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“Because! Every time it comes to aliens and mutants, the world is ending! Finally, our business has blossomed like never before! Finally, peace and quiet! I fled from noisy Europe to retire in a tropical paradise! Dominic showed up today and declared war on me! What an impudent man! You see, the Big Eyes’ Dragon is on their side! Like these wild Indians are strongly needed by advanced reptilians, who are equally dexterous in flying and swimming in their UFOs!”
“Uncle, what are you talking about!!?!”
“So, you did not recall everything, it turns out! My dear boy! Okay, listen! Perhaps this is important for you… I am guilty before you, I confess… We have a whole underwater city of reptilians here. All the mutants, who were of already dying species, fled there!
“So, mutants, perhaps, are still alive, underwater? And there are aliens?”
“Not aliens, but reptilians – the real earthlings!”
“Where did you get all this?”
“All of you were discussing all of this right here, with me, when you were going to have dinner at the big table, and more than once!”
“Uncle! Wait! Real earthlings! I am hearing this for the first time! Or have I really not recalled everything!? I must return to the Island! And you will really help me this time! After all, last time I had a vacation by you for almost a month and did not know anything about aliens and mutants! Then I found out everything quite by accident, just before leaving for Paris! You knew everything! And remained silent!”
“Jean-Paul! Enough! I personally have not seen anything extraordinary on the Island! And I didn't want to feed you, a real scientist, with tales! But if this is important to you, then come. I will tell you all the legends, gossip, rumors, beliefs that I have heard over all years of my life here! About flying witches “soucouyant”, about people turning into birds and lizards, about black magic, dragons, a Great Serpent, a golden boiling lake under the ground and other nonsense!”
“There is gold on the island!?”
“Yes! Yes! And mutants have been mining gold for a long time – first for the alien Golden Zandolie, then for the Russian businessman from London, and now, probably, for the reptilians, if they’re still alive!!!”
“Uncle, sorry, but are you drunk?”
“Drunk! But not mad as yet! If you want the whole truth, so come on, fly in! Just remember. The Island of Golden Zandolie will eat you up. The Serpent and the Dragon guard their secrets well! It's better not to ask questions here!”
“Sorry, uncle, we'd better talk at another time! I was glad to hear your voice. Hope to see you soon! Say hi to my beloved dog Dushka!”
Sheepdog immediately barked, apparently hearing her nickname. Roger looked reproachfully at Dushka, gulped down the bottle of rum and went to bed.
How tired he had become, of everything!
The most remote and calm island in the world turned out to be the cosmodrome of all possible UFOs and the homeland of a variety of mutants with superpowers and even reptilians – the real earthlings!
Chapter 3
Zina the hybridomorph and a random snapshot of an alien
Zina was walking in the forest and picking strawberries for a long time. The day was just magical, sunny and breezy. It was very quiet in the forest, only the birds rarely exchanged short trills, sometimes the sound of a woodpecker or a slight rustle of foliage was heard.
Predators such as foxes and wolves were sometimes found here. There was talk about bears, but Zina did not believe the rumors and was never afraid to wander through the forest alone. Zina was very tall and strong, and she did not go out into the forest without a gun. From the back, she could easily be mistaken for a hunter due to her large size, simple coarse clothing such as jeans and a windbreaker, and heavy shotgun in a case. But Zina would never have thought about shooting animals. In a deep forest, people were much more dangerous.
Today Zina took only a basket for strawberries. The shotgun would have interfered with the picking of the berries. The jam will turn out to be bliss! Zina loved this time very much, when small bright red berries seemed to be playing hide and seek! They seem to be nowhere to be found, but just look under the leaf, and there is a whole clearing of berries!
But not only Zina loved strawberries. A huge old bear was also enjoying life very close to her, savoring sweet and aromatic berries. Probably, the heady pacification of a sunny day in a dense forest dulled the instincts of both – Zina and the bear suddenly collided nose to nose!
Well, not really, of course! They noticed each other, coming out simultaneously from opposite sides into a small, sunlit clearing. Perhaps Zina was walking against the wind, and the clubfoot giant did not catch her smell in time. The bear immediately got up on its hind legs and growled deafeningly.
This was the first meeting with a bear in the forest in Zina's entire life. The shotgun, as luck would have it, was not there. Only one basket full of strawberries! What a pity! Still, she could never have killed the forest giant!
Suddenly, a scene from the recent past flashed in Zina's mind. A huge mutant Ray was towering in front of her, flashing blue lightning. His dreadlocks were stirring like snakes from the electrical discharges of the enraged giant. Ray was so angry that he even levitated slightly above the ground! He looked straight into Zina's eyes, sending his deadly blue rays to her. And suddenly she just returned his own charge with her eyes… and killed him.
Now, looking at the angry bear, Zina mentally sent him a “shot with her eyes” that she was Zina the hybridomorph, and she was not afraid of him, she was smarter and stronger than him!
“GET OUT OF MY FOREST!”
Suddenly, the bear stopped roaring, ran its front paws along the muzzle from eyes to nose several times, shook its head, howled pitifully, then dropped to his four paws and disappeared into the thicket of the forest, loudly breaking branches.
Zina continued to stand motionless alone in the sunlit clearing, her powerful legs spread wide apart, her steep sides propped up with her hands. The basket lay in the tall grass, the bright red strawberries were scattered everywhere like drops of blood…
There was an unprecedented tranquility. Or got Zina just disconnected from everything around her?
Yes, right now she could concentrate only on one thing, what she refused to remember for a long time – that the blue blood of aliens flows in her.
She found out this by accident a couple of months ago, when the Frenchwoman Josie-Anne took blood samples from mutants to prove an alien impurity in their genes, and took of Zina's blood for a test… Just for the purity of the experiment, to show that one and the same red blood in mutants turns into blue under the influence of silver salts, while in humans it remains red.
And Zina's blood, to everyone's amazement, changed color to blue! Zina’s only, of all the people present!
Soon, everyone except Zina lost their memory during the tragic farewell visit of the mutant Ray. And Zina did not help anyone remember anything then!
Zina simply did not know how to live on with this knowledge that she was a hybridomorph. Therefore, she decided not to remind others of her blue blood as well – she hastily left the Island of Golden Zandolie, returning to Russia.
And she didn't just return home then. She went to the very outback, to the abandoned village of her great-grandmother, to live alone and try to understand herself. But instead, she kept walking through the woods, re-reading old books from her childhood and kept driving away any thoughts about aliens, mutants and her friends – Denis, Julia, Scott and others…
How did the life of all these people, once dear to Zina, go on? She cut the connection with everyone. She felt different, new. Life has changed forever. But how exactly, Zina did not yet know herself…
Today's incident with the bear knocked over not only the basket of strawberries, but also the whole temporary inner peace of Zina, which she had been building so carefully for several months! She needed time to think, to learn to live with her new, extraterrestrial talents.
Then on the Island, Zina killed the huge mutant Ray, although she did not want to. Now she stopped the giant bear! This means she can send signals just by a glance.
What else can she do? Levitate like Ray? Throw lightning? To invent unprecedented devices like flying submarines, as Ray did together with Denis and Scott?
Denis assured her that, most likely, Ray had something like the memory of generations, that the knowledge of his late alien father, the Golden Zandolie, was passed on to him. Maybe she, Zina, too received some sacred knowledge from her distant alien ancestors?…
A basket of strawberries remained in the forest. And in a small wooden great-grandmother's house, Zina pulled out her laptop from her backpack, which she had never taken out since she arrived into this long-extinct village… Of course, the laptop could not be turned on. The cell phone was also completely discharged.
Zina seemed to wake up from a deep, lethargic sleep. What was she doing here, without electricity and communication?! Why did she need this stack of children's books with scattering pages? Why does she need these stubs of candles, a smoked stove with a pot, bunches of dried flowers and mushrooms? What did she hope to find here, burying herself alive in the wilderness?
True, Zina has noticeably lost weight. Long walks in the woods and a diet “whatever God has sent”, healthy sleep in the same schedule with the sun and in general “life without the Internet” gave their beneficial results. Zina became healthier, stronger… and even more confident in herself.
Quickly collecting her simple belongings, she went on foot towards the nearest road to catch a bus or a ride to the city.
… Finally, Zina was at home. She carefully stowed the hunting rifle in the safe, hastily pulled out the laptop and put it on the charger. Then she stood in the shower for a very long time!
And then for a while Zina stared at herself in the mirror, which was unusual for her. Too tall for a woman, broad shoulders, large breasts, brown eyes, long very curly dark hair, straight nose, small mouth and high forehead. Not a beauty, of course, but not a freak either!
Zina had a husband quite recently, a programmer, just like her – Denis. But that was already in another life.
Ever since she found out that she has blue blood, Denis and the rest of her friends seemed to have moved to a parallel world for her, lost their significance… Why? Zina had no answer…
Now she was waiting for her laptop to finally work and thinking about her ex-husband and ex-friends. She didn't help them remember everything.
Then on the Island that old pirate Roger remembered everything, but easily agreed with Zina not to remind anyone of anything… She wondered, if he let himself to blab during all this time… and where and how the fates of Denis, Julia, Scott, Olga, Vladimir, Jean-Paul developed…
Jean-Paul! Did he manage to prove the existence of hybridomorphic creatures on the Island of Golden Zandolie? He had his notes, photographs sent by Denis, reagents with blue blood of mutants… and Zina's… Was this enough to make a revolution in anthropology? Did Jean-Paul manage to remember based on all these sources? It was imperative to find out about everything and help him, if possible!
Was Zina under such severe stress that she fell out of real life for such a long period of time? Maybe she felt like a monster after killing of mutant Ray?
…Suddenly, another memory from life on the Island knocked her from her feet. Here she is in the dungeon of Scott's fort house with two machine guns at once, chaotically shooting a huge solid door to the maze of lava tubes and yelling strong obscenities, frightened by the approach of black mutants… Yes, she was very scared then, on the island.
…And here were even more ancient flashes in memory, also creepy ones, when she looked directly into the orange eyes with a vertical pupil – the eyes of the alien, Golden Zandolie…
She didn't lose her memory… that's probably why she almost lost herself!
… Now she managed to rest, improve her health, recover. The laptop finally logged on, updated all apps.
And finally, Zinа's mailbox opened up. There were so many letters, but mainly of work correspondence, some orders for new IT projects!
Zina also found some personal letters. And all from Denis, her ex-husband and colleague! It's funny! Ah, well, of course, he sends her the new work…
And here is one letter from Denis, very heavy in weight. Photos? Yes! This one was of Zina sitting at a table in a restaurant on the waterfront “Fort Charles”. She was smiling, in front of her was a tall glass of some kind of cocktail with a straw and a paper umbrella. Behind her ear was a huge red hibiscus flower. Here she looked like a typical young girl in love. Denis photographed her himself. Probably, they did have some kind of love…
But what was it!?!?! In the background of the image, tables with visitors to an open restaurant were not clearly visible. And someone's face, very blurry, only an oblong bald skull in profile with tattoos and abundant piercings sparkling in the sun…
This is Golden Zandolie himself – a legendary alien, who seemed to have died later on in a duel with his brethren-aliens there, on the Island…
Then it seemed, that the end of the world had come, when a hurricane and a volcanic eruption coincided with a UFO invasion. Explosions, earthquakes, clouds of smoke and dust… Huge pieces broke off from the Island and went under water forever… Forest fires, shifting rivers… The Island changed forever… and Golden Zandolie had vanished…
Zina wondered if Denis sent her this picture on purpose. Did he remember the alien who, with the help of piercings and tattoos, tried to impersonate an eccentric earthling? Probably not. There were several more photographs attached in the letter: Zina on a catamaran with her friends, Zina driving her old army jeep, Zina fishing in the mountains…
What was Denis writing about? And here were just a few words, saying, that he found old photos, maybe Zina will be pleased to remember life on a beautiful tropical island… It's a pity, that he himself remembered nothing much… He always dreamed of extraordinary adventures, but it looked like he was met on the Island only work and beautiful landscapes.
Only in dreams does he see UFOs and some kind of aliens. But, of course, nothing like that exist in real life, but he really missed his friends and the sun of the tropical island in his native, small Siberian town…
She needs to tell Denis; she needs to tell him everything! Zina felt very ashamed! She, simply, stole from all her friends the memories of several years of their lives – about the brightest, unprecedented times that one can only dream of… or see in your dreams in bed!
Denis was the most courageous, even insane dreamer and the source of the most “out of this world” hypotheses, who always led them all in search of the truth, and he himself discovered a lot He always dreamed of aliens, and he finally found them!
And she, Zina, stole his discoveries from him… and from everyone else! It seemed to her then, that this was a humane act. They all went through a lot of terrible things together! Zina herself wanted to start life from scratch…
And she gave her friends a second chance too… Did she have the right to decide for them?
She deceived Denis by not reminding him of their marriage.
She did not tell Julia that in the past she wrote great science fiction novels, so that she would not find hints of her past strange adventures in her books…
She did not remind the French anthropologist Jean-Paul of a number of amazing discoveries that he had already made during his short expedition to the Island…
Zina felt very ashamed… and scared… What if these people live in horror that they cannot remember the last few years of their life… maybe they, like Denis, were having nightmares…? She urgently needed to find out what happened to them…
Thank you, clubfoot bear, that you love strawberries as well and woke Zina up with your roar! And you reminded her that she is a hybridomorph! She has many super powers; she must help people!
Zina checked her phone. There were also a lot of missed calls there. And of them there were many from Denis. And one French number!
Zina was overwhelmed by a hot wave of anger at herself. She needs to make some calls! She needs to go urgently! Where to? It doesn't matter, just get out of here! She can't run away from herself! Life is beautiful and amazing!
Suddenly Zina felt the strongest hunger! She hadn’t eaten or drunk normally for so long! But her mind was also hungry. And her heart as well!
Chapter 4
Auntie Clemencia’s visit. Call from Russia
French anthropologist Jean-Paul was very excited. Today he will meet Maximilian – the rising black star of the fashion capital of Paris! Luca promised Jean-Paul to bring his new “best frenemy” over for dinner. There is no friendship in the modeling business.
For Luca, this new Max was stealing his royalties and the light of fame…
For Jean-Paul, today there will be a meeting not with a new fashion star, but with a living carrier of an alien gene!
At first glance, Max was strikingly similar to Hord, a black mutant driver and brother of another mutant, Ray, the leader of the rebels on the Island of Golden Zandolie. But that was just a magazine cover photo.
What could be Max in life? Most likely, he should to be very tall, about two meters, with a powerful build, scaly dreadlocks and almond-shaped, deep-set eyes, an oblong skull… The eyes of all black mutants were too dark to see properly the vertical pupil.
Only mutant Ray and Golden Zandolie himself had that intimidating reptile look – their eyes were huge, light orange!
There was a knock on the door – finally! Jean-Paul rushed to open it. But instead of the black giant Max, a petit woman of about forty stood on the doorstep. She, too, was black, with a whole shock of small dreadlocks. Smiling broadly, she introduced herself.
“I am Clemencia, mother of Maximilian. And you are the famous scientist who really wanted to meet my dear son. Nice to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you too! Please come in!”
Clemencia walked in quickly, never stopped smiling and turning her head in different directions, inspecting the scientist's dwelling. Confused Luca followed her into the apartment. Jean-Paul glanced at him inquiringly, but promptly switched his full attention to the woman, since she kept talking.
“Can I have some water? I know you have a lot of questions. And I came without an invitation. You expected to see my son. He's just beautiful, my boy. Everyone wants to see him! But I am conducting all his preliminary meetings and negotiations. My apologies. But if your offer is interesting for us, you will immediately meet my treasure, my Max!”
Jean-Paul and Luca exchanged glances. Jean-Paul gave water to the woman. Clemencia carefully examined the young men for a while and then decided to continue explaining.
“You were not warned? All my son's calls are answered by me. I make all appointments too. There are reasons for this. But believe me, this will not affect your business in any way! If, of course, you have something to offer!”
Suddenly Jean-Paul got angry. Luca was startled by the ferocious expression on his beloved “Quasimodo's” face. The scientist sat down right opposite the giant's mother and started to speak.
“We have no commercial proposals for your son, madam! But we believe that your son is a mutant and needs to be studied! What were the circumstances of his birth and how old is he really? I understand that he has no father!”
“Mister scientist, I am both father and mother for Max! And that doesn't mean you can threaten me! My son is unique, yes! The rest is not important! He is handsome, strong and intelligent almost like a god! Virgin Mary, forgive me, for all sins! But why did you call him a freak!?”
“I called him a mutant!”
“It’s the same!”
“Oh no! Mutations can be good! The mutants, we met on one Caribbean Island, were smarter and stronger than all people!”
