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The lost city of Cozcatl should lie ahead, undisturbed, as it had done for almost two hundred years. Christopher "Rigel" Smith was so intent upon studying the river bank with his belt light that he forgot to listen to the sound of his guide following him through the cold, forbiding water. There should be a secret passage, according to the map, and he slowly made his way downward until he found an opening about three meters below the surface.
A loud scrape echoed throughout the cave as he squeezed through the opening and continued upward into his new environment. His small source of light offered little comfort compared to the overall darkness of the underground cave. With a shudder, he moved his light along the cave wall, looking for a sign that he was in the right place. He smiled as he found some ancient writing that he casually translated quickly as he read. It said the door to the Lost City was somewhere in that very cavern.
Near the end of World War III, all contact with Cozcatl mysteriously ceased. Even in the early 24th century, it remained one of the greatest mysteries of the most devastating war in the history of Earth, a mystery Rigel would give his life to solve. All that remained were rumours, some more likely than others. One rumor said Cozcatl contained some type of biological or chemical weapon, but this remained unverified.
"This is the place!" he said to his unseen partner. "The entrance shouldn't be too far from here."
He rubbed his fingers across five days of stubble waiting for a reply. Suddenly it dawned on him his partner had not yet reached the surface. He dove back underwater, searching the area with his light for any signs of activity. Had something happened to her? He tried to put those thoughts aside but he could not ignore them. Those thoughts quickly subsided when a second light appeared below the surface. A few seconds later, Quatocanya, his partner and guide, emerged, much to his relief.
"Where were you?" scolded Rigel more concerned than angry. "You should have been right behind me."
"I couldn't keep up," she replied trying to catch her breath.
As they pulled themselves out of the water, Rigel took a closer look at her to make sure she was all right. She was much shorter and a good ten to twenty years younger than Rigel, with dark brown eyes and dark brown hair that remained nicely braided despite their recent swim. Her wetsuit was brightly colored with pink, green, and yellow, very different from Rigel's mostly black one.
Despite her youth, Quatocanya had found the map to Cozcatl, but the map was in code and Rigel was the only one who could decipher it. Since the map was useless to Quatocanya by herself, he probably could have bought it from her, but he preferred working with someone else, especially when it involved such a high risk. Knowing Quatocanya was more familiar with the area, Rigel had asked her to be his partner and guide. She greatfully accepted and the two of them began searching for the lost city. Rigel frequently reminded himself that although Quatocanya was talented, she had trouble keeping up with his sometimes demanding pace. Even when they compromised between Rigel's brisk pace and Quatocanya's slow one, it was hard on her.
"The entrance should be directly in front of us," said Rigel. "Feel along the wall for a hidden door. I'll check the left side, you check the right."
Rigel went straight to work, feeling along the cave wall in a pattern that was both quick and accurate. Taking a brief glance at Quatocanya, he saw she was falling behind. She could copy his speed or his accuracy but not both. Rigel though about helping her but thought it more important to find the entrance. Once they explored the city, he would have plenty of time to teach her. Quatocanya decided on the slow and accurate approach. Keeping to himself, Rigel did not bother to comment on her progress one way or the other.
He became tense as he continued searching the cave wall. They would be first to set foot in the Lost City in nearly two centuries. His excitement soon overcame his tenseness and he quickened his pace even more.
"Have you found anything yet?" asked Quatocanya.
"Not yet," Rigel replied. "Keep looking! I'm sure something will turn up."
Rigel had reached the center and was starting on Quatocanya's side when he felt a gap in the wall between two rocks, about half the size of his hand. As he moved the smaller of the two rocks, he noticed something gold on the other side.
"I've found an entrance!" he exclaimed. "Help me move some of these rocks!"
The two of them worked until a gold colored door appeared, with strange symbols on it that used every color of the rainbow. Rigel copied them in his notebook noting the variations in color.
"Do you know what it means?" she asked.
"I will in a moment," said Rigel.
Looking at the patterns the colors formed, Rigel notice a square area in the center shaded slightly darker than its surroundings. To most people it would be undetectable, but Rigel had spent years learning to find even the slightest variation in texture, color, or shape. He pushed the square inward. The instant he did, machinery sounded throughout the cave. Quatocanya instinctively jumped back and looked around nervously trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. The gold door slowly started to rise. Rigel immediately pulled his hand back. It was rising very slowly but he did not want to take any chances. Behind the grey door, stone steps led up into the darkness. The long, narrow steps were well made and had remained almost entirely intact after several centuries. On each step was a thin layer of white powder, accumulating mostly at the ends. Beyond the steps was the vauge shadow of what looked like a couple of large buildings. Their exact size could not be determined.
"In the mid to late 21st century, Cozcatl was a thriving and prosperous city," said Rigel. "Safely hidden from the rest of the world, the people inside lived in peace while war was going on around them. Then they suddenly disappeared without a trace. No one knows what happened to them, no one could even find the city until now."
"Some of these people were my ancestors," said Quatocanya with a heavy sigh.
"We're here!" said Rigel with a strange mixture of humor, relief, and fear.
He turned to Quatocanya, who, for the moment, seemed unable to speak. All she could do was nod nervously as they entered the building. Small puffs of white dust formed wherever they stepped, leaving behind only their footprints, like astronauts on another world.
"What do you think we'll find in Cozcatl?" asked Quatocanya.
"I'm not sure," said Rigel. "Since this place has been undisturbed for almost two hundred years, everything inside should be well preserved."
Far above them an opening allowed sunlight to enter. Although small, it surprisingly provided light for the entire city. As they got closer to the top, they noticed the houses and buildings were grouped together. A vast network of streets divided the working area from the recreation area, which in turn was seperated from the living area. The whole city was about the size of a large apartment complex, with the largest building, ten stories tall, in the very center. None of the other buildings were more than five. The streets were littered with overturned vehicles shaped like bicycles that the previous inhabitants must have used for transportation. Most of the vehicles had something inside them, hidden by a thin layer of white powder that covered everything in sight.
"Whatever happened to them happened fairly quickly," said Rigel. "It doesn't look as if they realized anything was wrong. They were just going about their everyday routine when something suddenly hit."
"Any idea what is was?" asked Quatocanya.
"Not at the moment," said Rigel. "Their main office might give us some clues. It should be on the top floor of that tall building."
At the top of the stairs was a small, oddly-shaped building that looked important.
"This place must have been used to welcome visitors," said Rigel. "It is near the exit and easy to spot if someone gets lost."
"I guess they haven't had too many visitors recently," said Quatocanya.
They continued toward the main office, stirring more and more of the white powder into the air. Rigel examined the various buildings for signs of wear and tear. A large crack appeared in one of them caught his attention. Taking a closer look, he decided some sort of explosion had caused it. The building might have once contained the rumored weapon. While they were working on it, a missle hit, destroying the entire city leaving a trial of debris.
"Look out!" yelled Quatocanya suddenly shoving Rigel to the side.
Rigel looked to see what Quatocanya had saved him from but nothing was there. He looked at her with curiousity.
"Sorry," said Quatocanya. "I thought part of the wall was going to fall on you."
Rigel looked around him. None of the buildings showed any signs of collapsing. With a shrug, he continued toward his destination. For a few minutes everything was fine. Then Rigel spotted a snake right where he was about to step. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the snake again. Although everything else looked blurry, the snake was still clearly visible, directly in front of him.
"What do you see?" asked Quatocanya.
"Sort of a snake," said Rigel.
"I don't see anything there," said Quatocanya.
"Something strange is going on."
"It's too dangerous to stay here," said Quatocanya. "We should leave while we still can."
"Maybe we'll find the answer in the city," said Rigel. "I want to go on."
Reluctantly, Quatocanya agreed. As they walked, they watched each other for any signs of danger. Rigel heard an odd high voice, somewhere over his left shoulder. Thinking it was Quatocanya, he glanced back at her, but she just stared at him with a puzzled expression on her face. She heard nothing. Then he heard a different voice from somewhere ahead, and another behind him. Yet when he looked, he could see no one. Soon, he heard voices all around. Quatocanya remained silent and seemed unaware of the voices Rigel was hearing. He was feeling dizzy and it became difficult to walk even at a normal pace.
"Quatocanya was right," he thought. "Why do I always have to be so stubborn?"
He looked over at Quatocanya to see how she was doing. She was leaning against one of the buildings, covering her face with her hands and sobbing. Rigel walked over to comfort her, but before he could get there he tripped and fell, creating a large cloud of white smoke. Looking at the smoke he suddenly realized what was happening. The dust.
With renewed determination, he strapped on his diving suit and inhaled the vitally important fresh air coming from his oxygen tank.
"Put on your diving suit," said Rigel. "I can feel the difference already."
"Why?" asked Quatocanya.
"The powder all over the city is an hallucenogen," said Rigel. "It is making us see things. What we need now is fresh air."
Rigel stretched and took a few deep breaths. He walked around slowly, trying to keep his balance. Quatocanya took some deep breaths and sat down.
"Don't sit down," said Rigel. "We need to keep moving to get a fresh supply of oxygen circulating inside us. If we sit down, we will be too tempted to go to sleep, and I only have about forty minutes of oxygen. You probably have even less."
Rigel helped Quatocanya get back on her feet.
"Hold my hand so we don't loose each other," said Rigel.
Rigel took a firm grip of Quatocanya's hand and led her back in the direction they had come. Regaining his senses, he remembered some of the buildings and made his way back towards the exit. He soon spotted the oddly shaped building next to the stairs and darted toward it at top speed, pulling Quatocanya along with him.
"Slow down! I can't keep up!" said Quatocanya.
Rigel thought about the situation.
"You lead the way. I'll follow close behind, but whatever happens, make sure we are together," Rigel said, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Rigel checked to make sure everything was in working order as Quatocanya went down the stairs as fast as she could go. The gold door was still open. Passing through it, they reached the underwater cavern.
"Can you find the passage?" asked Rigel.
"I think so," said Quatocanya.
Satisfied with her answer, Rigel dove into the water and once again squeezed through the secret passage. With a sigh of relief, he reached the surface. Quatocanya appeared a few seconds later. The two of them looked at each other and smiled. They had solved the mystery of Cozcatl, the Lost City, the City of Illusions.
Copyright 1997, Steve Lucky
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