As soon as Denis thought about divine healing, he immediately noticed a crowd on the bank, they were driving by. About a dozen people were surrounding someone on the sand and shouting, some even crying. Denis touched Ray's powerful, blue-streaked arm and pointed to the crowd.
Ray immediately stopped the car and easily jumped off into the sand. The people instantly fell silent and parted. It was noticeable that the mutant was feared of.
On the sand lay the lifeless body of a young man, most likely a fisherman. Ray quickly bent down and brought his hand to the chest of the man. Ray's dreadlocks fluttered slightly, like disturbed snakes.
The body of the young fisherman suddenly arched up and collapsed again, a cry was heard.
The fisherman has opened his eyes. The crowd scattered, leaving only a couple of people. Ray took off his sunglasses and looked at each one carefully with his amber eyes with a vertical pupil.
Denis remained standing by the black jeep and thinking.
“Yes, gods and aliens are one and the same indeed! I hope Ray won’t wish to destroy the Island like his grandfather Zandolie in the past!”
Ray came back to the vehicle. The golden Star of David was shining brightly in the sun, and the caramel-colored, smooth, muscular chest of the mutant was gleaming blue.
Denis thought that the alien grandfather would be proud of his grandson now.
Marley, the “prodigal son” of Zandolie, had never accepted his father, did not believe on his peaceful plans for coexistence with people … And in the end, the son destroyed his father.
Denis forced himself to stop thinking about the past. What was up? A beautiful sunny day, interesting tests of an unprecedented invention, Ray, who just saved a man – Denis should be in a great mood. And he was seen the shadow of Zandolie everywhere….
The test model of the sub was not quite a real sub!
If a UFO would appear during their trials, and worse, even attack, Denis would not be able to take off high or dive deep – the walls of the submarine were not thick enough for deep diving, and the engine was not powerful enough to flee to safety…
Although the Secret Bay seemed like a safe place, chosen by Marley himself!
If the trials would be successful, then he and Ray would build a real flying submarine, dozens of times larger and more powerful than the test model – and finally would be able to explore the seabed far around the island. And if you wish, even attack aliens! Then be aware, Big Eyes’ Dragon!
The test submarine stood on a platform on wheels, on a special trailer, like those on which yachts are transported. Black, shiny, predatory streamlined shape, it already looked like a real submarine. The very first model was small, with a remote control. Now Denis himself had to be at the control panel.
Ray unloaded oxygen tanks from his jeep, a wetsuit for Denis – like he seemed to be going into space. But the risk was great, like of a real astronaut. The sub could not be overloaded, the safety margin was still small. Therefore, not all safety measures were possible to follow …
“Den, what are you more afraid of, the dive or a UFO?”
“Ray, are you reading my mind again? To be honest, of a UFO! I'm sure about the sub – you and Scott have foreseen everything!”
“Thanks! Well, off you go! Good luck!”
Den got into his wetsuit and awkwardly climbed into the upper hatch of the sub. Ray closed the hatch and unhooked the fastening cables. The submarine slid smoothly into the water. The bay was deep, right from the very edge of the coast. Denis started submerging almost immediately.
The tightness and maneuverability trials have already been carried out. Today they had planned to test the impact of change in density of two media – from water to air and vice versa.
The sub turned out to be slightly flattened – not cigar-shaped, as usual. On the sides, small retractable wings were installed. The flat bottom had a whole series of small turbines….
It was necessary to understand the transition algorithm from the water and back and to program the operation of the wings and the turbines below. For now, everything depended on Denis' reaction. Oh, if only Ray or even Scott could be there – but they both weighed too much! Although, really, it had to be Denis, who would need to automate and program everything!
… How beautiful it was under the sea! The sun's rays were penetrated the aquamarine depths of the water far, far below. At the bottom, multicolored coral fish were scurrying about in small schools. It was not very deep, ten to twenty meters. Here and there were islets of coral of all colors. Stinging rays soared with their flat bodies just above the seabed, a strange needle fish hanged vertically almost at the very surface of the water. And here was the colorful and quite dangerous lionfish. Suddenly a flounder came alive off the sandy seabed! In some places, one could see spikes of dark sea urchins. A group of some marine life was crawling along the bottom, looking like crabs. And a curious turtle was swimming slowly by the very porthole! And what kind of flock was this one, of little octopi?! No way!…
That was enough, it was time to fly a little!
Over the past few weeks, Scott has tirelessly taught Denis how to operate different modes of transport, on water and air! Denis now was like James Bond – he could easily jump from yacht to helicopter and fly away into the sunset!
Today he would need to understand the optimal take-off trajectory. He and the guys seem to have done all the calculations. But live tests were not always perfect like clockwork!
So! He would turn on the lower turbo, extend the wings almost at the very water, change the angle of the wings this way and that! And up!
The bright sun blinded Denis for a couple of seconds. It would be necessary to provide dark glasses-chameleons for rapidly changing environments for the future! And the same glass for the windows…
He was flying! Flying!
How breathtakingly beautiful it was to soar over the sea! Denis felt like a flying fish!
Well! It was time to get back into the water. He would fold the wings, remove the lower turbo…
Damn, it didn't go so smoothly! The “flying ship” flopped sideways into the water and whirled. For a moment Denis did not understand where was the top and where the bottom. The on-board computer, quite small and basic, helped to stabilize the submarine at that critical moment, when Denis completely lost control.
Denis took off the wings too early, it was imperative to change the angle of inclination of the ailerons first…
They would be significant to modify the stabilizer further too …
Denis was very nervous and sweating terribly in his wetsuit. When they would build a real flying submarine in its projected dimensions, large, powerful and durable, then the wetsuit would not be needed all the time, but only to get out of the submarine into the sea itself.
Denis felt mortally tired – nervous tension easily consumed his last strength. But it was necessary to take off and plunge back several more times, at different angles, at different speeds and record all the measurements …
Then everything went well. After every test the stress level was gradually fading away, and the joy of the navigation was increasing!
When all the tests scheduled for today were over, happy and proud Denis moored to the shore, opened the upper hatch, and took off his wetsuit helmet. Ray's strong arms grabbed him and pulled him out.
From overexcitement Denis could not stand on his feet and could not speak, he just raised his thumb – everything went with a bang!
But Ray didn't look happy. He flashed amber eyes over his spectacles and barked contemptuously.
“Pure nonsense! We need a force field around the sub, a field that will help us with a smoother transition of environments and even in defense against UFOs.”
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