The Dane Maddock Adventures Boxed Set Volume 2

by David Wood

  He’d taken up residence in Rachel’s only apartment complex. From the looks of it, he’d quickly made himself right at home. He’d set up a computer station along with four cheap shelf units stuffed with books and papers.

  “How did they get all the books?” Avery thumbed through the pages as she spoke. Unlike Sofia, her own knowledge of the library was limited.

  “Any way they could. They borrowed and copied manuscripts or traded them. When a ship came into port, any books on board had to be lent to the library for copying. Sometimes they were even returned.” Krueger winked. “Travelers passing through had their books confiscated, though they were reimbursed for them. Basically, anything in the world that was written down, the library tried to make copies.”

  Krueger filled four cups of coffee and set them on the battered coffee table along with milk and sugar. Avery and Sofia had taken the only chairs, so he and Willis sat on the floor.

  “It was burned down, right?” Avery asked.

  “It’s not that simple. The library gradually declined over several centuries. Fires played a part, but so did war, politics, and religion. There are legends of Christian and Muslim leaders, at different times, ordering documents burned that did not agree with their respective holy books. There’s no firm evidence that the more sensational stories are true, but there’s no doubt that some of that occurred.”

  “What about war and politics?” Willis asked.

  “If you know the history of Alexandria, it was a Greek city founded in Egypt, eventually taken over by Rome, and torn apart by Roman civil war. We don’t know exactly how much of the library was destroyed, but we do know that much of the contents of the library was taken back to Rome.”

  “I understand that you’ve managed to trace much of the lost contents,” Sofia said. “Can you tell us how?”

  Krueger took a drink of coffee and sat in silence for a few seconds, as if weighing his answer.

  “First of all, we need to remember that most of the books in the Great Library were copies of books that came from somewhere else. It’s not like many of the books were actually written in Alexandria. Virtually all of them existed in other parts of the known world. Also, part of the library’s mission was to disseminate information. Sharing knowledge through copying and distributing books was a major part of the daily work. So, it’s not completely accurate to call the library “lost.” The building was lost—we don’t even know where it stood, but the knowledge is still out there.”

  “All of it?” Avery asked.

  Krueger smiled. “Good question. Let me show you my work.”

  He moved to the computer desk, turned on his laptop, and called up a map of the world. Circles in varying sizes and colors were dotted all across it.

  “I’ll give you the short version of what I do. I created a master list of all the ‘hot’ topics, if you will, of the first few centuries of the library’s existence: science, philosophy, you name it. To that, I added the names of the great thinkers and teachers of the day, and any scholars who were known to have been associated with the library.

  “Next, I searched out the places where knowledge from this period seems to have been preserved.”

  “You mean, like, in museum collections?” Willis asked.

  “Sometimes,” Krueger said. “But it goes deeper than that. I looked for cultures or regions where the ancient wisdom appeared to have the greatest impact. I looked for literature that referenced the great teachers and contained unique insights. As you can see, there’s plenty.” He tapped the touch pad, and only the smallest dots, all pale green, appeared.

  “The greatest concentrations are in expected places, like Rome, but there are others.” He tapped the pad again, and larger circles, all blue, appeared. “I also considered the historical events, like the Roman civil war, that could affect the dispersal of knowledge.”

  He fell silent for no apparent reason.

  “Are you all right?” Avery asked.

  “Sorry. I have a flair for the dramatic.” Krueger winked at her. “Finally, I assessed all the legends and theories—even the wacky ones. I evaluated them for frequency, consistency, and whether or not they made sense. Adding them in, you see the end result here.”

  A final tap and now only a few circles appeared on the map.

  “The bright green circles are your repositories of basic knowledge: science, philosophy, and history.”

  “Cairo, Rome, Paris, London, Washington, no surprises there.” Sofia sounded disappointed.

  “What about the blue circles?” Avery tapped a fingernail on a blue dot in Washington D.C.

  “Those represent arcane knowledge. The special documents that would have been hidden away, either from religious leaders, or by them. Or hidden by governments.”

  “You think our government is hiding secrets from the ancient world?” Avery asked.

  “Come on,” Willis chided. “Do you really think there’s anything our government won’t hide from us?”

  “I’m not saying the knowledge is definitely there,” Krueger explained. “I’m saying all the signs point to these places. If such knowledge exists, that’s likely where it will be found.”

  “Do you know where, exactly, in Washington?” Sofia rested her hands on Krueger’s chair and leaned forward eagerly.

  “I have a theory, but that’s all that it is.”

  “What about the other places?” Willis asked.

  “Jerusalem. Possibly beneath the Temple Mount, though I suspect whatever was hidden there is long gone. Wewelsburg Castle in Germany—a Nazi stronghold.”

  “And the other?” Avery asked.

  “The Vatican’s secret archives.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding.” Sofia stood and pressed her hands to her temples. “I’ve tried so many times to get in there. There’s no way.”

  “Well, I do have some good news.” Krueger spun about in his chair. “Based on what you’ve shown me, there’s little doubt that Atlantis, or a society that inspired the legend, existed, which means there almost definitely would have been a record in the library. Our best bet, though, is not the library.”

  Avery wondered if the expression on her face was as dumbstruck as those of Sofia and Willis.

  “What is it then?” Sofia asked.

  “We want the Egyptian Hall of Records.”

  “The what?” Avery and Sofia said in unison.

  “It’s a mythical library supposedly buried under the Great Sphinx of Giza. It’s said to have housed the history of the lost continent of Atlantis, plus ancient Egyptian history. Sort of an Egyptian counterpart to the Great Library.”

  “That don’t make sense,” Willis argued. “Why wouldn’t that knowledge be part of the library at Alexandria?”

  “Because Alexandria was, essentially, a Greek city that just happened to be located in Egypt. Alexander the Great founded it. Ptolemy ruled after his death, and was responsible for founding the library. The Egyptians wouldn’t have handed their knowledge over to foreigners.”

  Avery didn’t know what to make of this new information. She turned to Sofia, who frowned at Krueger.

  “I’ve never heard of such a place. Like you said, it’s mythical.”

  “So was Atlantis until you found it,” Krueger retorted.

  “I love how people keep throwing that in my face.” Sofia brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. “All right. Suppose this place is real. How do we go about looking for it?”

  “I can help you with that.” Krueger smiled. “I know where the doorway is.”

  Chapter 31

  “What do we know about this crystal cave?” Maddock scanned a map of the area where the cave was located. He, Greg and Kasey were winging their way across the Gulf of Mexico in an S-6, a modified version of the Saker S-1, a jet capable of cruising at more than 1,100 kilometers per hour. While unable to reach such speeds, the S-6 could exceed 800 kilometers an hour, and carried six passengers. It was also equipped with an ejection mechanism so passengers co
uld parachute from the plane. He had to hand it to Tam—she had some useful connections.

  “The main access is through a mining operation,” Kasey said. “It was discovered by accident, and it’s only the turbines that pump underground water from the mine that prevent it from flooding. If the mine ever shuts down, the Mexican government will either have to foot the bill for keeping the pumps going, or let the caverns flood.” She consulted her notes. “The place is dangerously hot and humid. You have to wear a special suit or you won’t last long. We’ll have suits waiting for us.”

  “How do we find Matt once we’re there?” Maddock took out a second map, this of the caverns. “There are so many channels to choose from. He could be down any of them.”

  “Matt and Joel,” Kasey frowned at Maddock’s omission of their team member, “will probably be down one of the passages that hasn’t yet been completely mapped. If there’s a source of Atlantean crystal, it stands to reason that’s where it will be found.”

  “I just got something from Tam.” Greg tapped his iPad and read the message aloud. “Kevin Bray, geologist, was found dead in his apartment in Los Angeles.”

  “I hope there’s more.” Kasey didn’t look up from her notes.

  “There is. His laptop, journal, and all his research were gone. Cash and other valuables were still there. And the kicker? He had recently returned from an excursion to the Cave of the Crystals. According to his colleagues, he got lost, and when he finally made it out, barely alive, he had with him a crystal that he claimed was unlike anything known to science.”

  “That’s promising.” Maddock leaned over and read Tam’s message for himself. “Friends thought the heat exhaustion had messed with his head.”

  “I can see how a scientist who, all of a sudden, begins talking about crystal power could seem hippy-dippy to his colleagues,” Kasey said. “So, the Dominion got to him first.”

  “If not, it’s one heck of a coincidence.” Greg closed the message and consulted his watch. “We’re almost there. Get ready to jump.”

  Chapter 32

  “What do you mean, you found the door?” Avery searched Krueger’s eyes for signs of deceit, or even humor, but his gaze held firm.

  “You’ve heard of Herodotus?” he asked.

  “The Greek historian,” Sofia supplied.

  “Also known as the Father of History.” Avery felt pleased by the others’ surprised faces. “I was a history professor. Give me a little credit.”

  “Herodotus traveled in Egypt sometime after 464 BC,” Krueger continued, “and wrote extensively about the nation and its history. In the course of my research, I came across a single piece of his writing that I’ve never seen anywhere else. It was part of someone’s private collection. I don’t think the man even knew what he had. To him, it was just another piece in his collection.”

  “I assume we’re talking about a black market collector?” Sofia asked.

  “Is that really important right now?” Krueger replied. “Anyway, in this scroll, Herodotus wrote an account of a massive temple complex he called the labyrinth. He said it contained 1,500 rooms and many underground chambers he wasn’t permitted to enter.”

  “I’ve heard of a labyrinth being uncovered at the Hawara pyramid near the Fayyum oasis,” Sofia said.

  “One and the same.” Krueger drained his coffee and headed to the kitchen for a refill. “Anyone need a warm-up?” he asked, sticking his head through the doorway and holding up the coffee pot.

  Avery suspected he was stalling for some reason. Willis apparently had the same feeling, because he stood and began pacing back and forth in front of the windows overlooking the dusty street.

  Krueger noticed their discomfort immediately.

  “I know I’m dragging this out. The truth is, I’m not a people person, but I do enjoy company every once in a while, and this is the first chance I’ve had to talk shop with anyone since I went into hiding. I’m having fun.”

  “We understand,” Sofia said. “Can you tell us how Hawara connects to Giza?”

  “Funny you should ask. It connects in a literal sense.” Kruger pulled a battered notebook down from a shelf and turned a few pages. “Here’s what Herodotus writes:

  “There I saw twelve palaces regularly disposed, which had communication with each other, interspersed with terraces and arranged around twelve halls. It is hard to believe they are the work of man. The walls are covered with carved figures, and each court is exquisitely built of white marble and surrounded by a colonnade. Near the corner where the labyrinth ends, there is a pyramid, two hundred and forty feet in height, with great carved figures of animals on it and an underground passage by which it can be entered. I was told very credibly that underground chambers and passages connected this pyramid with the pyramids at Memphis.”

  “Memphis?” Willis asked.

  “The ancient capital of Lower Egypt,” Sofia said. “As Alexandria rose, it declined. The Giza Plateau, where the Sphinx and Great Pyramids are situated, was a part of Memphis.” A tone of skepticism colored her words. “That sounds pretty far-fetched. After all, Herodotus was also called the Father of Lies.”

  “That name wasn’t entirely deserved,” Krueger said. “Yes, he had a habit of occasionally presenting his findings through the accounts of fictional eyewitnesses, but he collected folk tales and legends as much as historical fact. Also, many of his claims, even the ones that seemed most doubtful, have proved true. Take Gelonus, for example. No one believed Herodotus when he spoke of a city a thousand times larger than Troy, until it was rediscovered in 1975.”

  “We can debate Herodotus later,” Avery interrupted. “Tell us how this relates to the Hall of Records.”

  “At first, I was as skeptical as Doctor Perez, so I continued my research and found even more accounts. The historian Crantor spoke of underground pillars that contained a written record of pre-history, and said they ‘lined access ways connecting the pyramids.’” Krueger turned a page in his notebook and went on. “I found account after account: Pliny, Marcellinus, Altelemsani, and more. But these are the most powerful.” He turned another page. “It’s by a Syrian scholar named Iamblichus.

  “This entrance, obstructed in our day by sands and rubbish, may still be found beneath the forelegs of the crouched colossus. It was formerly closed by a bronze gate whose secret spring could be operated only by the Magi. It was guarded by public respect, and a sort of religious fear maintained its inviolability better than armed protection would have done. Beneath the belly of the Sphinx were cut out galleries leading to the subterranean part of the Great Pyramid. These galleries were so artfully crisscrossed along their course to the Pyramid that, in setting forth into the passage without a guide throughout this network, one ceaselessly and inevitably returned to the starting point.”

  He paused, glancing up from his reading, as if to see if they were impressed.

  “And this I found on an ancient Sumerian cylinder seal:

  “The knowledge of the Annunaki is hidden in an underground place, entered through a tunnel, its entrance called Hawara, hidden by sand and guarded by a beast called Huwana, his teeth as the teeth of a dragon, his face the face of a lion, is unable to move forward, nor is he able to move back."

  He closed his notebook with the solemnity of a liturgist.

  “What’s the Annunaki?” Engrossed by Krueger’s tale, Willis had left his post by the window and now stood behind Avery. “I never heard of them.”

  “Mesopotamian deities,” Sofia said. “Their name means, ‘royal blood,’ or ‘princely offspring.’ In the Epic of Gilgamesh, they are the seven judges who punish the world before the storm.”

  “Wait a minute.” Avery sat up straighter. The connections were rapidly coming together. “The Epic of Gilgamesh is a flood story. And your translation of the codes indicates that the Atlanteans, for some reason, decided to flood their subordinate cities.”

  “Precisely!” Kruger said. “It all connects. And when I saw the inscription o
n Herodotus’ tomb, I was convinced he’d had a life-changing experience at, or perhaps somewhere far below, the Sphinx.”

  “What was the inscription?” Willis asked.

  “Herodotus, the son of Sphinx.”

  They lapsed into silence, with only the low hum of an engine somewhere in the distance to disturb the quiet.

  “So, you think there’s a door at Hawara that leads to the Hall of Records?”

  “I know there is,” Krueger said. “In fact, I found the entrance to the hall.” His smile vanished in a blink, alarm spreading across his face. “Oh my God,” he rasped. “They found us.”

  Chapter 33

  “We’ll have to turn back soon.” Matt took a gulp of fresh air from his supplementary supply. “Maybe the cavern’s not here.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” Joel asked. “We’d prefer the Dominion not find it.”

  “If our group discovers it, maybe there’s something we can do to stop them in their tracks. If the other group finds it…” He left the rest unspoken.

  “I think I’ve found something!” Up ahead, Logan stood at the edge of a five meter wide fissure. A single, meter-wide crystal spanned the yawing chasm, ending at the entrance to a cavern.

  The others moved to join him, all training their lights on the cave.

  “But the crystals in there are white, like the others.” Bill gestured with his flashlight.

  “Not the ones on top. See how that one cluster in the ceiling is transparent with a touch of blue?” Logan pointed. “They look like the crystals Robinson showed us.”

  “I think you’re right. Truly, the Lord blessed you this day. You have found what He needs in order to continue His work.” Robinson looked at the gathered group. “Who wants the honor of being the first to enter the chamber?”

  “I found it,” Logan said, and Matt could see zeal gleaming in his eyes. Or was it a touch of madness brought on by the heat? “I’m going in. It’s God’s will.”