The Alien Orb (37 page)

“
What is it?
”
Burrell asked, confused.

A few seconds later, a shape moved out of
the mist.

As the vehicle moved away, Dexter saw its
shape a little more, and he was sure that it was a giant tower,
which had fallen over, across the sea. The storms had probably sent
it crashing down a long time ago. Yet how did it manage to get out
in the sea?

As the mist grew thin, he saw another
tower, up close
–
towering above them
–
disappearing into the clouds
above.

Square holes went in lines along it, until
it vanished out of view.

It was vaguely like a strange skyscraper. He
saw a hole just over his head, but he was unable to get a good look
inside it.

A magnificent view emerged about them, and
many structures towered above, through the fading mist vapor, like
an immense graveyard. They were flying over a city buried beneath
the sea! Most of its giant structures had fallen over, with their
foundations going across the water.

As he moved to a different position, he saw
a rugged shape, on the skyline, where some mist was retreating. It
had to be an island. Yet it seemed to stretch across the whole
horizon.

The dead city was glowing brilliantly
beneath the sea, with its towers reaching up, through the gentle
waves.

In shades of aqua blue, it glowed surreally,
suspended in depths of time, like a modern Atlantis. Its black
structures rising high, stretching up to the stars, like the
ancient columns of an immense temple of the Greek gods.

Even though many of them had overturned,
like immense trees, fallen into the sea, with their lower regions
going up to the height of large buildings, they remained undamaged.
A magnitude of storms had pounded them, and they had no noticeable
wear.

As the vehicle edged over the massive city,
Dexter examined buildings and machines, shrouded in the red glow of
the sun, which now was beaming down, through a clear sky. Some
resembled shipwrecks, with the gentle waves making blurry ripples
over their shapes.

A splash of water occasionally interrupted
the extraordinary silence, as Basinger discarded unwanted objects
over the side. Burrell and Selina rested in the warm light of the
sun.

Darwin stood at his familiar position,
at the side of the vehicle, with his legs on the seat, frequently
tensing his body, as though he were getting ready to jump on land.
He occasionally glanced into the water, and at the
vehicle
’
s
reflection, and then he would return to sniffing about
him.

What type of city had it been? How did its
civilization perish? Regions of it were as though they had actually
sunk into the sea the way that they had been. A disaster, which
might have changed the whole world, could have actually flooded it.
However, he was sure that it had happened years after civilization
had gone.

All the mist about them vanished, and the
sea grew shallow.

He imagined the city surfacing, scattered in
sand and debris, stretching out to the horizon, with steam rising
from it, from the hot sun heating it.

“
It
’
s the mainland!
”
Burrell called out.
“
This is what we
were wanting
–
we
’
ll
no longer be trapped on an island! If there are any humans left, we
can at least find out what they are like ...!
”

“
We may have to eat more sea creatures
...!
”
Basinger said, interrupting him.

“
We may find normal plants and
animals, which were not on that island!
”

“
You have a point!
”
Basinger replied.
“
I actually think
that we will be happy with what we will discover!
”

Dexter watched part of the civilization
below disappear into an area of murky water.

The region of land disappointed him, with
its lack of vegetation. High mountains soared over a desert region,
with the civilization, under the sea, in front of it. There were
signs that the sea had overflowed, across the land, as though some
enormous tidal wave had swept inland. However, he saw that the
storm had not been there, and there were no traces of water.

When the vehicle finally went over the land,
hot air started to engulf them, and Dexter realized that they had a
new problem. The heat coming through the window soon felt as though
it were burning him, and he watched the hot sand going under it.
What had he done? They might now die in the desert. He quickly
decided to move to a shaded place in the vehicle.

The hot air continued to rush through it,
with its never-ending gale, and the sun blazed through the windows;
and sweat poured from them.

He remembered the position of the sun, as
accurately as he could, to plot its course.

He frantically observed the mountains,
across the landscape, and he noticed that hills were replacing the
flat desert. He imagined the power of the vehicle deteriorating,
and he thought about all the things that they could do, if it
marooned them at the place.

It looked as though an atomic bomb had
exploded there.

He recalled information on how they gave the
vehicle energy. There was a special location where a machine did
it, without any cables.

The vehicle gradually took them up, at
an angle, over hills and slopes, towards the base of the mountains.
The region hidden there, between the hills and mountains, looked
less empty than he had expected
–
for such a high place
–
ancient structures were at
many places.

The rugged shapes of the mountains grew, and
they went far into the distance. There was a route through the base
of them, but he believed that something was blocking it. Then
Dexter saw large hills of boulders strewn through it, which had
obviously came down, in avalanches, from the above mountains.

The vehicle headed for a specific region,
and Dexter just relaxed and watched the scenery float by. He
wondered if the vehicle could actually take them up one of the
steep ridges, to the summit of a mountain. However, it could easily
run out of power, and plunge downwards.

A stretch of sand, which he believed was the
remains of a lake, was between the mountains and the hills, and he
saw a large structure in the middle of it. Then, to his surprise,
the vehicle descended, and went towards it.

There were no signs of life anywhere,
about it
–
there only seemed to be the desert.

The vehicle rapidly flew low, over the
surface, and, with a soft thud, stopped on a heap of rubble. Then
Darwin automatically leapt out onto some dry mud, and waited for
them to join him.

There were no indications of anything, only
an unusual silence. Yet every nook and cranny of the desert was
strange!

Chapter 10

The Scientific
Expedition

The flaring brightness of the sunshine gave a
surreal splendor to the terrain, as Dexter tediously explored plots
of vegetation. What he wanted to find was some form of vegetation
that would provide them with temporary food.

A landscape of hills, of mounds of sand,
went down into the lower regions, beside the sea.

It was a large flat ledge, on a slope, from
a valley, between two searing mountains.

As they continued searching, Dexter noticed
that instead of the pace slowing that it was actually quickening,
and then Basinger and Burrell deliberately walked on, leaving
them.

After a long search, he managed to suppress
his hunger, as well as his thirst, and he and Selina returned to
the vehicle, seeking shelter from the heat.

He, once again, searched the empty ground
into the distance, all about him, looking for anything that was a
danger.

“
We
’
ve found a building all
right!
”
Burrell spoke, as he arrived.
“
But will we be able to get into
it?

“
They are incredibly advanced
...!
”
Basinger revealed.
“
The only problem will be how to get into its
entrance, when we find its entrance!
”

Dexter shrugged his shoulders, feeling happy
that the choice of location might be right.

His first impression of it was that it was
another structure, similar to the one that they had been staying
in, on the island, but, as they walked to it, he started to become
aware of its true size.

They separated into two groups, and wandered
about its immense perimeter.

Dexter and Burrell went swiftly along the
structure, which resembled a giant, black, metal box, and which
went up to a hundred meters above.

Burrell then went away from him, and Dexter
followed him with his eyes. He stopped at a dark patch of sand, at
the edge of the structure, and he began throwing sand away from the
side of the structure.

As he approached him, he recognized an
outline on the structure, and he saw that he was unearthing an
entrance.

He went around a dust cloud lingering in the
air about him, and he stuck his hands into the gray sand and dirt,
and he helped him dig it away.

They created loud sounds as they
frantically dug at it, in the silent surroundings, which soon
attracted Basinger
’
s attention. And they slowly came over to
them, allowing them to do more digging before they got
there.

They soon helped them to uncovering it, and
they swiftly unveiled part of it.

“
We may be able to get it
open!
”
Basinger mumbled, breathing heavily, wiping away some of the
dirt, from his face.

“
How will we do it?
”
Burrell asked.

Basinger strained his tired eyes, examining
him.

“
Well, all of the other entrances had
an opening mechanism, at the exact same position, relative to their
size ...!
”

“
There it is!
”
Dexter called out, and moved over
to it.

He fumbled about in his pockets, removed
part of a stick, and he inserted it into it.

The others moved away, as the ground began
shaking under them. As it thudded furiously up and down, Dexter
fell over, and he tightly held onto the ground, swearing to
himself, for not foreseeing its reactions, to it being in the
ground.

When the entrance slid open, he fell
forwards, and just managed to land on his feet, and swiftly move
out of the pile of dirt about him.

The dust cloud gradually dispersed, and a
dim interior, with dark shapes, became visible.

“
How are we going to find
it?
”
Burrell asked, tiredly, as he dropped down, into
it.

“
We can stay here,
”
Basinger replied,
“
and search it at
our leisure. We should be able to find enough food to survive ...!
Let
’
s start
by finding somewhere in it to stay!
”

It had fortunately not let in any water,
which surprised Dexter. He wondered how they had stopped the
airtight structures suffocating them, but he remembered that the
other structure had an automatic ventilation machine, which worked
when the oxygen was low.

He was unaware of how they could build
such an immense structure. There were no noticeable parts making it
up
–
it was
one large structure
–
it looked as though they had molded it the
way it was.

The structure was the same all over, with
large machines randomly placed about it, and he located its
furthest away corner, which had a rectangular shape next to it,
which vaguely resembled a machine.

They circled the first machine, which he was
sure was a lifting vehicle, with a squashed appearance. The
controls were roughly the same as the vehicle that they had arrived
in, but it seemed to have manual controls beside them.

The next machine, if it was a machine, left
them in total disarray. Basinger was bewildered, and he was unable
to confirm if it was the machine. Dexter had expected him to grasp
its basic functions, but he could only examine it repeatedly,
without recognizing anything.

Their tour of it proceeded, with them,
including Darwin, giving blank stares about them. It did not take
long before they just went to find a place to stay.

It was dim, but it was a good shelter, and
they found lights.

Once they had chosen a place to stay,
beneath a light, Basinger and Dexter went to find a way of lighting
it.

“
Is that it?
”
Burrell called out, pointing
straight out, to the opposite wall, where Dexter saw a familiar
shape.

The machine was identical to the
information machine, and it had a head device on it, to
Basinger
’
s
great pleasure. And once Basinger had dived down in front of it, he
soon had the lights on
–
putting the entire interior in a greenish
glow.

Basinger put a projection onto the rear
wall, and he began absorbing the information.