DUBUQUE COUNTY CAVERNS SEALED OFF

submitted by William Posey IV

     as recounted to him by Dr. Charles Gibson


Dubuque: On April 20, 1998, a sinkhole opened up in rural homeowner Felix Zigel's front yard (see: Underground Civilization Discovered! April, 1998, vol. 5, Issue #4). This sinkhole led to a series of now unused zinc mine shafts from the late nineteenth century, which in turn connected to a cave network. The Dubuque Area Geological Association was called in to investigate. Headed by Dr. Charles Gibson, DAGA found, deep in one cave, a smooth, two-foot square section of wall that bore strange rune-like inscriptions. Professor Laura van Eck of Georg von Podebrad College was astounded to find that the inscriptions appeared to be an ancient form of Gaelic writing and dated the inscription's carving at well over a thousand years ago; long before anyone from the British Isles even thought of setting foot on the North American continent. Needless to say, experts working on the mystery are perplexed.

     The inscription is not wholly translatable, but what has been gleaned from them has an eerie quality. The writing appears to be some sort of warning, saying, "Do not come to our world," and "You have the sun and moon." The significance of these phrases has not yet been determined.

     A further wrinkle in the enigma comes in the form of Doctor Danforth Haversham, the much beleaguered physician of Nanson, Iowa, accused of three grisly deaths in that town. The day that the Gaelic inscription was discovered, Haversham placed a call to Felix Zigel, cryptically warning, "Do not come below." The doctor still has not explained his message.

     In June and July, DAGA conducted painstaking geological and archaeological surveys of the cave and mine network. One half-mile into the cave system was a passage blocked by melon-sized stones. Dr. Gibson suggested that the stones were probably put there intentionally, rather than them being part of a naturally collapsed tunnel. Workers began removing the stones at the beginning of July. The project took longer than expected. Not a simple wall of stones, the barrier extended some twenty-five feet down the cave passage. By July 14, the barrier was finally dismantled and a team of spelunkers prepared to ignore the ominous inscription's warning and proceed down the tunnel. The team was led by Dr. Gibson and joined by amateur spelunker Carl Welsh, DAGA geologist Nilsa Roetto and honorary explorer Felix Zigel.

     The tunnel beyond the barrier sloped downward, its walls and floors becoming increasingly smooth as it went on. Ten feet tall and twenty feet wide, the passage also became increasingly cooler. Roetto noted that odd, circular patches of quartz appeared at about shoulder height on the left hand wall, one every hundred or so feet. On inspection, the patches appeared to be almost perfectly round, and Roetto estimated that the quartz must extend for quite some way beyond the tunnel surface. She made it quite apparent to the rest of the team that this did not appear to be a natural formation, but could not explain it.

     The team continued forward, the passage still sloping gently downward. After about two hundred yards, Welsh motioned for the team to stop.

     "I just noticed a couple of things," the thirty-nine year old cave buff said. "First, this tunnel is remarkably dry, and the air is really good. Not musty at all. I'll try to figure that out later. But there's something else, too, I think. Everybody switch off your helmet lights."

     The group complied with Welsh's wishes, and was plunged into darkness. Or so they thought at first. When their eyes had a chance to adjust a bit, they could see a thin streak of faint light running along the center of the ceiling, providing just enough illumination so that they could see each other clearly. Roetto examined the light source more closely.

     Her face soured. "I don't understand this. I swear to God that line is made out of quartz. I just don't know how it can be glowing like that. I mean, if there were ferrous materials in this rock, and a lot of pressure was being exerted on both the quartz and metal, well, maybe something like this could happen. But it sure as hell's never been documented."

     Gibson agreed. Whatever phenomenon the group was witnessing, it was being seen for the first time. Zigel asked if the light source could be man-made. Gibson laughed, then caught himself. "I don't know," he said, puzzled. "I sure don't see how."

     The team decided to leave their light sources off, and just use the quartz-light to travel the rest of the way. Roetto was quick to note that the circular formations of quartz in the walls did not glow. The team moved on.

     Two hundred yards later, the passage ended. What did not end, however was the mystery. Carved into the dead-end wall of the passage was a seven-foot tall, three-feet wide arch. The engraving was only an inch wide, but the depth of carving could not be determined. In the middle of the arch, four feet off the ground, was a one foot cube indentation. And in the cube, on the side parallel to the floor of the tunnel, was a circular plate of quartz, embedded into the rock like the ones in the passage. But that wasn't all here. On the floor, in front of the arch, was a foot-long leather tube, sealed with wax at both ends. Zigel picked it up, and asked the group if he should open it. No one knew what to say, so Zigel popped one wax end off. Inside was a piece of paper, yellow and brittle.

     Zigel read aloud the short message inscribed.

    

     To whom it may matter:

     That you are reading this means that you have come too far. This I know, for my team's search for zinc has led us to some secrets better left uncovered. We will spend weeks sealing this passage in the hopes that no one will ever come down this god-forsaken path again. We have spoken with those that call themselves "terro". One terro, his name unpronounceable and unprintable, warned us that this passage had been taken over by the "derro", and that we were all in danger for even being here. I will not write here what he has told me, for certain things should not be brought back up to the surface. I can only leave this warning here. The terro, in turn, will place their own final warning after we have sealed the passage. Let us hope the arch never opens again.

     William Scott Bowman, 21 May, 1891

    

     "What the hell is going on here?" cried Welsh. "This is ridiculous. We've been set up. This whole thing is a prank. Somebody that likes Lovecraft or King sent us down here as a joke."

     Gibson disagreed. "This note, this scroll case- they look authentic, Carl. This is a weird place. Maybe this Bowman guy and the rest of the miners that were here just got a little scared being down here too long. Miners in Germany used to have folk tales about little people that lived and worked underground. They called them kobolds. The English had their dwarves and elves, and Scandinavia its gnomes. It only makes sense that American miners would come up with their own superstitions as well."

     "That's fine and well," interjected Roetto, "but these quartz formations aren't superstition. They're real. Maybe they inspired the story on that piece of paper, but they are real, even if Bowman's just spinning a yarn. Hell, the miners probably carved this arch to support their story, but the quartz---I'd like to get to the bottom of that."

     Zigel examined the quartz patch in the arch-cubicle. He told the others that if the story were true, then maybe the cubicle was the "final warning" that Bowman alluded to. Welsh scoffed, suggesting that Bowman may have carved the cube himself. Zigel disagreed, and placed his hand on the quartz disc.

     Instantly, a sharp metal pane slammed down from just inside the cube's opening, sealing the cube shut for a split second, then snapping back up into the groove from which it came. Zigel, staggering, backed away from the cube, gasping heavily. When he turned around, the team collectively cried out. Zigel's right arm had been severed two inches above the wrist. He collapsed instantly and went into shock.

     The team quickly scooped up Zigel and rushed him along the dimly-lit tunnel. They emerged into the cavern area, and Gibson shouted to his DAGA associates to call an ambulance. A young geologist named Gertrude Sims looked confused. "There's already an ambulance here, Doctor," she said, voice shaking. "I don't know what's going on, but we all have to get out of here." Baffled, Gibson ushered Roetto, Welsh and Zigel out, then ordered the rest of the DAGA team to leave their equipment and join him on the surface.

     When he finally emerged from the darkness himself, Gibson could scarcely believe his eyes. His DAGA team was being grouped and held away from the sinkhole by men in white jumpsuits---some of them brandishing guns. Vans encircled the dig site, some white and some black, but all unmarked. Gibson could see a line of at least a dozen cement mixers approaching the small farmstead. One of the men in a white jumpsuit ran up to Gibson. Gibson noted later that he thought the man had a weasly, almost reptilian look in his eye. He was also very, very pale and wore thick, horn-rimmed glasses.

     "Dr. Charles Gibson?" the man in white asked. Gibson nodded. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Zigel stretched out on a gurney. More men in white were attending to his wound while tucking him away in one of the vans.

     "Who are you?" Gibson asked curtly. "What are you doing here?"

     The man in white smiled. Gibson would later report that the man's smile sent shivers down his spine.

     "We're FEMA, Doctor. Federal Emergency Management Agency. I'm sorry to surprise you like this, but we have to quarantine this whole area."

     "Why?" asked the baffled Gibson.

     The man in white was quick to answer. "Contaminants in the mine, sir. Although short-term exposure can do no real harm, I recommend that you and your team seek out medical assistance as soon as possible, just as a precaution. We also have reason to believe that radioactive particles may be present in some concentration in the air further into the mine system. We're going to assess the threat and then seal the whole area off."

     Gibson was livid. "You don't understand. The archaeological imp-" The man in the horn-rimmed glasses cut him off with a wave of his hand.

     "This is a matter to be discussed at a different time, sir. But for now, this area is under the complete direction of FEMA and the United States Government. I am asking you to vacate the area. If you do not comply willingly, we will have you forcibly removed."

     Finally, Gibson gave in. But before he left, he got the name of the man in the glasses: Benton Ford. Since that day, neither Gibson nor the rest of his team has been able to approach within a half-mile of the dig site. Felix Zigel received a check for $210,000 from an anonymous donor, with a note attached indicating that it was payment for his home, property, and loss of his right hand. Zigel, recovering well, is still not allowed on his old property in Dubuque County.

     Third Eye Over Iowa staff was quick to note that "Benton Ford" was also the name of the private investigator hired by the town of Nanson to find information of Dr. Danforth Haversham. The possibility that this individual might be the same person exists, and is being investigated.





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