I have an idea.

We need to develop a story line of our own on this site. Just read the story, and then post a few lines of your own, and post a picture if you want, and let's see where this goes.

Let's begin with Dirk Pitt and a classic car...

Dirk pulls into an old Texaco station for some gas and a cold drink. While paying he strikes up a conversation with the attendant. “Say, old fellow, do you know where the old Fairbanks mine is?”

The old fellow looks down at Dirk’s credit card. “Hmmm, Dirk Pitt, your name looks familiar. Seems I’ve heard that name before.”

Dirk stares at the old codger. Not recognizing him, he asks, “Can’t recall meeting you before, what’s your name?”

“Cussler, Clive Cussler” replies the old fellow. “Fairbanks mine, sure, been there once…”

"Great!" says Pitt, "could you be so kind as to show me the way?"

The old codger's eyes sparkle as he replies, "better still, young man, I'll personally show you how to get there ... I'm driving!"

Old man Cussler bounds from behind the counter and slides in behind the wheel of Pitt's cobalt blue Cobra. Pitt barely had time to plant his backside into the passenger seat before Cussler pushed the pedal to the metal and smoked the tyres in a frenzied fish-tailing escape from the gas station.

Pitt thought to himself, "Well, it looks like this guy could come in handy on this mission, I just hope he doesn't upset Al ... two's company, three's a crowd"

The Cobra tore up the road towards the Fairbanks mine and they arrived just as .........

...Al was pulling up in a beat-up old pickup truck.

The stocky Italian gave the old man a quick once-over as Pitt and Cussler pulled up with the Cobra.

"What have we here?" Giordino asked as he pulled a cooler and various equipment from the back of the truck.

"I spilled a drink on the directions that you gave me, and I got lost, and needed a little help finding this place.” Dirk replied

“Who’s your chauffeur?” Al smirked.

“My wheel man is Clive Cussler, and I’m convinced after riding with him for ½ an hour that…

...that the ole' windbag is lying....he doesn't seem to know any of the history of the Fairbanks mine", Dirk mused.

Al replied, "Huh? How would you know anything about the mine anyway? We've never been here before, and I don't think you were alive 60-so years ago when the mine was operational..."

Pitt smiled, handing Al a now worn pamphlet entitled 'History of the Fairbanks Mine'.

"You never cease to amaze me," Giordino laughed.

"Well, better get a move on before..."

BAM!!

Pitt staggered under the force of the blow. Out of the blue, old Cussler lined the lanky Numa man up with a vicious haymaker that nearly knocked him off his feet.

Scratching his chin, Pitt looked at the frail looking man with new respect, "I guess I better take what I said, back!"

"You better believe it, you young whipper snapper! I'll be taking charge of this mission from here on in."

Al was as impressed as Pitt was, and they both stood attentatively waiting for old Cussler to formulate a plan.

"ok", Cussler spoke up, "According to legend, the Fairbanks Mine was closed down a long time ago when flooding in the lower levels forced workers to abandon the mine. After the water subsided, a team was sent down to investigate, but only one guy returned with wide eyes and a wild tale about a tunnel that ran forever in both directions."

Al's memory kicked in, "I recall a story that the Chinese were thinking of invading the US by tunneling their way over"

Pitt grabbed a lantern and put on his back-pack, "If its fine with you, Cussler, we'll do a little investigating ourselves."

.....

"Yeah that fine, but take these with you." says Cussler as he pulls radio headsets out of his backpack.

"We can use these to keep in contact. While you two head off into the mine, I will climb the tower over there over that shaft, for a bit of a look-see"

"Ok, lets get going, if we want to be back in town before night fall" says Pitt, and drags Giordino with him into the decline of the mine.

"So, what do you think of that old crap Cussler? Isn't it weird how he..."

… was in a hurry to send us off, alone, into the mine?” scowled Giordino.

Pitt came back with, “Yeah, we better keep our eyes on him, something just doesn’t feel right.”

After several hours of navigating thru what seemed to be endless corridors, Dirk, dripping in sweat, stops suddenly. Giordino, following closely behind, stumbles into Dirk.

“Why the sudden stop?” Al inquires.

“Do you see that glow, there, thru that small opening?” Pitt asks, “I almost missed it with the glare from your light.”

They both start removing large rocks that obviously had been placed there years earlier to seal off a small passageway. When the hole was large enough to crawl thru, each squeezed his way thru the opening, and entered a large chamber.

On the far end of the chamber they found Cussler, sitting on a rock, eating a sandwich by the light of a lantern.

“About time you boys showed up.” Cussler chortled…

"Where the hell did you come from?" asked Al, looking stunned, "I thought there was only one entry here."

Cussler laughed loudly in the old mine, "I should have told you that there is one other way in here"

Pitt stared at the old man, who sat calmly eating his sandwich, "I wonder how many more secrets you know about this mine?" ...

Cussler took the last bite of his sandwich and washed it down with a swig from a canteen that looked old enough to have seen battle during the Civil War. "Well come on." he grunted while pulling himself to his feet.

Dirk and Al exchanged glances as the old man picked up his lantern and started off in the direction of what appeared to be a dead-end. As they neared the cavern wall a small hole became visible by the glow of the ancient lantern. Cussler started to get onto his hands and knees and a small moan escaped from his lips. "It's nothing boys, I was kicked in the leg by a mule, years back."

As they watched him begin to crawl , Al looked at Dirk and said "You first old friend, I'll be right behind you all the way."

The trio had crawled appoximately 500 feet when the tunnel turned sharply to the right. As soon as they had made their turn, a glow was visible in the distance.

The old man was begining to slow when a woman's scream....

.... was heard in Pitt's memory banks... What did that have to do with this situation? The thoughts nagged on Pitt as he continued to follow the old guy.

The source of the glow was revealed when they arrived in a small musty room supported by old timbers.

Obviously Cussler had already been here, and set up a lantern. The room had an odor that seemed famaliar, but Pitt wasn't able to place where he'd smelled it before. "What's that smell Al?" Pitt quizzed.

Giordino lifted his nose to the air, but found no answer for Pitt.

It soon became apparent that something special had once happened in this room, because all of the...

(Meave's out of order post inserted below)

party food on the tables.

"Whats been going on here?" demanded Al.

"Looks like there's been something odd going on," mused Dirk.

Cussler chortled, "Don't worry about all that", waving his hand towards the tables. He stepped towards a door on the far side of the room, "this is what I wanted to show you" he declared as he managed to drag the door open...

and to their total amazement, Dirk and Al found themselves staring at an altar, within what was obviously a temple torn from the pages of greek mythology.

"Now this is weird?" stuttered Al. "Wasn't Medusa a popular greek goddess in the 1000 BC circa?" as he stared at a large statue standing behind the aged alter.

"That's correct" said Pitt, as he picked up a golden, but old and cobwebbed goblet from the alter they all were now standing in front of.

"If I'm not mistaken, this proves pre-Colombus travel between Europe and the Americas" said Pitt.

"Thats what I've been trying to tell those damn buruecrats in DC for the last two years, but do you think anyone there listens to an old gas station attendent like me??? NO!" mutters Cussler, obviously frustrated.

Just then Al was picking up a spear shaped shaft on the right hand side of the alter, which released the trap door in front of the alter. WHOOSH. Pitt and Cussler vanished into thin air without a noise.

"Dirk? Mr. Cussler?" queried Al. "This sh#t is getting spooky!" thought Al just as

...

... Pitt and old man Cussler walked back into the room thru what appeared to be a fake panel in the far wall.

"Whoa, that was spooky, where did you guys go?" Giordino gasped.

Pitt motioned for Giordino to follow, as he said, "You won't believe the size of the tunnels we dropped into." As he held open the panel, Giordiono followed Cussler into a labyrnith of passages, which was illuminated with electric lights.

"Incredible, it looks like someone is still working this mine in some fashion." spoke Pitt

Cussler chimed in, "It's time to let you boys in on a little secret that Sandecker and I formulated a few years back. Do you remember when...

.. "what, Sandecker? How do you know Sandecker?" Pitt interupted.

Cussler says, "I know more about you guys than you know about yourself. Sandecker and I are good buddies. He likes me to watch after you two in the field."

Cussler continues. "See, long ago, you two could not keep out of trouble, so I was asked by your boss to watch over you and give anonymous tips to reporters to keep them off your back. Think about it, guys; in all of your adventures don't you always meet a man that helps you out named Clive Cussler" ....

Pitt and Al looked at each other as realization set in.

"So you’re Sandecker's stooge?", Pitt ventured, "We always wondered who that guy in different disguises was that called himself Cussler!"

"Yep, that’s me; your meeting with me at the gas station was pre-arranged. Sandecker informed me that you were heading to the mine, so I hung around till you showed up."

Pitt rubbed the swelling on his chin, "So tell us what’s going on here, you and Sandecker obviously know something about this mine that we don't. And if you’ve been tagging after us all of these years, why let us in on the secret now?”

“First,” Cussler began, “I’m getting too old to try to keep up with you guys all the time, and you’re getting too old to stay ahead of me, so it was bound to happen that we’d meet up sooner or later. Now’s the time.”

"Ok, this is what we got ", Cussler squatted down and scraped the earthen floor with a sharp stick, "This mine has intersected an ancient underground labyrinth of tunnels that we believe criss-cross this part of the United States. The temple here is one of many rooms here that are carved into the walls and we think this particular area is a main tunnel junction that people used to stop at before continuing on."

Al interrupted, "So am I right?, The Chinese theory, huh?"

"With Greek Medusa statues?", Cussler shook his head, "What we're talking about here is an ancient Greek civilization of tunnel builders that somehow wound up digging in a foreign land far from home across thousands of miles of Atlantic ocean."

Al thought for a minute, "I recall doing history back in high school and I always remember the subject of the ancient Greeks was BORING !", Al doubled over with laughter at his sudden fit of wit.

Pitt and Cussler stared blankly at each other then back at the stocky Italian who was now rolling on the ground.

"That one-liner wouldn't win any prizes!" Cussler mused, "As soon as you recover, Al, both of you follow me along the main tunnel, this will make your jaws drop...."

...and with that, Cussler turned, and headed off down the tunnel going deeper
into the mountain.

Both Pitt and Giordino followed Cussler as they now noticed a new gait to his step, as though revealing the secret had given him a new energy. They hurried to catch up, and soon they came to another smaller tunnel opening on their right.


Cussler ducked inside, with Pitt and Giordino close on his heels. The smaller tunnel had led them into a chamber, with a tile floor, that Pitt guessed was about fifty feet in diameter, but he couldn't tell how high with only the light from the lantern and their flash lights. But it was the object lying in the center of the chamber that drew everyones attention...

A man, sprawled out on the floor, his eyes staring fixedly at the ceiling...

"HOLY...." Giordino gasped.

"Well there's something you don't see every day," mused Pitt.

"No, not EVERY day," said Giordino, "but we've had our share of these."

"But none so grotesque!" said Pitt. "Look at these wounds! They seem to be made from a..."

Pitt continued...."Hey, wait! this corpse isn't even real! it's been placed here to scare people off!... WOW, fantastic job in wax... There must be something in this room that they didn't want anyone to see or find. We better check it out thoroughly."

After carefully examining the room, with nothing found, Giordino started poking around the awfull looking "corpse". It was almost indescernable at first, but then he noticed a slight seam in the tiles below it. "Check this out" he exclaimed, as he unsheathed his knife and started to pick at the seam.

Cussler knelt beside him, removing his Knife too, and began to pick at the seam.

Soon all three were carefully working together.

Sweat beat at all their brows, but with the determination of an army the three men toiled at the daunting task. After what seemed like an eternity, there seemed to be some actual progress.

The tiles were pulled apart to reveal another ladder like contraption, leading down yet again.

Al looked at the two other men. "So who gets to go down first?"

Old man Cussler's boot answered Al's enquiry. The stocky Italian was unceremoniously booted down the ladder and he landed with a thump on the earthen floor, ten feet below.

Cussler then jumped down himself with the agility of a leopard and shone his torch around to check out the secret room. Pitt ambled down the ladder and helped Al to his feet, who was nursing a bruised shoulder and a couple of cracked ribs.

Al went to make a move towards Cussler but Pitt placed a firm hand upon his shoulder and whispered quietly, "Wait till we figure out what the heck is going on here before you pummel the old codger."

Al, with the look of an enraged bull, took several deep breaths and took Pitt's advice.

Cussler then yelled out with excitement, "well, looky here!, there's a hand-powered rail car sittin on rails that disappear in that direction."

Wasting no time at all, the three men clambered onto the rail car and .......

Giordino let out a sigh. "Should have stopped at the table back there. I would give anything for a snack." Pitt just grinned as the rail car began to roll.

"Stop moaning, Giordino", Cussler snapped as his sinewy muscles pumped the rail car lever, "Or you'll get your snack alright ... a knuckle sandwich!"

Al mumbled something under his breath as they picked up speed through the darkened tunnel.....

...the tunnel slowly widened and the rail car picked up speed. Pitt noticed it was too much speed, so he pulled the brake handle and felt it slowing down. They passed through a large cavarn that had beautiful lumiscient stalactites hanging down from the ceiling. Finally they went through the cavern to another long tunnel unfortunately.....

Giordino shouted, "Look..........is that a light?"

Pitt squinted, searching the inky darkness for anything that could indicate an opening to the surface.

Glancing at his friend's face, Giordino burst out laughing........"Get it....a light.....at the end of the tunnel???"

Dr. Cussler slowly shook his head and muttered, "Who writes this crap???? Don't give up your day job!"

Giordino started to move toward Cussler, then stopped. "Look old man, I'm sorry we started off wrong this morning with you. I'm tired, hungry and grouchy. I apologize for riding you so tough."

"Hey" Cussler responded, "I understand you guys like to work your projects alone, and I'm intruding... maybe I can lighten-up a little on you too."

"Nice to see you guys kiss and make up, but we've got immediate problems ahead." Pitt rattled, "Take a look at that..."

"Armed guards?" Giordino mused. "That can't be good for us..."

Al and Dirk stared silently ahead as Cussler grew agitated. "Doesn't any of this bother you?" he seethed. "We are headed towards a battalion of armed soldiers! This is BAD NEWS!!!"

"Mister Cussler, with all due respect, Al and I have the most genius of minds, and have already formulated our plan of attack...right Al?"

Dirk's comment went unnoticed.

"Right Al?" he proceeded.

"Uh...yeah, already...plan..."

"Looks like it's all you on this one Pitt," Cussler said.

"Luckily, I already have one....

His confidence was perhaps misplaced, but it gave his commrades a sense of relief.
Pitt concerned himself with slowing down the cart without drawing attention to themselves. They had stopped pumping the levers moments before, but if they didn't stop almost immediately, their forward momentum would have them delivered literaly to the armed men. And jamming the handbrake would no doubt draw notice as the creaky wheels ground to a halt.
Pitt reached into the pouch that had contained their lunches. Glad he had brought it, he sighed in relief as he found what he was looking for.
"Ketchup?" Al asked quizically as he saw Pitt withdraw three small packets of the tomato sauce frm his bag. Put in there by a helpful shop clerk when Pitt had bought sandwiches at the local grocery mart in preperation for the trip, Pitt quickly squeezed the packets on the wheels of the old car. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the handbrake and was rewarded by the rail car stopping almost instantly and without a noise thanks to the lubrication from the ketchup.
The three men climbed out of the railcar and looked towards the armed men only two hundred feet away.
"Now what?" Cussler asked.

"Al, you got anything with you?" Asked Dirk, showing his old Colt 1911.

"If you mean a gun, all I got is rocks" replied Al, looking at Cussler. "What about you, Granpa?"

Cussler tried to think something to say back to Giordino, but finally gave up and answered "Nothing."

"Ok, this is what we do..." said Dirk

...moments later, Cussler and Giordino walked toward the armed men with their hands held high in the air, followed closely behind with Pitt holding his colt on them.

As they approached the group of guards all eyes were trained on the prisoners. A tall stocky fellow, obviously the leader of the group, stepped forward. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked.

"I found these guys snooping around, up the tunnel." Pitt answered.

Ignoring Pitt, the soldier addressed Cussler. "What's your purpose, who sent you here?"

At that same instant, Giordino grabbed the rifle of the soldier standing next to him, and spun it around to point it at the group's leader. "Drop your weapons or your leader dies!" snapped Al.

The leader of the guards let a grin slowly steal across his face. Giordino didn't need to look behind him to guess that the hard steel suddenly pressed into his back wasn't a Hallmark Pick Me Up Bouquet.

Dirk exclaimed, "With this much drama, you'd think we're in the middle of really bad movie. Like that Sahara flick just released by Crusader."

Cussler nodded his head in agreement. "Ok. We surrender. Take us to your leader. I'm sure he's an evil, maniacal mastermind who wants to destroy the world using technology related to the sea."

"Oh no," replied a guard, without a trace of humor. "You don't understand. We're secret supporters of Hillary Clinton. We've come down here to hide. These guns are for our protection. You're not Republicans are you?"

The three intrepid but unfortunate adventurers were prodded by gun-point into the guard's lock-up cell. The heavy steel door slammed shut on its creaky hinges.

Cussler gave Pitt a cold stare, "Well, thats another fine mess you've gotten us into!"

But Pitt was already going over their confines with a new plan beginning to formulate, "If we were able to outwit Hillary before, we can do it again."

Cussler looked at Pitt in total confusion, "You two have run into her before?"

"Thats an affirmative", Al replied as he rubbed an old wound, "Hillary is just her cover, her real name is ... Melika!" .....

Sowly and precisely, Al told Cussler of his and Pitt's adventure in the Tebezzan mine of Africa. As he told the story, Pitt busied himself by going over the makeshift cell with an eye accustomed to breaking out of confinement. The hinges to the cell were on the other side of the door, so they were of little value. But the ceiling looked promising.
It was actually metal grating, the "floor" of the level above. Pitt studied the grating and found the seam where the two grates were placed together.
"Al, enough with storytime. Lift me up. I may have figured a way out of here."

Even with the beating he had been taking, Al was able to support Dirk long enough for Dirk to find a way to escape through the roof. But Dirk also noticed what was on the floor above.
"The room above looks vaguely familar," said Dirk wrly.
"What?" inquired Cussler
"Remember when that Japanese maniac was trying to take over the world using nukes? And he had built a hidden control center? Well, this is a spitting image of that room," replied Dirk.
"So what do we do?" asked Al as he helped Dirk down.
"Get out, figure out what the room above is for, and, well, uh.... I'll figure it out when the time comes!" replied Dirk
Al moaned. "Whenever you say that, I know I'm going to be getting a few more boo-boos."

Dirk checked his Doxa watch and timed the frequency of the guards visits past the heavy door. As the guard looked through the peep-hole, Dirk exchanged glances with a wink of the eye.

"Ok, he's gone, I figure we have 20 minutes, lets go!"

Al boosted Dirk up through the roof, followed by Cussler. They then reached down and pulled the bulky Italian after them.

They quickly searched for weapons and Cussler found a .....

...a small door cleverly hidden in what looked to be an electrical panel. "Quick!" Pitt hissed, "I've found a door....it must lead out of this room!"

The 3 men squeezed through the door and entered another chamber. They were stunned by what they saw.

The room was filled with files, computers, and adding machines. Sitting at the only desk was a woman whose fingers were flying over the keys of an adding machine.

Dr. Cussler muttered, "She looks vaguely familiar........oh my God, it IS Hillary!"

The woman looked up and snarled, "Hillary? I'm not Hillary...that woman is deluded into thinking she has any power! I am the most powerful woman in the world.........I am your day of reckoning...I can ruin your life with one flick of the pinky on an adding machine key....I am......"

"Oh my God..." Giordino moaned, "She's a tax auditor!"

"That's right, boys, and your time has come!"

"Al, Wake up!, Al, Wake up!" whispered Pitt, as he shook the massive shoulders of his buddy.

"Huh?, What?..." Al grumbled as he woke up, looking at Cussler and Pitt in their tiny cell. "Last thing I remember is worrying about new boo-boos."

"You've been asleep for over an hour, and just started mumbling something crazy about Hillary and tax auditors." explained Cussler.

"Yeah, it's getting late, and it's time for us to make our move." Pitt whispered

Dirk silently pulled a small knife out of his shoe and started to fiddle with the door's lock.
"shhhh!" Cussler hissed, as a metal on metal clanging reverberated across the echoing halls.
"You wanna try?" Pitt retorted.
"As a matter of fact..." Cussler said, grasping the knife from Pitt's hand.
Dirk and Al exchanged incredulous looks.
That guy's got to be the biggest kook I've ever... Dirk thought- just as a barely audible CLICK signaled the release of the locking mechanism.
"I have newfound respect for my elders," Al mused.
Cussler pushed the cell door open...

and they worked their way up close to the surface of the underworld complex and as they climb towards the sunlight.....a womans face appears.....loren smith smiles at dirk.....

Dirk, flabbergasted, croaks "Loren? What are you doing here?"
"We need to get out of the hall," says Cussler in a hushed tone. He quickly guides them into a room off the hallway.
"I don't know. I went to bed, and when I woke up, I was here. But the guards obviously trust me, and have let me wonder the area at will," replied a still shocked Loren.
"Have they harmed you?" inquired Dirk.
"I hate to interupt you ladies," interrupted Al. "But time is precious."
"Right," said Dirk. Turning to Loren, he asked, "Do you know a way out?"
"Well what do you think I've been doing this whole time?" said Loren incredously. Turning to Cussler, she asked"Who is this man?"
"Clive Cussler. The admiral sent him to watch our hides," answered Al. "Well?"
"Is anybody coming?" asked Dirk to Cussler.
"Coast is clear." came the answer.
"Follow me," said Loren as she hurried out the door and turned to the left.
Fortunately, they encountered no guards. After about a hundred meters, the group came to an airshaft.
"This?" asked Al in wonder
"Yes. Go up 10 meters and there's a tunnel to the left. Follow it for a while and you'll get out," answered Loren
"Dirk, you go first," said Cussler. "Loren will follow, then Al. I'll go last."
Al, in a repeat of earlier, lowered himself, and picked Dirk up like he were a sack of rice. Dirk managed to get a handhold, and pulled himself up. Climbing up the shaft, he managed to reach the tunnel.

Once they'd all made it to the tunnel, the dishevelled group gingerly made their way along the tunnel in the dark. There was the occcasional grunt as one or other walked into a discarded oil can, or a wooden crate in the almost impenetratable darkness. At one stage, Al tripped over a cable across their route, and cursed under his breath as his broken ribs took the full force of the fall. A dim grey began to take over from total blackness, and they started to see a little of their surroundings.

Eventually, a discernable light was visible, seeming coming from far in the distance, and as they turned a corner in the tunnel, it seemed to open into an almost cathedral-like hall.

"Stop" whispered Dirk, who was slightly ahead of the others. "There's somebody about three hundred feet ahead, to the right."

Al slid behind an empty packing crate in the middle of the tunnel, which was now clearly silhouetted against the dull grey. Ahead he could see the guard, slumped against the wall, seemingly taking a quick smoke break. A darkness beside him seemed to indicate a doorway, or another tunnel disappearing off to the side. In the distance, there was the very faintest sound of music. "Glen Miller?", Dirk thought.

Pitt looked at Al, then motioned to Cussler and Loren, a few feet behind them, to take cover in the shadows. Pitt and Al nodded at each other, then seemingly as one, they rose and moved silently towards the hapless guard.