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"Now now professor take things in their time, there are good reasons as you well know why the ancients sealed this place up so tight and that's because they don't want treasure hunters like us getting in" the man speaking was a tight lipped man with a black trimmed moustache. His head was uncovered, and he looked compared to his accomplice quite young.
"How much longer are you idiots going to take to open this door? I haven't got all day" the much larger man, was rather fat and had that genius like air that only the Eggman could have brought to a larger than life state. His fingers were curled around crude photocopies of an ancient map "Put your back into it men! You there! What are you doing?"
"Sorry sir!" said a younger man just past 20 "I was merely stopping to think"
"Think? Think? What are you about!? Now you listen here! I do the thinking, you do the work, now get some more oil on those torches, I don't want to have to resort to string, and be quick about it before I change my mind about your graduation"
The man hurried off with a brief nod and a worried glance at the much thinner man.
"Don't you think you were a bit harsh professor?"
"You can't be harsh on these youths, they have it easy these days, just look at the echidnas, they knew how to keep their people in line"
The room, that I have so far neglected to describe was a long a musty smelling corridor. There was a darkness about the room that the flickering torches did nothing to hide. Wind whistled distantly from the sandy recesses above and came eerily down through the passage ways like a snake shivering every spine.
"Do you really believe that this place once flew? In the sky?"
"No doubt" returned the Professor "No doubt my dear Arthur, from the transcriptions that lead us too this site, it raises the question of how many islands were there? And how many of them were able to float!"
"Professor, I would like at this moment to comment on my extreme distaste of Knuckles the Echidna, not only did he say he would not tell us the secret behind the floating island, but he would have nothing to do with our most recent endeavors either"
The Professor chuckled. He truly had a burly almost Junker nature about him that made you cringe at his extreme knowledge, and sadly his huge ego run ignorance.
"I believe, his words were, if you don't mind me quoting "There is only one island, and that island belongs to me, you are wasting your time"" the two laughed together before the professor continued, waving his finger like he did to so many poor students "And now my dear Knuckles what do you call this? Since it was his ignorance that refused to be any help on this matter, I shall take great pleasure in publishing his blunder with my discovery side by side on the front page of the Times"
A huge chunk came from the circular door, and it tilted clockwise and locked in position again.
"Come on now men what are you doing?" grumbled the professor looking at his watch "Have you cracked the combination yet or what?"
"I didn't know the Echidnas had a form of safes" murmured Arthur. The fat professor smiled only half listening to the anguished reply of the chief worker "Yes indeed, they were a very advanced race, pity their offspring had to be so disappointing" Arthur chuckled "What I am looking for is this symbol here!"
Arthur turned and looked at the photocopy "What is it professor? Is this what you have spent so much time dwelling on these past few nights?"
"The bright star I presumably believe to be part of the artwork, but this scribble next to it reads as far as I can work out in our words "Sacred Treasure" but the other two below it I cannot as yet understand"
"Very interesting" chuckled Arthur "I do believe this will make you very rich professor.
"If it didn't I wouldn't be here" returned the professor with a smug grin. There was a large clunk and the huge door moved again. It slid round quite a way this time, and one man fell to the hard stone floor sweating with exhaustion. The professor tapped his watch with an irritated expression. He was about to speak when the most interesting thing happened, the door slid two notches and then stopped.
There was dead silence, nothing happened. The man on the floor groaned and rolled aside, a friend of his, soaked through, his white t-shirt dripping with sweat helped the man aside to get a glass of water.
"You blundering idiots!" shouted the professor after awhile "Now we're back to where we started again, look I recognize that symbol, you've turned the whole door right round in a circle! I'll be damned if I'll pay you a penny for this!"
"Easy professor!" countered Arthur "They're doing their best, let them rest and we'll try again tomorrow"
"Tomorrow isn't good enough!" he screamed in a fit of rage, going as red as a burning copper "I want that door opened now! What am I paying you all for?"
Suddenly he paused. There was another clunk, and then after awhile another much louder one that echoed throughout the whole passageway. Stale air whistled through a gap in the door.
What then happened was for those who have experienced it know what it feels like. An entire minute of silence passed by, as if all the figures had been frozen in time. Every ear was listening for the sound and was concentrating on what was going to happen. The tired out man breathed as quietly as he could, and the others slowly took steps back from the door and watched.
In the center of the circular door was an ancient picture of an echidna, in its hand was a large spear with a gem on top. The fact that the picture had been turned for about three hours slowly back round to its original position, had irritated the professor to no end. He stared at it now as the enemy, and every thought in the room was bent on seeing the puzzle of the door crumble. That or the uncomfortable possibility that the Professor would continue his shouting.
"What's going on?" whispered someone there was some muffled agreement and the professor immediately raised his hands with a loud and quick "Shh!"
They waited, and waited. There was another more distant clunk, and then suddenly the door opened. It split up into seven parts, each with a part of the echidna on it. Unnoticed until now, was the fact that the seven parts also aligned with seven pictures of faded gems. The professor stared in awe at the room within as the stone door segments slid into the wall.
As the door opened a huge rush of wind came through that knocked the tray of water over and sent many of the torches out. The Professor could be heard shouting in the blizzard, but none could make out his words. His hat went flying off down the corridor. The wind gradually died down to a gentle musty breeze, and the Professor stood panting and red in the face. Arthur came back from a little way down the hall and handed the gray haired professor his hat, dusting it down as best as he could.
"Thank you Arthur" he murmured. Without any hesitation the Professor whose name I'd like to give now as James, stepped forward and through the gap. There was some murmuring of stopping him, but he stopped himself just a little way inside the room, it was very dark. He stepped back quickly in shock looking seemingly at the floor. The shadows of the room seem to swamp him entirely for an entire second.
"What is it?" queried Arthur trying to get a better look without actually coming too close.
"There's a great damn Abyss down there" panted James out of breath "Not easy for someone like me with a weak heart and Vertigo" he breathed heavily again and took his hat off and put it to the side "One more step and I'd have been dead".
"Easy now" whispered Arthur, he pulled up an old wooden chair for the professor to sit down on. Once the great man had eased his bulk, Arthur's face changed and he turned back to the bystanders.
"You!" he pointed "Get some light, throw a torch down so we can see how deep it is"
James was too out of breath to look but the others did. Taking torches in hand, they watched as the burning embers fell softly leaving a trail of sparks down the great hole. A soft whistling deathly cold breeze still came from below. Arthur raised his eyes, and listened to the distant sound below of wood hitting stone. He could see the light below, a dull tiny speck of flickering flame.
It took several days to even light up the room let alone arrange the pulleys and platforms to descend the pit. At all times someone had to be above to work the thing. Images and scriptures were all over the walls, and several of the more well paid members of the gang were at work translating them. To the workers dissatisfaction, these intellectuals only turned up after the hard and difficult physical work was all done.
The room was very large with a tall stone roof, the whole thing was shaped like a cylinder, with a very small ledge round the side. Metal fencing had been put up to stop people falling off, even so it wasn't too hard to fall if you tried.
"Have you discovered anything useful?" asked Arthur looking up at one of the men, who was perched up on a crude wooden ladder. He had a magnifying glass in his hand. He took a while to respond; he put a pen in his teeth, and the sound when he did speak was a call to one side of the mouth in a monotone.
"Most interesting" he murmured "Most of what we've found is a story, we can't unravel the finer points, that will take time, but this passage here took my interest, apparently there's something similar on professor James' map"
"What is it?" asked Arthur folding his arms.
"Treasure, and also a dire warning of death and destruction, plagues you mention it we've found a lot of death threats"
"Can you make anything of it all?" continued Arthur "Is it the king they are talking about as a tyrant? His actions, or do you think there are still more booby traps to come?"
The man on the ladder sighed as if he were talking to a complete idiot. This was probably what he was thinking, but the stress was lost on Arthur "Death threats are very common to these kind of tombs, it's not at all surprising to find several in this room, it does mean however that it's quite likely that we're close to the so called treasure"
"Good" smiled Arthur "That's what I want to hear"
"If I may quote sir, I do find it a bit strange at the mentioning of Chaos god of destruction, this maybe a warning out of the blue sir, but Chaos in ancient Echidna is the put down of the put downs, it's sacrilege to use it in a case like this, it seems almost a little Oxymoronic if I do say so myself. The god Chaos was only talked about in times of war and on scriptures that tell us of the darkest periods in their history, the fact that an echidna has written it on this wall, could mean he was punished with death shortly afterwards"
"Oh I don't care about all that" waved Arthur "Just give me the good news so that I can keep James happy, is that lift safe? He's got Vertigo you know, and I don't want him getting the creeps when that thing starts swaying like mad"
The man frowned with disgust "Sir if you don't mind me saying so, I translate texts, not manipulate the physics of wooden elevators" he stressed his job very strongly, and glared at the thin young man before him with inner contempt.
"Yes yes your quite right" sighed Arthur before the man could continue "I'll get someone on it straight away" and he turned back into the passageway "Where's James?" he said turning on the nearest bystander who wasn't up a ladder or well paid.
"The professor sir?" he said as if he only knew that name "He went up to get a breath of fresh air sir"
Arthur grumbled and walked back down the corridor. The candles on the wall burned fiercely.
"Easy now Professor, close your eyes it won't last much longer" comforted Arthur in soft as possible words. The professor in a brown waistcoat was hanging onto Arthur and the small wooden barrier for dear life. It swayed slightly as it came down, but to the people on board it felt as if they were on a boat.
James was red in the face with eyes closed and breathing like mad "Think of the sea professor, think of the sea!"
"I don't like the bloody sea either" moaned the professor putting a hand to his head to wipe the sweat, no sooner had he done so he realized he had taken his hand off of Arthur and with a quick moan and desperate grab he took hold of his shoulder again.
"Oh dear" sighed Arthur to himself "Then think of all the money you're going to get from this expedition, lots and lots of cold hard cash! That would cheer any man up"
The professor seemed about to retort when his lip curved and he smiled as if having a dream amongst a nightmare "Oh yes mmm. money, I like the sound of that, rich. say it again"
"Money, gems, fame, front page! You will be very very rich professor, enough to live on for the rest of your life"
"Mmm, seems almost to good to be true" and he started slowly to chuckle, before the platform suddenly hit the side of the chamber with a great jolt, and the professor resorted right back to moaning and grabbed an even tighter hold of Arthur.
"Watch what you're doing you idiots!" shouted Arthur irritated that someone had ruined his attempts to calm the professor down "You'll be in trouble when we get back up!"
"I've a good mind to leave him down there" mumbled the man at the pulley, to his friend.
It took quite awhile of waiting, but eventually they heard a crash, and knew that the wooden crude lift had touched down on the floor.
"Damn, I forgot the torches" groaned Arthur stepping out of the platform, he realized suddenly that the professor was still gripping his arm "It's ok professor, it's over now, you can leave the platform"
He whimpered slowly opening his eyes to find he was on level ground, and quickly seemed to regain his confidence. Wiping his forehead he stepped out in all ways wobbly but at least in his eyes confident.
"Throw us a light!" shouted Arthur, the sound was no more than a soft murmur from below. One of the men seemed to understand and through down a second torch. The flame flickered as it fell and almost went out.
"Watch out below!" he called back and Arthur and James quickly stole back into the shadows and spread their arms against the wall. The torch landed with a much much louder sound than before and Arthur hurriedly picked it off of the lift before the great wooden platform caught fire. Taking up the old previously lit torch, he relit it and handed it to James, himself keeping hold of the new one "right then, we're all set"
"According to my map, this chamber should be where the treasure is" smiled the professor regaining his burly and pompous nature. The torch like his re-lit confidence lead the way suddenly round the room, where he quickly discovered another passageway "Follow me Arthur, this is it"
It was incredibly dark now, the light from the chasm above no longer reached down here. All they had to rely on was their torches.
"Look at these symbols" whispered Arthur holding his torch up to the stone, glowing embers fell softly to the floor, and stayed alight awhile before going out "These must have taken months to get them all drawn out"
"That one there says death" smiled the professor coming over in a matter of fact way "I'd recognize that anywhere"
"As a matter of notice James, one of the guys up the top, mentioned Chaos, he said it was rather unusual, does that ring any bells with you?"
James shrugged it aside with a quick role of his eye balls "Chaos, he's the Kracken of the Echidnas, the dragon of the eclipse, nothing special, every civilization has one at some time"
"What about Christianity?"
"Lucifer of course, come on, I'm getting tired of these dire warnings, can we please move on Arthur? We can let the team deal with this rubbish"
A low murmur of wind filled the tomb that made Arthur look up suddenly "What was that!?" he whispered going deathly still. He looked about him worriedly and James turned impatiently back towards him.
"What was what Arthur?" grumbled James turning his torch in the direction of the passage.
"That noise"
"Decompression Arthur, this air has been here for several thousand years, its no surprise it wants out, a bit like the food they serve round here"
"Very funny" grumbled Arthur "That curry had me up all night, so where's this treasure?"
"That's what I think we're about to find out" smiled James continuing along the passageway "The map seems to be quite clear that it was through that last door, but never mind, I suppose accuracy wasn't on their mind when they wrote it, they neglected to tell me of that chasm back there"
"I'm sure they would be very sorry to hear you complain" grumbled Arthur under his breath, but James either chose not to hear or wasn't listening.
The conversation stopped there for quite awhile as the two took a steady pace down the corridor. This unlike the original where the door was circular was a rectangle passage and quite narrow. Room for three to walk abreast and no more, it had a cramped feel to it, and it was hard to breath. The conversation which had remained dormant was reawakened suddenly when James suddenly hollered in the dark and disappeared from sight.
"James!" shouted Arthur looking about him wildly "Where did you go!? What's going on?"
He was left for a short while on his own in the darkness. He heard a muffled noise from below him "I'm down here" grumbled the voice. Arthur took some steps closer and peered over the edge. The passageway stopped and descended three feet to a sandy surface below.
"Are you alright?" called Arthur stressing every syllable, but the way he did it only seemed to make the professor grumble. He realized immediately that it wasn't necessary for him to call they were close enough already.
"Is it ok for me to come down?" asked Arthur after more quietly. He could here James moving below with what sounded like the tinkling of metal "give me you hand" came the voice from below.
Arthur outstretched it and pulled the huge fat man up. He wheezed and laughed his head off as he strained to get back into the corridor. He managed it with great effort on both sides and they sat staring at each other with torches in hand. James was smiling Arthur simply looked amused.
"What's so funny?" he asked pensively.
James smiled and held out his hand. Arthur looked and raised his eyebrows. Pensively he brought the flame closer illuminating the hand in an orange glow.
"My my" he said his face lighting up "Solid gold coins, jackpot James, Jack! Pot! What what?"
A couple of moments later several members of the team came along the passageway with fresh torches, and burning eyes of greed. They were prepared to rip the tomb apart from ceiling to floor, and destroy the honor of the ancient race. Looking at the gold the team smiled, riches galore and treasures of the echidnas, it made know difference if the "spirits" were offended. But to them of course it was but a present thing, rather than a single event in the greater scheme of things.
The team worked much as they had before. Working on scriptures and fixing up torches on the walls, the translators found pretty much the same kind of things. "Death, destruction, plague" the same things that they had found before. Another wooden elevator was set up next to the other so that more people could descend or ascend at one time. This was the excuse given when in actual fact, the removal of the treasure was proving more taxing than had been expected and two elevators had been set up in case one broke.
The treasure room itself was a huge square room with gold chairs and objects everywhere. The room was originally 6 feet deep but three feet had been filled with golden coins. Thus began the removal of the sacred treasure. People scooped up gold into plastic pouches ready to be sold to museums everywhere for very high prices. Vases cracked and crumbled were found buried under gold coins and the whole room was taken apart bit by bit. It had been literally been stacked with treasure. As the days went on, torches began to line the walls, and a ladder was set up so that people could get down easily.
And thus James found his supreme Jackpot in the very center of the room. The death container of the king himself, a solid box of gold and blue intricate designs with his face painted with gold on the front. They waited until the room was clear before they tried to move the sarcophagus. Time passed as they worked around it moving the gold away. But the day finally came and several strong men lifted it up with careful pulleys and brought it up the lift to the passageway above. The intense eyes of the echidna's face on the front of the box stared out at everybody with a grim expression, only James seemed ignorant enough to stare it in the face.
They wheeled it out of the cylindrical room James and Arthur on either side as the work men grunted and groaned moving the thing slowly down that long circular corridor.
"This is a great day" smiled James as the light at the end of the tunnel came closer.
"It is indeed" smiled Arthur "You will be remembered James" yet he said this in a very unfeeling way, that made James glance briefly at him. The large man felt perhaps rather hollow for a brief second. He had taken the king away from his resting place and brought him out into the light. Perhaps he should stop now? And take the king back, it would be the only decent thing he should do, and fill the room with the treasure again. But no it was too late now. He had to go through with it, they wouldn't let him back out.
And besides wasn't this what he had always wanted? A great discovery? Would the outside world mock him? No why should they! This was a great historical discovery. He could just imagine the little children in schools saying his name as a great explorer and historian, he smiled inwardly.
The light came closer and they finally came out into the sleepy desert sands outside. Looking round James smiled as he saw the old lorry that had all the treasure stacked up in side of it. Around the site were numerous tents, and the water container van. They carefully loaded the sarcophagus into the back when they heard a distant noise of screeching wheels on dessert sand. James turned hurriedly round to see a large lorry coming over the distant track. The translators and workers and members of the team all looked up from their places of study to see the thing come closer.
A great huge lorry it was, with silver sides to it gleaming under the sun. It parked very near them leaving a trail of dust in the sandy path that was not that much different from the near by main roads. James stared at it vaguely. This was impossible, they were supposed to be the only people who knew about the location. He had done his absolute best to keep it a complete secret! Had he ordered some supplies by mistake on the last day? In a split second men got out of the lorry and ran towards the opposite vehicle, they all had black shiny guns.
"What is the meaning of this!?" shouted James looking about him in panic. Arthur was next to him and didn't seem in the least bit surprised. The men had a dessert military camo dress, though the person who walked up to James had a white lab coat. He looked the man up and down and glanced briefly at Arthur.
"Are you James Fisherman? Professor of History of ancient Hieroglyphs at Station square university?"
James looked around at the people with guns. Black shiny glasses hid their eyes, and their mouths were covered with filters. If they were smiling or frowning he honestly couldn't tell. For a moment he was tempted to say no but he changed his mind quickly knowing that there was no one to back him up, or take his place.
"Yes I am, and what are you about coming here with those dangerous weapons! I work for a free Capitalist nation not some middle-east dictatorship what are you about?" the irony of this was back stabbing.
"May we see the sarcophagus?" continued the man glancing again at Arthur.
"No" said James quickly "No you may not, and if you don't leave very soon I shall ring the police"
The man in the lab coat frowned briefly and spoke again, interlocking his fingers in a patient gesture "Mr Fisherman, I don't believe you understand your stature at the moment, when I ask you a question I expect you to answer cooperatively"
"Just do as he says James" sighed Arthur "We've got no choice"
James frowned and went red in the face. He seemed about to reply, when looking over the soldiers, and glancing once suspiciously at Athur he stormed back into the lorry saying "Follow me then"
The lab-coated man entered the back with Arthur and James and came up to the sarcophagus. The face looked ever gleaming even in the dark cool recesses of the lorry. The white eyes seemed ever more menacing, perhaps it was the first time that James had noticed it. Some other trinkets of treasure were towards the back, but most of the extent of the treasure had already been taken away or stored in other lorries. James smiled to himself knowing that they couldn't get their hands on the rest of it.
The lab coated man looked once around the interior and then at the container below him. He showed know fear of superstition at the face before him, he was a very dull and simulated man.
"Open it" he said shortly and fiercely to James.
James looked at him uncomprehendingly, then at Arthur and then at the box "I can't damn well open it because it's fixed together, and also if I may say so opening it now could have seriously damaging effects to the mummified skeleton inside"
The lab coated man looked at his watch and seemed irritated. He flicked a finger back at the men behind him and a semi automatic machine gun was thrown to him.
"What the devil are you doing!" shouted James, but before he could say anything else the man walked up to the coffin, put one big black booted foot on the side and started shooting holes in it at the seam. At this moment James threw into a frenzy and it took Arthur to hold him back. The professor could see dollars flying as bits of chipped wood and gold splattered onto the floor, the noise of the gun was extremely loud with no silencer. After he had made his way round the entire box, took a step back and kicked the lid off. It landed with a clang against the back of the lorry.
"You idiot!" screamed the professor shaking his fists wildly. Arthur restrained him further, putting his arms round his huge belly and pulling the professor to his knees.
Inside was an ancient echidna skeleton, it's head back and shapeless mouth open. In its hand was a dark black gem, the bony fingers were clutched round it tightly in a death vice like grip. The man with his boot on the edge looked about the inside briefly, and pointed to an inscription.
"What does that read?" he said to James quietly.
It took Arthur awhile to persuade the red faced professor to comply and when he did he still growled and looked at the man with hate filled eyes. He traced his fingers across the pictures looking them up and down "Death, something about shadow, and this gem hear, I can't make the rest out"
For the first time the lab coated man smiled. Arthur stepped away and grinned "Thank you very much James you've been a great help, unfortunately my good friend I'm going to have to say good bye"
To the professor's surprise the voice wasn't from the man with the coat. James looked back horrified at the thin young man before him, his black moustache seeming now rather sinister.
"You scumbag!" said James standing to his feet "You set me up all along, I thought you looked fishy right from the start, you didn't look like a man from the press"
"I'm afraid that doesn't concern you anymore old boy, because I'm going to have to do you away" from a concealed pouch, Arthur took out a small but dainty silenced pistol, and pointed it at the professor's head "Any last requests?"
James looked around the lorry and at the lab coated man who remained with a stern expression. His black hair and face hair of the same couler gave away little emotion from within. He held the machine gun much the same way in which he would hold a hat at a funeral or his fingers when he first came.
"Yes" sighed James "As you're going to do me in, before you do. I'd like to know who do you both work for?"
Arthur chuckled "A good choice, shall I tell him?" he gestured to the lab- coated man.
"Go ahead" he replied solemnly "If it makes him happy it will do him little good"
Arthur turned his head back fixed onto James. The fat man if he was a little quicker off of the mark could have used the moment to try and grab the gun, but even that would have been hopeless. Besides, the lab-coated man still held the machine gun, and seemed to know what he was doing plus he was trapped in the lorry with a dozen or so soldiers outside.
Arthur smiled and held up a card with his picture and name on it "G.U.N enterprises ltd. good bye James, it was a pleasure working with you"
A short sharp shot filled the air, a little like the sound of a squeaking sofa when a heavy person sits on it. James fell to the floor by the skeleton. Arthur looked away disgusted, he still hadn't gotten used to the sight of blood "What about the rest of them?"
The man in the lab coat nodded briefly and turned with his black boots to the soldiers out side of the van as if he had just finished putting the signature on a finished document "Kill them all" he said quite audibly. The soldiers rushed off and shots were heard, Arthur stepped over the body, and looked at the gem. He bent down and looked more carefully at it squatting on his toes. Outside he could hear the sounds of the shouts and screams of the workers and technicians "So this is what we spent so much time looking for?" the gem gleamed with darkness.
"Now now professor take things in their time, there are good reasons as you well know why the ancients sealed this place up so tight and that's because they don't want treasure hunters like us getting in" the man speaking was a tight lipped man with a black trimmed moustache. His head was uncovered, and he looked compared to his accomplice quite young.
"How much longer are you idiots going to take to open this door? I haven't got all day" the much larger man, was rather fat and had that genius like air that only the Eggman could have brought to a larger than life state. His fingers were curled around crude photocopies of an ancient map "Put your back into it men! You there! What are you doing?"
"Sorry sir!" said a younger man just past 20 "I was merely stopping to think"
"Think? Think? What are you about!? Now you listen here! I do the thinking, you do the work, now get some more oil on those torches, I don't want to have to resort to string, and be quick about it before I change my mind about your graduation"
The man hurried off with a brief nod and a worried glance at the much thinner man.
"Don't you think you were a bit harsh professor?"
"You can't be harsh on these youths, they have it easy these days, just look at the echidnas, they knew how to keep their people in line"
The room, that I have so far neglected to describe was a long a musty smelling corridor. There was a darkness about the room that the flickering torches did nothing to hide. Wind whistled distantly from the sandy recesses above and came eerily down through the passage ways like a snake shivering every spine.
"Do you really believe that this place once flew? In the sky?"
"No doubt" returned the Professor "No doubt my dear Arthur, from the transcriptions that lead us too this site, it raises the question of how many islands were there? And how many of them were able to float!"
"Professor, I would like at this moment to comment on my extreme distaste of Knuckles the Echidna, not only did he say he would not tell us the secret behind the floating island, but he would have nothing to do with our most recent endeavors either"
The Professor chuckled. He truly had a burly almost Junker nature about him that made you cringe at his extreme knowledge, and sadly his huge ego run ignorance.
"I believe, his words were, if you don't mind me quoting "There is only one island, and that island belongs to me, you are wasting your time"" the two laughed together before the professor continued, waving his finger like he did to so many poor students "And now my dear Knuckles what do you call this? Since it was his ignorance that refused to be any help on this matter, I shall take great pleasure in publishing his blunder with my discovery side by side on the front page of the Times"
A huge chunk came from the circular door, and it tilted clockwise and locked in position again.
"Come on now men what are you doing?" grumbled the professor looking at his watch "Have you cracked the combination yet or what?"
"I didn't know the Echidnas had a form of safes" murmured Arthur. The fat professor smiled only half listening to the anguished reply of the chief worker "Yes indeed, they were a very advanced race, pity their offspring had to be so disappointing" Arthur chuckled "What I am looking for is this symbol here!"
Arthur turned and looked at the photocopy "What is it professor? Is this what you have spent so much time dwelling on these past few nights?"
"The bright star I presumably believe to be part of the artwork, but this scribble next to it reads as far as I can work out in our words "Sacred Treasure" but the other two below it I cannot as yet understand"
"Very interesting" chuckled Arthur "I do believe this will make you very rich professor.
"If it didn't I wouldn't be here" returned the professor with a smug grin. There was a large clunk and the huge door moved again. It slid round quite a way this time, and one man fell to the hard stone floor sweating with exhaustion. The professor tapped his watch with an irritated expression. He was about to speak when the most interesting thing happened, the door slid two notches and then stopped.
There was dead silence, nothing happened. The man on the floor groaned and rolled aside, a friend of his, soaked through, his white t-shirt dripping with sweat helped the man aside to get a glass of water.
"You blundering idiots!" shouted the professor after awhile "Now we're back to where we started again, look I recognize that symbol, you've turned the whole door right round in a circle! I'll be damned if I'll pay you a penny for this!"
"Easy professor!" countered Arthur "They're doing their best, let them rest and we'll try again tomorrow"
"Tomorrow isn't good enough!" he screamed in a fit of rage, going as red as a burning copper "I want that door opened now! What am I paying you all for?"
Suddenly he paused. There was another clunk, and then after awhile another much louder one that echoed throughout the whole passageway. Stale air whistled through a gap in the door.
What then happened was for those who have experienced it know what it feels like. An entire minute of silence passed by, as if all the figures had been frozen in time. Every ear was listening for the sound and was concentrating on what was going to happen. The tired out man breathed as quietly as he could, and the others slowly took steps back from the door and watched.
In the center of the circular door was an ancient picture of an echidna, in its hand was a large spear with a gem on top. The fact that the picture had been turned for about three hours slowly back round to its original position, had irritated the professor to no end. He stared at it now as the enemy, and every thought in the room was bent on seeing the puzzle of the door crumble. That or the uncomfortable possibility that the Professor would continue his shouting.
"What's going on?" whispered someone there was some muffled agreement and the professor immediately raised his hands with a loud and quick "Shh!"
They waited, and waited. There was another more distant clunk, and then suddenly the door opened. It split up into seven parts, each with a part of the echidna on it. Unnoticed until now, was the fact that the seven parts also aligned with seven pictures of faded gems. The professor stared in awe at the room within as the stone door segments slid into the wall.
As the door opened a huge rush of wind came through that knocked the tray of water over and sent many of the torches out. The Professor could be heard shouting in the blizzard, but none could make out his words. His hat went flying off down the corridor. The wind gradually died down to a gentle musty breeze, and the Professor stood panting and red in the face. Arthur came back from a little way down the hall and handed the gray haired professor his hat, dusting it down as best as he could.
"Thank you Arthur" he murmured. Without any hesitation the Professor whose name I'd like to give now as James, stepped forward and through the gap. There was some murmuring of stopping him, but he stopped himself just a little way inside the room, it was very dark. He stepped back quickly in shock looking seemingly at the floor. The shadows of the room seem to swamp him entirely for an entire second.
"What is it?" queried Arthur trying to get a better look without actually coming too close.
"There's a great damn Abyss down there" panted James out of breath "Not easy for someone like me with a weak heart and Vertigo" he breathed heavily again and took his hat off and put it to the side "One more step and I'd have been dead".
"Easy now" whispered Arthur, he pulled up an old wooden chair for the professor to sit down on. Once the great man had eased his bulk, Arthur's face changed and he turned back to the bystanders.
"You!" he pointed "Get some light, throw a torch down so we can see how deep it is"
James was too out of breath to look but the others did. Taking torches in hand, they watched as the burning embers fell softly leaving a trail of sparks down the great hole. A soft whistling deathly cold breeze still came from below. Arthur raised his eyes, and listened to the distant sound below of wood hitting stone. He could see the light below, a dull tiny speck of flickering flame.
It took several days to even light up the room let alone arrange the pulleys and platforms to descend the pit. At all times someone had to be above to work the thing. Images and scriptures were all over the walls, and several of the more well paid members of the gang were at work translating them. To the workers dissatisfaction, these intellectuals only turned up after the hard and difficult physical work was all done.
The room was very large with a tall stone roof, the whole thing was shaped like a cylinder, with a very small ledge round the side. Metal fencing had been put up to stop people falling off, even so it wasn't too hard to fall if you tried.
"Have you discovered anything useful?" asked Arthur looking up at one of the men, who was perched up on a crude wooden ladder. He had a magnifying glass in his hand. He took a while to respond; he put a pen in his teeth, and the sound when he did speak was a call to one side of the mouth in a monotone.
"Most interesting" he murmured "Most of what we've found is a story, we can't unravel the finer points, that will take time, but this passage here took my interest, apparently there's something similar on professor James' map"
"What is it?" asked Arthur folding his arms.
"Treasure, and also a dire warning of death and destruction, plagues you mention it we've found a lot of death threats"
"Can you make anything of it all?" continued Arthur "Is it the king they are talking about as a tyrant? His actions, or do you think there are still more booby traps to come?"
The man on the ladder sighed as if he were talking to a complete idiot. This was probably what he was thinking, but the stress was lost on Arthur "Death threats are very common to these kind of tombs, it's not at all surprising to find several in this room, it does mean however that it's quite likely that we're close to the so called treasure"
"Good" smiled Arthur "That's what I want to hear"
"If I may quote sir, I do find it a bit strange at the mentioning of Chaos god of destruction, this maybe a warning out of the blue sir, but Chaos in ancient Echidna is the put down of the put downs, it's sacrilege to use it in a case like this, it seems almost a little Oxymoronic if I do say so myself. The god Chaos was only talked about in times of war and on scriptures that tell us of the darkest periods in their history, the fact that an echidna has written it on this wall, could mean he was punished with death shortly afterwards"
"Oh I don't care about all that" waved Arthur "Just give me the good news so that I can keep James happy, is that lift safe? He's got Vertigo you know, and I don't want him getting the creeps when that thing starts swaying like mad"
The man frowned with disgust "Sir if you don't mind me saying so, I translate texts, not manipulate the physics of wooden elevators" he stressed his job very strongly, and glared at the thin young man before him with inner contempt.
"Yes yes your quite right" sighed Arthur before the man could continue "I'll get someone on it straight away" and he turned back into the passageway "Where's James?" he said turning on the nearest bystander who wasn't up a ladder or well paid.
"The professor sir?" he said as if he only knew that name "He went up to get a breath of fresh air sir"
Arthur grumbled and walked back down the corridor. The candles on the wall burned fiercely.
"Easy now Professor, close your eyes it won't last much longer" comforted Arthur in soft as possible words. The professor in a brown waistcoat was hanging onto Arthur and the small wooden barrier for dear life. It swayed slightly as it came down, but to the people on board it felt as if they were on a boat.
James was red in the face with eyes closed and breathing like mad "Think of the sea professor, think of the sea!"
"I don't like the bloody sea either" moaned the professor putting a hand to his head to wipe the sweat, no sooner had he done so he realized he had taken his hand off of Arthur and with a quick moan and desperate grab he took hold of his shoulder again.
"Oh dear" sighed Arthur to himself "Then think of all the money you're going to get from this expedition, lots and lots of cold hard cash! That would cheer any man up"
The professor seemed about to retort when his lip curved and he smiled as if having a dream amongst a nightmare "Oh yes mmm. money, I like the sound of that, rich. say it again"
"Money, gems, fame, front page! You will be very very rich professor, enough to live on for the rest of your life"
"Mmm, seems almost to good to be true" and he started slowly to chuckle, before the platform suddenly hit the side of the chamber with a great jolt, and the professor resorted right back to moaning and grabbed an even tighter hold of Arthur.
"Watch what you're doing you idiots!" shouted Arthur irritated that someone had ruined his attempts to calm the professor down "You'll be in trouble when we get back up!"
"I've a good mind to leave him down there" mumbled the man at the pulley, to his friend.
It took quite awhile of waiting, but eventually they heard a crash, and knew that the wooden crude lift had touched down on the floor.
"Damn, I forgot the torches" groaned Arthur stepping out of the platform, he realized suddenly that the professor was still gripping his arm "It's ok professor, it's over now, you can leave the platform"
He whimpered slowly opening his eyes to find he was on level ground, and quickly seemed to regain his confidence. Wiping his forehead he stepped out in all ways wobbly but at least in his eyes confident.
"Throw us a light!" shouted Arthur, the sound was no more than a soft murmur from below. One of the men seemed to understand and through down a second torch. The flame flickered as it fell and almost went out.
"Watch out below!" he called back and Arthur and James quickly stole back into the shadows and spread their arms against the wall. The torch landed with a much much louder sound than before and Arthur hurriedly picked it off of the lift before the great wooden platform caught fire. Taking up the old previously lit torch, he relit it and handed it to James, himself keeping hold of the new one "right then, we're all set"
"According to my map, this chamber should be where the treasure is" smiled the professor regaining his burly and pompous nature. The torch like his re-lit confidence lead the way suddenly round the room, where he quickly discovered another passageway "Follow me Arthur, this is it"
It was incredibly dark now, the light from the chasm above no longer reached down here. All they had to rely on was their torches.
"Look at these symbols" whispered Arthur holding his torch up to the stone, glowing embers fell softly to the floor, and stayed alight awhile before going out "These must have taken months to get them all drawn out"
"That one there says death" smiled the professor coming over in a matter of fact way "I'd recognize that anywhere"
"As a matter of notice James, one of the guys up the top, mentioned Chaos, he said it was rather unusual, does that ring any bells with you?"
James shrugged it aside with a quick role of his eye balls "Chaos, he's the Kracken of the Echidnas, the dragon of the eclipse, nothing special, every civilization has one at some time"
"What about Christianity?"
"Lucifer of course, come on, I'm getting tired of these dire warnings, can we please move on Arthur? We can let the team deal with this rubbish"
A low murmur of wind filled the tomb that made Arthur look up suddenly "What was that!?" he whispered going deathly still. He looked about him worriedly and James turned impatiently back towards him.
"What was what Arthur?" grumbled James turning his torch in the direction of the passage.
"That noise"
"Decompression Arthur, this air has been here for several thousand years, its no surprise it wants out, a bit like the food they serve round here"
"Very funny" grumbled Arthur "That curry had me up all night, so where's this treasure?"
"That's what I think we're about to find out" smiled James continuing along the passageway "The map seems to be quite clear that it was through that last door, but never mind, I suppose accuracy wasn't on their mind when they wrote it, they neglected to tell me of that chasm back there"
"I'm sure they would be very sorry to hear you complain" grumbled Arthur under his breath, but James either chose not to hear or wasn't listening.
The conversation stopped there for quite awhile as the two took a steady pace down the corridor. This unlike the original where the door was circular was a rectangle passage and quite narrow. Room for three to walk abreast and no more, it had a cramped feel to it, and it was hard to breath. The conversation which had remained dormant was reawakened suddenly when James suddenly hollered in the dark and disappeared from sight.
"James!" shouted Arthur looking about him wildly "Where did you go!? What's going on?"
He was left for a short while on his own in the darkness. He heard a muffled noise from below him "I'm down here" grumbled the voice. Arthur took some steps closer and peered over the edge. The passageway stopped and descended three feet to a sandy surface below.
"Are you alright?" called Arthur stressing every syllable, but the way he did it only seemed to make the professor grumble. He realized immediately that it wasn't necessary for him to call they were close enough already.
"Is it ok for me to come down?" asked Arthur after more quietly. He could here James moving below with what sounded like the tinkling of metal "give me you hand" came the voice from below.
Arthur outstretched it and pulled the huge fat man up. He wheezed and laughed his head off as he strained to get back into the corridor. He managed it with great effort on both sides and they sat staring at each other with torches in hand. James was smiling Arthur simply looked amused.
"What's so funny?" he asked pensively.
James smiled and held out his hand. Arthur looked and raised his eyebrows. Pensively he brought the flame closer illuminating the hand in an orange glow.
"My my" he said his face lighting up "Solid gold coins, jackpot James, Jack! Pot! What what?"
A couple of moments later several members of the team came along the passageway with fresh torches, and burning eyes of greed. They were prepared to rip the tomb apart from ceiling to floor, and destroy the honor of the ancient race. Looking at the gold the team smiled, riches galore and treasures of the echidnas, it made know difference if the "spirits" were offended. But to them of course it was but a present thing, rather than a single event in the greater scheme of things.
The team worked much as they had before. Working on scriptures and fixing up torches on the walls, the translators found pretty much the same kind of things. "Death, destruction, plague" the same things that they had found before. Another wooden elevator was set up next to the other so that more people could descend or ascend at one time. This was the excuse given when in actual fact, the removal of the treasure was proving more taxing than had been expected and two elevators had been set up in case one broke.
The treasure room itself was a huge square room with gold chairs and objects everywhere. The room was originally 6 feet deep but three feet had been filled with golden coins. Thus began the removal of the sacred treasure. People scooped up gold into plastic pouches ready to be sold to museums everywhere for very high prices. Vases cracked and crumbled were found buried under gold coins and the whole room was taken apart bit by bit. It had been literally been stacked with treasure. As the days went on, torches began to line the walls, and a ladder was set up so that people could get down easily.
And thus James found his supreme Jackpot in the very center of the room. The death container of the king himself, a solid box of gold and blue intricate designs with his face painted with gold on the front. They waited until the room was clear before they tried to move the sarcophagus. Time passed as they worked around it moving the gold away. But the day finally came and several strong men lifted it up with careful pulleys and brought it up the lift to the passageway above. The intense eyes of the echidna's face on the front of the box stared out at everybody with a grim expression, only James seemed ignorant enough to stare it in the face.
They wheeled it out of the cylindrical room James and Arthur on either side as the work men grunted and groaned moving the thing slowly down that long circular corridor.
"This is a great day" smiled James as the light at the end of the tunnel came closer.
"It is indeed" smiled Arthur "You will be remembered James" yet he said this in a very unfeeling way, that made James glance briefly at him. The large man felt perhaps rather hollow for a brief second. He had taken the king away from his resting place and brought him out into the light. Perhaps he should stop now? And take the king back, it would be the only decent thing he should do, and fill the room with the treasure again. But no it was too late now. He had to go through with it, they wouldn't let him back out.
And besides wasn't this what he had always wanted? A great discovery? Would the outside world mock him? No why should they! This was a great historical discovery. He could just imagine the little children in schools saying his name as a great explorer and historian, he smiled inwardly.
The light came closer and they finally came out into the sleepy desert sands outside. Looking round James smiled as he saw the old lorry that had all the treasure stacked up in side of it. Around the site were numerous tents, and the water container van. They carefully loaded the sarcophagus into the back when they heard a distant noise of screeching wheels on dessert sand. James turned hurriedly round to see a large lorry coming over the distant track. The translators and workers and members of the team all looked up from their places of study to see the thing come closer.
A great huge lorry it was, with silver sides to it gleaming under the sun. It parked very near them leaving a trail of dust in the sandy path that was not that much different from the near by main roads. James stared at it vaguely. This was impossible, they were supposed to be the only people who knew about the location. He had done his absolute best to keep it a complete secret! Had he ordered some supplies by mistake on the last day? In a split second men got out of the lorry and ran towards the opposite vehicle, they all had black shiny guns.
"What is the meaning of this!?" shouted James looking about him in panic. Arthur was next to him and didn't seem in the least bit surprised. The men had a dessert military camo dress, though the person who walked up to James had a white lab coat. He looked the man up and down and glanced briefly at Arthur.
"Are you James Fisherman? Professor of History of ancient Hieroglyphs at Station square university?"
James looked around at the people with guns. Black shiny glasses hid their eyes, and their mouths were covered with filters. If they were smiling or frowning he honestly couldn't tell. For a moment he was tempted to say no but he changed his mind quickly knowing that there was no one to back him up, or take his place.
"Yes I am, and what are you about coming here with those dangerous weapons! I work for a free Capitalist nation not some middle-east dictatorship what are you about?" the irony of this was back stabbing.
"May we see the sarcophagus?" continued the man glancing again at Arthur.
"No" said James quickly "No you may not, and if you don't leave very soon I shall ring the police"
The man in the lab coat frowned briefly and spoke again, interlocking his fingers in a patient gesture "Mr Fisherman, I don't believe you understand your stature at the moment, when I ask you a question I expect you to answer cooperatively"
"Just do as he says James" sighed Arthur "We've got no choice"
James frowned and went red in the face. He seemed about to reply, when looking over the soldiers, and glancing once suspiciously at Athur he stormed back into the lorry saying "Follow me then"
The lab-coated man entered the back with Arthur and James and came up to the sarcophagus. The face looked ever gleaming even in the dark cool recesses of the lorry. The white eyes seemed ever more menacing, perhaps it was the first time that James had noticed it. Some other trinkets of treasure were towards the back, but most of the extent of the treasure had already been taken away or stored in other lorries. James smiled to himself knowing that they couldn't get their hands on the rest of it.
The lab coated man looked once around the interior and then at the container below him. He showed know fear of superstition at the face before him, he was a very dull and simulated man.
"Open it" he said shortly and fiercely to James.
James looked at him uncomprehendingly, then at Arthur and then at the box "I can't damn well open it because it's fixed together, and also if I may say so opening it now could have seriously damaging effects to the mummified skeleton inside"
The lab coated man looked at his watch and seemed irritated. He flicked a finger back at the men behind him and a semi automatic machine gun was thrown to him.
"What the devil are you doing!" shouted James, but before he could say anything else the man walked up to the coffin, put one big black booted foot on the side and started shooting holes in it at the seam. At this moment James threw into a frenzy and it took Arthur to hold him back. The professor could see dollars flying as bits of chipped wood and gold splattered onto the floor, the noise of the gun was extremely loud with no silencer. After he had made his way round the entire box, took a step back and kicked the lid off. It landed with a clang against the back of the lorry.
"You idiot!" screamed the professor shaking his fists wildly. Arthur restrained him further, putting his arms round his huge belly and pulling the professor to his knees.
Inside was an ancient echidna skeleton, it's head back and shapeless mouth open. In its hand was a dark black gem, the bony fingers were clutched round it tightly in a death vice like grip. The man with his boot on the edge looked about the inside briefly, and pointed to an inscription.
"What does that read?" he said to James quietly.
It took Arthur awhile to persuade the red faced professor to comply and when he did he still growled and looked at the man with hate filled eyes. He traced his fingers across the pictures looking them up and down "Death, something about shadow, and this gem hear, I can't make the rest out"
For the first time the lab coated man smiled. Arthur stepped away and grinned "Thank you very much James you've been a great help, unfortunately my good friend I'm going to have to say good bye"
To the professor's surprise the voice wasn't from the man with the coat. James looked back horrified at the thin young man before him, his black moustache seeming now rather sinister.
"You scumbag!" said James standing to his feet "You set me up all along, I thought you looked fishy right from the start, you didn't look like a man from the press"
"I'm afraid that doesn't concern you anymore old boy, because I'm going to have to do you away" from a concealed pouch, Arthur took out a small but dainty silenced pistol, and pointed it at the professor's head "Any last requests?"
James looked around the lorry and at the lab coated man who remained with a stern expression. His black hair and face hair of the same couler gave away little emotion from within. He held the machine gun much the same way in which he would hold a hat at a funeral or his fingers when he first came.
"Yes" sighed James "As you're going to do me in, before you do. I'd like to know who do you both work for?"
Arthur chuckled "A good choice, shall I tell him?" he gestured to the lab- coated man.
"Go ahead" he replied solemnly "If it makes him happy it will do him little good"
Arthur turned his head back fixed onto James. The fat man if he was a little quicker off of the mark could have used the moment to try and grab the gun, but even that would have been hopeless. Besides, the lab-coated man still held the machine gun, and seemed to know what he was doing plus he was trapped in the lorry with a dozen or so soldiers outside.
Arthur smiled and held up a card with his picture and name on it "G.U.N enterprises ltd. good bye James, it was a pleasure working with you"
A short sharp shot filled the air, a little like the sound of a squeaking sofa when a heavy person sits on it. James fell to the floor by the skeleton. Arthur looked away disgusted, he still hadn't gotten used to the sight of blood "What about the rest of them?"
The man in the lab coat nodded briefly and turned with his black boots to the soldiers out side of the van as if he had just finished putting the signature on a finished document "Kill them all" he said quite audibly. The soldiers rushed off and shots were heard, Arthur stepped over the body, and looked at the gem. He bent down and looked more carefully at it squatting on his toes. Outside he could hear the sounds of the shouts and screams of the workers and technicians "So this is what we spent so much time looking for?" the gem gleamed with darkness.