The Cape of the End of the World. Beyond, Only the Sea and the Stars: The Cape of the End of the World Saga, #1

By g. vicente-arche

They came from a galaxy far, far away... to save us. In deep space, a black hole has collapsed. The Earth will burn and our solar system will disappear. Meanwhile, in Galicia, a group of anthropologists will find a strange petroglyph, which will lead them to discover a secret hidden for thousands of years. That secret will take them to the ends of the cosmos in search of answers, in a universe where nothing is what it seems.Can they save it?

• Language: English
• Publisher: G. VICENTE-ARCHE
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215777718

Book preview

A Typical Galician Guy

My name is Santiago; I am twenty-nine years old and I am Spanish, and I am proud of it, and Galician, and it feels great too. I was born in Santiago de Compostela and like every good Galician, I learned to love Galicia with all my soul.

I was orphaned at the age of four, my parents died in a tragic car accident. While they were returning from a dinner with some friends, a tire blew out, hurtling off a cliff and into the sea, or at least that is what the police report said. The car was found smashed between the rocks of the cliff, but the bodies of my parents were never found. It happened on February 14th, Valentine’s Day. My aunt always told me that it must have been fate, because my parents were very much in love. Since then, I live with my aunt Marta, my mother’s only sister, and my uncle Ramón in a wonderful little coastal town in Galicia. He is the nicest person I have ever met, and she is an exceptional woman; sweet, kind and an extraordinary cook. They could not have children, hence they have always considered me as such. Sometimes I think how my life would have been with my real parents, but of course, the treatment, affection and respect that my aunt and uncle have given me all my life is very difficult to overcome.

––––––––

They have a small cow farm and my uncle has always liked to climb the cliffs of my native Galicia to watch the birds, so since I was little I have been surrounded by nature and I have learned to love and respect it. My aunt Marta always told me stories and funny anecdotes about my parents to put me to sleep every night. Every February 14th we would get up at dawn, prepare a large bouquet of flowers and go to the place where my parents had the accident, throwing it into the sea in memory of their departure.

Since I was a good student, I got a scholarship to study History at Oxford, and I specialized in Anthropology. Regardless of the university degree, I got two good things out of it: the first, to speak English well, the subject that had always choked me since I was little; and, the second, to value Spanish food much more, because the truth is that the food was terrible there.

My aunt’s greatest concern when she called me was to know how I ate, her conversations always started the same. "Son, have you eaten well? That thing about me having only a sandwich at lunch, she never understood. To do well in school you have to eat well", she always repeated to me. And then she kept telling me things about my uncle and the farm.

As I finished my degree with an excellent record, the opportunity to work in several countries around the world opened up for me. I was offered research jobs in India, Ethiopia and in various countries in South America.

But my uncle Ramón suffered a heart attack and although my aunt said no, I felt that she needed me. So I opted for a scholarship from the University of Santiago to study and catalog the petroglyphs of western Galicia, and although they did not pay much, it would allow me to be with my aunt and uncle and help on the farm. When my aunt Marta saw me appear and I told her about it, she was very angry for not having chosen any other place. I told my aunt that, after all, I had done what she recommended, to choose a beautiful place, and without a doubt there is no more beautiful place in the world than Galicia, nor a place where the food is better.

––––––––

I did not regret it either, because a month after arriving at the excavation, Irina appeared. She graduated in Anthropology from the University of Saint Petersburg, she obtained a scholarship to study petroglyphs in Galicia. Of medium height, brunette with green eyes, extraordinarily pretty and friendly, we connected right away. I taught her expressions in English that she did not know, Galicia, Galician food, and I even introduced her to my aunt and uncle, but the truth is that I am very, very shy and I did not see an opportunity to declare my feelings to her, and look, my aunt did nothing rather than ask me about it.

Being in cloud nine lasted two months, until Luca arrived, Italian and good-looking, who was joining the excavations with a scholarship from the University of Rome. With a strong complexion and pleasant features, he had his hair cut to the right size and always clean shaven, as if he had just left the barbershop every day. I could tell that he was very proud of his physique. Since he arrived, he spent the whole day hitting on Irina, while I was only able to writhe with jealousy, but, although Irina was very nice, I did not see her very much like going out with him.

It has been six months since we started the excavation and there are currently five of us. Apart from Irina, Luca and myself, two German researchers joined, with scholarships from the University of Hannover: Erika and Hans. I do not know how to describe them, they are... very German, both in physiognomy: tall, blond and with light eyes, and in methodology, they clean and classify each of the petroglyphs with extraordinary meticulousness. Irina and I used to laugh when we thought that in the area we had to catalog, from about ten square kilometers, it would take more than a hundred years to classify it. I do not know for how long they had the scholarship, but at that rate they would need at least three lifetimes. We also did not know if they were a couple or not, because, although they complemented each other very well, they did not show affection for each other and were very reserved when talking about their private lives.

But now all this ceases to matter. Erika and Hans will no longer be able to spend their lives analyzing those petroglyphs. The information is devastating, there is no doubt, in a few months we will have to leave this planet or perish with it.

A Tough Decision

Today is March 1st, half past six in the morning. It is a cold and rainy day, like so many others in this area of ​​Spain. But now they are much sadder, like every day after hearing the news of the destruction of the world.

I got in the car and went to the coffee shop in town near the excavation where we had agreed to meet. When I arrived, my colleagues were already there, and they looked sad, distraught, and downcast. The largest exodus in the history of humanity will begin on March 30th of next year, the date on which, as we have been told, the ships will arrive to transport us to the new planet.

Luca was the first to speak. The University of Rome had offered him to stay until Christmas and that he takes care of cataloging all the petroglyphs he could and, if pieces weighing less than 5 kilograms could be obtained, extract them and prepare to take them away. They had already coordinated with the Ministry of Culture of Spain and the delegation of Culture of La Xunta de Galicia and granted the corresponding permits. But he was also offered a job at the University of Rome, in case he wanted to spend this time working in his country.

Irina, Erika and Hans explained that they were offered the same thing and on the same terms. Hans missed living in Germany very much and believed that he would not continue, and Irina said that her father had begged her to return to her native Saint Petersburg, to spend this time with her family and organize the exodus, since he was an important industrialist in the zone.

They offered me just to stay in the excavation, to work at the University of Santiago, nothing at all, although I would not have accepted it either, because I love nature and for the short time that this planet had left, I was not going to be locked up in an office. Another option I had was to quit my job and help my aunt and uncle on the farm.

For me whatever you decide will be fine, I told them with a broken voice as I looked at the sad eyes on their faces. I can’t comment because, after all, I’m home, but I’ll stay here with the petroglyphs until they tell me to leave. In short, what we can take with us and catalog will be what we rescue from the history of our planet that we will never be able to see again. I’ll let you deliberate while I go up to the excavation.

When I was getting to my car, I saw Irina who had come out of the coffee shop.

Wait, don’t go Santiago! She yelled, as she came running toward me. I don’t know what I’m going to do, I’m a mess, my father has booked me a flight for tonight from Madrid to Saint Petersburg and if I finally decide to leave, I might not even go up to the excavation today.

I looked into her eyes and, without knowing why, I moved closer to her and kissed her on the lips.

Irina, I said, while I myself was amazed at my own performance, no matter what you decide, I think you will do well, because you will have decided with your heart, but I would never forgive myself if you left without having kissed you.

The truth is that she stood there, a little perplexed and, without saying anything, she went back into the coffee shop.

"What an idiot I am, I thought. I screwed up big time, she’s going to leave and she’s going to leave with the idea that I’m like Luca, that I just want to make out with her and that I’m a jerk, but the truth is, I couldn’t suppress the impulse."

I went up to the excavation and I only had in mind to know what Irina was going to do, well, and the others too. Two hours passed, no one went up there, and I thought "well, c’mon, I’m alone here. An hour later Luca’s car arrived. Well, well, he does stay, I’m going to have to listen to the stories of his love affair in Rome for a whole year. Shortly after, Erika and Hans’ car arrived. I saw how they both got out of the car and I thought Come on, Hans is staying!" But my heart was sinking, Irina’s car was not seen, she would leave.

From the place where the cars are parked to the beginning of the excavation there is about fifteen minutes of climbing, fifteen endless minutes waiting to see Irina’s car appear or for my colleagues to tell me what she had decided.

Finally the three of them came to where I was, and with a trembling voice I asked them what they had decided.

We are staying until Christmas, Hans answered. We have a duty towards humanity to take and catalog everything we can. Also as Luca pointed out, if we don’t take anything from here to the new planet we’ll be out of a job, there won’t be any petroglyphs to classify.

We all laughed nervously.

Aren’t you asking me about Irina’s decision? Luca told me, as always wanting to annoy me, and just by hearing the question I noticed that my soul shrank. Don’t worry, she will come shortly, she was going home to unpack the suitcase that she had ready to go and call her father to tell him that she is staying. I don’t know what you talked about in the parking lot that she has entered the coffee shop determined to continue, and she has convinced us all to stay.

A sigh of relief came out of my mouth and a smile from ear to ear spread across my face. A couple of hours later Irina’s car arrived. With the excuse of going to pick up something from the car, I went down to meet her. I met her halfway.

Yes, in the end I’ve decided to stay, but on one condition, she told me while looking at me enigmatically, the next time you intend to kiss me, either you let me know beforehand or you look for a slightly more romantic occasion or moment.

Saying that, she came closer and kissed me on the lips.

Here, have your kiss back, save it for a more romantic occasion. She gave me a wide smile and continued on her way to the excavation, humming a nice tune. She seemed happy.

And I kept going down to my car, quite perplexed by what had happened, while I thought about what I was going to pick up that seemed important to have gotten down in such a hurry. If I did not conceal it well, Luca was going to make fun of me all afternoon.

A Weird Discovery

Among the five of us, we decided to divide the work by tasks. Then we would put it all together, and we would each send a part of the research to our respective universities.

Erika would select the most interesting petroglyphs, clean and prepare them in the best possible way. I would go next, I would dedicate myself to mapping them and marking them on a chart with the most exact position possible. Irina would photograph each one of them in detail and, finally, Luca and Hans would extract from the stones those that were feasible to disintegrate and that resulted in stone blocks of no more than five kilograms, as they had requested. Then we would see which pieces they let us take and which ones they did not.

Every time Luca or Hans separated a petroglyph from its original rock, it broke our hearts a little, it is as if we were tarnishing history.

I feel like Attila, destroying everything in my path, Hans grumbled.

But then Irina was the one who encouraged us all and reminded us that each piece that we did not extract would be lost forever, because when that dark matter arrived on Earth, it would blow up and we would never have the opportunity to preserve and conserve them for future generations.

Suddenly, Erika caught our attention.

Hey guys, come check this out! She said, very agitated.

On a stone in the form of a small wall, there was a petroglyph of seven concentric circles and a central point. From the central point came four lines that reached the last of the concentric circles. Up, down, left and right, the lines separated the circles exactly.

What’s interesting about it? Luca asked puzzled. We’ve already seen a lot of those. These types of petroglyphs are the same all over the world.

Look guys, what a curious effect! I told them. If you stand here it looks like a target pointing to Cape Finisterre.

You’re wrong, corrected Irina as she looked at the stone in detail, it points to a farther point within the Atlantic Ocean. You haven’t gone hunting, have you, Santiago? If you consider it like the sight of a hunting shotgun, the point it gives you is lost on the horizon.

How do you know so much about it? Luca asked curiously.

In Saint Petersburg I used to go hunting a lot with my father, especially deer, and besides, I’m an excellent shooter, she answered with a smile.

You could have said it earlier, Luca said. Instead of drinking your thermos of coffee, I’ll have to drink Erika’s, lest you get angry and...

In college, as sport, I practiced javelin throwing, Erika said. I don’t know if you should risk it, Luca. We all had a good laugh at the comments.

Well, what I was telling you about the petroglyph, Erika continued. Look at the concentric circles, they are perfect.

We all look at Erika with a puzzled face.

It would be a Neolithic man with a very good pulse, Hans said.

Okay, Hans, Erika continued, please measure the distance between each of the circles.

Hans took out his measuring tape and took the measurements of each of them.

Well, it seems that yes, said Hans, all the circles are 3.15 cm apart from the next one.

Hans, measure it with the laser meter I have, please, Erika said, looking impatient.

Well, exactly, it’s 3.1416 cm, said Hans, while he looked at Erika with a puzzled face that he did not understand anything.

Can you make several measurements for all the sides and all the circles? Erika insisted.

The rest of us watched without really knowing where Erika wanted to get. Hans spent a while measuring the distance between the circles in various places.

You’re right, it’s very strange, the circles are perfect in all their circumference and each separation measures exactly 3.1416, said Hans.

You see! Erika exclaimed excitedly. Can any of you explain to me how Neolithic men can know the existence of the Pi number? It was said that the Babylonians in 2000 BC could have knowledge of that number, but these petroglyphs are over 10,000 years old. As you know, the Pi number is fundamental in certain calculations of Engineering and Astronomy, and it is said that more theories about its use are yet to be discovered. In addition, this stone is very hard, it is almost impossible not to make a mistake even in a hundredth of a millimeter. I think we should inform the universities of our finding.

Although it’s a great discovery, right now it’s silly to think that our universities will listen to us, Luca pointed out, not without some logic. Everyone is too busy selecting what they are going to take with them to take us into account in this, it would be better to detach the petroglyph from the stone, classify it and take it with us.

Sounds good to me, Irina said, but the stone is huge and we can’t risk damaging the petroglyph. We will have to cut it into parts so as not to compromise this weird symbol.

––––––––

Luca and Hans were discussing what the best way to split the stone was. Erika cleaned it thoroughly in case any more engravings appeared and Irina took a lot of photographs. For an instant, I lost my sight on the horizon, ecstatic with the image of the impressive Cape Finisterre in the distance, and listening to how the sea charged against the rocks.

As I watched it, I kept thinking: "If the petroglyph were some kind of target... what part of the ocean does it point to?"

After half an hour, Hans thought he had the solution. The stone had a very large base, but it rested on the sand on the hillside. If we hollowed out some of the sand under it and then cut out a large chunk, the base of this huge stone would fall down the hillside and we would be left with a much smaller piece and the petroglyph intact, then we would only have to cut it.

And so we started to do it...

After four or five hours of digging under the rock, we decided enough was enough. A precision cut across the surface would cause most of it to come off. Luca turned on the disc grinder and began to cut it. He took turns with Hans for an hour until finally the big rock began to break... A well-aimed blow with a hammer and a huge chisel caused it to break and a large part of it fell down the slope in a huge cloud of dust.

When the dust cleared, we soon realized that there was a big hole in the ground.

It looks like the entrance to a grotto, Luca said very determinedly, I’m going down to check it out.

Wait Luca, it could be dangerous, Hans said.

But Luca paid no attention and entered. After ten minutes, he yelled at us from inside:

Guys, come down, you have to see this! And bring the lights.

The four of us went down with two powerful spotlights and were amazed. The cave became wider and wider until it reached a great vault. It would be about 80 yards long by about 40 yards wide and at its highest part about 12 yards high. On a wall, too smooth to correspond to a steep cave, there was a petroglyph like the one we had found on the stone, but larger. Its concentric circles were also perfect and the distance between each circle 3.1416 decimeters... Again the Pi number.

The wall was covered in what looked like scratches or something, straight vertical lines, slightly oblique to the left, or to the right, others horizontal, all in groups of three...

They look like animal scratches, said Hans, I remember that in the Neolithic there were bears in this area.

The bears would have to be huge, Hans, the marks are almost 5 yards high, I pointed out.

In total silence we could hear the beating of the waves. "Some of those tunnels leading out of the vault must reach the sea," I thought.

Luca wanted to investigate one of the tunnels, but it was already late and surely it was getting dark outside. Irina took a lot of photos of the place, of the symbol and of those strange scratches that were on the walls. We covered the entrance of the cave with wood and stones, and went down to where we had left the cars to return to our houses. We were very tired after having to remove so much earth.

Erika asked Irina to give her a copy of her photos and that she would send them to a colleague at the University of Hannover who was a paleontologist, and also an expert on extinct animals over Europe, to see if he could determine the animal that had produced them.

Luca was very insistent with the exploration of the cave, so we agreed to go to town one day to look for the necessary material to be able to inspect it in its entirety.

Happy Birthday, Uncle

Today is March 10th, my uncle Ramón’s birthday. I told the guys yesterday that I would not go up to the excavation today because I wanted to spend the day with him. My aunt had invited them all to dinner at eight, so the rest of the group also decided not to go up to the excavation, stay home and send the work report to their respective universities.

At six in the morning I had already prepared breakfast for the three of us. Next to my uncle’s coffee I had left him his gift. When the two of them came down to breakfast they were very surprised by the breakfast and by how early morning I had gotten up, and I sang happy birthday to my uncle.

I hope you like it, Uncle, I told him as he opened his present. They are tall boots, with leather on the inside and waterproof on the outside, so you won’t get cold on the farm in the mornings.

Thank you very much, Santiago, they look great and I’m going to wear them right away, my uncle told me, very enthusiastic.

Well, now I’m going to accompany you to the farm and help you with the cows, Uncle.

He looked at me gratefully, we finished breakfast and headed to the farm. We spent the morning there. The truth is that I felt a lot of nostalgia, like when I was little and would go up on weekends with him to help him and spend some time together.

After lunch, my uncle rested and I went with my aunt for a long walk along the seashore. During the walk she told me a lot of funny anecdotes about my parents, which made me forget for a moment all this terrible tragedy that we were experiencing worldwide.

Looking towards the immensity of the sea, my aunt thanked me for the wonderful day that the three of us had spent and, suddenly, a halo of sadness appeared on her face.

Son, we have to talk about something important.

I can imagine what it is, Aunt, I replied tenderly, but also with a lump in my throat. You’re not going to go, are you? You will not go in those ships to the new planet.

No son, no, your Uncle and I had it very clear from the first moment, but I couldn’t find the opportunity to tell you. I am now eighty-five years old and your Uncle is eighty-six, we love each other very much, and despite the tragedy experienced with the death of your parents, God blessed me with you when I couldn’t have children, so I can’t ask for more from this world. In addition, abandoning these lands that have given us so much and that we love so deeply, would consume us inside, and that is why we have decided to stay. If we have to disappear, what better than to do it together and in our home?

Do not ask me how, but the truth is that I knew, since it was confirmed that the world would be destroyed I was convinced that my aunt and uncle would not want to leave here, their house, this beautiful corner of the Earth, their native Galicia.

I can stay too... I whispered to my aunt.

No son, do not, she replied. You have your whole life ahead of you. Either I’m wrong, or I’m sure you’ll find a woman who loves you as much as I love your Uncle. Although it is millions of kilometers from here, I am convinced that you will have a wonderful family. By the way, speaking of love, we have to prepare a dinner, lest they don’t love you because you don’t know how to cook, and she burst out laughing, I was saying it for Irina.

Auntie, c’mon! I replied.

––––––––

One by one my friends arrived, and all very well dressed. Luca in dress pants, a well-pressed cream-colored shirt, and a jacket. Hans, with new corduroy pants, and Erika and Irina with two pretty tight dresses and makeup, each more beautiful.

Come on, we look like people, all day made a mess in the excavation and now I realize that I work with two beautiful women, Hans said as he looked admiringly at Erika and Irina.

We all smiled at the way he said it, while Erika and Irina looked at him grateful for the compliment.

Hans and Erika gave my uncle a very nice blue raincoat with a fleece lining inside, which my uncle loved. Irina had bought him a jacket to go out on weekends, which he liked, but my aunt liked it more.

When I go to church on Sundays with you, I’ll be able to show off a handsome and attractive man, my aunt said aloud, while Irina and Erika whistled in admiration.

Luca gave him a bottle of cognac, a fifty-year-old reserve, which my aunt looked at with some disapproval, since he had not been able to drink much alcohol since his heart attack. But seeing my uncle’s face, I was convinced that it was the gift that excited him the most.

For dinner, nothing was missing. For starters, two huge spider crabs and a large quantity of scallops, barnacles and mussels. As a main course, some huge veal steaks to make on the barbecue that we had put on the kitchen terrace. To drink, liters and liters of very cold beer, something that Erika and Hans were very grateful for, red wine from Rioja for Luca and Irina, and a couple of bottles of good Albariño for my aunt, uncle and me.

As we finished setting up the table, the television was on. All the images referred to the exodus, to what the people thought to take with them, to what they were going to dedicate themselves to on the new planet. People on television seemed quite nervous, but also very optimistic. When we all sat down, my aunt turned off the television.

What self-respecting family reunion leaves the television on? Well, none, my aunt said, wondering and answering herself.

Erika then told us that her paleontology colleague at the University of Hannover had not been able to identify the animal that could have made those marks.

We’re not going to talk about your work either, my aunt cut in, you don’t want Ramón to fall asleep in ten minutes.

My aunt, as the extraordinary hostess that she was, began to tell stories about when I was younger. "Some of them didn’t make me very happy, but alright," I thought. Little by little, as the beers and wine were consumed, each one said theirs. Frankly, we had some of the best times I can remember.

After the steaks came dessert: crème-filled pancakes and almond cake, all homemade, made by my aunt. We could hardly eat anymore when my aunt brought the coffee.

You can’t finish a good meal without a good coffee; you, since you’re Italian, surely knows it very well, my aunt said, looking at Luca. Here, if Ramón and Santiago don’t finish dinner with a good coffee, they say they haven’t eaten.

When we finished our coffee, Hans and Erika started to get up to say goodbye, but my aunt stopped them in their tracks.

No one can move here until we do the Galician mulled wine.

Erika, Hans, Irina and Luca looked at each other curiously and then at me.

It’s the incantation, I said, half laughing. We must avoid witches and evil spirits, we must be protected from everything.

My aunt came with a large clay pot and a bottle of unbranded liquor.

Here everything is homemade, even the liquor, she said, while she winked at me. She began to add lemon peel, orange peel, grapes, coffee beans, a lot of sugar and the whole bottle of liquor. She set it on fire to everyone’s astonishment and turned off the light.

Now I have to recite the incantation, she said, smiling.

She recited the incantation, in Galician of course, in such a way that she left everyone impressed, because it seemed that she remained in a trance. It did not impress me anymore, my aunt, every time someone came home or with the excuse of any celebration, she always prepared a Galician mulled wine and recited the incantation. When she was done, she turned on the light.

What is the incantation about? Asked Irina.

It talks about witches and demons, and how the spirits that dwell in water, earth, and fire protect us from all evil, I said. This spell is modern, from the 60’s, more or less.

So it’s a modern tradition, right? Erika asked.

No way! Exclaimed my aunt, "the tradition is very old. This incantation text is modern, but older texts already existed on the same subject: