“No, it’s older than that,” said Aimee. “Much, much older. This place was a memory before Tikal was even a dream.” She turned to find Alex coming up behind them, and she pointed to the carvings. “Just like Aztlan.”
He nodded. “So, maybe some of them did make it down here after all,” Alex said softly. “We always wondered.”
“Aztlan? What the hell is Aztlan?” Cate asked, stepping in closer to the pair.
“Something much older than the Mayans,” Aimee said, shining her light onto the glyphic images. “These guys predated the Aztecs, Egyptians, Mayans, and even the Sumerians, by thousands of years. In fact, as they were originally a seafaring people, they may have created those other races, seeded them.”
“Buried beneath the Antarctic ice?” Cate scoffed. “I know what you’re inferring… Aztlan, is Atlantis, right?” She looked at Aimee from under her brows. “Please tell me you’re not really saying that?”
“I’m not,” Aimee said. “This down here is nothing like Atlantis. This is just the remnants of that. It’s real name is — was — Aztlan, and that great city, perhaps the first great city on the planet, is above us, buried just under snow and ice. A civilization that flourished when this continent was mostly ice-free.” She walked to the wall, placing a hand on one of the moss-covered images. “When the final ice age took hold, many escaped, perhaps becoming one or all the world’s first great races. But others stayed behind, and became trapped in the dark. Some obviously came down here, and…” She shrugged. “And then, I don’t know.”
Aimee moved her light to the next image. It was of a coiling mass, with a huge eye at its center. “But I can guess.”
“Yo, boss.” Rhino led Jackson and Yang back to the group.
Alex noticed that Shenjung and Soong didn’t move to welcome Yang, but stayed with Cate and Jennifer Hartigan, who talked quietly with Casey Franks.
“What’ve you got?” he asked when they stopped before him.
“Multiple caves, and more. This place is enormous — buildings, rooms, a freaking city. Or what’s left of it.” Rhino stopped, the equally huge Jackson beside him. “Something bad happened here, maybe an earthquake — a lot of damage. Seems long deserted, but…” He shrugged. “You kinda get the feeling, that, I dunno, there’s someone still here.”
“Impossible,” Cate said.
“More like, improbable,” Aimee said. “These guys were born survivors.”
“Well, we found more of the weird markings on the walls that we saw in the upper caves.” Rhino pointed at one of the ancient carvings of a warrior. “Not like these, they were more recent, but they were rougher, crude, like they were done by someone a lot less skilled. Like what Hagel said he found with a bunch of skeletons in a dead-end cave that was higher up. He said it was as if they were trying to tunnel towards the surface. They never made it.”
“They went in both directions,” Alex said. “Some tried for the light, maybe others for the eternal twilight of this place.”
“Well, down here worked out well, didn’t it?” Casey said, joining them.
“It did for a while,” Aimee said. “About 12,000 years ago, when the land iced-over and trapped them, enough of them came down to be able to create all this.” Aimee waved an arm around. “They re-established, but then something happened, and their civilization collapsed.” She looked towards the mouth of the cave. “No sunlight, and no hope with that thing out there.”
“Why didn’t they just head back up?” Jackson asked.
“Because this would be preferable,” Cate said. “They make it to the surface, and all they’re going to find is a frozen desert. Imagine what they would have thought of that blinding white and freezing world after thousands of years in the warmth and dark? They’d see it as hell.”
“Yeah, well, with that thing down here, I’d take that over this place any day.” Rhino frowned. “But Aimee’s right; these guys must have survived just fine for a while. Before slipping back or something.”
“Slipping back to the stone age,” Cate said. “There is something called the Olduvai theory. It postulates civilization always sliding backwards, regressing after a certain period.” She shrugged. “It’s inevitable — war, disease, natural disaster, using up resources, all can lead to great powers simply collapsing, fragmenting, and the people scattering, leaving the great cities deserted or in ruins. Like this place.” She looked around. “And I can tell you, as an evolutionary biologist, 12,000 years is about 50,000 generations — more than enough time to force adaptations… evolutionary adaptations.” She smiled. “Maybe they flourished, again, but didn’t need the things that the first arrivals did.”
Rhino raised his eyebrows. “Like what, no roof over their heads?”
“Seriously?” Cate gave him a look. “Look up, soldier. Here, everywhere you go, there’s a roof over your head.”
Jackson sniggered. “Boom. She wins that round, big fella.”
Rhino grinned. “Well, let’s see what…”
“That’s enough, Rinofsky,” Alex said. “Any other observations?” He looked from Rhino to Jackson, and then to Yang, who stood brooding a few paces back.
“Well, yeah, you couldn’t help feeling that someone was there… just out of sight,” Jackson said. “Spooky.”
“We were being watched.” Yang lifted his head and Rhino nodded. “I could feel it.”
Alex looked at the men, knowing they were probably right — he felt it himself. He could sense there was more in the tunnels than lichen-covered statues. Even now, he could feel that somewhere in the dark, there were eyes upon them.
“We need to move.” He turned slowly, trying to see into every crevice and dark corner. “Being in here is no guarantee of our safety.”
“Got that right,” Rhino said. “We lost Parcellis in a freaking crack in the wall, no bigger than…” He stopped when he saw Alex’s expression.
“We all know what we’re up against.” Alex looked to the group who were now all watching him. “We need to fully investigate this place. If there’s a way out, we need to find it…” He looked hard at Yang. “And, we need to find our submarine.”
“A way out? Yeah, works for me,” Jackson said.
There was no bioluminescence in the tunnels, and without the flashlights, the darkness would have been absolute. Alex turned slowly, concentrating. The silence was so thick, it was as if it was suspended in the humidity. But there was something… he sensed activity, or furtive movement all around them. He turned back to Rhino.
“Where’s Blake? He should have been back by now.”
Rhino frowned. “Yeah, damned right. He was ahead of us… should have been back first.”
Yang bullocked his way past the taller Jackson. “And where are my men?”
“How would we know?” Rhino put his hand on the Chinese captain’s chest.
Yang knocked it away, and glowered at Alex. “So, I agree for you to lead, and we immediately lose people. This is leadership, American style?”
“Get a load of this guy, would ya?” Rhino shook his head.
“That’s enough,” Alex said. He turned to Yang. “Listen, our man is missing as well. I get the feeling this place is huge, but we’ll find them. Probably just exploring further than they expected.”
“Or my men are dead; killed by one of your assassins.” Yang’s features were set hard.
Rhino chuckled. “Assassin? Blake’s gonna love that one.” He leaned over Yang, putting a large, blunt finger in his chest. “Then where’s our assassin; why hasn’t he returned either?”