Chimera Island

By Lance John

Ever since he had his brain tumour removed, Sam Steyn suffers from a recurring nightmare, a nightmare he fears he will have for the rest of his life. When he is invited to join his friends on a yacht cruise to a private island in the Seychelles, he decides to take up the opportunity as a means to find a way to come to terms with his nightmare.

After a night of partying on the yacht, Sam and his friends wake up one morning to find themselves stranded on the island with little memory of what happened to them. 

They soon discover that the island is not what it seems to be. They are not alone. They are being watched.

Approximate book-length: 40 000 words 
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lance John
• Release date: Oct 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533787477

Lance John

Lance John, is a fiction novelist and short story writer from Durban, South Africa. His stories paint vivid pictures of futuristic adventures, grunge alleyways and heartfelt moments as he writes in the genres of Science Fiction, Thriller, Crime Fiction and Adventure. His writing borders on speculative fiction while showcasing a fair amount of imagination, especially since he creates from the raw possibilities of life. With a background in Mechanical Engineering, his experimental attitude is quenched in the creations of his stories wherever he finds inspiration. His interest in writing started at the age of seven when his mother had to use her library card to allow him access to books of his liking at the local library. It was there that he discovered the powerful effects of words and how it could transport a reader to other lands and other times. He remembers how he and his friends at school enjoyed their free time making up stories on-the-go to entertain themselves, and to see whose story was the most entertaining. It was usually decided by the storyteller that drew the most listeners around him that won. Ever since then, he has been trying to draw in readers with his stories. Join his mailing list: http://eepurl.com/cd64vX

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Chimera Island

By

Lance John

Copyright ©2016 by Lance John

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The right of Lance John to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the copyright holder, addressed Attention: Permission Requests, at the author's email address below.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Cover designed by: Lance John

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Visit the author's website:

http://www.lancejohn.com

Contact the author via email:

[e-mail]

Dedication

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To you, dear reader. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Epilogue

Prologue

The silver-haired man sat quietly at his desk in his office and stared at his computer screen. He was watching a live feed of the security videos from the Simulation Control Room on his screen. He rubbed his right index finger and thumb together in a circular motion while he watched. Beads of sweat were appearing on his forehead. This was his last project, and even though the testing stage had begun on the primates, he could not wait for the real simulation. The personnel that he saw in the videos were setting up the most important part of the project. He could not fathom the thought of failing on this multimillion-dollar project. He turned around on his swivel chair with his back facing his screen and quieted his doubtful demons.

His thoughts were distracted by a knock on the door and the sound of someone rushing into his office. The silver-haired man heard the person stop in his tracks. He knew it was because of the fact that the back of his chair was facing the door. He also knew it was one of his technicians.

The technician made a grunting noise and shuffled his feet to get the silver-haired man’s attention. The silver-haired man ignored him. He knew how to work the technician's patience to its breaking point. This was his way of keeping them on their feet.

He eventually gave in by shifting his head slightly to the side and said, What is it?

The technician heaved a sigh and said, Sir, Dr. Jericho. We have done it. I mean, I never thought it would work out this fast, but there were so many obstacles and so many budget cuts that it looked as if—

Get to the point, Adam, said Dr. Jericho.

The doctor turned his chair around to face the technician, a twenty-something male that looked like he was aiming to win the world’s biggest virgin competition. The doctor disliked these enthusiastic type of young technicians. They always had an opinion about something. He wished they could learn to keep their unnecessary opinions to themselves.

Oh, sorry, sir, it’s just that the simulation setup is complete, said the gawky technician in slight embarrassment.

Dr. Jericho already knew that. What else?

Uhm, we're tracking our test subject now. We're going to go to a live feed soon.

Dr. Jericho smiled to himself as he heard those words. Finally, he would be able to have his dream realized. He was already enjoying the idea of a holiday in Bali, spending his days blowing away a hefty bank balance. He immediately got up from his chair and felt more determined to complete his project.

Adam watched nervously as the doctor got up from his chair and walked towards him. He felt intimidated by the doctor's looming presence and backed away towards the door. He suppressed the uneasy feeling he had in his stomach. The doctor grabbed his grey coat off the coat hanger from behind the door and put it on. A wicked smirk flickered across the doctor’s face, causing Adam to hold his stomach with his left hand.

Dr. Jericho then made his way out of his office into a lobby that had rooms on either side of it. He made his way towards the last room at the end of the lobby—the Simulation Control Room. His focused eyes and determined actions made him half-aware of Adam’s laborious explanations to convey to him the technical data relating to the simulation's test run. When Adam mentioned the word ‘glitches’ to him, the doctor stopped and turned to face him.

No glitches! he said.

Adam looked down and nodded his head.

The doctor turned and continued his walk down the passage. He walked past the first door called Core Cooling Systems and noticed the electronic locking system on the door. He knew that he was the only one that could enter the Core Cooling Systems room. His secondary fail-safe strategy was in there, waiting for his instruction in case of some disaster.

The doctor continued past the other rooms in the passage and noticed the labels on the doors. They were labeled, Biological Waste, Canteen, Restroom, and Base Supplies. He then reached the end of the passage and came up to the door labeled, Simulation Control Room.

The doctor opened the door and his nose was hit with the stale stench of packaged food and champagne. These good-for-nothing, cheap-labour technicians. At least they weren't wasting their time in the canteen, he thought. He stood by the door and watched the scene before him. Two of his technicians sat at their consoles, lounging away and blaring their punk-rock music while giving little attention to the data being shown on their screens, except the Asiatic, female technician. She sat and watched her screen as if she was looking for something important.

Cheers to the successful test run, said one of the male technicians to the other one. He gulped down a glass of the fizzy drink and turned his chair to look at Kate.

Hey, Kate, aren't you going to have a drink with us? he said.

No.

Oh, come one, just one. Maybe you'll loosen up a bit. The other male technician sniggered and patted his buddy on the back.

Kate ignored him and focused on her screen.

Hey, said the male technician as he grabbed her chair and turned it so she would face him. Kate flinched and tried to get away, but he held onto her chair.

I'm talking to you dammit! he said.

What? said Kate, her mouth trembling as she stared at him in fear.

"I just want to say-

What do you want to say? said Dr. Jericho closing the door behind him.

As soon as the technicians heard the doctor's voice, they immediately returned to their desks, gulped down their glasses of champagne in one go and quickly hid away their food. With new determination, they settled in and continued to watch their screen in silence.

That's what I thought, said Dr. Jericho as he walked into the room.

Adam went to sit down at his desk which was alongside Kate's. He eyed her out and noticed how embarrassed she was. He wanted to say something, but he was too shy to do anything. He barely knew her, and so did the other two male technicians. They were all handpicked to work on this project and they had no prior relations to each other.

The technicians were all seated in a small semicircle made up of their desks and consoles, situated in the center of the room. A little to the front of the semicircle was a three square metre screen that showed the screens of the technicians as a small icon placed in its left corner. In the center of the technician's semi-circle was a platform with a slightly raised metal podium that was at eye-level with the screen. Dr. Jericho walked past the technicians and stood on the metal podium.

Show me the simulation, he said, without looking at his technicians.

Adam worked his console along with the other technicians and caused the grey static in the middle of the screen to disappear and show a fuzzy picture in its place. A picture showing green, thick leaves.

Refine it, said the doctor.

Adam enhanced the scene and the screen came alive with the image of a small pond being surrounded by lush green leaves.

Now show me the target.

The imaged was enlarged and Adam focused on their target - a chimpanzee, slightly hidden behind a brush. It was a bit hard to see it at first, due to it camouflaging itself with the brush. At first glance, it looked like the chimpanzee was digging in the ground for insects, but when he zoomed in, the screen showed it doing something else.

The doctor realized what was happening. The chimpanzee was beating a small snake to a pulp with a hand-sized granite stone.

Interesting. Get me another angle of its face and a closer one he said.

Adam zoomed in to get a close-up view of the chimp.

Dr. Jericho studied the chimp's face and said, It's afraid.

Kate was busy monitoring the chimp's biological signs and noticed something strange.

The chimp's vitals are not looking too good. Its heart rate is dropping, she said. Kate looked at the large screen for a second and then checked her console.

Wait, there's something else, she said. There could be a toxin in the bloodstream, congregating near the heart.

She froze an image of the chimp. Dr. Jericho realized what she was getting at and had the video technician put the frozen image on the large screen.

Check this out, if you look on the left side of the chimp's chest, you will notice a red blotch. I believe it was bitten by that snake it just killed, said the female technician.

Good work, said the doctor.

The room went silent as the chimp started to hyperventilate. It staggered a bit and slowly spun around in circles before it started to scream in fear and beat the ground with its fists.

Heart rates rising again. It looks like the adrenalin is counteracting the toxin, said Kate.

The chimp stopped its circling and then dashed off in another direction. It was moving so fast that the technicians were having difficulty spotting it in the jungle. The chimp was eventually located near a large tree. It was about to climb it when it was distracted by a nearby pond. The pond was still, except for a few small bubbles coming from underneath and breaking its surface. The chimp looked at these bubbles and became very curious about them. The chimp let go of the tree's branch and neared the pond. The bubbles appeared more frequently with each step the chimp took towards the pond. The chimp excitedly shouted at the display on the surface of the pond. The doctor and his technician's watched in silence.

The chimp moved closer to the pond and leaned across it. It held out its right index finger and carefully attempted to touch the bubbles. It suddenly stopped. The chimp, being a bit confused, tried to touch the water surface to bring back the bubbles. It was too late. Two amber eyes suddenly appeared from underneath the water surface. Before the chimp could even pull its hand back, a large crocodile came out of the water, and with one big snap of its jaws, it had half of the chimp inside its mouth.

The unexpected crocodile attack caused the technicians in the room to jerk back in their seats. The large screen showed the pond being discoloured by the chimp’s blood. The sight of blood was too much for Kate. She turned her chair to look away. The others were all shocked at what they just saw, except for Dr. Jericho. He stared at the screen with a satisfied smile.

With three more bone-cracking snaps, the chimp's torn limbs hung from the side of the crocodile's mouth. The crocodile slowly disappeared