He would love her, not spoil and overly care for her, as if she was some mere little doll.  She would in turn understand him too.  He knew that he was also right regarding their great need of him, for he was their only link to their discovering the fates of their loved ones and the other missing people.  He came upon the exact location of where the aquatic enemy was based.  

          While Cliff put away the computer disc with the pictures, John turned to Donald and said, "Do you have the necessities for our assault?"  

          "Yes, John.  I have the SCUBA gear and weapons on board the yacht all ready, and I could even get a hold of some good explosives by tomorrow night."  

          "Good job!  I wouldn't mind having some extra clout when we get into their environment," he replied.  "Do you have anything to report, Tom, that could be connected to them?"  

          "Aside from the mysterious disappearances of people scattered throughout the world, NAVY fighter planes recently reported on military radio frequencies of seeing a glowing UFO underwater about one hundred kilometers southeast of Miami.  They followed it while flying low for nearly five minutes before losing sight of the thing."

          "Hmmm, interesting.  Right in this area.  Is that all?"

          "No.  The giant Arecibo radio observatory in Puerto Rico picked up an anomalous signal from Saturn a little less than a week ago.  It was strong, very well organized, and lasted almost an hour, John.  It even got a few other professional astronomers turning their big scopes at the planet."

          "Anything unusual about it?

          "Nothing at all, visually," Patricia informed.  

          "I wonder what that signal meant," Donald curiously commented.  

          "I don't know, Don, but I intend to get to the bottom of all this yet," John retorted.  "Anything else?"

          "A teenaged girl was reported missing just today by her parents.  Her name is Lisa Ramsis," Patricia said.  "The circumstances of her disappearance were VERY odd, as described by her younger sister, Carmen."    

          "Oh?"

          "Yes.  Her sister said she saw her sealed in some sort of big bag and lifted into the air in it by a small flying saucer type of thing above her.  In her own words, she said that she could not talk and could barely move within it, and when she started to go for help, it just took her away quietly.  However, those details were not put on the local news."

          "Now, THAT is strange!  I'll bet those alien mermaids will launch their attack any day, maybe even any hour.  You've got to show us where you took those pictures, Cliff, so we can stake out the place with Don's yacht.  We must be ready!  When they make their sneaky move, we'll make ours."

          "Don't worry!  I'll have my two other assistants watch the resort beach while we conduct our surveillance."

          "Good!  The timing of their nefarious attack will coordinate ours, and we'll show them just what four good strong men can really do properly prepared."  

          "And one good alert woman," Patricia quickly said.

          They abruptly turned and looked back at the ordinary petite secretary, also staring confidently at them though her large reflecting glasses, and no one knew exactly what to say.  She had taken them by surprise, as they did not expect the professionally-dressed, business-type woman to want any kind of direct involvement with their perilous counterattack.  There was a long pause, before John finally said, "Um, sure, and one . . . good woman too."  


Continued to Pt. 10.