Jett saw the bar coming at him and ducked just in time. The metal bar swooped over his head, just brushing by a few free strands of Jett's dirty blonde hair.
"Hey, watch out!"
The worker carrying the equipment looked back over his shoulder at Jett. "Sorry! You know these things can go out of control at any moment."
Jett grumbled to himself. "I should be relaxing on a beach somewhere. Instead I'm here digging up another 'mysterious ancient civilization' and ducking pipe sections."
Jett was what he liked to think of as a moving archeologist. He moved from dig site to dig site, basically wherever he was needed. Jett's interests varied widely. In high school he had run track, and had kept up his swiftness all his life. His skinny, 5'11" stature may not have said much, but Jett knew his strengths. Jett was also an ace at academics. His teachers had always told him that he had a sharper mind than most others.
"Oh, lighten up. You know you enjoy things like this."
Jett looked over at his co-worker and childhood best friend, Robert "Blade" Soren. "I'm completely aware of that. I'd just prefer sand to dirt right now."
Blade grunted. "Yeah, well, we're getting paid a lot more than normal for this job. It must be pretty important to the higher-ups, whoever they happen to be. Hey, maybe these guys are even more ancient than the other ones!"
"Yeah, that's it Blade." Jett rolled his eyes. "Come on, we have to report to the tunnels. They've found a way in, I guess."
"Oh goody goody."
"Hey, it'll be interesting."
Jett and Blade left their zone and proceeded to the tunnel entrance.

***

"This has reached new depths of Just Plain STUPID!"
Amy Ferris slammed the notebook down on the table, causing several loose sheets of paper to go flying. Everyone else standing close winced.
"Do you mean to tell me that we have to pull out of here by the end of the week?"
The man at the opposite end of the table nodded. "Hey, it's not my decision. The board of directors is unhappy with the lack of activity this dig is turning up."
"The board of directors can shove it up their."
"HEY! I know they're a bunch of jerks, but there's nothing we can really do about it. We have to look at basic facts. We haven't found anything new. We haven't discovered anything about this new civilization. For all we know, they were just another tribe of Native Americans that migrated here in search of food."
Amy eyed John Alberts, the leader of the dig. "What about the rune stone?"
"I know about the rune stone, Amy." John looked down at the ground. "We just can't convince the guys who pay us that it means anything. We've been working on that thing for three weeks. Nothing. No hidden inscriptions, no sign of any possible practical use. To them, it's just a stone."
"But we've SEEN what it can do!"
"They haven't. And they won't. You know as well as I do that we can't recreate the effect."
"I know. it's just, that. ARGH!" Amy slammed her fist down on the table, causing everyone to wince a second time. "We just need more time. We have to find a way to stall just a little big longer. I KNOW we're getting close to solving this mystery."
John sighed and turned around. "I tried everything I could. The directors won't budge." He turned back around to look at Amy. "I know how."
Amy had left.
"Amy!" John ran after her.
"What?"
"Look, we have until the end of the week, that's another five days, right?"
"Yeah, but we have to spend that time gathering all the equipment together and cleaning house."
"That won't be necessary if we can figure out what that rune stone does."
Amy grinned and laughed. "You know, that's a big risk you're taking."
John smiled. "I'm past retirement age, anyway."
"You know, you're not such a bad guy after all."
"Don't tell anyone, it'll spoil my reputation," John whispered.
"I won't," Amy said, chuckling. "Well, for now, we gotta head for the tunnels. They've finally broken in."
John looked at Amy, an unreadable expression in his eyes. "Let's just hope we're around long enough to find out what's in there."

***

Blade fidgeted in place. He couldn't stand being still in one place for too long. He'd rather be practicing with his battle axe. In fact, that's how he got his nickname. While everyone else thought of his fascination with the odd weapon a bit strange, they were all impresses with his prowess. At least, that's what he always told himself.
Naturally, Blade was strongly built. He stood 6'1" and weighed about 300 pounds with short brown hair. For him, wielding an axe was nothing, and he could swing it around as someone of a lesser stature could a sword. Blade knew about swords. He thought they were too much of a "sissy hero weapon". And forget about your standard firearms. They required too little effort to be put to good use.
Looking straight ahead, Blade saw the diggers prying at a pair of small doors that had been discovered a few yards into the cliffs. They were straining fairly hard, but were making progress.
Jett looked over at Blade. "I can see your impatience is getting the best of you again."
"What makes you say that?"
Jett smirked. "Oh, nothing. Just the fact that you're swinging your hands around again like some crazed killer."
"Hey hey hey. practice makes perfect! When we get into a fight, I'll be the one defending myself while you set the new world record for the mile run."
"What makes you think we'd be fighting together?" Jett narrowed his eyes at Blade.
"Oh, I see where this is going. You know I could take you on any day."
"Can't hit what you can't touch!"
"You won't fare much better, buddy. You could stand there and hit me all day and maybe you'd leave a tiny scratch or something."
"That's what you think, but I."
"Oh, not this again." Amy walked up behind the pair. "You guys have this conversation every freakin' day. Besides.. You know that I'd obliterate both of you in a second."
"Sadly, I wouldn't doubt it," Jett said, shaking his head. "I've seen you angry. Your eyes turn red and you breathe fire and all that."
"Oh, you're just asking for it, Jett."
A cry of excitement went off behind them. The crew had finally pried open the doors and were poking around inside.
"You're just lucky we have more important things to do right now," Amy said as she pushed by both of them. "See you inside."
Blade looked at her cautiously enter the doorway. "I find it hard to believe that she's part of the science team. She'd be more useful on the demolition team, most likely."
"You know, she'd be kind of cute if it wasn't for the whole hyper- aggressive thing she has going on." Jett just shook his head. "Come on, we have to get moving."

***

Jett and Blade walked alongside of each other through the surprisingly spacious corridor. Jett muttered to Blade, "How in the world could a technologically primitive civilization build a city INSIDE a cliffside? It just doesn't make any sense. And just look at the walls. They seem too. perfect."
"At least they had the decency to make their tunnels large enough. I'd hate to have to plow through this." Blade glanced around their surroundings. "I'd never want to live here, though."
"I wonder how long it took to make this place," Jett mused.
"I wonder who would be stupid enough to go ahead and try it," Blade countered.
As the crew continued on, they reached another set of doors. Only slightly disheartened, people began to try and work them open.
"Well," Blade sighed. "Looks like we're going to be here for a while."

***

Everyone camped out in the tunnels that night. It was large enough, after all, to hold the entire crew and then some. Jett sat alone against the side of the tunnel. Amy approached and sat next to him. "Where's Blade at?"
"Off, eating."
"As usual. He's gonna overdo it one of these days."
Jett shrugged. "Let the man do what he loves. I'd rather he indulge in his love of food than his love of sharp things, at least around us."
Amy nodded in agreement. "You feeling okay? You've been looking a little pale ever since we got in here."
Jett started to say something, but then stopped. "Nothing."
"You sure?" Amy pressed. "You're usually full of energy."
"Well. I don't really know how to put it in words.. This place just seems. strange."
"Well of course it feels strange. I mean, just look around you!"
"No, no. Not that kind of strange. I'm talking about a feeling. I'm just getting this strange feeling from this place." He looked at Amy, who had an undecipherable look on her face. "I must sound stupid, huh?"
"No, not at all. In fact." Amy closed her eyes. "I can kind of feel it, too. It's probably just excitement, though. Anticipation."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
Blade sauntered over. "You guys should really get some of those beans before they run out. They're the awesome honey barbeque kind."
Jett laughed. "Always a one-track mind."
"Hey, you gotta learn to love life."
A shout interrupted their conversation. People started moving toward the large doors. "What's going on?" wondered Amy.
John ran over. "It's the doors. They've got some leverage and they're starting to open!" The four quickly dashed to the source of the commotion. The doors slowly, ever so slowly, began to open. And what was behind them blew everyone's minds.

***

"WHOA! WHOA WHOA WHOA!" Jett jumped back along with everyone else in front of him.
"What? What 'WHOA'?" Blade struggled to see what was going on. He pushed Jett to the side and looked in front of him. "Oh my."
Before the astonished dig crew stood an enormous open cavern. Stone buildings were everywhere, creating a huge underground city. Streets lined with actual sidewalks and benches curved and twisted in and out between the buildings. It looked like the Flintstones version of New York City.
"Impossible!"
"No way!"
"How.?"
"This can't be!"
"What is going on here?"
The crew was staring, mouths gaping open.
Jett stared ahead, in shock. "This. This is awesome!"
People had already started fanning out to explore the city, like small schoolchildren just let loose in a park for a field trip. In what seemed like an instant, the entire city was covered with people gazing, exploring, and investigating every single nook and cranny.
Amy walked up beside Jett and Blade. "Have you ever SEEN anything so magnificent? I mean, look at this place!"
Blade gazed around. "Eh, it's nothing huge. We have cities that people actually live in."
"Ugh. I can't believe you ever became an archeologist."
"I'm the weapons expert, not the architectural genius." Blade looked ahead of him. "Hey, why don't check out that place over there?" He pointed at a huge building in the rear of the city. Without even waiting for an answer, he took off.
Amy looked at Jett. "Can you believe him?"
Jett shrugged. "Eh, you get used to him after a while." With that, he began following Blade. Amy stood by herself for a second with a flustered look on her face.
"I really do hate those guys." She walked off in the direction of the two men.

***

Blade was poking around inside the mansionesque structure. He seemed sorely disappointed.
"Hey Blade, why the long face?" Jett walked up next to him.
"No weapons. Nothing! How did these people defend themselves?"
"Yup, still the same old Blade," Jett muttered to himself, walking away. He approached the back of the main room. On the wall was an ornate fireplace. It stood out from the rest of the rather plain room. Jett took a closer look at it, examining the decorative markings adorning the front. His gazed moved up to the mantle, where several ornate pots and vases sat. He picked one of the vases off the mantle and looked at it. "Hmmm. it seems in surprisingly good shape."
Blade looked at Amy. "I think this is the palace or castle or governor's mansion or whatever equivalent these guys had."
"Why?"
"It's the biggest," Blade said, simply
"I hate to buy into the 'bigger is better' line of thought, I'd have to agree with you on that. Anyway, I can't wait to get some of this stuff back to lab to analyze." Amy added under her breath, "If we even HAVE a lab."
Blade eyed her. "What was that?"
"Nothing. Just." A loud crash interrupted the conversation.
"Dangit!" Jett was staring at the shattered pieces of a vase on the cold stone floor. "First time in months I've done that."
Amy ran over to Jett. "Oh, that's just wonderful. Nice job." Blade laughed at him. Jett growled and looked down at the ground. Looking at the shattered pieces of the vase, he noticed something.
"Hey, what's that?" Jett bent over and picked up a small blue orb. It was about the size of a ping pong ball and reflected light quite nicely.
Amy snatched it out of Jett's hand.
"Hey!"
"Shush! Let me see it." Amy took the glittering orb into her hands. She rolled it around for a while, held it up to her eye for a closer look, and finally shook it so violently that Jett thought it would fly out of her hand. "Whatever it is, it's perfect."
"Perfect?" Blade asked.
"Yeah, perfect. It's the same all around. No holes, bumps, notches, grooves anywhere. In fact, I can't even think of one possible purpose this thing could serve."
She gave it back to Jett and looked up at Blade. So did Jett. "Is something wrong?"
Blade was as pale as snow and was shaking so hard he could hardly get any words out. "Be-... hind.. you..."
Amy spun around just in time to see a masked warrior thrust a sword straight through her body.