Of all the places where trains should be, the bottom of an underground lake on an island that was only recently inhabited is one of the stranger ones. The cave leading to the lake was only recently discovered by a visiting tourist whose drone flew over the off-limit areas of the mountains and spied the gaping entrance in a relatively stable area.
It may have taken seventy years to finally establish a permanent base there but the thought that there may be precious stones inside the cave suddenly boosted the island's reputation and the settlement boomed practically overnight. After months of debating, meeting, planning and gathering resources a small team were selected to make the first trip to the cave entrance and examine the opening tunnel for signs of precious stones and ore.
They were met with a tunnel less than seven feet long, ending in a sharp drop that seemed to go on forever. After dropping several loose stones down there and timing their fall they determined the drop was perhaps forty feet and had a curve to it before ending in water.
It was several weeks later before a second team was sent with enough equipment to face the depths and survive whatever may be down there, however deep the water may be and if it was affected by the tides. Nobody wanted to drown but it was a very real possibility until they better understood how the cave's unique system worked.
The drop itself was fairly normal, the occasional interesting minerals streaked their way through the otherwise unassumingly grey stone as the team lowered themselves to the surprisingly smooth curve at the end of the drop. Dangling as far past the curve as they could they shone their head-mounted torches as far as possible to determine the height of the cave.
It was spacious enough for them to use the raft they brought with them,an instant inflatable thing made to withstand the sharp rocks found in rapid rivers, now helping the team navigate deeper inside the cave and to whatever else they may find.
It wasn't long before they came to the lake itself, after several twists, turns and drops in the river. There was a large hole in the cave ceiling that allowed light and weather from the outside to pass through and fall down onto what appeared to be a train station. It was on a natural rocky island but covered in foliage and so heavily overgrown it must have been there for years.
The team decided to first paddle around it before trying to walk into the open station doors, just in case the island wasn't stable. They got halfway around the back when they spotted the partially submerged train and the bones inside it all wearing identical scuba gear.
They were too distracted by the sight, too busy bickering with each other about how this could possibly be an elaborate prank by somebody - some country - that had gotten to the cave before them and set this up to scare them from any valuable materials, to notice the faint pop and hiss of a knife being stuck into the raft.
Too caught up in yelling at each other to notice until they were almost waist deep in the tepid waters with the swift undercurrent pulling them firmly into the train's open doors, dragging them down into first class and shutting behind them with a satisfying click.
It may have taken seventy years to finally establish a permanent base there but the thought that there may be precious stones inside the cave suddenly boosted the island's reputation and the settlement boomed practically overnight. After months of debating, meeting, planning and gathering resources a small team were selected to make the first trip to the cave entrance and examine the opening tunnel for signs of precious stones and ore.
They were met with a tunnel less than seven feet long, ending in a sharp drop that seemed to go on forever. After dropping several loose stones down there and timing their fall they determined the drop was perhaps forty feet and had a curve to it before ending in water.
It was several weeks later before a second team was sent with enough equipment to face the depths and survive whatever may be down there, however deep the water may be and if it was affected by the tides. Nobody wanted to drown but it was a very real possibility until they better understood how the cave's unique system worked.
The drop itself was fairly normal, the occasional interesting minerals streaked their way through the otherwise unassumingly grey stone as the team lowered themselves to the surprisingly smooth curve at the end of the drop. Dangling as far past the curve as they could they shone their head-mounted torches as far as possible to determine the height of the cave.
It was spacious enough for them to use the raft they brought with them,an instant inflatable thing made to withstand the sharp rocks found in rapid rivers, now helping the team navigate deeper inside the cave and to whatever else they may find.
It wasn't long before they came to the lake itself, after several twists, turns and drops in the river. There was a large hole in the cave ceiling that allowed light and weather from the outside to pass through and fall down onto what appeared to be a train station. It was on a natural rocky island but covered in foliage and so heavily overgrown it must have been there for years.
The team decided to first paddle around it before trying to walk into the open station doors, just in case the island wasn't stable. They got halfway around the back when they spotted the partially submerged train and the bones inside it all wearing identical scuba gear.
They were too distracted by the sight, too busy bickering with each other about how this could possibly be an elaborate prank by somebody - some country - that had gotten to the cave before them and set this up to scare them from any valuable materials, to notice the faint pop and hiss of a knife being stuck into the raft.
Too caught up in yelling at each other to notice until they were almost waist deep in the tepid waters with the swift undercurrent pulling them firmly into the train's open doors, dragging them down into first class and shutting behind them with a satisfying click.
No comments:
Post a Comment