Hazy echoes from his heavier breathing appeared in an extraordinary silence and he examined the stone wall around him of the second tunnel as he shifted downwards, and he started to find the stale air harder to inhale and he frequently gasped for air, while he dangling over obscurity, with hideous expectations of plunging into deep water accumulated below.
It was far different that the archaeologists were not below, and the light was not there. There could be anything there!
The scientists and archaeologists appeared vaguely against the changing shades of the blue sky far above, and he vigorously checked through debris on the surrounding stone foundations, like an ancient well, which he started to consider it to be. What if it had not been the precise spot of the disturbance and that they had chosen it as they had detected the lower part of a well or some ancient homemade sewage system, from some farm?
He just accepted the frantic reactions of the two archeologists to increase his speed, and that there was something actually buried beneath him.
The haunting descriptions that some of the Exploration Association had given him still made it almost unacceptable to believe fully! What had they been suggesting the chamber contained! In vivid detail he had heard some suggest that the location was a resting place of something! His mind conjured up visions of medieval ghosts roaming an ancient burial site!
Ancient people could have gone to great lengths to bury people!
A distant rumble above released debris and bits of plants and he realized that the area the two archeologists were on might not be able to support their weight! It had been damaged with age, water, rot, and the damage that they had done to it smashing a hole through it, to see and get down.
He fantasized it and them crashing down on top of him and considered how much damage would be done!
In an instant the rope jerked and wildly oscillated and he spun uncontrollably around and a surge of blackness engulfed him as he dropped his light below.
It became a spot of light embedded in something below, which gave little light to him, but he saw where he was going and speeded up his descent.
It slightly mystified him! The actual depth by far exceeded all their comprehension of what anyone would use! There was not just one compartment level, it went down and down into the depths of the ground and he thought of some ancient devil and black magic worshippers concealing something there, beyond their comprehension, of infinite danger, indestructible and hidden away from mankind!
Sounds took stranger tones and he strained his eyes more trying to see further down, about where the light rested, but there were no features of anything. Its tunnel shape was in darkness!
He heard distant movements from above and he looked up to see what was happening and saw that they were still there resting, and seeing what was happening.
A surge of water splashed across his face and poured down in streams as he finally hit the ground not fully realizing where it was, and in the turmoil he fell over sideways into some water.
He got up while releasing the rope’s tightened grip from his body, and shivered from the intense coldness and realized for some reason it was far colder there.
With the pain away he cleaned away some water off his face and grabbed the light, partly in dirt and water, and he examined it carefully for damage and cleaned it, removing the dirt over where the bulb was and fixed it at his side and fumbled through his pocket and removed a handkerchief and cleaned the water and muck away from his face, and rested.
He illuminated the stone wall going around him in the shape of a large well, and its brightness beamed out lighting up a large long black tomb shape structure, and he sat on a boulder and examined it in detail.
Eventually clouds of dust sprayed down through the stale air and he cleaned it from his tired eyes and saw the two archeologists starting to come down.
He was staggered for an instance when he realized that there was nothing other than long black box structure there, and he realized it had to be what was causing the disturbances.
When he went over to it he shone the torch closely over it and was surprised that all of the mud and debris covering its surface had been falling away from it and it even looked new and polished, and that it was not of ancient workmanship!
As the others came downwards he continued wandering around it examining its clean surface, and he examined it trying to see why there was not any notable way of entering it.
When the two archeologists arrived the three of them stood around it in a circle, wondering what the hell they had found! It was perfectly symmetrical and far more advanced than it should have been, and Bryson realized the coldness there was coming off it and then he realized that it was absorbing heat from him.
Chapter 4
The Artifact’s Removal
From the edge of a large tent, constructed around the tunnel by the archeologists, Bryson examined equipment and people about the tunnel and the work that they had done while he had been away.
Dreamily he observed surrounding fields across his front and the twilight sun rising up from below the horizon, diverging its rays amongst tree shadows.
Golden light stretched over the surface of the world, and he heard distant voices from the archaeologists still at work down the tunnel removing the artifact, and he acknowledged a sweet pipe tobacco aroma lingering in the air from one of the scientists from the Exploration Association.
They were finally going to hoist the large heavy artifact out of there and give everyone a good look at it in the daylight, and he felt much excitement at the thought of it and realized again how much he had missed such action, explorations and discoveries!
He vaguely watched Merton and Mortimer stroll over to him at the tent from the nearby road, where they had left their vehicle, where they had traveled to from their city hotel, where Bryson was located nearby.
He perceived a certain inner satisfaction that they had that indicated that they actually were accomplishing something for real once again! Even though nobody was fully sure what they had or were accomplishing! The artifact was mysterious and out of their current reach of understanding, and nobody grasped its function!
Paranormal scientists rarely found anything worthwhile!
Merton marched happily over and sat on a boulder next to him and the tent, and examined the tunnel and equipment about it that was going to be used to hoist the artifact.
It amused Bryson that they actually thought they might damage the thing hoisting it out and had gone to such elaborate lengths! He considered that if they dropped it at the top and it fell straight down onto a sharp boulder that it would not even be scratched!
Merton examined him next after he had completed checking everything for changes and signs of progression, and considered his thoughts and turned towards him.
“We found some evidence that this thing might have been found by one of the soldiers in the Second World War, when they were here getting Hess. He’s believed to have found it and discovered its incredible properties – which he was going to use for something or sell it to someone, but something happened and he had it buried away! It could be dangerous! It could have dangerous paranormal powers, and be buried away for a reason!”
“That’d explain why he chose this site and tunneled so deep!”
“We believe they used an ancient well construction built here, which had gone deep to get water!”
“Yet there is plenty of water here, and there are streams ...”
“Therefore there could have been another use for it not stated!”
“The artifact looks as though it were new and had little contact with the outside world?”
“They clearly would have had trouble realizing just what it was and its properties were – even after carrying out careful experimentations of it.”
Bryson rubbed his weary eyes vaguely observing the remains of a fire the archaeologists had built, and they stood next to it considering it.
“Its origins may become clear once the scientists of the
Exploration Association get hold of it!” Mortimer announced. “If they don’t explain what it is, nobody will!”
“They could run into some problem ...”
“Why?”
“That artifact must be made of the strongest material known! All their attempts to take samples off it have failed so far ...”
Bryson stared into smoldering red ashes of the fire and at a black shape within it and saw images of the artifact.
He had spent most of the morning thinking of the discovery and had not realized anything new. At one point in the night he had believed that the many myths of the world had been all remarkably true! He just could not grasp something! Science had explained so many things that had been thought to be magical!
Were there occult creatures buried away all over the world? He gasped at recollections of drawings and one of a dragon-like creature that he had recently seen.
The artifact was roughly the same as a drawing on an old parchment, from a collection of old parchments. Yet it did not fit into any descriptions! The trip had been a success, but they could say what they had!
“It could very well be some secret Second World War technology that either has been forgotten or is to this day still highly secretive?” he muttered to Mortimer, trying another angle.
“That thing was invented here?” Merton joked, looking over at a bright blue box shape of a distant company building. “It’s far more than anything they should have had!”
Mortimer nodded firmly in agreement, and so did the other scientists crowding around them, including archeologists.
Bryson heard heavy scuffling noises and heard there was at last some action occurring in the tunnel, and he watched them finally hoisting the artifact out of the tunnel.
Chapter 5
The Black Artifact
The discovery was far too big and remarkable and David Parker had been unable oppose anything and could not get to see what was there fast enough, and use it for his own publicity, and send in his leading scientists with their best equipment, from another major important project, to examine the artifact as soon as possible, and he had even been contacted by the military to investigate it, after the incredible media reports.
The Exploration Association members were mainly concerned in if the artifact was dangerous, as many thought that it was some form of highly advanced military weapon, even though they still could not account for its appearance there.
The dating of the construction of the tunnel, carried out for the archeologists, had proven that it had been built when Hess had landed there in Eaglesham, at the exact same time as the claims had mentioned and there surely had to be a connection to what had been witnessed.
Had the artifact been used to spy on or attack the plane, or had it actually been with Hess?
The military scientists there were the first there to examine the artifact when it had been hoisted out of the tunnel in chains, and brought out of the archeologist tent and witnessed in bright daylight for the first time.
Bryson watched on astonished, and could well believe it had a military source.
It resembled a large black shiny missile, completely unmarked, with no scratches or dirt marks, with a deadly look to it Bryson could not fully grasp.
One of the scientists near him curiously picked up some mud and threw it over it and they watched it repel it and it fall to the ground. It clearly had defensive powers, and could stop damage being done to it, but this did not answer if it was of military origins!
Bryson walked forward and surprised them by touching it and in less than a second he felt heat being withdrawn from his hand until it felt like ice, until he felt his hand pushed away by some form of energy.
If it had not had such a perfect symmetrical and artificial shape he wondered if he would have properly noticed the object, and would have thought it to be something left by the tunnel builders.
It curious how many members of the Exploration Association there actually had misgivings about it, and thoughts of it being something normal and not new, and he was sure that many of them doubted many of the things put forward by their association, and knew it had to be because of the way they treated them at times, and that there was so little of anything out of the ordinary and that they had not actually witnessed many of the things that the others had.
They vaguely reacted the Exploration Association and many of their elaborate unproven claims and were unconvinced of the occurrences, and only some occasionally openly had criticized the lack of proof.
So it never fully surprised Bryson that all the members there all started touching it and checking the effects it had on things and made crazy attempts at giving equivalent things that it could be related to, but they never fully achieved their aims.
In the end they seemed to accept that they had something new, and remained in doubt at how exaggerated the findings had been! Surely they had to have intensified things to revive the lifelessness and lack of new discoveries!
Many of the critics of the project had visited the site and had witnessed its removal to the surface, and many retired and old members had turned up (like Professor Lynam, Professor Thomas, and Dr Davidson), who remained together, and mainly eagerly listened to everything and searched for any proper new findings.
They loved everything to do with new exploration and science and they consistently showed their gratitude for being brought along, and constantly encouraged the others to describe what they thought about it.
Dr Davidson wrote down details that he was given, and Professor Lynam asked for lengthy descriptions for a lecture at their next meeting, to introduce the findings, and give a planned expedition to see it at its future destination.
“Make sure you get some good photos?” Davidson eventually muttered, unable to constrain himself.
Many more of the scientists started removing cameras and started filming the artifact at various angles, and Bryson wondered where they intended to take the artifact first and what they would eventually do with it, and he considered what other surprises the artifact had for them.
“There must be something recorded of this technology somewhere?” Davidson announced to one of the critics, who still did not know what to think.
“I’ve had people searching everywhere,” the critic scientist replied. “Without any results! Perhaps someone you know in the Exploration Association can help?”
“So far I’ve not heard anything yet!”
“We better wait,” Thomas continued, “before we can comment further!”
“There has to be something!” Lynam continued. “Something hidden away within the depths of some out-of-way place that can explain what it is! Massive unread achieves exist throughout the world ...”
“What were the findings from all the data that was recorded by scans of it?” Davidson asked firmly, as he read through his notes.
“There was not anything worthwhile!” Thomas answered firmly. “The artifact never allowed scans ...”
Some of the surrounding scientists immediately gasped!
“How does it do that?” one replied curiously, seeking theories.
“If you’ll remember ... They detected it when David Parker’s plane was scanning here, and the equipment stopped functioning properly and only gave strange, almost incomprehensible, images of here, which were clearly artificial ... All the other attempts at scanning it yesterday also received the same output ... By some phenomenon, of which they’ve not properly explained, the instruments, going by scan records, showed some form of powerful magnetic like influence – or something of that nature – acting upon it.”
“What could allow it to create such power? It has to have a tremendous energy source!”
“It hardly looks Second World War technology, but all the dating data shows it is! Looks can be deceiving! Some people think we may be dealing with some old lost technology hidden away here! What if someone hid it because they could not destroy it, because for some reason it was too dangerous to keep?”
“
Someone could have been be experimenting on something?”
“We are waiting to have many things clarified! So if any of you can help we would be grateful! We are making enquires to find out if someone had something like it!”
Bryson wondered what they would do if they could not explain anything? Would they put forward theories about it and allow them to be accepted as facts?
Chapter 6
The Museum Exhibition
Bryson stood baffled at the entrance to the giant museum hall, where the Exploration Association were showing an exhibition of the artifact and their latest discoveries from the scientists, which they claimed would astonish everyone.
It had confused Merton and Mortimer as they had not come out with anything new for weeks and they believed that they would have discovered everything of interest over that amount of time, and would have announced it earlier.
The audience in the outer corridor had baffled them when they had seen their astonished behavior and loud accounts on the discovery of something, which for some reason they all avoided saying anything directly about.
He saw something over on the stage, away out in front of the audience, which he could not identify, which the whole audience seemed to be watching and talking over. Scientists and famous people were everywhere, and the atmosphere unbelievable, and as though the audience were waiting for something unbelievable and dangerous to occur.
As they marched up the central aisle to their seats, at the front, he felt a shiver run through him as he sensed something was going to occur there, and he slowly noticed the appearance of an energy bubble over where the artifact was resting, over a thick metal display table.
The thing looked entirely deadly and was pulsating with energy, which looked and sounded on the brink of something.
Mortimer looked the most confused and sat in his seat examining everything, considering what had happened to it and was occurring, and perhaps why they had not told them anything about the alterations in it, and what had happened.
The Lost Treasure Map Trilogy (Part I) Page 2
