He then sternly added,
“Do not try to contact Jessika, I will tell her that you are well.”
Kirk watched as Waldorf hobbled down the street to his concealed D-wing.
Chapter 36
Greg Red Cloud’s pointing finger was now Santo’s new GPS guidance system. As they zipped through the mesa landscape and colorful flatland, he pointed to recognized landmarks, and Santo steered in that direction. Maria was not happy to be crammed into the back but understood the importance of him having a good view of the landmarks.
Strangely, Red Cloud did not seem impressed to be sitting in a flying vehicle with the supposed spirits of his people. Maria thought he should be awe struck the way they zipped over mountains and sped along rivers or at least be impressed at the D-wing itself. Instead, he simply sat quietly while looking straight ahead occasionally instructing Santo where to turn.
It did not take long to reach the eastern end of the Grand Canyon and fly above the Colorado River following it ever deeper into the gorge. Now, with steep canyon walls to both sides, Red Cloud instructed Santo to stop. After a short while of hovering, Santo looked to their guide. Because he looked confused, Santo thought he had forgotten where they were going. It was Maria who finally asked,
“Is this the place?”
Red Cloud turned around and looked hard at her. She could practically feel his glare. When he turned back to Santo, he finally spoke his mind.
“You are not the spirits of my people or friends of the Great Grays are you?”
Shocked to be discovered as frauds, Santo took the only available escape route. With heavy emphasis on sincerity, he shook his head.
“No, we are not. However, we are not the enemy of your people. We spoke the truth when saying that recovery of what you hid for the Great Grays will save many lives by stopping a war.”
Jumping in, Maria told him about the Sentinel Satellite, how many it had killed, and what it intended to do to the Vatican. It was imperative that they find the last piece of the puzzle for there was no telling where the destruction might stop. Red Cloud did not seem impressed, saying,
“This war has nothing to do with my people. We care little for what you say is the House of the Nazarene or the Vatican.”
Maria quickly countered,
“That may be so but you still care greatly for life given by God. The Vatican may pray to powers above the Earth but you pray to the powers of the Earth. Your way of life is to protect nature. You look after the Earth because it looks after you. Your people do this in honour of the aliens who showed you the way. The Vatican might honour God in a different manner but the respect for humanity is the same.”
She then admitted,
“Yes, we dishonored you with a lie but the reason for needing that third piece is the truth. We seek the third piece for the very reason that the Grays created it. They built the sentinel satellite as a weapon for defence. In case it got into the wrong hands, they also created a weapon that could destroy it. We want to destroy the Sentinel Satellite before it starts a great war. That is all we are trying to do, destroy an evil weapon.”
The desperation in her voice now changed to one of sincerity.
“I am very sorry that we tried to deceive you. We meant no disrespect to your faith with the lies.”
Red Cloud’s following silence was painful for both to endure. For the longest time he sat motionless staring out into the canyon. It was plain to both that he was evaluating their story. Both understood that without his help, there would be no third piece to the mystery and many more would die. Hoping to tip the scales in their favour, Maria added,
“It really is for the sake of the Great Grays that we ask this of you.”
He slowly turned around, looked hard at her and said,
“Please remove that red wig, it looks ridicules on you.”
He then turned forward, pointed straight ahead at the sheer cliff and said,
“It is there.”
Because they were in a narrow gorge, not seeing anything but river and cliff Santo, asked,
“What is there?”
Red Cloud casually replied,
“What you seek is there. In the First and Second World of man, numerous different spirits came from the stars asking us to keep many things safe for them. In the Third World, many of the great human civilizations also came requesting the same. We became the trusted depository of cultures, their secrets, and great treasures of various empires. It is we, the favored of the great Earth spirits, who became the guardians of true Earth history.”
Maria also looked at the cliff but saw no great steel door guarding an entry into a cave containing relics of the true history of the world. Santo, aware that the location of their new headquarters, the Three Sisters, was a cave hidden by hologram energy then started to program the onboard computer to scan for holographic energy signatures. Red Cloud looked at Santo and knew what he was doing. He said,
“It is not by science that the entrance is hidden. It is by the simple act of deception that you see nothing.”
He then pointed and instructed,
“Bring us there.”
Santo inched the D-wing half way up the sheer cliff stopping inches from where Red Cloud was pointing. Still pointing, he said,
“Not all is as it seems. Proceed.”
Sure that they would simply bounce off the rock, Santo nevertheless inched forward. As if by magic, or as Red Cloud had said, by the power of illusion, the D-wing nose easily penetrated the deception.
Suddenly Maria recognized the danger and blurted out,
“No Santo. It’s a dimensional portal. Back away.”
However, Santo was not so sure. There was no energy signature for a portal. Moreover, he understood that Maria always reacted badly to such energy, getting headaches and nausea. Both those symptoms were missing here. Besides, if it was dangerous, why was their guide so calm? Seeing that Santo was ignoring her plea, she closed her eyes tight and prepared to be transported into goodness knows what strange world. Santo continued to slowly inch forward.
It was as Red Cloud had said, ‘it is by the simple act of illusion that you see nothing’. Perhaps it was done with mirrors or just tricks of light but there was no solid cliff or dimensional portal in front of them. The D-wing easily floated through what appeared to be a solid cliff. Once inside the cavern, except for a dim ray of light breaking through from outside, it was too dark to see anything. Red Cloud said,
“There are sensors in the floor. You must set your machine down for the lights to come on.”
When the fear of thrown into another dimension with no escape had eased, Maria slowly opened her eyes. When seeing that they were in a dark cave she grew excited, wanting to see the treasures of other aliens and past civilizations of Earth history.
It was not clear what turned the lights on or the source but the second the D-wing touched the stone floor soft lights lit every corner of a vast cavern. It was easily twice the size of the Three Sisters. When seeing the cavern, both sat stunned. There were no ancient relics from Earth’s history or secret possessions of ancient aliens. The cavern was empty. Because Red Cloud sat silent, not surprised at all, it prompted Maria to say,
“This can’t be it. Where are the historical treasures?”
Santo steered the D-wing in circles looking for something hidden. All he saw were bare walls. In a dejected tone Red Cloud explained,
“Close to a hundred years ago you would have seen the glory of what we were hiding. Many strange vehicles not unlike this one were secreted here, as was thousands of books describing history here on Earth. When they returned to where they came from, the spirits asked us to preserve what they left behind. With the trust of past human civilizations like the Sumerians, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Greeks and countless others, we are proud to say that we were the Keepers of the true history of all three ages of the Earth.”
Searching with disappointed eyes, Maria was stunned to see it all gone. She asked,
“What on Earth happened to it all?”
Despair stayed with red Cloud.
“Disaster struck in the early 1900’s. Two canyon explorers happened onto the illusionary entrance. They were stunned to discover that they could push their hand through what appeared to be solid rock. When stepping into the cavern they were naturally surprised at what they discovered. After taking for themselves all the gold and gems they could carry, they finally contacted the Smithsonian Institute.”
At the mention of that name, Maria already knew the rest of the story. The Smithsonian Institute was established in 1846 specifically for the gathering of historical knowledge pertaining to North American history. However, because the Government of the United States oversaw it, any knowledge or artifact they found that did not fit into their interpretation or preference for controlled history was either destroyed or conveniently disappeared.
Red Cloud continued with what happened to the treasure.
“For months after the discovery, our holy ground was invaded by army trucks removing everything.”
Santo now feared that their precious third piece to the puzzle was locked up somewhere in the Smithsonian. Laced with hope, he said,
“Then the Smithsonian has all those things on display somewhere, right?”
Red Cloud sadly replied,
“If that is true then everything that was here is now secretly on display at the Smithsonian for the elite of the world to see. True history is certainly not for the common man. The true history of the world has been either destroyed or hidden by the Smithsonian.”
Santo blurted out,
“But why?”
Maria understood and replied,
“Because it did not fit American history as they wanted it to unfold .”
Disappointed, Santo said,
“You did not trust us with this location only to show us an empty cave did you?”
Surprisingly, Red Cloud said,
“Yes, in part. Although human, you two clearly have knowledge beyond the people of this world. It is with humility that I tell you my people have failed to do as requested by those of the stars. If trust of the Great Grays is to be redeemed, then it is in performing one last task for them. If it is as you said, what you seek is for the protection of all mankind then I shall deliver into your hands what you seek, a portion of a weapon that will protect the world from evil. Tell the Great Grays that we were at least able to perform that task for them.”
Maria felt his pain but did not understand his declaration of failure. She said,
“If you give us what we need and it saves thousands of lives, how can you claim that you have failed?”
However, Red Cloud meant something else. He felt proud for his people, that they had kept the great weapon safe for millennia but had failed to keep safe all the other items. It was not until he had waved his hand at the empty cavern that she understood what he considered the failure of his people.
Santo also felt compassion for Red Cloud but this was not the time for regret or for Maria to attempt lifting his spirits with comments of a job well done. He broke the solemn moment and said,
“The piece we are looking for? You say that you still have it. Where is it?”
Red Cloud pointed to a spot high on a wall near the ceiling.
“Go up there.”
Santo looked where he was pointing and saw what appeared to be just a very high rock ceiling. From way down here, it seemed to be just solid rock.
Diligent hands on the controls raised the D-wing up to the highest point in the ceiling. Because of the ‘Contact Avoidance Program’, Santo expected the craft to stop automatically inches from the roof. He was surprised when it kept rising through solid rock. Red Cloud again casually said,
“Not all is as it seems.”
Wherever they were now, it was dark. Red Cloud asked,
“Does this vehicle have exterior lights?”
After activating the exterior lights, another cavern was exposed. It was not as large as the one below but remarkable enough to make Santo’s eyes widened and Maria gasp. It was filled with archaeological and cultural wonders. Red Cloud seemed proud to say,
“The Smithsonian did not get everything.”
Maria saw countless ledges filled with gold statues as well as strange figurines of what appeared to be contorted humans, some lizard like. Wooden carvings of idols and gods of the ancients lined other shelves. On a different ledge was an anthropoid skeleton and judging from the skull she knew was not human. Red Cloud saw her astonished expression and explained,
“Not all the Star People went home.”
She inspected it but did not recognize it as a Great Gray or one of Liana’s Sky People.
Thinking that it might be the skeleton of an Anannaki, an uncontrollable desire to jump out and grab some DNA surfaced. She said,
“Santo, get me close enough to grab a tooth or bone.”
However, Santo knew that it would be sacrilege and not allowed. Red Cloud confirmed it, saying,
“It is by the trust of the spirits that we guard the ancient bones. They are holy and therefore untouchable.”
Maria loudly protested,
“But I need the DNA for identification of the alien species. I need to know who they are.”
Red Cloud’s answer was soft but firm.
“They are the bones of our spirit guides. By our oath, they shall rest in peace.”
Maria agonized over the rejection, so close yet so far.
Except for its great size, Santo was held captive by another human looking skeleton. Clearly, he was looking at a humanoid giant. He asked,
“Were some of your star spirits giants?”
“No,” said Red Cloud, “the giants of man were creatures of this creation. They roamed the Earth as philosophers and teachers of man. Their skeletons are found all over the world but like the truth of mankind and the treasures below, they were also secreted away by those who wished to control our history.”
Maria’s head was spinning trying to grasp all the DNA treasures. A child with a sweet tooth looking at candy through the store window with a sign on the door cruelly saying, ‘closed’ could not have salivated more.
Eventually she had to accept her cruel fate and pay attention to other treasures. A large golden menorah glistened in the exterior light of the D-wing. A map of an unknown constellation displayed in a glass case hung on a wall. Next to it were maps of continents not found on this Earth. An Ossuary sat on a lower shelf. When Santo saw it, he thought it was nothing more than a clay box. When Red Cloud saw him looking at it he explained,
“It was brought to us by the Great Grays. They said that it contained the bones of a holy man from the east.”
As the beam of the D-wing lit up other artifacts and treasures, Red Cloud pointed.
“That is a hammer brought to us by Spirit People from the north. They claim that in the hands of a right and true man, it contains great thunder powers.”
He pointed to an axe and said,
“That is the battle axe of Shiva, a celestial weapon, a gift to the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu. The sword next to it is the one wielded by Attila the Hun. It used to belong to Mars, the Roman god of war.”
With Maria’s head spinning, Santo was looking at what he thought were only weapons of mythology. Red Cloud pointed to another shelf and said,
“That is the Spear of Achilles, created by Hephaestus and given to Peleus at his wedding. The sword next to it is the flaming sword of the Norse gods that contain immense unworldly destructive power.”
Pointing to a massive spear hanging on a wall, one too long and heavy for even the strongest warrior, he explained,
“It is said to be brandished by giants who once roamed the Earth.”
On a far wall, Maria saw murals of strange aliens all wearing large round helmets.
It was impossible to take it all in, let alone for Santo to believe everything was real. Clearing his head of amazement, getting back to the mission, he
said to Red Cloud,
“Where is the third part of the weapon?”
He pointed to a spot high in this second chamber.
“Up there.”
Santo raised the D-wing until stopped by the Contact Avoidance Program. Red Cloud pointed to a spot in the cliff wall and said,
“All is not as it seems.”
As Santo edged the D-wing closer, he was surprised to see the nose disappear into the rock. However, only a foot into the illusion, the ‘Contact Avoidance Program’ stopped the D-wing. Red Cloud said,
“It is a small tunnel. You have to get out and crawl into it.”
From this height, leaving the safety of the D-wing was not something Santo was looking forward to but understood the importance of the mission. With the D-wing’s nose only inches into the secreted hole, he opened the cockpit dome. With a small flashlight in hand, on all fours, he bravely inched across the nose toward the mysterious opening.
Not wanting to leave the vehicle unattended, Maria scampered into the front seat to operate the controls. Santo did not need to hear her warning.
“Be careful, it’s a long way down.”
THe Sentinal Satellite Page 22