City Within the Clouds: The Quest for Atlantis

PROLOGUE

The Rongbuk Monastery

The Basum Township in Shigatse Prefecture

Tibet’s Autonomous Region in China

The ground trembled with remarkable fury, causing some of the stones from the monastery walls to loosen and fall.

The Buddhist monks, all wearing orange robes, raced from their lodgings and took to their knees with the northside peak of Mount Everest in their view. The summit was pointed like the tip of an isosceles triangle, almost straight up and covered with snow in shades of blue and white. As they knelt and prayed and chanted, the earth beneath them continued to convulse with the threat of yawning.

The chanting was in unison, a collection of several voices speaking as one.

High up on the peak that was wreathed by dense clouds, a red light pulsated from the mouth of a grotto with a life of its own.

And still, the monks prayed as they had for centuries.

Because within that red light stood the age-old mysteries of ancient gods that had remained dormant for millennia deep inside this City Within the Clouds.

And for centuries they had waited for this moment as prophesied.

High on the mountain precipice that overlooked the valley below, the light continued to throb with angry passion.

For deep within this mountain chain of the Himalayas . . .

. . . sleeping giants had finally awakened.

* * *

The Northside Peak of Mount Everest

11,800 Feet Above the Rongbuk Monastery

Nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, twenty Buddhist monks lived within a monastery that was perched on a mountainside terrace. For decades, they had served the purpose of guarding The Gate of Buddha, which was a flawless circular opening that had been bored into the mountainside centuries before Buddhism became a religion. And at 12,000 feet where the air was thin and the atmosphere cold, these people had grown accustomed to the elements over time.

The monastery was a self-contained settlement that brewed teas using the waters of mountain runoffs and growing vegetables that were harvested through the hydroponics systems. On the mountain terrace where the monks prayed and worshipped, the landing was fashioned with tiles of veined marble. The pillars that supported the roof and upturned eaves were smooth and cylindrical. And the tails of silky red drapes floated in dreamy waves with the course of mountain breezes, while vats the size of Roman tubs burned with fires that heated the air.

For ages, they had protected the Gate of Buddha, a doorway that led deep into the side of Mount Everest and eventually to the land of their deity. But today the god was angry as the mouth of the gateway at the end of the landing began to glow and pulsate a vibrant red, the heartbeat of something that had long been dormant.

The monks raced to the landing that overlooked the valley of the Rongbuk Monastery, got to their knees, and began to hum in a constant and even drone that sounded like an agitated hive. With their hands held together in an attitude of prayer, the pulsating light only quickened, the heartbeat growing faster.

From the light deep within this maw, something stood silhouetted against this pulsation of light. It was massive and something that stood on four legs, a quadruped that had the thickness of a rhino.

Slowly, this shape started forward.

The earth beneath its footfalls began to shake and quiver. Fissures raced across the tiles of the landing. Columns began to crack and buckle, though they held. But when some of the vats tilted and spilled their burning oils across the floor, the monks realized that paying homage to the Mountain King no longer had meaning or appeasement.

Flames fanned across the floor with the licks of fire beginning to burn drapes of silk, the fabric bursting into veils of fire.

The monks panicked. Their only salvation was to run towards the tiled pier that had been built on a precipice, with the landing having a sheer drop-off point of more than a thousand feet, with the winds here blustery and cold, the elements harsh and cruel.

The monks huddled.

They waited.

And the shape that ventured from the mouth of the cavern and into the light of day made itself known.

The Gate of Buddha had proffered its demon.

CHAPTER ONE

Naval Air Station (NAS), Key West, Florida

Several days after the collapse of the marine terrace that covered the City of Atlantis, John Savage and Alyssa Moore were prepping for a mission in China. The United States and the Chinese governments were working together on a mutual affair based on the Emerald Tablets, which had designated a point on Mount Everest as the position from where the Annunaki would mount an attack by using genetically altered humans.

From the interpretations of Sumerian, Egyptian and Babylonian texts, petrographs, glyphs, and cuneiform symbols, Earth was a petri-dish for which mankind was developed and the planet seeded.

Over hundreds of thousands of years there have been many variations of man from Homo Heidelbergensis to Homo Erectus, with all the breeds in between having been erased except for current man, which was now on the cusp of being terminated because with all their follies as a race, they had been deemed by the Annunaki as an abysmal failure and the blight of their creation.

Therefore, a campaign of genocide was about to commence on the part of the Annunaki to erase their abominations of Homo Sapiens, so that a New World Order could rise.

After the secrets of this genocide were discovered inside Atlantis' Archives, they were able to glean information from the Emerald Tablets which outlined in detail the Annunaki's program to scientifically create those in their image after discovering a flawed gene that existed in the Homo Sapien that promoted violence and cruelty. They wanted to create a subsequent model of mankind that was more constructive and less destructive. To them, mankind was nothing more than a blueprint of creation whose genome was a puzzle that needed to be properly and sequentially pieced together to create the ‘perfect man.’ Instead, what they got was one imperfection after another over tens of thousands of years, though they had learned by their mistakes over time and through observation. Now, they stood on the threshold of creating a final image without genetic flaws. But to do so, mankind had to be entirely eradicated so that the new genetic order could never be tainted with the gene that promotes violence through crossbreeding.

So, from these Emerald Tablets that had been taken from the city beneath the sea, the military principals were able to untangle the codes regarding Annunaki satellite stations all over the planet—from Easter Island to the Antarctic—that housed members of the New Race, with the first signal of activation coming from the mountainside of Mount Everest.

A monastery.

At the Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida, Alyssa Moore and John Savage, both linguists of ancient languages, were prepping to be a part of the Infiltration Team that would work alongside Chinese and American operatives. The American side would be headed by Ben Peyton, who was the company lead presumably from a black-ops arm of the CIA, though this was a guarded secret. The Chinese would be managed by a man named Bojing Mao from Beijing, who was a prominent member of the Ministry of State Security, or the MSS, whose basic responsibilities were counter- and foreign intelligence, as well as political security. The man who would be under his rule and ran the aspects of the operation was Changpu Zhang, a highly decorated and well-respected soldier of the People’s Republic of China. Together, along with U.S. forces directed by Peyton, they would unify as a single unit to investigate this elevated opening. The problem, however, was whether the monks upon this mountainside precipice would contest the intrusion.

Sitting at a conference table inside the naval base was General Bill Earl. Joining him were Alyssa Moore, John Savage, and Ben Peyton. Along the walls opposite their seating arrangement were banks of TV monitors. On one of the monitors was a live feed from the north face of the mountain. At the proximity of the mountainside monastery a red light pulsed and throbbed, though it was diffused behind the ring of clouds.

According to the Emerald Tablets that we were able to obtain from the Archives in Atlantis, the general began, that red glow you see on the screen is the site of what the tablets define as the rise of the ‘Great Army,’ which Ms. Moore has confirmed the interpretation to be correct in its meaning. General Earl got up from his seat, went to the screen, and tapped the point of his forefinger against the pulsating glow. Right there lies what could be the beginning of our end if we don’t act properly and swiftly. After returning to his seat, the general continued his assertions with a regimented tone. That’s why we’ve teamed up with the Chinese government—along with receiving permission from the Tibetan government, who was no doubt coerced by their Chinese counterpart—to work in tandem as an infiltration unit to see what’s inside that mountain.

And who will lead? asked Peyton. You know I like to be the governing hand in such projects.

Here, Ben, you’ll be operating under their full control and demand. It’s their jurisdiction, their rules.

General, you know I don’t like taking orders from a foreign entity.

Ben, you don’t have a choice on this one. This was strictly mandated by the Chinese and the MSS.

Peyton then began to nibble at his lower lip, something he always did when trying to curb his resentment. Then he said: General, the people I work for will expect results and intel, despite whose jurisdiction this is. I cannot be manacled by restrictions. Especially when this is a global problem which may have implications of a growing extinction event.

I’m not saying that you should be dismissive of your duties, Ben. The Chinese government understands that we’re sending a unit of skilled soldiers who have experience in such matters. They’ll see the value in your skillsets, but they’ll be suspicious of you and your team. But in the end, we both know it’s about the mission goal.

Which is? asked John Savage, who was a former Special Forces operative who came to realize that elite fighting techniques had little effect against the weaponry of advanced technology in places like Eden and Atlantis. Along with Ben Peyton, both had watched elite commandos fall at their feet, the cost always high.

According to our intel, General Earl continued, there’s a mountainside monastery located at the mouth of the cave’s entrance, something the monks at Rongbuk call The Gateway to Buddha. Apparently, it’s been there for centuries. And the monks there believe it to be a gateway to the afterlife, which they’re willing to defend with their lives if need be. And there lies the problem.

Savage nodded. You’re expecting a battle, he said as a statement rather than a question.

Earl nodded. Something Bojing Mao will not tolerate if he is to achieve the means, he said. If he needs to clear a pathway to get to the opening on that mountainside monastery, he won’t hesitate to fire .50-caliber rounds from the mount of a chopper. If that does happen, Ben, stand your ground and say nothing. Your job priorities are to get inside that mountain, discover the secrets within, and deal with the situations that may arise appropriately.

And what are the priorities? John asked him.

It’s unlikely that whatever technology is discovered will be shared with the United States government, even though there’s an agreement to do so. The optimum thing here is to go inside that mountain and neutralize any threats.

With assault weapons? John said rhetorically. They were ineffective against what we had to deal with in Atlantis. Now you want us to go inside the guts of Mount Everest with the same line of weaponry, hoping that the outcome will be different?

Ben’s team will have the addition of Chinese soldiers who will back you up.

Back us up?

You’ll serve as the scout team. This means, Mr. Savage, that you, along with Ms. Moore, will need to interpret the symbols, ciphers, and glyphs to see the entire unit through safely. Once you confirm if the Emerald Tablets were correct about a genetic militia existing within that mountain, then you will act accordingly.

And ‘accordingly’ in this case means what? asked Ben.

In Atlantis, the New Race was infected with a virus as they lay within their artificial wombs. It took less than five minutes to eradicate the entire line of thousands once the umbilical feeds were contaminated. You’ll get the chance to do the same here—to infect the lines.

And if this ‘Great Army’ is no longer encapsulated inside these artificial wombs, then what? John asked.

General Earl leaned forward and winged his elbows along the tabletop. This matter has already been discussed with Mr. Peyton. And I’m afraid, Mr. Savage, that I must decline to answer your questions based on reasons of national security.

You’re asking me to risk my life in this operation, but you get to pick and choose what I must and must not know, is that it?

That’s exactly it, Mr. Savage. You and Ms. Moore are the eyes and ears of the dangers surrounding you to protect your unit by reading the encrypted warnings that may be written upon the walls. That’s it. You’re not even on the list of those who are on the ‘need-to-know basis.’

Alyssa Moore became irritated by Earl’s non-disclosure attitude and the way he presented himself to John with an air of superiority. If there was one thing about Alyssa Moore, it was that she would be no one’s underling, especially to the military brass whom she believed had viewed soldiers as moral sacrifices.

General, whenever we risk our lives for something is reason enough, she told him firmly.

Like all your missions, Ms. Moore, your skillset is interpretation. Anything that’s intelligence-related will come under the TS classification, which is Mr. Peyton’s department. Your mission goal is to go in and determine if these ancient symbols scripted on the walls of the mountain’s interior are a blueprint to undermining the existence of mankind and how they plan to do it. That is your only concern. Safety will be provided by the Chinese forces and Peyton’s specialized unit. You’ll be fine.

Like last time, John piped in. If I remember correctly, most of Peyton’s unit had been wiped out.

There were losses, Peyton interjected. But those who survived saw us through.

I saw you through, John returned sharply.

Now you want to be a hero?

Enough! said the general. Our enemy is out there. He pointed at the red glow on the TV monitor. Not in here.

A tense-laden silence hung in the air like a pall.

Then from General Earl, he said, Know your mission goals, people. We have a lot at stake here.

Alyssa, who had yet to show the baby bump of her pregnancy and therefore did not join the last mission in Atlantis, decided that she would not watch the team operate by viewing monitors from those who had worn helmet-cams like last time, but this time she would join them. I’ll go along with the team, she stated.

This caught John Savage off guard. Alyssa . . . The baby. It was all he could say.

She turned to him. John, the helmet-cams on the last mission continued to wink on and off, and we often lost frequency. If that happens inside of Everest, and should you come upon something that matters, can we afford to lose communication? It might be the difference between life and death.

He stared into her eyes for a moment before looking at her abdomen, then he turned back to her and pinned her with a questioning stare.

The baby will be fine, she said after intuiting his gaze.

Perhaps she’s right, said General Earl. Ms. Moore is in a league of her own when it comes to interpreting ancient languages. On-the-spot interpretations would boost an advantage, rather than the advantage being taken away should we lose contact.

John knew not to contest her when she made up her mind to do something.

Ms. Moore will direct the team as the linguistic investigator and lead the unit in this scientific exploration. And Mr. Savage will serve under Mr. Peyton’s direction as military support.

John looked at Peyton who did not betray his emotions but sensed his seething since they hardly saw eye-to-eye due to the longstanding tension between them.

Ms. Moore and Mr. Savage, the general went on, the unit will be ready at oh-six-hundred hours tomorrow. It’ll be a long trip, so I suggest that you get some rest. After a beat, he then added, Dismissed.

After John Savage and Alyssa Moore left the room, Peyton shook his head in disagreement. I’m not comfortable with Savage as a part of my team, he said. Again.

Ms. Moore will not act in our interests otherwise, should he not be involved. You know that.

I know, I know. I just don’t have to like it . . . And I don’t.

Savage came to the rescue of your teammates last time. He knows what he’s doing.

He’s not a member of the unit or the people who run our operations, which means he’ll be a threat to the mission’s cause should he find out the truth as to what we’re planning. You know he’ll disagree.

Ben, there’s a solution to everything. If he becomes a threat, I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to manage it.

My actions will be limited since Ms. Moore is a part of the team. Savage is expendable. She isn’t. If we act against him in a manner that’s disagreeable to her, she may refuse to help us achieve the means.

Then be smart about it. That’s what you people do, right? The woman’s pregnant and she’s already in love with that child. Just keep reminding her that the life of the baby depends upon the success of the mission. She’ll adhere.

We’ll see. And then: Are we still a go for the use of the agent?

The general nodded. The mission and its protocols haven’t changed, he told him. Use ultimate care in handling the packages.

After nodding, Ben Peyton got to his feet and left the chamber without adding anything more.

On the monitor’s screen regarding the live feed of Mount Everest’s north face, the red light continued to throb and glow through the ring of clouds that circled it.

CHAPTER TWO

Naval Air Station (NAS), Key West, Florida

I’m concerned about the welfare of the baby, John stated calmly to Alyssa, knowing that the volcanic side of her could erupt when challenged, especially when her mind was set on something.

So am I, John. But I nearly lost you last time in Atlantis. Especially when the transmission kept going in and out when you needed me most. Now that we lost Professor Hillary, you’ll need me now more than ever to see us through.

Professor Hillary was a linguist of ancient languages who had been mentored by Alyssa’s father, John Moore, but had died during the Atlantis mission when he was struck down inside the Archives.

You need me to read the glyphs, John. Without the clues having been read properly, they could prove fatal to everyone involved with the mission.

John couldn’t deny this. On the last mission, they had Professor Hillary to guide the way. Without him, they would be blind. With Alyssa, however, she could point the way through the challenges within the mountain peak if anything.

Still, he said, we’re talking about our child. He placed his hand gently over her abdomen.

John, if the writings on the walls and the Emerald Tablets are correct, there will be no baby. And if he or she is born in the aftermath, what life would the child have trying to grow up in a ruined world?

He nodded, fell into her embrace, and they hugged. If you’re sure about this.

I’m sure.

And they left it at that with John and Alyssa holding each other in a comforting embrace that did little to drive away the fear of what was to come.

CHAPTER THREE

Naval Air Station (NAS), Key West, Florida

Inside his spartan-filled chamber, Ben Peyton reexamined the mission details repeatedly until the plans became indelibly inked within his mind. When the particulars of the operation had been firmly imprinted, he then scrapped the TS documents by inserting them into the shredder.

The mission was twofold: secure all advanced technological intel; and neutralize any hostile threats which included the Chinese military, by using a deadly and gaseous pathogen that had a mortality rate of one hundred percent. It was the same pathogen that had destroyed the New Race inside their artificial wombs in Atlantis. Since then, however, the liquid form had been modified into a neurotoxin that, when breathed, affected the central nervous system instantaneously. Once affected, the central nervous system begins to malfunction. Breathing becomes labored. The brain begins to retreat until all thoughts turn to confusion. Numbness begins to affect the limbs, and the body becomes useless and eventually gelatinous, the muscles