Stranded without a map, lost without a reason.
Oceanus: excerpt.
“I don’t believe this,” Anthony said, stamping his foot in a rage as he looked around their location. The grass bent, the trees eerily familiar — they had arrived back where they were just hours before.
“Oh God,” Trin said quietly, the enthusiasm finally fading as she spied the tableau. Her feet ached, and her lower back was utterly spent. All that hiking through the brush had been for nothing.
The team of survivors, exhausted and hungry, looked around with mixed expressions of dismay and frustration. There wasn’t even a water source nearby, and after the results of their last trek, Owen wasn’t willing to let anyone wander off to find one.
“We can set up camp for tonight. That’s all we can do,” he said with a defeated shrug.
Someone’s stomach growled in the hush of despair. Owen rummaged through his bag and found only two ration packs. “Anyone else have any food?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “If you don’t… it’ll be a fight to the death.” Met with silence, he chuckled to himself, “I’m joking.”
The doctor, Ade, located a couple of packs in his own bag, as well as glucose tablets in the med kit. Between them, they shared a lukewarm meal and established a duty watch.
As the darkness started to set in, the other members of the team slept in shifts. Anthony Victor Smith sat up, alert.
Come on, Anthony. This is nothing.
Though every instinct screamed something was wrong, there was nothing there.
It’s nothing, you would have worked it out by now.
He folded his arms and thought about the possible scenarios that brought them here. His mind drifted somewhere other than the seat of tree roots digging into his backside.
This is a hostile territory. He rolled his eyes. No shit. He studied the campers, their huddled forms buried beneath jackets and jumpers.
A training exercise, perhaps?
But these weren’t military personnel that he was with. At least, he didn’t think so.
They’d had five minutes to get out, if that. He wasn’t even sleeping when the sirens started. What he had with him was all that remained in the bag by his cabin door: water, a compass, a notebook, and a change of socks. Everything else was stowed away in drawers and cupboards. He looked up in the hope of seeing the stars, but the canopy of the trees obscured his view. He wanted to know if the ship was even up there, but it was an answer he had no way of obtaining.
His suspicions stewed as he sat there.
What if this was The Rimar ensuring they didn’t get to New Botswana?
But why? Too much trade had been lost already.
He reached for his bag and retrieved his notebook, pulling the pen out of the holder at the back of it. In the darkness, he narrowed his eyes and tried to see what he was writing:
Rimar scheme. But why? Possible reasons:
He stopped. The ferns behind him rustled, and ceased. His pulse did not. He took a deep breath and let it out.
Stay calm.
His medication.
That’s what was missing. He groaned and reached inside the bag again. He’d only been taking it for three days; not long enough to form a habit. Anthony felt around for a slender cylinder and he was met with nothing but the lining of the rucksack. He half-laughed. Stress caused by forgetting stress pills.
The doctor insisted it was only for a short time, but it was important he didn’t miss a dose when travelling. He tossed the bag aside and tried to remain calm, thinking about his breathing as he did so.
Your belly is a balloon, the instructor was still saying in his head. But this was not a yoga studio on Atlantis. This was a jungle in the middle of nowhere, and he was supposed to have all the answers.
You’re the man we need. Nothing gets past you.
He looked across to where Owen was sleeping, the panic tightening his stomach until he pinned it down.
Anthony knew nothing. He knew nothing and they were going to realise it later, or the next day, or the day after that.
Droplets of sweat itched his forehead.
Your breath is flowing, in, out… that’s it.The palpitations started up again.For fuck’s sake. He closed his eyes. Try harder.
But any time he closed his eyes, he felt it. That chill settled itself down on his spine. That sense of being on display, but met with empty eyes when he faced his audience. Eyes burning into the side of his face. The presence of… what?
He glanced around the camp once more, and stood up, brushing the dry, musty earth from his trousers. He stretched, he walked, he circled the camp. He documented it all with his senses: a snap of a twig, a rustle of leaves.
He looked at his watch. Two more hours until Owen took over. Two more hours to keep it away.
He knew what he’d tell him when the time came.
They were not alone, and the enemy was always watching.
Oceanus will be available on 19th June 2026.
Catch all episodes of Salome here, including new episodes.
