Gilligan's Anatomy

Chapter 14

Henry and Lexie scanned the early morning horizon as they made their way to the coordinates where the sulfur smell had been detected the previous day. It was a long haul in the chopper as the ship had traversed quite a distance in the calm seas overnight. Since Teddy and Henry shared news of the rotten egg smell in the air, Lexie insisted they go back and investigate. She was sure there was a volcanic island or something they had missed that was causing the odor.

"We've arrived at the coordinates," Henry informed Lexie through their headsets. "The smell was pretty prominent yesterday, but I'm not really detecting much now."

Lexie didn't respond right away, she swiveled her head back and forth looking for something... anything to give an indication of an island. "There," she pointed out the helicopter window toward the south.

Henry craned his neck to see what Lexie was pointing at, "I don't see anything."

"Look harder," Lexie insisted, "right there, on the skyline... it's a cloud... or something."

"I see it." Henry turned the chopper to get a better look at the ominous looking cloud.

"Well what are you waiting for, let's go see what it is," Lexie insisted.

"That could be any number of natural phenomenon, Lexie. Some of which can be dangerous." Henry replied. "I don't think we should fly into it..."

"Please," Lexie interrupted the cautious pilot's refusal, "I need to see for myself."

"Okay, Okay... you guys are paying the bills here. I work for you," Henry smiled as he moved the control wheel to change the course of the chopper. "Let's go check out that wall of mist."

"Thank you so much, Henry!" Lexie exclaimed. "I would hug you if there were room in here."

"I'll take a rain check on the hug," Henry replied. "Save it for solid ground, or at least solid ship deck."

"Who knows, if my island speculation is correct... it may be solid ground I'm hugging you on."

"For your sake, I hope so," Henry said. He glanced over at Lexie, her grin was wide, undeniable hope written all over her face. He hated squash her optimism, "But the first sign of trouble, we're bugging out. We've gone pretty far from the ship this morning, we need to have enough fuel to get back."

***

"Oh my goodness, that's a helicopter?!" April excitedly asked. "We're being rescued?"

"It sounds pretty far off," Derek said.

"It's a clear day... it could be as far as five or more miles away and we'd be able to hear it," Arizona said. "Still, it's very faint."

"Okay... Let's say it is a chopper, what are they looking for? Where would they be headed?" Callie asked.

"Maybe the volcano?" Meredith ventured.

"We should go there," April suggested. "So they can see us!"

"It will be hard to land a chopper over there," Owen replied "Visibility is poor. It wouldn't be the best place for a helicopter."

"Where would be a good spot for one to land?" Addison asked.

"North beach, maybe?" Callie guessed.

"The cliffs," Alex said. "It's really flat across the top."

"How about we split up?" Arizona suggested.

"I'll head to the volcano, even though it's not ideal for landing, they still may investigate it," Owen said. "I know the terrain and can make good time alone."