For the next three days after the murder in the ship’s cargo hold, the crew greatly limited their daily activities. Grant could sense a general feeling of distrust and subtle paranoia among everyone. While every mercenary on board the Salvation continued to fulfill their duties and maintained order, Grant could not shake off the tension and anxiety he was feeling. In the shower and while using the restrooms he tried to be quick for fear of being ambushed there. While eating in the mess hall he caught himself checking to see if any of the others eating around him fit the profile of an undercover assassin.

The only ones who were completely unaffected by the incident or even noticed the change in social temperature within the ship’s community, were the students from the university. The captain had made sure that they remained oblivious to the fact that there was a murderer among the crew.

Grant was glad that the journey was coming to an end. In a little more than twenty four hours the Salvation would reach the island.

Grant reached the ship’s briefing room where the captain was waiting to give one last talk to the team before they arrived at the island. Already most of the officers as well as Shreya’s science team members were already there. He found an empty seat beside Monty and Rourke and fist bumped his college dorm roommate.

“In less than twenty four hours we will anchor off the coast of the island,” said Captain Westing. Even among a room of some of the toughest looking men and women Grant had ever seen the captain seemed even more formidable, standing above them. “I want this operation done clean. There is no room for fuckups, not among the crew of this craft. We will insert by helicopter and landing craft though the choppers will do most of the heavy lifting. Two camps will be established, one close to the beaches, in sight of the ship. We will call this base camp and it will be where all supplies or cargo necessary to this expedition will be unloaded and made ready to be used. A second team will take the mobile base deeper into the island with the choppers bringing supplies back and forth between the two camps. It will also bring back to base camp any specimens or artifacts that the science people might want to keep. Everything we take will be first processed at base camp before it is taken aboard my ship. Now we still haven’t been able to get satellite imaging of the island so I guess we’ll just have to map the place out as we go. Stay together and watch each other's backs out there. Maintain discipline, do your job, and we can all have a good time. Any questions?”

“No sir!” came the collective reply.

“Alright then you are all dismissed,” said the captain. “We’ll be there soon so be ready to move out at a moment's notice.”

As the mercenaries filed out of the room, Grant looked over at Murphy who looked miserable. The other anthropology students chatted excitedly amongst themselves.

“Well well,” said a woman and Grant turned around. Before him stood a young caucasian woman with long straight black hair and a warm skin tone. She was very pretty, and exactly how Grant remembered her.

“Estelle!” Grant exclaimed, getting up. The American born French woman who had accompanied him on his journey to find the Grace of the Fountain for Franklin Ogden was a remarkably dependable person. Grant had missed her company and was now thrilled to see her again.

“It’s good to see you two,” said Estelle, eyes darting between Roruke and Grant. “And the third?”

Motny Chung,” said Monty, thrusting out his hand. “I discovered the Taiping treasure alongside Grant here. We’re partners. Grant did not mention that you were close to our age. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Ms. Burnette”

Monty held up her hand and kissed it very slowly and with visible softness which made Rourke grimace. Monty’s next words came out softly and slowly as well. “A real pleasure.”

“Likewise,” said Estelle, pulling her hand away and wiping it on her jeans. “No one bothered to tell me you guys were on this ship. I was invited by Mr. Lain Ogden but it seems your uncle forgot to mention I was coming along.”

“Well this is a nice surprise,” said Rourke. “We made an effective team last time.”

“Agreed,” said Estelle, grinning. “Though hopefully this time around things will turn out less...demonic for lack of a better word. The crew already looked tense. I heard of what happened in the cargo hold.”

Grant quickly held up a finger to his lip to silence her and quickly glanced back at the anthropology students. They were just on their way out and didn’t show any sign of having heard what Estelle had said.

“Most everyone knows and is one alert at all times,” said Grant. “Best not to bring it up if you can help it.”

A guard standing at the entrance to the briefing room was looking right at Grant. He was completely unfazed by the fact that Grant had noticed him observing their conversation. Grant felt a little uncomfortable but understood that he was doing his job to ensure the safety of the crew. Everyone was a potential suspect as far as the captain was concerned. Perhaps the murderer was even the captain himself though Grant was certain he was the last person they should worry about turning their back to.

“Let’s move this conversation to the mess hall,” said Grant. “That is if you feel like catching up.”

“Hell yeah,” said Estelle. “I think I might like this kind of work. But don’t expect me to go looking for danger again.”

“Things will be different,” said Grant, with a chuckle as they stepped out of the briefing room, the guard still watching them. “For one we got a lot more guns…”

A few hundred miles ahead of the Salvation, a Remedy 620 private jet flew towards the yet to be named new addition to the Aleutian Island Chain. On board were fourteen passengers, ten adults and four children, one of whom was Mary Quincy, daughter of the man who owned the jet, Teddy Quincy, the CEO of Quincy Food Groups. Mary’s father had risen to the position of CEO several years ago for the highly successful company that mainly dealt in mainstream energy drinks and what he called the new generation of “modern” food delivery systems. The energy drinks her father sold had skyrocketed in popularity after many well known athletes and internet personalities began endorsing the product, praising the quality of its bold flavors and the way that it kicked a person’s focus into gear.

Mary felt a little uneasy on the plane even though it was a comfortable ride. The other children belonged to the other very important looking adults in the plane’s cabin. Mary didn’t know any of them though it seemed they knew each other and had no interest in getting to know her which kind of hurt her feelings. She wished her mother, Josephina would hurry up and finish her conversation with Ms. Tranburry to be with her. Even though she was only ten years old, Mary had already been on many flights with her parents to countries all over the world. Her father loved to travel, and he was the one who organized the trip to Alaska with his friends. Her mother had initially been opposed but she had never been good at talking her father out of his vacation plans.

“I am going to be the first civilian to fly over this island,” said Mary’s father, who was standing before everyone with a glass of some sparkling drink in his hand. “This publicity will be good for my image I think. Imagine if we told the public that the company supported researchers studying on the island, or better yet imagine when the first live news broadcast on the island comes on television and---.” He stopped, pausing for effect like he often did when he wanted to get dramatic.

“And what Teddy, tell us!” said a middle aged woman whose name Mary didn’t know. She had nice hair which was light brown and slightly curly like Mary’s, though not quite as long.

“Imagine the thousands of families sitting on their couches, tuning into the most exciting piece of news this decade. Their eyes are glued to the screen in anticipation, they are watching the scientists and their every move, soaking in everything they are saying, everything they are showing us on this island. And in each of their hands you can see a bottle of my energy drink. My energy drink, on the most watched program, and you learn that the company that makes those drinks supports all research on the island. For the first time in centuries man makes contact with mammoths once again. Everyone can’t get enough of those mammoths and they want them to stay. They want to help preserve these creatures cause they are interesting and exciting and there is nothing like this island. People ship at the grocery store all day and riding on the excitement from this monumental discovery, they feel compelled to buy our food products at the supermarket by the dozen.”

“Christ,” said a fat man in a polo, eyes wide at Mary’s father.

“Everyone will be tuning into what’s going on on this island,” Teddy continued. “They will watch their TVs with my drinks in their hands, eating my snacks. Feeling good and knowing that they supported the conservation and research efforts on the island by buying Quicy’s energy drink. Heck, for the next couple of months and maybe enve years you’ll be hard pressed to find a house that doesn’t keep a stock of Quicy’s in their pantry.”

“Teddy it’s genius,” stammered a younger man in khakis and a blue suit jacket. “I feel like I’m learning a lot.”

“The mammoths will be on the label of every drink,” said the fat man, who seemed to be talking to himself now. “My god. The sales….”

“Approaching island,” the pilot announced.

Mary’s father immediately set down his drink and everyone’s attentions were diverted to the windows.

“Thanks for taking us out on this trip,” said the brown haired woman from before. “This is all really exciting Teddy. I never figured you for an adventurous man.”

“Oh please I’ve been hiking and camping ever since I was a child,” said Mery’s father, beaming and sitting down. “Now you all enjoy the show now while it lasts. Hopefully we don’t get into any trouble.”

“Ah we’ll just get a stern word from the government,” said the young man in the blue suit jacket. “Not like they can shoot down our plane.”

Mary peaked out the window. She hoped her father wouldn’t think of setting down the plane. Wild animals always scared Mary, even the animals at the zoo intimidated her. Her mother had always thought Mary’s fears started when a goose chased her across a field at a park.

“See any sabertooths?” said the blonde boy with neat hair and red cardigan sweater sitting across from Mary.

“We haven’t even begun passing over the islands yet,” said the only other girl among the four children. Her name was Priscilla and she looked at least two or three years older than Mary. “I can see it up ahead though.”

Mary felt a little sore craning her neck to peek out the window so she sat back down and let the other children do the spotting for her.

“Never thought I’d one day be the first to photograph a prehistoric beast!” said the fat man, who was fumbling with his fancy camera. “These shots will be all over the news.”

“I still don’t believe these rumors,” said a stern looking balding man seated in the back of the cabin. His arms were folded. “Prehistoric whales? What a load of bullcrap. I can’t believe you people believe the stuff you see on the internet. That’s the problem with America now. No one reads a book. No one knows how to think anymore.”

“Well the Aleutian islands are still beautiful on their own Seymour,” said the middle aged woman seated beside him. “Prehistoric beasts or not it will be a terrific fly by. With the human population constantly on the rise, soon there won’t be any beautiful uninhabited landscapes some day.”

“Meh, I suppose you are right. Don’t think I'm not enjoying myself or anything, this is a nice plane. I just can’t believe some of us expect to look out that window and see a herd of North American Mastodons.”

“We are over the island now!” the blonder boy said excitedly, fighting for a good view out the window with the other boy who wore a puffy green pullup sweater and skinny jeans. Mary couldn’t even remember if they ever introduced themselves to her.

“Nothing yet!” said the blonde boy in the cardigan. “Man this island looks empty.”

“It’s a big one,” said the other boy. “The animals probably don’t stay too close to the coast.”

“Mary dear, don't you want to look with them?” came Mary’s mother’s voice.

Mary turned to face her mother and shook her head. Her mother Helena was a beautiful woman, a fact that Mary was always proud of and enjoyed it when her grandparents told her how much she looked like her. Helena had straight golden brown hair and what the adults called an ageless face. People always told Mary’s mother that they couldn't believe she was forty seven.

“I’ll look when there is something to see,’ said Mary to her mother.

“Well it is a beautiful island,” said Helena, smiling warmly. “Doesn’t look anything like the other Aleutian islands. A lot more vegetation.”

“Horses!” the blonde boy yelped and the other girl Priscilla brushed him aside to get a look through the window.

Mary leaned over to get a look and felt the plane dip in altitude. Indeed horses could be seen below them though they looked so small, like a group of ponies. Mary wondered if Alaska may be home to a subspecies of horse that was small even when fully grown. They were too small even to ride, though certainly larger than dogs, perhaps comparable to deer.

“That is so cool!” said the blonde boy.

Mary had to admit that the horses looked friendly and kind of cute. Some animals she was not as frightened of such as horses and deer. They always seemed gentler among wild animals.

“Oh man!” said Mary’s father. “Are those really horses? They look almost like they were shrunk! Hey pilot do you think you can circle around those things!”

“I sure can sir!” the pilot called out enthusiastically.

The plane leaned to the side and then jerked violently almost like a car going over a large epic of debris at high speeds. Mary thought she had seen something collide with the right engine which was now smoking and looked to be breaking apart. The sound of breaking glass came from the cockpit and she heard the pilot yell out a swear word.

“A god damn bird!” a second voice from the cockpit shouted. The co-pilot. “It was this big fucking bird!”

A heavy draft flowed through the cabin and terror seized Mary. Though she couldn't see inside the cockpit very well through the narrow doorway she realized that an opening had been made, exposing the pilot to the open air.

“Johnson how is Yoon?” Mary’s father yelled, standing up and looking into the cockpit. “My god he’s out!”

The co-pilot had left his seat and seemed to be attempting to pass control of the aircraft onto himself. Something terrible had happened to the pilot, that much was clear. The plane was losing altitude and wouldn’t stop shaking.

“I gotta put her down!” the co-pilot yelled and Mary felt faint for the first time. It was all too much to process at once and she sat rigid in her seat, mind blank, everything around her a nightmarish haze. The adults were screaming and yelling and the other children were crying, holding onto each other.

“Put your seatbelt on honey!’ Mary’s mother said, getting up from her seat to buckle Mary in.

The ground was coming up fast and Mary willed her mother to hurry up with sitting back down. Some of the adults were holding hands. Mary never could have imagined that she could feel such a level of fear. With her father up front where Mary couldn't see him, her mother out of reach, and herself seated next to children were practically strangers to her she felt alone and abandoned in the plane’s cabin. The ground was coming up too fast. Why wasn’t the plane slowing down? Mary wondered if the co-pilot knew what he was doing.

“Oh my god,” she heard a man say.

“Brace for impact!” the co-pilot screamed.

The plane began to level out which made Mary realize that the aircraft had been leaning on its side since they collided with something mid air.

We aren’t going to level out in time Mary thought.

A woman screamed and the other children screamed louder. Mary gripped her arms wrests with all her strength. Her mother was yelling, trying to get her to do something.

“No, Helena, sit down!” a woman screamed.

Mary turned just in time to get a split second look at her mother coming towards her before the plane hit the ground and tumbled, a painful sample of the impact force coming up through her seat.. The last thing Mary felt before the world disappeared was the sensation of being hurled to the side and her head being dashed against the hard glass of the window.