Atlantic Island (41 page)

"How are you feeling?" the man asked.
 

"Great, actually. Who are you? Where am I?"

"I'm Chief Petty Officer Gardiner. You are on a vessel belonging to the United States Coast Guard."

Theo jumped backward. "What? How?"

"Why don't you come sit here and eat."
 

Theo came over to the little table and sat in a chair that Gardiner held for him.

"That's better," Gardiner said. "Can you tell me your name?"

"I'm Theo. Theo Essex."

Gardiner typed his name into a computerized tablet. He paused for a second, maybe waiting for a response, and then his eyes grew wide.
 

"Mr. Essex, can you tell me how it is that you were discovered in a mass of debris in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?"

"I…you found me?"

"We did. You were delirious, ranting about war and an island."

Theo didn't respond. His memory was starting to flood back, but it felt cloudy, like a dream.
 

"Well…Mr. Essex," Gardiner said, "I'll let you eat, but there are going to be plenty of people with a lot more questions for you. Some very important people are going to be wondering how a survivor of one of our nation's greatest tragedies just appeared in the middle of the ocean, not a scratch on him. Eat well, now"

With that, Gardiner left the room. Theo heard the familiar sound of a lock being turned in the door. He sat quietly. Though he was starving, he did not eat anything. The memories washed over him. Kylee. Lucas. Mark. All of his friends. All the people he'd lost. He cried then, weeping for everyone…weeping for himself. He wanted to go home, but where was home anymore? If he really had returned…
 

Theo sat up with a start. The orb. He grabbed the edge of the metal table with his formerly useless right hand and clenched his fist. The metal bent easily under the strength of his fingers. Theo smiled. He had been wrong to think he was meant only to sacrifice himself for the survival of everyone else. It wasn't about freeing the people of Atlantic Island to live their own lives stranded in a foreign universe. His purpose was to bring them all home. To do that, he had to find the orb. He had to go back. Theo ate his food then, with a pleasure reserved only for one who knows exactly who he is and what he is meant to do.
 

August 12, 2012 – July 13, 2013

Wellington, Florida

The book you have just finished reading was originally released in three separate installments. All told, this was a year long project, but it has been in my head for much longer than that. I spent much of my life visiting the New Jersey shore every summer. Two things always fascinated me: the feeling that the shore was completely removed from real life, with barely a recognizable store to be found (this has changed in recent years), and the sense that the ocean could go on forever, at least as far as my eyes could tell. From those reflections grew this idea- what if something happened and the shore was all that was left? The very nature of an event (or Event!) that could make something like that possible moved the book into the realm of science fiction. I ran with that, but always tried to stay true to my characters. This story is as much about them, their thoughts, feelings, worries and fears as it is about the struggle for power on the island or the supernatural things that set all of it into motion.
 

I'd like to quickly thank my beta readers who helped make this a stronger story by calling me out when the plot needed reworking.
 

Every good thing that has happened to me since I began self-publishing on Amazon can be tied to another work I did this past year. Angels of the Earth is a novella written in Hugh Howey's Silo Saga world. This is an extension of his novel Wool which I highly recommend. Hugh allowed authors to write stories in his world without charging us for the privilege. Doing that helped me gain valuable experience as an author, and gave the rest of my work credibility. It also positioned me so that when Amazon made projects in Hugh's world official through Kindle Worlds, I was able to be signed as the first author in the program.

What does this mean for Atlantic Island? Well, I think it's only fair that I give as well as I got. I'm happy to allow people to write and publish stories set in the universe (universes?) I've created here. Run with it. Expand on it. Reimagine it. Just be sure to let people know about the original story!

Will I revisit this tale with a sequel? Time will tell. I love my characters and this bizarre world. I think the stage is set for a future adventure. In the meantime, I have some other projects I want to explore. You can follow all of that at www.fredricshernoff.com or my Twitter @fredricshernoff, or the Fredric Shernoff FaceBook fan page.
 

One last thing. If you enjoyed this story, please take a moment to rate it on Amazon, or a few moments to write a review. I love hearing readers' thoughts on my work, and other readers really take your opinions into consideration. That's all. Thanks for reading!
 

FS