Sapphire I: Chapter 1

1. The Mysterious Island

June 27th, 1973

In 1973, Alec and Sheila had just graduated from school and wanted to get away from it all.  They rented a small airplane from a local airfield and flew over to an uninhabited island in the Caribbean.  It was a small one, only 2 or 3 miles in diameter.  They were spending a few nights on the island, with little more than their wits to survive.

The two lovebirds were both eighteen years old.  Alec’s sleek brown hair, blue eyes, and solid build contributed to his rugged good looks and very powerful charm.  Sheila, whom Alec had first seen on his school’s cheerleading team, was very pretty, with colorful blonde hair and blue eyes.  Their life was perfect.  Alec was even planning to ask Sheila to marry him.

Sadly, he would never get that chance.

Alec and Sheila landed the plane on a long stretch of beach on the island.  Sheila got out and stretched her arms while Alec finished turning off the plane. The first thing they decided to do was to explore the island.  Sandy beaches formed much of the island’s coast.  The interior of the island was mostly one huge jungle.  This jungle surrounded a slate-colored mountain so steep that it was practically cylindrical.  On one side of this mountain was a pretty lagoon, which was connected to the sea by a narrow river.

When Alec and Sheila first laid eyes on this lagoon in the middle of the jungle, the sheer beauty of the scene overwhelmed them.  They stood silently, mouths agape, taking in the breathtaking scenery for a whole minute.  Then Sheila held Alec’s hand, turned to face him, and said, “Ah, this is such a nice place, Allie.”

“I’m glad you like it, Sheila darling.”

Sheila almost could not bring herself to leave this pretty sight, but she eventually asked Alec, “We should set up our shelter.  Are you coming with…?”

Alec, who was paying no attention to her, was caught off guard by this request.  He replied, “Oh… uh… of course!  Follow me.”  He led Sheila to a small clearing in the jungle.  On the edge of this clearing were two trees only six feet apart.  Alec observed these trees and told Sheila, “I think this should be a great place for us to set our shelter, don’t you?”

“Of course, Alec!” Sheila beamed.  “Hold on.  I’ll run to the plane and grab some tarp we can use to build the shelter.”

“Great, darling.  Say, could you pick up our sleeping bag while you’re out there?”

“Oh, but of course!  Two sleeping bags, coming up!”

“I only brought one, Sheila.”

Sheila was nervous about what having only one sleeping bag to share could mean.  But she loved Alec, and would do anything with him.   “Oh…  Thank you, Alec,” she called out.

Sheila returned ten minutes later with the tarp and sleeping bag.  She laid the sleeping bags on the ground as Alec took the tarp off her hands and thanked her.  He hung the tarp over two branches that ran close to each other between the two trees.  Then he put his hands on his hips as he wondered how to make a proper tent out of it all.  Sheila came to his side with four round rocks that she had picked up earlier.  She gave the rocks to Alec, and together they thought of how they could use them to make a tent.

Suddenly, an idea hit Alec.  He walked over to the hanging tarp and planted the stones on the ground, forming a rectangle divided in two by the tarp.  Then he pulled the sides of the tarp out, one at a time, and held them in place with the rocks.  They both took a good, long look at their makeshift tent.  Sheila hugged Alec and said, “It’s perfect!” before dragging the sleeping bag into their new shelter.  When she came out, she asked Alec, “What should we do next?”

“We should look for some food,” he said, rubbing his stomach.

“Very well.  And after that I just want to lie on the beach all day long!” she added as they walked off together.

June 30th, 1973

It was early in the morning during their third night on the island.  The sun shone mere slivers of light over the horizon.  Alec and Sheila were sleeping together in their jungle shelter, in the one sleeping bag which they had brought.  Just as Alec was barely stirring to get up, Sheila’s eyes opened wide and she started out.  It wasn’t like Sheila to get up in the night.  Alec had to follow her.

The island was a mostly quiet and heavenly place, but there were a few hidden dangers.  Under a cliff overlooking the sea on the eastern side of the island was a shoal brimming with jagged rocks.  After a five-minute walk, Alec followed Sheila to this cliff.  It was obvious that she was going to dive off into the rocks jutting out from the sea, about two stories below.  She had no reason to kill herself.  She had everything she wanted right here on the island.  Something was controlling her.  It couldn’t have been a sleepwalking dream, though; her eyes were open.

Oddly, Alec couldn’t move a muscle.  He just stood, transfixed, looking at Sheila prepare her dive.  Just then, he heard a voice in his head that was clearly Sheila’s.  Alec thought he heard her cry Help me! in his mind, but he couldn’t hear her physically, and couldn’t do anything to stop her.  Whatever was controlling her must have been controlling him, too.  Then she made a perfect swan dive without so much as a scream.  As Alec witnessed Sheila plunging down to her death, he felt as if he had died with her.

Alec felt so depressed after the mysterious death of his beloved Sheila, but his physical self refused to follow in her example and die with her.  There was nothing left for him on that island, so he packed up and flew back to civilization.

Upon returning home, Alec joined the Delta Defense Alliance like his father did years ago.  In between maintaining world peace in the fragile times of the Cold War, Alec investigated his girlfriend’s death.  Over the next five years he turned up next to nothing.  Then came hope.