The Seamaiden limped its way to the docks on the shores of small coastal town called Oakville. It was a small place, home to about 5,500 people, almost all of which lived in the hills overlooking the beaches nearby. Jack, Ava, and Mason were exhausted when they arrived, and Mason couldn’t get his mind off of his craving for the underflavored stale softness of a prepackaged cheese danish and slightly burnt taste of the three hour old coffee that the galley’s bodega and grill undoubtedly had waiting for him.
“Gas and snacks,” one could hear the salivation in Jack’s voice as he moaned his desires as if speaking to whichever woman he had in bed with him on any given night. Ava giggled at his sarcasm, but she understood completely. One potato and egg burrito would probably give her the same feelings; that is, if anyone was there to making them.
“It’s really quiet,” she noted.
The docks were large and accommodating, as Oakville was a combination of small tourist stop and school-aged sports hub, with two complexes for major tournaments around the area in addition to the scenic hiking trails, open parks, and sunny beaches, one of which was an internationally popular and often overpopulated nude beach tucked away in one of the coves nearby. The normal riffraff that one would find at the docks was missing, however.
The three exited the Seamaiden, and Jack and Mason took care of the mooring while Ava walked ahead, looking for signs of life. “Guys, I don’t think anyone is here.” The sound of concern in her tone was unmistakable. Mason imagined her thoughts: what if the aliens got here already and did something with the people?
“Don’t worry about anything just yet, Ava,” he reassured her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I mean, always be prepared and all that, but don’t worry.”
“It takes up too much energy, I know,” she smiled at him politely as she patted him on the back, a sign to Mason that he should probably not be giving her advice, right now, no matter how thoughtful.
He smiled and eyed the convenience store at the galley’s entrance. The entire store was on the docks and floating on the water, but before the keypad-entry gate that kept out anyone not authorized around the boats, meaning anyone with the code could come in, so it was kind of pointless. He considered disabling it in the past, to try to get a security contract with the marina, but if liquor was missing off of someone’s yacht’s wet bar, the owners would most likely blame one of their friends who drinks too much and not an unknown burglar.
As they walked inside the galley grill, aptly called “The Shiney Hiney Bodega, Bar, and Grill,” they noticed that it too was devoid of life, save for a moth fluttering by the window facing east. The dust had been gathering for some time, maybe two weeks, but that could be a sign of lack of upkeep on behalf of lazy staff. Ava allowed her mind to clear, which she’d become adept at doing at an instant with her MMA training. The practice slowed everything down so she could take in any visible or audible anomalies.
The entrance to the place opened to the convenience store with the usual arrangement of things one would find at such a place, and the restaurant and bar were in the back half, which L’ed around a corner into a dance floor and DJ table. Beyond that was the kitchen, and they assumed the storage room. Considering this was a dock area, there was most likely an electrical room somewhere in the back as well.
Aside from the place being absent of activity, Ava didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“Do you guys see that?” Mason asked, his voice tense. Beyond the swing doors in the kitchen, he saw movement, something dark changing positions in the shadows near a prep table. It was a human, or something shaped like a human. There was something unnatural about its movement. “If it’s not someone tweaking out, then it’s gotta be one of those things,” he observed, lowering his voice to a whisper. When it looked up at them, its eyes glowed green, just like the aliens they encountered on the boat the night before. Then one set of eyes became two, then three.
Jack drew his weapon and aimed it at the first figure. He wanted to yell for them not to move, but thought better of it, as they didn’t know what they’d attract. He thought about shooting them, but something told him to wait.
Mason, who stood closer to the entrance, pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and readied it for defense. He hadn’t used it in a long time. Come to think of it, he’d never used it, and really didn’t know how it worked, other than how to open and close it repetitively when he was bored.
“Guys I don’t have anything,” Ava whispered, then saw a barrel of harpoons for sale and grabbed two harpoons from a drum that was full of them, and tightened her grip on them. “Nevermind, found something.”
Suddenly, a hand grabbed Mason’s shoulder. He spun around, ready to strike, but stopped short when he saw an older man, face worn from stress, yet oddly handsome, nonetheles. His grey-white hair was out of place, and his light blue eyes were intense. His attire suggested he worked at a science facility, though it looked as if he’d worn the same outfit for weeks.
“Don’t hurt me!” the man gasped. “Look, I know what you saw.”
“Speak up, then,” Jack replied, not taking his eyes off whatever was in the kitchen.
“I’m Dr. Elijah Turner, and I work — well, worked — at the Mabel Island Astrophysics Complex. These…aliens…are taking over human bodies and transforming them into their hosts. I don’t know why they’re doing it, but they are, and they’ve already gotten most of Oakville, it’s pointless to go further into town.”
“Shit,” Jack muttered. “So they’re parasites?”
“Not quite. Could we potentially use your boat to get to MIAC?” Dr. Turner asked.
Jack thought about it, then sheathed his weapon. “They’ll have to wait. Everyone, let’s head for MIAC.”
“How do we stop them?” Mason demanded as he filled his backpack with snacks before heading out of the store.
Dr. Turner shook his head. “Stopping them won’t be easy. But there’s a way. My research before I was chased out of my lab by my superiors – well, it led me to believe that these…aliens…are vulnerable to high-frequency sound waves. There’s an old radio tower outside of Bayvue. If we can get to the island, I can broadcast a high-frequency radio signal that will barely be audible to us, but will disable them. We should be able to disrupt them for a hundred-mile radius, if my calculations are correct. That would give us at least long enough to get our wits about us.”
Jack considered the Doctor’s plan. All things considered, they didn’t have much choice, really. “Everyone on the boat, we’re headed for Mabel Island.” After stocking up on needed supplies, they boarded the Seamaiden and set off towards the island. Hopefully this trip would bear safer waters.