Mysterious Island

The Mysterious Island
By Walter Edminster

It was supposed to be a short relaxing boat trip. Now they were stranded on an island with no way to get off. In a way it was a bit like Gilligan’s Island. Seven people had chartered the boat for a tour of the islands off the coast of Florida. Six of them were young, well to do college kids on spring break. One was just a tired, overworked guy who wanted to relax for a while. Joe Webber was a retired engineer who had just finished a ten year assignment in the Middle East. He saw the sign advertising the charter boat tour and thought it might be pleasant spending the day bobbing around in the ocean with a nice cool breeze blowing across the deck. A contrast from the hot dry desert and blowing sand he was accustomed to.

The skipper, Jake Watson, was a middle aged man who was recently a Bos’n Mate First Class in the United States Navy. Jake had spent 10 years in the Navy and would have spent 20 if it hadn’t been for an accident that injured his leg. Actually nobody would have known he had a problem but the Navy decided he was not fit for duty so they gave him a medical discharge.

Joe had also been in the Navy but in a different branch,. He was known as an Airdale by people in other branches of the Navy. Joe had been an AT1, which meant that he was an Aviation Electronics Technician First class. Not only was Joe called an Airdale he was also called a Twidget. All Navy Electronics Techs were called Twidgets. Joe didn’t mind those titles. He just chalked it up to the jealousy of those who were unfortunate enough to have been in lesser branches of the Navy.

Jake wasn’t your average Bos’n Mate. The only Bos’n Mates Joe had ever run into were fat slobs in charge of transient barracks. They walked around with a permanent coffee cup glued to their right hand giving everybody orders in a gruff tone of voice. They were supposed to know everything there was to know about ships and boats but the ones Joe had known didn’t look like they could tell the bow from the stern. Jake was different. He was tall, slim, intelligent, and knew a lot about boats. That knowledge wasn’t going to do him much good now, though. He no longer had a boat. His was piled up on the beach with the bow completely missing. They were all lucky to be alive. The passengers were up on the beach dancing to music from a portable radio. The first thing they did when they settled on the beach was have Jake carry a case of scotch up onto dry land so they could continue the party.

There wasn’t supposed to have been a storm. It should have been a calm day. When the wind started kicking up and the boat started bouncing around, Jake laughed and told his passengers that this happened all the time. They were in the Bermuda Triangle. Now he was wondering if that wasn’t more fact than fiction.

Jake said, “Look at them up there on the beach. Not a care in the world. They’re lucky to be alive and don’t even know it.”

“Yeah. That’s the nice thing about being young and rich. They never have a problem. But you sure do. That boat is a wipe out. Will your insurance cover it?”

“No. It’s stupid but I don’t have any insurance on the boat. I just sank my life savings into that boat and thought I’d wait until I made a tour or two so I could buy insurance. I should have worked at a fast food place or something until I had enough to pay for it. I never dreamed I’d wreck it on my second trip out.”

“Do you know where we are?”

“No I don’t. I haven’t told anybody but this island shouldn’t be here. At least there shouldn’t be one where I thought we were and if we aren’t where I thought we were that means we’re lost. It’s strange. Ten minutes after we hit the rocks and washed ashore, the storm died down.”

“Speaking of strange, do you notice anything strange about that music they’re dancing to?”

“Well now that you mention it, there is. They’re tuned to a station playing music from the Forties. Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Harry James, stuff like that.”

“Right. They must be so drunk they can’t tell the difference.”

“I only see four of them. Where are the other two?”

“Oh, they went jogging about an hour ago. We should be doing the same. We need to look this island over and see if there are any people with boats for rent living here.”

“Well, rather than jogging why don’t we use that jeep?”

“ What Jeep?”

“The one those two joggers are driving our way.”

“My gosh, where did they get that?”

‘I don’t know. Let’s ask them.”

They came up to where Jake and Joe were standing, spun the wheel and threw sand all over the two of them. They sat there grinning like hyenas. “Look what we found.”

The jeep looked almost new. It was painted grey and said U.S. Navy on it. “There’s an air field on the other side of the island with a hanger and one twin engine bomber. No people. It looks like it was abandoned.”

Joe asked, “Have you seen any people anywhere?”

“Not a soul.”

“Let’s take a ride. I want to see that airplane.”

“Hop in.” They took off throwing sand in all directions.

Jake said, “If there’s another jeep we’re going to take it. These kids are going to roll this one before the day is over.”

The place was deserted all right. They drove up to the hanger door and went inside. There was a twin engine tail dragger sitting there with the tail assembly missing. It looked practically new. In fact everything looked practically new.

Jake said, “You’re the airdale here, what is it?”

“It’s a WW2 Lockheed Hudson, a PV2. It was later replaced by the larger P2V. This might be our way off this island.”

“Can you fly one of these?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried.”

“You go ahead. I’ll wait here until a ship comes by.”

“Let’s look around and see if there are any spare parts. Also, let’s see if there’s a generator for power.”

One of the joggers said, “I think there are two of them around in back of the hanger.”

Jake said, “What’s your name son?”

“I’m Jason and this is Molly.”

“Well Jason and Molly, You’ve done a good job. Go back to the beach and bring the rest of you’re friends back here with you. This is going to be our base camp. If a storm like the last one comes up again we have good shelter here.”

Jason grinned and saluted. “Aye, Aye skipper.” They took off on a run.”

Joe said, A couple of nice kids. They might come in handy before this is over.”

“A couple of wise asses.”

“Yeah but I was as bad as they were when I was that age. I grew out of it though.”

They went into a couple of the offices. There was a calender on the wall that said 1943. There was a half eaten sandwich on one of the desks that almost looked edible. It was as if everyone just got up and walked out.

Jake said, “You don’t think this is a movie set do you?”

“I thought of that but if it is, it’s almost too authentic. I’ve been around a lot of Navy hangers and this is strictly Navy, not Hollywood.”

“Yeah. You know I told our passengers that we were in the Bermuda Triangle. You don’t think ....”

“Well let me put it this way, if a flight of TBMs were to come in and land on that runway over there it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.”

They walked around to the back of the hanger and found two large generators. They checked and found that the fuel tanks were full on both generators.

Jake said, “Shall we throw the switch and see if it works?”

“Why not?”

Jake pushed the start button and the generator came to life. They went back into the hanger and found the lights shining brightly. “Well what do you know?”

The jeep pulled in through the half open hanger doors and six kids jumped out and ran over to where they were standing. “Hey man this is cool. Where is everybody, let’s have a party.”

Jake, who was beginning to get irritated with this bunch said, “Now hear this!” Joe was grinning to himself. “No doubt about it. This guy was a Bos’n mate.”

Jake continued. “Spring break is over. It’s time to get serious. We have a problem. We don’t know where we are or where we’re going. It may take all our heads together to come up with a solution. I don’t know If you’ve noticed or not but there’s something strange about this place. I want you to cover this facility like stink on Limburger cheese then report to that rec room down there and tell me what you’ve found. Once we all know what the problem is, we’ll look for a solution.”

One of the boys started to protest. Jake cut him short. “Just do it!”

They were all siting at the table in the rec room drinking coffee when Jake and Joe walked in. Joe said, “Well at least on of you is on the ball. Where did you get the coffee?”

One of the girls raised her hand. I found some coffee in the cabinet and made some in that big pot. Tastes pretty good, too.”

Joe tried a cup. “Welcome to the team. I finally found someone who can make strong coffee. You are now the designated coffee maker.”

“That’s because I spilled some into the pot I didn’t mean to.”

“Well, remember how you spilled it.”

One of the boys said, “Which one of you is in charge here? You both seem to be giving orders.”

Joe said, “I guess someone has to be in charge or we’d all be doing our own thing producing nothing of any value. I guess the best one to put in charge would be the skipper here. When it comes to that airplane out there in the hanger, I’m in charge. That’s where my expertise lies.”

“Can you fly that thing?”

“We’re going to find that out right after we fix it. Jake, why don’t you have everyone introduce themselves so we don’t have to call each other Hey you? ”

Jake said, “That’s a good idea. Let’s find out who we are and what we can do.”

They all went to the same college, they were all from rich families, they were all on spring break, and none of them were learning anything in college. They were there because their parents sent them there to get an education. Basically they were all good kids but in spite of their ages, they were still just kids. They were all majoring in useless subjects like philosophy. Subjects that would give them a degree and no worthwhile employment. Joe had seen them in Saudi Arabia with Masters and Doctors degrees teaching English to Arabs for little more than minimum wage because there was little or no demand for their chosen profession.

Jason and Molly were the most athletic of the group. They jogged played tennis, etc. Mary, the coffee maker seemed to be more mature than the others. Of all of them , she was probably the only one who was learning anything in school. She was majoring in Psychology but what she really wanted to be was a veterinarian. Her father would have none of that. Dick, the loud mouth was the most arrogant. He really didn’t have a skill of any kind. Jack and Jill, and that was their real names, stuck together like two peas in a pod. All they wanted to do was stay high all the time. She was a petite little thing and quite pretty but at the rate she was going, she’d be dead within two years. That was the crew Jake and Joe had to work with.

Jake said, “Ok, you’ve looked the place over. Now tell me what you’ve observed. Jack and Jill hadn’t observed anything. Mary had, but she was on the shy side and wanted to wait until someone else spoke about their observations first. Dick, the loud mouth was the first to speak. “What I noticed was that everything seems to be freshly painted and well maintained yet there are no people around to maintain anything. That strikes me as unusual for an abandoned airfield. Everything works. Like the coffee pot and the generators. It’s like something from a Science Fiction movie.”

Jake was impressed. He hadn’t expected that from Dick. “You’re very observant, Dick. Keep you’re eyes open and see what else you can find around here that could help us get off this island.“ That pleased Dick. Nobody had ever found anything he was good at. Especially his father who was always putting him down.

Mary said, “I noticed that things like the coffee and other perishable items seemed to be almost edible. That doesn’t make sense. Some of the exposed food I found should have been rotten. I wouldn’t want to eat it but if I had to, it probably wouldn’t kill me.”

“Very good, Mary. Look into that in more depth. If we’re going to be here any length of time we may have to eat some of it. I have enough rations on the boat to last two or three days but that’s about it. I hadn’t planned for a long cruise.”

Jason said, “While we were out jogging we found some fruit trees. We didn’t try to eat any of the fruit but it looked edible.”

Dick said, “Something else that bothered me. Why is there only one airplane in the hanger. I found all kinds of parts in the store room. More than was needed to keep one airplane up and running. Do you think everyone climbed aboard all the flyable aircraft and just left until the storm was over? If so, maybe they’ll all come back pretty soon.”

Jake said, “Dick, you’re beginning to impress me. Joe, what do you think about that theory?”

“I think he’s half right. I think they did just what he said but I think they did it in 1943.”

It was quiet for a minute then everybody started laughing. Everybody but Jake and Joe.

Dick said, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Joe said, “Yes I am. Have you seen any calenders around here later than 1943?” He pointed to the one on the wall. Do you remember the music you were trying to dance to a couple hours ago? That was Glenn Miller, Harry James, Artie Shaw, all deceased. Do you remember that the station you were listening to was called Armed Forces Radio? Do you realize that we are right in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle?”

Dick said, “Yeah but that’s all a myth.”

“Is it?”

It was pretty quiet in the rec room for a few minutes. Even Jack and Jill were listening now. Finally Mary said, “If this is true, what are we going to do?”

Jake said, “A very good question. We’re going to see if we can find a boat and we’re going to fix that airplane and see if it will fly. Jason, you and Molly jog around the shores of this island and see if there’s a boat anywhere that could get us back to the mainland. Dick you show us where the spare parts are located. Is anyone here a backyard mechanic?”

Jack said, “I had a hot rod when I was a kid I used to rebuild every three or four months. I was pretty good at it.”

“Ok, you and Jill go looking for some tool boxes. Use that flat bed over there and haul them all out to the plane. Mary, you look into the food situation. See what you can find that we can eat when the boat rations run out. Dick, after you show us the supply department, go with Mary and help her bring the rations back from the boat and store them in the kitchen. I’m sure those jeeps parked outside will run. So far everything else has.”

Mary said, “Do you really think we’re on an island that exists only in the 1940s?”

“I don’t know. If we get the plane working we’ll head west and when we hit land, we’ll ask somebody what year it is. I don’t really know. We’ll play it by ear. With a team like ours, how can we lose?”

They found the damaged elevators from the Hudson. They were damaged beyond repair. It looked like a truck had driven into it at high speed. There were a lot of spare parts but no elevators for Lockheed Hudsons. Joe, who was in charge of aircraft reconstruction, had an idea. They had a meeting every morning in the rec room to plan the day’s work The joggers were still looking for some type of boat. Jake thought that if they found one in any condition they might, as a last resort, piece together a boat that would get them back to the mainland. They’d found quite a bit of editable plant life so Mary was going with them now to bring back fresh fruit and stuff. Mary was a whiz in the kitchen. She was stretching the boat rations over a long period of time by supplementing them with local fruit and vegetables. Dick, who could find anything it seemed, had found a couple of 9 mm carbines and Joe, who was quite a marksman, went out daily and brought home fresh meat. Jack and Jill were off the pot and taking things seriously now.

At the meeting Joe said, “The elevators are damaged beyond repair but I have a plan. Is there anyone here who has the ability to draw a straight line on a piece of paper.“ Jill said, “I can. I was going to be a commercial artist when I was a kid.”

“Great, you just got you’re first job. You and Jack are going to take the exact measurements of the damaged elevators and make a precision drawing. Then Jack and Jill are going to go to the machine shop and build new elevators from those plans. There’s plenty of metal stock there to work with and the supply department has all the small parts needed to attach it to the aircraft. Go to it guys. While you’re doing that, I’m going to go out and get us some pork chops. I saw a couple wild boar yesterday.”

After they all left, Jake said, “You know they really are good kids. If we ever get back to civilization I think some of them might make something of themselves. The problem is, they’re poor little rich kids. All that money won’t do a thing for them out here. They have to scratch for survival now and they’re having the time of their lives doing it.”

Jill did an outstanding job on the drawings. Joe sat down with her that evening and went over them with her. “Jill, you know it’s still not too late to become a commercial artist. You really have a talent.”

“I know but I have to make my parents happy.”

“You have to make Jill happy too. You’ve really enjoyed doing this haven’t you?”

“Yes, I have. It’s probably the most constructive thing I’ve done in my whole life. If we fly out of here I’ll feel like part of it was my doing.”

“You got on drugs because you were bored with your life didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been bored the last few days?”

“No, and to answer your next question, I haven’t missed the drugs either.”

“When we get back, you get yourself a degree in art. Your parents will get over it when they see how happy you are.”

Jack said, “Listen to him, he’s right.”

As for you, young man, when you go back, I want you to become a mechanical engineer. You’ve got the right stuff.”

“Do you really think so?”

“I know so, I’ve been watching you the past couple of days. You’re much more than just a mechanic. On those pieces of the elevator that were missing, you redesigned them yourself and you did it right. If you’re going to spend your father’s money getting an education, learn a trade you’ll enjoy working at.

At the next morning meeting Joe produced a drawing from one of the manuals he found in the Hudson. It was an exploded view of the tail assembly. He gave it to Dick. “I want you to find all the parts shown on this drawing that pertains to the elevator assembly and give them to Jack so he and Jill can mount the elevator onto the aircraft.” Jill was becoming a pretty good mechanic under Jack’s tutoring.

About three hours later Dick drove the flat bed up to the rear of the Hudson. All the parts Jack needed were there in a large box.

Joe said, “That was fast.”

“It would have been faster if they’d modified their supply system slightly. You know, when I get back, I think I might go into logistics. It’ll make my dad mad as hell but he gets mad as hell at anything I do anyhow. I’m majoring in a subject I hate just to spite my dad. That’s stupid isn’t it?”

“Dick, I believe you just matured at least ten years. When we get back, go for it.”

“Do you think we’ll get back?”

“I know we will. Who can stop us.”

They were sitting at the table after eating what was probably the best meal they’d had since they’d been there.

“Jake said, “Mary, you are going to make someone a good wife. Anyone who can cook like you do will be able to catch any man she wants.”

“I didn’t know I could cook until I came here. I’ve watched my mother cook for years but never tried it myself. Do they have lady chefs?”

“They sure do.”

“Let me think about that a little.” Jake could see the wheels turning in her head.

Joe said, “ I want to make an announcement. Tomorrow we test fly the Hudson. We tested the engines today and everything is working perfectly. Tomorrow I take her up.”

Dick said, “Who’s going with you?”

“Nobody.”

“Oh come on. One of us should be allowed to go.”

“Not on the first flight. If anything goes wrong I want the rest of you to be here to come up with another plan. No argument. If everything goes well, we’ll all fly out of here day after tomorrow.”

Joe was not a pilot although he’d done a lot of flying. As the radar operator in his Navy flight crew his position was closest to the flight deck. Joe’s PPC had him spend hours in the right seat flying the P2V. In an emergency situation Joe could be in the right seat in just seconds. He’d studied the Hudson flight manual from cover to cover over and over until he could almost recite it by heart. He was as ready as he’d ever be.

The next morning he climbed into the left seat and prepared to taxi down to the runway. Jack had already started the engines and checked them out. They were purring like a kitten. He looked out the window and gave them a thumbs up with his fingers crossed. At the end of the runway he said a little prayer and pushed the throttles forward. The Hudson started to roll, then the tail lifted off the ground. When it reached take off speed Joe gave the elevators a little trim and it lifted off on its own. Joe took it up to 2000 ft. and made a few gentle turns, always keeping the island in sight. He didn’t want to lose the island. He might never find it again. The elevators were working perfectly. He’d have to give Jack and Jill a pat on the back after he landed. The landing. He went through the landing procedure in his mind three or four times. “Well, it’s now or never.”

It was almost a perfect landing. A little bounce but not bad for the first try. When he taxied up to the hanger everyone was throwing their hands in the air cheering. Before he stepped out he said, “Thank you God. Make it go just as well tomorrow when I have a full load of people.”

They really had a celebration that night.

The next day they loaded their personal belongings into the Hudson and prepared to leave. They were all a little apprehensive when they first sat down in the plane.

Joe said, “Dick, do you want to sit up here in the right seat?”

“I sure do.”

“You claim to be able to find anything, right?”

“Right.”

“Ok, when we get up there I want you to find Florida.”

That sparked a roar of nervous laughter.

“Ok let’s do it.” It was a smooth takeoff just like the day before but this time they climbed to 9,000 feet. Joe didn’t want to go higher than that without oxygen. “Keep your eye on the island until we take a heading west. In the mean time Dick is going to Iook for land. If he sees any, we’re going to head for it.”

Joe made standard rate turn around the island slowly climbing toward 9,000 feet. At 8,000 feet the island disappeared. Mary said, “It’s gone. The island is gone. Nothing there but water.” At that exact instant, Dick spotted land to the West.

Joe said, I think we’re back where we should be, folks.”

As they closed in on the land mass Jake, who was now standing between Joe and Dick, said, “There it is. That’s Florida. I’ve seen it from out here many times. I’d recognize it anywhere. Where are we going to land, by the way?”

Joe said, “I think it would be best to land at a small airport. If we land at Miami in an almost brand new WW2 Navy plane we may be answering questions for the next two days. Let’s Land at a small airfield and see if we can find a newspaper with a date on it.

They were sitting in the lounge of a motel in Pensacola. This was a much more mature bunch of people than the ones who’d climbed on Jake’s boat a little over a week ago. They were all discussing their future. Jason and Molly had talked it over and were both going to get a degree in Physical Education. The others had already made up their minds back on the island. Finally someone asked Jake what he was going to do. He replied. “Go on welfare I guess.”

Jack said, “Jake we’ve talked it over and we’ve decided to all pitch in and buy you a new boat.”

Tears came into the old Bos’n Mate’s eyes. You don’t know how much I appreciate that offer but I just couldn’t accept it.”

“Why not? We wouldn’t miss a dime of it.”

Joe interrupted, “He doesn’t know it, but he has a deal in the making that will get

him a new boat. You remember when we landed I asked the airport manager if he had a small empty hanger we could rent. He did and we immediately hid the plane in the hanger. I made a call to an old retired Admiral friend of mine who has more money than he has good sense. He collects old WW2 aircraft. I asked him if he wanted to buy a mint condition WW2 Lockheed Hudson. He jumped at it. He’ll be here tomorrow to look at it and buy it for enough money to purchase Jake a better boat than the one he lost. Since we are all co-owners of that airplane, Jake will provide us all with a lifetime ticket on his tour boat.”

Everyone agreed to let the plane go under those conditions although Joe doubted if any of them would ever want to go on another boat tour of the Bermuda Triangle.

Several months later Joe was visiting with his friend the retired Admiral. They were talking about the mystery plane Joe had sold him. “You know, you never would tell me about how you acquired that Lockheed Hudson I bought from you. I know you wouldn’t deal in anything shady but I still kept that plane pretty well hidden until I found out more about it. I called a few old friends and gave them the bureau number of that plane. They did a little research and came up with a very interesting story. During WW2 that plane was assigned to a small Naval Air Station on a small island the other side of the world. They got word of a bad typhoon headed their way so they loaded everyone into the flyable airplanes and evacuated. They left only one plane behind. A Lockheed Hudson with a damaged tail assembly. When they returned they found the plane missing and evidence that several people had been there and left. The machine shop had been used and there was a drawing of the elevators for the Hudson. The leftover scraps indicated that someone had built themselves a new elevator and left with the airplane. They left their damaged boat behind as payment. Soon after that the war ended and everyone forgot about it. Someone had written a report about it and left it in the files otherwise no one would have ever known or cared. The war was over and all they wanted to do was go home. Want to tell me about it?”

“Someday I might. Can you show me on that globe over there where that island was located?”

“Sure, it was right here.” He pointed to a spot on the globe that was exactly on the opposite side of the world from the Bermuda Triangle.

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