The Nemesis Origin

XII

The Japan Airlines Boeing 777–200 descended through a layer of broken cloud with barely a hint of turbulence as Ethan peered out of his window at the vast island emerging from the North Pacific below them. Lucy Morgan sat next to him, buried in a series of books that she had bought with her in an attempt to replace some of the major details within the files that had been stolen from Ethan’s cottage in the Scottish Highlands.

‘Remind me again,’ Ethan said as he watched the island passing by beneath the aircraft as it circled towards the airport. ‘Why are we in Japan?’

Lucy did not look up from the books as she replied.

‘Yonaguni Island is the location of one of the very oldest cities of ancient times, rumoured by some to be perhaps ten thousand years old.’

‘I’d never heard of it until you mentioned it to me in Scotland,’ Ethan admitted as he heard the Boeing’s undercarriage whine down.

‘That’s to be expected,’ Lucy replied, ‘as the entire city is under the water. Yonaguni is a formation of rock situated just off the coast of the island, and a shallow enough for us to dive,’ she explained. ‘It was discovered quite some years ago and there has been a great deal of debate in the scientific literature over whether the formation is the result of natural processes or has been hand carved by man. The debate is the result of mainstream archaeology’s insistence that there were no active complex civilizations ten thousand years ago, therefore how could there be any complex structures built at that time?’

‘So we were still running around throwing spears at antelope when this city supposedly was built?’

‘In a sense,’ Lucy agreed. ‘The dawn of civilization seven thousand years ago was preceded by a long period where mankind essentially grasped the concept of agriculture and in many cases were no longer living the life of the hunter gatherer. However, dwellings were made of things like daub, straw, mud bricks and other natural building materials: there were no major construction efforts or anything approaching what we would call cities.’

‘So farming communities then,’ Ethan surmised.

‘Very basic ones,’ Lucy nodded. ‘The big mystery of course is how rapidly mankind went from such simple dwellings and pursuits to the sudden emergence of major cities and complex technologies. It’s different when you’re talking about something like the Egyptian pyramids, for which the tombs of the very builders themselves have been found. They were built in a time where the Egyptian Empire was already powerful and had sufficient manpower and resources to create such incredible constructions. But go back another couple of thousand years and there is simply no way that human beings had either the numbers or the coordination to achieve such remarkable structures, and yet there they are.’

‘And you think if we dive on this place, this Yonaguni, we might find something that leads you toward a tomb of some kind or some remains?’

The Boeing trembled as it settled into the wind currents and lined up for landing, and Lucy glanced out of the window at the mountainous island as it passed by.

‘This country, Japan, is from where we inherited the legends of dragons. The original Japanese manuscripts that contain mention of dragons, however, do not describe flying reptiles with wings and pointy tails and big teeth. Translated directly, they describe objects that fly noisily through the air and often emit or trail fire as they pass by. Many modern scholars interpret this description as an observation of things like ball lightning, comets striking our atmosphere and other natural phenomena, but a closer inspection of the manuscript reveals that these supposed comets often changed direction or came to a complete halt in the air. Some even landed amid flames. Obviously, that’s not what comets do.’

‘So you’re figuring that what these ancient Japanese witnesses were describing was in fact flying craft of some kind,’ Ethan said.

The Boeing settled onto the runway with a thump and the engines wound up as they went into reverse thrust as massive air brakes extended. Lucy spoke up a little above the noise of the engines as she replied.

‘You have to have an open mind to say the least,’ she admitted. ‘We have to remember that these people were trying to describe something that was either beyond their scope of understanding or for which they did not have adequate words to accurately interpret what they saw. If you turn the problem on its head and ask yourself whether it’s likely that they were indeed seeing massive flying reptiles breathing fire..?’ Ethan smiled and tilted his head in acquiescence. ‘Exactly, it’s actually less likely that they were witnessing some sort of unknown flying creature than some kind of flying vehicle, mainly because we know that flying vehicles are at least possible — we’re in one right now.’

‘They’re only possible now,’ Ethan countered, ‘because we have the technology to build one. I imagine that the early Samurai would have been left speechless by a role of Sellotape, let alone a flying vehicle.’

‘It’s not the only evidence we have of unusual events occurring in ancient Japan,’ Lucy said as the Boeing taxied off the runway toward the terminals. ‘There is an extraordinarily well documented event from 1812 concerning the appearance of a large sphere that was washed up on a beach off Harashagahama, and called the Utsuro-Bune incident. Witnessed by many people, and recorded far afield without any deviation from the facts in the oldest recorded documents, from the sphere appeared a woman with red hair who carried a box of some kind. The woman is described as not being a native of Japan but being recognisably human and speaking a language that none of the witnesses understood. She refused to let anyone near the box, which was said to be fairly small and covered in colored lights that flickered and flashed as though by magic. The sphere in which she travelled was covered in unusual symbols.’

‘I don’t suppose there’s any physical evidence of this woman, the flashing device she was carrying or the sphere that she arrived in?’

‘No,’ Lucy admitted. ‘The woman returned to her sphere and the sea. The story endures on the strength of multiple witnesses on the record and the consistency with which the event was described. Even some of the harshest sceptics are willing to concede that clearly something, or somebody, did indeed wash up on that beach. Who or what it was remains unknown.’

The Boeing’s engines whined down as it parked in front of the terminals. Ethan remained sitting as virtually every other passenger on the aircraft got up and began fumbling to get at their luggage from overhead lockers, and wondered not for the first time why they even bothered. Nobody was going anywhere until the doors were open.

‘It’s a thin line of enquiry,’ Ethan decided. ‘A couple of legends and the sight of what might or might not be an ancient city buried under the waves.’

‘Right now neither present much to go on,’ Lucy admitted, ‘except for the sun icon. There are numerous sites around the world that could harbour what we’re looking for, but this one ranks as the oldest. If there’s nothing here, or we determine that the site is in fact a result of natural formations, then we simply move to the next and work our way forwards in time, so to speak.’

Ethan looked up. ‘How many sites have you got to visit?’

‘All in all, about thirty eight.’

Ethan’s face dropped. Lucy smiled as she patted him on the shoulder. ‘Actually, it’s just six that I can be sure are worth our time.’

‘And how are we going to get out to this remarkable formation of yours?’ Ethan asked as he got out of his seat and began filing with Lucy toward the exits.

‘I have some friends who have dived the site repeatedly over the past few years,’ Lucy explained as they walked. ‘They’re archaeologists who also have an interest in the potential of out of place artefacts and evidence of civilizations older than the commonly accepted dates. I took your advice and emailed them via a new account I created in a false name in an attempt to cover our tracks.’

‘Good,’ Ethan said as he stepped off the plane and onto the concourse and was able to walk normally. ‘Like I said, the Russians may anticipate this move but anything we can do to slow them down will be a bonus. How many times have you dived in open water?’

‘Enough times not have a problem,’ Lucy replied. ‘My friends are waiting for us, so let’s get a move on.’

Ethan threw Lucy a mock salute and followed her towards the customs and arrival terminal.

‘They’ve landed.’

The interior of the vehicle was outfitted with plush, cream leather that contrasted sharply with the glossy black interior and the panels of deeply polished mahogany. The windows were tinted, concealing the occupants from the outside world.

Yuri Polkov shut off the communicator in the armrest of his chair through which the driver had informed him that both Lucy Morgan and her mysterious American escort had landed at the airport not more than ten miles from where Yuri’s vehicle now drove towards an exclusive hotel. Yuri’s private Lear Jet had shadowed the JAL flights from London and now Yuri had sped past Lucy Morgan through customs, his private flight status affording him swifter passage.

‘I don’t understand what they are doing out here,’ Vladimir admitted as he searched through Lucy’s files and struggled to make a connection. ‘I thought that they would return to Israel, the place where they found the original remains?’

‘As did I,’ Yuri replied, ‘that’s why I told you that papers and files are no substitute for the mind behind them. Lucy knows things that we do not, has an understanding that we do not, and for now we are forced to pursue her.’

‘The only thing I’ve been able to find that makes any sense is this,’ Vladimir said as he handed his father a glossy photograph. ‘She’s been collecting images of this place for months.’

Yuri took the photograph and studied it. It appeared to be a sonar image, or perhaps one taken by satellite, that showed the south-east corner of Yonaguni Island. There, just off the coast, a distinctive series of geometric shapes emerged from the sea floor. Although Yuri was fully aware of the power of nature to carve extraordinary forms through volcanic and other processes, the sheer complexity of the site that he was looking at defied any natural explanation.

A central, temple like area was elevated high above the seafloor on a diamond-shaped plateau that was surrounded by pathways, steps, angular altars and other perfectly aligned features that screamed human architecture.

Vladimir handed him another sheet of paper that contain scribbled notes in Lucy’s hand, marking the depth of the remains and including charts that showed the original coastline prior to the last Ice Age.

‘According to these charts,’ Vladimir said, ‘the last time this site would have been above water and habitable was around three thousand years ago.’

‘The end of the Ice Age caused the melting of the massive ice caps,’ Yuri agreed. ‘Sea levels rose dramatically over a period of just centuries and swamped many coastal plains and cities. Some believe that this deluge was the origin of the flood myth from the Bible, as so many different peoples could have witnessed it and the event was dramatic enough to have remained in human memory and later been recorded.’

Vladimir shook his head as he leafed through the files.

‘The site has been dived over and over again,’ he said as he examined Lucy’s records. ‘Nobody has found anything except shards of pottery and wood, much of which has been dated as in excess of ten thousand years old, but according to this could easily have been washed up at the site from elsewhere. Scientists dispute that the site can be gauged from the result of the debris found around it.’

Yuri handed back the sonar image of the monument as he glanced out of the window of the limousine towards the island south-east coast.

‘We will need diving equipment,’ Yuri informed his son, ‘and a means to travel to the site without being seen easily by either Lucy Morgan or this man who is accompanying her. Do we know anything about him?’

‘As a matter of fact we do,’ Vladimir said as he handed his father another image. ‘It turns out that this is the same guy who showed up in Israel when Lucy was there. His name is Ethan Warner, a former journalist and United States Marine. He has a history of working for the US government as well as in various war zones and danger spots around the world. He could prove a problem for us.’

Yuri looked down at the picture of Warner, probably taken some time in the last five years. Wavy light brown hair framed cold grey eyes and a wide jaw, and Yuri could tell from the image taken of Warner crossing a road in Chicago that he was in good physical condition. Once a soldier…

‘Inform our men that Lucy Morgan is the priority,’ Yuri decided. ‘If this Ethan Warner decides he wants to get in the way, then they are to deal with him as the situation dictates.’

Vladimir nodded enthusiastically as he picked up the phone from beside him on the seat and began dialling.

‘Don’t worry, papa,’ he said. ‘I will deal with Ethan Warner personally.’