Neoaima: Isle of the Reborn

Chapter 2-The Billabong

Lucas and Heath had returned from their expedition to Papua New Guinea with pleasing results, finally they uncovered this supposed mystical eel, and now they needed to get it properly analyzed. Brown knew just the right guy--a friend of his and a professor of zoology in the University of Queensland, Dr. Noah Thompson. Quite the accomplishment, not something Lucas can dream of, as his occupation is still considered a joke. Heath on the other hand, doesn't care about his reputation, just wants to find whatever weird entity people have said to encounter, even if it just ends in another pointless, wild goose chase. Lucas sent the body over to his friend, and awaited the results. Within a few days, Lucas finally got the call from Dr. Thompson.

"I take it, you have finished analyzing the specimen?" Asked Lucas.

"Sure have, and I must say it's quite an interesting find." Said Noah.

"Please elaborate."

"Well for starters, I can tell you that it's not an eel--These misclassifications always drive me nuts."

"Okay let's skip your little rant, you already gave me one once on the Mokele-Mbembe."

"Well aside from the pelvic spurs you would typically find in a constrictor snake, this creature is mostly avian in nature." Said Noah.

"Yeah, the feathers, the beak, anything you can tell me that I don't already know?"

"Well I did some DNA analysis and I found it being closely related to the black browed albatross." Said Noah. Lucas stood silent for a few seconds, just trying to process what he just heard.

"An albatross? So you're telling me I uncovered a fully aquatic albatross?" Asked Lucas.

"Seems like it." Said Noah.

"I don't get it, why would an albatross evolve to have a fully aquatic--" Lucas paused mid-sentence, a thought quickly hit him. "What if....and hear me out on this mate! What if this creature originated from that island that recently popped up?" Asked Lucas, with an overconfident smile stretching out across his face. "Bloody hell Lucas, again with the damn island?" Noah yelled over the phone. "Come on man, it makes perfect sense, a population gets isolated on the island and they can evolve to fill any ecological niche they need, it just makes sense." Said Lucas.

"This obsession of yours with that island is becoming worrisome, you're going to get in some serious trouble. You know very bloody well that only a few are allowed to venture into and know anything about Neoaima--Oh, bollocks!" Said Noah.

"Neoaima, eh? Quite the name I must say."

"You better not try anything, you know traveling to that island is heavily restricted, we're leaving the bloody U.S. in the dark over what goes on there. If you think you're going to be able to go there with permission from the government, you're quite mistaken! They are very fuckin' strict about this, mate!" Said Noah.

"What if I were to get somebody to bring me along?" Asked Lucas, cocky as ever.

"Even if I were still stationed over there, I wouldn't bring you with me." Noah replied back.

"I was thinking about someone else, a certain zoologist you worked with now and then. Maybe that Amelia Lee, quite the sheila if I do say so myself." Said Lucas.

"If you don't concern me, mate, you sure as hell disgust me sometimes." Said Noah.

"Since when were you concerned about me?"

"Since you decided to be a pseudoscientist for the rest of your life."

"You're still giving me shit about my career choice? Even after I finally found something?" Asked Lucas, offended by Noah's statement.