by Sean Ding
Finally after a minute or two, Pete shook off his mother’s grip and dashed forward. “Hey, let’s go to the waters over there!” Pete exclaimed as he hustled toward the nearest pond about twenty feet away. Half way there, he turned and waved his tiny hand. “Come Pauline!” Somehow, either the sensual lure of the colorful ponds or perhaps Pete himself had managed to instigate Pauline to follow suit. Pauline gracefully exited her mother’s grasp.
“Wait..!” Mrs. Chan shouted in distress. Before she could do anything to stop Pete and Pauline, her two children had reached the edge of the pond, squatting beside the luminous water plants and admiring the fascinating sight of shimmering ripples that emit multicolored radiances.
With a strong sense of parental instincts, Mrs. Chan and her husband John moved quickly to be near their children.
The Chan family rarely had a chance to lead the tour group in all their previous expeditions, not until that moment in that enormous subterranean crystal cave. Surprisingly, the group of flabbergasted tourists obediently followed the Chans down the gentle slope of glassy igneous rocks to the soft and muddy ground edging the pond, all eager to explore this fabulous place they had discovered by accident.
“Mum, look, even the sea weeds in the pond are glowing purple!” Pauline pointed out an interesting phenomenon she had just discovered to her mother while she gently strokes the surface of the pond water with her right palm.
“Oh my god, are these fishes?” Pauline knuckled her eyes in disbelief after she sighted two or three tiny fishes wading around the sea weeds in the pond. The length of the fishes was about three inches and they resembled a cross between a cigar wrasse and a dottyback. Like the water plants and shrubbery in this strange subterranean cavern, the bodies of the fishes emitted glows of fluorescence light too.
“Yeah, look at them! They are glowing luminous yellow! And purple! And Green!!” Pete giggled with joy.
John Chan shrugged his shoulders before putting on a subtly cynical smile as he uttered to his wife, his weary eyes meeting those of Howard and the rest. “Well, I guess for the kids, this is the most enjoyable part of today’s excursion.”
Mrs. Chan nudged her husband with her left elbow to stop him from furthering his sarcastic remarks.
“You know about this place?” Howard looked into the eyes of Wong and asked.
“No Sir, this place looks like it was untouched by civilization for hundreds of years.” Wong said.
Howard nodded.
A handful of tourists began to stroll along the pond edge, admiring the dream-like backdrop that was illuminated by the sputtering luminescence of the strange rocks and the profusion of glowing vegetation which they had never seen before in their lives. Mystically, the gorgeous looking surroundings had mesmerized every single soul and had magically removed from their minds the ordeals that they had endured for the past hours.
Pauline shifted her attention away from the fluorescent fishes and started plucking the luminous leaves and petals from the plants and flowers at the edge of the pond. When the adults were not watching, she speedily tucked some of the petals and leaves into her trouser pocket. Her brother, Pete was not far away from her and he was so fascinated by the light-emitting fishes that he tried to haul them from the pond using his bare hands. However, he gave up after a few tries as his mischievous undertaking was of no avail.
With Johnny’s help, Paul retracted his grip that supported Gupta and gently lowered him so that the injured man could sit on the ground beside the tourists. Then he walked over to Howard, who was standing on a large slab of luminous rock. Howard was glancing at the far end of the cave, cupping his hand as a mini canopy over his eyes.
“Saw anything from there?” Paul asked, running his fingers through his hair.
“Looks like the streams of water flowing into these ponds originate from the north east.” Howard said, pointing at the far end of the underground cavern where the cave floor sloped gently upwards in amidst thick, florescent pink vegetation.
“I think we should move on,” Paul said to Howard, “Gupta will need medical care when we get out.” Howard nodded and jumped down from the elevated rock. He clapped Paul’s shoulder and walked with him back to the group.
“All right people, end of sightseeing.” Howard yelled, hoping that those who had wandered far out could hear him. They did and like nursery children in a playground responding to the lunch call coming from their beloved care takers, the tourists scooted back swiftly.
“We’d follow that stream up.” Paul bellowed, behaving in a manner comparable to that of an army officer giving out commands to his men. “Please watch where you are stepping! The rocky ground is uneven and it is very slippery!” Paul bawled at the tourists with an authoritative tone, making many of them puzzled and uncomfortable.
Howard noticed that and was at first baffled with Paul’s behavior. However, after some contemplation, he found himself happy with the conclusion that probably the physical exhaustion from supporting and moving Gupta around had taken a toll on Paul and maybe Johnny as well. Howard bends down and offered his help to lift up Gupta. He then clapped Paul’s shoulder again and asked, “Paul, are you okay? Do you need someone else to take over this?”
“I am fine, Howard,” Paul said, “I just want to get out of here.”
“All right then.” Howard thanked Paul and hurried over to Wong who was about to lead the buoyant tourists forward. When he reached the front of the beeline formed by hopeful tourists who firmly believed that they were finally getting out of the subterranean cavern, he checked that no one was left behind before waving his hand at the tourists, signaling all to start walking.
Henry Parker was staring at the fluorescent fishes in the dazzling pond through his horn-rimmed glasses. He was half-squatting and completely indifferent to the fact that Paul and Johnny were using all their might to help his colleague Gupta maneuver in the narrow pathway right beside him.
Paul, Johnny, Gupta and Henry were again the last few people at the tail of Howard’s entourage. Henry’s left hand was wavering in the icy water. In between his thumb and forefinger was a violet fluorescent leaf that he had plucked from one of the water plants that flourished along the banks of the pond. In an almost sadistic manner, he was trying to force feed the light emitting fishes with that light emitting leaf in his hand.
In a flash, one of the fluorescent fishes sank its tiny fangs into the silk smooth skin of Henry’s finger. The bite was not painful but it happened so quickly and was so startling that Henry’s reflexes involuntarily thrust his body backwards.
“Damn it!” Henry cursed, shaking the fish off his finger just before his buttocks touched the ground. The little glowing fish about three inches in body length spun off Henry’s hand in a projectile and fell back into the pond.
“Are you alright?” Gupta asked. Although he was supported by Paul and Johnny at his sides, Gupta could see very clearly the whole incident that had happened as he was merely three feet away from Henry.
Henry did not respond to Gupta. He was in rage and he threw a senseless punch into the pond, splashing water all over his own body. “Bloody fish, I will eat you if I can!” He yelled.
After venting his anger at the fishes, Henry stood up to examine the bite wound on his left forefinger. A curvy row of tiny red spots had just appeared and there was a tint of redness around the bite wound.
“Here, put on this plaster. Let’s get going.” Johnny said to Henry. With one hand supporting Gupta and another hand holding an adhesive bandage, Johnny’s facial expression was a clear indication to Henry and Gupta that it was time for them to move.
Henry’s cheeks were pinkish when he took the adhesive bandage from Johnny. “Thanks, let’s get the hell out of this place.” Henry said grimly as he wrapped the sticking Band-Aid around his wounded finger.
CHAPTER 14
The subterranean crystal cave was much bigger than anyone could have imagined. The tourists trekked at a fairly slow pace along the meandering su
bterranean stream that sliced through bushes of weird foliage that had somehow blossomed in an environment without sunlight. With Howard leading the way, the tourists made sure that they took every step with caution as they walked slowly but warily on the wet and slippery ground, passing by several potholes and underground gours which were small basins hollowed out by water from the stream.
It took the group of tourists more than ten minutes to reach the far end of the cave where the subterranean stream diverged from a sparkling plunge pool at the base of a mini water fall.
The height of the mini water fall was merely fifteen feet and from that height, running water was spurting out from a score of minute fissures and crannies sparingly scattered on a vertical cave wall that resembled an oversized coral reef formed by the juxtaposition of blue, orange, yellow and green rocks. The water seemed to be gushing out rhythmically from the crannies and falling helplessly to the plunge pool below.
The wide and tall cave wall loomed over the tourists, like a never-ending section of a seaside cliff, bordering a crescent-shaped coast line and stretching all the way to the sky so high up that nobody at the base could see where it ended. Chunks of protruding rocks and boulders stacked over each other randomly where the base of the rock wall intersected with the cave floor. Strangely, there was not a single shrub or plant growing at that very spot where the disappointed tourists were standing. Just rocks and the pulsating water fall. No undergrowth or any kind of vegetation at all.
“Seems like a dead end to me.” Nelson looked up at the rock wall before them and remarked sarcastically, his eyes trying to meet with Howard’s which were rolling from left to right, up and down, scanning the whole place repeatedly with the intention not to miss out any spots.
“Well,” Howard turned to Nelson and said, “have some faith. I think I saw something.”
“What did you see? Where is it?” Nelson asked impatiently.
“There,” Howard paused for a moment before answering. His eyes turned to the direction toward the right side of the plunge pool about twenty feet away where a big chunk of reddish rock firmly stood. The rock was as big as the size of a typical soft drink vending machine and under normal circumstances; it would be special as it emitted a reddish phosphorescence. But in this extraordinary cavern where all the rocks, stones, plants and even fishes in the ponds giving out illumination of eye-dazzling colors, that piece of red color rock was not supposed to catch the attention of anyone, except Howard Smith, who had the eyes of an eagle.
“Come, let me show it to you.” Howard said wearily and started walking hastily towards that huge stud of rock twenty feet away. Nelson shrugged his shoulders and followed closely behind him with the rest of the group trying to catch up with both men.
Howard was three steps away from the slab of red glowing rock when he suddenly stopped and turned around. “Halt! Don’t come any closer!” he shouted but he was too late; some lady in the group of tourists had seen what Howard saw and was screaming at the top of her voice.
The reddish boulder that was standing like a gatekeeper in front of the vexed tourists was half blocking a small tunnel about four feet wide and eight feet tall. A human skeleton was lying at the entrance of the tunnel with its lower torso and lower limbs missing. It wore a tattered cap hat with neck flaps and what was left of a soldier’s uniform. Its nude jawbone grinned and the eye sockets seemed to stare at the tourists jocularly.
“What happened to him or her?” Mr. Chan asked frantically, trying his best to body shield the grotesque scene from his children who were peeping from behind him, “Where is the...the rest of his...her lower parts?”
“His pelvic cavity, sir, it’s a he not a she,” Dr. Sarah Tan answered him as she stoop to examine the corpse, “everything below his pelvic cavity was gone and there are some indications on his lumbar vertebrae telling me that his entire pelvis and lower limbs were severed from him by an enormous force. Perhaps it was a clean bite from a great white shark?” Sarah Tan pulled a weird grin as she realized what she had just said was extremely ludicrous.
“Howard, does he look kind of familiar?” Paul asked.
“Huh, judging from the uniform he is wearing and the pistol in his hand, he could be a high ranking officer from the Japanese Imperial Army, World War Two.” Howard said.
“Yes, I recognized the hat. He’s a bloody Japanese soldier from World War Two!” Wong exclaimed.
Kenso Odaka frowned and threw a disgusted look at Wong before he said to the group, “Look, there are some ammunition cartridges over here and bullet holes on the rocks. I think he had been trying to defend himself before he died.”
“Hardly successful I guess.” Paul remarked.
“Something terrible must have happened to him. Please stay within sight of each other and don’t wander off.” Howard said to all before he stepped over the remains of the Japanese soldier and peered into the dark tunnel. He shone his flashlight into the tunnel and scrutinized it for a few minutes before returning back to the tourists.
“Guys, there are some rocks blocking part of the tunnel. Shall we remove those rocks?” Howard said, pointing to the tunnel entrance where the human skeleton was. Nobody said anything as the presence of the skeleton simply implied that some kind of danger could still be lurking in the tunnel. Howard cleared his throat and continued, “I know it is perilous but I can see a deep tunnel right behind those rocks. That might be our only way out of here.”
CHAPTER 15
The guys shoveled, dug and burrowed tirelessly at the pile of rocks that concealed part of the tunnel, using the spades, hatchets and crow bars that they had brought with them from the underground chamber. Dr. Sarah Tan and her fiancé were at the tunnel entrance, inspecting the human skeleton. The rest of the group was hanging around a stack of protruding rocks at the foot of the cave wall adjacent to the water fall. Of all the men in the group, Henry was the only one who did not help with the shoveling and he seemed to be restless, pacing the edge of the plunge pool up and down. Gupta, Mrs. Chan and the children sat on the cold hard ground with their backs leaning against the smooth cave wall.
An hour passed in a wink of an eye. At last, the men finally cleared the blockage at the tunnel entrance and created an opening large enough for a full-grown adult to walk through without difficulty.
Howard dusted off the soil and dirt from his hands and took out the flashlight that he had kept in the duffel bag. He had not used it at all since they arrived in the crystal cave as the entire place was more than well illuminated. Walking around in that weird subterranean cavern was no different from strolling under a cloudless sky during a sunny day when the sun was directly above our heads. The brightness that was caused by the colorful lights bouncing all over the cave made one craves for a pair of sun glasses.
Howard thumbed the switch on the flashlight to ensure that it was functioning. He then gathered the group and said, “Okay, Wong and I will go in first. All of you will stay put. I have no idea how deep this tunnel is and how much time we will be away.”
There was silence for a while. Howard could sense the uneasiness of the tourists. Perhaps some of them had caught the wrong impression that if he had the chance, he might just run away with Wong and abandoned them. Howard walked over to Pauline and Pete and lowered himself to their eye level. He noticed that the children could not take their eyes off the remains of the Japanese soldier for a second.
With the tone of a police officer or some authoritative figure, he clapped Pete’s shoulder and said calmly, “Pete, we do not know why this man died and there may be danger on the other side. That’s why I have to go in first without risking the lives of everyone here”
“Yes sir. I am sure you can help us find the way out.” Pete said respectfully.
Howard smiled and turned his attention to Pauline who was shuddering, noticeably shaken by the sight of the corpse. “I promised that I will be back, Pauline, how about a pinky swear?” Howard stuck out his little finger and Pauline responded by curling h
er little finger onto Howard’s.
Howard got up and spoke softly to Pauline’s parents. “Let them have some rest and if possible, draw their attention away from the skeleton. I will be back in a jiffy. You have my word.” Mr. and Mrs. Chan nodded their heads in appreciation.
Howard took a last look around the circle of tourists, then walked to the entrance of the tunnel with Wong.
“You sure you’re up for this?” Howard asked.
“Yeah.” Wong answered.
“Okay then, let’s go.” Howard muttered.
Armed with only hatchets in their hands, Howard and Wong skirted past the mangled skeleton of the dead Japanese soldier and crept slowly into the dark tunnel. Their flashlight beams played over the floor, which was twisted and heaved into scores of crazy hills and valleys.
Howard and Wong emerged from the other end of the tunneling cave in less than three minutes as the ‘deep tunnel’ that was perceived by Howard was apparently a fairly shallow one, only about fifty feet end to end. However, it was not a straight through channel but one that twist and bend like a slithering python on a desert ground. There was nothing peculiar about the tunnel except for the sharp bends at some points. No foreseeable dangers at all for everyone, including the children and Gupta to pass through it safely. In fact, after merely six to seven steps, both Howard and Wong were able to tell that they were actually inside a man-made tunnel, not one that was formed by nature.
As Howard and Wong stepped out of the darkness that engulfed the curvy tunnel, they were immediately overwhelmed by a familiar scene before them, a scene that was familiar because it had appeared in many Hollywood movies. But seeing the real thing here with their own eyes was definitely something unimaginable.
A few feet away on Howard’s right lay a pile of sandbags that was stacked and arranged in a U-shaped pattern and a submachine gun was planted on it. The gun was pointing directly at the opening of the tunnel where both of them were standing. However, there was nobody behind the machine gun. In fact, the entire place seemed to be deserted.