The City Lost on the Edge of Time

Michael was an unusual, mysterious person. He appeared suddenly in Atara’s life a few months ago with a $20,000 grant for her research into the mythical lost city of Atlantis. He was very private and brilliant, a Da Vinci in most fields. And he was handsome, so handsome that even the Greek gods themselves would be envious. At over 6 ft tall, he had perfectly bronzed muscles, shoulder-length blonde hair, and captivating eyes that mirrored the heavens. The first time she saw him, she was overcome with awe - heart racing, palms sweating - and nearly fell to her knees thinking the great warrior Archangel had descended to speak to her. His inner light filled her with warmth. She instantly loved him and hoped, from his secret glances and tender protectiveness, he felt the same.

Atara was an archeologist made infamous because she believed in the Ancient Astronaut Theory. Considered a fringe theory by mainstream archaeologists, it posited that ancient extraterrestrial astronauts had been visiting Earth since the big bang of early human intelligence came about, including the language gene Fox P2. They taught and guided humans in all fields from writing to astronomy, giving them access to advanced technology, so they could grow and evolve. They taught ancient man to use their technology to build such grand monuments as the Great Pyramid, and were the guardians of technologically advanced ancient cities like Atlantis, which was her main focus.

After years of combing through ancient texts and the visions of legendary American psychic Edgar Cayce (“The Sleeping Prophet”), who channeled his higher self during trances, she believed that the main metropolis of Atlantis was off the coast of Cuba. With the grant money, she’d put together a diving expedition to explore the seafloor for evidence of ancient ruins. Since grants were hard for someone with her reputation to come by, desperate for a discovery, she accepted the money with little background information on Michael, with the caveat he be included every step of the way. However, after a month long expedition, she’d exhausted the money with no results. Then, fate smiled upon her in the form of an undersea earthquake. Interestingly, the epicenter was where she believed Atlantis to be. Michael seemed troubled, and Atara had an unsettling feeling that something was amiss. However, her desire to find Atlantis overrode any feeling of trepidation. Anxious to see if the seafloor had shifted to reveal yet undiscovered ruins, she mounted what she hoped wouldn’t be her final diving trip.

An unbelievable turn of events followed. Hours later Atara found herself running through a metallic entrance hall, far below the ocean’s surface, in the now underwater city of Atlantis, being chased by the quintessential Men in Black, with only Michael by her side, who moments ago killed one of them with some strange, futuristic laser-emitting weapon to protect her.

“You . . . killed . . . that . . . man!” she said, dumbstruck, her heart pounding out of her chest as they ran. “They’re . . . going to kill us."

“I only stunned him. And they were going to kill us regardless,” Michael said, surprisingly calmly, grabbing her hand and pulling her swiftly behind him.

“What? Why? Who are they?!” she said, breathlessly, trying to keep up with his superhuman pace.

“That doesn’t matter. All that matters is we get out of here alive.”

They were rapidly zig-zagging through the halls, more Men in Black appearing at each turn, a Van Gogh like blur of metallic blue-green colors and bizarre dark shapes whizzing by. She had lost track of where they came from and had no idea where they were going. But the confident, focused look in Michael's eyes hinted that he’d been there before and knew more than he let on.

Frustrated, she turned down the first doorway she saw, yanking Michael behind her, and opened her mouth to voice her feelings. But he shoved his hand over her flushed lips. He quietly shut the door and pressed some buttons on an adjacent panel to lock it. The sounds of dozens of footsteps on the other side raced by.

“We’re taking a different route,” he said, with disapproval, grabbing her hand to pull her along behind him.

She yanked it away. “I demand to know what’s going on!”

He sighed. “There isn’t time for this. I have to get you to safety. Now, follow me.”

“No!” She was being obstinate, not one of her finer personal traits, but one that made her a tenacious archaeologist. While deep down she trusted Michael with her life, she couldn’t take another step without knowing what was happening. She disliked ignorance, the absence of knowledge, the absence of truth. She’d dedicated her life to revealing Earth’s secrets, the secrets lost to time, and would not remain in the dark any longer. She squared her shoulders and looked directly into his otherworldly sky-blue eyes. “Tell me now!”

Michael froze, averting his gaze.

Gifted from birth with the ability to sense things beyond the five senses, she could feel Michael’s emotions, try as he might to hide them. She had been an open book these past few months, but sensed he kept things from her, things she sensed he felt guilty about. The secrets in his eyes should have troubled her, but they didn’t. She instinctively trusted him, as if their souls were linked. It defied logic. But when she first met him, she had felt as if she were greeting a long-lost friend. She sensed his secrets, but also, his affection for her. And now she sensed a deep sadness and fear of betrayal.

Michael ran his fingers through his hair, pensively, as if frightened to confess, frightened by what it would do to their relationship, then finally said, “Those men . . . they’re from the US government. They’re part of a special agency whose purpose is to cover up extraterrestrial presences on Earth, past and present.”

Atara was momentarily frozen in shock, her mind spinning, less from the revelation which she always believed to be true than by the fact that he seemed so certain. She raised her eyebrow. “And Atlantis, what do you know of that?”

“Your theories are correct. Atlantis was a highly technologically advanced island nation inhabited by a race of extraterrestrials, the Enkians, and early humans. It was destroyed approximately 10,000 BC by the Nergala, a rival extraterrestrial civilization that sought to enslave mankind, and sank to the bottom of the ocean. While some of it was destroyed, most of its structures remained intact, and it was later repurposed as an underwater joint base between the Nergala and the US government.”

She didn’t react. While inside she was screaming that her theories were right, that she found Atlantis, one question remained - the question that would answer if she’d foolishly misplaced her trust. “How do you know all of this?”

“I was an agent. I defected.”

Atara was astonished. There was a loud banging on the door. A belligerent male voice screamed, “They’re in here!”

Michael grabbed her hand. “We have to go.”

Before she could even decide whether fleeing from a government agent was a good idea, he dragged her along behind him. She found herself running through a hidden door down another hall. “Where are we going?”

“To the Gate Room. It’s our only escape.”

They ran for what seemed like 10 minutes, although time felt strange in there. “We’re almost there,” Michael reassured her just as Atara dropped her secret small black notebook. “My journal!” she panicked, pulling away to go back for it.

“Leave it!” he ordered, grabbing her arm, trying to keep moving.

“But it has my most important research in it! I can’t leave it.” She wriggled free and went back for it.

As her fingers found the edge, the click of a dozen guns caught her ear. She looked up. They were surrounded by agents. Michael moved in front of her, shielding her with his body.

“Don’t try anything, Enkian,” one agent ordered with derision, as if speaking a foul word.

Atara’s eyes widened. “Enkian? You’re an Enkian?”

Michael turned to her, his eyes pained. “I didn’t want you to find out this way. I’m sorry.”

Instantly she took a step back from him, betrayal in her eyes, a darkened feeling crawling up from the pit in her stomach. Primal fear. Disappointment. “I asked you for the truth, and you lied. You’ve been lying all along.”

“Shut up, vermin!” the agent snapped. A tall man with alabaster skin and eyes of obsidian slithered out from behind him.

“Azael,” Michael sneered, his eyes narrowed.

“Michael. It’s been a long time. Thousands of years. Thought I had killed you when I destroyed your beloved Atlantis, eliminating your people’s presence on Earth,” he said, with fond remembrance.

“So it was you! What lies have you told the humans? Our people came here to help humanity grow and evolve. We were their teachers, their guides. You seek only to control them. You’re not their protectors, you’re their overlords.”

A few of the agents raised their eyebrows, but Azael simply stated, through a devious grin, “You speak lies.” And ordered them taken to interrogation.

Adrenaline rushed through Atara’s veins, sending her heart racing and hands trembling. She couldn’t escape, so she swallowed her fear and prepared to fight. Suddenly, brilliant white light emanated from Michael. He looked like an angel. Then, it blasted outwards like a shock wave, knocking all the agents and Azael unconscious.

“Run!” he commanded, leading her down the hall into the Gate Room, sealing the entrance. A large golden doorway stood in the center of the room. He punched some buttons on a panel and bright light filled the room, forcing her to look away.

When it dimmed, she saw a shimmering pool of light inside the doorway. She blinked in disbelief. “What’s that?”

“A manmade inter-dimensional gateway. It will take us to my home world.”

“Us?! I can’t go with you,” she said, surprised.

“They’ll torture and kill you if you don’t.”

“What about my family? Friends? My work?”

“I’ll bring you back when it’s safe,” he promised, gently taking her hand and nudging her forward.

But Atara resisted, her heart heavy, tears filling her eyes. While she was enticed by the potential adventure, she feared that if she left she may never be able to return home. She heard agents on the other side of the door trying to force their way in. There was no other way out. But her trust in Michael was broken.

“We must hurry. Earth is in danger. My government thinks mankind was behind the destruction of Atlantis and our other ancient cities, and they’ve sent an armada to retaliate. But there are those of us who believe the Nergala were behind it. I came to prove that. Now I must go back to tell my people the truth before they make a fatal mistake.”

Sensing her dilemma, he tenderly caressed her cheek. “I know you’ve always wondered why you’re drawn to Atlantis and why you trusted me without hesitation. Atara, you’re a descendent of the Atlantians. Your soul is an incarnation of one of its people . . . my love.”

She gasped. Logically it sounded insane. However, her soul knew it was true. The feelings of fear and betrayal washed away, and she remembered how much she loved him. She realized it would crush her if they were separated again. Her heart was torn in two different directions.

The door breached. She must choose. She looked back to see Azael firing a weapon at her head just as Michael pulled her through the gate. A kaleidoscope of colors surrounded her as stars and planets rushed by. She felt weightless, like she was flying through the heavens in Ezekiel’s chariot. She didn’t know how long she traveled for, time lost all meaning. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and then . . .