Destiny

by Jason A. Cheek

  Clicking through the next several slides, Larissa used a light glow pen to highlight the semitransparent crystals encasing the biological specimens like bulky, oversized sarcophagus. “From what we can discern at this early stage is that somehow the entire chamber was instantaneously coated with this crystallization material. As far as we can discern, there has been no significant biological decay of the specimens. Seeing the electronic hand in her webinar toolbar, Larissa looked up from her notes. “Yes, Doctor Marinatos?“

  Doctor Stefanos Thomopoulos Marinatos, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, was her only friend in this digital inquisition of her academic peers, which had been convened within hours of her discovery hitting the international media. The man was like a father to her ever since her real father had died when she was twenty-three.

  “From the pictures you have shown us, it seems like the crystalline matrix covering your specimens is shrinking rapidly.”

  “From what we have observed so far, your astute observations are precisely correct, Doctor Marinatos.”

  Flipping back to the first pictures, Larissa slowly went through the series once more as she noted, this time, the decreasing thickness of the crystalline shells in each frame over the last twenty-four hours. “Initially, when the crypt was opened, the crystalline sheaths were three meters thick, but as you can see. In just one day’s time, the crystalline structures are now only a meter and a half in depth and still rapidly shrinking.”

  Without raising his electronic hand Doctor Georgios Marinatos, Head Curator of the Herakelion Museum in Greece, butted in abruptly. “That is scientifically impossible! Tridymite crystals do not shrink when exposed to air. What kind of cockamamie story are you trying to give us, Doctor Evans?”

  Quickly, Larissa forwarded to the next slide. “Actually Doctor Marinatos, the report was prepared by Doctor John Hempshaw. I am sure you are aware of his reputation from his work as Head Geophysicists at The American Geosciences Institute in Virginia? On this slide, you can see Doctor Hempshaw’s estimated timeline for the crystalline structures’ decay.”

  Not waiting for any further interruptions, Larissa continued her presentation. “Next we will discuss the various biological specimens found within the crypt’s vault. In this next slide, we will discuss the biological specimens I’ve designated Minotaurus.“

  Clicking to the next slide, Larissa used her light pen to highlight multiple locations on the map of the crypt’s internal layout. “You will notice the majority of Minotaurus are clustered near the center of the chamber in what appears to be military formations. I ask that you pay special attention to each specimen’s weapon position. I believe it is important …”

  A jumble of roaring voices suddenly erupted in outrage from her computer speakers as the virtual conference reacted to the picture on the current slide. Stopping her presentation, Larissa looked directly into the video conference’s camera unflinchingly as the angry roar of her academic peers increased in volume. They would forever hate her. Covering her face, Larissa messaged her bloodshot eyes as she waited for the commotion to die down to a level where she could once again be heard.

  The problem was as simple as it was complex. All of the physical sciences like anthropology and archeology were especially sensitive to anything that did not follow the acceptable rule of terrestrial scientific theory. When discussing the evolution of humanity, professional academia only accepted theories that were based on terrestrial evolution. If a professor presented a theory that did not follow this one stringent guideline, they found themselves instantly and irrevocably discredited from the realm of professional academia. Forever considered a fringe theorist.

  Even then, new scientific theories had to survive the political gauntlet associated with the pre-existing power structure in place that directed most scientific research and discovery. Only in extremely rare occasions throughout history had a discovery manage to breach the current power structure in place to actually see the light of day.

  Smiling to herself, Larissa popped her knuckles. This discovery was going to be one of those rare occasions. The physical evidence alone that she possessed would ruin many of the academic professors aligned before her in today’s call by calling into question the scientific theories that had made them famous in the first place. In one fell swoop, she would change how the world looked at the development of human history and open up new theories about the ancient civilizations of humanity’s past that had never before been allowed to be openly discussed.

  Looking at the angry faces of her academic peers, Larissa grinned in satisfaction. She had long ago been written off my most of these men for simply being a woman in a male-dominated field. When they’d discovered she wouldn’t sit idly by as they brushed her aside under the heel of their authority, they sought to discredit her academically. Through it all, she had still managed to make a name for herself. Now she had them by the balls, and there wasn’t anything they could do to stop her. Already the evidence of her discovery of Atlantis was blowing up the airwaves.

  Suddenly, a barking laugh cut through the indignant buzz of conversation. As silence returned once again, Larissa recognized the voice of her hated nemesis Doctor Ian Barnes, head of the British Association. Sneering into the conference camera’s pick up, the pompous ass addressed her smugly.

  “Minotaurs, how droll can you be? Doctor Evans, did you really think you could show something as ridiculous as this and expect not to lose your fellowship within the Royal Society?” With a wave of his hand, he casually dismissed her evidence. “Who do you think will bother listening to your absurd claims now? Do you expect anyone of us to believe you’ve truly found the lost city of Atlantis?”

  Bernard Thomas, head of the Society of Antiquaries, chimed in from his office in Berkshire with his own witty comment. “How can you possibly find something that never existed in the first place? Doctor Evans, if your father could see you now, what would he say?”

  Screeching in rage, Larissa picked up the video camera. Striding across the tent, she flung back the flap with a sweep of her arm. Panning the video camera across the island of Nea Kameni, she focused on the flood of news reporters and scientists arriving by the boatload. Holding the video camera with two hands, she flipped it around so that she was yelling directly into its video pickup. “You pompous buffoons! You wouldn’t recognize a scientific discovery if it hit you in the face!”

  Taking deep breaths to control her temper, Larissa walked back to her desk. Setting the video camera back into its holder, she broke down the basics of her find. “Just so that you know, I have the perfectly preserved biological specimens of a small army of Minotaurus frozen in the middle of some great battle. Not to mention, the uncovered remains of what appears to be a Gorgones near the center of the main chamber. On top of it all, I have the remains of a mostly intact city that is named Atlantis in Minoan.“ Leaning onto the desk in front of the camera, Larissa put her face right up to the video camera. “How dare you accuse me of being a fraud.”

  Pushing away from the small desk, Larissa began pacing as she began listing off her points. “Right now, I have the leading biologist in the world, Herr Friestmann, preparing to take tissue samples for genetic testing of the specimens in the crypt as we speak. I have experts from around the world flying in to be a part of this discovery of a lifetime. Lastly, I have the associated press from around the world arriving daily to documenting the entire unearthing of the dig in high definition on live TV. “

  Pointing at the camera once more, Larissa yelled at the top of her lungs. “As far as I am concerned, you can all read about my discovery in the London Times and go to bloody hell!”

  You could have heard a pin drop as most of the video conference’s attendees stared back at her seething in indignant rage. The taboo was suddenly broken by a cruel sneer. “Larissa … Larissa … Larissa, you will never learn.” Instead of addressing her points, Doctor Ian Barnes shook his head as if he were dealing with a petulant child before break
ing his connection. As the automated meeting operator announced the doctor's departure, the rest of the meeting attendees began exiting as well. Doctor Marinatos gave her a quick thumbs up with a promise to talk more later, but once he left, Larissa was the only one in the virtual meeting room.

  With a strangled cry Larissa slammed her mouse down as she broke the meeting’s connection. Just brilliant! For a long moment, she stared at the video image looking back at her from the conference’s main welcome screen. Coming to a decision, she strode out of the tent with a burning purpose heading for the crypt.

  Larissa’s hollow footfalls echoed around her as she climbed down the metal stairway that had been temporary erected where the Titan XI had initially penetrated the now dead volcano. Across the inner crypt, there were teams of archeologists hard at work as they went about the arduous task of documenting every aspect of the historical dig. Walking to the very center of the perfectly round chamber, Larissa stood before the central dais once again. With a heavy frown, she studied the tridymite crystalline shell encasing the specimen inside.

  The emotional intensity radiating out from the inhumanly beautiful face still stole Larissa’s breath away if she gazed at it for too long. Rising above the entire chamber exactly two point sixty-five meters in height, the Gorgones’ body had been frozen, while reaching out above towards the heavens with what could only be described as a look of supplication. Even though the Gorgones’ humanoid torso sat atop a pile of thick snake coils, Sharon calculated that normally the snake-woman would only have been around one point seventy-seven meters tall, which was only slightly taller in height than the human average.

  The Gorgones was overwhelmingly female. Although she didn’t depict the concepts of twenty-first-century beauty, there was something of a matronly supermodel meets Mother Teresa vibe that radiated out from the snake-woman even in death. Larissa almost choked at the thought as she pictured her long dead Catholic father’s reaction to such a heretical statement since the woman was completely nude. The pieces of decorative jewelry and utility belt the Gorgones wore wouldn’t have been misconstrued as clothing anywhere in the world. None the less Larissa wouldn’t have retracted the statement. To her, the Gorgones didn’t look naked frozen as she was in her holy entreaty.

  From the waist down, the woman’s lower half merged into the thick coils of a brightly colored constrictor snake where the legs of a human woman would normally be. Instead of hair, she had a headful of very fine, hair-like, red setaceous antennae that cascaded down her back, each with multiple segments and joints that were equally distributed down the antennae’s entire length. Oddly enough, this only added to the woman’s inhuman beauty. She could easily see how primitive man would have thought the woman’s hair were living serpents. When alive, her waving antennae must have been quite a sight.

  Normally Larissa had no particular love for reptiles or insects, but there was something oddly comforting about being in the Gorgones’ presence. More and more she found herself coming here to think. Frowning for a moment, Larissa suddenly realized she’d seen an almost identical looking statue in Major Aixi’s office. Between the dig and dealing with the Mayor’s treachery, she’d been too busy to think about it, but now that more of the Gorgones had become visible. She knew she was right. Tabling that for a later discussion with Sean, Larissa thoughtfully bit her lip.

  Initially, the crystalline block had been too thick to make out any exact details of what was held within, but within hours that had quickly changed. While the other specimens were losing their crystalline shapes at a nearly identical rate of speed, the Gorgones‘ shell was shrinking slightly slower. When she’d first entered the crypt. The crystalline structures had been mostly a shapeless semi-opaque block, but over the last day that had changed dramatically.

  Sharon had placed a rushed order for enough hermetically sealable bags for all of the specimens in the crypt, but the company didn’t think it would have enough of the specially ordered body bags made up within the timeline she needed. Sharon had said she would take the first three as soon as they were produced and the rest in increments of five as they were made available. Still it was going to be tight.

  Looking out across the cavern, Larissa knew she was missing something important about these tridymite crystalline shells. It was there if only she could see what she was missing.

  “LARISSA … LARISSA!”

  Turning around at Sharon’s urgent call, she looked at her friend worriedly. Larissa knew her well enough to know that Sharon only used that tone when something was terribly wrong. “What is going on Sharon?”

  “God, I have been looking for you everywhere.” Grabbing her arm, Sharon pulled her at a half run back to the stairs. “You’re going to have to see this to believe it.”

  Following after Sharon, Larissa took the stairs two at a time. “What is going on? Is the Mayor giving us problems again?” Getting no response Larissa swore loudly. “Bloody hell, Sharon, tell me what is happening!”

  A hundred steps later Larissa caught up to Sharon at the top of the stairs. For a second, she couldn’t hear anything due to the blood pounding in her ears. Forcibly controlling her breathing, she turned Sharon around by her shoulders.

  “Tell me what the bloody hell is going on!” Wide-eyed, Sharon silently pointed over Larissa’s shoulder with a shaking hand just as she heard heavy chopping sounds coming from behind her.

  “What the bloody hell ...?” Whipping around, Larissa’s froze as her mouth hung open.

  There was a loud boom overhead as a trio of United States fighter jets did a low flyby over the island at supersonic speeds, while an entire wing of Cobra Attack helicopters took up positions at the edges of the lava dome. Turning around slowly, Larissa saw armored landing vehicles already climbing the rocky shores of the island, while hundreds of soldiers began deploying into defensive positions along the outer rim. Off-shore in the distance, she could make out the outlines of many warships of what looked like the entire American’s Mediterranean Sixth Fleet.

  Hearing a rush of heavy footfalls behind her, Larissa turned around just in time to see a small group of black-suited men in full battle gear rushing towards them at a fast sprint. Pushing Sharon behind her, Larissa faced the men silently as they came to a stop in front of her.

  With silent efficiency, the combat group spread out to either side of their point man, warily scanning the area for any threat. Holding up a picture, the point man compared her to the image for a long moment, before addressing her directly.

  “We need you to come with us, Doctor Evans.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Location Irlendria / Lúthien Narmolanya:

  “Her Mother and Father were dead!” The realization of that simple truth finally cut through the maelstrom of emotions overwhelming Lúthien’s thoughts. With a prayer to Tapio, she pushed the terrible grief to the back of her mind. There would be time enough later to mourn their loss. For now, she had to focus on the present.

  “RRREEEIIII!” Argus’ bestial cry of rage galvanized Lúthien into action as her analytical mind kicked into overdrive. Looking around the chamber, her gray eyes took in the nightmarish scene playing out around her.

  Knight-Captain Valandil and the rest of the Ironidium Knights were strewn across the room like broken rag dolls while Argus savagely tore into the mutant creature in wild fury with claws and fangs. At first, Lúthien thought the Wenci was winning the ferocious battle, but almost immediately she realized that wasn’t the case. As the creature’s injuries began closing before her incredulous eyes, she knew they had to get out of here, while Argus distracted the monster.

  Scrambling on hands and knees to her cousin’s side, Lúthien paused in horror seeing Enelya’s extensive injuries for the first time. White bones stuck out from her partly crushed chest, and blood ran from her nose and mouth. For a second, she wondered if her cousin was dead, but seeing the rise and fall of her chest. Lúthien breathed a sigh of relief. She still lived! Slipping an arm under Enelya’s sh
oulders, she struggled to lift the smaller Elf to her feet.

  “Enelya, you have to wake up.”

  Bracing against the wall behind her for leverage, Lúthien managed to lift her cousin up next to her. For being so much smaller, Lúthien couldn’t believe how heavy Enelya weighed. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Lúthien stepped away from the wall only to be immediately dragged to the ground by her cousin’s mass as she pitched forward. Tears of frustration streamed down Lúthien’s face as she shook her cousin by the shoulders.

  “Wake up Enelya!”

  “Rrriiieeaaa!” Looking over her shoulder as Argus’ shrieking cry rang out behind her, Lúthien was just in time to see the Wenci fly through the air. A second later, there was a thunderous crash as Argus caromed off the calcimite bookshelves at the far end of the room. Rolling back onto three clawed feet, Argus faced the corpse-white creature growling deep in his chest.

  The long silver fur bristling out from the Wenci’s lanky body was stained dark red with blood and gore as his long smooth tail curled protectively next to his body. Holding a wounded front paw close to his chest, he moved with a pronounced limp stalking just beyond the reach of the creature’s long reach looking for an opening.

  Argus’ black eyes narrowed to dangerous slits as the heavy clanking footfalls of more Knights approaching at a fast trot from deeper inside the keep started echoing around the room. Instead of feeling a wave of relief at the sound as she normally would have in the past, Lúthien’s heart began beating fearfully in her breast.

  “Rrriiieeaaa!” With a shrieking cry, Argus pounced like a striking snake.

  Quicker than eyes could follow the creature’s clawed fist shot out from its muscular body. Stretching across the room, the blow struck the Wenci midair slamming Argus back into the wall with bone jarring force. As the monster’s long claws sank deep into his furred chest, Argus shrieked mortally wounded as Enelya jerked upright screaming in agony.