Atlantis: Milo's Return Page #4

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Why would someone want

to steal a glass case?

Calcified limestone

more than 25 million years old

from the Cenozoic Era.

Hydrated aluminum silicates

with basalt

found primarily in the southern

Colorado River Basin.

Plastic!

Milo, it's just like an Atlantean guardian.

Well, not exactly.

It's been modified by Noshoni design.

Either way, I am buying it.

Ho-ho.

That's what I like to hear.

Because I want to sell it.

The name's Carnaby.

Now, that painting's of Crystal Guardian

who crawled from the earth

with weapons of blue fire.

He was a great teacher

and healer of the sick.

Or so the legend goes.

How much is it?

Well, that's a museum-class piece.

I'll bet there's a museum-class price

to go with it too.

It is rare, and I've had offers.

Is this enough?

- Kida, that's a lot...

- Sold! One Crystal Guardian.

So, Mr. Carnaby, where exactly

do you get all of your artifacts?

Well, uh, here and there.

But the older pieces are

100% authentic, I assure you.

Oh, I don't doubt that.

Well, we're looking for a crate

that may have been taken

from Sam McKeane.

Who are you people?

We're associates of Sam McKeane,

and he's asked us to help locate

the missing crate.

Uh, can't help you.

McKeane has a tendency to tell stories.

I think he gets lonely

out there in the desert.

So you don't know anything about it?

If McKeane lost a crate of pottery,

that's not my problem.

What in the Red Rock River Valley

are you doin'?

Sampling the bowl.

It is very nice.

Would you like some?

Well, that could have gone better.

Does it strike anybody as odd

that Carnaby knows the missing crate

contains pottery?

Because I never mentioned

what was in it.

You are right.

I don't trust that Carnaby.

Don't like him one bit.

Didn't like his attitude.

Didn't like his shifty little eyes.

Eyes are the windows to the soul,

you know?

How would you like to gaze

into the windows of my soul?

Hey, didn't we just pass that guy?

Perhaps they are brothers?

Twice is a coincidence.

But three times?

I think someone's trying

to tell us something.

Hello. Can we offer you a ride?

It's a long walk to anywhere.

My name is Chakashi.

And, yes, a ride would be welcome.

Oh, he's Brazilian.

I'm familiar with all nature's creatures.

This one is also known to me.

You wouldn't happen

to have a twin or two, would you?

There are many Noshoni men

who walk alone in the desert.

And we look all the same

to the eyes of outsiders.

Ah! Crystal Guardian,

our great teacher and protector.

He revealed many secrets

to the Noshoni.

The path of the stars, the time to plant,

how to heal themselves.

And like Crystal Guardian

we will also protect our

sacred beliefs from outsiders.

Those who would plunder

our lands to betray our secrets

will answer to the ancient

forces of the desert.

A sandstorm?

Where did that come from?

We are followed.

There are ancient powers

that will make certain

our secrets are kept,

and you, more than anyone,

should understand this.

They're trying to drive us off the road.

I just put in that windshield.

- He's gone!

- How? Where could he go?

People, we got bigger problems.

They're in here with us.

No. Dust doggies, go away!

Ugh! This is just great!

The intake's got a 30 torque tolerance

that's been blown

and the combustion valves

need a new ring slip.

I didn't quite get all that.

I build these engines from scratch.

I fend off lava dogs

who eat the distributor caps.

And nobody told me I would

have to deal with dust storm coyotes.

If they got sand in the manifold, I quit!

Did you get it all that time?

Every word.

We have returned.

We are back at the trading post.

Chakashi said there were

ancient forces at work.

Make a note to stay on their good side.

Better, yet,

no more picking up hitchhikers.

Hey, I told you people to leave.

We have a couple of questions.

I've already answered your questions.

Pet iguana. Eats anything.

Meaning you might be on the menu.

Mmm.

How do you know that

the missing crate contains pottery?

I don't. I...

And what do you know

about an old man

who calls himself Chakashi?

I know I got a shelf full

of painted rocks of him inside.

Of course. Chakashi.

The Noshoni wind spirit.

We gave a ride to a spirit?

You can't really believe

in that superstition.

Well, we were just attacked

by a pack of phantom coyotes

in a sandstorm.

The same restless spirits

that came after Sam McKeane.

And whoever has that

crate of pottery.

Save it. I'm not superstitious.

I smell old pottery.

You had the crate all along.

Voil.

It's rubbed smooth.

Just like the inside of McKeane's shack.

Well, there's no way you could prove it.

Sandstone, heavy red oxides, basalt,

encrusted with the same silicate

found in McKeane's shack.

Well, so what?

McKeane found it in the desert

and then while he was in the hospital,

I found it in his shack.

That is called stealing.

That's called commerce, honey.

Besides, McKeane's the only one

who knows the location

of where the pot came from.

Judging from the high alkaline content,

I would say it came from a cave

on the south face of the Mogollon Rim

15 miles north of here.

Huh!

He's good. Dirty, but good.

Well, you know, maybe I didn't

take things seriously enough.

There are a lot of old tales

and mysteries out here in the desert.

And the coyotes you encountered

are a good example.

I thought you didn't believe.

Well, I sure don't want to end up

like McKeane.

So maybe if the pot's returned,

that'll settle these restless spirits.

I, Gaetan Moliere, have done it.

I have found the subterranean gateway

that is the very threshold

to the unknown!

Ah.

- It's just a hole.

- A hole?

Look at the lines in the basalt.

The beauty of the erosion.

The poetry of the clay.

This is not a hole. It is a tunnel.

I don't care what you call it.

Just tell me it's big enough to hide in.

'Cause we got company.

Inside! Quick!

I will save us!

Milo.

Holy cats!

None of this should exist.

Not in the same place.

It's a blending of every culture

from Idaho to Peru.

Noshoni, Aztec, Mayan, Olmec.

My people were here.

Whoa!

Crystal Guardian was an Atlantean.

His teaching influenced

all these cultures.

A little bit of Atlantis goes a long way.

Carnaby, that old pot can fit

on any of those ledges.

Carnaby?

What is that?

Sorry. It was me.

Hold on. That was not me!

Carnaby!

Oh, about the pot.

It looks like I'm going to be keeping it

along with everything else in here.

That home-made prairie grass

mixture makes a good sleeping gas,

wouldn't you agree?

Carnaby, you snake!

Naturally, I can't let you go free

to tell the world about my discovery.

I mean, where's the profit in that?

What? Carnaby!

Nice nap? Hope the rocks

weren't too uncomfortable.

Oh, no. This particular aggregate

is very nice. One of my favorites.

You will not

get away with this.

Mmm, let's see.

I trap you and your friends in this cave

and then I take

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