Islands in the Sky

by Michel Savage

  "We aren't sure of that conclusion as yet," Logan admitted, "but your analogy does hold a hint of credibility."

  "To be frank with you Doc," I replied, "I think this whole thing is much bigger than us; and we should get some professionals in here to decipher what it was that happened to these people, and learn how we can avoid facing their fate."

  "That is where you are deadly wrong, my boy," Logan snapped back, "our own national governments and those abroad would wrap this discover up tighter than a drum! They would suppress and censor this site in order to exploit it to fit their prescribed script of our world history."

  "Why would they do that?" I slipped before thinking.

  "Power," Mica answered in a snap, "knowledge is power; always has been, and always will be. Every government is a dictatorship in one form or another, and the very thing they fear is a free society. For in such a society they would have less purpose, and thus..."

  "Less power," Alexander finished for her.

  "Look, I don't want to argue conspiracies with you guys, but this is an entire continent of architecture and technology that I've never seen before; and if there is any chance we can get that electric ball..." I began to rant until Mica interrupted.

  "The geomagnetic sphere," she corrected.

  "...Yeah, the whatever; and use it to abate this pole shift you keep talking about and save the world, then I think we should give it our best shot by getting a lot more feet on the ground out here!" I pressed with a note of anxiety in my tone.

  "We will cross that bridge when we get to it, Allen," Logan answered with a hand to my shoulder to calm me down, "first we need to find our way out of here; and I promise you I will do the right thing when the time comes to pass ...alright?"

  Logan gave me a look of assurance as if I was a small child who had dropped his ice cream and being assured a replacement. As a recipient of his attitude, it was wholly embarrassing to say the least. Until now, there were no records from past civilizations which survived a global shift. It was our obligation to find the clues we needed to solve this mystery and find a way to avert the looming catastrophe while we were trapped within a continent of ice.

  Forest of Stone

  We had been on a one way trip since we entered this underground labyrinth and exploring these ancient cities forgotten by time. There was nowhere to go from here as our trek had seemed to come to a dead end at these Dwarven ruins. The bedrock appeared to be capped by a massive roof which hung high over this cavernous chamber. The protection that it once offered in the distant past now served as our prison.

  "Mica, I have an idea," I stated towards her as Logan and Alex appeared intrigued by my suggestion, "That ring bracelet gizmo you have looks like it will fit on the icon of that sphere in the center of the mural.

  Certainly enough, it was designed to appear like an undersized eclipse with both the sun and moon stacked one on top of the other; making it appear like a donut that roughly resembled the ring she had found. Stepping forward to touch the engraving, she found it was gently recessed. Mica removed the silver band from her wrist and carefully placed it in the depression where it pulled itself from her grasp and snapped into place. Both Alex and the professor's eyebrows curled in mixed astonishment that I had detected such a clue they had overlooked.

  The large ring began to turn slowly as the four of us watched with anticipation, until it clicked into placed and the recess engulfed the device several centimeters until the device itself became flush with the wall. Mica attempted to retrieve it, but there was no way to get a grip upon the ring in its current position.

  "It's stuck!" Mica announced in alarm, and a moment later the floor beneath us seemed to move.

  It was purely a visual effect which confused us as the walls around us began to slowly rise. Looking behind us towards the entrance I could see the stairway by which we had entered was still visible as the walls of the chamber rose; revealing former details in the enormous mural which had previously been hidden below the level of the floor. The rising walls lifted the ring far out of our reach as it was replaced by detailed scenery in the carvings that were exposed from beneath our feet. Six elaborately carved panels characterized each of the individual empires that once ruled the great lands of Eastern Antarctica.

  Above them were scripts in different languages, one of which Alexander recognized as resembling ancient Sumerian.

  "Can you understand that, good fellow?" Logan asked his comrade as Alex stepped forward to inspect the glyphs.

  "Those Nordic looking runes there are much older than elder Futhark, and these markings here are too confused to be true Akkadian," Alex muttered as he adjusted his cracked spectacles, but it appears to give the names of the six major dynasties you proposed had once ruled the eastern lands."

  "Those there," Mica pointed towards a carving of an imposing giant, depicted larger than the others, "I recognize seeing those symbols before."

  "Ah, the Jotu, where the giants dwell," Alex responded, "which appears to be the half sunken city overtaken by jellyfish and those vicious bats," he noted.

  Next to it was another panel depicting crystal towers upon an arctic scene, which Alexander noted was the lands of the 'Nif'. Next to that panel was the desert people of the 'Mus', who ruled vast deserts and wastelands on a landscape littered with volcanoes. On the opposite side were the wild forest tribes of the 'Alf'; which he suggested might have translated to what we know by legends as tales as Elf's, depicted in glowing woodlands. Next to it were the familiar designs of the 'Nida' the underworld of the Dwarves, depicted by their short stature and clusters of minerals. The carved portraits of their race also showed them wearing the same neck pieces we had seen upon their dead displayed within the crypts.

  "And what of this one?" I inquired to Alex about a panel which was far more intricate in its design than the rest of the portraits.

  "The 'Asga'," Alexander stumbled on his words as if he was unsure of its pronunciation.

  "Asgardians," Logan whispered, "...the sacred lands of the old Gods," he breathed with elation.

  The professor related his knowledge on the old Norse legends and the lands of their gods, where their dead warriors would go to feast after in the afterlife. Of course, if it was a real location then it would be the first place any scholar would want to see. As Logan approached the panel to get better look bright amber lights lit up below the edge of the floor near his proximity. The walls suddenly raised another level around us, stretching the panels far above our heads while revealing a previously hidden chamber before us.

  We noticed a small figure huddled in the corner of the room where there stood a simple stone dais. Upon it appeared a series of notches set in a half circle with a small teardrop shaped recess; its layout resembling that of a sundial. Mica turned on her light to get a look at the figure and found the small bones of an ancient Dwarven citizen. By the elaborate design of its clothes, she deduced it must have been a high priest or other such head figure. Around the body lay several small sticks which drew her attention.

  Picking on up, she discovered it operated like a foldable fan. Though she carefully tried to open it, the paper-like material within it fell away to dust before her; its recorded contents forever lost. One after the other, they decayed into powder as she tried examine them, until she finally found one within the boney grasp of the dead priest. The panel of this fan was made of a thin sheet of the same bronze metal that the Dwarfish race of the Nida preferred in their construction. Gently opening the instrument, it revealed intricate writings placed within each of its folds.

  It was certainly an interesting way to preserve writing, which didn't curl the pages like a scroll, or possess the clumsiness of a heavy tome. The items on the paper-like material had decayed, but the embellished metal had survived these long eons. Turning over the body she discovered corpse was wearing one of the golden neck pieces they had seen adorned by the other cadavers within the catacombs. Gently removing it from the body, the brittle bones fell away as she
lifted up the metallic mantle.

  Though tarnished by age, it was clear that the ornament was not merely cosmetic; but served some type of function. She handed it to Logan to examine.

  "Look here inside the chest piece," the professor, "embedded in the metal are several disks," he noted while showing Alexander and I. They were shaped like small thick coins stacked upon one another. They seemed to serve no decorative purpose because they were on the underside of the neck plate.

  "What do you suppose those are?" Alex wondered.

  Logan took out his tuning fork to test a theory, but when he tried to strike it gently, the small fork snapped from his hands and attached itself to the disks. A look of surprise fell from his eyes as he turned to us.

  "Whatever it is for, it appears to be highly magnetic," the professor granted as he tried to wrestle his tuning fork back. The attraction was extremely strong, considering how difficult it was for him to pry it off.

  "It must be a type of rare earth magnet," Mica stated.

  "Like a refrigerator magnet, I get it," I added, trying to sound smart.

  "Not exactly," she brushed back, while taking a key out of her pocked and testing each of the disks, "the strength of each of these appears to be different ...see here," she noted while she could pull her key away from one with measured ease, but had to put great effort on another to get the same effect.

  "That doesn't follow physics," Alex barked, "fundamentally; magnetic stacking of that fashion would naturally attain relative field strength between the others!"

  "Apparently they have found a way to counter that," Logan noted on Mica's observations, "what purpose do you think this mantle serves?" he asked his assistant.

  "My best guess is that it performs the same purpose as this," she stated while holding up the locker key she had used to test their field strength.

  "What, a magnetic key?" Logan marveled at her theory.

  "Are you able to translate these markings?" Mica asked Alexander while handing him the metallic fan. Adjusting his glasses, he took the fan over to the podium to set it down so he could use his flashlight with one hand and take notes on the other to decipher the script. He was mildly bewildered when he saw that the metal fan fit perfectly into the pie-shaped holder upon the stone pedestal.

  "Most interesting..." Alexander stated as the fan slipped into place and he began to decipher the text engraved upon it, "this cuneiform appears wrong somehow; like its formation is jumbled out of context," he related, "it's just not making any sense."

  "Here, try putting this on," Mica suggested as he handed Alex the gilded neckpiece from the priest. Fumbling with it, he was finally able to get the mantle over his head and upon his shoulders. The neck latch was loose enough to attach to his smaller frame, and after getting it on he tried to make another attempt at reading the text.

  "No difference; I just don't see how this is supposed to help," Alexander sputtered while trying to wiggle the large metal mantle into a more comfortable position upon his shoulders as he scratched at it.

  "Hmm, try squatting lower," I suggested, realizing that even as short as he was, Alex still stood a good height above the heads of these dwarfish people who once resided here. Following my suggestion, Alexander awkwardly stooped until he finally surrendered to the idea and got on his knees before the short pedestal; which brought it up to his chest level.

  Looking down, he leaned forward and jerked back abruptly when the metal fan flinched and suddenly folded upon itself until only four of its several folds appeared.

  "Are you doing that?" Logan queried his friend, but Alex just gazed at him in dismay.

  "No, I, I was just..." he stammered for a moment until a glowing red aura appeared over the dais, emitting a shimmer like a fountain of light from the teardrop shaped depression. Alexander sat there on his knees staring at us as if wondering what to do next.

  "Search the body again; there's something missing," I suggested to Mica as I pointed at the priests decomposed body upon the floor.

  Riffling through its tattered clothes, Mica finally found a small leathery bag and shook off the white dust of decomposed bone. Tearing it open, she found a large smooth jewel carved in the shaped of a teardrop. The opal glimmered in the light as she handed to Alex, who gently placed it within the depression on the base before him. The delicate rose colored light streaming from its centered intensified as it flowed through the translucent gem.

  We stepped back in alarm as the panel that represented the Asga domain slid forward, grinding roughly upon the stone floor; revealing a passage beyond. Logan cautiously peered through the cavity and into the hall behind the massive stone block.

  "Come on everyone, let's not dally," Logan cried as he ushered us to follow him into the corridor. Mica and I hopped through, but turned back to see a look of worry creep across Alexander's face, who though he might be left behind. He had tried to stand up, but the stone doorway began to slide shut as he did so; and open once again when he resumed his position.

  "Hey, guys ...what am I supposed to do?" Alex's voice quivered as he kneeled back at the podium, afraid to move lest the doorway close and separate him from the team. We could see that he was afraid of being left abandoned there. Mica turned back to give him some advice.

  "Get up slowly, and come to us," she offered with assurance.

  "I tried that," Alex yelped as he stood once again to take a step towards us and Mica jumped back into the narrow passage as the stone once again began to slide shut across the entrance.

  "Oh my, well it appears there is a reason behind the discovery of our lone priest here within the chamber; he must have been a gate keeper of sorts," Logan whispered to me and Mica privately behind the great slab.

  "Uh, wait a moment ...try taking off that neckpiece and lay it upon the pedestal," Mica suggested, which seemed like a plausible plan.

  Alexander struggled with the awkward metallic mantle and tried to shimmy his way out of it while keeping the magnet key embedded within it near as possible to the top of the podium. He gently set it down in various positions, but each way he tried only managed to sever the source of light emanating from the gemstone; causing the doorway to slide back and forth as he fiddled with it. We jumped back each time the slab moved for fear of being crush, while wondering what he was doing.

  "What the hell Alex, just put it down and get over here!" I snapped; getting worried about one of us getting injured.

  Alex gave us a squeamish glace and hastily fumbled with the large mantle and left it in a jumble on the pedestal in the middle of the room, then took several clumsy strides forward and stopped halfway when the weight of the neckpiece caused it to slip and it fell from the podium, knocking the opal gemstone from its place in the process. He froze mid-step and turned around as a look of dread as the pile of jewelry clattered to the floor. The rays of light holding the portal open extinguished and the stone doorway once again began to grind close.

  We yelled at Alex to hurry as the gap between the stone panel and the passage began to shrink. He made the split second mistake of trying to jump back to the pedestal to rearrange the devices and suddenly chose to abandon that idea and lurched back towards us. By then it was too late. The gap closed as we saw the look of utter fear in Alexander's wide eyes before the stone barrier ground back into place with a final jolt. We waited there for half an hour calling through the stone block and waiting for Alexander to open it again; but our efforts were in vain.

  "It appears the gateway has cycled shut, and he is unable to reopen it," Logan surmised with a look of despair at losing his friend.

  "Perhaps he can find another way to reach us, but it does us no good to wait here," Mica finally admitted; while Logan and I conceded that we had to press on. I felt an uncomfortable pit in my stomach as we left that quiet corridor; leaving Alexander Beaumont to his fate in that quiet chamber beyond our reach.

  We each had a look of unmistakable weariness worn upon our faces as we slumped forward into a hall decorated with bold car
vings. We had discovered so many unbelievable and fantastic things, but we had also lost so much along the way. The corridor we now traveled were adorned with several unlit brazier, which now sat dark among the statues that lined the passage where tall effigies of warriors and priests stood towering over us in their silent gaze.

  I could understand how the seeds of ancient Norse mythology could have taken root in our past as we walked here among these great artifacts. I lacked the appreciation that Logan and his ilk had for this hobby they had for studying our ancient past. Earth's history hadn't really mattered to me until now; but seeing what we had seen had sparked something in my conscience I couldn't deny. Perhaps it was the sullen guilt of how frivolous and irresponsible I had lived my life until this moment which was eating away at me.

  The joy of exploration seemed to have been sapped from the Professor and his assistant, and I couldn't blame them. We were tired and hungry and worn from the stress. I just wanted to get back on my bunk on the ship with a bottle of liquor so I could drink my weariness away and pretend like this whole expedition never happened. But we would never get such relief.

  At this point my flashlight was beginning to fail, so I gazed into one of the torch basins which appeared to be rimmed with a coagulated sludge. I wasn't exactly thinking straight when I fumbled for my lighter to test to see if I could get it to ignite in hopes to get a better glimpse of our surroundings. Logan and Mica had shambled ahead, searching where the hallways had branched out. Thus, I was left alone to entertain myself.

  A few sparks from the lighter and I was able to get a dull flame to start within the basin near the wall, and took off my gloves to warm my hands as the flame grew slowly. What I didn't expect was the suction of an air tube within it to collect the flame and transfer it to the next closest wall torch. One after the other a system of fine ductwork transferred the flame between the other canisters within the grand hall. Logan and his assistant turned back in shock as the entire chamber came alive with wicks of yellow flame lighting the room.