The Alien Artifact 5 2014 (Novelette)

by Victor Bertolaccini

  “I’ve never seen anything like that!” Thomas continued. “We think, something has to have been behind it! Its technology is not ours! I have never seen anything that can create this canyon the way that it has been created!”

  “I’m sure it’s not all from this world either whatever it is!” Merton finally spoke, testing their reactions, and considering it.

  “I’m pretty sure of that! It seems in an entirely different environment here! This world is incredible! It’s unfortunate that the island itself is from ancient Earth! But has altered a great deal over the millions of years that it has been away from the Earth!”

  Bryson was surprised and realized that the Exploration Association members there had been collecting information and evidence of things, and had been working with the archeologists, and he invited him to stay with him.

  The Exploration Association still amazed him, and their unseen findings and research!

  Parker pointed his light straight out in front into the distant darkness there, illuminating different parts of the ground like a spotlight, and he crept forward, as if he had decided that he wanted to find the answers to everything no matter what, and the sooner the better, just like they had been doing for many years.

  He shifted along determined to examine everything for the slightest clues, examining his steps, as he went into the darkness, which seemed to go endlessly on, and he examined everything.

  It resembled an ancient mine with top removed, with a few faint stars sprinkled over the black sky above, and Bryson examined the stars again, and knew he would not recognized where he was as he knew that he was in another dimension, or universe (which he had entered in the last castle that they had investigated).

  It had surprised him that some of the other scientists had tried to locate the stars and where they were and believed that the island could have just been moved to another region of space. Some of the others had only said that they thought it was in another galaxy or something, but he knew that it was another dimension, even though it was basically the same.

  It was startling that there were no signs of any materials like rubber, parts of materials, and debris. Yet if it was the age it looked and they estimated it, would there be anything there? And he wondered what any remains there would have turned into, and even considered it might be part of the ground rock. But he was sure that it would have been washed away, as the rain and water could get down from above.

  The tunnel kept them dreamily going endlessly on into the distance, going where there was nothing but more of it, and they marched off into it preparing themselves and ignoring their sleepiness.

  What dangers could the outside world hold for them? Did it have something of an incomprehensible nature existing in its darkness? Had they underestimated the things in the jungle? Could it fly or transport itself to far away locations? It could also know the whole region, and where the canyon led?

  All the significations of such places were startling! The normal world had vanished behind them, and it felt absurd that they were doing what they did! The world was like somewhere out of place that should not be there! Nothing seemed to put a conclusion to what it was all for or how it had gotten there!

  Merton seemed obsessed with handling fantasy situations more than anything!

  “Do you want one?” Merton gasped, lighting a cigarette, and blowing out smoke everywhere about him, to the surprise of a few of the archeologists, and one of them quickly grabbed the moment to get out his and hand a few out.

  Bryson and Mortimer took one each and smoked them strolling alone together as if in a park or underground cave, and Bryson wondered why they now had them so hidden away anyway, and realized it was only the era that they were in.

  Bryson strolled along blissfully puffing away, wondering where the hell they were going to this time. Wondering what he would have taken if he had predicted that they would have found something there? He realized he would have had a bad time carrying what he would have taken, and he wished that they had wine and better food supplies.

  It was surprising that the canyon never showed any signs of having flooded, and there was nothing showing water pouring down the rock, or water springs seeping up. He was sure there was no water sources nearby and the top of the canyon was angled away from the canyon cliff, and that the water would not gather and would pour away in the opposite direction. Then he saw signs that the water had been pouring down in small streams, and saw thick layers of dried mud away ahead in places.

  Mortimer looked happy and in his natural environment, and at night, with the strange and unusual, with unsolved mysteries everywhere, and he smoked like he was experiencing an expensive cigar, flaring away at his mouth, tasting the smoke, with the smoke spinning through the air behind him, and he felt as though he knew something.

  The mystery of where it led to was certainly one of the main inspirations that kept him interested, seeking an answer they knew they had to receive, driving them on no matter what.

  If they turned back, they would never know and could even have to face death!

  Bryson realized that none of them would have believed that it went out to that length! Their pace now stayed the same and their walk never changed!

  He noticed that they mainly took it for granted that the canyon had not collapsed anywhere and they would reach somewhere, and that they would not have to journey back.

  Bryson spotted something away in the distance and saw that the others about him followed his glare there and saw it too, and they all went there with their eyes focused on it trying to observe something there that could not be properly observed.

  He eventually ignored it and waited until it was close, watching the tunnel about him, making sure that nothing was in their immediate way. Occasionally getting ready for something, losing his sleepiness, especially at the others reactions to it.

  They continued on examining what was there with some surprise and he knew that they had seen something, and he looked up startled and saw something blocking the canyon ahead, and he started to gasp as well.

  Chapter 20

  The Transcendent Gateway

  Once Parker explored the canyon ahead and discovered that the entire canyon ahead was blocked full of boulders, and that they could not pass there, he exploded with anger and his scientists had to calm him down.

  The entire expedition was turning into a mess, even though they had made an immense amount of major findings and more than any other scientists for probably many years. Yet they were not on the world anymore and there was a good chance that they might never even return with the findings.

  Everyone there seemed annoyed or depressed at what had happened, and many looked on the brink of losing their patience, including Merton and Mortimer.

  Why would any canyon artificial or natural lead anywhere?

  Mortimer looked annoyed but started preparing to go back!

  He and Merton had a discussion of the problem, and Bryson attempted to hear everything in their silent hushed chants and he saw that they did not come to any conclusions!

  They stood beside Parker, resting, glancing at individual sections of the wall of rocks, as the others stood back at a distance observing them.

  “It looks artificially done!” Merton remarked. “There could be something hidden behind this? What do you think is?”

  “You’re probably right!” Parker remarked, touching the strange shapes of the boulders, and watching the way they were piled together. “Someone wanted the route blocked off!”

  Bryson believed that none of them knew what was behind it, and he realized that their lights were getting weaker, and their batteries running out, and that they would be soon be out, and they would have to return in darkness, and he turned off his light and hid it away as he intended to keep it for an emergency and when all the other lights were not working.

  Merton started feeling along the edge of the wall of boulders looking for a gap going through it, to try to see what was at the other side.

  �
�We could try shoving some away,” Merton moaned, looking at it, realizing the truth. “With our combined weight!”

  He mechanically placed an arm against an area of smaller boulders and started to push it and they joined in and a few bricks fell away, and they were unable to move anything else.

  Merton went along examining everything and gasped when he reached the end of the boulders, where they were against the wall of the canyon, and he called Mortimer over to him and they started examining something that was there.

  The others all watched them without moving, hoping that they had found something! The majority reacted more to having to confront the things in jungle again than the long walk back!

  Bryson moved in close first and saw thick debris covering a gap there, which had looked like rock, and they pushed away some rocks in the gap and other rocks crumbled and collapsed across the ground, and fully opened a small tunnel.

  Parker removed his communicator and started trying to see if it now worked, trying to contact the airplane, which he still regularly did, and when he could not pick anything up he put it away.

  With the lights held out the black gap there became visible and full of the thick debris, and they illuminated a tunnel going on and they moved in, removing the debris.

  Bryson watched his dark shadow stretch along the stone, and his unblinking eyes watched the ground searching for obstructions, and he continued following Merton and Mortimer along, and he watched the others follow him, and noticed that the tunnel was made similarly but with something different and was inaccurate, and as if something had removed the rock quickly with powerful equipment, removing chunks at many different angles.

  As he moved further into it he heard the murmurs of some of the archaeologists and Exploration Association members behind him, who were loving the exploration, which was one of their ultimate explorations, and he realized that Merton and Mortimer, who were now far away out in front of him, had announced something to them.

  In the blackness ahead something indistinguishable looked as though it were emerging, making his heart quicken, and at any second he expected to find something deadly.

  Bryson stopped to listen into the darkness ahead, and finally turned on his light, and he watched Parker approaching him further at a slow pace, looking around him, showing he did not think there would be much there, and Bryson moved on, and thought he saw Mortimer away in the distance, looking peculiar, standing unmoving doing something, and he wondered why he could not see him properly, and thought there must be a bend in the tunnel there.

  When Bryson slowly approached the area he was surprised to find stone stairs carved into the rock going far below, and he stood trying to see the bottom or where Mortimer was, but he never saw anything. The stairs vanished into the distance like an abyss!

  “What’s there?” Parker called, trying to see what was there.

  “There’s stairs ... They go down far below somewhere!”

  Bryson shifted down the steps making sure he never slipped, and a deep thud echoed down from behind, from in the tunnel somewhere. The ebbing radiance of the light was not enough to allow him to see very far and he tried to see where Mortimer and Merton were, and was surprised at not being able to see them anywhere and he continued on when he saw that the light only shone to a certain distance below, and he wondered why they had gone away so fast.

  As he continued going down he wondered what he was doing! What could possible be below? What could they properly profit from going there? Everything they wanted was above, and not away down there! How could this possibly get them further along the canyon?

  Yet it could lead them through the hill to somewhere else?

  He tried to grasp the concept of the tunnel and believed someone had built it to get around the canyon being blocked.

  Yet why had they not attempted to make their way through where it was blocked, and realized that it would not work as the boulders would have collapsed in when they dug it and that the cliff that it had fallen from might have collapsed more!

  Yet why was the tunnel going below? Had they had some form of scanning equipment that had shown where to tunnel through the rock and had discovered some form of obstacle in their path? Perhaps the equipment had detected the rock would collapse and had found the best place to go was below?

  The steps were mathematically perfect, and clearly cut by some form of computerized equipment.

  Sounds from behind altered and echoed along giving muddled and strange tones, and he had to strain his eyes more to see what he was doing as his light was getting dimmer.

  He occasionally looked back up, and when he was far below he saw Parker and two of his scientists standing at the top, who clearly had decided to remain there and to see what happened.

  Bryson saw little and that there were no new features of anything, and that the tunnel’s small shape vanished into the dark.

  At first he thought he saw something in his light below, and as he moved down bright light exploded out as though his light had increased in power and he looked at it and around him for the real source, and its intensity started blinding him and he could not see anything and stood stunned!

  Once it dimmed he studied his surroundings and saw that he no longer was in the shaft, and as he tried to see his surroundings a colossal whirlpool of lights shifted over him, and he saw that he had no proper presence, and was some form of energy formation, and that he was being shifted somewhere outside of the universe!

  The Lost Treasure Map

  V Bertolaccini

  A classic high quality action thriller of the adventures of treasure explorers exploring an immense unexplored castle and region and its hauntings as they hunt for treasure that has been buried away for centuries, with no precise proof of its existence even after scanning its interior with the most advanced equipment, while hauntings, murders, murder hunts, and televised investigations occur all about them!

  Senator Bradbury and the DX1 Seizure

  V Bertolaccini

  A classic intellectual action-packed thriller of the execution of an atomic explosion at a South Pacific military base, the assassination of a leading politician, and the sabotage and hijacking of a new space shuttle that reveals someone has acquired a mass of new atomic weapons and is executing a sinister plot against civilization, which mankind has avoided!