IBM Adventure 2

I wanted to see more magic, but Attie was right: our priority right now was alerting the main ship to our situation and getting Vivendi medical attention so we could keep his leg from being amputated–or worse.

"Is there anything they can do to magically heal Vivendi, or something?" I asked.

Attie translated my question to the two locals, who I'd since learned were named Amazon (the woman) and NatGeo (her husband).
Amazon said something and shook her head. "I don't think so," said Attie. "How about contacting the main ship?" I asked.


"I don't think they can fix our sat-phone, but maybe there's some other way," she said. She continued talking with Natgeo and Amazon.
After a few minutes of back-and-forth, she turned to me.

"They say we can use one of their boats and sail out to the main ship."
"Huh. I didn't realize these folks were seafaring," I said.

"I don't think they are, for the most part. They do have some small fishing boats though, which should make do for now," said Attie.
"Works for me."


NatGeo stayed behind to look after Vivendi, since we couldn't move him in his current condition. Attie and I accompanied Amazon back to the part of the shore where we'd crashed initially. Amazon retreated into a cave for a minute and then emerged with a wooden canoe.

"I don't understand," I said. "There are jagged rocks everywhere. How are we going to be able to get out onto the ocean from here?"
Attie translated my concerns. Amazon smiled and put her hand on one of the larger rocks. She closed her eyes and began chanting. The jagged edges of the rock gradually smoothed out, and then the rock grew smaller and smaller, as if undergoing thousands of years of wind and water erosion in a matter of seconds. A bit later the rock was completely gone.

Attie was shaking her head in disbelief. I smiled. "You gotta teach me to do that some time," I said.

Amazon went to work on the other rocks in the area. Meanwhile, I went back through the wreckage of our recon vessel a few hundred feet away. I grabbed a compass and map and loaded them into my backpack alongside the sat-phone, water, and other supplies I was already carrying.


A few minutes later, Amazon had disintegrated enough rocks to clear a path to the ocean. We loaded into the canoe and pushed off. I navigated to where I knew the main ship would be using the compass, and Attie spoke with Amazon about the nature of their magic.
"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think their magic works by manipulating time," said Attie. "I don't think that's how they see their power but it's my best guess based on some of the examples she gave me."


That fit with what we'd seen: a sapling growing into a tree. Rocks undergoing erosion. "That makes sense," I said. "Though I suppose 'making sense' isn't really that important when we're talking about magical powers."


After about an hour, I saw our main research vessel, the Orion, in the distance. A bit later, I heard a beep come from my backpack, indicating that my sat-phone was once again functional. I grabbed the sat-phone out of the bag, and called the Orion.

"This is IBM, requesting medical assistance. We crashed on the island. The recon vessel is destroyed. Vivendi's leg was wounded and may be infected," I said.


"It is infected," said Attie.


"Sorry, Vivendi's wound is definitely infected," I said.


A few seconds later they responded. "Hey IBM, this is ActionMAX. Can you repeat that? I think we may have misheard."
"We crashed. The recon vessel is damaged, Vivendi is injured and needs medical attention ASAP."

The sat-phone speaker crackled to life again, but MAX didn't say anything for a few seconds. "IBM, am I to understand that your team crashed? As in, you made it to the island and crashed? That's where you're calling me from?"

I sighed. "Yes, I mean no, I mean kind of. We made it to the island, crashed, met some locals, and we're using one of their boats. It's a long story. Either way, we need you to send medical help now. I'm sending you our location." I tapped a few buttons on the sat-phone to send them our coordinates.


"Just received your location," said MAX. "We're gearing up another recon vessel with appropriate supplies and personnel now. I'll see you soon. But I'm going to need some clarity on what exactly is going on over there." "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Your story doesn't make any sense. You've only been gone for twenty minutes. There's no way you could have made it to the island by now."