Mystery of Emerald Island

The Mystery of Emerald Island

Introduction of the Explorers

On June 15, 1998, three explorers, Adam Wolf, James Curry and Herman Miller set out to find the mysterious Emerald Island, an unexplored region located in the foggiest area of the Bermuda Triangle.

They were funded by Bermuda Exploration Company (BEC).

Adam Wolf was 54 years old and had conducted several dinosaur research studies in the 1970s and 1980s.

James Curry was 33 years old and had explored the Amazon, the African savannah and the Indian Jungle.

Herman Miller was 42 years old and was a technological expert as well as a naval explorer who spent 10 years of his life at sea, researching about the different kinds of sea creatures.

Accessories for the Trip

1) GPS

2) Tranquilliser Gun

3) Flashlight

4) Clothes

5) Satellite Phone

6) Emergency Food Supply

7) Camera

8) First Aid Kit

9) Swiss Army Knife

10) Mosquito Repellent

11) Tent

12) Climbing gear

The Journey

The three explorers boarded the ship S.S. Triumph at 6:00 a.m. on June 15.

By the evening of June 17, at 7:44 p.m., when the three had ventured deep into the Bermuda Triangle, a foggy island was in sight. It was the unexplored, the unseen, the unknown. It was the Emerald Island!

42 minutes later, the ship had touched the island and the explorers set foot on hard ground.

They set up their tent nearby, ate dinner and slept in sleeping bags until the Sun rose and the fog cleared.

An hour later, Edwin Murray, an arrogant, rich man who knew nothing about science, reached the other side of the island with his six-man crew.

He also set up his camp and rested till the morning.

The Intentions of Edwin Murray

Edwin Murray was 36 years old and worked for the Columbus Explorers Association, a rival of the BEC. The Columbus Explorers Association (CEA) offered him a payment of one million dollars to explore the Emerald Island and bring back thorough evidence of life that existed on it before the BEC’s exploration group could finish their expedition.

His hidden intentions were to make his crew do all the work for a reward of 800,000 dollars and on their way back, he would poison the crew to death and falsely claim to the Association that he was the only survivor while his crew died on the island.

Plant Life on the Island

The next morning, when the fog had cleared, both crews ventured into the forest. Adam, James and Herman discovered poplars and magnolias alongside new varieties of plants that went extinct after the Mesozoic Era.

They took pictures as evidence. Never had existed such a great diversity of plant life on any inhabited island on Earth. The island was completely covered on both sides with shrubs, bushes and trees. On the other side, Edwin Murray’s crew did not pay any attention to the plant life as they did not know anything about botany.

The thick canopy of trees covering the forest provided protection to the explorers from the hot, sweltering Sun overhead. The explorers did not know then that this same canopy provided shade to some of the greatest creatures that ever existed.

The Photographs

As Adam and his fellow explorers were taking pictures of the trees, there was a sudden rustling sound . Then, an orange object speedily flew into a tightly packed clump of trees.

“A bird!”, exclaimed James, “Evidence of life. I am going to climb the tree and take a picture of it.”

“Be careful”, said Adam. James stealthily climbed the tree and raised his camera to take a picture of the animal. He waited patiently for a lot of time. Suddenly, a bat-like creature pounced on his camera. James was startled and clicked the release button. The flash of light emitted by the camera scared the creature who flew away. James climbed down to show the picture to his friends. “It looks a lot like a flying fox”, said Adam, “Although it has a striking resemblance with an Archaeopteryx, an ancient dinosaur-like bird.” Following this incident, the three continued walking with the hope of finding the creature again.

Meanwhile, a man from Edwin Murray’s crew heard the sound of footsteps from behind a bush. He curiously approached the creature However when he had reached the place from where the sounds were coming, he saw nothing at all. Suddenly, a sharp dagger-like object pierced him in the back. The man turned around and took a picture of the creature after which he instantaneously fell to the ground and died.

Following the Footprints

Herman then found the footprints of a giant beast and showed them to Adam. Adam observed the footprints and said, “Too big for an elephant. These looks like a mammoth’s footprints.”

The explorers followed the footprints which led them to a lake where they found a ginormous Colombian mammoth bathing in the clear water. James took a picture of the animal from a distance.

“They have excellent eyesight and hearing”, said Adam, “And they can run faster than a man. One more click of a camera can cause havoc. Right now, the water obstructs its vision and hearing.”

In the south, Edwin, who had found out about the disappearance of one of his crew members, named Martin, explained to his crew, “If you don’t want to end up like Martin, kill these creatures before they kill you. And then, we will carry the small ones back home.”

The Airplane Sphere

As Adam, James and Herman were traversing through the dense forest, they came across a clearing with masses of plane wreckages arranged in a circle. Curiously, they entered the middle of the circle and found that it was a nest with small tennis ball-sized eggs. Adam called it Vivamus sphaera (Airplane Sphere). As James and Herman observed the small and delicate eggs, which they thought of as the eggs of some small lizard although Adam did remark that they could be of a larger creature as dinosaurs often laid eggs much smaller than the parent. Just as they were about to leave, they heard the sound of deafening footsteps approaching the area. In the blink of an eye, a giant theropod had entered the nest. It was the menacing, the powerful, the king of carnivorous dinosaurs—It was Tyrannosaurus Rex!

James was about to rush away when Adam grabbed him by the elbow and whispered in his ear, “T. Rex can only sense you by movement. The stiller you are, the better.” The Tyrannosaurus rex sniffed the three.

Just then, James took out a rod from one of the wreckage and smashed one of the T. Rex’s teeth. The T. Rex snarled in pain, rose his head and then, with all the force her jaws could handle, tried to rip the three to shreds. Instead, she destroyed one of the wreckages and ripped it apart. Adam, James and Herman ran at the fastest speed they could manage. The T. Rex mother followed them. “So much for good parenting”, said Herman. James and Herman managed to escape while Adam tripped and fell into the bushes.

The Confrontation

There, Adam found himself face to face with a real, live velociraptor.

The velociraptor growled. Adam fell to his knees and kneeled forward, displaying peace. Then, he noticed that the raptor had a sharp rock wedged just beneath his toe piercing the skin underneath. After finding that the raptor was still, Adam took out his first

aid pliers and cautiously approached the wound. The raptor snarled. “Trust me”, said Adam, “I will not hurt you.” The raptor was first doubtful of Adam but then, after observing that Adam made no sudden movement, it put its foot forward. Adam slowly approached the foot and, with the help of his pliers, removed the rock. The raptor twitched its toe. Glancing at his skull shape and physical features, Adam recognised it as a male velociraptor. The raptor curiously moved towards Adam as Adam bravely remained very still. His very fate was now in the hands of the raptor. But to his relief, the raptor put his hand on Adam’s shoulder and willingly let Adam stroke his head. Then, he turned and scuttled into the forest. Adam, shocked by the incident, got to his feet and hurried on as fast as his legs could carry him until he reached another clearing in the forest.

The Final Battle

“Adam!”, cried a voice that Adam knew very well. When he looked up, Adam saw Edwin Murray sitting in a window of a two-storey encampment, one knee outside, one knee folded, a wicked smile on his face and hate in his eyes. “I assume you’re here to ‘earn profit’ from this place”, said Adam, disgusted. “I’m not a fool like you to waste my time wandering around in forests for nothing”, said Edwin. “Science is not to profit from”, said Adam, “especially from a place like this.” “What’s so special about this old dump?” , asked Edwin.

“Ignorant people like you will never understand”, said Adam, angered by Edwin’s name-calling of the place. Edwin was furious. “Grab them”, he said to his crew. Four men hurried towards them. Just then, from behind appeared a pack of velociraptors, with sharp claws and even sharper teeth. Adam, his crew and the four men hurried towards the encampment. The raptors followed them. While James and Herman tussled with the raptors using logs and stones, Adam was unintentionally pushed into the encampment by one of the running men. Edwin rushed down the stairs of the encampment, grabbed Adam by the neck and smashed him into the banister. Before, he could attack him again however, Adam hurried upstairs and found himself on the upper floor, a storehouse of ammunition. “Don’t do this, Edwin”, said Adam, but Edwin was unstoppable. He took a pistol and pointed it towards Adam. Just then, the raptor that Adam had saved appeared. Just as Edwin turned his attention towards the raptor, Adam took out his Swiss Army Knife and stabbed Edwin in the elbow. “Ah!”, cried Edwin in pain and grabbed Adam’s hand. As the two tussled, Adam’s Swiss Army Knife fell to the ground. The velociraptor grabbed the knife and struck it with his claw. A spark was created which ignited all the ammunition present on the floor and just as Edwin was about to win, pinning Adam to the wall and pointing his pistol at Adam’s forehead, the raptor pounced on Edwin, pushing him to the side and kicking Adam out of the window in such a way that Adam was able to hold on to a rod clinging from one of the windows and have a safe landing. Then, just as the ammunition was about to explode, the raptor escaped , jumping out of the window and landed on the ground. “No!”, cried Edwin, “This can’t be happening! I can’t die!” The ammunition exploded and Edwin was thrown out.

Though he survived the blast by a whisker, Edwin had lost his left arm and his left leg was now nothing but ashes. He limped towards Adam and pointed his rifle towards him. Adam was cornered with his back facing a rock. “One, two…”, cried Edwin. But just before he could fire, a large bullet sent from a machine gun operated by the velociraptor who had learnt using it from Edwin’s crew members soared through the sky. It hit Edwin and exploded, obliterating him. As Edwin turned to ash, his last words were, “Nature has won, this time.”

The remaining of Edwin’s crew members surrendered to the raptors and begged for mercy. Making sure that the crew members would never trouble the inhabitants of Emerald Island, the raptors retreated into the forest, leaving the people alone. But the raptors’ role was not yet over.

Combat of the Carnivores

Surrounding the people was a haven for wildlife, both flora and fauna. In the west was a herd of kentrosaurus and a herd of parasaurolophus.

In the East were herds of diplodocus, scolosaurus and nodosaurus. But this haven was under threat. For the Tyrannosaurus mother they had encountered in the Vivamus Sphaera or Airplane Sphere had arrived again. The shivering members of Edwin’s crew attracted her attention. The mother snarled and violently attacked the men who ran hither and thither until they heard the footsteps of the raptors who came back in the nick of time. The raptors pounced on the T. Rex pushing it away.

The repeated attacks weakened the mighty tyrannosaur who retreated in vain.

Back Home

Following this incident, Adam, James and Herman decided to head back home. They forgave the ashamed crew members and took them to the S.S. Triumph, leaving Edwin Murray’s ship at the island coast. As they were about to leave, the raptors appeared and bid them farewell.

“Fascinating”, said Adam, “Not only have we discovered a whole new world but we have also discovered a group of creatures with unique intelligence and empathy.”

With this, the people looked ahead towards the tiny visible part of the deep blue Atlantic Ocean that surrounded the island bounded by the thick fog on all sides. The water washed against the shores where tiny compsognathus were roaming around among the ferns and mosses which grew among the crevices in the hills. From a distance, as the fog slowly cleared, the explorers could see the magnificent moss-covered hills and mountains between which the island was situated. They then turned to the fog ahead and prepared themselves for the journey home. Within three days, the explorers had reached back home where they stayed in a hotel room and Edwin’s crew members were sent back to the CEA. Adam gazed at the souvenir he had collected from the island— the Tyrannosaurus Rex’s broken tooth. They had now stumbled across a class of chordates long thought to be extinct— a class which, if presented to the world would bring peril, but even more that, would be under peril. “Let’s keep the secret of Emerald Island hidden from the world, and try to convince the BEC to do the same”, said Adam, “Many animals, including but not limited to dodos and passenger pigeons, have gone extinct due to excessive exposure to human beings.” The other two nodded in agreement.