It hadn't taken the team long to set up enough illumination over the floor so that the designs formed by the holes became clearly visible but it was taking them a lot longer to find the wall's specific pattern among the larger pattern covering the ground. Nikko stood back and watched as his father and Calvin conferred over the design on the wall and the one on the floor. A number of times the pair of archaeologists had thought they'd found the right design on the floor, only to discover a slight variation. It was worse than a "Where's Wally" puzzle. Nikko tried to help but was unable to focus on the job, he was still too upset about the recent fight with his father and he couldn't help feeling as though he was in the way. He stepped back and watched the others work. Not that his father had noticed his withdrawal, and why would he when he had Calvin around?
Calvin was a better protégé; he was a real archaeologist, his father liked him… and he was normal, not some freaky mutant kid always getting into trouble and bothering him. The teenager tried to tell himself it was good his dad had someone with the right skills he could train and share his important life's work with. Nikko had decided he wasn't going to do anything to get in the way of that, but the decision didn't make it hurt any less. He was finding it hard to stand back and see what he'd always wanted for himself given so effortlessly to someone else, and it wasn't fair.
Nikko had recently finally felt as though he'd started to connect with his old man. His dad had even spontaneously hugged him, for the first time since he was a child. Then, bang; minutes later and everything had changed. The memory was so vivid it still scared him. He'd been feeling great… loved. For a few moments he'd really felt that he understood his father and he'd felt the older man's affection for him when he'd given the teenager that unexpected hug. Then Nikko had reached for his drink and, as if his hand had been a magnet, the can had just about leapt across the table into his palm.
Since then his curiosity, despite a deep fear that he would succeed, had made him try to move other objects. At first he'd been relieved when nothing had happened, and he'd begun to hope that he'd just imagined the whole crazy thing, or that it had something to do with the ring of truth and wasn't something coming from him. Then it had happened again. Alone in his room, far from the ring, Nikko had moved a book, sending it spinning across his desk. Now he could feel the power within him all the time, just below the surface and it terrified him.
More than the ability, it was the physical sensation of the power that scared him. He recognised it. Nikko had felt that same power before… the day his mother died.
Memories of that terrible day still haunted him. He saw light from the lost temple as it lashed out, consuming his mother in a dazzling flash and then hitting him, throwing him to the ground. Nikko remembered the feeling of the light swallowing him, burning through his veins like a brilliant fire then the sudden dark. It was that same power he could feel inside him now.
He'd awoken alone, back at the camp; their guide nowhere to be seen, and his mother gone forever. Before his father had come to rescue him, Nikko had had a long time alone to think about what had happened in the temple, and had come to realize that his mother's death had been his fault. She had been safely touching the sun artefact set into the temple wall, but seeing the glowing light had frightened him and, disobeying her, Nikko had run toward her. That's when the light had exploded outward. His return had triggered it. Her death had been his fault.
When his father had come, Nikko had wanted to tell him about the light, tell him how sorry he was for being bad, but the words wouldn't come, and so he'd said nothing. Nikko could remember thinking. What if he doesn't love me anymore? A childish thought, but as it turned out and accurate one, his father had stopped caring for him. It had taken years for Nikko to get back a sense of his father's love, and now he was going to lose it all over again.
It was pointless. There was no way Solomon Zond would forgive the person that had killed his wife, even if that person was his son; the man had dedicated his life to following his lost wife's mission. Nothing, not even Nikko, meant more to him than that.
"That's it, Cal, you've found it!" Solomon called, interrupting Nikko's dark thoughts.
Figures Calvin would find it, Nikko thought. He knew he wasn't being fair to Cal but at the moment he didn't care.
After finding the pattern it was short work to identify the crucial indentation that was the key to the lock. The whole team gathered around, watching Solomon as he fed a fibre optic sensor into the hole to examine it.
"It's not that deep but I can't see any mechanisms or triggers, and it's too narrow for a finger" Solomon mused.
"That's good news," Nikko muttered, more than a little horrified at the thought. He hated it when his father touched an ancient lock, you could never tell when they were going to be booby-trapped.
"Could it be activated by pressure or weight?" Calvin asked.
Nikko's father nodded. "Yeah, maybe…"
Solomon took a metal probe from his kit and pressed it down into the depression in the floor. A harsh click echoed around the chamber, followed by low grating rumble. A small stone several feet away slid aside revealing a narrow recess. From within the space a short pedestal rose and on top of it sat a small pewter box, covered in intricate designs and lettering. His father visually examined the mounting and object carefully, and apparently satisfied that there were no hidden surprises, removed the box. Turning to the rest of the group, the older man gave the team one of his goofy grins, "That wasn't so tough."
Calvin took the box when Solomon handed it over, carefully examining the inscriptions covering the surface. "It's an ancient Greek dialect."
"Are you sure?" the older archaeologist said, getting to his feet.
"Yeah, I'm positive. Hey, Nikko, hold this for a second will ya."
Calvin thrust the artifact into Nikko's hands and reached into an equipment pack for the optical scanner.
"Just hold it up for a minute," the younger archaeologist instructed. Wordlessly Nikko did as he was asked, turning the box to let Calvin scan each surface. Calvin and Solomon moved to the computer to examine the data.
"Yeah, you're right. The inscription symbols are Greek. But it looks like most of it's in some kind of cipher."
Calvin nodded and pointed to the screen. "Only this line along the front rim is in clear text. Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man… that's cheerful." 2
The older Zond smiled. "Let's send this to Maggie, and see if we can figure out what the rest of it says, and we'd better make sure we're not missing anything here. We don't want to have to make a return trip."
His father sounded excited and Nikko knew that for the next several hours there would be nothing that could tear the man away from his new find. Nikko still held the box and took a good look at it. It was beautiful; the silver sheen from the edges of the elaborate designs picking up the light, apart from of its historical significance the box was simply pretty.
"It's beautiful," Juliet said admiring the box in his hands.
"Yeah, makes you wonder why it's been tuck down a deep hole for the last few thousand years."
"Maybe, just to keep it safe," the girl mused.
Nikko still had a hard time thinking of her as "Miss Driol," his teacher. Juliet was smart, stunningly beautiful and only a few years older than himself, and since the moment they'd met the teenager had been attracted to her. Unfortunately, it was obvious she didn't feel the same way about him. Nikko had no doubts that Juliet liked him, but as her student and possibly a friend, there was never going to be anything between them because she wouldn't let that happen.
Still, it didn't hurt to flirt with the teacher sometimes. Nikko bowed, a short, gallant bob, and presented the box to Juliet, "A gift for my lady."
Juliet smiled. "Thank you kind sir," she said playfully and took the box.
"Hmm, it's warm…" The young woman began, but before she could say anything else the box cracked open, a bright golden light playing over her face. Juliet's eyes opened in surprise and wonder for a moment then she gasped.
Nikko moved fast and managed to catch the girl before she collapsed onto the hard stone floor. The box, knocked free from her hand rolled away, the lid closing and the light extinguished.
