by David Wood
“You think this Grandmother Spider,” Jessie eyed the body with a glint of reluctance in her eyes, “guards a sipapu that leads down into the third world?”
“Maybe not the third world as the Hopi described it, but it makes sense she’d guard the way to a world below, don’t you think?”
“Only one way to find out,” said Padilla.
They examined the body carefully, looking under it for anything that might resemble a sipapu, the symbolic hole found at the center of a kiva, but found nothing.
“Maybe underneath the slab?” Padilla suggested.
Unlike the other three biers, a stone slab lay upon this one, supporting the body that represented Mother Spider. Working together, the five of them heaved and hauled until it finally shifted a few inches. A few more minutes’ work and they managed to pivot the top end two meters—far enough to reveal a gaping hole leading down into the earth.
“You did it!” Jessie marveled. “I can’t...”
A thunderous boom rolled over her words, and the floor shook beneath their feet.
Bones cast his eyes up toward the ceiling, fearing it might collapse, but he saw no cracks in the solid surface. “They blew the tunnel,” he said.
“Should we check it out?” Padilla asked.
“Might as well. If there’s any chance of getting out the way we came in, that would be preferable to climbing down to who-knows-where.”
“And what if we can’t get out?” Amanda asked.
“Then we pay a visit to the world below.”
Chapter 45
Bones could tell in a glance that there would be no returning to the surface through the lower cave. Jameson and Gilmour had done a thorough job of bringing down the tunnel. Huge chunks of solid rock lay piled from floor to ceiling. So much for that idea. But now they had another concern.
“He left his own son down here to die?” Padilla asked. Around a sharp bend in the cave, shielded from the blast, Matthew lay semi-conscious, bleeding from a cut in the back of his head.
He opened one eye at the sound of Padilla’s voice.
“You have got to be kidding me.” His words came out slurred, his gaze wet. “You are the last people I want to see right now.” He made a weak grab for his pistol, which lay a few feet away, but Bones stamped on his wrist.
“Yeah, that’s not happening. You want to live, you keep still.” He and Padilla retrieved the pistols and knives Matthew had taken from them, along with Matthew’s own pistol. He also retrieved The Book of Bones, which Matthew had tucked into his belt.
“Just kill me already, you dirty redskin piece of...” His words died in a squelched grunt as Bones drove a foot into his gut.
“Manners. After all, we’re not the ones who tried to kill you.”
Confusion slid across Matthew’s glassy eyes. “Nobody tried to kill me. The charges went off too soon.” He paused, swallowed hard. “I don’t think my dad made it.”
“Don’t bother explaining it,” Bones said to Padilla. “He’ll figure it out soon enough.” He turned back to Matthew. “Tell me where Mari is.”
“Go to hell.”
“Wrong answer.” Lightning fast, Bones snatched Matthew’s wrist and bent his hand backward.
“Go ahead. Break it,” Matthew grunted.
“That’s not the plan.” Bones drew his knife and pressed the tip beneath the nail of Matthew’s index finger. “I’ll ask again. Where’s Mari?”
Beads of sweat formed on Matthew’s forehead, but he kept his silence as Bones pushed down on the knife.
“Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you!” Details spilled out: the name and location of the motel where she was being held captive, and the room number.
“You’re lying.” Bones twisted the knife, and Matthew screamed.
“I told you the truth!”
“Tell me again, and if I don’t believe you, I’ll cut the finger off.”
Matthew began to blather, adding a few details but keeping his story consistent.
When Bones was satisfied the man was telling the truth, he wiped the blade of his knife on Matthew’s pants, stood, and turned to Padilla.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“You don’t think we should, you know, finish him?”
“Be my guest.” Bones could tell by the look in Padilla’s eye the man wouldn’t murder Matthew, good idea or not. “I don’t think he’s going to be a problem, but just to be safe.” He drew back his foot and kicked Matthew in the head, just hard enough to turn the man’s lights out. “That’ll keep him. Now, let’s see what’s down below.”
Chapter 46
The tiny passageway beneath Spider Grandmother’s head was sharply angled—not quite a vertical drop, but hardly an easy descent. Bones led the way, taking full advantage of the hand and footholds carved into the stone. The surface was cool and slick; several times he lost his grip and skidded a few feet before arresting his fall.
Padilla came next, the logic being that, if he fell, he wouldn’t take out the rest of the crew like so many bowling pins. Jessie, aside from Bones the most athletic, followed, then Amanda and Krueger. The bookish man at least had a bit of experience with this sort of thing, having once joined Bones and Maddock on a brief foray into Egypt.
After a laborious climb down, they finally reached level ground. The passageway, straight and narrow, led to a familiar sight; familiar, at least to Bones.
“It’s another door, like the one at Halcón Rock.”
A gleaming, silver door barred their way. Like the one he’d seen previously, it bore no markings and had no visible, hinges, locks, or knobs. This door, however, had something the other did not—a square pad set in the wall to the left.
“It’s beautiful,” Krueger breathed. “Flawless.” He took a step back and grinned. “Who wants to be the one to touch the pad?”
“You can do the honors if you like,” Bones said. Privately, he wondered if the door would open for them.
Krueger stepped forward and pressed his palm to the pad. Nothing happened.
“Damn,” Padilla cursed.
Krueger pressed harder, the veins in his forearms bulging with the effort. The pad began to glow. A wide, thin beam of green light shone forth and ran up and down Krueger’s body. Then the light spread to take them all in.
“I don’t like this,” Amanda said as the light enveloped her.
After several seconds, it stopped. And then, with barely a whisper, the door slid to the side.
“Holy crap,” Bones said. “It actually opened.”
“You first, big guy. This is your rodeo.”
He felt Amanda’s hands on the small of his back, nudging him forward, but he was already moving. Wondering what lay on the other side, he stepped through the doorway.
He’d expected to find something remarkable on the other side, but there was nothing to see save a continuation of the passageway. He continued on, the others falling into step behind him.
“I wonder why it opened for us,” Padilla said. “If it was meant to keep people out...”
“We don’t know what it was meant for,” Bones said. “Gilmour said the trouble between humans and these aliens, or Ant People, or whatever they are, is fairly recent, but this entrance hasn’t been used since the Puebloans created that shrine.
“Centuries upon centuries ago,” Krueger said. “Maybe millennia.”
“That’s what I’m thinking. Hopefully, whoever is down here had a good relationship with the natives.”
“Good thing we’ve got the native leading the way,” Amanda said.
Bones rounded a corner, and his sarcastic reply died on his lips. He froze.
“What is it?” Jessie whispered.
“Everybody stand right where you are,” he said, “and slowly put your hands above your heads.”
Chapter 47
Matthew came to with a pounding headache. The Indian had kicked him in the head, he remembered that much, but that wasn’t all, was it? No, he’d first been knocked out b
y flying debris from the explosion. But... no, the timing was all wrong. His dad had been talking to him, then the next thing he knew, he was looking up at the Indian and the old rancher.
Bile rising in his throat, he understood. The Indian hadn’t lied—Sheriff Jameson, his own father, had left him here to die. The man had chosen ICE over his own son.
“Son of a...” Just then he became aware of another pain, burning and stabbing, at the tip of his finger. In the beam of his headlamp, which miraculously still burned, he saw sticky blood covering his hand, and the memory of the Indian sliding his knife beneath Matthew’s fingernail swam to the surface. His stomach lurched and a wave of dizziness passed over him. How could so small a hurt cause him so much pain?
“I’m going to find that redskin, and I’m going to kill him.”
“...put your hands above your heads.” Bones followed his own instructions, spreading his fingers wide to show he wasn’t holding anything, and raising his hands above his head. Hopefully, this was sufficient to convey he meant no harm because the last thing he wanted to do was threaten the being that stood before him.
The creature stood about five feet tall. Its large head, bulbous eyes, and thin, sinewy arms and legs very much resembling the so-called “Alien Greys” or “Roswell Greys” of UFO folklore. Its chest and hips were thickly muscled, and its waist narrow, giving its torso a segmented appearance, like that of an ant. Adding to its antlike appearance were a second set of arms, stunted with claws where the hands should be, extending from its abdomen, and a pair of silvery antennae, so fine as to be almost invisible in the near-darkness. These were in constant motion. Given that the creature had no visible nose or ears, Bones assumed the antennae did the work.
The Ant Person, as Bones found himself thinking of the being, was clearly old. A hint of yellow tinged its gray skin, which hung in folds at its joints. Cradle moons of purple hung beneath its eyes, and specks of white hair dotted its chest.
I hope old Ant Men aren’t as crotchety as their human counterparts.
The being clutched a silver rod tipped with a gleaming purple crystal. Bones had seen a few artifacts very much like it in his time, and they were not to be trifled with.
“Is that an Atlantean weapon?”
At the sound of Krueger’s voice, the Ant Man let out a hiss, baring thin, spiky teeth, and leveled his weapon.
“It’s similar,” Bones said. “Let’s not find out, though.”
“Did you say Atlantean?” Amanda piped up.
“Not now,” Bones said.
Its large eyes were glossy black, but somehow Bones knew it was staring at him. He stared back, uncertain how to proceed. As he searched for the words, it held out one hand, palm up, and tilted its head forward a fraction.
Bones almost laughed at how human the gesture was. Apparently, “What the hell do you want?” was universal. Literally.
“We want to get out.” He pointed up at the ceiling. “Out,” he repeated.
The Ant Man seemed to understand. It moved to the side and pointed down the tunnel.
“We communicated with it!” Krueger said.
Once again, the being hissed.
“I don’t think he likes white people,” Bones said. “And you’re the only one in the group who fits that description, so maybe you should hang back a little.”
“Agreed.” Krueger sounded disappointed.
Bones once again took the lead, and the Ant Person fell in step behind them. After ten minutes, a greenish glow appeared in the distance, soon growing bright enough that they could turn off their headlamps.
They emerged on a narrow ledge. Down below, a magnificent sight greeted them.
They were looking into a broad cavern, illuminated by the glow of green crystals set in the ceiling. The walls were honeycombed with stairs and cliff dwellings, all sliced out of the rock with laser precision. At the cavern’s center was carved a sunken, perfectly round, room. A stone bench encircled the space. To one side, walled off by three vertical stones, a small carcass, perhaps a rat, roasted on a spit over glowing embers. A well lay at the center, the surface of the water shining in the emerald glow.
A group of Ant People, fewer than a dozen, went about their daily activities. Some tended children, while another sliced up chunks of a mushroom-like fungus. None paid any mind to the intruders into their realm.
“It’s like a Sci-Fi Mesa Verde,” Krueger whispered. “The Anasazi dwellings must have been modeled after this.”
“And that spot in the middle is the inspiration for their kivas,” Bones added.
“Do you think that’s all of them?” Jessie asked. “I mean, all these cliff dwellings should be able to hold a thousand or more, wouldn’t you think?”
Bones shrugged. “They’ve been here for a long time. Maybe this is all that’s left.”
The Ant Person chittered and jabbed Krueger with his crystal-tipped rod. The message was clear: keep moving.
“You’re right. He really doesn’t like me.” Krueger cast one last, longing glance at the Ant People’s home before heading along the ledge to a spot where another gleaming door stood.
The Ant Person placed its hand on the pad and the door slid up. Behind it, a steep passage wound its way upward. The being pointed through the doorway.
“Thank you.” Bones didn’t know if it understood him, but no harm in being polite.
Amanda pressed her palms together and made a small bow. Surprisingly, the creature inclined its head in response.
“I think he likes girls,” Amanda said.
“I don’t care what he likes,” Padilla said. “I just want to get out of here.”
Chapter 48
“Oh my God!” Matthew stood, gaping at the silver door that barred his way. It shone in the light of his headlamp, smooth and perfect, just like the one he’d found back home. He took out his camera and snapped a few pictures. Maybe his book wasn’t dead in the water just yet.
A touch pad was set in the wall to the left of wall. He reached out, then hesitated, his hand hovering an inch above its surface. What if it was dangerous?
“Idiot,” he muttered. “The others went through here; so should you.”
He’d crept back to the chamber where the masked bodies lay, hoping to sneak up on the Indian, maybe cave his skull in with a rock. When he’d arrived, he found the room empty. He’d followed them down the passage they’d uncovered and ended up here. Obviously, they’d gone through the door. There was nowhere else to go.
Swallowing his fear, he pressed down on the silver pad. A green light shone, swept up and down his body, and then blinked out. A moment later, the door slid open.
He stepped through and followed the passageway, always on high alert for sounds that might indicate someone up ahead. Finally, he saw something in the distance—a greenish light. He turned off his headlamp and crept forward.
The glow grew brighter, and soon he could see that a large, open space lay up ahead. Reaching the end of the passageway, he peered out and gasped.
Below him, a group of aliens, Greys, by the looks of them, milled about. Green light bathed the many dwellings carved in the rock. It was incredible! This was what he’d been searching for!
Awash in the joy of success, he took out his camera and began snapping pictures. Down below, one of the aliens looked up at him, its featureless face betraying no emotion. Matthew kept on taking pictures until something poked him in the side. He looked down to see one of the aliens staring up at him. The creature held a silver rod, like a baton, tipped with a crystal.
“Whoa! You’re one of them.” Matthew turned and snapped a picture of the alien creature. The thing blinked and took a step back. “Sorry about the flash,” Matthew said, “but it’s dark in here.” He took another picture of the Grey, then returned to photographing the alien dwelling.
Again, the creature jabbed him in the side.
“Look, little guy, take your baton and go practice your twirling, or else I’ll throw you over the...”
He stopped in midsentence. The crystal at the end of the rod had begun to glow brightly. So bright, in fact, that Matthew had to shield his eyes.
“I appreciate the light, but it’s a little bright.”
The light continued to shine brighter.
And with it came heat...lots of it.
Matthew tried to back away but found himself caught between the high ledge and the alien with the thing he now recognized as a weapon.
“Cut it out! I’ll leave, all right?” He dared to open his eyes and the light scorched his retinas. His clothing began to smolder, and then the acrid smell of singed hair filled his nose.
When his skin began to sizzle like bacon, he knew it was time to scream.
Chapter 49
Hours later they crawled through a narrow crevasse and emerged in a deep valley. The moon hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows across the parched earth. After so long in the chilly caverns, even the scant heat rising from the earth was a comfort.
Bones stretched and looked around. In the distance, he saw the ridgeline that marked the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns. They’d come a long way, and could look forward to a long walk back.
“Too bad it couldn’t bring us out a little closer to our destination. I’ve done enough walking for today.” Padilla sucked in a deep breath of night air and let it out slowly. “It was worth it, though. I still can’t believe it.”
“No one will believe us,” Jessie said.
“Welcome to my world,” Bones said.
“Tell me about it. I’ve got a story to write and what do I have to prove it? Nothing.” Amanda shook her head. “I suppose I could go back, but it just seems wrong, you know?”
“And dangerous,” Bones said. “I don’t think visitors would be welcome a second time.”
“Speaking of danger,” Krueger said, “I guess I need a new identity.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Shame. I liked the Roswell museum.”
Jessie looked up a Bones. “Do you think we’re in danger from ICE?”
