Islands in the Sky Page 4

  "Well, that does it," Tom stated with a grimace, "the ships captain has raised anchor and moving the vessel to a safer distance. It looks like we're stuck here until the storm is over."

  "That settles it then," Logan prompted with resolve, "let's get that core sample before the site is covered with snowfall," he ordered.

  "Allen, I need you to get a shelter set up against that exposed wall," Tom pointed towards a stone cliff side which had been recently uncovered by the melt-off surrounding the strange tree.

  "Belay that order, Allen," Logan contended, "I need you to help get this core sample before the equipment is damage."

  Tom looked upset at the professor's counter order, but grunted in aggravation instead of arguing with the old man. Personally, I was getting a little pissed off that we would be stuck here to suffer through the snowstorm; but we had to keep Logan happy lest he dock our paychecks. Alex and Mica put away their recording devices and bagged the few samples they made, while Tom directed them to take the sled to the far wall and unpack the tents while we screwed around with drill to get the core sample Logan so desperately desired.

  Sharp gusts began to burst through the cavity while smaller icicles pelted the ground around us like brittle daggers. Having locked the drill frame onto the trunk of the tree, Tom cycled on the device which appeared to resist ignition.

  "Fucking god-damn battery!" Tom blurted out in aggravation, as he kicked the large block of fragile wiring surrounding the laser. As if by some miracle, that reckless assault caused the device to blink on and the bright red beam began to bite into the trunk of the tree.

  "Temperamental, isn't he?" Mica spouted to Alex as she looked over her shoulder.

  "Ah, don't worry about Tom, he's just concerned about the storm," Alex granted, "I heard he was with an expedition a few years back that got trapped in a drift for eight weeks. Nearly twenty men during that storm, and he barely made it out alive. Most men would never take that chance again; but he's still here in this god forsaken place."

  Mica understood then that Tom wasn't just being a prick, but had seen the face of death in this frozen world, and had been left scarred by its frigid gaze. He had their well being at heart; and didn't wish that fate upon anyone ever again. Perhaps he stayed to help others explorers of this icy tundra from meeting the same misfortune; or that he could no longer live with himself if they did. There was a sense of guilt trickling through his veins, far colder than the glacier ice upon which we stood. He was a changed man; and whether that was for better or worse, who was to say?

  I tended the laser bore with Tom as he calibrated the device after advising me to keep my tinted goggles on while it was in operation. The beam was cutting a small circular pattern out of the outer skin of the hardened bark. After a few minutes, light wisps of smoke began to spew from the aperture, which was expected when using a burning tool on a wooden material. Logan kept a watchful eye on our progress, having readied the specimen tube where we were to lay the core sample when it was extracted.

  "Something's wrong," Tom stated abruptly as he fiddled with the controls on the device. I sure as hell didn't know how it worked, so I was relying on his skill with the cutter.

  "Is the battery freezing up?" I surmised, considering his difficulties of getting the thing to start and why the beam was beginning to flicker.

  "No," Tom flashed back with concern, "...it's almost as if something is deflecting it," he referred to the laser cutter.

  "What's the problem?" Logan stepped in to oversee the progress, but noting that the power of the drill was oddly ebbing away on the power bar.

  "Do you think this antenna-like magnetic wave thing you were talking about might be interfering with the electronics?" I suggested as I pointed up at the tree, trying not to sound like a moron.

  "Hmm, that's a very astute possibility I hadn't foreseen," Logan responded; saving me from my embarrassment, "turn up the power and see if that helps," the professor suggested.

  With a shrug, Tom complied and maxed the output on the device. The shell of the casing began to rattle; softly at first, until it escalated into a violent shudder as it was locked within the frame. The equipment began to whine, and Tom jumped in to try to turn the thing off when the air around us was congested with a high shrill. At first it was impossible to tell what it was, or even if it was the sound of the wind rushing through the limbs above. Alex and Mica jumped aside as the rocky cliff face they had leaned the sled and tents against began to displace; which went entirely unnoticed by the three of us fiddling with the laser as we tried to turn it off.

  "I say, what the hell is going on over there?" Alex shouted over the rising wind.

  Grappling the device, Tom managed to yank the power cord from the battery, which snapped loose the frozen wires which had grown frail from the excessive cold. This equipment simply wasn't built to be used in such extreme environments.

  "Well, fuck me..." Tom blurted as he looked at the stripped wires, "Allen, get me the pliers, I can fix this."

  It was then that all five of us slowly turned our gaze up towards the canopy of the colossal tree; for after the sound of the drill had died, it became clear that the sharp shrill was not from the wind, but coming from the tree itself. The piercing noise rose in tone until it dampened out the sound of the storm to a point where it became deafening. It became so strong that it permeated through our earmuffs and hoods as we grasped our heads with our mittens to protect us from the earsplitting pain.

  The tree itself was vibrating as the upper limbs shook; creating the high frequency. Logan wondered if it was the high wind blasting through the limbs that was causing this strange anomaly; but my gut told me it was reacting to the cutting laser. The large blocks of stone near Alex and Mica began to move with greater intensity until four large square panels folded back into the cliff side. A sudden blast of snow and ice began to shoot into the cavity and Tom grabbed the professor to protect him from the falling shards flying around us.

  We grabbed our gear and the rope to the sled and scurried into the opening in the cliff to seek protection from the storm and to escape the deafening frequency emanating from the ancient tree. Alex grabbed into his back and popped on a flashlight, while handing another to Tom and Mica. Following suit, I put on my headlamp which I always kept in my pouch. A long hallway opened up deep within the fissure, and we were left speechless as we gazed upon the carvings within. This hidden cavity was manmade.

  "What the hell..." Tom queried as he stepped further into the darkness, his mouth gaping open in wonder as he looked around the vaulted corridor.

  Logan took an emergency lamp from Alex and held it aloft, inspecting the engraved runes and various symbols decorating the walls. There were intermittent pillars set in a different variety of stone that the surrounding rock. Elaborate etching of leaves and tree limbs adorned the upper heights of the corridor which rose before us as the shallow steps below our feet led further down into the darkness.

  From outside we could hear the glacier groaning and cracking, as its integrity was compromised by the high winds and the vibration of the giant tree. With a final creak, the massive overhang broke loose and cascaded to the bare stone base below. With a sudden boom, the avalanche of hardened snow smashed the equipment outside and sent a plume of ice bursting into the shaft as it collapsed over the doorway. Everything we had failed to salvage moments before was now crushed under blocks of ice.

  "Well, that can't be good," Alex blurted aloud as we brushed ourselves off with a worried look of concern washing across our frosted faces and looked back at the wall of frozen rubble.

  Below the Ice

  In a vain attempt to clear the blockage, Tom and I made the effort to dig out some of the debris. It shortly became clear that without the proper tools there was no way in hell we were going to make a scratch in this compacted ice which had blockaded the entrance. Logan seemed to have lost any shared distress we felt about our given situation as he became enthralled with the glyphs and carvings decorati
ng the entrance walls.

  "Ah, there's no way we are going to claw our way out of here," Tom sighed with heavy breath from lugging large blocks of ice, "whatever this place is, we had better hope there's another way out that isn't locked within this glacier."

  Alex, Mica and the Professor were preoccupied with taking photographs of the interior, which opened up into a steep stairway downward as the height of the ceiling continued to rise above. The sculptures of trees and intertwining branches thickened the farther it progressed down the hall, where some areas were littered with debris from the broken carvings which had fallen to the floor from the lattice of stone limbs above.

  "This is fascinating..." Mica breathed as she continued to capture photos of the carvings.

  "Are you getting all of this Alex?" Logan motioned to his colleague to an area of the wall of particular interest, "This text here is vaguely similar of what appears to a mixture of Nordic runes and Samarian, in parts ...here, see?" He pointed.

  "Sir, I need you to consider the seriousness of this situation," Tom instructed the professor who was too busy sightseeing to be worried about their life threatening dilemma.

  "There's nothing we can do at the moment about that, Tom," Logan mentioned calmly as he continued his inspection of the intricate cuneiform, "I believe we have rations enough to last us a week, and if the artifact outside continues radiating energy waves as it has been doing then I theorize that it should melt off that blockage within the given time period for our safe return," he offered as rationale for his lack of such heightened concern, "besides, what we have found here is far greater consequence!"

  Tom gave a grunt of disgust which went entirely unnoticed by the professor. Personally, I could understand his doubt, since no decorated stonework was worth giving my life for; but it appeared the professor thought differently. Alex and Mica jumped at the chance when Logan offered that we continue to explore these ancient ruins in search for another exit. It didn't take much convincing to get Tom to agree, since any radio communication to the ship was being blocked by the storm and the wall of ice covering the door.

  Beside the point, no one else on the ship was privy to our exact location, which was erroneously logged to be nearly 80 kilometers from our charted position. I was hoping that Logan's paranoia wasn't eventually going to get us killed. We had to find a way out of this frozen monument or face becoming a permanent part of the scenery here if we eventually found ourselves entombed.

  Cracks in the stone and the broken chunks of debris told us this ancient structure had seen its share of seismic activity and succumbed to the pressure of the glacier above. Ice poked through large breaks in the structure where dim sunlight gleamed in from the refraction of ice crystals; which allowed us to conserve the batteries in our lights. It wasn't too long before we came upon a level platform where there stood a giant stone door. The steep passage downward in the dark abyss continued on either side of the ledge. Thankfully, Logan chose to try the door rather than continue the decent.

  "Well, this looks interesting," he noted with a smile.

  I noticed Tom flick his eyebrows in mild annoyance to the professor's childish attitude. Given his prior experience with the team members he had lost, anyone could understand the source of his thinning patience. The door before us was massive, and consisted of additional tree designs within its woven limbs. At its center was a ring of bright metal inset with various glyphs, held tightly against the stone surface.

  "How does it open?" Alex wondered.

  "Are you sure you want too?" I shot back, though Mica gave me a look of utter fatigue. I wasn't a coward; I was just overly cautious. Like Tom, I didn't like the idea of opening a locked door when there was no other exit. Point was; we really didn't have a choice unless we wanted to continue further down the darkened stairwell.

  Logan took his time inspecting the metal ring, which was the only part of the door which seemed like it didn't belong. Conferring with his assistant Mica, they tried to decipher the glyphs inscribed upon it. I was close enough to overhear them say something about a trap, which caused me to speak out.

  "What did you say about a trap?" I shot a worried glance their way. Mica turned to towards me as she kept her light on the metal hoop on the door.

  "I was just assuming that it could be a combination lock of some sort, or could spring a trap of some sort if we got it wrong," she answered with mild annoyance.

  "Well, that's a good reason not to screw with it then," I jolted back. I was really looking forward to enjoying that sunny beach in my not too distant future, instead of having that snatched from me by some ancient booby trap. I had seen enough adventure movies to know that things don't go well for trespassers on sacred grounds.

  "I admit, it's an enigma," the professor exclaimed, "but we won't learn anything if we don't try.

  "Can you make heads or tails of these inscriptions?" Mica asked.

  "Alex, do let me know if you have any suggestions that might aid us," Logan inquired to his friend. Taking a step forward, Alexander adjusted his wire frame spectacles as he tried to bring their details into focus.

  "Hmm..." he offered to the pair, "the writing here is highly decorative, but does bare a resemblance to old cryptic text. You see this symbol here? I believe it might represent the token for 'Power or Glory' and this one here beside it is similar to either 'Wealth or Abundance' the tree emblem, of course, means 'Life' and this last design is a very old representation of 'Death' from what I recall," Alex granted.

  Logan began to fiddle with the metal ring to test how it operated, and discovered that it spun in place. Once he figured it out, he wondered aloud what the combination might mean.

  "Ah, so is it Power and Abundance or Life and Death as a cycle, if that's what this ring represents?" he offered in speculation.

  "What if it's a combination of four that we need to put in correct order?" Mica suggested,

  "It could be more or less, there is no way of knowing," Logan granted as to the logic of the device.

  "Look you three; I don't think you should be playing around with any of this. It's probably sealed for a reason," Tom cut in, though his opinion was dismissed by the Professor.

  "What if it's simply one symbol, like a signpost?" I suggested out of the blue. Logan turned towards me with a glare in his eyes; but then a sudden idea popped into his mind.

  "Hmm, yes, yes. That could very well be, Allen," he offered.

  "Try the tree symbol first, that makes the most sense," Mica proposed.

  "How so?" the professor shrugged.

  "The symbolism of the world tree is all around us," she stated as she waved her flashlight around the walls and ceiling, "wealth, glory or death itself is redundant without life," she offered as an logical explanation, "thus, I would assume it is the first combination key."

  Logan looked perplexed but for a moment, then flashed a nod of agreement her way. Without hesitation, he spun the ring into place. When nothing occurred, his furry eyebrows furled in frustration. There was an odd silence that fell over the group as we stood there awaiting something to happen. With a shrug, Logan offered another spin on the dial.

  "Well, perhaps it is a longer combination after all" he chided as he glanced my way, "...let's see, which one is next?" he began to rub his chin in contemplation. A half-second later, the stone platform beneath suddenly us shifted half a foot. Mica screamed, Alex yelped, I gasped for air in fright as Tom fell on his rump. Logan was the only one left on his feet as the platform dropped a hands width; revealing the sill of the door. It was a unique way to lock it secure which we would have never discovered on our own.

  "Or, maybe it was correct after all," Logan smirked, "I guess these old gears must be a little rusty given its age," he offered in mirth. The rest of us were still a little shaken by movement of the floor shifting beneath our feet; and weren't in the mood for jokes. With surprising smoothness, the giant door spun on a central axis, pivoting in place.

  "Interesting," Alex offered in amazement,
"I must say this is very precise engineering," he granted as the giant stone door swung open to allow us entry into the chamber beyond. What we saw there, took our breath away.

  A large gallery opened up before us lined with immense pillars to either side. Between each of them rested what appeared to be large massive bells; each cylindrical chime appeared unadorned and were covered with a crusted patina. This enormous corridor extended along a pathway lined with stone tiles inset into the flooring; their borders caulked with strips of lead.

  "This is intriguing..." Logan breathed aloud, losing himself mid sentence.

  "I wonder what function these cylinders might have had?" Alexander inquired as he walked up to one while examining its exterior. Giving it a slight nudge with his hand to test its weight, he was surprised how easily it moved, "The balance of this device is astonishing..." he started to proclaim when the giant bell began to toll.

  A deafening sound reverberated throughout the hallway, sending echoes ringing through each of the tall bells. The entire party was overtaken by the sound as bits of stone and ice fell from the ceiling around them. Slowly, the ringing began to fade, while Tom jumped forward and attempted to muffle the bell by trying to ease its sway. It took several minutes before the resonance faded to a decent level where the party members could hear themselves talk once again.

  "What the hell did you do that for?" Tom yelled towards Alex as they picked up the gear they had dropped after using their gloved hands to protect their hearing. Alexander only offered a shrug of foolish apology.

  "It would be my guess that these simple devices were used to warn the inhabitants of earthquakes or aftershocks," Mica offered, "or something as simple as ritualistic procession."

  "But why is the flooring lined with lead?" I asked, as I touched the thick grout imbedded between the tiles. Mica looked towards me as she mentally searched for an answer.