Curse of Atlantis (20 page)

The days wore on and Javier, Burt, Jack
,
and Darrien searched tirelessly from dawn to dusk. As the nights rolled in, they spent long hours discussing the data, refining their choices
,
and planning their next moves. Shortly after Burt arrived, the four eliminated two locations per day, working through the southern shores of Kapsali in a week’s time. With each mountain that was checked off their list, little by little their hopes began to fade.

Javier stood at the top and scanned the mountains around him. Deep sadness consumed him. In the two weeks since Serena’s kidnapping, he had pushed his heavy frame to its breaking point and with the realization that half the island was searched and nothing was found, his physical exhaustion was now compounded by emotional fatigue.

Javier crumpled the list into a ball and threw it angrily down the mountain. With little energy to stand, he collapsed to the ground, coming to rest on his knees.

“I’m failing her,” he said under his breath. “I’m doing my best and it still isn’t good enough.”

He brought his hands to his tired eyes and rubbed them. Slowly, tears rolled down his face as sadness began to overtake him. Rocking back and forth, he quietly wept.

Off in the distance, Burt, Jack and Darrien packed up the tools and gear
,
and prepared to hike down the mountain. Looking around for Javier, Jack spotted him. Silhouetted by the setting sun, he watched
Javier's
profile as he rocked back and forth over his knees.

“Why don’t you
guys
go on without us? We’ll catch up with you in a little while,” Jack said, now motioning to Javier.

Seeing his old friend in pain, Burt responded, “I won’t leave him like this.”

“It’s ok, Burt. I’ve got this. We won’t be long,” Jack replied.

Looking back to Javier, Burt felt a lump in his throat as he thought about the tragedy for the Aristas. He wanted to give some words of comfort to his friend, but knew whatever he was thinking would only come through in tears.

Looking back to Jack
,
he said, “I won’t leave him. We’ll wait.”

With an understanding nod, Jack turned and walked to Javier.
Kneeling down beside him, Jack put his arm around his shoulder.

“I’m sure glad we’re done with this side of the island. I knew it was
n’t
down here anyway. If I were the King of Atlantis, I would have built my city to the north, along the coast of
Palaiopoli
,
” Jack started, his voice soft, yet confident. “Think about it. It’s less rugged, easier to build on, has an impressive valley that rises up from the shoreline and it’s just more aesthetically pleasing when viewed from the sea… at least that’s w
hat I think. Don’t get me wrong.
I like Kapsali. It’s quaint. It’s cozy. It’s rugged. It’s picturesque with that huge monolith rising out of the ocean a couple miles off shore, but it just doesn’t have that expansive feel that Palaiopoli has.”

He paused a moment, looked to see if Javier was listening, then continued.

“Yup, there’s just no comparison between the two. If I
were
a king, I’d want my rivals to be impressed by the size and greatness of my city… the bigger the better. I don’t think I’d settle for a quaint little island nook like Kapsali. No way… I’d definitely pick a monster of a location like Palaiopoli and build a huge metropolis that starts at the shoreline and rises up through the valley so that when dignitaries come to visit, they can see every house, every monument, every building, even before they step foot onto land.”

He looked over again. Javier’s hands were in his lap and he was now listening intently.

“And if I were going to build a pyramid in my name, I’d want everyone to see it. If I built it in Kapsali, the damn pyramid would probably be hidden by all that rugged terrain. And what would be the point of that?
On top of that,
its remote location would make it nearly impossible to construct.”

Jack
paused for effect, then continued.

“Nope, I’m thinking if I were King of Atlantis, I woul
dn’t waste my time with Kapsali. M
aybe I’d build an outhouse there or burger-stand, but definitely not a pyramid. In
my mind, it’s a no-brainer.
I’d pick
Palaiopoli.
Access to the mountains is easier if I wanted to build it high and the valley is picturesque if I wanted to build it low.

“Yup, I’m glad we’re done with this area. Not that it was a waste of time, mind you. It gave us the experience we all needed to fine tune our skills. But now that we’re sharp as tacks, we should be able to find that pyramid on
Palaiopoli in
no time.”

Jack looked to Javier. Slowly, he saw a subtle nod from his friend and a slight smile.

“You’re right, Jack!” Javier blurted out. “It makes sense. It all makes sense. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. If I were King of Atlanti
s, I too would pick Palaiopoli.
It’s got to be there!”

Javier stood quickly, now energized by his own words. Turning to Jack, he said, “What are we waiting for? We’ve got some more planning to do.”

He hurried off past Jack, now optimistic about the future. As Jack followed close behind, Javier stopped and turned. With an appreciative smile, he said simply, “Thanks.”

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

The following morning, Jack stood outside a small roadside café in the seaside city of
Palaiopoli
and sipped his coffee. As the others waited
for
their breakfast, he scanned the landscape inland of the city and tried to envision a pyramid. Moving from mountains to hills to valleys and back, he took mental note of the land’s natural layout and contemplated the easiest location to build such a grand structure.

Looking to the northeast, he considered the large mountain that stood high above the city. As part of a ridgeline that extended to the west, he quickly discounted it due to its height. Towering at nearly a thousand feet in elevation, it was far too high for a tsunami to reach.

He looked directly to his north at the valley that sloped upward to another mountain range a couple of miles away. Aside from a few subtle outcroppings of stone, the landscape seem
ed
relatively benign.

To his west and south, the terrain turned dramatically different. Mountainous and rugged, the many hills seemed to be separated by ravines that reached far inland, allowing accessibility to the more remote locations.

Scanning the area to the south, his eyes caught a smaller pointed hill that stood off from the higher mountains that surrounded it. He considered its location and size and made a mental note to point it out to Javier and Burt before they left.

Continuing his visual search, he located the mountain that had
caught his attention the day on
the boat ride. With the smaller ridgelines that seemed to end abruptly as it ascended higher, something about it seemed peculiar, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Jack, ready to go?” Darrien called out from behind him. “The others are waiting in the car.”

Turning quickly, he replied, “Yeah, give me a minute. I’ll be right there.”

As Darrien began to walk away, Jack added, “Hey
amigo
, what do you think of that mountain out in the distance?”

Darrien stopped and looked in the direction Jack was pointing.

“It’s pretty tall, way higher than the elevation the tsunami would have reached, don’t you think?” he responded.

“For sure, but look at the area in front of it,” Jack continued.

“What about it?” Darrien replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Maybe I’m wrong, but
there are
a couple of ridgelines that slope upward and dead-end way before the top. Do they look natural to you?”

“I’m still not following… natural? That whole area below the mountain looks like part of the main mountain. Nothing unnatural about that if you ask me,” Darrien replied.

As Jack stared at the mountain, Darrien grew impatient.

“Jack, we’d better go. Javi’s in a real hurry this morning.”

With a simple nod, Jack turned and walked with Darrien, his mind still left behind at the base of the mountain.

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

Checking his watch, Javier looked up at Jack and Darrien as they rounded the corner. Excitedly, he called out, “Come on guys, times a
-
wasting.”

“Told you he was in a hurry,” Darrien said quietly to Jack as they neared.

Jack smiled cordially to Darrien, then turned his attention to Javier and Burt as they sat in the open Range Rover.

“So what’s the plan for today? There
’
re quite a few targets in the southwest,” he said, pointing toward the mountains behind him.

“Last night, Burt and I went over the data and found a couple of locations that I think look very promising. The first is that pointed hill off in the distance,” Javier said, now pointing.

“Wow, what a coincidence. I was just going to mention it to you,” Jack responded.

“It’s the most obvious location in the area. It has the right height,
shape,
and access,” Burt said, cutting in before Javier could respond.

With an excited grin, Javier continued.

“The next likely target is that mountain over there,” he said, pointing again, this time to a mountain almost due west, that was situated alongside a ravine.

“Hmm, I saw that one too. It’s kind of far
away though, don’t you think?” Jack said.

“It is, but we’re speculating that the soils in front of it were deposited there because of the tsunami. We know the tsunami must have taken the path of least resistance, so
we’re speculating it
flowed up the valley and was redirected by the mountain range to the north,
pushing
it over the smaller ranges
to the west. As it picked up
debris f
rom
all those mountains, we think that most of it was deposited along the ravines and smaller hills.”

“I get it. I
t basically swirled counterclockwise around and out of the valley,” Jack said, summing up their prediction.

“Exactly. So, if we think along those lines, there are several most likely choices that fit our criteria,”
Javier said.

“What do you think the chances are we find the pyramid today?” Darrien asked.

“I don’t want to jinx us, but I’d say pretty good. These two locations today have the closest resemblance to a buried pyramid,” Burt said.

“So, what’s the plan? Are we going as a group or are we splitting up, two guys per mountain?” Jack asked.

“If we had another GPR device, we’d split up, you and me at one location, and Burt and Darrien at the other. Unlike the Kapsali region, our targets are spread out far apart, so with only one device, we’ll be going as a group,” Javier explained. “It should still go fast, though. We’ll just run our tests concurrently… Burt and I each taking a different sensing platform. We should still be able to analyze two mountains a day.”

As the four drove off, Jack’s mind drifted off to Serena. He felt tormented as he thought of her suffering at the hands of her captors. He tried to visualize her the day they kissed, her soft sweet face radiating with beauty, but his mind wouldn’t allow it. Each time, his mind saw her not as happy and well, but as a worn and beaten victim.

He tried to push the image from his mind, but the intensity of it burned away at his heart. His feelings for her were growing with each day and the feeling that he might never see her again tortured his soul.

In his saddened state, he felt drained. With strength and determination, he refused to be overcome by the debilitating emotion. Fighting the feeling, he closed his eyes and concentrated on her smile and the happy times he envisioned for their future. Little by little, as the sadness faded, it was replaced by hope and determination.

~~~~~  ~~~~~  ~~~~~

Javier walked with a purposeful stride.
After weeks of work and exercise, he had dropped considerable weight.
Although he
still
had trouble keeping up with the three men, for the first time since they began searching, he was now only a short distance behind as they hiked up the side of the mountain. Energized by the hope of success, he ignored his body’s cry for rest and pressed on.

As they made their way through the heavy brush and boulders, Javier and Burt stopped to take readings on the soil. With each test they completed, their excitement grew as the reading
s showed
positive result
s
.

Cresting the top of the hill, the four men dropped their packs and rested momentarily. Sitting on a tuft of grass, Javier took the opportunity to test the soil once more. With his trowel in hand, he began to dig a hole. Burrowing down six inches deep, he retrieved another soil sample and matched it up with the Munsell Color Chart.