26. Hell Island
The small ship left the bay at high-speed entering the high seas with its passengers drenched in water after desperately dodging a shark attack. The four of them were in the wheelhouse.
"Ben, what clues can you find on the navigation of this ship? We have to find Cindy. Sandra took her to some place. I'm sure this ship is one of their properties that somehow got stranded at the bay," Ran asked Ben while looking at the navigation panels in front of them.
Ben touched several keys on the keyboard. The Specific Channel appears; Isle of Bones, Isle of Skull, Isle of Hell, Isle of Mother, Main Land. Select one…auto navigate? Yes or no?
Ran squinted. His index finger touched the writing Isle of Hell as he looked at Ben. Ben nodded. This ship was now on autopilot for Hell Island.
Tet and Rabat tried to investigate the contents of this small ship. They didn't find much except canned food and drink, some army uniforms, and semi-automatic light weapons.
Everyone changed into an all-blue army uniform. These uniforms could conceal themselves from the people. At least when they broke into the Bio Research base.
Ben had turned off the ship's transponder so it wouldn't be detected. He also uploaded a map via satellite before turning off the transponder. Now the map was rendered offline on the monitor. It seemed very clear that their position was at the end of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the lost continent, Antarctica.
At first they all thought they were around the African continent because the expedition plane they were traveling on was heading there for an adventure in Kilimanjaro. It turned out that the trip deviated so far because the plane navigation was damaged and ended up crashing on Bone Island.
On the world map, these islands had no names. Even only identified as an uninhabited coral island.
Bio Research with all its financial power and influence disguised their experimental islands as empty coral islands. The island was far from everywhere. No international cruise line nor was it a favorite place for research.
No clue how long Bio Research had been doing this horrible research here. Ran and teammates only had one main goal. Save Cindy then quickly get out of this godforsaken place.
Ran pointed to Hell Island as a destination just based on his intuition. They had already traveled to Bone Island and Skeleton Island. The next closest island was Hell Island. It must be another research site or even their headquarters. No way Cindy was brought too far to the Isle of Mother or Main Land because on the map it looked very far away, near the North Pole.
Ben's small boat hums slowly but goes fast. Ben went into stealth mode. The waters they entered were calm but full of giant corals scattered everywhere.
The ship could go at high speed, but the captain must always be vigilant. A little careless, the ship would crash on a sharp rock.
Rabat and Tet gathered what they could. They put food and drink in one backpack, and each of them carried a weapon. They had to be prepared for all eventualities. Hell-Island might be as hellish as they could imagine.
The ship shook violently. Ben slowed down. They entered the waters with high waves and strong currents. Weird! This change in current and wave height was too extreme!
There were no more dangerous rocks, but the crashing waves and swirling currents made the journey even more difficult. Ben had to be extra careful. The whirlpools and big waves could sink a ship this small easily.
Thanks to his experience, Ben managed to steer the ship through the terrible waters. Now they were back into calm waters with lots of small islands here and there.
Ben directed his ship to sneak between small islands that were quite close toge ther. Looking at the map, they weren't too far from Hell Island. Probably not more than10 Nautical Miles.
By sneaking around like this, they would at least reduce the chances of being caught. Even though the ship's transponder had been turned off, Rabat was pretty sure they had a radar or something to detect any intruders who wanted to enter Hell Island.
"Wait Ben! We stop on a small island up ahead. Let's do some reconnaissance first. After that island, there are no more islands to shield us from Hell Island's sight," Ran spoke in a half-whisper as if Hell Island could hear his voice.
Ben followed Ran's suggestion. He landed the small ship in a narrow gap of the island that was protected at the front part.
The four expedition teams jumped down into the sea at chest-high depths, carrying all their equipment. Ran didn't forget to bring a high-performance binocular in the wheelhouse. Based on what they saw on the map, their plan was to climb a small hill by the coast directly opposite Hell Island.
They climbed quick and made it to the top of the hill. The four of them took shelter among the scattered large stones that were there. They had to hide so they could observe the situation better. The distance from this island to Hell Island was not too far. Only separated by a narrow strait.
And the four of them were stunned!
That they saw before them was both astonishing and terrifying!
Hell Island lived up to its name. It looked like it was burning everywhere. Fire and lava spread almost all over the surface of the island. The volcano in the middle of the island continuously spewed smoke, fire, and also threw large and small stones. The mountain was erupting!
Ran grabbed the binoculars because from afar he saw some activities in the harbor. Cindy!
Ran saw Cindy was being guarded by several Death Squad members to board an enor mous ship with very large writing on the side: Mothership's Bio Research. Behind her were Sandra, a tall thin man who seemed to be an important person, and finally the Angel of Death!
Whispering Cindy's name, Ran gestured to his teammates to take turns using the binoculars.
Ben, Tet, and Rabat almost cheered to see Cindy was alive and well. But why did Cindy look so compliant? And, why her face was expressionless? As if she had no will of her own. Exactly the same look on the face of the Angel of Death.
The four of them continued to watch as the enormous ship maneuvered away from Hell Island, then it sailed fast northbound.
As soon as the ship was far enough from the island as well as from the range of Ran's binoculars, a powerful explosion was heard from the middle of the island. It was the volcano. The eruption destroyed not only the crater, but more than half of the mountain's body collapsed.
There was another explosion which caused a great tremor on the island where Ran and his teammates were scouting.
Apparently, it was the peak and last eruption.
Ran and friends just watched in horror as Hell Island slowly sank into the ocean. The explosion had erased the island! There was nothing left!
Ran and friends saw with their own eyes Hell Island disappeared forever!
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