99 Palms: Horn OK Please (20 page)

“Yes I have. The four of them connect well. The conversations seemed to have been common. Let’s go to my room and I’ll make sure they have all that they need by tomorrow. It’s all up to them now, best to leave them alone from here. They don’t need our help anymore. The true test of our theory shall only be proved upon their return”, said Lind in a whisper.

“Hush! They may not be asleep. They could hear us. We don’t want them to know anything about it now, do we? We shall monitor them and lead them to safety, that’s important for now” said one of the acolytes. I suppose that was Preity, for her voice sounded like that of an angel.

“True that! Tomorrow is Buddha Purnima. These people have less than 20 hours left for their journey down to the Shambala. The Stargates would be just perfect tomorrow. I’m excited for them. May the force be with them!” said Lind, as I heard the sound of the door close behind them as they left.

What did they mean by it? Who were these people anyways? What did they want from us?

***
 

CHAPTER TWENTY

***

Roses are red and violets are blue,

For those about to rock, I salute you;

In just a few hours, we shall journey to the earth’s hollow,

Straight to the center of the earth, we’re ready to go;

It’s Buddha Purnima tonight, the time has come,

Yo! Ho! Ho! And a bottle of rum!

The special suits are ready, we have Holy water to cool us,

Soon, it’s back to the underground Stupa with no fuss;

The Ley lines would be strongest tonight,

We hope the chosen Southern Stargate shall be just right;

Back to the secret entrance where Paradise shall be found,

The time has come, we shall see you around;

It’s time to face-off with the Nine, we’re excited as hell,

Tonight we shall descend to Paradise, hope it’s not hell!

Stargates open, let go of the soul,

Inside the Ley Lines, we let the forces take control,

Floating like feathers, we float to the Universe’s womb,

Onward Shambala, come Paradise, hope it’s not my tomb;

But if smiles and Imagination make you say ‘Cheese’

Drive on, for that’s the philosophy of Horn OK Please…

***

The Equipment is delivered:

Goose was the first one to wake up ss he kicked everybody awake. “What the hell happened last night, man?” said Hound, trying to take in the sunshine that forced its way in through the window.

“Shit! We overslept. It’s close to evening already. Wake up, assholes, It’s Buddha Purnima tomorrow. We’re supposed to go to Shambala in a few hours. Damn!” hollered Goose.

“Holy mother of God! Where’s everybody?” said Derek, looking around as he looked out the door. Goose had rushed out to Lind’s room.

“They’re all gone. We’re alone”, I said, rubbing my eyes as I tried to recollect the conversation I had overheard last night as Goose barged in and yelled, “Dude! They’ve all gone! Look what they left for us, the dude at the reception handed me this”, as he emptied the contents of the rucksack on the bed.

Four specially designed wetsuits neatly labeled with names, black in color. There were four waterproof flare guns attached to the waist of each suit. 4 deep-sea diving goggles and by the side lay a sealed envelope. I scrambled for the envelope and tore it open. The contents in the letter read, “Dear adrenaline junkies. The psychoanalysis was very successful. You don’t need to plan anything. Just go with your gut, the answers lie deep inside your subconscious mind. When the time comes, the answers will come forth. We’re watching over you. Make sure you carry the ancient scriptures of 99 Palms with you. We are watching over you. Come back safe, we’re waiting for you. Go for the gold, our prayers are with you. Love to all and especially you – Chief. Lind”

“Well, this is it, mates. We need to reach the underground temple before evening for tomorrow is Buddha Purnima. We shall enter the Stargate at 6:00 PM sharp – after sunset, before moonrise. That means we must enter the secret gate at 4:00 AM tomorrow morning. That means we still have 12 hours to go”, said Hound, lighting up a cigarette.

“Relax, man! How long have we been sleeping? What day is it?” I asked the three puzzled faces around the room.

“All day, dude! We need to get to the Dhamek Stupa in about 8 hours from now” replied Derek.

“Phew! We still have time. I was worried we had missed the bus. We must reach at 4:00 AM tomorrow morning. Let’s go easy on the journey this time, we’ve got stuff to carry” I let out a sigh of relief.

Buddha Purnima:

By the time we came back to our senses it was already midnight. It was the big day. It was
Buddha Purnima
today. The place would be teeming with tourists all day long way past regular hours. For today was a big day for the Buddhists, this annual festival is observed by Buddhists and known as
Vesakha.
Though it was Lord Buddha’s birthday, it also symbolized his birth, his enlightenment (
Nirvana
) and also his transition to a different world (
Parinirvana
).

Sweet emotions:

Getting into our gear, each one of us checked the special wetsuit that Lind had got made for us. The flare gun in the holster looked cool.

“Crap! My suit is a bit tight”, said Derek, adjusting his crotch.

“Mine’s a bit loose”, said Goose, cupping his crotch.

“Only yours seems to a perfect fit, asshole!” said Hound as I grinned.

“Obviously, I had coffee with her, Dorks, jealous?” I said, grinning from ear to ear.

“I hope no cops catch us on the way to Dhamek, Dudes, we look like aliens. We’re bound to freak people out if we they see us like this”, said Derek as he stuffed the Tibetan Singing Bowl and the striker into Goose’s bag that contained the 99 Palms. “You have the treasure with you, Hound?” said Derek as he closed the zipper on the bag.

“Right here, bro!” said Hound, kissing the broken clay tablet piece as he tucked it into a safe pocket on the wetsuit.

“Alright then, folks, let’s calm down, relax for a while and head out to Sarnath in 30 minutes”, I said, looking at my watch, It was 3:30 AM already.

Each one of us zoned out into our own private worlds for a bit as a sea of emotions engulfed the room. We were nervous for sure. It showed.

Stargate to Shambala:

Hound drove like a maniac from the resort to Sarnath. We must have covered 15 kilometers in a few minutes for the silhouette of the big cylinder known as the Dhamek Stupa came into view. Parking Motormouth safely in a corner, Hound said, “Just so you know, I have informed the resort chaps that we may be out for a week. I’ve paid ‘em up in advance and have given them Lind’s number in case we don’t come back. I’ve also told them that they need to have Motormouth picked up and the keys kept are safe at the reception”

“That’s awesome smart of you, asshole, are we supposed to walk back in these fish suits once we get our rich asses back?” said Goose, pointing to his suit.

“No worries, Goosie boy, I have packed in four tees and shorts for us in your little bag. They roll up real small”, said Derek, pointing to the bag slung across his shoulder.

“Coolio!” All settled then, “OK, let’s make a dash for the Dhamek Stupa now. 4:00 AM now and not a soul in sight!” I said, as I started to sprint to the fence, leaned over the railing and jumped. We ran and in no time, Derek had climbed the Dhamek Stupa, given us the concert of the Singing Bowl and in no time we were inside the cave with the door firmly shut behind us. Hound took a piece of rock from near the steps and used it as a wedge for the door, just to make sure no one would be able to open the secret door even if it materialized.

We walked slow, conserving our energy and reached the underground Stupa around 5:00 PM. No food, no worries. We entered the circular Underground Stupa and loitered around for a while, admiring the artifacts as Goose took some pictures of the iron pillar under the bowl with his camera phone. This was for Wei. It was a good thing that the wetsuit had waterproof pockets.

With no time left to waste, Derek took out a large waterproof polythene bag with a ziplock and stuffed the bag in. The waterproof bag had shoulder straps as well. He had been smart enough to have pulled it out of Motormouth for this is the stuff we used during our camping trips to cover our cameras, laptops and phones. He was an expert when it came to camping, our official tent pitcher.

The energy inside the underwater Stupa flowed inside us. Recharged, energetic and all set for a journey to the center of the earth. There was a sense of perfect calm and ease as no one showed any sign of nervousness now.

“Open the Stargates, Hound. Do your dance with your treasure”, said Goose as he stared in awe at the beam of light at the center.  Hound went close to the magic pillar of light and gently placed the piece of clay right at the center as it started to wobble. As it started spinning, a drop of nectar fell straight on the piece of clay and the beam of light stopped at the piece of clay and dispersed in four directions to hit the center of the four swastikas right above the Buddha statues.

The
Swastikas
began to glow and we could hear loud rumblings, like the moving of some gigantic machinery underneath the floor of the underground Stupa on which we lay. All gateways started to move to the right, all together in a clockwise direction.

We watched in awe as the Swastika on the floor began to glow and the Stargates opened. We looked at the wondrous sight for some time as Derek yelled, “No touching the water till 6:00 PM. We still have five minutes to go.

We had unlocked the Stargates. We had five minutes to gawk at the strange creatures swim about the water. Today, the Ley Lines were strong.

We could see through the wall of water. What was striking though was the fact that each of the four Stargates seemed to be connected to the surface with a solid beam of light. Just one difference today though, the pipes that were the Ley lines seemed to be rock solid and about 10 feet in diameter. They looked calm and just perfect as tunnels of light, the central nervous system of the Universe.

“One question, Dudes, if we are heading down to the center of the earth, how come these Ley Lines from the Stargates point upward? How come there is sunlight at the top?” I said as I just couldn’t fathom that, “Shouldn’t it have led down to the center of the Earth if that’s where Shambala is?”

“True. I suppose we like to believe that the earth is round and we live on the surface and Shambala is at the center of the earth. Maybe, it’s untrue. Maybe, that’s what the ancient Hermetic mystery is all about. Maybe, the earth is concave like a bowl and the center of the earth is flatter and bigger than the rest of the earth. Maybe, that’s why”, said Derek as he stared at the water, amazing all around him. He had his bright moments. The boy always packs in a surprise. Maybe, he was right. 

“Alright folks, give me a high-five! All for one and one for all. It is time to rock and roll, let’s not miss the moment!” yelled Hound as claps filled the air and a few seconds left for 6:00 PM. Twilight. We donned our deep-sea goggles.

We all touched the wall of water at the same time and
Whoop!
We were sucked in.

Journey to the Center of the Earth:

I felt like I was floating in hyperspace. I could see Goose, Derek and Hound around me. It felt a bit like skydiving in the deep sea. I could see mermaids, really awesome looking ones, floating around us. Maybe, these were the legendary sexy sirens that have been a part of many tales. I stretched my hand out to one. I suppose she smiled. There were strange, amphibious creatures I’d never seen or read about. I saw a hulk of a man with flowing, long, golden hair straddling a dolphin, trident in hand. I saw moons, many moons as I continued moving upwards.

I know not how long the journey lasted but I realized I could breathe underwater with ease. Ley Lines were a fabulous way to travel the universe, so much better than any transport system in the whole world. It was fun too! I was not in control of my body as I floated through the water. I had lost sense of time as well. I could see the others floating about near me as they were having fun. Lost city of gold or not, this was enough for me.

As I seemed to reach closer to the surface, the rays of a golden sun dispersing through the water to display a dazzling range of colorful amphibious creatures all around us. They all seemed to be smiling, they seemed happy to see us.

Upon reaching the surface, it felt like coming out of a swimming pool, just that I was not gasping for breath. We swam to the shore where the narrow bank full of golden sand separated the green grassy knolls from the river. The sand gleamed like gold under the sunlight. Maybe, it was gold.

Welcome to Shambala, the Lost city of gold. Or should I say, the lost world?

***