Morning came with the insistent beeping of the alarm clock. There was no way to tell the time down here besides his clock. It paid for him to keep a close watch on him. It would be far too easy to lose track of time down here. He put together a quick breakfast before breaking camp and starting off down the cave once again.
It was a few hours into his walk when he first began to
notice the changes in his surroundings. It had been happening so slowly and consistently
that it took him a while to notice that he could see even further than his
small light should have made possible. He wanted to pass it off as just getting
used to the darkness, but he’d been underground too often to believe that.
His hand trembled as he touched the button to turn his own
light off. He closed his eyes tight as he did so and counted to ten. He opened
his eyes, blinked a couple of times then held his hand up in front of his face.
He could see the outline of his hand which meant he wasn’t hallucinating.
Somewhere up ahead was a light source.
Hans switched his light back on and checked his GPS for
elevation. He had been steadily going downwards since he had entered the
cavern. It didn’t seem likely that the light could be just an exit to the
outside, but he wasn’t going to rule it out as a possibility. Little enough was
known about this planet and less about this cavern system.
As an afterthought, Hans pulled up the topographical view on
his GPS and was surprised to see that he had him under the ocean at this point.
It seemed even less likely that this light was an entrance to the surface. Hans
shined his light around to get a better look at the rocks on the ceilings and
wall and saw that they appeared completely dry. It didn’t make any sense to him
and he was beginning to wonder if about the exact origins of the cavern.
He wasn’t an expert in geography, but he was pretty sure any
naturally formed cavern under an ocean would have to have some sort of water
flow. He knew there was enough calcium, lime and other minerals to create
stalagmites and other formations, but none of that existed in this cavern. Even
in some of the older man made ones he had explored, water had found its way
inside to create those breathtaking natural sculptures that he enjoyed.
Hans picked up his pace as he continued onward towards the
source of the light. He tried not to get too hopeful about what he was going to
find, but it was hard to not think about it. The cavern seemed to continue on forever
with the light getting neither brighter nor dimmer. It was hard to be sure, but
it was getting frustrating. Every now and then Hans turned off his light to try
and see if the light was getting brighter or not, but as far as he could tell
it was staying exactly the same.
His watch beeped at him and he glanced down to see that an
entire day had passed him by as he pursued the source the light. It was time to
make camp for another night and hope for better luck the next day. It was his
last day for moving forward and after tomorrow he would have to start making
his way back. Hans prayed that tomorrow would bring better luck, but the light
was at least promising.
As his watched beeped in another new day Hans wasted no time
in breaking down camp and starting off on his search for the source of the
light. He tried to keep his mind occupied on everything, but the light as he
walked. He thought about old songs and tried to remember their lyrics, he
thought about how things were getting busy enough that he'd have to hire a few
more people to keep up with demand. Hans managed to keep himself distracted
enough that it wasn't until his stomach growled at him that he realized the
morning had passed already.
Looking around he tried to assess how bright the light was.
It seemed a little brighter now, but he wasn't a hundred percent sure about it.
He ate a few small snacks to keep himself going and continued on after another
hour of walking he was sure that the light had gotten brighter. It was also the
first time he noticed that the cavern was starting narrow quickly. He could
almost touch the ceiling once again and there was less than a meter to each
side of his outstretched arms.
Hans quickened his pace as much as he could, but was soon
forced into walking doubled over. Eventually he stopped as the width of the
cavern became only just wide enough for him to fit through comfortably. Hans
dropped his gear and just grabbed the most important items to take with him. He
knew that if he got stuck down here no one would find him, but that didn’t seem
as important as finding out what the source of the light was.
Hans kept crawling forward and hoped that this tunnel
wouldn’t narrow any further, the light was becoming brighter with each step
and, soon, Hans found himself wishing for sunglasses. If it wasn’t for the
coolness of the surrounding rock he would have thought he was heading into the
sun itself.
He stopped for a moment to tie a piece of cloth around his
head to help shut out the light. Hans pushed forward blindly feeling his
surroundings with his hands. It was slow going, but he wasn’t about to give up
yet. Even with a cloth wrapped over his tightly shut eyes the light was almost
starting to be too much for him to take any longer.
Sliding his hands forward he felt an edge to the tunnel he
was crawling through. Inching forward he examined around the edge of the
opening with his hands, but he could feel nothing beyond that. More than
anything Hans wanted to be able to see what was in the opening, but without
special equipment it would be impossible to do so.
In a last ditch effort to see if he could continue, Hans
laid flat on his stomach and pushed himself as close to the edge as he dared.
At the full length of his reach he felt his fingertips brush against something
warm and metallic. Taking a chance, Hans pushed himself further forward until
he could get a grip on the object. He pulled back as hard as he could and it
came loose.
As he pushed himself back into the tunnel he heard a soft
beeping coming from the opening. Hans backed up as fast as he could until he
bumped into his gear. Undoing the cloth from around his eyes, he finally was
able to see what he had taken from the other side of the opening. It was strangely shaped and there were
markings all over it. Hans turned it
over a few times in his hands before putting it in his pack.
Hans picked everything up and started heading out, his head
full of plans for what he would need to continue onwards next time. He wanted
to know what was in that next cavern past the tunnel. He’d need special gear
for that and he wasn’t sure if he’d find it on planet. He had already raised a
few red flags with his earlier requests, this time he’d have to be even more
careful.
Hans spent the next few days planning exactly how he was
going to go about his next visit to the Mantou Islands and how he was going to
be able to get all the equipment he was going to need to make it work. It
wasn’t going to be easy, not in the least, but he had a feeling it was going to
be worth it. In the meantime he had the artifact to study and learn about.
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