The Last Great Adventure (pt. 6)
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The abandoned state of things affected Teddy strangely. On one hand, the journey had taken on an ominous and eerie air. Even so, as he and Wes continued walking, passing what seemed to be vacant storefronts and unoccupied homes, Teddy couldn’t help but grow in confidence; Nothing can hurt you when there’s nothing to hurt you. He didn’t know if he felt relieved or disappointed.
Although they passed some intersections, neither Wes nor Teddy wanted to turn aside from this primary thoroughfare unless they reached a dead end or some other destination. Eventually, just as Teddy opened his mouth to suggest turning back, the street opened onto a deserted plaza.
Eight evenly spaced tunnel-streets radiated outward from the plaza as spokes on a wheel. Large plaques hanging over each street bore engravings in an unknown alphabet, runic in appearance.
In the center of the plaza, a large statue depicted a humanoid being. The creature had tiny slits where eyes should have been, a protruding snout with a betenticled nose, and no ear flaps at all. The intricate stonework portrayed a velvety fur covering the skin that wasn’t wrapped in a flowing robe. In one hand it cradled an infant of its own species, while the other held aloft a staff topped with a large glass bead identical, except in size, to the one which had opened the door into this subterrestrial kingdom. Its eyeless gaze was fixed on an invisible horizon.
“No way,” Wes whispered.
“It’s a … “ Teddy hesitated. “... Mole person?”
“I guess I owe Uncle Durl a million dollars.” Wes chuckled. He cantered over to the sculpture to examine it more closely.
Teddy followed, still caught between disquiet and ease.
Wes ran his hands over the silky stone. The textured spots of fur felt abrasive to the touch despite looking like smoothed velour. As he investigated the piece, he turned his head to look in the direction the subject faced.
“What are you looking at?” Wes asked. He clambered up until he hung like a piggy-back rider. When he matched the inclination of the statue’s head, he noticed a small mirror mounted above one of the entrances to the plaza. “Hey Ted, do you see that little mirror? What do you suppose it’s supposed to do?”
Teddy craned his neck. “Yeah… I’m not sure. It looks like it’s angled to direct light.” Teddy followed the invisible path a beam would take from the statue’s eyeline to the mirror and up into the soaring shadows. A tiny sliver of something gleamed. “It looks like maybe there’s a hole up there. Something to let in light maybe? Like an aperture on a camera?”
“Sunlight you think?” Wes asked. “Like a sun-powered city?”
“I don’t know. In theory if it is some kind of ancient solar panel, any light would work, it just wouldn’t provide much wattage.” Teddy shone his light at the slit-eyed face. Nothing happened.
Wes scooched around to the front of the statue and peered into the eyes. “The left eye looks like a prism or something. Some kind of lens. I think the light has to come in at one specific angle. Toss me my light.”
Teddy dug around in Wes’s bag, found the light, gently tossed it up to Wes. Then Teddy held his breath. He never really knew why, but ever since childhood, he always felt that holding his breath brought good luck. More so than crossing his fingers anyway.
Wes caught the light and flipped in on. He held it before the stone face. He tilted it up. Then down. Searching for a perfect angle. Nothing.
“Move more slowly. Give it more time at different angles,” Teddy called up.
Wes rolled his eyes, but obeyed. “If it was going to do something, wouldn’t it just work?”
Teddy shrugged. “Maybe, but maybe not. Remember that Crookes radiometer my grandma got me?”
“Am I supposed to?”
“The light mill. The lightbulb thingy with the black and white fan.”
“Didn’t that start pretty much as soon as light hit?” Wes remained incredulous.
“But if the light is spinning something, maybe it will take time for the spinning to generate enough power to notice.”
“Ok, but if I won’t notice a change, how will I know I’m at the right angle, Mr. Physics Genius. I don’t want to hang up here for hours hoping—”
“Right there! Hold it there. Look!” Teddy pointed at the large globe of gold-threaded glass.
Wes held his hand as still as he could while turning to see the ball rotating at the top of the staff. It was slow, almost imperceptible. But as Wes held the flashlight in place, it became more obvious. After a few minutes of slight spinning, nothing else seemed to happen.
Teddy sighed. “Maybe we need more light?”
“Or maybe it wasn’t ever a power source. Maybe it was just a cool, decorative feature?” Wes’ arms cramped now, but he held the light as still as possible.
“My light has more lumens. You want to switch me for a bit?”
“You’re welcome to climb up here if you think more light will work. Where are you going?” Wes called.
Teddy turned and ran towards the mirror. “It’s concave! It’s a focusing mirror!” Teddy ran back. From a small side pouch on his pack he pulled out a magnifying lens. He tucked it into his pocket with his light and waved for Wes to climb down. “Help me tie the ropes. I have an idea.”
Ten minutes later, Teddy and Wes had slung a rope around the stone statue’s neck and hoisted Teddy up in a makeshift harness that, while uncomfortable, would leave both arms free. He leaned his weight into the harness and held his light and the lens, moving each ever so slightly until the light was focused through the magnifying glass into a narrow beam that hit the left eye.
The glass globe spun much faster, and began picking up speed. The young men, having remembered the source of the high pitched screech, already put in the earplugs Teddy had brought for sleeping.
No screech came this time. But the globe did begin to glow. Around them, the empty city came alive. Doors swung open, lights flared brighter, and high above them, the aperture opened to let in… Teddy checked his watch. Sunlight. About an hour of sunlight left. Teddy turned out the flashlight and shifted so as not to black the natural light. The globe continued to speed up and brighten.
“Let’s go exploring!” Wes said when Teddy was back on the ground.
