Field Trip

ROSA, MACIEJ, CLIFFORD, NIAMH, AMY and EMILY (all 17) are in a dreary English costal town, conducting a filed survey with their A-Level Geography class on a miserable damp day. When they notice the unusual amount of dead fish on the local beach they start to suspect things are not quite right in the area. A subsequent encounter with an odd and occasionally distracted physicist DR AKHTAR provides an answer to their queries. The fish (and small numbers of local people) are in fact being poisoned by a mysterious “Tree” located out at sea. Despite Dr Akhtars attempts to alert the relevant authorities, he has failed to convince anyone off the Tree’s existence let alone the danger it poses; and he now believes it is too late to do anything the nature off the Tree’s emissions are changing and it seems that it may already be transforming into some thing much more dangerous. The Doctor has the means of destroying the Tree, thanks to a colleague who has created a herbicide to kill it but since succumbed to the effect of the tree’s poisons, but he has no way to get to it out at sea. Believing the Doctors account; the pupils suggest that he utilise a boat that is meant to be taking their class on a trip around the harbour as a means off getting to the Tree. They smuggle him past their teachers on to the boat and then commandeer the boat with their whole class on board; enlisting the help of the boat’s CAPTAIN who has herself been concerned by the rise in dead sea life on the beach and around the quey. After successfully subduing their teachers and class mates. They set out towards the Tree’s location only to discover a second smaller Tree on their way to intended destination. Dr Akhtar concludes they must destroy this smaller Tree first and Rosa, Maciej and Clifford volunteer to help him with the equipment he’ll need to destroy the Tree. To keep the boat safe they stop a distance from the Tree and swim with the equipment towards it. After explaining the process of killing the Tree Dr Akthar advises they head back with the most important of the equipment while head administers the final dose of poison. Reluctantly they agree and swim back towards the boat; as they do the Tree destabilised by the administering of the poison collapses into the water crating large waves. The pupils narrowly reach the boat in time before it must flee the on-rushing waves. The students and crew of the boat argue over how to proceed. Eventually it is decided they will search the area to attempt to rescue Dr Akhtar and then despite failing light procced on to the first Tree. They search but Dr Akhtar is nowhere to be found. Now dark they head towards the first Tree finding the area around it thick with the poisonous gloop they had seen previously. Much larger than the previous tree they realise that if this one falls, avoiding it or the waives it creates will be impossible. Meanwhile Amy has discovered a second problem, it seems the tree’s they have found are not the only ones, others exist worldwide and yet seem to be going equally unacknowledged. The pupils enlist the help of the whole class to produce a video about the Trees their dangers and information about how to destroy them; and post them online in anticipation for the strong possibility that the boat will be sunk in the process of destroying the Tree, well aware that they may simply be ignored like everything else that has previously been tried by Dr Akhtar and others. Rosa and Maciej volunteer to perform the actual task of administering the poison, it is possible for them to approach the Tree without entering potentially poisonous water; but they soon discover the Tree’s “bark” is much tougher then on the small tree and their only option is to enter the water and administer the poison through the softer bark below the water line. Maciej successfully administers the poison but becomes trapped almost drowning. Rosa and Clifford rescue him and return to the boat. Maciej is injured but alive. The Tree begins to wither and die. Days later the pupils visit Dr Akhtar’s former colleague in a hospice to deliver to her the news of the successful destruction of the Trees. It is unclear to what extent the Trees existence is acknowledged by the government or wider public.