Chapter 1
The Berber sat on a camel with the eastern horizon highlighting him on a ridge. The still cold early morning breeze ruffled his long, dark robes. His face was covered and only his alert black eyes showed as he looked down at the scene below.
He saw a cluster of tents surrounding an archeological dig in the foothills of the Atlas mountains. They were still in the shade from the ridge and the only movement was from several guards, armed with guns, who now stopped and stared at him.
He advanced down the ridge, his camel leaving footprints in the sandy soil. The guards advanced towards him, their weapons not aimed but ready to be brought up immediately if necessary. A hulking black man, Toby Jones, the leader of the guards, approached him and began talking in English. The Berber shook his head. Then he tried French:
“What do you want here–we do not need any more workers?”
“I do not desire work, Effendi. But I have important information for the leader here.”
“Such as?”
“My information is only for your leader. I must be paid before I will give it.”
Toby thought: you can’t trust these tribesmen. He’s up to something. But as he looked at the Berber, something about the man’s eyes made him hesitate. Frowning he made a decision.
“Wait here,” he said, as he made his way to the expedition leaders tent.
Jim Novak looked at his shaving cream covered face in the mirror as he went through the morning ritual. Though his beard was light as his hair and he could go for days without shaving he still enjoyed it for its cooling effect, particularly in the arid conditions of the Atlas mountains. His blue eyes in his angular face looked in a corner of the mirror to see Toby opening his tent flap.
“What’s up, Toby?”
“Maybe nothing, but one of the locals wants to talk to you–says it’s important.”
“If he’s looking for work...”
“I told him that we don’t need anybody, but maybe he has some info or something we can use.”
“OK I’ll be out as soon as I get done here–a minute.”
He thought about the dig they were on. It was an old Roman villa, almost completely buried in the ground, but they had recently found a cellar and were about to open it. If it had not been for the local tribesmen, it would never have been found. So this one could have good leads. Then again, with the political situation since “Arab Spring” one had to be careful.
When he went outside the Berber had dismounted and was drinking form a waterskin, looking around very intently. Not for an attack I hope, Jim thought.
“I am in charge here. You have important information?”
“Yes Effendi, but for your ears and eyes only. We must speak in private.”
Toby’s mouth formed a grim line and he shook his head.
“You can talk here. I am among friends.”
The Berber just shook his head and stared at Jim.
Jim thought: If I’m alone and he tries something... But he then realized that the lone Berber could not achieve anything by attacking him alone and he could have some important info.
“Very well then–follow me,” said Jim looking at Toby’s grimace.
“If there’s any problem just holler,” said Toby.
Jim walked back to his tent and thought of the political situation, which was why Toby had been hired. The locals had made attacks on the government authorities recently, involving some deaths. But he felt reasonably safe, out here in a deserted area. They had nothing of value to attract any robbery. But there was the off chance that they may want Western hostages for ransom.
When they reached the tent, he said: “Sit here and tell me what you have,” pointing at some campstools.
The Berber sat down and said:”You must come with me, Effendi. Words will not be enough to convince you. I must show you.”
“OK I’ll get a team together and...”
“No. You must come alone. With me.”
Jim felt a sense of unease. This was beginning to sound like a set up to make him a hostage.
“Impossible,” said Jim as he started to get up.
Then the Berber reached inside his robes. Jim felt ice flow through his veins. Was it a weapon?
The Berber pulled out a strange object. It was about the size of an envelope and had a blueish, metallic sheen. Jim picked it up and saw a sort of script on it. The script was very strange and like nothing he had ever seen before. Furthermore it seemed to be somehow embedded in the metal, not engraved in any way.
Excitement flowed through Jim. This could be a major discovery of something totally new. A new civilization completely unknown.
“I see the Effendi is interested. I ask payment for the information if we go.”
There followed a half hour of negotiation about payment in the time honored manner of the East. They finally agreed on a sum of some thousands of dollars, conditional on what Jim would actually find at the sight. He felt a rising sense of excitement as they talked. This would be the find of a life time and one that would absolutely establish his career. There would be funding for other expeditions, books, lectures, National Geographic...
Then they were getting into one of the expedition’s jeeps. The Berber had said that the site was not too far away; it could be reached in a few hours, and it was not yet noon. But the day was going to be a hot one with the temperature well into the nineties. He still felt some apprehension about bandits but if this were true it would be worth the chance.
“I don’t like this, Jim,” said Tobey with a doubtful look at the Berber. “Things are getting kind of crazy around here with the Medina Group. They bombed a government police barracks and killed 20 some people last week.”
“This will be worth it if it’s true and I did get a piece of evidence to convince me. Also I have some backup,” Jim said as he patted a knapsack that contained a pistol.
“Well, its up to you fella. Make sure you’re phone is on, we can track you through it. These desert dudes haven’t quite yet caught on to the tech.”
Then they were off in the jeep. Jim was glad that it was enclosed to keep off the dust they kicked up. But the air-conditioner was having a hard time fighting the heat. The Berber sat in the passenger seat, looking impassively straight ahead. Jim looked at the scenery around him as they moved on. It was arid but impressive. They where in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, which rose majestically before him, an odd purplish brown in color. It was hard to believe that in the geological past they had been connected to the Appalachian Mountains of his native Pennsylvania, before the splitting up of the continents. It was also hard to believe that the area had been green and fertile as recently as Roman times. It had always surprised him to see Roman ruins in the middle of an area that was now arid and hostile.
After two hours, during which the Berber did not utter a word, even after Jim had tried to engage him in conversation, and they had gone over some rough ground causing the jeep to almost get stuck, they came to a large massif that had a curiously flat top.
“We will get out here, Effendi. It is not far.”
Jim felt his insides tighten. If anything was going to happen this would be the spot. He got out of the jeep, careful to take his knapsack and they walked over to what seemed like a blank wall.
Jim looked around, his breath coming faster, but could see nothing but a wall of seemingly solid rock.
“There’s nothing here–you have wasted my time!”
“Patience, Effendi. You will see. Keep on walking ahead.”
They were now very close to the wall and Jim could see a split in the wall that was unnoticeable until one came right up on it, unless it was in the early or late day when a shadow would be cast. The split was narrow and dim, only about four feet wide.
He hesitated, if someone were ahead...
“We are almost there, Effendi. Just keep on going.”
Jim felt a truly of indecision. If someone were ahead... But if the site was truly...
Then they came out into bright sunlight which seemed blinding after the walk in the split. A small waterfall flowed just ahead in a small pool and bright green vegetation abounded in an area about a hundred yards square. It was an oasis, with date palms. They walked ahead in the thick grass. It was like coming into another world, from the arid mountains.
Jim stood taking it in, his fears forgotten. It felt wonderful. But then he thought and said: “But where is the site that you mentioned?”
The Berber just pointed at a cliff face off to the left. Looking there, Jim could see some type of inscription on the face of it. His breath coming faster, he went there and saw that it was the same type of lettering he had seen in the object the Berber had shown him. At first it seemed weathered but on closer examination, he could see that it was merely coated with rock. The original wall, made with the blueish, faintly shimmering material was still intact.
This was stupendous! A truly great find. He turned back to the Berber and said: “You’re right! I will give you much more but you must promise silence. You must tell no one of what this is.”
The Berber smiled and gave a short bow.
Jim began to look over the site and found that it covered about 20 feet square on the side of the cliff face. Judging by the age of the rock it must have been there for millions of years, maybe 50 or more. But how could something as advanced as this have existed that far back. That was before any evidence of hominid existence had been detected much less any early civilization. Then he thought of The Ancient Aliens idea. This was treated with universal scorn by the archaeological community. It he were to be associated with it, his career would be finished. But the main argument against it had been the lack of compelling evidence. This was compelling evidence indeed. Another problem was the attention he would be getting from the news media, tourists, and worse of all the Terrorists. This was in their territory and they would want to use it for their advantage. He would have to make sure the Berber kept his silence and hopefully enough money would do that.
As he ran his hand over the face of the carvings he suddenly saw some of the script light up in various colors. He started and jumped back. An opening in the wall had appeared and a wash of incredibly old air came out. He stared at the dark opening. Even the Berber looked startled.
After he overcame his surprise, he began to walk forward into the opening. It lit up automatically with a faint blueish glow. Even though he knew that he shouldn’t, he walked forward, unable to repress his curiosity. It was a short hallway with another opening beyond. He walked forward and gasped at what was revealed to him.
Chapter 2
Tina Orsini felt the heat even though the landrover’s air conditioning was going full blast. She looked out at the arid but beautiful landscape of the Atlas Mountains. She was a petite brunette, very attractive, and quite strong for her size. Though one was initially attracted to her face, looking further they could see the strength and determination in her brown eyes, as well as her intelligence.
It had only been two days ago that Jim had called. At first she felt a mixture of emotions on hearing his voice, surprise, happiness and sadness at how they had last parted. They had an affair going and it was starting to get more serious. Jim had asked for marriage, but she had reluctantly turned him down. She was just not ready for that kind of commitment. They were both archaeologists and had their careers to consider. He was specializing in Classical archaeology while she was into Ancient American. They would seldom be on the same dig together. In addition, he was just a little bossy for her taste. She did not like to be told what to do, particularly by a man. But it was also true that he felt very strongly about her and she about him. It was still recent and she was uncomfortable about it.
“Hello, Jim. How are you doing?”
“Fine. Just fine. I’m calling you for a good reason and it has nothing to do with... Well its professional. I need your expertise on this. I’ve made a great discovery and I want to keep it out of the public eye until
Impressum
Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG
Texte: Charles Lankiwicz
Bildmaterialien: Charles Lankiwicz
Cover: Charles Lankiwicz
Lektorat: Charles Lankiwicz
Übersetzung: Charles Lankiwicz
Satz: Charles Lankiwicz
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 28.02.2018
ISBN: 978-3-7438-5858-9
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