Ancient Island Read online

  Chapter 12

  Brian and the Nina Nizhoni

  Brian Adams grew up on his family’s farm in Wildwood. His wavy brown hair, long sideburns, ruddy complexion, Stetson hat and ever-present blue jeans created the look of a cowboy.

  His delicate features earned him a nickname he despised, pretty boy. He was shy and awkward with girls, so it wasn’t a surprise when people assumed he was gay. That didn’t bother him as much as the nickname.

  Brian’s primary interest was environmental engineering. In addition to their farm in Wildwood, his parents obtained a rare government lease for a shack located in the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area. It was less than five miles from Weeki Wachee Gardens as the crow flies, but extremely isolated.

  An entrance was made by the former owner, a logging company. The road was little more than a muddy trail which ended a mile from the cabin. Being secluded was just fine with his parents who were conservationists with an abiding love for nature. They taught Brian to love nature and be considerate of everyone. That’s why it was so hard to understand why he heartlessly referred to Haley as the “Morlock.”

  Brian was the only person who didn’t like her. Instead of compassion for her disability, he treated Haley with scorn. Everyone else knew her as the pretty little blind girl. She had a contagious optimism about life. It wasn’t naiveté, but the ability to bring out the best in people, but Brian seemed genuinely afraid of her.

  After the boys graduated from high school, the other boys learned that Brian knew more about Haley than anyone. He had good reasons to be fearful. It started a couple years before they met her, when Brian was ten years old.

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  Mr. and Mrs. Adams (or Dr. and Dr. Adams) were research biologists who volunteered three weeks each summer to conduct field studies at the Archbold Biological Research Station near Lake Placid, Florida. It is one of the few elevated areas in Florida which has remained above sea level for over a million years which provides a home for many plant and animal species found nowhere else on Earth. Old timers call it the Ancient Island.

  Brian and his younger sister Jamie loved going to Archbold, but it wasn’t the rare birds or flowers that fascinated them. It was stories told by a mysterious old man describing the natural history of Florida and the people who lived there in the past. They first met him in the spring of 1994.

  The old man was over six feet tall, had long blonde hair and wore a long cape like Count Dracula. Jamie said the cape must be very hot because the man’s face looked melted. Brian suggested his features had been worn away by time. You couldn’t see his eyes because they were covered by thick sunglasses like the ones people wear after cataract surgery.

  Nobody knew the geological history of the region like the old man, but he had a reputation for making up wild stories to frighten children. Most people ignored him or were mildly entertained, but Brian and Jamie loved his stories. It seemed like the old man was a permanent resident at the station. He didn’t give his name, but people called him Archie as a shorthand version of Archbold.

  His stories were scientifically accurate, at least in the beginning. He described mammoths, mastodons, and camels that once roamed Florida. The children delighted in his depiction of armadillo-like creatures the size of a VW bug and saber toothed cats that once roamed the area.

  Then Archie began telling the children the stories they found most interesting. He described several ancient civilizations which existed on North America much earlier than they were taught in school. Most of them were wiped out by severe climatic events, but a few survived. He described several civilizations in elaborate detail, providing convincing arguments of their existence.

  The most fantastic story which captivated the children’s imagination was the tale of the first civilization. According to Archie, the oldest and most advanced society on Earth thrived much earlier than Homo sapiens. Archie called them Homo princeps, a separate species who developed agriculture and an advanced written language long before we existed.

  Their technology was far ahead of modern man. They were an environmentally conscious civilization with buildings, tools, and machines constructed of biodegradable materials. Even their history was stored on sophisticated recyclable devices which required frequent replacement. As a result, when their society collapsed during the last ice age very little remained.

  When the Paleo-Indians arrived in Florida the ancient people were considered gods. The Indians called them Nina Nizhoni which means beautiful fire because their eyes glowed like burning embers.

  The Nina Nizhoni people numbered in the millions at their peak and were spread around the globe. The largest grouping was in North America. They achieved an unimaginable level of scientific sophistication, and commanded inexhaustible clean energy by controlling the natural magnetic forces of Earth. Their homes were lit by energized molecules within the air which provided continuous light to any area they chose, but their understanding of genetics was the area which led to their eventual downfall.

  The Nina Nizhoni altered the basic structure of plants to provide high levels of protein and other nutrients required for peak health. They altered deadly pathogens to render them harmless, even beneficial in some cases. They began manipulating their own genetic structure to adapt to changing environmental conditions. The result was increased intelligence, elimination of mental disorders, and modification of behavior to better conform to the social structure. A few even developed limited telepathic abilities which led to a schism in their society.

  Some of the people considered the changes an abomination and a few thousand branched off to follow a more natural lifestyle. A small faction spread around the globe, interbreeding with the Homo sapiens species. The largest group continued to live in an area now known as the Northeastern United States.

  The Earth suffered the last glacial maximum 21,000 years ago and then the climate began to warm. The last ice age called the Pleistocene epoch ended around 11,000 B.C. with a period of extreme climate change called the Younger Dryas. Life was practically impossible for humanoids. Many animals went extinct. The Nina Nizhoni’s advanced scientific competence enabled them to adapt at first, but the weather continued to worsen until they were forced to move underground.

  After generations of living below the surface, the once great civilization was in danger of obliteration. They modified their visual genetic structure to see in the dark, customized behavioral genes to be more docile in the confined living areas, increased skin density to protect against cold, and adapted their digestive systems to increase absorption of nutrients.

  A thousand years of surviving in darkness rendered them unrecognizable. Much of their scientific knowledge was forgotten. Many had lost their will to live. Less than ten thousand remained. It was clear that unless something changed they would be extinct within a few generations.

  As the climate moderated, the Nina Nizhoni people embarked on one last effort to save their civilization. They emerged from darkness in desperation to embark on a long, treacherous journey south to join a remote former colony in Florida.

  Their eyes were sensitive to the light, their pale skin burned, and their passive nature left them woefully unprepared to face predators. Less than one in ten survived the three-year march to the ancient highlands of Florida. They made their home where the Archbold Biological Station is located today and began trying to rebuild their civilization.

  Many of the artificial genetic changes and the physical effects of living underground for generations were not reversible. Their technology was deteriorating and they no longer had the ability to repair it. Even their written language was in danger of being lost because it was maintained on sophisticated biodegradable devices designed to disintegrate. Extinction seemed inevitable. It would be as if they never existed.

  Their numbers continued to decline and by the time the Paleo Indians arrived at Archbold, less than two hundred remained.

  The Paleo Indians were awed by the technology
of the people with glowing eyes, but the Nina Nizhoni realized the Indians were relatives, descendants of those who left them to be a part of the natural world. The people who chose a primitive path to join Homo sapiens were thriving. The Nina Nizhoni with all their advanced technology were facing extinction. In that moment, the leaders understood their time was coming to an end.

  The Nina Nizhoni began assembling as much of their history, culture, and technology as possible. The Indians provided most of the labor to build a small subterranean library to serve as a repository for the remains of their civilization. A clone was placed in stasis to maintain the library.

  Recessive genetic code was embedded into the Indian children which, upon opening of the library, would produce a female child of pure Nina Nizhoni blood. She would be their emissary to the future, a voice crying out from the past to remember them and not repeat their mistakes.