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An English warship is patrolling the Caribbean, hunting pirates and protecting English interests in the region. One afternoon there is a flash of bright pink light, that for a moment, blinds all the crew on the deck of the wooden ship.
'Captain... Land
ahoy!'
A sailor high up in the ship's crow's
nest shouts out to his captain standing far below, looking
out
to sea.
The captain is surprised by the light and then by the shout from above.
'Mr Blake, is there an island marked on the
charts?'
he asks his second-in-command, 'as to the
best of my recollection, there is
nothing between here and Barbados.'
'That's correct Captain. No islands are recorded for at least fifty
miles from our position.'
'Then plot
a course for the island, Mr Blake. Let us take a look, for
King George and England. And prepare a landing
party.'
'Aye
aye, Captain.' his loyal lieutenant replies.
The wooden sailing ship carefully makes its way through the
island's surrounding reef into
shallow water, where it anchors
just offshore in a small and very
beautiful bay.
'Captain, there seems to be a small group of buildings high up on the
hill,
but they are not flying a flag so I doubt if they are Spanish or
French. The
buildings look strange too, sir.' comments Lieutenant
Blake.
'Then let's go ashore and investigate,'
says the captain, 'Please make
sure the marines
are
well-armed,
but bring some trinkets
and rum to trade. I
believe we are about to make contact with people from an advanced
nation,
possibly for the very first time.'
Richard and Lydia are two marine
biologists studying coral
reefs. Their research centre is located on a very small island to the
west of Barbados in the Caribbean sea. It is early afternoon and they
are working in their laboratory.
A sudden flash of bright
pink light causes Lydia to rush to the window.
'Richard, come and take a look at this... we have visitors'
'Really? Who?'
'Just come take a look, you'll never believe it.... and bring the
camera'
Lydia's colleague joins her at the window. 'It's an eighteen century
warship, flying
the flag of the English royal navy.
Wow! They must be filming another
'Pirates of the Caribbean'
movie,' says RIchrd, excitedly.
'I hope Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp are there,' adds Lydia, 'They are
both so gorgeous! I'd love to meet either of them.'
Looking through her binoculars,
Lydia can see a group of men getting
into two small boats, ready to row ashore.
'I can't see Johnny, but they're all in period
costume and
coming onto the beach. I can't see any cameras either. But let's run
down and welcome them.'
The two scientists head out of the building and make their way down the
narrow rocky path to the bay.
The party of English sailors and marines is standing on the
white sand of a tropical beach. 'Captain, there are two people
approaching, a man and a woman. They look unarmed.
And they are dressed
in... very unusual clothing'
'Let them approach, Mr Blake. Be ready to translate their Spanish or
French for me.'
Richard and Lydia are standing in front of the captain and his crew.
Richard is wearing an old 'Aerosmith'
tee shirt and surf shorts, Lydia
is
wearing a pink batik
sarong over her bikini. The captain and
his officers and marines are all in eighteenth century naval uniforms.
'Are you filming?' asks Lydia to the captain.
'I beg your pardon, madam. I know not what you mean. I am captain Jack
Forbes of his
Majesty's ship Renown. We represent
King George the third
of England.'
'Not captain Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl,
then?' Lydia laughs.
'Madam, I do not know of a captain Jack Sparrow, or of a ship named the
Black Pearl,
but I can assure
you, that I am not he. Now please allow your husband
to introduce himself,'
'Hello captain Forbes, I am doctor Richard Graves from UCLA. This is my
colleague doctor Lydia Langton, also from UCLA. Pleased to meet you,
but we know you are filming, so you can drop
all the talk about King
George.
The captain looks confused. 'I am sorry sir, but I cannot
understand the gist
or detail of what you are saying. Perhaps your accent or
dialect is too strong for me. Where are you from?'
Richard and Lydia feel uneasy,
they think the joke has gone too
far.
'Listen, you guys are starting to weird us
out! What year is it?'
'Sir, it is 1791 of course!'
'What? Don't be ridiculous! It's 2009?' Lydia sounds both confused and
a little
scared, but the captain has become
irritated with the two
strangely-dressed islanders, 'Mr Blake, seize
them and take them back
the ship, I'll decide what to do with them while we explore their
buildings.'
Suddenly, just as one of the marines grabs Richard's arm, there is
another flash of blinding pink light.
'Where are they, Mr Blake? Find them and bring the to me.
Alive, if
possible.' The two strangers are nowhere to
be seen;
they disappeared
during the flash of light. The crew look quite scared.
'Aye aye captain... Sir, their footprints are still in the sand. We'll
take the path to the top of the hill to their village and capturethem
there.'
'Mr Blake, I fear
this island has dangerous magical powers. It seems
like the
devil's
work to me. Take some men and search the island
anyway, and report back anything you find.'
'Captain Forbes...' one of the crew has his mouth wide open and is
pointing into
the bay, 'the ship has gone!'
Richard and Lydia are standing alone on the beach. They look
at each other, unable to speak. Lydia is still holding the small
digital camera that she had brought with her. 'Check the
camera,' Richard suggests.
'No good... I didn't take any photos!'
'I can't explain what just happened, Lydia. Can you?'
'No, I can't. I just don't understand, it's too weird.
Their ship is
still here,
but where are the sailors? And look! Our path has disappeared. What's
going on?'
The two scientists return to their research centre but it too has
disappeared. The island is completely empty. All signs of their life
and work have are gone.
Adjectives
well-armed:
Carrying many weapons.
unarmed:
Carrying no weapons.
naval:
Connected with the navy.
uneasy:
Nervous and uncomfortable bacause you think something bad is going to
happen, or has happened.
weird:
Strange.
Verbs
patrol:
To travel around an area, making sure it is safe.
blind:
To injure someone's eyes so they cannot see.
plot a course:
To plan a journey using a map.
anchor:
When a boat stops and drops a heavy metal weight and chain
onto the sea floor to stop it moving.
investigate:
To try to find out the truth of a situation.
assure:
To say something is 100% true, or will definitely happen.
drop:
To stop talking about something.
go too far:
To say something too much, so that other people become angry.
weird sb.
out:
A very informal way of saying 'To make someone feel uncomfortable or
uneasy by the things you say or do'.
become irritated: To become a little
angry by someone's behaviour.
seize:
To catch or capture.
fear:
Used to say you think something bad is true.
Adverbs
ashore:
Towards or onto the shore of the sea, a lake, or a river.
Nouns
interests:
Here meaning 'business activity'.
a flash:
Here meaing 'a bright light that is only for a very short time'.
a crow's nest:
A place on a ship that is very high up (usually on a mast), and is where
a sailor looks for other ships or possible dangers.
a chart:
A map.
a landing party:
A group of sailors that are gathered together to go onto the land.
a lieutenant:
A low ranking officer in the army or navy.
a marine:
A fighting soldier who usually travels on a ship.
a trinket:
A small pretty object or piece of jewellery that is not expensive.
a marine biologist:
A scientist who studies life in the seas and oceans.
a laboratory:
A room in which a scientist works and does experiments.
the royal navy:
Britain's navy.
a pair of binoculars:
A pair of special glasses used for looking at things far away.
period costume:
Clothes from a past time.
Aerosmith:
The name of an American rock group.
a batik sarong:
A large piece of cloth, printed using wax, that can be worn as a dress.
the gist:
The main idea of what someone is saying.
Expressions
"land ahoy!": Shouted by sailors
when they see land in the distance.
"to the best of my
recollection": Used when you remember something,
but are not 100% sure you remember correctly.
"aye aye": 'aye' is a
Scottish
dialect word meaning 'yes'.
it is still used in the navy.
"his majesty's ship":
Describing a ship in the British navy (HMS).
"nowhere to be seen":
Cannot been seen anywhere.
"the devil's work":
Used to say something was created by the devil.