by Mikayla Lane
Haruki
By Mikayla Lane
Cover art by humblenations.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations, affiliations and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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To my Readers:
Thanks so much for all of the reviews, suggestions, and comments.
As always, feel free to email me.
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Mikayla Lane
First Wave and Second Wave Series in Reading Order
Hunting Cari
Finding Jess
Chasing Dare
Grai’s Game
Viper
Taming Jax
Drago
Grounding Gracus
True Traitor
Mikal
Manipulating Mikey
Saving Koda
Chris
Niklosi’s Nightmare
Haruki
497 Word Document Pages
94,318 Words
Ver. 1.0 10-16-2016
Chapter One
Deep in the mountains of the Alaskan Triangle
She saw the hand reaching out to her through the darkness, and grabbed it. The heat of his hand permeated the coldness of her own and spread through her, warming her bones in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time. She was tired of being cold, just tired in general.
She felt his arms wrap around her, and she burrowed as close to his body heat as she could get, feeling safe and protected. She wasn’t sure why it was so important to feel protected. She’d never been in a situation where she didn’t.
“You gotta wake up, Deanna. I need you,” his voice whispered in the dark.
She struggled to speak as the darkness swirled around them. The wind suddenly hit them with a bitter cold that sucked out every bit of warmth she’d gotten from him.
“Deanna? Wake up.”
Deanna’s eyes flew open, and she stared up into the face of Mike Zickerbergen, CEO of Social Solutions, and her boss.
“What time is it?” Deanna asked as she looked at her watch.
“It’s earlier than the regular wake-up call, but we finally cleared the entrance to the new chamber, and I thought it would be best if you went inside with us the first time,” Mike said as he stared down at her lewdly.
Deanna felt her skin crawl at his look and pulled the sleeping bag up to her shoulders. She hated the man with every fiber of her being and wished she’d gotten to know him before taking the job. It wouldn’t have stopped her from coming, but it would have made her bring along some deterrents, like mace and sturdier locks.
“If you give me a minute, I’ll be right out,” Deanna said, looking pointedly at the door to her private pod.
Mike grinned down at her with that smarmy smile that made her want to punch him in his arrogant face.
“Maybe we can celebrate later. Privately, of course,” he said as he gave her another once over.
Deanna shivered in disgust as Mike left the room. She waited until she heard his footsteps retreating before jumping out of bed. As Deanna quickly pulled warm clothes over her long johns, she made up her mind to start sleeping fully dressed.
That pig can’t be trusted, she thought as she sat on her bunk and pulled on her boots.
Deanna did her best to put thoughts of her boss out of her mind and let her excitement take over. She was going to be the first archeologist to step foot inside a hidden chamber of the largest unknown pyramid in the world.
Fully dressed and feeling more armored against Mike’s lascivious looks, Deanna moved to her desk and rechecked her backpack before she slung it over one shoulder. She took one last look around the small modular pod that served as her office and sleeping quarters, then headed out of the door.
Deanna navigated the worn path around the various structures that made up the dining area, living areas, and labs for the research team and stood in awe at the base of the dark granite pyramid hidden inside of the mountain. The sight could still take her breath away, even though she’d been looking at it for weeks now.
At 1920 feet high, the pyramid was four times larger than Cheops in Egypt and unlike the other pyramids discovered around the world, this one was built entirely inside a mountain. It also hummed with energy from a source they still hadn’t found.
“Let’s go! I want to start mapping it as soon as we get inside!” Mike called out.
Deanna watched the men, mostly ex-military, scramble to do the billionaire’s bidding as she pulled her pack over her other shoulder, secured it around her waist, then headed towards the entrance to the pyramid.
“Wait for me, beautiful. I want to be there when you have a geekgasm over what we find,” Mike said with a waggle of his eyebrows.
His underling’s burst into laughter as they high-fived Mike and gave him slaps on the back for his juvenile behavior.
“Not going to happen,” Deanna mumbled as she picked up her pace to avoid walking beside him.
When she’d first been approached by him for the project, he’d been exceedingly professional and courteous. The moment she’d landed in Anchorage, he’d changed into a disgusting frat boy that spent every spare moment harassing her. If it weren't for the chance to research the pyramid, she’d have hiked back to civilization, by herself, weeks ago.
“Hey, I’m real sorry about that.”
Deanna turned to see Trevor a few steps behind her. He was one of a half-dozen that worked here that she had instantly liked and become fast friends with.
“I know. I almost hope we don’t find anything so he’ll leave,” Deanna whispered, looking behind her to make sure Mike wouldn’t overhear.
“After you left your pod, I put a loaded gun under your pillow. Just keep it with you from now on, and start locking your pod,” Trevor whispered.
He looked behind them to make sure the other men were still busy joking with Mike.
Deanna skipped a step and had to stop herself from stumbling. She recovered quickly and kept her focus on the entrance to the pyramid.
“Do you think he’s going to try something? Here?” she whispered, her voice rising in anger.
“I don’t know, but you need to be prepared if he does,” Trevor advised her. “He’s coming.”
Deanna suppressed a shiver and kept her eyes trained forward. She knew when Mike got close because she could feel the hair on her neck begin to rise.
“When they finally cleared away the upper part of the doorway they found some scratchings. You’ll have to read it and tell us if it’s an ominous warning about gods coming to smite us if we enter!” Mike shouted and chuckled in that annoying way that made Deanna cringe.
Even his immature mouth couldn’t stop the excitement that ran through Deanna at the thought of possibly discovering who’d built the amazing pyramid in such an unforgiving landscape. And in a place thought to have been barely populated by native peoples for thousands of years.
The pyramid was discovered in 1992, and researchers had been working on the project since then, but as of yet, no one had been able to decipher the unknown language. Deanna hoped that the previously hidden chamber would hold a Rosetta stone of some kind that would help her to understand more about the pyramid and the incredible people who built it.
She navigated her way through the passageway, the dark granite that the monumental structure was made from seemed to suck all the light from the bare bulbs strewn above them, dimly lighting her way. She’d become so accustomed to the continuous hum that came from somewher
e deep within the pyramid; she almost missed when it stuttered, before resuming its normal resonance.
She turned to see if Trevor or anyone else had noticed it and when no one gave any indication they’d heard it, Deanna decided to ask the other researchers about it later. She turned her attention back to the corridor until she was standing in front of the door that had been hidden behind an elaborate mural.
“See if you can figure it out. It’s not like the other writing, but also nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Tom Chitone, one of the many researchers muttered as she approached.
He politely held the ladder for her so she could reach the top of the 10-foot doorway.
“Let’s not obsess over this now! If you can’t read it, let’s move on,” Mike called out behind her. “You can look at that shit all you want later. Right now, let’s get in the room!”
Deanna sighed as she scurried up the ladder and studied the beautiful and artistic writing. Although she agreed it appeared vastly different than what they’d encountered thus far, she knew it was the same language. There was no denying the elegant swirls and fluidity of the script that was expertly etched into the granite.
“It’s the same, Tom,” she said as she climbed back down. “The style is exact on the different symbols. I think what we’re seeing, are strong words or meanings that we’ve not encountered until now. It could be a warning.”
“Is it safe to go in or not?” Mike interrupted.
Deanna closed her eyes for a moment, begging for patience she just couldn’t muster for the man.
“It should be safe,” Tom answered, sparing Deanna from doing so.
She mouthed “thank you” to Tom.
“OK,” Mike said as he slapped his hands and rubbed them together. “So it should be like the other entrances we’ve found right? There’s a small area you need to press, door swings into the wall by a mechanism you geeks can’t figure out yet, and Ta Da! Right? We find out if this room is what is powering this baby or if it’s a treasure chamber!”
Deanna and Tom rolled their eyes at each other while Deanna took the left side of the door and Tom the right. They’d never found a switch above five feet, and started from that height and worked their way down the sides of the door.
When they both reached the bottom, and neither had found the switch, Deanna shrugged her shoulders and started running her fingers along the floor. Tom went ahead and did the same until they’d covered everything but the upper part of the doorway.
“What? There’s no button or lever?” Mike yelled out in anger.
“I’m going to check the top, you recheck the sides,” Tom said to Deanna, ignoring Mike.
Deanna moved back to the upper left side and moved more slowly, her fingers searching for anything that would indicate a potential way to open the dark granite door.
“Today, people!” Mike complained.
“Would you give it a rest, Mike?” Tom said as he searched along the upper part of the door. “This may be the one room in this place that is exactly like Cheops and we’re going to have to pull it out. Which is going to take a lot longer than the five minutes we need to look for another way!”
Deanna smiled to herself when Mike went silent, and she continued to run her fingers along the almost invisible line along the door and the wall.
“Nothing, damn it,” Tom complained as he climbed down the ladder. “Trade with me, Deanna, I may be missing it.”
Deanna nodded, wanting to cover all bases before they did anything that might cause damage in the incredible pyramid. She switched places with Tom, re-climbed the ladder and ran her fingers along the edges.
After 20 minutes and half a dozen passes over the door, Deanna finally climbed back down the ladder and shook her head.
“There’s no distinct mechanism this time,” she admitted. “Before you decide to drill into it and winch it out, I think you should let Dog and his boys get their equipment in here and see if they can find something we missed.”
“You’re joking, right? I mean, you can’t possibly want me to wait another week for more inconclusive shit when I’ve got a board of directors waiting for answers in four hours! Do you like the exorbitant paycheck you’re getting? Do you like being here?” Mike demanded as he barked at Deanna, his face inches from hers.
Deanna had enough of him and his spit in her face. She reared back and slammed him in the chest with both palms until she pushed him away from her. She took another defensive step back as she fumed in rage and wiped his spit from her face before she stormed over towards him.
“You listen to me, you arrogant, ignorant pig!” Deanna snapped in anger. “The fact that you made ridiculous claims to your board is not my problem! And threatening me with my job? Really? I’m the best in my field and you know it; which is why you begged me to come by dangling that paycheck in front of me. If you ever hope to translate anything in this place, you better back the hell off me!”
Deanna had expected her outburst would have put the egomaniac in his place, but his smile said otherwise.
“Well, rawr! The little kitten has claws after all. I like women with a little fight in them,” Mike said with a wide grin.
Deanna refused to give his comments a thought.
“Get Dog,” Deanna repeated, referring to Marquis “Big Dog” Washington, the electrical and mechanical genius who’d been here when it was first discovered and never left.
“Fine. I’ll give you guys three hours before I try to pull it,” Mike threatened.
Deanna jerked away from the hand he raised towards her face. Mike chuckled as he turned away from her and headed down the tunnel that would take them out of the pyramid.
“Three hours, little kitten,” Mike called out, the irritating sound echoing through the granite tunnel.
“I hate that son of a bitch,” Tom muttered as he watched them leave. “Worst thing the government ever did was bring those bastards in and sell them the rights to this technology.”
“He keeps trying to randomly pull blocks and maybe he’ll bring it down on himself,” Deanna said as she stood back from the door. “What are we missing here?”
“You got me. It’s definitely nothing like the other three chambers we’ve found. This was hidden for one,” Tom replied.
“Yeah, a lot was different,” Deanna agreed.
The first three chambers that were found were directly off the main tunnel, hadn’t been hidden, and the mechanisms to open them were relatively easy to find. No one ever told her what had been found in the other chambers, but Deanna knew it had to be something pretty important for the government to fund the ongoing research and maintain the secrecy of the project.
Deanna grabbed her pack and pulled out the photographs she’d taken of the mural before Mike took it down to get to the door, and began looking them over.
“You think there was a warning on there? Or a way in?” Tom asked as he moved to look at the pictures over her shoulder.
Deanna shook her head as she stared at the beautiful pictures of the mural that Mike had so casually destroyed. It had shown three large warrior-like men, dressed in white pants and tunics that bore a large red triangle. A smaller one was under the left ear of the warriors.
The garments weren’t like the traditional attire worn by the people found in other pyramids around the world. The men in the mural looked more like Templar Knights with a triangle instead of a cross emblazoned on their clothing.
They wore shields on their backs and in their raised hands were lightning bolts. That is what led Deanna to believe that the pyramid was made for a Zeus-like God.
What if I’m wrong, she thought.
“What if it notes the energy source? The lightning bolts are representing the energy being circulated that’s creating the hum?” she asked.
Deanna didn’t know anything about the humming sound or the energy part of this project which is why it hadn’t occurred to her before now that the mural might depict the source of the energy and not a God.
; She had been hired as an expert in linguistics. The hum, and the power source that was causing it was the expertise of Tom, Dog, and a few others.
“There’s no way the source is behind that door. It may be an entry to where it is, but it’s not directly behind there,” Tom admitted. “The energy it’s producing is too powerful. You think it’s safe to open it?”
“I think what’s written above the door is a warning. I just wish I could read what it says,” Deanna said.
Deanna was frustrated that she’d not made as much headway on breaking the language as hoped when she first started the project.
The problem was that nothing in this pyramid was like anything else she’d ever seen. It was nothing like any other pyramid ever found. This pyramid was an entirely new breed. One that still hummed with an unknown energy source and was built within a mountain.
“Cut yourself some slack. No one else has figured it out in 24 years, and you’ve only been here a few weeks. I’ve been here a long time, and I can honestly say we’ve come farther since you’ve gotten here than we ever have before,” Tom said. “Mike is acting like an ass because he promised the board something and can’t deliver.”
Deanna pulled out her camera and climbed back up the ladder to take pictures of the writing above the door before Mike pulled the door out and potentially destroyed it. She turned at the greeting called out from down the tunnel.
“I knew you couldn’t resist seeing me this morning,” Big Dog called out as he and a few men came up the tunnel to them.
Deanna grinned and climbed down the ladder.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said as she kissed his weathered cheek.
Big Dog, called that because he’d been a part of the original discovery team and was the reason the place was still operational. Dog helped to build the infrastructure inside the mountain that enabled them to research the pyramid for the last 24 years. He knew where every cable was laid, and every pod and board placed, and as an electrical and mechanical genius, he was invaluable to the continued human presence here.