Tomb of Atlantis (23 page)

       Atlantis - 17

DAY 8

OFFICES OF JAVIER ARISTA
:

Serena stood at the glass door and peered up and down the main street in front of the building. Nervously, she checked the time: eleven
-o-eight. Dressed in a formfitting pinstriped, gray business suit, she readjusted her skirt and swept her hands down the front to smooth out any imperfections. Looking through the glass once more, she noticed her reflection. Immediately, she ran her manicured nails through her long brown curls, straightening the hair over her shoulders.

"Must have gotten caught in traffic. They should have been here ten minutes ago," she said, glancing back at her watch once more.

Looking back out the glass door, she saw a black Mercedes slow and turn into the parking lot. The two passengers seemed to be engaged in lively conversation as they parked in front of the building. Serena laughed to herself as she watched her father's animated body language.

"Must be another one of his tall tales again," she said to herself.

Stepping back from the front door, Serena walked over to one of the desks and pretended to be occupied with the paperwork scattered about. Standing and waiting, she heard the sound of two men laughing as they neared the front entrance.

"...and this is where all the magic happens," Javier said, as he entered the front office.

"Quite an improvement from the old days I'd say, Javier," Dr Samuelson replied.

Serena abruptly turned, pretending to be startled by the two men. With a quick look head to toe, she eyed Dr. Samuelson. Standing just over six f
eet, two inches tall, slim, with short gray hair, and impeccably dressed in his navy blue suit, he posed a humorous contrast to her father's short, fat and bald, casual persona. With a reserved smile, she walked over and extended her hand in greeting.

"Hi, Dr. Samuelson, so nice to see you again after all these years,"
she said, now shaking his hand firmly.

"And who might this be?" Dr. Samuelson said, now turning to Javier.

"Surely you remember Serena? It's only been what, ten years or so?" Javier replied back to him.

"Serena?
Oh my God. The last time I saw you, you were about four feet tall with braces and pigtails. Now you're a..." Dr. Samuelson stopped short of finishing, his surprise causing him a loss for words.

"She’s a full grown woman, Burt," Javier said proudly, finishing
the doctor's sentence.

"I should say she is,"
he replied with a great smile.

Serena blushed a moment, then replied, "Well, it has been more than fifteen years.
You
haven't changed a bit... still tall and handsome."

"Ah, you're too kind. I'm not the strapping young lad I was the last time you saw me, though. I'm old and gray now," he replied in humorous tone.

"Unlike me. I haven't changed a bit... still short, fat, and bald," Javier cut in, then added, "and in spite of that,
still
devilishly handsome."

As the three laughed at the Javier's humor, Serena noticed a carrying tube under Dr. Samuelson's arm.

"So, Dr. Samuelson, are those the infamous scrolls we've heard so much about?" Serena asked.

Pulling them from under his arm, he held them out for her and said, "Well, these aren't the originals I'm afraid, but they are perfect copies. The originals are too delicate and too priceless for travel."

"Yeah, can you imagine the embarrassment of the airline trying to tell you they lost them somewhere, but not to worry, they'll turn up eventually," Javier added.

Accepting the tube from Dr. Samuelson, she asked, "Mind if I have a look at these, Dr. Samuelson?"

"It would be my pleasure. And by the way, please call me Burt," he responded.

Serena flashed him a cordial smile, then slipped the cap off the container. Pulling out the rolled paper from inside, she opened the scrolls and gave them a quick review.

"Exquisite," she said as she scanned the first scroll.

"Yes, they really are," Burt responded proudly. "I must tell you, I'm dying to compare them to the ones you found."

"We didn't find them. Jack Roberts did," she shot back in reflex.

"Sorry, I forgot. Yes, Jack Roberts. What a shame. I remember our conversation. He seemed like an intelligent young man. Imagine my surprise to learn of his discovery,"
he replied, then added in saddened tone, "and of his tragic death... such a shame."

"We can't believe it either," Javier
concurred.

The three stood for a moment, silently reflecting in their own way. Javier cleared his throat and continued.

"Well, would you like the grand tour or should we get on with the main event?"

"I believe my impatience has overcome my sense of propriety. If you don't mind, I'd like to see your scrolls before the tour,"
he replied.

"Nothing improper about that. It's just a garden
-variety office building anyway. Probably bore you to death," Javier responded. Pointing toward the laboratory, he added, "Follow me."

The three entered the lab and walked to the back of the room to a large rectangular table holding the four scrolls. Laid out neatly, side by side and under a layer of glass, they were an impressive sight. Burt's face filled with intensity as his eyes scanned from one scroll to the next. Running his hands over the glass, he involuntarily tried to feel their texture only to realize the folly of his action. Pulling a small, well-worn magnifying glass from his jacket pocket, he began to examine the first of the five scrolls.

"Burt, you didn't have to bring your own magnifying glass. We would have lent you one of ours," Javier teased.

"Sorry, force of habit I guess. I generally don't go anywhere without this," he replied, now bending over and examining the first line.

Nodding his head slightly in approval, he reached back into his jacket and pulled out a small note book. Flipping it open, he laid it on the glass while he continued to review the hieroglyphics. Inside the note book, the pages were filled with hieroglyphics and their translated names. Looking back and forth, he cross checked the hieroglyphics from the scroll to those in the note book.

"Hmm, this is very interesting,"
he said to no one in particular.

"What do you think?" Serena asked, now visibly excited.

Without taking his eyes off his work, Burt replied excitedly, "Extraordinary, just extraordinary. These symbols are very similar to those on my tablets. I think I can translate these."

"Really? That's unbelievable?" Javier blurted out.

As the minutes ticked by, Javier and Serena watched anxiously as Burt translated bits and pieces of the scrolls.

Looking up at Javier, Burt asked, "Could you show me the symbol?"

"Absolutely," he said, now beaming with pride.

Pointing to the second scroll, he moved his hand down toward the middle of the page. Even before he stopped, Burt moved his magnifying glass over the symbol. Hovering over it, his eyes were mesmerized. Under his breath, he uttered something neither Javier, nor Serena could hear.

"What was that, Burt?" Javier asked, now curious about the faint whispering.

Burt continued to stare at the hieroglyphic, his mind trying to comprehend its implication. Slowly, he moved his focus along the scroll, taking in other symbols. Again, he stopped and stared, uttering whispers under his breath. Continuing on, he examined several more lines of hieroglyphics, coming to a stop over a specific symbol of interest.

"So what do you make of it Burt? You're not going to keep us in suspense, are you?" Javier teased.

Burt stood back from the scrolls, his face devoid of all expression. His eyes seemed to be glazed over and his mind far off on a different plane. Javier waved his hand in front of Burt
’s face, humorously trying to get his attention.

"Burt, do we need to call you an ambulance? Come on man, you're killing us with suspense. Do we have a match?" Javier asked.

"I'm sorry, Javi, I wasn't expecting this. I know we talked about it over the phone but seeing it first hand is earth-shattering," Burt replied.

"Earth shattering? Don't tell me you found an ancient recipe for salad dressing?" Javier joked, now becoming impatient. "Burt, give me a straight answer. Does the symbol of the pyramid and the man match the one on your scrolls?"

"In a word, yes," he replied.

Serena and Javier exhaled together, their nervous tension finally relieved by that one simple reply.

"Wow, this really is unbelievable. Do you know what the implication is here?" Serena blurted out, unable to contain her excitement any more. "This confirms positively that eastern civilization visited western civilization. Yours and our scrolls are the missing links."

Burt's face became serious once more. Putting his hands on both Javier and Serena's shoulders, he spoke in a nervous tone.

"I think you two better sit down for this. There's more."

"More? Like bigger news than the missing link? I don't know how you can get bigger than that?" Serena replied, in mocking tone.

"Trust me, you can," Burt responded, his voice quivering with anticipation.

"Ok, Burt, you got our attention, now shoot. What else do we have here?" Javier asked, unable to contain his patience any further.

Burt took a deep breath, exhaled and spoke:

"Well, from what I'm seeing, the scrolls you have here aren't just insignificant passages from
a scribe who was charged with recording a day in the life of some mysterious nation. These scrolls seem to be chronicling a civilization — and if I’m not mistaken, a Grecian civilization."

"
What
? Greece? How can that be? The hieroglyphics from your scrolls and ours are similar,” Serena asked, incredulously. “I was guessing it was from a tribe with the Egyptian borders. It made sense; similar hieroglyphics and a nation with a pyramid. I was sure it was all Egyptian related."

"
One could easily make that argument, that is until you read the history in my tablets,” Burt started, his tone now turning cryptic. “I never told anyone about this for fear of sounding like a lunatic, but the tablets I just finished translating contained some startling information. The first tablet mentioned a war against another nation, symbolized by a pyramid and the all-seeing eye. At first, I just figured the symbol represented a rival tribe vying for regional domination; you know, the same ol’ conflicts we've been learning about for thousands of years. They all seem to have fought each other at one time or another. Anyway, what intrigued me and made me investigate this mysterious civilization further was a single symbol found only once on my scrolls: the symbol of the pyramid and the man with the pitch fork. The more I translated, the more I began to realize that this was not just an ordinary foe. This was Egypt's greatest enemy. Strangely enough, the data seemed to dead-end, almost like the scribe was forbidden to chronicle any more information. They simply stopped talking about them. Very strange. If they were conquered, there certainly would have been great detail chronicling their victory. The fact that they didn't boast about it is significant. So, what happened to the other warring nation? How did they simply just vanish without a trace or another word? Since my scrolls are dated to around five thousand B.C., I began to speculate on the civilizations of that time or should I say, civilizations that could have existed at that time. I eventually came to the conclusion that it could be only one nation, a nation that I could never reveal its identity to others for fear of being ostracized."

Burt pointed to the beginning of the first scroll and continued.

"So, when you called, you can only imagine my surprise to learn of these new scrolls and also that they contained the same symbol that’s on my tablets. Needless to say, I was anxious to read them. As I read the first few lines on the first scroll, it described the region where this mysterious civilization hails from. They refer to themselves as a great nation overseeing the world. Apparently, they were a great naval power, controlling not only the Mediterranean, but also the great Atlantic."