Sonora, and the Scroll of Alexandria Page 11

  “So then who do you think is responsible for the security breaches?” Mr. Swan asked.

  “Hey, I’m as worried as you all are, but I don’t think you’re going to get too far with Commander Yeren unless you find that proof. I’m going to help you, though. I still have a few avenues of my own that I can explore. If there is a double agent, we will need to act quickly—especially if what you say about the gateways is true. If King Salazar is able to lock the gateways in place permanently, this whole world could be destroyed. Oh, and Allora, if you and your friends would like to learn more, you should come with me to the ancient ruins of the city. I can give you a grand tour. I think that your mom will be busy with the political shuffle tomorrow.”

  “That’s a great idea, Almas,” Swan said. “He’s right. We’ve got a few more meetings to attend, and they only allow certain personnel. Plus, Almas will be able to answer any questions you may have. He’s like an encyclopedia of information about both Sonora and Earth.”

  “I’ll have a transport waiting for you outside your apartment tomorrow.”

  “And heavy security,” Milly added.

  “I’ll have my two most-trusted guards escort them,” Captain Theus said.

  “Perfect,” Almas said. “Well, I look forward to the tour.”

  Just then a larger transport landed on the terrace leading up to the acropolis.

  “Oh, yes. Before you go, you all must stay for the unveiling ceremony,” Almas pronounced, heading toward the main square in front of the acropolis.

  The terrace filled with people as the statue was unloaded and placed upright near the entrance of the acropolis. A large brown tarp draped the ten-foot statue made of limestone. Almas went toward the right side of the statue and placed an object in front of his mouth.

  “Hello, citizens of Shangri-La,” Almas began, puffing out his chest and smiling proudly. “With a team of amazing artists, we have constructed a representative figure of one of the most influential guardians that ever existed. He was a simple man who grew into a warrior and led a ragtag group of misfits against a Titan army that was easily superior. His actions will go down in history as the single greatest act of defiance and one that led humanity on a course that would define their freedom today. I dedicate this statue to that symbol, and may he ever watch over this city until its dying day.”

  With that, he pulled a rope that was connected to the brown tarp and yanked the cover off, revealing Zeus. The eyes stared down upon those who stood at his feet as the crowd erupted with applause. About four hundred citizens of Shangri-La cheered wildly, commemorating the ancient savior of Earth. Allora took a step forward, taking in every feature of the man who represented the principles of the guardians. She wondered what secrets this Sonoran kept and what had really happened all those years ago. She felt as though he was a teacher staring down at his pupil, urging her to continue the quest that had consumed her life.

  chapter

  TEN

  Ruins

  The transport ship dropped from the sky, slowly coming down toward the extended landing platform on the sixtieth floor of their condominium complex at the center of the city. There was a slight wind and a buzzing noise from the hadron-and-mercury-core engine of the ship. It was about thirty feet long, square shaped, and painted metallic black, and it had two round cylinder engines on the sides. It was sleek and elegant, yet you could tell from the scratches and dings that it had been in service for quite a while. The ship turned slightly with its tail end toward the building. The transport stopped about a foot above the landing pad, hovering in place. The back wall of the ship opened up from the center, folding outward to reveal the interior. Inside there was a large area in the back that was filled with metal boxes strapped down to the floor, strange suits on the walls, and two rows of seats in the front. Almas parted the boxes and stepped down onto the landing platform. He was wearing black tights that had a faded checkered shape.

  Milly was discussing something with the two guards who stood at attention on either side of the front doorway, scanning the landing pad and buildings in their periphery.

  Allora walked past to the transport, looking back at the stern faces of the two guards. They wore the normal black uniforms with holstered pistols at their sides and neck braces that contained the plastic-screen helmets that would wrap around their heads in an instant. They stood six feet seven, with muscular features and no semblance of personality. Every few minutes they would turn their heads slightly, listening to audio from tiny speakers the size of raindrops that fit into the interior of the ear. They would speak abruptly and quietly, not allowing the others to hear their conversation.

  “Who are you two?” Allora asked.

  “I am Brutus,” the dark-haired guard said. “And this is Grunt.”

  “Seriously, your name is Grunt?” Dax asked, smirking. The blond guard simply grunted in response. “Totally makes sense now.”

  “We are at your service, ma’am,” Brutus said.

  “You four ready to go?” Almas asked, walking down the back ramp of the transport.

  “Make sure they you don’t go into any unstable areas. I’ve got enough to worry about today. I don’t need to be thinking that I’ll have to dig out my daughter.”

  “Really, Mom? I think that we can handle a stroll through a bunch of caves. We’ve done it before.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about.”

  “Don’t fret one bit,” Almas said. “I’ll take good care of these four. You just worry about the war council meeting. I’ve got a good feeling that you’re going to have a difficult time convincing those stubborn warlocks to go back to war.”

  “I really never understood that,” Tanner said. “Warlocks having trouble with going to war? Doesn’t that sound strange?”

  “Ah, but that is where we get our name, son,” Almas replied, leaning toward the teen. “We have an extensive deliberation process in order to make a decision that it is in the best interest of our worlds with absolute positivity. Every reason has to be challenged because once we have made a final choice to engage in war, we are locked into it for the entirety of the outcome and consequences of said war. We warlocks may be the last to join, but once we are in, there is no stopping our resolution.”

  “So then how do you get warlocks to decide whether to go to war?” Dax asked.

  “That is something I cannot share,” Almas said. His demeanor changed, and he stepped back as if Dax had asked something offensive. “Warlocks abide by an old code of ethics and honor that is kept highly secretive so that no other species can alter or influence that decision. It is sacred.”

  “Yes, but if you are around when the warlocks decide to war, it will most likely be one of the most destructive times in our lives. I do not wish that day to come.”

  “Neither do I,” Milly said. Milly gave her daughter a hug and then went back through the sliding metal door of the building.

  Everyone entered the transport and sat down in the worn leather seats. When they sat down, two straps came over their chests, clipped in the middle, and then connected to the base of the seat. Almas gave the pilot some instructions and then came back into the passenger area. The transport lifted off the platform and took off toward the center of the city. Allora peered out the translucent side—a large area that seemed like a window, but you couldn’t notice it from the outside. Once they got to the acropolis, they took a right, dropping toward a sea of flying ships that were crisscrossing in the air in what looked like a ballet of vehicles, perfectly timed by a carefully designed autopilot system. There was a high amount of traffic this early in the morning, which inhibited the speed that they could travel.

  The transport passed through a hole in the rock and over a collection of residences at the base of the city. Allora watched the people walking across alleyways and through tunnels. Shangri-La was enormous, spanning across entire mountain ranges.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” Almas said, noticing the four leaning against the sides with the
ir mouths open.

  “How are there so many Sonorans living here?” Katie asked.

  “Well, as humans have aged, our people on Earth have had to find refuge within underground cities in order to maintain our secret existence,” Almas explained. “Plus, with King Salazar pushing out the rebellion, many have had to come to Earth in order to survive. We are massively overpopulated, and it’s a constant problem that we’ve been dealing with.”

  As they flew by the bottom of the cavern, a ship with flashing lights sped by, followed by a trail of sirens. Then they traveled through a dark opening and into a cave. The pilot flipped on the outer lights, which illuminated the large cavern as they traveled deeper into the ground. The transport slowed as the cavern became larger and the walls became flatter. The pilot set the ship down and opened the back. The seatbelts unclipped automatically. Everyone in the transport, except the pilot, made his or her way to the back of the ship and down the ramp to the dirt-covered ground. The air was cold and damp, reminding Allora of the cave underneath Crater Lake. The ceiling was shaped into a dome, and the walls were covered with the intricate carvings of soldiers. The pilot came toward the back of the transport and pushed a few buttons on the metal boxes. They suddenly began hovering, and then moved out of the cargo hold. They flew toward the front of the transport, disappearing into a large, dark opening on the far side of the dome.

  In the darkness, a distant light appeared. As it came closer, it exposed a flat, hovering metal slab that stopped a few feet from them. Almas jumped onto the slab. From the bottom, two flat metal rods slid upward. The tops made two half circles around Almas’s waist, securing him in place. He motioned for Allora and the others to follow. After being fastened into the standing platform, Almas sparked the metal slab, causing the thing to take off into the dark opening. The invisible field within the metal belt kept the force of acceleration from pushing them backward.

  The tunnel was about two miles long, and it didn’t take very much time to travel through. The slab slowed to a stop on the edge of an expansive cliff. At the bottom and along the sides were the remnants of an ancient civilization, like journeying to an underground Incan monument. The cavern was shaped into a large crater, like it had been a mining operation. At the center was a large sandstone pyramid, about one hundred feet tall.

  “We could go on personal hover planks, but I want to show you guys the scenic tour,” Almas said as they walked under an archway and then down stone stairs. Brutus and Grunt remained silent, following closely at the rear of the group. Large marble pillars lined the walkway, with lonely, dark doorways along the right side of the path. The place was empty of life. In the distance, they heard the shallow sounds of a pickax hitting rock.

  It took about twenty minutes to hike down. A few openings were illuminated by small glowing orbs. Allora peeked into one of them. In the center was an empty pool with two large spouts on the far wall.

  “That was an ancient public bathhouse,” Almas said, peering around the corner. “There are about thirty in all. Some of the more prominent figures had their own personal baths, but most of the people during that time used these to get clean. It’s actually a very sophisticated plumbing system.”

  “Have you explored all of the ruins?” Allora asked.

  “Not even close. We only discovered this place about fifty years ago. It was completely cut off from the rest of the city. They were expanding the main city because of the population growth when one of the engineers accidently blew up the wrong area. It caused a massive cave that exposed the old tunnel. When they dug out the passageway, they discovered this place.”

  They kept winding their way toward the pyramid at the bottom. Large glowing orbs hovered at the base of the pyramid, illuminating the expansive central area. It was about the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The stone was a little more polished since it hadn’t been as exposed to the elements. The sound of grinding grew louder as they walked across the large, dusty obsidian tiles that covered the bottom of the bowl. Shards of marble, limestone, granite, and obsidian littered the floor, along with the bases of large pillars that had fallen. From the bottom, they could see just how large the ancient city was, spanning hundreds of feet into the darkness. At the base of the pyramid was a large doorway, and on the sides were metal boxes like the ones in the back of the transport. Almas pushed a couple of spots on the surface, causing the area to glow yellow with each touch. The metal sides folded down and slid underneath the bottom. Inside were numerous strange-looking plastic facemasks and pairs of black tights.

  “Just slip into the black suit, and then spark it,” Almas said as he handed out the suits. “Then place the mask over your face, and spark that as well.”

  “What are these for?” Allora asked, slipping on one leg and then the other.

  “Protection,” Almas said, placing a mask over his face and sparking it.

  The mask wrapped around his head and then spread downward, fastening into the top of the black suit. Allora could see his lips moving, but she couldn’t hear him. He motioned with his hands, pointing to her mask. She sparked the suit, which hugged her body, and then placed the mask on, sparking that as well. The plastic screen lit up, showing a compass on the top-right corner, a temperature gauge on the top-left corner, an altimeter on the bottom-right corner, and a toxicity gauge on the bottom-left corner.

  Almas’s voice echoed into the interior of the helmet. “These are protective suits used in any archeological dig, construction, engineering, or really anything that may be dangerous. If you fall or are buried, the suit will expand, allowing for less impact. There is an interior breathing system, along with a mesh moisture reallocation filtration material in the suit that will give you a couple days of water.”

  “You mean that we’d be drinking our own urine?” Dax asked.

  “Essentially.”

  “Gross,” Katie added, shaking from the thought.

  “All right, let’s go over a couple of safety protocols,” Almas said, standing in front of the glowing doorway to the pyramid. “Do not touch anything. Do not leave the group. If you see something out of the ordinary, please let me know right away. These ancient buildings are highly unstable, and you can’t be too careful.”

  “Should we just leave Dax here then?” Katie said.

  “Ha,” Dax responded. “Real funny. You should be talking, Ms. Clumsy.”

  Almas ignored them and entered the pyramid. They followed, stepping down a narrow staircase, while Brutus and Grunt surveyed the area. As they stepped down the last step, lines of green covered the screen.

  “What’s with the masks?” Allora asked.

  “It’s a mapping system that is constantly updated so that we can track the areas that we have searched already. If you see glowing red, it means that is an unknown area that we haven’t explored yet. Don’t go toward the red.”

  The narrow hallway was only five feet wide but about twenty feet tall. The walls were adorned with ancient paintings. From her studies, Allora notice the artwork spanned a number of different ancient civilizations. Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, Chinese, Russian, Mayan, and Incan artwork covered the hallway walls. Allora focused on one painting of an enormous giant with one eye who was holding a large spear and staring down on kneeling peoples.

  The screen outlined the drawing in green lines, and then a scrolling list of words formed, followed by a robotic female voice.

  “What is this voice in my helmet?” Allora asked as the voice continued.

  “It’s the Earth Anthropological Database or EAD. It’s our artificial intelligence that contains all of our history. It’s like a database of every living creature, place, event, and unknown thing on Earth. There is also one for Sonora. If you want to turn it off, just say, ‘EAD off.’”

  At the end of the long hallway, they descended a spiral staircase, which led them into a large chamber the size of a football field that was lined with oblong marble pillars. The air was surprisingly warm compared to the rest of the cavern
, and it smelled of dust, lilac, and oil.

  “Watch this,” Almas said, pointing at the wall.

  He sparked the marble, and fire shot upward, covering the walls on both sides. The flames danced toward the ceiling, dissipating before reaching the top. The orange glow revealed how expansive the chamber was. They walked to the middle, where it split into two other sections to the right and left. Allora wiped away the dust on the ground, which exposed an intricately designed circular pattern, like that of a crop circle.

  “Those are actually tributes to ancient mathematical equations,” Almas explained. “This pattern in particular is a visual representation of the breakthrough that allowed scientists to eventually create the hadron mercury core that powers most of our airships.”

  “Isn’t this, like, thousands of years old?” Katie asked.

  “Yes, but most of our scientific progress was halted because of what happened after the Titan Wars. That is why this place is so exciting. It holds the key to finding out what happened.”

  They kept going straight, surveying the numerous carvings on the ceiling, pillars, and floor. Once through an arching doorway, they moved into a darkened tunnel. The sounds of chipping rock grew louder. In a small room to their right, two gnomes were meticulously chipping at the filament buildup that lined the walls. They looked up briefly and then went back to work.

  “Hi, Baldar,” Almas said. “How are we doing?”

  One of the gnomes stopped. His face was covered in dirt, as if he’d be in the cave for days. He had a safety suit that was slightly torn, and his helmet looked as though it had been dinged by a couple of falling rocks. Like the other gnomes, he was about four feet tall, with sharp cheekbones. His eyes were different, though. They were dark brown, almost black, and somewhat pained, like a battle-worn soldier.

  “Sir, we have finished sections eight, fourteen, and twenty,” Baldar said. “There are no signs of—”

  “Thank you, Baldar,” Almas interrupted. His body became rigid, and he leaned forward. “We have guests today. Will you show them into the main chamber room? I need to check up on our progress in the other sections.”