Nathan Price and The Hidden City

I could see both Hilary and Ashley's jaws drop in shock as I emerged from the tent. Holding my gun up, I ignored the smoking barrel and spoke swiftly and sharply.

"You two, untie Sarah and Vanessa."

"Nate please. My mother's sick... " Ashley started to plead with me but I wasn't interested.

"Shut up, just shut up! Unite them now!" The two nodded and ran over to the captives. Untying them, Vanessa and Sarah both made a beeline for me. They both stepped behind me, for safety when I looked at Ashley. "Go. I don't expect to see your face again either."

Ashley promptly nodded and escaped through the door which had now been jarred open with various tools. Looking at Hilary, she had the same look of fear in her eyes that Paris did, all those years ago. I wouldn't let myself fall back to her level though. Walking up to her, I saw a flare of cockiness in her eyes as we met eye to eye.

"You going to shoot me Nathan?" She asked me, her fear coming through as I looked at her.

Sighing heavily, I shook my head. "You already know I'm not going to." With that, I grabbed my gun pistol whipped her. Dropping to the floor like a sack of potatoes, Hilary fell away to the land of unconsciousness. "Sarah, Vanessa... You two OK?" I said, turning around to face my companions. Vanessa looked like she'd been crying and Sarah had an arm around her, comforting her kindly.

"Nathan, can't we just get out of here? I really want to go home." Vanessa said, her emotions crackling through her voice as I checked Hilary's pulse.

"If you two want to leave, go ahead. I need to check out that cavern again." I said as I ran over to a small pile of supplies the two mercs had brought in. Rummaging through, I found a small barrel of gasoline. Licking my teeth, I found an emergency flare. Tucking it into my back pocket, I grabbed the rusty small barrel and moved towards the Travelgate. Finding the trident's head just next to the gate, I slit the trident in and waited for the gate to open. Looking behind me, I saw Sarah and Vanessa at the bottom of the ramp.

"We're coming too Nate." Sarah said coolly. "If we don't find Atlantis then I'll have some serious explaining to do." I smiled and as the gate opened up we each took a step in. Sarah's first trip in was an eventful one, she screamed for the full thirty seconds and looked like she was ready to throw up as soon as we were on the other side.

Vanessa and I looked at each other, I grinned but Vanessa didn't seem to see the funny side. Shaking my head lightly, I moved over to where the green glowing light was. Tipping over the fuel barrel, I poured a small trail from the light all the way to where the blood stained cubicle was. Gripping the flare in my right hand, I placed my left on top of the tip and twisted, the immense heat started to come through the top of the flare.

"Alright girls... Stay back." I warned, before tossing the flare down to the floor, igniting the fuel. Squinting lightly, I watched as the fire ignited all the way to the pool at the frozen wall. Opening my eyes slowly, I watched as the frozen wall, slowly started to melt away. Sure enough, just behind the wall was a door that had been frozen away, hidden from sight. As soon as the wall had been melted away, the ice water fell to the floor, seeping over the exposed flame. It became extinguished, allowing us to step closer.

Sarah had since gained her feet so she and Vanessa joined me at the door. Looking at the door, I could see the green light we thought as a computer screen was in fact some sort of monitor. Looking at it, it suddenly whirred to life, a grainy picture on it. Inching closer to the screen, a booming voice bounced through the room.

"Are you loyal?" It asked me, obviously testing me.

"I am loyal to Lyon's Pride... I... Uh..." Recalling what the voice in my earlier blackout said, I added some extra wordings. "I require Safe Passage!" There were several other voices that we couldn't quite hear. The same voice from earlier came on and spoke in an excited voice.

"We appreciate Lyon's Pride. You shall pass!"

With that, the steel door opened up. With an almighty creak and a groan, the door slowly withdrew from it's locked position. As the door opened, we stepped over the pool of water and into the large corridor. This room was not made of stone like the earlier ones. It looked like it was made out of metal, almost like the boarding ramps you see on Airplanes. Taking a few steps in, me and the two beauties behind me looked around. The door behind us then shut, and we felt the room start to shake. It felt like it was being spun around on an axle, moving us to a new location.

It slowed and we found ourselves facing a new steel door, looking at the door, we stepped forward and as we did it flashed open. Almost as if it was functioning with a motion sensor, as the door flashed open what we saw shocked us to our cores. Inside this new room were several small Chimpanzees, all wearing a strange helmet.

Looking around the room, we could see that this particular room was a dome shape. The top had small plates locking together in a tessellated pattern. Inside the room were several cubicles, similar to the ones at the frozen science lab. One Chimp made its way towards us and smiled.

"Hello!" Wow! This monkey could talk!?

"Uh... Hi..." I said, looking back at the girls who had a similar look on their faces.

"My name is Jade Lyons... Of Lyon's Pride?" 'She' said. Extending a hand for us to shake. Shrugging, I extended my hand and offered it as a shake.

"You sent me the note when I was in hospital. I remember. What's going on here? Some sort of an experiment?"

"Ha ha! No, not that no. We were all scientists who were working at the science lab when we were attacked."

"I thought you killed each other?" Sarah interrupted, as 'Jade' offered us to walk a certain path.

"Not quite, 'The Father' insisted we fake that so we could be born again. That's when we were taken down here and had our bodies transported into these animals."

"Why?" Vanessa asked, as we walked to the bottom of a high stairwell.

"Because Human's can't sustain this type of pressure for long enough to do any good. 'The Father' has asked to speak to you, and will relieve the pressure for the duration. Please go upstairs to the forbidden chamber." 'Jade' then pointed up to the top of the stairwell.

Nodding, we each took off up the stairs. As we walked, we started to talk about what we saw in a hushed state.

"What do you think Nathan?" Sarah asked as we reached what must have been our third set of stars.

"It sounds like a cult. This 'The Father' figure sounds like some sort of lunatic. The way she spoke it sounded like they were going to another planet or something." I said, peering over the railing at the chimps who had now stopped their working and were watching us climb.

"I know. It's crazy! How deep in the earth do you think we are?" Vanessa asked as we hit the last flight of stairs.

"Can't be too deep... A couple of hundred feet maybe?" I guessed as we found a soft silk curtain blocking off the door frame. Just as I was about to raise my voice a mechanic groan spoke to us.

"Enter." It barked, nothing more. Nothing less. We looked at each other and nodded, I put my hand behind my back and kept my hand on my gun just in case. Shock number three.

Inside the room was a large, overweight man, bald and nearly devoid of life. There were several tubes running in and out of his body, shooting fluids from one point to another. The man wheezed with every breath he took, his eyes seemed to follow us as we walked in. Looking over the figure, I went to speak but was cut off by the man.

"I... Am 'The Father'... What... Do... You... Wish... To Know?"

"What is this place?" Seemed to be the burning question, so I asked it.

"This... Is... A facility... We... Watch over the world... We... Ensure it runs correctly..."

"Like the Illuminati?" I asked as I looked around the chamber. It was cold, with frozen walls, similar to the science lab. It looked like the room had been bored out of nature.

"Illuminati? No... We... Are The Maintainers... We... Are.. Gods..." 'The Father' said with a taunting, raspy metallic voice.

"Gods? I only see one of you! Where are the others? Dead?"

"Dead... No. On... Another... Plane..." The body said cryptically.

"Another place huh? So they are dead. Look. You're going to die soon, why don't you explain to us what these Travelgates are."

"The Travelgates... They are the last... Of an ancient technology... We... Are not the first... Of this planet..."

"What? You're saying that's extra terrestrial technology?"

"That technology... It is not extra terrestrial... It is of my people... Gods..."

"Gods? Impossible." I retorted, as Sarah and Vanessa tugged at my arms, begging me to leave. Pulling my arm away, 'The Father' laughed a hearty laugh.

"You... Should choose your words... Wisely... Nathan Price..."

As I went to reply, Sarah spoke above my voice. "Does Atlantis exist?"

'The Father' looked to Sarah and seemed to smile. Nodding his head lightly, 'The Father' spoke again, his raspy voice filling the small chamber. "Yes... Speak... To... Jade and she... Shall send you there..."

Sarah nodded and tugged on my arm again. "Let's go Nate!" Sarah said, with a sense of urgency in her voice. Taking one last look at 'The Father' I stepped back and turned on my heel. Walking back, we walked through the curtain and saw that the chimps were playing with each other, acting like... Well animals. A throbbing pain hit me in the forehead and it seemed to also hit Sarah and Vanessa who stumbled forward in pain. We held our heads in pain until suddenly the pain stopped, looking around we saw the chimps stop playing and moved back to working.

"Pressure must be back to normal then?" Vanessa said, as we climbed back to our feet.

"Yeah, seems like it. Alright, let's get to Jade and find Atlantis!" I said with a tone of happiness in my voice, I just wanted this to be done with. We slowly climbed down the stairs and found Jade. Just as I was about to speak, Sarah beat me to it.

"Jade, do the computer connections work down here?"

"Oh yes, would you like to use one?" Jade asked, as we walked towards a cubicle.

"Sarah, what are you doing?" I asked, pulling her to one side for a moment.

"Transferring your money. I'll put in two million dollars now, and the rest once we're back on land. That sound OK?"

Like that was needed to be asked! I could already see Vanessa rubbing her hands together in my peripheral vision. Swallowing that lump in my throat, I nodded "That sounds fine."

Sarah smiled and nodded, as Jade showed her the internet connection. Several moments and millions of dollars later, Sarah stood up.

"There, it'll be there by tomorrow US time. Now let's go!" Sarah said, a hint of excitement in her voice. I looked at Vanessa who looked exhausted, and who could blame her. She had been through so much this trip and we hadn't even finished yet. Putting an arm around her, I squeezed her lightly as a reassuring hug.

"We're almost done V. One more trip then I promise I'll take you to Paris sound good?"

Vanessa couldn't help but smile as Jade and Sarah stood in front of a Travelgate. Walking in front of it, I looked through it and saw a deserted city. We each shared glances and walked through the gate, Jade just behind us. Stepping onto a stone floor, we all looked at our new surroundings. The corridors were long and curved, essentially we were walking down a long pipeline. The walls were transparent, made of obviously a stronger type of glass, in the middle of the tubing was a long golden strip that ran lengthways down the tube.

"Jade, how old is this place?" I asked, as we walked down the tubing heading towards a large circular complex.

"We aim it to be roughly 2000 years old. Although we don't know how long it's been since someone has lived here." Jade answered, walking down the hall with us. "We're about to enter the main chamber, this is where we believe town meetings or events would occur." She added as we stepped through to the large room.

"Wow." Vanessa offered as we looked around. The room was close to thirty feet in the air and was built in a dome shape. In a pattern similar to the previous base of operations, glass frames were moulded together in a tessellated pattern.

"Do you have any idea what happened to the people here?" Sarah asked as we walked towards a large bench that was in the middle of what seemed to be a public garden. Sitting down, we looked to Jade who seemed content to sit on the floor.

"As far as we know, it was some sort of virus. It swallowed the colony whole and left no survivors... Or bodies for that matter. We always wondered what had happened to them."

Knowing something wasn't right, I looked at Jade. "Any idea where something like that could happen?"

Mulling it over, Jade put one of her ape digits to her mouth to illustrate she was thinking before answering. "I would imagine it could be the control room. No one could figure out how that would happen though."

"Where is the control room?"

Jade pointed to a circular lift tucked away in a corner. The design of the lift was in a pattern similar to the tubing. "Up in the elevator for three floors. That will take you straight to the room."

"Do you mind if I check it out?" I asked, standing up and moving towards the elevator.

"Be my guest. Would you like us to join you?" Jade asked as she motioned to the group.

Thinking it over, I answered. "No, why don't you take Sarah and Vanessa on a guided tour? That sound OK girls?"

They both nodded their heads in a hint of excitement. Jade nodded her head and stood up. "OK, girls if you would like to follow me?" The two girls stood up and started to walk with Jade down the corridor.

"Meet back here in half an hour." I shouted after them as I set off towards the elevator. They shouted back their sounds of approval as they looked at things Jade pointed out to them. Stepping into the elevator, I saw four large white buttons. Jade had said the room was on the third floor, so I pressed that button and made my way up to the third level. The elevator slowly whirred to life and slowly moved up towards the floor.

Gripping my gun in my right hand, I pulled it out of my pants and gripped it by both of my hands. Steadying my aim, should it be needed. The doors opened slowly, giving me plenty of time to spot the surroundings. Seeing nothing, I stepped out of the tube, checking both of my corners as I went. Nothing. At ease, I let my right hand hold the gun, lazily at my side as I walked through the room. It was off a similar pattern to the floors below, although the ceiling was metal. Looking around, I saw an old computer on the desk, it was flickering with life. Amazing, even with all the time that had passed it still managed to keep up. Even more amazing was that it was around in that time.

Putting my gun down next to it, I pulled up a chair and looked at the screen. It was coated with dust, suggesting it had been here for a good long while. Wiping away the filth, I could see that some one was in the middle of a journal entry.

'I can't believe it! We have found Atlantis! The commander has suggested that we set up base here in this control room while we find out what happened to the previous inhabitants. Strangely enough, everyone has been smelling roast chicken since we got here. I smelled it a couple of hours ago, and it's weird, but the guys who smelled it first have became violently ill. Mere hours after they smelled it, I hope the same doesn't happen to me! Although I have been getting stomach cramps...'

The journal ended there and then. Looking at the time of entry it was 12:05 PM, so theoretically he smelled it at 10:05. I rubbed my hand among my chin, pondering the answer when an horrible smell hit my nostrils. Looking down at my fingers I could see they were stained with something. It looked like it was something liquid which had dried up. Investigating the keyboard it looked like that was the source. After many a night out with Ron Perlman I knew exactly what that was. Vomit. Had the typist coughed up his guts? If so, was this going to happen to me and Vanessa? We had both smelled the roast chicken earlier, I looked at my watch and saw that it was nearly an hour ago from when we had smelled it. My thirty minutes were up too, walking back to the elevator, I got ready to ask Jade about it.

The elevator took me down to the ground level again, where the girls and Jade were waiting. Stepping out of the pod, I walked up to Jade and tucked away my gun. "Jade, what does 'The Father' know about his place?"

"Oh he knows everything. He discovered it."

"Right, girls we're leaving now. Come on!" I said as I took off sprinting down the hallway. The girls shared a worried look and made their way down with me, reaching the Travelgate, rather than waiting, I just jumped straight through it. Taking off up the stairs, the girls and Jade were just behind me. Ripping through the curtain, I walked up to 'The Father' and grabbed my gun. Placing it against his head.

"Tell me about the disease. The roast chicken!"

"Ha... Ha... You know of that?" He rasped, taunting me.

"Yes, me and my friend have been infected we want to be cured!" I spat back at him, venom in my mouth.

"You... Shall... Be cured... For... A Price..." 'The Father' said, his cold, dead eyes tracking me.

Shaking my head, I didn't want to take it but had to. "Name it... How much?"

This caused 'The Father' to laugh harder. "No money... Oh no Nathan... I want information."

Crooking an eyebrow, I wasn't sure exactly what he meant. "Information? What type?"

"What do you know of 'The Three Kings'? Mister Price?" 'The Father' said, his voice still rasping as he looked me dead in the eye.

"Only the bed time stories. They were three men back from biblical times. They were originally hailed as Holy men but eventually just became tagged as charlatans. They had technology that was centuries ahead. They appeared in three separate lands... Uh... England... America and..."

"Russia." 'The Father' added as he saw me struggle.

"Right. As soon as 'alien abductions' happened in the 50's scientists considered the kings could be aliens. They were meant to be executed, but every so often another story would rise up when they were supposedly sighted. Of course it's all bull shit."

This got a good laugh out of 'The Father' who shook his head as well as he could.

"Not quite Mister Price. I have two of the three kings bodies. I want you to find the third, then you will be cured."

"No deal, how do I know you just won't kill Vanessa and Sarah?"

"Because, I am also infected. Once I have the third body, you would not believe the things we could cure. Cancer would be a thing of the past. This cure would relieve me of my aching. Do you know how old I am? I don't. I lost count after the second century that passed. Mister Price, how could I give you some insurance that I am being truthful? Ask me a question. Anything and I shall answer it."

I don't know why this came to my head, but I asked it any way.

"Where is Excalibur?"

"It does not exist. Excalibur was a myth to install faith in King Arthur. Merlin designed an enchanted sword that would repair itself after every battle. Are you satisfied?"

Truth be told, I was. I figured the story was a crock of shit, and here was the proof.

"I am. Of course in a few hours, I will be dead, so unless you know exactly where I'm to go. I'd like to see how you plan on me completing this quest."

'The Father' slowly lifted his right arm and motioned towards the nearest wall. At the wall was a large clear tube that had a fizzy blue liquid in it. Gripping it lightly, I swirled the tube around, trying to identify it.