The Visitor

by Brent Ayscough

  The young man nodded and drove away. Tak saw some kind of travel office. In front of the congregation of people, a young lady stood behind a ticket counter. Off to the left was a metal-framed glass door to a shop.

  Tak headed for the shop. Inside several clerks were standing about, assisting customers. Tak went up to a table with picture books on it and noticed that the books came in a number of languages. She picked up one in English, and read the cover: WIELICZKA SALT MINE.

  It showed a map of where the town was and gave the name of the country, Poland.

  A salt mine! A place where salt came from on this planet! Best to go inside to learn how that was done. But how could she do that?

  Outside the shop, people were lining up line next to a structure containing an elevator down to the salt mine. A group of tourists, speaking English, exited a tour bus in the parking lot. Some went inside the gift shop to use the water closet, and the tour leader went up to the ticket window to get them admission. They then gathered at the request of their tour leader near the elevator. Tak sheepishly melted into this group.

  An official guide approached the tour leader and took over. His uniform was all black, the top a tunic with gold and red epaulets with polished brass buttons and his head was adorned with a distinctive cap. He went to the ticket office, where he was handed a slip with the tally of visitors, and then beckoned for them to come to the elevator door. There were twenty-four of them, twice as many as could fit into the elevator at one time. The guide then motioned to the group to collect in a queue at the elevator. The tour leader repeated his request to be sure that his group knew who their guide was.

  “Come with me to the elevator,” the guide said. “There will have to be two groups, as the elevator only holds twelve.”

  Tak walked with them toward the elevator as though she was one of them, mixing in toward the middle of what would be the first group going down. The elevator consisted of a metal cage with unpainted, metal sides with quarter-inch holes close together. The guide motioned the group to get in and crowd together, while he would follow, taking the second half of the group down. The door closed. The elevator descended so fast and it was so dark that many in the group were scared to the point of shrieking.

  The landing area was dimly lit, but the frightened crowd welcomed it. The light came only from a few exposed bubs on the low ceiling. The temperature was considerably cooler than above, and the high moisture content in the air was very noticeable. The dampness of the mine produced a salt-water brine that gave off an unusual odor, although it was not unpleasant. The walls and floor were slightly damp, but not enough that they were muddy.

  The second half of the group soon arrived, accompanied by the guide, who then started to count the number in his group.

  Tak moved out of that group and over near another one speaking a different language until the other guide had counted the number of heads to see if all were there. Then she returned.

  “Well, here we are,” the guide began. “I bet a number of you have used the expression, ‘I’ll be at the salt mines’. Now you can say you have actually been to a real salt mine!” His joke was followed by a big smile, showing crooked teeth.

  “This mine has been in continuous operation for over seven hundred years. The mine ranges from sixty-four to three-hundred-twenty-five meters below ground. It’s a labyrinth of over two-hundred kilometers of corridors and two-thousand-forty chambers, which are the excavated areas where salt was taken from. But don’t worry. I’m only going to take you on a short bit of it.”

  Tak was led along square mine shaft tunnels six feet wide, and not much taller in spots, then into a chamber filled with life-sized carvings of people in the gray-green color of the natural salt, where the guide amassed the group again.

  “The Wieliczka rock-salt deposit formed fifteen million years ago, in the Miocene epoch, Cainozoic era. In later times, the deposit underwent being folded in the uplifting process of the Carpathian Mountains. Before people reached the deposit in this mine, salt was obtained by evaporation from the water of brine springs on the surface, going back as early as 3500 BC. As surface supplies ran out, people started looking for the salt in the depths of the Earth. At one time, over a third of the world’s salt came from this very mine. Now, it is only mined to keep the water from overtaking it, as it is no longer economically profitable to mine salt here.” He beckoned to the group. “Please follow me.”

  In the next chamber, he continued. “This is the Nicholas Copernicus Chamber. This mine is noted for its many carvings of salt. In a number of the salt chambers, the miners left about two meters of salt around the walls for artists to make carvings, and you will see a number of those chambers on the tour. This is--” He gestured at the life-sized statue of the dark gray-green salt next to him. “--a statue of Nicolaus Copernicus. It was created here on the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of the great Polish astronomer, who once visited the mine. Many heads of state have visited the mine when they come to Poland.” He beckoned again. “This way please.”

  Fascinating, Tak thought. What a stroke of luck! She had not heard of this place in her studies of the planet. She was led into an enormous hall that resembled an elaborate palace ballroom. The entrance was from a balcony in the rear of the magnificent chamber, with steps leading down to the floor. The gray-green salt walls were carved in elaborate, life-sized scenes of people and places, and chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

  The guide led the group down the long stairs to the floor of the huge room, which floor had been carved into hexagonal tiles of salt, to resemble a stone-tiled floor. He stopped to wait for the group to gather around him and then began again. “This is the Chapel of Saint Kinga. You will see various religious carvings on all of the walls, including one of The Last Supper to your left. Everything in the room is carved out of salt--the railings, the alter, even the chandeliers, which were carved from salt crystals and, of course, lighted with electricity that we have brought in. Excavation of the room was started in 1896, and the carvings were done in stages in the following years. The chamber is fifty-four meters long, eighteen meters wide, and fifteen meters high. The floor is one-hundred-and-one meters below the surface. This chapel is still used on special occasions and can be reserved for weddings. It is the only place where underground worship exists.”

  Tak was amazed. Underground worship of the Earthlings’ concept of a creator in a big chamber, 330 feet below surface, in a cathedral carved out of salt!

  Another group of adults entered the chamber and milled about, looking at the carvings as her group did. The guide for Tak’s group stood over by the steps leading out, waiting for her group to complete their examination of the carvings and press on with the tour. Once the group had gathered around the guide, he began to count heads to see if all were there.

  Oh, oh! Another head count! Tak moved toward the other group so as not to be counted. The guide then collected the group and escorted them back up the steps to the exit, taking care that the number in his group was complete, making it impossible for Tak to remain in that group without being detected.

  She realized that she was left where she was and wandered over to the other group that was forming about their guide. He began to speak, but the language was not English.

  Not English! Tak was on her own. She went up the steps alone to the tunnel to follow the tour group. She caught up and joined in the back. Another chamber appeared and the group went in, Tak in the rear. It was a very tall room, without carvings, and had a walk-bridge over an inland pond. The upper part was unlit. Off to the left were wooden steps leading behind a rock in one direction, and another set led up a steep incline toward an opening somewhere near the top. Tak decided it was obviously not part of tour, due to the narrowness of the steps.

  The guide gathered the group on the bridge over the middle of the pond and began. “There is much water in the Earth here. It has always been, and remains, a threat to the mine shafts’ integrity. As you can imagine, the water is
so extremely concentrated with salt that it’s a brine. It’s concentrated to the maximum amount of salt that water will hold. The climates of these salt mines are especially favorable to humans as they do not contain most allergens and micro-organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi that exist on the surface. On level five, which is not part of the tour, there is an allergologic sanatorium where patients come to stay for their health. Patients inhale the air, rich in sodium, calcium, and magnesium chlorides, which cures diseases of the upper respiratory tract. That level is one-hundred-thirty-five meters below ground, in the Wessel Lake Chamber, and there is excellent medical care there. Appointments can be made for treatment there, and if you have asthma, allergies, and respiratory ailments, you might find it beneficial.”

  The tour guide motioned for his group to continue and let them pass along beside him, again counting to be sure he had everyone.

  Oh, oh! Not another counting! To the left was the narrow wooden bridge, leading somewhere, its direction obscured from the main path by a large rock six feet high and three times as long. Behind this rock will do.

  When the guide turned his head, she quickly went over the wooden bridge and hid behind the huge rock.

  Well, she thought, I’m on my own now! She could wait for another English speaking group. That was probably the best plan--to hide out here for a while. Time for a rest.

  Tak sat down behind the huge rock, contemplating the day. She had, after all, left the starship, entered this planet’s atmosphere, gotten detected by a warship, gone back into space, and managed to land safely in a place called Poland. A short rest seemed well deserved.

  The group that was in the big chamber behind her original group, the one with another language, came along. Tak remained behind the rock. The group leader stopped on the bridge over the brine lake, and the guide explained something to them. That group moved on, and no other groups followed for nearly half an hour. Then she heard voices in the brine lake chamber. Tak stood up and carefully peaked around the rock. It was not a group, but instead only two people. One was a guide in a black uniform, the other a tall, good-looking man, who appeared to be nearing forty years of age, with blond hair and very well dressed as compared to all of the other tourists. Why was there only one in this tour? Maybe he was an important person.

  Tak quickly crouched back down so as not to be seen. The two men walked to the bridge, to the widened part over the lake, where her guide had stopped the group to speak. The guide began speaking to him in English. ‘This is the Weimar Chamber.”

  “Didn’t the Nazis build airplane parts in these mines in the war?” the man asked.

  “Yes,” the guide said. “In 1944, the Nazis set up a plant here. They thought that building the parts here would save them from being bombed as was the case at so many of their factories. The factory here was manned by Poles of Jewish origin, detained in a temporary camp located in the Kinga Park. The plant was disassembled at the time of the Soviet offensive, and the prisoners were taken to Belzec and other camps by the Nazis, where they were killed.” Hearing no more questions, the guide asked the man, “Are you ready to move on now?”

  “Tak,” the tourist said.

  She heard it clearly from behind the rock in the salt chamber. How did this man know her name? She came out and walked around the wooden bridge to the two men. Tak felt sheepish, caught, or so she thought, and approached him. “You know who I am?”

  He stared at her, looking dumbfounded at her question. “I’m afraid not, madam. But allow me to present myself. I’m Baron Von Limbach.”

  “Tak.”

  Clearly surprised, he said, “Oh? Do you know of me?”

  “Oh, no. I do not know of you. Why do you ask?”

  “Because you said Tak when I told you my name and title.”

  “My name is Tak.”

  “Seriously?” Baron said, leaning toward her slightly as if to make very sure he heard her answer. “In spite of the many languages I speak, I have never heard of a person with the name of Tak.”

  “Yes. Tak.”

  Baron laughed a hearty laugh which resonated in the quiet air of the big, salt chamber. Then he asked, “Where’s your guide?

  “I seemed to have lost him.”

  “I see why you got lost. Whenever one of the guides said ‘tak,’ you thought you were supposed to follow. Tak means yes in Polish, which is one of the many languages I speak. So when I said tak earlier, you thought I was calling you!” He began to laugh again.

  The contagious laughter of the man called Baron moved to his guide, who also began to laugh, and then it took hold of Tak, who laughed for the first time on Earth.

  “Tak, since you are without a guide,” Baron then told her, “perhaps you will permit me to allow you to use mine and let him accompany us both to the surface?”

  “Thank you, yes.”

  After visiting two more chambers, Tak followed them back up to the surface, where Baron gave his private guide a handsome tip.

  Up on the surface, with better lighting, Baron looked at her curiously, attempting to evaluate just who she could be. She was an extraordinarily attractive woman, perhaps in her twenties, with thick, red hair; a super build; strong bone structure; and had been wandering around over three hundred feet below ground in a salt mine. A runaway? But she looked clean and fresh. Perhaps escaping from a volatile husband or lover? One of those women who claimed abuse by a husband or lover? A fugitive? But she was so attractive that he wanted to believe the best about her.

  An enormous, white car approached. “There’s my driver,” Baron said.

  A sprinkle of rain drops began, and it looked very much like it would soon rain. Tak was all that much more vulnerable, as she found herself outside with no shelter she could go to. She noticed that Baron’s approaching car was significantly different from the others she had seen so far. The car was six feet tall, white, and had a very long, high hood. Two enormous chrome headlights, each a foot in diameter, proudly stood attached to the sides of a huge radiator. Two long claxons protruded, one under each light. The front fenders tapered back into running boards under the doors as a step into the car for passengers. Atop the huge radiator was a silver figurine, a lady with wings.

  Wondering whether or not he might be inviting trouble, Baron decided that at least he could offer the attractive woman a lift. “It is going to rain. Have you transportation?”

  “No, I don’t”

  “Where are you staying? Perhaps I might offer you a lift.”

  “I just arrived and do not yet have a place to stay.”

  This was indeed curious, he thought. But given her beauty, and he being one who was always interested in women, he decided to dive into whatever trouble might be following her. “I recommend my hotel. It is the Forum, situated above the bank of the Vistula River in Krakow, and it is certainly the best. Would you like to follow me there?”

  She wondered if this was an offer in exchange for something she was to provide, which it most likely must be. But here she was, in a very strange land, where English was not the native language.

  She acquiesced. “Okay.”

  The driver stopped the car and opened a rear door. “Lachhiman, to the Forum,” Baron said.

  Tak stepped into the back and sat on the plush leather seat, upholstered much like a posh leather couch, where the rich odor of leather consumed her. Other tourists took pictures of them in the car with little cameras. She concluded that they were interested in the fancy car.

  A lovely spring rain began to pour down as the car went toward Krakow. Music, as well as fresh air, came from the deck behind the rear seat, and Tak felt comfortable with her host.

  Baron leaned forward to the center-dividing window, which was open, and asked of his olive-skinned driver, “Lachhiman, were you able to find out if the mushrooms are in season?”

  Lachhiman turned. “Yes, sir, they are indeed.”

  Baron looked at Tak. “They have a very special mushroom that grows here. It makes a de
licious soup. You haven’t tried it?”

  “I only arrived today. What’s a mushroom?”

  He looked puzzled and answered her question with one of his own. “Would you like to join me this evening to try it?”

  “Oh yes, thank you.”

  “Will you be in Poland long?”

  She realized that there was much more to the question than just a simple answer, and that he, obviously seasoned at language, could detect much from the nuances of how she answered. She must be careful. But, on the other hand, this very kind person was helping her, and she had known that she would have to take chances on her mission. He was the best choice--in fact, the only choice, at the moment. She decided on an answer. “I’m traveling and am flexible.”

  Baron chuckled. “Ah yes, flexible.”

  Tak looked around inside the beautifully appointed car interior. “This is a very nice car. Is it a popular model?”

  He looked at her, again puzzled. “No, it is not what you would call a popular model. It is a 1936 Rolls Royce Phantom III with a Parkward Razor Edge body. Only six were ever made. I had it modernized mechanically, so it would be reliable, and added comforts like air conditioning and things not available when it was made. I keep it here in Europe.”

  The majestic car continued through the green fields of the countryside, the lovely spring rain pounding down against the music, an ambiance she would always remember.

  Baron pointed ahead. “There’s the Vistula River and the hotel.”

  The picturesque hotel was situated on the river bank. Two uniformed hotel doormen came to the car, one on either side.

  Lachhiman came around to stand near Baron. “Sir, will you be going out for the mushroom soup this evening?”