“Okay, then I should probably tell you that we have parallel lines,” Aarik said in astonishment.
“Perfect,” she said with a smile, and reaching over she changed the frequency on the program and swept the room methodically before she switched to the next frequency. “As you can see, this could take a while.”
“I don’t mind. Fascinating subject. How did you get involved in acoustic levitation in the first place? If you don’t mind my asking,” he said quietly.
“Believe it or not, my Grandma practices healing art in the form of sound therapy. I’ve been around it my whole life. I just decided to go with the more scientific side of the house in my practice. Broke her heart, I tell you,” she said in a normal voice, and then added, “by the way you don’t have to whisper. My program was built to separate each wavelength it encounters onto a separate recording, allowing us to eliminate our voices as background noise easily. What made you decide to become a modern day Indiana Jones?” she asked in curiosity.
“My parents died when I was young. My best memories of them were exploring our land and digging up treasures. I love puzzles and the origin of mankind is the biggest puzzle left to discover. Why are you doing the ceiling as well?” questioned Aarik, after she changed the frequency once again and scanned the air.
“A hunch I have,” she said, and shrugged her shoulders. “I think different frequencies are used for vertical movement and another for horizontal momentum. Depending on how long this takes, I would love to get to the shuttle room and test it next. You up for it?”
“Quit your talking and get to work. You have me until about eight or nine before I call it a night,” Aarik said in encouragement.
“You sound like Diego,” Kiya said, and regretted the words once they left her mouth. “He’s always bugging me to get to work, is all I meant.”
“I didn’t realize he was an asshole to everyone. Luke had a run in with him earlier today. He didn’t say what it was about, but he looked shaken when I walked up on them. If you ever need help with putting him in his place, just let me know. I would have no problem showing him who’s boss out here,” Aarik said in a calm voice.
“I don’t think that will be necessary, but I appreciate the offer,” Kiya said in a thankful voice, and tried to ignore Aarik’s formidable presence as she concentrated on her work. Each time she changed the frequency it felt like he found a way to touch her in an innocent manner. Around eight they finished the foyer and were entering the hallway, when Luke skidded to a stop at the entrance breathing heavily. “Dr. Landon, come quick!” Luke panted out and leaning his elbows on his knees he looked up at them with urgency. “Hurry, I don’t know how much time we have.”
Chapter Twenty
Aarik
Aarik didn’t wait to see how Kiya would take his sudden disappearing act, but the urgency in Luke’s voice was enough to get him moving. He pushed the laptop into Kiya’s hands and sprinted toward the entrance. He grabbed Luke by the arm when he reached him and dragged him outside before he gritted out, “You’re out of shape kid, this camp isn’t very big. Where did you come from?”
“Over by the broken dolmen and I will happily prove you wrong on that statement. I wish someone would have been clocking me. I put everything I had into that sprint and made record time over this terrain, if you ask me,” Luke finished puffing out his chest.
“What’s with the urgency? Someone in trouble?” Aarik asked, trying to get Luke back to the heart of the matter.
“Sorry. No one is in trouble, yet. During my patrol I spotted something that I think you should see,” Luke said quietly. “Follow me,” he said and holding his fingers to his lips he crept away from the path with care.
Aarik felt like a fool, following Luke who was prancing through the forest like a joker on his tiptoes quietly. Luke paused behind the broken dolmen for a fraction of a second before he looked over at Aarik and motioned for him to follow. The location was close to where Aarik had caught Diego the other night and when Luke pulled back the climbing vines to reveal a cave, Aarik’s jaw dropped open in astonishment. “How did you find this? Was Diego here?” hissed Aarik looking around for the culprit.
“I spotted him and a group of five men sneak out of there and when they dispersed east into the forest, I hightailed to find you. Should I go get the others?” Luke asked, but when he moved to go back, Aarik grabbed his forearm and looked him in the eye before he said, “I’m going to be honest with you, Luke, and I hope you can understand where I am coming from. Your uncle’s employer will be here in less than two weeks to confiscate the crafts. I don’t have much time to unravel the pieces,” Aarik paused before he continued, “Almost everyone back there is an informant to your uncle. No offense kid, but I get the feeling that if something else major is found, not only will they be here tomorrow, but I think everyone on this team would meet untimely deaths over the next couple of weeks. Give me the opportunity to view it first before we call in the forces. Please!”
“Wow, that’s cold. Will you be allowed to study the artifacts at the lab? I’m sure they wouldn’t take away your claim to the discovery,” Luke sputtered out in disbelief.
“I got the feeling last time we spoke on the phone that I would never see them again. From one aspiring archaeologist to another...give a brother a chance. I’ll beg if you want,” begged Aarik whole-heartedly.
“No need to beg. Let’s hurry up before anyone sees us, or Diego returns,” Luke said, ushering Aarik into the dark opening. Just before the curtain of vines settled in behind them, Kiya poked her head into the opening and said, “Where do you think you two are going?”
“Holy crap. I literally almost shit myself,” Luke panted out quietly, grabbing his chest with one hand and running his hand down his ass to assure himself nothing escaped with his other.
“Why are we whispering?” Kiya asked, as she entered the tunnel behind them. When neither Aarik or Luke piped up, she turned on her headlamp and put them in the spotlight. “What? You left me there, without a word and didn’t expect me to follow? I knew you two were hiding something, but this is big!” Kiya said quickly in defense, not really expecting Aarik to answer her rhetorical questions.
“I guess that would be too much to ask. Listen I have no idea what we are going to find up ahead, but I have a feeling I know where Diego has been disappearing to. Luke saw him and five other men leave through this entrance about ten minutes ago now and I want to know what they have been up to. I know you work for the same company, but I don’t think you have anything to do with this trickery. At least I hope when I turn around to lead the way down this tunnel, my instincts are right and you don’t stab me in the back or knock me on the head on our way down,” Aarik said in a hopeful tone.
“I swear on my life, I had no idea this was here and I definitely had no knowledge of Diego’s current activities. You can trust me, Aarik. I won’t let you down. Let’s see where this leads us,” Kiya said shakily.
Aarik held her gaze for a moment before he nodded and turned to lead the way down the small tunnel until they reached a ninety degree turn that opened up onto a stone stage. The trio stumbled onto the stage and as their lights swept the room, Aarik was able to make out what looked like a circular stone auditorium that ascended up towards a mezzanine. The room was by far the biggest yet and when his lamp passed over the ceiling, he was amazed once again at the gigantic stalactites hanging from the ceiling but didn’t spend much time perusing their beauty before he aimed for the main aisle and headed for the top. It was time to see where and what Diego has been hiding.
“Oh my...I..I just can’t even imagine why he hid this from everyone. This probably by passes the cave-in we’re currently working on and on his personal time he could have been stealing precious artifacts. I am so sorry, Aarik. I want you to know, I’ll be witness if you need to press charges or anything like that,” pleaded Kiya quietly from behind.
“I might have to take you up on that some day, but for now let’s just see wher
e this leads and get out of here before we are jumped by six men or more,” Aarik said over his shoulder, trying to calm Kiya down with his soothing voice.
“Point taken,” whispered Kiya.
Her hand on his back had a calming effect as they reached the mezzanine and turned towards the rising staircase to the left. The short stairway led to disappointment because when they reached the top, the hallway was blocked in two places leaving little room to maneuver around the boulders as they each spun in circles confused by the chain of events that led to the destruction surrounding them. Following the footsteps in the dust Aarik trained his light onto the blocked entryway across from the auditorium and was surprised to find progress had been made on this cave-in leaps and bounds beyond their progress.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but it looks like those boys have been busy back here and are almost through the top right part up there, if not all the way through depending on how skinny you are,” he said in exasperation. “Kiya can you scramble up there and see if you can see if they made it through?”
“I think so. Spot me,” she said, before heading up. When she reached the top, she turned around and said, “I think I can make it through, want me to see what’s on the other side?”
“Absolutely not. We have no idea if it’s safe or what you’ll encounter on the other side. Don’t get me wrong, I’m dying to know, but not at the sacrifice of losing you,” Aarik begged, hoping that he wouldn’t have to race up the rocks to drag her back down.
The sound of clapping interrupted Aarik’s chain of thought and when he turned around they were surrounded by Diego and his men. “Bravo. I was hoping this day wouldn’t come. I really thought I would be able to pull this off and get through the obstacle you are now standing in front of well before you were able to get through this side. You see every stone they removed from this pile they added to your side of the pile. I would have disappeared without you being the wiser but alas my plans never go off without some kind of a hiccup. I planned on working the boys through the night in order to reach the other side by morning but if our lady friend here is able to get her pretty ass through, by all means don’t let me stop her,” Diego finished in a snide voice. “I wouldn’t do anything stupid if I was you, kid. My men won’t hesitate to remove you from the equation,” Diego added, when he noticed Luke maneuver himself in front of Kiya.
“Why do we need to send her over? You have no idea if it’s structurally safe on the other side. Let me go and get Rosie and you can send the rover over to investigate,” pleaded Aarik, in a last ditch effort to save Kiya from venturing to the other side.
“Like I’m going to let you go and get your buddies to try and even the playing field. I’m not stupid. Once she’s on the other side, I will give her instructions. If she follows my directions no one will get hurt,” Diego said diabolically.
“No one needs to get hurt. I’ll go. What am I looking for?” Kiya said in a shaky voice.
“Dr. Landon, do me a favor and stand against the wall,” Diego said, motioning with his gun to the left. “Maximus, please ensure Dr. Landon abides by my rules.” Maximus lived up to his name as the largest and possibly dumbest of the men, strutted towards Aarik with his hand hovering over his gun. He had a goofy expression that looked like he was trying to strike a mean pose but wasn’t sure what to do with his lips, so they kept moving from a half snarl, that resembled a person trying to smile after a dental visit, to someone one trying to show all their teeth like children from the ages of three to five often do. Aarik decided to bide his time and wait for a better opportunity, so he backed up to the right side wall facing the auditorium before Maximus thought he had a reason to attack.
Aarik watched Kiya scramble up to the hole and before she entered she looked back at him briefly before she turned her attention to Diego and said, “Why are you doing this?”
"Excellent question, but not the right one, I’m afraid. My whole life I grew up knowing I was better than everyone else. You see, my bloodline is special and I grew tired of waiting for greatness," Diego said in a deep voice.
“Besides confirming what I already knew, that you’re absolutely fucking crazy, you didn’t answer my question. Why do you think finding some artifact will bring you greatness and better yet how did you know it was there?” Kiya asked in exasperation.
Diego glared at Kiya and tsked loudly before he answered, “I had such high hopes for you, Kiya. I really thought after your witty email correspondence that we would hit it off nicely but alas I was wrong,” Diego finished with a condescending voice.
“Email? You! You’re my contact D.G? What is going on here?” Kiya said in confusion.
“Glad to see you are catching on. My name is Diego Gershom and I own S&S Enterprises, which means I am your boss. I hired you to move rock, but you refused, so now you are going to crawl through that gap and do something useful for once!” Diego said with authority.
“I swear, if you hurt either of them, I will destroy whatever it is you are after in there,” seethed Kiya.
“I highly doubt that would be possible Kiya but nonetheless, I do not take threats of violence kindly. Let this be your last warning. I am not a man you want as an enemy,” Diego said with a sneer.
With one last look at Aarik and Luke, Kiya shimmied through the opening and when her feet disappeared from sight he held his breath and waited for her voice to confirm she was safe. Diego moved closer to the opening like a predator stalking his prey, leaving behind his men who stood in front of the auditorium archway like sentry watchdogs. It felt like hours had passed before he heard Kiya’s voice float through the opening and he let out his breath in a rush.
“I’m in. What am I looking for?” Kiya asked in a flat voice.
“The hallway should end with only one room. Look inside and tell me what you see,” Diego said in excitement.
“I’m not sure what you think you are looking for but this place has been empty for centuries,” Aarik said in frustration.
“More like millennia and it’s not empty. You’ll see, well at least for a little bit,” Diego said in a sleazy voice, before he whipped back around, giving Aarik his back.
“If you plan on killing us, why keep it a secret. Although, on second thought, if you plan on killing me, I would prefer to keep the weak persona I have built up for you in my head and not have it tainted with your insane thoughts of grandeur,” Aarik said nonchalantly.
“Why indeed? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt,” Diego said over his shoulder.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kiya
As Kiya pulled herself through the narrow, rocky opening, she berated herself for following Aarik and Luke in the first place and for not connecting the dots to Diego’s deception sooner. When she reached the end of the crawlspace she was stuck and needed to flip over to her back in order to climb out and drop to her feet ten feet below. The only reason Diego and his men were successful in getting as far as they did was because this whole right side of the entrance was filled by the large archway stone, that had shifted from the wall in one piece to block the entrance. They were able to move the majority of the small rocks in front and on top of the stone slab which created the tunnel for her to crawl through but the backside was debris free and happened to be a straight drop down.
“This better be worth it,” she muttered to herself as she maneuvered herself to a better position. Kiya used her hands to pull her upper half out of the hole, she looked down and said a small prayer before she pulled her lower half out. She felt like a rock climber as she hung from the stone slab and dropped to the ground. Kiya wiped her hands on her dusty jeans, looked around the quiet dark hallway before she called out for instructions.
“I’m in. What am I looking for?” she said in a flat voice, as she realized staring at the large stone she just dropped from that she would have a hard time getting back out.
“The hallway should end with only one room. Look inside and tell me what you see,” Diego said in excitement.
&n
bsp; She was sick of his piecemeal tidbits but decided sarcasm, for once, would not be helpful in this situation. With a large sigh she turned to face the unknown. The carved stone hallway was long and flat and by the time Kiya reached the end her heart was beating erratically. The small beam of light from her headlamp provided minimal light and as she walked into the room, particles of dust poofed up from her footsteps and danced in the light. She paused to wait for the dust to settle and couldn’t believe her eyes.
For as far as the light permeated into the darkness she could see tubular crystal capsules lined the right side of the long rectangular room. All but one was open and as she neared the closed capsule she could make out the form of a man inside. Kiya panicked when she realized the artifact Diego was searching for was a man and could only assume this was the man she was meant to stop. She looked around desperately for a weapon, picked up a wedge shaped rock and crossed to the capsule with it raised and slammed it down multiple times without success.
Kiya dropped the rock and backed up towards the hallway. She hadn’t found the descendant who chased her yet and without it she was going to lose. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, realizing it was not the time to overreact. If she expected to live she needed to keep her wits and she would only be able to do that if she cooperated with a maniac. She rushed back to the cave-in and tried to sound unimpressed. “Just how do you expect me to get him on the other side of this rock wall?” Kiya said in an annoyed voice.
“Ahh she lives. Poor Aarik over here has been fraught with worry. Not that I care, because I don’t. What I do care about, is what took you so long? Didn’t you hear me calling you?” Diego said in annoyance.
“No, I didn’t hear you! Perhaps it was the distance or the fact that I could hear my heart pounding in my head and that drowned out your annoying voice. Give me a break, Diego. I was scared so I took my time. You didn’t answer my question,” she seethed.
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