Chapter 176: The Ancient Waterbed

Thursday, June 24, 1971

After a few dozen steps, I felt a disturbance in the air. Stopping, we turned and looked at the opening. Or where the opening had been. It was no longer there! I felt a momentary panic until I realized that I still had my sword. Immediately, I understood that we could leave at any time. I wasn’t sure where this thought came from, but I felt confidence in feeling it. I quickly shared these feelings with Anna and Sandy who had also began to worry.

“How do you know that?” asked Anna.

“I’m not sure. It’s like the cavern is talking to me,” I tried to explain. Then drawing my sword, I inserted the blade into the slot in the circular disk that was in the back of the alcove we happened to be standing in front of. Immediately, the opening to the outside re-appeared.

“Oh,” was all Anna said as I removed the sword. Then we stood there for maybe thirty seconds and suddenly, the entrance was gone.

“This is better than a garage door opener,” I thought to myself.

“What’s a garage door opener?” Sandy asked. I had forgotten that garage door openers had not been as commonplace in 1971. I started to explain how they worked as we started down the ramp again, when an idea occurred to me. I began searching the alcoves for another circular disk with a slot in it. Sure enough, the next one we came to, on the same side of the entryway, had one. This time, when I inserted the sword, the entryway became bathed in soft light.

“Cool!” sighed Sandy.

“How...?” Anna started. I just gave her my best teenaged shrug as we continued on down the slight incline. As we walked, I searched for the source of the light, but could see nothing. No bulbs, no fixtures, nothing. It was as if the light was just there.

Thanks to the ambient lighting, our flashlights were now superfluous. When we entered the cavern, the debris from their hurried removal of the gold from their cases had left a huge mess. I immediately began collecting the wood from the busted cases, piling it next to the fire pit. While I was doing that, Anna and Sandy set about straightening up the lights and other gear the soldiers had left behind.

“Look as this,” Sandy called to Anna as she began going through one of the chests, pulling out the Army’s equivalent of an overnight bag. “I guess they had planned to spend the night here.”

We worked at cleaning the cavern for over an hour. Finally I deposited the last of the wood on the now sizable pile.

“You didn’t happen to find a bathtub in one of those, did you?” Anna asked her sister. “He’s filthy.”

“Unfortunately, no,” Sandy replied. “And he’s not the only one.” Then lifting her elbow, she ducked her head to her armpit. “Shee-ew! I stink.”

“If this is your idea of a romantic outing, Michael, we need to have a lo-o-ng talk,” Anna told me.

Anna’s comment about a bathtub caused me to think. Picking up my sword, I began searching around the carved basin in the floor next to the wall. The circular disk was only an arm’s length away. Moments later, water began cascading down the wall, splashing into the shallow pool.

“Water?” How...” Anna started again. This time, I held up my hand.

“Just wait,” I told her. While we waited, I began searching the Army chests for towels. The Army, I found, was like the Boy Scouts. They came prepared, but not for bathing. We only found a single hand towel. Still, at least we could rinse off. A few minutes later, I detected a few wisps of steam coming from the pool. It was time.

The sisters waited only long enough to see that there was no danger before they joined me in the small pool, squealing and laughing.

Suddenly Anna grabbed my balls. “Okay, we’ve been patient. Spill it, buster! How did you know?”

“I’d listen to what she says,” Sandy chided me as she laughed at my predicament. “She’s been trained to kill.”

“I give!” I cried as I held up my hands in mock surrender. “Why don’t we finish our bath, then I’ll tell two beautiful little girls a bedtime story.” I allowed them to go first with the only towel I had found, so it was a good thing I was almost dry by the time they finished with it.

“Sandy, did you see anything in there that we could spread these blankets out on. I hate the thought of lying on this nasty floor,” Anna asked.

“Hang on,” I told her as I walked over to the narrow mantle and began searching for the ubiquitous disk with the slot. I had to jump back when I turned the sword, as something slid out of the wall. It was a tray, maybe four inches deep and bigger than a double bed, but not as large as a king size.

The tray appeared to be filled with a blue liquid. However, when I touched it, my hand wouldn’t penetrate the fluid. When I flexed my hands on the surface, it created small waves. “Just like a waterbed!” I thought. Then spreading out the blankets, I lay down on the ancient waterbed.

Anna and Sandy just stood there, their eyes wide, their mouths hanging open, as they watched me.

“Anyone up for a story?” I asked as I held open my arms for them to join me.

Having two naked sisters in bed with me gave Little Mike other ideas, but they were not interested in anything but a story. So, uncomfortably, I began to tell them what I had learned from the cavern.

“One of the first things the old one taught me was to relax and listen to the, er, vibrations, I guess, or maybe energy would be a better word, of the living things around me. The grass and the trees and the birds and other animals, all living things have energy. Later, he taught me to become in tune with the energy of the earth. The rocks and the ground. This was much harder, but since I got the second ring, I have found it easier. And when I grasped the sword, I found myself going into a trance-like state as whatever I was touching began to tell me its story.” I went on to tell them what I had learned from the jet I had flown out here in.

“Then, when Anna left me to watch the two aliens, I started focusing on the cavern. That’s how I learned the story of the gold,” I explained.

“Can you show us?” asked Anna.

“I don’t know, but we can try if you’d like,” I replied. Then getting up and grabbing the sword, I sat on the edge of the bed with the point of the sword touching the cavern floor. Anna and Sandy both grabbed an arm. Then, making sure we were connected, I tried to erect my shield. I had to work with it for a while to get it right, but finally, the images began to come. The scene with the wagon of gold played out exactly as it had before.

“That is so-o-o cool!” Sandy said out loud, breaking my concentration as the men left the cavern. Then she slid under my arm and into my lap as she kissed me.

“There’s more, isn’t there?” Anna asked. But with Sandy’s lips covering mine, I couldn’t answer. I sensed a sisterly conflict arising, as Anna wanted to know more of the cavern’s story, but Sandy wanted her itch scratched.

“C’mon, Anna. It’s been like, forever. I can’t wait any longer. P-leas-se!” Sandy begged. I looked over at Anna who gave a slight shrug of her shoulders, giving in to her sister.

I thought that after Sandy was satisfied, I could go back to the story for Anna. But it didn’t work out that way. As Anna watched us, she began to rub her hands over her body, squeezing and pulling on her own breasts. I sensed that she wasn’t ready to engage in anything with her sister, but she sure was enjoying watching. As for Sandy, she could have cared less even if we had been on the news with Walter Cronkite, she only knew that she was filled. And she loved it!