Offshore (46 page)

A
problem shared is a problem halved? Not exactly, it just meant the
problem got spread around a bit, but at least it couldn’t get any
worse.

Although
Eddie and Lydia would have each other to talk to and help purge the
memories, Cameron did not have that luxury - he had no family to
care for him and few close friends; not that talking to family or
friends would do any good.

They
would try to listen, would nod and make the right noises in all the
right places, all the while thinking he was spouting the ravings of
a madman.

No one
outside this exclusive club of three members could have the
slightest inkling of the horrendous happenings they had gone
through.

They
were bonded for life by their experiences, and they had to be there
for each other, to support one another, always. If they didn’t,
Eddie felt sure that one or other of them would be weeping over a
lost compatriot’s obituary before too long.

The
engine thrummed and the cabin pitched gently as the white capped
waves of the North Sea carried them along, and like a baby rocked
in its cradle Cameron soon succumbed to its soporific effect, eased
along also by the morphine now coursing through him.

Satisfied his colleague would be safe if he took his eyes off
him for a few minutes, Eddie too fell under the motion’s
influence.

His
heavy lids drooped and he let them fall close. He fell asleep,
sheer exhaustion taking control of his shattered body. He slept and
dreamed, twitching and groaning as he relived the events of the
previous weeks.

Chapter 55

Eddie
dreamed on, unaware of the unseen unnatural things happening inside
Lydia.

Events
beyond her control, beyond the control of Nature herself. The
ejaculate Euterich had forcibly administered to her on that dirty
pile of sacking in the tool shed was on the move. Injected through
her cervix, carried by muscular waves, it migrated through her
uterus, destroying any remnants of Cameron and Eddie’s deposits it
came across along the way, nullifying her contraception.

Already
it had reached the opening of her right fallopian tube where, in
twenty four hours, the millions of spermatozoa-like entities it
carried would meet the egg already released from her ovary as part
of her normal monthly cycle.

The
swimming gametes would then surround and assault it until, like
Falcon Bravo’s drill bit had once bored into the seabed, one would
breach its outer coat to instantly initiate a chemical reaction
which would render the egg toxic to the rest.

The
reward for the unlucky remainder’s failure to fertilise –
death.

Within
minutes of penetration genetic material would combine in a fusion
of worlds, of the dark and the light.

Then
would come the first of countless divisions, and life, in whatever
form it chose to take, would go on.

~ The End ~

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR

Jillian
Brookes-Ward hails originally from the North West of England but
now resides in bustling historic Aberdeen, Scotland.

A former
Medical/MedicoLegal secretary, she gave up the 9-5 rat race to
pursue a writing career inspired by her locale and the people
around her. A good move as it turns out because it has yielded nine
books so far, ranging from contemporary romance to psychological
drama and raunchy riverside romps, to the gut wrenching horror of
OFFSHORE under the pen-name Lucy Pepperdine.

When
Jillian is not writing she cares for her home and family, and takes
long walks in the parks and on the beach with her dog, her writing
buddy and constant companion, Wee Archie. Jillian is also an avid
supporter of and fund raiser for military charities Help for Heroes
and Combat Stress.