Summoning the Directorium

Chapter 3: Disappearance & Encounter

Sumatra Island, Indonesia, October 2017

Riau Province Airspace

Above the region known as the Riau Province in the Island of Sumatra, is a military helicopter belonging to the Indonesian Air Force. This helicopter, known to be a utility helicopter, was like many other military equipment in which they were foreign designs. However, this specific helicopter was produced locally with license which was a trait common in a portion of Indonesian military equipment.

The helicopter already entered the seas north of Sumatra, known as the Strait of Malacca, and continued to head north east. Inside were the helicopter's pilot and co-pilot alongside two other men in military uniform that sat in the back.

"Within a few minutes, we should reach the Malay peninsula," the pilot who sat in the front said.

"Alright," one of the two men in the back said. "Andri, get ready to land. You got the documents?"

The other man beside him, Andri, checked his dark blue duffle bag under him. He shuffled through its contents until he came across a dark red file with papers inside.

"Yep, all clear!"

"Good, all we need to do is to tell the Singaporeans about our circumstances."

The two men made last round checks before the helicopter landed to make sure everything was ready. Their plan, ordered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was simple: Head to Singapore and re-establish contact. The documents they had brought would help them in explaining the circumstances that happened assuming that the Indonesian embassy had yet to figure out the situation.

Several hours ago, the Indonesian government had lost all contact with other countries. This of course applied to all Indonesian embassies overseas. What makes the situation even stranger was also the fact that all foreign embassies in Indonesia also lost contact with their respective governments. Seeing this situation, the Indonesian government swiftly formed up a team to re-establish contact with its neighbors, specifically Singapore and Malaysia for the time being.

"Hey, we're supposed to be in the strait of Malacca, right?" the co-pilot asked his colleague.

"Yeah, and?" the pilot answered.

"How come I don't see any cargo ships sailing near us? This place is supposed to be the busiest sea lane in the world and we've been flying for almost an hour!"

The pilot looked down from the window of his cockpit. All he could see was the sea water below the helicopter. Certainly, they had not seen any cargo ships yet. All they could see were the little boats of fishermen and their floating makeshift houses but they had already passed those a while ago. At that moment of time, they should at least see one or two huge cargo ships in transit.

"You're right, that's strange isn't it?"

The co-pilot turned his attention to the two people in the back, "Hey you guys, do you see anything?"

The two men in the back looked back at the co-pilot, "Nope."

The pilot reached his hand out to the co-pilot's shoulder and gently tapped it.

"Don't fret too much over it. Our focus is to simply get these two to Singapore."

The co-pilot gave up and turned his attention back to the helicopter's control panels. He still couldn't shake off the strange feeling he had in his chest. After all, the absence of any large cargo ships in the busiest sea lane in the world seemed weird. He knew of the area well and felt something was not right.

Minutes later passed. Five minutes turned into ten. Ten turned into twenty. While they should be near the Malay Peninsula by this point, they had yet to encounter anything that looked like land. Andri, one of the two men assigned for this mission, grew restless as time went on.