The Weeping River

Chapter 3: Sister

1800 hours, 10th August

Alkibiades. That's his name. It's Greek. Westvallen picked it when I was telling him about what happened. The first thing we did was find the nearest Greek sailor, Crewman Tsoutis, then bring him in to talk to Al. Let's call him Al, because I'm sure as hell not going to keep writing that name over and over. Turns out, Tsoutis couldn't make out what Al was saying and vice versa. He mentioned that there were sparse words here and there that he could make out through some strange pronunciations, but that's it. No real meaning. They must've spoken completely different dialects. Westvallen reckons he's from one of those real remote villages, the ones that have no electricity or anything.

We sent a very confused Tsoutis back to the engine room and continued discussing what to do with Al. In the meantime, Winters had guards posted in the infirmary around the clock to make sure he wasn't up to no good. I don't think he's dangerous. If he was, he would've tried to escape by now. Kelly's been spending a lot of time with him. He's the only thing that's managed to calm her down. Apparently, in the short amount of time that she's had with him, she's taught him a few English words. Simple things like food, drink, water, boat. The girl should become a teacher. She has a knack for it. They've become pretty fond of each other.

I suppose I should write about the other more disconcerting thing that's been happening. We've been having more KIAs and the bodies are vanishing just like the others did. Marines are stationed in the infirmary around the clock, but they aren't spotting anything suspicious. What really concerns me is the fact that I'm getting used to it. 'Oh, would you look at that, Hickman's gone and vanished,' I'd think to myself. It's horrible. This is not normal. None of it is. We still don't know who or what's taking them.

During the poor excuse for a lunch break I managed to have, I caught up with Mendez in the galley. He was telling me that the sketches of the coastline he made didn't match up with any charts. None. He started questioning his cartography. I think I managed to convince him that he wasn't at fault, that something real strange is happening here. Who knows if he listened?

I'm lying in my bed right now. The captain ordered me to have an early one after last night. I can't sleep, though. I keep seeing Tanaka cut up like a piece of meat, seared red. I spent an hour just staring at the ceiling. Then another hour staring out the viewport. I really don't want to go to sleep. I can hear Kelly talking to Al in the room over. They seem to be giving each other a break from everything that's been happening.

-

Must've been another hour of sleep. I had another dream. It was Captain Westvallen. He was being torn apart by sharks. Their teeth were like hundreds of sharpened daggers. They slid into his flesh like the holes were already there, that's how smooth it was. They fought over the pieces like rabid wolves, snatching limbs from each other and gobbling up the innards before the others could react. The water was as red as wine. This isn't right. I've had two similar dreams two nights in a row. What does it mean? It can't be a coincidence. Are they some kind of premonitions? Am I seeing how they'll die? No one's going to believe me. They're going to say I've got shell shock or something. But look at where we are. The sun doesn't set. There's no beach on Earth like the one we've been sailing alongside. I can't just shrug these off. I wish we had a shrink on staff. He wouldn't be able to catch a break though, everyone's got problems in times like these.

0300 hours, 13th August

I didn't have time to write the last day or so. I don't even know where to begin. I feel like I can barely remember what happened yesterday. The captain came to the infirmary in the morning to tell us ladies what they discovered. We've been sailing down a river. They figured that out when it started narrowing out on both sides. That's why Mendez didn't recognise the coastline. It made me feel a bit better, despite the fact that we still had no idea where we were. Westvallen said that a river is a godsend right now, because villages are always built on rivers. If we keep travelling down it, we'll come across people for sure.