Rover of the Sands
Most of the group disperses in the direction of the cantina. You follow Viola to the aft railing, where she stands staring out to sea. The eerie light from her eyes casts the harsh light of a too-full moon.
“You see, that wasn’t so bad,” you say to her, rubbing your back and hoping to God that today’s strange events will never repeat. What did she become so agitated about? Why was the source of her agitation the story about the Apparitions, the story you were convinced she couldn’t hear?”
“Good to see you’ve brought your own torch. I wish every man on this crew had half as much sense when…wait a minute…!” Captain McCann stops short as Viola, realizing she is trapped, calmly lowers her hood and raises her eyes to meet his.
“Oh no. Christ God no,” he says, backing away a couple of steps. His face turns instantly from levity into anguish. “For Christ’s sake, Hogan, why didn’t you tell me? I warned you not to lie about Viola. I suppose she also knows about your sighting today, right?. I suppose you gave it all away, didn’t you, Hogan?”
“Yes, Sir,” you say with ever-thickening shame. The nervous energy in the air seems to focus right on you, drawing away the focus from the many rule breakers and sinners on this ship to a single one whose transgression will not be forgiven. “Why didn’t you go right back downstairs, Viola? Why did you stay?”
She looks at you now with eyes that seem to roil and heave like the sea in the Old Times. She walks slowly to the middle of the deck as McCann calls the guard. The other men spill out of the cantina, stopping short with amazement as they encounter her transfixed to the spot, unmoving, yet promising every sort of killing known in the universe. The nervous electric tremor becomes an audible, palpable hum, causing your heart to beat wildly with each shock.
“I knew it! I knew it all along!” cries Bill Tracy. “There was always something wrong about that woman. I could feel it and I was right. Just look at her!”
In that very moment, Viola’s eyes erupt in flame, real flame just like you saw before, with a strange blue top and halo. She looks up to the heavens, raising her arms.
Almost immediately, a huge purple bolt strikes her, sending radiant light throughout her body, undressing her as her meager coverings fall in charred shreds to the floor. The men do not wait another moment before charging. They have not noticed that Viola is floating just above the surface of the deck. Even before they reach her, the sky-tearing bolts move from her upturned hands to the tips of their swords, down their whole bodies and out through the floor. Screaming in agony, they fall to the ground with faces black as coal.
Pandemonium breaks out as a cyclone rises up in the Sands, turning straight for the Rover. For a moment it seems to rise into the sky, but then you feel it descend and the ship begins to spin and lurch. Clutching desperately to a rail, you watch as man after man of your crew are thrown into the Sands, seemingly swallowed with great appetite, not rising even once back to the blowing surface to beg in vain for help. Poor Old Dog gives a pitiful whimper as he too is flung out to drown in the wastes, or whatever they are.
“Oh God, I’m sorry!” you shout into the howling wind, barely audible even to yourself. “I shouldn’t have told her! I’ve broken the trust, I know it. I can feel it! Oh God, put an end to me!”
The boat spins faster and faster in big rolling circles. You count nine full rotations before your railing suddenly angles up into the sky and you have just enough time for one great lungful of air before the whole ship is sucked into the Sands, taking you, the crew, the rigging and the cargo all the way to the bottom.
“You see, that wasn’t so bad,” you say to her, rubbing your back and hoping to God that today’s strange events will never repeat. What did she become so agitated about? Why was the source of her agitation the story about the Apparitions, the story you were convinced she couldn’t hear?”
“Good to see you’ve brought your own torch. I wish every man on this crew had half as much sense when…wait a minute…!” Captain McCann stops short as Viola, realizing she is trapped, calmly lowers her hood and raises her eyes to meet his.
“Oh no. Christ God no,” he says, backing away a couple of steps. His face turns instantly from levity into anguish. “For Christ’s sake, Hogan, why didn’t you tell me? I warned you not to lie about Viola. I suppose she also knows about your sighting today, right?. I suppose you gave it all away, didn’t you, Hogan?”
“Yes, Sir,” you say with ever-thickening shame. The nervous energy in the air seems to focus right on you, drawing away the focus from the many rule breakers and sinners on this ship to a single one whose transgression will not be forgiven. “Why didn’t you go right back downstairs, Viola? Why did you stay?”
She looks at you now with eyes that seem to roil and heave like the sea in the Old Times. She walks slowly to the middle of the deck as McCann calls the guard. The other men spill out of the cantina, stopping short with amazement as they encounter her transfixed to the spot, unmoving, yet promising every sort of killing known in the universe. The nervous electric tremor becomes an audible, palpable hum, causing your heart to beat wildly with each shock.
“I knew it! I knew it all along!” cries Bill Tracy. “There was always something wrong about that woman. I could feel it and I was right. Just look at her!”
In that very moment, Viola’s eyes erupt in flame, real flame just like you saw before, with a strange blue top and halo. She looks up to the heavens, raising her arms.
Almost immediately, a huge purple bolt strikes her, sending radiant light throughout her body, undressing her as her meager coverings fall in charred shreds to the floor. The men do not wait another moment before charging. They have not noticed that Viola is floating just above the surface of the deck. Even before they reach her, the sky-tearing bolts move from her upturned hands to the tips of their swords, down their whole bodies and out through the floor. Screaming in agony, they fall to the ground with faces black as coal.
Pandemonium breaks out as a cyclone rises up in the Sands, turning straight for the Rover. For a moment it seems to rise into the sky, but then you feel it descend and the ship begins to spin and lurch. Clutching desperately to a rail, you watch as man after man of your crew are thrown into the Sands, seemingly swallowed with great appetite, not rising even once back to the blowing surface to beg in vain for help. Poor Old Dog gives a pitiful whimper as he too is flung out to drown in the wastes, or whatever they are.
“Oh God, I’m sorry!” you shout into the howling wind, barely audible even to yourself. “I shouldn’t have told her! I’ve broken the trust, I know it. I can feel it! Oh God, put an end to me!”
The boat spins faster and faster in big rolling circles. You count nine full rotations before your railing suddenly angles up into the sky and you have just enough time for one great lungful of air before the whole ship is sucked into the Sands, taking you, the crew, the rigging and the cargo all the way to the bottom.
