What's in a Name?

 June 8, 2012

 

I look forward to our campfires each night.  I look forward to sitting in the semi–dark with these new people who are becoming familiar to me, perhaps more familiar than people from my real life back home in  Maine.

Last night at the campfire, our conversation went something like this:

“So why Jackel Island?” I asked no one in particular.

“What do you mean?” Tom asked.

“I mean it sounds so much like Jackal, the devil wolf,” I said.

“It’s spelled differently,” Adrian clarified.

“I know some jackals here on the island,” Darcy said.

“Oh yeah?  Who?” Grady asked.

“Well, you’re the king jackal,” Darcy said.

“Not to undermine this enlightening conversation, but where on earth are we exactly?” I asked.  

“On an island, sweetheart,” Grady said.

“Thank you Captain Obvious!” Darcy said.

“No really… I mean where are we?  Why can’t they tell us?  Are we in the Indian Ocean, or the Pacific Ocean?  Are we near Java?  Malaysia?”

“We’re probably a little off the coast of New Jersey,” Grady said.  “The ship that brought us all here probably just took a really big loop.”

“We’re not supposed to know,” Brian said.

Where is Jackel Island?

“Does anyone know?” I asked, not sure if I was out of line.  I looked at Adrian, who was poker-faced.  I looked at Tom and he raised his eyebrows.

“I’ve studied the vegetation and the trees a bit,” the doctor said, “and it falls in line with Indonesia, but perhaps more the western part.”

“Why don’t they tell us?” I asked.

“Seeing that we communicate to our family and friends in the States through the internet and phones, they’d risk word getting out and unwanted visitors coming to the island.  There can be no contamination with the bio–testing going on here,” Adrian explained.  “When the project is over with, they’ll let you know.”

“Do you know where we are?”

“Now why would you ask that?” Adrian peered at me, cocking his head.  I eyed him back, looking for clues, an aversion on his part.  All I saw in his eyes was amusement.