Blue Man

Sue Lumb

Description

When a scientist falls overboard during a storm he has an underwater encounter with an inexplicable phenomenon. This has a profound and devastating effect. He finds himself in an intimate relationship, not only with the inhabitants of a remote Island who rescue him, but also with the creature he encountered. It begins to pursue him with a vengeance and whilst trying to understand it, he discovers the legend of the Blue Man recounts similar experiences. The narrative swoops from our world to another, revealing the existence of other beings and their cultures. As we become more familiar with these aliens we learn that they are desperately trying to avert a looming disaster on their planet.

Sujets

• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Self Publishing Partnership
• Date de parution: 19 août 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781839523465
• Langue: English

Extrait

First published 2021
Copyright © Sue Lumb 2021
The right of Sue Lumb to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Published under licence by Brown Dog Books and
The Self-Publishing Partnership Ltd, 10b Greenway Farm, Bath Rd, Wick, nr. Bath BS30 5RL
www.selfpublishingpartnership.co.uk

ISBN printed book: 978-1-83952-345-8
ISBN e-book: 978-1-83952-346-5
Cover design by Kevin Rylands
Internal design by Andrew Easton
Printed and bound in the UK
This book is printed on FSC certified paper
CONTENTS
The Storm
Island Life
The Proposal
Ben
The Parents Meeting
The Discovery
The Entanglement
The Domains
The Great Change
The Imposition
The Experiment
The Irregularity
An Out of Body Experience
Planet Neon/Quilliam
The Ceremony
Planet Earth/A Sorry Affair
Planet Neon/Etherea
Marli
Planet Earth – Port Lar
Planet Neon – Seronia
Planet Earth/Ben
Planet Neon – Seronia
Planet Earth – The Demise
Planet Earth/The Empty Nest
Detective O’Reilly
Amy
Planet Neon/The Clandestine Meeting
Orb 1
Planet Earth/Port Lar
Earth Science Surveillance
The Rock
Planet – Neon
Planet Earth
Planet Neon – The Discovery
Planet Earth
Planet Neon
Planet Earth – Briars Hill
Ben
The Point
Planet Neon – The Portal
Planet Earth – The Bomb
Planet Neon – Novaria
The Tharmenian Advance
I would like to dedicate my book to my family, Pete, Dan, Kate and Zac who are an inspiration for everything that is wonderful .
THE STORM
At first light the Gothenburg Star sailed from the port of Stockholm. Yan, a student from the university, had secured a passage joining the crew as a marine researcher. As the ship steamed ahead he gripped the rail on the side of the ship and looked back to the port. He felt excited and anxious. This would be his last opportunity to gather further evidence to support his thesis about unusual seismic activity in the Celtic Sea. He needed more data to corroborate his theory about the effects this was having on the marine ecology of the area. He would submit his findings to the university as part of his PhD. If the Science Institute validated his findings he would be awarded a bursary to continue his research.
He felt the cold chill of the wind in his face and looked out across the water as the glow from the harbour lights drifted into the distant horizon. He could feel the low vibration of the engine as it began to get into its stride. The conditions were perfect. The ship seemed to coast along effortlessly. In no time at all he realised he had nearly completed his first watch and he was relieved that all seemed to have gone well.
Over the next few days, the ship’s voyage wound away from Sweden, around the Skagerrak, south into the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel, and finally turned north into the Celtic Sea. After an afternoon of study in his cabin, Yan wandered down to the stern of the ship to check the monitors and log the first set of readings. So far, everything appeared normal.
He was about to head back to his cabin when the ship suddenly lurched to one side. This was so unexpected that he lost his balance and he fell against a large wooden box, gashing the side of his head as he did so. He was alarmed by the amount of blood which was oozing from the wound. As he tried to stem the bleeding, he looked up and saw that the crew were frantically tying off ropes and gear that had come loose. He stumbled towards the door, holding his hand against his forehead. Blood was dripping down his face and onto his collar. He found it hard to keep his balance. Someone shouted to him, ‘Get yourself inside, that cut looks nasty!’
There seemed to be a lot of agitated activity as they pulled on the flapping tarpaulins which secured the cargo. The captain had ordered a full alert. He was on the bridge and looked anxious. He had received an urgent weather report informing him of the conditions above Fastnet. Apparently, it was gale force 10 and rising, and the storm was heading straight for them. A voice rang out, ‘All hands on deck!’
Yan turned and tried to make his way along the side of the ship. He could hear lots of shouting as more commands were being hurled at the crew. They too were taken aback by the immediacy of the storm that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Waves began to heap up. In the unforgiving swell, the ship began rocking violently from side to side. He could see that the clouds were getting darker and more menacing.
The ship began to veer repeatedly off course as the waves crashed across its path. The storm was so fierce that they could not escape it, and had no choice but to ride it out. Hours passed as the ship was tossed to and fro, helpless against such forces.
On the bridge the navigator drew the captain’s attention to the depth sounder. There seemed to be a dark shadow on the screen. At the same time a seismic monitor went off the scale. The captain sounded the alarm. Seven blasts were followed by one long one; the air was filled with a sense of fear and panic. Huge waves were swamping the decks and it was impossible for the ship to make headway. A distress signal was sent out, and crew were sent to muster stations, donning life jackets in readiness. As the roll call was checked, it was discovered that there was a man overboard. On discovering this, the crew frantically tried to locate the missing person.
A flare was set off which illuminated the sea just beyond the stern of the ship. A beacon scoured the rolling waves. The boat was tossing back and forth and waves were pounding the deck, the captain muttered, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’
He called the first mate to begin the evacuation.
‘We’re not gonna make it, how far from land are we?’
The navigator tried to assess their position, but it was impossible to make out the coordinates.
‘Look, there’s a light flashing in the distance!’
It was a beam from a lighthouse. They seemed to be approaching some kind of reef.
‘We’re taking on too much water. It’s gonna take a miracle to get us out of this.’
Then there was an enormous grinding roar as the hull of the ship hit the edge of the reef. They began the emergency procedures and were about to launch the lifeboats when out of nowhere the shape of a boat could be seen. It was racing towards them all lights aglare and it became clear that it was a lifeboat.
‘Where the hell did that come from?’ someone shouted.
It had launched from Port Lar on the Isle of Manes, which they had been driven towards in the storm. The coastguard had spotted their flare and the lifeboat crew responded as soon as they heard the siren, racing to the lifeboat station from all over the island. Drilled in such an emergency, they were at their posts in no time at all.
‘It’s going to be a tricky shout,’ said Frank, the boatswain.
The lifeboat berthed its way down the slipway and into the powerful swell of the unforgiving sea. Fortunately the vessel was sturdy and powerful, and it ploughed its way head on through the towering and unrelenting seas. Very quickly they came alongside the stricken vessel. As soon as they were alerted to the fact that a man was overboard, their searchlights scoured the waves.
‘I think I can see something,’ shouted Frank, who was pointing to a shape in the water. They edged closer to where he was pointing and sure enough there was someone floating with his head just visible above the waves.
‘Pass me the hook, I think I can get him.’
They hurled a lifebelt into the sea and the man grabbed it. It was Yan. He reached with all his might and managed to put the lifebelt over his head. Frank then leaned over the side and hauled him ungraciously in. He lay comatose on the deck. Another five minutes and he would have drowned.
Yan had lost his balance when the ship swung around. Despite his efforts to hold on to the rail, the force of the surge had propelled him over the side.
As he began to recover, all he could remember was falling into the sea and the icy shock of the water overwhelming him. He recalled sinking beneath the waves and being overcome by a sense of panic as a strange bluish shape had emerged from the depths. He remembered its long undulating body swimming towards him.
The creature had fixed a mesmerising gaze on him. For a moment he was transfixed and time seemed to stop. His mind seemed to be filled with strange images, both familiar and surreal. He saw himself as a child and for instance relived the grief of losing his parents in a tragic accident. Strangely, he heard them cry out and felt the force of the impact of the car which had hit them. He felt himself being lifted from the wreckage. He remembered feeling confused and scared. He then began to see himself as an older child, riding along the path on his bike by the side of his grandmother’s house. ‘Buster’, the old faithful Labrador, was following him. He remembered his school, and playing football with his friends in the school yard. Then all went black as the activities of the lifeboat above seemed to dispel the blue shape, which then dissipated into the murky depths.
Somehow, he found himself above the water reaching out towards a life belt which had been thrown to him. He heard a man shouting. It was Frank.
‘Got ya … ya bloody idiot what do you think ya doing in the water, you’ll catch yer death.’ As he hit the deck he could feel his lungs burning. His body heaved as he vomited and then he began to slowly recover. He was wrapped in blankets and given a warm drink. ‘You were bloody lucky, mate,’ the voice was unfamiliar but comforting.
The lifeboat sped back through the hea