Scene 1: Alpha Site

Ext. Suburbs - Civil Twilight, Miami 1995

Perhaps one would have expected a more lavish accomodation, something palatial, with well tended topiaries, collumns and pylasters of fine Parian marble. Black granite walkways, in a gated community. Dr. Justice Connel-Gulbane had none of that. For one of the richest individuals his living space was humble. A duplex nestled in a cozy corner in the suburbs. Wholly unremarkable save the enormous water tower adjacent to the property.

Four vehicles were parked in neat order. A 1989 BMW 750iL with wood paneling and silver paint, a 1977 Jeep Wrangler CW in Silver paint, a 1964 Chevrolet Impala, and a brand new Ford Ranger XL in silver. Four garages were open, inviting guests to park in safety and comfort. A charcoal grilling pit was set, already burning, with a rather large, muscle bound man with reddish brown hair cut into a mullet. He was working a bellows in the charcoal pit. He wore a bright orange welder's apron, a faded pink shirt that had a rooster stenciled on it, a pair of Tommy Hilfiger basketball shorts, and what appeared to be suede mocassins.

Immediately behind him was a well appointed plywood table, with a rather generous selection of sausages, and cheeses, several rib eye steaks, and unlabeled brown glass bottles in a steel bucket full of ice. A brandnew Behringer Boombox was playing the newest release from the band "Death" Perennial Quest. Justice Connel-Gulbane was headbanging to the intense riffs of the guitarist, polyrythmic drumming, and grating vocals of the singer.

It had turned out to be quite a party. Twenty One guests in total, various experts in their fields, physicists, doctors, special operators, engineers, linguists, historians.

The festive atmosphere carried on for about an hour. Meat, cheese, beer, music, new comers. Coversation built and lulled. Eventually there was a silence. Justice cracked another beer, his tenth - yet he had not yet flushed and seemed clear headed and level. "Thank you all for attending." He began and gestured to the fence between his apartment and the water tower. "Please, follow me, and hold your questions until the end. We have a lot of ground to cover and many things that will be inexplicable."

Dr. Connel-Gulbane approached a gate and removed a magnetized keycard, sliding it into a reader and opening the chain link gate. Pretty heavy security for a water tower. "Many of your cultural backgrounds have a common thread, a story that tells of otherworldly entities that came to our world while our species was young. And through the work of magic elevated us to greatness." He spoke as he leads the group to a large concrete shack, containing a large freight elevator. "I am a man of science, and a deeply spiritual man as well. I also do believe there to be at least some truth to these myths." Justice flipped a knife switch and a series of high pressure sodium lamps began to illuminate. They proceeded down by relays, in a concrete tunnel, deep into the bowels of the Earth.

"A reminder that you all are sworn to secrecy, anything you see from this point on, is not to be discussed outside of this site." Stepping onto the elevator he beckons his new colleagues to join him. "Welcome to Alpha Site."

As the elevator rolled slowly into the depths of the Earth. Red retroreflective paint on the ceiling of the shaft indicated "SL1."

"Sublevel 1, Fluidics and Geothermal. One of the benefits of building Alpha Site in a swamp was the abundance of natural gases and water which is used to power all of the integrated systems in the lower levels." The sole features one could see from the elevator was a set of massive blast doors, 20ft*15ft marked with hazard tape, an enormous pink intake pipe that emerged from deeper down the corridor and disappeared into the wall next to the blast door. And a blue pipe with retroreflective yellow paint indicating it was a radiation hazard. The loud hum of machinery was muffled from behind the blast door.

At SL2 the elevator stopped and the corridor opened into a large cavern. The scent of lush greenery and humidity gave the sublevel an rainforest scent. "Sublevel two is the atrium, living quarters, and soon to be home to a movie theater." As above the pink pipe continued deeper into the complex, though a branch broke off at this level. The blue pipe had disappeared into the bedrock.

The well lit room had a great deal of LED lighting and hydroponics, a wealth of foodstuffs appeared to be growing in shelved along the walls, and glass floors showed the flow of purified water pumping slowly through the floor. It was high tech and clearly made to give a sense of "awesome and powerful" while still being understated.

A woman in a well cut suit, red hair, green blouse and pencil skirt wearing a name tag that said Franziska approached boarded, said something to Dr. Connel-Gulbane and produced a set of keys which she relinquished to Justice. "I am Franziska Edwards, CIO and Head of Hospitality. I sign the paychecks and want to welcome you to Alpha Site. You will see me later for housing assignments and we can make better acquaintance there. Trust me, you are in for something special. So I will leave you too it." The two made an unlikely pair, everything about Franziska said business, professional, she was half Justice's size with a kind of rare but timid beauty. Contrasting sharply to Dr. Connel-Gulbane who looked like the poster child for the Daytona 500, redneck.

"Thanks Frannie. See you later." He said and turned to put the keys into the control board as "Frannie" walked back into the atrium disappearing in the beautiful garden.

"Sublevel 3 is restricted, and only accessible by myself, Frannie, and Chief of Security Andrew Lauman. It is where we will spend the majority of our time working. And now if you would please look, and witness the first of many artifacts you will find in this Site." As the elevator came to a stop at a single large opening in the bedrock, with engraved petroglyphs surrounding the entrance. Approximately 150m below the surface of the Earth. Justice directed the group to the sole feature.

The acoustics in the chamber were odd, as if the passage ahead was swallowing the sound. The cavewalls, which had obviously been carved showed a level of intent and understanding difficult to achieve with modern architecture and engineering.

Justice shared the gleam of awe in Elias' eyes as he took in the artwork. "How old? We were hoping you could tell us. Though, there are quite similar styles of art in France. We are still trying to find a way to date the stone. Reminds me of Magdalenian cave art, but there are some radical differences."

Justice nodded in affirmative to Veronica. "Protect, obtain, explore, and ecavate. These caves are quite hazardous. Every see an Indiana Jones movie? A lot like that." He grinned at the notion clearly excited to get the work.

A flashlight announced the presence of a person approaching. A man, slightly heavier in build, but so similar in likeness he might have been a twin to Justice. Stepping from the rocks he presented a laminated plastic sheet to Dr. Connel-Gulbane and introduced himself. "Hi, Andrew Lauman, C-Sec. Listen Up I need Donahue, Duclair, Messer, Kowalski, and Rodriguez. Follow me!" He stood for a moment and looked at each person in the face, he already knew them.

Justice reviewed the laminate page and grimaced. "I had intended on giving you all the tour, but that will have to wait.
Please find your accomodations on your own, Franziska will help you." Pulling his keys from the lift controls Justice broke for the cutaway still regarding the laminate sheet. He looked like he knew where he was going. "Looks like the work won't wait. Lieutenant Rodriguez, and Master Sergeant Donahue, looks like we will be spelunking, Mister Duclair, ever done any cave diving?" He was walking and talking in obvious agitation. Leaning against the entry way he pulled the waterproof marker free and signed the form.

Chief of security Andrew Lauman smirked, with a single huff that was similar to a laugh and opened up a duffel bag full of lighting equipment, head lamps, flashlights and chemical glowlightz indicating they should take them. "There's plenty." He said as if implying the others should feel free. If he was any indication, carrying dozens of the chemical glowlights was a smart choice.

The sound of the elevator, and the murmurs of the excited crowd of 15 returning to the second sublevel was rapidly vanishing as they left the others. Before the others had equipped themselves with lights, the massive freight elevator's sound had disappeared into a quiet rush of air in the cavern.

Scene: 1(A)
Insert: Grotto Ext. Bright Light

"Nothin' perilous. The diggers just found a new chamber, n'took some casualties. Nothin' major. We gonna help 'em though." Andrew had an bright look in his eyes, at a glance anyone knew some mania possessed him, it was in his eyes. Unwavering hazel eye contact, a fierce intensity and ruthless cunning marked on his face, a hard bulbous nose and copper greying beard, which was larger than his own head. "Don'chu worry. I gotcha."

Andrew was 38, but looked in his early 30's is 5'11" 252lbs, built like atlas, there were olympic weightlifters with a less developed physique. His voice a gravelly bass impossibly deep, yet soft spoken. He wore Mjlonir, Thor's hammer, on a gold chain around his neck, and three gold rings on his left hand, as well as a copper and onyx prayer mala, and a silver eagle armring. Carries a Ruger P95a with a massive blue laser integrated into the barrel. The laser was currently off.

Scene 1(a)
Insert: Grotto Ext. Bright Light

"A broken leg, n' a bad contusion. Nothin' life threatenin' but they ain't gonna be able to swim out without help." Lauman said as he ushers the group along a left hand path that lead down past the thermocline, it had been getting colder, but the air grew more humid, and warmer now. And the steep grade carried them ever deeper. "There probably are hazards, but nothing I have seen or heard of. No gas or nothin' like that so far either. Keep an eye out for 'gators we're in the Everglades. For now, I am callin' this a'one off situation."