“Are you sure about this Doc?” I asked. “There’s nothing but ocean here.” I spin around in my viewing chair that’s perched on top of the ship’s mast. “At least I have a great view.”

“It’s here alright my lad!” The doctor replied from the pad strapped to the arm of my chair. “All my research leads to this area of the Pacific! Just do your job and find me proof of those P.A.L.’s!” He hangs up the video call with a huff.

“I should have never taken this job.” I let out a sigh of regret while typing commands into the pad. “You knew this job sounded too good to be true, but nooo, you just had to trust the words of some crazy professor about aliens.” After a while, some conformational beeps signaled all set for launch. “Preparing for take off!” I called into a walkie.

“Clear the launch pad!” The sailors and researchers on the deck finished unhooking a large octocopter drone from the helipad at the stern of the ship. “Octo is flight ready!” Came the response as they cleared the deck.

“Alright, let’s take it nice and easy, and not wreck this multi million dollar toy.” Pulling a First Person View visor over my eyes, I begin to run through my pre-flight checks. “All set, Octo is ready for take off.” I report over the commlink.

“I’m receiving signals from equipment, we are good to go. Remember to stay within a mile of the ship this time, or our equipment won’t work right.” One of the researchers reminded me.

“It was one time, Emily. Let it go.” The drone lifts off from the ship. From my view, it feels like I’m hoving over the ocean.

“We needed those readings! Dave, why couldn’t you find us a real professional?” Emily was still pissed at me from yesterday.

“It’s not like I lost the drone…” I mutter while soaring over the open waters. “I’ll get the aerial view first, standby.”

“Set cruising height at 500 meters, please.” A tired sounding old man took over comms from Emily. “And please stop antagonizing her, you don’t have to work with her round the clock.” He pleaded. “Hey!” I heard her in the background.

“Anything for you Dave.” I bring the drone up to the requested altitude. “Octo is sitting at 500 meters above sea level. The ship is drifting from the drone’s home point, please hurry up so we don’t miss this one.” In the side of my view I can see the ship’s beacon drifting away from the GPS Home Point the drone set, and it’s moving fast. “I can only hover here for another 5 minutes before we are out of range again, can’t we move the ship?”

“Negative. The equipment on the ship can’t be shaken or else we won’t get the proper data!” Dave calls back frantically typing away, trying to get their precious data.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Keep Octo still! We can’t shake that sensor either!” Emily yells at me.

“What are we looking for again?” I turn my head looking around from the drone’s perspective. “A pal for the Doc? Aren’t there websites for that?” I tried to joke with them, my mistake.

“Tell me you read the briefing material we gave you.” Dave sounded angry now, while I could hear Emily screaming about morons and idiots in the background.

“All I remember is I need to fly these expensive drones, which I helped design by the way, and look for Dr.Oakton’s pals in the ocean. Is it something like Atlantis?” I start to stare at one part of the ocean, where the waves look shinier than the rest.

“Professor Ashwood and Doctor Oakton have been researching ancient civilizations and lost worlds for decades. Similar to the myth about Atlantis, most ancient writings always talk about some sort of power source, machine, or tools they used to build their cities with. Our modern technology isn’t even capable of a quarter of what they were capable of.” Dave started to inform me.

“While most believe these to be some sort of technology of the ancients, they found writings describing them as some sort of creatures instead. So your job is to use that fancy toy you designed and locate proof of the P.A.L.’s for us.” Emily cut in.

“So what’s a Pal? Almost done, 1 minute till we lose signal.” I called out.

“Possible Alien Lifeforms, or Pals for short. We got the readings!” Dave cried out for joy. “Wait, this can’t be right…” I did not like the sound of that.

“Captain, can you circle around to this spot I pinged, I see something sparkling in the water. I’m taking Octo in for a better look.” I can feel the ship’s engine start up again as we slowly head to the weird spot I saw. “Hold on, you saying we are looking for aliens? Like little green men in a UFO?” I just processed what Dave told me.

“Hey! Are you sure you didn’t move the drone while we were scanning!?” Emily yelled at me.

“There is nothing on the surface, can you confirm with Octo?” The captain asked.

“Yes Emily, I didn’t move it. Sorry captain, I lost visual- Wait! I see it.” I bring the drone in closer, only hovering 5 meters above the water, thankfully this section is a lot calmer so I don’t have to worry about waves taking out the drone. “It’s moving? Is it a school of fish?” A shiny glittering patch of sparkles the size of a small plane begins to move.

“We have to get out of here!” Dave yells out frantically. “Captain, turn around now!”

“Wait, why is it headed for us?” I remove my visor and blink my eyes before I can see it. “Brace for impact!” I shout while panicking trying to buckle my seat belt with unsteady hands.

“What is it?!” The captain shouts. “Where is it?!”

“Connect you piece of ju-” My breath was sucked from my lungs, as the sparkling mass hit the bottom of the ship, rolling it over. I got a brief second of a view as the mast flung me forwards and down to meet the waiting ocean filled with sparkles. Without a scream, the world exploded into white, my consciousness with it.