Peter groaned a bit as he sank down in to his favorite armchair. He glanced around the small living room. Though the house had been expanded slightly over the past year, it still maintained its charm as a small house.

Thomas had arrived home about an hour before, and he was currently the only one home. When he heard the door open and shut, he knew that his father was home, and ran down the stairs.

“Hey Dad?” he asked now, standing behind him. Peter jumped slightly, not expecting the shock. “Sorry,” the boy apologized.

Peter sighed. “It’s okay, Tom,” he replied in a tired voice. “I’m just tired.” He sank into the chair and put his feet up.

Thomas nodded. “How’s Jenny?” he asked.

Peter didn’t bother to ask how Thomas had known that Jenny was hurt. He didn’t feel like asking, anyway. “Not great,” he replied with a groan. “She’s pretty badly burned, and she hasn’t woken up yet. They think she might be in there for a few weeks.”

The boy didn’t reply to that. Instead he changed the subject. “Hey Dad, do you know anyone with a boat?” he asked.

“A boat?” Peter repeated.

“Yeah.”

“Um…no. Why?”

Thomas took a deep breath. “I went out over the ocean a few weeks ago,” he began. “And I – saw something.”

“Saw something?” Peter asked. Thomas nodded. “What was it?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “It was underwater. I looked at it a little bit, and it had some weird writing on it. I couldn’t tell too much because then Mom noticed I was missing and I hadn’t told her where I went.”

Peter frowned. “Well, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to rent a boat,” he thought to himself. “How about we plan it for this weekend? Make a trip out of it?”

And so it was agreed.

Two days later, Micky surveyed the downstairs of the house. At his request, the police and the firemen had examined it for signs of arson, but there had been nothing to prove this. The fire’s cause was still unknown.

Micky wasn’t sure what that meant. Someone had started a fire, that much was obvious. But who? And how could they have left no evidence?

The paint in the kitchen would have to be redone, and the desk that Jenny had been trying to assemble was now useless. With a sigh, Micky turned and headed back outside, where he had left the paint in his car.

“All’s clear, Dave!” he informed his friend as he stepped out. Since Jenny had been hurt, everyone was reluctant to be in the house alone. Micky hadn’t wanted to leave Jenny alone at the hospital, but he knew he had to do some of the work on the house. To be sure of her safety (and Micky’s sanity), Mike had volunteered to stay with her for a little bit while Micky and Davy did some work.

Davy nodded and handed Micky a paint can. Both were dressed in old jeans and t-shirts that were ripped or stained. “Ready to get painting?” Davy asked, and Micky nodded, trying to look cheerful.

Meanwhile, Peter was steering the small boat he had rented out towards deeper water. The salt air blew through his hair and the warm sun felt good on his head. As they sped, a spray of water hit him in the face, and he smiled. The ocean had always been peaceful.

In the front of the boat, Thomas stood, staring out at the water, and focusing on trying to find what he had found before. Somehow he thought that whatever it was, it was quite important to him, even though he didn’t know what it was.

“I think we’re getting closer,” Thomas yelled to his father. “Turn that way!” He pointed to his left.

“Okay!” Peter called, turning the steering wheel hard in that direction.

Thomas nodded, shutting his eyes as he felt the wind come hard at his face, the salt wind blowing his light-brown hair back against his face. He reached his left hand up and moved a strand of his bangs away from his eyes.

A strange feeling rushed through his bones. The same feeling he had gotten when he’d swum out to the object in the middle of the night and touched it underwater. He was getting closer.

Suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine. He had a feeling he was about to come in contact with an important part of his own destiny.

“We’re here, Dad!” he called. Abruptly, Peter halted the engine and shut it off.

“You sure?” he asked. “Right here?” He looked around. There were no other boats for miles. No islands, no sailboats, no other motorboats, not so much as a raft, or a shark fin.

Thomas nodded. He jumped back off the front of the boat and hurried to lower the anchor. He could feel the rush of excitement in his whole body. Something important was going to happen.

Meanwhile, Peter began to remove his clothes, revealing the tight-fitting wet suit he and Thomas had rented for the day. He pulled his bathing cap tight over his hair and snapped his goggles on. Thomas did the same as soon as he felt the anchor hit the ground.

Neither one had ever gone scuba diving before, though Peter had taken a class once a long time ago. Though technically, they weren’t supposed to go out without having lessons, the clerk at the rental place had been too busy to notice that neither one was qualified. So they were forced to learn it alone.

Peter attempted to remember what he’d learned in a scuba class he’d taken more than ten years earlier about how to breathe correctly and how to wear the tank. After a few false starts, they dove into the water and managed to start swimming.

Thomas went ahead, because he knew where he was going. He swam downward, which wasn’t as easy as it looked because of the weight of the oxygen tanks. But he figured it out soon enough and he and Peter headed for the strange thing he’d seen earlier.

Even now, in broad daylight, it looked to Thomas as though it was glowing. He swam closer, able to see it better now. They had brought along a waterproof flashlight (also rented), but he didn’t need it. It was bright.

Peter switched on the flashlight in the dim water and examined the large metal object that was in front of him. He and Thomas had swum only a few feet under the surface, but the object was nearly invisible from above the water. Even now, right next to it, it was hard to see. He wondered how Thomas had spotted it flying over the ocean in the dark. But then, there were thinks about Thomas that no one else knew or had. Perhaps his night vision was better. Perhaps he had been able to sense this strange thing. Either way, Peter could tell that it was important to him.

The glowing light from the – thing (Thomas wasn’t sure what to call it) was nearly blinding. He wondered why his father had switched on his flashlight when the glow was so bright. But he had no means of asking him, and he wasn’t really interested in it, so he didn’t worry.

Thomas peered closely at the glowing metal, squinting behind his goggles. There was something carved in the side of it. He swam closer to see what it was.

Meanwhile, Peter swam around the large hunk of metal, observing its shape. It had appeared on first glance to just be a large indiscriminant piece of metal, but now Peter could see that it was shaped almost like a disc. Not a plain Frisbee/UFO shaped disc, but a weird three dimensional disc. The main section of it was disc-like, but the top was nearly triangular. Underneath it was rounded, and resting neatly on some jutted rocks. Carefully, Peter swam closer to the top to get a better look.

Thomas peered closer to the markings on the side of the metal. They were odd shaped, almost like Japanese or Chinese writing. ’It must be writing,’ he thought to himself. It didn’t look like any writing he’d ever seen before, though. Cautiously, he reached out with his right hand to feel the way the carvings felt.

Another flash of light appeared just then, one that even Peter saw. He swam back a little, and stared as the flash of light appeared again.

Then, before his eyes, the light moved. It flashed a few times and then the flashing appeared to change direction. At first, it had appeared to be coming from all parts of the object, then from the center, and then moved towards the side Thomas was on. Now, Peter noticed the light appeared to be flashing at Thomas.

’Thomas, what did you do?’ Peter wondered.

Thomas stared at the light as it flashed at him. He sensed Peter’s question in his mind, but didn’t have a chance to reply before the flash grew brighter, and then he ceased to think.

Peter swam quickly towards the boy after the flash had hit him. The strange mass had ceased flashing and now looked as dead as it ever had. The light faded from around Thomas, who now lay limp in the water.

Peter rushed towards him and shook him slightly. The boy didn’t wake up. ’Great,’ Peter thought. He grabbed him by the arms and started pulling him to the surface.

It took only a few minutes before Peter pulled Thomas to fresh air. He pulled off his goggles so he could see and then turned off his oxygen. He pulled Thomas’ mouth piece out. Thankfully, he noticed the boy was still breathing. With great effort, he managed to drag him to the boat, which was only a short distance away.

Once he reached there, he lifted Thomas as best he could and heaved him into the boat. Then he climbed up after him.

“Tom? Thomas? Are you okay?” he asked, slightly frantic. But the boy didn’t answer…

Everything appeared to be tinted slightly blue. Thomas rubbed his eyes, but the tint didn’t fade.

’Good. You’ve come,’ a voice announced. Thomas looked around.

’Come?’ he asked with his mind.

The air in front of him appeared to shimmer and glisten. A red shadow appeared, and then disappeared. A figure with two legs and four arms appeared. Its head had several appendages protruding from it.

Slowly, the figure came into focus.

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Confused? Go back to part three!

Enticed? Want more? Go on to part four!