Nancy winced a little at the bluntness, but kept her mouth shut. Aaron said, "I wasn't until I looked inside that new cave Jack. Tomorrow at this time, I'll ask you the same question."
For a group of five, all under the age of 25, camping out was enjoyable, but not without a little work. A division of labor was needed and it would seem Nancy had that down pat. This wasn't the first time or the second time this club had been on a dig site.
Camping out at over 4,000 feet above sea level guaranteed the nights a bit chilly. A fire was needed, but in or at this camp site, wood was scarce. Aaron was a local and was prepared with a half a pickup load of firewood in the back of his pickup. It didn't take long to set up camp. Each club member had his or her own tent. If and or when, a full fledged dig was on, a large working tent would be erected. But for now, a circle of tents ringed the campfire. Aaron was farsighted enough to bring five round chunks of logs to sit on. The rest of the firewood had been split into pieces for the fire.
Dinner was on a gas fired camp stove. Nancy's mother had made a giant stew along with some fry bread. Nancy and Aaron had family scattered around the state so they caught up on that end of things.
There was a little tension in the air as all realized they would soon hear the story Aaron was about to tell the club. After all the food was stashed in ice chests, Aaron said, "Let me give you some food for thought. I've lived in this area all my life and my family line goes back for thousands of years. I'm not an archeologist but I do know what has been discovered in the area dating back to the 1920s with the Clovis discovery in or around Burnet Cave. I'm also familiar with the dating of the site going back close to 14,000 years. In addition, I've been to the museum and looked closely at the 'points' so I'm familiar with those relics.
I don't know why I drove up here and then hiked up toward the peak. It almost seemed is something was pulling me here. The earthquake I knew shook the hell out of these mountains. Anyway, I've hiked these mountains many times as I like to dream about the old days when Indians were free to roam where they wanted to. I was hiking up the arroyo when I looked up and saw an eagle flying on the thermals. That's when I came across a giant pile of stones from a talus slope of old. It blocked my way. I looked back up at the eagle and saw a dark hole in the mountain.
I heard the eagle squawk at me. I don't' think this eagle business has anything to do with what I found in the cave, but it's up to you guys. It wasn't an easy climb up as the rocks sliding down the mountain scrubbed out any leftover game trails. Besides the fact after I got there I didn't have any light except a package of waterproof matches that I always carry in case of being caught out at night. I scrounged around and came up with some dried sage and other things to make a torch or two. I tied it all together with my shoelaces.
Anyway, I'm in the cave now and letting my eyes adjust to the dark. The smell is a bit strange to me. Most caves have bat guano and old dead things too rank to describe; but this cave had an almost incense smell. Being careful, I struck a match for a quick look. I could see a lot of flakes and stuff on the floor. I put a light to a torch and walked down the side of the cave looking all the while at bones, flakes, and charcoal from fires and some very crude homemade baskets. I kept going and after, I'd guess 100 feet or so, I came to a small hole that went to my right. It looked like it was manmade.
My torch was almost burned up. I light one from the other and crawl on my hands and knees into the tunnel. I went about 10 feet and it opened up into a small cavern. What I saw next put the fear of God in me. I saw in red paint, I guess it was paint, a drawing of a thing that wasn't so human in form; but somehow similar My only guess it was alien. Why alien? The detail was good and didn't look some grade school kid drew the picture. Whoever did it was not a bad artist.
I know you want me to describe it but I think it best to leave the first impression up to you individually. From what I can tell, this cave looks from the evidence of the same time period as the Burnet Cave site. If there was such a thing as an archaeologist striking gold, you're about to become rich and famous."
The camp fire cracked and popped while four students pondered the story they heard. Nancy was the first to speak. "We'll have to call in Dr. Bains and he'll take all the glory. This sucks you guys. Why should he receive all the accolades and us peons sit back and suck eggs?"
"What do you suggest," said Jack.
"We cut a deal with another university and head archaeologist before telling him or her what we found; and where."
"I like it," said both Tony and Laura at the same time.
"We got the power and tool kit to pull this off," said Jack.
"Let's not forget who turned us on to this site club," said Nancy.
"Least we not forget we are not a long ways away from Area 51 and all of its controversy. Then we have White Sands Testing not far away either. Let's concentrate on the Clovis find first and the art work second," said Jack.
"Let's hit the rack and see what develops tomorrow," said Nancy.
The Flake Club was up at a little before dawn. The day held a promise of a warm afternoon, but cold morning and evening. It was fairly quiet around camp as the members loaded up what they needed for the day in their back packs. Each was weighted down with more than 50 lbs each. Lighting was the key to video and pictures for evidence.
Aaron led the way at just before 7 am on Sunday. Aaron was quite right when he said about an hour to the pile of rocks at the arroyo with the cave directly above at around 200 feet. He was also right about being a struggle to climb the steep hill to the cave entrance. Once all were at the top, breathing hard, they rested.
All, if asked, were excited and anxious to peek at the inside. Aaron had given them a vivid picture of the evidence. Now it was about show time. Nancy turned on a wide beam flash light. The floor was littered with flakes and a few hearths were grey-black in color. Bone also littered the wall area as if eaten and then tossed away. Nancy was joined by the others shining their lights around the cave making it seem like sky lights at a carnival were lighting the sky. No one said a word. Aaron sat down on his haunches after taking off his back pack. The others had yet to discard the extra weight. No doubt they were too wrapped up in what lay at the feet to think about the excess baggage.
Nancy unsnapped and so did the rest of them leaning their packs next to the opening. After that Nancy said, "My heart is in my throat and lord knows we have a major discovery. You know, speaking of a major discovery reminds me of National Geographic. Think my club members. And let's talk about this later. Now I'd love to see the cave pictograph Aaron told us about."
Aaron led the way after they loaded up on cameras and lighting. Tony and Laura mentioned the unusual smell, but couldn't relate it to anything they knew of. Jack was an amateur expert on ancient bones. He saw what he thought were bison, mammoth, and others he couldn't readily identify.
Aaron went to his knees and led the club into the cavern. When all were standing up, they saw in their hand held lights the painting on the wall. Nancy wasn't sure it was a painting. Indeed it was a facsimile of something resembling a human form, but maybe a pictograph would be a better description of it. There were some strange symbols surrounding it on top of the torso and under the back. The whole thing appeared about four feet long and one foot high. Nancy was the first to closely examine it being very careful where she stepped.
Beginning from left to right, head to toe, she saw a head that appeared larger in perspective to the body. A vertical slit for an eye. Remember this was a profile not a face on painting. There was nothing for a nose or mouth. A short torso and then a long leg with a, for lack of a better word, foot sticking up, completed the image. Nancy stepped back to let the next member take a look. She said, "I really don't believe I'm standing here looking at this scene. I think we can assume that the last ones to stand here or occupy this cave was over ten thousand years ago.
Jack, who wore glasses, had to get close for a good look. He took at least ten minutes examining the wall.
It seemed he was more interested in the symbols that the form itself. Jack said, "What are these marks above and below?"
Laura was looking hard at the whole thing. "I think we'll be a long time working this puzzle out. Well, not us, but some code breaker or linguist. Jesus, what a find."
"Hey guys, I think you're standing on something that doesn't look quite right to me," said Tony. Tony was sharp eyed and his eyes were never still. He took it in, digested it, and then stuffed it away in his brain's USB.
Jack and Laura jumped back and looked down. After studying the dirt floor, at least they thought it was dirt and not solid rock; it had a slight rise to it. Almost like a grave, thought Tony.
Nancy said, "Let's get a ton of pictures and video the entire place. We need to do this professionally and not like a bunch of amateurs. After that let's sit out front and discuss what we have seen."
With rulers and other things for size comparison the club had what they needed to show the world. It wasn't so much show the world, but to select a person or organization to finance the dig.
Sitting outside eating their lunch, Nancy said, "Hey guys, I just thought about something and do not like what I'm thinking. The government getting involved if what we suspect is alien, what the hell would happen?"
Aaron said, "We're already banned from certain areas that are classified. I've no doubt they test advanced weapons or aircraft in this area. Let's assume that depiction in the cave is of an alien. The only reason I can think of for another world's curiosity would be the level of weapons we possess."
Jack said, "I'm not one to discount anything. On the one hand, it's hard to imagine in our universe we are the only intelligent life forms. For years we have been sending our 'hello's' to let our distant neighbors know we are here and want to have a cup of tea with anyone who answers the call. And then I wonder why another life form would even want to contact us. And one more thing and I'll shut up. If an advanced race of beings could travel through space at will, why would a space craft crash at the very moment of touch down?"
"You make a good argument Jack," said Nancy. "However, accidents do happen and maybe there was a malfunction of sorts."
Laura said, "We can or could sit here all day speculating, but we need to contact someone and who will that someone be?"
"Well, I'm with Nancy on this one," said Laura. "National G is not in it for personal glory. However, the person they choose will have to meet our requirements. I'll tell you what we really need guys; a lawyer."
"I think you're right Laura," said Nancy. "Let's do one thing before we leave here. I'm with you Tony that something is under that wall. Let's set up and test dig down to a foot or so and see what happens."
Once back in the cavern, the team set up an area measured and documented as standard procedure for a dig. They didn't have a shaker screen or buckets to haul the material out. They kept tract of each pile of material which was duly recorded. An area of three foot square was marked off and the work began. Surprisingly, the dirt was just that: dirt. They began to wonder if the dirt hadn't been brought in the more they removed without hitting bottom.
At the 8 inch depth, they hit something solid. Carefully, they removed the dirt and when they had a good look at what lay in front of the painting, a big gasp was heard. At first look it was a silver tarp. The second look it was a silver blanket. The third look, when they pulled the leading edge down, revealed a thing that had a humanoid appearance; but was clearly not anything they had ever seen or studied before.
Not a word was spoken as each person looked down on something nobody had ever seen before today. Now maybe thousands of years ago, humans gazed upon this thing, but certainly not in recent times. What to do hit each member at about the same time. Jack said, "Let's reveal the whole thing gang."
Nancy thought about it and took the lead saying, "If we do and we reveal what we've found, who we reveal our knowledge to?"
Tony said, "The shit is going to hit the fan. If this thing has been dead for thousands of years, how come he looks like they just buried him this morning? He looks fresh as a daisy."
"I vote we reveal the complete entity," said Laura.
"Me too," said Aaron. "I know I'm not a member, but I'm certainly involved at this point.
"Okay, let's uncover this mysterious thing and take some pictures," said Nancy.
After they had removed the dirt, what was left, still looking brand new, was the silver cover. Jack did the honors and slowly pulled the blanket down and off the end of the thing. "Holy shit," said Jack. "It's a frikkin robot or cyborg? Wait, a cyborg would have some real biological parts and this thing doesn't have because that portion would have decayed by now"
A square of material had been cut to open up the inside torso area of the entity, for lack of a better word, to display a complex array of electrical things. It was determined that the robot had malfunctioned and was left behind. But left behind by whom, was the real question. And why leave it behind? Could it be that the Clovis folks worshiped the robot and it was sacred, like a God?
Later the club realized that most all of their questions would go unanswered, simply because nobody would know the answers. Speculation was what anyone could do. To reveal empirical knowledge was the only answer.
Pictures were taken and so were measurements. The best description was from Jack. He told the curious later that the head portion held two vertical eyes rather than horizontal like humans. No nose was evident or a mouth as we know it. There was a very thin line about four inches long just about where a nose would be on human. Also, no openings for hearing appeared anywhere. The legs were long with feet, but no toes. Later they saw a hinged front part of the foot where our toes were.
Nancy said, "Let's cover it back up and go back to camp. We really need to talk and think about what this discovery will do to our puny lives." Apparently everyone agreed as all hoisted their packs and made the sliding steps down to the arroyo. The only sounds were the clinking of packs and a few noisy crows hanging around.
Back at camp it was late afternoon. All were physically and emotionally tired. After they'd put away their things, it was still warm out so no fire yet. Nancy and Laura brought out their laptops and downloaded the pictures. Tony sat in deep thought as well as Aaron.
Nancy broke the ice and said, "If you guys have been thinking like I've been, then you all know we are in deep ca ca here. If we show even one picture to anyone, the bucket of ca ca gets stirred. Any idea here guys?"
Aaron said, "I've a barn at my place. Why don't we take Mr. X there and hide it until we figure something better out. Then you can contact National G and have the site opened for a proper dig. I don't know how you handle the image on the wall though."
Jack said, "I like that idea Aaron. I also like the idea of a lawyer and National G. I think NG will have some answers to the problem we see with an alien on the wall. If after a period of time the opportunity comes up to display X, then we decides then."
Nancy looked at Tony, he nodded and so did Laura. So basically it was decided to contact NG, hide X and find a lawyer. Jack tossed in the fact his father ran in those circles in Tombstone. Everyone was happy to hear the news and let Jack handle that end of things.
"Well, what now guys," said Nancy "Do you want me to contact NG or should we let the lawyer do it when the time comes?"
Tony said, "Let's wait for the lawyer to take care of that end of things. How do we pay this lawyer anyway," he asked.
Jack said, "Let my father worry about that. He knows students don't have any money. He'll use a local guy and I think I know who it is. He's an old timer half retired."
They went to their sleeping bags with the day's events churning and burning in their heads. Nancy wondered what the next few days would bring to her life. If she'd known the future it's entirely possible she would have found an excuse to be absent from the club.
In Tombstone, Arizona Ned Donaldsen, Jack's father, was with his son in Ben Lager's office. Jack made no mention of the image
on the cave wall, but told Attorney Lager how mere students were shoved aside and never given any credit for a discovery such as this. Jack was very emphatic and it appeared Ben Lager was half asleep with a legal pad in his lap.
As it turned out, Jack couldn't have been more wrong that Ben Lager was sleeping on the job. After Jack had finished, Ben said, "I'm pretty sure I've got it Jack. Would you come back after lunch and let's go over the points one more time before we stir the soup."
Father and son walked out to have some lunch. Jack said, "Dad, 'stir the soup' is the first time I've heard that one. It's kind of corny, don't you think?"
His father laughed and said, "Yes, maybe so son. However, when I was a kid your grandmother would stir the pot of soup as I came home from school. She thought it would increase my appetite, I guess."
After a hearty lunch by his mother, father and son went back to the lawyer. His father said the old man would do the club well. And that was soon to be true. At the law office, Ben had the major points on his legal pad for Jack to look at. Jack liked what he saw and told him to proceed as he wished. Jack left Ben with the names of the Flake Club; which was registered at the university to complete the information. Ben said, "I've no idea how long it will be until I'm contacted from them Jack, but I'll inform your father immediately."
On the four hour drive back to Las Cruses, Jack had a lot of time to think about things. Jack had graduated this year and was studying for his GRE for graduate school. He'd a thing for Nancy, but she didn't seem to respond. Jack realized he was not much to look at being thin and wearing glasses. Be that as it may, Jack knew he was part and parcel of the club.
The club had been hanging out at Aaron's small ranch outside of Rincon. He'd inherited from his father. His mother left father and son not long after he was born. Aaron usually worked for the USFS during summer fire season. For the remainder of the year he did odd jobs here and there to put food on his table.
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