Guardians of the Galactic Sentinel 1: The Deimos Artifact (20 page)

Chapter 23.
Answers and Questions.

Deep Space, Star System 10883, July 9, 2676.

Zack returned to the boardroom a few minutes later with Marv's memory chip. The Professor and Kathryn hadn't left the room but appeared to have been carrying on an animated discussion while he was gone. Zack expanded his tablet and configured it to interface with the viewscreen that covered the upper half of the aft wall of the meeting room. A large image of a list of files appeared on the screen. Since none of the others were seated, Zack elected to remain standing as well.

"So far, I've only been able to access these two sets of files," said Zack, indicating the files in question, "From the way Marv set this stuff up, it looks like he wanted me to go through the material in a certain order."

"What do you mean?" asked the Professor.

"When I first accessed the chip, I needed the instructions on a letter to me that he had left along with the chip in a safety deposit box. Once I figured out the password from the clues in the letter, I was given access to the first set of files. When I got into that section, there was another encoded file that had more clues to another password and another set of files. That got me to here." Zack opened the file that had led Ariane and him to the artifact down in engineering. "I haven't had time to figure out where he wanted me to go next, but it looks like the rest of the information on this chip is organized the same way. I gain access to a set of information which leads me to the next set of files and so on."

"So we have no choice but to follow his chronology?" asked MacPherson.

"It sure looks that way," replied Zack.

"If that's the case, what's next on the chip?"

"I haven't really had time to figure that out yet," said Zack.

"Maybe we can help?" said MacPherson.

"I certainly hope so," replied Zack.

Zack scrolled through the list of files in the last set that he had been able to access.

"What's that one right there?" said Kathryn, who seemed to have found her voice, "That one called 'On the Beach.'"

Zack accessed the file and was rewarded with another short note from his uncle...

"Zack, I trust you were able to find the item. We have noticed that it warms up when someone touches it and some kind of writing appears. We aren't sure why it does that and we certainly don't know what any of the writings mean. It may be completely harmless but we have avoided any further physical contact with it until we can get more information. I suggest that you do the same. The next set of information that I put together can be accessed if you can remember something special about the day that you and I and your aunt went to the beach in New Acapulco. Good luck?"

"What is that all about?" asked MacPherson.

"So far, all of the password clues have been like that. Once again, he has chosen something that only he and I could know about."

"So what's up with 'On the Beach?'" asked Kathryn.

"I was about ten, I think," replied Zack, "We went there to watch a total eclipse of the Haven system's central star, something that only happens once about every fifty years."

"So the password for the next file has something to do with an eclipse?"

"Sure looks like it."

Zack scrolled down the list of files until he came to one labeled, "Daynight."

He accessed the file and was rewarded with a prompt for a password, just like he had been for each of the other sets of files. Zack thought for a moment and input "Barnardseclipse" which was immediately rejected. He thought for a moment and nodded his head before putting in "#14sunglasses."

The file opened up.

"Number fourteen sunglasses?" asked the Professor.

"Yeah, Marv had brought along the right kind of special sunglasses so we could look at the eclipse without going blind."

"I begin to see what you mean about these files being keyed to you," said the Professor.

At that moment, Cliff and Arnold arrived with the storage box that contained the artifact. It had taken the two of them working together to wrestle the somewhat bulky box from the storage rack in engineering down on deck one to the meeting room up on deck two. They set the box on the deck next to the table and Cliff worked the latches on the lid before flipping it back on its hinges. He and Arnold then carefully slid the display case, still enwrapped in its custom protective padding, up and out of the trunk before setting it in the center of the table. As he had done the previous night, Cliff carefully removed the top layer of padding before folding down the four sides, leaving the display case resting in the middle of the padding but with the top and all four sides of the case visible to all.

There was an almost reverent silence as the three academics got their first look at the artifact. None of them made any attempt to disguise their awe. The Professor once again proved that he was a man of science. "I would love to take it out and study it further," he said, "but, tempting as it is, maybe we should have a look at the information on Zack's chip before we do anything that might be harmful to the artifact or dangerous to ourselves and the ship."

While Arnold and Kathryn continued to reverently examine the artifact even though it remained in its protective case, Zack and Professor MacPherson went back to checking the files that had just become accessible on Marv's memory chip. The Professor pointed to a folder labeled "images" and said, "I think we should have a look in this one, Zack."

Zack accessed the folder and was presented with a series of image files. He opened the file at the top of the list labeled "original." A two-dimensional photograph of the artifact silhouetted against a stone wall appeared. The grey stone wall was covered with carved inscriptions.

"The markings on that wall look an awful lot like the ones we saw on the artifact last night," said Zack.

"That also looks like the same photo that we've been working from," said the Professor. To confirm, he brought up the image that Marv had given him on his own personal tablet. Sure enough, the Professor's photo was identical to the one in Marv's files.

"Are there others?" asked MacPherson.

"Let's see," replied Zack.

Zack brought up another photo in the "original" folder. The next image they saw was a side view of the artifact on a pedestal of some kind. The Professor looked it over briefly and signaled for Zack to display the next image. The next image was a similar pose, only this time the photo had been taken from the opposite side of the artifact.

"What's that on the wall behind?" asked Zack.

The group could make out portions of a mural that had been painted onto a different wall. The wall wasn't completely in focus because it hadn't been the main subject of the original photograph but seemed to depict a mythological creature of some kind. The creature had a large, oblong body topped with a small head shaped like a four-pointed crown. The ovoid body was delineated into two halves by a vertical line that ran through the center from top to bottom. The image was a back view and the only other detail they could make out was that it stood on two short legs and had four spindly arms, two on each side of its body.

"It looks like a scarab," said Arnold, looking over at the projection while remaining next to the artifact in its case.

"A scarab?" asked Zack.

"Yes," replied Arnold, "It was an extremely common symbol in Egyptian culture beginning about five thousand years ago. The ancients made up all sorts of gods; animal heads on human bodies, human heads on animal bodies and other such notions. The scarab was a little different; it was based on an Old Earth insect called a 'dung beetle.'"

"Dung beetle, eh?" asked Zack, wrinkling his nose, "What purpose did they serve?"

"The dung beetle or the scarab?" asked Arnold, demonstrating that despite his solemn nature, he did have a sense of humor.

Zack gave him a mildly exasperated look, "The scarab, of course."

"Their significance continued to evolve over time, but much of their importance had to do with the fact that they symbolized the life, death and rebirth cycle," replied Arnold. "Small versions of them, carved out of stone, were practically household items." He paused for a moment, "The largest sculpture ever discovered was less than a meter in length. I don't know that I've ever seen or heard of a depiction of one this large and...," he rubbed his chin absently, "...the four arms appear to be totally unique. If these inscriptions are authentic, they represent something I've never seen before and...," Arnold paused again before continuing, "...something else is really odd."

"How so?" asked Zack, who by now had gotten way more information than he had bargained for.

"Notice how the people in the mural appear to be bowing before it. This particular version must have been elevated to the status of a deity of some kind within the local mythology," he shook his head slowly from side to side. "This depiction appears to be something totally new to science."

"Fascinating, Arnold," said the Professor, "I suggest you follow up on that, it could be important."

"I'll make that a high priority," said Arnold.

Zack hit pay dirt with the fourth image he opened. In this view, it appeared that the photographer had stepped between the artifact on its pedestal and the wall behind with the writings on it. The view did cut off the extreme outside edges of the writings, but the all-important triangular section that had been obscured by the artifact was now visible.

"Superb!" exclaimed the Professor, "Arnold! Kathryn! Look at this! This photo contains the missing writing!"

MacPherson's two companions dragged themselves away from their examination of the artifact and came over to the presentation area to stand beside the Professor and gawk at the latest image. Zack suddenly found himself squeezed back behind the three of them.

"The edges are cut off, but we can piece them in from the original photo," said MacPherson, "We now have the complete set of writings! This is exactly what we've been looking for! You must keep examining those files, Zack, but the three of us have to go to work on deciphering these writings immediately!"

"I'll get out of your way. How about I head up to the bridge? I can work on the chip up there and maybe give Ariane a hand if she needs anything." As intent as the three academics were on studying the new material, all Zack could see was their backs.

"Of course, Zack," said MacPherson, over his shoulder. "We'll let you know as soon as we find out anything."

Zack left the meeting room, went up to the bridge and took his customary spot at the first officer's station.

"Any progress?" asked Ariane, without looking up from her own console.

"Oh, yeah," replied Zack, "We found a photograph on Marv's chip that filled in the blanks of an incomplete set of inscriptions they've been working from. The three of them dropped everything to work on deciphering it. They're even ignoring their precious artifact."

"They're scientists, Zack," replied Ariane, "They're not like us."

"I'll say," replied Zack, "and a good thing too."

The two of them shared a short laugh.

"Do you need my help with anything up here?" asked Zack, "Otherwise, my assignment is to keep looking through these files to see if I can come with anything else that might be useful."

"No, go ahead," said the pilot, "I'll let you know if I need anything."

Zack settled in and returned to perusing his tablet. He went back and brought up the file that had been labeled "daynight."...

Zack,

If you've gotten this far, you'll agree that more information about the location where this thing was found would be extremely valuable. You need to contact Holger Tvedt and his men in the Sol System. They know the person who actually discovered the artifact and removed it from its resting place. They may have additional information as well. I think it's very important that you get in touch with them..."

Zack made a note to tell the Professor about this Tvedt person and then spent the next several hours going through more of the files on his tablet. He wasn't able to find anything else that was nearly as interesting as the last material they'd found. He did learn that after Marv had purchased the artifact, he had transported it back to Haven, along with a number of other items, and had stored it in a safe place. Marv had then immediately gone on another antiquity procurement trip back to the Central Planets.

While he had been in Central, he had sought out MacPherson and shared one of the photographs of the artifact in an effort to find out more about the thing, if he could. Within a few days, the Professor and his group had determined that the artifact was quite possibly something of enormous scientific value. The Professor had hastily drawn up a grant proposal and given Marv the copy that Zack found on the chip. Marv, after a slight detour to get the ship armed, had headed back to Haven to retrieve the object and bring it back to MacPherson. Zack could find no indication of what he had been doing on Haven that had gotten him killed or why someone would have thought Marv's death was necessary.

Zack was at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. He apparently hadn't gotten to the stage in his investigations where he could graduate to another layer of files. He was going back through the list of files for the third time when MacPherson came storming onto the bridge.