with fourteen guards behind me and general tip to my right, we buzzed along pilobilous lake and looked at the ominous figure of jackal island ahead of us. we skimmed along in a tight formation on our hover boards as the lake sprayed behind us. * every now and then general tip would take the lead and try to scope things out, as any good military leader would, but there was no sign of anything except that blasted island: no smoke from our downed vessel, no signs of distress, just a green mass with a few peaks that rose angrily into the sky, as if this mountain island were thrust angrily into this placid lake to show that earth would some day make everything ugly. * we arrived at the beach and my guards spread out around me, but i shook them off and kept them behind me while i strode out on the white sand and surveyed the jungle in front of us. * general tip: “this is not the best idea, sir. i still think you should at least stay here with martinez and sandalwood while the rest of us commit to the search.” * “my wife,” i said, “is here somewhere, and i don’t care what’s on this island, real or imagined. i’m going to find her.” * general tip: “your courage is, as always, something to applaud sir, but you’re letting it cloud your judgment.” i ignored him and walked through the green curtain into the jungle that rimmed the beach, into the jungle that housed the exotic animals that were once written about but forgotten since the island was overrun by the strange forces which seemed to bastardize its beauty. * we picked our way though the vegetation and swatted flies and the guards took off their jackets and tied them around their waists, guns at the ready. then sanderson was attacked by something that swooped through the trees and precipitated a mad spray of ammunition into the thick green landscape. chaos and superstition set in and we were all soon running back to the beach, but not before two more guards were stolen by the jungle. * “all right, here’s the deal,” i said, gasping for air. “keep to the beach. we’ll circle the island, making camp halfway around tonight, then finish tomorrow. if we cannot find any sign of the ship, we’ll head into the jungle.” the guards, some of them bent and heaving from the run, looked forlorningly into the sweaty mass of jungle. * general tip: “these men are only guards. guards in a court that has had peace for too long, sir. they aren’t trained for this.” he pulled me further from earshot. “we should have brought troops, sir.” * “and get the public nervous?” i replied. “the superstitions about this island are going to be put to rest, tip." * general tip: “but these men just saw three of their own killed. and we don’t even know what by. we…” he was cut off by a noise from deep in the jungle. birds suddenly silenced and the trees stood unnervingly still. my stomach lurched, and the guards all pointed their guns blindly towards the innards of the island. general tip pulled out his gun. * from the jungle came the mechanical howl and grudge of a slow-moving machine that sounded as if it were chewing the very island itself. and along side that were angry protestations, as if someone were leading the machine towards battle. but the voice – it…it couldn’t be, i thought… * the guard to my right: “what is that?” * “that,” i said, mostly to myself, “sounds like my wife.”
