Memoria

A/N: Finally. Here's a revision.

December 18, 1986- Area 51

Gannon Perri had just packed up the last of his things. His replacement would be coming in soon, giving Gannon the chance for a normal life. No more aliens. No more nanotechnology. And no more having to keep his job secret! He could work at a normal observatory now. He could talk about what he was doing! The mere thought made him smile. He picked up his box...wait. He couldn't leave yet. He had to say good-bye to someone. Gannon set down the box in his office and headed towards the Department of Lunar Artifacts. When the first man stepped on the moon in 1969, expecting a mere wasteland...he got more than he bargained for. They'd found ruins of an ancient city there...and something else. Something...too important to ignore...

Gannon ran his I.D. card through the scanner and walked through. He smiled and said his goodbyes to the scientists workingin the areabefore taking the elevator down to the basement of that Department. He ran his I.D. through the scanner there and proceeded to the next room. Here it was...undeniable proof that there once had been life on the Moon. It was under a black cloth cover, shaped like a coffin. Gannon removed it, revealing a large, clear crystal that a young woman had been entombed in. She had long black hair that was spread out around her, a silver eight-pointed star on her forehead, and her arms were folded over her chest. They rested on the handle of a broken, silver, oval shaped handmirror. The woman appeared to be peacefully asleep. Gannon thought she must have been royalty, for she was wearinga silver and gray-blue dress that appeared to be made of silk.

"'Bye, Princess," Gannon said to the woman as he touched the crystal. He felt stupid, yes, but, still...he couldn't deny that he'd always had some attraction to that crystal, or, possibly, to the woman inside it.

That was when the lights flickered for a second. Fine cracks started appearing in the crystal, and Gannon stared at it, frozen in a mixture of shock and awe. The mirror started to repair itself...and the woman's eyes snapped open.

Suddenly, the mirror began to glow with a bright, white light and the crystal the woman was entombed in started to crack even further. Instinctively, Gannon stepped backward, still amazed by what was happening...then, the top half of thecrystal exploded. For a split second the Gannon saw the woman sitting up, trying to get out of the crystal...then the lights went out.

"Oh, crap..."

A few minutes later, the lights flickered back on. Gannon knew that the emergencygenerators had kicked in and that in a few minutes someone was bound to walk in and ask questions...and seeing that woman wide awake was going to pique their interest. Without thinking, he grabbed her arm. "Lay back down," he ordered her, "Hurry."

"But...why?"

"Listen, don't ask questions. Just lay back down and when it's safe you can sit back up, okay?"

She stared at him, unblinking.

"Please?"

Then she nodded. "...All right."

The instant she laid back down in what was left of the crystal, Gannon threw the cover back over her and looked at the floor. There were little shards of it everywhere. How am I gonna cover this one up? he thought. Luckily, there was a broom and a dustpan in a corner of the room. He started sweeping, frantically, trying to make sure that he got every last piece of that damned crystal swept up. Suddenly, the doors opened, and Gannon jumped, turning to face whoever had just entered.

Major Paul Danes, the head of Area 51 security himself, was standing in the doorway.

"Omigosh! Major Danes!" Gannon said, quickly dumping the dustpan into the nearby trash bin before the Major could see its contents, "You surprised me, Sir, I, uh, was just dusting, and then the power went out and--"

The Major waved his hands, silencing Gannon. "Mr. Perri..." he said calmly. "This room was traced as the source of the power outage. Apparently there was such a surge in energy here that our generators couldn't handle it, and, as a consequence, shut down. Care to explain?"

"Sir," Gannon said, "I have no idea why there was a surge in energy here. I merely came down to ensure everything was in order--"

"On your last day here? What could possibly need to be in order?"

"What I meant was...I want everything to be in order for my replacement, I did spend a good deal of time in the Department of Lunar Artifacts."

"Mmhmm," Major Danes said slowly. He eyed the entire room with suspicion. For a moment, his gaze lingered on where the crystal had been. Oh, God, he's going to notice that it no longer has a top half and then he's going to look under the sheet...

But he didn't, much to Gannon's relief. "Very well, Mr. Perri," he said, coolly, "I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this..." As he turned to leave, he noticed something in the corner of the room, walked over to it and picked it up. To Gannon's horror, it was a particularly large piece of the crystal.

"What's this, Mr. Perri?"

"A-Antique...glass! Depression glass!"

"How did it get here?"

"I...had some in my pocket, and I guess I had a hole in my pocket...and...I must have dropped it!"

Major Danes laughed. "I see. Well...finish cleaning up and get out, Mr. Perri..." Then he left the room.

Gannon breathed a sigh of relief, then looked over at where he'd instructed the woman to lay down. I can't leave her here...how am I going to get her out?

He cautiously pulled the cover off of what was left of the crystal. The woman sat up at once."Why--"

"Hush!" Gannon snapped, "Wait right there." He ducked into the Department of Lunar Artifacts's coatroom and found an old lab coat and a set of women's clothing that looked as though it hadn't been moved from the shelf since 1972 at the latest. But it would have to do. He brought her the clothes and urged herto hurry and change.

"What about my dress?"

"Leave it!"

"But...it's my only dress..."

"Would you like to leave this place or would you rather have the scientists find you and experiment on you?"

The woman sighed. "Very well." Gannon turned around, trying his very hardest to resist his temptation to watch her change. When she was finished she tapped him on the shoulder. "I'm ready to leave now."

Gannon nodded. "Then let's go."