"So many unknowns," said Matt. "I'd like to think we can solve some questions that are nagging at our brains. This code or hidden message is starting to get to me."
JB said, "The only thing I got so far is the mention of Luna more than one time in the text of the first two pages."
"Any idea on what to make of it," said Matt.
JB with a shrug of the shoulder, then leaned back in his chair and said, "Not a clue at this point. However, it maybe a reference point. In other words, from a certain time and place, with line of sight, might be a direction to another planet in their solar system. Then again, I could be way off base and it's something else entirely. The text takes careful study and it will be awhile before we truly comprehend what it says."
"If we get enough brain power on this we'll crack the riddle. I feel we'll have a major breakthrough in a short time. Well, I see my wine glass is empty so maybe it's time for coffee."
"Let's see how Gladys brews coffee being she is English and a tea lover. I saw her eye balling the espresso machine. I should show her how to use it," said Gwen. Gwen went to the kitchen where Gladys was dishing up some pudding for dessert.
Gwen started to make some coffee and Gladys said, "Gwen, I can do that. You go sit down and talk to the men.''
"Okay I'll do that. If you need some help let me know. It takes awhile to get used to a strange kitchen. I think just a weak cup of coffee so we can all sleep tonight," she said smiling at Gladys. Gladys winked at Gwen and sealed the bond between women.
Sir Edward Blake was at his club with his nephews enjoying dinner. He was in a fairly good mood, thought the twins. They had told him about the custodian reporting that what looked like a book was in a glass or plastic case. Also a big box was delivered but she couldn't tell what it was as the guard shooed her away.
The stakeout team had little to report, but two old ladies came and only one left. They were guessing it was a cleaning lady or a cook.
Sir Blake said, "See if you can get a directional mike and pick up some conversation."
"I'm not sure a directional mike will reach across the river Sir Blake. There loft faces the river and no building except across the river. What we might try and do is put a bug in their flat. A delivery guy could do that job. What do you think uncle?"
"I like it. Make it so. Also, see if one of those guards needs money for information. If we can get even an idea what is going on we can make a plan."
"I'll set it in motion tomorrow," said Jack.
Monday bore no resemblance to a spring day. Rain and wind held sway until the storm passed. However, most if not all Londoners, grin and bear it with overcoats and their ubiquitous umbrellas. Barry had spent the night with his parents and he too arrived with a dripping umbrella that Monday morning. He was just in time for breakfast. He'd barely entered when Liz came in shuddering from the cold rainy day.
Gladys was smiling and chatting up a storm when the elevator buzzed that a visitor was wanting access to the elevator. Barry looked and saw Dr. Winslow and buzzed the door to open. She too came in trailing rain water off her raincoat. Barry helped her and then Alice was escorted to the dining table.
Introductions out of the way, they sat down to a lavish breakfast. Gwen said, "Alice, we are pretty informal here so we hope you can relax and enjoy the visit."
Alice noticed how lovely Gwen was and how handsome Matt Holmes appeared sitting next to each other. Alice was well aware she was rather plain, but her enthusiasm for her love of the heavens clearly made her face radiant when talking about anything outside of the earth's atmosphere.
Matt could tell she was confident in her manners. She was raised well, he thought. Her parents are from Scotland; probably old school. Father is in academia, if he remembered correctly. Matt said, between bites of smoked ham, "Dr. Winslow we are very happy to see you here in London. After breakfast we'll go to the British Museum and show you our artifacts."
"Call me Alice please. I get enough of the doctor business when I'm lecturing or traveling. I'm anxious to see what you have. Can you give me a brief idea what this is all about?"
Gwen took over and said, "We found this box Alice off the coast of Spain. Inside it we found a book that dates back more than 12,000 years BP. It's from Atlantis. The box is made of metal and expertly made. This will knock your socks off Alice."
JB could see the wheels turning in Alice's head. He could tell she was thinking about life outside of our solar system. If you would ask her what she was eating at that moment, she wouldn't remember. JB decided to help her out, "Alice, what the artifacts tell you is that they show a higher life form that is probable, not maybe, from another world. This strongly suggests that previous contact has been made thousands of years ago. The text tells about city infrastructure equal to almost our modern day cities. We're talking city planning with a circular system of water lines, sewer system, and a central form of government. I'll leave it there for the moment and let you form your own conclusions."
Alice had finished her breakfast and was drinking her coffee while focusing on what JB was telling her. She said, "If what you say is even remotely fact based, we have the makings to change the world we live in. Space will be the new battlefield. Governments will spend billions, as well as private enterprise. The first stepping stone will be the moon; then Mars; then who knows what will come after that. Then we have to deal with the radicals who say it's all fake and make believe. That's it's been doctored by scientists to sway the world to spend money so the rich can get richer. More importantly, how do you advertise this find to the public?"
Gwen answered, "We haven't gotten to that point yet. From the beginning we thought we needed a linguist to decipher the cuneiform writing and an astronomer to see the map; if indeed it's a map. Also we needed a secure place to put the artifact. We have the British Museum and a cuneiform expert, Dr. McFadden, who is a curator at the museum. He's also in charge with the security of the artifacts. Now we have been waiting for you to give us your expert opinion."
"I'm not sure of my expert opinion, but I'll give it my best shot. I'm at your disposal for the next few days. I'm ready when you are. I thank you for the breakfast, by the way. I left very early this morning to arrive here before rush hour."
"We've an extra room if you need a place to stay. In fact we would love to have you. There're some strangers watching us and we'd feel safer if you were under our roof," said Matt.
"Alice, we don't think they are dangerous, but better to be safe than sorry," said Gwen.
"I'll get the van ready," said Barry. He hurried to the elevator and Liz packed up their lap tops.
Gladys asked about lunch and Gwen said she would call her if they were coming back, but she really doubted they would be back for lunch.
It was 9 am when they arrived at the museum. Mac had left word he was at a meeting and wouldn't return until close to noon. They entered the lecture room, converted to what was now being referred to as the 'A' room.
Alice was introduced to Lisa and Diane who were diligently making notes of the book's text. Alice focused on the table where the book lay under glass. It was open to the cover page of concentric circles interspersed with the cuneiform writing. She moved with caution like she was afraid it might wake up and run away to the object. Gwen was right with her and Matt, along with JB were watching her reaction to the cover page.
Alice said, "What do you think if we raise the glass cover so I can better see the details?"
"I don't see why not Alice. This room is temperature and humidity controlled. Matt, what do you think?"
Gwen, I think all is well. Lisa would you please raise the glass cover for Alice to view the cover page?"
Alice took out of her back pack a large magnifying glass. She slowly went round and round and up and down. At one point she dug out a book from her back pack and leafed through it finding what she was looking for. She went back and forth between books and then sat down on a stool thinking. All were intently watching her, but she was oblivious
to anyone else in the room. Just when most of them thought she was finished, she went back with her glass and did it all over again. Patience was needed and it was most evident by JB as he sipped on a mug of coffee starring off into space.
Alice looked up and said, "Oh my God, can or would somebody please get me a cup of coffee with maybe a shot of brandy in it." She walked around the table that held the book and found a chair by JB at the conference table. Gwen, Matt, Liz and Barry sat waiting for Alice to give them what she gleaned from the book. Diane hurried over and handed Alice a mug of coffee, minus the brandy.
"Thanks, I need this. I'll give it to you straight out and then you'll have to decide what to do with what I highly suspect is a solar system located in the Andromeda Galaxy next to our Milky Way. If, and I use the word if, this is proven a solar system with life forms then we're in for the ride of our lives. I suspect they traveled to and from that solar system. If that is true, then they have a means of traveling in excess of the speed of light. Theoretically they would have mastered travel via a worm hole; or time travel if you will.
"The implications are staggering. If there is a key to send a message, then we need to be very careful. We must assume that they have an advanced civilization capable of overwhelming our feeble planet. However, if that was or could be the case, why haven't they come back until now? They left a message for us. But maybe we weren't supposed to find it for untold millennia in the future. Be that as it may, the cuneiform writing says what?"
"From what Dr. McFadden has told us it just describes life in general. But he is still looking for clues that may tell us something more specific," said Gwen.
Alice saw the steel box and with coffee in hand, walked over for closer inspection. Matt noticed she looked at it like a second hand antique dealer would look at something priceless. She said, "The craftsmanship is second to none. Nobody would believe this was made 12,000 years ago." Barry had moved up alongside her and opened the door for her. After it popped open, she gasped and said, "No way. I'm afraid this is all too overwhelming for one morning. I need to sit down before I hyperventilate and pass out."
Gwen laughed at Alice and her sense of humor. It was then that Mac walked in saying hello to everyone. He appeared in good humor and greeted Alice with warmth and respect. They all sat down at the conference table with Mac at the head. He said, "I'll go first and tell you what transpired this morning with the committee. At first I thought it would shock the members, but ever since the Rosetta Stone and other revealing discoveries, they apparently take it in stride. I eased into with a focus on the cuneiform writing telling us that Atlantis probably was a true entity. I did hint at a possible map of an outside our galaxy solar system, but that wasn't proven just yet. They're aware Dr. Winslow is examining the map this morning. We can expect Edward Hargrove to visit us sometime today. He's the director of the museum. It's my feeling we are doing everything by the book. At the end of the meeting I did leave them with a little food for thought on the manufacturing of the steel box. I think that is why Hargrove is coming by. I see no obstacles at this point and now I'd love to hear what Dr. Winslow has to say."
"At this point Dr. McFadden, before I give you a first look report, what can you tell me about the writing between the circles," Alice asked.
"Mostly it tells about the city itself laid out in circles and of its infrastructure. I thought a lot about it yesterday while out walking. I wondered why there was writing in cuneiform on the cover page with the circles and Old Latin throughout the text of the book. As you well know, cuneiform predates Latin by a few thousand years. Could we have more than one author of the book? That is, one for the cover and the other for the text. I'm not sure it makes any difference, but like today we have specialists in every field.
Additionally, as we suspect a code or message is buried somewhere, cuneiform is perfect for that kind of thing. JB mentions the world Luna is used more than usual. I see inside the cover a picture of the moon and the sun. There's a dot on the moon picture. It's very faint and I'm not sure it's intentional or not. We'll have to use a SEM on it to verify what exactly it represents. It's going to take awhile to put the puzzle together. Meanwhile, I'm a bit hungry; how about your guys?"
All nodded an affirmative. Gwen realized she needed to make a call to Gladys. Gladys answered with a 'Matt and Gwen's residence'. Gwen said, "We're going out for lunch, but plan on dinner please."
"Okay Gwen. By the way a man from the phone company said he needed to check our phones. I told him to call you as I couldn't authorize anyone to enter the loft. Did I do good?"
"You did very good. We've some snoopy people right now so don’t let anyone in except us or a fireman if the building is ablaze. How about something old fashion that you love to make for dinner Gladys."
"Humm…….. I'll do just that. See you later tonight."
Gwen turned to Matt and told him about the phone man wanting in. Matt said, "I guess we did good hiring Gladys. She can be our Doberman while we are absent."
For lunch they went to the museum's restaurant. It gave all of the team a chance to relax and share some thoughts away from room 'A'.
Barry sat next to Liz, but was intent on talking to Alice. It was hard to tell her age, but Barry guessed mid thirties. There was no ring, but wondered if she had a boyfriend. At first she appeared scholarly and tense, but now she was warm and friendly. Her eyes were sparkling grey; but maybe a little intense. Barry noticed she was on the thin side, but not emaciated like a model. She and Barry were discussing the worm hole idea of space travel. Neither one was a physicist and really didn't understand what a worm hole was in a theoretical sense.
Alice said, "What do you two guys think about this find?"
Liz looked at Barry and Barry looked at Liz. Liz said, "We find it both exciting and scary at the same time. From what we understand, we're guessing the moon has a very important role to play in this find. It's a natural place to send or receive a message. I'm not sure why earth doesn't have a space station on the moon. I'd think it's a perfect place to observe the Earth from. Or a perfect place to send a message from."
"Something to think about for sure Liz," said Alice. "I'll take this map and use to overlay what we've got so far on Andromeda. It's like over two point five million light years away. Let's see what happens."
Not so far away, Jack and James Blake were having lunch with their uncle, Sir Edward Blake. Sir Blake was not happy and he could feel indigestion coming on even before he finished his minestrone soup. He sat his spoon down and said, "Boys, I don't want to hear how you failed, but I want to hear how you succeeded in discovering what is going on at the museum. That witch you hired has given us nothing. That steel box came from somewhere and that is what we need to find out. It's time for you two to get creative and think outside the normal. Be smart; use your Blake brains. Okay, I understand the new housekeeper thwarted our attempt to place a bug inside, so when she goes grocery shopping or leaves the place, hire an expert burglar to break in and place a listening device. Tomorrow night I want to hear good news. Do I make myself clear," as he pushed his soup away and reached for his glass of wine.
"Yes, Sir Blake," both Jack and James said at the same time. "Burglary is a little out of our line of work, but money talks. James here will go one way and I'll go another. We'll have something good to report tomorrow."
Sir Blake wiped his Niven moustache with a cloth napkin, pushed back his chair, stood up and walked out reaching for one of his smelly cigars.
The team spent the afternoon working hard. The more Alice looked at the circles the more she felt it was a solar system with a home planet. Something was nagging at her that a high level of mathematics was involved with the circles. She asked Barry, who was sitting across from her, "Barry, who was the first noted mathematician we know of."
Liz said, "I think it was Archimedes. But sorry to jump in Barry."
"Hey, no problem. I've to go along with you and let me do a computer search on him."
Liz s
aid, "Alice what are you thinking?"
"I'm not really sure Liz. It would seem that Atlantis was laid out in circles and from that we can conclude that their home planet would be the same or similar. Humans are the only ones who have gone from circles to squares or rectangles. I think we need a physicist to tell us what a worm hole is and if he or she thinks it's possible to travel faster than the speed of light."
"I asked a math guy one time about circles and he said that a circle is more efficient than a square. He used a plant for example. He pointed out that the cells in a circle are closer to the center than if it were a square. Makes sense to me. I'm sure there're arguments both directions."
"As we know our own sun and if we look at it as a revolving system, we see centrifugal and gravitation forces working together to keep one from crashing into the other. I realize that is simplistic, but once the balance is set we are in motion as a system," said Alice.
JB was reading and rereading the text. It was starting to dawn on him that the author never wasted a word. He was getting the impression that the visitors had been there about two thousand years. From what he could understand, the cataclysmic event was not a surprise, but predicted. Towards the back of the book, it eludes to the fact that few inhabitants remained to witness the upheaval that nature delivered. Most had been evacuated off world. If that was the case, then their home planet would be fit for human life. JB sat back and closed his eyes thinking about what it might be like to visit such a place.
Just thinking about how sophisticated their technology must be was truly incomprehensible. He thought how primitive it must be to see a dig going on with workers sifting through screened material looking for artifacts. JB could vision a satellite taking a picture seeing any and all artifacts and identifying each one of them. The archeologist would never leave his office or home.
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