In the Beginning: Mars Origin "I" Series Book I (11 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

I gasped. “He put the manuscripts back in
the cave.” My mouth was opened wide and so were my eyes. My hands were shaking,
my heart was beating fast. Everyone looked at me. I looked up from the letter
at them. “I can’t believe it. He put them back in the cave where they were
found.”

“What? The documents? How do you know?
What is that you have, Justin?” Greg walked over to me and took the letter out
of my trembling hands and read it.

“What does it say, Greg,” Claire asked.
Greg kept reading the letter silently.

I spoke up. “Dr. Yeoman took the
manuscripts and put them back in the cave where they were originally found. He
didn’t destroy them.”

“Where were they found?” Claire asked.

“In the caves at Qumran, I told you that
before. They were with the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

Greg finished the letter. “Well, I guess
we can go now, we know what happened.”

“No,” I cried, rather loudly. “We need to
see if we can find the translation of the manuscript that he put back.” My
heart was beating so fast.

“Justin, he said he didn’t leave any evidence
lying around and he hid the originals. There is nothing left to do but go and
get them from the cave.”

“We’re going to the cave and get the
manuscripts?” I said in shock. I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Yes, why wouldn’t we? What is wrong with
you, Justin?”

“Oh, I thought when you said, ‘we can go
now,’ you meant we had to go back home.”

Greg shook his head and started putting
the journals back. I guess I was acting too scatterbrained for him even to
respond.

I stood there and thought about what had
just happened. Could it be this easy? Could Greg be going along with my madness
without question? Was I really going to get the original manuscripts? I jumped
into high gear.
Yes
, I thought,
okay then. Let’s get these journals
put away and get to the caves.

Then paranoia kicked in.

“Oh no,” my mumble was barely audible.
What if someone had already gone to the cave and retrieved the manuscripts?

“Right, so let’s go get them,” I managed
to choke out, a sudden bout of fear taking my breath away. I didn’t want anyone
else to get to those manuscripts before I did. Goosebumps begin to prickle my
arms and a wild panic burned in my chest.

“I want to get those manuscripts.” Louder
this time. My outburst startled the others and they stopped what they were
doing and looked at me.

“Hold on, Justin,” Greg ordered. “Calm
down. We’re not going tonight. We’ll go tomorrow.”

“What if someone gets them first?”

“Justin, if nobody found them during the
last fifty years one more night will not make a difference. And the letter was
sealed right?” I nodded my head. “So, no one else even knows where they are.”

Okay, so Greg was right. I just needed to
calm down.
But how is that possible?
I thought.
I am so excited
.

We got back to the hotel and went our
separate ways. But I couldn’t sleep that night at all. I kept Claire up all
night talking about the manuscripts. I was so keyed up. I paced the floor. I fussed
about Greg making me wait until tomorrow to go, then I praised him for being so
smart and taking charge. If Claire wasn’t already batty from dealing with me
over the past few days, she would have been after spending that night with me.
We ordered room service about two o’clock in the morning and talked until dawn.
At which time, I was ready for everyone to get up, put on their climbing boots
and go.

Unfortunately, Claire had one last day at
the seminar. So, we had to wait. I tried to talk Greg into going without her,
but he wouldn’t hear of it.

Then I decided I would just go, by myself.
But I was acting so neurotic that Greg said he didn’t even know if he would let
me go to the bathroom by myself. Greg and Michael had to practically sit on me
to keep me still. But then, after Claire got back from the seminar, and it came
time to leave to go to the caves, I suddenly changed my tune. Again.

“Let’s just wait until dark because
someone might see us,” I told Greg. I had found out that there were excavations
going on at some of the caves. I even warned Greg about getting disbarred if we
got caught by someone on one of the archaeological teams.

But Greg said that there was no need to
wait since no one was suspicious. And Michael said it would be easier if we did
it while it was still a little light outside. Plus, we were just tourists, he
said. “The people on the dig won’t pay any attention to us.”

“Can we at least wait until dusk?” I
asked.

Why did I say that? Greg went ballistic.
He started yelling at me, pulled me up off the bed where I was sitting and told
me to get ready.

“Right now, Justin!” he yelled. Then he
kept yelling, talking about me acting frenzied all day and couldn’t wait to go,
and I was so anxious to get there that I was willing to leave Claire. Now I was
acting as if I was afraid to leave the hotel. He told me, in no uncertain
terms, that I had better calm down and get it together, or, yep, he was going
to choke me.

I’m sure I now had everyone convinced I
was losing it. But really? How many Indiana Jones-
ish
adventures do
people get to take in their lifetime? And I bet Greg was just as energized as I
was. He just wasn’t showing it. But my excitement was in super-drive and it was
affecting me in a weird way. I was really going to have to work on staying
calm, like Greg, because this was getting ridiculous.

“Let’s go,” Greg boomed.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE

The glowing orange colored sun hovered
over the horizon, bathing the dry Jordan Valley in a soft, flickering apricot
light. Stretched out before us, miles of desert, dry and still, gave way to
patches of lofty green palm trees. The air shimmered as the heat rose from the
ground. I watched out the side window as the tires of the Hummer kicked up the
dust along the treacherous roads to Qumran.

Four miles into the Valley the macadamized
road led us to the desolate Wadi Qumran. My breath caught in the back of my
throat as the first glimpse of the ruins emerged.

Out of the car and standing atop of the
sand-colored caves cut from the cliffs northwest of the Dead Sea, we were
reverent of its vastness. The force of its stillness held us almost immovable.
I instinctively brought my hand up to cover my eyes from the glare of the
setting sun, and was in awe as the caves that filled the side of the canyons
materialized through the haze.

No wonder the Scrolls stayed hidden for so
long.

Michael’s voice wafted through heat filled
air, “C’mon let’s get going.”

The excavations going on around the caves turned
out to be a good thing because with so many worker coming and going security checks
were at a minimum. And once the sun went down, it was difficult seeing the back
of your hand, let alone four people climbing in the caves. Still we had to move
furtively.

The side of the canyon that led to the
caves seemed impossible to traverse. But Michael’s two black duffle bags seemed
to have everything we needed. He had ropes, flashlights, batteries, lanterns,
knives, food in tin cans (which I would not have eaten), climbing belts, a
first aid kit and even a map that marked and numbered the caves where the
Scrolls were found. My gut had been right - you can always count on a Marine to
be prepared.

And we were definitely prepared for
whatever. Including my ineptness.

Greg and Michael had a hard time getting
me into the cave. Michael had to pull a few tricks from out of his black bags.
I usually am so good at that sort of stuff, especially after spending so much time
in the field. And, still, after giving up field work I walked everywhere and
exercised regularly, well at least I did before that depression hit me. During
that time, I didn’t do anything but lay around, eat and generally not take care
of myself, and it was evident today. On the other hand, Claire, who spent her
day sitting in a lab, didn’t have any trouble at all. She had always been such
a tomboy, and I think she could probably still climb the old silver maple in
our parents’ backyard.

Out of breath and shaky, standing at the
mouth of the cave, I tried to catch my breath. The cool desert evening air
helped steady me. Greg came over with a big smile on his face. He had been
yelling and generally being mean to me all day so I didn’t expect him to say anything
nice. I stood and awaited his rude comment.

“Aren’t you glad we brought a ninja
along?” He smiled as he wiped the sweat off my face with his bandana.

Boy, isn’t he full of surprises.

“So, this is the infamous cave that the
Scrolls were found in, huh?” Michael flashed his flashlight around the inside
of the cave.

“Only some of them,” I said still winded.

“Why would Dr. Yeoman put something in
here?” Even Claire seemed annoyed.

“I guess he figured it survived here for
more than two thousand years. Maybe it could survive another two thousand.”
Actually nothing that man did seemed logical to me.

“I can’t understand why he would do
something like that. Doesn’t that seem unprofessional?” Michael asked as he
passed around flashlights to the rest of us.

“Yes, it does. But evidently whatever he
found in those manuscripts was enough to scare him into hiding them from the
world.”

Turning on our flashlights we followed
Michael a few feet farther into the cave. There was a large area with rocks and
a slightly noxious smell probably coming from the salty Dead Sea.

“Yeah, but something made him not destroy
them.” Michael said.

“Ethics. I’m sure that’s what it was.”
Greg spoke. “Logic and ethics. You know all scientists are not raving
lunatics.”

I guess that comment was about me.

“That man had no ethics, because if he
did, he wouldn’t have put them here,” I said. “But whatever his reasons, he is
driving me nuts.”

“Why drive, Justin? It’s a short walk for
you,” Greg said.

I sneered at him.

“Okay, you guys, spread out,” Michael
instructed. “Look behind rocks and along the wall for anything out of place.”

We had only searched for a few minutes
when Michael called out, “Over here. Look at this. I think I found them.”

There, behind a cluster of rocks, in a
dark corner of the cave Michael found the manuscripts folded up in a small,
metal container. For a brief moment I was elated at our discovery but once he
opened it up and shined his light on them my elation was instantly crushed.

Michael put them atop one of the rocks
where we found them. Everyone gathered around to have a look at them.

“He may as well of destroyed’em.” I winced
at the sight. “This is terrible.” I picked up a piece of the manuscript.

“I don’t understand. How come they’re in
such bad shape? They lasted two millennia in the same exact cave.” Michael said
what was on everyone’s mind. “What happened?”

“Yeah. I mean the letter said the
manuscripts were intact. Maybe we have the wrong ones?” Greg flashed light
around the cave.

“No, I’m sure these are the right ones.”
Anger bubbled inside of me and blew out like the uncorking of a bottle. “He
should have taken better care in returning them to the caves. What was wrong
with that man? And they lasted before because they were in clay pots. Metal
will eventually go through chemical changes and affect its contents. He should
have known that. And look at this,” I banged on the metal container. “He
drilled holes in the container so air got in. This - - stupid, demented, idiot
folded them up, placed them in a metal container under some rocks and just left
them here. Ooo, I could just kill him. He was so stupid.”

“Yes, Justin we get it, you think the man
stupid.”

“Oh hush up, Greg! He was stupid, and
you’re stupid too if you think he wasn’t.”

“Justin, it’s not so bad.” Michael was
looking at the pieces of the manuscripts. “The lettering is faded but you can
still see it.”

“No, you can’t.” I went to the other side
of the cave and plopped down atop a large rock. Of course by now I was crying.

“Justin,” Greg said, “Don’t start that
stupid crying. You can see some of it.” Greg took a piece of the manuscript to
get a closer look.

“Not good enough to make copies of it. And
will you guys stop handling it, you’ll ruin what we have left. This is just too
much for me to copy by hand before we leave on Friday.”

“Can’t you just remember what it says?”
Greg looked at me.

Here we go again.

“No.” I shined my flashlight directly in
his face.

“Get that light out of my face.” He waved
his arm. “And, why do you keep saying you won’t remember? You know you can.”

“It’s in too many different languages. I
see words. I don’t even know these words. I have no reference base.”

“Why? What language is in?” Claire finally
spoke. She concentrated the light from her flashlight over the pieces of the
manuscripts.

“I don’t know.” I hadn’t really looked
closely at it, no more than just to see that it was in pieces. But I remembered
that the second letter had said that different languages were used. I got up
off the rock and walked over and picked up a piece of the manuscript and
studied it closer under my flashlight. I saw
Deus adiuva nos
, I knew it
was the Latin phrase from the journal entry. “It reads, ‘God help us.”

“Does it really say, ‘God help us?’ Let me
see.” Claire came and took the piece from my hand. This doesn’t say ‘God help
us.’”

“Do you know Latin, Claire?” Greg looked
doubtful.

“No.”

“So, how do you know it doesn’t say that?”
I said. “You can’t read it.”

“Do you know Latin?” Michael asked me.

“No. Dr. Margulies told me what it says.”

“Dr. Margulies? You talked to him? How did
he see the manuscripts?” Claire’s confusion was so annoying.

“Claire! My goodness, you know he hasn’t
seen this, how could he have. We just found them. Oh my Lord, now
you’re
driving me nuts.”

“Well, how do you know that’s what it says?”
She doesn’t give up on her quest to drive me mad.