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Excerpt from The Atlantean Legacy:
Her home, Atlantis, had a population of nearly a hundred thousand people. Outside the city limits, in the contiguous territory, lay fertile farmland whose produce fed the population. From her view above the island, she could see that immediately surrounding the agricultural developments was a large dense forest that thinned out as the elevation increased. The forest changed into hills, which shape-shifted into a primeval mountain range. In the midst of the mountains’ sensuous rounded peaks was an active volcano. Although she couldn’t see it, she had heard that hidden on a ledge on the rim of the volcano was the entrance to a crystal cave where many rare and precious Atlantean crystals were mined.
From the air she could see how the mountain range resembled the body of a woman and understood now why it had been named after the Goddess. It was simply called The Lady. An ancient river, called Mother’s Milk, fed by the snow in the upper elevations of The Lady, snaked around her crests and peaks, eventually making its way to the coast. It was there, at the mouth of the river, where the military camp was located, that her family had lived—until Setep had been killed. On the other side of the mountain range, toward the eastern side of the island where they were heading, lay the Temple of the Great Goddess and the Temple grounds, the place where Akana hoped to be for the rest of her life. Beyond the island were other Atlantean colonies with other Temples, very different from what she knew; some housing only priestesses – the Sister Temples, as they were called – or only priests, the Brother Temples, but for now her world lay here on her precious island and the Temple of the Great Goddess where she was heading.
Akana was entranced by the colors and the patterns created by the geographic changes of the land that lay below. There were many trees but they were often stunted and the ground was generally dry in the arid climate. Gazing over the landscape, she could see the intricate patterns of the vineyards that lay across the hillsides. These vineyards produced prized, succulent grapes, the basis of an industry of fine wines made on the island, that were exported to cities all over the planet. In addition to the grapes, crops of other fruits and vegetables were grown on the hillsides. When rainfall was scarce, as it often was, the crops had to be irrigated. But despite the lack of rain, with the supplementation of individual gardens grown by most inhabitants of Atlantis, there was always an ample amount of food produced to support the population.
Akana’s thoughts began to drift. She reflected on how the sun shone most days on Atlantis and how hot it could get. To escape the heat, everyone would rest in the middle of the day. The nights were cooler so the evenings were full of activity. She envisioned the clear night skies as the darkness overtook the colors of the breathtaking sunsets and endless sparkling stars emerging in the heavens. It never failed to enchant her.
“Atlantis is beautiful, isn’t it?” her driver inquired, interrupting her thoughts.
Akana nodded. Her mind returned to the present as she watched the splendor passing below.
Her chauffeur, a sturdily build older man with a neatly trimmed graying beard, was full of details about the history of her Atlantean home. “Of course, as we all learn before we even enter school, Atlantis was at one time a much larger land mass,” he began. “You can’t see it from here, but to the northeast there are the broken up parts of what used to be the whole continent of Atlantis where thousands of years ago they fought the battles that all our children are taught about in school. If you ever get the chance to fly over that area, you can still see the submerged sections of the continent.” Akana sat forward, intrigued more than she expected to be. Even though she knew her history from her classes in school, her curiosity was piqued by the driver’s version of the story.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
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Sunset on the highway
Chapter 9 (cont'd)
Kahotep awoke first. He examined the back of her head, admiring her bountiful curls. Unable to resist, he wrapped one of her sweaty dark ringlets around his finger. Feeling the tug on her hair, she stirred and turned over to face him, gracing him with a sleepy smile. He returned her smile and whispered in her ear so as not to break the spell too quickly. “So, my Sweet Lady, what would be your pleasure for the rest of the afternoon?”
“Well, besides you…” she traced the outline of his hand that was now resting on her breast, “I would...like to drive the shuttlecraft!” A mischievous grin adorned her face.
“Well, it seems you are awake,” he grinned back at her. “So, do you have any experience driving?”
“Absolutely none,” she answered honestly. “I’ve only ridden the public shuttlecrafts. I’ve never had an opportunity to learn to drive. But I always wanted to.”
“Well, it’s time you get some experience then. All right, Lady, I will teach you!" They jumped enthusiastically out of bed, dressed, and raced to the craft.
Akana climbed into the pilot’s seat. Her chair seemed too big for her and she could barely see up over the control panel. Kahotep joined her in the seat next to her as her co-pilot. “The first thing you need to do is to sign in,” he began, “so tell the craft your name, that you are the pilot, and then instruct it to adjust to you.”
Excitedly, she complied. “I am Akana of Atlantis,” she told the craft. “I am the pilot of this shuttlecraft. Please make adjustments to accommodate for me.”
“Welcome, Akana of Atlantis! We will make our adjustments now,” a pleasant voice from the shuttlecraft replied.
Her seat moved slightly forward then back, then to the right and left. It raised up and down then finally rested in a position that greatly improved the fit of her chair, as well as her view out the windshield. Immediately, a seatbelt closed across her lap.
“Push the green button that is lit up here on the console between us,” her co-pilot instructed. This she did. A holographic map of the area appeared at a forty-five degree angle in front of her.
“You can see where the cabin is—here.” Kahotep pointed to the three-dimensional version of the cabin. Now if you touch it thus,” he touched the image of the cabin on the map and it immediately enlarged, “you can bring it in closer. Touch it twice and it’ll return to its former size. You can do this with any part of the map. Now—where do you want to go?”
“I’d like to explore the area first, until I get used to piloting.”
“All right then, let’s map out a small path. Lightly trace the direction on the hologram where you want to go then hit the blue button on the console. This will lock in your program.”
She drew about a five mile trail around the trees in the forest then pushed the glowing blue button.
“OK, now what?”
“Now you need to use voice commands,” he said. “Tell the craft to follow your plans.”
“Please follow the path I have indicated,” she told the computer.
Gently, the craft began to rise. It slowly followed the directions that she had just mapped out. Then it gently landed back on the shuttleport.
“Well done! Now, do you want to drive without programming it first, Kana?”
“Of course. What do I do?”
“Use your voice commands to get the craft to ascend, then trace the path you want it to follow with your finger.”
“Now?”
“Sure, I think you’re ready. And I’m here to back you up.”
She took a deep calming breath. “Ascend!” she commanded.
Slowly, the craft rose up as directed. It hovered high above the shuttleport and turned southwest as Akana traced her outstretched palm through the holographic map. To speed up, she merely had to trace faster, so she experimented. The movement was a little jerky at first, but she quickly assimilated her new skill and smoothed out the ride. She let out a big hoot as she sped the vehicle around in ever tighter concentric loops.
“So you’ve never driven before, you say?” Kahotep asked in disbelief.
“Not ever, and was that a mistake!” she replied. “This is great!”
“So where are we heading, Speedster?”
She grinned. “I want to see the crystal cave.”
“Oh, nothing like a little challenge for your first flight out, is there, dear?” Kahotep laughed.
“Not at all,” she replied.
The shuttle was now heading toward the active volcano on the northeast corner of the island. She touched the map and an enlarged view appeared. She found what she was looking for—a shelf along the inside rim where they could land the craft. She decreased the size of the volcano on the map back to normal then smoothly guided the craft to a safe landing onto the ledge.
The door on the craft lifted up and they carefully emerged. After assuring themselves they were on solid ground, they both looked around. The ledge was packed down smoothly, apparently used over the years as a landing strip for others wanting access to the cave. Over the ledge, very far below, lava flowed freely. The smell of sulfur permeated the air.
They made their way to the inside edge of the rim, up against the wall of the mountain, to the opening in the cave. She had pilfered a couple of lightsticks from the craft and handed one to Kahotep.
She got on her hands and knees and easily crawled through the cave entrance. Kahotep crawled in after her. Once they made it through about a three-foot tunnel, they stood up. Their lightsticks illuminated the way as they stepped carefully down a softly sloping path. After about two hundred feet it opened up into a large cavern. Their lightsticks revealed a grotto encrusted with jeweled crystal treasures.
“Oooh, Kahotep! I’ve heard about this cave, but I never would have imagined this!”
The cave was actually a huge geode that had been formed millions of years before from cooled molten lava. The walls were thickly covered with a wondrous display of sparkling crystals. Even more astounding were the long spear strands of quartz crystals that stretched across the entire cave, each about the width of a grown man. Akana approached one to examine it more closely; she was dwarfed by its size.
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