The Oorn Project

The 2nd of January 1925, I read an interesting notice in a local newspaper. The article was about sightings of a new kind of animal on the small Pitcairn Island in the Pacific Ocean. The animal in question was reported to be a huge flying squid-like creature, which the locals called “Oorn”. If this was true, it would be nothing less than a biological sensation!

I went to see my old friend, professor Joshua Grafenwalder, at Barthington University. I showed him the article, to hear his thoughts on the matter.The professor carefully read the article, and seemed very interested about the matter, like any biologist should be. We discussed the creature and its said flight ability over a cup of coffee, before I departed.

One week later, the professor sent me a letter. He was planning an expedition to Pitcairn Island, and wanted me to come with him! The expedition consisted of five people: Me, the professor, and three biology students.

The expedition left England on February the 9th. The harbour was covered in fog, and I really looked forward to spending the coming weeks on a tropical island. Morale was high, and it became even higher when it turned out that the students had brought a small crate of whiskey bottles, to pass the time at the long journey.

On February the 23nd, the boat arrived at Adamston port on Pitcairn Island. We where greeted by friendly locals, who where very grateful for the “current” newspapers we had brought with us. I asked one of them about the Oorn creature, and he said that even tough he had never seen it himself, he had heard lots of stories. According to him, the creature spent most of it’s time at sea, hunting aquatic animals, and it very seldom visited the actual island.

The professor took this news calmly. He said that even if we never got a glimpse of the actual creature, we could still get descriptions and drawings by witnesses. One of the locals showed us to a cabin, where we could sleep for a small fee.

The following text is my personal diary from the expedition.

February the 24th, 1925

I was the first one who awoke, the sun was nearly above the horizon. When I stepped out in the early sunlight, I could see several small fishing boats leave the harbour. I could’t see a single cloud in the sky, and at this moment, I was very grateful for the professors invitation.

The islands small store was open and I entered to get the expedition some breakfast. Two people were in there, the shopkeeper and a girl. The girl looked at me with huge dreamy eyes. She had an old fashioned grey dress, and her hair was raven black. She couldn’t have been over 30 years old.

“New here?”, she asked.
Her voice had the same dreamy tone as her eyes.
I presented myself, and told her about the expedition.
“Oorn...”, she said. “They are not of this world.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“They are creatures from the stars... And beyond!”

She payed for her turnips and left the store, before I could ask any more questions. The old shopkeeper looked relieved when she left. I asked him who she was. The shopkeeper told me that she belonged to a society of people, living in the middle of the island, where they had built some kind of temple. He didn’t know anything more, and he didn’t want to.

When I returned to the cabin, the professor and the students were awake. The breakfast came as a nice surprise to them, and we agreed to buy breakfast in turns.

This first day, we decided to just ask around, and try to find someone who had seen the creature first hand.
We walked around in two groups in the village. I was together with a student named Bill Campbell, and the professor had the other two students.

We knocked on doors and asked the people if they knew anything. All of the people we asked had heard of the creature, but no one had seen it. Slightly dissapointed, Bill and I met up with the professor and his two students at the harbour for lunch, as agreed.

The professor eagerly showed me a picture, drawn by a native. The rather lousy drawing showed what looked like a big ball, with a wing and tentacles, seeming to fly in the air.

The professor was very exhalted over the picture, which was drawn by a 24 year old man, who claimed to have seen the creature when he was out fishing. He had described it as “The biggest creature I’ve ever seen.”, and the fact that sperm whales are quite common around these parts seemed to get the professor even more exalted.

We decided to call this a day, and went back to the cabin. The students had promised to teach us a few new drinking games.

February the 25th, 1925

I awoke with a slight hangover. The professor was gone, probably off to buy breakfast. I decided to double check my backpack, today we were going to march around the island, looking for signs of Oorns. The professor was back just as I had refilled my last water bottle.

The sun was high in the sky when we began the march. Two of the students were very hard to get out of bed, which wasn’t strange concerning how the drinking games had turned out. At noon, we took a break beside a spring. It was very hot, the sun gazed like a radiator, and all of us were tired after the march. Our goal was the south coast, where the 24 year old man had observed the Oorn.

I took off my boots with an intention to massage my feet, and when I did so, I felt that I was observed.
Quickly I turned around, only to see vegitation. After the quick break, we continued our march. Suddenly, one of the students made a sound. I looked at him, and he pointed towards a cliff to our left.

A man stood at the cliff, seemingly looking at us. He was wearing a brown hood, which must have been very hot in this climate. He didn’t move, and the eyes, glittering in the shadowy hood, were staring at us. One of the students yelled at him, and he seemed to awake. We stood still, just looking at him.

The man did a complicated sign with his hands, and dissapeared into the vegitation. The professor tried to calm us, and said that it was probably some native gone lost. I remembered what the shopkeeper had told me, and a very unpleasant shudder went down my spine.

We continued to the south coast, and gazed out at the sea. We didn’t see anything unusual, but I couldn’t let go of the tought that someone was observing us. No one else seemed to share this concern, and the professor decided that this was a good place to raise our tents.

The professor

The sun was beginning to go down below the horizon, and I was feeling tired. After a simple dinner, consisting of tin cans with soup, we went to bed. Me and the professor was sleeping in one tent, and the students slept in another. We fell asleep to the sound of waves hitting the cliffs.

February the 26th, 1925

I was the first one to leave the tent the next morning. The morning air was cold, but the blue sky promised a fine day. I climbed a small rock, to get a better view of the coastline. A huge grey object was lying among the sharp rocks, about 2000 feet away.

I went to the tent to get my binoculars, and a quick look confirmed what I had suspected. It was the carcass of a huge whale, probably a sperm whale, but I couldn’t be sure at this distance. I told the professor and the students about my find when they had left their tents, and they became very exhalted. “It’s not often a poor old english biology professor gets the chance to examine a whale!”, I remember the professor saying.

We had a decent breakfast, and started to march towards the carcass. It took a while to walk the estimated 2000 feet, since the ground was covered in sharp and slippery rocks in some places, and we had to do some climbing to get down to the water level. When we came closer, I could see that it was indeed a sperm whale.

Finally we stood before the mighty creature. The smell wasn’t as bad as I had thought. I walked around it to get a better look, this was my very first meeting with an aquatic mammal. The professor started to measure the whale, with the assistance of a student. It was almost 50 feet long, and the professor estimated it’s weight to about 35 tonnes.

Me and the sperm whale

If the man in Adamstown had spoken the truth tough, this kind of creatures were mere food to the Oorn. If this creature really existed, it would by far be the largest animal on earth! The professor said calmly, that at such remote places as this, anything could hide.

After spending a few hours with the whale, we walked back to our tents. Bill, who arrived to the camp first, began to shout cursewords. When we caught up, we understood why.

Someone had visited our camp, and searched through our backpacks. One of the tents had fallen, and tin jars and equipment was spread across the ground. The only thing missing seemed to be a whiskey bottle, taken from one of the students backpacks. It was no vital loss, and we spent the next hour with restoring the order in the camp. I thought about the man in the hood. He probably belonged to that society the shopkeeper had told me about, and I felt that I wanted to know more about them. It wasn’t the expeditions objective tough, and I decided to wait a while before I told the professor about what happened in the store.
The sun was setting quickly, and after a tin jar dinner and some singing by the campfire, we went back into our tents for a night of well deserved sleep.

February the 27th, 1925

All of us woke up early, when someone screamed outside the tent. It was Bill. His head showed up in the tent opening, and he looked extremely exhalted.

“It’s Oorn!”, he shouted. “It’s here!”
Within seconds, me and the professor was outside the tent. The sun was only a small string glowing in the in the horizon, and the morning air was chilly, but cool air was the last thing on our minds when we gazed along the coastline, dressed only in our underwear. It must have smelled the whale.

“Holy Jesus..”, said the professor.
I didn’t see the creature very well in the early morning light, but it was huge, many times bigger than the whale. And it flew! Not by it’s huge wings, but by the giant gas bladder above it’s head, like a zeppelin.
The professor estimated the creature to be about 500 feet across, from the tip of it’s tentacles to the top of the gas bladder. It didn’t seem to be in a hurry, slowly circling over the whale, like it was looking for the best point to approach it.

The sun slowly rised, and after an hour or so, one of the students hurried to the tent, only to bring back a camera. The sun was entirely above the horizon at this point, and the light was good enough to take pictures. He started to photograph the creature with shaky hands, and I heard the professor muttering about the university refusing to borrow the expedition a film camera.

The first picture ever taken of an Oorn.

We watched the animal circle above the carcass for a few more minutes, and then, without a warning, it gave up a low pitched cry. Instantly we protected our ears, the sound made small rocks around us shake while the cry lasted. About thirty seconds after the cry had ended, another cry was heard from the ocean, but much lower. There was more than one of them!

The Oorn out sea must be at a considerable distance, since I couldn’t see anything in my binoculars. The creature started to spray the carcass with some kind of fluid, while it lowered to prey on it. The Oorn was now at ground level, and we could hear big chunks of flesh being ripped from the whale. It occured to me that the revolver I carried with me would be completely useless, if the creature attacked us.

We decided to head back to Adamstown, before the Oorn was done with the whale. Such a big animal could be a danger to us, and we needed to make notes and drawings. Packing our stuff didn’t take long, and it was with slight relief we left the coast. Even tough the Oorn was a truly magnificent sight, it was also scary to be near one.

It was almost dark when we arrived to the village. A local, who seemed scared, approaced us. He asked if we had any success. The professor told him all about our adventure, and the local seemed even more scared. The Oorns cry had been heard all over the island, and according to the native, it was not a good sign. He said that we should see a man named William Smithers, and tell him what we had seen. The man gave us directions to Williams house and went off.

The house was a bit south east of the village, and we had not visited him during our first day. Me and the professor decided to go and see him first thing in the morning. We went back to our cabin, to make notes and drawings, and to decide what to do next.

February the 28th, 1925

Leonard, one of the students, had already bought breakfast when I awoke. After the breakfast, me and the professor went out to see William. The students stayed in the cabin to finish the notes.

Williams house looked rather shabby. An old rusty cart without wheels stood beside the front door, and plant seeds from the nearby woods had spread to the garden, were they now grew wildly.

A man opened the door almost instantly after the first knock. We asked if he was William, and he confirmed with a quick nod. The man looked to be between fifty and sixty years old. He had thin, almost grey hair, and wore an old stained shirt. We presented ourselves and told him about our errand.

“They have sent scientists now?”, William asked. “About bloody time. Come on in, I have coffee brewing!”
We entered the cabin, and it looked much nicer on the inside. We seated ourselves around the small kitchen table, while William got the coffee.

“I only brewed for one person, so I’ll better take the small cups!”, said William and rummaged his kitchen cabinet. He seated himself between us after serving the coffee. He didn’t joke about small cups.

“So, you are scientists, eh?”
“He is.”, I said, and pointed at the professor.
“And what are you?”
“I am the guy with the gun.”, I said, patting the revolver in my belt.
“I see!”, said William and laughed.
“Biology is just a small hobby of mine.”, I continued. “The professor was kind enough to let me join the expedition.”
“Well, none of the other professors wanted to come with me!”, said the professor, and we all laughed.
The professor told William about our travel to the islands south coast. He listened carefully. When the professor was finished, he spoke.

“I have seen them a few times...”, he said. “When I was out fishing. Doesn’t have the boat anymore tough.. Sold it. You were lucky to see the bugger. It rarely visits the island. It doesn’t need to. As you saw, they feeds on whales and such.”
“It’s a scientific breakthrough!”, gasped the professor. “Such an animal... Flying! How does it do it?”
“Gas bladder.”, William stated simply. “The bladder above it’s head is filled with a gas lighter than the air. It’s the only explanation.”
Me and the professor agreed.

“Must be hydrogen.”, said the professor. “It can’t be helium. That element isn’t found in biological tissue.”
The professor then asked William if he knew anything more about the creature.
“Well, once I saw it battle a sperm whale. Scared the hell out of me.”
“It attacked a living sperm whale?”, I asked.
“Bloody right. It sprayed the whale with some fluid, which seemed to kill it. Took a while tough. Then it lowered to ocean level and began to feed. I didn’t see that last part very well, because I was getting the hell away from there.”
The professor showed William a picture, that Leopold had developed last night. He looked at it closely and then he began to laugh.

“You actually got a picture of it!”, he said. “That’s brilliant! I bet that’s going to get things rolling in good ole England!”
The professor smiled and nodded, and then spoke.

“I wish I could examine a dead specimen, but how could we possibly be able to kill one? It won’t even notice Abrahams revolver!”
William suddenly looked serious.

“I wouldn’t advise it, mate.”, he said. “You’ll get the brotherhood on your arse.”
Suddenly, I was interested.

“The brotherhood?”, I said. “What’s that?”
“It’s... Well... A brotherhood. Religous lads. They worship Oorns.”
“They are the ones that have a temple in the islands middle parts?”, I asked.
“That’s right.”
The professor looked at me, and I felt that I owed him an explanation.I told the professor and William about my encounter in the store, and what the girl and the shopkeeper had said.

“I know her.”, said William. “She usually does the shopping. I think her name is Virginie, or something like that. Strange gal.”
I asked William what he knew about the brotherhood.

“Not much.”, he said. “They worship Oorns. People usually avoid them. I’ve met their founder a couple of times, spooky lad.”
I asked him to tell us more.

“Well, his name is Vincent Lariox. He arrived with the boat about two years ago, and behaved like any tourist. He went off to wander the island, like some of them do.”
“Yes?”
“He didn’t come back in a couple of weeks tough. Boat left without him. Thought he was dead. Fallen off a cliff or something.”
“But he was alive?”, the professor said.
“Damn right. He returned after a month or so. Said he’d spoken to God. Everyone thought he had gone insane. He left with the next boat.”
William took a sip of coffee, and then continued.

“Came back five months later, together with some other lads. Virginie was among them. They stayed in town for a couple of days. Didn’t say much. Then they marched away. Some of them haven’t been seen since.”
“They live in the temple?”, said the professor.
“It seems like it. And they worship Oorns. That Virginie gal told me that. Vincent left with the boat last September tough. Haven’t seen him since, but I bet my house that he’ll return.”
The professor and I seemed to share the same thought. The professor spoke first.

“Well...”, he said. “The brotherhood seems to be a good source of knowledge.”
“Won’t advise you to visit them.”, said William. “Might be hostile. Who knows? I wouldn’t trust them.”
“Then who do you trust?”, asked the professor.
“My mauser.” said William and smiled.
He pointed towards his northern wall, were an old rifle was hanging.

“I don’t think they will be hostile.”, I said. “Not unless we are hostile first, and we won’t be.”
William looked serious again.

“Listen, you two are decent lads. Men of science. Don’t go there.”
“Do you know anything else about them, something you haven’t told us?”, the professor asked.
“Well... No. I have a bad feeling about them tough. They’re a spooky bunch.”
I looked at the professor, who nodded.

“Where can we find them?” I asked.
“Just follow the main road, and take north west after the big rock on your right. It’s about an hours walk. Continue through the forest for a while, and you can’t miss it, just walk towards the mountains. Don’t say I didn’t warn you tough.”
“We won’t.”, said the professor, smiling.

It was almost noon when we left Williams house, and we went back to our cabin to tell the students what the old man had said. Immediately, we started to plan our trip to the brotherhoods temple. We decided to begin our march early the next morning, and the students seemed exhalted. Especially Bill, who studied religion besides biology.

We spent the rest of the day looking through the students notes, planning for the next day, and discussing Oorns. Bill had a theory that the fluid the creature had sprayed at the whale was some kind of gastric acid, containing hydrochloric acid. The creature then used electrolysis to extract hydrogen from the hydrogen chloride, to fill it’s bladder and thus giving it flight ability.The professor called the theory brilliant, and soon became absorbed by his own notes. It was past midnignt when we finally turned the lights out.

March the 1st, 1925

Just a few minutes after we had went to sleep, the earth tremored. We hurried outside, it’s not advised to be indoors during earthquakes. Most of the locals did the same.For about two minutes, we were struggling to keep our balance. Then it stopped, as suddenly as it had began.

“So, does any of you lads study geology?”, I asked the students.
They gave up a rather nervous laugh, and said that they didn’t.
“Pity!”, said the professor.
The other villagers began to go back into their houses, and I suggested that we should do the same. The others agreed, and soon we slept once more. There was no more earthquakes, at least not powerful enough to wake me.

Thomas screamed. I jumped out of bed and looked at him. He was sitting upright in his bed, with sweat pouring down his chin. His face was pale and his breathing fast.

“Are you alright?”, asked the professor.
The student looked at us, and seemed to calm down.

“Yes... Yes. It was only a dream. Sorry.”, said Thomas and looked a bit ashamed.
“Nothing to be sorry for!”, said the professor and waved his hand. “Could happen to anyone. Who’s turn is it go get breakfast?”

After the breakfast, we left Adamstown with food and water for two days. The sky was filled with clouds, but it was still quite hot. After a few minutes, the professor, who walked first, did a sign for us to halt.

“Look!”, he said and pointed to the left side of the bad road.
A spider, as big as a grown mans fist, was battling a mouse just a few feet from us.

“Fascinating!”, said the professor and leaned closer. “I don’t recognize this spider, it might be a new species! Too bad I didn’t bring the equipment to take specimens. Bill, could you take a picture of this, please?”

Bill took the picture, and we continued.

The spider, still unidentified

“What would be a good latin name for Oorn?”, said Leonard. “You are the boss, professor, so I guess you are it’s official discoverer.”
“Bill saw it first.”, said the professor. “I think he should decide.”

He looked at Bill.
“You could name it after yourself, you know. You’d be world famous.”

Bill thought for a while.
“No, I think we all will be that anyway.”
He smiled.

“How does Aeromollusca Oorn sound?”
“A fine name for a fine animal!”, said the professor happily. “Aeromollusca Oorn it is! Oh, look, we have reached the big rock already.”

We looked to the north west. There was a path leading in between the trees, but it was small and looked rarely visited. We started to walk it, but the heavy vegitation slowed down our speed conciderably. We walked in silence.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen.”
We didn’t see them come. Suddenly, they just stood beside the path, a couple of feet into the vegitation.
The professor recovered from the shock first.

“Good afternoon! The brotherhood, I assume?”
“Indeed.”, said the hooded man.

There was three of them. I instantly recognized Virginie and the man in the hood. The third person was an asian girl. She wore a black dress and a huge bonnet. A rifle was hanging over her shoulder, but she wasn’t showing any intentions to use it.

“What brings you to our domains?”, asked the man, and removed a small cigarette from his mouth.
It didn’t smell like tobacco, and the smoke made me slightly dizzy. The professor spoke.

“Actually, we’d like to know more about the Oorn creature. And about the brotherhood, if you don’t mind.”
The man laughed a hoarse laugh.

“Yes... Virginie told me about your expedition. Biology has never been my strong side, I prefer...Metaphysics.”
He laughed again. I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“I am Zebediah.”, he said. “This is Virginie, and the gal with the rifle here is Lilith.”
Lilith made a quick nod.

“Come with us, and we’ll have a talk.”, said Zebediah. “We wouldn’t like any missunderstandings, would we?”
The three brotherhood members turned around and started to walk through the pathless vegitation. We quickly followed.

“It has begun.”, said Virginie.
She walked right next to me.

“What has begun?, I asked.
“I don’t know, but it began tonight.”
“The earthquake?”
She was quiet for almost a minute.

“It began with the earthquake.”, she said in her dreamy voice.
“Does it have to do with Oorns?”
“Perhaps... And perhaps not. Time will tell. Time and dreams.”
William was right, this was indeed a strange gal.

“Ah, here we are!”, said Zebediah.
The temple was quite small, and carved directly into the mountain. It had heavy wooden doors, like a church.

“It isn’t much, but it’s home!”, said Zebediah and laughed. “Have a seat, and Lilith will bring us refreshments!”
He pointed at a rock outside the temple, which had been carved into something that looked like a table. I sat down on a wooden chair, probably bought or stolen in Adamstown, and the rest of the expedition did the same. Zebediah sat down right next to me. Lilith had dissapeared into the temple with an almost cat-like speed, and Virginie followed her.

“So, what do you want to know?”, Zebediah asked and lit a cigarette.
“Tell us about Oorn.”, said the professor.
“Well, first off, what you saw was whas not Oorn. It was one of her children.Graceful and sacred, but not the real deal.”
“What’s the real deal then?”, I asked.
“Do you want the simple or the advanced answer?”
“Simple will do for now, I believe.”
“Father Oorn created the heavens and the earth. Mother Oorn gave birth to his offspring, which you saw.”
We sat quiet for a moment.

“Aren’t we leaving the field of biology here?”, the professor asked.
“Indeed, but I don’t believe in that biology nonsence. Phyla this, latin name that. It’s all humbug. You scientists are denying the reality, by putting animals in jars.”
Suddenly, Lilith had arrived with a tray full of wine glasses, and a dusty bottle. I never noticed her coming.

“Wine?”, said Zebediah. “The best kind.”
Me and the professor turned the offer down, but the students took a glass each. Thomas was the first to drink. He got a strange gaze in his eyes, after swallowing the first munful. Suddenly, he fell backwards, and started to roll around on the ground.

“No!”, he screamed. “Take me away from here! Not again! Please, save me!”
We all got on our feet, but Zebediah relaxed in his chair.

“What did you do to him?”, the professor shouted. “What was in that wine?”
“Relax.”, said Zebediah and sipped his own glass. “It just highens the senses a bit. Could be scary as hell if you are not used to it tough.”
He laughed again.

“He’ll be fine in ten minutes or so. And perhaps be ready for a second sip.”
We tried to calm Thomas, while Zebediah continued to laugh. After a few minutes, he calmed down. He shivered.

“Are you alright?”, the professor asked.
“It was like in that dream I had!”, shivered Thomas.
“Should we take you back to Adamstown?”
“No, I’m alright. Just don’t touch that wine!”
Virginie looked at Thomas.

“Dreams shall reveal the truth.”, she almost whispered.
I must admit that I wasn’t very fond of the idea of staying, but we sat down around the stone table once again.

“So...”, the professor said. “They fly with a gas bladder, eh?”
“Yes.”
“Any idea what kind of gas it uses?”
“No, and I don’t care. It’s irrelevant. Don’t ask me questions about biology, because I can’t answer them.”
“Can anyone here?”
“Doubt it.”, said Zebediah and emptied his wine glass.
I decided to change the subject.

“Tell me about your brotherhood.”, I said.
“It was founded a year ago. I joined a bit later. Not much to tell.”
“Where do you come from?”, the professor asked.
“The main land. Don’t ask me about my former life, because I won’t tell ya. Don’t want to make you any more scared than you already are.”
He laughed again.

A movement was seen in a nearby bush. An old black man crawled out of it, with a big rat in his mouth. He looked at us, and dissapeared into another bush.
“Don’t mind him.”, said Zebediah. “He’s just playing.”
“What... Who...”, began the professor.
“It was curiosity that killed the cat, professor Grafenwalder. Remember that.”
The professor got up from his chair.

“We must thank you for your hospitality, but it is time for us to head back. Thank you for answering our questions, but now we are leaving.”
The rest of us got on our feet as well. Zebediah didn’t move.

“No, you’re not.”, he simply stated and threw a cigarette butt over his shoulder.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You’ll stay here. It’s as simple as that. Dead or alive, your choise. I advise ya to choose wisely.”
“I don’t understand...”, said the professor.
“Aren’t professors supposed to be clever?”, said Zebediah and stood up.
He walked over to the professor.

“When you arrive to England, what are you going to do? Tell your colleagues that you’ve found the earths biggest animal, and get a pat on the shoulder? No, you are going to tell the newspapers. I suppose you have taken pictures of the Child that visited the south coast the day before yesterday? Imagine the money you can get for a picture like that. You’d be a rich man, professor.”
“I still don’t follow you.”
Without a warning, Zebediah lost his temper totally.

“You fools!”, he growled. “Heathens! When everyone realizes that the Childs are a reality, they will come here and slaughter them! Shoot them with artillery! Blast them with warships! And for what? So that some man in a white coat could cut it open! WE COULD NEVER ALLOW SUCH BLASPHEMY!”
Virginie and Lilith looked at us from a distance. Lilith now held the rifle in her hands. I unholstered my revolver in a quick movement, while I shouted.

“Run!”
We ran.

“Get them!”, shouted Zebediah.
Lilith fired her rifle. I felt a stinging pain in my left arm, but didn’t bother to look at it.

A man emerged from the bushes in front of us, holding a revolver bigger than mine. He had a black beard, and looked to be of Indian origin. I shot him in the head. He fell backwards, and I jumped over his lifeless body. All of the students was to my left, and I had the professor on my right side. Lilith was still firing her rifle, seemingly blindly into the forest.

After a while we calmed down a bit, it was unlikely that Virginie or Zebediah should come after us. Lilith could be dangerous tough. I looked at my arm. The bullet had just ripped some skin, and the bleeding had already stopped.

“Is everyone alright?”, said the professor.
Everyone was.

“Let’s head straight for Adamstown.”, said Bill. “The might patrol the roads.”
The professor looked at his compass, and pointed towards the village.

It was dark when we arrived, tired and with torn clothes.. I entered the cabin first, with the revolver in my hand. The building was empty.
“Someone should stand guard!”, I said, after we had changed our clothes. “They might come tonight.”
“I’ll do it.”, said Thomas. “I don’t feel like sleeping anyway.”
I handed him my revolver, and made sure he knew how it worked.

“There is a boat leaving tomorrow.”, said the professor. “It’s not the one we’re supposed to take, but I’ll talk to the captain.”
We thought it sounded like a good idea. While Thomas brewed himself some coffee, the rest of the expedition fell asleep.

March the 2nd,1925

I awoke first. Thomas was sitting in the window, looking out. He had the revolver in his hand.

“Is everything alright?”, I asked.
He comfirmed that it was. I told him to get some sleep, and I would take the guard until the others had awakened.

An airplane flew closely over the house, which awoke everyone exept Thomas. We let him sleep, while we decided what to do. The boat was leaving at noon, and we agreed to wait in the cabin until then.

The boat was an old steamer. The professor went to talk to the captain, while we waited at the pier with the luggage.
“Good news!”, said the professor when he came back. “They’ll leave in twenty minutes, and the boat goes to Lima. They only have one more passenger, so it’s alright for us to board.”
Lima was far from home, but at least we would be safe.

“Oh, one more thing.”, said the professor. “The captain told me that he had lost his wedding ring somewhere on the ship. If you find it, please let him know.”
The boat left the pier, and we came up on deck after leaving our luggage in the two cabins. The other passenger was there already, leaning against the rail. It was a well dressed man, with a big beard. He spoke in a spanish accent.

“Greetings.”, he said. “Good thing to get some company on this long trip.”
Before the professor could answer him, I shouted. When I had looked back at the island, I saw a group of people standing at a remote beach.

“Is it the brotherhood?”, asked Leonard.
I looked in my binoculars. It was the brotherhood. Not just the members we had seen, now there was twelve people. The man I had shot was among them.

“Yes, it is. Quick, run and fetch the camera! I want a picture of them.”
Bill left, and came back with his bag a moment later. He opened it, but instead of a camera, he took out six sticks of dynamite, tightly taped together. Some kind of timer was attached to it. It ticked.

“Bomb!”, I shouted, and Bill threw it in the ocean. It exploded moments later, and we got showered with cold salt water.

I looked at the beach, but the brotherhood was gone without a trace.
“Bloody hell!”, said Leonard. “That was a close one!”
“How the hell did they get it into the bag? I’ve had it all the time!”, said Bill.
“And how did that Indian survive?”, I asked.
“What?”
“I painted the forest with his brain, and still he was standing there at the beach!”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ll never forget that face.”
The professor interrupted.

“We should search our bags.”, he said. “There might be more bombs. You too, mister. Can’t be too careful.”
He pointed at the man with the beard.
We hurried down to our cabins, and emptied all our bags at the floor. No more bombs were found, and we returned to the deck.

“And I thought two weeks of fishing was exiting!”, said the man with the beard.
We all gave up a releaved laugh, while the boat continued through the waves.

Epilogue

It’s now late May, and the trees in England has regained their leaves. We got back to England without major troubles, and the pictures we had brought with us was soon in the newspapers. The expeditions five members has become famous, especially Bill, who is Oorns official discoverer. His latin name, Aeromollusca Oorn, is now widely accepted.

The professor is currently writing a book, which I’m sure will be a bestseller. The general interest for these creatures is huge, and expeditions all over the world are planning travels to the Pacific Ocean.

I still worry about the brotherhood. The newspapers with the pictures must have reached Pitcairn by now. How will they react to this? I’m sure they will react, and it won’t be pretty.

I’m having nightmares about the man in the hood. Will he, or anyone else, find us and seek revenge?
Only time will tell. Time, and dreams.

Story © 2008 Farbror Elak