‘Not just me who likes Sushi then?’
Osvaldo Rodrigo had moved across the dome and stopped by a square section of the complex floor. He bent down and rested his hand upon it. A rectangle around his hand glowed blue like the amulet and necklace; a line appeared by his wrist moving around his hand and back to the other side. Then after a short pause a rectangular hatch began to open.
‘Nice trick. Can anyone try?’
‘No Jacob, it checks my DNA and will only allow someone of La gente de la luz azul heritage to enter, anyone else will just sit out here.’
‘So what is stopping someone using you to get in and then following?’
Osvaldo Rodrigo was already reaching into his backpack and removing a handful of necklaces like Katherine’s. He passed them out to Jacob and his six friends, ‘Put those around your necks and follow me, they will protect you.’
‘Protect us from what?’
‘Kevin as brave as always.’
‘From the defences inside the hatch, if you were not wearing one you would be dead by the time you reach the bottom of the first staircase.’
‘Great, so glad I asked!’ Kevin placed his necklace over his head, not seeing the laughter cascading over Katherine’s face as she followed him.
Laurent returned to the riverbank with Luis Alfredo, the dust from the explosion had cleared, and they had casually descended the stone wall, expecting to see the waiting canoes, but they had vanished. He sat down, the young Luis Alfredo appearing puzzled, ‘Where are your friends?’
‘They will be along, now tell me about that necklace you have?’
‘It is the protector of La gente de la luz azul, allows us to enter the complex.’
‘What complex?’
Luis Alfredo was hesitant to answer, ‘I thought you wanted just information and to show the amulets to the world, stop the secrecy?’
‘I do, but to do that you must tell me more about them, these amulets like the one around your neck.’
‘You misunderstand, this is just a shield necklace, this is an amulet.’ The young man withdrew the amulet from its cloth cover, the blue crystal glowing, silver top shining in the sun. Laurent recognised it immediately. It was the same as the two he had in his bag, something he failed to mention to Luis Alfredo.
‘You are a very wise young man, I can see why you want to lead La gente de la luz azul.’
‘Really? Can you?’
‘Oh yes, your vision is so much clearer than Osvaldo Rodrigo, you are the future.’
‘I wish Osvaldo Rodrigo and the others would see what you do, I just want us to share this with the world.’
‘And you will Luis Alfredo, you will.’
‘Thank you for helping me Mr Laurent.’
‘You are very welcome, and it is Christophe, please.’
Laurent’s relentless consistent charm was working as expected. ‘And what does this one amulet do? It controls something or unlocks something?’ his apparent ignorance leading the naive young man.
‘Not just one, four amulets control the device in the complex, the keystone.’
‘Four amulets, and three will not do, it must be four?’
‘Yes just four.’
‘And this complex and keystone, what are they for?’
‘I will tell you more when we are away from here.’ The young man said nothing more turning back towards the river, causing Laurent to wait frustrated for Enzi’s men to arrive.
Osvaldo Rodrigo led Jacob’s group, the hatch was above their heads now, the humid jungle air replaced with cool damp, the stone steps under their feet leading down a shaft. The staircase was a metre wide; the outer edges supported by silver pillars, each a half metre wide, two steps atop each one. Katherine had entered first, following Osvaldo Rodrigo, Jacob was last his necklace glowing in unison with his companions. As his head cleared the entrance to the hatch it began to close. There was no noise, he expected it to scrape or rub but only silence prevailed, he was only aware of the closure when the jungle noise suddenly abated.
Even without the sun, light persisted from the blue crystals embedded in the black stone walls. The group progressed down the seven flights of stairs into the bowels of the complex. When Jacob reached the bottom of the stairs the group were in front. The black stone roof led up and away from him at a steep angle, to a circular hatch in the ceiling. It should have been pitch black but the space was being illuminated throughout. Jacob could not determine the source.
The room was symmetrical with another doorway opposite; the roof sloped back down from the hatch to meet it. The cavern they were in was not silver as he expected. The jet black stone did not reflect any light, making it difficult to judge the distance to the walls. Jacob was so busy looking he almost lost his footing, Katherine grabbing his arm, ‘Jacob look down!’
The edge he was on was lined with blue which glowed, defining the limit of the walkway which Katherine had just stopped him from stepping off; he could not see the bottom.
‘Thanks Katherine, just overcome by the place.’
‘That’s okay Jacob. Do you think my mother ever stood here?’
‘Don’t know, she only told me to give you that necklace, nothing else.’
‘Nothing at all? No letters?’
‘I am sure she would have told you, but the accident.’
Jacob gave Katherine a hug on the shoulder, ‘No one’s looking.’
She laughed, stifling her emotions and moving off to join the group.
Osvaldo Rodrigo had gathered everyone in the centre of the room, standing inside three concentric circles, the outside one was three metres in diameter, the next two metres and the inner one metre. These three circles sat within a larger square, and at each corner of this square was a small black pyramid one metre square with a hole in the top of it. The whole area they were standing on was made of silver metal, in contrast to the black stone of the walls and ceiling. Within the metal were blue glyphs, similar to those Jacob had seen on the black artefact stolen from Washington. These glyphs lined the outer edge of the square, linking the four smaller pyramids.
The circles they were standing on had a deep V cut between them, perfectly formed, no gaps or faults, as if they had been machined from one solid slab. Jacob wondered about the origins of this place, knowing that the skills of the Caras and La Tola, although advanced for the time, were far beyond manufacturing on this scale.
Osvaldo Rodrigo addressed the group, ‘I feel like a tour guide!’ the laughter from the group echoed around coming back at them from all directions.
‘This is the complex, it has no other name, the necklaces you wear protect you, and allow the lights to illuminate for you, it is an intelligent structure.’
Sara one of the quieter members of the group ventured her first comment, ‘like office when the lights go on and off as you move around?’
‘Yes exactly, but the builders of this place got a little more creative, as you will see.’
Osvaldo Rodrigo walked over to Katherine and handed her his amulet, the crystal glowing with increased intensity. He beckoned her over to one of the small black pyramids on the floor, the group remained in the circles, observing.
‘Place you hand here on the side of the pyramid.’
Katherine followed Osvaldo Rodrigo’s instructions, placing her palm onto the black stone. A familiar blue line travelled around her hand, just like by the outer hatch. The outline disappeared and she withdrew her hand.
‘Now place the amulet in that hole, the metal end first.’
Katherine took off the leather strap that was looped around the silver metal, crouched down, gripped the crystal shaft and tentatively lowered the amulet into the hole. It slid halfway down, and then stopped, after a short pause it descended into the pyramid, only the blue tip showing completing the shape. Below her feet she felt a mild vibration, and the black pyramids surface illuminated with glyphs previously unseen. Each glyph was a pair of circles with different symbols in the inner and outer ones, a different large glyph on each side of the pyramid. The illuminated object began to rise up from the floor. Katherine stepped back with surprise knocking into Osvaldo behind her. The black stone pyramid continued to rise becoming a four metre high square obelisk, black stone with many illuminated glyphs upon it. On one side was an opening, about two point five metres high and wide enough for someone to step through.