Summoning Italy

Chapter 33: Ambush

22nd of December, 1639, 3:12 AM, 18 kilometres East of Emilia-Romagna region

Under the moonlight of the Mediterranean, or rather the Rodenius Sea, the natural light provided by the late night was disturbed by that of man. A spotlight scanned the waters as an Italian Coast Guard ship traversed the waters. Inside, a coast guard officer shined the spotlight of the ship as he could hear his superior inside.

"We've reached the reported site of the capsizing. Will update if found." The man said. He then approached the edge of the vessel as he looked out towards the water. It was dark, but the light should shine well enough onto a life jacket. That is if the fishermen were even wearing one.

The officer yawned as he shook his head. This was a matter of life and death. But he couldn't help but get used to the job. Saving migrants and refugees at sea made him think of two missing fishermen as an easy night at work.

Suddenly he could hear commotion from the side as he quickly looked to see two of his men roughhousing around a fish that jumped into the boat. One was laughing while the other was angrily berating his fellow officer. The superior rolled his eyes as he called out, "Hey focus you two! The sooner we find the fishermen, the sooner we head home!" He said in annoyance as he continued to look out towards the sea.

But then another fish jumped into the boat as it knocked his binoculars out of his hands and into the sea as the officer yelped in annoyance, "God damn it! ... Huh?"

The boat was suddenly being infested with jumping fish as the other officers now started to try and push back the sea creatures. The officer looked down as he could see a huge group of fish swimming away. But amidst them all was some floating debris.

"Hey men focus! I think we found something!" He yelled as they were now getting ready to save the fishermen. But then a hard wave hit them despite the calm night air which caused the officers on board to hold on. The superior kept his hat on as he held onto the railings of the ship before they felt a vibration.

But then the man looked up. The fish were jumping for a reason. They were swimming away desperately.

...

5:04 AM, Rimini

Matia Conti had been a train driver for a good twenty years now. What was a childhood nerd interest became his dream come true when he gained that promotion. But of course no matter how perfect the job is, Matia is no stranger to the grumpiness of having to wake up early.

Despite the calendar on the wall being marked, Matia knew what was today. He had a train ride from Rimini to Rome and of course like any other worker, the middle aged man with greying hair, fair skin and a light stubble on his chin was drinking some coffee and enjoying some breakfast.

Matia eyed the clock. 50 minutes left until his scheduled train to Rome. He quickly finished his breakfast and drank his coffee as he went to the bathroom to go wash his face.

The morning went on in his routine. The outside was still dark as night due the winter months. Much of the city was sound asleep still with those taking leave from work and school to enjoy the holidays.

Suddenly the peace was broken. 5:14 am. Matia yelped and fell to the floor as he was buttoning up his shirt and quickly the lights went out. Sounds of car alarms could be heard as Matia grabbed his phone and shined his light around. A strong tremor just hit. Was it an earthquake? Matia quickly slipped on his shoes as he rushed out his home. Beyond his gate he could see his neighbours in equal panic as the Christmas lights on the trees and then eventually in their homes flicker on.

Matia looked to his side. His next door neighbour Caterina held an infant in her arms as the man approached. "Morning uh, Caterina. You alright?"

The younger woman looked to Matia as she nodded, "Goodness yes we're alright. That was a seriously strong earthquake huh?" Caterina said through the wailing car alarms as she looked out to the neighbours checking if their home was alright.