The Incident at Templo Techo De Nubes(Conclusion)

Ascent

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"Keep pulling! I can almost reach it!" Alex's father shouted from somewhere up above him. His voice barely audible over the roar of water beside him. He couldnt quite make out where he was, but the man had climbed up the moss covered rocks that framed the waterfall he was currently standing at the base of nearly thirty minutes ago and had tossed down a rope for Alex to use as a pully to hoist their supplies up it with. Every now and then looking up past the spray and mist from the waterfall he could see his hand shoot out into the air trying to grab the duffle of camp wear.

This was the second chute of water they'd surmounted today and happily it looked the last. The summit was nearly there.

While Alex's attention wandered towards a pleasantly unexpected grotto of brightly colored ginger flowers off to his side he got the sudden feeling the forest was watching him again.

He had tried shaking the vexing feelings that prodded him all morning about the happenings last night. But almost as if at every place they lingered too long on the trail, the jungle would react. Give out a vibe that it didnt want them there. Honestly it felt like something was stalking them.

Strange things had happened in just the last half kilometer. Their rifle they carried with them seemingly fell off the side of the previous waterfalls landing with no reasonable explanation. One moment it was laying there against a tree perfectly secure the next they heard it clattering down the boulder strewn bluffs when their back was turned. He remembered the feeling of vulnerability and panic that flared in his heart when he and his father looked down to see it had fallen into the watercourse below. Seperated from its barrel, which had broken free from the reciever, the rifle was beyond useless now.

"Ok got it!!! Good work Son! Climb up! The pinnacle is just a few yards ahead. We've made it....I think." Dr. Lewelly voice broke into Alex's nagging thoughts.

Tugging at the rope instinctively to test how secure it was Alex got the feeling again and craned his neck to check behind him. Again he paused to stare at the jungle. He didnt like being down here alone.

The jungle felt like it was smirking at him. Like there was something watching him from a certain patch of dense green leaves a few yards further down the trail. Just where the jungle met the stony outcropping that permitted the waterfall.

He stared harder and the leaves began to rustle. 'Something IS in there!' Alex's mind confirmed. Momentarily dumbfounded he watched as if by an invisible hand the branches and leaves parted wide and tall enough to pass something the size of a man. And yet, nothing stood in this suddenly formed aperture in the thick jungle bushes.

The bushes snapped back shut and a small puddle that had formed halfway between the treeline and himself splashed as if something invisible had placed its foot in it.

Alex's eyes widened when he realized he was indeed not alone down here and bolted up the climbing rope. His hands furiously dragging his desperate body as fast as they could higher up the rope. 'got to get away, its coming!!! FASTER!' his mind emplored.

Halfway up the frantic climb he felt the rope tug down as if suddenly under the load of an additional body.

'Oh God!!! Gotta get to the top. Please dont catch me!' His mind screamed.

As Alex got to the top he crawled onto the landing and quickly pulled out his knife and started sawing through the rope. The rope fought his attempts as it bounced and tugged animated by something still on it climbing up. Finally he cut through the rope and watched in relief as it fell free and disappeared below.

"Alex!!! What are you doing!!" Harold demanded as he came over to investigate.

Alex peered over the side and saw nothing down below "I. I dont know!! There was something down there, but i couldnt see it."

"Alex of course there are things down there. We're in a jungle. Your mind is playing tricks on you, just like last night. " his father admonished. "Now come on. Lets get moving the temple is just on through that row of brush. We've made it! We're at the summit! Now follow me!"

Dr. Lewellyn pushed his way past the last branches impinging their way and exclaimed "There it is!! Templo Techo De Nubes!!! Its stunning!!!"

Alex peered past his fathers shoulder and saw what he was viewing. The Temple complex and surrounding ruins were much larger than he had imagined. There thrust into the sky on a precipice across a yet another deep valley was the remains of a massive and intricate contruction.

Angular grey tidy rows of promenades, plazas and crumbled buildings grew out of the light emerald hues of the grassy butte that straddled the apex of a steep and unapproachable mountain. Milky tendrils of cloud and fog twisted in between the walls of buildings and rolled down the narrow paths that connected the parts of the complex. As if on a pedestal, oversized terraces that once held ornate gardens and farms framed the entire complex and cascaded down the hill and into the abyss like some giant set of converging staircases.

The Temple was truly splended, although its architecture was strange and foriegn. It didnt match any of the other civilizations in the region. It looked older, somehow estranged from the world and human sensibilities. At the center were three taller structures. Presumably the temples themselves. They were the most bizarre architectural things he'd ever seen.

"Oh Dear...Thats not good." Dr. Lewellyn commented. "It looks like there's someone already here."

"What?" Alex blurted.

"Have a look for yourself" Harold said as he handed the binoculars to his son.

There, at the farthest plaza a row of olive colored military helicopters were parked. Panning over he could see tents and soldiers. Lots of them. Soldiers patrolled and covered the entire complex like ants. A squad of four walked into a bank of fog ebbing through one of the concourses and vanished.

Just behind the tents erected inside the foundation of a collapsed building, crates and antennas could be seen. Black cables ran from generators, across the plaza, and into the largest of the temples.

Wedged in between the base of the temple and its adjoining buildings a pair of large white tents serving as some sort of field lab had a pair of heavily armed guards at each door.

Alex observed one of tent doors flap open as a man in a white sterile gown came out and talked briefly with one of the guards. The guard nodded and then jogged off around the corner and behind one of the buildings. A few minutes later the guard returned with two more men dressed in white that looked to be scientists and they all disappeared inside the tent.

"What on earth could they all be doing?" Alex questioned.

"Don't know. But we must stay the night and observe them. See if we can figure out. " Harold said. "Alex we mustn' t be seen. Who knows what they have in mind. Quick grab our camp and get it concealed under those trees over there. It'll be dark soon. No flashlights."

The Incident

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Night had fallen several hours ago and it was somewhere around 2am. Alex sat in the makeshift blind that they had hastily made warlier with his father taking turns passing the binoculars back n forth taking turns monitoring the activity at the temple ruins. Torches arced back n forth as guards swept them along the hillsides and faces of the ruins walls. Seemingly scouring every nook and cranny of the complex they could. They looked jittery or spooked.

At one point, one of the helicopters took off and started flying right towards them. 'We've been spotted!' was Alex's first thought as it approached, but to his relief it turned instead and headed down the valley and away towards the capital several kilometers off. Its thumping slowely fading away and being replaced by the odd quiet and stillness of the nightime jungle. A spike of adrenaline slowely ebbed out of hus body leaving him with the sensation of numb tingly lips. His heart still raced though and he was feeling slightly nauseous.

The helicopter returned an hour later. Dr. Lewellyn quickly brought up the field glasses to his eyes and watched as the dull green helicopter disgorged nervous looking scientists under heavy guard. One stumbled briefly but was shoved by one of the soldiers and staggered back into cadence with the rest of the men being marched towards the ruins.

"I don't think these scientists are here by choice Alex. Look at how they're being treated." Harold said as he handed the binoculars back to his son.

Alex watched as the uneasy men were promptly led through the bizarre arches that formed the entrance of the largest temple structure. Standing next to the temples enterance in heated discussion were a pair of faces he immediately recognized. The same Lieutenant who had stopped them earlier back at the town and the Head of the history museam. They both turnd and entered the temple where they remained without reemerging.

"Dad!! I just saw the Lieutenant and the Head Curator of Antiquities from the national museam."

" You sure?" The doctor snaped back. Clearly disturbed by that news. "This is fishy son. No wonder they both insisted we not go"

A half hour later a dozen soldiers muscled some heavy looking equipment into the temple entrence. They came out looking shell shocked with blank stares on their faces.

"What do you think they've discovered in there that they need this much military for? Those men coming out looked spooked by whatever it was they saw inside" Alex thought out loud.

No idea. We need to stay and see what they bring out of that temple Alex"

Before Alex could respond the jungle quieted suddenly and a breeze kicked up. A half beat later sound like a loud electrical buzzing or discharge ruptured from deep within the ruins so intensely and pervasive it sounded everywhere at once. The stone complex came alive like a stired up bees nest with activity. The flashlights of soldiers on began frantically streaking all over the place. scientists fleed from the main temple clearly in panic.

Startled Alex stood up only to have his father grab him by the shoulder and yank him back down. "Stay down!" he snarled at Alex as if desperate to make him stay concealed.

Without warning a soft orange glow illuminated their nest of foliage they had been hidding in. A flock of birds erupted from the nearby trees startled by the sudden presence directly behind them. Alex felt a pit form in his stomach and froze, his arm hairs standing on end. Harold half turned around to face the light and froze, his complexion waxy and white from terror.

Overhead just above tree level, a mere stones throw away, silent as the night, the orange sphere gently glided past bathing them in its sodium colored radiance as it made its way across the void towards the ruins. Like a raptor looming over its prey the orb suspended its self above the temple complex. Fine greyish-blue pencil like beams flitted out angrily and without mercy struck the cowering soldiers down one by one. Alex watched in horror as each collapsed to the ground. Instantly lifeless. One quick thinking soldier tossed his rifle over the precipice. The beam simply knocked him back several feet and left him writhing but alive on the ground. The only ones fully spared were the scientists crawling on their knees and or hiding lamely behind the crumpled stones of the ruins.

With its extermination complete, the orb withdrew some distance and menacingly hovered over the scientists as if keeping guard when in a blinding flash the back side of the temple lit up in a bright white light. The scientists held their arms up sheilding their eyes stupified and in silhouette by the enveloping glare.

And then, a magnificent phosphorusly silver craft surfaced from below the cliffs of the peak and hovered for a few seconds high up in the air just beyond the temple. A bluish corona began to flare from its sides and with a flash shot straight up into space the orb following close behind until both winked out within the stars.

"We need to get out of here dad! It'll come back. It'll get us too" alex whimpered in a panic.

"No Son it left the good men alone. The scientists. We need to go there now and help them. The scientists! See what happened! What they discovered!"

"Dad I-"

"ALEX! We're going to the temple...NOW!"

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To be continued.

(All photos supplied by Pixabay.com)

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Well, here is the conclusion to my two part series for my entry to the 365daysofwriting challenge for the photo of the Machu Picchu ruins.

I left room for a followup story series if anyone is interested. Just let me know in the comments and ill get to writing.

Best,

Steemydave