Because I forgot to mention it in the first chapter...Natalie "Ginger" Landers, Clive and Kevin Baker and other characters not recognizable were made up by my strange mind.
Chapter Two: The Goal
Memorial Cemetary used to be a small plot of privately owned land set aside for burying family members. In the sixties, the family had unaccountably packed up and moved, selling everything, including the cemetary. It was made into a historical landmark because of its age, and for a few years there had been tours. Now, it was old and run down, with vines and weeds growing up over the stone headstones. The wooden crosses had long since vanished to dust.
It was said that the last owner of the land had done something to anger the spirits of the dead, and now the place was cursed. People who lived nearby reported hearing howls and other such noises coming from it.
Jon shivered and pulled the light-weight jacket shut as a chill ran down his spine. It was of course just the wind; he didn't believe in ghosts or curses. Unless the 'ghosts' were freaky glowy ascended thingies. He'd seen them several times. In fact, Daniel had, at one point, been one. At least he had the memory of his friend's descension...
With an impatient shake of his head, Jon pushed open the large, ornate gate that had probably been very fancy at one point in time. Rust and weather had erased the lettering and frescoes that had at one time adorned it so that they were impossible to make out, and its rusty hinges squealed in protest at being used after so long. Wincing at the sound, Jon stepped inside and closed it behind him.
While the decay was obvious from outside, now that he was in, it looked a whole lot worse. While he couldn't feel it, there had to be wind, because the leaves of the vines that wrapped around headstones and stone angels rustled with a random rhythm. Rubble littered the ground, and several of the stones had large gouges in them, as though something had come along and scratched them up.
"Jon! You came!"
The sudden loud voice made him jump and he whirled around to face Clive, hand over his pounding heart. "Don't do that!"
The taller boy grinned impudently and waved for him to move on. "C'mon, everyone's already in the crypt."
"Crypt?" Jon's voice cracked annoyingly. Great. His voice hadn't completely changed yet. "What are you guys, some kind of cult?" It had been a quip, but the sudden realization that nobody knew where he was since he didn't live with parents and that these people knew that hit him like a zat blast.
"Not really," Clive hedged, "Look, if you don't want to keep an open mind about all this, then maybe you should go on. We don't need people like you."
Memories of the last cult he'd dealt with filled his mind and Jon quickly shook his head. "No no. I told Nat that I'd hear you out, and hear you out I will." Even if he didn't promise to hang around if he didn't like what he heard.
Clive grinned and clapped him on the shoulder, making Jon stumble forward a step. "That's the spirit Jon!"
Jon rubbed his shoulder and watched as the other boy walked on towards their destination. For a tall skinny guy, he sure was strong. Jon had been thinking basketball was Clive's thing, but now he reassessed his deduction and decided football or hockey before running to catch up.
The 'crypt' turned out to be just that. So much for hoping that it was just a metaphor for something else, sort of a themed thing. Jon looked at Clive, reluctant to enter. "Couldn't we just, you know, talk out here? I've got this thing about going into dead people's homes..."
"It's just like the cemetary, except enclosed instead of exposed to the air," Clive said reassuringly, "Don't worry, as long as you stick with me you won't get hurt."
"Oh that makes me feel loads better," Jon muttered unhappily, "it's just that this reminds me of this time I went with a friend of mine into a..." he caught himself before he said 'Gould mothership' "an Egyptian tomb." Close enough.
"You've been to Egypt?"
Jon had to grin at the eagerness in the boy's voice. "Oh yeah. Loads of times." Did going to another planet whose culture was almost entirely like the ancient Egyptians count? He sighed. "Okay, I'll go in. But if I don't come back out...I'm going to be very unhappy with you."
Overly hesitant, he stepped inside the crypt to find himself immersed in total darkness. A groan escaped him right before lights began coming on one at a time. He blinked in the sudden brightness and turned to say something to Clive who had followed him in, only to stop in confusion. The kid was looking at the walls in wonder, and fear.
"Let me guess, you guys aren't responsible for this."
"No...we've looked at these walls and floor several times trying to figure out what they're for, but...this has never happened..." Clive began babbling.
Jon frowned and glanced at the walls, only to have to suppress another groan. Runes were etched in a beautiful pattern that was unwelcomingly familiar. Ancient. He had a bad feeling he had been responsible for the lights coming on.
To keep his curiousity from getting the better of him--both because he didn't want to blow his top-secret-classified-not-worth-spending-time-in-prison-for-letting-it-slip identity and because he didn't want anyone to know exactly how much knowledge his brain could retain despite his 'dumber-than-dirt' act--he shrugged nonchalantly and looked studiously away from the runes.
"Right, so weren't we going to meet the others?"
Clive shook his head as if to clear it, glanced worriedly one more time at the walls, then nodded and began walking further into the crypt. If crypt it really was. How creepy would it be to find the remains of an Ancient? Jon had to run to catch up once more as his thoughts wandered.
He'd have to tell someone about this place. Maybe there was something here that could help lead them to the lost city. But first, he'd hear his new friends out. If they were on the up and up, and just doing some kind of weird club thing, then he'd make it so that they never knew he'd been the one to reveal their secret hide-out. If they weren't...then they had more problems to worry about than lights suddenly coming on without explanation.
As they walked, the darkness receded before them, making that sinking feeling in Jon's gut grow. As he'd expected, it was because of him that the Ancient stuff was working. While Clive hadn't connected it yet, Kevin might, and Natalie definitely would. Steeling himself for a possible confrontation--and trying desparately to keep the I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on-either look on his face, he followed Clive into a small room off the main corridor.
"Well it's about time you two got here," Kevin said as soon as they'd walked in, "this stuff's going haywire!"
"What'd you do, knock something down again, Kev," Clive asked with a roll of his eyes.
Just as Jon had anticipated, Natalie instantly pounced with her observations. "No, Kevin hasn't touched anything--for once. Strange, don't you think, that the first time we invite someone knew, everything suddenly turns on?"
Jon stared back, keeping a confused, wide-eyed expression on his face as three pairs of eyes focused on him. "What? Wait, you think this is because of me?" He paused and then grinned. "I know what this is. It's a test of some kind, to see if I'm gonna freak out. So, do I pass?"
They traded glances and then Kevin shook his head. "No test Jon, but it's as good as any we could have come up with. It is obvious that you were meant to be a part of this group." The tone of voice and sentence structure were strangely formal and ceremonial seeming.
"I don't even know what this group does," Jon protested, "And just because some lights come on, you think I'm meant to be? It's called 'motion sensor'. Heard of it?"
Natalie smiled sadly, looking far older than her fifteen years in that moment. "I'm afraid not, Jonathan. You see, this isn't a crypt. It's a space ship left by an alien race a long time ago. Probably before the Great Pyramids were built."
Jon blinked, the sinking feeling plummeting his stomach down to his shoes. "I see. Next you're going to tell me that the pyramids were actually landing pads for space ships."
This time the three of the exchanged confused looks. "Uh no," Clive said, "that's just some crackpot theory made up by some archaeologist looking to make a name for himself."
A short little laugh escaped before Jon could suppress. Either these kids were really great actors or they really had no idea. "That's kinda hypocritical of you, considering you've shown me absolutely no proof that this...is a ship." Derision dripped from his tone, though inside he was squirming.
"Jon, there are more things in this universe that you and others like you could never understand," Natalie said suddenly, "you promised you'd hear us out, but obviously you're not ready for this. Even if you can make the technology work." She turned her back on him, and the two boys glared.
Knowing that he really needed to get to the bottom of this, he held up his hands in a placating manner. "Look, I am willing to hear you out. But you've got to expect me to ask questions, okay? I'm not just going to take your word on faith. We just met for cryin' out loud. There hasn't been enough time for us to gain that much trust yet."
The red-head turned back around, pig-tails swaying slightly, and adjusted her thick glasses back up on her nose. She regarded him seriously a moment before nodding. "Okay. In 1960, my grandparents found this lab. The family had been using it as a burial chamber for over a hundred years.
"Somehow, they made this particular work station active and it scared them nearly to death. They were extremely superstitious and immediately sold their land to a local historical society. The society thought it would be a good idea to take people around on tours of such an old place."
Jon nodded as the girl took a deep breath. He already knew all this, but as someone who had lived on the eastern side most of his life and had never been in Colorado ever til now, he would have to pretend he was hearing the story for the first time. He was learning some new facts. Like how the family hadn't cut all ties with their land.
"Well," Nat continued, "what they thought was just silly superstition turned out to be a sophisticated defense mechanism that this ship uses when grounded. Five people were killed before the tours stopped. Again, the land was abandoned." Here, Natalie swallowed and looked down at the ground.
"So how did you come to be here, and manage to turn off the defense?"
"I...was interested in the tales my grandparents told, and I...wanted to see for myself. There had to be a logical explanation. Anyway, I came and...figured this out and then Clive and Kevin came and we all became friends and decided to band together to search out all supernatural and alien rumors in the area."
Jon nodded. "And you want me to join you, because?"
"Because we thought you might be different from everyone else. Each on of us has our own little reason for joining. Me, I lost my parents in a plane crash. Except that there was no record of the particular plane they were supposed to be on, and no record of any crash. I've looked and researched it until I'm sure something else is responsible. Nat belives aliens really do exist because of this ship, and Clive...well Clive has his reasons too."
Shifting uncomfortably Jon looked at each of their hopeful expressions and sighed. He was probably going to regret this but..."Yeah. I guess I will join you. It...sounds interesting. As long as you don't try to make me do anything with this stuff." And he could always get more information for when he told the SGC about this.
tbc....