Poisonous gas?
If the air was toxic, then it was already too late for all of them, but for the moment, the effects seemed mostly benign.
His gaze finally reached the objective Nora was illuminating. He had half-expected to find another group of the strange pale creatures advancing toward them, but this was nothing like that.
“My God!” Fiona exclaimed as she turned her light onto the distant target. “It’s amazing. We’ve found the city of Hades.”
The tiny circles of light could barely capture the grandeur of the subterranean necropolis, but everywhere the beams touched, they revealed elaborate staircases and columns, hewn out of solid rock. The nearest of the structures was only about fifty yards away — a bridge that spanned the acid river as it wended into the heart of the strange city. Its arch joined with the rock on either side of the river, well above the corrosive flow. The furthest extent of the city lay far beyond the reach of the flashlight beams. Yet, the architecture was not the most fantastic aspect of the place.
“Turn off the lights,” Dodge said. He heard grumbles of protest. “Just for a moment.”
One by one, the beams switched off, plunging them into darkness. The sudden loss of visual cues triggered a mild wave of vertigo, probably intensified by the omnipresent fumes.
“Is this really a good idea?” Vaughn asked.
“Give it a minute.” Dodge strained his eyes, willing his pupils to dilate, wondering if he had really seen what he thought he had.
“I’ll be damned,” Hurricane whispered. “It’s glowing.”
Dodge recalled that his friend had always possessed exceptional night-vision, but after a few more seconds, he too saw it: a faint orange light spilling from walls of the cavern all around them.
“Phosphorescent lichens,” Newcombe explained. “It makes perfect sense. There would have to be an entire biological system down here to support those creatures.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Vaughn said.
“A food chain. Those beasts were obviously carnivores; you saw their teeth. Carnivores have to have prey. The prey animals — insects probably, or small rodents — would also have to have a food source. On the surface, it would be plant life, but down here, plants can’t grow… not ordinary plants at least. Plants need energy to live and produce. These lichens must get their energy from chemical reactions instead of sunlight. I think we’ve found an entirely new type of ecological system.”
“Well, hooray for us,” Hurricane said sourly.
As the scientist spoke, Dodge’s eyes continued to adjust to the point where he could make out some of the outlines of columns and temple roofs.
Suddenly the image evaporated in a blaze of artificial light as Fiona switched on her lantern. “I’ll leave you to look at the local flora,” she said. “I simply must explore the city.”
“Wait…” Dodge’s protest fell on deaf ears. Fiona was already forging ahead, striding toward the bridge. He turned to the others, shaking his head. “She’s probably right. If we’re going to find a way out of here, we need to look around. But we should stay together.”
The remaining members of the group assented and quickly hurried to join the intrepid archaeologist. Dodge waited for Newcombe to pass and fell into step beside him. “What do you make of this mist?”
“It’s probably a mixture of evaporating acid and the byproduct of the chemical reaction that sustains the lichens. There might be some volcanic gases in the mix as well.”
“Is it poisonous?”
“So far the effects seem mild. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that it’s probably not the best thing for us to be breathing. The longer we’re exposed to it, the more likely we are to experience more dramatic consequences. Fatigue, hallucinations perhaps.”
“Getting out is pretty high on my list of priorities,” Dodge said. “This ecological system you mentioned… if it’s part of the food chain for those creatures, then that means they can get in here, right?”
“Ah, I see what you mean.” The scientist nodded enthusiastically. “If the creatures can move on both sides of the gate, then there must be another way out. Of course, their prey might be very small animals that can get through miniscule spaces in the rock. But yes, it’s quite probable that there is a network of passages running through the entire underground complex.”
“Meaning we ain’t seen the last of those things?” Hurricane asked from behind them.
Dodge didn’t answer. Instead, he quickened his pace and caught up to Fiona, just as she passed between two enormous columns that appeared to reach all the way to the ceiling of the cavern, evidently marking the entrance to the city.
“What have you figured out about this place?” he asked her. “Can you tell who built it?”
“No, and that’s what’s so fascinating.” She directed her light to a series of columns that lined a staircase that ascended to another tier of the city. Swirls of fog rolled off the structures at the touch of the light, creating ghostly shapes that danced and cavorted in the periphery of Dodge’s vision. Just a trick of the light, he thought, but then he recalled Newcombe’s warning about hallucinations resulting from exposure to the strange vapors. He shook his head and tried to concentrate on what Fiona was saying.
“Cumae was settled by Greeks in the seventh century BC, but most of their building projects didn’t really get underway until much later. During that period and in this region, they employed the Doric style of column building — columns assembled out of smaller pieces, stacked one atop another, gradually tapering toward the top, with a broader capital supporting the roof. The Etruscans who occupied most of northern Italy, and some of the area surrounding modern Naples, used a similar style of architecture, though they worked mostly in wood.”
“But this is different?”
“These columns don’t utilize the Doric tradition. They’re a single piece of stone, and perfectly straight.” She laid a hand on the nearest upright. “Smooth. No tool marks.
“This entire city, from what I can tell, appears to be carved from out of solid volcanic rock. That, in itself, isn’t so strange. The cities of Petra and Cappadocia were carved out of rock by ancient peoples, so the idea isn’t that outrageous. What’s different here is the level of detail and workmanship. There are false columns in Petra — facades, really — that are modeled after Roman and Greek styles, but the oldest parts of the city, the parts dating back to the same time period as the Greek settlement here, are square and much more utilitarian. This…” She gestured at the city. “This is a masterpiece. It would have taken a hundred years to carve this out, and thousands of laborers and craftsmen. And yet here it is, buried and forgotten. Why?”
“Didn’t Egyptian Pharaohs build elaborate tombs, and then bury them in the desert to keep them safe?”
“Nothing on this scale.” She turned to him, a look of awe in her eyes. “I honestly have no idea how, or even why, this place exists.”
“There will be time aplenty for you to uncover that secret,” Barron interjected, joining them. “But first we must accomplish our mission. You have led us to Tartarus, Miss Dunn. Now you must lead us out again.”
With palpable disappointment, Fiona nodded, and resumed her trek into the city. Newcombe caught up to Dodge a moment later and pulled him to the side of the path. Dodge expected to hear more biological observations, but the scientist had something else on his mind.
“Dodge, when I was in Antarctica, I had a… a glimpse of the past. I saw the ancients — the ones who built the Outpost. Their city looked just like this.”