B008IFNJZM EBOK (24 page)

             
“I only wish I could talk you and your party out of such a dangerous search for the home of these creatures.”

             
“We would really want you to come along.  I am a guide for tourists to anyplace on this continent, but going down to where the Meeratt lives has never been attempted before…”

             
“No… I will not help you.  My job is to protect my people.”

             
“Can you see your way to telling us how to start?”

             
“Go to the Merat cave.  In one of the chambers you will see scratch marks made by creatures that lived long ago in the limestone walls.  Find a claw mark with a small but deep hole above the scratches. If you find the right hole, the ruby will fit into it.  That will open a door into his world.  That is all I will do to help you.”

             
The shaman returns the special ruby key to its pouch and hands it to Crosley Pittman who thanks the vampire shaman for such a gift.

             
“If we live through this, I will return it.”

             
“That is not necessary.  You must go now.  You will have a hard time finding your way back.”

             
Crosley didn’t take the time to explain the electronics or Tom Hart’s ability to frighten the animals.  Crosley followed the parting gestures and he and Tom climbed back in the boat for the return trip.  When they came near to the site from which their craft was launched, Nathan, Elizabeth, Jerrick and now the three vampire ladies stood there waiting for the two men to dock the boat.  No one said anything until the two vehicles returned to camp and to a meeting in the main tent.  The decision was made to now travel to the Merat cave as soon as possible.  It was over seven hundred miles away and they would have to determine if the magical key hole could be found.  They broke camp immediately.

             
The guide’s vehicle had to tow the boat back to the rental place.  As soon as it returned, the others had the camp broken down and were ready to fall in line for the return trip.  Jerrick slept in back with the supplies while Chelsea and Crosley sat up front.  Elizabeth and Nathan also slept while Hadiya drove their vehicle.  Tom drove the Lori used by the bodyguards so that they could get shuteye and Iolana spent the night driving the semi.  The women were relieved along with Tom as sunrise approached and now the others, somewhat rested, continued on.  The next stop would be south east of Mount Gambier which is the closest landmark to the Merat Cave.  With petrol stops and meals the journey to the cave would spend two more days of Tom’s valuable time.  At sunrise, Platt Neander lowered the other bodyguard, Berdy Hahn down into the cave first.  He was prepared for the worst with his pistol drawn.  He was followed by Tom and Nathan.  Jerrick and Crosley also went down into the darkness.  Elizabeth stayed topside in case there was a call for additional equipment.  The caravan found themselves on the side of a two lane paved highway so cones were set out at both the front and the rear of their vehicles.

***

             
Even though the morning sun was bright, the interior of the cave was black and everyone used flashlights to explore the interior.  The two body guards were the first to be lowered through a roof vent no wider than six feet and they had their pistols drawn at all times.  One of the side exits led to a chamber and that is where they found the marks and scratches of all kinds of animals in the walls.  The cave walls a substance called Mont Minch.  Some of the claw scratches were so far apart that they could not have been made by any existing animal on the continent at this time.  Nathan believed that some creature like the Diprotodon or giant wombat could have made those marks but those creatures became extinct over forty thousand years ago.  He was also quick to point out that this chamber was lined with a material rare and found only to his knowledge in caves in  Australia and France and called by its nickname ‘moon milk’ a version of limestone.  Nathan kept looking at all the scratches as well as ancient finger markings looking for the hole that might trigger the opening of a passage to the world of the Meeratt.  They had found another chamber completely full of very ancient markings and Nathan kept searching for the ‘keyhole’.  Nobody said out loud what they were thinking.  Could all these markings and scratches made by humans long ago be a last ditch effort to escape the death of some predator?

             
Through still another narrow passage Nathan and the two body guards found another chamber.  This one had few markings or scratch marks in its limestone walls.  On the floor,  Crosley was startled when he came across a rattlesnake that must have accidentally fell in only to die without finding a way up out of his tomb.  In a crease of the wall of this chamber was a cluster of finger mark scratches.  Nathan came forward when finding a hole in the maze of scratches.  Some of the marks were covered with Mont Minch and when he cleaned those areas, he located a hole the exact diameter of the ruby.  He inserted the ruby and it was a perfect fit.  As soon as he inserted it the length of the shaft it was attached to, dust began to fall and the wall began to move.  The ground shook and as Nathan and the
two guards watched a section of the wall opened to a cave passage that seemed to be lit by some unknown source.  Nathan returned the ruby on its stick back to the pouch and placed it around his neck.  The group now shifted the members and the two bodyguards and the two guides entered first with Nathan and Tom entering the passage last.  The tunnel turned sharply to the right and that is when the group saw the origin on the strange light source.  It seemed that
phosphorus deposits in the walls were creating the dawn-like lighting in the passage.
             

             
A few hours went by and the passage widen enough that the two bodyguards and the two guides walked side by side as Tom and Nathan followed them at a safe distance.  The tunnel continued to slope down at a twenty to thirty degree angle but the air quality continued to be good.  Nathan looked at his mileage meter strapped on his ankle.  They had traveled almost four miles down deeper below the surface.  Radio contact was now lost with Elizabeth on the surface.  This first day Nathan planned on traveling no farther than five miles without incident and returning to bring as many supplies and equipment down as necessary in order to travel farther.  One of the bodyguards raised his hand and everyone stopped. 

             
Platt Neander signaled Tom and Nathan to come forward.  The two guides knelt by the side of the cave examining something they had found.  Nathan came forward and now also knelt next to the object.  It looked like a mushroom in a small puddle of water next to the side wall of the cave and directly below a
brightly glowing
phosphorus
vein in the wall.

             
“Ever see a mushroom like this professor?”

             
Nathan examined under the umbrella top of the plant.  The top was a deep green and the underside was also green with a brown stem.

             
“I believe it to be a member of the mushroom family and I would speculate that this variety of mushroom is capable of feeding itself through photosynthesis and moisture.”

             
“But if that is true professor, it would be the first mushroom I have ever heard of that can pull in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.  It would certainly explain our good air quality down this far if there are more of these.”

             
“There are mushroom coral varieties that are photosynthetic and often have some secondary feeding through meaty foods such as brine or shrimp.  Some can even attack living things like liquid plankton for additional nourishment…  If I am right, this variety has never been seen on the surface before.  Stay away from these.  They might even be able to attach to you like a leech and attempt to suck a person for additional nourishment.”

             
Tom took a few pictures with his cell phone and the group continued on.  Again, the hand of one of the body guards went up and everyone stopped their forward progress.  Tom and Nathan watched as the four in front all fell down on their stomachs.  The front four now crawled along on their bellies as the light in front of them grew even stronger.  They squatted down as 
Berdy Hahn signaled them to move forward.  Tom and Nathan now squeezed in between their front four and looked down.  In front of them was a large ledge.  They could see a tremendous valley below.  There were a set of stone stairs cut into the wall next to the ledge.  The group went on to the ledge one at a time until the entire party was scanning the area below.  Berdy Hahn handed a pair of binoculars to Nathan and he looked off in the direction the bodyguards were pointing.  Far off to the right was an underground lake.  He could see crocodiles on the banks or in the water.  The entire area was covered with both trees and very large versions of the green mushrooms.  Some of these mushrooms were over twenty feet across.  As he scanned from right to left he saw a large flock of sheep feeding off the grass and also a very big gathering of birds.  He zoomed in and was surprised to find out what type of birds he was observing.  They were gray in color and wingless and walked like chickens.  These birds had hooked beaks.  They were dodo birds thought to be extinct on the surface above them for many years!  The trees now also made sense to Nathan.  They were calvaria trees.  It was believed that they too ceased to exist.  The dodo birds did feed on the fruit of these trees and the large herd of these distant pigeon relatives seemed content grazing the area below.  A few other winged birds occasionally flew among the trees.  Jerrick looked over as Nathan strained to take in all that he could.  Nathan continued to examine the valley below.  Jerrick finally nudged the professor and scientist.

             
Nathan looked up at Jerrick.

             
“Over there… In the tall grass...”

             
Nathan swung his magnified vision to the grass.  Something very large was stalking a group of sheep.  Nathan jumped at the same time th creature jumped out and swallowed one of the sheep whole!  The sheep scattered as the creature viewed the retreating members of the flock for his next snack.  It was the legend of the large animal called by the Australian Aborigines as the Bunyip.  As it sat there Nathan could see its black head with fangs scanning the immediate area.  It was big with the front like that of a tiger, only this tiger could scratch the bottom of its belly on the hood of one of their vehicles!  When it stood up, Nathan could observe that it had paws on its front legs and the back legs looked like folded over swim fins.  He believed that this creature could be comfortable on both the land and the sea and it could have easily snapped a croc in half with its huge mouth.  As the Bunyip continued to just sit there, Nathan thought about the close resemblance this creature had in facial features to those of a saber tooth tiger.  Nathan jumped as the creature now looked up and right at the six men on the ledge.

             
“I think he can smell us professor.”

             
“Do you think he can make it up here?”

             
“No, I believe his body is so large that he would fall off the stone steps trying to climb up here to get us for supper.”

             
“It is time for us to call it a day and return to our vehicles.  It is far too dangerous for us to go down there without a plan.”

             
The group turned and began the trip back as the bodyguards continued to walk backwards guarding their retreat.

             
Tom and Nathan were now in front of the group.  They could hear the guides talking about all the amazing animals and the valley they had seen.

             
“I am afraid the only way we can search that valley for the Meeratt is with a small army or a couple of all terrain tanks!”

             
“We will think of something Tom.  We are too close now to give up hope.”

             
The caravan moved to a better location close to the Merat cave and set up camp.  A meal was prepared at sundown and Nathan noticed that the four employees of the project were holding their own meeting.  The girls came out and Chelsea immediately went to join Crosley in the meeting.  Within five minutes, both Iolana and Hadiya started walking to join the meeting.  Tom stopped Hadiya and told her about Khu starting their campsite meeting with a foretelling of the future.  A future in which she would meet her true love the next time a rifle shot was fired.  She smiled and told Tom that the others are coming up with a plan to insure Tom gets cured.  Elizabeth, Nathan and Tom sat in front of their tent watching the others hold their meeting hopeful that they would somehow come up with a method to proceed past the dangers of the underground valley and to the village of the Meeratt.