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!”
