Page 6 of The Space Traveller's Lover

CAPTURE

Erin wondered if this was some afterlife experience

and she and Sam were already dead.

On the day of their disappearance, Erin was sitting next to Sam while he steered the boat at high speed.

“I’m taking you somewhere you’ve never seen before,” he shouted over the roaring sound of the engine.

She eagerly smiled and nodded as if she already knew where they were going.

He welcomed her bubbly excitement; he wanted so much to tell her about his feelings. This would be the perfect time, the ideal place.

On the horizon, the black outline of Diablo’s Point’s majestic cliffs was getting closer by the second.

Erin was wholly absorbed, admiring the breathtaking landscape, while Sam kept watching her out of the corner of his eye. He kept admiring her long hair moulded by the wind as she untied her ponytail and tilted her head backwards.

For a brief moment, he lost concentration; his grip slipped from the steering, and the boat swerved briskly to one side, making Erin lose her balance.

“What was that?” she yelled as she firmly held onto her seat .

Sam managed to get the boat under control as he tried to find an excuse. “No worries. I thought I saw something in the water,” he said in an apologetic tone.

Erin clasped her hands on the sidebars as the boat bounced over the rippling waters, her eyes now fixed on the approaching cliffs and the roosting birds flying overhead.

She looked up, admiring the Sun’s tenuous rays through the reddened clouds when suddenly she found herself passing under a high arch of piled-up rocks.

“You’ve gone through the arch!” she screamed, not taking her eyes off the tight rocky passage as the boat swerved into the open waters once again.

Sam was smiling proudly. This route was particularly tight.

There were several such arches along the cliff walls, flanking the entries of the coastal caves. As the waves continually bashed and eroded the craggy surface, it was quite dangerous to approach them, never mind passing under them.

“I’ve been practising.” Sam cheered while purposely holding on to the steering wheel.

She gazed at him in reproach, but soon her eyes widened in anticipation as she realised they were nearing an even narrower archway.

“No, not this one.” She screamed again at the sight of the implausible passage.

But there was nothing she could do to stop Sam whisking the boat through, with only millimetres to spare at each side. Erin was stunned by Sam’s skilful manoeuvres.

He weaved his way through two more arches along the cliffs, in and out again, with such ease, Erin started to feel confident at last.

“I told you I’ve been practising,” he reassured her.

They both burst into laughter, their hearts excitedly pounding as if they had been on a rollercoaster ride.

Sam sped off into the open waters and turned the boat around to face the cliffs yet again, but this time, he switched off the engine.

They were standing right in front of the largest cave entrance, watching the waves crashing ever more frequently on the jagged crevice.

“Diablo’s cave!” she exclaimed .

“Aha!” He nodded as he started planning his entry strategy.

“You’re not trying to go in there, are you?” Erin objected, but she realised that she was stating the obvious.

“You told me you always wanted to know what it was like inside—”

“But you know it’s risky—”

“We’re just going up to the second lake. Then we turn around,” Sam assured her with an even more determined tone.

“We know it’s a very long and deep cave—more than one kilometre deep. And then there are the passages to the waterfall.” Erin tried to discourage him, but she could tell that Sam had already made his mind up.

“Only to the second lake. And we’ll be out before you know it. I promise,” Sam insisted.

“But it’ll be dark in a few minutes. We may even see that bright sphere again.” She tried to dissuade him, but Sam started the engines even before she finished talking.

Sam steered the boat towards the entrance, expertly keeping it away from the rough edges as he pushed through the choppy waves and rammed into the cave.

Erin held her breath when they came close to the sharp rocks, while Sam focused on keeping the boat dead straight through the craggy entrance.

She kept her eyes partly closed as they went under the engulfing cave’s mouth.

As she looked back at the sea current rushing in and merging into the interior lake, she knew they had made it.

Sam stopped the engines and turned on the powerful spotlights, their white glow illuminating the spacious cavity. The rumbling sound from the crashing waves echoed all around the concave walls while a serene feeling invaded them.

“This is beautiful,” Sam exclaimed, barely hiding his pride after his faultless rush through the hazardous entry.

“I thought it would be scarier … but it’s peaceful.” Erin marvelled at the capriciously carved interior and arching walls. She imagined being under the dome of a huge haunted cathedral.

“Now … we can go further into the second lake,” Sam said in an inviting tone.

“Okay, let’s go!” Erin cheered .

Sam quickly restarted the engine. Cautiously, he pressed ahead through the winding, unpredictable channel. At each bend, the basaltic cave revealed even more jagged columns and rock formations, moulded by nature over millions of years.

He skilfully steered the boat through the downward current, avoiding hitting the rocky edges, sometimes at the last minute. But as the cave walls were getting higher and the passages wider, he found it easier to advance.

As they reached the second, smaller lake, he turned off the engine and slumped on the side bench, proud of himself.

“There is something special about this place,” he marvelled.

“I think this is the farthest we can go,” Erin reminded him.

“I wanted to talk to you about something …” He said while holding her hands.

“What is it?” Erin looked at him hesitantly.

“Erin, we’ve been friends for years now. We know each other so well. But this friendship … for me … it has changed.”

His words came out in spurts as he struggled with what he wanted to say.

He felt a deep pain in his stomach, trying to anticipate her response.

Erin smiled broadly at him, trying to calm his anxiety while searching deep within her soul.

She knew that her feelings for him would never define themselves entirely.

She’d always thought of him as her best friend, but nothing more.

So, she said nothing, ending up staring at him with a blank expression.

“I missed you so much, Erin, while you were at uni.” He held up her chin and tilted his head, trying to kiss her lips.

But at that instant, the boat violently rattled while sudden strong currents swept it away.

Sam grappled in vain to reach the controls as they both hit the floor. Like a fragile paper boat, the speedboat surged up and down, erratically swerving through the rushing waters.

“Are you okay, Erin?” Sam shouted as they both crawled and leaned against the boat’s sideboard. He hugged her tightly.

“Shhh! Can you hear that noise?” Erin put one hand over Sam’s lips.

Sam focused on the thundering rumble getting louder as they relentlessly moved downward .

“It’s the waterfall!” They embraced and shivered as they screamed in fear.

Sam and Erin kept taking deep breaths through the relentless water surge splashing on their bodies, helplessly waiting for the inevitable end. As they could hardly open their eyes, the deafening noise warned them of their impending approach to the waterfall’s edge.

As she gasped for more air, Erin suddenly realised water didn’t clog her airways anymore.

She breathed in even deeper to get as much air as she could, and when she finally could look around with her eyes wide open, she found herself surrounded by an all-pervasive, orange haze.

She turned to face a wholly bewildered Sam; they smiled at each other, glad to be above water with their boat still in one piece.

Slowly they rose to their feet while exploring their surroundings.

But they were astonished when they realised that some unknown force was keeping the boat steady amidst the pounding fast-flowing currents.

“Are you okay? Hold on tight!” he shouted at the top of his voice. “I’ll get you out of here!”

Erin wondered if this was some afterlife experience and she and Sam were already dead.

As they cautiously walked towards the bow, they baulked at the sight of the enormous black abyss in front of them, swallowing the tumbling waters. Still, their boat was holding on, propped up as if by magic.

They kept their eyes fixed on the dark gorge, not daring to move in case the boat gave way, blinking to try to clear their wet, weary eyes.

Their expectation grew as the haze became brighter and brighter, illuminating the plunging black walls and making the waterfall’s edge sparkle. Then a low revving sound rising from the deep warned them that some sort of vehicle was about to appear.

That sounds like a jet engine , Sam thought as he hugged Erin even tighter.

They felt the temperature rise as a metallic object kept on breaking through the cascade, revealing its sleek wing-shaped body, three times the size of their boat. When it finally stopped, the alien craft triggered a sudden splash of bubbles, frothing around its bright orange rim lights .

It was then that the craft’s curved top section turned transparent. Suddenly, they could start to define a sturdy figure sitting inside and staring back at them.

Sam instinctively tried to step back, but he found himself unable to make the slightest move. Erin waited as if she was wholly hypnotised. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

They helplessly watched as the man jumped from his seat into the air and started to fly towards them, gliding through the transparent cockpit cover as it slid open.

Sam and Erin felt dizzy as a paralysing force took hold of their bodies. A dark cloud completely obscured their blurry vision until they finally lost consciousness and collapsed.

The man focused his full attention on Erin, crouching around her and inspecting her body from head to toe.

He stroked her gently, wiping her wet skin and rearranging her dishevelled hair.

He blew softly over her face, her cheeks regaining her rosy pink blush momentarily.

As her chest heaved, her mouth briefly opened to let go of a prolonged, gentle sigh.

“Shaillah!” the man exclaimed while carrying her in his arms as he stood up.

Then, staring intensely at Erin, he placed her inside a transparent sack and hung it from his back.

He soared into the waiting aircraft, its top cover turning an opaque white as he flew in.

As the alien craft descended into the waterfall, the roaring engines gave off an intense orange flash while the down currents sparkled and splashed before swallowing it whole.