The Game's Afoot
The Egyptian Museum…
Shalimar entered the lab were Willow continued to study the photograph, while Jesse and Brennen were in the Helix trying to use whatever film footage they had. Adam was off with Alex and Emma, interviewing people after Jesse had suggested that there could've been someone working with the thieves on the inside. "Any luck?"
"No, There's no clues, nothing on here to go by. Nothing but random words; ravens, deserts, naos, temples. In Egypt, that's as vague as it gets," Willow had become clearly frustrated.
"There's gotta be something. I mean obviously it's a puzzle of some kind. You're always solving crosswords and cryptoquotes, surely you can come up with something," Shalimar sat down next to her.
Willow turned to Shalimar, as if a light went off in her head, "What did you say?"
Shalimar just looked at her in a confused manner, "What? Crosswords and cryptoquotes."
"Of course!" Willow jumped out of her seat and kissed Shalimar. "You're a genius, Shal!"
Shalimar just remained in the dark, "Why? What did I say?"
"I can't believe I didn't think of it before. It could be like a cryptoquote, the letters are random, so you use a key to pick out certain letters to form a word or sentence. In this case, it words. Let's go." Willow got up with Shalimar right behind her.
Outside the museum…"I don't think this is such a good idea," Tuck shifted in his seat behind Malone and Carmen, while they sat outside the museum in a small van. "I mean coming back to the scene of the crime, this is just crazy. It's bad enough we're dealing with Mutant X."
"Shut up, Tuck." Carmen had grown tired of his complaining ever since they left the faculty.
"Why are we doing this, Chris? I mean we can do this on our own," Tuck continued his rant. "I'm not comfortable this whole deal man. What the hell are we doing allying ourselves with this Napier and his gang of suits?"
"We need the money, Tuck." Malone interrupted. He took the piece out of his pocket and studied it.
"We are so above this, Chris. I mean the whole damn thing is shady," Tuck lit a cigarette, sweating from the sweltering heat.
"Look I don't like it anymore than you do, but we don't have much of a choice. If we back out now, we're as good as dead," Malone turned to Tuck. "This is our best chance to find the Eye. Now these guys are paying us big money. Napier's orders are to follow our friends and make our move when the time is right. Now go do your thing."
With that said, Tuck left the car.
Inside…
"Adam! We maybe onto something," Willow and Shalimar ran up to Adam and Emma.
"What do you got?" Adam turned to them.
"It's very clever. The piece might act like some kind of cryptoquote. On the piece, they look like random symbols, but I think there's a key to taking the words to form a sentence revealing the location of the second piece," Willow's eyes went wide.
"That's a bit of a leap," Adam looked at her.
"An educated guess? But I think it's our best bet. I mean ancient Egyptians were renowned for their riddles and puzzles," Willow just shrugged. "I think we should go back to the Temple of Osiris. I think the key maybe there."
"Well let's head to the Helix then," They were about to leave went when Adam stopped. "Emma?"
Emma looked like she was off in a different world. Adam approached her. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but I get a sense we're being watched," Emma glanced around.
Outside the museum…
Tuck returned to the vehicle, "They know something."
"What are they doing?" Carmen looked at Malone and then Tuck.
"I think they heading to the Temple. They have a powerful empath working with them," Tuck shook his head. "I think she could sense my presence. Look man, let's just forget this whole thing. We might be in over our heads."
"There's no turning back now," Malone replied. "I call Napier."
The Helix…
"Jesse, have you been able to find out anything from the security footage?" Adam came into the Helix followed by the others.
"Well, using the limited footage we had, I was able to isolate one of the images. I put the image through the database and found a match," Jesse brought up a holographic image. "Christopher Malone, seasoned telekinetic. He was a graduate of the University of Boston, majored in Archeology. He started a group called the Society of the Osiris. According to this, the society is dedicated to finding and preserving Egyptian artifacts. Upon his graduation, he made the proposal to the Board of Directors about the society. Initially, he was issued a substantial grant, but the funds were cut off when Malone failed to produce results. The funders pulled out as well as several members of the society."
"I've heard of this group. Any information other current members?" Adam asked.
"Yeah, currently there are two listed. Carmen Dail, also graduate of the University of Boston Archeology. She's not listed in the new mutant database, but I found something on their partner Tuck Raymond. He's a molecular-psionic combination. Phasing telecyber to be exact," Jesse turned to Adam with a look of surprise.
"That's a rare combination," Brennen looked at his picture.
"Extremely rare, in fact I'm sure he's the only one of his kind," Adam scratched his head. "Probably a product of the GSA, I'm sure."
"Well, whatever the case, it could explain how they got past the security. Chances are they didn't need any help on the inside. He probably used his telecyber powers to knock out the security system, then phased through the laser alarm to get the piece," Jesse explained. "They knew exactly were to go and how to get passed security."
"It's hard to believe that a bunch of archeologists would break into a museum to steal an artifact," Emma shook her head.
"It depends how desperate they are. Also they could've been employed by someone to do it," Adam responded.
"You think someone is buying their services?" Brennen asked.
"I think so, but until we know more, I think we should concentrate on finding the eye before they do. Alright, now it's Willow's suggestion that we go to Abydos to maybe find some clue to deciphering the piece. Now Emma and Jesse, you're gonna stay here to find out anything you can about these guys and who they might be working for."
"Right," Jesse and Emma exited the Helix.
They looked on as the Helix took off towards its destination.
Outside the museum…
"So what's the word?" Tuck asked eager to be kept in the loop.
"Napier wants you to take the piece back to the faculty. Carmen and I are gonna remain here," Chris responded.
"Alright," Tuck left the two of them.
Carmen turned to him, "What's going on Chris?"
"Napier's got a plan, unfortunately, he won't tell me what it is," Chris sighed in frustration.
"You know maybe Tuck was right. This thing seems to be getting worse all the time," Carmen shook her head. "I don't know. I can't trust Napier. It's almost like we're slowly being phased out of this operation."
Chris just nodded and turned to her. "Well, we'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen."
Inside…
Alex was supervising the repairs to the security system when Emma and Jesse walked in.
"Hello, I though you guys had left with Adam," he looked at them curiously.
"Adam wanted us to stay behind to find out what we can about a Chris Malone. You ever heard of him?" Jesse inquired.
"You mean Christopher Malone?" Alex had a look of surprise on his face. "I know of him."
"Can you tell us what you know?" Emma asked.
"He was a pupil of one of my associates at the University of Boston. He was an exceptional student. He's been at a few museum fundraisers in the past. Last I heard, he was a teacher's assistant at the Faculty of Archeology, trying to raise funds for one of his pet projects." Alex realized where this was heading. "My god, you think he was the one who took the piece?"
Jesse nodded. "We managed to isolate one of the figures in the security footage before it was knocked out. He was one of them."
Alex just shook his head. "I have to say I'm stunned. I never had Christopher figured as a thief. The few times I met him, I thought he seemed like a sturdy young man."
"Excuse me, Mr. DePaulo? You have a phone call," his secretary interrupted.
"Well, if you'll excuse me. Thank you for everything your doing. It's god sent," Alex smiled as he left.
Jesse turned to Emma, "What do you say we pay a visit to the Faculty of Archeology."
"I'd say that's a good idea," Emma smiled as they both turned to leave the museum.
End of Chapter 3