The Rise of The Fallen Empire

by Gowtham Gurunath

A bunch of Skeletons? They all dropped their jaws in disappointment. They thought it would be a real antique with priceless possessions inside them, but they still didn't lose hope; coz' they liked good mysteries.

  'Why would someone go for all the trouble by disturbing the grave, scratching off the name on it, antique box and co - ordinates and all those stuffs?' Tobias questioned, and nobody spoke. They had no answer for his enquiry.

  John and Katrina slowly removed the contents of the box and placed it inside the small bath filled with a moderate level of Alkali acids to remove the invisible contaminations like humic acids and carbonate contamination, presence of which will not yield a proper carbon date result.

  John spoke. 'Guys, these bones don't look like an antique.' He said. 'Look at the shape of the skull, and the jaw area. It's protruded and the wide cheek bones and brow ridges.'

  'What about them?' asked Tobias, staring at the bones.

  'Well, to me it looks like 21st century stuffs; at least dating back only a few years.' He said, in a puzzling intonation. 'We must first find out whose grave stone it was.'

  'Okay but let's finish what we came for, let's not waste all the efforts we made so far.' Katrina asked them and they nodded in approval.

  A few minutes later, they retrieved the bones from the bath and positioned it inside an oval shaped aluminium tray and put it back inside the oven like device, which they call as the Beta Tester Box, for performing the accelerometer mass spectrometry.

  It was a one of the modern methods used in Archaeology, which directly measures the carbon - 14 content of the specimen that has been emitted, in relation to the remaining carbon - 12 and 13 present in the specimen.

  This gives an accurate time - frame of the object.

  After the indication appeared that the process has been completed, they all came closer together, to study the result; which completely disappointed them. All the hope they had, were gone.

  The bones dated to only two years back, which was 2011; the exact year that was carved on the grave stones.

  The bones belonged to the person whoever was in that grave. Somebody had been playing them with some stupid games and they had taken the bait.

  *****

  When they made it back to Katrina's place across the University, Tobias said that the entire cemetery records are maintained in a card file index and that he could call the cemetery office and talk to them.

  'Yeah sounds great, like they would even give you, since you ask them nicely.' John said, sarcastically.

  'I can get what I want.' Tobias said. 'Just wait and see.'

  Tobias asked for the telephone directory and Katrina said she'll go get them in a minute and she disappeared out of sight. She came back in a minute like she promised.

  The directory was a big book containing some of the most important numbers like hospital, police, and hotels and so on, which also included the cemetery office at the Howard County, Maryland as well. It took almost a minute for him to locate the number and then he dialled the number from the book.

  A few beeps and then the phone ringed.

  'Howard County cemetery office.' The coarse voice said, probably drunk. 'What can I do for ya'?' he asked.

  Tobias cuffed the bottom of the phone, adjusted his voice and spoke in a tough voice. 'Yeah, Officer Dwayne speaking from Howard County Sheriff's Department, I need some information from your index file.' he said.

  The others looked at him in surprise. Tobias was impersonating a police officer.

  'Happy to help in anyway. Spit it out buddy.' He said.

  Tobias recited the grave's unique number from his memory and the year mentioned on the grave and waited.

  'Let me get back to you in a few minutes.' He said and disconnected the line.

  Everyone kept staring at him for a few minutes without uttering even a single word, and then the phone started ringing again.

  'Yeah.' Tobias said and the man from the other side spoke.

  'I've found the file you requested for.' He said, and paused for a dramatic effect. Then he said the name, which came as a complete shock for Tobias. He disconnected the call and sat still.

  The others found his face filled with pure horror and chaos. 'What's it Toby?' Katrina asked. 'Whose grave was it?' asked John. Melissa didn't utter a word.

  Tobias spoke. 'James Gilroy.' Two words, eleven letters altogether, but it was totally chaotic.

  Nobody spoke.

  So who was the guy at JHU, they call "James Gilroy"??? They started wondering.

  *****

  The man in the black leather jacket, enjoying his expensive suite, kept listening to the conversation on the other side, never stopped.

  'James . . . . . Gilroy.' The boy had said.

  He picked up his phone, hit the redial button and called his boss again. He had said, 'Do not engage unless necessary'. He thought it was time he engaged, couldn't let it go any further.

  'Yes Lowrey.' He called the man in the black leather jacket. 'Go on.' He said.

  'The kids confirmed our suspicions.' Lowrey spoke. 'The skeletons were James Gilroy's. Our target is still on the loose. We must engage before the kids confront our target.' Lowrey said, for which his boss gave his approval.

  Lowrey threw a wide smile. Show Time, he said to himself and clicked off the line.

  Chapter Five

  Back at JHU, the mysterious man who claims to be Professor James Gilroy was walking back to his cabin after a very tiring session. He looked weak and fragile and he thought he needed a good night's sleep to recover; but before that he needed to be somewhere else, something more important to do.

  Down across the parking lot, John and Katrina were in a quest searching for the so-called Gilroy's car. They've seen him drive to the University; a silver ford hatchback with a distinguishing Pyramid key chain hanging on the front mirror and a wobbling Egyptian princess toy placed directly below it.

  'John, make it quick.' Melissa's voice pierced through John's wireless earpiece, as he slowly cat walked around the lot with Katrina. 'I think Gilroy is on his way.' She said.

  All four of them were connected in a conference call, as John and Katrina were inspecting the parking lot, Melissa directly across Gilroy's cabin and Tobias on the rear entry point of the cafeteria, crossing which will lead straight to the parking lot.

  'Mel, when are you goin' to stop calling him Gilroy?' John screamed. His face wrinkled, in anger, frustration. 'He's a poor pathetic bastard, for all we know.'

  'No argument here.' Katrina added after him.

  Melissa sighed. 'Not a perfect time for argument. Plant the bug and get the hell outta the place.' She said. 'Don't let him find you. We don't need him to get suspicious. Let's play his game in his own way.'

  'Agreed.' They both said in unison and went radio silent.

  *****

  With just a few miles out, Lowrey picked up his phone and hit the redial button once again. So far that was the only number he had dialled in the last few days. After three rings, a firm voice from the other side spoke.

  'What's it Lowrey?' The boss asked.

  'I guess the kids are planting a bug in his car.' He said, and continued. 'The kids would probably tail him back to his place; wait and then engage, so I need to tail the kids to avoid the scene.'

  A few seconds of silence followed by a cough, and the man spoke. 'Tail them, and wait for my Go - Sign. I'll have a team back you up and I, myself will be there; I'm just thirty minutes out.' He said.

  He said ok and disconnected his line.

  *****

  The man claiming to be Gilroy slowly climbed the stairs to the third floor and within the next few seconds he was standing right outside, staring at the research laboratory they were using. He slid his hands inside his coat pockets, looking for his ID's to access the lab.

  'Guys did we clean up the lab alright? Coz' he is standing outside the lab, looking for his ID's inside his pockets
, as we speak.' Melissa questioned them.

  There was a few minutes of silence from everyone, probably recalling the events from two days back. Just before Melissa started speaking again, John interrupted.

  '. . . . . Ummm, we cleaned up well but he might notice the alkali bottle, it's almost out and . . . . .' he dragged the words and continued, '. . . . . the Beta tester oven's heat hasn't gone zero yet.' He said.

  'The beta tester's core heat takes up to three days to get back to its normal level. So it's the third day.' Tobias said. 'So we are still not sure about anything.'

  Shit.

  The old man came out of the lab after a few minutes and looked around the floor, slowly started walking towards the stairs and then eventually he started rushing through the stairs. He was so quick on his feet.

  'Toby he's up to you now. He's literally running down the stairs.' She screamed in panic. 'I think he made us.'

  'Wait . . . . . He's what?' Tobias line cracked, but whatever it was, he knew it was no good news.

  'We found it.' John said. 'We found his car. I'm placing the bug under the car. We'll meet you at the rendezvous point in five minutes.'

  Within the next minute Tobias' voice filled the earpieces. 'Fellas! He's past the cafeteria. With the speed he's running, I guess a minute tops.' He said. 'Get out quick or just abort.'

  Live to fight another day, he thought.

  It was already too late, Melissa thought. The mystery man had just reached the parking area and quickly disappeared out of sight. It was like he vanished into the thin air. An awkward silence filled the warmth of the dense air.

  There were no activities for another couple of minutes, just then, the earpieces of Melissa and Tobias picked up the sound of a car's tires screeching; a speeding vehicle.

  Melissa rushed to the main gate only to find the tire marks on the tracks ahead her but whoever he was, he was too good in covering his tracks. He was already gone by then. Suddenly the thought of John and Katrina struck her mind and she immediately brought her hands close to the earpiece. 'John? Katrina?' she shouted. 'Are you guys there?'

  'Mel we should probably check out the lot.' Tobias called out.

  They hustled across the street to the parking area, and then a sudden static disruption filled their earpieces. '. . . . Are . . . . Fine . . . . .' some coughing noise in between and then again, '. . . . . See you out front . . . . . .'

  A few minutes later Katrina and John walked out of the parking lot with greased shirts and their face filled with soot and dusts. Melissa stood there watching them in a relief. Thank god you guys are not dead, her inner voice spoke, but she refused to utter them out load.

  'We hid behind his car and his engine roared on us.' Katrina explained, wiping off the soot on her face with her kerchief. Without any sudden thoughts, tears trickled down Melissa's cheeks and she hugged them tightly and kissed both of them on their forehead. 'Melissa, relax. We're here.' John said, and Katrina nodded, patting on Melissa's head.

  The blaring noise of a horn took their attention; it was Tobias' Chevy 67' Impala, roaring on the pavement. 'Get in guys. We don't wanna miss him.' He said and they all got in and started chasing the guy. No more hiding, he already knew.

  Almost a twenty minute drive, chasing the so-called professor Gilroy, brought them to a private garage around the Howard county area. The place was so quiet; except for the sound of the waves kissing the shore line, and taking back with them, the sand dunes mounted up on the shore.

  Around four or five garages were lined up across the shore and two of them were opened - they noticed some automobile components packed and taped, ready to be shipped; probably a loading dock for transportation.

  The mystery old man was at the last garage on the extreme left. He opened the garage doors, partially and casually looked around him. When he made sure no one was watching him, he ducked inside it and pulled down the garage's shutters slowly, trying not to attract any attention.

  The kids got out from the Chevy and they followed him to the garage. Each of them took a separate corner and rounded up and gathered near a window they found, alongside the garage. The panes were totally dusted, and nothing was clearly visible from the outside but they were able to make out the shape of someone walking inside, right and left across the garage; a fainted shadow was all it was.

  Then the shadow figure disappeared the next second.

  'Where did he go?' John wiped the glasses hard, puzzling.

  'HERE . . . . ' A rough, huge palm touched John's shoulders, and as John quickly turned around, they all started screaming. They all were motionless and sweat started rolling down their cheeks.

  He was holding a black metallic pistol; seemed real for them. He pointed them and signalled them towards the garage at gun point, and the next second they were all inside a locked garage, hands and legs tied.

  'Man, who the hell are you?' Mel shouted.

  The old and fragile figure turned around stared at her. 'Oh dear.' He said. 'Don't you dare scream at me' His voice gradually rose louder, and Melissa's head ducked between her tied legs in fear.

  'Stop it. You're scaring her.' John shouted.

  'Ahh! Look at Mama Boy.' He said sarcastically. 'I never liked you John, NEVER. So don't think that I'm gonna listen to you, or any of you.' He was packing his backpack as he spoke; his hands were trembling and his legs were shaking.

  The garage was plain and empty. Is this where he was holed up? They started thinking. There was nothing there except for an old dusted Benz sedan with its trunk open. Inside the trunk were few rusted iron rods, rock sediments - looked like grey marble stones. They immediately realized they were the same stones from Professor James Gilroy's Grave back at Meadowridge Memorial.

  'Who are you? What did you do to Professor Gilroy?' Katrina shouted at him.

  He dropped his backpack, clutched his fists in frustration and grabbed his pistol and started loading the 9mm bullets in the magazine.

  'I know you like good mysteries.' He said, loading the magazine back in his pistol. 'Die with one.' He pointed the gun at Katrina's temple, and she tightly closed her eyes.

  They heard the gun cocking and reloading and the pressure on the trigger handle and for one brief moment, Katrina's world flashed in front of her, as the rest of them closed their eyes in fear.

  She felt the blood rushing through her veins.

  And the gun fired.

  The world around them went blank.

  *****

  Then they opened their eyes. Everyone's face filled with pure horror and surprised. Katrina was wimpy and she was crying, and her breath was short and fast. Her heart was pounding.

  The things their eyes saw, the mind refused to believe it.

  The man claiming to be Gilroy was lying flat on the floor with his hands stretched and a bullet hole centred his forehead. He was lying still, motionless. He was no longer breathing. He was dead already.

  The entire area filled with sirens blaring and chattering noise of the crowd surrounding the area; the garage was entirely rounded up by cops. The four of them looked ahead, as a man with peppered beard below his rounded up chin was approaching them.

  He was wearing a thick black leather jack on the inside with a FBI windbreaker on the outside. The ID's wobbling around his neck called him "Stan Lowrey". He picked up a Swiss knife and cut them all loose one by one, and finally they stood up on their feet. They were shaking, still in shock.

  'What's goin' on here?' John asked, in a more calm and polite tone.

  Lowrey said nothing but smiled at them.

  *****

  Lowrey collected individual statements from the each, about the incident, right from the start; the day they received the co - ordinates till they ended up in the garage. Lowrey was accompanied by another man in suit, wearing thick framed glasses and he looked smart and calm and the tag on his ID revealed his name: David Stenson.

  'So it was you who sent the co -
ordinates?' John asked.

  Lowrey nodded, and said 'In fact it was me who dropped the phone in Melissa's bag in the first place.' That came as a shock to Melissa, that she had been so careless. She thought she was perfect but she had indeed set a poor example, for the first time in her life.

  'If you knew about the co - ordinates, then you could've arranged a search party all by yourself, why pick us?' Melissa frowned, in disappointment.

  Lowrey eyed them carefully. 'We didn't have any hard facts at first, and about the co - ordinates? We received it from an anonymous source and it was not good enough to get a warrant, let alone arrange a search team, for that matter. So when I went through the University records . . . . .' he said, pointing individually at all the four of them, '. . . . . . . I found you guys; brightest and brilliant minds of JHU, so we thought of playing a scavenger hunt with you, as our bait or you can say players.'

  John, Katrina, Melissa and Tobias rolled their eyes and started staring at each other like they were fools and it had lasted for a few seconds.

  'So how did you get a warrant now?' they asked. 'Did you even get a warrant?' John questioned him with crossed hands, anger enveloped his face, as he spoke.

  'The phone I dropped in Melissa's bag,' he said and looked at them, expecting someone to finish the answer but none of them did, they were in pure shock, so Lowrey continued. 'I planted a bug on it. I got what I needed from you people, to get my warrant. Physically I was not there but I was with you guys all the way through. I wouldn't have let this son-of-a-bitch hurt you.'

  'Well . . . . . . You almost did.' Katrina said in a low mumbling voice.

  'That was a test actually.' The man standing near Lowrey spoke. 'We'll get back to that soon.' He was saying, as he signalled Lowrey to continue.

  'So, the man claiming to be your Professor Gilroy, his real name is Mahmood Ron Patrick. He's an art thief and a forger, and he was on D.C Art Crime Divisions wanted list for a very long time but we couldn't get to him and . . . . . . .' He stretched, 'He claimed to be the last bloodline of the Fallen Empire - The Pharaohs. It said that in his Psycho Profile Analysis.'

  'What a weeeeeeeeird dude.' Tobias stretched. 'So what happened to the real Professor and how did the bones end up in an antique box?'

  'Professor Gilroy was killed in a road accident a year ago, after which their family moved up to states. So literally they didn't break the news to anyone, no obituary column in paper, or anything. They kept it within a very close circle.' He said and continued. 'So Mahmood somehow found out about it and decided to impersonate Professor James Gilroy, and I must say, he almost got away with it because he didn't fake his ID's, but he used Gilroy's actual ID's to cover his identity and also the fact that he had the looks of Professor Gilroy.'