3012: The Artifact

by John M Grier

Home Again

  This time when they made the jump, no one was nearby. They had no way of knowing at what point in time they had landed until Suzie said “Jack, I’m picking up signals in the atmosphere that would indicate that we are at least close. If you come to a complete stop and hold it steady for a few moments, I can use your satellite dish on the roof to link to the internet for the current date.”

  Jack brought the boat to a halt and waited. Suzie stood motionless for a few seconds, then said “Yes, we made it. It’s actually only a few minutes after we left.”

  Everyone breathed a big sigh of relief. Jack said “Suzie, remind me to rig an extra seawater tank to the boat somewhere for emergencies like this last one. Also, a cradle that deploys in the absence of water would be equally ingenious.”

  As it turned out, they were only a leisurely day’s travel to Destiny. They made their way to Jack’s castle in no time. Everyone was eager to get off the boat. As they entered Jack’s protected harbor, Jack felt as if something was somehow different there this time. He couldn't quite put his finger on it so, as he docked the boat, he took a moment to slowly look around. Coming up with nothing in particular out of place, he shrugged it off and followed the rest of the group as they climbed into the hovercraft for the short trip to the castle on top of the ridge. Jack and Paul carried the chest that Captain MacGreggor called small. After lifting it, small suddenly seemed like the wrong word to them.

  They parked the hovercraft in the courtyard as before, then trudged inside, each weary from the huge adventure of the past week. Janet was the first one to voice what they all felt, saying “Wow, what a week! It’s hard to imagine that when we left here, we would experience everything we have this past week!”

  Jack said “You get used to it, I suppose. I had, but obviously I am out of practice these past ten years. But what is really strange and difficult to get your head wrapped around is that when we left a week ago, by the calendar here, it has not even been a day.”

  Everyone seemed overly tired, so they all wandered off their separate ways to relax. Paul went to the library to read some more. Janet joined him, but curled up in a big leather arm chair and took a nap.

  Suzie said “Well Jack, What are you going to do?”

  He said “Actually, I am thinking of taking a walk. Would you like to join me?”

  “Sure! A walk might be interesting.” They went back out the gate and crossed the drawbridge. Jack triggered it to close from the hidden switch, then continued walking the path to the lagoon.

  When they were about half way down, he turned left and found the entrance to the cave system this island had. Suddenly remembering what was bothering him, he said “I mentioned to Captain MacGreggor that this island had a cave system and a natural harbor to shelter in if he needed a place to hide for a few days. I thought it might be a good idea to explore it again.”

  Suzie said “Maybe he put the rest of his gold here, Jack.”

  “My thoughts exactly” he said smiling. They entered the cave and Jack paused to shine his flashlight everywhere before continuing. They made their way to the rear of the cavern where Jack knew was a passage to another large cavern deeper in the cave system.

  However, instead of a natural cave entrance, the hole Jack was familiar with was now blocked by a massive door, constructed out of what appeared to be oak ship timbers. His curiosity peaked, Jack examined the door. He said “Suzie, would you be so kind as to poke your head through to the other side to see if there are any booby traps over there?”

  “Sure thing, Jack” she said. “But, if it’s total darkness, I may not be able to tell.” She stuck her head through the center of the door and after a few seconds, pulled it back out. “Sorry Jack, I can’t see a thing. It’s total darkness, as I feared.”

  They turned back and exited the cave. Jack said “Maybe we should go get Paul and Janet. The four of us seem to work well together.”

  They set off back up the path to the castle on top of the hill. Entering the library, Jack said “Guys, I have another quick adventure for us, if you feel up to it. We don’t even have to leave the island this time.”

  Janet popped her head up having just awakened from her brief nap. She said “Sure, Jack. Why not?”

  Paul set his book down and joined them too. He said “What’s one more adventure among friends? But I have to warn you, Jack. I’m going to need another of your famous steaks when we’re done.” Jack got a chuckle out of this, remembering how Paul used to be a vegetarian.

  He led them back to the cave, explaining along the way that the cave was different before their trip back in time. Now, all of a sudden there was a door in place of the cave entrance at the rear of the first cavern.

  Paul examined the door and its lock. As the archaeologist of the group, his opinion mattered. “I agree” he said. “This could easily have come from the era we just visited. It would seem that Captain MacGreggor paid attention when you mentioned this island.”

  Jack said “I can’t imagine any sort of booby trap that could have been conceived of in the seventeenth century that would affect this lock’s mechanism. I think it’s safe to try to pick it or just break it off. What do you think?”

  “I agree. It should be safe enough.”

  Jack took a crow bar and with both of them applying force, the lock failed after only a handful of seconds. Jack removed the lock’s remains and cautiously opened the door. He said “The floor looks different here. I’ll bet a pit trap has been dug.” He started feeling around the floor, and smiling, came up with the corner of a flimsy board that had been broken by someone, possibly another pirate. He stood at the edge of the pit looking into it and saw what could have been bones. Apparently, the trap worked at least once in the past.

  He went back outside and retrieved a few lengths of lumber from his wood shop in the castle. Returning, he placed the lengths over the hole and they walked forward. Jack remained in the lead because of his knowledge of the cave’s natural state. However, they traversed the length of the cave and found no other anomalies. At the end of the passage, just where Jack expected to see the entrance to the next cavern, there was another massive oak door, constructed much as the first door. This one, however, did not have a lock on it. Jack opened it slowly and breathed a sigh of relief at having made it.

  Once inside, he was shocked. Lining the walls of the cavern were many shelves containing all the ‘trinkets’ from the pirate booty. In addition to the somewhat expected treasure, it appeared that someone had lived here for quite a while. Jack had to wonder if Captain MacGreggor lived here himself, or, if he had shared that bit of knowledge with someone else who managed to live here.

  The cavern was set up with a bed, chest of drawers, table, chair and a desk. Walking over to the desk, Paul said “Come look at this, Jack.”

  Paul had discovered a letter on the desk. He said “Jack, I think this letter is addressed to you. It appears as if he wrote it just prior to his death.”

  Jack picked up the ancient parchment and read aloud:

  To the only other person with knowledge of this cave, Captain Jack Murphy,

  I have thought of you often these many long years I have been here on this island. After we parted company, I found myself being pursued by the fleet that arrived for the gold. To be sure, it arrived mere hours after your departure. I took your advice and fled to this island to secure my treasure before the encounter with the fleet. However, as chance would have it, a great storm whipped up and tossed my ship about, finally coming to rest on its side in the harbour you mentioned.

  My crew all perished in the storm, my ship was gone and my treasure was scattered on the floor of the harbour. As fortune would have it, the harbour was both deep enough for a ship, as you stated, but shallow enough for me to gather the treasure over the years. To be honest, I had no other occupation left to me.

  It took me three years to gather the treasure and another ye
ar to completely remove the remains of my lost ship. After that I had all but given up hope of a rescue. I can see why you thought this would be a safe island to hide on as not one person has come near in the many long years I have resided here.

  I was hoping you would come by in that fantastic vessel of yours, but I have come to the conclusion that the same storm that got me must have gotten you as well. I suppose this letter is more for me than you, since the chances of you still being alive are slim indeed.

  This treasure has come to haunt me. I am the wealthiest man in the world and yet I am completely alone. I am surrounded by vast wealth and would trade it all for an hour’s company with another person. Any person would do, but I find myself thinking of you and our brief friendship more and more these days. Surely, my time on this earth is drawing to a close soon and I felt I must leave this letter for you, or whoever finds it.

  I have but one request. As I write this, I find myself thinking of the people who lost this treasure. Perhaps someday it will find its way back to them. Maybe then, I shall be able to rest in peace.

  Sincerely,

  Capt. William MacGreggor

  Janet was the first to speak “We should do something. Maybe we can find out who lost this treasure and get it back to them somehow.”

  Jack said “I am more and more convinced that the treasure is the lost gold that was stolen from the Incas by the Spaniards. Before we entered into the picture, it was lost then too. Now, it’s still officially lost, but we just happen to know where it is.”

  “Jack, this is probably more your area than mine, but if memory serves, the Incas disappeared about the same time the gold was taken from them.” Paul’s forehead wrinkled as he appeared deep in thought about a group of people he wasn’t fully up to date on…a problem that seemed to happen more often since meeting Jack.

  “Yes, I believe that’s the case. Who knows what really happened, but Janet’s right, we should do something. I suggest we contact the descendants of the Incas, now living in South America, scattered throughout the continent. We’ll have to do some research to figure out how to divide it up amongst them, but it should be in a museum. Maybe it will even survive until your time.”

  Paul said “I am okay with that. How about you Janet?”

  “Yes, I like that idea.”

  Jack said “I wonder where Captain MacGreggor is? If he was dying here, I would have expected him to be in the bed here, or somewhere nearby.”

  Suzie said “I think I know. He apparently fell into his own trap and lies there still. There is nothing left but bones, but I have to assume it is him. From what I can tell, the body down there is about the right size to have been him. Although, with the door locked from the outside, there must have been another person here or another way out of this cave.”

  “I don’t know of another exit to the cave, but he had much more time to explore it than I have" said Jack. "Maybe once we get past this little adventure, and when we have solved the mystery of the disks in the ice back in the future, we’ll have time to further explore this cave and figure it out. For now though, we can simply fill the hole in and put a marker on it with his name. The cave will be safer that way.”

  Janet said “I wonder what would have made a hardened criminal, such as a pirate, have such a change of heart?”

  Paul, having continued to look around held up a book he had just found. He said “Perhaps he had a change of heart because of the only book he had to read. This is the same book I have been reading lately, thanks to Jack’s fine collection of bound literary treasure in his castle. He had a Bible. And the page that it seems to easily fall open to, as if he kept coming back to it just happens to have this verse on it: Thou shalt not steal.”

  “He must have read it over and over and after years of isolation and only this Bible for company, his heart was able to change. I am finding this book to be an amazing work indeed!”

  They spent the remainder of the day looking at each item while Suzie kept an inventory. By midnight, they had a general idea of what all was there, along with pictures of each item, thanks to Suzie’s talents.

  They made one other discovery in the cave. The doors as well as the shelves that held the gold ‘trinkets,’ as Captain MacGreggor called them were made from timbers of his ship. Behind one of the shelves, hanging on the wall, but blocked by a clutter of items was the plank of the ship that had the ship’s name on it: Queen Mary’s Dagger.

  The next day Paul, Janet and Suzie continued their investigation of the artifacts in the cave. Jack spent the day searching the internet for a suitable museum to make the rather sizable donation to.

  What he ended up doing was making an anonymous posting on a website pertaining to the Native Arts of South America. Attaching a newly created email address to the posting, he sat back to see what happened. What he said was more or less that he had inherited a sizable collection of Pre-Columbian Native American Art and was considering a donation to a reputable museum.

  In less than an hour, he had been contacted by quite a few museums, several of which were in South America. He responded to the South American museums and managed to set up a meeting for the following Monday. All the museums would send a representative to the meeting, which would be held on The Bahamian Island named Destiny. Jack would pick them up in Nassau and transport them to his castle. Once there, they would finally get to see what he had.

  Jack got up from his computer and yawned. It had taken him the better part of the day to make the arrangements. Monday may be only a week away, but for a man with resources such as Jack, Monday could be postponed as long as he wanted it to be. He would have to make certain to write himself a note, lest he forget.

  He was just heading for the kitchen and a snack when Paul came in. Janet and Suzie followed in an animated conversation about women’s fashions.

  Jack said “I think I’ve settled the problem with the ill gotten gold. I have representatives from several museums in South America coming next Monday. I plan to donate it to the lot of them, equally divided, of course.”

  Smiling, Paul said “That sounds like a reasonable solution to me.”

  Jack said “Monday is a week away, assuming we stay put in this time for a while. We can get this behind us now, or, I can deal with it later, if you like. We still have the matter of the mysterious holographic messages to deal with back in your time.”

  Paul said “I’ve been thinking of them a lot recently. Maybe you’re right we should go back to our time and try to figure out what’s going on there.”

  “Okay then, if everyone is in agreement, we can leave in the morning.”