Two doorways led off of the main living room that Aarik hoped would lead to a bedroom and bathroom, solidifying his original assumption that these chambers were once used as living quarters. The apartment was stripped bare but, as he passed thru the living room, he swore he could feel the presence of the ancient people as they lived out their daily lives in these apartments. As he headed towards the door closest to the kitchen, he wondered if the other 19 doors would lead to the same cookie cutter living quarters.
The next room he entered reminded Aarik of an office, or a small child’s room, with an area for a closet carved out of the corner. The same sconces lined the walls in each of the rooms, making Aarik ponder what they used to power the lights and what type of light bulbs they might have used if any. Finding nothing but four walls, Aarik backtracked and headed for the last room. He wasn’t disappointed. The room was large enough to be a master bedroom and directly to the right he could make out what appeared to be an impressive bathing room. Running his hands over the water basin he was trying to imagine how they transported clean and dirty water to and from when a squeal from Kiya startled him into action.
“Kiya. What is it? Are you alright? Where are you?” Aarik demanded as he swung around searching for her.
“I’m here,” she said, peeking her head out from behind a wall that Aarik hadn’t noticed when he first entered. Stepping into the hidden room, he was astonished to find a natural pool filled with clear water. He was surprised that the sound of trickling wasn’t more apparent, but watched as the pool water slowly flowed over the edge like a fountain recycling itself. Finding no scent of sulfur in the room, Aarik placed his hand in the water to find it pleasantly warm.
“Incredible. Cooper, are you getting this. It’s the perfect temperature! Let’s split up in pairs and explore the remainder of the rooms and meet back in the common area when we are done. There are eight of us in total and 19 rooms left. Ivan and Phil, you take rooms sixteen through twenty, Mark and Tanner rooms eleven through fifteen, Cooper and Luke take rooms six through ten, and Kiya and I will look at the next four. If anyone finds something of importance, don’t disturb it before we can get pictures. Holler if you need anything,” said Aarik, with renewed enthusiasm and ushered everyone out.
He walked quietly beside Kiya as they explored the empty homes, one after the next, until they came to the last apartment and found a single, dust covered, pillow abandoned on a stone seating area carved out of the rock wall. Aarik called out for the camera and walked forward slowly, afraid the artifact would vanish before his eyes. He reached the pillow as Cooper rushed into the room, with the others not far behind, and pulled out gloves and a specimen bag.
“Coop, make sure you get a close up and some still shots. Luke, do you have the tape measure? Kiya, I’ve got some extra gloves if you want to hold this bag open for me,” Aarik said, as he tried to ride the adrenaline rush, coursing through his veins, and calm his shaking hands while he pulled out another pair of gloves for Kiya.
Cooper snapped pictures and handed Phil the video camera while Luke pulled out the tape measure and waited as Kiya and Aarik pulled on their gloves.
“You want me to measure it where it is, or while you’re holding it Dr. Landon?” Luke whispered.
“There is fine, just try not to touch it. No need to whisper,” snickered Aarik.
“Sorry. I’ll be careful,” said Luke, slightly above a whisper, as he took the measurements carefully and called them out just as quietly, “Twelve by twelve, sir.”
“Thanks,” he said, and handed Kiya the bag. “Hold it open as wide as you can, please.” She grabbed the bag and held it open as Aarik reverently picked up the treasure with open hands and transferred it carefully into the bag. Dirt drifted off the pillow like a comet’s tail, revealing a dingy red color underneath. He couldn’t make out what material it was made from, but thought it might be something fine, like silk.
“This was our last room and, besides a marvelously constructed barracks, this was the only item found. Did you guys have a chance to get through all of your rooms?” he asked as he searched their faces for hope.
“Nothing from our area but the pots hanging in the fire pits,” Cooper replied dramatically, as Luke nodded his head in agreement.
“A couple of the rooms with the large archways seemed to be made for giants. The seating area in the living area built-ins are much higher and small steps were added into the sides, perhaps granting smaller people access when they visited,” added Ivan sheepishly.
“Every apartment we visited had heated water available in the bathroom and kitchen area. I think we should bring in a geologist to help determine the source,” Mark said, as he looked around the gathered circle with awe on his face.
“Alright, let’s wrap things up. Although I was hoping for more, the morning wasn’t a complete loss. We discovered ancient living quarters, for a race that varied in height, with circulating warm water and this pillow,” Aarik said, holding it up with as much enthusiasm as he could muster before he added, “Ivan would you mind taking this back to camp?”
Aarik watched Kiya as her eyes followed the pillow out of the room and puzzled why she was acting so reserved and spooked out. “We still have one more hallway to explore this afternoon,” he paused, looking at his watch before continuing, “It’s almost lunch time. How about we check on Taylor before we break to eat?”
Aarik was slightly discouraged as they trudged back up to the main level, wishing more clues had been left behind, but tried to remain optimistic that the pillow would yield at least the time frame they were looking at and that Taylor was more successful on a translation of the ancient text. Kiya remained quiet on the way up, completely at odds with her normal exuberant attitude, and when they reached the top, she mumbled something about meeting them after lunch before leaving. Aarik made a mental note to question her later, after he grilled Taylor for updates.
Taylor hadn’t moved much since the last time he saw him and was completely engrossed in his work. “Taylor, time for lunch. Walk back with me?” he asked.
“Bring something back for me. I just want to finalize a couple more sketches and try and take some coal etches as well. I’m almost done and don’t want to break my chain of focus,” Taylor said, smiling over at Aarik with glee in his eye like he hit the jackpot.
“No problem, I plan on stuffing my face quickly. Shouldn’t be gone longer than fifteen minutes,” he replied, knowing they would collaborate later that night and didn’t want to disrupt his momentum.
Aarik decided Doris was a mind reader and if he could he would hire her as a personal chef. He wasn’t sure how she knew but she had lunch packed and ready to go in a picnic basket, with individually wrapped submarine sandwiches and chips. She was standing next to the basket with one hand on her hip tapping her foot impatiently. “Be a dear and grab the cooler. I’ve got the basket,” she said, as she grabbed the basket and walked out. Aarik stood there looking after her before he snapped out of his stupor, picked up the cooler, and hurried to catch up with the spry old lady, who already had the crew following behind her faithfully. He was out of breath by the time he caught up to them, “You’re a miracle worker, how’d you get this picnic set up so quickly?” Aarik spit out trying to catch his breath.
“No reason to butter me up, young man. I heard all the ruckus earlier and figured you all would want more time to work. There’s nothing worse than making a bunch of food and having it go to waste,” said Doris, as she walked into the chamber and tsked. “It’s so dark in here. You all will need a little more light, how about in here?” she said, more as a statement than a question, as she sauntered into the hallway where most of the spotlights occupied and continued on as if she owned it.
“That’ll work. We can setup next to Taylor, so he doesn’t have to move,” he said, walking past Doris so he could set the heavy cooler down. “Lunch is served,” Aarik said as he grabbed his own sub and a water, before the masses converged, and looked around for Kiy
a. “Anyone seen Kiya or Diego?” he asked.
“I haven’t seen him since breakfast. Kiya grabbed an apple a few minutes before everyone showed up and said she’d be right up,” Doris replied while sitting on the cooler, “In fact, I hear her coming now.”
Aarik looked over to the entrance and, although he didn’t hear her approaching, Kiya entered the hallway and appeared to be in better spirits after her quick break. “Sorry, nature called. Why are you all standing around? Haven’t you ever heard of a working lunch?” Kiya asked casually, walking up to the group with her half-eaten apple.
“Greasy hands don’t work well when trying to handle antiquities,” Aarik joked. “Give those of us who live on more than coffee a few minutes to fuel up,” he said, and proceeded to devour his sub in a matter of minutes. He wiped his hands and checked his shirt for crumbs before he said, “Doris, wonderful as always.” Looking around, most of the guys were finished and Cooper was changing out batteries on the camera. “I think that might have been a record lunch break, guys. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to see what else we have here. We need to start working on that cave-in, I’ll make a call after this next cavern. Kiya, have you seen Diego?” Aarik asked as he turned to see her reaction.
“I’m not his keeper, but last time I saw him a couple of hours ago, he said he needed to make a call and wasn’t getting a signal.” she replied in a tone that implied they were not connected.
“I see, that’s an awful long phone call,” he replied thoughtfully, and noted her need to disassociate with the man was genuine.
“On another note, I do need to speak with you later about working out a schedule of when I can resume my work,” she stated matter-of-factly, while twisting her fingers nervously.
“Sure, we can negotiate after dinner,” he winked. “Shall we go check out the next hallway you were so anxious to see?” he prodded, as he found himself waiting for her reaction and she didn’t disappoint.
“Ugh. You were the one asking me questions. Never mind. Go and, before you say anything; yes, I know to stay behind you,” she replied in frustration, tightening her helmet and adjusting her headlamp.
He smiled to himself as he walked toward the archway, with his crew in tow, and paused to yell out to Taylor, “Hey, Taylor! You’ve got your work cut out for you on this adventure. The archway over here has more writing.” He chuckled to himself as he watched Taylor scramble to gather his things before Aarik flipped on his headlamp and headed down the steep ramp.
The decline had no turns and when Aarik reached the bottom he stopped short as his light scanned the massive room that he could only describe as once being a hangar bay. He stopped gawking when Kiya bumped into him from behind with an “umph.”
“Geez, you should really warn a person when you -” Kiya cut off in mid-sentence as she surveyed their surroundings and saw what brought Aarik to a halt.
Chapter Thirteen
Kiya
Following behind Aarik, Kiya reminded herself that after dinner she would head home and hoped her grandma would help her come to grips with what she thought was a dream. She wasn’t so sure after their morning discovery. The first apartment was a complete Deja vu, but when they entered the last apartment, with the same pillow from her vision, she couldn’t shake the words the woman had chanted in the fire. Origin Passage, child. Find it. Stop him.
Kiya needed to find out what her Grams knew, because she had a feeling they wouldn’t have long before this him showed up. She wanted to talk to Aarik about it, but feared he wouldn’t take her seriously and decided if she had any proof besides a drugged out hallucination she would share it with him then.
In the midst of her jumbled thoughts, she ran into a wall and was surprised to find it was Aarik. She knew he was made of muscle, but his rigid stance enhanced those features and gave her the sense of safety as he stood at attention scanning the room prepared to protect her from the unknown. Irritated with herself for fantasizing about the man once again, she bit out, “Geez, you should really warn a person when you -” she stopped as she looked around Aarik and gazed open-mouthed at the room. She closed her mouth, re-opened it to finish her sentence and closed it again. “Are those what I think they are?” she breathed out meekly.
“If you are thinking they are some kind of spacecraft and this is a hangar bay then, yes, I would say...most definitely yes,” he said practically laughing by the end.
The hangar bay room was enormous and was at least two football fields in length. The ceiling had to be over 40 feet high and was covered with crystal stalactites. The only addition to the room that was not natural was a metal walkway attached to the stone walls that led to twenty docking areas that were all empty, except for the first three bays. From where Kiya stood, stairs lead down to the craft floor. The first bay held a shiny metal craft that was half buried under rubble that was possibly caused by the original cave in. The next two bays held sleek teardrop-shaped metal crafts that were docked in their ports with large metal clamps on both sides.
Aarik looked like an autistic child obsessed with trains getting to see one for the first time as he descended the stairs to the ground floor and approached the second craft in awe. Kiya stumbled after him and shouldn’t have been surprised that, even in his stupor, he pulled gloves out of his back pocket and donned them before he reached his destination and caressed the craft lightly. They circled the ship, clockwise, in silence as Cooper snapped pictures from behind. Luke blinked and rubbed his head before he said what everyone was thinking, “A smooth shiny bottom is great and all, but don’t you want to see what’s on the inside, up there?”
The comment was the icebreaker everyone needed before they scrambled for their gear. Aarik turned toward Luke and said, “Patience, young one. Come here, pull on some gloves, and touch it. Tell me what you feel?”
Luke reached out, pulling on his gloves before he put his palm on the surface briefly, yanked his hand back quickly and yelled, “Ouch, that’s freaking cold.”
“In all my life, I have never felt anything colder. Without curiosity and attention to detail, I wouldn’t know that we should take samples sooner rather than later of the ruined craft over there in the corner and have it analyzed pronto. Is there anything else that you can see, that we should take note of before we move on?” scolded Aarik, folding his arms in front of his chest while he waited.
Luke looked around with fresh eyes before he answered meekly, “No rivets, nuts or bolts, sir?”
“Correct. That’s some mighty fine craftsmanship, for something that’s been buried for possibly 10,000 years, don’t you think? How do you suppose these crafts were docked in the air, allowing us to walk underneath them? What do you think powered them?” chastised Aarik, before he turned to the crew, “Mark, any activity on the radiometer we should be worried about? You’re awfully quiet over there,” prodded Aarik, as he headed towards the stairs.
“Nothing, not even the usual background noise. I’m gonna go get another battery and the spare from the command center tent and be right back,” said Mark, as he was leaving.
Kiya was the last to leave the floor of the hangar, as she surveyed the ten empty docking bays on the right side of the room. Although they lacked crafts, all of the equipment used to dock the ships was still intact, which would provide ample material for scientists to try and reverse engineer the technology. No wires or electrical outlets could be seen leading into the equipment and Kiya wondered if they were activated by sound just like the door.
Wandering over to the guys, she squeezed past a few large stalactites that miraculously had missed the walkway when they fell from the ceiling and smashed the front half of the craft only impeding the five foot wide walkway by a few feet as they jutted out from their precarious positions. The crafts were surrounded with walkways on both sides that allowed the crew to gather around as they inspected the advanced vehicle with reverence.
Standing at the front of the craft, she didn’t believe it was a spacecraft. It didn’t ha
ve a roof, or any type of protection from space unless, of course, it had some type of force field that surrounded it when it was on, but that was really pushing the envelope of science fiction. The small windshield at the front resembled a motorcycle’s but obviously wasn’t made from plastic or glass, it looked more like Formica. The interior of the ship resembled an advanced pod racer, with control panel screens that were void of life, a form-fitting, inset, seat and a type of stick shift that was mounted between the legs of the pilot, much like how a helicopter is put together, except with more comfort. The top half of the craft was gold and also void of any nuts or bolts to attach it to the bottom of the craft. The shiny metal bottom appeared to be fused with the gold top, appearing to be one metal on the sides.
The console of the ship appeared to be made of the same silvered metal as the bottom half of the craft, but had an indented circular area in the center with three golden metal prongs. It looked like it could be the ignition, but it would take a large key to turn it on. Whatever it was, it had to be round and at least an inch thick with three grooves on the back side that would lock it into place. The weight of their discovery was just hitting her when Aarik interrupted her thoughts. “Kiya, how much do you weigh?”
“What? Didn’t your mom ever tell you, it’s not polite to ask a woman her age or weight!” she blurted out in embarrassment, turning red in the process.
“Of course she did, but this is important and if you were paying attention, I probably wouldn’t have had to ask you. Are you less than 160? Luke here weighs that much and if you’re smaller I’d like to test the strength of these clamps with you climbing on board. We’ll set you up with a harness and I’ll hold you myself,” he added, trying to soften his chastisement, as he implored her to do his bidding with his eyes.
Sounds of the Forgotten Page 8
