Lava Tube Underground — The Valleys

The lava tube twisted and turned. In places Jaak wondered whether he would be able to squeeze through, but somehow — whether by sheer grit and determination or the desperate need to find his friend — he kept going. Wiggling and squirming forward, he thought once or twice he caught a glimpse of a tail disappearing around the next bend.

Finally the tube widened and opened into a small cave, where at last he saw his friend sitting on a rock ledge, looking very pleased with himself.

Jaak shone his torch around the small cave and back toward the opening where they had come through — and there it was, scratched in white chalk on the rock wall:

LAYAN WAS HERE — AGE 12 ¾

They both shone their torches around the cave eagerly hoping that they might find a stone. There was nothing at all — except…

So once again Jaak wiggled his head carefully into the new crack. It was tight, the tightest of squeezes yet. Fortunately the squeeze was not as long this time, only a few body lengths. This time as he inched his body through bit by bit, he became aware of a soft blue glow that got brighter and brighter the further he went. As he emerged from the small passage he could hardly believe his eyes. He turned off his torch — there was no longer any need of it.

Jaak was standing in a vast underground cavern — a hollowed-out magma chamber of a long-extinct volcano — where the ceiling could hardly be seen. This was no ordinary cavern. What truly took his breath away was the blue light shining from every surface.

Cyan stones. Not just one or two. Not even hundreds. Thousands upon thousands. Smooth and round. Big ones. Small ones. Alongside sharp formations of blue crystal.

It was breathtaking.

Tag, who was not far behind, emerged into the cavern and stood next to Jaak with his mouth open.

As they took in more of their surroundings, they noticed large translucent shell-like shapes scattered across the cavern floor in a range of sizes. They looked familiar — only much, much too big. Some were as big as they were. Bigger. They looked like…

Jaak touched one with his foot and it crumbled into pieces. Tag leapt in fright.

Carefully they moved through, further into the cavern trying not to step on any of what were the discarded exoskeletons of what must have been huge bug like creatures. As they moved deeper into the cavern and started to cross to the other side, they now heard a new sound — it sounded familiar — it was regular, it sounded like machinery.

Crossing to the far side of the cavern, they saw another opening. This time even Jaak decided it was too small for him.

When they leaned closer to the crack in the rock, they felt the same movement of air as before. Now they could clearly hear the steady hum of machinery — and even faint snatches of voices echoing out of it.

Jaak smiled weakly at Tag’s joke, and although he wasn’t completely sure about it, his feline curiosity got the better of him.

With that Tag disappeared into the crack in the rock.

There was nothing for Jaak to do but wait.

And look at the huge exoskeleton shells. And wonder. And gaze at the soft blue glow of the myriad stones.

And wait.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tag’s head suddenly poked out of the crack again.

It was Jaak’s turn to jump and he let out an involuntary whoosh of air as if he had been holding it all this time. He was a bit cross at being scared, but thankful that his friend had returned safely.

Tag then emerged fully back into the cavern full of glowing cyan stones and re-joined his friend.

Before they left the blue cavern, they each picked up a small glowing stone and an extra one for Dieter and pocketed them.

As soon as the glowing stones were lifted, the surrounding crystals flared brighter and gave off a faint but definite vibration.

At that same moment, far, far away in another part of uncharted space — unknown to anyone from Cyanos, or even within their own galaxy quadrant — a warning vibration transmitted from one to another, a chain reaction through a series of quivering antennae.

Jaak and Tag wiggled back through the short squeeze, through the small cave, and along the long twisting lava tube, returning to the cave where they had started their underground adventure. Back to re-unite with Dieter and to tell him all about what they had seen and found.

Previous: Episode 20: Lava Tube
Next: Episode 22: Cyan Stones