Chapter 9
On the beach outside the broken four-toed statue of Taweret, Jacob sits alone and watches the waves hitting the shore. Except for the occasional visit from Richard, he rarely receives visitors. The Man in Black approaches, a few minutes after his visit to the other side of the island.
"Afternoon." Jacob said.
"Afternoon," The Man in Black answers. "Mind if I join you?"
"Please." The Man in Black sits down a few feet away. "I take it you didn't just come by because of the plane? That was 12 days ago."
"You know why I am here. I just paid a visit to one of the survivors, No. 15 – Ford. He remembers things that has not happened to him yet."
"Well, that depends on how you look at it, doesn't it? Most of those things did happen to him 3 decades ago. And even those events he remembers that happen after today, he had memories of, all those years ago."
The Man in Black can't hide his annoyance. "I also see you that No. 58 – Burke – has the same type of memories, from her point of view. She wasn't on the plane. She's been here for the last 3 years."
Jacob shrugs his shoulders. "I dispense my gifts however I see fit."
"I'm a little surprised Jacob. I thought when the bomb blew up you were just going to flash them all to the present?"
"I thought about doing that, but changed my mind right after. If it happens again I may do that instead. It's only fair I should tell you Ford's and Burke's names can be crossed out now. They are no longer Candidates. But I shouldn't have to remind you that you still can't kill them."
The Man in Black scoffed. "That's right Jacob you don't have to remind me."
"I think I do, considering on what just happened from your visit."
"Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you? But isn't this a cheat?"
"You are wrong," Jacob replies. "Progress comes in many forms."
The Man in Black stares at Jacob, "Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?"
"Oh, I think you've made that pretty clear over the years."
"I'll still work my loophole, my friend."
"You do that. I'll be waiting."
The Man in Black gets up and starts to walk away. "I'll see you Jacob."
Juliet rushes over to Sawyer, and checks to see if he still has a pulse. "Kate!"
Kate runs over out of the bushes. "Oh my God! Is he …?"
"He's breathing, but just barely. Kate, I need you to bring help. Find Jack. We may need a stretcher to move him if that thing comes back. You are going to have to go to the beach first."
"What about you?"
"I'm not leaving James! What are you still doing here, Kate! Move!"
Kate runs off. With no one else around, Juliet drops her walls and begins to weep. That thing sought both of them out. It read her mind and best she could tell it did a same to him. It didn't hurt James until it made a move towards her.
"Damn you, James. Don't you die on me." Her hands shake as tears come out her closed eyes. She quickly wipes them off and shifts into doctor mode. "Stay with me James. Stay with me."
Hurley arrives at the beach from the caves bringing water for those who remained. He starts to freak when he notices Boone going through the recovered items from the plane, and making a mess of it. "Dude, what are you doing? I had that organized pretty good. What are you looking for?"
"The manifest," Boone said. "Ah, found it! The redneck said it would prove Ethan was not on the plane."
"You mean Sawyer, Dude? I was just starting to wonder if we should start a census. Was going to debate it in my head and stuff before I said anything. So why does Sawyer think he wasn't on the plane?"
Boone doesn't answer. He combs through the list, searching for his name. "Well, I don't see any Ethan in here. Looks like he is telling the truth."
"Dude!" Hurley points see he spots Jack, Sayid and Locke dragging a still unconscious Ethan to the far edge of the beach, away from the survivors. Hurley and Boone rush over.
"Sayid, Jack! Sawyer was telling the truth! He's not on the list."
"We kind of figured that out, Boone." Jack said. "Ethan tried to make a break for it. Good thing you found it though. We may need it."
Sayid starts to tie Ethan to a tree. "We are going to have to keep an eye on him all the time," Locke said. "We should rotate shifts with at least 2 people at a time."
"We are going to need to dig a pit," Sayid added. "But before we do that …"
"Jack!" Kate runs toward the group. "Sawyer's been hurt! He was attacked by that … whatever that thing is! Juliet said he is barely breathing!"
Jack runs off with Kate to find his bag. Ethan starts to awake, not sure if he believed what he just heard. Did she say Juliet?
Ben, normally always in control, was anxious for Richard Alpert to answer the knocks on his front door. Richard answered and Ben explained the investigation Tom was running was coming up empty. Ben still did not suspect that Juliet took the ammo but was starting to wonder if she was with Goodwin.
"That doesn't make any sense Ben. If Juliet were with him, that would blow his cover."
"That assumes he is still with the survivors. We haven't had contact with him in a couple of days. Do you think we should make contact earlier that scheduled to see if he is still there?
"No, I recommend that you send your team in late tonight (to take the 9 tallies on the list) as you planned. Its more likely Juliet went to the Staff or another station you have not checked. It's a big island Ben."
"What are you doing anyway?" Ben asked.
"I've been beginning to study the files that Mikhail and his contacts have prepared so far on the survivors."
"We'll put that off for now." Ben ordered. "Since you mentioned it, could you check out the Staff for me and see if she is there?"
Jack had no idea how long Sawyer would be unconscious. He decided to risk moving him back to the beach close by, especially if "that thing" that did this were to return. Locke and Michael made a stretcher and they carried him to his tent. Juliet did not pay attention to the whispers and stares on her and as they passed the other beach survivors to his tent.
When they laid him down inside, Jack looked him over again. "Well, his breathing is stable."
Juliet nodded and started caressing James' face as soon as Jack finished his examination.
"We found Ethan. We know he wasn't on the plane."
Juliet did not respond, maintaining her focus on her James. Jack shook his head – he wanted answers from her now, but he also knew this wasn't the time to be asking.
"I'm going back to get more water from the caves. I'll be back to check on him in a little while."
An hour later, Juliet gets up and walks around the tent. She notices several people are outside with their eyes glued on her. She realized things were much the same as when she first arrived to this camp with Jack in the other reality. It would take time to earn their trust and they may have lost her trust in Sawyer because of her presence.
She notices a map of the island that Sawyer has drawn and studies the arrows and markings. Sigh. "Yes, this would be the right thing to do, wouldn't it James?"
She walks up to the tent opening and addresses the small crowd outside. "Would one of you bring Jack and Locke back here as soon as you can?"
"You want us to what?" Jack yelled. "No, we're not going anywhere."
"Jack, I think we should listen," Locke said. Kate, Boone and Michael were also present in Sawyer's tent while Sayid led a detail to watch Ethan and dig the pit.
"No, John, we are going to take a time out!" Jack said. He turns to Juliet. "I want to know what you're story is now, and how you are connected to Sawyer. You said you were going to give us answers and I want them now!"
Juliet puts on her Otherly face on, giving Jack a cold stare. "Jack, do you know a woman by the name of Ana Lucia?"
"What?"
"James told me – did you meet a woman by the name of Ana Lucia in Sydney before your plane took off? Yes or No."
Jack sighs and nods. "How did Sawyer …"
She cuts him off. "She is among the 15 or so tail section survivors that are located here." She points at the map. "So is Bernard, Rose's husband. Now, you have an opportunity to save them TONIGHT if you leave right now. If not, maybe you can explain to Rose why her husband ended up dead in the jungle and not safe here with her. The other people on this island plan on kidnapping nine of them tonight after they go asleep."
Jack paces around the room, looking like he is about to explode.
She points to the map again. "Oh, hell. Let me go over this again. You can get there tonight. There is a sailboat called The Elizabeth located at this cove. It is less than an hour's walk east of here. From there you can get to their location before midnight."
Locke breaks in. "How do you know they are there?"
"That's where the tail section crashed. The people I was with sent someone to infiltrate them just as Ethan was sent here. They will likely have a signal fire going so they will be easy to spot. They have already had 3 people kidnapped this week and they are understandably paranoid. That's why you need to go Jack. Ana Lucia will recognize you where she would likely mistake any of the rest of you as one of them."
"I'll go," Locke said. Juliet gave him a slight nod, knowing he would.
Jack shakes his head.
"Jack, I said you have to go too. It's either that, or you have to get Rose to go."
Jack stared back at her. "How do we know this isn't a trap?"
"Because I love James," she said. "Do you believe that? Why on earth would I send his doctor to be captured or be killed?"
"Right now, that's the only thing I do believe. You really expect us to believe a sailboat is a short distance from our camp?"
"No, but I expect you to believe your eyes in a short while if you get your ass in gear. There is still light out right now and will be when you find the boat."
"You're not coming with us?" Locke asked.
"Absolutely not! I am not leaving James. The longer you take to get there, the more likely either they will be taken or you will have a confrontation on your hands. You have the guns James and I gave you. Now, move!"
"One more thing," Locke said. "Who is this 'someone' who infiltrated the tail section?"
"His name is Goodwin. It would be better not to let him know you are on to him until after you get him back here. Please don't kill him."
"No promises. C'mon Jack," Locke said. Jack looked like he wanted to argue some more, but reluctantly joined him for the hike along with Kate and Michael.
After they leave the tent, Juliet turns back to Sawyer.
"James, I don't know if you are going to be angry with me or proud when you wake up. I may have just stranded us on this island. Damn it, you better wake up. And soon."
Richard arrives at The Staff and discovers no one is there. He brings one of the Oceanic files with him because he can't shake the face that is on it. Before he turns around to head back to the barracks he opens it up again and stares at James Ford's mug shot again.
Note: I loved all of the reviews that you sent and please keep them coming. All the feedback you send helps and inspires me!
Since I've returned I've updated every 2-3 weeks. I plan on maintaining that pace until this story is finished. At this point, I am not even going to try and predict how long this story will go. We've been on day 12 for the last 3 chapters.
