Chapter 9 - The Catalogue

 Firstly, they had to locate the documents. It never occurred to them to ask the others, they simply activated their wrist locators which indicated that they were within two hundred yards of their goal. They started to scout around to find anything that may give them some indication as to where they were hidden. Eventually Watkins looked at one of the men and gave him a shrug of the shoulders, indicating his frustration. The man sheepishly raised his eyes and pointed skywards. Matthew’s eyes followed his gaze and a rather foolish realization came over him. He called to J.D. and indicated where he thought the locators were pointing to. As they stared at the face of the cliff they could see no obvious sign of any place that could conceal what they were looking for. They backed up from the cliff to gain a better vantage point, and at a distance in excess of two hundred, or so meters, they could just see a small dark shadow that was being cast by the angle of the sun. If this was what they had been looking for it had certainly been selected with great thought. It was out of reach of most people, and concealed brilliantly. Returning to the base of the cliff they opened their backpacks and took out some of their equipment. There were four slender tubes which screwed together to form one long tube approximately half of the height of J.D. To the bottom of this Watkins screwed a small gas bottle which he had detached from the cross member of his bike. He then stabbed the base of the bottle into the soft sand and dropped to one knee. Aiming the contraption skywards he hoped to secure a line in the proximity of the shadow they had seen earlier. This would be a one shot chance, missing this would mean an arduous climb to get to the ledge. When he was satisfied with his aim he reached down to the bottle and pressed the fire button. As he pressed there was a loud hiss of gas as the compressed air propelled the anchor skywards. This made everyone flinch, involuntarily. The anchor had embedded itself into the rock about three feet wide and to the right of the ledge. There were now two hanging wires leading from the anchor point to the ground. To one of these they attached an extremely thin high tensile rope which they pulled. As they did so the rope ran up, through the loop and back to where they stood. The next task was to secure these two ends, as one, into the base of the rock. Reaching once more into his back pack John took out a small contraption. It was a handle attached by a cord to a footplate which he clipped onto his shoe. He then attached the handle onto the cable which ran up the mountain side, and slipped his pack onto his back. Activating the handle winch he began to rise up. As he ascended he had to stop on occasions to free him self from where the cable had snagged on the uneven surface.  Upon reaching the top of the cable J.D. found that he had a two to three foot reach to land him self on the ledge. The ledge itself looked to be stable but with the reach and the uncertainty of its actual stability, he was a little wary. He paused for a moment to consider how to make the short traverse from the cable to the ledge. With his free hand he reached around his body and detached a line from his back pack. He then clipped the one end of the line into the loop of the anchor and tied the other end around his waist and his legs, thus forming a makeshift safety harness. Having done this he held the cable with his free hand and released his other from the handle that had held him safe. It took him a few minutes to free climb across the gap but shortly he had arrived. From where he now stood he could see why the location of this now apparent cave was the perfect hiding place. It was almost impossible to see from ground level because the entrance to the cave had been built to form an obscuring wall that blended perfectly into the natural mountain side. He slipped off his back pack and once more took a piece of equipment out. This one resembled a gun. Placing the barrel against the rock surface he fired two, more secure anchors into the wall then he dropped a sturdier line to the ground. Watkins told the others to wait where they were. The others would only be a short while, then, he attached another winch to the fresh cable and ascended the cliff. Looking out from the mouth of the cave the view was spectacular. Desert and rocks stretched out as far as the eye could see. But they were not here for the vistas. Armed with their halogen lamps they entered the cave. As they walked in through the small entrance they were met with a mild musty smell, which was not unpleasant. There seemed to be a spicy fragrance to the aroma inside which, although not overpowering, did remind them of the smell one would encounter in places of worship. The chamber in which they now stood was about half of the size of the cave they had used to stow their gear on the shoreline. It had about the same head room but was demonstrably smaller. Stacked along the back wall were a number of earthenware containers. They counted twenty in all and thought that their work here should only take a few hours. They tried to relay this information to Captain Daniels but there was no communication inside the cave. The thickness of the rock had interfered with their earcoms. The only way to contact the ship was to return to the precipice at the front of the cave. Matthew returned to make contact while J.D. further examined the cave. He began by pulling the jars away from the wall, inspecting each one. They all seemed to be intact and each of them was sealed. When Watkins returned, he told J.D. that they had the go ahead. They began to open the first container. The lid had been sealed to the main body using a thick viscose material with a similar consistency to tar. Quite what it was was unclear. It did, however, slow the process. J.D. took a small blow torch from his bag and began to play the flame onto the seal. After a few moments the material began to melt and run down the pots in black rivulets. It took about three or four minutes for the seal to become malleable enough for them to prize off the lid. When it was opened they peered inside and could see that the interior was well packed with rolls of parchment. The two smiled at each other and began to remove the contents. The parchment felt fresh and pliable, not at all what one would expect from a centuries old document. Either the seal performed extremely well or this artefact was not as old as they were expecting. They unrolled the first document and spread it across the floor. Watkins stood far enough away so that he could get it all within the screen of his digital camera. There was a bright flash from the camera which illuminated the whole cave. The first piece was done. J.D. rolled it back up and placed it aside. They repeated the process until they had documented the entire first container, then they repacked it and rolled it back into its original place. Watkins went to the precipice and transmitted the records back to the ship. He returned to find John sitting on top of the containers, stroking his top lip, contemplating. Matthew asked what was wrong. He said that he wasn’t sure but something didn’t feel right. To him the documents felt too new to be what they were looking for. Watkins agreed and went to his bag. He took out a small box and waved it in the direction of JD. “Let’s test its age” he suggested, and asked John to get him a sample. He re opened the first container and using his knife cut a piece from the corner of one of the documents and passed it to Watkins who placed it into the machine. After a few minutes their suspicions were confirmed. The documents they were examining were no more than a few years old at best. J.D. pointed out that these twenty containers could not possibly be the result of over two and a half thousand years of documentation. They left the cave and made their way back to the men who were still waiting at the base of the cliff.

The five men sat in a small circle, JD and Watkins needed some more information, urgently. They told the men what they had found and explained that it was not feasible that their findings could possibly be the result of two millennia. They insisted that everything they were seeking was indeed held within that cave. One of them took the lead and began to tell them the story.

“We know that what you seek is in the cave, it has been our sacred place for many, many centuries. We are the keepers. We are nine strong and we belong to three great tribes. Three of us from each tribe are sworn to protect and defend the cave against all comers. We have known of your arrival since the beginning and have been expecting you. We did not know exactly when, but it has been written that it would be around this period. You see, our tribes were founded by the people of your original crew. History tells us that they were sent from the skies to be with us and to observe, document and record for future generations. The kings of our tribes are bestowed with the original names of your peoples and once every year on the anniversary of ‘the visit’ a delegation chosen by the kings themselves make the pilgrimage to this place to deposit the scriptures for the preceding year. Each of the collections from each tribe are placed together and taken to the cave. It has been this way for countless generations, it has always been here, and we and our predecessors have always protected them. There is no other place, these are our sacred grounds. So, if what you seek is not where you seek it, maybe you need to look deeper for what you desire”

This last comment confused John and Matthew, but they were convinced that what they needed was back in the cave and so they started back up the cliff. They re-entered the cave and activated their hand held torches. Looking around they could not see anything that was out of the ordinary, it was just a simple cave. They decided to check the walls. Each of them started at the wall near the entrance and worked their way around the perimeter in different directions. They tapped the surface with hammers, tapping high and low as they went. Having checked nearly the entire wall without finding anything untoward they met on the far side of the cave. They were just about to give in when the final tap sounded with a different timbre. Both of them stopped immediately and looked at each other for a moment. Watkins tapped in the same place again, then two or three inches to the right and then back in the same place. There was definitely a distinct difference to the tone of the two places. Stepping back from the wall they tried to visually detect a difference in the wall surface, but there was none to be seen. What to do? It was evident that they had to find out what was behind the wall, but how to achieve this presented a minor problem. At first they tried to attack it with their small picks, and although they did find that the wall was a degree softer in this place, it was also obvious that it would take them far too long to break through. Whoever had sealed this newly discovered entrance had been master builders; it was strong and undetectable from the natural rock surface.  After consultation with their commanding officer, it had been decided to use explosives to break through. They moved the containers in this first cave to the far wall near the entrance in an attempt to save them from any damage. Having done this they began to examine the far wall in more detail. They tapped around the area and managed to locate the approximate area of the sealed opening. Judging the centre of this they attached a small, round metal container. On this container there was a small read out and a couple of buttons. Watkins asked J.D. how long he thought, and J.D. said that he didn’t know but suggested about twenty seconds. This agreed, Matthew set the timer, waited for his partner to leave the cave and activated the device. He then ran across the cave, out of the entrance and onto the small precipice where J.D. was waiting. They huddled together waiting for the explosion, trying to make the best use of the limited cover they had on the ledge. The ten seconds that were left before the detonation seemed to pass slowly, then, almost without warning, the device exploded, sending a dust cloud rocketing out of the entrance. They shielded their faces to protect them from any flying debris. Then all went quiet. For a few seconds, from within the cave they could hear rocks falling but soon this too became silent. From the foot of the cliff the commotion had stirred the three men who demanded to know what had happened. J.D. shouted down to them that everything was alright and they would explain when they descended the cliff. They waited until the dust had settled somewhat and went back into the cave. Switching on their lights on, they could now see a second entrance in the back wall. The explosion had torn out the false section, perfectly leaving the debris strewn across the floor. Picking their way through the rubble they entered. What they found astounded them. It was a second room that they estimated to be at least twice the size of the first, and it was packed floor to ceiling with containers. They took a little time to estimate how many there were and then returned to make their report. Standing on the ledge they began to talk to Daniels,

“Sir, we have discovered at least one inner chamber to this cave. It has got about a thousand more containers inside. We reckon that if these guys have been bringing one a year then there must be at least one more chamber here. There is no way we are going to be able to record all of them in the time that we have. What do you suggest?”

Daniels thought for a while. This was an eventuality he was not prepared for. He told them to stand by; He would contact the home world for further instructions. They acknowledged this and sat on the ledge to rest for a while. After a short while they decided that they should try to save a little time later by investigating the new cave. They decided to do this in ten minute shifts to enable one of them to remain in contact with the ship. J.D. took the first shift and entered into the caves.

Once again he picked his way through the debris and went into the second cave. Taking out his hammer he started to knock at the exposed walls. There was not a lot of wall to knock at in this chamber; the containers were lined up leaving only an aisle between them. Being in the cave alone was eerie. He knew that Watkins was just outside, but he felt alone and vulnerable.  The back wall was lit from the bright glow of his torch and he was intently aware of the complete blackness behind him. Despite his uneasiness he continued to tap at the walls. Before long he had located a second change in tone of the wall, indicating yet another possible chamber. Armed with this discovery he returned to his compatriot.

As he drew nearer to the entrance, the static cleared in his earcom and he became party to the conversation that was now taking place between Matthew and the ship. He interrupted the conversation,

“Sorry to butt in sir but it seems that there may be another room further back”

The conversation came to a halt, while Daniels pondered this latest revelation. About thirty seconds had passed before he spoke again. He asked how long they would estimate it would take them to catalogue one of the containers. They discussed the mechanics of removing the lids, taking out the documents, photographing them and replacing them into the containers, and decided that each one would take between fifteen to twenty minutes. The captain said that the top brass had decided that this was unacceptable. It had been agreed that they were to break open, by whatever means necessary, sample batches from across the range of containers. This would give them a sporadic documentation across the ages. The rest of the containers were to be left intact. This was going to be a very, very long night and they figured that if they could solicit help from the men below they could catalogue much more than would be possible on their own, so, they descended the cliff face once again to talk to the men.

Firstly they explained the explosions that were heard. Secondly, and more importantly, they tried to illicit their help to catalogue the contents of the cave. The men listened to their request and then flat down refused their assistance. The refusal was not from any malicious intent. It was simply that their laws forbade them to enter the sacred place. The only people who were allowed to enter the cave were the elders and their entourages. Both J.D. and Watkins spent ten minutes pleading with the men, but they were adamant that they were not going to go against their laws. It soon became apparent that no amount of begging or pleading was about to change their minds. Having accepted the situation, they began to make their way back to the cave.

The first task was to blast their way through the newly discovered entrance. This presented a problem because the containers were stacked near to, and either side of the place they needed to clear. What they decided to do was to use two lower impact charges placed centrally at the top and the bottom of the area. The charges would be set to explode at a two second interval hopefully sending a shockwave through the rock and minimise the spread of the detonation. They set the charges and retreated to the safety of the other chamber. This time it was less of a shock to the system. The charges went off as planned and they returned to survey the damage. On their return they noticed that six of the containers nearest to the door had been damaged and that the entrance to the next chamber was now open. This room was about the same size as the second and was packed much the same. They made their way to the back wall. Their intention was to check to see if this was the final room. As they approached they saw something written on the wall. As they dusted away the fine layer of debris that had collected on the wall over the centuries they slowly revealed the writing. It read. In this place are the journals of the crew of Alpha flight 106. We have through the years tried to complete our mission to the best of our ability. We hope that whoever finds these documents makes good use of them. May God live within us for ever. At the bottom of the inscription were the signatures of the three original crewmen. Malcolm Keogh, Garry Parr and Balvinder Hasar.

As they read this legend, they both held a feeling of pride, and although they never knew the men personally they could not help but wonder what had become of their ancestral compatriots and what their lives must have been like. J.D. lifted his camera and took a photograph of the wall. After a few moments of quiet contemplation he looked at Watkins and took a deep breath through his nose and held for a few seconds. When he exhaled he said that it was time to get to work, Watkins agreed and they began to formulate a plan of action.

By this time they calculated that they had 30 hours left to complete their task and return to the ship. They had already worked out that they could complete one container every fifteen minutes, so they decided to divide the two inner chambers into 120 equal parts and take one vase at each of these points thus giving them an average cross section of records across two millennia. This was the best that they could achieve given the time constraints they were working against.

While the two crewmen were busy marking out their plan of action the captain was equally busy on board the ship. He had decided to contact the home world with the news that their objective had been reached, and that given the time constraints of the mission, it had been decided to take a chronological sample across the millennia to digitise and transmit back home. What everyone had realised was that one hundred and twenty or so samples across two and a half thousand years of information would not be nearly enough to give an accurate cross section across the two millenniums since the records began. At best, they would get a snapshot of life every eighty five years or so. In effect they would see the social advancements of a society after the event and not as an ongoing documentary.

Captain Daniels had been liaising with his commanding officers to reorganise the entire mission brief to accommodate the collection of as much of the information as possible. When the new schedule had been agreed and passed, Daniels had the task of telling J.D. and Watkins their new orders. He was not looking forward to this.

In their ear pieces they heard the captain “This is Daniels are you receiving me, over?” he waited for the reply but the two men were at the far side of the chambers and were just finishing marking out where they were going to take the samples from. When they had completed the task they decided to go back to the entrance for a breath of fresh air before they began to open the jars. As they were approaching the daylight the signal from the ship became clear in their ears. “…cieving me, over.

JD made the reply and said that they had to find a way to communicate while they were deep inside the rooms. They all agreed to work on the problem, then, Daniels began to drop the bombshell.

“Taking the timescale of this planet into account we have 14 days before we have to make our departure and I am sorry to tell you guys that it has been decided to change the mission parameters to allow you to stay at your present location to facilitate the collection of as much information as possible”. They looked at each other and instantly they could sense the feelings that the other was experiencing. The instant they heard the news, J.D. slapped his hand to his forehead, turned towards the wall and out of frustration he kicked at the softer sandstone which dislodged a sizable chunk of rock that flew out of cave and fell down to where the guardians were still waiting. They knew that apart from this task they had effectively been cut from the mission and that they were now nothing more than librarians.

“You are going to need the help of your new friends. I know that they will not be able to assist in the caves but you will need provisions while you are there and if you can persuade them to supply you, that would be one problem you won’t have to deal with. What we need is for you to collate as much of the information as you can. If you finish beforehand, great but if not just get as much as you possible can. I know you are both disappointed by this but this is the core of the entire mission, our world needs this information and you two are it now. I will of course be here for whatever you need. So, sorry but orders are orders. I will talk to you later. Daniels out.”

The two men stood there for a while in total disbelief. J.D slowly started to shake his head from side to side. He was frustrated and wanted to shout and swear. Although he knew that Daniels was not to blame, he needed someone to direct his anger towards. He wanted to curse but he was acutely aware that anything he said could be heard through the earpieces. Watkins could see his frustration and reached out to offer him comfort; J.D. shrugged off his attempt and stormed back into the cave where he knew that he could not be heard by the captain…. Then he cursed.

After he had relieved himself of his inner anger and had managed to compose his thoughts and resign himself to the situation, he and Watkins started back to talk to the men below.

When they returned there were only two of the three men there, they asked as to his whereabouts and were told that he had been dispatched to inform the elders of their arrival. They thought nothing of this and began to ask if they would hopefully help with the provisions situation for the next two weeks. After much discussion it was agreed that they would help but there was something in the conversation that made J.D. and Watkins feel that there was more not being said than was being said. For now, however, this was the best that they could hope for. At least they would be fed while they worked. The next two weeks would be gruelling, all work and no rest. At least the sleep inhibiter would allow them to utilise the maximum work hours available to them.

Agreements made, the two men started back up the cliff face to begin their task.

Chapter 10 - Revelation