City Of Sand

by Richard Smith

  Sue screamed as she grabbed Ben’s arm.

  If Cody had ever felt real panic in his life he had no memory of the experience. But now his heart was in his throat and his stomach was rolling. He chocked out a yell, “Valerie!” He called her name twice more before he turned to Ben. “Get Ms. Perkins in the car and up to the surface, now!”

  “Cody, we’re not going to leave you…”

  “Now, Ben, damn it!” Cody yelled, “I’ll find Valerie, you two get out!”

  Sue was crying and her whole body was shaking.

  Ben looked into Cody’s wild eyes and knew that there would be no negotiating. “Okay,” he answered, “but I’m coming back down with a search team and weapons.”

  Everyone’s lantern began to dim.

  “Go, go, go!” Cody shouted as he followed the two to the metal transport cage. H watched in the dim light as the two slowly rose into the darkness. He was still looking up when the yellow light from his lantern faded to black.

  Cody felt it before he heard it. Something cold and metallic touched his arm. He swung around in the heavy darkness and squatted low, ready to strike out. His lantern began to glow again – slowly at first, then more until he was able to fully see it. He figured either he was dead or dreaming, but what stood in front of him was surely not from this world – not something from real life.

  It slowly moved around him, completing a full circle before stopping. It was a little taller than Cody, probably at least six feet – six. Everything about it was human except for the head – the head was the head of a bird, and the black eyes focused on Cody’s face. A sound came out but its beak never opened.

  “You are the last,” the sub human voice said.

  Cody felt sick and he felt faint. A nightmare was talking to him and he could not respond. It was like trying to run in your dreams and your legs are like two concrete pilings, driven deep into the ground. He was speechless.

  The bird man held a staff and pointed it toward one end of the chamber. “The rest await,” it said, as it began to shuffle in that direction. Cody was not asked to follow, but he finally got his legs to move and began to slowly walk behind the strange creature with the bird’s head. Then he remembered the Egyptian statue in the Archive’s at Valerie’s museum. She had called the carved figure, ‘HORUS’, the Falcon God. Cody realized that he was walking behind a living relic that was from the eighth century B.C. His legs felt like they were made from rubber, and he struggled to keep up with the tall falcon man. It had to all be an incredible dream; What he was experiencing was just too impossible.

  Cody’s lantern began to fade again. Not again, he thought, I can’t follow this thing if I can’t see it.

  The falcon god stopped and raised his staff. He whirled it around his head in a circle three times. The cavern came to life with light – light from hundreds of burning torches mounted to the stone walls. “You are the last,” the bird man said again as he pointed to an arched doorway carved into the wall. The doorway was huge; Cody estimated that the height of the opening had to be at least fourteen, maybe sixteen feet. The dark opening was flanked by two round columns that extended all the way up to the ceiling. On each side of the stone columns stood tall statues of two Egyptian kings, painted in vibrant colors and gilded in gold.

  ‘HORUS’ stood by the stone portal and pointed his shaft into the dark opening, “the rest await.”

  The bird man allowed a clear path for Cody to step around him. As Cody slipped by, the tall figure followed his every move with its black eyes. Cody stepped into the cool dark space and immediately saw a walkway that lead around the perimeter of the large room. The walkway actually seemed to spiral down to a cold dark floor. Cody looked back at the half man / half bird creature and hesitated, but only for a second. He cautiously started down the narrow stairway.

  Cody soon realized that the floor at the bottom of the rocky basin wasn’t a floor at all, but a flat surface of standing water. A pool of black liquid almost twenty feet in diameter occupied the bottom of the circular chamber.

  Looking back up, Cody realized that the falcon god was gone. This twisted dream had led him to a dead end. The bird man had drifted out of his dream and left him on his own. Cody suddenly felt stronger, almost defiant. He heard voices below him.

  SEVENTEEN

  Ben stumbled out of the caged car with Sue and yelled for help. His radio had not worked since the lights in the chamber went out. Right now, he was without any kind of communication. “Get Ballard over here quick!” he shouted to the nearest crewman.

  “What the hell’s going on down there, Ben,” one of the support engineers asked as he radioed for Glenn Ballard, the chief of site security.

  “I want you to take Ms. Perkins to the trailer,” Ben instructed as he looked around frantically for the chief of security. He stared back at Sue, her face washed out in terror. “It’s going to be alright, Ms. Perkins,” he said with wishful assurance, “we’re going to go back down to find everybody and bring them up – we’ll have everyone back up here in no time.” Ben was running on straight adrenalin, and wondered how his body and mind was functioning. His world had suddenly been turned upside down by unexplainable events that had occurred one hundred feet below him – events that he could only call supernatural.

  “What have we got?” Glenn Ballard asked as he approached.Sweat poured off the big man’s face.

  To Ben, the security chief seemed only a step above a mall cop. He had heard that the heavy weight man had been hired by the state of California as a security guard at the San Diego Zoo two years ago. For whatever reason, Ballard had risen in the ranks to lieutenant in just two years.

  “We’ve got six people trapped in the chamber below us,” Ben started, “we need to get medical and rescue on site immediately.”

  Glenn looked at the small wire cage that Ben and the woman had just exited, and he knew that there was no way he was going down to rescue anybody in that contraption. “We need to wait for the county guys,” he said as he pulled upward on the top of his belt. “They’ve got the proper equipment and personnel for this kind of thing.”

  “We can’t wait on the county!” Ben screamed, “There are six people dying down there – round up some volunteers!”

  The security chief wiped his face with a dirty handkerchief and looked around at the crewmen that stood nearby. “Okay, who wants to go down there?”

  Four men stood with their hardhats pulled down low. Nobody wanted to look at Ben, and no one moved or spoke.

  “We wait on the county people.” Glenn said, stuffing the handkerchief back in his pocket.

  Ben looked back at the mall cop for a second, then stared at the other workers. He thought about going to the engineering trailer and grabbing a few guys from their desks, but he was running out of time. He started to climb back into the cage.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” Glenn stuttered, “you…you can’t go back down there by yourself.”

  “Hand me your flashlight!” Ben shouted.

  Glenn hesitated as he stared into the face of rock determination.

  “Give me your damn flashlight!” Ben shouted again.

  The big man unsnapped the heavy Maglite from his belt and held it out for Ben.

  The earthquake wasn’t a big one, maybe a 4.2 or 4.3 on the rector scale, but it was big enough to topple the cable tower and totally collapse the hole.

  EIGHTEEN

  Cody saw the rocks beneath his feet roll forward as sand and dust swirled around him. He knew immediately that the movement under his boots was caused by an earthquake. Before he could stop himself, he lost his footing on the rolling rocks. Cody slid on his backside until he reached the edge of the spiraling path. His body spun off into black space and he dropped his lantern. As he was falling, he remembered the liquid he’d seen below him and prayed he’d hit the pond and not the shore. He figured that it was either a pool of crude oil or stagnant water. It didn’t matter which liquid was coming up to meet him, either one would
be softer than solid rock.

  The five sitting on the shore next to the pool suddenly saw a large splash in the glow of their lanterns. Only three of the five battery powered lights still worked, but they illuminated the surface of the water enough to see a struggling man rise to the surface. At first, they thought the man was probably not human, thinking that it was another Egyptian god dropping in on them from thin air.

  Then, Valerie saw Cody’s head pop into the light. She never hesitated as she began removing her boots. Before anybody else could react, Valerie was in the dark water, swimming toward Cody. She reached under one of his arms and began to lift his body upward. “Cody, it’s Valerie,” she shouted; “Are you hurt?”

  It took a few seconds for Cody to realize what was going on. “Hey pretty lady,” he said spitting out a mouthful of water, “you swim here often?”

  “Can you swim? That’s the question.” Valerie asked, her voice steady and determined.

  “Not very well with my boots on,” Cody answered. “How far do we have to go?”

  “Just to the shore,” Valerie answered, dogpaddling next to Cody, “maybe thirty feet.”

  “Shore’s always good when you’re drowning,” Cody said, taking a little more water into his mouth.

  “It’s Cody!” he heard Mark Stone yell out. Then Cody’s blurry eyes focused on the two lost technicians, Harper Harris and Alex Bell, standing next to Mark.

  “Everybody alright?” he asked Valerie as they got closer to the shore.

  “Yeah,” she responded as her feet touched bottom. “We’re all just a little scared.”

  “That’s good that you guys are only a little scared, because I’m a whole lot scared.”

  “Man, it’s good to see you again,” Mark said as he helped Cody out of the water. Valerie had already been pulled to shore by Harper and Alex.

  Cody ran a hand through his wet hair, and slapped at his soaked jeans. “How did you all end up down here?”

  “Horus brought us here,” Valerie said. “He basically took us prisoner, one by one. He was standing guard over us until you landed in the water.”

  “Well, he’s gone now,” Cody said, “I guess I must have scared the poor bird away – he probably thought I had an uglier face than his.”

  “There’s been an earthquake, Cody,” Mark said, as he watched multiple ripples roll across the dark water, “and now we’re getting after shocks.”

  “I definitely know about the quake, Mark,” Cody responded with a smile, “That earthquake is why I decided to go swimming.” He scanned the faces of the group standing by the rippling water, “Is everybody here physically okay?”

  Everyone nodded, swaying slightly with the next tremor.

  Don Williams seemed the most visually shaken by the traumatic events that had just taken place. “You holding up okay, Mr. Williams?” Cody asked quietly.

  Don Williams took off his glasses and wiped them on his shirt. His face was flushed and his brown eyes showed panic. “I’m fine, Mr. Larson, I’m just not much of an adventurer.”

  Cody put his right hand on the small man’s narrow shoulders. “You are now, Mr. Williams,” he said with a slight grin – “you are now.”

  Looking back at the others, Cody’s mind was racing a mile a minute, thinking about an ultimate escape plan. “So, our main goal now, folks, is to get away from this pond and up to the surface,” Cody said, “We may be in for an even a bigger quake, or our dead Egyptian friend may come back.”

  Cody thought about the creature that was two thirds human and one third bird. Maybe he wasn’t dreaming when he first encountered the creature. Maybe he could even figure out a way to communicate – to get on the bird man’s good side. “You think dead Egyptians have a sense of humor?” he asked as he watched Valerie put her boots back on.

  “HORUS is not just any dead Egyptian,” Valerie exclaimed, “Thousands of years ago, he was thought to be an Egyptian god, and I’m sure if he does have any kind of sense of humor, it would be about as dry as the Sahara Desert.”

  “I’m still not sure about that guy, but I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Cody said as he looked up at the rocky walls that surrounded them, “but for now, we need to be about vacating this space as fast as we can.” He reached over and borrowed Mark’s lantern. “If we use the fallen rocks for a starting point, I believe we can climb back up to the path.”

  “Or, maybe we could use the ladder,” Harper Harris said as he pointed his lantern behind him.

  Cody looked at Harper, and then in the direction the technician was pointing. He saw the faded outline of an ancient wooden ladder, which reached up to the main path. “I like your idea Harper, I’m all for trying the ladder,” Cody said. “Let’s make our way over there but don’t get your hopes up; It may not be quite as sturdy as it was a thousand years ago.”

  When the group of six reached the ladder, Valerie put her hand on one of the twisted rungs first. “Let me try, I’m the smallest.”

  “If the smallest makes it up,” Cody cautioned, “then that doesn’t mean much to the biggest.”

  “I’ll go up, Cody,” Mark Stone said.

  Cody looked at Mark who stood at least six foot- one. He was just an inch shorter than Cody.

  “I’m afraid I’m pulling rank on you, Mark,” Cody said as he approached the old wooden ladder. He studied the ladder in the semi-darkness, and put his hands around one of the ancient rungs. He looked up to the top of the hand-made relic and estimated that it was at least twenty feet tall. He looked back at the group behind him.

  “Cody, be careful,” Valerie said in the semi darkness.

  “All I can do is fall, right?”

  As he put his foot on the first rung, Cody’s boot broke clean through the rotten wood. At the same time, they all heard the panicked shout of Don Williams, “The water rising,” he yelled; “The water is coming up!

  NINETEEN

  After the earthquake, all hell broke loose at the site. Not only was the Secretary of State notified, but the Governor. Ben had never seen so many state police in his life. The California Highway Patrol seemed to be totally in charge.

  Ben was sequestered in a trailer with a CHP lieutenant who tried to get the right answers from the frantic project manager.

  “I know that you’re concerned about your boss and the others in the cave,” the CHP officer said, not having the slightest notion of what was really going on, “but you need to calm down a little, Mr. Smith, you’re not making sense. We can’t help you unless you try and help me understand.”

  “I told you, lieutenant,” Ben said, in total frustration, “everybody disappeared into the darkness, one by one – they simply vanished, until it was just me and Ms. Perkins, that’s when we escaped to the surface.”

  Ben watched the disbelieving CHP officer sigh and blink his eyes.

  “I was told that your group was exploring some sort of old Indian tomb or temple?”

  “That’s classified information, Lieutenant; I can’t tell you what our team was doing down there, but the Governor had approved the operation.”

  “I’m aware of the Governor’s involvement, but my job is to uncover what exactly happened down there. You weren’t involved in a military exercise here, Mr. Smith, so nothing is classified; you need to tell me more.”

  “Six people are missing because of some kind of strange curse,” Ben blurted out. “Take that as fact or leave it, Lieutenant. What I saw down there would make your badge curl!” Ben stood up from the small table. “I know you can’t hold me here, and you’d best not try; What you do need to do is help my friends, Lieutenant – that’s what I expect you to do.”

  “People vanishing into thin air, Indian curses, what would you expect me to do, Mr. Smith?”

  “Blast the hell out of that hole out there, and send a team down, that’s what I expect!”

  “The CBI is working on a plan, Mr. Smith,” the lieutenant said as he jotted down a note in a small tablet.

  “The California
Bureau of Investigation is working on a plan?” Ben responded, almost shouting. He stood and leaned on the table as he faced the CHP lieutenant; “the California Bureau of Investigation?”

  “They’re working on a plan, Mr. Smith,” the officer said again as he closed the tablet. “You’re free to go.”

  Astonished by the reaction of the CHP officer, Ben went immediately to the engineering trailer. There he was stopped by another member of the highway patrol. “No access here, sir,” the patrolman said.

  “But, I’m part of the state research team,” he pleaded as he held out the security badge around his neck.

  “I’m sorry sir, no one is allowed in without approval.”

  “And where might I obtain that approval?”

  Before the patrolman could answer, the trailer door swung open.

  “Ben Smith,” the voice said as a tall man stepped through the door. “It’s okay, officer, he’s with us.”

  As Ben entered the trailer, he looked at the man who’d just gotten him in, and tried his best to remember where he had seen him.

  “You don’t know me, Ben, but I know you,” the man said as he smiled, holding out his hand, “Bill Walton, Cody mentioned you often when he met with us.”

  Ben quickly realized that the guy was part of the state engineering group that approved private contractors. Cody had met with them numerous times. They were on site in their own trailer.

  “Mr. Walton,” Ben said before he was two feet inside the trailer, “nobody is doing anything – nobody is doing anything to get to them out of there and bring them up.”

  “I understand your frustration and concern, Mr. Smith, but the state patrol is only here as grounds keepers. Much bigger fish are working on a solution to get to your friends.”

  “The California Bureau of Investigation?”

  “Their part of the team, but only a small part,” Bill said, “We’re about to open up the existing shaft and widen it. We hope to have the new shaft ready by sunup tomorrow. We’ve got a special search and rescue team prepared to go down.”