Page 43 of The Explorer
I rubbed my nose feeling emotional from seeing the gruesome way that this old civilization had come to an end.
Banni was by my side and placed his arm around my shoulders. “I know. It’s one thing to read about it in the history books but coming here makes everything more real.” I stopped in front of a drone that stood parked with branches growing through the windows.
“Four hundred years ago, someone bought this machine and flew around in it with pride. Now it’s left for us to figure out how to get rid of it.”
“Are you going to bury the town?” Indiana asked from Banni’s other side.
“We don’t have the machinery to do that. So far, we’ve expanded into areas requiring the least amount of work. Eventually, we’ll have to come up with a solution to fence this in or get help from the Motherlands to tear it all down and bury it.”
“Or rebuild it?” I suggested with optimism.
Banni shrugged. “Hmmm. I don’t even know if that’s possible.”
Indiana shook his head. “I don’t think so. Maybe using some of the materials for a new city would make sense, but that’s about it.”
We left Bordeaux with our treasures wrapped for protection and headed back to the Exploration Headquarters where the objects were put in a decontamination chamber overnight.
“Tomorrow we’ll take you to meet Helmes. You’ll like his repair shop, it’s full of old and quirky things,” Banni said before he was interrupted by Alex, who nudged his arm.
Banni turned quiet and we watched as the three Europeans seemed to have a silent conversation.
“Hey, no brain gossip. What’s the deal?”
Banni inhaled sharply and frowned while looking from Alex to Val, who sat on a bucket with his green eyebrows drawn close.
“Who would they tell?” Alex asked and that revealed they were keeping a secret from us.
Lifting my finger, I pointed it right in front of Banni’s nose. “You said there would be no secrets among the crew, so spit it out.”
Banni scratched his stubble and looked down.
I angled my head to one side and pressured him. “Banni, come on, don’t you trust us? Belle trusts me and you can too.”
“It’s not that. It’s…” He trailed off and bit his lip while shifting his weight from one leg to the other. “I’ve never told Belle about it because I didn’t want her involved in illegal activities. I don’t want you involved either but…” Banni’s large brown eyes darted around the room.
“Is bringing back treasures illegal?” I asked.
“No, that’s not it. Look, you’re connected to some pretty powerful people in our country and you have to promise not to tell Victor, Isaac, or the other delegation members.”
“Deal!” I exclaimed at the same time as Indiana said, “No problem.”
“Good.”
The three men came to stand around us, all with serious faces. “Maybe it’s better if we show you,” Alex said. “But first let’s get out of the uniforms. We can’t go anywhere looking like this.”
CHAPTER 12
Gorilla
Indiana
We stopped at a street vendor to buy food. The spicy meat tasted delicious but gave me the hiccups, and from the amusement on Alex’s face, I suspected he’d asked the woman who made it to put extra chili in mine.
“Where are you taking us?” Aubri asked several times as we went underground.
“You’ll see” was the answer we got.
We moved down four levels. I remembered Belle telling us that no one lived that far down. This was a service level where water was cleaned, garbage recycled, and heating generated.
