Earth Before Man

by Allan E Petersen

  Back up on the surface, not knowing what was happening at the bottom of the shaft, Kirk had inadvertently thrown the two sticks down into the dimensional bubble. Strangely, when the bubble touched the top of the shaft, touching the fresh cool mountain air, it stopped its upward encroachment. That was not the case back down in the cave. Just in time, hurried feet got Santo and Maria out of the tunnel to the safety of the far wall in the main cave. Maria spun around and was quick to realize something Santo had already figured out. There was no safe area left. A force they did not understand had eaten the only two means of escape. The D-wing was not coming back for them and now the shaft, along with the pogo sticks was gone.

  Stopping at the wall and still gasping for air, Maria turned back to the disappearing tunnel and voiced what Santo was quick to understand.

  “The pogo sticks were devoured by that dimensional thing weren’t they?”

  Not wanting to add dire circumstance to their already looming death, he said,

  “Perhaps whoever got them will have fun with them.”

  Her reply was not as cheery.

  “That was our only chance to get out of here wasn’t it.”

  Santo remained silent and she voiced the obvious.

  “We are going to die, aren’t we?”

  He was a good soldier and giving up while still alive was not an option. Casting aside visions of being devoured, Santo gathered composure as well as options. The rolling death was still steadily approaching. Looking straight ahead it did not take much calculation to figure out that they only had a short minute of life left. The crackling bubble was inching closer. With their backs against the wall, it was only an arm’s length away and there was no place to run. Like a gigantic horseshoe hurdling right at the stake, they were trapped. With her back to the steel plate that Santo had no understanding of, she grabbed his arm and hung on tight. Wherever they were going or was going to happen to them, except for thoughts of Belle, as long as it was with Santo, she was ready for whatever was going to happen.

  Chapter 50

  Professor Barton Asker was still standing in the tunnel he had discovered and was baffled about the voices he heard but could not locate or understand. He hoped the voices were not coming from black spirits. Before curiosity killed the cat, he decided to get out of the tunnel and away from what was quickly becoming a nightmare. Just as he was going to walk away from the plate, he thought he heard a very distinctive, ‘we are going to die, aren’t we’. Understanding that black spirits are not concerned about dying, that they are already dead, he knew the only ones concerned about dying are humans. There had to be a human on the other side of the steel plate. Putting his mouth close to the plate, he yelled, “Hello?”

  Over top of the crackling sound of a looming death, Maria had the sharper ear and heard the eerie, ‘hello’. It sounded as if coming from nowhere. With a sudden dash of hope of another road to escape death, she turned to the plate and screamed, “Help!”

  The Professor certainly heard it. There was now no doubt that somebody was on the other side desperately calling for help. Santo could not hear the ‘hello’ and thought her frantic call for help was a last ditch effort of desperation. He did not pay attention to her plea.

  The Professor yelled back,

  “Is anybody there?”

  To let whoever was on the other side of the plate know that he heard them he made a fist and pounded hard on it. Suddenly Santo became alert to what she was doing. He too turned to the plate on the wall and yelled,

  “Is there a lever there, anything that can release the plate?”

  Because the Professor had already tried that, his response was quick and disappointing.

  “No. If there is a lever to move it, it has to be on your side.”

  Santo understood the futility. He had found nothing on this side when inspecting the plate the first time. Maria looked at him and saw the frustration in his face. Desperate not to have Belle become an orphan, she was not ready to give up yet, she yelled back at the unknown voice,

  “Do you have anything that can force it open, a lever, dynamite, anything?”

  Dynamite? It hit Santo like a hammer to the forehead. He reached into a pocket of his cargo pants and pulled out the last packet of the limited fission disrupter bomb not used when blowing the wall.

  With the edge of death just inches from their backs he slammed it onto the plate, pulled her out of the way and yelled to the spectral voice on the other side,

  “It’s going to blow. Get away from the wall.”

  The professor was not sure why or even what that meant but he did understand the strong command in the voice. While taking a few steps back he saw a ring of sparks appear on the plate making a large circle on it.

  When the circle of sparks and smoke was complete, Santo viciously kicked at the plate and it easily fell into the tunnel with a clang. There was no time to evaluate the situation, safe or not they were forced to take a leap of blind faith, or as Santo preferred, ‘all or nothing’. While pressed hard against the wall and his nose inches from the expanding bubble, Santo yelled at Maria to jump. There was no need to sound so commanding. She was already half way into the dark tunnel before he had finished yelling a very good suggestion. Santo was at her heels.

  Until that moment, the Professor was not aware of the urgency or danger looming in the cave. It was not until seeing a strange gluttonous bubble oozing into the tunnel making crackling noises that he thought something might be wrong. When Maria gained her feet and started pushing him down the tunnel yelling something about ‘hurry’ and Santo right behind her also yelling to run, he finally caught on.

  Because of the urgency and panic of the two strangers behind him forcing quick steps through the tunnel, he had forgotten that he had a flashlight. That omission meant little to Santo and Maria. It was pitch dark but with a narrow tunnel, thankfully there was only one direction away from what was coming at them fast. Unfortunately because the tunnel was narrow, there was less volume to expand and so like a bullet coming out of the chamber of a rifle, the bubble picked up speed, now almost nibbling at Santo’s heels.

  Without a flashlight showing the way there was no warning about the end of the tunnel coming up fast. The Professor slammed hard into it. That impact was compounded by Maria slamming into him and then along came Santo. Like a saloon door on pivoting hinges, the lid sprang open and all three tumbled out of the tunnel of death. There was no looking back. Each sprang up and stumbled down the rocky slope.

  At what Santo deemed a safe distance, he stopped and looked back up the hill. For a reason that he was not sure of and knew he would not understand anyway, the dimensional bubble of death did not shoot out of the tunnel and come after them. Like what happened at the top of the shaft up in the field, it too stopped when touching the air. Maria looked down toward the lake and at a distance saw Pia and Henrik standing beside the D-wing at the water’s edge frantically waving at them.

  On the trek down the tricky slope, Santo looked to the Professor. From the way he was struggling with each rocky obstacle, huffing and puffing, he knew he was not a trained agent. They had never met. It was the same for Maria. However, while stumbling over a rock she looked to him and made an educated guess.

  “You are Professor Baron Asker, aren’t you?”

  Struggling to catch his breath, and still in shock from the adventure of his life, he managed to nod. It was not often that an Archeologist had to run for his life. She added,

  “Thank you for saving our lives. I must compliment Kirk Waller on his endorsement for bringing you on as a field agent.”

  That compliment, although nice to hear, was of little help to his gasping lungs.

  Now off the slope and walking on a sandy shore toward the D-wing, Santo saw in the distance Kirk and Doctor Marls wading through shallow water toward them. When all were together there were ample hugs and handshakes all around. Kirk introduced the Professor to everybody. All acknowledged and appreciated his help. Santo was the
first to return to business saying,

  “I’ll contact Headquarters telling them to come pick us up.”

  Henrik proudly said,

  “I already did Sir. Every available D-wing is on its way right now including Waldorf in the big one. They should be here within minutes.”

  Santo nodded, and said,

  “Well done soldier.”

  Henrik practically snapped to attention. Finally, after all these years of ridicule for his extrasensory abilities something good had come from it. It all started when Maria hired him and encouraged free and open speech, ‘if you see something, say something’. It felt good to be respected. He looked at Pia and produced a proud smirk. However, his sense of acceptance and accomplishment exploded faster than a balloon on a dartboard when she only sneered back at him. Like his life, fame was fleeting.

  Chapter 51

  The first D-wing to show up was Waldorf in his private vehicle. He did not land right away. Instead circled and obeyed House of the Nazarene protocol about landing in unsecured areas. Using heat sensors and motion detector computers, he searched for any sign of humans that might be spying on them. Seeing only two heat signatures up on the far side of the field running back to the village of Alakati, he deemed it safe to land uncloak. He reported to the other arriving D-wings that all was secure and to land next to the two you will see on the beach. The second to arrive was Han Lee and as instructed, landed next to the fleet. He immediately reported to Santo, saying,

  “Otto Becker is on the way with one of the older D-wings found in the cave. It’s a lot slower but he said he will be here soon.”

  Maria understood that the only person not wanting to go back to the Base was Professor Bartow Asker. She looked around and saw him over by the D-wings. He had never seen one before and was captivated by their technology. He walked from one to the other inspecting them. When seeing her approach, he asked two strange questions of her.

  “Are they flying saucers? Are you aliens?”

  She was not prepared to go into a long story explaining why the Great Grays once started the House of the Nazarene and why they are no longer associated with it. She found it easier to respond, “No.” to both questions but did add,

  “When there is time, I will explain everything to you.”

  He might have accepted the explanation except for one thing. He looked back into the cockpit of the nearest D-wing and said,

  “It sure looks like a flying saucer.”

  “Well, okay, they are alien technology but we are not aliens.”

  The frown indicated confusion and she realized that she was only complicating things by keeping on talking about it. To distract him from the confusion, she took his arm and marched him away from them.

  At what she considered a safe distance she stopped and said,

  “I will give you a choice Professor. You can come back to our Headquarters, join us in the House of the Nazarene and we will look after your needs. Or, you can return to the village and continue your research in this area.”

  She was not expecting him to ask,

  “And how could I serve you at Headquarters? Are you in need of an archeologist over there?”

  Before she could reply, he added,

  “Would I not be of more use to you in the field?”

  She was glad that he came to such conclusion on his own for it was exactly where she needed him. As was proven by his discovery of the cave, field operatives are just as important as scientists and laboratory technicians, if not more so. Field operatives discover mysteries and scientists attempt to answer them.

  When it was clear that he wanted to remain as a field agent for the House of the Nazarene, Maria said,

  “Yes you will be more valuable to us in the field. Because of what you already know about us and your great service, I will be honored to have you on my trusted agents list. At times I might call on you to come to the House of the Nazarene for meetings or clarification of what has been discovered.”

  He looked so hard at her she felt his gaze. With eyes locked, he softly said,

  “You do not have to convince me. My life is in the field. My career is satisfaction of discovery. Obviously, I now know that there are things in this world beyond imagination. I understand that you are offering me an opportunity to be part of that world. Of course I will accept your kind offer.”

  As they shook hands on the deal, she added,

  “Good to have you on board. Now I won’t have to kill you for all the things you have seen.”

  Because of his sudden fearful expression, she had to laugh and quickly add, “I’m kidding.”

  It was time to sort out who was going where and with whom. Maria approached Han Lee and said,

  “Han, the good Professor is now one of our newest inner council members. Would you be kind enough to take him over to the village just a few minutes away? Before landing be sure to camouflage and check for heat signatures first.”

  Han Lee nodded, pointed to his D-wing and the Professor climbed in. Before the canopy closed, Maria took a step forward and said to the Professor.

  “I know it sounds terrible for a man with a mind of a scientist but as a new member of the House, when you get back to the village this is what I want you to do.”

  Han Lee listened to what Maria was ordering the Professor to do and approved. When it was all said and done, Maria walked away and Han Lee closed the canopy. Now incased in the apparent magic of a D-wing the Professor starting squirming. He was looking for the seat belt. Han Lee saw what he was attempting to do, laughed and said,

  “You have a lot to learn about D-wings and the House of the Nazarene, Professor.”

  He replied,

  “I’m looking forward to it Mr. Lee.”

  Just as Han Lee had disappeared into the horizon, from over the trees came another D-wing. It was Otto Becker. Han Lee was his pick-up and return driver. Because the older D-wings were slow and did not have camouflage technology and a communication system adapted to human ears he had to call in his approach through a hand held set. Waldorf assured him that it was safe to land and to put down near the others. Because he was eventually going back to Switzerland with this older D-wing, Maria asked him to take Doctor Marls back there with him. It was clear that the Doctor was not pleased to be transported in what he considered an ancient ‘Model T’.

  Before leaving, the Doctor walked up to Maria and handed her a small metallic device looking suspiciously like a Flash Drive from a computer except it was flat and wide. Before reaching for it she naturally asked,

  “What is that Doctor?”

  “I don’t know but I suspect it is a communication component. I was inspecting the control panel of the Anannaki ship when a very rude person demanded that I come to her immediately. I pulled it out of the console and came to you.”

  Ignoring the rudeness, she accepted the component and with some degree of difficulty politely responded,

  “Thank you Doctor. That was good quick thinking on your part. I have a computer expert at our Base who I’m sure will be able to do something with it.”

  Then, with a contemptuous snarl, he turned to Otto and commanded,

  “Make this relic go fast, I’m a busy man.”

  It was expected that Santo and Maria would return to Headquarters together, leaving Waldorf to take in his four-seat vehicle, Kirk, Pia and Henrik. For a reason that surprised Maria, Pia approached and meekly asked,

  “Is it okay if you take me back to Spain? I want to talk to you about something.”

  Agreeing to the change of plan, the remaining three jumped into Waldorf’s D-wing. Santo was fast enough to grab the front passenger seat leaving Henrik and Kirk to suffer the crammed two back seats. When they were ready to disappear into the clouds they did not lift up to the stratosphere as Maria thought they might. Instead, Waldorf circled the upper field first and only then lifted high. Maria knew why and decided to do the same thing. They climbed into the last remaining D-wing and left the lake.

&
nbsp; Maria understood why Waldorf circled the field. He was worried about the dimensional bubble, a technology not understood and a possible danger to not only the local area but the planet as well. While circling, he used Infrared ground penetrating equipment and a spectral analyzer to see if there was any danger to the local villagers regarding a cave that might be out of phase to the signature of this planet. Although Santo had told him that it stopped when touching the air of the rocky slope and Kirk had assured him the same thing when rising out of the shaft, Waldorf wanted to get some readings regardless. The gathered information would be analyzed in various Nazarene labs around the world. It was also very possible that the whole field might be in danger of caving in or worse.

  When Maria and Pia circled the field in their D-wing, they were looking for anomalies such as holes in the ground and evidence of black spirits frantically floating around. She too took subterranean measurements. Looking at the results, her preliminary assumption was that whatever the dimensional chewing bubble of death was, for an unknown reason it had only consumed the cave. Both Santo and Kirk were right in their assumption that when touching the outside air something made it stop. She assumed that if she were to enter the cave now, she would only see an empty massive cave of vitrified stone. However, she will never know. She will put out an alert to all members of the House to stay away. It is now a ‘No-Go Zone’.