Aquaria - 21. Aqu Chapter 21

With the submarine now not in the channel between Wilkes and Wake Island, there was now room for the cargo ships to come in and offload everything, with the help of the front-end loader, with the barge needed first, to create a temporary bridge, to get the loader over to Wilkes Island, and offload the containers, that will become the community centre, before the loader crosses back over to offload the containers that will become the two houses, and the community shops.

It was all quite a rush, but with the help of all the community members, all the new building is built, and operational, and the community was looking forward to having tourists come and visit their Island home, with advertising now taking place all over the USA, Canada, as well as parts of Asia and all over the UK and Western Europe.

While the final stages of preparations are being made to Wake Island, the submarine Aquaria was about to make a surprise visit to Bell Bay, Norfolk Island, just 1475 kilometres East of Brisbane, Australia, after short stops at Majuro, Marshall Islands, as well as Manus Island, Papua New Guinea and Port Villa, Vanuatu.

When the Aquaria arrived just as it was getting dark, Captain Jonah had decided to rest the Aquaria, on the floor of the bay, and surface just before sunrise the next day, before commencing doing some research in the area, over a 2-day period.

Once completed, Jonah was planning on a short stop at Lord Howe Island, before continuing south, to their main destination of Macquarie Island, located South West of the south tip of New Zealand, and South East of Tasmania.

When I learnt of the destination of the Aquaria, I contacted my father right away, and requested a short leave from work on Wake Island, so I could participate in science research onboard the Aquaria, while it is in the Southern Pacific, and surprisingly my father did not refuse the request, and informed me that he would arrange for me to get from Majuro to Brisbane, via Nauru, then onto Lord Howe Island, where I would board the vessel.

Once I had spoken to the Commodore, to arrange a trip from Wake Island to Majuro, I let Daniel know that I was spending a few weeks on the Aquaria, to participate in some research on Macquarie Island, and that he was now in charge of Wake Island, while I am away.

With that done, I headed to the house to quickly pack my bag with only a few items, as I still have some clothes and uniforms in my executive suite onboard the Aquaria.

With a two-hour flight to Majuro, then a 6-hour flight to Brisbane, via Narau, I was tired from all the travels, and I was looking forward to getting a good nights’ sleep, before boarding the last flight to Lord Howe Island late in the afternoon, the next day.

Once I had cleared customs and quarantine in Brisbane, I headed straight to the hotel that my father had booked for me, and after a short meal and a long hot shower, I headed to bed shortly after 10pm local time for a good sleep. I woke to the sound of knocking on the door, and glancing at the clock with only one eye, I groaned as I struggled out of bed, to answer the door, with it being just after 11 am.

“Good morning son, I thought you may like to have some brunch with me downstairs” my father said to me in a cheerful tone, and I groaned and walked back to my bed and collapsed onto it. “Not a fan of long days of air travel eh?” my father commented, as he followed me into my hotel room and sat down in a chair.

“Actually, I have ordered for brunch to be delivered to your suite, so if you can go and freshen up and get dressed, that would be appreciated” my father added, and reluctantly I headed to the bathroom for a quick shower, to wake up properly.

While eating brunch, my dad informed me that my flight to Lord Howe Island, leaves at 4.40 pm this afternoon and takes 1 ½ hours to get there. He also said, that I have been booked into a Lodge for the one night, until the Aquaria arrives, and Jonah is aware of me re-joining them.

After brunch and our little talk, my dad gave me a small package, wished me a safe journey and left me to relax until my afternoon flight, and I went for a long walk around Brisbane, before returning to the hotel and packing my overnight bag, I headed to the airport, and checked in my one case, while I kept my overnight bag with me, which contained my lap top computer and some music CD’s.

When I arrived on Lord Howe Island, the sun was not that far from setting, even though it is in the same time zone as Eastern Australia, it is far enough East to be about 40 minutes in difference with the setting of the sun. Once I had checked into my accommodation, I remembered the small package that my father had given me earlier in the day, and I opened it up to find a VHF hand-held radio inside, and I turned it on, and saw it was set on just one frequency.

Presuming that it is linked to communications onboard Aquaria, I decided to test out the theory. “Lt Commander Blackthorn to RS Aquaria, over”, I said and waited for a response, “Aquaria to Lt Commander Blackthorn, receiving you loud and clear over” came a reply almost a minute later, “Requesting status of the Aquaria, over” I said, and the next voice to respond was from my Uncle Jonah.

“Hello Trent, we have just passed through Sugarloaf Passage and approaching Ned’s Beach, over”, the Captain said. I pulled out my phone and clicked on Google Maps, and quickly typed in Ned’s Beach, and saw that it was the beach just down from the accommodation that I am staying at.

“Received that Captain, I am in accommodation just 100 metres from that beach, over” I said, “We will collect you at 0700 hours tomorrow morning, have a good night, over and out” Jonas said, and I turned off the radio.

I went for a walk down to the beach, which has beautiful white beaches that squeak when I walked on it, and the Aquaria was easily visible, sitting about 400 metres out from the beach, with just the top two decks showing, so it must be sitting on the bottom of the bay in about 18 metres of water.

Stripping off my shirt, and kicking off my shoes, I dived into the warm ocean water, and began swimming out to the submarine. Inside the submarine, the junior officer buzzed the Captain’s quarters. “Sir, we have a UFO or an unidentified floating object, approaching the submarine from the shore” the officer said when the captain answered the hail.

“Very humorous Lieutenant, have you tried magnifying the camera?” Captain Jonah asked, I have just done that sir, and it appears to be a swimmer, but still not identified” the junior officer replied, “I will be right there” Jonah responded, and a few moments later he walked into the main bridge.

“I can’t locate him sir, he is out of camera range” the junior officer said to the captain when he entered.Jonah looked at all the screens, before glancing at the port side port hole when he heard a slight noise, and smiled, when he saw his nephews face looking at him with a big grin.

“Did you bother to check the port hole windows Lieutenant, as I think your UFO is Lt Commander Blackthorn” Jonah said as he chuckled, before going to his station and pressing a button. “Hello Trent, the officer on watch said you were an UFO, Unidentified Floating Object” Jonah said which went to a speaker’s located either side, just behind the bridge.

The Captain could see me laughing, before I slipped and fell back into the water. “Well it appears that he has fallen off laughing, no doubt he will swim back to shore, just keep watch of him while he does” Jonah said to the junior officer, before returning to his suite.

When I had reached the beach again, I retrieved my shirt and shoes, just as it was now getting dark, and I walked back to the accommodation, by that time I was dry, and I used my shirt to wipe off any sand on my feet, before entering the accommodation.

I retrieved the radio and turned it back on, “Aquaria, do you copy, over?” I said into the radio, “Receiving you Lt Commander, this is Lieutenant Banks speaking, over” came a quick reply, “So, I am a UFO now am I over?” I responded, “Yes sir, that is what I reported to the Captain, when I saw you swimming towards us, over” came the reply.

“Well lieutenant, that made my day, I laughed so much, I fell off the deck into the water, with no harm done, have a good night Lieutenant, over and out?” I answered before turning the radio off again, and with a dry shirt and my shoes back on, I headed to a nearby restaurant to have some dinner.

Shortly after sitting down, I overheard another customer speaking to the waiter, “Did you see the big submarine that is parked in the next bay over?” I heard the man say, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Do you think it is the Chinese come to invade?” the lady seated next to the man added, and I saw the waiter roll her eyes and walk towards me. “Good evening sir are you ready to order?” the waiter asked me.

“Hello, I will do in two minutes, and you can tell that couple that the submarine is not parked, it is anchored, and secondly that it is not a Chinese submarine, instead it is the Research Submarine Aquaria, owned and operated by a family corporation” I said softly to the waitress, who smiled and nodded her head in understanding, before heading off to the kitchen.

I ended up ordering a locally caught salmon, with steamed baby potatoes, carrots, red cabbage and beans, plus a small glass of white wine. About half way through my meal, I saw the couple that spoke about the submarine stand to leave, and the waiter approached them.

“I hope you enjoyed your meal here tonight?” the waiter asked them, “We did thank you very much, and we will be back tomorrow night” the lady said, “I did some asking, and I learnt that the submarine that is anchored in Ned’s Bay, is actually the Research Submarine, that has been in the world media a lot lately, apparently it is only here for an overnight stop?” the waiter said, as she gave me a quick glance and smile in my direction.

I gave her a smile and thumbs up for how she handled it, before she went to the counter to settle the bill for the customers. When it came to pay my bill, I used the credit card to pay for my meal, and before leaving, I held out my hand to the waiter, and as she shook my hand, I tilted her hand slightly palm up, so as to leave the $50 note in her hand, and I walked out, with a big smile on my face.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, I packed my bag, and walked down towards the beach, and when I saw the large crowd, I turned and walked to the east of the bay and retrieved the radio as I did. “Trent to RS Aquaria, over” I said into the radio, “receiving you Trent, over” came my uncles voice.

“I have just seen the large crowd on the beach, and I see that you are now surfaced fully, have the dinghy pick me up from around the corner at Jim’s Point, I will be there in twenty minutes, over” I responded, “understood and will do, over and out” Uncle Jonah said.

Fifteen minutes later, I arrived at the alternate pickup location, and sweat was pouring off me, and just as I stopped to wipe the sweat away, I heard the dinghy rounding the corner, and approaching the rocky shore where I was now standing, and I quickly took off my shirt and shoes, and stuffed them into my backpack.