by P. W. Child
Unlike the observatory on Mount Chelmos (Aroania) and the few roads on Mount Kyllini, their current position was completely uncharted by official maps. From the town they’d traveled with a rental vehicle, but now it was time to gear up for the mountainous terrain. They’d each packed for light travel and possible diving. While looking for the pair of pillars mentioned to locate the right underground network, there would be no place for large vehicles and heavy equipment, so they elected to use 350cc quad bikes, one for each explorer, to accommodate their weight and gear, and for lugging their basic necessities along toward the entrance to the elusive cavern.
“You look like a Greek goddess in those tights, Nina,” Sam jested with a wink. He looked at Rita. “Which goddess would she be, Professor?”
Rita smiled, “I'd say...”
“Don't make me lame,” Nina warned playfully.
“Artemis?” Rita replied.
Nina looked flabbergasted. “A virgin? The goddess of chastity?” she shrieked.
Sam laughed and clapped his hands together. “Nope. No, way off there!”
“But she’s a hunter who loves nature,” Rita tried to console Nina.
“Who never gets laid!” Nina persisted to the delight of the others. Even Guido and his soldiers were smiling at Nina's protest against being branded chaste.
“Don't worry, Nina. We know better,” Purdue grinned from his quad bike, where he was pulling his gloves on. Nina gasped at his insinuation, but honestly, she couldn’t argue with him.
“I call dibs on Athena!” Rita played along before Nina could switch.
“More like Hera,” Guido muttered, getting a thoroughly hateful leer from his wife.
“Apparently I’m Prometheus,” Sam said plainly.
Nina gave it some thought, and when Sam's continual self-sacrifice for Paddy's friendship and Purdue's protection came up, she understood. She doubted, though, if Sam fathomed the extent of his martyrdom most of the time.
“I'm Zeus,” Purdue claimed with the correct amount of confidence, “...naturally.” The billionaire was just waiting for the Sicilian idiot to try and best him, but he doubted that Guido even knew any Greek Mythology. Purdue was a sharp judge of character and he was not wrong about Guido Bruno.
“I don't have to engage in childish god games to justify myself,” he growled, biting his lip in defeat. “My power is in the real world, over real people. I make people run for their lives and beg for mercy.”
“Like a laxative,” Sam said, evoking a roar of laughter from the others.
Guido Bruno passed Sam Cleave a look of unbridled hatred, but to his surprise he found that Sam's own darkened sneer was fraught with derision. Again, Sam had managed to keep Guido's attention on him, purely because he truly wanted to rip his head off. It was the first time that Nina, Purdue, and Rita had noticed the animosity between the two men in its most raw form. Nina mouthed 'what the fuck?' at Purdue, but he only shrugged.
They didn’t know one another prior to meeting for this expedition, yet the tension between them was utterly personal. It was evident that Guido was uncertain why the journalist despised him so, but he was too conceited to pretend to care or to ask. He was too much of a coward to confront his detractor, but then again, he wasn’t planning to drag Purdue and his associates along for much longer.
“Shall we get going?” Rita said, interrupting the staring stalemate for the sake of the journey.
“Aye, it’s getting late and we still have to find the two pillars to lead us there,” Nina agreed, pulling her helmet and goggles down and securing the strap.
Sam tied his hair back in a rough ponytail and did the same. On his back he carried a satchel with camera equipment, including night vision features. What the others didn’t know was that his video camera had a chip card in for Wi-Fi and ISP functions to facilitate uploads from his camera to any number or IP in the world. It was, ironically. a gift from Purdue during a previous trip. For this trip it was linked up to satellite surveillance belonging to the Interpol Division Archaeological Crimes Unit in London.
Rita had the Donar's Club with her map in the small side pocket of her carry-bag. She also had a small oxygen cylinder and mask with her. Trying as she might, she couldn’t figure out what Purdue had in his rucksack apart from some climbing rope, carabiners, stoppers, and an array of magnets, the purpose of the latter leaving her confounded. But it being Purdue, Prof. Rita Medley had learned long ago not to question his unorthodox anticipation of events. Strange as his proclivities were, they always made sense at some point. Reluctantly she asked her husband in a low voice, “This time I do hope that you’re wearing proper hiking shoes, darling.”
He looked miserable, but he lifted a pair of hiking boots out of the luggage and put them on with no small amount of malcontent. She had at least coaxed him to wear a pair of jeans that morning, something that was a feat in itself. The three bodyguards were dressed casually, but by no means were they prepared for the terrain they were about to traverse. On their quad bikes, packed with food and camping gear, the group departed into the more hostile environment down the slope of the mountain towards the east.
Firs and black pines populated most of the rocky surface area, still growing in sporadic spurts of greenery where the party descended along the slope. It was a treacherous journey downward, with loose gravel and unexpected curves of stone and loose rock that could easily give way under the horsepower of the wheels. Rita and Nina led the way, with Purdue, Sam, and Guido not far behind them. Purdue was an expert at handling these vehicles and Sam was not too bad either, although his forte was dirt biking. Guido held his pace admirably among his soldiers at the back, but he had reason to. He wished to watch the back line of their formation to make sure that none of them could turn around or escape and sabotage his important exploration.
Gradually the forest grew thicker and denser, with the tree branches and foliage choking out the sun. Soon they would reach the valley floor where the bases of several hills converged into a moist, hot basin. They were heading toward the back of the mountain range, opposite the side where the better-known cave systems were the playground of tourists and adventurers.
Undetected apart from their engine noise, they finally started up the southern face of a third mountain of the chain. The sun would be wielding its light for some time yet, but they needed to get as much done as possible. There was always a chance that the chamber could sink under the mountain water table before it was predicted. Suddenly Nina held up her fist, motioning for the others to halt. They gathered their machines around hers to hear what she had to report.
“Look! I could be wrong, but that looks completely out of place here, doesn't it?” she asked, out of breath. Nina pointed into a clump of tall beech trees that resembled a natural lane. Under their dark, cathedral-like meeting at the top, a peculiar sheen presented itself in white.
“What is it?” Purdue asked.
“I have no idea, but it looks like a proper building from here,” she insisted. “Look, deep inside there! It appears to be some sort of facade within an entrance surrounded by more white material. It almost...” she was reluctant to finish the sentence, “...like the Temple of Hercules?”
“No shit!” Rita gasped at the sight. “It does! It looks like the Temple of Hercules in the Forum Boarium on the Tiber River!”
“Do you think it’s the two column entrance we're looking for?” Purdue asked, while Sam whipped out his long lens to capture the surreal majesty of the strange structure.
“I believe so,” Rita told Purdue. “Shall we get a closer look while we have light?”
They rode at a slower speed to scrutinize the odd structure. Nina's heart raced and she could only imagine Rita's excitement. What was concerning was the tomb-like atmosphere of the place. Ahead of them, behind the structure towered the western slope of yet another gigantic rock mountain. The structure under the trees seemed to run into the mountain.
Rita dismounted her quad bike first, eager to invest
igate the white material within the twisted roots and trunks of the massive trees. True as she thought, the two main columns were slightly more significant. Rita ran her finger over the left column and caught her breath. “My God, this is pure Corinthian Marble!”
“Bingo,” Guido said from the back, leaning back on his seat with his helmet in his lap. From a peak near Mesorrougi, only a few miles from there to the northwest, someone was watching him through specialized binoculars. The eyes watching him logged his position and counted his colleagues.
Chapter 27
Sam snapped on in high definition. The place was not entirely natural, yet its architecture seemed to be wrought from pure rock formations with no human help. Next to the main pillars, a collection of similar columns formed a circle to the rear, each formed in the fashion of the architectural temple, but void of anything ornate.
“There’s no trace of volutes or carved stalks at the top,” Rita noted as Sam joined her to take pictures of the giant shafts. “But the columns are uniform in size and design.”
“Look, I'm not expert on archaeology or masonry,” he remarked, “but these other columns are not any building material I’ve ever seen. They look...this is ridiculous...natural!”
Purdue came to have a closer look. “I believe you’re correct, Sam.” He touched the pillar, gave it a smell, and then raised his eyebrow at Rita. “Medley, I could be wrong, but I could almost swear that these other columns are natural formations.”
“Bullshit,” Guido scoffed. “They all have precise lines, running from top to bottom.”
Rita shook her head. She let out a shriek of disbelief, armored with awe. “Calcium carbonate. But that’s impossible. It’s an anomaly of nature. Cave formations formed in this exact design at the exact same time?”
“Can calcium deposits form on the exterior of a mountain environment?” Nina asked.
“No,” Purdue answered categorically. “They would have no source to form from. Scientifically, it defies logic. Calcite deposits cannot come from the bloody trees overhead.”
“For once in my life I have to concur with David,” Rita admitted. “There’s no way this is possible, yet I can attest that all these seemingly handcrafted pillars consist of calcite, not stone or marble. Jesus Christ, this is unbelievable!”
Sam was filming now. It was too fantastic to capture in stills and it would benefit the footage if it contained Rita, Purdue, and Nina's explanations and speculation. He soon reminded himself to do some other filming as well and not to get too involved in the surrealistic beauty of the trip. He wondered if Paddy had his daughter back yet, and against his will, he wondered if Amber Smith's little heart was still beating. This hideous thought made him turn his lens to Guido and his men. Zooming in on each of their faces, he memorized them for when they would become fair game.
“Look, the only logical explanation would be that it used to be a cave, and the roof crumbled,” Nina guessed, stretching her cognition as far as it could possibly reach. “So it left the stalagmites standing erect like this.”
“Good call, Nina,” Purdue murmured as he paced slowly from one to the next. “There are ten, excluding the two marble ones.”
“Did you get that, Sam?” Rita asked. Sam whirled around to face her before she could notice that he was filming her husband.
“Aye!” he affirmed. “Aye, got all that.”
Nina chuckled and shook her head. Purdue suggested that they enter the tall, dark portal between the columns to see if it led to an interior structure. Guido left two of his men posted outside as the others collected their backpacks and flashlights to start their journey into the bowels of the unnamed mountain.
Much like the temple built for Hercules by human hands, this natural structure held within the circular columns a stone mound through which the party could enter via the low portal they encountered. There was no indication whether the stone mound was solid or hollow, infested with snakes or brimming with pristine water.
“Ladies first,” Purdue jested as he waited by the entrance.
“Pretend we are feminists, David. Go on, be my guest,” Rita insisted.
Between the two of them nothing would progress, so Nina stepped ahead. “Oh, bollocks! Let me see what grisly death awaits us, oh mighty Athena and Zeus,” she mocked, shoving Purdue aside as her small frame was swallowed by the corroded mouth of the rock mound. They quickly followed suit.
Inside there was no sound and no light. No trickling of water and no hiss of air coursing through the crevices and craters of the subterranean world. It was eerie, but they were determined to finish what others could not. Sam looked behind him, keeping an eye on Guido's movements. Especially here in the dark he would be easy prey for a coward like Guido Bruno.
A light clicked on next to Sam, betraying his eyes to Guido. The Sicilian could not understand the journalist's suicidal infatuation with him, but he vowed to whack Sam Cleave first out of all of them. The light came from Purdue's headlamp, an investment he’d made on his last spelunking holiday that served him well here.
“Shit, Purdue! That’s like a portable supernova,” Nina hissed, sheltering her eyes with her palm.
“Sorry,” he apologized, dampening the strength of the beam by two settings.
They all switched on their flashlights, bleeding their light all around them to ascertain the level of danger they were dealing with. The roof of the stone mound, as expected, was wet and corroded with dripping protrusions weeping down to the solid, but moist floor. Nina was grateful that she’d brought cleats for a firmer grip on the slippery, uneven floor.
There were some traces of previous visits, but only to the keen eye. As he passed, Sam observed a rusted Iron Cross at the base of a rock wall, practically consumed by the calcium deposits and water it was submerged in. He used his night vision to record the remnant, but did not announce it or pick it up. For now, all he had to do was gather enough intelligence on Purdue's involvement in this expedition, even though he couldn’t stop contemplating the fate of the kidnapped girls.
For over twenty minutes the expedition proceeded forward, having no alternative route but the regular shaft they were continuing down.
“Look, boss,” one of Guido's men whispered, getting Sam's attention too. The journalist dropped his camera to his side without turning around, and filmed behind him. Sam would see later upon running the footage that the dreaded sigil of the Order of the Black Sun was fashioned against the cavern wall, sporting the Herculean clubs as its radiating lightning bolts. Guido nodded quickly and gestured for the man to keep quiet. Sam knew precisely what that was all about and wished more than ever that he could just lash out, finish the Mafia lowlife, and be done with it.
Purdue walked just behind Rita, with Nina trailing him. All their illumination yielded was more confined space between walls that met the slanting ceiling a bit lower every few meters. For a tall man like Purdue, it was becoming exceedingly uncomfortable to walk so hunched over, but he hoped that soon they would enter a larger chamber with a higher roof.
“Stop,” Rita said suddenly. They all gathered into a clump to hear what she’d seen ahead. “We should just leave these to find our way back,” she said, holding a handful of flashing beacons out to the others. “Take these, and make sure we leave one on the floor for every five meters we progress into the cave.”
“Find our way back?” her husband scoffed. “Christ, Rita! We’re moving along in a queue of one file because of the single lane vein we are in. There is only one way back. It’s kinda hard to get lost with only one fucking corridor.”
“Well, anything can happen while we’re at the deep end, Guido,” she snapped. “The roof could collapse or water could come pouring in from the side, leaving us disorientated. For fuck's sake, just listen to me! This is my turf. Here you are just a tourist.”
Nina and Purdue smiled among themselves and obeyed Rita's suggestion before they carried on.
“How far in do you think the Vault will be?” Sam asked, sol
ely because he needed to calibrate his feed according to the coverage above the mountain region.
“Not far, I'm sure,” she replied. “But I think we should be looking for water to find the Vault. As soon as we reach water, or an underground lake, the Vault should be close.”
Purdue was excited to find the Vault, although the knowledge of previous explorers perishing and the blatant presence of Nazi ideology all over the place had him calculating disaster in the near distance. The trail had become disturbingly monotonous, forcing the individuals to wonder if they were even in the right subterranean death trap.
Nina started falling back, mostly because she wanted to be closer to Sam. Guido, in turn, advanced ahead to walk behind Purdue. “Oh, hey, Mr. Bruno,” Purdue greeted with a wince as he craned his neck forward under the low ceiling. Rita frowned and whispered, “What are you doing here, love? Did you suddenly realize how interesting this is after all?”
“No, I just don't like the vibe back there,” Guido admitted, sounding almost normal. “Something is following us. I ain't scared, I'm just saying that I'd rather have Sal back there. Just a fucking creepy feeling, you know?”
“I don't blame you,” Purdue said. “Many men go into paranoid panics when inside mine shafts or confined caverns where the escape route is so small.”
“I said!” Guido moaned defensively. “I ain't scared or panicking or whatever.”
“Alright, alright. Just keep your voice down,” his wife reminded him. “We don't want unnecessary problems down here.”
A terrible waft of putrid stench suddenly overcame them.
“Fuckin' hell!” Sam groaned nasally as he pinched his nose. “Did Guido let one go?”