by Greig Beck
“Then take one of the men, please, Marcus.”
There was real concern on Yuri’s face and that worried him enough to give him pause. “Bears, huh?”
He sighed, thinking a local guide wouldn’t hurt. He turned to see Pavel’s son Nikolay sliding another pot of coffee onto the grill over the still-hot coals. Given that he planned to have the young guy as his trainee lab tech, an enormously important role, it wouldn’t hurt to conduct a more intensive interview.
“Nikolay, are you up for a bit of hiking today?”
The young man nodded enthusiastically. “Sure, I love hiking. When?”
“Now,” Marcus replied. “To the high cliffs up along the coast.”
“I know them.” Nikolay held up a finger. “One moment.”
He scurried off, probably to inform his father and grab his own pack. In a few minutes, he returned with a loaded backpack that he opened.
“I have biscuits, dried meat, and an extra bottle of water for us.” He grinned.
“Well done.” Marcus also noticed he now had a 10-inch hunting knife on his belt. Maybe that bit about bears from Yuri wasn’t just an attempt to give him pause for concern.
Marcus checked his watch—it was just coming up to 8 am. He waved to Yuri. “Back mid-afternoon. If not back by nightfall, send a search party.” He grinned, but Yuri just looked grave.
“Have good luck.” Yuri finally waved and continued to watch the pair depart all the way out of the compound.
CHAPTER 06
Marcus and Nikolay had been trekking for about four hours when Marcus called a halt to take a drink from his canteen. Even at midday, it was still only about 10 degrees, which was extremely mild for this time of year, but the cold sucked the moisture from the air, so dehydration quickly became a problem.
He gulped his water, trying hard not to take too much as he was mindful of the long, dry trek back. Added to that, the brisk pace had warmed him up to the point of feeling slick under the arms and on his lower back.
The countryside wasn’t too rugged and fairly flat as they went along the coastline. But then they needed to turn inland where the land rose toward the high stone edifice that would give him the vantage point he was looking for. It was just under a mile or so ahead, but already they could see the large up-folding of the Earth’s crust.
They pressed on, as Marcus wanted to be there with plenty of time to look around, and then be back at the mill before sundown.
It was another full hour before they came to the start of the mini mountain. It rose from the landscape like the snout of a massive stone whale breaching the surface of the land. The climb would be fairly easy, and only in some places Marcus thought they might need to do some actual rock scaling.
Nikolay set off first and even though Marcus was only in his mid-30s, the younger man made him feel like a geriatric with the way the kid leaped and bounded up the steep incline.
In life, Marcus tried to stay fit, but after just 20 minutes, he was puffing and was exhausted. He climbed another large rock and found Nikolay waiting for him.
“Caves,” he whispered while pointing. But then put a finger to his lips. “Quiet, maybe bear.”
“Shit,” Marcus replied softly. Looks like Yuri might have been right—Russia was home to some big-ass bears, with the Kamchatka brown bear growing to nine feet tall and weighing as much as a grizzly. He suddenly wished he accepted Yuri’s offer of a gun.
Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out his only weapon—a black Swiss army knife he’d had since he was a teenager that even had his name written on the side. He and his brother were given one each by their dad. He pulled the three-inch blade out and waited.
Nikolay eased along toward the cave and quickly looked in and pulled back. He waited for a second or two and then peered in again, staying there this time, and only later Marcus found out he was actually sniffing and not looking. He finally turned.
“I think okay.”
Marcus came closer and also peeked in—he then drew a small flashlight from a pouch pocket and shined it into the cave, still gripping his small blade, hard. It was fairly small and shallow, with the remains of plenty of plant debris littering its floor so it could have been used at some time in the past as a nest or den.
“Come on,” he said to Nikolay as he folded the knife away. “We’ve still got a ways to go.”
Marcus looked up and saw that there was a lot more climbing of the rocky face yet. The outcrop was mostly a solid piece of granite, but there were huge slabs that had been broken off in the past laying like decks of cards up against the cliff’s face.
They came to one particularly large slab lying on a flat area of the small mountain. It didn’t look all that passable, and Marcus thought they might need to backtrack and see if there was another way up.
“I’ll check it,” Nikolay said.
“Good idea.” Marcus stepped back.
“Up, please.” Nikolay lifted a foot.
Marcus meshed his fingers and allowed the young man to step into them. He lifted and Nikolay launched himself to spring higher. He began to climb as Marcus stepped back and shielded his eyes. As he scrambled higher, he dislodged a loaf of bread-sized rock. Marcus stepped out of the way, but on its bouncing way down, it struck a larger boulder that also began to roll out, that in turn finally pounded into one of the huge slabs laying up against the cliff face in front of Marcus.
The slab was rocked backward and hung perfectly upright for about two seconds, before falling back in slow motion.
Marcus dived out of the way as the huge rock thumped down, making the ground shake beneath him. Snow clouds roiled around him.
“Mr. Stenson?” Nikolay scrambled down. “Mr. Stenson, are you okay?”
Marcus sat up and spat dirty snow and grit. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” He got to his feet as Nikolay leaped down and ran to help him up.
“Just glad I wasn’t standing any closer. Or else I’d be a human pancake right now.” Marcus dusted himself down.
Nikolay wandered closer to the rock face. “I think we just found another cave.”
Marcus turned. “What?” He followed him, and as the snow-dust now settled, he saw there was a cave exposed that had been hidden behind the huge slab of stone.
“I think is old,” Nikolay said, craning forward. “Was sealed, so no bears.”
Marcus looked at the broken slab. The exposed edges were discolored and were now fairly smoothed, meaning it had been exposed to the elements for tens of thousands of years. And by the amount of degradation to the edges of the super-hard rock, Marcus guessed maybe a lot more.
“Hidden for at least 50,000 years old, possibly 100,000, or maybe even more.” Marcus lifted his light. He’d done a bit of caving in his youth, and though this was not why they came, a brand new cave was too hard to resist. “Just a quick look.” He ducked inside.
The dust motes floated in the glowing pipe of his light beam, but further in, the air was still and settled. The cave was deeper than he expected, probably six feet to the roof, and about 10 feet wide in some places.
Nikolay walked along one wall, and Marcus the other, sweeping his beam back and forth. Up ahead was an alcove, and he crouched before it. It led onto another cave, but this one much shallower.
“Bones,” he said.
“People,” Nikolay said in a hushed tone.
“They once were,” Marcus agreed.
Inside were the remains of several bodies, and by the look of the bone discoloration, they looked very old. Marcus eased in and lifted one of the brown skulls. It was small, but didn’t have the heavy brow ridge and receding jaw of the Neanderthal, and looked more modern shaped.
The skeletons were all tangled or on top of one another, as if they had been all huddled together.
“I think they must have been trapped by the rockslide,” Nikolay said.
Marcus nodded. “The poor guys; all of them were locked in and could do nothing but wait to die.”
Marcus cas
t his beam around, noting the remains of animal hides, tools, and even some shining items that might have been crude jewellery. “All their worldly treasures,” he whispered.
He’d report it when he got back, as it’d be a treasure trove to local archaeologists. As Marcus eased back out, Nikolay was shining his own light on the far wall.
“They painted.”
Marcus lifted his light and then joined him. The wall here was flat, twenty feet long, and covered in cave art that had been protected from the elements for however long the cave had been sealed off.
The picture colors were ochre, brown, red, yellow, and charcoal black, and the skill and artistry was magnificent. He could easily pick out deer, bear, wolves, and many animals that were now long-extinct like mammoth, giant bison, and even something that looked like a massive bird.
There were also the handprints, some small, some adult-sized, and anthropologists believed these were like signatures, a form of: “I was here,” or “I did this,” statement.
Marcus held up a hand close to one of the largest of them; his own hand was so much bigger than the race of people who had done the work. He then moved his light further along to where some of the paintings seemed to have been overwritten.
Here, there was a single set of images—the dark sky, with a moon, and a long ochre yellow streak. In the next was the lake, and then something striking it, followed by what had to be a depiction of a huge wave.
“Did they see something?” Marcus pointed. “Something hitting the lake?” He could be wrong, but that’s what it sure as hell looked like they had been depicting.
Marcus lifted his phone and took a few pictures. If anything, the artist had done a fairly good job of rendering landmarks, so if he got to his lookout spot atop the peak, he might just be able to see exactly where this event occurred.
He turned to Nikolay. “What do you think?”
The young Russian shrugged. “Maybe it was the last thing they saw. Maybe the wave or aftershock was what collapsed their cave and sealed them in.”
Marcus turned back to the picture and then faced back toward the small alcove that housed all the bodies. “Yeah.” He hadn’t thought of that, but it seemed very plausible. Maybe the group had even drawn the images by burning torch, as a way to tell whoever came after them that this is what happened. “Well, we’ll leave it all to the scientists. They’ll have a field day with this.”
“I think there’s more paintings.” Nikolay pointed to the depths of the cave.
Marcus checked his watch and saw that it was already two in the afternoon, and they still hadn’t even got to the top yet.
“Maybe we can check them out later, or come back another time. Come on, we need to get moving.”
The rest of the climb was just as arduous, but in another 45 minutes, the pair clambered up on a shelf of stone that was the highest point on the small mountain with a view across the frozen lake.
There was a natural stone seat and both men sat and looked out at the vast inland sea that was Lake Baikal. Marcus could trace the coastline, north and south, but to the east, there was nothing but frozen water for as far as he could see.
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” Marcus smiled and turned. “Jacques Cousteau.”
“I know of him.” Nikolay nodded. “Did you know he came to explore the lake in 1997. A great adventurer, yes?”
“Yes, a great man of the sea.” Marcus pulled out his phone and looked at the pictures. The drawing by the cave people was raw and faded, but holding it up and looking from it to the actual landscape, he saw a similarity to the landmarks up and down the shoreline.
Up north, there was another rocky headland, and in the far distance yet another plug of stone, and in front of it a vast expanse of frozen water—exactly like in the image. It was a weird feeling to think that the people who had been trapped in the cave below may have stood on this very spot perhaps 100,000 years ago, looking out at the same vista as he did now.
Marcus lifted his gaze to the sky and tried to visualize seeing whatever it was come down and strike the water. Would it have made a sound? A screaming, a whistle, or a booming like distant thunder? he wondered.
He would have been scared shitless, and he couldn’t imagine what the primitive humans would have felt. He turned back to the ice sheets.
“I think whatever came down is still in there,” Nikolay said and turned to him. “Maybe buried down deep on the lake bottom.”
“Probably nothing but a big ugly chunk of stone. Hey, maybe it was magnetic as well; that’s why electronic communications are so screwy around here.” Marcus stood up and walked closer to the rock ledge. He quickly looked at the images and at the one depicting the huge wave—if this was their vantage point, then the wave looked to be a good 100 feet high and would have been absolutely terrifying. He grunted. “A very, very big ugly chunk of stone.”
They stayed for another half hour, and Marcus took around 50 more pictures. There were a few sites that he thought looked ideal for pens—in fairly close to the shoreline, but out far enough where he suspected the water would be clean and deep.
The shoreline wasn’t flat, and in some places was a sheer cliff face, which was perfect—they didn’t expect to have too many visitors or campers, but that was today. If the lease ran for 99 years, he didn’t want some time in the future for it to be accessible so they needed to worry about contamination from settlers or campers from the shoreline.
Marcus felt the trip had been well worth the exertion, and he promised himself he’d bring Sara back here in the summer. He got to his feet, stumbling for a moment on some loose scree.
“Damn.” His flashlight fell free, and Nikolay grabbed it before it rolled off the cliff edge.
The young Russian handed it back. “Time to go?” His eyebrows were up.
“Thanks.” Marcus stuck the light back in a pouch pocket. “Yep, we’ve seen enough for now. We’ve got a long trek and let’s hope we make it by dinnertime.”
Nikolay headed off and Marcus went to follow but paused for a moment. He looked back out over the near-endless lake. No deep lights today, he thought.
As a man of science, he didn’t believe in fairytales, myths, or legends. But he certainly could get how a land as remote and ancient as this one could have so many working their way into the local villager’s history.
Nothing to fear, but fear itself, he thought and turned away to follow the young Russian down the side of the rocky outcrop.
*****
On the ground tucked in beside the stone where both men had sat to enjoy the view, sat Marcus’ black Swiss army knife. Now, another lost relic in a place lost in time.
CHAPTER 07
The Mill House, Lake Baikal—2 months later
Marcus carefully put the paintbrush down, wiped his hands on a rag, and stood back to admire his work. He’d been touching up some of the woodwork, picking out the skirting boards and door panels with a light blue color that he knew Sara loved. The basic walls inside were done in an off-white, and he had also managed to buy plenty of good solid antique furniture to populate the house.
“Hm-hmm.” He nodded, really liking how it was all coming together.
The other smaller cabin-type houses had been repaired and upgraded, and he had both a primary generator and backup one with an auto-transfer switch should the first shut down for any reason. The grounds were growing in nicely as the weather warmed up a few degrees, and their crowning glory was the mill house.
He hummed as he glanced around the room. There were two homes Sara would be spending a lot of time in, and they needed to be in top shape—this one, her home-home, and the laboratory.
The huge building had been totally gutted and was now immaculate inside and out, had full power, and was divided by shatterproof glass into several rooms, comprising of laboratories, hatchery, bio-study, plus workshops and a loading dock—from both land and water.
Though they’d had battalions of
tradespeople onsite, it had been Yuri and the local Yakut Russian guys that had worked themselves to near exhaustion.
It was just three weeks until Sara arrived, and he felt he was not only working to his schedule, but he dared to believe he might be even just ahead of it.
Marcus unnecessarily dabbed his brush at the freshly painted wood. There were a few major things still to come in the next few weeks, and that was the adult Beluga sturgeon, plus 200 pounds of fertilized eggs, as well as, and most importantly, a visit from the ministry officials to check if he and his operation was ready. He was confident that he should pass that test easily so there should be nothing standing in his way.
From outside, he heard an SUV pull up and guessed it was more deliveries that one of the guys had ordered. The car’s horn tooted, long and loud.
“Done and done.” He balled the rag and tossed it onto the sheet that held his tins of paint and brushes, and stood, turning slowly and admiring all the work. He grinned. Sara would love it, and he had just left enough unfinished so she could stamp her own final touches to it.
“Joint effort,” he announced to the empty room.
His reverie was broken as the car horn sounded again, longer and more insistent. He looked over his shoulder.
“Come on, guys, someone get that.”
Marcus shook his head and muttered as the horn blared again.
“Oh for fuck’s sake.”
He bounded down the steps and pulled open the door. There was a single SUV pulled up, big and new. Four hulking men lounged around it, with another, smaller and better-dressed guy standing in front of the car.
Yuri, Pavel, Nikolay, Dmitry, and Leonid all stood in a line as though waiting for inspection from the headmaster. Marcus looked to Yuri, who shot him a glance that could have been a warning. Marcus was immediately on guard.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Mr. Marcus Stenson?” The snappy dresser grinned wide, showing a pair of stained front teeth, obviously trying to impart friendliness, but he just came across like a sharp-suited barracuda. He stuck out a hand.
