Ancient Relics (Shadow of the Ancients Book 1) (12 page)

The next day, the team breaks-down the camp and
loads-up the equipment on the shuttles for their return to the ship.

Back on the ship, Logan takes the relic cases to the
medical bay for decontamination.

After the relics are thoroughly decontaminated, he
takes them down to the science lab for study.

Entering the science lab, the science team stands
and begins clapping in cheerful reception.

“What’s this,” Logan asks as he pauses in shock at
the warm welcome.

Paige walks-up and tells him, “They are praising you
for leading a successful mission in the face of danger on an inhospitable
world.”

“Well,” Logan starts to ask, “Do they know I’ve
almost been killed a number of times, even before this journey began?”

Paige looks at Logan out of the corner of her eye as
she smiles and waves.

“Well, do you think they care about what happened
before this mission began,” she asks while still smiling, trying not to move
her lips.

Logan sees her point and agrees, “I can see what you
mean. I guess we’ll give them their respite before the storm.”

Getting back to business, Logan takes the artifacts
out of the protective cases and lays them out on display for the team to begin
studying.

Almost like bargain shoppers at a discount store
with one-of-a-kind items, scientists begin sorting through the display and
taking items with only a few remarks, such as, “Oh this one is simply
gorgeous!”

Logan looks over to Oni, who chose the item
selection on the planet, and gave her a thumbs-up for her excellent choice in
relics.

Oni smiles with a grin bright enough to light up a
room, trying to take her praise with humble affection.

Throughout the next several days, the science team
examines the artifacts with intense scrutiny.

They image little chips here and there, depressions,
and marks that resemble text and categorize them as though they are inspecting
the relics before an auction to wealthy patrons.

Out of nowhere, one of the scientists jumps out of
her seat and yells, “I think I have something here!”

All eyes in the science lab turn to the commotion.

A few science supervisors make their way to her
station to see the issue first hand.

Upon inspection of the relic, clear and undeniable
text in horizontal rows circle-around the cylindrical stone in a spiral manner
from top to bottom.

The language is unknown, but the computers of the
Wayfarer are more than capable of deciphering the text.

“Call Dr. Bailey. He needs to be here for this,” the
chief science officer on duty orders.

As the call to Logan chimes in on his communicator,
Logan looks to see who is calling.

He notices the sender is from the lab and answers,
“This is Logan, have you found something?”

The scientist on the other end of the transmission
responds, “Yes, Sir. We have an artifact with unknown writing. You’re requested
down here immediately.”

Logan tells the caller that he is on his way. He
makes his way to the closest lift and heads down to the lab.

When Logan walks in, he notices a large gaggle of
scientists around one of the stations.

Assuming that station is the one with the artifact
in question, he makes his way to it.

“Writing, huh?” Logan inquires as he approaches the
station.

A few of the onlookers turn to see Logan moving in
to examine the item.

They move aside slightly to allow him access, but
still stay close to see the discovery.

Logan becomes stricken with joy immediately upon
picking-up the item.

“Oh, my!” Logan exclaims at the sight of the
fascinating condition of the relic.

He takes the stone cylinder over to the analyzer and
begins inputting images of the relic.

He prods the computer terminal to select the options
he wishes to program into the decryption computer and begins the analysis of
the text.

He and the team wait in anxious anticipation for the
results when the machine finishes and beeps to indicate the completion.

Paige, who had been on her way for work, arrives
just as the analysis completed.

She walks into the lab to find everyone in the room
huddled around Logan at the decryption station.

“What is this?” Paige asks loudly, inquiring about
the event.

One of the scientists whispers over to her, “We
found something great!”

Paige pushes her way through the crowd to place
herself next to Logan.

While Logan attention is focused on the readings,
Paige manages to innocently wrestle the artifact away from him.

She examines the artifact with due diligence to see if
there is anything she might be able to add to the discussion.

“How did we not see this immediately?” Paige asks
everyone.

The scientist who discovered the writing replied,
“The stone was completely covered in sediment.”

Pausing for a moment, the scientist reappraises the
situation and says, “The text did not appear until after I almost completed its
cleaning. It’s almost like it magically appeared.”

Logan prints-off a paper transcript of the
translation made by the computer and begins reading it aloud.

“The stars grow dark and cold. Gases fill the air.
Namus comes quick to those not below. The War of the Ancients has found us at
last,” he narrates as he reads the transcript.

Upon further examination of the artifact, Paige
notices the method used to scribe the stone is indicative of multiple stones
used as a whole.

Paige announces her discovery and tells everyone to
look for stones similar to the one in her hand.

Immediately, everyone begins sorting through the
relic piles to find similarly shaped stones.

One by one, announcements come from each corner of
the room as the team locates the other stones in the group.

Completely covered in soot and silt, the stones
remained undiscovered as potential sources of text.

The team now focuses on cleaning and translating the
stones. The story on the stones unfolds as they clean and translate each piece.

Together the stones relay,

“The Darkstar Weapon of the Ancients unleashes its
awful torrent of power upon the system. The stars grow dark and cold. Gases
fill the air. Namus comes quick to those not below. The War of the Ancients has
found us at last. The ground becomes scorched with purple fire from the sky and
the atmosphere is bled away. There remains no hope for Ki on this Terrace. We
must Taruni to find our place among the Ancients. The Babbu of the Ancients is
lost from this domain. May the Or'I have grace upon us.”

The dark and foreboding story illustrates a great
calamity indeed.

Not just any war destroyed the planet of Gidim, but
one of awful power and destruction.

“What is this ‘Darkstar Weapon’ the writer speaks
of,” Logan asks, “And, who are these Ancients?”

“Must be some kind of race,” Paige replies in an
attempt to answer his question about the Ancients.

Logan searches the database for hints to the words
not recognized in the script when another scientist speaks up.

The scientist tells them, “I have heard of Darkstar
Weapons before.”

He fumbles through an old paper book and reads a
line from the text.

It reads, “And the Dragons of Amun’ti called forth
the power of the Darkstar to immolate their enemies. No Being shall withstand
the power of the Ancients, for their power is ultimate.”

“What book is that?” Logan asks the scientist.

The scientist responds, “It’s called Silent Ellema.
It is the religious text of the Followers of Ellema.”

Paige perks up, as though she had an epiphany.

“Oh, yeah. I have heard of those guys,” she says.

Paige continues, “They are a religious order
dedicated to the goddess Ellema and they follow the leadership of a female
priesthood.”

The scientist responds, “Not all of the Followers of
Ellema are female, though. I study it in my spare time, but I have met many
followers. While the order is led by women, it accepts both male and female
followers.”

Another scientist speaks up, “I know just who we
need to talk to then. There’s a follower on-board this ship.”

Logan looks towards the person who just noted about
a follower on-board and asks, “Where? We need to talk to him immediately.”

“Well, SHE” the scientists emphasizes, to correct
Logan's assertion of a male follower, “is down in the medical bay. And her name
is Zoey.”

That name rang bells in both Logan and Paige.

Could it be so simple that a major key to their
journey lies with the happenstance heroin that saved Logan’s life twice?

“Zoey?” Logan asks, “You don’t mean combat medic
Zoey, do you?”

“That’s the one,” the scientist replies again.

As usual, Logan runs out of the room with not a
single word further mentioned.

Paige sets the relic down quick and gingerly, pauses
a brief moment, then picks it back up and chases after Logan to follow him down
to meet with Zoey.

Paige’s thought is that she might recognize the
language.

Logan and Paige enter into the medical bay and ask
for Zoey.

A tiny head pops out around the corner at the mention
of the name and with a quirky smile asks jokingly, “Somebody need a medic…
again?”

Logan looks to the sound of the voice and points at
her.

“Yes! Just the person I came to see,” he exclaims,
again missing a sarcastic jest at his expense.

Logan quickly marches over to Zoey as he takes the
stone from Paige, and then shows it to Zoey.

“This stone and a few others like it make mention of
stories from a following I hear you know something about,” Logan explains as he
shows her the stone.

As soon as Zoey sees the writing, she perks-up in
amazement and asks, “Where in the worlds did you get that? Was that down on the
planet?”

Zoey then snatches the stone from Logan’s grasp and
begins mulling over it like a lost holy relic.

Slightly taken by surprise by the event, Logan
stumbles his words as he tries to explain, “Well, it was one of the artifacts
brought up from Terra Desolace, or Gidim if you want. There are a few other
pieces of this puzzle in the science lab.”

Just as quickly and with the same lack of warning as
Logan usually runs-off, Zoey rushes out of the medical bay heading straight for
the lab.

When Zoey makes it to the lab, with Logan and Paige
quickly behind her, she asks aloud, “Where are the rest?”

Taken by surprise by Zoey’s ambush, everyone looks
dumbfounded until realizing who she was and why she would be there.

“Over here,” someone yells to Zoey while pointing at
the other three stones.

Zoey rushes towards them and begins collecting them
together.

Placing them in different orders and different positions,
like trying to solve a 3D puzzle, Zoey attempts to make the stones into some
order.

“Ah ha!” Zoey exclaims loudly, “Gotcha!”

Logan comes up behind Zoey and looks at the four
stones.

He inquisitively looks at Zoey, as though he is
looking at a mad person, and asks, “Got what?”

“Watch this,” Zoey teases.

She takes her canteen of water and drops a little on
top of each stone.

As soon as each stone has a small puddle of water
capping them, the stones begin to hum and glow brightly. Immediately, the stones
then smack together, as though they were neodymium magnets, forming a complete
cylinder-like puzzle.

The humming grows louder and the glowing grows
brighter as the stacked stones begin to produce what appears to be a green
flame above them.

The power briefly flickers throughout the ship, as
the energy seems to culminate into a burst of pure power.

Zoey passes her hand through the flame to show it
does not produce heat.

She smiles widely at the amazed on lookers and
explains, “These are lost writings of Ellema herself. They’re charged with the
power of the ancients. That’s why the flame doesn’t burn,” she notes.

Logan takes Zoey’s hand and walks towards his office
while saying, “Come with us. We would like you to explain some of these details
to us. They may be vital components to a greater story.”

Now, the journey that these explorers have
undertaken will be forever changed. Finding some of my lost writings, something
I have not even foreseen the possibilities of, they proceed down a path of true
enlightenment. Soon, they will learn of my kind, and of the Urulmé.