Chapter 2
I peered into the darkness. As I listened to the screams my mind automatically conjured up cultural images of Hell. Curiosity overtook caution and I began descending the steps. They seemed to go down forever. Steep, narrow steps into the abyss. Finally they opened into a cavern--no, that's the wrong word, it was more like an underground city. It spanned miles from one end to the other. Earthmovers around the perimeter gave the impression that it was ever getting bigger.
There were people everywhere. And, what I could only assume were aliens. Huge reptilian creatures with beaks like hawks and feet like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, things that looked like giant centipedes, creatures that looked like reptilian monkeys.
And at the very center of it all was a pool, like a lake, and on either sides of them were two metal piers. On one pier people were escorted calmly to the end, where they kneeled, turned their head, and something fell out of their ear and dropped fatly into the water. The person, then, began kicking and screaming to get away, but were promptly dragged away by the seven-foot-tall reptilian things and locked into cages. At the other pier, the people from the cages were dragged, kicking and screaming, to the end, where their heads were thrust under and they calmly lifted their heads and walked away. Images of Hell indeed.
I peered into the darkness. As I listened to the screams my mind automatically conjured up cultural images of Hell. Curiosity overtook caution and I began descending the steps. They seemed to go down forever. Steep, narrow steps into the abyss. Finally they opened into a cavern--no, that's the wrong word, it was more like an underground city. It spanned miles from one end to the other. Earthmovers around the perimeter gave the impression that it was ever getting bigger.
There were people everywhere. And, what I could only assume were aliens. Huge reptilian creatures with beaks like hawks and feet like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, things that looked like giant centipedes, creatures that looked like reptilian monkeys.
And at the very center of it all was a pool, like a lake, and on either sides of them were two metal piers. On one pier people were escorted calmly to the end, where they kneeled, turned their head, and something fell out of their ear and dropped fatly into the water. The person, then, began kicking and screaming to get away, but were promptly dragged away by the seven-foot-tall reptilian things and locked into cages. At the other pier, the people from the cages were dragged, kicking and screaming, to the end, where their heads were thrust under and they calmly lifted their heads and walked away. Images of Hell indeed.