by P. Milisande
He whispered to her, his weariness creeping into his voice. “If you leave and choose him, you choose an existence that is not an existence. A life that is not a life. You will have neither love nor forgiveness nor death. You will only have darkness and suffering. Is this what you want?”
Ursula flickered, becoming uncertain. And then she realized that her father has put upon her his thoughts. She broke free of his spell.
“Yes, Father. I choose him. I choose them.”
“I can make you see Ursula, this future of which you speak of... Make you see the horrors you will unleash upon yourself and upon all of humanity.”
Ursula hardened her heart. “No.”
He turned his back on her. It appeared to Ursula he has turned his back on her forever.
Without a word, she lifted her skirt and fled, Orion at her heels.
Her father could only look at her in despair.
So be it. Go, my daughter. You will see the choice you have made will only destroy us.
CHAPTER 11
~
MAIA HAD A DREAMY, faraway look in her eyes as she whispered and held her cell phone close to her ears.
“Bye... See you Tuesday...”
She could not help but smile.
Maybe I’ll float.
What they had – she thought she could not call it a relationship yet – had progressed quickly. Things had become somewhat serious fast. They could not get enough of each other. Is this how it’s supposed to be? I still can’t believe it is happening. To me. It seemed she and Noah shared a secret (they sort of did), a kinship, a truth. A heart. A heart – what am I saying? But she knew what they had was still too young, too raw, too fragile. It made her feel afraid.
A pillow hit her on the head. Hard. She grew mortified.
Yikes. I forgot Elle’s here!
She laughed and fought back. A pillow fight ensued.
When they became hoarse because of giggling, they flopped onto the bed and called a truce.
“Getting serious, eh?”
“Oh, Elle... stop it. I don’t know...I mean... He’s here now but he will leave for the island, and what happens then?”
“Well, he is a pilot, Maia. He can come here whenever he wants to...” Elle kept her mouth shut when she saw the warning look on Maia’s face.
“Okay, okay... let’s not talk about it... but I really am happy for you. Now, when do I meet him?” she teased.
Maia rolled her eyes and with eyes twinkling, she threw a pillow at Elle again. “I know you will make fun of me forever and ever so I’ll hide him as long as I can!”
“Fine, I’ll get a boyfriend too and never introduce him to you!”
Elle threw the pillow back at Maia.
“Peace! You’re silly. Of course, you have to meet Noah. When do you want to meet him?”
“It doesn’t matter. Whenever. I love whom you love.”
“Fine, I’ll check with him. Maybe we can double date. You with Mario. His best friend.”
“You are not setting me up.”
“He’s cute too.”
“Maia…”
“Fine… if you say so. Oh, did you get anything?” Maia motioned to her laptop. Elle had Google Earth on the screen.
“No, nothing. I can’t use this thing... I don’t know what to do...”
“Give it to me. Here, let’s test my theory... I’m going down. See the electric white lines... and then the walls...? There! What are these walls?”
“Could it be some kind of static? Okay, okay. You’re right. They look like walls. They look…solid.”
“Yup, they do. And the colors. They’re weird – they’re off. All blue, but different shades of blue. Why would they make it like this? It can’t be seen instantly. Why would anyone try to hide this?”
“Well, the fact that it’s 5,000 meters underwater is sort of hiding it.”
“You’re right. You know what else I’m thinking?”
Elle shook her head.
“... I don’t really want to go there yet... but.... the extraterrestrial thing, connection, whatever.”
“Do you think they have something to do with this?
“You have to admit it’s an interesting theory. Maybe they’re not really aliens. Maybe the earth is their home too. Instead of looking above – to the stars – maybe we should look below – to the seas.”
Both fell silent.
“Sorry, I’m being weird. But look at the detail on these. It takes on the color of the ocean! There really seems to be an intent to hide...”
“An intent to deceive…” The world became tinged with purple for Elle.
“That’s right… An intent to deceive. But why? Why would they? It’s incredible no one has found this yet...”
“Do you think it is really just us, Maia?”
“If that’s the case, then it’s pretty scary...”
“I’m not liking this…”
Maia did not seem to hear her. “If they are hiding what we think they are hiding… then, there must be a conspiracy! Wait, wait, wait... When I was on a date with Noah, I didn’t just hear ‘wall’. I heard ‘great wall’. Could it mean...?”
“You mean, the Great Wall of China?”
“Let’s type it in, see what we could see...”
Maia put in “Great Wall” in Google Earth’s search parameter, and she was taken to the Great Wall of China. The walls appeared to be drawings. It had an almost cartoon-like quality, and Maia chuckled.
“If our satellites are so powerful, why won’t they show me the real thing? Obviously, this is a graphic image.”
Maia clicked her mouse twice and found herself near the wall, at ground level. She clicked a few more times and set her cursor at an angle. She found out she could go through it.
“Oh wow! Did you know it can do that, Elle...?”
“No… What did you do?”
“I went through it. Do you think I could go through the blue line or wall or whatever it is?”
“Let’s not, Maia.”
“What? Wait, what did I do again...?”
She practiced going through the Great Wall of China a few more times. She inched slowly, penetrating the wall. Inside it, she moved her cursor in several different angles and looked at all its sides.
“Maia...”
“Now, let’s see if I can go through that underwater wall…”
Maia plunged into the blue depths, overcome with excitement.
The odd, white, and pulsating electric bars greeted them.
“Hmm...They’re wave-like. I can only see them near the wall. That’s odd, right?”
A momentary darkness filled the screen until Maia again saw the wall. Elle wanted to close her eyes.
Maia is right. It is a blue of different hues. Why would anyone go to all that trouble? How can the Eye in the Sky see all this when no one can? These walls are so deep in the ocean, they might as well not exist. Until now. What have we done? Is this even real? I don’t want to look.
Maia angled the cursor and inched slowly. She did the same thing she had done with the Great Wall of China. But nothing happened. The scene appeared to be loading.
“Maia…wait! Hang on...” Elle’s voice sounded faint.
Impatient, with an excited-please-don’t-stop-me-now-you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look, Maia stared at Elle. She grew concerned when she saw the fear in her friend’s eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“Before we do this... can we stop and think a little bit? I am scared. We do not know what that wall is. It should not be there. The Google Earth people should have known about it. If it really is out there and the Eye in the Sky is showing us the truth, then they should have seen it too. But there is nothing about it in the web, in Google, in the news sites, in the newspapers, in the blogs. Nothing. We looked, remember?”
“Elle...”
“That nothing is out there about it is alarming to me. It worries me. What if powerful people are involved in the cover-up? What if they
want it to remain a secret? What if all governments are in on it? Are we sure we want to get involved in all that?”
“I hear you, Elle, but that’s outrageous.”
“I know it sounds outrageous. But what if…?”
“But I am almost there. I have to see. We have to see. We’re just... exploring. Maybe someone has already found it... Maybe people are just silent... Maybe this is just nothing....”
“That is what worries me most... What if....”
What if it is something? What if it is real? Elle’s eyes told Maia what she thought. Elle grabbed her bag and phone. Alarmed, Maia stood up.
“Wait… Where are you going? Are you leaving…? I thought you are sleeping here! It’s almost midnight, Elle… Please don’t leave…”
“Sorry, Maia… I feel… purple… Sorry… I know I cannot stop you… but I cannot do this.”
Elle started towards the door.
“You are really leaving me right now…?”
“I don’t want to see.”
“Elle, it is just Google Earth...It is our Eye in the Sky... ours.”
Elle stood by the door.
“I need you here, Elle. I feel afraid, I feel purple too. Whatever this is, if it is real or not real, I need you to be with me. We have to do this together.”
I don’t know why, but I feel you have to be with me for this.
Elle looked at Maia intently, torn between staying and leaving. She sighed deeply, clearly defeated. She closed the door and walked back. “Maia… Sorry… I’m just freaking out. I don’t know why but this makes me feel really... But you’re right, it’s just Google Earth. Let’s do it. But please don’t get mad if I... faint.”
Maia laughed in obvious relief and gave her friend a tight hug.
“Thank you… I promise I won’t laugh if you faint. But please don’t. This is nothing. You don’t have to worry. This is child’s play. Okay?” Maia held her friend’s hand and led her back into the room. She pulled another chair and bid Elle sit. She sat down in front of her laptop.
“I don’t want to sit.”
“You sure? There’s nothing to worry about, Elle. We are not doing anything wrong. If we find what I think we will find then we will deal with it later. Okay?”
Elle nodded and stood behind Maia. Conscious of Elle looking over her shoulder, Maia clicked her mouse. Elle had her both her eyes half closed, hands ready to go up to shield herself. If Maia was not so afraid herself, she would have snickered.
Maia slowly inched through the fortress of blue. She tried not to think about it, or of what they might find. And then she breached the walls.
She felt Elle step back.
Maia found herself inside a room ... Or a hallway. A long hallway with invisible walls. Faint symmetrical lines could be seen. The walls appeared to be made of glass.
Momentarily unafraid, Elle found her voice. “Those look like… Are those one-way mirrors?”
“Maybe... We could see the outside. But there’s definitely something there. Glass? I think you’re right. What is this?”
The two continued to stare at the image before them.
“It’s looks...odd.”
“Right. Those who are inside can look outside, but those who are outside cannot look in. What they will see is just the wall. It’s very... odd.”
“I think I have to sit down.”
“Are you okay?”
Maia saw that Elle’s face had turned ashen. But she gave Maia barely perceptible nod. It gave Maia the encouragement to look at the inside of the wall more closely.
These walls are hiding something. And whatever it is – these are still 5,000-meters-in-the-middle-of-the-sea walls. Somewhere remote and very deep.
Looking inside it, she felt both excitement and despair – like falling off a cliff. Or from a plane. She thought again of the downward plunge she felt when she flew the Cessna.
Or when Noah did the loop. It felt like this.
“This really looks like some kind of structure, though. It has walls and ceilings. But the floor, it’s blue. So this wall is really not at the bottom of the ocean? Weird. The outside is still water, I think, because it’s also blue. Do you think this is real, Elle? Is this a hoax? But such an elaborate hoax!”
Maia turned to Elle. “Hey, do you want to lie down?”
“I think I should.” Elle walked to the bed. She felt the onslaught of a fainting spell.
“Do you think this is also an ‘anomaly’? But again, too intricate to be just an anomaly. If Google Earth’s graphic designers did this, they must have had a field day!”
How will Google Earth explain this? The million dollar question – did they even do this? Do they even know?
Slumped on the wall by Maia’s bed, Elle fought her dizziness. She stood up and again took her position behind Maia. I’m stronger, I’m braver than this. She looked at the wall. She had more questions than answers but she kept it in: How can the wall exist? How does anyone not know?
Maia stared at the bottom part of the structure. Just water. There appeared to be no floors. The hall looked as if it floated.
“Hmm...Odd. Very odd.”
“What’s odd?”
“Look at the ceiling… Only technology can do that. Modern technology. There are trellises, lattices. So it could not be ancient. But what is it doing under the ocean? Could humans be involved in this? Did modern day humans or did the ancients do this?”
“Is that metal on the ceiling, you think?”
Elle’s voice remained soft and weak. “It looks like metal. Interwoven metal.”
“But what kind of metal can survive in that depth? It should be twisted or whatever because of the forces down there.”
“It looks twisted.”
“Only because I think it’s following the shape of the ocean floor. There are little mounds and dips here and there. Do you see that little opening? Weird...This can’t be natural. Could it? Someone has built this, Elle. But who?”
Elle murmured something, but Maia did not hear.
Someone has built this. In deep waters, where no man has gone before. Where no man could possibly survive.
Maia kept clicking her mouse. “But… I don’t understand. How can something like this be man-made? If we can do something like this in these depths, then we can do anything! Everything is possible! But we don’t even have free, sustainable, renewable energy. How can this be? Do you think they’re just not telling us? That we’re already capable of building a structure like this? And in a very inhospitable region of the earth too. If this is real, then maybe it is also true we have structures on the moon.”
“What are you saying?”
“We are being taken for a ride, Elle. Either that, or humans did not build these walls…”
CHAPTER 12
~
TAYGETE STOOD AT THE plaza’s center. She was bound on a pole that stood at the highest peak of Machu Picchu. Her eyes glistened with flames from the fires that surrounded her. With her weakened vision, she took in the whole of the mountain range.
Machu Picchu appeared majestic, green, and lush. Its towers and cobblestone walkways glistened under the fiery sun. The spell of the place – its splendor and magnificence – could not be denied. She regretted now that she had helped build it.
She heard the pounding of blood in her ears. She bore her pain and felt only rage. I have been betrayed. She also felt fear. They have made her feel afraid. But she would not let them see.
The inhabitants of Machu Picchu – humans who used to be dear to her – started to chant. Their faces drew near, taunting her. The tip of their spears touched her skin and drew blood.
“Ahhhhh!!!” Taygete could not resist a scream.
The men jumped, circling her at a dizzying speed, vibrating.
Taygete felt a shudder run through her. It ran through the length of the mountain range.
With a flash of intense white light that blinded her captors, her eyes pierced Machu Picchu. She found underneath it
the same peaks, the same buildings, the same cobblestones.
A mirror image. A hollow earth.
As above, so below.
In her dimming vision, she finally understood. She then saw what it hid.
What they took from me!
A cry escaped her lips and it echoed through Machu Picchu, triggering minor tremors. But Machu Picchu remained strong.
In her mind’s eye, she saw a glimpse of the future and the wall of water about to engulf the whole of the earth.
Before a spear pierced her side, Taygete’s captors shook violently and disappeared.
The spear fell to the ground.
In his dream, the light circled Atlas.
Do you know that you have it in you to be king? That through you, gods can own the world and everything in it? Again?
Everything, everything on your shoulders, within your grasp. Under your great power.
Yours.
“I do not deny this is what I want. But how can this be? My brother is king and he will be king forever.”
Listen to the wind, to what the world is whispering. It is in the waters, in the trees, in the birds that darken the sky. Listen.
The world is waiting for another uprising.
Now is the time to act, young Atlas, to breach once again the great gates. Take this gift. It is yours.
“I do not understand.”
The Stones which protect the heavenly realm must be destroyed.
“The Stones… how? What do you know about the Stones?”
I know everything. I see everything. A prophecy foretold of a change in the world. And it is screaming to be heard. Can you hear it?
Atlas thought he could hear something.
It has grown stronger. It is time.
And you have a role to play in this changing of the world. You Atlas, son of the Titan Lapetus and the Oceanid Asia.
Father of the Pleiades.
“This is a dream! No! Go! You deceive me!”
You have power over the guardians. Use it. Use them.
“I cannot…They are precious to me… But... What must I do?”