The Red Phoenix

by Alex Carter

  “The letter said it was an invisible directive” Arty replies, shrugging her shoulders to indicate that she is not sure what this means.

  “Up here or out there?” I ask as I wave my arms in the general direction of the landscape around us.

  Arty shrugs again.

  The surface area at the top of the Inaccessible Pinnacle is small. Apart from the area where Arty and I are standing there isn’t much spare rock to inspect.

  We both sit down.

  I run my hands over the rock around me. There is no obvious message and I can’t see or feel any inscription or symbols of any kind. The euphoria I experienced upon completing the climb is now replaced with a deep sense of disappointment.

  “There’s nothing here” I say, feeling exasperated.

  “What is an invisible directive anyway?” I mutter to myself. “It doesn’t make any sense. How can a directive be invisible? If it’s invisible you can’t see it….” I tail off as a thought starts to form in my mind. I turn to Arty but before I can say anything, I notice she is holding something out towards me. It is small, black and around the size of a pencil case.

  “Do you think this might help?” Arty says with a smile.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “It’s an ultraviolet light scanner” Arty replies.

  “A UV light scanner? That is exactly what I was about to suggest” I say as I take the scanner from her. “Hang on. Why on earth have you got one of these in your backpack?” I ask, utterly amazed that Arty has brought such a thing all the way to the top of the mountain.

  “The letter said that we are looking for something invisible. I spent all night racking my brains as to what that could mean and how we would be able to see something if it was invisible. Then this morning, when I was getting of our equipment from the outhouse, the ultraviolet bug zapper on the wall of the garage caught my eye and the answer came to me in a flash of inspiration. When the weather was too bad to climb your grandfather and I used to go potholing underneath the mountains. Lux was always big on safety and to avoid getting lost he would mark large X’s on the walls with ultraviolet marker pens as we went deeper into the caves. He would then use ultraviolet scanners to check for the X’s on our way back up to the surface to ensure that we were going in the correct direction. It was a bit like a high-tech version of Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumbs from the old fairy tale. When I saw the ultraviolet light on the bug zapper this morning it made me think that the invisible directive might be written in such a way that it was not visible to the naked eye. I still have the scanner and it isn’t very heavy so I thought that it wouldn’t do any harm to throw it into my bag.”

  “You are brilliant Arty” I say as I take the scanner from her. I switch it on and sweep it across the top of the rock around where I am sitting. A few flecks of white crystal immediately show up under the light. I slowly move the scanner over the rock but there is no obvious message.

  “There’s nothing here” I say, unable to hide the disappointment in my voice.

  “Try again dear; there must be something.”

  I meticulously rescan the entire surface of the summit once more. No message or anything of interest shows up under the light.

  I’m crestfallen.

  “Maybe this whole thing is just a hoax; somebody having a laugh at our expense. Maybe there isn’t a message after all” I say.

  I’m deflated and ready to give up.

  “Maybe” Arty replies “but I don’t think it’s time to throw the towel in just yet dear. If the message is designed to be hidden, then it makes sense that it might not be written in the most obvious place.”

  “Where do you think it could be?” I ask, feeling puzzled.

  “It might not be written on the top of the summit but maybe it could be on one of the sides?” Arty says pointing towards the sheer drop on the far edge of the summit.

  “Really?” I reply unenthusiastically. “Do you think that’s likely?”

  “I’m not sure but it seems a shame to come all the way up here and not check everywhere doesn’t it?”

  I know that Arty’s right, but I have never been a fan of leaning out over sheer drops. I reluctantly nod my agreement.

  “I think one of us is going to have to hang down over the chasm to check” Arty says.

  “Over there?” I ask pointing to the sheer drop on the West Ridge of the summit.

  Arty nods.

  We discussed the size and shape of the Inaccessible Pinnacle in detail in Arty’s car on the way here. For climbers there are two ways to approach the ascent; the East Ridge or the West Ridge. The East Ridge is the easiest route and is the side that we have just climbed. The West Ridge is far more challenging as it is a curved concave slope which descends into a sheer drop of over two thousand five hundred feet. The height of the drop itself is daunting however the terrifying part is that the rock falls away from the summit in an entirely smooth, concave arc. This means that there is very little to hold onto and if you make a mistake and slip it would be very difficult to arrest your fall. The likelihood is that you would keep falling all the way to the bottom of the chasm.

  I feel fear starting to rise in my chest as I look across to the West Ridge.

  “If you lie face down, I can hold your legs and you can reach down over the edge headfirst?” Arty suggests.

  I am really scared. I really don’t want to lean out over the edge, but I can hardly suggest that Arty should be the one to lean over the precipice. I slowly nod my agreement. I’m positive that Arty can see the fear in my face.

  I turn onto my stomach and lie face down on top of the rock. Arty grips my ankles firmly and I edge forward slowly. The surface of the rock is smooth and as I creep forward my head moves out over the precipice. The sheer drop comes into view beneath me. It feels like I am face first at the top of a very scary slide. The thought of plummeting, head-first down into the chasm flashes through my mind. I blank out the thought and focus on the fact that I am looking for a message that might help us to find out what happened to my mum and grandad. I slowly move forward and my upper torso moves out over the edge. I consciously focus on the side of the mountain directly beneath me to avoid looking down into the chasm. The rock face on this side has been worn smooth by the weather. It reminds me of the top of an ice cream cone that has been licked smooth all the way round. I extend my right arm as far as it will go and slowly sweep the lamp in an arc across the face of the rock.

  No message or writing shows up.

  I switch the ultraviolet lamp into my left hand and start a slow sweep in the opposite direction. Just as I am starting to give up hope a white letter flashes up on the rock.

  I almost drop the lamp in shock.

  I steady myself and sweep the rock face again.

  The letter ‘R’ flashes up under the blue light.

  “I’ve found something Arty” I shout with excitement.

  “That’s great news” Arty replies as she pops her head over the edge so that she can make eye contact with me. “What does it say?”

  “It’s the letter R!”

  “That is absolutely fantastic Angel. Keep going dear” Arty replies without releasing her hold on my ankles.

  I take a deep breath and using my left hand I sweep the lamp across the rock face again. The letters ‘R’ and ‘O’ appear under the ultraviolet light. The letters are quite far down the rock and difficult to get to. I reposition the lamp between the tips of the index and middle finger on my left hand in order to extend my reach. This will give me maximum extension. I start my third sweep of the scanner over the face of the rock.

  The letters R, O and N appear. Before I can complete a full arc, the lamp clips a bump on the rockface and tumbles out of my grip. Gravity pulls it away from me as soon as it leaves my fingers.

  “NNNNOOOO!!!!” I shout as I watch the lamp fall and break into pieces as it bounces off the mountainside. It quickly becomes a small speck in the distance and as it makes the long journey to the base of
the mountain. As I watch it disappear the idea of falling flashes through my mind once again. That thought is broken by Arty who is tugging on my legs.

  “What happened?” Arty asks as I quickly pull myself back onto the summit.

  “I dropped the lamp” I reply. “I’ve just watched it break into a million pieces.”

  “Oh bother! That’s a shame but at least you’re still in one piece, dear” Arty says as she gives me a reassuring hug. “What did you manage to find before you dropped it?”

  “There were three letters. R, O and N” I reply.

  “R, O, N?” Arty repeats to herself. “Ron?”

  “Was he one of the members of the Blackout Society?” I ask hopefully.

  “No. Definitely not” Arty replies.

  “Did grandad have any friends called Ron?”

  Arty looks thoughtful as she racks her brain.

  “I don’t remember your grandfather having any friends called Ron” she says as she shakes her head. “No, that name definitely doesn’t ring any bells.”

  I’m disappointed that we are no further forward.

  “Do you think that there were any other letters that you didn’t find?” Arty asks.

  “I didn’t see anything else, but the lamp did fall before I had a chance to scan the whole of the rock face. I suppose it’s possible that there could have been more letters.”

  Arty nods. I can see her mind working overtime as she repeats the word Ron to herself.

  “I don’t suppose you have another ultraviolet lamp do you Arty?” I ask hopefully.

  “No, I’m afraid not, dear” Arty says as she pats me on the arm.

  “Hang on a minute I’ve got an App on my phone that turns my screen into a UV light. We could see if that works?” I say.

  “Fantastic” Arty replies. “Is it in your backpack?”

  “I think so” I say as I start to search my bag. I open the bag and hunt around inside. “Oh no, I think I left it in your car. I was using it earlier and I think I left it on the dashboard.”

  “Not to worry Angel. It’s getting a bit late and you probably wouldn’t have wanted to risk dropping it down the mountain anyway. I think we should probably make our way down now, before the rain comes back” Arty says as she looks up at the ever-changing sky.

  “I suppose you’re right” I reply. I’m still gutted that I dropped the lamp and am furious with myself for leaving my phone in the car. On the plus side we did find the message. We just need to work out who Ron is.

  “You’ll be glad to know that getting down from here will take us far less time than it did to climb up” Arty says as she pulls a long rope out of her backpack. She threads the rope through a metal carabiner, passes one end through a large metal ring that has been secured into the rock by previous climbers and then loops the other end back through the carabiner to create a single knot. With the carabiner fixed to the anchor point she tugs on the rope a few times to check the fixing is secure. She then throws the end of the rope over the East Ridge side that we climbed up earlier. The rope disappears out of sight.

  “Abseiling is the single best part about climbing! I always say that it is the reward you get for the hard work you put in on the way up.” Arty says with a gleeful look on her face. “Would you like to go first or second Angel?”

  Despite Arty’s enthusiasm I’m not keen on abseiling.

  “I’ll go second if that’s OK?”

  “OK but don’t forget that this is the fun part!”

  Arty clips herself onto the rope and gives it a couple of tugs. The large anchor ring looks like it has been in place for a very long time and doesn’t show any sign of movement. Arty takes a couple of steps towards the edge, has a quick glance down over her shoulder and slowly releases the rope.

  “This part is always scary” Arty says as she lets out the rope and leans backwards over the edge. She keeps leaning back until she is standing at ninety degrees to the rockface. “OK, here I go! Wish me luck!”

  “Good luck” I mutter as I watch Arty disappear out of sight. I lean over the edge just in time to see her whooping with delight as she bounces down the rock face. Within a few seconds she reaches the bottom.

  “How was it?” I shout down.

  “Fantastic! I want to do it again” Arty shouts back. “It’s your turn now! You lucky thing!”

  I grab the top of the rope. My hand is shaking as I clip myself on. I pull hard on the rope to check that it is safely secured. The anchor doesn’t move but the rope feels thin and flimsy in my hands. I have just watched Arty complete the descent without any problems but despite that an image of the anchor coming away from the rock still flashes through my mind. I block out all thoughts of what could go wrong and slowly start to lean out over the edge. I keep leaning back until I am perpendicular to the rock face. I glance down over my shoulder and just as I do so a strong gust of wind almost blows me off my feet.

  “Come on Angel. You’ve done the hard part; it’s time to start having some fun” Arty shouts up from below.

  I bend my knees and propel myself away from the rock face. I let some of the rope feed out and suddenly I am flying. It feels as though I am weightless as I bounce my way down the rock face.

  “This is the best feeling ever!” I shout to Arty as I skip my way down the side of the cliff.

  As soon as I touch down at the bottom Arty grabs hold of me and gives me a giant hug.

  “That was awesome!” I say as Arty pulls the ropes down from the anchor point. We remove the rest of our climbing gear and pack it away.

  “I think you’re starting to catch the bug” Arty say with a broad grin.

  “Any thoughts on who Ron might be?” I ask as we start the long trek back to the car.

  “Not yet dear but I’ve got plenty of time to think about it before we get home!” Arty replies with a smile.

  Chapter 15

  The Legend of the Albedo Prism provided us with all the answers that we had spent so long searching for.

  The book documented the history of the Human Race. It confirmed that humans did not originate from Planet Earth but had originally developed in a different galaxy on another planet, called Drax. The Human Race failed to respect their original indigenous planet. They damaged the ecosystem as a result of pollution and overpopulation to the point where it was irreparable. Planet Drax was condemned and as it deteriorated the humans started to suffer and die. It was announced that Drax would eventually be uninhabitable and the human leaders set about finding a new planet to populate. Their scientists did not have sufficiently developed technology, so they sent a distress message into space asking for help.

  No immediate response was received. As a result, the Human Race spent a long time living with the ecological disaster they had created. There were food shortages and the pain and suffering on Drax was intense. Just when it looked like the Human Race was heading for extinction a reply to the distress call was received. A group of mercenaries from another solar system offered to find a new planet in exchange for all the valuable assets and materials that remained on Drax. The humans agreed and the mercenaries were hired.

  The mercenaries scoured every galaxy and eventually discovered Planet Earth. Earth looked like a potential candidate as it had an atmosphere that humans could breathe as well as an abundance of water. However, it had two major problems. The first problem was that it did not have any light or heat and the other was that Earth was already occupied.

  The alien mercenaries reported their findings back to the humans. By this stage Drax was rapidly heading towards extinction and the outlook was bleak. In a desperate attempt to survive the human leaders instructed the mercenaries to find a way of creating light and heat on Planet Earth. They also instructed the mercenaries to rid the planet of any competing life forms.

  The mercenaries were phenomenally brilliant scientists and immediately started work on creating a solution. After much research they arrived at the concept of the Albedo Prism. Albedo is a scientific measure tha
t records the ratio of the intensity of light reflected by a body to the intensity of light it receives. The scientists agreed that the best way to resolve the lack of light on Earth was to reverse the concept of Albedo reflection. This could theoretically be achieved by the creation of a prism that was designed to attract all available light. This prism would effectively act as a black hole for light and draw in all the light from the entire universe. The theory was that once every shred of available light in the universe had been gathered the Albedo Prism would fuse it all together to create an everlasting light source.

  The mercenaries set to work on creating the Albedo Prism. To make such a powerful prism the scientists needed seven giant magnetic diamonds. Diamonds of this size and nature are formed under immense heat and pressure and could only be found at the central core of large planets. The mercenaries extracted giant magnetic diamonds from the core of seven separate planets, all of which were damaged beyond repair and became uninhabitable as part of the process. The seven giant diamonds were loaded onto seven specially designed spaceships and they all set off for planet Earth. Upon arrival the seven individual pieces were combined to create the largest and most powerful prism ever constructed. As soon as the Albedo Prism had been formed it acted as a magnet for all the available light from the universe. This reaction caused a massive build-up of pressure and resulted in a huge explosion of light. At the epicentre of this explosion was an intense fireball which was later named by the mercenaries as the Sun.

  As soon as the Sun had been created the Albedo Prism was divided back up into the seven giant diamonds. The alien scientists advised the Human leaders that these diamonds remained the driving force behind the Sun’s power and it was imperative that the pieces of the Albedo Prism remain on planet Earth. This would ensure that the Sun always remained in the same orbit. The leaders of the Human Race acknowledged the importance of this issue and requested that some form of protection was provided by the mercenaries to safeguard the seven diamonds. The mercenaries agreed that the seven pieces of the Albedo Prism would be guarded by seven of their best soldiers. Each of these soldiers was to remain on Earth and protect their piece of the Albedo Prism for the good of the Human Race. The seven soldiers were named the Guardians of the Light.