Moon Mask (68 page)

“In 1987,” King had explained in a briefing to the entire team in the passenger compartment of a NATO C-130 Hercules as it thundered through the skies towards Japan. Once he had been medically cleared and his brain activity had returned to normal, he had spent several hours with Doctors Siddiqa and Yashina, two laptops and a number of books before presenting his findings to them. “A tourist diver named Kichachiro Aratake, while searching for a viewing spot to watch hammer-heads feeding around the Japanese island of Yonaguni, stumbled, quite by chance, on the find of a life time.”

He clicked the mouse pad on the laptop and turned the screen so that the whole team could see. On it Lake saw an image of what appeared to be a ruined building, in some ways not dissimilar to the Step Pyramid in Egypt where she knew Kha’um had found a piece of the Moon Mask. Only this structure was submerged under several meters of water which gave it a surreal, inky blue hue.

“The structure he found was hewn out of solid bedrock about eighty-eight feet below the surface of the ocean. It’s over six hundred and fifty feet long and rises in a series of steps, each one perfect, or near-perfect right angles, to just sixteen feet beneath the surface.” He flicked through several other images of what he called the Yonaguni Monument. There were several different angles of the ‘steps’ taken from vantage points at the base, mid-way up and from above looking down. There was a shot of two megalithic blocks, sixty-five feet long and weighing around two hundred tonnes each, thrusting upwards through the gloom, reminiscent of Stonehenge. There were channels and deep-cut ravines, flat platforms and raised plinths, even what appeared to be a wall encircling the entire structure.

King had continued his briefing as the photos flicked through one by one. “Scientific opinion on the Yonaguni Monument is divided,” he had explained. “On the one hand, many scientists argue that the entire formation is entirely natural, that the forces of nature thrust these straight, angular structures through the bedrock where they settled thousands of years ago on the sea floor. Professor Kimura, a geologist from Okinawa University, on the other hand, disagrees and says that the structure is entirely man-made. Other than the obvious aesthetic impression of artificiality,” he had glanced at the computer screen then, and Lake had to admit it had the look and feel of a building more so than a natural rock formation. “He cites evidence such as a ‘rubbish tip’ of disused blocks swept to one side in an unnatural manner, the regular measurements of the ‘steps’ of the structure, the presence of what looks like a ceremonial pathway, and the presence of this limestone wall encircling the site. Limestone,” he added, “is not indigenous to Yonaguni.

“Professor Robert Scotch from Boston University seems to have taken an intermediate view and suggests that the site is a natural construct which was manipulated by humans, carved into these unnatural shapes.”

“This is all very cool, Doc,” O’Rourke had spoken up, “but how does it help us?”

King had hesitated for a second then, as though concerned about the reaction he was going to get from his audience. “This is where the penultimate piece of the Moon Mask is,” he had said. The debate about how he knew this, the merits of ESP and the possibility of remote viewing had raged between the academics throughout their journey but King had remained adamant that this was where the Moon Mask had shown him the missing piece was. He had described flashes of a ceremony deep within a hollow chamber, then a flash of the submerged ruins. When he awoke, he knew their next destination.

Now, down on the deck, Lake watched as O’Rourke and Garcia dropped the boat’s anchor and she felt the boat pull too, steady in the strong current. She looked up at the towering cliffs of the south face of Yonaguni Island. The azure sky was startling in its intense blue and cast an equally sapphire glow upon the water below.

But, if King was right she knew, those waters contained a secret they had kept hidden since the dawn of time. And they were about to loose it upon an unsuspecting world.

“Ben
, we need to talk.”

Those ominous words had cut through King’s ‘daydreaming’, though whether it truly was a daydream, or in fact another echo of his experience with the Moon Mask, he wasn’t sure.

The experience had been incredibly intense. It had been as though he was flying above the earth at astonishing speed, looking down at it all, seeing it all, yet still being unable to understand the enormity of it. He’d seen the city of the Bouda, just like he and his father had always imagined it. He’d been transported back to the heyday of Xibalba, watching the fantastic ceremonies of an ancient culture that had learned to live below ground. He had travelled through the wonders of Ancient Egypt in a time when they were still young, seen Djoser’s famous vizier, Imhotep, administer advanced surgery on dying patients with the knowledge that his piece of the Moon Mask had given him. He’d seen the primitive face of a nameless man on a Pacific island glance at the deformed piece of a vaguely face-shaped lump of metal and, from that, carve and erect the first of the island’s towering moa.

And he’d seen a gleaming city, centred around a step-pyramid. Yet he was not in Egypt any longer, but in a far away land, looking on in horror as an enormous wave barrelled towards him.

He had recognised the city from his father’s research and brought the team here, based on nothing more than a vivid dream that was, minute by minute, drifting back into the obscurity of his mind.

“What’s the matter?” he asked Sid. In response, she took his hand and led him below deck and into one of the vacant cabins. He could feel the slight tremble in her grip, the sweatiness of her palms. She closed the door and looked at him, her beautiful features serious.

“Sid-”

“It’s over, Ben.”

With those words, all the distant tendrils of his experience with the mask evaporated. Reality slapped him in the face.

“What? What do you-?”

“You know what I mean,” she cut him off. A flood of tears suddenly overwhelmed her. He stepped closer, reached out a hand but she pushed him away.

“No,” she said with determination, forcing back self-control. “It’s over. I can’t do this anymore.”

King felt the world swirling around him. Nausea pulled at his gut. “I-”

“You lied to me, Ben!” she snapped out her reasoning. “And you nearly died because of it!”

“It was the only way to find the mask-”

“Fuck the mask!” she shouted. “I don’t give a damn about the goddamn mask. All I care about, all I’ve ever cared about, is you!”

“And you’re all that I-”

“No!” she snarled, her voice turning into an angry, hurt growl. “Don’t you lie to me again! Don’t you dare say that I’m all you care about! Because I’m not! All you care about is the mask, and the Bouda and the Progenitors! I’m just . . . what? What am I? An added accessory? A distraction for you to lie to me and tell me what I want to hear-”

“No,” King cut her off, his own anger rising indignantly. “You’re going to be my wife! That’s who you are. The mask, the Bouda . . . everything. None of that matters. Only you matter!”

Sid laughed bitterly. “How many times have you said that these last few days? Huh? How many times have you promised me that I am your whole world?” She shook her head, grimacing to hold back the flood of emotions. “You’ve seen your mother, your sister and your father all die because of this obsession of yours-”

“I’d never let anything happen to you-”

“It’s not about me! It’s about you! You, Ben, you!” She choked on her words. “This obsession is going to get you killed. And that’s the last thing I want in this entire world. And it almost happened. And it will happen again. But I can’t be around to watch it.”

“We made a promise to the United Nations that we would find the mask. Once we do, I’ll wipe my hands of it.”

“And then what? We live happily ever after . . . until your next great obsession comes along. What will it be next time? Atlantis? El Dorado? Whatever it is, it will consume you and, one day, you’re not going to come back from some expedition, just like your father; or you’re going to do something idiotic like place irradiated material against you thick skull, and I’m going to be a widow! People like you, you’re not supposed to be pinned down by marriage and children and responsibility-”

“I can change,” he argued, his voice cracking and tears breaking their dams. Sid placed one hand gently against his chest then ran her other one over his now smooth scalp. A thin smile broke her lips. Her eyes were glassy with moisture. The heat of their body contact was electrifying to one another.

“But I love you just the way you are,” she whispered. “I can’t change you. I don’t want to change you.” Her lips trembled, her voice became a sob. “But I can’t be with you, either.”

Their lips found one another, hungry and desperate. Whatever world King had seen from high above the earth, through the eyes of the Moon Mask, had all shrunk down to this one cabin, this one moment in time.

They needed each other. Their bodies, their minds, their hearts and their souls yearned to strip away their clothes, to strip away the obstacles of life. But, they both knew that once that moment was over, those self-same obstacles would be there still.

Their lips still welded together, she ran her hand down his head, his neck, his arm, and took his hand. He gripped tightly but she wormed her way loose and, just like that, it was over.

She stepped away from him. “We agreed to see this thing through to the end,” she said. “And that’s what I’ll do. But once we’ve found the mask . . .” she stumbled on her words. “You won’t see me again.”

He opened his mouth to argue but words would not come out. He felt as though he had been paralysed and all he could do was watch as the woman he loved turned, opened the door, and walked away.

His body shook as he looked down at what she had deposited in his hand, knowing already what he would find.

The engagement ring. For so long it had been in his pocket, for so brief a time it had been on the hand of the woman he loved.

He took several deep breaths, each one more difficult than the last, as though he had unbuckled himself from a life-support machine he didn’t know he needed.

He felt the boat judder to a stop, heard the rattle of anchors being dropped. Somewhere in the inky waters below him lay the final piece of the Moon Mask.

Forcing himself to control his shaking body and pounding heart, he returned the ring to his pocket and headed back up above deck.

50:

The Dive

Off the Coast of Yonaguni Island,

Japan

A
face in the gloom. A hand reaching out to him.

Sunlight pierced the temple, blazing down through holes in the ceiling. The shafts of light grew narrower, refining to a single laser-like beam until that too was gone.

Darkness.

Such utter darkness.

Then noise.

The roaring of a beast that could never be stopped.

It echoed all around, it pounded against the temple walls, it began to break through.

Then he saw it.

Such a hideous creature. Terrifying and all consuming.

It charged at him-

“Benny!”

King spun around in surprise and looked at Raine, trying to hide his startled expression. Raine’s eyes narrowed in concern.

“You sure you’re okay to do this?”

King took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

He and Sid had decided to keep their break up concealed from the team for the time being. Now wasn’t the time to confuse matters. Nevertheless, Raine eyed him sceptically and King knew what he was thinking. It was what all of them were thinking. That he should still been in that hospital bed back in Germany being watched over by doctors, having his brain invaded by neurologists with nothing better to do. And, sure enough, there was a part of him that thought that too.

“I was just thinking,” he lied and glanced back over the side of the fishing boat. Everything stank of rotten fish- the bulkheads, the handrails, the piles of discarded nets, and now even his own body. Nevertheless, he had relished the feel of the fresh sea air pounding against his face as the boat had made its long journey south from Okinawa to Yonaguni, until his encounter with Sid below deck. “Nine thousand years ago, this was all above water. The whole island chain was one long peninsula linked to mainland China.” He sighed. “Yet, nine thousand years ago, no civilisation was supposed to have existed with the technological sophistication to build what lies beneath us.”

“So maybe your father was right,” Raine suggested. “Maybe history got it wrong.”

“Maybe,” King sighed. The afternoon sun beat down on them both as they stood looking out at the gentle waves off the coast of the island. King wore a pirate bandana over his now hairless scalp. Where Raine had got it from on a military base was anyone’s guess, but he’d been touched by the gesture. It had been a bit of a shock waking up following his experience to find that a bunch of military doctors had shaved him smooth. The white skull-and-cross bone image against the black background, Raine had said, seemed apt given they had just followed a pirate’s treasure map half way around the world.

“Okay, listen up,” Gibbs’ voice suddenly echoed over the deck. All eyes turned to him. He carried a whiteboard on a tripod and was trailed by one of the marines they had picked up in Okinawa. Lieutenant Eugene ‘Tank’ Tanaka was an easy-going man in his late twenties. Born to a US Marine stationed on Okinawa and a local woman, he had grown up among the island chain before joining the corps. His CO had told Gibbs that he couldn’t ask for a better guide to the islands. He was also an experienced diver, used to the powerful currents in the area. Before joining the corps, he had led tourists on dives to the Monument.

With the entire team gathered around, Gibbs set up the white board. On it was a crude felt-tip drawing of the massive underwater structure, the surrounding area and the position of the boat.