Discovery by Maurice Barkley

Author:Maurice Barkley
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Exploration, First Contact, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Adventure, Space Exploration
Published: 2016-08-26T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Our five flashlights reflected little light. Everything was dark and silent.

“The air smells ancient,” M2 said.

I counted forty-seven steps as we descended. At the bottom we found the beginning of a good-sized tunnel that ran slightly up and north, under the hill. I heard a spritzing noise from behind and saw M2 spraying something on the wall. He said it was a fluorescent paint that would mark our trail to ease our return.

“That's a fantastic idea,” Alice said. “Right about now I'm starting to regret one of my college assignments. I had to read The Minotaur and the Labyrinth. It creeped me out then and it still does. At least now we have our string.”

While we walked, the gray of the walls and ceiling melted into the blackness ahead. I started counting paces and was well past the one hundred mark before there was any change in the solid stone of the tunnel. As the beams from our flashlights bounced around ahead, I saw something shiny glinting in the void. I had the impression I was seeing the reflector of a large spotlight.

Without warning, the walls vanished and we found ourselves in one corner of a vast chamber, as big as or bigger than Bill's Garage. The size was impossible to determine because the beams of our little lights could not penetrate that far. The most stunning feature was the hulking behemoth that stood directly in our path. High in front, it held the source of the reflection I had seen. It was a big headlight, now quite dark and cold.

The headlight sat on the snout of a brute of a steam engine. This was not a small yard engine made for switching duties in a factory or marshalling yard. It was a full-sized passenger engine with giant driving wheels. Everything about it was bigger than life. The dark served only to make it appear more monstrous. There were two full sized railroad tracks leading on into the darkness. One held the engine and the other, to the right of the engine, was completely empty. There was enough room for a one-lane highway on both sides. The surface seemed to be plain, unmarked concrete. Everything above the floor was solid rock except the wall behind us. It was concrete, still bearing the impressions of the wooden forms. This then was the plug for the main entrance, but why they left the engine inside was another mystery.

“Zowie! This is incredible,” Alice said.

“This has to be the train to Hogwarts, but I forgot my ticket,” Jean said, in a loud whisper.

“Damned if it will leave without me,” Alice added.

“Alice, you're with M2 on the left side of the train,” M1 said. “Jean and James are with me on the right. We'll go on and see the extent of this. Make special note of anything on the side walls and stay opposite us as we proceed. I'll leave a glow tube here on the floor as a guide.”

Somehow, the little tube left behind on the floor was comforting to me as we began to walk toward the back of the engine.

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