Hollow Earth Read online

  I watched as the ape men searched our bags and even Hunter's body. Then, having shackled us both together, we were chained together closely enough that I could smell the rank cigar smoke on Macho's skin. I'd no idea what this place was, but I did know that it was something undiscovered. A world within our own world, miles below the surface.

  One of the beasts shoved me in the back with a threatening manner. Therefore, against my will, I began to walk. Realizing that I may never again be able to find my way back to the elevator which had led us to this subterranean hell.

  ?

  We had marched for several hours without pause, finally stopping to rest on a series of large rocks near an ocean. Was it a real ocean? That wasn't for me to decide. But it looked real enough. Waves of cold water crashed ashore and as far as the eye could see, buckles of water swirled about. As I looked to the sky, or cave ceiling in this case, it now seemed further out of reach than the sky of cotton clouds that I last remembered over the city of Buenos Aries. If this were only a cave, it was indeed the largest on record.

  But I believe it was much more than that. For all intent and purposes, this place seemed vaster than my own world, which rested miles above us. The luminous blue stone was everywhere, giving a slightly brighter atmosphere than I had grown to expect back on the surface.

  This place was inconceivable, yet real.

  I first learned of its true vastness the moment that I noticed other ape men began bringing their own captured to our position. Not one group, or even two; but rather enough groups that I could not count them on both hands. The ape men now easily numbered in the hundreds and the captured, myself included, were at least fifty or so.

  I could see the ape man who'd looked me over, speaking to another. It seemed apologetic and for a moment, the other glanced into my direction. It was certainly explaining how two of their own had been killed.

  And then, beneath the scorching light of these mysterious blue stones, I caught sight of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. From my home back in the United States to my travels around the world, I had never laid eyes on a woman so utterly complete.

  Brandy colored hair flowed down to the bottoms of her shoulders. And while she was clothed in tattered white material, her flawless curves were still visible. In fact, as I quickly began to discover, most of the slaves were virtually perfect in every way. They were lean - muscular, even. Their looks could have been viewed as beautiful or handsome, respectively. But this particular woman had eyes that were the most brilliant of browns that I'd ever seen. Her look froze me, in a manner of speaking, as my heart would not allow my mind to concentrate. I had to know more about her.

  "Her name is Tara." a strange voice said.

  I turned to this nearby captive with utter surprise.

  "You speak my language?"

  Though it was partially broken and heavy with slang, this complete stranger spoke well enough to be understood.

  "Of course. We are all Brapok, are we not?"

  I did everything in my power to explain to my new friend that I was not of this world. Well, perhaps in the technical sense I was, but my world above was much different than the one my feet now trode.

  "You do not believe me?" I asked.

  "It is not that I do not believe you," he replied. "But I have never seen anyone like us who was not a Brapok, other than the feared."

  "The feared?"

  "They look like we do, but are highly militarized. Often, they wear black and carry weapons of wonder. Some call them magic."

  The Nazis?

  "Where can I find these feared?"

  He looked upon me with the eyes of madness.

  "You do not find the feared - they find you. And may the gods be with you if that ever happens. These bonds that enslave us to the Gorgum are child's play compared to what the feared would do to us."

  "The Gorgum?" I asked. Glancing to the ape men.

  "Yes," he replied. "They can be a brutal species at times but more oft than not, they treat their Brapok slaves with dignity."

  "Slaves?"

  He held up his wrists, which, like mine, were in chains.

  "It's what they mean to do with us. Caudium was not built in a single day and it wasn't built by the hands of Gorgum."

  "By slaves?" I asked.

  "Aye," he replied. "This world improves because of our hard work and struggle. But they feed us and allow us to live, so the trade is fair."

  "Like hell it is," I announced. "My friend, Macho."

  Macho lifted his head for a moment. I had never seen my talkative friend so quiet and imagined that he still thought it to be a dream. And perhaps it was. But the long march had certainly brought pain to my feet.

  "I mean to escape."

  The stranger looked me over closely.

  "Is escape possible?" I asked.

  "Perhaps," he replied. "But it would have to come at the right time. The Brapok are a mighty race all their own, but what stands beyond the mountains around us can be far worse. There are unspeakable things."

  "We cannot defeat them head-to-head." I admitted.

  "No," he replied. "It would take ten slaves to bring down a single Gorgum. And they outnumber us by a great many. Our escape will need to be fast and during a period of time when the Gorgum do not expect it."

  "If we don't make it?" I asked.

  "Then they will kill us in the presence of the other slaves as a warning."

  I nodded. Pulling myself into deep thought.

  "There is no shame in calling this off." he said.

  I glanced to him for a moment, eventually smiling.

  "You say her name is Tara?"

  "Aye," he grinned. "Princess of Odelia."

  "A princess?"

  "Aye," he replied. "And I am Lenzu, her sworn protector. We were besieged by the Gorgum nearly a week ago. Her father commands a mighty army and they are sure to be searching all of Caudium for her."

  "We have an army?"

  "How long have you been in Cadium?" Lenzu asked.

  "Half a fucking day," Macho grumbled. Watching as the ape men made quick work of the liquor he'd brought along. "Damn thieves."

  Lenzu joined him in watching the Gorgum pass around the spoils of plunder. Food, cigars and fine alcohol.

  "You've much to learn about Caudium." Lenzu finally replied.

  I nodded. Finding it increasingly hard to take my eyes off of Tara, the princess of Odelia and its mighty army.

  ?

  I had only started to realize how vast this underworld known as Caudium was. But when we began marching once more, that's when I understood that my eyes, my imagination, even, had only started to scratch the surface.

  All around us were the sights you would normally expect to see from a world above. There were no skyscrapers or airplanes cluttering the sky, granted. But everything else seemed to be as it should have been in the nineteenth century back where I came from.

  There were fields of tall grass and heavily wooded areas as far as the eye could see. In the other direction, water filled the horizon in what I still believe to be a full-brown ocean. Caudium, or whatever in the hell this place at the center of our planet was, had proven itself to be a living, thriving world.

  How? I'm still unsure of the specifics.

  I spoke to Lenzu as I could during the march, which wasn't often. While our captors seemed to relax during periods of rest, they were strict during the march. Lenzu had admitted that even he did not know where these mysterious glowing stones had first originated. Only that they were known universally by the people of Caudium as wonderstones.

  As for the water, one could only speculate that it had been beneath our surface the entire time. Pooling together in order to form an ocean. But Lenzu had testified that there were several oceans and lands far beyond the water. He'd seen them with his own eyes.

  From what I could see, the weaponry throughout this strange land seemed to be primitive at best. A few of the Gorgum carried swords, while most of them carri
ed blunt objects made of wood. Lenzu spoke of projectile weapons of magic that were in the hands of the feared, and I assumed he spoke of guns. He also said that the feared were very secretive and often left no survivors in their wake. The stories he told me had been passed down through the years and I can only imagine that much of it was added along the way.

  I learned of a great war between the Gorgum and the feared. It had taken place many years ago and while the feared had much better weaponry, the Gorgum had great numbers. Ultimately, the war had drawn to a standstill and both sides had gone their own way. Though they would still engage in battle upon the sight of the other.

  Lenzu spoke of Tara very little, only to say that she'd been a great princess to her people. Looking upon her, I would have guessed that Tara was in her early twenties and her eyes, as beautiful as they may have been, had seen uncounted horrors.

  Along the way, should a captive fall with exhaustion, he or she would be beaten...sometimes to death. The ape men had no tolerance for weakness. My legs ached with sharp pains that accompany any long march without water. More than once I thought about quitting and taking whatever punishment the Gorgum saw fit. But each time I would glance over to Macho, who remained quiet and remained on his feet.

  Eventually we reached what I believed would be our final destination. A large castle structure encompassed by several rings of stone. I could see plenty of ape men patrolling across the flat rings. Water surrounded much of the castle and there was a heavy sense of military there, along with hundreds of slaves working in the land around the castle.

  As we passed by, the slaves would raise their head momentarily. With curiosity, I suppose, though they wouldn't stop long enough to draw the attention of their superiors. Perhaps they also felt sorrow for us. The rest of those with us seemed to look at the castle with ultimate defeat. They would either live a very short time against the back breaking work or they would live many years. Either way, they had no hope of ever leaving. But I looked at this castle with great curiosity. I, along with my scrawny friend, knew of the world above. I could not justify remaining a slave for the rest of my life when my life was above ground.

  Finding evidence of Hitler was now in the back of my mind. I no longer cared to discover the truth. Now, my only sense of purpose was doing whatever I had to do in order to get back to the surface and tell this story.

  Chapter 4

  My time among the ape men had not been easy.

  While they did feed us and treat us with the proper amount of respect at times, there were also many times in which I witnessed the beatings of male slaves, while the female slaves had been taken to the chambers of those in charge, without consent.

  As best I could figure, a person's chances of having their time go smoothly depended upon the guards who oversaw them and the temperament of those guards. I had been lucky in that respect. The guards posted to us both during living hours and working hours were mild, whereas many were not.

  The work itself was backbreaking in most cases. Either we'd plow the fields using the crudest of tools or we'd forge stones into blocks for building using nothing more than heavy hammers and the sweat of our brows.

  I honestly can not tell you how long I've been among the ape people. Or in this savage land, for that matter. Here, there is no differential between day or night - we only have the bright blue glow above us, every single moment.

  At times, it has proven to be maddening. They say that a man does not know what he has until it has been taken away from him. What I would give for a single night of darkness! As much as I want to remember my life before we entered that cursed tree, I cannot. At least not in specific details. I remind myself of the bright sunshine of Argentina and the thought of bacon frying back home in the United States. Yet I cannot remember how it smells. This place had started to strip everything human away from me.

  And then came the witchers.

  I could see it in my guardsman's eyes as the small horde of hoofed feet came, trailed by a thick cloud of dust. Not intimidation, nor fear; but a very real sense of urgency. I saw it across the ape man's face as he looked to several of his own kind. Each of them bore the same look and tightened hands to their weapons.

  Approaching swiftly on horseback, seven riders came. Their armor was unique and held many resemblances to that of dark knights of a much earlier century. Their leader, as he seemed to be, held a bladed weapon high into the sky and commanded the other riders to halt. Wings of bone protruded from their helmets, particularly their leader. After several moments of staring across the fields with ghostly white eyes, which dared through a black mask and accompanying red handprint, their leader dismounted his horse and began taking stock upon us.

  The ape men lined the nearest slaves up, myself included, to be inspected more thoroughly. Why, I did not know.

  Their leader said nothing at first. He merely grabbed hold of each slave's face by the chin and tilted our heads back and forth with authority. In some cases, he would then grab a slave by the shirt and pull them forward. Choosing them.

  And then came my turn.

  Though I had fear, I refused to show it. If I were to be selected for death, or whatever fate awaited me - so be it. Hunter had died for less. The witcher grabbed hold of my chin and flailed my head about. His eyes stared through me with bastard conviction. Finally, with a thick glove that was spiked by the thorns of a devil, he pulled me forward.

  "This one is strong." he said.

  And to my surprise, he sounded human. His throat was deep and was certainly here on business, but I was more like him than I expected.

  "Tell me, slave," he said. Staring into my soul. "I am to pick one more of you. Who here is of your same strength."

  I turned with well-hidden timidness. Macho looked to me with friendship and I knew in my heart that I should pick him. After all, he was here, in this God forsaken place because of me. But there was also Lenzu. A man who seemed to know so much about this place that was still so very foreign to me. With his help, it was possible that I could once again see the surface and return home. Finally, I glanced to Tara and though we'd not formally spoken to one another, I had certainly watched from a distance. She was extraordinarily passionate about helping those around her. As a princess should be. The thoughts of ape men eventually having their way with her did not sit well with me, either.

  "Her." I said. Pointing Tara out.

  "What?" Macho lashed out. Much to the disappointment of the ape men, who did what they could to silence him. "You're leaving me here? I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you! We've been friends since-"

  His words tapered off as the ape men smashed a blunt hammer of wood into his stomach. From there, they dragged my friend away. Ripping my conscience apart in the process. I understood that my choice had likely condemned him to death.

  "We'll have her, too," the witcher said. "That's five slaves in all."

  The leader of the ape men did what math he could in his head. I understood at that point that our sorry asses were being bartered off to the witchers. For what, I wasn't sure. But it hadn't been the first time. The two haggling men were far too comfortable with the act.

  The ape man spouted off a mouthful of language that I could not understand. But I did understand what it had entailed.

  "That's ridiculous!" the witcher cried out. "I'll not trade three of my horses and a hundred shinies for five slaves!"

  Again, a translator among the witchers relayed the message. The speaker of the ape men grew irate, as shown on his face. He'd not be cheated and swindled out of slaves that he'd himself stolen.

  He countered with another offer and several tense breaths. I do not know what the offer was, as the witcher did not repeat it. But he took it as unacceptable as well. The stout man behind the evil mask looked us up and down once more. Finally, he looked to the ape men.

  "You tell him that I'll surrender two horses and eighty shinies. Nothing more. He either takes my offer or we will begin dealing with another tribe of Gorgum
."

  His translator gave the final proposal in the the ape men's primitive language. Their leader not only grew angry, but he also began pacing. Resting his hand upon the hilt of his sword, I thought for a moment that battle would surely ensue.

  It did not.

  The Gorgum nodded in agreement and the currency of this underworld changed hands. They were small and looked to be gemstones. Different colors, but certainly worth something. The same fistful of shinies would have fetched a hundred thousand dollars on the surface, but here, they were much more plentiful.

  "Tara is your responsibility now," Lenzu said. "You watch after her, no matter what happens."

  "Perhaps one day I will return for both of my friends," I replied. "Please look after Macho for me."

  He smiled at the gesture, but I could see supreme doubt in his eyes. This was goodbye forever, as far as he was concerned, and he certainly knew more about this savage land than I did.

  A fact that rested hard in the pit of my stomach.

  ?

  The journey had been much longer than I had expected. Much of it was due to us walking, rather than riding a horse. When I first set off on what would become the journey of my lifetime, I didn't believe it was possible. No one could survive underground.

  But I was truly mistaken.

  Not only did I now believe that Hitler's escape to Argentina and subsequently his escape to a world beneath the surface was possible - I thought that it was very likely. The feared, in how they had been described to me, fit the profile of what we'd known as the Nazi regime, right down to the standard MP 40 machine gun.

  Engulfing the importance of that a thousand times over was my belief that this strange, prehistoric world in front of me had been here the entire time. Beneath my own feet as I served my country with military service and walked the streets of countless cities across our globe. I found it humorous that mankind has long been obsessed with the idea of finding life on another planet, even going so far as to develop space ships to get us there. When, this whole time, a world undreamed of was right below us.