Words: 1915
It must have been some kind of cavern that had a weak ceiling,
caving in and dropping the four archaeologists into an abyss.
It was like a trash or laundry chute with bends and drops
throughout. The darkness and dampness occupied every inch of
the mysterious place.
"Is everyone okay?" Jack asked, not entirely sure where he
was, or where anyone else was for that matter.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tangaroa said through the stiff darkness.
"Where are you?"
"I'm over here," Jack replied.
"Oh, that's bloody helpful," the Kiwi spoke.
"Boys, grow up," Erin cried out to them. "Does anyone have a
flashlight? Or did that little gadget in modern technology
somehow slip both your minds?"
"I think they're in your bag, Erin," Jack told her as felt
around the rocky chamber with his hands. "ouch!" He cried as
he bumped his head into the wall. A sudden beam of light
shone on him, illuminating his stupidity to all.
"Well, if you get brain damaged, I don't think we'll be able
to notice," Erin said dryly. She tossed him a flashlight and
then one to Tangaroa. She scanned the room with her beam,
searching for Mrs. Canyon. "Where's Kate?"
Jack and Atawhai began searching with their flashlights in the
cavern for Katelyn.
Tangaroa's light stopped at an opening in the wall. "That's
the only way she could have gone."
"After you?" Jack asked with a hopeful tone.
"She's your mother," the man replied.
"For God's sake!" Erin said pushing the two aside and ducking
as she moved through the hole. "I swear you two are are not
men!" She stood erect as she pushed through the hole and
found herself in cave. She guided her flashlight's beam
around and found Kate lying on the floor. She was clueless as
to how the woman found her way here. She knelt down by Jack's
mother and shook her to wake her.
Her eyes opened slowly as she looked up at the red head.
"Where are we?"
"Somewhere underground," Erin told her.
Jack and Tangaroa arrived, but pushing and shoving each other.
Erin looked back at them and then to Kate again. "Boys. . ."
She pulled the fourth light from her pack and gave it to
Katelyn. "Here. Now, let's find a way out of this place."
"There," Jack pointed out with his light.
"What is that?" Erin asked as all four of them drew closer to
it. She could feel chills covering every inch of her body.
"It's a door," Jack replied as Tangaroa pushed on it and
kicked it.
"Correction," Tangaroa announced. "It's a locked door."
"And it's the only way out," Erin added as she sunk against
the wall.
"Look at these markings," Katelyn pointed as she she leaned
forward to examine them.
"I've seen these before," Jack said as he pulled the journal
from his back pocket. "The secret to unlocking this door is
in the symbols. The secret to these symbols is in the scroll
and the shield."
"Well, let's get a move on, Sherlock," Erin called out to him
as she got to her feet and moved to him.
"It's his emblem," Jack announced. "The symbol on the door is
Talus's."
Everyone took a moment to examine the marking before looking
to Jack to solve the riddle of the door.
"I think the symbols are some kind of combination lock," Jack
admitted. "But each one is missing symbols."
"Are there common markings?" Tangaroa asked.
"Eh," Jack said as he scanned the scroll and then the door.
"Yeah, a few are the same."
"Then that would be the symbols to use," Erin spoke.
Jack examined the script and then the door. He saw the first
symbol on the scroll and pressed it on the door. Then he
moved onto the next symbol and the next, pressing them in an
order that corresponded with the sequence they were on the
scroll and the shield.
Everyone watched him closely and in anticipation.
Finally, with the last symbol pushed in, Jack stood back and
let Tangaroa push the door open, but it did not open. Jack
furrowed his brow as he thought for a moment. "But I pushed
all the symbols."
Erin stood on the tips of her toes to look over his shoulder
at the journal. "No, you missed one." She pushed past Jack
and pushed the Talus symbol near the center. "You missed that
one."
Upon pushing it, there was sound of movement, as if something
was unlocking the door. Stone rods pulled from the door,
releasing it from their grip.
Atawhai pushed the door open and moved inside to find an
enormous cavern with a skylight where the ceiling was cracked.
Within was an amazing sight of emerald, sapphire, diamond,
ruby, and more. It was an entire city molded out of jewels.
It would have taken master craftsmanship to have created this
city.
"Atlantis," Katelyn said in almost a whisper. She stood with
the others, all in awe of what they were seeing.
"How could anyone have not found this place?" Tangaroa asked
as the scanned the massive city.
"It's buried a thousand miles below the sea level," Jack
announced. "It's impossible to get to."
"You're wrong," Erin told him.
"Did you not come down the same way we did?" Jack asked. "I
say it's impossible to get to."
"No, we're only about five miles down," Erin corrected him.
"I'd say that center spire is only three or four miles high.
It's such amazing work to have a city with streets of gold and
buildings of jewelry."
"It's like Oz," Jack announced as he stood next to his mother,
who was still in shock. "You don't think--"
"No, I don't think the authors of the Wizard of Oz fashioned
their city after this one," Erin stopped him. "This city was
lost nearly twenty thousand years ago."
"Look," Tangaroa said, gathering their attention around a
small building, which looked like a house. "The walls have
some kind of insulation and inner wall. This could be the
earliest sign of framing. I mean, there is definitely a
frame, and a layer of emerald or something. It's like
bricking. These people were very smart."
"I wonder if we could take part of this road with us," Jack
said, ignoring Atawhai completely.
"Jack!" Erin called out. "No, you can't. Tanga is
explaining the design of this house."
"Very fascinating," Jack said. "But why make a city of this?"
"There is a volcano or two here," Kate explained. "I mean, it
wouldn't be hard to find an abundant supply of gemstones."
"But this place," Jack spoke as he stepped further down the
street. "Is worth a fortune."
"Let's get to the center of the city and find their city hall
or whatever you call it," Erin announced. "We're on a mission
here."
Jack looked at the red head as she spoke. She looked so
beautiful in the glistening gems. "It's a long hike."
"Then we better start moving now," Kate said as she joined
Erin and led the team deeper into the city.
***
Once at the center of the city, they found much taller
buildings, but none were taller than the center spire itself.
"Diamond sheets for windows," Jack stated. "Of course, they
hadn't discovered glass yet." He tapped on the window,
causing it to break. "Okay, maybe this is glass."
"These people were ingenious," Erin said still amazed at the
city's attributes.
"With a volcano next door, there's no wonder they can do so much," Tangaroa stated as they stood before the central spire. "City hall?"
"It has to be," Jack said as they pushed the heavy dual glass doors open. Everyone else stood beside him as they examined the entrance chamber.
"What are those?" Erin asked as she moved closer to a cylinder shaped tube with a small cylinder inside it. "It looks useless. I mean, five or six people could fit in here."
"There are two," Jack pointed out.
Katelyn noticed a series of buttons between the two objects and pressed one in. A loud rumble startled her, making her jump back. She watched as one of the cylinders rose and the other lowered.
"A pulley system?" Tangaroa asked.
"It stopped at the top," Jack stated as he turned to his mother. "Push another one. I wanna see what happens."
Kate nodded and pushed the one below it. She watched as the cylinder moved down a floor. Then she smiled. "It's an elevator."
"Oh, thank God!" Erin exclaimed. "I'm so tired of stairs."
Jack gave a cocky grin, just like his mom's. He was impressed with the Atlanteans and their inventions. He pushed the bottom button in and watched the elevator through the tube as it lowered to them. "All aboard."
Erin and Kate were the first two to get on, and were followed by Jack and Tangaroa. Kate pressed the button just outside to take them to the next level. Once it stopped, they stepped off onto the emerald floor.
"Alright, let's find some records," Jack ordered and headed down the corridor.
Tangaroa and Erin checked each room to find them mostly empty. When they reached the end, they discovered a large chamber with a center console.
"Jack," Erin called out as she looked back at him and Kate. "Look at this."
Jack entered to find the walls covered with small crystals. "What is this place?" He moved to the center of the room where he examined the console. He noticed a hole in the center of the tower-shaped console.
"Oh, look, Jack, you found a hole," Erin told him.
"Have you not learned anything?" Jack asked her. "This has to be important. I mean, who builds unimportant things?"
"That shape," Tangaroa said, but stopped as he began to think. He looked around the room again. He had examined the crystals on the wall. He moved to the wall and pulled one of the crystals free of its hold. "Resembles this."
"Maybe they're keys," Kate said as she took the crystal from Tangaroa's hand and placed it into the slot. The console illuminated, making everyone step back and look up at what it displayed.
"It's text," Jack stated.
"Doesn't it take microscopes or something to be able to write so small on something?" Tangaroa asked.
"Yeah," Erin replied. "Which means these people have conquered many feats in their time. This is great record keeping."
"It's about a city-wide meeting," Kate said as she translated it into her journal. "Nothing important. Get another one."
Tangaroa returned the crystal to its slot and pulled another out. "Here."
Again, the console lit up and posted the text in the air.
"Here's something," Kate said as she began to translate it quickly. "Apparently there was a great earthquake. The land shifted and the city sunk into the continent. This isn't finished, but it appears that the continent was roughly three hundred seventy miles across. Which means its mountains and volcanoes are what is now known as Azores."
"What else does it say?" Jack asked.
"Talus was their only hope," Kate continued. "He was the brightest of the bright. Their 'uber-genius'."
"Very good," a thick German-accented voice called out from behind them all.
Jack and the others turned to see Johanna Mahler standing before them. She had plenty of men, one of which fired off warning shots for them to not do anything hasty. The four archaeologists stood with their arms raised in a surrendering position.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Jack Canyon and The Superweapon of Atlantis | CHAPTER SIX
Words: 1671
The Sao Miguel island in the Portuguese archipelago, Azores,
in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It was a straight trip
through the Strait of Gibraltar to this chain of islands.
Jack watched from the damaged bridge of the Poseidon as it
drew closer to Azores. Sao Miguel was directly in view, as it
was the most eastern island in the group. Jack had changed
from his long sleeve to a short sleeve gray T-shirt.
"Are you ready for this, Jack?" Rallis asked as the ship
slowed down to almost an idle.
"It's now or never, Captain," Jack replied as he continued to
stare at the islands, admiring them for a moment.
"We're as close as we can get, sir," the first mate said, as
he cradled his arm, which was now in a sling.
"Thank you," Rallis said as he turned to Jack. "Is your team
ready?"
"They should be getting stocking the boat now," Jack told him
as they headed out of the bridge.
"Jack, I'm sorry to do this to you, pal, but I need to get
this ship refueled and some of the damage repaired," Rallis
told him as they moved along the deck toward the boat they
were going to use to get to Sao Miguel. "I don't know how
long it will be before we return."
"Take your time," Jack said patting the man on his shoulder.
"We're going to have a lot of work to do on Sao Miguel, my
friend."
"But Jack," Rallis said, but then he paused. Sympathy
pervaded his eyes. "You'll be on your own if trouble arises."
"I'm more than capable of handling it," Jack assured the Greek
man.
"I know you are," Rallis laughed as he slapped Jack on the
back.
"Are you sure you don't want to go with us?" Jack asked.
Rallis considered it for a moment as he examined all who would
be going. "My place is with my ship, Jack. I will see you
upon my return."
Jack nodded with a smile at his friend and stepped onto the
small boat, which was soon lowered into the water. He turned
and saw that Atawhai was going to navigate.
"He's not coming?" Kate asked as she looked up at her son
from her seat.
"He's taking the ship to the other side of the island," Jack
announced. "There's a fueling station there."
"I don't expect to see our German friend, again," Kate said.
"Mom, no one ever gives up on finding their treasure," Jack
replied, taking his seat just as Tangaroa took off. "Look at
you. You've spent so many years chasing after Atlantis. What
has it gotten you?"
"Right now? I'm almost there," she told him.
"Mom. . ." He said sympathetically.
Kate sighed heavily, gathering looks from everyone else on the
small boat. "I never allowed my job to interfere with my
life, Jack. Your father understood that I had to be away
sometimes. What about you, huh? You have yet to settle down.
I'm never going to have grandkids."
Jack looked out at the island as it got larger. He kept
silent throughout the last few minutes of the trip.
Tangaroa steered the boat to the beach of the island, where
everyone grabbed their gear and got off. They all watched as
the Poseidon moved around the island and vanished from their
sight.
"Well, we're on our own," Erin spoke as she turned towards the
others. "So, which way?"
"Inland," Jack said simply as he began to march up the beach
and into the jungle terrain.
"That's real helpful," Erin replied as she and the others
followed behind him.
"Is there anyway to be precise on where we might find
something?" Tangaroa asked.
"I'm not sure," Jack admitted as he looked at the journal page
of Talus's shield.
"Let me take a look," Kate said as she pulled the journal from
his hand. She scanned over the page for a moment, where she
spotted the word: Gemini. It was strategically hidden on the
shield. "Here's something."
Tangaroa examined the area she was pointing at. "Gemini?
What's that mean?"
"It means twins," Erin answered.
Kate stopped walking so she could think more thoroughly.
"Mom?" Jack asked as he stopped with her. He moved to stand
before her. "Mom, what is it?"
"Twins. . ." She repeated. "There is a lake, technically,
two lakes known as the twin lakes. They were created by the
caldera of a volcano."
Jack sighed heavily and hung his head.
"What is it?" Erin asked, concerned for him.
"I hate volcanoes," he stated, remembering the last time he
encountered one during his hunt for the Wiccan Stones.
"From my research, the first eruption was supposedly twenty
thousand years ago," Kate explained. "I don't want to make
any incorrect statements, but it's possible that it caused
most of the damage that destroyed Atlantis."
"Can you find these lakes?" Tangaroa asked. "Do you know
where they are?"
"No, I don't," Kate admitted.
"I think I might," Jack said as he turned Erin around.
"Hey!" She cried.
"Calm down," Jack said as he searched her bag. "I'm not
trying to get frisky." He pulled out a GPS unit. "If I had a
dollar for every time I needed one of these things, I might
actually have the money to buy one."
"Good thinking," Tangaroa stated as he looked around the area.
Jack toyed with the device for a moment trying to get it to
work.
"Let me see that," Erin said, snatching it away. "I swear,
men have no idea how to read a map or even work a GPS unit.
That's why they get lost have the time." She pushed a button
or two and then handed it back to him. "There."
Jack examined it for a moment and smiled. "This way." He
trailed off into the wilderness.
"You're welcome," Erin said as she followed behind Tangaroa
and Kate.
***
Within an hour or less, Jack stood among his small team
looking at the most beautiful set of lakes they had ever seen.
"Now, Jack, why can't you ever bring me to such places for a
nice romantic dinner?" Erin asked jokingly.
"I never knew you had a romantic bone in your body," Jack
replied as he examined the scenery.
"If we only had a picnic basket," Tangaroa spoke.
"I think she meant a romantic dinner with just her and I,"
Jack told the big man.
"No, I'm hungry," the Kiwi told the American archaeologist.
"I think the cook packed us a lunch or two," Jack admitted.
"I came prepared. We have some PowerBars, too. Rallis wasn't
sure how long he'd be gone."
Tangaroa's eyes lit up as he began a search for his lunch. It
didn't take him long to find it in his pack. He was like a
small child or school boy with candy. He looked up at the
others noticing their glances. "What? I missed breakfast,
okay?"
"We didn't say anything," Jack said as they all turned to
admire the view again.
"So, what are we looking for?" Erin asked.
Jack stared out at the lakes, once more, as he looked hard for
something. Several times, he tried to say something, but
never did. "I have no idea. Mom?"
Kate was looking at the journal again when Jack asked. She
shook her head as she crouched down. "I don't know. This is
one puzzle I can't figure out."
"Let me take a look," Erin said as she sat down next to
Katelyn. She narrowed her eyes as she began to think. "The
words 'Michael' and 'Gemini' are positioned on the edges of
the shield."
"Yeah," Kate agreed, waiting to see where Erin was going with
this.
"Look at its position," Erin stated. "Why this side? Why not
on the left or on top?"
"Could it be the location of something?" Tangaroa asked as he
finished his sandwich.
"Was it good, Tanga?" Jack asked, almost laughing.
"Very," the man replied with a big grin. "If anyone doesn't
want there's. . . could you let me know?"
"Sure thing, buddy," Jack said.
"But how do we know which side of the lake this represents?"
Kate questioned, waving her right hand over the shield
drawing.
"Well, it should represent a map," Tangaroa announced. "Where
the top of the shield is north, the bottom is south."
"Then if Gemini is on the right, that means its to the east,"
Erin explained, motioning her hand to the right.
"It makes sense," Jack admitted. "Let's check the east side
of the twin lakes."
Tangaroa glanced around at the others. "Aren't I supposed to
wait an hour before going back in?"
"That's if you're swimming," Erin told him. "Let's go!"
"Yes, ma'am," Tanga agreed and followed behind them.
Once they reached the east side of the lakes, they searched
carefully for anything out of the ordinary. They must have
searched for nearly an hour before stopping to combine their
thoughts again.
"We've been up and down this whole side," Erin announced.
"What the hell did we miss?"
Jack looked up at her from his bent over position with his
hands on his knees, supporting his upper body's weight. He
took in a deep breath before talking. "Maybe we're on the
wrong side."
Erin began to pace back and forth.
"Haven't you walked enough?" Jack asked her.
"I'm thinking," she replied, but soon the ground swallowed
her.
Jack reacted fast and jumped out to grab her, but was sucked
into the ground too. Suddenly, Tangaroa and Katelyn fell into
the widening hole as well.
***
Johanna Mahler stood on the beach of Sao Miguel with only two
boats behind her. She looked at her men who had scattered
out. There must have been at least two dozen of them. She
huffed loudly.
"Mein Frau," one of them announced. "I found something!"
"Yes?" Johanna said. "What is it?"
"It's a fresh trail," he answered. "They've been here, and I can track them."
Johanna looked up at the dense rain forest terrain and smiled devilishly.
The Sao Miguel island in the Portuguese archipelago, Azores,
in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It was a straight trip
through the Strait of Gibraltar to this chain of islands.
Jack watched from the damaged bridge of the Poseidon as it
drew closer to Azores. Sao Miguel was directly in view, as it
was the most eastern island in the group. Jack had changed
from his long sleeve to a short sleeve gray T-shirt.
"Are you ready for this, Jack?" Rallis asked as the ship
slowed down to almost an idle.
"It's now or never, Captain," Jack replied as he continued to
stare at the islands, admiring them for a moment.
"We're as close as we can get, sir," the first mate said, as
he cradled his arm, which was now in a sling.
"Thank you," Rallis said as he turned to Jack. "Is your team
ready?"
"They should be getting stocking the boat now," Jack told him
as they headed out of the bridge.
"Jack, I'm sorry to do this to you, pal, but I need to get
this ship refueled and some of the damage repaired," Rallis
told him as they moved along the deck toward the boat they
were going to use to get to Sao Miguel. "I don't know how
long it will be before we return."
"Take your time," Jack said patting the man on his shoulder.
"We're going to have a lot of work to do on Sao Miguel, my
friend."
"But Jack," Rallis said, but then he paused. Sympathy
pervaded his eyes. "You'll be on your own if trouble arises."
"I'm more than capable of handling it," Jack assured the Greek
man.
"I know you are," Rallis laughed as he slapped Jack on the
back.
"Are you sure you don't want to go with us?" Jack asked.
Rallis considered it for a moment as he examined all who would
be going. "My place is with my ship, Jack. I will see you
upon my return."
Jack nodded with a smile at his friend and stepped onto the
small boat, which was soon lowered into the water. He turned
and saw that Atawhai was going to navigate.
"He's not coming?" Kate asked as she looked up at her son
from her seat.
"He's taking the ship to the other side of the island," Jack
announced. "There's a fueling station there."
"I don't expect to see our German friend, again," Kate said.
"Mom, no one ever gives up on finding their treasure," Jack
replied, taking his seat just as Tangaroa took off. "Look at
you. You've spent so many years chasing after Atlantis. What
has it gotten you?"
"Right now? I'm almost there," she told him.
"Mom. . ." He said sympathetically.
Kate sighed heavily, gathering looks from everyone else on the
small boat. "I never allowed my job to interfere with my
life, Jack. Your father understood that I had to be away
sometimes. What about you, huh? You have yet to settle down.
I'm never going to have grandkids."
Jack looked out at the island as it got larger. He kept
silent throughout the last few minutes of the trip.
Tangaroa steered the boat to the beach of the island, where
everyone grabbed their gear and got off. They all watched as
the Poseidon moved around the island and vanished from their
sight.
"Well, we're on our own," Erin spoke as she turned towards the
others. "So, which way?"
"Inland," Jack said simply as he began to march up the beach
and into the jungle terrain.
"That's real helpful," Erin replied as she and the others
followed behind him.
"Is there anyway to be precise on where we might find
something?" Tangaroa asked.
"I'm not sure," Jack admitted as he looked at the journal page
of Talus's shield.
"Let me take a look," Kate said as she pulled the journal from
his hand. She scanned over the page for a moment, where she
spotted the word: Gemini. It was strategically hidden on the
shield. "Here's something."
Tangaroa examined the area she was pointing at. "Gemini?
What's that mean?"
"It means twins," Erin answered.
Kate stopped walking so she could think more thoroughly.
"Mom?" Jack asked as he stopped with her. He moved to stand
before her. "Mom, what is it?"
"Twins. . ." She repeated. "There is a lake, technically,
two lakes known as the twin lakes. They were created by the
caldera of a volcano."
Jack sighed heavily and hung his head.
"What is it?" Erin asked, concerned for him.
"I hate volcanoes," he stated, remembering the last time he
encountered one during his hunt for the Wiccan Stones.
"From my research, the first eruption was supposedly twenty
thousand years ago," Kate explained. "I don't want to make
any incorrect statements, but it's possible that it caused
most of the damage that destroyed Atlantis."
"Can you find these lakes?" Tangaroa asked. "Do you know
where they are?"
"No, I don't," Kate admitted.
"I think I might," Jack said as he turned Erin around.
"Hey!" She cried.
"Calm down," Jack said as he searched her bag. "I'm not
trying to get frisky." He pulled out a GPS unit. "If I had a
dollar for every time I needed one of these things, I might
actually have the money to buy one."
"Good thinking," Tangaroa stated as he looked around the area.
Jack toyed with the device for a moment trying to get it to
work.
"Let me see that," Erin said, snatching it away. "I swear,
men have no idea how to read a map or even work a GPS unit.
That's why they get lost have the time." She pushed a button
or two and then handed it back to him. "There."
Jack examined it for a moment and smiled. "This way." He
trailed off into the wilderness.
"You're welcome," Erin said as she followed behind Tangaroa
and Kate.
***
Within an hour or less, Jack stood among his small team
looking at the most beautiful set of lakes they had ever seen.
"Now, Jack, why can't you ever bring me to such places for a
nice romantic dinner?" Erin asked jokingly.
"I never knew you had a romantic bone in your body," Jack
replied as he examined the scenery.
"If we only had a picnic basket," Tangaroa spoke.
"I think she meant a romantic dinner with just her and I,"
Jack told the big man.
"No, I'm hungry," the Kiwi told the American archaeologist.
"I think the cook packed us a lunch or two," Jack admitted.
"I came prepared. We have some PowerBars, too. Rallis wasn't
sure how long he'd be gone."
Tangaroa's eyes lit up as he began a search for his lunch. It
didn't take him long to find it in his pack. He was like a
small child or school boy with candy. He looked up at the
others noticing their glances. "What? I missed breakfast,
okay?"
"We didn't say anything," Jack said as they all turned to
admire the view again.
"So, what are we looking for?" Erin asked.
Jack stared out at the lakes, once more, as he looked hard for
something. Several times, he tried to say something, but
never did. "I have no idea. Mom?"
Kate was looking at the journal again when Jack asked. She
shook her head as she crouched down. "I don't know. This is
one puzzle I can't figure out."
"Let me take a look," Erin said as she sat down next to
Katelyn. She narrowed her eyes as she began to think. "The
words 'Michael' and 'Gemini' are positioned on the edges of
the shield."
"Yeah," Kate agreed, waiting to see where Erin was going with
this.
"Look at its position," Erin stated. "Why this side? Why not
on the left or on top?"
"Could it be the location of something?" Tangaroa asked as he
finished his sandwich.
"Was it good, Tanga?" Jack asked, almost laughing.
"Very," the man replied with a big grin. "If anyone doesn't
want there's. . . could you let me know?"
"Sure thing, buddy," Jack said.
"But how do we know which side of the lake this represents?"
Kate questioned, waving her right hand over the shield
drawing.
"Well, it should represent a map," Tangaroa announced. "Where
the top of the shield is north, the bottom is south."
"Then if Gemini is on the right, that means its to the east,"
Erin explained, motioning her hand to the right.
"It makes sense," Jack admitted. "Let's check the east side
of the twin lakes."
Tangaroa glanced around at the others. "Aren't I supposed to
wait an hour before going back in?"
"That's if you're swimming," Erin told him. "Let's go!"
"Yes, ma'am," Tanga agreed and followed behind them.
Once they reached the east side of the lakes, they searched
carefully for anything out of the ordinary. They must have
searched for nearly an hour before stopping to combine their
thoughts again.
"We've been up and down this whole side," Erin announced.
"What the hell did we miss?"
Jack looked up at her from his bent over position with his
hands on his knees, supporting his upper body's weight. He
took in a deep breath before talking. "Maybe we're on the
wrong side."
Erin began to pace back and forth.
"Haven't you walked enough?" Jack asked her.
"I'm thinking," she replied, but soon the ground swallowed
her.
Jack reacted fast and jumped out to grab her, but was sucked
into the ground too. Suddenly, Tangaroa and Katelyn fell into
the widening hole as well.
***
Johanna Mahler stood on the beach of Sao Miguel with only two
boats behind her. She looked at her men who had scattered
out. There must have been at least two dozen of them. She
huffed loudly.
"Mein Frau," one of them announced. "I found something!"
"Yes?" Johanna said. "What is it?"
"It's a fresh trail," he answered. "They've been here, and I can track them."
Johanna looked up at the dense rain forest terrain and smiled devilishly.
Jack Canyon and The Superweapon of Atlantis | CHAPTER FIVE
Words: 1903
Rallis looked out the front glass at the incoming vessels.
There were only three that they could see for the moment. He
continued to watch them with his binoculars as they sped
toward his boat. "I don't like this."
"Oh, come on," Jack said as he slapped the Captain on the
back. "You know you want to test out your toys."
"Captain, she's within weapons range," the first mate spoke.
"Hold your fire," the Captain replied as he continued to watch
the Baroness's small fleet.
"But sir. . ."
"Wait for them to fire first," Rallis ordered. "I don't want
to be wrong about this."
"Aye, aye."
A small burst of fire was spat from the turrets on Johanna
Mahler's boats shot at the Poseidon. Several bullets ripped
through the armored plating like a hot knife through butter.
"APRs," the first mate announced.
"What?" Erin asked.
"Armor-piercing rounds," Jack interpreted. "Which means
Johanna likes the big guns."
"No wonder she's after our boy, Jack, here," Erin joked and
gave him a devious grin. "It's no secret that Jack's well
en--"
"Erin! Not now," Jack cried as more bullets tore through the
ship.
A loud siren began to blare and the Captain called all hands
to their battle stations.
"Fire all batteries," Rallis shouted through the intercom.
The Mediterranean was now a war zone with bullets and
explosions galore. The Poseidon made a direct hit with the
fuel tanks on one of Mahler's boats, destroying it when it was
engulfed with fire and a billow of smoke.
"Things never get boring around you, do they, son?" His
mother asked from behind him as she hid between two sailors.
"Like I've always said, I learned from the best," Jack replied
as he watched the other two boats closing in. "Though you
can't enjoy those exciting moments if you get killed."
Rallis shot Jack an angry look. "I'm not going to let anyone
die. Not today." He stared through his binoculars once more
at the two boats.
Bullets ripped through the Poseidon again causing some fuel
drums on the top deck to explode. One was hurtling at the
bridge.
Jack caught sight of the horrid scene and put his arms around
Erin and forced her to the ground, since she was the closest
to him. He covered her body with his just as the barrel burst
through the bridge's windshield. Quickly responding, Jack's
head shot up as he scanned the area to see if anyone was hurt.
Atawhai helped Katelyn Canyon to her feet and dusted glass off
her shoulder. He looked at her head for injuries, where he
found a small cut on her forehead. "Where is the medical
kit?"
"Over there," Rallis pointed. Then he spun around the smoky
bridge examining the damage. He spotted a man in the corner
who was not moving. He walked to the sailor and checked his
pulse, not detecting one. He sighed and rose back to his feet
from his crouching position. "Anyone hurt?"
"I think you can get up now," Erin told the heavy man on top
of her.
"But I like being on top," Jack joked.
Erin elbowed him in the ribcage, forcing him to roll off her.
She jumped to her feet and saw Mrs. Canyon bleeding. "Oh,
no."
Jack shifted himself around and finally rose to see the damage
around him. It was awful. Smoke and glass was everywhere.
He dusted himself off and checked his own body. The only
damage was to his Carhartt work pants, which had a small cut,
but it did not penetrate completely. He toyed with the
fraying tear. "Let's avoid such incidents again, Captain
Rallis."
Rallis nodded at Jack and then motioned to his first mate to
come to him. "Lock on and concentrate all fire onto one of
the boats. The one on the left. Take it out."
"Aye, sir."
"Get my mom down to the infirmary," Jack said to the big Kiwi
man. "I'll be down there when this is over." He turned and
bumped into Erin. "You go with her."
Erin breathed heavily through her nostrils and looked from
Kate to Jack. "Be careful up here."
Jack nodded slightly and was about to turn to watch the
fireworks, but Erin grabbed him and jerked him around. He
suddenly felt the warmth of a wet kiss on his lips. When she
pulled away and left, Jack stood in silence, in confusion.
"Jack," Macario Rallis called out to the stunned man.
Jack shook his head and turned to Rallis.
"Never been kissed before?" He asked with a chuckle.
"I actually thought if she and I ever had contact like that
again, she would be slapping me," Jack answered.
"Well, the day isn't over, yet," Rallis told him. "Take a
look."
The boat they had been firing at had taking heavy damage to
the hull and had sunken halfway into the sea.
"That leaves just one," Jack told him as he handed the
binoculars back. "That one must be Johanna. She's going to
be hard to beat."
"My men can handle her," Rallis stated boldly as he ordered
for them to concentrate all fire on the last boat.
Jack watched as it dodged the mortar fire and bullets. "She's
a slippery one."
"That she is," Rallis agreed as he continued to watch the boat
progress toward them. "She's almost on top of us."
"Take her out!" Jack cried, but it was too late.
There was an explosion on the starboard side of the vessel
that rocked it throughout.
"Damage report!" Rallis shouted.
Jack looked out the back view ports for Johanna's boat. "Where
is she?"
Rallis paused when he heard Jack's words. He scanned the
Mediterranean for her, but could not even find her wake.
"Find her on RADAR!"
An abrupt burst of gunfire rang out.
Jack ducked behind the door as the bullets landed inside the
bridge. "I think I know where she is." Jack's head popped
out briefly to find Johanna and her men. He then jumped out
and rushed down the steel staircase to the lower deck. He
ducked behind some crates to hide from them.
Johanna progressed across the deck in a march, as if she were
on a mission.
Jack looked up momentarily to spot her with only two men, who
seemed to be well trained. He watched as the two men gunned
down any hostile in their way. His mind played on what Emily
had always asked him. Why didn't he carry a gun? Of course,
his reply was to make things more fun and interesting. He
laughed at himself. Now would be a good time for a gun.
Rallis unlocked a safe at the back of the bridge which held
four shotguns. He tossed one at a time to his top men before
giving the navigator orders to continue their current course.
Before the first two men could move out, Johanna's men gunned
them down. They were getting close.
Jack pulled a broken board free of a crate that had been shot
to pieces. He smashed it across the skull of the closest
German scumbag and used it to block the bullets of another.
He jumped back behind a large crate for cover.
Rallis blasted away at the second man, who took cover.
Johanna crept along the crate to get to Jack Canyon, but he
was gone. "Come out, Jack. I want to play."
Rallis hid to the left of the door while his first mate stayed
on the right. The Captain motioned for his first mate to move
out quick. Just as he stepped out, he caught a bullet in his
shoulder, which knocked him down. Rallis moved quick to check
on him and pull him free from the open door.
Johanna turned weaved through a maze of stacked crates on her
quest for the evasive archaeologist. She turned and met
Jack's right hook. Without hesitation, she punched him back
and kicked him. She shoved him into the side railing of the
port side.
Jack grimaced in pain as his ribs smashed into the rail. He
even grunted, much to Johanna's delight.
"I'm so glad to see you again, Jack," she said as she gripped
his hair and thrust his head into the rail.
Jack lost his footing and slipped, falling to the deck.
"I lost you once, but not again." She kicked him hard. A
shotgun spray hit the box near her, forcing her to duck down
near Jack's level.
Jack kicked his leg toward her, sweeping it underneath her and
taking her feet out from under her. When she was down, Jack
jumped to his feet and jerked her up. Without much effort,
Jack tossed her off the side before completely collapsing on
the deck.
Rallis took down the last man standing and made his way down
to Jack. He slapped the archaeologist's face lightly. "Jack,
buddy."
He only groaned without even opening his eyes.
"Where is the girl?" Rallis asked.
Jack simply pointed over the rail, which made Rallis look over
and check.
"I don't see anything," Rallis spoke.
***
Jack leaned his back against a control console of the bridge
and he held his head. He took the cup of coffee someone had
brought to him as they entered. "Thanks."
"You look like hell," Atawhai stated with a grin.
"I've had worse," Jack replied.
"So, Ms. Mahler took a plunge, eh?" Erin asked.
"She'll be back," Jack said as he moved forward. "What's our
heading?"
"We've breached the Strait," Rallis announced. "I think
within the next few hours we could reach Azores. No
problems."
Jack nodded and looked at Tangaroa. "How's my mother?"
"She just has a cut, mate," Tanga told him. "She's gonna be
alright. She's a tough old woman."
"Yeah," Erin said with a smile. "Too bad Jackie isn't." She
gave the beaten up Jack a wicked grin. "I mean, a girl kicked
his ass."
"Hey!" Jack said in reply. "She caught me off guard!"
"Right," Erin laughed.
Kate entered the bridge with a small bandage on her head.
"Mom, you shouldn't be here," Jack argued.
"I'm staying," she said sternly. "It won't be long before we
reach Azores. How do we locate the right island there?"
"I have the whole translation from Talus's armor here," Jack
said as he pulled his mom's journal from the back pocket of
his pants. He set it down on the center console with the page
open for everyone to see.
"Nothing," Erin said as she scanned over it.
"It's hidden within," Kate announced.
"There!" Jack cried out as he pointed at the journal. "There
are some words that are capitol."
"These words come in the middle of sentences," Erin pointed
out. "M-O-A-L G-I-M-S."
"No," Kate said. "They were smarter than I thought. They
didn't add all the letters of what they called this place.
They wanted to keep it hidden."
"Then what is it?" Atawhai asked.
"Sao Miguel," Kate told them. She looked up to see their
confusion. "If you arrange them different. I've done massive
research on these islands and their names. It means Saint
Michael."
"Saint Michael?" Atawhai asked.
"Yeah, what about it?" Kate looked at him in wonder.
Tangaroa pointed at Jack's etching of the shield. "That is
Latin for Michael. It's on a small corner. Here."
"Good eye," Jack said in awe. "Captain, you have your destination. Let's roll!"
Rallis looked out the front glass at the incoming vessels.
There were only three that they could see for the moment. He
continued to watch them with his binoculars as they sped
toward his boat. "I don't like this."
"Oh, come on," Jack said as he slapped the Captain on the
back. "You know you want to test out your toys."
"Captain, she's within weapons range," the first mate spoke.
"Hold your fire," the Captain replied as he continued to watch
the Baroness's small fleet.
"But sir. . ."
"Wait for them to fire first," Rallis ordered. "I don't want
to be wrong about this."
"Aye, aye."
A small burst of fire was spat from the turrets on Johanna
Mahler's boats shot at the Poseidon. Several bullets ripped
through the armored plating like a hot knife through butter.
"APRs," the first mate announced.
"What?" Erin asked.
"Armor-piercing rounds," Jack interpreted. "Which means
Johanna likes the big guns."
"No wonder she's after our boy, Jack, here," Erin joked and
gave him a devious grin. "It's no secret that Jack's well
en--"
"Erin! Not now," Jack cried as more bullets tore through the
ship.
A loud siren began to blare and the Captain called all hands
to their battle stations.
"Fire all batteries," Rallis shouted through the intercom.
The Mediterranean was now a war zone with bullets and
explosions galore. The Poseidon made a direct hit with the
fuel tanks on one of Mahler's boats, destroying it when it was
engulfed with fire and a billow of smoke.
"Things never get boring around you, do they, son?" His
mother asked from behind him as she hid between two sailors.
"Like I've always said, I learned from the best," Jack replied
as he watched the other two boats closing in. "Though you
can't enjoy those exciting moments if you get killed."
Rallis shot Jack an angry look. "I'm not going to let anyone
die. Not today." He stared through his binoculars once more
at the two boats.
Bullets ripped through the Poseidon again causing some fuel
drums on the top deck to explode. One was hurtling at the
bridge.
Jack caught sight of the horrid scene and put his arms around
Erin and forced her to the ground, since she was the closest
to him. He covered her body with his just as the barrel burst
through the bridge's windshield. Quickly responding, Jack's
head shot up as he scanned the area to see if anyone was hurt.
Atawhai helped Katelyn Canyon to her feet and dusted glass off
her shoulder. He looked at her head for injuries, where he
found a small cut on her forehead. "Where is the medical
kit?"
"Over there," Rallis pointed. Then he spun around the smoky
bridge examining the damage. He spotted a man in the corner
who was not moving. He walked to the sailor and checked his
pulse, not detecting one. He sighed and rose back to his feet
from his crouching position. "Anyone hurt?"
"I think you can get up now," Erin told the heavy man on top
of her.
"But I like being on top," Jack joked.
Erin elbowed him in the ribcage, forcing him to roll off her.
She jumped to her feet and saw Mrs. Canyon bleeding. "Oh,
no."
Jack shifted himself around and finally rose to see the damage
around him. It was awful. Smoke and glass was everywhere.
He dusted himself off and checked his own body. The only
damage was to his Carhartt work pants, which had a small cut,
but it did not penetrate completely. He toyed with the
fraying tear. "Let's avoid such incidents again, Captain
Rallis."
Rallis nodded at Jack and then motioned to his first mate to
come to him. "Lock on and concentrate all fire onto one of
the boats. The one on the left. Take it out."
"Aye, sir."
"Get my mom down to the infirmary," Jack said to the big Kiwi
man. "I'll be down there when this is over." He turned and
bumped into Erin. "You go with her."
Erin breathed heavily through her nostrils and looked from
Kate to Jack. "Be careful up here."
Jack nodded slightly and was about to turn to watch the
fireworks, but Erin grabbed him and jerked him around. He
suddenly felt the warmth of a wet kiss on his lips. When she
pulled away and left, Jack stood in silence, in confusion.
"Jack," Macario Rallis called out to the stunned man.
Jack shook his head and turned to Rallis.
"Never been kissed before?" He asked with a chuckle.
"I actually thought if she and I ever had contact like that
again, she would be slapping me," Jack answered.
"Well, the day isn't over, yet," Rallis told him. "Take a
look."
The boat they had been firing at had taking heavy damage to
the hull and had sunken halfway into the sea.
"That leaves just one," Jack told him as he handed the
binoculars back. "That one must be Johanna. She's going to
be hard to beat."
"My men can handle her," Rallis stated boldly as he ordered
for them to concentrate all fire on the last boat.
Jack watched as it dodged the mortar fire and bullets. "She's
a slippery one."
"That she is," Rallis agreed as he continued to watch the boat
progress toward them. "She's almost on top of us."
"Take her out!" Jack cried, but it was too late.
There was an explosion on the starboard side of the vessel
that rocked it throughout.
"Damage report!" Rallis shouted.
Jack looked out the back view ports for Johanna's boat. "Where
is she?"
Rallis paused when he heard Jack's words. He scanned the
Mediterranean for her, but could not even find her wake.
"Find her on RADAR!"
An abrupt burst of gunfire rang out.
Jack ducked behind the door as the bullets landed inside the
bridge. "I think I know where she is." Jack's head popped
out briefly to find Johanna and her men. He then jumped out
and rushed down the steel staircase to the lower deck. He
ducked behind some crates to hide from them.
Johanna progressed across the deck in a march, as if she were
on a mission.
Jack looked up momentarily to spot her with only two men, who
seemed to be well trained. He watched as the two men gunned
down any hostile in their way. His mind played on what Emily
had always asked him. Why didn't he carry a gun? Of course,
his reply was to make things more fun and interesting. He
laughed at himself. Now would be a good time for a gun.
Rallis unlocked a safe at the back of the bridge which held
four shotguns. He tossed one at a time to his top men before
giving the navigator orders to continue their current course.
Before the first two men could move out, Johanna's men gunned
them down. They were getting close.
Jack pulled a broken board free of a crate that had been shot
to pieces. He smashed it across the skull of the closest
German scumbag and used it to block the bullets of another.
He jumped back behind a large crate for cover.
Rallis blasted away at the second man, who took cover.
Johanna crept along the crate to get to Jack Canyon, but he
was gone. "Come out, Jack. I want to play."
Rallis hid to the left of the door while his first mate stayed
on the right. The Captain motioned for his first mate to move
out quick. Just as he stepped out, he caught a bullet in his
shoulder, which knocked him down. Rallis moved quick to check
on him and pull him free from the open door.
Johanna turned weaved through a maze of stacked crates on her
quest for the evasive archaeologist. She turned and met
Jack's right hook. Without hesitation, she punched him back
and kicked him. She shoved him into the side railing of the
port side.
Jack grimaced in pain as his ribs smashed into the rail. He
even grunted, much to Johanna's delight.
"I'm so glad to see you again, Jack," she said as she gripped
his hair and thrust his head into the rail.
Jack lost his footing and slipped, falling to the deck.
"I lost you once, but not again." She kicked him hard. A
shotgun spray hit the box near her, forcing her to duck down
near Jack's level.
Jack kicked his leg toward her, sweeping it underneath her and
taking her feet out from under her. When she was down, Jack
jumped to his feet and jerked her up. Without much effort,
Jack tossed her off the side before completely collapsing on
the deck.
Rallis took down the last man standing and made his way down
to Jack. He slapped the archaeologist's face lightly. "Jack,
buddy."
He only groaned without even opening his eyes.
"Where is the girl?" Rallis asked.
Jack simply pointed over the rail, which made Rallis look over
and check.
"I don't see anything," Rallis spoke.
***
Jack leaned his back against a control console of the bridge
and he held his head. He took the cup of coffee someone had
brought to him as they entered. "Thanks."
"You look like hell," Atawhai stated with a grin.
"I've had worse," Jack replied.
"So, Ms. Mahler took a plunge, eh?" Erin asked.
"She'll be back," Jack said as he moved forward. "What's our
heading?"
"We've breached the Strait," Rallis announced. "I think
within the next few hours we could reach Azores. No
problems."
Jack nodded and looked at Tangaroa. "How's my mother?"
"She just has a cut, mate," Tanga told him. "She's gonna be
alright. She's a tough old woman."
"Yeah," Erin said with a smile. "Too bad Jackie isn't." She
gave the beaten up Jack a wicked grin. "I mean, a girl kicked
his ass."
"Hey!" Jack said in reply. "She caught me off guard!"
"Right," Erin laughed.
Kate entered the bridge with a small bandage on her head.
"Mom, you shouldn't be here," Jack argued.
"I'm staying," she said sternly. "It won't be long before we
reach Azores. How do we locate the right island there?"
"I have the whole translation from Talus's armor here," Jack
said as he pulled his mom's journal from the back pocket of
his pants. He set it down on the center console with the page
open for everyone to see.
"Nothing," Erin said as she scanned over it.
"It's hidden within," Kate announced.
"There!" Jack cried out as he pointed at the journal. "There
are some words that are capitol."
"These words come in the middle of sentences," Erin pointed
out. "M-O-A-L G-I-M-S."
"No," Kate said. "They were smarter than I thought. They
didn't add all the letters of what they called this place.
They wanted to keep it hidden."
"Then what is it?" Atawhai asked.
"Sao Miguel," Kate told them. She looked up to see their
confusion. "If you arrange them different. I've done massive
research on these islands and their names. It means Saint
Michael."
"Saint Michael?" Atawhai asked.
"Yeah, what about it?" Kate looked at him in wonder.
Tangaroa pointed at Jack's etching of the shield. "That is
Latin for Michael. It's on a small corner. Here."
"Good eye," Jack said in awe. "Captain, you have your destination. Let's roll!"
Jack Canyon and The Superweapon of Atlantis | CHAPTER FOUR
Words: 1503
Jack Canyon sat at the head of an oval-shaped wooden table in
the conference room of the Mediterranean Pearl. To his left
along the side of the table were Katelyn and Captain Rallis.
To his right sat Erin Sawyer and Atawhai Tangaroa. Everyone
awaited Jack's grand explanation of things.
He took in a deep breath before explaining anything. He
glanced around at everyone's anticipation. It had been his
mother's lifelong research that led him to his current
conclusions.
"Okay, Jack, spill it," Erin urged him.
"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "So, here it goes. My mother spent
her entire life chasing after her dream of finding Atlantis,
or finding some real evidence that it existed. I don't think
I ever got the whole story. . ." He looked up at Kate.
She looked disappointed for a moment. "I was hired by a
woman, Baroness Johanna Mahler, who told me she had been doing
an entire satellite scan of several countries. Most of them
were along the Mediterranean Sea. It started off with us
leading the excavation, then it turned into translating
symbols on doors and this one scroll we found."
The others were looking at the journal pictures of the scroll
and its translation.
"From that point, we were convinced that it was from
Atlantis," Katelyn continued. "She was hellbent on Atlantis
being some kind of superpower thousands of years ago. A lot
like Hitler, she believed the original uber-humans or Aryans
inhabited Atlantis. She also believed it to have been
advanced with machines, and something she called the
super weapon."
"What happened?" Tangaroa asked.
"She wanted us to transfix a location for Atlantis, but we
were unable to," Kate announced. "She started killing us one
by one, until I was the only one left. She kept me alive,
even mailed my journal home to Jack."
"I was obviously out on my Wiccan Stone run when this
occurred," Jack admitted. "They had sent it to me nearly six
months before I returned home. She must have gotten tired of
waiting, decided to destroy the journal and me."
"Apparently she failed," Erin added.
"Yeah, and Jack came for me, using the return address on the
package," Katelyn said. "Foolishly, he was captured, and
escaped, barely. That's how we got here."
"Right," Erin said. "But what does this all have to do with
Atlantis, and Libya?"
"I'm getting to that," Jack replied. "See, The Libyan Scroll
was the first clue, and the only clue as far as we were
concerned. We were lucky enough to come here just in time.
It seems this coffin comes from the same source. The source
of this symbol."
"Atlantis." Tangaroa spoke.
"Exactly," Jack responded as he leaned back in his chair.
"Now, let's do the math."
"Not your strong point," Erin chimed in.
Jack straightened himself and glared at her before continuing.
"Let's say this guy was the only survivor to flee Atlantis."
"Why?" Rallis asked, breaking through his silent spell.
"Just go with me on this," Jack answered.
"No, why would he be the only survivor?" Rallis questioned
him.
"Well, if our friend the Baroness is right, these people
valued superiority, the smartest of the smart," Jack replied.
"They would have wanted their top genius to survive and pass
on their legacy, right?"
"He didn't make it too far," Tangaroa stated. "He was right
in the middle of the Mediterranean."
"What if the Mediterranean wasn't a sea?" Erin asked.
"What?" Jack shifted again in his seat.
"Think about it," Erin continued. "If a large enough island
in the Atlantic was to sink, water would pour into it."
"That won't explain how our guy got here, though," Tangaroa
pointed out.
"What if he traveled by boat?" Jack asked. "I mean, this is
simply a hypothesis session, but he would have been fleeing
via boat, and got caught up in some tidal wave that pushed him
into the Mediterranean. Though, the water couldn't have
filled it completely in a fast amount of time."
"So, how long did it take?" Rallis asked, interested in their
discussion now.
"Maybe a week or two," Tangaroa stated. "That's not enough
time to build a tomb, though."
"What if we're looking at this all wrong?" Erin asked. "What
if they had more time to evacuate?"
"Then why aren't there more accounts like this one?" Jack
added.
"Maybe they too had problems," Erin replied. "I mean, they
could have all went out in different directions to better
their chances of survival. Some might have been caught in a
tidal wave just the same, maybe even killed by it."
"That's not a bad thought," Kate told her.
"Can we focus on our one guy for a moment?" Jack asked,
hoping to get them back to the task at hand.
"I like their input, son," Kate said to him.
"Do you think that Atlantis had been sinking into the sea for
some time?" Tangaroa asked. "Maybe they knew they could not
stop it. This guy might have carried some of their documents
and died somewhere. His men could have built a tomb and
buried him. Then with the complete sinking of Atlantis, the
Mediterranean flooded. All evidence was lost."
Jack stared at Tangaroa for a while. He was speechless at the
man's hypothesis. "Maybe that scroll was washed out by all
the water! It all fits. It's all good."
"The only way to know what's true is to find Atlantis," Kate
told them all.
"Then why don't we get out there and examine our coffin now
that it is good and dry," Jack announced as he began to stand.
Everyone soon stood with him.
"So, anyone want to bet on who is right?" Tangaroa asked as
they all hurried out toward the coffin.
Jack laughed slightly, knowing it was the typical Tangaroa.
Once they were outside, they were amazed at their find.
Atawhai looked into the sky, noting that it was midday
already. He placed his hands on his hips as Kate pulled her
journal from her back pocket. "So, what are we looking for?"
"Locations, coordinates, anything that points the way to
Atlantis," Jack answered.
"Maybe even constellations," Erin added with a smile. "People
back then used the stars to map their locations. It was
common knowledge to sailors. Why not to the geniuses of the
Atlantic Ocean?"
Jack gave Tangaroa a look. He hated when that girl made sense
of things. Ever since he knew her, she had always tried to
throw her knowledge into the midst of things. She was always
trying to outshine the man.
"Hmm," Kate said as she shifted her reading glasses and moved
in closer.
"What is it, Mom?" Jack asked her.
She tapped the shield's symbol as she looked up at the others.
"This is Talus, our resident Atlantis scientist."
Jack stood in awe for several minutes. What were the odds?
"Who's Talus?" Erin asked.
"He was the one who wrote the scroll I translated in Libya,"
Kate announced. "It says he came from the west. From the
vast Sea of Atlas."
"Are you sure?" Tangaroa asked, receiving a death glare from
Katelyn. "I guess so."
"These characters are like that of the scroll," Kate admitted.
"They're almost a mixture of Greek, Latin, Arabic,
everything. I mean, its really hard to figure out unless you
can spot the slight differences."
"Okay, so we know that Atlantis is in the Atlantic Ocean,"
Tangaroa spoke.
"I don't know," Jack argued.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Tangaroa yelled. "It's
plain and simple."
"The vast Sea of Atlas," Jack repeated. "The Atlantic is a
large place to look."
"Is there anything else?" Erin asked.
"Yeah, something about the 'twin pillars'," Kate read off more
of the shield.
"That must be the Pillars of Heracles," Tangaroa announced.
"Then it's settled," Erin cried. "We're going into the
Atlantic Ocean!"
"Does it say anything about how far?" Jack asked.
"No, it doesn't," Kate said as she leaned away from the coffin. She removed her reading glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. "But we can't forget the story of Atlantis itself for clues."
"What do you mean?" Tangaroa asked.
"Some accounts say there was a volcano," Erin stated. "Earthquakes were involved, too."
"Azores," Jack announced happily.
"What?" Erin questioned, not quite understanding what he was saying.
"It's a cluster of Portuguese Islands on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge," Jack said.
"Of course," Tangaroa said, seeing what he meant now. "Along the ridge there has been numerous reports of earthquakes and volcanic activity."
"Alright, then," Jack spoke. "Let's tell the Captain to set a course."
They all headed up to the bridge to find the captain, since he had disappeared earlier.
"Captain!" Jack called out as they reached the bridge. "We were wondering where you had wandered off to."
"I got called away," Rallis stated. "Sorry." He turned back to look our at the horizon. "We have incoming ships. We've been trying to hail them, but to no avail."
"The Baroness," Jack told him. "She's found us."
Jack Canyon sat at the head of an oval-shaped wooden table in
the conference room of the Mediterranean Pearl. To his left
along the side of the table were Katelyn and Captain Rallis.
To his right sat Erin Sawyer and Atawhai Tangaroa. Everyone
awaited Jack's grand explanation of things.
He took in a deep breath before explaining anything. He
glanced around at everyone's anticipation. It had been his
mother's lifelong research that led him to his current
conclusions.
"Okay, Jack, spill it," Erin urged him.
"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "So, here it goes. My mother spent
her entire life chasing after her dream of finding Atlantis,
or finding some real evidence that it existed. I don't think
I ever got the whole story. . ." He looked up at Kate.
She looked disappointed for a moment. "I was hired by a
woman, Baroness Johanna Mahler, who told me she had been doing
an entire satellite scan of several countries. Most of them
were along the Mediterranean Sea. It started off with us
leading the excavation, then it turned into translating
symbols on doors and this one scroll we found."
The others were looking at the journal pictures of the scroll
and its translation.
"From that point, we were convinced that it was from
Atlantis," Katelyn continued. "She was hellbent on Atlantis
being some kind of superpower thousands of years ago. A lot
like Hitler, she believed the original uber-humans or Aryans
inhabited Atlantis. She also believed it to have been
advanced with machines, and something she called the
super weapon."
"What happened?" Tangaroa asked.
"She wanted us to transfix a location for Atlantis, but we
were unable to," Kate announced. "She started killing us one
by one, until I was the only one left. She kept me alive,
even mailed my journal home to Jack."
"I was obviously out on my Wiccan Stone run when this
occurred," Jack admitted. "They had sent it to me nearly six
months before I returned home. She must have gotten tired of
waiting, decided to destroy the journal and me."
"Apparently she failed," Erin added.
"Yeah, and Jack came for me, using the return address on the
package," Katelyn said. "Foolishly, he was captured, and
escaped, barely. That's how we got here."
"Right," Erin said. "But what does this all have to do with
Atlantis, and Libya?"
"I'm getting to that," Jack replied. "See, The Libyan Scroll
was the first clue, and the only clue as far as we were
concerned. We were lucky enough to come here just in time.
It seems this coffin comes from the same source. The source
of this symbol."
"Atlantis." Tangaroa spoke.
"Exactly," Jack responded as he leaned back in his chair.
"Now, let's do the math."
"Not your strong point," Erin chimed in.
Jack straightened himself and glared at her before continuing.
"Let's say this guy was the only survivor to flee Atlantis."
"Why?" Rallis asked, breaking through his silent spell.
"Just go with me on this," Jack answered.
"No, why would he be the only survivor?" Rallis questioned
him.
"Well, if our friend the Baroness is right, these people
valued superiority, the smartest of the smart," Jack replied.
"They would have wanted their top genius to survive and pass
on their legacy, right?"
"He didn't make it too far," Tangaroa stated. "He was right
in the middle of the Mediterranean."
"What if the Mediterranean wasn't a sea?" Erin asked.
"What?" Jack shifted again in his seat.
"Think about it," Erin continued. "If a large enough island
in the Atlantic was to sink, water would pour into it."
"That won't explain how our guy got here, though," Tangaroa
pointed out.
"What if he traveled by boat?" Jack asked. "I mean, this is
simply a hypothesis session, but he would have been fleeing
via boat, and got caught up in some tidal wave that pushed him
into the Mediterranean. Though, the water couldn't have
filled it completely in a fast amount of time."
"So, how long did it take?" Rallis asked, interested in their
discussion now.
"Maybe a week or two," Tangaroa stated. "That's not enough
time to build a tomb, though."
"What if we're looking at this all wrong?" Erin asked. "What
if they had more time to evacuate?"
"Then why aren't there more accounts like this one?" Jack
added.
"Maybe they too had problems," Erin replied. "I mean, they
could have all went out in different directions to better
their chances of survival. Some might have been caught in a
tidal wave just the same, maybe even killed by it."
"That's not a bad thought," Kate told her.
"Can we focus on our one guy for a moment?" Jack asked,
hoping to get them back to the task at hand.
"I like their input, son," Kate said to him.
"Do you think that Atlantis had been sinking into the sea for
some time?" Tangaroa asked. "Maybe they knew they could not
stop it. This guy might have carried some of their documents
and died somewhere. His men could have built a tomb and
buried him. Then with the complete sinking of Atlantis, the
Mediterranean flooded. All evidence was lost."
Jack stared at Tangaroa for a while. He was speechless at the
man's hypothesis. "Maybe that scroll was washed out by all
the water! It all fits. It's all good."
"The only way to know what's true is to find Atlantis," Kate
told them all.
"Then why don't we get out there and examine our coffin now
that it is good and dry," Jack announced as he began to stand.
Everyone soon stood with him.
"So, anyone want to bet on who is right?" Tangaroa asked as
they all hurried out toward the coffin.
Jack laughed slightly, knowing it was the typical Tangaroa.
Once they were outside, they were amazed at their find.
Atawhai looked into the sky, noting that it was midday
already. He placed his hands on his hips as Kate pulled her
journal from her back pocket. "So, what are we looking for?"
"Locations, coordinates, anything that points the way to
Atlantis," Jack answered.
"Maybe even constellations," Erin added with a smile. "People
back then used the stars to map their locations. It was
common knowledge to sailors. Why not to the geniuses of the
Atlantic Ocean?"
Jack gave Tangaroa a look. He hated when that girl made sense
of things. Ever since he knew her, she had always tried to
throw her knowledge into the midst of things. She was always
trying to outshine the man.
"Hmm," Kate said as she shifted her reading glasses and moved
in closer.
"What is it, Mom?" Jack asked her.
She tapped the shield's symbol as she looked up at the others.
"This is Talus, our resident Atlantis scientist."
Jack stood in awe for several minutes. What were the odds?
"Who's Talus?" Erin asked.
"He was the one who wrote the scroll I translated in Libya,"
Kate announced. "It says he came from the west. From the
vast Sea of Atlas."
"Are you sure?" Tangaroa asked, receiving a death glare from
Katelyn. "I guess so."
"These characters are like that of the scroll," Kate admitted.
"They're almost a mixture of Greek, Latin, Arabic,
everything. I mean, its really hard to figure out unless you
can spot the slight differences."
"Okay, so we know that Atlantis is in the Atlantic Ocean,"
Tangaroa spoke.
"I don't know," Jack argued.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Tangaroa yelled. "It's
plain and simple."
"The vast Sea of Atlas," Jack repeated. "The Atlantic is a
large place to look."
"Is there anything else?" Erin asked.
"Yeah, something about the 'twin pillars'," Kate read off more
of the shield.
"That must be the Pillars of Heracles," Tangaroa announced.
"Then it's settled," Erin cried. "We're going into the
Atlantic Ocean!"
"Does it say anything about how far?" Jack asked.
"No, it doesn't," Kate said as she leaned away from the coffin. She removed her reading glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. "But we can't forget the story of Atlantis itself for clues."
"What do you mean?" Tangaroa asked.
"Some accounts say there was a volcano," Erin stated. "Earthquakes were involved, too."
"Azores," Jack announced happily.
"What?" Erin questioned, not quite understanding what he was saying.
"It's a cluster of Portuguese Islands on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge," Jack said.
"Of course," Tangaroa said, seeing what he meant now. "Along the ridge there has been numerous reports of earthquakes and volcanic activity."
"Alright, then," Jack spoke. "Let's tell the Captain to set a course."
They all headed up to the bridge to find the captain, since he had disappeared earlier.
"Captain!" Jack called out as they reached the bridge. "We were wondering where you had wandered off to."
"I got called away," Rallis stated. "Sorry." He turned back to look our at the horizon. "We have incoming ships. We've been trying to hail them, but to no avail."
"The Baroness," Jack told him. "She's found us."
Jack Canyon and The Superweapon of Atlantis | CHAPTER THREE
Words: 1434
Through binoculars, a young Navy man peered out at the scene.
The boat rocked, but he kept himself steady. He watched as a
parachute opened and the plane they had escaped crashed into a
nearby beach. "Captain!" He called out to his captain.
A large man with olive skin and a dark bearded turned around
to
him. His beady eyes narrowed as the man called for him once
more. He was a Greek man, and one who did not like unexpected
guests. "What is it?"
"Take a look, sir," the skinnier man said handing him the
binoculars.
The Captain looked out at the bouncing waves. "Where?" His
voice was rough and jagged.
"About twenty klicks ahead, sir," the man replied.
"Ah, yes, I see them now."
"Them, sir?" The first mate asked. "I only saw one chute
open."
"He had a buddy," the Greek said. "Send the Skimmer with some
men."
"Aye, aye, Captain."
***
Jack and Katelyn splashed down into the Mediterranean Sea and
bounced and floated about. Moments later, the swift boat and
some armed men arrived. Jack did the only thing he could do.
He surrendered.
With the span of five minutes, Jack and Kate were securely
aboard, if this could be called securely, and back to the
large white, and heavily armed, research boat. They were
taken to the bridge where the Captain spoke to them.
"Jumping out of airplanes into the Mediterranean Sea is just
foolish," Captain Rallis spoke loudly. "Lucky we were here to
pick you up, eh?"
Jack gave the man his normal, cheesy, cocky grin. "Well,
Captain Rallis, I'm just glad you guys were in the right spot
for my dramatic entrance."
"These are those friends you spoke of?" Kate asked.
"Not exactly, but these guys do work for me," Jack replied,
before turning his attention back to Rallis. "The IAI must
have found something big to send you this way."
"Well, there is an ever growing population of the
International Archaeological Institute," Rallis told them.
"I'm glad to help, especially for the preservation of relics.
. . not to mention a shit load of money!" He let out a deep
chuckle.
"I guess I should have expected that of you, Rallis," Jack
laughed in return.
"We're cut from the same mold," Rallis announced.
"If you are from the same mold as me, I'm sure you broke it,"
Jack stated about the man's large body.
"Nah, buddy," Rallis stated jokingly. "Your ego would have
broken it."
"We've found something," a voice crackled over the radio.
"We're bringing it up."
"What did they find?" Jack asked the Captain.
"I don't know, but let's go find out," Rallis said as he moved
around Jack and his mother and headed out of the cabin and
onto the aft deck.
Jack followed the large Greek through the large ship. He had
not been on the newer research vessels like this one. The
deck was large with a diving platform on the stern. He
examined the large crane that was whirring loudly as the winch
turned, shortening the cable.
In the water on the starboard side of the boat, the crane
pulled a elongated object free of the salty ocean water.
Jack, Kate, and Rallis leaned against the side looking over at
the seaweed-covered rectangular object.
"What is that?" Rallis asked curiously.
"With those dimensions," Kate started, "I think it's some kind
of coffin."
"I agree," Jack replied as he watched the crane pull it over
he side.
Several men rushed to it and pulled it onto the deck. Water
spluttered and dripped everywhere, getting some people wet.
Finally, the coffin came to a rest on the deck.
Jack watched the two divers swim from the starboard side to
the stern dive platform, where he joined them. He helped the
smaller, slim-bodied diver onto the platform, and removed the
tank from their back.
The larger diver had already removed his tank and placed it
onto the platform. Soon, he pulled off his mask and climbed
onto the boat. It was Atawhai Tangaroa. He gave Jack a big
grin and a slap on the back.
"Tanga," Jack said nearly falling face first into the deck.
He turned and watched as the other diver removed their mask.
He smiled at her. "Erin!"
She gave a smug-like smile, not quite as enthusiastic as
Jack's. "Jack Canyon. What a surprise to see you here in the
middle of the Mediterranean!"
"Sicily the west, Crete to the east," Jack stated. "Why not?"
Erin gave Jack a look as if she could see right through him.
She knew better. "You came for me. How sweet!"
"So, big guy," Jack said to Tangaroa, changing the subject
fast. "What did we find down there?"
"It's good to see you again, Erin," Kate told the young
red-head.
"Likewise, Mrs. C.," Erin replied.
"Well, we're not entirely sure," Atawhai stated as he moved
toward the coffin. "Satellite had picked up something down
there. My guess is that the sand had been moved away by last
week's storm."
"It was a tomb," Erin Sawyer announced. "It was a very small
one, with barely enough room for Atawhai and myself to fit
inside."
"Why don't we crack this thing open?" Jack said as he wiped
away some seaweed from near the foot or head of the coffin.
"I've seen that symbol before."
"Where?" Someone had asked.
Jack could not discern on who it was. He continued to examine
the rest of the coffin for a way to open it.
"This is our find, Jack," Erin admitted. "Shouldn't we be
opening and examining it?"
"But that symbol intrigues me," Jack told her as he looked up
at her. He paused and frowned. "Okay, okay. It's all
yours."
Erin grinned victoriously as she moved to the coffin and
cleaned it off further. "We discovered that it was locked."
"I hope you found the key, or else someone is going for
another swim," Jack said.
"Look at this," Erin pointed out to Jack and Tangaroa.
"Oh, now, you want me to look," Jack said sarcastically as he
moved forward. He was shocked at what it was.
"It's a combination lock," Tangaroa chimed in.
"Yeah," Jack said still in shock. "But the first combination
lock was only invented in 1206."
"This has to be older than that by more than four or five
thousand years," Kate added. "But the craftsmanship of this
coffin is just. . . astonishing."
"I wouldn't have expected to see this type of detail during
that era," Tangaroa mentioned.
"Any guesses on the combination?" Erin asked as she rotated
the first disc. "I've never seen numbers like this."
"Mom," Jack said as he backed away, allowing her access.
Katelyn put on her reading glasses and took a closer look at
the device. "They appear almost Greek, but not quite.
There's a hint of Arabic, as well."
"Can you translate them?" Tangaroa asked.
"I shall try," Kate replied. "Give me a few minutes."
"So, did you come to see me?" Erin asked Jack with a sly
smile.
"Well, I was in the neighborhood," Jack replied. "I was in
Brunswick trying to rescue my mother, when--"
"Got it!" Kate cried out in excitement. "Though, I don't
know what good this is. I mean, I have nothing to go on in
discovering the combination."
Erin, Jack, and Tangaroa hovered around Kate as they all
studied the characters and numbers they represented.
"Could it be a date?" Tangaroa asked.
"Okay, I have a theory," Jack said. "Mom, hand me your
journal."
"Why?"
"Just do it," he told her as he held out an outstretched hand.
When he got it, he turned to the page she had shown him
before. "Of course." He turned the journal around and showed
them all the symbol. "It's the same one!"
"Same?" Erin asked.
"Thankfully, you copied the entire scroll down," Jack spoke
happily. He flipped the journal upside down and spotted the
hidden symbols. "There."
"But. . . how?" Kate asked, confused.
"I don't know," he replied. "Erin. You want to do the
honors?"
She nodded and slowly put in the combination until it unlocked
the coffin and the lid released.
A few men came in to remove the lid and move it to the side.
Once they were done, the others moved back into place.
"That symbol's on the shield," Tangaroa announced.
"Okay, Jack, You have explaining to do," Erin told him
sternly.
"That symbol was on a scroll my mom found in Libya," Jack
explained. "It's from Atlantis, which is where this coffin
came from. This guy is a survivor of Atlantis."
Through binoculars, a young Navy man peered out at the scene.
The boat rocked, but he kept himself steady. He watched as a
parachute opened and the plane they had escaped crashed into a
nearby beach. "Captain!" He called out to his captain.
A large man with olive skin and a dark bearded turned around
to
him. His beady eyes narrowed as the man called for him once
more. He was a Greek man, and one who did not like unexpected
guests. "What is it?"
"Take a look, sir," the skinnier man said handing him the
binoculars.
The Captain looked out at the bouncing waves. "Where?" His
voice was rough and jagged.
"About twenty klicks ahead, sir," the man replied.
"Ah, yes, I see them now."
"Them, sir?" The first mate asked. "I only saw one chute
open."
"He had a buddy," the Greek said. "Send the Skimmer with some
men."
"Aye, aye, Captain."
***
Jack and Katelyn splashed down into the Mediterranean Sea and
bounced and floated about. Moments later, the swift boat and
some armed men arrived. Jack did the only thing he could do.
He surrendered.
With the span of five minutes, Jack and Kate were securely
aboard, if this could be called securely, and back to the
large white, and heavily armed, research boat. They were
taken to the bridge where the Captain spoke to them.
"Jumping out of airplanes into the Mediterranean Sea is just
foolish," Captain Rallis spoke loudly. "Lucky we were here to
pick you up, eh?"
Jack gave the man his normal, cheesy, cocky grin. "Well,
Captain Rallis, I'm just glad you guys were in the right spot
for my dramatic entrance."
"These are those friends you spoke of?" Kate asked.
"Not exactly, but these guys do work for me," Jack replied,
before turning his attention back to Rallis. "The IAI must
have found something big to send you this way."
"Well, there is an ever growing population of the
International Archaeological Institute," Rallis told them.
"I'm glad to help, especially for the preservation of relics.
. . not to mention a shit load of money!" He let out a deep
chuckle.
"I guess I should have expected that of you, Rallis," Jack
laughed in return.
"We're cut from the same mold," Rallis announced.
"If you are from the same mold as me, I'm sure you broke it,"
Jack stated about the man's large body.
"Nah, buddy," Rallis stated jokingly. "Your ego would have
broken it."
"We've found something," a voice crackled over the radio.
"We're bringing it up."
"What did they find?" Jack asked the Captain.
"I don't know, but let's go find out," Rallis said as he moved
around Jack and his mother and headed out of the cabin and
onto the aft deck.
Jack followed the large Greek through the large ship. He had
not been on the newer research vessels like this one. The
deck was large with a diving platform on the stern. He
examined the large crane that was whirring loudly as the winch
turned, shortening the cable.
In the water on the starboard side of the boat, the crane
pulled a elongated object free of the salty ocean water.
Jack, Kate, and Rallis leaned against the side looking over at
the seaweed-covered rectangular object.
"What is that?" Rallis asked curiously.
"With those dimensions," Kate started, "I think it's some kind
of coffin."
"I agree," Jack replied as he watched the crane pull it over
he side.
Several men rushed to it and pulled it onto the deck. Water
spluttered and dripped everywhere, getting some people wet.
Finally, the coffin came to a rest on the deck.
Jack watched the two divers swim from the starboard side to
the stern dive platform, where he joined them. He helped the
smaller, slim-bodied diver onto the platform, and removed the
tank from their back.
The larger diver had already removed his tank and placed it
onto the platform. Soon, he pulled off his mask and climbed
onto the boat. It was Atawhai Tangaroa. He gave Jack a big
grin and a slap on the back.
"Tanga," Jack said nearly falling face first into the deck.
He turned and watched as the other diver removed their mask.
He smiled at her. "Erin!"
She gave a smug-like smile, not quite as enthusiastic as
Jack's. "Jack Canyon. What a surprise to see you here in the
middle of the Mediterranean!"
"Sicily the west, Crete to the east," Jack stated. "Why not?"
Erin gave Jack a look as if she could see right through him.
She knew better. "You came for me. How sweet!"
"So, big guy," Jack said to Tangaroa, changing the subject
fast. "What did we find down there?"
"It's good to see you again, Erin," Kate told the young
red-head.
"Likewise, Mrs. C.," Erin replied.
"Well, we're not entirely sure," Atawhai stated as he moved
toward the coffin. "Satellite had picked up something down
there. My guess is that the sand had been moved away by last
week's storm."
"It was a tomb," Erin Sawyer announced. "It was a very small
one, with barely enough room for Atawhai and myself to fit
inside."
"Why don't we crack this thing open?" Jack said as he wiped
away some seaweed from near the foot or head of the coffin.
"I've seen that symbol before."
"Where?" Someone had asked.
Jack could not discern on who it was. He continued to examine
the rest of the coffin for a way to open it.
"This is our find, Jack," Erin admitted. "Shouldn't we be
opening and examining it?"
"But that symbol intrigues me," Jack told her as he looked up
at her. He paused and frowned. "Okay, okay. It's all
yours."
Erin grinned victoriously as she moved to the coffin and
cleaned it off further. "We discovered that it was locked."
"I hope you found the key, or else someone is going for
another swim," Jack said.
"Look at this," Erin pointed out to Jack and Tangaroa.
"Oh, now, you want me to look," Jack said sarcastically as he
moved forward. He was shocked at what it was.
"It's a combination lock," Tangaroa chimed in.
"Yeah," Jack said still in shock. "But the first combination
lock was only invented in 1206."
"This has to be older than that by more than four or five
thousand years," Kate added. "But the craftsmanship of this
coffin is just. . . astonishing."
"I wouldn't have expected to see this type of detail during
that era," Tangaroa mentioned.
"Any guesses on the combination?" Erin asked as she rotated
the first disc. "I've never seen numbers like this."
"Mom," Jack said as he backed away, allowing her access.
Katelyn put on her reading glasses and took a closer look at
the device. "They appear almost Greek, but not quite.
There's a hint of Arabic, as well."
"Can you translate them?" Tangaroa asked.
"I shall try," Kate replied. "Give me a few minutes."
"So, did you come to see me?" Erin asked Jack with a sly
smile.
"Well, I was in the neighborhood," Jack replied. "I was in
Brunswick trying to rescue my mother, when--"
"Got it!" Kate cried out in excitement. "Though, I don't
know what good this is. I mean, I have nothing to go on in
discovering the combination."
Erin, Jack, and Tangaroa hovered around Kate as they all
studied the characters and numbers they represented.
"Could it be a date?" Tangaroa asked.
"Okay, I have a theory," Jack said. "Mom, hand me your
journal."
"Why?"
"Just do it," he told her as he held out an outstretched hand.
When he got it, he turned to the page she had shown him
before. "Of course." He turned the journal around and showed
them all the symbol. "It's the same one!"
"Same?" Erin asked.
"Thankfully, you copied the entire scroll down," Jack spoke
happily. He flipped the journal upside down and spotted the
hidden symbols. "There."
"But. . . how?" Kate asked, confused.
"I don't know," he replied. "Erin. You want to do the
honors?"
She nodded and slowly put in the combination until it unlocked
the coffin and the lid released.
A few men came in to remove the lid and move it to the side.
Once they were done, the others moved back into place.
"That symbol's on the shield," Tangaroa announced.
"Okay, Jack, You have explaining to do," Erin told him
sternly.
"That symbol was on a scroll my mom found in Libya," Jack
explained. "It's from Atlantis, which is where this coffin
came from. This guy is a survivor of Atlantis."
Jack Canyon and The Superweapon of Atlantis | CHAPTER TWO
Words: 2081
"This is really just great," the brunette said angrily. "Jack, you had to come here, first off. Then you had to go and get yourself caught!" She shifted her look to her captor. "He's always getting caught. When he was sixteen, I caught him masturbating."
"MOM!" Jack screamed out at her. His hazel eyes met with hers, they matched perfectly in color. Though, his appeared more furious. Jack's eyes were mostly green with a brown ring around the pupil of his eye. The lighting always made them appear more of one color sometimes.
"What?" Katelyn Canyon asked innocently. "Don't want this pretty young lady to know about your embarrassing moments?"
"Not really!" Jack argued. Then he sighed. "I can't believe this."
"You can't believe this?!"
"Oh, shut up," the German shouted. "Herr Canyon! You have the journal?"
"I don't know," Jack said. "Who am I dealing with?"
"Johanna Mahler," the woman spoke. "Your mother was so cooperative with us at the beginning. Then she started to slack on her work. I need you to translate this text."
"Again, I don't know," Jack replied. He looked back at his mother. "Why did you even mail it to me if you didn't want me to come here?"
"I didn't mail it," Kate stated plainly.
"Then who did?"
"I did," Johanna said victoriously. "Though, I sent men to find you six months after sending it."
"You blew up my home!" Jack cried out.
"If we could not have the journal, no one could," the German voice announced.
"It was a trap," Kate told him. "A ruse. They knew you would come once you knew what you had there."
"I must have been gone on one of my adventures," Jack mentioned to the gorgeous German woman.
"So, now that we have the small talk out of the way, decipher the scroll," Johanna ordered him.
"No," Jack told her.
"Fine," the German accent rang thickly in her voice. "Then you die."
Jack laughed at her for a moment. "Killing me won't do anything for you."
Johanna paused for a second and nodded. "You're right. Then she dies."
"And what was your purpose of coming here?" Jack's mom asked him.
"I came here to save you!"
"Such a wonderful job you're doing," she chastised him.
Jack was growing angry of her patronizing ways.
"So, who is going to come save you?" She asked.
Jack huffed and spun around with his fist, knocking Johanna back. "Let's go!" He yelled as he grabbed his mother's arm to drag her along.
"I can't believe you hit a woman," she said in shock.
"Well, you get used to it," Jack told her, remembering all the women he had to battle before.
"Funny what you get used to then, huh?" Katelyn asked still shocked and being dragged along.
"You have no idea," Jack answered as they moved through the hallways. He looked as nervous as a animal sitting in the waiting room of a veterinarian's office. Though he would say he was being alert. He kept an eye out for any German folk who would want to stop them or do harm to them. "So, who is that woman?"
"She's the owner of this castle, and a baroness of sorts," Kate told him as they neared intersecting hallways. "She's hoping to bring Germany back from its fall in the second World War."
"How did you meet this lovely individual?" He asked as he sneaked across the hall.
"She hired us," Kate replied cautiously. "My team and I were to excavate what she believed the be a tomb or temple. What we found was an ancient vault."
Jack paused and looked at her. He was curious. He caught her smile, because she knew she had his full attention.
"This was in Libya," Kate mentioned. "We were too late, though. Inside the temple was a single papyrus scroll, and nothing else. It seems as if someone had already raided the treasures."
Jack looked around the corner and spotted some men down the stairwell. "We'll have to continue this conversation elsewhere."
"What is it?" She peeked around the corner to see the men. "What now?"
"We go back," Jack told her as he turned, but he saw men coming toward them. "Not good."
The men screamed in German, alerting the others.
"Follow me," Jack yelled as he punched the closest man in the hallway. He spun and saw the others coming up the stairs. Without hesitation, he grabbed the rope tied in the corner near the small opening in the bricks which formed a window. He looked down at the table and then at the iron chandelier. "Come on!" He offered his hand to Kate.
She grabbed on and watched as he untied the rope. "You're insane!"
"I learned from the best," Jack told her with a cocky smile. He jerked her close and swung down into the room, landing on the wooden table in the center of the chamber. He held onto the rope tightly and let go of his mother. "Peace of cake."
"But what about them?" She pointed at the incoming men who had anger on their faces.
"There!" Jack yelled as he pointed at the only other exit. He let go of the rope, allowing the chandelier to crash into the table.
The German men halted for a moment to allow the shards and splinters to settle.
Jack and Kate were already gone from the room. They shifted through the maze of corridors and chambers.
"So, about that vault," Jack mentioned.
"I thought you wanted to wait until we were out of this mess, first," she replied.
As bullets tore into the wall just above their heads, Jack ducked low and looked back at her. "Okay, maybe we should wait."
"Good plan," Kate said as they moved into an empty chamber. She noticed the room had no exits, except for a window. She peered outside and then turned back to Jack. "Bad plan!"
"Don't worry," he stated as he locked the door. "I always have an escape route." He jumped up onto the window ledge
"When I woke up this morning, suicide wasn't on my agenda," Kate told him as she watched him climb up. She poked her head out of the window to see him climbing up a long flag. It appeared to be the insignia of Mahler's family crest. "God, Jack, you're insane."
Jack climbed all the way to the top, where a large brass-colored pole held the flag in place. He glanced down for a moment to make sure his mother was following him. Then he climbed over the ledge of the roof.
Kate followed behind him. She remembered her younger days being like this, but not now, not at this age. She reached the top and he helped her up.
"We have to keep moving," Jack told her as he moved across the rooftop. He spotted the courtyard at the heart of the castle and knew where he was. Beyond the east wall there was something white shimmering in the light. The night had seemed to linger forever, but finally, the sun was beginning to rise.
"I need a break, son," she panted. "I'm not as young as I used to be."
"Oh, come on, mom," Jack pleaded with her. "You're as good now as you ever were."
"Maybe in mind, my dear," she said leaning against a ledge for support. "I was like you, you know? Always seeking out adventure. It has taken its toll on my body in recent years."
"Okay, then," Jack agreed with a nod. "So, tell me. . ."
"About the vault?"
"No, this castle," he answered.
"It was built sometime in the mid--"
"No, about the layout," Jack interrupted. "I want to know what that is beyond the eastern wall."
"That?" She asked as she squinted to see. "It seems to be her own personal air field."
"Must be a new addition to castles that I didn't know about," he said. "Are you ready?"
"Let's go," she replied as he helped her up.
They moved quickly around the rooftops toward the east wall, where they discovered half a dozen small planes.
"Our way out," Jack stated as he headed down a staircase to the airstrip.
Before they could make it to the planes, gunfire rang out, forcing the duo to duck beneath a plane.
The planes were in two rows of three, allowing for some cover, but the men were advancing.
Jack maneuvered to the last plane on the first row. "Get in." He told Kate as he pulled the door open. "Be quiet." He closed the door and made sure it was secure. Then he moved around to the other side and climbed in.
Kate smiled proudly at her son. She just could not believe he mastered the skills of flying a plane. "Wow, son, you can fly a plane?"
"Sure," he replied. "I mean, who can't?" He started it up and steered it out onto the runway. He began to pick up speed as the Germans began firing at it, trying to slow them down or stop them completely.
"Where did you learn to do this?" She asked, still smiling proudly.
"You know, one of those computer games," Jack said as the plane began to lift up.
Kate felt her heart skip a few beats as the plane lifted off the ground. This was not a computer game.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked her. "You look pale."
"I'm fine," she answered. "Do you want to know about that vault now?"
"If it will put you to ease," Jack said.
"I think it will," she began to explain. "The vault was empty. I guess some Libyan looters arrived several hundreds or thousands of years ago. I mean, it hadn't been disturbed in ages. Besides, it had been pummeled by decades of sandstorms."
"Go on."
"Well, I found this scroll with a funny symbol in the corner," she told him as she pulled her journal from her pocket. "See this?"
Jack looked over at the strange symbol for a moment. "I've never seen anything like it before."
"Neither have I," Kate replied. "The linguist on my team began recording the language from the scroll into my journal. He even tried to translate it. He thinks the language is possible an older version of Latin."
"Huh?" Jack asked. "Older Latin? Like Old English?"
"Sort of," she replied.
Jack glanced out the window, then back at the "Old Latin." "Sciencia," he read. "Science."
"Well, there's more to it. It reads: I am a man of science from the land of Atlantia, or what we have translated to Atlantis."
"It talks about machines, a weapon that will level continents. . . It's a list," Jack noticed. "There's the symbol again, then Talus. What's that mean?"
"I believe it to be the man who wrote this," she explained.
"You mean, there is a survivor of the Atlantis disaster?"
"I think so," she replied. "Well, there's at least this one document."
"Libya, huh?" Jack asked. "I have some friends in the Mediterranean."
"Yeah?"
"Maybe they could help out," Jack said as the plane made an odd noise.
"What was that?" Kate asked in a panic.
"Eh," Jack answered. "That's the sound of the engine running out of fuel."
"Did you forget to fill her up before heading out?" She asked in a motherly tone.
Jack glanced back through the window to see the fluid spilling out of the tank in the rear. "More like we losing fuel to bullet holes."
"Where are we?"
"That's the coastline," Jack said as he pointed out the front window. "That looks like Italy and Greece." He jumped up from the seat and moved to the back. He tossed things about as he scoured through it.
"You can land this thing, right?"
Jack gave her a look of uncertainty.
"You did cover that in the computer games, didn't you?"
"Of course," Jack told her as he pulled out a parachute. "Though, there was always a wet tank. We're empty, dry as a bone." He continued to explore the plane, only to find nothing. "Uh oh."
"What, uh oh?"
"Only one chute!" He cried out as he rushed back to her.
"You go," she demanded. "I'm too old for this."
"Nonsense." He began to strap into the parachute and grabbed her, strapping her on as well. "You're coming with me."
"Oh, no, no, no!"
Before she could argue further, Jack had jumped from the plane.
"This is really just great," the brunette said angrily. "Jack, you had to come here, first off. Then you had to go and get yourself caught!" She shifted her look to her captor. "He's always getting caught. When he was sixteen, I caught him masturbating."
"MOM!" Jack screamed out at her. His hazel eyes met with hers, they matched perfectly in color. Though, his appeared more furious. Jack's eyes were mostly green with a brown ring around the pupil of his eye. The lighting always made them appear more of one color sometimes.
"What?" Katelyn Canyon asked innocently. "Don't want this pretty young lady to know about your embarrassing moments?"
"Not really!" Jack argued. Then he sighed. "I can't believe this."
"You can't believe this?!"
"Oh, shut up," the German shouted. "Herr Canyon! You have the journal?"
"I don't know," Jack said. "Who am I dealing with?"
"Johanna Mahler," the woman spoke. "Your mother was so cooperative with us at the beginning. Then she started to slack on her work. I need you to translate this text."
"Again, I don't know," Jack replied. He looked back at his mother. "Why did you even mail it to me if you didn't want me to come here?"
"I didn't mail it," Kate stated plainly.
"Then who did?"
"I did," Johanna said victoriously. "Though, I sent men to find you six months after sending it."
"You blew up my home!" Jack cried out.
"If we could not have the journal, no one could," the German voice announced.
"It was a trap," Kate told him. "A ruse. They knew you would come once you knew what you had there."
"I must have been gone on one of my adventures," Jack mentioned to the gorgeous German woman.
"So, now that we have the small talk out of the way, decipher the scroll," Johanna ordered him.
"No," Jack told her.
"Fine," the German accent rang thickly in her voice. "Then you die."
Jack laughed at her for a moment. "Killing me won't do anything for you."
Johanna paused for a second and nodded. "You're right. Then she dies."
"And what was your purpose of coming here?" Jack's mom asked him.
"I came here to save you!"
"Such a wonderful job you're doing," she chastised him.
Jack was growing angry of her patronizing ways.
"So, who is going to come save you?" She asked.
Jack huffed and spun around with his fist, knocking Johanna back. "Let's go!" He yelled as he grabbed his mother's arm to drag her along.
"I can't believe you hit a woman," she said in shock.
"Well, you get used to it," Jack told her, remembering all the women he had to battle before.
"Funny what you get used to then, huh?" Katelyn asked still shocked and being dragged along.
"You have no idea," Jack answered as they moved through the hallways. He looked as nervous as a animal sitting in the waiting room of a veterinarian's office. Though he would say he was being alert. He kept an eye out for any German folk who would want to stop them or do harm to them. "So, who is that woman?"
"She's the owner of this castle, and a baroness of sorts," Kate told him as they neared intersecting hallways. "She's hoping to bring Germany back from its fall in the second World War."
"How did you meet this lovely individual?" He asked as he sneaked across the hall.
"She hired us," Kate replied cautiously. "My team and I were to excavate what she believed the be a tomb or temple. What we found was an ancient vault."
Jack paused and looked at her. He was curious. He caught her smile, because she knew she had his full attention.
"This was in Libya," Kate mentioned. "We were too late, though. Inside the temple was a single papyrus scroll, and nothing else. It seems as if someone had already raided the treasures."
Jack looked around the corner and spotted some men down the stairwell. "We'll have to continue this conversation elsewhere."
"What is it?" She peeked around the corner to see the men. "What now?"
"We go back," Jack told her as he turned, but he saw men coming toward them. "Not good."
The men screamed in German, alerting the others.
"Follow me," Jack yelled as he punched the closest man in the hallway. He spun and saw the others coming up the stairs. Without hesitation, he grabbed the rope tied in the corner near the small opening in the bricks which formed a window. He looked down at the table and then at the iron chandelier. "Come on!" He offered his hand to Kate.
She grabbed on and watched as he untied the rope. "You're insane!"
"I learned from the best," Jack told her with a cocky smile. He jerked her close and swung down into the room, landing on the wooden table in the center of the chamber. He held onto the rope tightly and let go of his mother. "Peace of cake."
"But what about them?" She pointed at the incoming men who had anger on their faces.
"There!" Jack yelled as he pointed at the only other exit. He let go of the rope, allowing the chandelier to crash into the table.
The German men halted for a moment to allow the shards and splinters to settle.
Jack and Kate were already gone from the room. They shifted through the maze of corridors and chambers.
"So, about that vault," Jack mentioned.
"I thought you wanted to wait until we were out of this mess, first," she replied.
As bullets tore into the wall just above their heads, Jack ducked low and looked back at her. "Okay, maybe we should wait."
"Good plan," Kate said as they moved into an empty chamber. She noticed the room had no exits, except for a window. She peered outside and then turned back to Jack. "Bad plan!"
"Don't worry," he stated as he locked the door. "I always have an escape route." He jumped up onto the window ledge
"When I woke up this morning, suicide wasn't on my agenda," Kate told him as she watched him climb up. She poked her head out of the window to see him climbing up a long flag. It appeared to be the insignia of Mahler's family crest. "God, Jack, you're insane."
Jack climbed all the way to the top, where a large brass-colored pole held the flag in place. He glanced down for a moment to make sure his mother was following him. Then he climbed over the ledge of the roof.
Kate followed behind him. She remembered her younger days being like this, but not now, not at this age. She reached the top and he helped her up.
"We have to keep moving," Jack told her as he moved across the rooftop. He spotted the courtyard at the heart of the castle and knew where he was. Beyond the east wall there was something white shimmering in the light. The night had seemed to linger forever, but finally, the sun was beginning to rise.
"I need a break, son," she panted. "I'm not as young as I used to be."
"Oh, come on, mom," Jack pleaded with her. "You're as good now as you ever were."
"Maybe in mind, my dear," she said leaning against a ledge for support. "I was like you, you know? Always seeking out adventure. It has taken its toll on my body in recent years."
"Okay, then," Jack agreed with a nod. "So, tell me. . ."
"About the vault?"
"No, this castle," he answered.
"It was built sometime in the mid--"
"No, about the layout," Jack interrupted. "I want to know what that is beyond the eastern wall."
"That?" She asked as she squinted to see. "It seems to be her own personal air field."
"Must be a new addition to castles that I didn't know about," he said. "Are you ready?"
"Let's go," she replied as he helped her up.
They moved quickly around the rooftops toward the east wall, where they discovered half a dozen small planes.
"Our way out," Jack stated as he headed down a staircase to the airstrip.
Before they could make it to the planes, gunfire rang out, forcing the duo to duck beneath a plane.
The planes were in two rows of three, allowing for some cover, but the men were advancing.
Jack maneuvered to the last plane on the first row. "Get in." He told Kate as he pulled the door open. "Be quiet." He closed the door and made sure it was secure. Then he moved around to the other side and climbed in.
Kate smiled proudly at her son. She just could not believe he mastered the skills of flying a plane. "Wow, son, you can fly a plane?"
"Sure," he replied. "I mean, who can't?" He started it up and steered it out onto the runway. He began to pick up speed as the Germans began firing at it, trying to slow them down or stop them completely.
"Where did you learn to do this?" She asked, still smiling proudly.
"You know, one of those computer games," Jack said as the plane began to lift up.
Kate felt her heart skip a few beats as the plane lifted off the ground. This was not a computer game.
"Are you okay?" Jack asked her. "You look pale."
"I'm fine," she answered. "Do you want to know about that vault now?"
"If it will put you to ease," Jack said.
"I think it will," she began to explain. "The vault was empty. I guess some Libyan looters arrived several hundreds or thousands of years ago. I mean, it hadn't been disturbed in ages. Besides, it had been pummeled by decades of sandstorms."
"Go on."
"Well, I found this scroll with a funny symbol in the corner," she told him as she pulled her journal from her pocket. "See this?"
Jack looked over at the strange symbol for a moment. "I've never seen anything like it before."
"Neither have I," Kate replied. "The linguist on my team began recording the language from the scroll into my journal. He even tried to translate it. He thinks the language is possible an older version of Latin."
"Huh?" Jack asked. "Older Latin? Like Old English?"
"Sort of," she replied.
Jack glanced out the window, then back at the "Old Latin." "Sciencia," he read. "Science."
"Well, there's more to it. It reads: I am a man of science from the land of Atlantia, or what we have translated to Atlantis."
"It talks about machines, a weapon that will level continents. . . It's a list," Jack noticed. "There's the symbol again, then Talus. What's that mean?"
"I believe it to be the man who wrote this," she explained.
"You mean, there is a survivor of the Atlantis disaster?"
"I think so," she replied. "Well, there's at least this one document."
"Libya, huh?" Jack asked. "I have some friends in the Mediterranean."
"Yeah?"
"Maybe they could help out," Jack said as the plane made an odd noise.
"What was that?" Kate asked in a panic.
"Eh," Jack answered. "That's the sound of the engine running out of fuel."
"Did you forget to fill her up before heading out?" She asked in a motherly tone.
Jack glanced back through the window to see the fluid spilling out of the tank in the rear. "More like we losing fuel to bullet holes."
"Where are we?"
"That's the coastline," Jack said as he pointed out the front window. "That looks like Italy and Greece." He jumped up from the seat and moved to the back. He tossed things about as he scoured through it.
"You can land this thing, right?"
Jack gave her a look of uncertainty.
"You did cover that in the computer games, didn't you?"
"Of course," Jack told her as he pulled out a parachute. "Though, there was always a wet tank. We're empty, dry as a bone." He continued to explore the plane, only to find nothing. "Uh oh."
"What, uh oh?"
"Only one chute!" He cried out as he rushed back to her.
"You go," she demanded. "I'm too old for this."
"Nonsense." He began to strap into the parachute and grabbed her, strapping her on as well. "You're coming with me."
"Oh, no, no, no!"
Before she could argue further, Jack had jumped from the plane.
Jack Canyon and The Superweapon of Atlantis | CHAPTER ONE
Words: 1753
There it was. It sat at the location that had been labeled on the return address on the package Jack Canyon had received just over a year ago. The same package someone had wanted to kill him for the very day he returned home from his long journey chasing the Wiccan Stones.
The wind whipped against his face, causing Jack to shield himself with the long sleeves of his grey-colored T-shirt. It was not near as cold as it could be. Luckily, he caught the summer months.
Jack tugged at the belt loop on the new Carhartt's. They were the same material as the pants he wore before. This color was known as midnight, which was a light navy color. He adored his Carhartt's. No way could he part with them. They were the perfect adventure pants, since they were so tough and durable. Since he had his own store now, he could order the ones that he wanted.
Brunswick castle. One castle of many in the German state, but the only one this far out in the middle of nowhere. What was inside?
Jack noticed the large iron gate in front, since he stood before it examining a way in. The wall that extended out from the fence was made of stone and very large. It was impossible to scale it alone.
No guards, which was odd.
Jack began to investigate the surrounding area for something useful. He spotted large boulders near the cliff where the wall ended. He rushed toward it and leaped onto the top one, pushed himself up and back toward the wall. However, the boulders gave way and started to slide down the ravine. There was only one way down, now, if he didn't get up. Shit, he thought.
Finally, out of desperation, Jack pulled himself onto the top of the wall. Safe. He dropped down off it and made his way down a long bridge-like path that allowed passage over the ravine that surrounded the entire castle.
The entrance was a set of large wooden doors with large iron hinges and rings to pull the doors open.
Jack moved around to the left side of the castle to find another way in. The front door was too obvious, and not near as fun. Nothing. So, he turned and walked to the right of the doors where he spotted a long drop down. However, there was a small balcony below. He swung his legs over the edge and then dropped. It seemed the small ledge was for some kind of maintenance purposes on the bridge.
A small pipe above him grabbed Jack's attention. He held onto it with his hands and began to maneuver down the base of the castle. When he ran out of pipe to follow, he noticed a window about three feet above him. He reached up, but it was too far. He pulled himself up, unable to hold himself there very long, and placed his knees onto the slim pipe. He only had one chance at this. He pushed himself up and grabbed the window with his hands. He grunted as he tried to pull himself up. Placing the toe of his boot onto the pipe, he shoved off and fell into the room.
It was an empty room, thank God. Not only of people, but furniture.
Jack moved to the door straight ahead, but it was locked. He didn't want to push it and make too much noise, so he turned right to the only other door in the room. He prayed it would open, because the other way out was the window, and he didn't want to go that way again. To his amazement, it opened with ease.
Moving along, Jack found himself outside again on a small bridge that led to another door. As he closed in on it, the door began to open. Thinking fast, Jack leaped off the bridge and grabbed a large chain which housed a lantern. It swung outward and toward another chain, which Jack grabbed onto. He released the other and began to climb up.
Two men had exited the door and stood out on the bridge to take a smoke break. They watched as the chain the lantern was hung on swing by. They looked at one another then up at the side of the tower. Nothing. They shrugged and continued to smoke.
Jack breathed deeply as he peeked down at them from above. He let out a long deep breath and moved on. He was at the top of a tower where he could see the entire castle now. He took note of the layout and even spotted the tallest tower. Maybe what he needed was in there.
A staircase on the other side of the tower led down into the heart of the castle where he was sure he would meet obstacles. Taking it slow, Jack inched around the wall, trying to keep out of site as he moved beneath a balcony where a German stood watching the area.
Safe. Jack made it passed the man undetected and into a long hallway full of doors. He slowly stepped forward doing his best to keep his boots silent. He was watching his steps when he heard a slow creaking noise. The door, he thought. Someone was coming.
A German man in a black suit had pushed open the door at the far end of the corridor and was making his way through.
Jack darted into the closest room to hide. He thought he was safe, but he heard someone from behind him speak in German. He spun around and met a big fist which connected with his chin. Jack stumbled back. Before he could retaliate, the large man had what felt like a vice around his neck. Then he felt his back pummel the door.
The man who had been in the hall heard the door rattle and tried to open it to check.
Jack struggled against the mammoth of a man to loosen his choke hold. He could not get free. Instead, the man threw Jack across the room and into the wall.
The other man entered to see the brawl.
The large man thrust his fist at Jack, who ducked. The man's fist collided with the wall, breaking one of the bricks in half. He grimaced in pain.
Jack forced his knee into the man's gut, forcing him to drop to his knees. He looked up and met another punch from the other guy. He shook his head trying to regain his bearings. Finally, he threw his own punch, knocking the man back. He spun and kicked the large man in the side, taking him out of the fight.
Turning to exit through the door, Jack received a kick to his chest. He winced and grabbed his chest. Before he knew it, the man grabbed him and threw him through the stain glassed window. He shielded his eyes as he crashed through, but opened them after. Jack found his safety net, a chain right outside. He grabbed hold as he swung out. Shifting his weight, he came back and drove both feet into the man's chest.
Once he stopped swinging, Jack moved up the chain. He reached another room, where he entered and found it empty. Sneaking down a staircase, he continued his journey through the massive castle.
The next chamber contained a large round table in the center, as if it were a board room. A chandelier was set in the center with a rope holding it in place. The rope moved up to the ceiling then toward the wall, where it was tied. Someone could lower or raise the candle light chandelier from there.
Jack moved up half a flight of steps where he found another corridor. A continuous maze was all this castle was. He found himself scanning the doors as he moved onward, finally reaching the end, which was bridge-like area that led toward the large tower. He stopped directly outside the door. Too obvious, he thought. So he climbed out the glassless window and onto the room of the bridge.
This was the highest point of the entire castle, aside from the large tower before him. He glanced around and back seeing the far side where he started. The fall was great from this height.
Jack placed his foot into a whole in the tower's rocks, and then placed his hand into a higher one. He pulled himself up an continued his trek upward, but soon he had to move horizontal, as that direction was the only place he could climb. He reached a large extension of the tower, there were four. When he pulled himself onto it, he realized they were gargoyles. He had reached the top.
He examined closely the top of the tower. It had a clay, dome-like top on it. No way could he climb over it. He looked for a way in and found one, but it would be difficult to get to. He jumped out toward the other gargoyle and caught it, but barely. As he slipped, the statue began to break near the tower. He looked down for his window and spotted it just as the structure gave way.
Using all his might, Jack pushed himself up off the falling gargoyle and grabbed onto the window's ledge. The statue made a loud crashing sound below. He pulled himself into the window to see an older woman bound to a chair. He moved around in front of her and took off her gag.
"Are you alright?" Jack asked.
"You shouldn't have come," she replied. "It's too dangerous."
"Well, I had to do something," Jack told her. "I got this in the mail." He pulled out a small, leather-bound journal. He moved around again and untied her.
"Oh, Jack," the woman said. "You really shouldn't have come here. I didn't send that to you."
"Then who did?"
"I did!" A female voice shouted from the dark corner of the room. Her voice was filled with a thick German accent. "I was hoping it would have summoned you here."
"Well, you got your wish," Jack said.
"That I did," the blonde woman smiled wickedly.
"This is just wonderful," the dark haired woman spoke. "Really. It's great. Just great."
Jack looked up from the dark haired woman and to the blonde, who still had that wicked, cocky grin, as if she had won some great victory. Jack sighed.
There it was. It sat at the location that had been labeled on the return address on the package Jack Canyon had received just over a year ago. The same package someone had wanted to kill him for the very day he returned home from his long journey chasing the Wiccan Stones.
The wind whipped against his face, causing Jack to shield himself with the long sleeves of his grey-colored T-shirt. It was not near as cold as it could be. Luckily, he caught the summer months.
Jack tugged at the belt loop on the new Carhartt's. They were the same material as the pants he wore before. This color was known as midnight, which was a light navy color. He adored his Carhartt's. No way could he part with them. They were the perfect adventure pants, since they were so tough and durable. Since he had his own store now, he could order the ones that he wanted.
Brunswick castle. One castle of many in the German state, but the only one this far out in the middle of nowhere. What was inside?
Jack noticed the large iron gate in front, since he stood before it examining a way in. The wall that extended out from the fence was made of stone and very large. It was impossible to scale it alone.
No guards, which was odd.
Jack began to investigate the surrounding area for something useful. He spotted large boulders near the cliff where the wall ended. He rushed toward it and leaped onto the top one, pushed himself up and back toward the wall. However, the boulders gave way and started to slide down the ravine. There was only one way down, now, if he didn't get up. Shit, he thought.
Finally, out of desperation, Jack pulled himself onto the top of the wall. Safe. He dropped down off it and made his way down a long bridge-like path that allowed passage over the ravine that surrounded the entire castle.
The entrance was a set of large wooden doors with large iron hinges and rings to pull the doors open.
Jack moved around to the left side of the castle to find another way in. The front door was too obvious, and not near as fun. Nothing. So, he turned and walked to the right of the doors where he spotted a long drop down. However, there was a small balcony below. He swung his legs over the edge and then dropped. It seemed the small ledge was for some kind of maintenance purposes on the bridge.
A small pipe above him grabbed Jack's attention. He held onto it with his hands and began to maneuver down the base of the castle. When he ran out of pipe to follow, he noticed a window about three feet above him. He reached up, but it was too far. He pulled himself up, unable to hold himself there very long, and placed his knees onto the slim pipe. He only had one chance at this. He pushed himself up and grabbed the window with his hands. He grunted as he tried to pull himself up. Placing the toe of his boot onto the pipe, he shoved off and fell into the room.
It was an empty room, thank God. Not only of people, but furniture.
Jack moved to the door straight ahead, but it was locked. He didn't want to push it and make too much noise, so he turned right to the only other door in the room. He prayed it would open, because the other way out was the window, and he didn't want to go that way again. To his amazement, it opened with ease.
Moving along, Jack found himself outside again on a small bridge that led to another door. As he closed in on it, the door began to open. Thinking fast, Jack leaped off the bridge and grabbed a large chain which housed a lantern. It swung outward and toward another chain, which Jack grabbed onto. He released the other and began to climb up.
Two men had exited the door and stood out on the bridge to take a smoke break. They watched as the chain the lantern was hung on swing by. They looked at one another then up at the side of the tower. Nothing. They shrugged and continued to smoke.
Jack breathed deeply as he peeked down at them from above. He let out a long deep breath and moved on. He was at the top of a tower where he could see the entire castle now. He took note of the layout and even spotted the tallest tower. Maybe what he needed was in there.
A staircase on the other side of the tower led down into the heart of the castle where he was sure he would meet obstacles. Taking it slow, Jack inched around the wall, trying to keep out of site as he moved beneath a balcony where a German stood watching the area.
Safe. Jack made it passed the man undetected and into a long hallway full of doors. He slowly stepped forward doing his best to keep his boots silent. He was watching his steps when he heard a slow creaking noise. The door, he thought. Someone was coming.
A German man in a black suit had pushed open the door at the far end of the corridor and was making his way through.
Jack darted into the closest room to hide. He thought he was safe, but he heard someone from behind him speak in German. He spun around and met a big fist which connected with his chin. Jack stumbled back. Before he could retaliate, the large man had what felt like a vice around his neck. Then he felt his back pummel the door.
The man who had been in the hall heard the door rattle and tried to open it to check.
Jack struggled against the mammoth of a man to loosen his choke hold. He could not get free. Instead, the man threw Jack across the room and into the wall.
The other man entered to see the brawl.
The large man thrust his fist at Jack, who ducked. The man's fist collided with the wall, breaking one of the bricks in half. He grimaced in pain.
Jack forced his knee into the man's gut, forcing him to drop to his knees. He looked up and met another punch from the other guy. He shook his head trying to regain his bearings. Finally, he threw his own punch, knocking the man back. He spun and kicked the large man in the side, taking him out of the fight.
Turning to exit through the door, Jack received a kick to his chest. He winced and grabbed his chest. Before he knew it, the man grabbed him and threw him through the stain glassed window. He shielded his eyes as he crashed through, but opened them after. Jack found his safety net, a chain right outside. He grabbed hold as he swung out. Shifting his weight, he came back and drove both feet into the man's chest.
Once he stopped swinging, Jack moved up the chain. He reached another room, where he entered and found it empty. Sneaking down a staircase, he continued his journey through the massive castle.
The next chamber contained a large round table in the center, as if it were a board room. A chandelier was set in the center with a rope holding it in place. The rope moved up to the ceiling then toward the wall, where it was tied. Someone could lower or raise the candle light chandelier from there.
Jack moved up half a flight of steps where he found another corridor. A continuous maze was all this castle was. He found himself scanning the doors as he moved onward, finally reaching the end, which was bridge-like area that led toward the large tower. He stopped directly outside the door. Too obvious, he thought. So he climbed out the glassless window and onto the room of the bridge.
This was the highest point of the entire castle, aside from the large tower before him. He glanced around and back seeing the far side where he started. The fall was great from this height.
Jack placed his foot into a whole in the tower's rocks, and then placed his hand into a higher one. He pulled himself up an continued his trek upward, but soon he had to move horizontal, as that direction was the only place he could climb. He reached a large extension of the tower, there were four. When he pulled himself onto it, he realized they were gargoyles. He had reached the top.
He examined closely the top of the tower. It had a clay, dome-like top on it. No way could he climb over it. He looked for a way in and found one, but it would be difficult to get to. He jumped out toward the other gargoyle and caught it, but barely. As he slipped, the statue began to break near the tower. He looked down for his window and spotted it just as the structure gave way.
Using all his might, Jack pushed himself up off the falling gargoyle and grabbed onto the window's ledge. The statue made a loud crashing sound below. He pulled himself into the window to see an older woman bound to a chair. He moved around in front of her and took off her gag.
"Are you alright?" Jack asked.
"You shouldn't have come," she replied. "It's too dangerous."
"Well, I had to do something," Jack told her. "I got this in the mail." He pulled out a small, leather-bound journal. He moved around again and untied her.
"Oh, Jack," the woman said. "You really shouldn't have come here. I didn't send that to you."
"Then who did?"
"I did!" A female voice shouted from the dark corner of the room. Her voice was filled with a thick German accent. "I was hoping it would have summoned you here."
"Well, you got your wish," Jack said.
"That I did," the blonde woman smiled wickedly.
"This is just wonderful," the dark haired woman spoke. "Really. It's great. Just great."
Jack looked up from the dark haired woman and to the blonde, who still had that wicked, cocky grin, as if she had won some great victory. Jack sighed.
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