Rick had zeroed in on the accounts of a mysterious lost metal library, comprised of metallic tablets, rumored to contain powerful ancient and otherworldly knowledge. Many expeditions had failed to locate this storied place. He vowed he would be the one to find it. Rick knew the history of the vast Tayos Caves system in the rainforest of Ecuador, and that somewhere within it was believed to be the location of the Lost Metal Library. The mysterious metal tablets had gone missing decades ago. Many rumors had abounded about their fate. For Rick, it was a tantalizing mystery.
A Salesian Monk, Father Crespi, who had lived in the Ecuadorian city of Cuenca for over half a century and died in 1982, had befriended the indigenous peoples of the area through his missionary work. He was highly regarded for his efforts on behalf of their wellbeing, and as a way of showing their gratitude, they had gifted him large numbers of ancient artifacts. They’d revealed the artifacts had been found in an expansive subterranean system of caves in the Ecuadorian jungle, known only to the local people. Amongst the array of artifacts given to Father Crespi, were hammered metallic tablets, rumored to be made of gold, copper and bronze, and inscribed with a myriad of ancient symbols from an unknown language. They were said to be part of a hidden metal library, rumored to contain powerful knowledge. Father Crespi even claimed the artifacts were from Babylon, which would make the tablets, potentially, up to 4000 years old, though that was never verified. Upon Father Crespi’s death, the metallic tablets vanished and the location of the metal library has never been found.
This was it, Rick told himself. This would make all the years of struggle worthwhile. Because if he could do this, his lifelong goals and aspirations, goals his father had dismissed and derided, would finally come to fruition.
The fact that in 1976, the famous astronaut Neil Armstrong, only seven years after becoming the first person to walk on the moon, had gone looking for this mysterious lost library as part of a large, coordinated expedition of over 100 people, and had come up empty-handed, had sealed the deal for Rick in choosing this as his next expedition.
Neil Armstrong was one of the men his father had most admired in life. That was one thing the two of them did share. If Rick could pull off something that one of the most famous men in history could not, someone his father revered, then surely this would earn him the respect and status he’d long sought in life.
However, try as he might, Rick had been unable to find anyone to join his proposed expedition to the Tayos Caves system. He’d scoured the local labor force haunts, offering work to the day laborers and other free agents. He’d intended to carefully scrutinize lists of potential recruits. After what had happened in the Mato Grosso, his last expedition, he didn’t ever want to be tricked, used or fooled again. He’d paid a mighty price for that mistake.
Unfortunately, whenever he mentioned where he intended to go, the laborers suddenly became unavailable. He could see the fear creep into their eyes when he mentioned the Tayos Caves system. After a while he wasn’t even afforded the luxury of trying to ask the questions. Men would see him coming and beat a hasty retreat.
He had no idea what was happening, until yesterday when he was heading back to his apartment after another fruitless day of trying to hire some local help. He passed a newspaper vendor. A headline in one of the local papers caught his eye. As he’d read the article, he’d stopped in his tracks.
This explains a lot, he’d thought to himself.
He’d hurried back to his apartment, wanting to study the article more closely. Once home, he’d re-read the headline:
Another missing person linked to the Tayos Caves System.
“Yup,” he said to himself. This is why no one wanted anything to do with his expedition. In a way, he was glad it wasn’t personal.
He’d continued reading:
...local man, Diego Torres, has been missing for nearly three days. He was last seen heading towards the Tayos Caves System. He is the founding member of a local archaeology club and recently had been publicly criticizing a foreign company, accusing them of trying to steal valuable artifacts belonging to the Ecuadorian people.
The article went on to outline how other people linked to activity surrounding the Tayos Caves System had also gone missing over the last few weeks.
The foreign company, Ares Worldwide, with rumored ties to black market dealings in weapons and various financial crimes, though none had ever been proven, is under suspicion in relation to the disappearances. Though their representatives have strongly denied any involvement, their arrival two months ago is too coincidental to be dismissed out of hand.
So far, local law enforcement has been unable, or unwilling, to find any links to the massive, shadowy organization who claim to be doing exploratory field work ahead of a potential geological mining expedition. However, this reporter has already uncovered unofficial reports of previous archaeological work where the company was rumored to have been involved in brutal tactics, ignoring local regulations, having a complete disregard for local customs, bribery, corruption, and even theft of important historical artifacts.
Rick’s instincts had started firing once he’d read the article. He had that feeling. The one he got before he went on the chase. He knew this was what he needed to do. It seemed like worlds were starting to collide with regards to the Tayos Caves system. If Rick wanted in on a potential discovery out there in the Ecuadorian
