Chapter 1

Lindsey Miles alighted into the mouth of a cave---a silhouette figure against the outside daylight to the dark interiors of the cavern. She exhaled a smoky breath into the cool summer air of the Alaskan Denali mountains; panting as she did so. It has been a long and difficult trudge.

A girl of 18, she was a petite and slender young lady in khaki shorts, warm tights, and an overcoat. Her long, wavy auburn hair formed a messy bun on her head. If not for the current situation she is in, Lindsey Miles would usually sport smiling brown eyes and a cheery demeanour. But today her eyes were full of serious contemplation and anxiousness as she surveyed the cavern infront of her.

She couldn't believe what she was doing; hiking in the mountains on her own. She has managed so far, much to her self-amazement.

She held a flash-light in her hand and waved it against the darkness, barely illuminating anything.

She then felt for the crystal pendant on her necklace that rested on her chest, gripping it--- an instinctual habit of hers when she felt she needed encouragement; and she could feel her heart thumping against her fist and it wasn't only because she was out of breath from climbing down the ravines to get to the cave's entrance a while ago. The cavern isn't particularly inviting.

She braved her way in.

'Where are you, uncle?' her mind kept clamoring. It has been four weeks since his disappearance.

A great archaeologist is hailed missing. Search operations have unfolded. Yet, Douglas Miles could not be found. Two days ago the search was ultimately called off.

"No, we cannot just give up on him. My uncle is out there somewhere," Lindsey had begged, to which the Search Operations Superintendent, a tall middle-aged man, apologetically responded. "Miss Miles, we have done everything we could. I am afraid we have ran out of resources for this operation. We have extended this search for as much as we could but we have no options left."

"But Sir I know he IS alive! I just know it, I can feel he is alive! He is out there somewhere waiting for help," Lindsey clamored. She could not explain it - this strong intuition she can't ignore.

It was no use talking to the Superintendent. She came out of the makeshift tent of the central search party command post in disdain. She looked around the camp grounds situated in the mountain interiors as everyone was getting busy packing up. It was buzzling with activity around her. The tents have gone down; the vans are loaded, people in military uniforms were purposely walking about here and there. She looked up at the clear blue sky - it was the beginning of summer - and to the rugged mountain path blanketed in snow just beyond.

Returning to the camp grounds all the way from Kansas after 3 weeks in contempt of the news that the search is folding, she knew there was no convincing the authorities. But she came anyway, somehow she felt she needed to.

She had been wanting to be involved in the search ops from the get-go but the authorities' prohibitions despite her being an apprentice archaeologist left her on the outside. Today she is making the call herself.

She looked around as everyone was minding their own business. Slowly she walked past everyone in a nonchalant way, made her way to a gap in the fencing sealing off the path entrance that was slowly being dismantled. Out of the clearing, she quietly sneaked her way out and into the paths without anyone noticing her.

Lindsey Miles - a young, aspiring archaeology student embarked on her own search. It led her here, in the mouth of a hidden and secluded cave sitting discreetly on the side of the mountain. It wasn't her own volition that brought her here. Something had beckoned her, guiding her every step.

She made her way down into the tunnels of the long-winded cavern. The steps were difficult; marked by mini-boulders and rocks. Eventually her flash-light came upon what looked like a hood she recognized as her uncle's and suddenly her heart jumped up wildly with hope. "He's here!" she screamed in her head.

Quickly, she went deeper, half-running now, her path getting more rugged and pitch-dark, and the air musky and suffocating. Whatever fear she had at that moment she conquered at least for the time being. She is never one to go in places such as this alone nor has she ever ventured out on her own in her young years as an archaeology student. Somehow however something in her heart had compelled her to do this - and there is that knowing sense that her uncle wants her to find him. Traversing through, she mustered all the courage she could. An aspiring archaeologist would not, should not, be afraid of dark caverns such as this. And so much time has passed since her uncle disappeared she knew well enough that time may mean a matter of life and death.

She has been walking for more than an hour now and she knew of the danger she is getting herself into but the inexplicable compulsion is getting stronger by the minute. Out of exhaustion, Lindsey sat down on a rock to catch up on some energy. It felt like she has been hiking down here forever. She meditated for a moment, and in the silence, a faint sound from a distance slowly invaded her senses.

She got up in wild curiosity and started walking towards the direction of its source, gradually becoming louder on her approach --- a wobbling sound echoing all over the place.

The light from her flashlight is rendered futile by something huge and bright waiting at the end of the long passageway, emerging into an inner cavern as big as a basketball court where a large sphere of light sat on a gigantic stand, spinning in all directions, generating the powerful hum. To Lindsey, it was a strange but breathtaking sight... she stared in wide-eyed enchantment.

What is it? Is this what her uncle came here for? Her mind raced with questions.

Very faintly she heard someone calling out her name. There was no mistaking that voice.

She immediately jerked her head to her right and saw her uncle lying on the ground just a few feet away. Frantically she ran to him. "Uncle!"

She knelt down next to him and saw his emaciated face and sunken eyes barely opening looking up at her slightly. What had happened? Is he sick or injured? Desperately, she scrambled for her mobile phone inside her backpack.

"Lindsey, is it really you?" came her uncle's weak voice.

"Yes it's me, uncle!" she gasped, her voice shaking. "Are you alright?"

"Lindsey..." he called, grabbing her arms weakly as she tried to dial out for help.

"I'm calling everyone. Help will arrive soon. You'll be okay," she said, scrambling over the phone's digits.

"It won't work. I tried that," her uncle coughed up slightly as he spoke.

Lindsey ignored that. What is he talking about? Today's mobile phones are very powerful they can dial out from anywhere, everywhere! She placed the receiver on her ears. Sure enough, a loud static came out of it.

"No!" she squealed.

"This cave is covered...by a supernatural force that keeps... communication signals at bay..." her uncle was saying in slurring words but Lindsey wasn't listening. She has to think of something before it's too late...

.

For Douglas Miles, it is indeed too late and he has resigned to this fact. However, he couldn't have been more than pleased to see niece. He is excited. If anything not for his rescue... But in knowing that all of his years of hardwork, a lifetime of it, is not in vain. Never was.

"I knew you of all people would find this cave," he said to her, his eyes seeing nothing as he slips in and out of consciousness. The only thing vivid right now is a memory... of little Lindsey Miles; A precocious child who has brought joy in his life, a teenager who would tag along on his expeditions though her mother would reproach so. He saw how at a young age she had a knack in the world of archaeology. Her finding him today proved it although he knew something more was at play.

He had long given up on the miracle of a rescue, aware enough of his untraceability due to his own deliberate measures to keep this 'important' archaeological activity of his covert, and yet Lindsey did to his utter amazement. He believed that her being here at this very moment is an ordinance. This is his ultimate conclusion.

"I'm so happy that you made it just in time. I must tell you something...I cannot die without telling you..." he was saying in between pauses. It took so much of an effort but he needed to talk up to his last breath.

"What are you saying, uncle!" Lindsey admonished; tears flowing from her eyes. For even if she tried to think otherwise, she could evidently see how life is starting to ebb away from her uncle.

"I'm going to get you out of here..." she tried to say, her words trailing off in sorrow and desperation.

Douglas Miles only shook his head. "I'm sorry, Lindsey, but I won't live long,"

She cried, shook her head and squeezed her fist to keep herself from trembling.

"I found it, Lindsey," he said. "After 18 years! After 18 years, my niece! I found it...a remnant of the past, a proof of the existence of Atlantis!"

She deduced he was talking about the monumental crystal sphere before them.

"Uncle, can you stand up? You can hang on by my shoulder and we can walk out of here," she hastened.

"No Lindsey, just sit down and listen to me. I have something very...important...to tell you." He stopped short for breath, getting weaker by the minute. "Allow me this one last important request."

"Uncle we need to leave."

Douglas ignored her. "I'm glad I held on. So now I can show you..."

"Uncle..."

He extended his arms feebly, pointing his finger at the sphere of light. Lindsey could only look at it fleetingly. No amount of archaeological find can interest her at this moment.

"One of the seals of Atlantis...you have to...you have to continue my work when I'm gone. Only you can do it...promise me,"

She shook her head, unable to concentrate on what was said. "Uncle, what happen to you here?" she finally asked in between sobs. Something uncanny had happened to her uncle that incapacitated him but she could not see anything or deduced anything to account for it. As far as she knows, her uncle is still physically fit despite his being in his sixties.

Douglas only gave a wry smile in response; for what happened to him is something he considered with good-humor.

He was not allowed unto the grounds of the sphere of light. A shield of energy that protected the ancient seal threw him off his feet with a bolt so intense he shouldn't even have made it alive.

However the seal will recognize Lindsey's blood --- this he is much too certain. It will grant her the right of passage for, as he believes, she has the right to pursue the secrets of Atlantis.

"It doesn't matter," he said, closing his eyes. "Lindsey, do something for me... before it's too late,"

"Uncle! Don't talk like that! I didn't arrive here just in time just so I could lose you,"

He looked up at her again, meaningfully. "There could be other reasons why you are here, at this very moment..."

"Uncle---"

"Lindsey, you are looking at one of the seals of Atlantis. The seals will reveal the lost city of Atlantis..."

"Uncle, what are you talking about?" she was crying now.

Douglas mustered a little smile. "Of course you know what Atlantis is, Lindsey. Every good archaeologist knows of Atlantis,"

Of course she knows about Atlantis. It is an established legend. What does a myth have to do about everything now?

"I never did tell you about it... because I shouldn't. However, the time has come, you must know. You should rightfully know. Atlantis must be revealed. Promise me, Lindsey, you will continue this for me."

She shook her head and tried to recover her resolved. Adamantly she said, "Uncle, please stop talking. You need to save your energy."

"My dear, promise me. You have to promise me ...please..."

Lindsey burst out crying. "Yes, yes, I promise...now uncle..."

"Listen to me, Lindsey. Go forward to the seal and put this crystal in the slot on the pedestal," he took out a crystal from his pocket and placed it on Lindsey's hand. "Do it, please...for me. I need to see, I need to see...."

Lindsey wanted to refuse but seeing how important it seem this is to her uncle, she knew she just has to do it.

"This is very important...you won't be failing me...you will be failing yourself."

She nodded hesitantly and then pleaded, "Hold on there, uncle...please..."

"Lindsey, tell your mother I'm sorry that I broke my promise but Atlantis is at hand. Now go and place the crystal. It is time to unlock the secrets of Atlantis,"

Lindsey nodded helplessly, got up and started towards the stone pedestal. As she stepped up unto the monument's round platform, a strange feeling washed over her like she just penetrated an invisible wall of energy.

She looked back towards her uncle with a puzzled look but Douglas prodded at her with a slight nod and an approving look. She was able to step into the sacred grounds unscathed, something that eluded Douglas on his own attempt.

From where Douglas laid, he watched his niece continue on to the podium. In his mind were his last thoughts: 'Atlantis is at hand...'

Lindsey stood upon the pedestal beneath the sphere of light the size of a two storey house. The pedestal was but a large piece of slender limestone rock where at the center is a carved out vessel she deduced to be the place for the crystal in her hand. And as she popped it in, like battery, the sphere slowly began to spin even more rapidly. Lindsey watched it spin away in amazement and after a few seconds unleashed energy in the form of light upwards and bursting against the cave roof as it holed out into the sky. The whole cave shook.

And the last thing Lindsey was aware of is the blinding light that engulfed everything around her before everything went dark....