Adrianna's Storm

Erin Kirkpatrick smiled as she changed into her wetsuit. She had read the report on her desk that Kiwi, their newest mommy dolphin, had indeed given birth to a healthy baby boy the night before. She decided to go see her first and check on the newborn. It was days like this that being a Marine Biologist paid off for her, because she had her dream job working for SeaWorld in Florida, and she got to be where she really wanted to be, with the animals.

She exited the employee building and then decided she would walk instead of taking her assigned golf cart. It was a beautiful day and the exercise would do her good. She headed straight to the birthing tanks as Kiwi and her baby had their first checkup with the staff veterinarian. Erin was pleased they were both doing so well. She told the vet she wanted checkups weekly for the first month just to be sure they stayed that way. Living in captivity could take a toll on some wild animals but Kiwi, sadly, couldn't go back to the wild with her injuries. She had been hit by a fishing trawler, the damage too extensive.

She headed to her second stop of the day, which was checking on Horace, an elephant walrus who had been turning away his food. Erin grinned as she was passing the shark tanks, she did not envy Danny, the other biologist who had drawn the short straw to deal with the sharks that day. She looked around, didn't see anyone there, and figured they had probably gone to get their food since it was close to feeding time.

Out of nowhere, someone grabbed her from behind and threw a cloth bag over her head. Then she was lifted and the next thing she knew she was airborne. She was so shocked over being grabbed that she had yet to scream. Just as she opened her mouth to do just that, she hit the water. Her hands came up to pull the bag off her head and saw that she had been thrown in the shark tank. She immediately stopped her struggles and slowly put her right hand on her utility belt. It had an emergency alarm for situations like this and she activated it. Then she drew the small stunner out in case any of the sharks got too close. She could hear some of them thrashing about and cringed at the thought of what could happen. She closed her eyes to calm herself and prayed help would come.

Danny must have come out of the food shack just after she had been thrown in because she could hear him shouting for help as he leaned over to pull her out of the water. She remained stiff, bobbing, until he cleared her of the tank and then her body turned to jello as she was sat down on the concrete. She was thoroughly shaken that someone would want to hurt her. She allowed her co-worker to help her to his cart and as he drove her back to the head offices, she could only think about her family. She was so happy to be going home for her little sister's birthday soon. She could definitely do with a break.

Kira Kirkpatrick studied the tektite she held in her hand. She was excited to see that it lacked any microlites to confirm it was authentic. She couldn't wait to get it back to her lab, but first she needed to log it in. She carefully wrapped it and placed it in the pouch that hung from her utility belt. Then she checked the site to ensure she was the only one left and began to crawl out of the cave-like structure she was in.

She had been on this dig for a month in Kuala Lumpur and had finally found something of interest. Tektite was natural glass that formed from terrestrial debris ejected during extraterrestrial impacts. In other words, it came from outer space. She knew her colleagues would be pleased with this find. This may be able to get her tenure with the University and then maybe she could settle down.

As she was crawling out of the small tunnel to the surface, there was a deafening noise and she realized it was caving in. She instinctively backed up and then realized that if she didn't try to jump, she would be buried alive. She dove for the only exit and landed with her upper half sticking out. Some workmen shouted for help as they pulled her the rest of the way out before the rest of the tunnel could come down.

She sat there panting, trying to figure out what had happened and realized this incident could only be deliberate. She saw where one of the two by fours that had been holding up the entrance had been cut. Everyone knew she was the only one left in the "hole" this afternoon. Someone wanted her dead. Fear sliced through her as she looked around at the faces surrounding her that she had been working with for a month. Her attacker could be among them. She needed to get away. Thank God, she was going home next week for her sister's birthday.