Beyond the Farthest Star: Chapter 29

“You’ve discovered what?” Noel asked incredulously.

“It’s a giant city, all right!” Miles said excitedly. “You’ve got to come and see it! It looks like the city was buried intact, for the most part. There’s no telling how big it is!”

“The lost city of Tikal,” Noel said thoughtfully. “I guess it is possible. If the original city was buried long ago, then the recent rains and seismic activity could have unearthed it. I would think, though, that there wouldn’t be much of it left by now. After all, the city would have been buried for five thousand years! How could anything have survived? Metals tarnish, rust, and disappear; machines break; buildings crumble…”

“Come and see for yourself!” Miles urged.

Noel shook his head. “I think you must be mistaken. Amy, what do you think about all this?”

“I think he’s right. This is something you have to see with your own eyes to believe.”

“But…” Noel said reluctantly.

Amy and Miles had found him in New Tikal’s waste treatment facility, struggling to connect it to a series of new water lines that he had just installed. He was deeply involved in a series of infrastructure projects, and even the discovery of a legendary city wasn’t quite enough to motivate him to leave. As intrigued as he was, he hated abandoning something before he had a chance to finish it.

“Don’t think that I’m not interested in your discovery. It’s not that. What you have to understand, though, is that it’s going to take me at least another week to get this project finished, and then there’s the new aquifer that I want to investigate. There’s just so much that needs to be done around here!”

“Let your underlings handle it,” Miles urged. “They can surely lay a few pipes, Noel! You have something much bigger to investigate – and much more important. What you find in that city could change the future of Mars forever.”

“I guess you’re right,” Noel replied. “It would be irresponsible to ignore it altogether. And – who knows – perhaps there really is some truth to the fabled treasure of Don Elliott! Maybe–”

“That’s the spirit!” Miles said enthusiastically. “Hang on to that thought and come along with us. I’ve already gotten everything loaded into the Raptor. We’ll take you straight to the site!”

“All right,” Noel said. “I’ll come.”

Even after he agreed to join them, however, it took Miles and Amy more than an hour to actually get him away from the colony. Noel had a long list of instructions to give to his assistants, and he went over the plans no less than six times. Miles finally told him that his engineers could figure out the rest on their own, and pushed him right out the door.

As the Raptor climbed out the canyon that housed the entrance to New Tikal, Noel began to relax. “Perhaps I have been a bit too busy lately,” he remarked. When the tank finally left the canyon road and began driving through the grassland he gasped in admiration. “The planet’s transformation has been remarkable! Things have progressed much quicker than I would have expected. I wonder if one day we’ll see forests again?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Amy said. “There’s even an ocean out there, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.”

“I’ve never seen an ocean before,” Noel said. “I’ve heard they were quite popular, back in the day.”

“You’ll love it!” Miles commented. “Just wait until you see the beach. Now that’s a fine way to spend an afternoon.”

“Is that where the two of you have been hiding?” Noel asked. “I’ve been wondering why you were gone so long. In fact, I was starting to get a bit worried.”

“Oh, we’ve been working on some projects together,” Amy said vaguely. “I actually don’t care much for the beach, but that’s just my opinion.”

“You don’t care much for the rain either,” Miles pointed out. “For that matter, is there any part of the outdoors that you enjoy?”

Amy thought for a moment. “You know, there’s a lot to be said for small fuzzy creatures. Oh, and for my dog Alex! Poor Alex. I wonder how he’s been? You know, I haven’t seen him for months. I hope he’s ok.”

“Your dog?” Noel asked. “Do you mean, as in the four-legged animals that were used as pets thousands of years ago? You have a dog?”

“Of course I have a dog!” Amy replied. “He’s amazing. I bet he’s been so unhappy. When we get done with this I just have to go see him. I’m sure he’s been lonely. He’s never been left alone before – well, not for this long, anyway. He must be so worried about us.”

Noel sighed. “Amy, dogs have been extinct for thousands of years. You can’t possibly have a real, live dog. There just aren’t any left.”

“That’s what you think,” Amy replied. “Just wait until I introduce you to him. If you’re nice I’ll tell him not to bite you.”

“I’m sure it will be an honor to meet your imaginary dog,” Noel replied.

Miles interrupted. “You know, we’re going to need a road around here at some point. I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be traveling from New Tikal to the chasm we’ve discovered.”

“Perhaps,” Noel said. “If the site is as significant as you claim then it will probably attract thousands of people, looking to find whatever they can scavenge.”

“I think it will do more than that. If I’m right about this, what we’re looking at is the start of an entirely new colony – one located on the surface. I think it may be time for us to leave our homes underground and return to the open air. That is where we belong, Noel – up here, in the sunshine.”

It was late in the afternoon by the time they finally reached the fissure. Miles parked the Raptor a couple hundred feet from the edge of the newly-formed rift, and the three of them exited the vehicle.

“It certainly is a big hole,” Noel remarked. “And it looks pretty deep, too! I don’t remember there being anything like that in this area.”

“It’s pretty new,” Amy commented.

Miles led the way to the edge of the fissure and motioned down to the city below. Noel crept cautiously toward the edge and glanced down. When he saw the city that was stretched out below he gasped. “Why, there must be at least a dozen buildings down there!”

“And there’s more hidden underground,” Miles added. “The earthquake only revealed part of them. It could extend for miles!”

Noel stared at the buildings in astonishment, taking in their every detail. “The architecture definitely dates back to the 19th century. Just look at the detail! In fact, the buildings almost look familiar. Is it possible that this is part of the actual capitol of ancient Mars – kept intact, underground, for all these years?”

Amy smiled and handed him a rope. “Care to scale down into the fissure and find out?”

It took nearly an hour for the three of them to make it to the bottom of the fissure. Noel had never done anything remotely like rock climbing before, and Miles had to show him how it worked. Under normal circumstances Noel would have been very hesitant to rappel down the side of a thousand-foot cliff, but his excitement over the lost city outweighed his sense of caution.

After they finally reached the city, the three of them spent the remainder of the afternoon scouting out the abandoned buildings. Noel wanted to spend the night there and continue exploring the next day, but Miles pointed out that they hadn’t brought any supplies. He ended up tarrying so long that it was actually dark by the time they climbed out of the fissure and returned to the Raptor.

“That was amazing!” Noel exclaimed, as Miles drove the tank back to New Tikal. “I really think that, with a little effort, we could get that city operational again. The electrical systems appeared to be mostly intact, and the buildings still had a remarkable degree of structural integrity. I’d love to know what sort of metal they’re made of! To be buried for so long, with so little damage, is just astonishing.”

“It does seem pretty unlikely,” Amy commented.

“Now, I do think our work is cut out for us,” Noel continued. “It’s not going to be easy to dig out the rest of the city, but I think it’s certainly possible. I bet we have more than enough manpower, if everyone from New Tikal lends a hand.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to persuade them?” Amy asked.

“Oh, absolutely. Just wait until I tell them what we’ve discovered! The technology I saw today was just incredible. This is generations ahead of anything we’ve got today. It’s a huge leap forward! Who wouldn’t want to live in the city of tomorrow?”

“Isn’t it actually the city from yesterday?” Amy asked.

“I think that city is our future. It could revitalize our entire culture! It’s a fantastic opportunity.”

“It’s going to take some time, you know,” Miles commented. “There’s a lot of work to be done before you can start moving people in. You’ll need to put together a scouting party first, and spend a few weeks mapping out the area and figuring out what challenges need to be overcome. Then you’ll need to put together teams–”

“I’ve got it all covered,” Noel commented. “Tomorrow morning things are going to start happening. You just wait and see!”