Flash Fiction

THE TIME LOOP

The ship rose from the depths, a broken hull and the shadow of what she had once been. Marine Archaeologists were incredibly excited, arriving in droves to investigate the wreck. As the studies continued, astonishment grew, because the ship appeared to have been submerged longer than most known civilisations. It was older even than fabled Atlantis.

And yet, the engineering was of modern design. A little unusual perhaps, but definitely Twenty-First Century construction. Amelia Avenus, a PHD in Marine Archaeology, sighed as she sipped her coffee and contemplated the findings.

Rubbing her nose, a simple gesture that Amelia adopted during times of stress, the Marine Archaeologist stepped out of her shipping container officer to head towards the porta-loo. Coffee had diuretic properties that always made her bladder more active.

Amelia stepped into a vortex of wind and cloud that made her clutch at outer the wall of her office in panic. Except the solid metal wasn’t there anymore… and in front of her eyes loomed the ship, graceful in its symmetry and impossible in its shiny state of repair.

The ocean was also higher than Amelia remembered; lapping around her feet and clearly quite deep around the hull of the ship. A figure clad in white overalls was climbing down a ladder at the side of the ship. It climbed onto a small launch and waved to her.

“Doctor Avenus?” the figure cried.

“That’s me,” Amelia replied cautiously.

“I have been waiting for you,” the figure replied. “For this moment in time, this storm, these magnetic clouds.”

“Oh?’ Amelia was puzzled, but something compelled her towards the figure.

The stranger hauled Amelia onto the launch and turned the prow back towards the hull of the ocean-liner.

“I will explain when we get onboard,” he said. “Please take care to avoid contact with the gamma rays.” He indicated, the strange lightening flashing around them.

“What is your name?” Amelia asked.

“Coby,” the man said.

“I always thought if I had a son, I would name him Coby,” Amelia mused.

“You did,” Coby said. “But we have a journey to make before you can have me.”

Written for "Make it Up Monday" https://aussiespeculativefiction.com/category/flash-fiction/