Into the mountains 3:45 am
After suiting up and with gear in hand, Al and the whole crew exited the Hobbit hole in total darkness. They wore the usual thermo image-blocking jumpsuits and facemasks. Each carried night vision goggles, weapons, ammo, climbing gear, and lots of rope. Ed had sent the exact coordinates that he believed would be the most probable entrance point into the mountain, if there was one.
The major expected to reach the target destination in roughly sixteen hours. The only thing Al worried about was how his ankle would hold up. Then he thought about his knees, hip and lower back. Oh, well, I can’t think about that now, he said to himself, and just trudged along.
He periodically checked his GPS coordinates and before he knew it, they had hiked several miles. So far, the trek consisted of steep hills, but as the sun came up it became clear that the hills were transitioning into treacherous-looking cliffs.
The first cliff was not too difficult and ropes were not required, but the second and third were a different story. The SAS boys hardly spoke a word the entire day, even during breaks—which were not many. In general, Al found it harder and harder to keep up with the four Brits, especially as darkness grew closer. This was their territory and he could tell that they obviously knew it well.
Eventually, the sun settled and the temperature dropped significantly, especially when they reached snow-covered ground. Al found the jumpsuit very warm but not enough to make him sweat. The only part of the suit he did not like was the facemask. Fortunately, his ankle and other joints were not screaming at him yet. During the hike, especially at night, he discovered that the night vision goggles helped on semi-smooth ground, but traversing the rocky terrain was becoming dangerous. He almost tripped several times because it was almost impossible to decipher the black shadows on the surface until he was right upon them.
“Hold,” one of the men whispered. Sergeant Harrison was staring at a small device in his hand. “I have the signal,” he said, slowly waving the device side to side. After several minutes he pointed, “That direction.”
The major stepped over and whispered to him.
Al could not hear what they were saying so he clicked up his night vision eye piece and glanced back. It was extremely dark except for the slightest hint of light reflecting from the stars and moon onto the snow. He clicked the eye piece back over his eye and waited.
Major Reeves patted Harrison on his back and then stepped over to Al. “He believes the signal is coming from near the top of that ridge.”
“Can he determine what it is yet?” Al asked.
“Not yet. He thinks the signal is being partially scrambled so it’s difficult to get a direct fix on it.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re using satellite and ground triangulation technology, which works perfectly in the real world, but,” he paused and glanced up in the direction of the ridge, “this signal has a virtual mirror image reflecting from the other two ridges to the East and West of us.”
“How does he know its direction or what ridge it is?”
“He doesn’t. It’s just an educated guess.” The major pointed to the ridge, “These three ridges, especially that one, have never been explored on foot before.”
“Except by you guys, right?”
“No, not even us, but there is always a first time.”
Al looked up at the ridge, his mind registering what the major had just said—no, they had not climbed it. He knew helicopters could not be used because the Brotherhood, if they were up there, would spot it or, even worse, shoot it down.
The ridge the major pointed to was a long, high, black, pointy shadow that clearly stood out against the night sky. He estimated they still had a two-hour climb ahead of them before reaching its base.
They continued trudging along until Harrison stopped and knelt down. He adjusted the dials on the device and waved over the major. Al stepped closer this time to listen in.
“I have a better read on the signal now,” he said, showing the major.
“The signal is coming from inside that part of the mountain.”
The major looked up at it. “I see what you’re saying. Can you get an estimate on the drop of it?”
Al did not know what he meant by that and waited for the answer.
Harrison continued as he examined the device, “I think if I was to guess, it would be in that direction.” He looked up and pointed.
The major nodded, glanced back, and motioned with his head to continue in that direction.
They continued hiking along for another hour, up and over several small rocky ridges until reaching what looked like a giant black wall. Al looked up at it, “Now I see why no one bothered to climb this.”
“It’s a beast,” the major added.
Harrison walked back and forth several meters, constantly observing the device. He stopped and said, “It appears to be within range either way for ten meters.”
As soon as he said that—and without waiting for orders—two of the SAS men pulled out line blasters and shot up spikes to a narrow rocky overhang. The small wires shot straight up and penetrated the mountain. They tested both lines and, appearing tight, they then tied on two ropes and pulled them up. Al watched as they efficiently worked as a team. When they finished securing the ropes, Major Reeves tested it, motioned to one man to stay behind, and began climbing first.
Al watched the major climb skillfully upward. The two men stepped out of the way, indicating that he was next. Al attached the ropes to the clips on his belt and began climbing. Halfway up to where the ropes attached, he now realized that the tight-fitting, thermo-blocking suit was perfect for climbing. It was flexible and protected his knees with extra padding when he collided with rocky sections of the cliff. When he neared the first ledge, he reached up and pulled himself over it. The edge appeared to be a few feet wide leading to a second cliff that protruded outward several feet, which concerned him. He then carefully leaned over to the edge and looked down. The next man was already climbing. The night vision capabilities of the device he was wearing had its limits but the last thing he wanted to do was misjudge a distance; that would be deadly no matter how skilled a climber he was.
The major was already climbing towards the overhanging section, a bit of a surprise to Al because of its complexity. Overhangs were especially dangerous because the center of gravity of the climber was a risky outward free hang. Al watched Major Reeves’s every motion as he free-climbed up and over the overhang. Then suddenly he stopped, let go of one hand and then dangled there. He reached into his belt, pulled out his line blaster, aimed it up, and pulled the trigger.
The light pop echoed repeatedly in the distance.
The major was performing a feat Al had never seen done before. Suspended with only one hand, holding his entire body weight and all his gear, Major Reeves secured and tied on his rope and scaled the overhang. Watching him, Al reflected on his early climbing days. For the first ten climbs, he was so exhausted that he thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest. Then, suddenly, climbing became easy and he wasn’t sure what changed in him, but it just did. He always assumed his innate self accepted the fact that he could do it, like adopting the mind-over-mountain mindset. Most people gave up on climbing because they never gave themselves the chance to reach that maximum limit. Watching the major do what he just did made Al realize that he still had much to accomplish. “Damn,” Al quietly cursed as the major’s rope dangled next to him. He continued climbing.
Once they all were up, they now faced the third cliff. They repeated the procedure and climbed to the next level. When they reached it, they secured themselves on the edge and Harrison checked his device. After a few seconds, he whispered, “Major, I’m getting some unusual signals.”
Al and the major made their way over to him.
“What is it?”
He stared at the screen of the device for a few moments and then handed it over for the major to see. After several seconds, he handed it back. “Are you sure?”
“Yes sir. I triple-checked the coordinates. It could not have been coming from any other direction.”
“Well then,” the major said, looking at Al, “it would appear that our signal is definitely coming from inside the mountain. Unfortunately, it is coming from below us.”
Al leaned over and glanced at the screen. He knew something was strange when he saw Holy Script characters on the computer monitor earlier but had decided not to inquire. He just assumed they already knew what they were. Now it was time to speak up. “Hey, when I saw the screen where you were first picking up on the signal, I saw the writing that Ed has been translating.”
“You recognized the codes on the screen?”
“Ah shit,” Al said. “You mean you didn’t?”
The major changed his grip on the rope and glanced at Harrison. He then asked, “What is he talking about?”
At that moment, a strong gust of wind hit the ledge, causing everyone to brace themselves. Harrison answered from behind his mask as his hood whipped from the wind, “I thought those signals were encrypted codes. You knew what they were?”
“I thought you boys were on top of this shit,” Al said over the noise of the wind.
A momentary silence from the men endured as the wind picked up intensity and seemed to swirl onto the small ledge. The major leaned over, “Okay, you are privy to intelligence we don’t have.”
Al loved these types of opportunities when dealing with other agents. “First,” he said, “you tell me what in the hell those things were coming out of the lake.”
“My mission,” the major said, with a hint of anger, “is to track and identify the movements of unidentified submersible objects.”
“And they are?”
“Exactly that— unidentified.”
“And?”
The major shook his head, “We... have identified three main types from this region that seem to come and go fully cloaked from human eyes.” The major paused as the wind gust subsided. “It took several years, but we have marked all three types and can now track them.”
Sergeant Harrison spoke up, “Hopefully without them knowing.”
“Track them where?”
Harrison pointed up.
“I see,” Al said smartly. He still was not satisfied with the response and explained, “Commander Collins has translated an ancient language that accidentally hooked me into this freaking crisis. I saw that writing on the screen and assumed that you boys knew what it was.”
“No,” Major Reeves responded. “Other than tracking unidentified submersible objects, our mission suddenly changed to tracking the Brotherhood and assisting you. We have other teams dedicated to tracking the Brotherhood exclusively that we sometimes work with.”
Al repositioned his grip on another rock and said jokingly, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
The major focused on Harrison, “You have never seen that language before?”
“No, sir.”
“Now,” Al leaned in to the major and said over the wind, “here is a twist for you guys. The Brotherhood is viciously tracking and hunting for codes written in that ancient language. If the Brotherhood is around here...”
“They could be tracking the same signal,” Major Reeves finished for him.
“You betcha,” Al added.
As the wind picked up in velocity, the major reached up and grabbed a small, rocky ledge. He repositioned his other hand on the rock face and looked up. He was about to give further instructions when Al saw something on the rock directly to the side where the major had put his hand.
“Wait,” he said. Al scooted over hand-over-hand and looked closer at the spot. He clicked up the night-vision eye piece and pulled out his light. With his hand over the lens, blocking most of the light, he turned it on. “No freaking way.”
“What is it?” the major asked.
Al turned to Harrison and asked, “What are you getting on the signal?”
“We are very close,” he answered.
“Like how close?”
“Very close or right above it.”
Major Reeves ran his hand along what Al had found. “What is this?”
“Did anyone bring any beer?” Al asked.
“Excuse me?” Reeves responded.
Al laughed and explained, “Ed Collins—or, should I say, Commander Ed Collins—directed us to this cliff face because of a hunch he had.”
The major seemed to sense something important had been found. He glanced back at the ledge near his hands, “Okay, keep explaining.”
Al moved closer. “When Ed and I were in Baalbek, Lebanon, we uncovered a giant underground complex thousands of years old. And,” he pointed to the symbols, “these exact symbols were carved into the rock where we found the entrance.”
The major lifted his eye piece and Al re-aimed the light at the spot. He opened his fingers, allowing more light through and illuminating the raised symbols. “A crescent moon, a sun, and a cross,” Al explained.
“The rest of the writing below it, my furry SAS friends, is Ed’s ancient writing: Holy Script.”
“And you saw that on the screen when the signal was coming through?”
“Yep.”
“Okay,” Major Reeves said, reloading a charge for the spike. “You sold me.”
Al turned his light off, “Don’t ask me to read any of it though.”
“That makes sense now,” Harrison said. “Commander Collins sent us the software that gave us the ability to capture this signal, but it was never explained what the symbols meant.”
Major Reeves shifted the eye piece back over his eye, scooted over to the edge of the cliff, and looked down. He then looked out into the distance, then up. “The question I have now is who is on whose ass now?”
“That is probably what I was going to ask next,” Al said. “If we and the Brotherhood are both tracking the same signal, assuming they can also detect it, are we going to collide?”
The major leaned over to one of his men, “You go back down, join Sergeant Green, guard the base of this cliff, and stay hidden.”
“Yes, sir,” he answered. He then shot a hook into the rock, threw his rope over the edge, and began descending into the darkness below.
The major looked around and asked, “Since you recognize this special spot, what do you suggest next?”
Al looked above and below the inscriptions, “It’s hard to say. I would guess if there is an entrance it would be nearby.”
The major readied his weapon. “If that signal is coming from inside this mountain, then we are going to figure a way inside.” He arched back, aiming his line blaster upwards, and pulled the trigger.
The line went up and the spike snagged. The major tugged on the line, strung up his rope, and began climbing to the next level.
Al took a quick picture of the inscription and began climbing. Once he reached the next level, he found it difficult to find a footing. The spike lodged into a crack in the face and he was still a short distance from the next ledge. The major was now free-climbing up and angling to the right, following what looked like a large crack. Al found a section to hold onto and unclipped the rope from his belt, so the next man could start climbing. He watched the rope swing off to the left. That was his only lifeline so now his climbing skills were going to be tested. He found it odd that the SAS team didn’t bother to inquire about his ability to perform this extremely dangerous climbing mission and simply assumed he was a skilled climber. Not just that, a skilled night climber!
He held tight and assessed his situation. The next rock to grab was a bit beyond his reach, actually several inches. He glanced up at the major who was now cruising along, grip by grip. He attempted to reach the crack and he felt his other hand slipping so he pulled back. He felt a wave of anger well up inside of him. Or was it suddenly self-doubt? What was he doing? This is insane scaling a flat vertical rock at an angle at night.
Several hundred feet high in a moderately strong wind, and the slightest slip, misjudged grip, or loose rock could send him falling to his death. He glanced down to his left and suddenly became nervous. He then quickly looked up, stupidly knowing that he shouldn’t do that, because one way to lose your confidence is to show your mind that a fall is imminent. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
After a minute of meditating away his fears, he opened his eyes, tightened his abs, dug his boots in, and reached for the crack. In one confident swing, beyond his reach, he grabbed it and dug his fingers in. He stretched beyond his limits, which was normal. Holding tight, he glanced up at the major to confirm that he had the right crack and he did. Then he realized that he had forgotten to remove his gloves. Free-climbing with gloves was crazy. He let go and swung back. He pulled his glove off with his teeth and stuffed it into his belt. He did the same with the other and reached again for the same spot. Much better, he concluded, pulling himself closer to the crack. Next, he had to move his feet, which raised the next maddening issue. How are these guys climbing so well with boots? It was hard enough with flexible climbing shoes but with solid and firm boots the only way he would know that he didn’t have a firm toe grip is if he actually slipped—which made his finger grip that much more vital. Now that he convinced himself that he was crazy, he continued moving laterally one careful motion at a time. The green hue that the night-vision scope created was okay, but unnerving.
Al continued climbing up and over until he heard the major say, “Over here.”
That broke Al’s self-confidence debate with himself, and he looked up. The major was now about fifteen feet above him and to the right. He had his light out and was aiming it at the rock face. As Al got closer he saw that the major had perched his right foot onto a rock that was protruding out a few inches. Al made his way over to it. He embarrassingly couldn’t figure out how the major got where he was so he navigated an alternate climbing route that brought him a few feet below where the major’s left foot was.
He glanced up and saw Harrison skillfully climbing directly at the major. “How the hell did he do that,” Al whispered. He moved over a couple more feet and was now below the major. He grabbed the rocky ledge and with both hands pulled to the right. Now he just had to scale up to see what had the major’s interest. He reached, found a small crack, dug his fingers in and pulled. Once he was at eye level, or as close as he could get to where the major had his light, he clicked up his eye piece.
It took a second for his eyes to focus on the illuminated rock but he could clearly see writing.
“As far as I can determine,” Major Reeves said, “this is crazy.”
“Why would anybody put this way up here?” Harrison asked.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Al answered, glancing at him. He still could not figure out how that guy climbed there so quickly. “How long have you been rock climbing?”
“You’re saying that you encountered the same thing in Lebanon?” the major asked, interrupting him.
Al looked closely at the writing, “Not exactly, but the same department.”
“So,” Major Reeves said, “with what you know, can you determine what to do next, or how to access the mountain?”
“There is no way to tell in the dark what they were up to when they put that here.” As he said that, he had an idea and pulled out his PDA. “Take a picture with this,” Al said, handing it over to him.
The major grabbed it, aimed, and took a picture. The flash was bright and temporarily blinded Al. Hopefully none of the Brotherhood goons noticed it. The major handed it back and Al sent it and the other picture to Ed—wherever he was. He then slowly typed a message with his thumb to translate it and get it back to him ASAP.
“I just sent that to Ed, and if he is above ground somewhere, he will get it right away.”
“If he only knew what we were in the middle of,” the major responded.
“You mean clinging to a cliff in the middle of the night with a freezing wind whipping around?” What Al really wanted to say was Ed was most likely sitting in a warm room with the hot and exotic Natalie Sikorsky, working on translating Holy Script.
Moments later, Ed returned his message and Al read it,
“The Gods have not left,
or,
The Gods are still here.”
The major shifted positions and took a second look at the writing, “That’s no help.”
As the wind picked up briefly, Al laughed, “That’s what I would normally say when they read it to me. But, believe me, it means something.”
Harrison whispered, “This signal is getting stronger.”
Al glanced down at him and noticed something he had missed. Sergeant Harrison was standing on a long, smooth crevice. He looked closer at it and followed it to the side. A small rectangular ledge extended laterally several feet. He realized he didn’t see it earlier during his self-doubt session and said angrily, “That’s how you did it.”
“Excuse me, sir?” Harrison asked.
“Oh, nothing,” Al answered. He then repositioned himself as close as he could to the rocky face, relieving as much pressure on his fingers as he could. He pulled out his small light, clicked it on, and aimed it where the man’s feet were. “No shit,” Al said.
Harrison glanced down, “What?”
“The ledge you’re standing on is definitely man-made,” Al said, aiming his light up to see what he was holding onto. “Shit,” Al said again. The light had illuminated the top part of a rectangular stone cross beam like a cap over a monument. It protruded out from the rock about three to four inches, just enough to use as a footing. “I can’t believe I missed that.”
Harrison began to notice it too now that the light was on it and said over the wind, “I am directly in front of something.”
“Hang on,” Al said as he slowly scaled back over. Carefully he reached and stepped ahead to get a footing on the lower beam. Once there he was directly next to Harrison and grabbed the upper beam. He turned his light on just as the wind was picking up. He could now tell what it was.
“It’s a doorway!” Harrison exclaimed.
“Yep,” Al responded. His forearm burned as he held on tightly while he analyzed the doorway with his light. It consisted of one large six- or seven-foot by two-foot triangular stone beam on top. It had a supporting vertical stone post on each side and one longer beam on the bottom, acting more like a ledge. The only difference that he could tell was that the two side beams were each made of two equal-size pieces, whereas the bottom was one solid piece. Both were sticking out roughly three to four inches, which was just enough to hold onto. The top cap stuck out maybe an extra inch or two, probably making it easier to see if someone was looking.
“This is not exactly what I expected,” the major commented.
Harrison used his free hand to aim his light on the top piece. “There is writing in the middle.”
Al hadn’t noticed it before and instead of paying too much attention to the writing, he quickly took a picture and forwarded it to Ed. He now focused on the rough stone between the beams, blocking the way in.
“What do you think this is?” Major Reeves asked.
Al spent a few more seconds analyzing it and answered, “This is definitely meant to be an entrance. The stones were deliberately stacked.”
“Why put it way up here?” Harrison inquired, repositioning himself.
“Ha,” Al answered seriously. “I gave up trying to figure out why these guys do what they do. You ought to see their freaking underground cities.” Al caught himself, and decided that this was not a good time to be a smart ass. “Oh, I’m sorry, you guys obviously know about that?”
“We’re not as enlightened as you think we are,” the major said.
Al pulled out his tunnel finder, “So that makes us even.” He turned it on, waited for the screen to light up and placed it on the rocky doorway. It sounded off with a, Beep.
“And?” the major asked.
“Seven inches,” Al said, pulling it off. He then pulled out four explosive strips.
“What are you planning?”
“Gonna blow it open, why?”
The major moved to the side, “Okay.”
Al placed the strips in a triangular pattern he found worked best over rocks. “Never leave the Hobbit hole without them,” Al said in a low tone, thinking about the SAS hideout under the tree trunk. When he finished attaching the detonation wires he motioned for Harrison to move out of the way and he climbed to the side. Al then made his way back to the right of the structure and found a solid spot to hold onto. He wasn’t accustomed to blowing out the sides of mountains and wasn’t sure how to gauge the distance he needed in order not to be knocked off the cliff. Typically, he would only be concerned about flying debris, or potentially caving in a tunnel, which he had done many times, but this was a little different. If he hit the detonation button, would he trigger a waterfall of rocks and boulders to crash down on them, knocking the three of them off the face?
Al re-checked his position and figured he was far enough away as long as the rocks blasted outwards.
After a few more seconds of thinking about it, he checked the other two men to see if they were far enough away when the major said, “The blast will go completely outward; very little will come down.”
“I was just going to ask you about that,” Al replied. “Blowing in five, four, three, two,” he placed his finger on the button. “One,” he turned his head and pressed it.
The explosion was not what he expected. It was almost a muffled crack and hardly shook the rocky part he was holding onto. After the echo in the distance dissipated, Al and the major both made their way over to investigate.
Al grabbed the side beam as support to swing himself around. He aimed his light inside the roughly three-foot-wide hole. It was rough but large enough to climb through. Surprisingly, other than heat from the blast, very little dust and smoke was visible.
The major already had unhooked his rope and backpack and climbed inside before Al decided it was safe.
“Be my guest,” Al said, grabbing the inside rocky edge and unhooking his rope. He aimed his light inside to examine the tunnel. The walls and ceiling were extremely rough. and were about five feet in height, enough to crouch down in.
Harrison climbed in next, checked his instrument and said, “The signal just increased by two-fold.”
At that moment, Al noticed a message from Ed. He read it,
“WE HAVE TRAPPED THE GODS HERE.”
“Does that tell you anything?” the major asked.
“Not really,” Al answered.
“The Gods are trapped here?” Harrison asked, puzzled.
Al shrugged and shook his head. “Maybe the Gods were up here having a party and got trapped.”
Harrison nodded and most likely was smiling behind his face mask.
The major moved back to look over the edge of the cliff. He spoke briefly into his lip microphone and then turned his light inward. He began moving deeper inside. “The stronger signal means we are in a direct path.”
“Is that possible, being inside a mountain?” Al asked.
“Or,” Harrison said, “it’s coming from an extremely powerful source.”
Al let go of the top ledge, entered the rocky hole, and turned his light inward. “Good point,” he said, and began following Reeves.
After about forty feet, the major held up his hand in a ‘slow down’ motion. “Drop-off,” he whispered.
Al crouched down next to him and peered into the empty space ahead. A large hole was directly in front of them, covering the width of the tunnel. Al got on his belly and crawled to the edge, aiming his light down. He immediately noticed heat coming out of it as a wave of it hit his face. He had noticed the heat earlier when he entered the tunnel but assumed it was from the blast. The heat source, he concluded, was from something else. As he examined the hole further, he noticed the sides were smooth and extended down well beyond the light’s reach and looked more like a shaft. For some reason, he expected that. He then twisted around, aiming the light up, and the shaft continued beyond the light.
“Look,” the major said, holding his light straight ahead.
Al twisted back around, added his light to the major’s and what he saw looked like some type of vertical groove. He then saw the same on both of the sidewalls.
The major spoke up, “If I’m not mistaken, this looks suspiciously like an elevator shaft.”
Al shot his light back down, “You may be right.” He then reached up and rubbed his hand over the top of the tunnel. It was rough at the edge leading into the hole. “I think whoever carved out this tunnel punched a hole into this elevator-like shaft after it was built.”
“But why?” the major replied. “This is a little more than I expected.” He glanced back at Harrison, “The signal?”
“Almost off the chart,” he answered, looking down at the device.
Suddenly a violent explosion occurred behind them. Rock and debris flew inward, striking everywhere. Another explosion followed, shaking the tunnel and causing chunks of stone to cave in on them. Smoke and heat rushed into the space. Al rallied his senses, grabbed for his weapon and chambered a round. He reached behind him and felt Harrison, who was lying face down. He had absorbed the impact of some of the flying debris.
“You okay?” Al asked.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he answered, slowly getting up.
Al aimed his light at where the major had been. He wasn’t there. Al quickly crawled over to the edge. He looked down and was relieved to see Major Reeves hanging on for dear life. Just before Reeves’s fingers gave out, Al slammed his hands onto the major’s, then grabbed his wrists and yelled, “Hold on!”
“That thought had occurred to me,” the major yelled back, struggling to hold on.
Harrison then reached down, grabbed the major and pulled him up. After a couple of attempts, they managed to get him over the edge. All three of them began coughing from the smoke and dust as they relaxed for just a moment.
Major Reeves rolled over, “Thanks, boys.”
Al sat up and aimed his light back towards the entrance, illuminating a pile of rocks. “Is getting trapped in tunnels my fucking life story or what?”
Harrison examined the blocked tunnel. As he did, his back was facing Al, exposing bloody spots soaking through his clothes. “You’re hit, man,” Al said.
“I’m fine, sir,” he answered, turning around. “But we are definitely trapped.”
The major sat up, wiped the dirt off his hands and coughed, “I think they found us.”
“It would appear so,” Al answered.
Then sounds came echoing through the rocks. They all looked at the rock pile, listening. After a few seconds, Al asked, “Could that be your team here that fast?”
The major seemed to think about his answer for a moment and answered, “Those aren’t our men. It would take twenty minutes to have a chopper drop a team at the top of the crest and then another twenty minutes to scale down and blow the entrance. And...the problem with that theory is two-fifths of my entire team are here.”
“Aw shit,” Al said and then asked urgently, “how much rope do we have?”
“About a hundred meters,” Harrison answered.
“What are you thinking?” the major asked.
“Okay, that’s about three hundred feet.” Al glanced down the shaft. “We’re going down.”
“You sure about that?”
Al pulled the extra rope off his pack and tossed it off the edge. “I don’t know about you boys, but I have had several wild shootouts with the Brotherhood and I always seem to be on the losing side. Besides, I can almost guarantee you that there is another exit down there. And if nothing else,” he added, wiping the dirt off his forehead, “we can take the elevator back up.”
The major also pulled the rope off his harness, “Okay, let’s do it.”
They tied their ropes together and attached one end to a sturdy rock. Al then tied the rope around his waist and leaned back into the hole. This was always the most unnerving part of a descent, relying on the rope not to give way. He had learned over the years that the rope never failed you; it was some dumb ass not securing it correctly.
He took his first jump and repelled six to seven feet down. His feet firmly planted onto the smooth shaft wall and he pushed back, descending farther. He found it slippery but was able to get a good footing. He paused and looked up. They both had their lights aiming down at him and the major yelled, “When you find the elevator, send it up for us.”
“Very funny,” Al replied. He then pushed his feet away from the wall, pulled his right hand away from his body, removing friction from the rope, and continued descending. He estimated with each push he dropped ten to fifteen feet and, at that rate, he would have about twenty push-offs before his rope ended.
On the fifteenth push, he paused and glanced up. He could hardly see the lights above and secured the rope with his left hand. With the other hand, he pulled out his light and aimed it below him. The shaft continued going down with no sign of ending. He stowed the light and pushed away from the wall. He dropped another fifteen feet, raised his boots and hit the wall. He repeated each push, calculating each drop, watchful not to run out of rope. Aiming his light down, the shaft continued to drop into the heated abyss but then, directly below him, his eye caught something different.
A black shadow in the shape of a large square was a few feet below him. He pushed away and swung outward from the wall to give him a better look. He immediately noticed the groove in the center of the wall stopped at the top of the shadow. It was definitely an opening. He put the light between his teeth and moved his left hand away, allowing the rope to slowly slide through. He slowed his pace as he approached the opening and stopped when his boots reached the top part. He secured the rope, clicked off the light, and listened. No lights or sounds were coming from inside, so he lowered himself in the dark until his boots hit the bottom of the opening. He again secured the rope and pulled out his light as he dangled there. Holding the light straight into the opening, he clicked it on.
He fully expected to see a roughly carved-out tunnel going straight ahead, like the one they had come through, but instead saw what looked like the inside of a monastery. The floor was made of square marble tiles and directly ahead he could see walls.
He tapped his mic and whispered, “Found an opening. Wait a few. Going in to investigate.”
Major Reeves’s voice crackled into his ear piece, “Hurry up.”
Al swung back and forth until the momentum planted his feet firmly on the ground. He let go of the rope, stepped inside and unclipped his pack. He quietly lowered it to the ground, removed his weapon, and attached the light to the barrel.
The first thing he noticed was a large, brown, vault-like door on the right with a medieval brass ring attached in the center. For some odd reason it reminded him of the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and her team reached the Emerald City and had to use a ring like that to summon the Wizard.
He continued inside, noticing the oddly shaped walls on both sides protruding out in unusual angles. Decorations covered the walls from top to bottom, including dozens of painted heads with wings attached. Each head had a halo around it as he had seen in old European paintings. Directly ahead, the walls angled up, merging into a high arch. Covering every square inch of the entire back wall under the arch was a very large painting. In the center was a queen with a halo, holding a baby. The baby also had a halo and a crown. All around were other, smaller paintings. To the right was a short passageway covered in paintings, also arched. One thing that seemed out of place were giant stained-glass windows covering the entire left side of the space. He tried to see through them but could not. He realized that he had better get the boys down here fast. He walked back to the opening to get a clear transmission. He glanced up and tapped his mic, “Get down here.”
“On our way,” the major’s voice crackled over his earpiece.
Al turned around and re-examined the right side. Past the vault door, the wall protruded out and led to another opening. He aimed the light inside and shone it again on the paintings. Whoever designed this area sure seemed confused as to what they were up to, he thought to himself. Nothing seemed to match or make sense. He then backed up to the center and aimed his light at the lower part of the walls. Wrapped around the entire space and following each of the odd angles, there was a sort of bench installed at the base of every wall.
The major landed first and pulled out his light. “What in the hell is this?”
“Welcome to my world,” Al answered.
Reeves walked inside, aiming his light around but not saying a word. Once he reached the center, he asked sarcastically, “This is your world?”
“Sure as hell seems like it.”
Sounds of a small explosion came from the shaft followed by a shower of rocks and dirt. Moments later, Harrison landed in a hurry. He let the rope go and raised his gun. “We have company,” he yelled out.
Al aimed his light to the right at the vault door. “That is one possibility.” He turned to the left toward the windows, “next option.” He then stepped in front of the passageway with the half-arched ceiling, “Last option.”
The major stepped in front of the door and perused it. He tapped the surface with his gun, emanating a metal-to-metal sound. “Solid,” he said, turning around.
Harrison stepped to the windows, cupped his hand and peered through it. “I say we break the glass.”
“That would be the logical option,” the major said as a loud explosion echoed down the shaft.
“They are through the rocks now,” Harrison said.
Al aimed his light directly at the glass. “Have at it.”
Harrison turned around and hit the glass with the butt end of his gun and a small section shattered.
Al stood up on the bench and hit the metal that separated the glass. It didn’t budge. He kicked it several times with his boot until the bottom part gave way.
The major stepped to the edge of the shaft, aimed his gun upward, and sprayed it with bullets. “We need to hurry,” he said, rushing back.
Harrison continued breaking the glass as Al continued kicking. The metal frame finally gave enough room for them to climb through.
Harrison removed his pack and climbed through first. He reached back and pulled his pack in. Al did the same, followed by the major.
Harrison was already in the center of the space with his light trained on three large golden pedestals about eight or nine feet tall. The one on the left looked to be larger than the one in the center, which was larger than the one on the right. Al aimed his light up toward the ceiling which was cave-like and very rough, in the shape of a dome. Directly behind the pedestals was a decorated wall divided into squares that covered it from side to side. Inside each square were more painted faces with a halo above each head. Each picture had writing below it.
Al continued looking around for an escape route.
“There,” the major said, his light pointing to the far right at three large oval windows. He stepped closer, aimed his submachine gun, and raked the center window with bullets, shattering it to pieces. He then shone his light inside. “This looks promising.”
Al ran over and looked. Directly ahead, his light was brightly reflecting on a gigantic mounted gold disc. There was clearly writing going all the way around the edges. The disc was set at a slight angle and Al pointed his light to the right, then left, but didn’t see anything else. The ceiling was farther up than his light could reach. He then squeezed between the thin metal rods and stepped inside. Again, he looked around and didn’t see any obvious way out.
The major climbed in next and walked around the disc. “What in the Lord’s name could this be used for?”
“Don’t know,” Al said. “Most of the stuff I’ve seen can’t be explained rationally.”
“Looks like a gold-plated radar dish.”
Al then noticed a door to the right side of the windows.
Sergeant Harrison shouted from the other side, “I found a door.”
Al and the major quickly climbed back through and saw him standing between the center gold pedestal and the wall. He had somehow opened two of the squares lining the wall.
“Found a hidden door,” he said.
Al glanced over at it. “How did you find it?’
“I just noticed the signal fluctuating on several frequencies and I stepped towards this wall and it shot off the chart. I just started pulling on the squares and one opened up.” He showed the device to the major. “I don’t understand.”
“Can you separate the signals?” the major asked.
“Yes sir.”
Al stepped to the side of the door and saw a short hallway with a very wide stone stairway going down. “I was afraid of that,” he said. “Going deeper?” the major asked. Al held his light. “Unfortunately, in my humble experience, going deeper often leads out.” He then noticed an opening on the right side and immediately knew where that led. He stepped inside, aimed his light to the right, and said, “That goes to the golden disc chamber.”
“You’re making it sound poetic,” the major said.
Al took the first few steps down and paused, “Yeah.”
The major joined him. “You think that stairway leads down to the base of the mountain.”
“Well, the elevator shaft seemed to go down a lot farther,” Al answered, taking a few more steps down. “Only one way to find out.”
“Hold on,” Major Reeves said. He walked back over to the glass section and aimed his light through in the direction of the shaft. “They pulled up the rope.” He then began attaching explosives to the lower half of the window in three different sections, feeding the wires back past the pedestals and into the stairway. He handed the wires to Harrison and said, “Stay here and guard the entrance.”
“Yes sir,” he answered, grabbing the wires.
“Give me the device,” the major ordered.
Handing it over, Harrison said, “I’ll be right here, sir.”
Al led the way down the steps and after thirty or so they turned a hundred eighty degrees and went down another direction. After a couple more angle changes, the major stopped. “This feels about right.
We are at the base of the mountain.” Al aimed his light down the stairs, “We still have a ways to go.”
“Lead the way.” They continued down for several more minutes until they reached the bottom.
Al aimed his light around, illuminating three separate, partially caved-in tunnels going in opposite directions. “This is what I was afraid of.” The major looked in each direction. “If I was to guess,” he pointed into the tunnel on the right, “that goes to the lake.”
“Fine by me,” Al said. He raised his weapon with the light attached, and began down the tunnel. The ground, walls, and ceiling were very rough and many areas were partially blocked by rocks, forcing the two men to squeeze through sideways. Eventually the tunnel turned to the left and began to go down at a steep angle. They both were holding onto the rocky walls to prevent slipping. After a few minutes of descending, Major Reeves spoke up, “Hold, we’re going in a circle.”
Al held up his light, “I know it seems like it, but keep going.”
“Very well,” he answered, hesitant, and they continued.
Several minutes later, the tunnel ended at a wall of stone. The major stopped and asked smartly, “Your plans?”
“Don’t panic,” Al answered, stepping up to it. He held up his hand and felt a cool draft. “This is good news.”
“How do you know?” Major Reeves aimed his light where Al’s hand was showing a small crevice. “That leads out somewhere. Got a cool draft,” Al said, lowering his hand, “which to tunnel rats like me, means that an exit is near.” He then pulled out his tunnel finder, turned it on, and placed it against the rock wall. After a few seconds, it beeped and Al said, “That works.”
“You’re going to blow it?”
“Yep.”
The major stepped closer and aimed his light over the wall. “Finding an exit would be a good thing.” Al opened his pack and counted his explosive strips—six left. He glanced at the wall estimating what he would need. He attached three in a triangular pattern, saving the other three. He then pushed in wires, and fed them into the tunnel finder. “Back up time,” Al said, motioning the major to move. They both backed up to a slight bend in the passageway.
The major took up a position behind him and asked, “How many of those damn things did you bring with you?”
“Never enough,” Al answered. He closed his eyes and hit the button. A gust of hot air and rocks flew at them, ricocheting off the walls but for the most part missing them.
The major stepped around, shining his light into the new hole and then downward. “Got a problem.”
Al followed. “Uh-oh.” Apparently, the blast not only knocked out the wall, but the ground as well.
“I think we’re over another chamber,” the major said.
Al felt a rush of heat coming out of the hole that was not normal. The heat from blowing out walls usually dissipates in seconds but this heat was intense, like an oven. He cautiously approached the hole, raising his hand to hold back the major.
“Let me check first.” Al got on his knees and slowly crawled over to it. The heat was now like a furnace, which was odd because the initial breeze he felt was not hot, or maybe he just didn’t feel it. He reached the edge and peered below. The heat now burned his eyes. Aiming his light around, he noticed three more large golden discs below. They were all attached to stands, like the others, and were slightly turned upward at forty-five degree angles.
Despite the heat, Al felt a sudden chill. Behind the discs his light caught the lower half of something he recognized. Raising it, he saw illuminated the giant brass phoenix statue with its eyes lit up blood red. It was tall, with a long neck —its wings sticking out and then angling straight up. At that moment something occurred to him. The major and his team have been hunting unidentified submersible and flying objects. That sounds like a fancy way of saying they are UFO hunters. What if the submersibles and UFO’s in Jackson Lake have something to do with this complex inside the mountain? This was a potential connection that Al would have to figure out. If these guys worked for Ed, then Ed would know that answer. The aim right now was to find a way out, so interrogating the major would have to wait. “You’re going to love this,” Al said, slowly scooting back. “You’re kidding, of course,” the major responded. “There is nothing
here that I would actually love.” All waved him over, deciding the ground was solid. The major got on his knees and crawled over. Al pointed with his light. “Do you see that phoenix statue?”
“Yes, what is it?”
“That is exactly like the ones we found in Iraq and Bolivia.”
“Are you saying then that we are on the correct path?”
“Could be,” Al answered, lowering himself to ground level. He walked past the disc and up to the statue. Major Reeves hit the ground and came up behind him. As he stepped up, Al asked, “What is the possibility of the signal coming from that?” The major walked around the bird’s legs, examining it with his light, “What do you mean?”
“Not sure, it’s just an idea.”
“One way to find out,” the major said, pulling the receiver from his pack and glancing at the screen. He looked up, “The signal is maxed out.”
“And that means?”
“We might be at ground zero for the signal.”
“Damn! This must be it,” Al said. “Which is?”
“You just solved a major mystery.”
“I’m not quite following you.” Al aimed his light at the face of the phoenix statue. “This is the third one we’ve found, but we didn’t know a signal was coming out of it.”
“Okay,” the major said. “So, if I was to speculate and appear smart, which I am not, I would suggest that this could be a beacon of some type.”
“Well then,” the major said looking around, “finding a way out is still our priority before we announce the mystery is solved. Wouldn’t you say?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Al said, remaining focused on the phoenix. He then yelled out, “This is what the Brotherhood is searching for!” Al turned around to the gold disc. “Didn’t your man say that satellites were tracking the signal?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Goddammit, this has to be it. They are hunting for this signal! This might explain how the Brotherhood and my team were virtually on top of each other in Iraq and Bolivia. We have to get this info to Ed.”
Major Reeves shot his light around, “Well, let’s get out of here first.”
“You betcha,” Al said. He then realized that he had failed to notice the temperature had doubled since the tunnel. He unzipped his coat and then pointed his light to the left, illuminating a large square opening in the wall. Inside was some type of flat platform. He walked in its direction and said, “The heat draft seems to be coming from that area.” As he approached, he could see the edge of the platform and barren blackness behind it. He did not see a back wall but did see debris and rocks scattered about on the platform.
“I agree,” Major Reeves said, walking to the side of the opening.
The opening was twice the size of a normal garage door with a treaded type of square platform inside. It had a rough surface that reminded Al of the type of surface on the top of Navy aircraft carriers used to prevent aircraft from sliding around in rough seas. There appeared to be a slim gap between the space and the platform, and then it occurred to him what they were looking at. He aimed his light up and saw that it was a shaft, “I think we found the bottom of the elevator.”
The major glanced up, “I was right. We did go in a circle.”
Al aimed his light directly past the platform into the darkness. “There is no back wall.” Al put one foot on the platform and pushed down. It felt solid so he stepped onto it to get a view off the other side. As he reached the center, he felt it shudder slightly. The sudden movement startled him as he realized that he may have just screwed up. He then lifted his foot to back up and as he did the platform dropped rapidly.
The major yelled from behind, “Get off !”
Al turned around and reached for the edge, but it was too late. There was no way he could dive off. He glanced up and watched the major with his light aiming down at him rapidly become farther and farther away. He felt weightless as he dropped as fast as a rock. He did not know what else he could do as he dropped into the abyss, so he knelt down, laid his hands flat on the surface, and held on for the ride.
After several seconds, the elevator did not stop as he would have expected but seemed to pick up speed. He slowly raised his weapon with the light attached and aimed it out as he dropped. Nothing but blackness. He pointed it all around. The sidewalls were gone. The main wall was moving so fast that it was only a blur. He continued to brace himself since the platform was moving so fast that he felt like his body was lifting off. He slung his weapon around his shoulder so it would not fly away and used both hands to hold the ground again. Then, suddenly, he saw a shape fly by him. He barely had a chance to see it. It looked like a structure or a building but he went right by it. More structures came into view as the platform began to slow down. He could tell it was slowing down because his body felt heavy.
Major Reeves could not believe what he had just seen. The elevator platform Al was on completely dropped from under him. In the blink of an eye, he was gone. He dropped to one knee and leaned over the edge, aiming his light down, and he barely got a glimpse of Al in the center of the platform before he disappeared into darkness. He quickly checked each wall for any type of control that would drive the elevator. After a few seconds, he gave up and looked around frantically throughout the space but found nothing. He ran back to the hole they blew out. He jumped up, grabbing the edge, deciding it was time to get immediate help.