“Sure, which way?”
Tom said, “I spotted a series of footprints in the sand, heading east. The path is well worn, so it looks like someone’s frequented the place.”
“Okay. Lead the way.”
Both men were armed with MP5 submachineguns with multiple spare magazines. It felt strange to be searching an archeological site of such valuable history, with military weapons, but the news of a well-worn path reminded Sam that they weren’t here for its rich history.
They needed to find out who was involved in the world-wide governmental insurrection and more importantly, if any of them were still alive.
It seemed naïve and unlikely that the submarine they had destroyed contained the last of their enemies.
The path rounded to the east, before entering a small passageway. Sam ran his hands across the black glassy stone.
“It’s obsidian.” His eyes swept the archway, all the way up to the top of the behemoth grotto. “Who do we know who has the technology to manipulate and shape obsidian in such a way?”
Tom set his mouth firm. “The Master Builders!”
“Exactly. They’re not just manipulating the obsidian. Whoever built this place knew how to transfer light. That skylight overhead is still covered by 50 or more feet of water, and yet, it’s shining down on this beach as clear as though it were a picturesque atoll.”
Sam continued farther into the tunnel. It went for a couple thousand feet, descending the whole time, before opening up to an underground world. The ceiling in this new vault was so high that it could only be seen at the edges of the wall and not in the middle. As with the beach and submerged atoll, this place had a unique mechanism for providing an overhead light.
It shined so brightly that the entire place looked like daylight.
The passageway opened to a rocky escarpment that overlooked the entire place. There were trees and plants that were filled with fruits neither of them had ever seen, providing a rich fragrance throughout.
His eyes swept the near-mythical environment with wonder. It was impossible to tell where the place began and where it finished. It might have been a small country in its own right. Thick rainforests, including giant gum trees, more than a hundred feet tall, filled the area. There were massive open plains of grass, a freshwater river that split the ancient world in two, with multiple smaller tributaries and streams that ran off from it.
An 80-foot waterfall raged somewhere to the east, sending a fine mist down upon the valley. The sound of birds chirping echoed throughout.
Ancient megafauna drank by the bank of the river, including several monotreme species, including Zaglossus hacketti, a sheep-sized echidna, thought to be extinct from Australia for more than 40,000 years and once uncovered in Mammoth Cave in Western Australia. As well, an Obdurodon dicksoni, a seven-foot platypus spread out along the riverbank.
Sam scanned along the river bank, using his high-powered binoculars. He stopped at a burrowing Diprotodon, a hippopotamus-sized marsupial, most closely related to the wombat, which was thought to have become extinct 20,000 years ago in South Australia.
“What is this place?” Tom asked.
Sam shrugged. “I have no idea, but I feel like I’ve just entered a Jules Verne novel.”
Tom laughed. “Now that you mention it, that’s exactly what it is.”
Like many explorers drawn to the underwater world, they had both enjoyed his early science fiction novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Sam continued to search the area through his binoculars. Aside from the ancient flora and fauna, there were internal farmland areas with livestock, including cattle, pigs, sheep, and chickens. A rainforest. An entire biosphere. Light was being siphoned through the surface and redirected throughout the cavern.
But who was looking after the animals?
There were a series of interwoven, straight waterways. A labyrinth of aqueducts and irrigation. He followed them north until he spotted a series of houses. They appeared old, made out of sandstone, almost colonial in style.
But no people.
“Where is everyone?” Tom asked.
“No idea.”
Sam ran his eyes across the colonial-style building, before reaching an opaline lake some distance behind it. There, several people were swimming. It was hard to tell from the distance, but Sam thought they appeared much taller than average humans. They looked to be at least seven-feet tall. They wore some sort of loincloth.
To himself, he said, “Well, I guess they are some sort of cavemen… and women?”
Then he spotted one of them come up from the surface of the lake, carrying a three-foot-long blue lobster, which he’d speared.
Tom said, “Zoom in over there. To the open grounds to the east of the colonial village.”
“What is it?”
“Trouble.”
Sam shifted his binoculars.
A dust trail showed a modern car racing along a dirt road. It pulled into a large square field. Someone got out of the car. He was too far away to see the man clearly, but he was wearing some kind of military uniform.
Sam moved his binoculars half an inch to the right and gasped.
There, in the large field, was an army — lined up on parade. They were carrying modern weapons and wore a blue military uniform.
“That’s really something,” Tom said. “Just when you thought you’d found utopia, there’s some despot idiot who thinks he can rule it with a mighty fist.”
“Yeah, we’ll never learn from history,” Sam replied. “All right, we need to get back to tell someone.”
Sam lowered his binoculars and came face-to-face with a small car-sized echidna. Sam imagined the oversized spiky ant-eater, might have misinterpreted him as food. The creature snarled happily and charged toward him.
Tom fired his MP5 submachine gun in a continuous, rapid-fire burst.
The bullets appeared to do little to deter the beast, with foot-long spikes covering its entire body. Instead, it changed direction, charging at Tom.
Sam fired on the creature’s hind legs.
The beast made a sharp whine, turned, and fled.
“You okay?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, never better. But we should get out of here while we still can.”
“Agreed.”
Chapter Sixty-Two
Sam and Tom took a seat at the back of the large room.
Despite its grand size, the office was surprisingly stark. With its blue carpet, a massive desk, and two small tables for meetings — four seats each. It wasn’t the kind of place for a big, open meeting. Just a few generals and maybe a head of state or two. Secrets passed through this unpretentious, innocuous room day and night.
The secretary of defense sat down.
Speaking with authority, she said, “I’ve had those two items you believed came from Amelia Earhart sent away for analysis. The jacket was her exact size and might indeed prove to have once been hers.”
“And the photos, ma’am?” Sam asked.
“Those, I’m told, will take some time, but our people are confident they can develop the photographs — so long as we don’t rush the process.”
“That’s good,” Sam said. “I’d love to know what’s on them.”
The secretary shrugged, as though their historical value meant little to her. She had more important problems to deal with in the present.
As though reading her thoughts, Sam asked, “How did you know, ma’am?”
Her cheeks dimpled slightly and her eyes narrowed. “That the Master Builders were involved in the insurrection?”