[Anthology] Killer Thrillers

by Nick Thacker

  10:59 am

  They ran along the outside of the temple wall before coming to another open doorway. It was halfway down the wall, adjacent to where the shaft in the center of the temple would be inside. The door was only about five feet tall, and they had to duck as they entered. Madu’s men hadn’t yet rounded the corner, so their re-entry went unseen.

  Inside, a hallway turned ninety degrees to the right — leaving only one way to run. “I guess we go this way,” Beka said. The rest followed, and as they walked Bryce noticed the ground sloping downward at a slight angle and veering to the left a bit. It was just like the passageways he’d seen in Egypt and Jordan, but here there were no symbols covering the walls.

  Bryce noticed something else that was different about this passageway — at the top of the wall, before it joined the ceiling on each side, a shallow trench had been dug at about eye level. It was about three inches deep, and filled with a hardened epoxy-like substance. The material had a translucent appearance, and transferred light fairly well, as a blue-tinted light bathed the walkway in an eerie glow.

  “Wow,” Corinne said.

  “‘Wow’ is right,” Cole said. “There’s no way to reflect the main light source in here, so this must be like a power line or something, used to light these tunnels. I wonder if it’s electrically charged too?”

  “Probably not,” Wayne said. “They wouldn’t have any need for electricity, I’d guess. We didn’t see any machines or anything that you’d ‘plug in’ on the way over here — it probably just gives off UV light to keep life going smoothly, then acts as a general light source for other places throughout the city.”

  Bryce nodded. “I wonder if this is some sort of maintenance shaft — there aren’t any decorative symbols on the walls and ceiling like the other two.”

  “Either way,” Vilocek said, “this hallway seems to be curving back toward the center of the temple, right below that square hole. More than likely we’ll come across another subterranean chamber — one that might even have the crystal inside.”

  They continued walking in silence. They finally came to a section that was brightly lit from up ahead. As they got closer, they could see that the source of the light was the same beam that shot up and out of the temple’s open roof. This part of the beam was held within a large, clear tube, made from the same material lighting the curved hallway behind them. The giant tube was contained in an underground room, similar to those hidden beneath the Giza pyramid and Petra’s Treasury.

  The room itself was small — barely large enough to allow them all inside, spread out around the tube.

  “Look,” Corinne called out. “Here are the symbols! There aren’t many of them; just a few rows.”

  “Looks like some of them are upside-down,” Jeff said.

  “You’re right,” Bryce said. “I didn’t notice it in the other places, but it does seem like some of the rows are upside-down. The top, third, and fifth lines are right, but the even-numbered rows are reversed.” Bryce followed the lines of symbols around the room with his eyes, finally ending back where Corinne was standing.

  “You know, my uncle,” Corinne said, stopping to collect her breath. “My uncle said something like that in Petra. That the Rongorongo script was written in an odd way: top to bottom, skipping a line, then reversing the canvas — like completely flipping it over — and going again top to bottom. In that case, it would look like this, with one line right-side-up, the next upside-down, and so on.”

  Cole stood next to Corinne, swaying slightly back and forth as he stared at the wall. “You ok?” Corinne asked.

  “Yeah, I — I think. I feel weak, or lightheaded. I don’t know.” He blinked and shook his head. “I’m okay. This writing — it took me a second, but I think I can read it.”

  He squinted, frowning at the script.

  “It’s their history. The Rapa Nui, I mean. They lived here! This was their city, at least for a while — I can’t understand the dates though.

  “It says that they came here long ago, led by the first high chief from their original homeland — “

  “Hiva,” Corinne said.

  “See this symbol here? It’s like a boat, or a canoe — this is how they got here. They came with descendants from nine original ‘clans’ or ‘families, I think.” Cole stepped closer to the wall, trying to decipher the timeline. He followed the symbols around the room, and the group followed at his heels. “Ok, so, this section is referencing their history. It’s saying that they experienced a long period of expansion and even Imperialism, though their main center of operations was their central city-state. Eventually, there was some kind of great catastrophe; something that caused them to seek a new home ‘at the ends of the earth,’” he continued.

  “Imperialism,” Vilocek said. “That must be what we’ve seen at Giza and Petra, and I’ll bet there are underground chambers just like them at all the other points on that great circle line we found beneath the pyramid. What about their original land? Where were they from?”

  Bryce couldn’t help but notice that for a man as bent on personal gain as Vilocek was, he was still caught up in the mystery as well.

  “It doesn’t say, I don’t think. At least there’s no name for it here. But they built their new home ‘beneath the earth,’ to protect them from the world’s watchful eye.”

  “That must be why they’re in a volcano,” Wayne said.

  “No, wait, that’s backwards — “ Cole said, stopping short. “I think it actually says they built their home beneath the earth to protect the world from their ‘watchful eye’ — whatever that means,” he said.

  He looked at Corinne, then at Bryce.

  “It means they had something to hide; something they needed to protect the world from,” Bryce said. “Go on.”

  “Ok, yeah — they built their new city here — that’s what this symbol is.“ Cole pointed to a small symbol on the wall made up of intersecting circles. “It’s a reminder of where they came from; this city is a copy of their original home.” As he pointed at the symbol that represented the word “city,” Corinne’s eyes widened.

  “Of course!” she cried out. “That’s it — I knew it looked familiar! The city up there, if you remember, is a set of concentric circles, each getting larger the farther they get away from the central temple,” she said. She looked around at their blank expressions.

  “Guys — this city is an exact copy of the city of Atlantis.”

  58

  11:20 am

  Cole continued. “Ok, so, they lived here for many years, maybe centuries — again, I don’t completely understand the date system. They were able to grow crops here, underground, and there was a supply of fresh groundwater they used throughout the city. Looks like this was quite a civilization. They had nine distinct family lines, each mostly living in harmony with the others.

  “Their government was essentially made up of the high priests of each family, and they met here in the temple. Seems almost democratic, actually. It looks like they were also sort of xenophobic — it doesn’t look like they took too kindly to outsiders.”

  “Wait — here’s what we’re looking for!” Cole was getting excited. “The high priests used their ‘gift’ as a way to have superiority over the normal people. It keeps saying something about this ‘gift’ being an object — maybe the crystal we’re looking for?”

  “Maybe,” Vilocek said. “What do you mean by superiority?”

  “It says that they were considered the wisest of all the clans; that somehow they were capable of performing feats of physical strength and mental agility, and they lived much longer than the average people. As such, they guarded their secret of the ‘gift’ closely. It also says that their ‘gift’ was the reason they had to find a new land; the reason for the great catastrophe.

  “I think this ‘gift’ is your crystal, Vilocek,” Bryce interrupted. “And I think that by using the crystal’s powers for themselves, they inadvertently caused it to break down, like you w
ere saying. Maybe by using it too much or — “

  Vilocek held up a hand to stop Bryce. “Keep going, Cole, let’s finish this and find that ‘gift’ of theirs.”

  Bryce frowned, but Cole kept reading. “Their leaders — the ruling group of elders — were the only Rapa Nui who could use the power source. Something about it being in their bloodline; it’s how they argued that they were ‘divinely chosen’ to lead.” As Cole read, he thought of his own strange abilities — his changing skin color in the presence of the crystal, and his ability to innately understand what these symbols meant. A quick look to Vilocek revealed that the older man was contemplating the same things. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind to focus on the task at hand.

  “They were divinely chosen — but their power eventually led to the destruction of their homeland,” he said, looking toward Bryce in confirmation, “and they wanted to make sure they wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes here. That’s why they lived here in secrecy — trying to prevent their world from colliding with the outside world, as it had so many years before.”

  “That makes sense,” Wayne said. “Whatever catastrophe they’d suffered originally almost killed them off; most likely it impacted the rest of the world to some extent, too.”

  “So then what happened?” Jeff asked. “And hurry it up. The Egyptians have to be getting close to the doorway that leads down here.”

  “Well,” Cole continued, now reading from the last wall of symbols, “it seems like their story ends here — they eventually died off.”

  “And since they didn’t want the world to find them, they probably had some sort of population controls in place — preventing reproduction or something,” Corinne said. “I seem to remember that Easter Island’s known history includes a period when a cannibalistic cult called the “Birdmen” ran the island. Maybe they were a remnant of these same people, emerging from this city after hundreds of years. Eventually, the island’s people depleted the resources they had and also suffered from disease brought by Western explorers.”

  “And remember the way we came in?” Cole asked. “The Moai emitted that blue light, and the door opened itself after I touched it. Maybe the crystal has to be present to move in and out of the city — that’s how they could have kept people out for so long.”

  “…And kept people in for so long,” Jeff said.

  “It makes sense that no one else before us was able to find this place,” Cole said. “Nobody else had the crystal — or a human host, like me.”

  “That doesn’t explain Jabari,” Vilocek said, wondering how the Egyptian had gotten into the city.

  “So, this room,” Corinne said, “is it like a power plant? All of these light tubes seem to be connected to this main shaft.”

  “Actually, I don’t think so,” Cole said. “See the two symbols above that doorway? And the same symbols above the doorway over by Beka? I can’t understand the first one, but the second symbol is pretty basic. One word in English pretty much sums it up.”

  “Well? What is this place if it’s not a power plant?” Vilocek asked.

  “It’s a library.”

  59

  11:22 am

  The others looked around the room in surprise.

  “This?” Bryce asked. “There’s nothing here besides that tube in the center, and the rows of symbols on the walls. How can this be a library?”

  “Remember, we’re dealing with an advanced race,” Corinne said, moving next to Cole. “A civilization that’s long been extinct. Who knows what ‘library’ means to them, or if there’s some technology they had that we can’t understand yet.”

  Vilocek frowned as he looked around the chamber. Karn and Beka were focused on the doorways, half expecting Madu’s men to barge through, guns blazing.

  “What are you thinking, Vilocek?” Bryce asked. “You look like you know something.”

  He shook his head, then subtly flicked his eyes in the direction of his two guards. “Just a thought. I don’t suppose our friend Cole here would care to help us with a little experiment?”

  Corinne’s mouth tightened in rage. She started toward Vilocek, her hand raised to strike him. Karn swiftly grabbed her wrist in mid-swing, wrapping his other arm around her body. “Let’s not get carried away,” he whispered into her ear. His voice was hollow and cold. Corinne struggled to get away, but he held fast.

  “Stop it — leave her alone!” Bryce yelled, raising his weapon and aiming at Vilocek. Vilocek just smiled, as the Israeli soldier hit Bryce in the back of his neck with the butt of his rifle, dropping him to his knees. Beka lifted his pulse rifle and fired it at Wayne and Jeff, who were standing too close to one another. They immediately froze in place, helpless.

  11:24 am

  Bryce groaned in pain and looked up. Vilocek was standing against the opposite wall, close to the other door. He had a pistol against the side of Corinne’s head. Beka still had the Thompsons immobilized, and the Israeli had his rifle aimed at Bryce.

  Bryce wanted to scream; to just lash out and finish this deadly game. Who cares if we don’t make it? He thought. We won’t get out of this hell alive, anyway. Then he thought yet again of his mother — and knew he had to see it through.

  Karn had donned a pair of gloves and was moving toward Cole. He grabbed a fistful of Cole’s hair and yanked him toward the central shaft, forcing him to stand facing the bright light.

  Corinne screamed at Vilocek, and Bryce cursed under his breath. Wayne and Jeff stared straight ahead, their faces still and expressionless.

  Karn raised Cole’s left arm like a puppet. Cole was having a difficult time just maintaining his balance. As his arm came within inches of the shaft, it lit up in a brilliant shade of blue.

  Karn paused, looking back at Vilocek. Vilocek nodded, and Karn immediately thrust Cole’s arm against the shaft.

  The effect was instantaneous.

  The entire room erupted in a blinding flash, forcing all of them to shield their eyes.

  The light quickly faded, revealing Karn backing away from Cole, who was locked in place against the lighted tube.

  After a few seconds, Cole’s body convulsed a bit, and his head lolled backward. The veins of his arms became vibrantly exposed, bluish-tinted ridges crawling over his exposed skin. Soon his entire body was completely blue, with darker-blue lines webbing outward over his skin. It was horrifying — even the Vilocorp men seemed shocked at the result.

  Cole’s body remained stationary, silently and slowly pulsating as his palm stayed rooted to the tube. Vilocek winced, thinking back to the experiments they’d done with the small child, and others on chimpanzees, guinea pigs, and even an unlucky shark during a more peculiar underwater version.

  In all of the experiments, the subjects had been injected with a serum that Dr. Enko Vilocek had developed thirty years ago. Tanning Vilocek had altered it slightly, optimizing it with a more precise replica of the crystal’s properties. It had taken over 130 batches, and many failed experiments to get to a point of consistent results, but they almost had it down.

  The goal was to prolong the lifespan of the live specimens. They planned to eventually inject humans with the serum, increasing the brain’s speed and ability to heal and develop neural connections. The effect in isolated incidences had been staggeringly successful — for short periods. The chimpanzee had become able to read simple word problems, and draw the result on a chalkboard. The guinea pigs escaped their enclosures almost every time, working in tandem with one another like a team. And the shark, much to its keepers’ dismay, had to be put down swiftly with a bullet to the head, as it had become furiously ravenous and actually jumped from the water out onto the laboratory floor, taking a scientist’s arm with it.

  Most of the experiments hadn’t ended well at all. Once they were able to successfully keep the animal subjects alive for longer than a week, they began the initial human testing of the serum. Some of the subjects had shown marked improvements in awareness, reflexes, and retention. But they al
l deteriorated rapidly after a few days to a week. They suffered extremely painful seizures before succumbing to massive failure of their internal organs.

  The child hadn’t even made it as far as the increased brain activity before failing. They hadn’t even had time to test his reactions to the presence of the crystal sliver — much less bringing the crystal into actual contact with his skin — before he hyperventilated and his body temperature rose to over 120 degrees. He was dead within minutes — excruciatingly long minutes, Vilocek admitted — but he was a useful learning experience, and had served Vilocorp’s needs quite well: he was the last human experiment they’d run before they injected Cole Reed.

  Vilocek had learned one important fact by testing on the young Panamanian boy: The serum was specific to species, and even more specific to certain sized species within one genus. By testing the serum on numerous human subjects of differing gender and size, his scientists had found out that the sex of the subjects was trivial compared to the balance of chemicals used in ratio to the size of the subject. The boy hadn’t fared well, but Cole was within the range of sizes his lead scientist had declared as “acceptable transferrable size.”

  But it wasn’t a perfect match. They still didn’t understand how the serum worked, as it was based on the crystal that they hadn’t yet been able to accurately measure. They knew, however, that by forcing the serum into contact with the crystal synthetic — or the crystal sliver itself — caused the crystal to break down more rapidly, along with the subject’s body. But by adding a “parasitically beneficial” element to the crystal, they were able to slow the process.

  And the only thing they’d found that acted as a parasite — leeching one of the materials and nullifying deterioration of the crystal — had been the same substance that had been so pivotal in his father’s career, and helped shape the history of the United States.