The Deadliest Alien Artifacts (Story Collection) (16 page)

The presentation began by him showing the
eager scientists the magnificent beauty of an old prehistoric
skull, resting on a table, at his side, on stage.

At the edge of the platform, a technician
activated a deep yellow spotlight, and the artifact lit, as if it
were in blazing flames. And he inspected it, with subdued glares,
in varied degrees of confusion.

“
This is a
significant
species ...!
”
he stated, with his fingers
at his mouth, considering the creature.

“
Details were gathered at its
excavation, giving us an insight into the particular habits of the
animal. A variety of clues, such as the sort of sedimentary rock it
was in and animal and plants found with it, were checked. They
determined a hot climate and that an aquatic environment was
nearby.

“
Likewise much can be learned from the
features of these specimens ...
”

His eyes dropped, and went onto the
governing committee, at the front seats, and on the antics of them
prompting him on.

“
For the majority of you who never
attended the last short meeting that we held, it only mentioned
little except vague theories of what our trip to Cornwall would
reveal ...

“
One year ago,
”
he stated,
“
almost to this
very day, I had little belief in ever seeing anything
–
worthwhile.
Things of that nature seem to belong to someone else. To others
perhaps they are a thing of the past
–
where wonders of the world were
abundant and mind-boggling.

“
I received a letter from Professor T.
G. Hansen, in Norway, who, if you don
’
t know him, is extremely captivating
and keen. And he, incidentally, has an incredible appetite for
paleontology
–
and keeps a fabulous collection of prehistoric bones, insects
...
”

“
While, on holiday, he and his wife
came across something unusual, in an ancient attic. An aged
manuscript, truly unique, was uncovered, with the early
explorations of, the Norwegian, V. J. Vega. His descriptions,
detailed in Old Norse, have accounts of his travels and
discoveries.

“
Well, one of this
explorer
’
s
interests
–
almost an obsession!
–
was searching for unusual creatures.
Moreover, his views were strange, and influenced by his interest in
the supernatural. Especially things described in Norwegian sagas,
and medieval ramblings. One of his assurances basically was that
all before him had not looked to a far enough degree.

“
He had some success in his search for
fossils
–
finding excellent skulls, such as this, and numerous
prehistoric remains
–
which as you can imagine must have been
astonishing to a person of that era. In various remote places
perhaps absolutely unheard of!

“
He details his findings somewhat
astonishingly. He describes them, and details his travels, taking
you out into the remote depths of Siberia, where he traveled by
himself.

“
He was very like an eccentric poet of
that time. His emotions and wits occasionally turned strange ...
Yet exaggerated due to our bad understanding of his language and
reasoning!

“
He had heard tales of mammoths living
in Siberia. Surely owing to the abundance of mammoths found under
the ice in that region.

“
He wandered into unexplored and
uncharted places, increasingly seeking to enlighten himself, to
alter his perception of the real universe, and find a hidden one
beyond.

“
Later, he explored central Europe,
where he heard tales of something immense, in this
country.

“
He was lucky, and luckier than he
could ever have realized. Because he found something of profound
significance, and completely unheard of. It proved to be beyond
that of a common mammoth. The creature that he uncovered was
awesome
–
and stupendous! Even if it did turn him into believing in the
goings on in sagas, and alike. For a long time afterward he
continued searching for the existence of what can only be described
as supernatural beings ...

“
He gave descriptions that went to
extraordinary depths describing it, with its preserved
condition
–
which he believed to be held by some form of mystical
power.

“
The detailed facts were so authentic
to Professor Hansen and his companions that they attempted to find
its whereabouts, as well as carry out nearly two years research on
the vague directions, descriptions, co-ordinates it mentioned.
Though they proved to be too indistinguishable, as they continued,
with their uncertain classifications.

“
We began work on trying to reveal its
whereabouts, instigated by Professor Hansen and his depthless
belief in it.

“
Some members helped! Our research
dramatically altered the text, its meanings, and enlightened them
further and further. But, once again, the co-ordinates were left
unreasonably vague, and far from being comprehensible.

“
Our search was a
fantasy
treasure hunt, until one of the
Norwegians claimed he had found the tomb of the great V. J. Vega,
which we all went to see. Its location, being somewhat remote, took
us through and over fabulous hills and mountains, on foot, to the
center of a vast forest
–
where V. J. Vega, for his reasons, chose to
be buried. Maybe he chose to remain in the harmony of solitude in
his form of the afterlife.

“
At last our detection work was
conclusive! The co-ordinates, given in the manuscript, were not
co-ordinates.

“
They were a code to decipher the real
co-ordinates. And the reason that this riddle, cryptogram, had not
been deciphered was because the co-ordinates had been
lost.

“
He had wanted to give the location of
his discovery to his son, if he died, as he had known that an
illness that he had contracted in due course would kill him. But
his son had been too young, and he did not have any relatives or
anyone to help.

“
But he had adhered to tradition and
he had decided to leave the coded co-ordinates, with his other
possessions, with someone, to give him
–
say on his fourteenth birthday
...

“
The coded co-ordinates and a message
to his son were in his tomb. He had them in a pendant, which his
son should have received, and he had taken it with him to his
grave.

“
Once we lifted the solid stone lid
from his tomb, we all at the same time spotted the pendant buried
in it
–
partially hidden away, between the remaining ribs of his
skeleton.

“
Professor Hansen frantically probed
through the disfigured bones to fetch it.

“
The pendant had to be valuable: it
was made of gold, with tiny jewels embedded in it.

“
They played with it beneath my face,
turning it around in the bright sunlight, streaking through the
pine trees, as we sought an answer to why he had taken it to his
grave. I then recognized a faint indentation over its
edge.

“
I knew that many such pendants opened
to reveal inner enclosures, where there were such things as
photographs. Perhaps it had a drawing in it, from those days. I
remained silent and waited for them to discover this. In the
meantime I examined the body of the great explorer, and I soon saw
that there was nothing else there.

“
Consequently, they opened a bag and
removed things that they could use to open it.

“
The best thing was a needle, inserted
in some thread, which Professor Hansen carefully placed on it, on
the faint crack that went along its edge, to avoid damaging the
artifact.

“
Though after some attempts at
it
–
trying
to break it open
–
it remained stuck. Our patience decreased,
and I had horrible thoughts over it breaking ... And it being an
incredibly valuable instrument of navigation, in which the explorer
might have used, and which could be worth millions.

“
Their fidgeting with the object
aroused inner emotions, and it seemed that it could not be done.
The line around it easily could have been part of the design or
there from the way a craftsman had made it, which we started to
assume increasingly, due to its insistence in not
moving.

“
As I started to accept it, the cover
of the pendent shifted upwards, by a few millimeters, giving us the
knowledge that it had a chamber.

“
Even though it had lifted, the
problem of opening it was still there
–
as something was jamming it. It
neither lifted any further nor went back down. It had too much
value to break in any way. Especially if it were a navigational
instrument.

“
We rummaged through our stuff, while
we painstakingly considered individual parts of things
–
considering them
as tools. But there did not seem to be anything! Except, as I was
doing that, one of the Norwegians, bored with our unconventional
lingering over such a meaningless inconvenience, yanked it opened
with his fingers, and the lid squeaked and lifted. It consequently
went up and revealed a tattered bit of material.

“
My next impression was that it could
be just a lucky pendant. And, as he shifted the piece of cloth
around, I believed that something could be in it. A lump was in it,
but it turned out to be a piece of parchment. The pendant otherwise
was empty!

“
This piece of parchment was found to
be priceless though! In only one day we were able to find the
co-ordinates. Though
inaccurate
...!

“
We arranged a proper expedition to
enable us to go to find this animal, which taunted V. J. Vega so
much. But the co-ordinates were still too vague, to our great
disappointment, and the landscape differed far too much from what
was described throughout the text.

“
And we could not acquire any more
help there due to the nature of the investigation. But, before we
returned to the UK, we went to Norway, where our luck changed
again.

“
David Parker, a US scientist, helped
us out. He happened to be visiting Norway, and wished to meet
us.

“
He had heard about our expedition,
which he claimed had come from one of the Norwegians. And he had
realized the situation before it had happened.

“
Parker is a paleontologist and
archaeologist. He is a distinguished fossil hunter and collector.
His collection of Jurassic fossils is priceless.

“
He expeditiously declared how he
could help us. And he gave us an insight into a fantastic new
technology.

“
You will be familiar with the types
of technology used by archaeologists, as well as by geologist,
mineralogists, and oil surveyors. Modern techniques such as
geophysical prospecting and seismic reflection methods
...

“
The concept of seismic work is
similar to echo sounding ...

“
A multitude of electrical methods are
applied in mineral exploration. They depend on electrochemical
activity, permittivity, and resistivity effects.

“
A degree of electrical conductivity
exists in the soil, and some materials act as natural batteries,
whose vague effects can be measured ...

“
Magnetic methods of prospecting
detect buried features by locating the magnetic disturbances that
they cause.

“
Gravity methods are used from
airplanes and helicopters. But because the surveying is done with
gravimeters, the airplanes and helicopters accelerations,
movements, can affect the readings and limit the accuracy, and they
are only used for regional studies.

“
Gravimeters are fundamentally a
weight attached to a spring that stretches or contracts
corresponding to the increase or decrease in gravity. They have an
accuracy capable of detecting a difference in the gravitational
field as small as one part in a hundred million. But their accuracy
does not produce accurate results, and they can only detect such
things as salt domes, which trap oil. And they are used in oil
exploration, as well as to detect high-density minerals in ore
bodies.

“
Of course, some forms of radar
detection can be used. More accurately than before,
I
’
ve heard!
But that also does not produce accurate results.

“
The gravity surveying equipment that
Parker told us of can scan
–
without being influenced by any
movements!
–
more accurately, deeper, and faster, from airplanes and
helicopters, than anything so far invented. The gravity detection
components were once highly confidential, and produced by leading
establishments.

“
It is accurate, and produces detailed
mapping below the ground, at various depths, making it possible to
observe objects with the dimensions of a dinosaur
fossil.