The Quest for Zerzura

9

"Atah Lahn, you mean," remarked Ace with a sly grin. "I believe that was your preferred term."

Vera Stewart laughed. "I was just being dramatic."

The chamber in which they found themselves seemed to be a large foyer, an open space with half a dozen tall trapezoidal doorways along the walls. Their shape seemed designed to compliment the overall shape of the pyramid itself. Crossing the marble floor, they checked out each in turn. They each opened to another stairway like the one they had entered from, all but one leading back down into the flooded chambers below. There was much to explore, but they could see at once that it would all have to be done underwater, by trained divers with the best equipment. Entering such an underwater labyrinth was about as dangerous as diving could get. This foyer, no doubt, would serve as a base of operations. But divers with such expertise were few, and all were currently engaged by the special forces divisions of the American and British navies. An archeological expedition such as this would require would have to wait until after the war.

A single stairway led upwards, so for now, that was the way to go.

The climb led to a single room. By its size, it seemed to be at the top of the pyramid; in fact, the peaked ceiling suggested finality, nothing else above, the summit. The chamber appeared to be a meeting room of some kind. With the war on everyone's minds, it was easy to imagine it as the war room, the campaign room.

It was not unlike the conference room at OSS or Area 51. But the solid round tabletop was huge, and cut from a single slab of tree trunk, California redwood or giant sequoia perhaps. And the chairs, all two dozen of them, were fashioned from giant clamshell. Well, the Atah Lahn were a seafaring people, after all.

Apart from the grand table, the other striking feature about the room was the array of maps and murals encircling the walls. At a glance, they could see a graphic depiction of the global Atah Lahn empire, and the lives of the Atah Lahntis.

"I was hoping that the discovery of the lost civilization of Atlantis might result in the finding of artifacts left behind by the inhabitants," said Vera Stewart, taking it all in. "And I'm sure there is much more to be found. It's just beyond our reach for now." She sighed. "We're sitting on perhaps the greatest archeological discovery of all time, but a full exploration will have to wait. I guess we'll have to glean as much information as we can with what we have to work with."

"The maps seem to show all their far-flung colonies," Professor Schuler noted, "with the murals detailing the industries, products or other importance of each colony."

Indeed, one glance at the map depicting the home island of Atah Lahn and its accompanying artwork showing the grand city, with its pyramids and towering buildings, left no doubt that the caption below read, "The Great Capital."

Many of the murals were so labeled, and after having studied the Shambhala Tablet for the last couple of years, a Rosetta Stone that unlocked both the Shambhala and Atah Lahnti writing systems, the professor could work out the angular characters and venture a loose translation of most of them. Some also included a small plaque or medallion, with characters etched or written on them. These seemed to be place names written in the language common to that location, or a symbol of that territory. Vera pointed out the one that went with the capital, her fingers tracing its parts. “The sign of Atlantis. The Atah Lantis were worldwide explorers and navigators, so, the compass rose, superimposed over a circle to represent the earth, together with the North Star and the Southern Cross.”

At last, Rick understood the meaning of those diamond shapes above and below the symbol on his watch. Stars. The medallion itself might have served as a navigational device.

“And here’s our pyramid on the map,” brought up Schuler. “Marked by the same symbol. On this little islet in the middle of the bay. No doubt an important landmark to the Atah Lahntis. It would correspond to the Temple of Atlantis that Plato wrote about. Certainly, a beacon of some sort. And if this pyramid functions as a compass, it might also have a celestial alignment of some significance.”