by Abhishek Roy
“Fine. We’ll do it.” I agreed.
***
We hired a nice Renault Fluence and were finally on the highway but without a destination in mind.
“Okay, so what do we do now?” I turned my head and asked Ram who was sitting in his cozy passenger seat.
“Open up your laptop. We will need that.”
I got the laptop started and Vivek’s 3G hotspot connected to it. “Now what?”
“Type in...New city comma Turkey,” he told me. I did as he said. After a few minutes of searching, I found something.
“Are you satisfied by ...Nevsehir?” I asked him.
“Perfect! Nev surely means new and sehir means city!” he exclaimed.
“Very nice. What next?”
“Umm.. .search for invisible city.”
I was about to type in the words when he suddenly yelled, “No, no! Not invisible city. Type in ‘old churches in Turkey’.”
“Alright.”
“Is it the Hagia Sofia?
I skimmed through the paragraphs.
“It is pronounced Aya Sofya. According to this page, it is the most important monument in Istanbul. The unique Hagia Sofia was constructed in the 6th century and was meant to be an important Eastern Orthodox cathedral but later, during the 1200s, it was made into a Roman catholic church. Again in the 1450s, the church was converted into a mosque and after 1931 when Turkey became a Republic, it was declared a museum. This prevented any controversy as to whether it should be a church or a mosque. Worship isn’t allowed there but two things are really striking. Firstly, it is probably the only place where we can see Islamic calligraphy and a painting of Mother Mary side-by-side. Secondly, it is an example of typical Byzantine architecture.”
“Wow! What if every religion could actually live in harmony with each other like those paintings?” Vivek imagined.
“There are a few more ancient churches in Istanbul and around Turkey. You should check them out.” I passed my laptop to Ram and he started reading, his brows furled.
“I think we should stop somewhere for some time while you guys figure out where to go next. We shouldn’t waste all the fuel, after all,” spoke Vivek and brought the car to a halt at a gas station.
It was then that I got to appreciate the view outside and realised how different the view was every time I decided to admire it. In India, it was the icy Himalayan Mountains while in Japan, the view was that of the rolling green hills. Here in Turkey, it was different.
On our left hand side was a sprawling network of red tiled two storey houses. They were nice and warm and had narrow roads, concealed by the houses. Behind us was the Ataturk International airport complex, on our right the dark blue Sea of Marmara. In front of us, the highway snaked through the landscape before going over an isthmus and plunging into Asia Minor. Far away at the horizon loomed the high mountains which looked ancient and enigmatic in the orange hue of evening light.
“Those mountains probably lie on the other side of the sea of Marmara,” Ram said, reading my thoughts.
“I think so too,” I said and Ram turned his attention back to the laptop cradled in his arms while we stood outside and waited till Vivek filled up the gas.
After a few moments of silence, Ram spoke, “I think it is the church of Hatay.”
“Church of Hatay?” asked Vivek.
“Yes. It is also called the Church of Saint Peter and is located in Antakya, here in Turkey. Do you know that this church was one of the first Christian churches, used by the very first Christians?” he asked, bug-eyed.
“Wow! I was never aware of that,” I told him, awed myself. I was vaguely knowledgeable of the fact that Turkey had an astounding history but I never got the chance to study it carefully.
“Me neither! The church is actually a cave, carved into Mount Starius. The church’s origins can be traced to the bible, Acts of the Apostle. Barnabus travelled here along with Paul the Apostle. They worked there for one year with the nascent Christian community and the people who converted were called Christians for the first time in the history of mankind!” he exclaimed, reading from the laptop that he kept on the car’s boot. “Christianity holds that Saint Peter, the first apostle was the founder of the church of Antioch, which is Antakya, and he first preached his gospel over there!” He let out a gasp, not being able to breath till he completed his sentence. “Guys, this is definitely the church that started it all. I can’t remember now but I think that it was recently discovered to be the oldest church.”
“But what about the Hagia Sofia? It is located in the capital city of the ancient Roman empire as described in the poem,” Vivek barged in.
“But the Hagia Sofia didn’t start it all. I think that the sentence that refers to Istanbul actually refers to the entirety of Asia Minor being in the centre of the three major empires.”
“Perhaps.. .but I am still confused.”
“No problem. Let us check out the next clue - The invisible city.” He started typing some words feverishly into the laptop.
A few minutes passed by.
“See, we have come to a problem.”
“What is it?” I asked.
He looked up at me. “In Nevsehir itself there are at least three places near the city that fit the description of ‘invisible city’. You have the caves of Cappadocia, Ozkonak underground city and the underground city of Derinkuyu.”
“The caves of Cappadocia are the immense caves with entire cities inside them, right?” Vivek confirmed while detaching the gas pipe from the fuel tank opening.
“Correct,” Ram replied. “But wait...” something crossed his mind and he returned his gaze to the monitor. “Well, the verse says.. .invisible city,” he explained while typing. “The...caves in Cappadocia.. .aren’t.. .completely invisible as compared to the other two.“
“Why?” asked Vivek.
Ram looked up,” In Cappadocia, you can see small holes and entrances to the caves after all and the entire area looks like an alien land with huge pinnacles of stone. So we can see traces of life there even if we neglect the hundreds of shelters and the colossal caves inside. So, the caves are out of the equation. Still we are left with dozens of underground cities.” He went back to his work.
“Hmmm.” Vivek mused over it.
“Aha!” Suddenly Ram shouted. “I have found it!“
“What, what!” Vivek and I asked in unison.
“In the verse, it was written the largest invisible city. Well, the largest underground city excavated here in Turkey is the one in Derinkuyu and by the description, it is massive! It extends till 60 metres underground and housed 20,000 people and was meant as a refugee settlement. It had multiple stories, wine cellars, storage rooms, chapels, everything! A fully functioning city! What’s more, only half of the city is accessible to tourists. So, we can hope to find what we are looking for in the recesses of the restricted areas. They even believe that it was made by the Persians and it has hidden tunnels that connect it to many other underground cities! This seems the perfect place for someone to hide something very valuable. Hell, there are also some evidences found there that propose the existence of aliens! Aliens in this case would be nothing but the Asurians! I think we are on the right track.”
“So we are going to Derinkuyu?” asked Vivek.
“Yes!” answered Ram.
“But what of the church? Why don’t we first go to the church and then to Derinkuyu?” I asked him.
Ram thought about it for a while. “Well, the verse says that the ultimate key lies in the largest invisible city. Then, it says that the man of Bor-nu is consecrated under the church which started it all. From the first poem that led us to Japan to the scroll of the Daruma doll seller, the main subject has been a key which is crucial to go to Asr-Gawa. I think we should still go in search of the key. The man of Bor-nu will be found eventually.”
“Okay. That seems fair to me. Remember, we also have to find the Father of the Gods!”
Ram thought about it for a w
hile. “My instinct tells me that we should enter it from Nevsehir.”
“Good! Then off we go to Derinkuyu!” said Vivek and we were back on the highway.
Kapittel 38
Mathias’s story
ISTANBUL TO NEVSEHIR E80 HIGHWAY
March 13, 2017, Monday, 1845 hours EEST
The land around the highway was becoming more desolate after every few miles. The entire area was mountainous and looked somewhat like Mongolia in the setting sun. There were patches of green here and there but the rest of the sandstone rocks and deserts seemed very hostile.
While we were on the road, we were safe. However, we needed to keep our heads down when out in the open.
I stared outside at the Anatolian plateau. Here in Turkey, the climate changed from place to place. The places near the coast are said to be extremely pleasant. While some regions receive snow in winter, in some areas the temperature goes well over 40 degrees in the summer.
As I gazed at the landscape, I thought about the adventure we were going through.
For seventeen years I was abandoned by my parents, unaware of even their existence when suddenly, Ram gets a signal from his father. That was the spark which lit the fire. The search for Ram’s father took us to India from where we embarked on a journey to the Himalayas.
Up till now, everything was going right. Myth was given a new form by Baldr in the Himalayas, when he also explained to me about my parents. However, the parchment in the book had started this treasure hunt.
I wondered where my parents really were. Was Baldr telling the truth or whether he just wanted to lure me wherever he came from? Was my father really the Thor of the legend? If that was so, should I not have had some of his powers? Or were all of these totally a myth and nobody had any powers, even Thor or Odin? Was Ram’s father really dead? What will we find if we succeed in finding the Father of the Gods, whoever he is? All these questions were in my mind.
I could not remain silent any longer. “Ram?”
“Yes?”
“Remember, the diary which Mrs. Dawson gave us?”
“Yeah I do. The one which we couldn’t follow.”
“Yes. See, I had been thinking about it and it just crossed my mind that... maybe if we had followed that, we would have probably ended up at a tele porter faster. According to her, it was given to me by my parents like this Amulet.” I fingered the amulet quite fondly now.
“Yes, I think so too.” replied Ram.
“Then why do you think that my parents left it with me and not the diary?” I turned back to look at him.
“Hhmm “ he said. “I agree. Why didn’t they? They must have had some reason behind it.“
“I wish Mrs. Dawson hadn’t died. I am sure she knew a lot more. She could have helped us. I am sure something big was going on that was completely hidden from me. And it had to be about my parents and about the Asurians. In fact, do you now think the book could have something that might help us? It has got a bunch of pages which are filled with scribbles in a script very close to Norwegian.”
“Maybe,” Ram nodded. I extracted the book from my bag when Ram said, “Wait. I’ll get the translator for you.“
“I don’t need one,” I replied. Ram shot a surprised look at me.
“You can read Norwegian?” both of them asked me, surprised.
“After the first poem we found out in Norwegian, whenever I had free time I was studying the script and the language. I really felt bad when Vivek reminded me of my inability to read Norse and ancient Viking text in spite of my Scandinavian ancestry, the day we were decoding the first poem. So, I bought a Norwegian- learning guide in Delhi airport and have been reading it in my free time. I have been doing that for enough time to understand and read Norwegian now. This script is not exactly Norwegian, maybe old-Viking, or maybe a script native to where Baldr is coming from. But I am sure that I will be able to read it.”
“Really? After studying it only for a few days?” Vivek asked me.
“Mathias has an exceptionally good brain, Vivek. He can do stuff we average earthlings can’t.” replied Ram and giggled.
“Alright, alright. Don’t brand me an alien now!” I waved it off. I flipped through the old and blemished pages, skimming through them quickly.
“So we are looking for underground cities. Large underground cities and references to Romans or Greeks or something, no?” I asked while scanning the notes.
“Yeah. Try looking for some references to the man of Bor- nu. Some adjectives might also have been used for him instead but keep a watch for anything that might point towards him,” said Ram.
There were many writings. Some seemed to be related to culture while a select few might have been related to science. The vast amount of information concealed in these scribbles gave me the feeling that the book might be very useful sometime in the future.
“Bingo! Perhaps...but Bingo nonetheless,” I smiled and showed Ram the piece of text I had found. It was a short verse like the ones that we had deciphered earlier.
“Here. It should be this one. Do you have a notepad and a pen? It’ll be better if I write it down.”
Ram gave me both of them and I penned down the translation.
In the deepest city of all
Eight cities lie above him
The fearless swimmer wins all
The path belongs to the Dolichodeira
Bring light to them and they will be your friend
If not, they will be your last nemesis
“Here you go!” I handed it to him.
“Hmmm... impressive,” he clapped lightly and I couldn’t help but smile.
“The first line says In the deepest city of all. This must be referring to the underground city. The second line says Eight cities lie above him,” Ram looked up at Vivek and me. “You see, the underground city of Derinkuyu is the largest ever found. There are numerous passages and tunnels. All in all, it is a subterranean labyrinth with eight levels. These levels go a 100 meters down into the Earth and I think, these levels are interpreted as cities over here. If eight cities lie above him, who could be a reference to the man from Bor-nu, then there must be nine levels or cities.“
“I don’t quite get you,” said Vivek.
“Oh. So you mean to say that this poem refers to an additional layer beneath the eighth level?” I interjected.
“Precisely, Mathias.”
“Okay. Now I get it,” said Vivek.
“The next line says The fearless swimmer wins all. There could be something that requires us to be very brave over there. Maybe we have to hold our breath for a long time. Definitely a lot of water can be expected. Something like that. Can any of you figure something out except the literal meaning?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I just hope the entire place is still intact,” Vivek grinned.
“Alright. So the fourth line is The path belongs to the Dolichodeira…… “ Ram hesitated.
“What’s that?” Vivek asked.
“Can’t figure out,” Ram changed the topic. “However, it seems familiar. I seem to have read it somewhere in Biology. Sounds like a medicinal plant.“
“Is it some special type of plant? Does it have some unique adaptations?” I inquired of him.
“I...I can’t remember. We will find out in time, I guess. Let’s move on to the next line which says Bring light to them and they will be your friend. I don’t understand why?” Ram scratched his head.
“If we presume there are plants down there as you think they are, to be living in the dark all their life, they should be very surprised to see light. However, remember, plants like light,” proposed Vivek.
“I agree. But what does the next line say?” Ram squinted at my handwriting. After trying to read what I had written in my loose way of writing, Ram asked me what one of my scribbles meant.
“Oh, that’s nemesis.”
“Mathias. You need to improve you writing,” Ram punched me on my shoulder. ”If not, they will be
your last nemesis. This just says that if we don’t bring light to the creature, then they will kill us. Last nemesis says everything.“
“It’s astonishing! We have to find a secret layer beneath an already mysterious city!” I laid back my head and gazed at the scenery whizzing past while we drove towards our destination.
***
“Alright guys. There is another gas station coming up. We never got the chance to get some Turkish liras in all the hustle. We should stop here for a while, stretch and freshen ourselves up. If there is a currency exchange, you two can fill up the gas tank while I get some money. Then we can search for some hotel to pass the night. What say you?” he asked us and we nodded our heads in agreement.
“Have you spoken to your mother since we left India?’ asked Ram.
“Once only,” said Vivek, his expression a little sad. “I got a chance to speak in Japan. I haven’t told her that we have come to Turkey. She knows that I know Japan and she is comfortable knowing that.“
Ram looked at him curiously. He was always inquisitive about how people deal with parents. I put my arm around his shoulder comfortingly.
Vivek stopped the car at a gas station. The sun had set a great deal, shrouding the landscape in darkness in which the neon lit gas station looked like a beacon.
There weren’t many people at the station. So Vivek got a nice place to park the Fluence and went off towards the small department store to look for a currency exchange while Ram and I waited for him a short while, standing in silence but thinking about the same thing.
“Guys!” he shouted, pulling us back from our thoughts. He was standing at the doorway to the department store. “Fill her up! I am getting some Liras!” he shouted back. Once the tank was full and with some Liras in hand, we bought a few chocolates from the store and ate them as dinner, in case we didn’t find a restaurant or a lodge on the way to Derinkuyu.
When we were back on the highway, it was already dark and the only objects visible to us were the objects on the highway. All the cars and the road was illuminated by the headlights and the street lamps. Everything on either side of the highway was dark and obscure. Finally, after driving another ten miles we spotted a small lodge.
