Legacy
by
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Ben had no way of knowing how long he had been asleep but it felt like several hours. He turned on his helmet lamp and was relieved that the beam was still bright.
Where was he and how much farther had he been carried down-river into the depths of the earth? Did his team mates think he was dead or alive and would they be able to come looking for him either way?
These questions crowded his brain and none of them had an answer. He decided he would think about it later but first he would have to assess his condition.
He had no broken bones, his nose was very sore and had obviously been bleeding but the blood had congealed.
Under his helmet, the back of his head still hurt and it felt like there was a bump the size of a duck egg but, apart from the throbbing, his head was okay and it was a sign of his optimistic nature that he thought `things could be worse'.
The sound of the river's roar was surprisingly muted where he was lying in the shelter of the cave. He sat up and opened his rucksack to see what he had with him. There were three high energy chocolate bars, a length of rope and three anchors, a hammer, a pair of crampons for his boots,,, and a packet of cigarettes.
The bitter irony of this discovery was not lost on him as he sat there in the lonely pool of light and a shiver went up and down his spine. He stared at the pack for a few moments and then crushed it, angrily trying to tear it in two but the wrapper was too strong. He cursed and flung it through the cave entrance to the river below. `If I ever get out of this I'll never touch another cigarette as long as I live!” he swore.
It was then that he actually started to take note of his surroundings.
He could see the familiar triangular shape of the entrance to the cave, but this time from the inside. Each end of the triangle extended into this space forming a perfect corner of precisely flat walls and floor.
Ben did the classic double-take. A chilling feeling came over him as if he were not alone and for several awful moments he was unable to move, the beam of his lamp fixed on the corner, for corner it was, of some sort of room or chamber.
The absolute incongruity of his situation kept him frozen for several moments.
Slowly, he recovered enough to move the beam of his helmet lamp upward and sure enough, perfectly flat walls gave way to an equally smooth ceiling about fifteen feet above his head.
He turned and scanned the whole space around him and could see that this chamber was perfectly symmetrical, except the whole thing was canted at an angle of about five degrees from the horizontal.
How could this be? This was not a natural phenomenon. Here he was, God alone knew where and far beneath the jungle in one of the remotest parts of the world,,,,, and he was in a room!
His beam travelled quickly now over walls, ceiling and floor and, sure enough, he appeared to be on the inside of a perfect cube, and that was not all!
Over the far side of the chamber were some large objects that threw menacing shadows in the beam of his, now shaking, lamp. Ben felt scared but a fascination made him rise to his feet and move forward.
To his left, in the gloom, he saw a group of large jars and in front of him loomed what appeared to be a great, dark chest.
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About the Book
Ben Gaunt is twenty six and a recently qualified teacher who is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime.
As a talented and experienced caver he has been chosen to join an international expedition to explore a newly discovered underground river system, one thousand feet beneath the jungle floor, in the remote central highlands of Papua New Guinea.
The Kanak is a majestic limestone cave system, carved out by a vast river over countless millennia and offers real excitement for all the, adventure-junkie, team members until disaster strikes.
One slip and Ben is swept away downstream into uncharted blackness to make an extraordinary discovery.
Against all odds he returns, alive but injured, with evidence of something so strange, that it undermines our concept of the history of civilization and provides a legacy that could potentially threaten the future of our planet.
This is when the real adventure begins.
About the Author
After training as an aero engineer, Leigh Smith sought adventure by joining the Merchant Navy as an Engineer and travelled the world for five years. Married at twenty eight, he settled down in rural Worcestershire with his new wife to raise two daughters while pursuing a successful sales career. Although he gained a private pilot’s licence ten years ago, he prefers touring Europe with his wife, Dianne, in classic British sports cars of the fifties and sixties which he renovates in his spare time.