Curse of Atlantis (2 page)

Looking up, exuberance and excitement gleamed from the eyes of their king. He was enjoying every moment of the morbid sight.

Suddenly, the ceiling began to drop. Looking up
,
the four men screamed for their lives as the massive wall of rock hurled down upon them. In a moment of desperation, one tried to crawl to safety, but it was of no use. The ceiling quickly descended and
struck
them where they had fallen. As the force impacted their bodies, the sheer weight of the massive stone crushed their bones and flesh into a thin layer that spread across the chamber
'
s floor. For a moment, there was only pie
r
cing silence.

What seemed like minutes, in reality was mere seconds. As sudden as the
deadly spectacle ha
d
started, it
was over
. King Orion stepped back from the entrance and surveyed the results.
The ceiling now lay as one large tile across the floor
,
while
the far doorway to the next chamber was now blocked
by
another door.

“Impressive… good work Keidis,” he said boldly, still staring at the carnage that lay in front of him. Turning back to Keidis, he continued, “Now, reset the chamber.”

“Yes, my king,” Keidis replied in saddened tone.

Keidis walked to the altar and lifted the crystal globe from the table. Instantly, the round column began to rise. In seconds, it stabilized at its original height and the sound of flowing sands and grinding stone roared through the chamber.

King Orion watched in curiosity as the heavy stone ceiling began to rise. As it moved through his eye level, he gazed upon the remains spread across the floor that were once four human beings. Nodding in satisfaction, he turned to Keidis.

“Did you see the fear on the faces of those men?” he asked with callous detachment.

As the large door began to slide across the doorway,
Keidis swallowed hard as he struggled to hold back his emotions. Unable to look his king in the eyes, he stared at the floor and replied simply, “I did, my king.”

“Those faces of fear will
be the same for
anyone who dares to rob the king’s tomb,” he said proudly. He paused a moment, then continued:
“Let it be forever known, these words, these inscriptions, a
re not idle phrases uttered by
common scribes. They are the curses of a great king that carry the promise of death. Pay heed to their message.”

“Yes, my king,” Keidis replied once more, unable and unwilling to say much else to someone so repugnant.

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

As the two exited the pyramid, King Orion breathed in a great satisfying breath of air. He looked down upon the valley that was his city, the city of
Atlantis
. He surveyed his kingdom and felt energized by its greatness and beauty.

Turning to Keidis he said, “My Empire is great, greater than the mighty Zeus. I will expand it and reign as king of the world… and all will know me as god.”

“Long live King Orion,” Keidis replied in
an
obligatory tone.

Chapter
2

PRESS CONFERENCE:
NEW
YORK
CITY
...

The confere
nce hall of the Marriot Marquis
in downtown
Manhattan
,
New York
City
was jam packed with spectators waiting
for
the news of Atlantis. Rows of chair
s
were set up and dozens
of people
lined the entrance hours before the doors opened, hoping to find a seat close enough to catch a glimpse of the now infamous scrolls and crystal globe. As the doors opened, in an act reminiscent of rock concerts, dozens rushed in to find a seat close to the stage, behind reserved seating.

The stage held dozens of cameras and miles of wiring as the technicians frantically moved about, insuring all equipment functioned properly. Nothing was overlooked. With only minutes to spare, the final preparations were complete
d
.

Jack Roberts looked at his tie in the mirror and tugged and pulled at the knot, slowly distorting its irregular triangular shape. Shaking the nervous tension out of his hands, he
grasped
the knot once more, only to distort it further.

“Dammit, why do we have to wear these stupid things anyway?” he called out in frustration.

“Because they look nice,” Serena Arista replied simply.

Jack
stared at
Serena
in the mirror for a moment and admired her beauty. T
wenty-seven
years old with Latin features
and an athletic build,
she wasn’t just beautiful. Her PhD in Archeology proved she was every bit as smart as she was good looking.

Jack looked back at his tie and pulled at the knot once more, molding it into
something
now completely unrecognizable.

“I give up. You have to be a freakin’ genius to tie one of these
stupid
things,” Jack spouted angrily
.

“Let me give you a hand, Jack,” Serena said.

“You know how to tie ties... and you let me suffer through all this?" he asked, now pretending to be offended.

“I could have helped, but then where would the fu
n be in that?" Serena shot back, now smiling.

“Ha Ha, very funny. Next time you’re having trouble unsnapping your bra, don’t even think about asking me for help
,
” Jack replied, still trying to sound offended.

Although Jack was twenty
-eight, tall,
muscular,
and handsome with brown hair and eyes, Serena thought
his
greatest asset was
not so much his good looks, but
his wit and humor.

“Nice try
,
”
she chuckled to herself.

“Eh, never give up?” he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“As I’ve noticed.”

With his tie perfectly tied, Jack checked the knot in the mirror. He smiled at Serena’s hidden talent.

“Where’d you learn to do that?” he asked.

“College.”

“Time well spent,”
he
said with a smile.

Just then, an announcement echoed from the stage outside the dressing room.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats. The press conference will be starting shortly.”

Jack turned to Serena and asked, “Nervous?”

“A little," she replied, honestly. "You?”

“Me? I’m like a rock… nerves of steel,”
he
responded, bloating his chest in exaggerated form.

“Uh huh... Look, if they start asking you questions you can’t answer, just remember to say,
'
I’ll defer that to my colle
a
g
u
es
'
and one of us will answer the question for you. Ok?” Serena replied in serious tone, saving Jack the possibility of embarrassment.

“Thanks,” he
said, sincerely.

Moments later, Serena’s father, Javier Arista
,
entered the dressing room.
Although he was short, fat and bald, his piercing green eyes exuded confidence as well as class that left no doubt
about his character.

“Ok
,
guys, this is it. We’re on stage in one minute. Damn, this is exciting isn’t it?” he said, wringing his hands in anticipation.

“I think I soiled myself,” Jack responded in typical humorous fashion.

“Lucky for you the camera shoots
from
the waist up,” Javier added with a smile.

“Damn lucky,” Jack replied, simply.

Motioning toward the door, Javier led the way out of the room and onto the lighted stage. In seconds, the bright lights changed slightly and the microphones went live.

On cue, Dr. Burt Samuelson began to speak:

“Good afternoon. My name is Dr. Burton Samuelson. Today we stand at a momentous occasion… the revelation of Atlantis. For
thousands
of years, the great city of
Atlantis
was considered nothing more than an ancient fable. Today, that fable has become a reality. If you’ll allow me, I’d like to share with you the story behind its discovery. I promise you
it will be entertaining,” he
started.

Standing in at six foot two inches tall, Burt was in his late fifties, slim with short gray hair. He
took a quick sip of water, then continued:

“Several years ago, a brave young man by the name of Jack Roberts flew his tiny float plane up from
South America
, coming home after climbing a dangerous snowcapped mountain in the
Andes
… alone. As he flew up through the
Caribbean
Island
chain, he spotted a flash of light emitting up from the ocean, about fifty miles off the coast of
Turks
and
Caicos
Island
. Curious about this strange anomaly, he threw caution to the wind and landed his float plane on the ocean
,
investigat
ing
further. As he floated on the surface, the light shined up as a bright golden color and he noticed that it had a strange shape about it… a pyramid shape to be exact. After snapping photos and recording some videos, he took off and returned to his home in CT. With college, his first job, and the complexities of life occupying his time, he soon forgot about that strange pyramid-shaped light... That was until he saw me on TV describing the ancient El-Harra Desert Tablets I had recently discovered.”

Burt flashed Jack a quick smile, then continued:

“As he watched me described the hieroglyphics etched on those tablets, Jack’s keen eye spotted a symbol… a pyramid shaped symbol with
a striking
resemblance to the one he had seen years before in the ocean. Jack quickly sent me a photo alerting me to his amazing find, only to be rejected by the authority on the subject… me,” Burt said, making fun of his embarrassing mistake.

“Undaunted, Jack loaded up his plane once more and flew down to
Caicos
Island
in search of the golden pyramid. Once there, he used the
GPS
coordinates he had saved from years before and flew to the site where he hoped he would find the ancient artifact.”

“Making several flights and landing in the ocean, Jack’s dives proved fruitful. On the first dive, he discovered an ancient urn, the one you see on display,” Burt said, pointing to the table with the artifacts.

A light shined on the urn, turned off, then another spotlighted Burt once more.

“The second dive resulted in even greater riches. It was on this dive Jack discovered a crystal cask that contained a series of ancient scrolls. These scrolls have proved to be not only the oldest recorded word in history…
but more importantly, they are the irrefutable proof that Atlantis did exist,” Burt said in a commanding voice, now drawing all eyes to the table of artifacts.

“Unfortunately, Jacks enthusiasm surpassed his intellect and he made another dive on that same site… alone,” Burt said, now shooting Jack a sarcastic glare. With a playful wink, he continued:

“What happened next will cause a brave man to shudder. As Jack searched for the golden pyramid, fifty miles from civilization and one hundred feet below the ocean’s surface, his floatplane, his lifeline
,
was savagely attacked by a pod of whales. He stumbled upon it in a twisted heap of wreckage
as he swam along
the ocean’s floor.”

Burt paused a moment as the audience gasped in shock, then continued:

“Resourceful and quick thinking, Jack was able to raise one of the floats from the plane to the surface and create a makeshift raft. This raft remained his home for the next month as he battled raging storms, no food, extreme dehydration, not to mention waging hand to tooth combat with a shark,” Burt said in ominous tone. “You’ll be happy to know, Jack won that battle,” He added jokingly.

The audience laughed, quieted
quickly,
and continued to listen.

“It was only by a strange stroke of luck that just before his body gave out, he somehow set off an emergency locator transmitter found in a first-aid kit given to him just before he left. Miraculously, a commercial jet stumbled upon the beacon and radioed the US Coast Guard for help.”

Pausing for effect, he then continued:

“The rescue was nothing short of Herculean. Battling twenty and thirty foot seas, the crew of the HH60 helicopter managed to reach Jack mere seconds after he was struck by an enormous wave that sent him deep beneath the ocean’s surface. With time running out
, the
crew member leapt from the helicopter, located Jack under the
water,
and pulled him to safety. Had they arrived just seconds later, we’d be talking about Jack in the past tense.”