George Wilfehrt, 8-78
(*Note all names have been changed
I hadn’t seen by nephew John in years. (His true identity has been changed to protect him from possible persecution by the authorities.) Through the family grapevine, I learned he had gotten a doctorate in geology and had joined the navy. I was surprised when he called the office not long ago to invite me out to lunch. He sounded nervous over the phone and refused to talk about his recent history until we were alone. I met John at the restaurant he had suggested, and I was worried by his gaunt appearance.
John is in his late twenties, but he looked like an old man. The old energy and gutsiness were gone, and his once rigid posture drooped under an unspoken burden. The scars on his face bespoke an ordeal almost beyond human endurance. His hands shook, and his eyes darted continually back and forth in nervous excitement.
Over our extended lunch, John told me of the strange encounter he had experienced while working at the the South Pole. Often his voice cracked under the terrors of his past experiences, and he stopped often to regather his thoughts. What he had experienced in Antarctica had shattered his nerves of steel.
John had been assigned to Project Omega by the navy. Omega was to study the effects of pollution on the Antarctic ice sheet. Recent scientists have warned that the huge ice sheet that covers Antarctica was sliding off the land and could break away from Antarctica altogether… the water level all across the world would rise some seventy-five feet, forever drowning the coasts of all nations.
As part of Project Omega, John’s duty was to drill through the ice sheet to take samples of the interface materials where the ice rested on the solid continent. After several months of taking core samples, the scientists did discover that the great ice sheet is now resting on a layer of slush (’77-’78).
Furthermore, the whole ice sheet is creeping a few centimeters a year towards the sea. The most puzzling aspect to the samples came from the ground a mile under their feet. Somehow the continent was growing warmer from internal causes. Answers were offered, such as increased volcanic activity deep under the earth or increased radioactivity that warmed the ground, but these answers did not explain the rapid warming effects noticed by the scientists.
As John was nearing the end of his six month stay on the frozen continent, a radio blackout was put in force by the armed services. All leaves were cancelled, and the whole continent was put under quarantine. Authorities said it was due to an outbreak of a mysterious disease that spread like wildfire through the American bases in Antarctica. John was angered by this sudden blackout, for he was due to be shipped home in weeks.
Before John could act, a special plane was sent for him with no explanation offered, he was whisked off to Ice Base Arthur near the Wendell Sea. No amount of prodding could make the pilot reveal the reason for this strange action.
Once at Ice Base Arthur, John was hurried into a conference room. Three other scientists were in the room:
Dr. Brooks, a geochemist, Dr. James, a geophysicist, and Dr. Joyce Brown, the only female paleontologist in
Antarctica. They all explained that they too had been hurriedly brought to the base, but no one knew why
they were present.
For a moment John forgot his anger. The three scientists were among the most prestigious researchers in
America, and John was delighted to be in their presence. He was particularly interested in Dr. Joyce Brown,
a small but determined woman…
John barely had time to be introduced around the group, when a door opened and General Phodes entered,
followed by a gaggle of military aides. He went through quick introductions and got right to the problem.
Recent satellites put into orbit over the South Pole to assist scientists had discovered a strange signal emanating from under Antarctica, General Rhodes stated. The satellites had been recording X-ray transmissions in the sky over the continent, and through a malfunction, one of the satellites had changed its facing away from the stars and back to the ground. Before Mission Control back in the States could correct the roll around, the satellite sent X-ray pulses originating from far beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. Mission Control decided to keep the satellite “about face” to study the strange pulsations. Slowly, a pattern began to form, as though something was sending a message out into space. When this discovery was revealed,
Pentagon authorities had immediately put a quarantine on American bases in Antarctica and hurriedly gathered a task force to study this phenomenon. The four scientists had been selected to study the X-ray source.
General Rhodes asked if there was any dissent. To a man (and a woman), the four scientists agreed to undertake the study. The General then stepped aside to allow his aides to fill in the details so far discovered about the mysterious source of the message.
Sonar studies of the ground from which the X-rays arose revealed little except for a series of caverns under
the ice pack and direct entrance to the X-ray source, unfortunately, was filled with slush from the melting ice.
However, further studies revealed a small passageway leading out under earth to a small group of volcanoes
just off the Antarctic coast. A group of soldiers had explored the cavern for a number of miles before turning
back. The air was breathable, and the heat from the volcanoes provided sufficient warmth. Trickles of water
from the ice sheet even provided water. The task force of four scientists would be stationed in one of the
caverns to study the strange phenomenon, but they would not be allowed to proceed further into the mammoth
caverns.
The four scientists stared at one another in amazement. The unspoken question hung in everyone’s minds: could there possibly be an intelligent race under the continent of Antarctica? The authorities downplayed this suggestion, assuming, until further facts were available, that the source of the X-rays was a natural occurrence. Still, with the sudden blackout in effect, it seemed that even the government was not too sure about what would eventually be found.
The task force was soon established in a large cavern. The heat from the volcanoes made the cavern quite
warm in contrast with the bitter cold of the windswept plains above their heads. The army personnel enjoyed
the activity, aiding the four scientists in setting up equipment and recording their observations. It was soon
discovered that the huge caverns had been formed by melting ice from the heat of the volcano. Although
geologically interesting, there was nothing to suggest an alien race at work. Soon, the scientists concerned
themselves with any possible natural phenomenon to explain the X-ray transmissions… from the satellite
recordings it seemed that the X-rays were carrying a message. Any explanation of the X-rays seemed
impossible.
The disaster occurred after the first week in the cavern. The soldiers were out getting more supplies and equipment for the task force, leaving the four scientists alone in the cavern. Suddenly, the ground shook under their feet,and rocks began falling from the ceiling. Taking cover under an outcropping of rock, the four scientists watched in despair as the earthquake sealed their escape tunnel. Huge boulders fell on their tents and supplies, and the air grew increasingly warmer. Then as suddenly as it came, the earthquake ended. The rocks stopped falling, but the air continued to grow warmer.
John told the group that what probably had happened was that one of the volcanoes had become active again.
Not only was the group sealed in the cavern, but the increase in warmth was probably due to volcanic activity
close to them. They might die either from heat exhaustion or be drowned if the melting ice above their heads
seeped down into the cavern. Their only possible salvation lay in heading deeper into the maze of tunnels and
away from the volcanoes.
Dr. Brown and Dr. James were reluctant to leave the cavern, since the army would no doubt blast its way back
into the cavern to find them. If the group moved away from the tunnel, they might be forever lost. Yet, even
as they argued, the air grew hotter and hotter. To stay would mean certain death and to keep exploring might
destroy them too.
John, master of every situation, told the group he was heading deeper into the tunnels. If they wanted to follow him, he would leave his trail on the walls of the cavern with arrows pointing his direction. John gathered up a sleeping bag, food supplies, side arms and ammunition, and several flashlights. With a cheery goodbye, he started down the long tunnel, stating that if he was going to die, at least he would discover the reason for the strange X-rays.
He had scarcely traveled a mile through the dark tunnel when he heard a shout behind him. The rest of the group
had followed his lead, especially when they found streams of melting water leaking into the cavern. Under Joyce’s
urging, they had prepared themselves and headed after John. Following the arrows on the wall, they had quickly
been able to catch up…
The journey through the tunnels was often dangerous. Occasionally, they would come to wide chasms, dropping
down further than their flashlights could penetrate. Joyce had remembered to bring a coil of rope which they
used as a bridge to cross the chasms. Fortunately, all the members of the party were young and strong, and
there were no accidents along their journey.
The temperature inside the cavern would vary greatly, as the tunnel dipped down towards the center of the earth
and then rose again towards the surface…
The next day almost brought further disaster. The tunnels now headed back towards the surface, and the air grew colder. Donning their parkas, the four adventurers pushed on through the cold. Ahead of them, they saw a pale light, the first light they had seen under the tunnels. To their surprise, they found the tunnel had touched the surface, but the ice sheet was a solid lid through which they could not pass. From the hole, a water fall of slush fell and had carved a great lake of ice cold water. The lake blocked their tunnel. It was too large to swim across. A swimmer would die of cold before reaching the far shore. Nor was there rope long enough to
bridge the lake. It seemed the exploration had come to a dead end.
John refused to be blocked by the obstacle. He ordered everyone to open their knapsacks to reveal the contents in hopes of finding a way across the icy lake. In Dr. James’ sack, he found the perfect solution – a rubber air mattress which Dr. James used under his sleeping bag. John would use the mattress to cross the lake.
He fastened one end of the rope to an attachment on the raft. Stripping down to jeans and a sweater, John
pushed himself out across the lake. His gloves gave him some protection from the icy water, but his hands soon
became numb from the cold. valiantly, he pulled himself across the lake and finally reached the opposite shore.
With teeth chattering, he sent the air mattress back to his comrades, keeping the rope in his hands.
The three scientists tied their belongings to the raft and John pulled the supplies across the lake. As the raft
drifted back to the opposite shore, he quickly donned his parka and skinned off his soaking clothes. Then one
by one he helped the other scientists across the cold lake. With teeth chattering away like maracas, the three
travelers also changed their wet clothes. Once dry and warm, they continued their exploration.
(*Note all names have been changed)
Entrance of a cave in an iceberg
Day followed day in dull monotony as the foursome continued through the tunnels. The
darkness of the tunnel darkened their spirits, and the quiet whisper of melting water
and the crunch of their own footsteps over the hard ground was the only noise they
heard. Slowly, the tunnels began to dive deeper and deeper into the earth. The
periods of cold soon vanished, and the air grew temperate and then tropical. Shedding
their heavy clothes, the explorers continued in the warm tunnels…
On the seventh day, the group found the underground sea. The tunnel had opened into
another broad cavern, but it was mostly filled with water. Their flashlights followed the
ceiling of the tunnel as it slowly dipped into the cold water. Again, it seemed their
exploration had come to a dead end. Reluctantly, John agreed that the party would have
to turn back. Perhaps the volcano had subsided, and the army would have been able to
clear the blocked tunnel. That night, broken in spirit, they camped by the subterranean
sea.
They were awakened that morning by Joyce’s astonished cry. John…rushed with the other two scientists on his tail to where the scream had come. Joyce stood in a crevice in the rock. Her flashlight revealed a wall!
It seemed to be ceramic, smooth and cool to the touch. Joyce explained that she could
not sleep and had spent the night exploring the tunnel in hopes of finding a passageway
around the underground sea. She had been exploring the crevice in the tunnel when she
had slipped and fallen against some rocks. The rocks gave way under her hands and part
of the wall had collapsed on top of her. For a moment she thought she was dead, but
fortunately the avalanche of rocks was short lived. Groping for her lost flashlight, she
had felt the cool, even surface. It was the sudden discovery of the ceramic wall which
had made her scream.
Here was a mystery darker than any known before to man. The wall was obviously crafted
by someone intelligent, but it was impossible for it to exist. The Antarctic had been
frozen over for hundreds of thousands of years. No man could have buuilt this smooth wall
that they had found… They were awed by the fact that they had discovered a lost
civilization buried beneath the ice of Antarctica.
The problem still remained: how were they to return to the surface and tell people of their
amazing discovery? To go forward seemed impossible, and to return also seemed doomed
to failure. What could they do?
John helped Joyce back to camp area, and Dr. Brooks broke out the first aid kit. Fortunately,
Joyce had only received one cut on her scalp, which they were soon able to staunch.
They were all relieved, for a serious injury in this prison tunnel would surely have meant
death. Joyce was a bit shaken by her injuries, but she was even more anxious to go back
to examine the ceramic wall she had uncovered.
Even as they finished bandaging Joyce’s head, Dr. James returned with-exciting news. The
Ceramic wall ran parallel to the tunnel, and the encrusting rock broke away easily from its
smooth surface. He had tried breaking off a piece of tile with his hammer, but the wall was
unusually hard…
Knowing that they were all too excited to go back to sleep, John ordered them all to eat
breakfast before returning to the wall. In his mind was the question he knew they were
all asking: could there be an entrance, a door, some way to get beyond the wall? Of
course, once beyond the wall, what would they find?
They were all more cheerful as they went to work, tearing away the rock that had formed
around the wall. As Dr. James had discovered, the rocky layers pulled away easily from
the ceramic. In an hour they had exposed ten feet of the wall. Dr. Brooks was the first
to notice the doorway in the wall, a small opening about three feet high and two feet wide.
Quickly, they cleared the rocky rubble away from the entrance. They pushed at the
entrance, but it refused to give. After a half hour of exertion, they gave it up as hopeless.
If the wall was indeed as old as they estimated… it would not be surprising if the doorway
had been welded shut by mineral deposits.
John noticed that the initial elation in the group was giving way to despair. Despite the
fact that they had found the most important archaeological discovery of the century, it
would not make much difference since they could not get out to tell anyone. The group
slowly stopped their work and one by one sat on the hard ground to stare at the ungiving
wall.
It was then that John noticed that one ceramic block looked slightly different from the rest.
He noticed four circles on the block — making it either an unusual key system or a pressure
-trip plate. He moved to the wall and put his four fingers on the indentations on the smooth
ceramic. He pushed slightly, and the block slid gently into the wall. There was a grinding of
old gears within the wall. The small door inched open. A rush of foul smelling air rushed
through the entrance, gagging the scientists. After a moment the foul effluvium ebbed;
although the air from the tunnel was stale, it was breathable.
John looked at the members of the group. They nodded their approval to enter. They all knew that they were quite possibly about to make history… and their adrenaline surged with excitement.
John entered first, followed quickly by Joyce and the other doctors. Inside was another
tunnel system, scarcely large enough for Brooks, the tallest, to stand without touching
his head to the ceiling. The tunnel was cylindrical and seven feet in diameter, but they were
a light blue in color. The floor was slipper with moss, and there were no prints to be seen.
Obviously, the tunnel had not been used in many, many years. The hope of finding (anyone)
…flickered in their hearts; the tunnel seemed too ancient — whoever had built it was either
dead or gone forever.
John ordered the group to fill up their canteens. He checked the food supply. They still had
enough food for two weeks inside the…tunnel. They decided to follow it up the slope towards
the surface for one day. If it was the exit to the tunnel, then they would go back to explore
the rest of the tunnel. They set off at a brisk pace, their hopes much higher than they had
been for days.
The walk through the tunnel soon became boring. Occasionally they would find another doorway,
but none of the doors opened. Dr. Brooks assumed that most of the doorways had been
covered over with rocky mineral deposits during the long ages the tunnel had been in existence.
At one time all the doorways might have opened out onto our world, but with the coming of the
ice to Antarctica, the doorways had been sealed shut by accumulating mineral deposits and rock
slides. They had been very lucky to find a doorway that still worked. Joyce argued that the strange texture of the tunnel prevented it from being sealed completely. If the rocky encrustation could be cleared away, she felt all the doors would still work. Whoever had built these tunnels had built them to last. Even if the tunnels were deserted, they still existed…and they could be used again if the race who built them ever returned.
Their exercises in speculation were cut abruptly short when they came to a dead end in the tunnel.
They all let out a soft gasp as they looked at the tunnel which had been folded flat. It seemed as
though some great mass had arisen above the tunnel or that the ground itself had folded under the
internal pressures of the molten mantle at Earth’s center. The tunnel still held back the pressure
of the rock, but it was twisted and smashed almost flat. It was obvious they could no longer go
forward — their one exit to the surface had been cut off. All they could do was sigh with
disappointment and turn back to explore the lower levels of the tunnel.
…Their hopes of escape seemed greatly reduced. Still, if they were to die, they wanted to know everything they could about the mysterious race who had built the tunnel which could withstand enormous pressures without shattering. Obviously, the ceramic tunnel had amazing elasticity, bending under stress as it did rather than shattering.
The trip back down the tunnel was more hazardous. Often, they would slip on the mossy surface.
Fortunately, the moss also offered a soft landing place when they fell but their clothes were soon
covered by the gooey mess.
When they reached the open doorway, they decided to spend the sleep period in the rocky grotto,
where they could wash themselves clean in the cold underground sea. After a night of exhausted
sleep, they prepared themselves for the final descent into the… (subterranean) complex.
They marched down the… tunnel for two uneventful days. There were no side tunnels to explore.
The tunnel just kept sloping gently downwards. Again they became covered with the mossy
growth, as they slipped and slid on it. Joyce’s flashlight died as did Dr. Brooks’. They had only
two lights left plus three extra batteries. In a matter of days they would be without any
illumination, which worried John tremendously. They were all tired and exhausted, but they were
still sane. With all light gone, they could easily start slipping into insanity within the tight confines
of the tunnel.
Three more days they continued their walking, averaging, John estimated, a good twenty-five miles
a day. At every doorway they would stop and try to open it, never with any luck. The monotony
of the journey grew heavy upon them all, and even Joyce began snapping at John’s orders.
On the sixth day of their journey through the tunnel, they came to a doorway that was larger than
any they had seen. John, Joyce, and Brooks simply passed by the doorway, but James, still as
stubborn as ever, decided to make one last attempt. He found the pressure plate, set four fingers
in the indentations, and pushed. The doorway started to grind open. Quickly, the others joined
James and helped push the doorway open.
The doorway opened out into a huge cavern. The cavern was illuminated very faintly by glowing
panels on the ceiling. James estimated the ceiling was at least two hundred feet above them. In
the dim light they could see that the cavern seemed to go on forever. Nor was it simply an empty
rocky cavern, for they saw dirt and dead grass and millions of mushrooms covering the floor! Joyce
decided they were edible mushrooms, so for the irst time in days they were able to eat something
other than emergency rations and even save their flashlight power.
After a short pause to rest, they decided to push on and explore the huge chamber. They walked half a mile strait ahead in the dim light, when they saw the fence. It was a tall fence, at least fifty feet or more and strong enough to hold back a charging bull elephant. Beyond the fence the ground was covered by dead grass. There were no mushrooms no moss, just brown grass that fell to dust when they touched it.
They decided to walk along the fence. To the right they saw the lighting panels in the ceiling appear
brighter and so headed in that direction. As they walked, they saw dead tree trunks standing inside
the enclosure. In the dim light, Joyce thought she detected ginkgo trees and dead ferns. She decided
it must have been a tropical garden… or perhaps a farm where they could raise crops from their own
seeds. Brooks stated that if it were only a farm, there would be no need for the huge fence. Since
it was doubtful that there was anything to keep out, the fence was meant to keep something within
— something big and powerful!
They soon reached the end of the fence. There was a road, made of the same ceramic material as the walls of the tunnel, but it was not covered with moss. Brooks pointed to another gigantic fence on the other side of the road. As if to answer their question about whether it was farm or zoo, a skeleton lay by the edge of the road. Their mouths dropped open — the skull showed the animal had been a triceratops, one of the last of the dinosaurs. Joyce ran to the skeleton and examined it closely. She said it was brittle, but not more than one thousand years old!
John ordered the reluctant Joyce to join them again. Their water supply was short, and they had to find more water. They started down the pale blue road, the cyclopedia fences dwarfing them. For a day they marched down the long aisle, their thirst finally beginning to affect them. They camped for the night and drank the last drops of water. The mushrooms provided some moisture, but not nearly enough. The next morning they continued their long walk.
Around midday they reached a point where the fence had been broken. Lying astride the broken
fence was another skeleton — which Joyce stated must have been a tyrannosaur. Perhaps… they
had left behind their zoo… As the power source in the… complex diminished, the struggle for food
among the zoo animals stiffened. This tyrant king had managed to break through a weak spot in
the fence, and it had died in the effort. But from the amount of prints in the area, it seemed that
a number of dinosaurs had broken free. Joyce, a devoted paleontologist, refused to budge until
she had made a thorough examination of the skeleton. While Brooks and James joined her in
measurements, John decided to explore inside the cage. If there had been animals in it, there must
have been water.
He wandered over fields of dead grass, past trunks of long dead trees. A rocky crag made a good vantage point from which to see a great distance. Far, far down the road the lights grew bright, and not far from the fence was a small pool. Hopefully, the water was fit to drink. He ran down to test it. There was a sour taste to the water, but it could be managed. Stripping down, he flung himself into the cold water for his first bath in over a week. His cries soon brought the rest of the adventurers who soon joined him in the ancient watering hole.
They camped for the night. Their hearts sung with new hope. They seemed to have reached the interior of the… complex, and there was still power in it to provide illumination.
They resumed their journey down the road. Slowly, the ceiling panels began to give more light. After a two day hike they reached an area where the light was almost too intense for their weary eyes. More importantly, they found the grass growing again. There were brushes and small trees. The temperature was a bit warmer, about 80 degrees. They found a hole in the fence across the road, not quite as large. Gathered around the entrance, in a futile effort to escape, were skeletons of large beasts which Joyce labelled as mastodons, creatures extinct for at least ten thousand years. Obviously, they had tried to break down the fence, managing to create only a small hole through which smaller creatures could escape.
Camped around a fire that night, the group argued over what could have happened. Obviously…they must have
abandoned it fairly recently, for the skeletons were all about one thousand yers old. Had some catastrophe
occurred? …There were no skeletons … Joyce hoped that a few samples of prehistoric animals had survived further
ahead in the green area. Eventually, the group stopped talking and, one by one, drifted off to sleep.
They were awakened by a scream of terror from Dr. Brooks. They all looked up in shock to see a group of Dinosaurs encircling the dying campfire. The dinosaurs were about seven feet tall, and numbered about twenty.
“Tyrannosaurs!”” Joyce cried. They were attacking Brooks and James!
…John leapt from his sleeping bag to grab a burning branch. He called for Joyce to do the same. They fed the fire with dead leaves until it grew into flames. Then John grabbed a burning branch to attack the carnivores. Swinging the flaming branch before him, he forced the small dinosaurs back. One of them snapped at the branch and burned its mouth. It squealed in a high whine and ran away. Four other tyrannosaurs faced John, snapping at the fire. Joyce joined John swinging another burning branch towards them. The monsters retreated before their combined assault. Finally, the group of monsters broke and ran.
John hurried to his companions. Brooks was hidden in his sleeping bag. The monsters had cut him badly with their teeth, but the tough nylon exterior kept him from serious damage. Dr. James was missing. While they had beaten back some of the dinosaurs, the doctor had been killed and dragged away by the rest of the pack. Blood stains on the ground revealed the direction he had been dragged.
Joyce wept openly as she bent to care for Brooks. There were bad gashes on his arms and on his legs, where the tyrannosaurs had pierced the sleeping bag. He was in shock from the attack. John and Joyce stood guard over him as he lay unconscious.
The group was in serious danger. They had no weapons other than a single hunting knife.
If tyrannosaurs still lived — small as these specimens might be — there might be other
ferocious beasts still out in the darkness ready to attack. They had lost one friend and
were in danger of losing Brooks too. It seemed their light-hearted journey had suddenly
become a matter of mere survival!
John gathered wood for the fire, while Joyce bandaged Brooks’ wounds. The wounded man had not been seriously mauled by the band of tyrannosaurs, but he was in a state of shock. The dancing fire threw its light out into the great darkness. In the far distance the lights from the great ceiling panels was beginning to grow lighter. Whoever had built this cavern had provided lasting controls to regulate the illumination in a day-night cycle.
John build a litter in the last in the last hours of the evening. Using the blood soaked sleeping bag of Dr. James stretched across wooden supports. They loaded the unconscious Brooks into the litter, tied him in securely, and gathered up the rest of their equipment.
The zoo still seemed to stretch endlessly ahead of them as they walked down the broad avenue. the fences on either side seemed more to shut them in than to keep anything inside at bay.
John dragged the litter behind him for hours on end. Joyce would spell him when he was too exhausted, but she could not pull the heavy load very long. Still, they managed to put miles behind them as they staggered ahead.
By evening they were both exhausted. John built a large fire and gathered a huge pile of wood. He built a stockade with pikes pointing out and away from the roving monsters they might face. Joyce stood guard as John fell into an instant slumber, unable to eat the meager meal of mushrooms she had prepared. Only when the great ceiling panels signaled that “dawn” was coming did she wake John so she could get some sleep.
The journey down the avenue continued two more days. Brooks had still not awakened from
his shock. John grew to loathe the litter and the endless load. Once he dropped in exhaustion,
the litter crashing to the ground.
But on the third day they saw the end of the zoo. A few miles ahead, the ends of the fences
were plainly in view. Just beyond was the end of the empty cavern — a great stone wall with
unidentified designs upon them.
As the overhead lights began to dim for twilight, John and Joyce decided to keep moving in
hopes of reaching the stone wall. Brooks was muttering softly in his sleep. It seemed he
would finally awaken.
As they sat around their dinner of mushroom stew, Brooks opened his eyes. He screamed in
terror and swattted dazedly at the empty air. Joyce moved to comfort the sick man. John
was too exhausted to move. Once she had Brooks calmed, she told him what had happened —
how the dinosaurs had attacked the group in the night and dragged away Dr. James. She
forced Brooks to eat some of the stew to regain his strength and then helped him get up and
move about.
John wanted to continue towards the wall, but Joyce insisted they all sleep. Brooks, although
still feverish, was back to his old self. He remarked how quiet the zoo was. There were no
calls of birds or buzzig of insects. The air was stale to the taste. It seemed likely that the zoo
was in its last days. Those who had built it had done an amazing job of construction, but over
the years of abandonment it had slowly eroded and fallen apart. Probably the roving carnivores
had decimated what few species of other animals had survived over the yers.
John drifted to sleep as Joyce joined in the discussion with Brooks. Every muscle ached, and his
brain could not concentrate on their intense discussion. As he drifted off, he smiled at Joyce’s
unusual strength. She had suffered as much as he, and yet she was still ready to carry on her
scientific investigations.
The next morning saw the trio up and refreshed. The night had been quiet — no threats to them
had disturbed their slumber oven though the campfire had gone out as they slept. After another
bowl of stew, they gathered their belongings and headed towards the end of the cavern.
After a few hours they discovered that the designs on the wall were actually huge doorways…
and one door was still open! They peered into the opening. As their heads passed the door sill,
the interior lights went on — obviously controlled by an electric eye. There was a large room
inside with several large and comfortable chairs. It seemed the they had a larer build than
regular humans but otherwise had the same proportions.
The sight of real chairs was too much for the trio. They hurried inside and dropped into the chairs,
sighing with pleasure as the soft, leathery material gave beneath them. Their moment of reverie
turned to shock, however, for as they sat in the chairs, the open door swished shut. John was the
first to notice the closed door. He leapt at the door, but could not pry it open. The others joined
him, helping him tug. The door refused to move.
Joyce noticed a series of buttons beside the doorway. At John’s suggestion she pushed them one
one at a time from top to bottom. Nothing happened. After all the weeks underground, it seemed
that they had come to the end, trapped in the large room. The air could not last more than a few
hours, and their food supply was low.
After an hour of examining the room, pushing the buttons again and again, they all happened to
sit in the chairs at the same time. No sooner had they all sat down than it felt like the floor dropped
out beneath them. Down the room plummeted. It was some form of elevator or transport device
through the immense complex, and it only worked when the passengers were all seated.
The elevator continued to drop stright down. Through a panel in one of the walls, the group saw
corridor after corridor flash by. The complex was enormous. The elevator decelerated quickly.
now it began to move horizontally, picking up speed as it moved. For twenty minutes the elevator
shot through a tunnel system — the same kind as the one they had used to enter the zoo.
Finally, the transporter came to a halt. The door slid open. The trio cautiously peered out into a
dimly lit room. They exited the transport unit and found themselves in a mammoth control center
of some kind. There was a large glass window over the control panel, but it was too dim to see much
beyond the window.
They entered the control room. John noticed there was a side door that had been bent open. It
appeared that some earthquake had tilted the room, throwing it at an odd angle and bending open a
sliding door.
John pulled out his flashlight. He eased through the twisted door onto a platform. He played the
light out into the darkness. In the far distance to his left was a gigantic sluice system — its heavy
ceramic doors fifty feet high. Under the sluice was a ceramic trough fifty feet deep and fifty feet
across. The trough led far off to the right.
Joyce followed John out onto the platform. They discovered a staircase leading down to the trough, which they descended. Walking along the wide rim of the trough, they followed it for a hundred yards into the tunnel. Their exploration came to a stop when they saw that the tunnel had collapsed. The enormous pressures caused by the slow movement of Antarctica across the Earth’s mantle had folded the trough up and brought down tons of rock. This tunnel system was completely sealed.
As they headed back towards the control center, they discovered another open door. Peeking in,
they saw it was another transport unit. As their heads passed the electric eye, the interior lights
came on. Apparently, this transport system also worked. Inside were six chairs, awaiting passengers.
Joyce and John checked the interior. They did not touch any buttons or sit in the soft chairs.
Joyce gasped. John turned to see her staring at a reddish light filling the corridor. They hurried out.
To their left they saw a window rising open over the sluice gate. A glowing red material inched across
the window. They stopped and stared at the window with awe. It was obvious to both of them — they
were looking at the molten interior of the planet. The sluice gate must have fed the hot molten iron-
nickle core material of Earth into the trough to be carried up to the surface. Now they knew why these
people had set their base so deep within the earth — they had been mining our planet’s iron core…
John snapped out of his reverie. The window could not have opened by itself. Obviously, Brooks had
decided to play with the control panel. Fearful that anything else might happen, John grabbed Joyce’s
hand and pulled her towards the control room. They had to stop Brooks before he opened the gate.
They began to run.
A blast of heat stopped them in their tracks. The sluice gate was also moving. Brooks had somehow
started it operating. Slowly, the gate began to open. White hot liquid seeped under the opening,
dropping into the trough. The heat from the molten materials was overwhelming.
Light panels on the ceiling flared on, blinding John and Joyce. They died and flared again…and then
gain in a slow rhythm. They heard a rumble and then several sharp cracks, like gigantic explosions
deep within the complex. The ground shuddered violently, throwing them off their feet. Joyce rolled
towards the cavernous trough, but John managed to grab her before she tumbled over the edge.
The flashing lights quickened their tempo. The explosions grew louder. The earth shook more violently.
John looked at the sluice gate. The whole mammoth structure suddenly buckled forward, tearing out
part of its rocky mounting.
The age-old mechanism had been started by Brooks, but it had been bent out of shape during the ages.
In its attempt to follow the order Brooks had given it at the control panels, it was destroying itself. The
whole gate was bulging, ready to burst open and flood the complex with molten iron.
A stream of whistles filled the air, drowning the explosions. The lights flashed maniacally in warning.
John helped Joyce up. They could not go forward. The gate was ready to blow apart. Up on the platform was Brooks. He was waving for them to come up. John motioned that they were going back to the other transport unit, hoping Brooks would understand.
John and Joyce hurried back. The transport unit’s door was sliding shut. They ran to it. The rocky ceiling was beginning to drop boulders everywhere in the tunnel. As they reached the closed door, John pounded on it. It swung open to admit them.
John helped Joyce to a seat. The earth buckled again and he fell. He stood and was knocked into a chair.
Immediately the doors shut and the elevator shot upwards with tremendous speed.
The last thing John remembered before he passed out was a great thunder deep beneath him. The
sluice gates had broken, allowing the hot molten core to break free and flood the tunnels and complex.
How long the trip in the elevator lasted John had no idea later. The acceleration drove him into a faint.
With the speed the transport could attain, it probably took only a few hours to bring John and Joyce
to safety.
When John awoke, he was startled to find himself lying on grass. Overhead the sun was shinning. He
slowly pulled himself back to his senses and looked around. Joyce was lying a few feet away, still and
unconscious. They were out in the open — where he had no idea. But the fresh cold taste of air was
delightful. They were in a valley surrounded by high mountains. John dug his jacket out from his
backpack and put it on, then helped Joyce into hers. He decided to let her sleep for as long as she
could.
There was a shallow tunnel in one of the faces of the mountain. John could see the ceramic wall of the
tunnel complex. He entered the tunnel and found a doorway in the ceramic. It had a pressure plate
on it. He pushed on the plate, but the door did not budge.
The transport unit must have taken them to the first safe entrance. It had ejected them out. They had tumbled roughly out of the tunnel and down onto the grassy plain. Bit it was obvious they were no longer in Antarctica. They had been carried hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles away from the complex to what might have been the last working exit onto the surface of the planet.
Joyce awoke a few hours later, her head throbbing with pain. John explained how they had escaped. They gathered their materials and headed out into the valley. Soon they came upon a small cluster of stone buildings. Some children saw them approaching and alerted the adults of the village. John and Joyce were soon surrounded by a group of chattering people, who found the ragged couple fascinating. It took some time but finally Joyce was able to catch a few words of Spanish. She had a slight smattering of the language and was able to indicate their hunger and thirst. They were taken into one of the huts and cared for. After a supper of potatoes and water, they felt more human again.
They had reached the surface in Argentina. After resting for the night in the village, they were escorted to a town the next day, where they found one policeman who knew some English. The policeman contacted the Argentine government who contacted the U.S. embassy. Soon a private plane was sent to pick up the couple and take them to Buenos Aires. From there they were flown to Washington under heavy guard.
John explained his story to a group of generals. He told of their journey through the complex and its eventual destruction when the sluice gate broke. One of the generals confirmed the story. There had been a bad earthquake deep under Antarctica. Furthermore, the strange X-ray signals had stopped at the same time. No word was heard of Dr. Brooks. They were forced to assume he died when the complex went. They concluded that the X-ray transmission was an alert signal, warning that the mining center was in trouble. But the owners had departed centuries, perhaps thousands… of years before.
John was allowed to come back to New York after a complete debriefing. It was suggested he keep quiet about his adventure, but John wanted to let someone know what had happened. In New York he met his uncle and told the incredible story…
We know the armed forces hope to find the tunnel complex with its one entry in Argentina. Whether they will ever be able to return to the complex we do not know.
… End?