by Hep Aldridge
As we walked through the space, looking in every direction in awe of what we were seeing, Joe commented, “That’s some pretty impressive rock clearing.”
We all nodded as our eyes scanned our inexplicable surroundings.
The walls of the canyon continued to get higher the further we went. They were well over one hundred and fifty feet tall when we came to our next road project. Another blockage that had been cleared in the same way as the previous one, except this time, three large boulders had their centers cut out and removed, and the road bisected them perfectly. We took some time to examine these rocks more closely. Their cut surfaces were as smooth as if polished, and the cuts were perfectly vertical.
“Why do you suppose these were cut?” Doc asked.
“What do you mean?” I replied. “They wanted to put the road through here.”
“That’s not what I meant. I think we can safely assert that the builders of the road are the same ones that owned the silver cubes we found on the galleon, and since the one block can levitate heavy objects when gold is applied, why didn’t they just move them out of the way?”
I stood there, pondering the question, when Reggie said, “Where would they have put them? This canyon is so narrow, you couldn’t just shove them out of the way, so that means they would have had to float these things hundreds of feet high to remove them. Maybe, with their technology, this was the easiest way to solve the problem.”
Joe thoughtfully said as he examined the smooth walls, “They must have had another tool that can do this to stone. Cut through it and remove the rubble. Maybe one of the other silver cubes, the ones that were activated with the gems, can do that.”
Dimitri added, “Well, it’s not done with lasers. They would have left molten slag residue on the edges. And this is a smooth surface; no saw or grinding marks, just perfectly smooth.”
“Well, we’re not going to find the answer standing here,” I said. “Let’s move out; with any luck, we’ll find our answers at the end of the road.”
A couple of hours later, we took a break. We were making good progress on the road, but it was still heading up, and the constant climb with only a few level sections to traverse had our leg muscles burning from the exertion. I told Joe to check our trail cams to see if they had picked up anything. He reported back that the signal from them wasn’t the best because of the canyon walls surrounding us, but he was able to verify that no traffic had passed any of the cameras.
That was great news since that meant we had almost a three-day lead on the Vatican mercs if we hadn’t lost them completely. After a forty-five-minute break, energy bars, jerky, and water, we continued onward. The canyon walls had continued getting steeper as we made our way up the road, probably over two hundred feet overhead now. It was getting dark when I called a halt for the day, and we set up camp. We needed to rest and relax as much as possible, not knowing what might be in store for us tomorrow.
Our fire warmed us as on previous nights, and our talk centered around speculation on the builders of the roadway and the boulders we had encountered. Were they there when the road was being built and had to be shaped, or had they fallen in place after the road was built and a pathway had to be cleared through them? Of course, there was no answer to be had, so we left it hanging as we all said our good nights, curled up in our sleeping bags, and fell into a deep slumber.
The day dawned cold and damp; cloudy skies held back the sun, and gloom hung over the camp. We hurried through breakfast, anxious to be on our way. The canyon continued in front of us, presenting an imposing tunnel vision effect on the road ahead. The gloom and ground fog seemed to have sucked out much of our enthusiasm as we plodded along. We all noticed the feeling, and it became the topic of discussion as our voices echoed off the canyon walls, providing an eerie backdrop to our conversation.
We pressed onward, trying to shake the dark feeling affecting us. The canyon walls seemed to be closing in as we walked one foot in front of the other in a slow, muscle-burning processional. Three hours later, we rounded a bend, and in the distance, we could see what looked to be a significant landslide that had blocked the entire canyon. The walls were now well over two hundred feet high with a slight inward lean to them, creating an almost inverted V, narrower at the top, wider at the bottom. The clouds had started breaking up, and sunlight broke through now and then, throwing shafts of a golden glow down into our world.
Within a half-hour, we had reached the massive landslide that blocked our way. Huge boulders and rubble filled the canyon and reached almost a third of the way up its sides. We could see no indication of what caused this massive impasse but getting to its top would not be easy—a task we would worry about later as we threw our tired bodies down at its base. It was early afternoon, and our decision had been made for us as to where and when to set up camp. I would not want to try and summit this obstruction as tired as we were.
We managed to scrounge enough wood to make a decent fire and sat down to a warm meal. The MREs came through again, spaghetti and meat sauce, sugar cookies, and orange-flavored beverage, a meal fit for a king or at least a hungry explorer. We took in our surroundings, and our discussion once again centered on the road and speculation about the origin of this massive rock fall. The canyon sides, while not smooth, did not seem to be the source of this obstruction. So, where did it come from? We posited it might have fallen from higher up the canyon above, but it seemed a little too organized to be some landslide from hundreds of feet overhead.
We did some minor exploration after dinner, climbing a bit and poking around to no avail. It was still going to be a task to get to the top, and what lay beyond? We could tell the road continued underneath the rocks, but we had no way of telling how broad or concentrated this barrier was. I decided to deploy the drone to see if we could get some answers.
Joe finished the preparations, and the drone lifted off. We had a clear picture of the rock face in front of us as the drone climbed. As it was getting to the top of the barrier, the video signal started to drop in and out, and the picture became fuzzy. I was looking intently at the laptop screen when the movement of the video became erratic, and Joe started having trouble controlling the flight of the drone.
“That’s weird,” Joe said as he gingerly worked the two joysticks controlling the drone’s flight. “It’s not responding to all my commands; it’s never done that before.”
We all looked up and could see the drone bobbing and weaving around as Joe fought to control it. It had reached a height above the rocks to give us a glimpse of what lay beyond, but only for a split second, and then the screen went all snowy. The video signal was lost, and the drone began falling. Joe fought to regain control and finally stopped the fall about twenty feet from the ground and brought it in for a rough landing. He immediately went to it and brought it back to where we were standing.
“Now, that is bizarre. It has never given us any problems since we’ve been using it.” After a quick inspection, he continued, “And I don’t see a thing wrong with it.” Joe set the drone down next to the laptop and said, “I’m going to run its diagnostics program; maybe that will tell us something.” A few minutes later, as he stared at the screen, he said, “It says it’s fine, no glitches or problems detected… weird.”
“Okay, play back the video, and let’s see if that can tell us anything,” I said. We were all watching the screen as the drone took off and began climbing. As it reached the top of the rockslide, the video signal began dropping out, and the horizontal and vertical stability of the video started jumping around, so much so that we couldn’t get a clear picture of what lay beyond, except for one split second when the signal stabilized and then winked out.
“Did you see that?” O’Reilly asked. “It looked like the road was gone.”
“What do you mean gone?” Dimitri asked.
“Play it again and watch closely; just before the screen goes black, it looks like there is nothing on the other side.”
We watched it t
hree more times and couldn’t tell if what we were seeing was real or part of the camera’s glitch, but it looked like where the road should have been, there was nothing but blackness. That made no sense whatsoever.
Joe gave the drone another once over and then stowed it in its case, having found nothing unusual. Darkness was descending rapidly. It got dark in the canyon quicker than usual as we gathered more wood and sat around our fire, discussing the drone’s weird behavior and enjoying the fire’s warmth. Dimitri broke out his bottle of vodka and passed it around. This round finished the bottle.
Doc said, “So, what’s the plan, Colt?”
“Everybody, get some rest tonight, and tomorrow we’ll get to the top of this pile of rocks and see what’s really on the other side.”
Chapter Seventeen
We were halfway up the rock barrier that blocked our way. It was a tough climb but doable. We just had to be very careful; falling in amongst these huge, jagged rocks could be fatal. It was a very technical climb, and our hand and foot placements had to be precise. I had given our resident “mountain goat,” Reggie the lead; I was next, followed by Dimitri and Joe. The others waited below as our rescue team, should we need it.
Reggie was doing great; we were all belayed, and Reggie made sure her main tie-off point was secure before we followed her. It was slow going but necessary. She finally reached the top and tossed another line down for us to use as an additional handhold on our climb. It could also be used by the team below on their climb.
As I crested the rocky summit, I saw Reggie, standing, hands on her hips, staring at the far side of the barrier some forty to fifty feet wide.
“That was some climb,” I said to her as I stood up.
“Yeah, pretty cool,” she responded in the tone of someone who could care less about the question and kept looking to the far side of the rock fall. When I got to where I could stand up straight and looked in that direction, I understood why she responded the way she did. Her mind was elsewhere, as was mine when I saw the vista before us. Dimitri and Joe had made it to the top and came over to stand next to us.
“Holy crap,” Joe said.
“What the hell…” Dimitri started and then stopped.
Before us lay the canyon, but where the road had been, there was a huge gash in the earth, a crevasse that covered the entire width of the canyon. We slowly made our way to the other side and looked down into the gaping maw that appeared at the base of our rock barrier. It was a dizzying prospect, looking down into the nothingness. Our gaze followed the crevasse through the entire length of the canyon as far as the eye could see. There was nothing there; the earth had swallowed up everything.
What had happened and when? The road had vanished, and we were left with no option for moving forward. The sinking feeling in my gut must have been felt by the others as Dimitri said, “All this way, for nothing.”
Joe responded, “I don’t freakin believe it,” as he plopped down on one of the large rocks.
“Looks like the road may have been built on a fault line that opened up,” I said, “but when did it happen?” I asked no one in particular as I stood there surveying the crevasse.
“I almost have the feeling that this whole rock fall was purposefully put here as a barricade. But if so, when and by whom? And if it was by the original inhabitants of the city, why would they block it off? Why not just leave it open? It’s not like you’re not going to be able to see that the roadway is gone.
I heard Doc over the Comms, “What did you guys find?”
“The roadway is gone,” I replied, “looks like the earth opened up and swallowed it.”
“What?” came his startled reply.
“Yeah, it’s gone. A huge fissure opened, and the road is gone as far as we can see,” Dimitri said in a dejected voice.
It was then that I realized that Reggie was still standing there, looking at the scene before us, and hadn’t spoken a word.
“Reggie, you okay?” I asked. No answer.
“Reggie, what’s wrong?” I said as I reached out and touched her shoulder. She flinched as if shocked and turned to me in surprise, “What, what did you say, Colt?”
“I asked if you were all right; you haven’t said a word.”
“Yeah, I’m good,” she said and turned back to look at the massive gash in the earth before us.
Doc, O’Reilly, and Eduardo had made their way to the top, and we all sat and stood there, staring at the devastating scene before us.
“Now, what do we do, Senor Colt?” Eduardo asked.
After a pause, I dejectedly said, “Eduardo, I have no idea,” as I stared down at the giant fissure.
A sense of hopelessness seemed to have fallen over us as no one spoke. Finding the roadway had buoyed everyone’s spirits and given us renewed hope and a burst of positive energy and motivation, only to come to this. From the heights of elation to the pits of despair was a considerable drop for us, one deeper than the black chasm below.
I’m not sure how long we stood and sat there; it seemed like an eternity when Reggie turned again and picked up the coil of climbing rope I had brought up, uncoiled it, and began tying one end to her climbing harness. I stared at her in disbelief.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
“I want to take a closer look down there,” she said, pointing to the crevasse.
“What?” I exclaimed, “what for?”
“I just want a closer look, so are you going to help or just sit there?”
I stood and looked at the sight below. “That’s too dangerous; there’s no reason to risk your life like that.”
She ignored my comment and said, “Dimitri, get up; I need your help too.”
Dimitri looked at me, shrugged, and slowly got to his feet. “You’re nuts, lady; you know that.”
She looked at him with a mischievous grin and said, “Yeah, I know…but I’m cute and smart.” With that, she tossed him the rope and said, “You’ll control my descent. Colt, grab the end; you’ll be my anchor point.”
During this insane exchange, we had grabbed our gloves, and Dimitri had draped the rope behind his back, found himself a level place to stand, and braced his right foot against a large rock. I picked up the rope, did a double wrap around my waist and stood about six feet behind Dimitri.
Since we could not see over the edge in our current positions, I told Doc to position himself so he could keep an eye on Reggie as she descended. Reggie looked over her shoulder to the drop-off and backed slowly toward it, stopping at the edge.
She said, “You boys ready?”
“Ready,” we both said in unison.
“On rope,” Reggie said as she began her descent.
Dimitri kept tension on the rope and played it out as she descended, letting it slide across his lower back as he controlled it, paying it out with his left hand, and keeping it taught with his right. My job was to stand there and be ready to stop the climber’s fall should she get into trouble or if Dimitri were to lose control of the descent.
We were all on Comms, so a running dialogue from Reggie to us and Doc’s comments kept us apprised of her progress. We figured she had around eighty feet to go to reach the opening of the fissure. We had three hundred feet of rope, so there were no issues there. Dimitri was approximating the rope playout as she descended. He got to about forty feet and asked Doc how far down she was.
“She’s about halfway. It’s hard to know for sure; I keep losing sight of her as she passes some of the large boulders sticking out.”
Reggie came on the Comm link, “I’m doing fine, guys. I’m having to weave around some of the outcroppings, but no problems so far. You guys good?”
“Good to go,” Dimitri answered.
“All good,” I added.
I had every confidence in Reggie’s abilities as a climber, but this rock face was a jumble of potentially loose boulders and rocks. We had no idea how stable the face was, and I was still not sure that the value of this endeavor was wort
h the risk.
After twenty minutes, Reggie came on Comms. “Okay, guys, I’m about ten feet from the edge of the fissure. I think I see a flat spot right on the edge I can use as a perch, so lower me slowly.”
We did as she ordered and heard, “Okay, I’m touching down; seems solid enough—give me some slack.”
We fed out about six to eight feet of slack, and I asked Doc if he could see her.
“No, she’s under an overhanging rock. I can’t see her.”
We waited and, after a few minutes, heard, “This is weird; give me some more slack.”
We played out another eight feet or so, and I said, “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, not sure what I’m seeing. I’m looking down into the fissure and, oh, shi…!” Reggie’s Comms went dead, and there was a violent jerk as the rope slid through our gloved hands, eight to ten more feet fed out before we stopped it.
“Reggie, what’s going on?” No response. “Reggie, can you hear me? Do you copy?” Nothing. We still felt pressure on the rope as we began pulling it up.
“Doc, do you see anything? Can you see her?”
“No, nothing, Colt, for a split second, I think I saw her step out from under the rock down there and pitch forward, nothing after that.”
“Okay, give us a hand. Dimitri, let’s pull her up.” We all three were slowly pulling on the rope when we felt a couple of sudden jerks as if someone was pulling against us. We pulled harder, two more jerks, and then we almost fell backward as the rope came free. We all began calling Reggie’s name as we moved to the edge of the precipice. There was no answer to our voices or over the Comm link. As unbelievable dread gripped us, we quickly pulled the rope up to find the end had been cut.
