Chapter 4
They dove for cover.
After a few minutes, Ben poked his head up, and said, "They weren't trying to shoot us, it was a warning to turn back, which of course, we are not going to do."
"But..."
Ben picked up a rubber dumdum bullet from the floor of the craft, handed it to Riley, and pointed at the prow of the boat. "If those were real bullets, we would be sinking. He pointed to the spots where there were dents, and the paint was smeared. They all scanned the banks, all sides, and saw no one. Only a minute later, Abigail spotted a large, downed pine tree, still green, laying across the waterway, almost to the other side.
"Oh no," said Ben, "Remember the cow stanchions in Chaco Canyon, hang on!" He gunned the seventy-five horsepower engine, aimed for the smaller end of the tree, and ran right through it. The pine pushed to the side and did not slow the boat at all. Just then, fist sized rocks were hurled from above and behind, all but one missed the craft, the other left a dent in the transom. The trip was uneventful for a good two hours after that. Ben had had to reduce their speed several times when the river had a few rills, and got shallow, but although the motor kicked up some silt, the shallow draft of the boat got them through.
At lunch, Ben offered to make the coffee, and when he served it with Abigail's sandwiches, and the two bags of chips Riley had picked up, Riley smiled broadly and said, "Wow, this is really good coffee!"
"Well, first we're kind of having a picnic, and second I used fresh water," Ben pointed to the river.
Riley almost spit it out, then swallowed it remembering he had already drunk most of the cup. When Ben saw his expression, he added, "It tastes better than fluorinated water, and besides, it was boiled." Riley grumbled a bit, then poured another cup, and started devouring the potato chips.
A few minutes later, Ben picked up his cell phone, and tried to call Sadusky. He had no reception, so he handed it to Riley. Within a minute Riley handed it back, and it had five bars. "You are still the man, Mr Poole!"
Riley smiled broadly while Ben gave Sadusky a quick report about their mishaps. The sun was nearly overhead, and the heat of the day was rapidly building, Abigail reached under a seat and pulled out a bag. She pulled a straw hat our for herself, passed an Indiana Jones hat to Ben, and gave Riley a ten gallon cowboy hat. When Riley put it on, it covered his eyes, but Ben traded lids with him, and everything was good. Abigail thought he looked pretty good, driving the boat with one hand. They traded smiles, almost hearing what the other was thinking. At one point, Ben asked Riley, "Are you still seeing that girl you met at Mount Rushmore?"
"I didn't want to move there, and she had a job she really liked..."
After another hour, Riley took over as pilot, and increased the speed a little bit, the water was wider here, and seemed deeper.
Ben put up one foot on the edge, and said with a twang in his voice, "Gotta get me some real boots!"
After a little while, Ben said, "I was just thinking, this is the area where Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark on their incredible journey. The only map they had to go on was a huge empty land, a thousand miles across, and the only feature was a roughly straight line, from top to bottom, the Colorado River, or so they thought, since the Mississippi was a pretty straight line from north to south. Imagine their surprise in encountering river after unknown river, except for all the tribes that lived in these parts of course. Even Sacajawea hadn't come this far, I don't think. They found anything but a straight river to go anywhere."
A few moments passed, then Ben added, "Jefferson is probably my favorite president, after Lincoln, of course. I fondly remember what Kennedy said when he had a collection of high brows at the white house. 'I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined here alone."
Riley thought about it for a minute, then smiled broadly.
"It just occurred to me," Ben mused, "Jefferson feared colonization of the west by other countries, especially Spain, who already had a foothold in California. He commissioned a General Wilkinson, name ring a bell?"
"Mitch?' asked Riley.
"May be a relative. Anyway the general chose Captain Pike, who named a mountain after himself, was sent on a separate trip, to further scout the area. He did not get very far, he was arrested by Spanish authorities, and shipped back to Louisiana."
Abigail added, "It was also Jefferson who was incremental getting the Gadsden Purchase."
"Now that one I know," Riley piped in, "Most of New Mexico and Arizona were bought from Mexico, including Phoenix, so that the United States would have an easy way to get to California, without having to cross the Rockies."
They traveled in silence for a while, each absorbing the stark beauty of the landscape, all around. There was little evidence of the imprint of man on this somewhat desolate area.
"How long until we hit the Green River, Ben?" Abigail asked.
"Don't ask me, ask Mr. Wizard," he answered, pointing at Riley.
Abigail took the wheel, while Riley pulled out his tiny laptop, fiddled for a few moments, the said, "We have made pretty good time, but if we want to get there before dark, we had better speed up, we haven't quite hit the half way point yet."
Abigail pushed the throttle down until they were making a pretty large waves, crashing on the shore. The river had gotten increasingly wider and deeper, and they hadn't found any more rapids or rills. Riley sighed as he pulled down his new hat a little more tightly, "All the comforts of home, drinking river water, using a portapotty, and basking in the hot sun."
Ben tossed him a tube of sun screen, saying, "You better put some on, you're not fully cooked yet, but you get double sun on the water."
After another mile of river, Riley recapped the sunscreen, and asked, "I have been thinking about old Mr. Wright, Ben, why didn't he try to come back here?"
"I have spent some quiet time thinking about that, too. As far as he was concerned, he had removed the treasure, but maybe he left something behind, to show he had found it. The loss of the wealth was one thing, but he wanted to prove he had found it, not just some old American Indian stuff.
Based on the booklet, I assume he found the treasure some time around 1880, and it was between 1905 and 1920 before he could return, whether it was health, or family, we will never know. When he came back, I am guessing he intended to return to the site, but was prevented from doing it, or physically threatened. Since he could not return, he came up with the clues, and hid them."
"What about the stone house?"
"Again, best guess, the stone hut may have already been there, and he fixed it to give the clues. My guess is that's when he was grabbed, put on a train for the east coast, perhaps under arrest, we will never likely know. He died around 1937, and the booklet was kept by his family until there were no more descendants. If they ever thought about going out there, it did not occur, and then Essie was the last one."
They sat quietly for a while, while Abigail drove the boat down river. Abigail asked, "What happened with you and that young lady you spent so much time with in South Dakota?"
"We talk on the phone, now and then, but she loves her home and job, there, so..."
"You're still young, something might happen."
After a time, Riley drove the boat for several hours, then Ben took over again. When they were approaching the Green River junction, the sun was low in the sky, and they were already in shadow. "I have found the 'rye'," Ben quipped. Lust before entering the Green River, Ben slowed the craft, and brought it to the north shore. "There is a good spot to camp on the bank, it doesn't look too rocky. When the camp tent was pitched on top of a thick blanket, to give them a little comfort, Ben went down to the boat, and pulled out a large rat trap, cocked it, and set it on top of the boat rope attached to the front. The rear end was attached to the anchor, wedged behind two large rocks.
"What were you doing?"
Ben smiled, "I bought us a little insurance; in the morning let me untie the rope."
While Abigail and Riley prepared a less than elegant dinner, Ben set up the sleeping rolls. He looked out the tent flap, then removed a fuzzy pink toy snake from his pocket, and tucked it into Riley's bedroll. While they were eating, Ben commented, "We should probably check around the tent, there are plenty of snakes in this area."
"Snakes," squeaked Riley, "Why didn't you tell me before? I wouldn't have come!" While they ate Ben talked again about Rocky Mountain rattlers, until Abigail gave him the look.
When the fire was doused, they got ready to sleep, and piled into the tent. Abigail was already in her sleeping bag when Riley climbed in to his. He shrieked and yanked out the fuzzy snake, while Ben held the lantern, and grinned broadly. When Abigail stopped chuckling, they drifted off to sleep.
Somewhere around two thirty in the morning, someone screamed outside the tent. Ben was out of the flap in an instant, and yelled, "Stop or I will shoot you!"
After the rat trap was removed from the man's hand, and his hands were tied behind his back, Ben turned the lantern back on. He did not struggle, and was very quiet until the lantern was lit, "Hey, where's your gun?"
Ben patted his empty pocket, and covered the man's head with a cloth bag. A few minutes search found the battery powered land rover he had silently ridden in on. Abigail lashed his bound hands to the back of the rover, while he was sitting on the ground. Ben called Sadusky's number, and it was answered immediately by another agent. They would send a chopper to pick him up in the morning.
Later, when the man was interrogated, he refused to give his name, or tell who had sent him. He stated for the record that he had not harmed anyone, nor intended to. No weapons had been found on his person or vehicle.
The campers awoke upon hearing the helicopter land, but it was gone before they rose. The gear was stowed, after a light breakfast, then they boarded, and crossed the Green River. Riley asked him why he was crossing the river. "Wright said we could see the 'rye', we can't see this side, so..."
"Also," Abigail added, "The message on the rock said 'other side'."
The boat was tied front and back, even thought the river did not seem to have a very strong flow. Ben received a text from Sadusky saying they had the prisoner, and were making plans to meet them on top of the high river bank. Taking only hats, gloves, and water, the trio began to ascend the river bank.
"Shouldn't we look down here first, Ben?
Abigail responded first, "The cave was above water a hundred years ago. It was probably wider and faster then, look at the river banks, and how eroded they are. A hundred years ago this river may have been a hundred feet higher up."
Since the climb was mostly vertical, it was tougher going. Riley spotted a weathered woman's purse wedged in the rocks, and pulled it out. The wallet was missing, but it had a few letters and a small purse with a few coins in it. The newest dated from 1951. Riley tucked it into his knapsack, and kept going. They were sweating heavily before they were up twenty to thirty feet. Ben noticed some footprints left in the dirt, hardened with age, but they kept climbing. At around eighty feet up the river bank, Riley just started to complain, when Ben said, "Look!"
There was a flatter area, that had once been a small pool, perhaps seven feet across, with a large boulder at the back edge. He could see the bank had been cut away behind it. This was what Wright had described in the booklet. Riley moved ahead of Ben, to get there first. "Looks like we have a lot of digging to do."
Just then they heard a voice from above, Sadusky called down, "We brought a little help, Ben, but that guy from your camp last night isn't talking." He leaned over the edge, about thirty feet up.
A heavy metal arm, with a thick metal cable, swung out over the ledge, and two burly agents began climbing down. When the motor kicked in, to lower the cable, there was no more talking, it was too loud. By the time the men had climbed down, Ben and Riley had moved two sizable rocks off to the side; they were careful not to drop them below, the boat was right under them. The cable had an attachment like old fashioned ice tongs, two points that pinched together when the cable tightened up. One of the agents wore a head piece to communicate with those above. They used small shovels to remove the excess dirt and sand. They were all covered with grit before the final stone was pulled away, revealing the cave mouth behind. The last of the rubble was shoveled away, while the cable was brought back up, to get a different attachment, just in case they found something.
When they all entered the cave, they expected something, but there was nothing, no inscriptions, no wooden tables that Wright had said they had left behind. Riley stubbed his toe on something in the dirt, and picked it up. He brought it to Ben, and they looked at it in day light. "Look at the edge, it still has some gold paint on it, and this could be the head of Osiris, or Anubis, as they were portrayed in ancient Egypt."
"Yeah, looks like those other pieces we already found..." Riley said with a hint of boredom in his voice,
"That's right! It means we have found the original cave!" Riley perked up a bit.
They examined the walls and found tool marks, but the back of the cave was smooth, and tapered. It seemed unremarkable at first glance. The others had given up tapping the walls, and digging in the dirt to find a solid stone floor, when a flash of light from one of the lanterns came from a low point on the back wall. Ben got down low, he could not get any dirtier, and saw a chip of mica, embedded in the back wall, about a foot off the floor. Taking his pick ax, he tapped around the outside of the mica, a few inches away. When nothing happened, he hit the wall again with considerable force. Nothing was revealed. He backed away, and hit the chip of mica directly with the pick ax. The pick went in deeply, and there was a rumbling sound, followed by the entire back wall crumbling, and the dust belching out of the cave mouth. Ben was coughing and he tried to dig himself out from under the rubble that had fallen away, then heard the cries of delight coming from behind him. He was the last to see what he had discovered, when he finally cleared all the dust and sand from his eyes. The lantern light danced on the gold, silver and bejeweled items that were hidden behind the wall, but Ben had eyes only for the large map that covered the wall, it was larger than six by four feet. Ben took perhaps twenty pictures of it with his phone before he was aware of the commotion behind him. The hidden cave was at least three times as big as the front part of the cave.
The agent in touch with those above was talking with an excited voice, while the other three moved among the treasure hoard with glee. "These things predate the templar treasure by thousands of years. This sarcophagus is from the zeroeth dynasty," Abigail said to no one in particular.
Ben turned back to the map, it was unlike anything he had ever seen. The central land mass looked like Central America, but the land was more than twice as wide as it is today. There was a partially circular bite taken out of the enlarged Yucatan peninsula. A meteor crater, he thought. The Florida peninsula was larger and the Keys were all dry land. There was a large island that stood off from a bay, where New Orleans now stood. Along the top of the map, covering the top part of what would become the United States, was a solid irregular line, painted white. Ben thought about the ice shelf, as it receded after the ice age.
There were other land masses depicted; in the Pacific, a large land mass that ended around where Hawaii was, extended down, and off the map. Cuba was shown as much larger, and in the center of the Atlantic Ocean another large land mass filled most of the area between Africa and South America. Another land mass appeared below this, Ben wondered if it had been Antarctica in long lost times. On all the land masses, there were glyphs, those in the Atlantic area differed from those on the Pacific coastlines. In the area where they stood, just below the ice line, a piece of jewel, or glass was embedded, and there were more symbols written on the map. It told him this spot was important to the people who had met here, and sealed up this map behind the false wall.
Chapter 5
Ben removed his cell phone and suggested that Riley and Abigail do the same. The artifacts ranged from the mundane to the magnificent. There were statuettes made from simple hand made pottery clay, there were jugs and a large urn, some were sealed. There were gold articles and some small bejeweled weapons. There were paintings, and many items wrapped in cloth or packed in wooden boxes. It was hard to take it all in, because the items came from so many different places. Canoes that were tiny, cups that were hand made, and painted with pictures depicted people of many races, and even a pile of coconuts. They spent at least forty-five minutes photographing everything in the cave. Their phones all needing recharging after the photographs were sent to Sadusky. Ben also sent a selected group of photographs to his parents, mostly of the large, hand drawn, parchment map on the wall, with many close ups of the symbols. His phone died just after he received the 'all delivered' message. While Riley went back down to the boat to recharge all their phones, Ben asked the FBI men to contact those on top of the cliff to make ready the crane. It took the better part of four hours to carefully wrap, and catalog everything they removed from the cave. Two more men came down from the rim, to help with the careful removal of all the items. While this trove had enormous historical significance, there was not an abundance of items that would be envied by treasure hunters, with the possible exception of a gold sarcophagus. The statues were unique, with many styles and types Ben and Abigail had never seen before. The last item was the map, Abigail carefully removed it from the frame, which crumbled easily to the touch, the wood they used was not treated and had totally desiccated over the centuries. They had the agents up above make a cage of polished wooden slats to protect it during transport, and then slid it vertically, into the back of their van, which had been driven to this point, from where they had left it.
Riley clambered up over the edge of the canyon, puffing from the exertion, and handed the charged phones back to their owners. As soon as Ben turned it on, multiple messages popped up. He put his arm around Abigail, and they just took a moment to absorb the beauty of the river valley, and the incredible spot they stood in.
Ben looked at Abigail, smiled, and said, "Maybe I shouldn't have sent all this to mom, she's still working at Cibola."
The first message he opened said, 'Ben, this is the most fantastic thing I have ever seen! The map, the magnificent map, is unique and wonderful! Call me while you are looking at it." He replied, 'Okay.'
"Dad sent three messages, although I think it was only intended to be one. He probably hit the send key by accident a couple times. He is all excited, and wants to see the stuff, when it gets to the east coast."
Abigail had not sent any messages to anyone, her family had taken a dim view of her treasure hunting activities. She just smiled and squeezed his hand, Ben's family was certainly unique.
Sadusky walked over to them, dressed in casual clothes, something Ben had not seen before. His flattened narrow brimmed hat had three fishing lures stuck in it, and he carried several separated fishing poles, and a large tackle box. "I have decided to help the best way I can. I will take the boat down river to a spot of my choosing, on a day of my choosing." He smiled broadly, and held out his hand. Ben passed him the boat key, and asked, "Our gear?"
"It has already been brought up, and stored in the van."
"Great, what about you?" Ben queried.
"They used the crane to send all my food and gear down to the boat, and I kept the tent, just so you know. Now I will ride the crane down, and I would rather not hear from you three for several days. It could take a while to get back to civilization, I don't like to travel too quickly." He looked around to see if anyone was in earshot, then said in a low voice that only Abigail and Ben could hear, I put two tracking devices on the truck, one inside, the other outside. And just because of the trouble you've had already, I put a brand new type of tracker inside that big urn, stuck under the edge so it can't be seen. It turns on at random times during two hour windows, and sends out a brief signal for only a few seconds, then shuts off again. Very difficult to detect unless you listen for it over long periods."
As Sadusky stepped on the platform, and hooked safety straps to his belt, Riley grumbled behind them, "I wish he'd told me I could ride that thing up the bank..."
After a few minutes, Sadusky waved to them, and pulled out into the current. It took another half hour to repack the crane into the large truck, and the black medium sized truck was sealed up, containing everything from the cave, except the map.
Abigail, Ben and Riley set off, following dirt roads and the trucks, but stopped before nightfall at a motel along highway forty. The trucks were planning to drive well into the night before they stopped, with the medium size truck heading east, while the crane was returned to Denver.
Ben sent a text to his mother, saying he would call in the morning when he was fresh, they were all exhausted, and needed sleep. The night had passed in deep slumber at the quiet motel, and they awoke somewhat late to get breakfast.
Riley volunteered to drive, so that Ben could sit in the back, next to the map when he called his mother. The first message he saw when he looked at the phone was flashing 'urgent', from Sadusky. "Ben, the truck has been hijacked outside of Steamboat Springs. I don't know how, but I will find out. Somebody does not want me to have a vacation!" The second message was, "Don't go after it, we will handle it!"
Ben sighed, and told the others, who of course were saddened, but something always had to go wrong. They had been followed, obviously still were, and the man the FBI had in custody, hadn't said a thing. The map and van were apparently untouched, so they would continue on, and let the Feds handle the hijack.
"Hello, mother..."
"Ben, BENJAMIN, this is the most exiting thing ever. I have been up all night researching this map, and it will change the world as we know it!"
"Mother, calm down..."
"I can't, Ben, let me tell you what I have found. Do you see the white area on the top of the map, it has been painted to show it is different from the rest of the yellow parchment. When you get it back home, have the skin tested to find out what animal it came from!" She took a deep breath, then went on, "The white area is the receding ice from around fourteen thousand years ago, the lands all look different because the water levels in the oceans could have been more than a hundred feet lower then, than they are now. Oh, there is so much to tell… The two major land masses in the oceans are labeled with symbols, passed down from the ancient Greeks, symbols for the lost continents of Atlantis and Lemuria, also known as Mu, to the Asians. Atlantis goes as far north as Bimini, where that underwater road was discovered. Central America is especially interesting, showing a larger Cuba, and how the Mayans would have had an easier time getting to Florida. The glyphs are their major cities, and the map shows the cities they controlled on the other continents. The languages show similarities to Olmec, Mayan and Egyptian, but there just aren't enough written characters. The Mediterranean is separated by a river, the land mass that became part of Louisiana is an island, the Keys of Florida are above water. The two Atlantean cities in that region correspond to lost cities only being uncovered today. One is underwater at the mouth of the Nile, and the other was recently unearthed, called Puma Punku, dating from 14,000 years ago."
"Relax, mother..."
"No, let me go on. Notice how the coastlines of the continents are larger than present day. All along these areas, submerged cities have been found, and in other parts of the world, like Japan and the island chains north of Australia. New Zealand may have been part of Lemuria, as well as Hawaii, and the other pacific islands, including Nan Madol, with its basalt walls in the middle of the pacific, which no one can explain. Some of those slabs weigh fifty tons."
Ben added, "Yes, and the sunken cities found off the coast of Alaska, thirty feet below sea level."
"The most amazing thing to me, is the land mass, with a city south of Atlantis, it has to be Antarctica, with land not covered by ice, they have a city located there."
"Mother, I also am looking with interest at the unusual glyph, apparently along the banks of the Colorado, where we found the cave."
"Ben I have a theory about that too, it has been written that Atlantis and Lemuria were at war, at some point. Your cave could be their peace meeting, where they divided the world between them." Emily paused for a moment, then said, "I need to have the map in my hands to date and authenticate it."
"Actually, that is why I called. I would like to ask Dad to bring it to you in South Dakota, while I need to return to the east coast."
She made a little noise, then said, "Patrick..." There was a long pause, then she said, "Well, of course, that would be fine."
"Thanks, mother, I will be in touch soon." Ben ended the call, and immediately called his father. "Dad, I need a favor."
"Does this involve another treasure hunt?"
Ben hesitated for a moment, not quite sure how to respond. "Yes, but we already found it. It is all being shipped to Washington D. C., but there's a huge map that I would like you to drive to mom, in South Dakota." He had to hope the FBI would regain the treasure truck, but did not want to tell his father.
"Oh, well that's okay, then, I'm not sure these old bones are ready for any more tunneling, or what have you." After a moment, he said, "So where are you?"
"We are near Denver, and we have already booked and bought a ticket for you, one way to Denver. You'll get the van, with a huge crated map inside, and drive it to mom, in South Dakota," Ben said. After nearly a minute of silence, he added, "Dad?"
"Yes, yes, I'll do it. How's Abigail?"
"I will tell you all about it when you get here." Giving him all the relevant flight information took a few minutes, then he wished him a safe trip. Ben was a little annoyed that they had to wait for Patrick to arrive, and that their flight did not leave until the next evening. They had had to pay extra for all of Riley's gear, but that was all right. They found a nearby restaurant and had a nice meal, the best they'd had for a while. All the while, they could not help thinking about the missing truck.
It was fully dark and the night air was 'delicious', as Abigail's mother would have described it. They had walked for less than a mile, hand in hand, before the phone jangled, to interrupt their quiet time. "It's Sadusky, I had better take it."
Sadusky, still showing annoyance in his voice, related that two trackers had been found beside a rail line, and they figured the entire truck had been loaded into a special boxcar. They knew from rail records that the train was heading east. A satellite was being sent to keep an eye on the train, but they were waiting for a signal from the third tracker, it had not been accounted for yet. Ben knew they were too far away to do anything, but he was still annoyed about it anyway.
They had just returned to their motel room, when a signal alerted Abigail that her search engine had just completed its incredibly large search, and the results were now available.
Abigail spent more than an hour reading through the copious amount of data her computer had churned out and collated. A great many of the articles, stories and writings from that time referred to the pre-war companies that had thrived producing armaments, uniforms, etc. She disregarded these, as well as the somewhat inflammatory reports of northerners taking over large land grants in the southern states after the war. There were twenty eight stories spotlighted by the search, but Abigail homed in on one in particular.
"Ben, listen to this. I have a more complete story than the one I mentioned before, an excerpt from The Crick Chronicle, a Virginia paper that burned down less than a year after this story was published." She handed him the story. "Some of the information, like the town's name, is different, but the story about the war is the same one."
'Eight men who lived in North Virginia followed the call to join the army when fighting broke out, five joined Robert E. Lee, and three joined the union army. Before the war their families were close, though none had any real wealth, and all lived in a small village with no name, outside of Berryville. It is believed they were all Masons, and in the same lodge, though this is unconfirmed. Two men from each faction, north and south, were brothers. This story was related by one brother who fought under Stonewall Jackson, of how in a skirmish neat Chattanooga, he looked down his barrel site taking aim at a union soldier. The man in his sights, aiming at him, was Donny, a good friend from his earliest memories. Both soldiers swung their rifles and found new targets. Both men survived the war, and told this tale to an innkeeper. Only six of the eight men lived to return to their homes, but what they found was burnt to the ground, and their families were dead or gone. Within two years after the end of the war, this story brings to life the incredible success of these six men, who have rebuilt homes north of Winchester, and built factories and businesses that are thriving. These men have built a new village, they call Abidos, and have found wives, and started new families. Story to be continued...'
"What is interesting is that the newspaper was burned down a few months after running this article, and the owner killed in the blaze. I can find no other reference or story about this."
"Very interesting, Abigail, I think we should pass this along to Sadusky. It may be nothing, but just the choice of the name Abidos strikes a chord with me."
The next two days were both hectic and boring, but Patrick arrived and left for South Dakota, about two hours before Abigail, Riley, and Ben boarded their flight to Washington D. C., after passing along their story to Sadusky. He did not want to talk about it, he was still frantically trying to find the boxcar, or the tracker signal with no success, even though he had tapped agency resources across the country to help him.
It wasn't until long after they had landed that Ben heard from Sadusky again. The day was damp and windy, and Riley was all worried about his equipment. He and Abigail were just weary from the travel. They spent one night at home, and awoke to the phone ringing at about 6AM.
"Ben, we stopped the train before in got to Baltimore, near Hancock, and discovered the empty boxcar. With a little prodding and a few threats, the engineer admitted to receiving a large bribe for an unplanned stop, outside the city of Cumberland, Maryland. We hadn't heard a ping from the hidden tracker since the first one by Fort Morgan in Colorado. Agents in St. Louis and Chicago failed to hear one as the train passed through. We think they are on the road again, but we don't have an idea where they are heading."
"We may be able to help you with that. Abigail found this story..."
After they spoke, Ben texted the article, and references to Sadusky, then got ready to move out. Riley was contacted, and they left together before eight o'clock, headed for Virginia. Luckily the traffic was not terrible and they made fairly good time. Ben called Sadusky just after they crossed into Virginia, near Leesburg, heading west.
On the way, Riley said in a sleepy voice, "I kept thinking about the original treasure that Wright found in the cave. The bad guys must have had someone working there..."
"Another conspiracy, Riley?" asked Abigail.
"Well, not exactly, but those crates that we looked in must have been logged in, but there was no paperwork on them, like they wanted the records to be lost. The other thing I wonder about was the missing partner who found the stuff. What if he wanted it all for himself, and made a deal..."
Ben nodded, "I think that's a valid point, but whoever it was is long dead," Ben added.
"Actually, I was wondering if they still have someone there, at the Smithsonian..."
"Tell you what, Riley, we'll tell Sadusky about your theory, and let him check it out, okay?"
Just then the phone rang, it was from Sadusky.
"Ben, we are south of Winchester, but we got a ping off the tracker, I am sending the GPS coordinates. We will meet you there. It is not officially incorporated as a town, but they call it the town of Abidos, there are a few homes and some factories there. Wait for us before you move in, you are closer, I think."
Chapter 6
Abigail had been tapping away on her laptop, then she said, "I haven't found a town called Abidos, but there is an area owned by the Abidos Corporation, a conglomerate of companies that are unrelated in what they manufacture, but are jointly owned. Included are a research facility, a clothing manufacturer, an implement company, and several general merchandise stores. They own about five square miles, and it is called an industrial park, not a city. There are homes included in the park, ostensibly for families that work there." She gave Ben the directions, and he followed them.
Apparently, they arrived first, there were no other vehicles on the road or parked outside the industrial park's limits, but there was a sign announcing, 'Welcome to Abidos'.
Ben drove slowly down the main street, there were people out and about, and cars moving around the businesses. "Sadusky told us to wait, Ben..."
"We're just tourists, and there is a museum up ahead I have always wanted to visit." he responded.
"What? Where..."
Ben parked and hopped out of the rental car, the others followed after exchanging questioning looks.
Inside, Ben put on a friendly face, and said to an employee, what a nice little town you have here. Where can we find a motel?"
"I am sorry, sir, this is an industrial park, not a town. No motels, and the gates are locked up after business hours."
"Oh, that's okay. Can we look around the museum?"
"Surely, and if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. My name is Maggie, Maggie Brown."
The museum was quite small, only the size of a three room apartment, but the displays were of great interest to Ben. He headed for the Egyptian display, and looked closely at the statues, and figurines. There were painted urns, showing figures of Osiris, Isis, and Horus, below a gilt rim. Under his breath to Abigail, he said, "Look familiar to you?"
Abigail nodded, and headed for a historical display, where a picture of six men, all dressed in shabby clothes, stood arm in arm. One clearly wore a faded blue uniform, while another wore a battered southern military had that had seen better days. Below the picture, there were names listed. Ben and Jimmy Brown, Nate and Michael Green, Lonnie Smith, and Ace Jones. Under her breath to Riley who had walked up beside her, she said, "Right...".
Even Riley had noticed the common names, and so therefore, changed from the original.
There was a civil war section, relatively small, with two rifles, a pistol, and some musket balls. There were three faded shirts, and a hat, possibly the same as shown in the picture. Below were some old food tins, and a couple of bottles, one cracked.
Abigail, stepping toward Maggie, asked, "Are these the founders of your little community? Can you tell me more about them?"
"Certainly," she said, rising from her chair, "These men were all soldiers in the war, but they were on opposite sides. When the war ended they pooled their resources, and started several businesses, which thrived after the war. They all became wealthy, took brides and started families right here."
"It seems odd that men from both sides of the war, would go into business together. Anything else you can tell me?"
Riley and Ben had come up behind Maggie, to listen.
"I don't know how or why they got together, but my Granny said she heard tell that they were only in the war the last year or so, but they had been friends before, and that's what counted. Anyway, the families have all been centered here since then. Some move away, many come back."
They pretended to look at the other exhibits, but left abruptly, thanking Maggie as they left.
"Those Egyptian artifacts have to be what's left from the original treasure, and I'd bet they sold everything else to help themselves get wealthy."
"Agreed, Riley," Ben said, "But the statute of limitations on that robbery is a hundred years old, yet I did find it interesting the choice of names. They likely chose Green and Brown to leave their pasts behind them."
"And Smith..." noted Riley.
On the walk back to their vehicle, Abigail said, "Let's look up those names, and compare them to Smithsonian records of the period, and see what we can find." After a short drive, there was a park area on the north edge of town, with a small creek, nice shade trees, a swing set, and a teeter-totter. They parked, opened the windows and sliding door, to let the breeze blow through. Riley and Abigail were again tapping away on their laptops, while Ben strolled off, toward the fence line. The park had had an extended fence run out to include it in their little private town, but the original fence still stood between the park and the clothing manufacturing factory. There were no trees beyond the fence, and Ben could clearly see the loading area, with the unmarked trucks loading up for the day's deliveries. The dock boss had a thick head of wavy hair, and could have been older than seventy, while the youngsters loading the truck were late teens, or twenties. The truck driver looked to be a good deal older, it was hard to tell. Just after the semi pulled away from the dock, a black, unmarked truck drove in, swung around, and backed up to the dock, on a slightly raised ramp, for smaller vehicles.
Ben stepped back from the fence and pulled out his phone, after dialing , he said, "Sadusky, you don't have to wait for a ping, the truck is a couple hundred feet south of my phone."
"Ben, I told you to wait!"
"Fine, just get here fast."
"We should be there in twenty minutes, don't move in until we get there." Sadusky hung up before Ben could answer. He stood there and waited, partially concealed in the trees, until three cars raced in. Men jumped out, flashing guns and badges, but when all was said and done, the truck was empty, and the only charge made was possession of a stolen truck. Ben could hear the driver saying he was hired to drive the truck here, and had no idea what had been inside it before. The truck and driver were taken away.
Ben returned to the others, and told them what he had seen.
"I don't remember seeing any side roads, or turn offs anywhere between here and the highway, do you?"
"No, how about you Riley?"
Riley played with his hat, then commented, "Well, there was that one hill that had a small tunnel through it, but that couldn't be..."
Ben slapped his palms together, interrupting Riley, "That could be it! The hill was so small, they would have just sheered it away when they built the road, unless there was something else there."
Abigail was not too sure about Ben's insight, but she climbed into the car anyway. 'Ben, I found one more interesting note from my search. There was an employee at the Smithsonian named Green around the time of the original treasure find, but that may not have any bearing."
Watching for any side roads, and seeing none, they arrived at the tunnel in under five minutes, and got out after leaving the car outside the tunnel. Ben had his flashlight on before they entered the unlit tunnel, even though it was short enough to be fairly well lit. He stopped near the center, and placed his hands on the bricks, while Riley held the light.
"Ben, there is an opening up above, and it looks like it might hold a camera." Abigail pointed upward and behind them.
They left without saying anything more, and climbed back into the car. "Riley, can you find out if there is any kind of broadcast signal coming from here with all your fanciful gadgets?"
Without answering, Riley dug through two bags of gear in the back seat, and pulled out several instruments, two of which he plugged into his lap top. After a couple of minutes, Riley said, "Good thought Ben, there is a broadcast signal coming from the camera, at a low frequency, and just enough power to reach the town. There is another something there seeking a radio frequency just beyond normal radio channels."
"So. Like a garage door opener?" Abigail commented.
"Could be, I could cobble one together in about an hour, and we could try it, but I would need a special battery pack."
Back in town, Riley returned to the car with a small bag, saying "I've got the stuff I needed, found it at the gas station."
A little after an hour, and a light lunch, Riley announced he was ready. It was just then that Sadusky called. "Where are you, Ben?"
"Just having lunch at the AbiDiner, what's up?"
"The truck driver has clammed up, and won't say anything until he gets a lawyer. The other guy you caught in Utah with a rat trap hasn't said a word either. Any ideas where we go from here?"
"Why, Agent Sadusky, you told me to stay out of it!"
"Yes, and I knew that would make you try even harder."
Ben smiled and said, "Let's meet quietly at that tunnel we passed though getting here. I think something is going on there. Meet us there about six o'clock, the road should be pretty quiet by that time. While Abigail and Riley took a nap in the car, Ben went out to collect some supplies from the countryside. After collecting a bunch of grasses, twigs, and a strip of dark cloth, he set about building a large bird nest, using string from a long lost kite that he had found. The cloth was wrapped into the nest, with a long strip hanging out. Ben put the nest and some larger sticks into the trunk of the car, then called his mother.
"Ben, I haven't slept since your map arrived. Patrick and I have gone over it, time and again. I believe the parchment to be camel skin, but the confirmation has not come back from the laboratory yet. We have also sent off samples of the different paints for radiocarbon dating."
"Did you notice that there is no Baja California on the map, and it looks like the Colorado empties there into the Pacific? Also it looked like Madagascar was still part of Africa."
"Yes, and so much more. I found out that New Orleans and the surrounding area has different soil than the rest of the country, it is much more similar to that of Brazil. That island must have been pushed into the coast by tectonic means. We are cataloging the cities, and measuring distances. One thing you were not aware of, was on the back of the map. When we turned it over, and lit it with ultraviolet, there was a map of the solar system on the back, drawn to galactic scale. The sun was a large ball on the right side, with all the planets drawn to scale across the map. And when I say all, I mean all, they did not include Pluto on the map, but in the furthest corner, there is a yet to be discovered planet shown. Pluto has an orbit of 246 years, this planet could be three or four times that. One more thing, they show a planet in the area we call the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. How could they have known about this?"
"Wonderful, mother, I want to know all about it, but we have to leave now. Call you later."
"Goodbye, son."
Just before six, the three of them climbed into the car, and headed for the tunnel. Abigail texted Sadusky, but received no reply. When they arrived at the quiet tunnel area, Ben pulled out his fake bird nest, and carried it into the tunnel, hugging the wall. Standing on a wood box Riley had carried in, Ben stuffed the bird nest into the camera niche, and wedged it in with two sticks. Then he draped the piece of cloth over the lens. Riley hustled back to the car and brought back his cobbled 'garage door opener', which was about the size of a toaster. He pressed a button, and a light came on, it made a quiet humming sound. "This could take a minute...'
His words were cut off when two large, curved sections of the brick wall, rolled back into the hill, and then moved to each side, revealing a large dark opening. They were still pulling out their flashlights, when a car rolled up, and Sadusky hopped out with three more agents. They had pistols in one hand, and large flashlights in the other.
"How did you know to bring flashlights?"
"Tunnels are dark places, Ben. Besides, I did a little research, this was a Civil war ammo dump the Union thought had been decommissioned, and filled up. According to a Smithsonian representative, more about that later, but it appears that two of those names you gave me were in their employ back then."
The tunnel had a dirt floor which showed recent tire tracks, likely coming in and going out. There were no lights or anything along the carved rock walls, as they moved in further. They came to a modern metal garage door, which was not locked. It slid open with little noise, but the room was darkened; the flashlights showed a turn around circle for vehicles, and also a panel on the wall for lights. Guns at ready, Sadusky flipped the four switches on at once. The area had an eight foot ceiling, in a rock chamber about fifty feet square. There were ten support posts with beams across the ceiling, as a safety measure. There was a pile of artifacts the agents recognized, since they had packed them up, their labels were clearly visible. There were also artifacts on display in a very nice, museum quality glass enclosure, with internal lighting. What was left of William Wright's treasure was nicely displayed. A gold sarcophagus, and three statues of various size, all dressed differently. One statue had light skin, one tan, and the other dark brown. There were a few necklaces and other ornamentation hung on the wall, bone sculptures, and a bowl of shrunken or dried fruits. Ben commented, "I can see an apple and an orange in the bowl, there also seem to be figs and dates, but some of them are like nothing I have seen before."
Sadusky went back toward the road, until he got cell reception, then made a call for back up. Abigail and another agent found another entrance behind a curtain, that they thought might lead back into town, but they would wait for Sadusky before exploring further. Along the wall were displayed weapons, shields, spears, atlatls, and different bows, even a harpoon. The other wall opposite had various styles of clothing and hats, most of which Abigail had never seen before. There were urns, and pottery, dishes and cooking utensils, on simple tables, none had any labels or descriptions.
Riley noticed some footprints under one of the display tables, and said, "They must bring the children down here, they have left footprints under the table."
It seemed a very long time before three more cars showed up. One was sent into town, while the others entered the man made cave. Sadusky led the team through the passage, and arriving at a simple wood door, pushed it open and burst into a dark basement room, empty and quiet. They soon discovered that they were in the basement of the small museum, and the place had been locked up for the night. It was nearly nine o'clock when the door was opened to give the third car of agents entry. The lights had been left off, so as not to attract attention. It was nearly midnight before the entire town had been rounded up in the church, of the fifty eight people expected, there were still six men missing. No one knew where they were.
The entire population was taken by bus to the closest facility, children were bedded down first, then as the adults were processed through, they were also incarcerated for the rest of the short night, agents were left in Abidos, even though all of the museum pieces had been packed up and sent to a secure location.
Riley, Ben, and Abigail had spent the next, short day, waiting. The following day, Ben called Sadusky early on, to find out what had happened. "I thought you and the Mrs. had gone home. Why are you still here?"
"But..."
"I can tell you a couple things, but everything else has to be processed, you understand. We confirmed that Ben Brown and Lonnie Smith were employees of the Smithsonian, way back then. They were likely instrumental in diverting the first treasure, and some of the loot was stolen to set up those men with bankrolls. The statute of limitations has long run out on that crime, but they were probably still trying to cover their tracks by pulling the second heist, or they were running out of cash. Either way, we will run them down eventually. They will be caught. Now go home, Ben."
"All right, but Abigail and I have a honeymoon to finish, I think we will head to South Dakota, to finish it up. I will definitely send Riley home. Oh, by the way, can you call the president and tell him to toss page forty seven..."
About a week later, the phone jangled; Ben answered on the third ring. Sadusky's voice came through, "We have straightened everything out, with a couple exceptions. There were two clay tablets, on the bottom of the two largest statues. I haven't been able to find anyone who wants to take a crack at deciphering them."
Ben rubbed his eyes, and said, "I'll have to ask my mother..."
"Which one?"