"Alice went to Scotland and will be back later today. Between the two covers a new set of circles were discovered on a thin tin like metal sheet. She's sharing, what she thinks is a map of a solar system next to Scio's solar system, with a colleague," said Liz.
"Mac's waiting for you to call or come to the museum. From what he told us he feels the secret is about to become front page news very soon," said Barry.
"I suppose a formal announcement is probably the way to go," said Matt.
"Who's going to make the announcement Tall Man," asked Gwen.
"I think we need to do it as a group. You, me, Mac, Alice and JB. The museum director as well. Like a press conference we make a statement or statements, then open up the spigot for questions or whatever is decided. This is out of my league and Mac can probably advise us. Well, Gladys, great breakfast and see you at dinner tonight."
Sequestered in the "A" room, all sat at the conference table ready to share all of the latest findings. It was decided Mac would go first.
"We cut the leather and between the covers is what you see in front of you Matt and Gwen. The first plate is a more detailed map of the Scio solar system. The second plate, well, Alice can better inform you about this, shall we say, map. She called this am and said she would be here around 3pm today. She did tell me that it was, most likely, a map of a solar system in the Andromeda Galaxy. I think we can take what she says as possible fact and until proven otherwise, let's run with it. So what we have is plate number one has a greater detailed map of their home world. Plate number two is maybe another solar system adjacent to their home system."
Mac nodded at Matt to tell their story of the visit to Spain.
Matt took copies of the code from the tube and passed out to each team member. He and Gwen decided to use a public copy machine rather than a computer chip that kept a memory of the copies, such as the one here at the museum. Matt said, "The tube we discovered is, I'd guess, made out of the same material as the steel box. As soon as it arrives you can tell the papyrus is very similar to the books paper. We'll have it dated of course. As you can see the numbers are 0 to 9 and we deduce the binary code equates to the English alphabet of letters. We did the first word and it translated into: "Welcome….."
"Excuse me for interrupting Matt, but how could they know the English alphabet thousands of years ago," asked Diane.
"We're not sure Diane. We could guess or presume that time travel is within their knowledge. The implications are staggering. If it were true, then a race such as theirs could manipulate or design a future to an advantage or disadvantage. Possibly we could think that what has transpired in our history was a set design. That would be hard to imagine or believe that someone would design our troubled past. How can anybody justify the thousands of years of warring literally involving the whole planet at one time or another. In addition, few of those wars were without religion as its base.
If I were to guess or speculate, indeed this is off the record; they have a let live policy. I think they took a fair number of Atlantians and transferred them to their home world. The 'why' will someday be revealed, but for now we have no idea. I'd also like to think they are past the violent, greedy, power stage; but as an advanced civilization we're sure not anywhere near that stage in development. We need to use what is commonly known as developing, not past tense, but present progressive.
Back to the code, Barry, find someone who can run this code through their software or buy some software that will quickly decipher the message. Liz, contact Alice and see if she is on schedule for arrival this afternoon. Mac, we need to discuss how to handle the release of what we have discovered. I'm in over my head here and am relying on you and the museum for help."
"I'll see the director shortly and call a special meeting of the committee. They know how to do this kind of thing. However, something this revealing needs some special handling I'm sure. The naysayers will demand proof; the advocates will all want to know what time the aliens will arrive; the power brokers will be behind the scenes jockeying for position; governments will want their lawns mowed and a band playing some countries theme song; and lastly the politicians will demand a photo op."
"I didn't know museum curators have such tongue and cheek senses of humor. It's so refreshing. Mac, we trust that you'll do the right thing and if the movers and shakers steal your thunder, we understand," said Gwen.
Barry came back from his computer saying, "Hey, I got a person who will be here within the hour to take care of the binary code. She claims 100% satisfaction or money back," he laughed. She's quite a kick in the pants. Lovely sense of humor for a computer nerd."
Mac left to see the director, Matt and Gwen examined the two sheets of metal with, what they believed, were maps. Liz helped to explain a few points to them that Alice had shown her. "Alice said that right here, this bigger than its neighbor planet is probably the home world. Also she pointed out that this system has only five planets orbiting their sun."
"This is fascinating stuff Tall Man," said Gwen as she hunched over the plates seeing small dots around the five planets. "Are those moons?" She asked pointing to the smaller dots.
"Alice thinks so, but she is reluctant to speculate too much. That's why she went to Scotland to see a colleague to share the information with," said Liz.
"Excuse me," said Diane. "JB is calling on a land line. He's asking for you Gwen."
Gwen looked a little puzzled and wondered if JB was sick or something bad had happened. She moved quickly to the phone and asked JB, "Are you okay JB?"
"I'm fine and never been happier or busier. I checked my e-mail and found another message from our covert deep throat. He says and I quote: "Atlantis team, the cat is about to be let out of the bag. They know about the moon having a major connection to the off-world civilization you are examining. Beware the private space companies set to take advantage of prior knowledge. More to follow. Me"
"Thanks JB. We're making plans as we talk to present our finding to the public. Mac is with the director right now. When you reply, tell that person thanks for the heads up. In addition, tell him any and all future e-mails are most happily received. Now as to the other business is there anything of note to speak of?"
"Sorry for laughing, but there are two guys here spying on us. Sid told them to relax and enjoy the weather that if they needed some information to pass onto the boss let him know. Those guys ran like hell back to the hotel, packed their bags and left. Anyway, all is fine here and will keep in touch when necessary."
"Okay JB. Check the papers as you'll probably be reading about us very soon. Let's talk later."
Just before noon Mac came back with a long look on his face. Everyone stopped what they were doing looking at him. He sat down at the conference table and all gathered around choosing chairs at random. All eyes were on him waiting for what had transpired at the director and committee meeting.
Mac said, after looking at all of the team members, "The museum is going to schedule a news conference at 5pm today. The director and committee told me that they wanted the museum to be at the forefront of the breaking news and not have to hastily call a news conference after someone else broke the news. We have a room where we hold a news conference when needed. I hope we can weather this storm. Matt you and Gwen will of course be there and Alice too. Let's do this, everyone here can think about the presentation while we have lunch upstairs. Does that sound good to all of you?"
All heads nodded up and down while thinking about the afternoon meeting coming up. As they all stood up to go, a guard opened the door asking if a Ziggy Notingham was expected. Barry ran to the door and welcomed Ziggy in. He introduced himself and then one by one all the others. Ziggy nodded at each one in turn. She said, "I'm not good with names, but my name isn't hard to remember. My friends just call me Zig for short so please use that name. Barry told me you've a binary code linked to the English Alphabet that needs decoding."
Barry said, "Yes and we were about to have lunch. Would you care t
o join us?"
Her pale face turned a bit red as she blushed lowering her eyes. She looked up and said, "I'd just as soon get at the job at hand. I presume you have a scanner and if so that is all I need."
Gwen came forward and with a big smile handed her a copy of the code. Lisa showed her the scanner and then Barry stayed behind to assist if needed. Liz said she would be back some sandwiches for the two of them.
Barry sat looking at Zig. She was totally aware he was appraising her. She wasn't much to look at, but computers were like toys to her. Most of her time was spent contracted to the government, but on occasion she had a private job or two. It wasn't for her to wonder what the content was all about, she just wanted to do her job and move on to the next one.
What Barry did see was a rather plain young woman going about her business. Some guys were turned off by freckles, but Barry thought them rather sexy. Zig had a body full of freckles and red hair to make the picture complete; along with her Irish brogue. Although she was on the thin side, there was enough of her to present a figure that wasn't bad to look at. Barry thought he might have possibilities with this lady. She looked about his age so he said, "Zig, I know many people have asked you, but what really got you into computers?"
Zig's fingers were flying across the keyboard and without looking up said, "My brother was a real butt head and wouldn't let me share time on the home computer. So at school, I learned all I could and then made him suffer when he tried to use it. He only knew how to boot it up and play games. I fixed him," She looked up and laughed at the story revealing a pretty face with perfectly even white teeth. Barry fell in love. "After that I fell in love with the computer's mysteries and its secrets."
Barry sat admiring her attention to detail. They chatted back and forth for a while and then she said, "Well, all done. Here's the USB you gave me. I also sent it to the secure site Gwen gave me. I've no copy and don't want one." As she was packing up her laptop, the gang came back from lunch eagerly looking to see if the code had been completed. Liz handed a tray of sandwiches to Barry. Barry looked first at the tray and then at Zig. She nodded a yes and they sat down at the end of the conference table.
Gwen, after Barry had given her the USB gave it to Lisa who then made some copies. While that was being done, small talk occurred mostly about the upcoming news conference. Most were only listening with one ear and two eyes on Lisa. Lisa stapled two pages together and then handed out a copy to all at the table leaving a copy for Barry next to Liz.
What follows is the text in its entirety
"Greetings reader from Scio. We are waiting for your message that you have discovered the code. By discovering the code and having the ability to send it means you are ready for our two races to formally meet once again. We will leave it up to you to decide who will meet us initially on Luna. Before we left your solar system we built an underground facility on Luna. When you enter the code at the end of this message, the entrance will open for your entry. Inside you will find an atmosphere exactly as Planet Earth possesses; gravity is also the same. We have accommodations for six people from Earth and we will have six from Scio.
We realize you have a great many questions. We hope to answer most to your satisfaction. However, there will always be some questions we cannot answer due to differences is civilizations; along with the rate of advancement in knowledge.
When we visited and resided for some time in Atlantis, we had the ability then to travel faster than the speed of light. That rate of speed makes time travel possible. Therefore by reading this message in English proves that proposition.
Scio is a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. In our language we have another name for it, but for our purpose here, let us use your names of places. As you can see by the map we left, three moons orbit our planet. We are generally a peaceful civilization with wars a long ago phenomena. For the most part we live and let live. The citizens from Atlantis that we transferred to Scio have adapted well. We are not like in physical appearance.
We have interstellar trade with other races. We are pollution free. Scio does have a government, but not in the sense of the twenty first century on Earth. You see we know when our book and code will be discovered and by whom. We think those two fine archeologists will be warmly accepted on Luna when we finally meet. The remaining four are left up to a lottery system is what we think would be fair.
We leave you with this thought. Do not try and deceive us. Only the truth will be accepted. Any act deemed not honorable will be dealt with rather harshly. We expect you humans to work together and greed, power and other ways of life will not be tolerated. This is a one and only chance for the habitants of Planet Earth to enter a new life dimension. We hope you will join us.
Chapter Twelve
After all had read the contents, the table went from silence to low sounds of voices. Matt looked around the table to see if all were finished reading. Matt saw Zig was still here finishing her lunch with Barry. There wasn't any need for secrecy anymore. Soon all would be revealed.
Gwen spoke first. "Never in my life would I've expected an invitation to visit an alien race on our moon. I can't imagine what others will think or do with this startling development. Mac, what do you think about this new evidence we just read."
"I'm like you Gwen, I've no idea how the world will react when this news hits the media. The suggestion of lotto is novel and I like it. Matt, your take?"
"My mind is on warp factor five wondering about after the get together, if they've room for a passenger to return with them to Scio."
A knock on the door revealed Alice entering a little out of breath. She nodded at all and said, "I got here as fast as I could. Before I give my report, are there anything or any new developments?"
Liz answered, "Alice we have a news conference this evening and here is a copy of the coded message found in a steel tube that Gwen and Matt discovered while in Spain."
While shedding her coat, Alice quickly read the report from Scio. All at the table let her read in silence. Like the professional she was, she read it twice. Then said, "This confirms my interpretation of the map. As there's no mention of the adjacent system, I can assume that solar system has life forms with advanced technology. This whole thing is astounding and hard to believe. And speaking of believing, this news conference will knock the socks off each and every individual on the planet."
Barry looked at his watch and saw it was two hours until news time. He said, "We need to inform JB Gwen. Would you like me to contact him and relay the overview of the code?"
"Yes, please," said Gwen while she rested both hands under her chin, elbows on the table, starring at some spot just above Ziggy's head. Zig had been listening but not understanding too much of what was going on. Additionally, she didn't want to ask questions either. She thought it about time to say good bye. However, she would wait while Barry made some call to some guy named JB.
Mac said to Matt and Gwen, "You know that the life you lived before the news conference is long gone. You'll be celebrities and hounded day and night. For starters, get your phone numbers deleted; along with your moby phones. Increase the security along with a private limo company with an experienced driver. Call your parents Gwen and alert them as to what will happen when the media finds out where they live. Have them take a trip to Mexico or something like that." He turned to Alice and said, "Alice same goes for you too."
Lisa and Diane are under my umbrella so no worry there. Liz and Barry are another story. Take whatever steps necessary for their parents as well."
"Thanks Mac for the heads up and reminders of what we need to do. Liz would you take care of your parents and Gladys. Barry, do what you must with your family. Zig if someone connects you to us, please be forewarned. Now I'd guess we need to prepare for the conference."
Mac said, "The tube arrived while we were having lunch. I'm suggesting we display the box and tube along with the leather book flanked by our guards. Security will be tight. As usual, our director will make an opening st
atement. After that you two will be introduced. I'd suggest both of you stand side by side going back and forth with your statements to make it appear equal between the two of you. After you finish, I'll make my statement which will sum up what has transpired and take the brunt of many questions. I think we'll be fine. Any questions before we make our individual notes?"
"We'll follow the directors lead and go from there," said Matt.
Matt and Mac looked around and nobody had anything to offer so each went about their business making notes.
+++++++
At five minutes to the hour, the 'A' Team walked into the room where all news conferences took place. At one end a two foot high stage held a table and a podium. The table could sit six or more if necessary. When Gwen and Matt entered, with the director and Mac leading, the buzz of news people came to a halt. All eyes were on the line of speakers as they took their respective places at the table. Behind the table, a roll cart sat with a cover over the metal box and tube.
Gwen could see TV cameras at the end of the room in opposite corners. In front she guessed maybe thirty chairs sat for the media. Gwen was visibly nervous. She was going where she really didn't want to be. Matt, on the other hand seemed relaxed as usual. In this case, Gwen hoped she wouldn't have to contribute too much to the sharp tongue media.
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