Desert Snow... Pt 2

"Are you sure that you didn't hit your head when we crashed, Dan?"
"I told you it was probably the Sun, Marlene. We need to get walking if we are going to find the complex before dark. Let's just hope someone comes along for us. I am worried about you and Marcus, Bernie."
"I promise we will be fine, Dan. You get going so we can get out of here quicker."
Dan and Marlene gathered a few things and then started to walk. Without a clear vision of where they were going, Dan headed North as the map indicated. The wind was up a little and helped to cool them, if the word cool could be used in this desert. Now and again, Dan would look towards the East as if he had heard something. Marlene watched him for signs of heat exhaustion. They traveled as fast as their breathing would allow them to. Nightfall was not far away and Dan wished they had a place to hide from the darkness.
"We should be coming to a ravine soon, Marlene. Hopefully it will hold some water and shelter for us."
"Dan, are we going to be alright?"
"We have been in a lot more frightening situations than this, sweetheart. Everything is going to be fine."
As they topped the hill, Dan and Marlene both stood silent. Looking down into the ravine below them, they both wondered if the Sun had finally taken it's toll on them.
"Dan, I am not sure if I want you to tell me you Do see what I do or that you Don't see it."
"Would not matter much, sweetheart. From that statement, I am guessing we are both seeing the same thing. I just don't believe what we are seeing."
Dan looked down at the ravine. It appeared to be more of a valley than a ravine. In the middle of the desert was a huge green pasture. Water ran freely as if they were standing in the middle of any place other than the desert. A lake sat to the East of the pasture and in it were creatures Dan had never seen. Ever. Old Viking ships, looking like they had just been crafted and fully loaded with their own Vikings sailed the lake. A sea serpent dodged the sharp blade of one of the Vikings as it tried to devour him. Beyond the lake sat an air-field, complete with vintage World War II aircraft. Beside them sat the most sophisticated fighter jets of modern time. Smaller boats filled the lake and the water was teaming with fishes of every sort, including some that had not existed in 10,000 years.
"It looks like a museum down there."
"Dan, there are things down there that No museum has because they never existed. When was the time you saw a sea serpent at Sea World?"
Dan knew that Marlene's jabbing was a cover for her fear of what she was seeing. He was no less frightened of what he was seeing. Frightened and fascinated all at once. Looking to the West, Dan saw something that should have seemed out of place but here... in this valley, it fit perfectly. A Pyramid reached out to the sky and filled the air with sounds of workers laying bricks around it.
One man stood atop of a huge stone that over looked the entire valley. As he turned towards them, Dan and Marlene tried to hide themselves. They both knew it was too late. They had been seen. In an instant, the man that had been on the other side of the valley was standing next to them. Dan covered Marlene's body with his own, trying his best to protect her. The man from the stone looked down at them.
"You have come far to view our secret place. I was remiss in not seeing you coming in time to shield our colony from your eyes. It matters none now. No one will ever know what you have seen."
Dan stood up. "Secret!!?? You call half a desert of a collection of everything we have on earth and some we do NOT, to be a secret!? How is it you could be here and no one know?"
"We have been here for a very long time. We hide our colony from planes that fly over or others that have come too near us with our own essence. It appears to be a desert to them just as it did to you. Those that see us before we can cover our selves simply become part of our workers. Their crafts become ours too."
"Who are you? Where are you from?" Marlene was too scared not to talk out. She wanted answers.
"We are a people your world thought long ago extinct. We hid away until we could discover all the secrets of the mind so we could exist here amongst you without notice. The mind is more powerful than you could fathom. We have cultivated it and made it our way of life."
"We just want to get to where we were going. We will remain silent about this if you just let us go." Dan surprised himself at the pleading he could hear in his own voice.
"That can not be. we trusted your kind many lives ago, only to be betrayed and slaughtered. We can not allow that to happen again. You will be our guests for now, for it was I that did not see you. But you will be helpful to us as you have much knowledge of creatures we have not yet harnessed."
"How do you know what we know!?"
"Daniel, as I have told you... the mind is more powerful than you have ever imagined. Your thoughts are ours to read freely. The one called Marlene will be cared for by our midwives. She and her baby will be safe here."
Marlene stared at him as she touched her stomach. "Baby??? What are you talking about!? I am not going to have a baby? I think I would know something like that!"
"You are with child now, Marlene. These things we know."
"Damn you! Get out of my head and stay the hell away from my body!"
Dan held her close to him. He wanted to reach out and attack this man. He wanted to run away with Marlene. He knew he didn't dare. Not yet. He thought of Marcus and Bernie.
"They are injured. They would serve no purpose to us. We shall send some people to end their sufferings. It is a good thing."
Dan suddenly felt rage flare inside of him. As if this man felt it too, the man lifted his arm as Dan was grabbing for him. In a single moment, Dan was tossed across the ground. His body slammed into a rock with a thud. He layed on the ground, moaning in pain. The man lifted his hand again and Marlene screamed out.
"No!!!! Please... don't hurt him, please. We just want our friends safe. We will do whatever you say. Just don't hurt them and I beg you, don't hurt the father of my unborn child."
As the man raised his hand higher, Marlene fell at his feet, sobbing. "I beg of you, don't hurt him. He is my love."