[Anthology] Killer Thrillers

by Nick Thacker

  A large cloud of dust billowed from the door, and Corinne covered her eyes and mouth with the sleeve of her shirt.

  “You mean,” Bryce said, “right in the center of the — “

  “— volcano?” Cole finished his sentence as he took a tentative step through the doorway.

  As the dust settled, they saw the cavern beyond was more of a subterranean biosphere — the path ended about twenty yards ahead in a massive cliff, falling straight down to meet the cavern floor. Above, the ceiling catapulted up in a dome shape, with a small hole in the center. The cavern wasn’t unlike a Yucatan cenoté, or like a naturally-created observatory, except larger — much larger. It was actually difficult to see the other side; from somewhere in the middle part of the upside-down bowl there was a steaming wall of white mist from falling water somewhere above it. There was light leaking into the massive cave from somewhere, but the misty fog caught and converged on the upper half of the upside-down bowl, diffusing it to a dim glow.

  “Whoa,” Jeff said.

  “You got that right,” his brother answered.

  The immense hollow dome would certainly have been impressive enough — geologists and archeologists alike would go nuts over a find like this — but it wasn’t the dome by itself that caught their attention.

  “It’s a — “ Cole paused as he stepped farther onto the ledge.

  “A city,” Vilocek finished.

  To their left the pathway continued, sloping downward and around where the dome met the floor of the cavern, like a huge spiral staircase. Below them, spread across the immense cavern floor, was an abandoned city — complete with towers, stone temples, and rows of cookie-cutter houses.

  “Unbelievable,” Bryce said. “Who’d have thought something like this could exist?” he said.

  “And look,” Corinne said, “it looks like they even had churches, or some kind of worship centers.” She pointed toward the center of the city, where two large spires reached almost to the dome’s ceiling.

  The group walked to the left down the path. Corinne and Cole took turns pointing out different features they could see, while Bryce made sure that his shoulder-mounted camera was recording everything.

  As they walked around the outskirts, more of the city came into view. It was circular, with the two towers and what looked like a massive temple building on a rise in the center. Circular moats segmented the city into four distinct sections — one for the central temple, the other three in successive rings radiating outward.

  On the cavern floor, a large causeway spanned the four circles, ending at a large gate in the center. Clearly the central area was intended to be the heart of the city and the seat of power.

  “Do you see that?” Karn pointed to the area around the largest of the concentric circles. “Those look like fields.”

  “How would they be able to grow crops without sunlight?” Wayne asked.

  “And I don’t see any way of getting water into this place; at least not anything but seawater,” Cole added.

  “Maybe there was some sort of aqueduct system that pumped water from somewhere else on the island,” Corinne said. “Or some sort of underground canal system. The same water source that could have formed the cave that we got here through. That would explain the moats.”

  “But even if they had water, they’d still need light in here if they were actually growing crops in those fields,” Cole said.

  “Well, only time will tell––it could be that our crystal had something to do with that as well,” Bryce said. “I’ll bet it’s either hidden inside that temple, or there are at least a few clues in there. Let’s go and find out.”

  “Agreed,” Vilocek said, “but we should spread out. Once we’re over the first moat, we can split into two groups and approach the central area from opposite sides. No sense in bunching up and missing something in the process.”

  He continued down the path toward the causeway, the first humans in thousands of years to enter the ancient city of the Rapa Nui.

  52

  10:19 am - Easter Island

  Madu’s knees were still creaky. He hadn’t realized how much his political position had aged him these past ten years, and the past few days seemed even worse. His disheveled hair wouldn’t lay flat on his head, no matter how much he meddled with it.

  He and his twenty-two men now stood atop the volcanic mountain of Terevaka. Without a second-in-command, Jabari was frantically trying to plan his troops’ movements, though his expression gave away none of his anxiety. He ordered two of his men to organize sticks of unidirectional explosives around the perimeter of the old crater.

  Initial geological scans of the island showed that the topographical “top” of the island — this volcano — was actually still relatively cone-shaped, and a small cap of rock and built-up earth had blocked the main shaft of the volcano from opening at the top. The plan so far was to blast their way into the volcano using dynamite in tandem — first one side of the crater, then the other — to hopefully not only open the shaft again, but also to blast the debris up and away from the crater. They didn’t want the loose dirt and rock falling down into the mountain again, causing yet another blockage.

  A glance over the rim of the crater showed that his group was in place, and he signaled for the rest of the men to clear the area. He radioed the all-clear to his demolition team.

  Madu cupped his hands over his ears and turned away from the crater’s mouth. Within seconds, the ground trembled as a hollow explosion sounded beneath his feet. The air filled with dust, small fragments of rock rained down around him, and he turned to see the results — just as the second set of explosions began.

  This time, facing the crater, the bang rocked the earth around him, and Madu couldn’t help falling to the ground. He landed on his back, and two of his officers grabbed him and pulled him back up. Embarrassed, he shook them away, brushed the dust off his clothing, and continued barking orders.

  “Bayoumi! Mounier! Get that belay line and mark off the initial descent!” The rest of the soldiers got busy, milling about in the crater as they unloaded boxes, checked magazines, and reloaded weapons.

  The two soldiers he’d yelled at joined two others — Madu’s snipers — by the gaping hole in the center of the crater, and together prepared the safety harnesses and belay lines for the impending rappel. As he watched them work, Madu’s thoughts turned again to his father.

  He and his brother Heri sat on a rock outside their childhood home, while their father ranted on and on about the al-Bal'laorah al-Qadeem. Ancient Crystal, Madu thought now, as he remembered his fathers’ words.

  “This will be the discovery of a lifetime — this crystal, you see. You and Heri will see, you know,” his father said, sloshing his words like the wine bottle he’d been sipping from. “When I find it — when we find it — you see, it will be ‘beneath the earth,’ as the ancients have left it. We shall find it by journeying together, my boys, and what an adventure it will be!”

  Madu remembered scoffing at his father while Heri sat in awe at the tale. He remembered feeling the same awe and inspiration when he was as young as Heri; the promise of riches and fame pouring from his poor father’s mouth as they sat together — sometimes at their dirty table in the slums of their neighborhood, other times in a cheap motel room in some far corner of the Eastern world, following a myth and a dream.

  Now, as he looked out over the volcano, he wondered if it truly could be real. al-Bal'laorah al-Qadeem was certainly more than a legend to some, but Madu still had doubts.

  But it didn’t matter.

  He wanted to find the crystal, yes. But what Madu Jabari really wanted was revenge.

  The anger that had been welling inside of him had only grown deeper and darker since they’d left Petra. His scouts had reported the fate of Sergeant Aines, and while he could never truly understand the depth of his own anger, he knew how to satiate it.

  He had to feed it.

  Finding the crystal was a mission he
would love to fulfill — accepting the highest praise from his country — and even the world — would be a major boost for his next campaign. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology would run a front-page story on him and his find, and he’d be a celebrity in most of the Eastern world.

  But revenge has brought me here.

  It was revenge that had fueled him to track them down. His intelligence officers had claimed that Vilocek’s team was now split into two units, both headed slightly south. When he had his radio operator hack into the network Vilocek’s team was using, he was able to find out that they’d been running along a line of ancient sites that spread around globe.

  He heard names of sites he’d actually been to as a boy, following along on his father’s drunken treasure quests. Angkor Wat, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Petra.

  He’d heard names of places his father used to speak of, even recalling evenings when his father would sprawl out maps of locations and plan future trips, to places like Machupiccu, the Oracle at Siwa, and the ancient city of Ur.

  He was amazed to hear that these locations were all on the same great circle — a line that stretched around the world like the Equator. During the flight he’d confirmed for himself that all of the points were either directly on that line, or within a mile or two of it.

  Maybe his father had been on to something.

  It was too bad he couldn’t be here to share in the discovery — if there was one to be made.

  He pushed the nostalgia aside, focusing on the tightening ball of fury growing in his mind. The anger was a catalyst, a fuel that would drive him to success today, deep beneath the earth.

  53

  10:26 am - Easter Island

  The rappel into the volcanic shaft was much quicker than Madu had anticipated. He had much less difficulty than he’d feared, and his aging body fared quite well. He knew that rappelling down was much easier than climbing up, but he still thought the sport fit more for youth than crotchety old politicians.

  I guess there’s some soldier left in me after all, Madu said to himself as he landed on the narrow edge at the bottom. He nodded to his belay man, Mounier, who unclipped Madu’s carabiner from the climbing rope and clipped it to another line on the other end of the ledge. Madu looked at the rope, dangling into the blackness at his feet.

  One of the snipers spoke at his side. “Jabari — we will lower you down, it’s only twenty feet. There, you will land on a small circular platform, attached to a stalactite next to this shaft.”

  Madu only nodded, still staring into the void.

  “From there, you will need to use the marked handholds to continue. Private Rafeil went down already, and marked the route with luminescent paint. We’re atop a large dome. You are still belayed, but it is mostly a hand-over-hand climb for the initial fifty feet. Rafeil is waiting at the base of the dome for you. On your count.”

  Madu listened as the soldier recited the instructions, and glanced down at the rope — his lifeline — that would bear him to the platform. It wasn’t a proposition he liked, but it beat climbing up.

  His muscles quivering, he let out a sigh and clung to the rope. As he descended, he tried to see the area below him. It was dark — almost pitch black — and the mist that hung in the air made it seem as if he was descending into a cloud. The hollow echoes of sound from below gave the impression of an immense vacant space. He barely had time to contemplate that before his feet struck the circular platform.

  Madu’s knees shook as his feet made contact. He felt the smooth, hard surface under his boots, and caught a quick glimpse of the protrusion before continuing his descent. The floor was definitely circular and he thought he could see slight glints of light in the stone, almost like small fragments of glass in a sandstone rock fragment.

  Shouting up to his men, he detached the first rope from his waist and looked for the painted handholds that would lead down the dome’s face.

  54

  10:34 am - Easter Island

  The wide, railless causeway led them over the surrounding fields and into the city. The moats had once, in fact, held water, as evidenced by the greenish tinge showing a millennias-old high water mark. Into the first section of the city, they could see that most of the houses were cut from stone — multiple slabs of volcanic rock that were slid together like interlocking puzzle pieces. Some sort of mud or clay acted as mortar, gluing the stones in place and forming airtight seals. None of the smaller buildings had windows — just one or two doors facing the narrow streets. The larger buildings, at the street corners, were similar in some ways to modern log cabins — they had doors, windows, and in some instances more advanced roofing, though most of the roofs had been wooden and were either completely rotted away or had become petrified.

  Because of the curvature of the streets, the houses had narrow fronts and wider backs, with open areas that ended at the encircling moat.

  The second moat they passed was deeper than the first. This section of the town seemed to be a commercial sector — the long, flat buildings often had no front walls, and the roofs extended over the edges of the circular street, forming an open-air market. Three rows of long steps fronted most of the buildings, reminiscent of Roman architecture.

  “This is unbelievable,” Cole whispered, as if they were in a sacred place that demanded silence.

  “Yeah, I almost don’t believe it’s real — but it’s hard not to believe what’s right in front of you. Do you think people actually lived here once?”

  “It’s hard to say — I mean, you’re right. Everything’s just like you’d imagine an abandoned city to be. But the fields — and these stables; how could you support life beneath a volcano?”

  Bryce knew that Cole was right — it seemed too unreal, too crazy, that a civilization had once blossomed here. Even with advanced technology, humans needed sunlight to thrive. He looked back at the fields, now nothing but dirt and rock tilled bare. Some of the stables — if that’s what they were — had small piles of bones in them. Were these all that remained of their livestock?

  It was all miraculous, even unbelievable. What had happened here? A busy market area, workers tending the fields, children playing in the streets. Was this the original Rapa Nui? A great civilization, long forgotten?

  Cole and Corinne picked up their pace. Bryce saw where they were headed — a towering statue just past the second-to-last moat. It was a dark grayish-black color, standing just to the left of the causeway. A second statue — a perfect twin of the first, stood on the right side of the causeway. Together, the sculptures formed a portal, guarding the bridge that spanned the final moat. Both statues looked toward the central mound, upon which a massive stone temple sat, looking back at the bridge and its two guardians.

  “Check this out — these are Moai heads!” Corinne yelled as she half ran across the stone bridge.

  It was indeed a Moai, like the 800-plus that dotted the landscape all over the island. This Moai, as well as its twin, was a large head and torso, with the head taking up most of the mass. It was a perfect replica of the famous Moai heads that made the island famous, but these two seemed somehow more “original” than the others — their features were not worn, and their eyes, noses, and mouths were perfectly embossed onto the stone’s faces.

  Vilocek, Karn, and Beka made their way over the bridge. “This must have been the Rapa Nui’s original homeland — not on the island, but in it,” he said.

  “Hurry, let’s check out that temple up on the hill!” Corinne called back, already looking for the next treasure. Cole followed eagerly, but Bryce couldn’t help but notice how easy it had been to get this far.

  For a civilization that had prided itself so much on hiding from the world — even going so far as to create hidden chambers and passageways that were only accessible to people holding their beloved power source — it seemed a bit off-kilter that they’d just been able to waltz over the bridge and into this once great city. Something else bothered him as well.

  Where is Madu Jabari
and his army? They’d seen Madu leaving Petra, and Bryce knew he would be heading straight for Easter Island. Why hadn’t we seen them yet? Was there another entrance to the city, perhaps on the other side of the huge circular metropolis?

  He didn’t have much time to contemplate the question. Cole and Corinne had reached the gates of the inner circle, where the mound of earth rose to meet the foundation of the beautiful temple. The stone gates were open, beckoning the group to ascend the hundred or so stairs leading to the palace. A small plaza extended outward from the doorless temple, ending in a dry fountain at the top of the stairs. He watched as Corinne and Cole paused at the top to gaze at the ancient building.

  As Bryce and the rest of the group reached the top, they all continued toward the main building. The air felt heavy, as if a giant hand was pressing down on them. Bryce’s nerves were on edge; his senses intensely focused. He wondered if it was just the strange location — trespassing into an ancient Roman-style city, one of the first people to see it in probably thousands of years. He wondered if it would have been smarter to split up like Vilocek had said, but knew that they were probably better off sticking together. Who knew what dangers this place held?

  The entranceway to the temple was much larger than it looked from the top of the cavern. The two spires towered upward, like arms that held the rock far above at bay. The temple itself reached halfway to the top the dome, ending in a pointed obtuse triangle. Columns stood all around the square building. It was similar to the Greek Parthenon, but less crumbled and dilapidated.

  As they stepped up to the threshold of the great complex, the entire group hesitated, taking in the immensity of the place. Finally, Bryce stepped forward and entered.

  10:39 am.

  The inside of the temple was stark. Its walls of stone were nothing more than smoothed slabs of tuff, the volcanic material many of the Moai were carved from, and the only decorations were a few small Moai statues in the corners of the great hall. The square building was roofless — the central atrium surrounded a smaller square hole in the center.