Babylon Prophecy

by Sean Salazar

  The first thing he noticed was the heat. It was very hot, so hot in fact that his exposed skin began to burn. The air burned his nostrils and had a burnt sulfur smell. He then realized he was soaked with sweat.

  Chapter Fifty

  “What the hell!” Vance said out loud, and then asked the copter pilot, “Did I hear that right?”

  “Sounded like ‘bring a kilometer of rope.’”

  “I have a feeling our cover is blown,” Vance said.

  “You’re correct,” the pilot said. “We are being directed to the mountain range as a show of force ASAP.”

  “Okay, well that confirms it; they got attacked,” Vance said. “What are the coordinates where we are directed to?”

  The pilot repeated the coordinates and Vance forwarded it to Captain McCoumb. He also added in the message to bring a shitload of rope.

  Several minutes later they landed and Vance opened the door and jumped out. Another chopper was nearby and an officer rapidly approached him.

  He reached out and shook Vance’s hand. “Major Reeves here. I was with Agent Robek before he disappeared.”

  “What happened?”

  “We found a way into the mountain below us, got attacked, and discovered some type of base inside. We found an elevator shaft and that’s where I lost him.”

  “Did he fall in?”

  “Well, no.” Reeves said. He then pointed, “After I lost him I found an alternate way out in that hill there and had to rescue one of my trapped men we left behind to cover our rear. It would probably be better if I show you myself.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Vance said, not liking the idea at all of climbing into a mountain.

  “Did you locate rope?” Reeves asked, “because we are definitely going to need it.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Al put his coat and backpack on the ground a few feet from the platform. He looked around, wondering how in the hell he seemed to always get himself into hopeless situations like this. Off in the distance, he saw an orange glow and shut off his light. Something was definitely glowing and he could tell that whatever was causing it was reflecting off a large, rocky wall in front of him. He then stood next to the platform aiming his light up the shaft. As sweat dripped off his arm he said, half-out loud, “Okay, Major, find a way out and get some rope down here or I will end up baked like a raisin.”

  He then unclipped his light from the gun muzzle and knelt down, opened his pack, and took inventory of his supplies, especially his remaining three explosive strips and wires. Blowing his way out of impossible situations had been the only reason he had lasted this long. Unfortunately, being this deep under a mountain was something new for him.

  As he painfully adjusted to the searing heat, the next crisis he faced would be water. He had only one canteen and at the rate he was sweating, he would last only a few hours, so putting distance between him and the glowing heat source was his next task. He glanced around with the light, but where would he go? As far as he could tell, he was in a massive cave and judging by the glassy, powdered dirt beneath him it was once lava-filled.

  Al strapped on his pack again and inspected the edges of the platform and attached wall. He looked for any signs of a control mechanism that might make it go back up. The platform was metallic, two feet deep, fifteen or twenty feet long and wide, and solidly attached to the wall. Other than that, he found nothing resembling a control panel. On the other side of the platform the rocky wall continued into the darkness, confirming that he was definitely in a deep, subterranean cave. He now decided that he was going to get a quick glimpse of what was causing the orange glow in the distance and began walking towards it. As he did, he noticed the temperature definitely rising. He was slowly beginning to adapt to the temperature like he normally would during his days in Afghanistan, but this was beginning to feel more like a blast furnace. The closer he got, the more it burned. After about forty paces, he gave up; the heat was just too intense. He shielded his eyes and started backing up.

  He concluded that the glow had to be a molten lava flow. He turned around and as he did he almost ran into some type of machine in the dark. He raised his light and recognized it as a tractor, but nothing like anything he had seen before. The surface of it was blackened—the reason he hadn’t seen it—but it also looked to be rusty. He walked up to it and said positively, “At least someone has been working down here.” As he looked it over, he could tell that the machine was quite old; so old in fact, that it appeared almost petrified. He had never heard of a petrified machine. The possible engine and driver’s area were obvious, but the rest of the machine seemed to have melted into the shiny dirt under it. He kicked the metal hub of the front wheel, but it too had blended in with the ground.

  Whatever this thing was, it was not going to help him get out of his burning situation so he made his way back to the platform. As he approached it, he saw that, unfortunately, it was still there. He had hoped that Major Reeves had found a control panel, but apparently not.

  He sat down on the platform wondering about the tractor and what Ed would always say about the ancient societies and mining. If that is what this scene is, then how did the tractor get this deep underground? he said to himself. He aimed his light around the platform and visually measured it. There was no way the tractor would have come down there this way; the platform was too small. So, there has to be another way in, he decided.

  He sat there for several minutes deliberately breathing slowly. The air was so hot that it began burning the inside of his nose and mouth. His lungs were handling the heat okay, but the rest of him was not.

  He glanced up the shaft, wondering if Major Reeves had found a way out because it was now becoming painful to wait for rescue, if it was coming at all. He wiped his face but every time he did he would be soaked again instantly and the sweat was beginning to cook his eyes and skin.

  Several more minutes went by and he was beginning to suffer. He wiped his face again and this time he burned himself when his elbow touched the ammo magazine in his weapon. “Ouch, shit,” he cursed angrily!

  Even the metal on his gun was too hot to touch, which meant that the bullets might even cook off. He didn’t know what the temperature had to be for that to happen but decided not to take any chances. With his shirt covering his hands, he took the cartridge out and ejected the bullets one by one. The metal was so hot that it burned his hand right through the shirt. He touched one of the bullets as a test and it burned his skin. He then removed the bullet in the chamber. He wiped the sweat off his face again, knowing that he had to make a decision. Either wait for the major to rescue him or scout around. If he wasn’t sitting in a blast furnace he could last a few days, but at the rate he was dehydrating, he would be dead in a few hours or less—and he knew it.

  He debated with himself as to what to do because the idea of being trapped this far underground was sobering. Being afraid or fearful had not crossed his conscious mind yet but that reality was lingering nearby. The way he always coped with circumstances like this or if he ever felt fearful, he would focus on the mission like a laser and push the fear aside. If he didn’t have a mission, he would assign himself one. Now, his sole mission was to find a way out. He carefully put the individual bullets in one of the pockets of his pack, tightened the backpack, and stood up. He pulled out the PDA, which was also very hot, but it didn’t burn his fingers. He scrolled through the functions looking for a temperature gauge.

  It indicated 205 degrees!

  “Holy shit,” he said out loud. There was no way he could survive this heat for long. His legs, arms, and torso were soaking with sweat so finding relief from the heat was now his mission, but where? He shot the light in both directions, trying to figure out which way to go. To the left of the platform, the cave wall angled towards the lava, so he quickly ruled out that direction. So he began walking in the other direction.

  Before he did, he drew a large arrow in the dirt indicating the direction he was heading. Every few paces he dug ano
ther arrow.

  He was going to stay close to the cave walls in order not to get lost in the dark but if he did, the arrows would help find his way back. As he dug another arrow, it occurred to him that the temperature might be less if he dug a hole and covered himself up, removing his body from the direct heat blast. It might buy him another hour or two.

  As he continued walking, he began to notice the ground change. The dirt was not as hard as it was near the platform. There was a slight powdery covering over the shiny surface that clouded up with each step. He noticed his boots were now covered with the fine misty powder, and it was sticking to his sweaty arms like glue, which meant that he was most likely inhaling it too. He stopped and tore a piece of his shirt off, tied it around his mouth as a dust mask, and continued following the cave wall.

  He noticed the upper part of the wall reflected a slight orange glow from the lava that, combined with the flashlight, helped orientate his direction. He turned off his light to see if he could navigate without it but quickly decided against it. He did not want to fall into a crevice or something.

  After a few minutes of trudging along the powdery ground, he noticed the cavern wall angling away from the orange glow and the heat. As it did, he definitely felt a slight temperature drop, which was a hell of a good thing. After a few more steps, he dug his foot into the ground and carved another arrow. When he lifted his foot he noticed that he hit something solid. After a dozen arrows he hadn’t felt anything like a rock. He kicked his toe into the ground and something shiny popped up. He reached down and lifted it.

  “No way,” he said, pulling it all the way out of the ground. In his hand, he held an actual sword. It was long and heavy and after a second burned his hand so he let go of it. Now he was completely baffled but he had to find cover so he moved on.

  Eventually he began to see sharp shadows protruding from the cave wall. He stopped and blinked, thinking his eyes must be playing tricks on him from the intense heat. No, he was definitely seeing shapes, and one jutted out at a sharp ninety-degree angle. He ran his light along the edge and he was stunned to see the edge of a structure of some type. He re-examined it, and it was definitely man-made. What’s more, it consisted of large stone blocks.

  Al stood back, aiming his light all over the large wall. He could see the top edge well above him but something else seemed out of place. There was a huge jagged hole in the stone that looked as if the wall had taken a direct cannon shot. In fact, there were several of them. Some just chipped the rock but others went clean through, creating gaping holes.

  He continued walking along the wall, and in doing so almost stumbled on something. He backed up and glanced down. Again, it took him a second to register what he was looking at—a metal shield partially buried in the dirt. He reached down and pulled it up, and yes, it was a shield. He quickly had to let go because it was so hot, but why would a medieval sword and shield be down here? The buried part of the shield he noticed had remnants of paint on it. With his light aimed directly at it, he recognized the markings as the red Knights Templar cross. An odd coincidence? The shield looked exactly like the shields he saw under Baalbek, Lebanon, before the nuclear bomb had detonated. “Okay,” he said out loud, “this is too weird.”

  Al continued walking, examining the ground and wall as he did. More and more shields, swords and other metallic items began appearing, some partially buried and some not. The only thing missing were actual skeletons. After a few more feet, he found chain-linked body armor, but again no skeletons. Some of the shields were burnt black and mangled, while some were relatively new looking.

  He continued moving along the castle wall and the farther he went, the larger the gaping holes. He approached a huge section of the castle that had caved in on itself next to a section that appeared blown to pieces. This is crazy. What in the world could have done this much damage?

  After he thought he had seen it all, something else came into view. Inside of what looked to be a giant doorway lay a very large metal door. It was twisted and lying on its side and looked as if a giant crane or tractor had ripped it off its hinges. Again, what in the world would do this much damage?

  He carved an arrow in the dirt, stepped through the doorway and on top of the mangled door. He jumped up and down but his body weight didn’t even budge it. He conceded that over the last several weeks he had come to realize that virtually all the history he thought he knew was being tossed out the window. These days his mind was open to virtually anything no matter how out of place it appeared. He looked around, thinking that the only thing missing was a moat full of alligators, but it wouldn’t have surprised him if he stumbled upon one.

  He stepped farther inside.

  With the light, he could see that the siege—if that is what had taken place—completely blasted a hole into another large wall several yards in. The stone blocks were blown clean through and scattered everywhere. He carefully stepped through the rubble and climbed through the wall where remnants of a battle scene were everywhere.

  As he walked farther, he noticed the temperature had dropped again but he was still sweating heavily. His vision was now becoming blurry and focusing was becoming more and more difficult. What he had seen thus far was bizarre. First, a full-scale castle inside a mountain. Second, evidence of a battle scene was all around him. Third, he was trapped and sweating like a pig in Wyoming!

  He swept his light all around, illuminating rocks and more shields scattered about but then suddenly what caught his attention was a massive, round, stone pillar extending upward. Halfway up it became a stone triangle becoming a large gothic arch. Moving the light over he saw two more identical stone pillars, all merging together on top to form a multi-arched stone ceiling. The pillars were so large that whoever built them must have intended for them to hold up the whole damn mountain.

  Al walked between the pillars and as he did, he saw another wall in the distance. There was an arched opening in the center that looked to be filled in with stones blocking it off. It was as if whoever defended this castle tried to seal themselves inside. He now determined that the outer walls he had come through must have been defensive walls to ward off attacks. If that was the case, then against whom were they defending themselves? More important, why and when?

  Al approached the wall and determined that he could blow a hole through the doorway with his remaining explosives, but decided to search around first since he didn’t want to waste his remaining explosive strips. He backtracked, making his way to the right, passing several swords and shields. He contemplated how obviously impossible it would have been for old swords to bust through those outer walls. The walls were too thick. It had to be some type of direct cannon fire, but from what he knew of modern cannons, even that would be difficult.

  He continued to look around inside, wondering if this was even a castle at all. Maybe it was just another of Ed’s mining facilities. That might explain that tractor-looking machine back there. No, I’m not getting paid enough to go back in there. I either need to find a cooler way out or a warmer spot!

  At that moment he realized he was having the first symptoms of heat-induced confusion. He began second-guessing himself as to what to do next. That would mean that he had underestimated the time he had alive and because of dehydration his mind would begin shutting down in roughly thirty minutes if he didn’t find water soon.

  He began rapidly and frantically following along the back wall directly under an overhanging section that could be potentially a second floor. If so, that would mean a stairway could be nearby. He moved his light laterally following the wall for any sign of a stairway. The light connected with several pillars that ran along the wall, but no stairway. The pillars were in a row, of normal size, and were just a few inches apart. He followed along the pillars until they led to another solid wall. A short distance past that he saw another opening and stepped closer to inspect it. Two pillars flanked the inside of the entrance, and between them, a stone stairway appeared. He never met a set of stair
s he didn’t like so he made an arrow with a few swords pointing in the direction he was heading and began climbing.

  The stairway was short and led to a rounded section of wall that could be a tower of some type. Well above, he saw elongated rectangular windows. There was no way he could determine where or what it had a view of, but it was a window nonetheless. To the right, just as the tower wall rounded beyond his view, he noticed another doorway. He walked around the wall, and to his delight it led to another winding stairway.

  Without hesitating, Al entered the stairway. The steps continued up, so instead of hurrying, he attempted to pace himself, which was difficult, but he had to do it because the heat even at this level remained intense. Eventually the steps ended and before him was a short hallway. Then, beyond the hallway, the steps continued upward. He briefly inspected the area and noticed the rectangular window. He looked through it with his light and saw the stairway he had climbed below, answering his earlier question.

  As he gazed out, he wondered how after all the expeditions in this part of the country, explorers had not discovered this place. He grumbled as he pulled out his PDA, “Maybe because it’s inside a freaking mountain.”

  He checked the temperature and it was still high, 175 degrees. He stowed it and continued up the next flight of winding steps. The steps continued on, and on, and he could tell that he was gaining good altitude, which gave him hope that he was heading to the surface. He was not only gaining altitude, but as he did, the temperature began to drop; unfortunately not enough to alter his earlier estimate of thirty minutes before lights out.

  After several minutes of solid climbing, Al’s ankles and knees were beginning to hurt, not to mention his hip. His joints were dehydrated from over-sweating and he knew it. If he did not find a cooler area soon, he’d be immobilized in pain from all his previous injuries. He stopped his ascent to take a brief rest before continuing, but just as he did he felt a wisp of cool air. At first, he thought he imagined it due to the air’s contrast to the heat and his sweaty face, but then he felt it again. It brushed against his forehead and it was definitely cooler, but he also noticed that the air no longer smelled of sulfur either. That was definitely a good sign as far as he was concerned, so he pulled the cloth off his face and stuck his nose in the air for confirmation. He breathed in and smelled the air. It was not fresh mountain air, but it was different, so he postponed his break and continued climbing. With each step, he shot his light carefully between the gaps in the stone or anywhere that he could trace the source of the air. He didn’t want to accidentally pass it up, because fresh air always leads to an escape route.