title: Meet the misfortune as it comes / Venienti occurrite morbo

rating: T

summary: The year is 1968, and the precursor to the Dharma Initiative is making its presence known on the island. Karen De Groot and her husband Gerald have come to the island seeking an escape from the pressures of life in Ann Arbor, with the utopian vision of a new scientific society, but encounters with the island natives prove nothing can ever go according to plan.

setting: 1968, primarily on the island but some on the mainland, specifically Ann Arbor, Michigan

pairings: Eloise Hawking/Richard Alpert, Eloise Hawking/Charles Widmore, Tom/Mikhail, Jeanette Lewis/David Lewis, Horace Goodspeed/Olivia and probably some others mentioned as background.

author's notes: this is a semi-alternate universe story which deviates slightly from established canon. Specifically, character's ages may not be consistent with canon, and I've also used real life people, mainly scientists, as characters. There is also some question as to when the Dharma Initiative was established and how it got there. This story answers those questions in ways that may not be compatible to what we learn in S6.


Terra nullius / The uninhabited territory

Karen shuddered as the submarine gave an almighty hitch, quarreling with the current. An onslaught of water pushed against them, fighting propulsion, as though it were a coherent force and not merely the ocean that was holding them back from the tepid water's surrounding the island. She inhaled slowly, savoring the triumph. The island; it was so close she could almost feel it, full of curiosity and possibility, the last untapped frontier she could imagine, a greenish nirvana that might actually enlighten them all. But first, they needed to close enough to dock, and the ocean was putting up a fight. She could feel the waves buffeting them as the captain slowly ascended, abandoning any hope of besting the riptide.

Alone in the reddish darkness, Karen pressed one hand against the whining metal. Bird had assured her the submarine was more than fit for the job. Less expensive replicas had endured in battle, surrounded by bursting bombs and enemy fire. Nonetheless, the whines and groans from the sub as it expanded and contracted in the changing temperatures frightened her. She could feel it shaking beneath her hand, straining, and did not like to think how fast they would all be vaporized if any centimeter gave way.

They had doled out the sedatives several hours in, when the claustrophobia had turned into something more virulent than anxiety. Debra had started screaming, and thus had been the first to be put under. Amy had begun crying shortly after, moaning that she had made a mistake and they needed to turn around. From there, chaos had descended, turning their so-called security detail into a quivering wreck of a man, scaring the youngest ones, fresh from their introductory university classes. It made her nervous still to think about the reactions; she had not anticipated any problems with the ride. The fear had made her edgy, questioning every bump and gurgle of water, the submarine suddenly feeling like nothing so much as a metal coffin.

Now, they all slumbered on the uncomfortable bunks, bare of pallets. Only Karen was left awake. Gerald had swallowed a tablet himself, turned goofy and giddy, and promptly decided to lie down as well. She still had no idea what the medicine had contained, though she was certain it had to be illegal.

"Oh God!" she whimpered as the submarine suddenly jolted, groaning like a twisted wreck after a bad accident. She sank down onto her knees, praying that pressure would cease and equilibrium would be sustained. Karen had never quite fit in with the happy-go-lucky expectation of the times. When others gathered at Haight-Ashbury, dropped acid in the park and marveled at how green the grass was and how soft its brush against their skin, she went to the lab, working late hours and nights, drawn to the religion of education and experimentation. Her science was not the hippie happy world of free love and experiments with marijuana but rather the hard facts. Questions kept her up at night no matter how badly she needed sleep. Gerald had always encouraged her to let go, but it was in Karen's nature to worry and wonder. She looked at the peaceful faces of the sleepers, cast in red light, and felt a stab of envy. Control, she told herself sternly, on her knees on the metal cylinder she had chosen to ride through the seas. Then the sub jerked as if snapped by the hand of a giant, and she screamed, the sound echoing off the walls.

"It's all right now, it's all right," spoke Oldham gently, stepping around the corner. His eyes seemed dazed and faraway, but at least he did not look scared, and Karen took this as reassurance. "Choppy water," he announced, not very interested. "You should have taken one of those little pills."

Karen rose shakily to her feet. "I didn't want to miss anything," she said, realizing it was a lame excuse.

Oldham surveyed her face and looked away, slightly exasperated. "I believe we're here," he decided, foot on the bottom rung of the ladder. Then he stopped. "Do you want to go first?"

Karen released her breath slowly, realizing from the stitch in her side that she had been holding it. Nodding, she moved past Oldham and wrapped one hand around the highest rung she could reach. "Is the Captain coming?"

"Later, I expect," Oldham answered. "We went through some pretty interesting experiences. I think he'll be documenting them for quite a while. Go on," he added, gesturing to the top of the submarine. "Take a look."

It was precisely what she had anticipated, and yet so much more. Karen stumbled unsteadily onto the top of the submarine, shading her eyes from the brilliant sunlight. Any lingering doubts were smashed as she surveyed the place she had dreamed of visiting for so long. It was perfect, a wild sprawl of uninhabited jungle surrounded by cerulean water. Untouched by humanity, the perfect place to carry out experiments, the island waited for her, answers hidden among the trees. She smiled, lifting her gaze to the high hills, and staring out at the dense jungle.

"They're bringing the boat," Oldham said, referring to the skeleton crew that had arrived a week earlier by ship with the first supply of building materials and food. He pointed towards the far shore, where a small vessel had been launched and floated in their direction. "It sure is a beautiful sight," he added wistfully, before ducking back down into the depths of the submarine. His voice echoed, tinny, from below. "The sedatives were pretty strong, I'm afraid. They'll need to sleep it off a few more hours. You go on ahead, and have them send the boat back."

"Good idea," Karen agreed, not disguising her enthusiasm. She pushed her long blonde hair out of her face and waved her arm at the distant boat. "We're going to need a dock," she told the still water. "And something more permanent for a homing beacon." The heat pressed down on her, so different from the Michigan summers she was used to, where the high eighties indicated an extremely hot day. The heat at the equator was different, stronger somehow, and she could feel it working on the pale skin of her face and shoulders. By nightfall, she would be burned to a crisp. Laughing at the thought, she climbed back down the ladder to retrieve her pack, then ascended once more. The boat was waiting, the laughing faces of the nurse and builders she had sent ahead visible. "It's beautiful!" she called to them, grinning irrepressibly. I'm finally here, she thought, glowing. She held out her hand to Jeanette and stepped lightly down into the boat. "Let's go," she announced, so eager it hurt. Her laughter echoed over the water as the boat engine revved and swung them back towards shore.