Author: Kirk Straughen
Synopsis: Jason Mariner has been hired to convey an expedition to the island of Aratoba to investigate mysterious happenings there. Weird perils await the daring explorers. Conflict divides the group, and the rampant jungle conceals a dark secret that, in the wrong hands, would be a force for unspeakable evil.
Edit history: Minor changes were made to this story on 5 June 2021
Chapter 1: The Shores of Aratoba
“I hope you don’t mind me saying so Professor Huss, but I still think you’re on a wild goose chase.”
Otto Huss regarded Captain Jason Mariner with an air of mild annoyance and contempt.
“Captain,” replied the tall German in impeccable English. “I know you regard the recent native accounts of monsters inhabiting this island as mere superstition, but something made them all flee this place.
“You have brought us safely to the shores of Aratoba. All that should concern you now is your return for us at the end of the month. I remind you that we require only your services, not your uninformed opinions.”
The Englishman’s stocky body tensed at this uncouth reply, and his craggy features hardened. Clenching his fists, he stepped aggressively towards Huss. The two men had clashed from the moment they met, and the Professor’s abrasive personality had finally worn away his self-control.
So, the English dog dares to bare his fangs, thought Huss as he threw the first punch. The blow grazed Mariner’s cheek as he weaved and swiftly countered with a solid right to his opponent’s jaw, felling him to the earth.
Huss was down, but far from out. Rolling to his feet he flung a handful of sand in Mariner’s face and sprung upon him, hands locking about his throat. Mariner, who had shut his eyes in time, tensed the muscles of his neck, and stepped back to regain his balance. Then, clasping his hands he whipped them up between the German’s arms, breaking his strangling grip, and brought one fist down with sledgehammer force upon his adversary’s balding skull with such force that it sent him crashing to the sand.
Mariner glared down at Huss, a feeling of immense satisfaction welling up inside him.
“Stop it, both of you,” cried a feminine voice, breaking the tense scene. “You’re behaving like unruly children.”
Mariner turned from the German, who was struggling to rise, and saw Mara Huss, his daughter and assistant, striding towards them. She had a face and figure most women would die for, and Mariner relaxed at the sight of her. The trip from Manus Island to Aratoba had been bearable only because of her distracting presence. He liked her a lot, but sadly realized time and circumstance were against anything serious developing.
I wonder if I should apologize for striking her father, he thought, but then decided against it. Huss had been a pain in the arse from the outset, and it was only his need for money that had made him reluctantly agree to ferry the expedition to the island.
Following closely behind Mara was Ma-Ku*, her Chinese maidservant, shading her mistress with a white parasol. Mariner couldn’t help but notice the contrast between the two girls – Mara was tall, full figured and flirtatious, whereas Ma-Ku was slim and quiet, with rather plain features. The only similarity was that both were dressed in practical khaki shirts, trousers, and heavy boots.
“Have our bearers finished unloading yet?’ asked Huss, as he climbed unsteadily to his feet, the fight knocked out of him, and attempting to salvage what dignity he could.
“Yes, father,” she said evenly, giving him a look that held little sympathy. “All our supplies and equipment are off the boat.”
“Very well then,” replied the Professor as he glared at Mariner with impotent rage. “We’ll see you at the end of the month.” And then, in German: “You ugly bastard.”
“Before you go Captain,” said Mara, quickly intervening before Mariner could ponder the hidden insult. “Here is something to remind you of me.”
The kiss, the very essence of desire, infused him with heady passion. Mara was similarly effected - her emotions engendered by her strong attraction to his rugged masculinity. But the passionate kiss was also intended to annoy her father in mild revenge for his constantly embarrassing behavior.
“Ah, yes. Well, thank you Miss,” stammered Mariner, as Mara stood back and surveyed him with a knowing grin. “Um, I suppose I’d best be going.”
It was a lame response, but the directness of her advance had taken him by surprise, and he was at a loss for an elegant reply.
God, I’m an ass, he thought.
Ma-Ku watched the Captain depart, as did the others. Unlike them, her demeanor, outwardly placid, did not betray her inner feelings, which ran like deep currents hidden beneath the calm surface of the sea.
The ocean felt warm against Mariner’s legs as he waded out to his boat, White Cloud, a stark contrast to Huss’s cold eyes drilling into his back as he climbed aboard. Raising the stone anchor and mat sails of the sixty-foot double outrigger; he caught the breeze and steered for the open Deep.
The Englishman gazed across the ocean, drinking in its sparkling blue expanse that stretched out in all directions, inviting him beyond the mystery of its horizon to other islands set, like emerald jewels, in its gently undulating bosom.
Looking up, he beheld the azure vault of heaven encompassing the earth, buoying up feathery clouds that drifted across its vast expanse. The sun, a blazing orb, cast its radiance over the halcyon scene, forcing him to shade his eyes from its blinding light.
It felt good to be back at sea, sailing White Cloud. He had bartered the outrigger from a native boat builder who was willing to part with it for a complete set of modern woodworking tools. It was easily handled by one man, and could cover one hundred and fifty miles per day in the open sea, quite suitable for running mail, passengers, and vital cargo, such as medical supplies, throughout the Admiralty Islands of which Aratoba was a part.
Mariner preferred life in the tropics. Here he was his own man, and felt free from the absurdities that were part and parcel of what he considered the travesty of European civilization, exemplified by Hitler’s invasion of Austria in the previous month**.
Mara waved to him as he gazed shoreward a final time, and he raised his hand in farewell. Ma-Ku glanced at her mistress; her expression betraying something for a moment. Was it jealousy? Again, she looked at the departing vessel. Was it with longing? Who can say?
Mariner sighed. The memory of Mara’s burning kiss was still fresh upon his mind, leaving him with mixed emotions – regret at leaving her, and relief to be free of Huss. Her Father, impolite as ever, had made no gesture of farewell, merely spun on his heel and stomped off, shouting orders at the four native bearers standing idly by the pile of equipment and supplies.
Poor devils, he thought. No doubt he’ll vent his spleen on them.
Mariner was about four hundred yards from the shore when a terrified scream, closely followed by a pistol shot, made him look back towards the island. The sight that met his eyes was truly chilling.
* Footnote: According to Chinese mythology, Ma-Ku was a fairy sorceress who lived in the 2nd century AD. Obviously, the girl was named after this being.
** Footnote: March 1938.
Chapter 2: Man’s Darkest Fear
For a moment Mariner sat in stunned disbelief. Then, snatching up a pair of binoculars, he trained them on the beach to better see the frightful scene unfolding before his disbelieving eyes.
The trio of giant reptiles, each at least thirty feet in length, ten feet at the shoulder, and surrounded by faint crimson auras, came into focus with terrible clarity as they rushed from the jungle and ran among the party, grabbing men and cutting them in two with a single snap of their powerful jaws.
The creatures, jet black in color with bands of vivid yellow spots across their upper bodies, were the crystallization of Man’s darkest fear – the dragon, symbol of chaos, destruction and unbridled bloodlust.
My God, was his stunned thought. Huss was right after all.
Quickly, Mariner brought White Cloud about, sailing her close-hauled to the wind, using all his nautical skill to wrest speed form the ocean breeze. He headed back to the island cursing the slowness of the boat, and sick with fear for the safety of the helpless party now being devoured before his horrified gaze.
Could he stop the huge creatures, could he save anyone from such terrible ferocity? He was assailed by doubts, but held fast to his courage, knowing there was no choice but to try.
Again he looked through the binoculars, and saw three survivors running towards the jungle – Professor Huss, his daughter and Ma-Ku. Following rapidly after the fleeing trio was a single monster, its brothers remaining behind to sate their hunger upon the mangled dead.
“Run towards to sea,” he shouted wildly, never before feeling so powerless in the face of danger.
But it did no good. The survivors had only one thought in mind – to escape the nightmarish creature that pursued them, their blind panic blotting out all else. The last glimpse he had of the trio was the slim figure of Ma-Ku as she vanished into the underbrush, the reptile hot on her heels.
Shaking himself free of the horror he felt, and realizing there was not a moment to lose, Mariner locked the tiller, opened a watertight container, and stuffed his pockets with first aid supplies and ammunition for his Lee-Enfield rifle. By now the distance had narrowed to about a hundred yards, and he could clearly see the huge creatures. They looked up from their gruesome feast, attracted by the motion of his boat.
Whistling hisses exploded from their fetid maws. Thinking that this strange marine creature meant to rob them of their meal, they launched themselves into the sea and swam with alarming rapidity towards the approaching craft.
Cold sweat stood out on Mariner as he took up position in the bow. Closer and closer came the monstrous forms, nearer and nearer the flimsy boat. The beasts were nearly as fast in water as they were on land, and he knew he must make each shot count.
Drawing a bead on the lead reptile, he fired. The bullet struck the thing a glancing blow upon its thick skull. It bellowed madly for a moment, but still came on.
Sweet Jesus, he thought. The boat’s motion is ruining my aim.
Again he fired, this time hitting the creature’s blunt but sensitive snout. Its massive body convulsed and swerved into the path of the other, colliding with it. The second beast, thinking itself under attack, turned upon its companion. Instantly, the water exploded into spray as the two mighty forms locked in unrestrained ferocity, churning the water to foam with the mad thrashing of their powerful bodies.
Mariner, seeing that he was headed directly into the path of the fighting beasts, dashed back to the tiller and altered course, barely avoiding the struggling titans, the waves thrown up by their potent thews rocking the boat with alarming force. He watched in morbid fascination as he slipped past the creatures. Each had torn great chunks of flesh from the other. Now mortally wounded, both lay feebly twitching in an ever-widening crimson stain that polluted the air with nauseous effluvia.
With a shudder, he tore his gaze from the sickening sight, lowered the sails, and allowed the craft’s momentum to carry it to shallow water where he anchored it securely. Wading ashore, he fought his way through the churning surf, praying he was not too late; averting his eyes from the ghastly remains strewn upon the sand before him.
Up the sandy beach he sprinted, quickly and easily following the reptile’s trail, for the creature’s massive bulk had smashed a path through the jungle, its heavy tread leaving a clear track through the thick verdure. After what seemed an age of unrelenting pursuit, a shot rang out, confirming the nearness of the survivors.
Thank God, thought Mariner, heart pounding wildly from his exertions, and in expectation of the horror he would find. At least someone’s still alive, but for how much longer?
An extra burst of speed carried him into a glade, and the sight that confronted him made him sick with rage.
The trio had taken shelter in a tree to escape the reptile, but their actions had gained them only temporary respite – the beast was steadily gnawing at the slim trunk, already leaning at a dangerous angle, and its powerful jaws would soon bring their refuge crashing to the ground.
Professor Huss, seeing his Luger could not stop the creature, had deliberately pushed Ma-Ku off her branch, hoping that the beast would be satisfied to feast upon her tender flesh. The girl had fallen into some bushes at the base of the tree and was now at the mercy of the ravenous dragon.
She screamed as its massive jaws swept down towards her.
Chapter 3: A Remarkable Discovery
Raising his rifle, Mariner fired as the monster’s gaping jaws descended. The shot caught the creature in the shoulder and it flung up its head, a piercing hiss bursting from its throat.
Thank God, he thought. I’ve distracted it for the moment, at least.
Turning to discern the cause of its pain, the reptile spotted Mariner and charged towards him, its eyes alive with mindless fury. He stood his ground, mastering his desire to flee before this destruction incarnate that bore down upon him, more confident of his aim on terra firma rather than a rocking boat.
Now he had a clear shot at its head. Again he fired, scoring a direct hit in the centre of its skull. The beast staggered, roared in pain and rage, but to his amazement still came on with only slightly diminished swiftness. It was almost upon him when the third bullet found its mark, felling it to the earth with ground shaking force.
Oh, God, thought Mariner, fear stabbing him as it struggled to its feet, claws churning the dark earth. Will this thing never die?
He was about to fire again when the reptile swayed like a drunken man, staggered, and then collapsed in a writhing heap at his very feet. A final shudder wracked the huge frame, and it died as gracelessly as it had lived.
Mariner stood for a moment gazing at the huge carcass. Before he had been too concerned for the other’s safety to give much thought about the danger to himself. But now he trembled inwardly with the realization of how many times he had come close to death.
Lord, this will never do, he thought as he pulled himself together, and ran towards Ma-Ku who was rising unsteadily to her feet. She stumbled, and fell against him, her shapely breasts, exposed by a rip in her shirt, touching him with distracting pressure.
“Are you badly hurt, Miss?”
“Praise be to Lao-tien-ye* that you returned in time to save us.” She replied shakily, pressing herself against him with what he thought was unnecessary vigor. “I’m all right thank you, Captain. The soft bushes saved me from all but a few scratches and bruises.”
Mariner glared up at Huss, cursing him with a stream of imprecations, and looking as if he wanted to spit more than just hard words in the German’s face.
“You cowardly bastard! Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you down like the dog you are?”
The atmosphere grew pregnant with impending death. Mara watched in fearful silence as both men gripped their weapons, glaring at each other with ill concealed hate, each hoping the other would make the first move so that self defense, rather than bloody murder could be claimed.
“I slipped, that is all,” said Ma-Ku, placing a restraining hand on Mariner’s arm, further diverting his attention by allowing her shirt to gape. “We can’t afford to fight among ourselves when surrounded by such danger. Oh, our poor bearers, there has been enough death today.”
Of course the girl knew Huss had pushed her but, knowing the other things she said were true, mastered her desire for immediate revenge, and sought with diplomacy and feminine charms to still the rising storm.
She glanced at the Professor, the placid mask of her expression hiding dark and vengeful thoughts. For now she could do nothing. Ah, but there were certain herbs and spells she had learnt form a native woman …
“I know what I saw, Miss,” replied Mariner, interrupting her train of thought. “But if you don’t want the matter taken further then I’ll let it rest, at least for now. All right Huss, get your arse down here. God knows I’d like to do you harm, but you have my word I won’t.”
The Germans scrambled with ill grace from the tree as Ma-Ku repaired her shirt with safety pins. Her nudity was now concealed; not so her guilty expression, as if she had taken secret pleasure in exposing herself to Mariner’s gaze.
Mara eyed her suspiciously, while the Professor pointedly ignored both Ma-Ku and the Englishman as he walked over to examine the monster’s corpse instead. Much to Mariner’s disgust, neither of the Germans seemed overly upset at the native’s grisly end.
“Now what the hell is he doing,” growled Mariner.
“Satisfying his scientific curiosity, I imagine,” answered Mara, softly. “We have you to thank for our salvation, as I am sure father realizes. Please forgive him. It was a ruthless thing to do, but he was only trying to protect me.”
Mariner eyed her, a dour expression on his face. He was thoroughly sick of Huss, and even Mara had dropped in his esteem. She gazed back at him, her large sky-blue eyes pleading for understanding, thinking: We’ll see who has the greater charms.
Ah, damn it, he thought, dropping his gaze. I’m a fool when it comes to beautiful women. Then aloud: “Very well, he can have a few minutes satisfaction, then we’re getting the hell off this crazy island.”
“Mara, come here and look at this,” called Huss, excitedly.
“Come on,” she said, grinning inwardly at her success, as she moved away. “We’d better see what he has found.”
As Ma-Ku followed her mistress, Mariner fished out a bottle of iodine and some cotton wool from his pocket.
“Here,” he said, handing the items to her. “You had better dab this on your cuts. Tropical infections are nasty things, you know.”
She thanked him and took the bottle. He was one of the few Europeans that had treated her like a human being, and she was more than a little grateful for his small acts of consideration during the cramped conditions of their days at sea.
If only, she thought. If only…
Mariner kept a concerned eye on the Chinese girl, and observed something that had previously escaped his notice, as if a veil had suddenly been lifted from his eyes.
Ma-Ku’s naked breasts had stirred his loins, true, but he saw there was more to her than that - whereas Mara strode, Ma-Ku flowed with sensuous grace. Indeed, even her simplest actions – the glance of her eyes, her smile, and the movement of her hands – were a harmony of motion expressive of subtle loveliness, which enabled her to transcend Beauty’s conventional norms. For the thoughtful man, it was a startling revelation.
“Mara, this is a truly remarkable discovery,” cried the Professor, interrupting the flow of Mariner’s thoughts. “Well Captain, does this look like a wild goose to you?”
Mariner smiled coldly at the German, but said nothing. He was in no mood to admit the Professor had been right, or that he was just as curious as Huss about the nature of the beast.
“This animal,” continued Huss, “is a Varanus doreanus finschi, a lizard found throughout the archipelago, but grown to a huge size. Also, note the anatomy of the legs – the creature does not have the sprawling gait it should, but walks upright like a mammalian quadruped. Something has accelerated its evolutionary development with remarkable rapidity.”
“You’re quite right, father. Could this be connected in some way to the faint crimson radiance?”
Further words were cut short by the ominous drone of giant wings. Ma-Ku cried a warning, but too late. An enormous dragonfly, infused with the same weird glow, struck Mara in the back. Its sharp claws dug into her clothes, and in an instant it shot into the air, carrying the screaming girl aloft and towards the smoking volcano at the island’s heart.
* Footnote: The supreme god of the Chinese pantheon. Translation: Father-Heaven.
Chapter 4: The Giant Insect
Huss whipped his Luger from its holster, and was about to fire at the creature when Mariner knocked his arm aside.
“Don’t be a fool, man. A fall from that height will kill her. Come on,” he called as he ran after the giant insect. “It can’t go far or fast carrying Mara’s weight. We can keep up with it.”
Muttering something under his breath, the German jammed his pistol back in its holster. What infuriated him most was that the English swine was right. It was a bitter pill to swallow, for Huss was a proud man, and could not abide chastisement at the hands of what to him was a lesser breed of man.
His mind swirling with dark thoughts for Mariner, and fears for Mara’s safety, he quickly ran after the Captain as Ma-Ku followed close behind, equally concerned for the helpless girl, and silently calling on her gods to save them all.
Mariner forced his way through the tropical verdure that, like a voluptuous woman luxuriating in her own fecundity, had spread in untrammeled exuberance across the island’s earthy couch. Desperately, he sought to keep up with the dragonfly, cursing himself for not ordering their immediate departure from this nightmarish place.
Leafy branches failed him with stinging blows as he crashed through their hindering limbs, and many times he barely saved himself from a disastrous fall as he sought to keep his eyes divided between ground and sky.
The aerial creature was all but invisible, concealed by the jungle canopy, and only occasionally did he catch a glimpse of sunlight flashing from the metallic sheen of its ten-foot wings.
Spurred on and guided by Mara’s screams, he pushed his tired muscles to the limit of endurance, and was rewarded with the sight of the dragonfly descending towards the base of a small waterfall. The thing landed clumsily by the banks of the foaming stream, still clutching Mara tightly in its claws.
Thank God, he thought. I don’t think I could run another step.
Mariner realized it would be foolish to risk the girl’s life with a shot. He was drenched with sweat, his limbs were trembling with exhaustion, and he knew he couldn’t trust his aim. Rallying his flagging strength, he raised his rifle and closed with the monster, intending to crush its head with the butt of the weapon.
However, in his haste to rescue the girl, Mariner failed to notice that size was not the only difference between the giant insect and its smaller cousins. When he came within range it turned towards him, a living machine, a thing of deadly beauty armored in green chitin of metallic luster. The large eyes, shimmering with rainbow light, regarded Mariner with sinister intent. Suddenly, arching its tail like a scorpion, it sent its sting plunging down towards his brawny chest.
The deadly barb was a blur of motion as it arrowed towards him, but Mariner managed to block the thrust with the butt of his rifle, the force of the impact sending him staggering back. The dragonfly advanced and the man retreated, luring it away from the frightened girl.
Again it sought him with its sting, but this time he leapt aside and fired point blank into its head. The rifle’s deafening roar erupted in the silence, blasting the insect’s head to gory fragments. The creature staggered, then tumbled into the stream, its demise witnessed by the Professor and Ma-Ku who had only now caught up with him.
Shouldering past Mariner, Huss ran to his daughter, who had risen weakly to an elbow.
“I’m not badly hurt, father,” she said as he knelt beside her, and hugged her to him. “The claws of that thing hooked mostly into my clothes rather than my flesh. I think my wounds are only shallow cuts.”
Naturally, the girl was badly shaken by her ordeal, but put on a brave face. She knew better than to show too many signs of weakness in front of her father, who believed in the supremacy of the German race.
“Ma-Ku,” snapped the Professor, rising to his feet, relieved that Mara was not badly hurt. “Attend your mistress while I examine the insect. Clean her injuries with the iodine the Captain gave you. If I find you’ve wasted it all on yourself I’ll be most displeased.”
The Chinese girl wearily brushed a strand of hair from her eyes and, with an air of resignation, sat down next to Mara. The train of alarming events had left her near to collapse, both mentally and physically.
Mariner walked over to the pair, feeling sorry for both of them, but not really knowing what words of comfort he could offer. Sitting down heavily beside Ma-Ku, he handed her a packet of sterile bandages, another bottle of antiseptic, and then began to reload his rifle.
“Thank you Captain,” she said with a smile, his reassuring presence drawing her out of herself. “My mistress must remove her clothes for me to treat her injuries, so …”
“You can stay, if you like,” interrupted Mara, grinning mischievously. “And thanks for saving my life. It was very heroic.”
Her flirtatiousness in this case was mostly a facade, a brazen persona she erected to hide her own fears engendered by the lurid drama that was unfolding with chilling reality upon the island’s stage.
Mariner returned her grin, seeing her offer for what it was. “I think I’d better go and keep an eye on your father,” he replied as he hastily stood and moved away.
The two girls watched him depart, Mara thinking erotic thoughts; Ma-Ku, stabbed by jealousy, was looking forward to applying the stinging iodine to her Mistress’s cuts and, at the same time, ashamed of her own feelings.
I’ll allow the girls a few minutes rest, thought Mariner, Then we’re leaving, and to hell with any objections Huss may have Then, looking about at the reeking jungle: God knows what other monstrosities are lurking out there.
Turning his attention to Huss, he watched the man wading out in midstream to examine the monstrous dragonfly, and shook his head in disgust, thinking: He’s more interested in that bloody thing than his daughter.
Suddenly, Huss seemed to lose interest in the insect. Instead, he stooped over and stared intently at something in the stream. Plunging his hands into the water he struggled with a partially buried object, finally pulling out a roughly spherical rock the size of a soccer ball - an ebon rock that was surrounded by an aura of crimson light.
Chapter 5: A Dark Design
“Sweet Jesus,” gasped Mariner. “What is that thing?”
“It’s a meteorite,” replied Huss, excitedly. “The glow must be some sort of radiation, and if I’m not mistaken it’s the cause of the mutated creatures we’ve encountered. This stream must be contaminated with unknown elements from the rock, and any animal or insect that drinks from or breeds in the water absorbs the radioactivity, and is thus transformed. This would also account for the crimson aura that surrounds the beasts.”
Staggering ashore under the weight of the meteorite, he dropped it near Mara, and began an animated conversation with her in German, his eyes aglow with fanatical zeal as he thought of the use to which his discovery could be put.
“Huss, are you crazy?” shouted Mariner. “Keep that thing away from the girls and yourself. It could be dangerous.”
“If it was dangerous it would have killed the animals, not evolved them into superior forms,” replied Huss, with a dismissive air. “Besides, the fact that we haven’t spotted a huge number of mutations indicates a lengthy exposure is required before hereditary changes occur. If this explanation doesn’t satisfy you, then go cower in the bushes.”
Mariner stifled a sharp reply, turned on his heel and left. He knew if he stayed a moment longer he’d explode and hit the German so hard the man probably wouldn’t get up, and he was determined not to be provoked further by Huss’s rancid tongue, which goaded him to stain his hands with blood.
Wandering over to the small fern-choked ravine into which the stream flowed, Mariner sat on a log with his back to the group. He breathed deeply, letting the anger drain out of his body, desperately thinking: God, how am I going to protect the girls from Huss’s arrogant stupidity.
Presently, Ma-Ku joined him.
“Captain,” she whispered as she glanced furtively over her shoulder, badly frightened, but feeling what she knew was more important than her own safety. “I must speak to you about Professor Huss.”
“Go on,” prompted Mariner, with a sinking feeling.
“I was educated at a mission school run by Germans, and understand the language far better than those two realize. The Professor is a Nazi sympathizer and plans to give the meteorite to Hitler’s scientists so they can use it to breed a race of supermen*. Oh, Captain, I’m so afraid, I’ve heard terrible things about these Nazis.”
“So have I. Don’t worry, Ma-Ku,” he replied grimly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, bitterly realizing that even in this remote corner of the world, he could not escape the madness that Europe was breeding. “If that’s the case then I’ll make sure that rock never leaves this island. But what of Mara, how does she feel about her father’s plans?”
“She is in complete agreement with them,” answered a cool voice from behind. “I’ve got you covered; now slowly put your rifle down.”
Ma-Ku gasped and gripped Mariner’s arm. They both turned and saw Mara behind them, a Luger held in her unwavering hand. Mariner was not easily frightened, but it was the expression on her face, not the gun, that made him so. She seemed to have stepped outside the realm of humanity, and entered some dark fantasy that had seduced her from the brotherhood of Man.
“Well Captain, I’m glad to see you have enough sense to lower your weapon, but do you have enough sense to join our glorious enterprise? The Third Reich needs strong men such as you, as do I.”
“And Ma-Ku, what of her?” Asked Mariner, glancing at the Chinese girl, whose mind and body were paralyzed by the rigid coils of fear.
“There is no place for the lesser races in our plans.”
“I see,” said Mariner, revulsion plainly evident in his voice. He continued, his anger making him foolishly honest: “Well, racists may claim to be members of a better breed, but I have found their words and deeds prove the very opposite. I’m afraid your Nazi ideology leaves me cold.”
“Look at what I’m offering you, you fool,” cried Mara, ripping open her blouse to reveal the pertness of her naked breasts. “Or can it be that you prefer that yellow bitch?”
Mariner looked away, disgusted not by the sight of bare flesh, but because her naked soul stood revealed in all its dark design. He wondered how he could have been so blind.
“My God, it's true,” cried Mara in disbelief as she grabbed Ma-Ku by the hair and hauled the sobbing girl erect. Holding the Luger to Ma-Ku’s head, she tore the girl’s shirt in a frenzy of rage, exposing her firm breasts, and then cruelly raked them with her nails.
Mariner leapt to his feet as Ma-Ku screamed. With a curse he lunged at the German girl, knocked the pistol from her hand, and attempted to wrestle her into submission.
Mara fought back. Still remembering the wrestling moves of her elder brothers she had fought in tomboyish fashion, she grabbed Mariner’s arm, pulled him off balance, and threw him across her hip and to the ground with stunning force.
Ma-Ku, seeing that Mariner was in peril of his life, shook off her fear and leapt upon Mara as she lunged for the fallen pistol. Both girls went down in a tangled heap, biting and scratching one another like frenzied beasts.
Mariner struggled to rise, saw the Professor running towards them, a Luger in his hand. The Englishman gouged out a stone from the dirt, hurled it with desperate force at the German and was rewarded with the sight of his foe doubling over as the missile struck his belly.
Turning, he saw Mara crouching over Ma-Ku like a wild thing, bereft of all humanity, rendered thus by unbridled racism. The Chinese girl had been subdued, writhing in helpless agony as Mara’s strong white teeth clamped down upon her nipple. Mariner leapt to intervene, but before he could reach Ma-Ku the pistol in Mara’s hand echoed her cry of vicious hate.
The bullet struck Mariner like an iron fist. He staggered backwards clutching his chest, tripped upon a root and tumbled into the ravine where oblivion’s black curtain descended upon him.
*Footnote: Huss was probably referring to the Lebensborn (spring of life), a eugenics organization founded in Germany, 1935, for the purpose of breeding a ‘pure’ Aryan race.
Chapter 6: Impending Cataclysm
Mariner groaned. He opened his eyes and found himself lying at the bottom of the gully. His head ached, and he winced upon touching the spot where a rock, hidden among the ferns, had struck it as he rolled down the declivity. His fingers came away sticky with blood.
I should be dead by rights, he thought, touching his chest where the shot had found its mark. He felt the small but thick book he had hurriedly stuffed in his pocket, and removed it. The bullet had penetrated all but the last few pages.
Well, I can truly say a first aid manual saved my life, was his amused thought.
Sobering, Mariner climbed unsteadily to his feet and looked about. He was alone and unarmed. Fear for Ma-Ku’s safety tore at him like a savage beast, and all about the lush vegetation was mute to his inquiring gaze.
A woman’s scream suddenly shattered the humid stillness of the jungle, the frantic cry jarring his taut nerves.
Again, the wild shout rang out, spurring him to action. Madly, he struggled out of the shallow ravine. Bursting through a tangle of vines, he came upon a chilling scene. Ma-Ku had been bound stark naked to a tree, and three mosquitoes as large as hawks were clinging to her writhing form, preparing to drive their proboscises deep into her flesh.
Snapping off a branch he dashed to the girl and swatted one glowing insect from her, breaking it in half. The other two took flight, whining angrily around him. One landed on his back, and he threw himself to the ground, crushing it beneath his weight.
Rolling to his feet, Mariner glimpsed the remaining mosquito resettling upon Ma-Ku’s belly. He reached the girl in a single bound, tore the horrid thing from her and cast it to the earth where he stomped it to a pulp.
“Praise be to Lao-tien-ye you’re still alive,” gasped the girl as he cut her free with his pocket-knife and caught her slim, but well formed body in his arms. “There is no time to lose, the Germans have the meteorite and are heading for your boat.”
He clung to her tightly, and she to him. His mind was swirling with contrary emotions – vast relief that she was safe, implacable hatred for the beasts that could do such a thing.
Who are the true monsters? was his worrying thought. If men would know the Devil, then perhaps all they need do is look at one another.
An ominous rumble interrupted further reflection. Looking inland towards the source of the thunderous sound, Mariner saw black smoke and fire erupting from the island’s volcano. Already, lava was spilling out of its crater in a glowing flood, and a rain of lava bombs and ash began to fall about them.
“Sweet Jesus,” cried Mariner as he gazed in horror at the awesome spectacle. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
Both ran madly through the clinging verdure, the sound of volcanic explosions and falling ejecta spurring them on. It seemed that all of Nature had turned against them and sought with cruel perversity to hinder escape from the impending cataclysm.
A sudden violent tremor shook the island - as if some giant beast was stirring within the Earth’s Plutonian depths, sending them tumbling to the ground with its tumultuous heaving. Ma-Ku clung to Mariner as the mad undulations of the jungle floor shook the trees like some mighty hand.
One, huge and stately, but weakened with the rot of ages, began to topple under the lashings of the earth. The tremendous cracking of its splintering timber drew Mariner’s startled gaze, and he looked with horror as it fell upon them like a giant’s club.
In a surge of panic he hauled the frightened girl to her feet, and barely managed to drag her clear of the collapsing titan, which flattened the place where they had lain with fearsome force.
Onward they fled. Branches caught Ma-Ku’s hair in their gnarled fingers, and tugged at Mariner’s clothes, while rocks and roots seemed to rise from the earth to deliberately trip the fleeing pair. After what seemed an age of headlong nightmarish flight they finally burst upon the beach.
White Cloud still lay at anchor in waist deep water fifty yards to their left. It was something of a miracle that their mad dash had brought them so close to her, and Mariner breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief. The Germans were nowhere to be seen. Despite a head start their progress had been slowed by the meteorite’s hefty weight.
A rifle cracked. Mariner cried out and staggered as the bullet grazed his shoulder.
“Come on,” yelled Ma-Ku as she grabbed his arm and steadied him, thinking: Father-Heaven, lend wings to our feet.
Huss watched the two running towards the water’s edge. Somehow both were still alive, but he’d soon remedy that. He smiled in triumph as he aimed the Lee-Enfield at Mariner’s broad back.
“Kill them,” cried Mara, her face livid with blood lust, for hell has no fury like a woman scorned. “Kill them before they reach the boat.” And then, sotto voce: “If I can’t have him, then neither will that yellow slut.”
“Don’t’ worry, I won’t miss this time,” replied Huss as his finger slowly squeezed the trigger.
Chapter 7: A Terrible Sight
A split second before the gun fired, a lava bomb struck Huss, shattering his skull like a ripe melon. The shot went wide and Mara screamed as his corpse was smashed to the ground.
Mariner hauled in the anchor after helping Ma-Ku scramble aboard. A bullet from Mara’s Luger whined past his ear like an angry hornet, just as another lava bomb the size of a cannon ball struck the water in a fountain of spray only yards away.
“Keep down,” he yelled as he raised the outrigger’s mat sails, and rushed to the tiller as more leaden death flew about his scuttling form.
As if in answer to his silent prayer, a strong wind sprang up, and White Cloud began to move into the open sea. Lava bombs and ash commenced to fall around her with increasing intensity as explosion after explosion shook the island to its very core. Ma-Ku crouched beside Mariner, coughing from the sulphurous fumes.
Poor girl, he thought. She looks absolutely terrified.
Ripping off his shirt, he tore it in two and soaked both halves in seawater.
“Here,” he said, handing one piece to the girl “Hold this over your nose and mouth like I’m doing. It’ll make breathing easier.”
She did so, and crept into his strong arms, clinging to his muscular frame, drawing strength from his masculinity. Holding her close, Mariner looked back and saw Mara’s distant figure on the beach, staggering towards the sea in a desperate attempt to escape the red-hot lava that now surged out upon the sand.
Overcome by choking fumes and ash, the girl collapsed, unable to escape the unstoppable flood of molten rock that swept down upon her. A brief agonized scream rang out, and Mariner averted his eyes from the terrible sight.
God, what a horrid end, he thought. Perhaps she deserved it, but I still can’t take pleasure in her death.
Not so Ma-Ku, who turned her head to hide her secret smile.
The occupants of the boat sat in silent awe as the frightful drama unfolded before their gaze. It was as if the very jaws of hell had opened and vomited fourth molten hate in an all-consuming rage that ate the land with wrathful flames.
The island shrunk into the distance, and after a time it was just a smudge obscured by clouds of smoke, ash and steam that rose many miles into the air, like the vapors from some vast funeral pyre.
“We’re out of the danger zone now,” said Mariner as he cast away the rag. “The entire island, monsters and meteorite, have been buried under many feet of ash and lava. The world is safe form that menace, at least.”
Ma-Ku still lay in his arms. Looking at her he began to reflect upon all that had occurred, and a strange stirring of emotions, like an illuminating ray of light, pierced his heart. Soot covered and disheveled though she was, she seemed to glow with an inner beauty that he knew would not fade with time.
“You know,” said Mariner, impulsively. “I do believe this boat could do with a woman’s touch, what do you say?”
He cringed at what he had blurted out - it wasn’t the most artful line in the history of romance, but to Ma-Ku’s ears his sincerity clothed these simple words in wondrous poetry.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she replied, and sealed her answer with a passionate kiss.
THE END