Epic Unearthed

By Thomas Turner

After the Ice Age, the world as we know now looked quite different. While glaciers began to melt all over the planet, water levels started to rise 300 feet, swallowing any evidence of cultures living near the ancient coastlines. However, in the last five decades, archeologists have found new civilizations older than the Egyptians and Sumerians, dating back twelve-thousand years. As history has to be rewritten, we have to ponder who were the heroes and antagonists of a forgotten time of the Atlanteans

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Turner
• Release date: Nov 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9780986282416

Thomas Turner

Friends ask what started you to writing books. I tell them I was trying to impress a girl I was interested in. After I finished two chapters of the book, she and I went our separate ways. To this day, we see each other at a distance time to time. I look at her as the one who launched my imagination. When I wrote the Daygun story, I could see and feel the emotions of my characters. For instance, the characters of Aten and Daygun my father had a large role in the father and son relationship. Some see it as a fairy tale relationship between father and son; I see it as being very fortunate. On numerous occasions, my father showed me sacrifice, understanding, and just listening to me in making my own conclusions to a problem. This is the reason I am dedicating this book to him.For almost a decade, I have worked off and on towards the trilogy project. I have failed and succeeded at the same time in accomplishing my goals as a writer. It is my, family, friends, and associates who makes writing worth while to keep going forward with my endeavor.Living in Waco Texas, I feel I am truly at home. I have moved around Texas for carrier purposes. I was just trying to find myself in the business world. I moved back to Waco and found myself in writing. It is not where your job takes you, but where your home helps you become the person you truly are.

Book preview

Chapter I

The Finding

({Present Day})

Spain

Four weeks of digging and still nothing, Duncan murmurs, atop a hill surrounded by mountains.

That’s because there is nothing here, Kyle responds in a stern voice. We only have two more weeks before our investors send us to another location. The conditions here will only worsen with fall approaching.

Duncan looks at the sky, feeling he has failed his fellow archeologists. The weather is dreary, and the clouds are thick and gray. The stunning scenery and howling winds make him feel as though everything is a dream.

Duncan scans the mountainside, noticing members of his team working through their assigned areas. The closest town is eighty miles away, via rough and rocky terrain. The only people in the vicinity are his team of archeologists. Since hikers and mountain climbers found arrowheads and tools where Duncan’s team is excavating, the area seemed promising. However, the expedition has gone on for days with little success, and he is toying with the idea of moving to the next project early.

Duncan Edwards is in excellent shape for a forty-four year old; a few noticeable wrinkles, and a touch of gray in his dark brown hair, make most of his peers think he is in his thirties. He always makes a dramatic impression with his good looks and personality. His lean, muscular build, with olive skin, and piercing blue eyes, does not go unnoticed when he walks into a room.

We have fourteen days here; let’s make sure we utilize our time. Go check the sites to the east; I am not giving up yet. Duncan calmly says to Kyle.

Kyle nods his head and walks down the trail, toward a team of archeologists working in the field. He makes his rounds to see if his coworkers have missed anything. Without the needed breakthrough, the project is becoming frustrating.

The idea was Mr. Callaway’s, one of the main investors, for Duncan to excavate the area. In Duncan’s past, he has had success with places like this. With rivers and fertile land, the location is ideal for an ancient civilization to thrive, but right now, the site is driving him crazy.

Kyle Hightower, who has worked under Duncan for five years and has the respect of his fellow archeologists, was the type of student who never had to study other than a couple of hours before a test. He has a great deal of common sense and problem solving comes naturally to him. In his early thirties, with sandy brown hair, and brown eyes, he steps under the canopy of a dig site and asks Raymond, a student intern, if he has found anything interesting.

Nothing, Raymond replies as he works. I have examined this area thoroughly, and found only two arrowheads in the past two hours.

As Kyle bends down and filters through a pile of excavated dirt, he notices a weird-looking stone jutting from a large chunk of clay. When he lifts it up and breaks off a section, he notices a small stone carving of a horse with reins. Raymond and Kyle bemusedly study the new discovery. The two wash off the artifact with water, and see it is an ancient work of art. Both archeologists understand they will not be able to tell where or when it was made until the carved stone goes to a lab for testing.

Kyle reaches for his walkie-talkie and contacts Duncan, Site Four has something of interest; we have found a two pound stone figure of a horse with reins that contains a possible organic substance in the eye socket which could be carbon dated.

Determine exactly where you found the stone and get our crew to that location, Duncan orders.

Kyle knows the archeologists have been working almost twenty hours a day and says, Because everyone is exhausted, we may need to call it a day. The artifact could have been dropped in passing hundreds or thousands of years ago. Since it’s getting close to the end of the expedition and our supplies are limited, we need to wait until daybreak. We all need to regroup before we go deeper…

I don’t care. Time is not on our side, Duncan interrupts angrily. He then tries to govern his emotion, taking a deep breath. In a stern tone, he speaks into the walkie-talkie, Get the supplies and crew there now. I don’t want excuses!

By seven-thirty at night, Duncan’s team has completed the setup with equipment and digging tools close to the site. The weather is becoming increasingly cold, but the full moon will aid the archeologists with natural light. The crew begins working close to the rocky mountainside where they found the artifact.

On a gut instinct, Duncan orders his team to work feverishly in the northern perimeter of site Four. Since his team has had little sleep for days, most of the crew is walking like zombies. Some cannot feel their hands because of the frigid weather.

Rachael Baker, a team leader, shouts toward her mentor, Duncan, I found something! A line of stones coursing through the rubble, leading uphill to the mountain side was discovered. Duncan and Kyle run quickly toward Rachael. While climbing up the loose rocks, both men slip and fall at the same time. Duncan scrapes his hands and Kyle hits his knee hard. The two stand up like nothing ever happened.

When Duncan and Kyle arrive on the outskirts of the site, Rachael looks at their wounds and asks, Are you guys okay? You’re both bleeding pretty badly.

Duncan wraps his hand tightly with a bandanna to stop the bleeding and responds, I can’t feel anything now, but I might think differently later.

Rachael shows Duncan and Kyle the unnatural formation of stones going toward the mountain. To the archeologists, the pattern seems surprisingly manmade. There is no way of telling what they have discovered until they dig deeper.

Rachael says to Duncan, I didn’t know what we were uncovering until I brought more light up here. When I was manipulating with artificial light, I noticed a stone formation. The configuration was in front of our faces the whole time but masked with natural rock.

Duncan looks at Rachael’s discovery and calls out to his team, This area is where we will concentrate all our resources. Move our digging equipment up here! Duncan smiles at Rachael and says, You are the most amazing woman in the world right now; thank you!

After hours of digging into the rock formation, the archeologists see the top of what appears to be a stone door blocked by rubble. Duncan recognizes it as a doorway into the past, but feels he has been here before. With the new discovery, Duncan’s crew becomes enthusiastic, pushing harder until they cannot dig anymore.

The archeologists eventually unearth the door and realize the true magnitude of the entrance. The stone door is almost two feet thick, sixteen feet wide, and twelve feet high. The outer part of the ingress has spectacular carvings, with writing Duncan has not seen before. The script reminds him of Egyptian hieroglyphics, yet different.

The next morning, in haste, the crew connects chains from a jeep to the stone door. The driver of the jeep accelerates slowly, pulling at the ancient entrance. With great force, a small piece from the top of the doorway breaks off, creating a breach into the mountain. Duncan shouts for the driver to stop. The archeologists notice the gap is nearly wide enough for someone to fit into; however, without the proper equipment, the team cannot pull the stone door further without causing more damage.

While the crew removes the chains and ropes from the entrance, no one says a word. Because of alacrity, a piece of history has been marred.

Duncan walks toward Kyle, and humbly says, We always talk about how tomb robbers destroyed history. We just did the same thing here, and it happened here under my supervision.

Those thieves only cared about money and riches, Kyle replies to Duncan. We stand for a lot more than that. We are uncovering something no one has ever seen before, so we can share this discovery with the world.

Duncan shakes his head and says, Still, we were reckless, and didn’t respect history or preserve this site for future generations to see in its entirety.

Kyle puts his hand on Duncan’s shoulder and replies, It already happened, and the only thing we can do is keep moving forward.

Duncan and Kyle climb to the breach and feel a draft of cool air coming from the opening. Duncan takes a flashlight and looks through the chipped barrier. All the archeologists crowd around their mentor, waiting for him to say something. They are still stunned about their discovery. No one can believe what is taking place. Duncan looks inside the mountain and cannot see an end to the darkness. Finally, backing out of the entrance, he instructs his crew to return to the original camp and bring the rest of the supplies to the new site. The leadership of Duncan and the excitement of finding a new discovery are the two things keeping everyone focused. The project is already becoming overwhelming.

Duncan and Kyle sit on a rock close to the entrance, looking at each other in disbelief, then laugh. They suspect that this is about to be the biggest discovery ever. Duncan says to Kyle, This will never be topped until we find the Ark of the Covenant.

What do you expect we’ll find inside? Kyle asks.

Duncan replies, Great things, Kyle, great things.

Chapter II

A Labyrinth of History

All supplies have been moved to the new site. Everyone rests except Kyle and a couple of volunteers. While Duncan takes a quick nap, Kyle and his team dig around the entrance, just wide enough to send someone through the dark chamber of the mountain. Immediately after the task, Kyle runs urgently to Duncan’s tent to tell him the news. Duncan wakes up suddenly and smiles at his right-hand man. He dons his boots and jacket, and both men jog toward the site. Rachael is already waiting at the edge of the entrance with ropes and climbing equipment. Kyle and Duncan move quickly up the pile of rocks to the opening.

Ready? Rachael asks Duncan.

Rachael Baker has a slender athletic build, with long strawberry blond hair, and green eyes. Being somewhat of a tomboy, she does not get a lot of attention from her fellow male archeologists. However, when she attends social events and dresses up, she floors her peers with her natural beauty.

Ready as I’ll ever be, Duncan replies, as he fastens the last harness to his belt.

Duncan jokingly tells Kyle, I’ll go in first. I may need you to save me.

Kyle begins to laugh and says, Well, you are forty-four years old. You may break your legs by just touching the ground. Don’t go in too fast.

Rachael lowers Duncan into the mountain. He clicks on his flashlight and stares in amazement. The rope is twirling as he glides downward. The full descent is almost sixteen feet to the stone floor.

What do you see? Kyle calls to Duncan.

Duncan looks up and yells sarcastically, I don’t know; my eyes are failing because of my age.

Everyone on the surface laughs at the remark and Kyle says, Real funny, Old Man.

In a serious voice, Duncan yells toward the surface, Kyle, you need to come down here. Rachael, you come too. There are things in here only God can explain.

The crew lowers Kyle and Rachael into the cavity. After ten minutes, the three are on solid ground inside the mouth of the mountain. The archeologists explore in different directions with their flashlights, and notice the discovery is more than they expected. Kyle says to Duncan, If this is the entrance, where does it end? We need more light to see the full picture.

The three shine their flashlights upon every structure. The archeologists are shocked at what they see with their simple observations. Numerous pathways splinter off in various directions. The stone floor inside is completely level, and walls are cut out of the mountain in straight lines. It is amazing to them how much detail went into construction. Each team member walks in different corridors and sees large cavities with buildings and statues.

A civilization this magnificent should not be here, Duncan yells in awe at a distance from his team.

Kyle points his flashlight at a stone wall with metal hangers used to hold torches. Above the torches are ventilation shafts, allowing smoke to escape. As Duncan walks closer, he can feel the air being sucked slightly from the cavity.

There’s just enough air pulling through the ventilation shafts so the torches would not go out. This is a very complex system that would have taken years to construct with a great deal of manpower, Duncan says in disbelief.

Duncan pokes his head inside one of the holes and looks into darkness with his flashlight. As he puts his head deeper into the aperture, Duncan’s hair is windblown. When he looks back at his colleagues, Kyle and Rachael laugh and try to look the other way from their mentor.

The architecture doesn’t meet the profile of any other culture, Duncan says as he slicks his hair back into place, realizing why they are laughing.

Kyle returns to the mouth of the breach and yells to the group above, Bring down the small generators, lights, and surveying tools.

Meanwhile, Rachael notices that the writing on the walls does not match what is written outside. She takes a better look and says to Duncan and Kyle, The symbols in the writing outside are vertical. These are horizontal and look totally different. Why would a civilization have two different styles of writing?

Maybe they had two different languages, Duncan surmises as he tries looking down another corridor.

The trio ventures around for hours, taking pictures. There is so much to absorb. Before noon, Duncan tells the survey crew to come down and measure the front cavity. He instructs everyone to stay in the light until more people are lowered from the surface. He does not want his crew to get lost: their safety is his responsibility. Although Duncan desires to go forward, he follows his own rules. The archeologists begin to lower generators, lights, and surveying equipment through the entrance. Eventually they turn on the lights, but the equipment is not strong enough to penetrate the darkness.

Duncan calls up to a team member, Julie, go to the nearest town and buy the supplies we require. We need as many supplies as we can get until our main investor sends in the heavy gear. Mister Callaway has already been notified, but I don’t know when our supplies will arrive. To get what we really need may take weeks. Time is our enemy right now. I need fast solutions.

Duncan, Rachael, and Kyle go further into the new discovery. For safety purposes, each of the three takes a team, and explore in three different directions. Since it is their first time going so far, no one ventures more than two-hundred yards from the entrance. A labyrinth of pathways leads into larger cavities. In some areas, the ceilings reach almost eighty feet.

Some of the buildings inside the mountain are three stories tall. Each structure has specific colors with many different pictures painted on each wall, noticeably the image of a bull. Duncan sees no resemblance to Roman, Greek, Egyptian, or Eastern cultures. The buildings inside are like nothing the archeologists have ever seen or read about. Each dwelling has a fireplace and a ventilation shaft. This is a perfectly-made city for any time period.

Close to nightfall, two days later, Mister Callaway arrives, with three helicopters full of supplies necessary to keep the expedition going. Without delay, Duncan informs the tycoon about the horse artifact found days earlier and asks that it be carbon dated. Callaway examines the stone carving, and hands it to one of his pilots to get the task done. The millionaire wants to see more of what Duncan has found, and they proceed toward the entrance.

Even though Mister Callaway is fifty-three years old, he is in no way discouraged about being lowered into the breach. Being six feet tall, the tycoon takes a harness, then loosens and retightens the ropes to fit his body. Duncan looks at the older man with disbelief that he is willing to take the chance of getting hurt; nonetheless, he cannot refuse the investor’s enthusiasm. He needs the man’s financial resources and influence to continue the dig.

After evaluating the ancient city, the tycoon calls several outside sources for more men and supplies. He stays at the discovery for another hour and is astonished. Callaway knows he has to get back to civilization to help expedite resources for the new find, so he leaves the site to make things happen.

While watching the helicopter fly off into the distance, Duncan and Kyle realize they will have everything they need. Shortly after Callaway’s departure, a smart kid named Lucas yells from inside the site, I need Duncan to come down here right now. I found something he needs to see.

Duncan, Rachael, and Kyle run to the breach and are sent down right away. The archeologists follow Lucas three-hundred yards from the entrance to an area where no one has ventured.

Look at this over here, Lucas says excitedly.

They follow Lucas sixty more yards into another small hallway. In the middle of a room, Duncan shines his flashlight on a set of armor with skeletal remains. The protective covering is made of silver and other metals, but remarkably has not eroded. Writing is engraved onto the armor across the breastplate, as is a symbol of a bull. The emblem seems to be the crest of the once great civilization.

I am wondering who this could have been, Duncan says. He shakes his head and studies the discovery.

Do you have any thoughts about the time period? Kyle asks his mentor. I am trying to fit this together, but I don’t know where to begin.

Looking around, Duncan notices something on the floor and says, Look at this sword that seems to be made of stainless steel. This could be revolutionary. We need to find out what metals constitute this artifact. A great number of elements, including chromium and nickel, are necessary to make such a weapon. Stainless steel was not invented until the eighteenth century.

The archeologists transport the skeletal remains, sword, and armor to the surface. They conclude the sword is indeed made of stainless steel. The crest on the armor is unlike anything they have ever seen. Duncan will ask Callaway to get the items carbon dated on the next supply run. The crews take the artifacts to a tent where they start studying the objects more closely.

Meanwhile, a crew brings to the surface different artifacts from their exploration. The team finds gold and silver relics deeper inside the mountain. Duncan senses that this is only a fraction of what awaits them. Many places inside the mountain have yet to be excavated.

Duncan, Kyle and Rachael decide to explore further and to continue pushing deeper inside the mountain. In case of being trapped or lost, they take food and water for a one-day’s journey. During their exploration, the team sees defensive bridges which appear to not have been walked on for thousands of years. Soon they see a small community of buildings and a marketplace deep inside the mountain.

In the middle of a courtyard, the archeologists notice another corridor that is blocked by rubble. They climb and crawl through the obstruction. Finding a large room, they venture in and see what seems to be a place of worship. The cavity is about twelve-thousand square feet, and the ceiling inside is fifty feet high. The room is beautifully sculpted with intricate designs, and the writings on the walls are vertical. A forty foot tall statue constructed of pure granite towers toward the ceiling. The face of the sculpture is an old man standing as if he is looking at the heavens. From the foot of the huge monument, the archeologists look up in amazement.

Rachael notices two black marble pyramids inside the cavity, standing twenty feet high and thirty feet across. Look at these structures. The style looks as though they are between Greek and Egyptian. In my opinion, the timeline of this civilization is two to four-thousand years ago.

Duncan flashes his light around the cavity and says, The religion of these people seems to have been centered on one god in their civilization, so this culture might have been monotheistic. Look around. There are no other statues to worship. Considering the history of man, this also doesn’t make sense. Except for the last two-thousand years, many past civilizations believed in multiple gods. The timetable is off. There are so many unanswered questions here. This culture is one of a kind.

Kyle says, Rachael, take pictures. There is very little light here, but the flash from your camera will help show what is in the shadows. We should be able to better understand the photos at the surface.

Chapter III

Before Written History

Callaway returns to the ancient site with the requested supplies and equipment. His crew lands five helicopters three-hundred yards from the mouth of the entrance. The millionaire has brought thirty men and women to help excavate the new find. Callaway has also brought a small bulldozer, carried by an aerial crane.

Duncan runs toward the millionaire, ducking his head to avoid wind gusts from the rotors, to inform the investor of the breastplate and the skeletal remains found in the city. Kyle and another archeologist put the two artifacts inside a helicopter, and Callaway orders the two items to be taken immediately for carbon dating.

While the aircraft prepares to lift off with the ancient relics, Callaway tries to yell over the sound of the blades to Duncan, I have wonderful news. Is there anywhere private that we can talk?

Kyle and Duncan follow Callaway. The tycoon turns around and says, This is a private matter. Kyle, can you give us a moment?

Duncan looks at his right-hand man, giving him a nod of reassurance. As Kyle walks away, he turns back to watch the tycoon and his mentor enter a tent.

What is so important that I can’t have my best archeologist here? Duncan asks bluntly.

Callaway looks around the tent and says softly, Kyle needs to hear this from you. You may need to sit down.

What is going on? Duncan asks, sipping water from his canteen.

Callaway looks at Duncan as though he can hardly believe what he is about to say and responds, The carbon dating came back from the stone horse; the artifact is a lot older than you and I expected.

How old is this site? Duncan asks, pacing around. He’s finding it difficult to wait for the answer.

Callaway looks quickly outside the tent to see if anyone is nearby. He turns back to Duncan, pausing to gather his thoughts, and says, "The stone