Searching for Answers
The Helix…
"Alright, we should arrive in Abydos in a few minutes," Brennen continued to steer.
"I'm pretty sure what we're looking for is there," Willow was sure of her hunch.
"And how are we gonna be able to find this thing?" Shalimar looked at Willow.
"Well if this is anything similar, we'll probably be looking for some kind of tablet with similar hieroglyphs on it. I'm pretty sure this thing will be bigger than the actual piece," Willow studied the picture.
"All this from a hunch?" Brennen asked.
"It's an educated guess. A guess Shalimar inspired," She turned to Shalimar and smiled who in turn smiled back.
The Faculty of Archeology…
Jesse and Emma approached the front desk. A very petite woman sat behind the desk, busy working on some papers. Her attentions immediately turned to them. "May I help you?"
"Uh yeah, we'd like to speak to the Dean or anyone available if possible," Emma told her.
The secretary carefully scrutinized them, "The Dean is very busy. May I ask what this in regards to?"
"We're part of the investigation of the robbery of the Museum of Epypt that occurred a few days back and we were wondering if we might be able to ask the Dean a couple of questions," Jesse stepped in.
"Just a moment. I'll see if he's available," the secretary picked up the phone. "Hello, Mr. Mushin. Yes I have some people here to see you about the museum. Alright." She hung up the phone and looked at them. "The Dean will see you."
"Thank you," Jesse smiled as the secretary got up to usher them into his office.
"Ah, hello, I understand you guys are working with Alex DePaulo. I heard there was a very elaborate piece stolen from the museum. I'm Carlo Mushin, Dean of this faculty," Mr. Mushin extended his hand towards Emma and Jesse, who accepted. "Alex phoned and informed me of your visit and told me to assist you in anyway possible."
"Thank you, we appreciate any help you can give us," Emma gave a courteous smile.
"Please have a seat," Mr. Mushin motioned towards the chairs, in which Emma and Jesse both sat down.
"We want to ask you about one of your staff, Christopher Malone," Jesse started off.
"Ah yes, Christopher. A very intelligent young man. Had a lot of promise. Unfortunately, he's not on my staff anymore. He quit about a month ago. Too bad really, he was very popular among the student body." Mushin looked at them both. "Why do you wish to know?"
"Well we have reason to believe he was involved in the robbery," Emma responded.
"Dear god. Chris, what could you have been thinking?" Mushin shook his head.
"Did he mention anything to you or any of your staff about his extra-circular activities?" Jesse inquired.
"No he kept his private life a secret." Mushin paused for a moment. "There are some of his files left in storage. We packed them up after he left. For some strange reason he didn't take them when he left. Feel free to go through them if you wish."
"Thanks, I think we will," Emma and Jesse both got up and shook hands with the Dean.
"I don't know if that's any help to you, but if there's anything else I can help you with please don't hesitate to ask," Mushin smiled.
"Thank you," Jesse said as they left the office.
"I got a strange hit off of him," Emma looked at Jesse.
"What did you get?" Jesse asked.
"I don't know. I felt as if he was holding something back," Emma shrugged.
"Well, maybe there's some kind of policy that prevents him from giving out certain information about staff. I mean after all we not cops," Jesse scratched his head.
"Yeah maybe," Emma responded, still unsure.
The Temple of Osiris…
The sun was setting behind the temple leaving a beautiful color of red and pink in the sky. Although the heat had gone down considerably, it was still sweltering. They cautiously entered the temple, completely unsure of where to go next.
Brennen just shrugged, "If you were the key to the most dangerous weapon ever known, where would you hide?"
Adam surveyed a small statue, "Well, somewhere safe. Perhaps under a statue or in a secret crypt. It's almost certain that those who hid the pieces probably buried it near a statue or representation of a god in the hopes of receiving divine protection."
Willow stood in awe, taking in the sights of a place she'd long to have visited for years. She took a deep breath while studying the hieroglyphs that filled the walls of the structure. "I think the statue of Osiris would be the best place to start."
Shalimar impatiently stood in between two large pillars, anxious to get moving, "Great, any ideas where it is?"
"Alright, I'll go back to the Helix and use the guidance system to help you find the way," Adam pried himself away from the statue he was studying and glanced at them. "It's probably the best way to keep anyone from getting lost."
The Faculty of Archeology…
The office was still kept up, but had an emptiness about it. Emma and Jesse had spent several minutes going through what was left of Malone's files, feeling frustration at coming up empty.
"Well this was a waste of time," Jesse huffed, throwing down several papers, successfully conveying his frustration.
"It was worth a try. Didn't think we'd find anything here anyway," Emma stood up stretching, feeling a bit tense. Her concentration suddenly turned elsewhere when she sensed a strangely familiar presence approaching. "Jesse, someone's coming."
Jesse turned to her, feeling there was no need to panic. "What should we do? We have the Dean's permission to be here."
"I know, but I've felt this before," a light went off in Emma's head as she made a connection. "I felt it at the museum when we were being watched."
Jesse got up and ushered Emma towards a closet. "Alright let's go. Know enough about your powers to be cautious."
He tugged on the door handle but had little success since it was strangely locked. He turned to Emma and putting his hand on the door while taking a deep breath. The door phased as Emma quickly passed through followed by Jesse.
Emma's eye quickly adjusted to the darkness when she released what they were in wasn't a closet. Jesse stood beside her and glanced ahead to see that there was a staircase just to the left of them.
"What the hell is this?" Jesse cautiously stepped forward when they heard the door to office open and a pair of heavy footsteps quickly heading in their direction. He grabbed Emma's hand and ran down the stairs into to find themselves in a large dark room. Hint of the sunset could be seen beaming through cracks of sealed windows.
They hid behind a bunch of disorganized boxes, when the door to room opened. Taking short breaths, they remained quiet in the hopes of not being discovered.
A stocky man with dark skin walked down the stairs and turned on one of the lamps to illuminate the dark room slightly. He put down a small stone on top of a table and sat down with a bag of take-out food and rummaged through it pulling out a small package.
Emma shifted a bit to find more comfort when she unconsciously knocked over a piece of glass that shattered upon the ground.
Swiftly the man stood up from his chair, startled by the noise, concluding that he wasn't alone in the room. He wandered towards boxes, his back stiffening as he tensed for action. "Who's there? You might as well come out, I know you're there."
Both Emma and Jesse remained still, waiting for the approaching form. Jesse looked at Emma as they continued to listen to his footsteps to determine how close he was. With a sudden burst of energy, Jesse jumped out from behind the boxes and grabbed for the figure.
Seeing Jesse leaping at him, he quickly phased allowing Jesse to fly through him. The man turned towards the object on the table and frantically broke into a run towards it. Realizing why they were there, he knew his only chance was to grab the object and make a quick exit.
Emma stood up abruptly and blocked his path to the table, firing a psychic blast at him. He immediately lost consciousness and fell towards the floor. "Well I think we might have found something Jess."
Jesse stood up behind grabbing the object from the table and glanced at it. Recognizing it almost immediately, he smiled at Emma, "Oh yeah I think most definitely. Think our friends back at the museum might want to see this."
Emma smiled and nodded, "Great, you get the fun part." She glanced down at the still form on the ground.
The Temple of Osiris…
The air got progressively stale as three forms made their way further into the dark catacombs of the temple. Brennen used his sleeve to wipe the perspiration from his forehead as glanced back at the girls. His flashlight breaking the darkness of the halls, which seemed to go on forever.
"Alright, Adam, which way now?" Brennen waited patiently for a response, as Shalimar and Willow stood at either side of him.
"About twenty meters to your left, the entrance to the crypt should be there," Adam's voice echoed through the catacombs, breaking the silence in the air.
They proceeded in the direction Adam instructed them to follow. He held the flashlight at the entrance of the room in question as Shalimar and Willow cautiously stepped in. Brennen continued to flicker the light around the room in order to illuminate the path for them. "I'll watch your back."
Willow used her feral vision to see the areas the light could not reach and spotted a small statue of Osiris in the corner of the room. She walked towards it, with Shalimar closely behind her.
Kneeling down at the side of the statue, she glanced at the bottom of the statue, wondering what to do next, "Well Adam, we're in the crypt. What's our next move?"
"A very cautious one. The Egyptians were renowned for their booby traps, to prevent thieves from doing what we're attempting," Adam glanced at the map before him, not really sure how to proceed.
Shalimar looked at the bottom of the statue a noticed a small crack at the bottom. "Hey Willie, what about that?"
Willow glanced down at what Shalimar was looking at fingered the sand surrounding the crack. "It's worth shot. Help me."
Together, they began to dig around the statue with their hands. Several minutes, later they found a stone object protruding from the ground. Willow pulled it up from the ground and blew the sand off of it. She read the inscription on the stone and smiled. "Think we found it Adam."
Adam sighed and glanced at his watch. "That was almost too easy."
Willow nodded and caressed the tablet, "I know. It's almost scary."
"Well let's not waste a minute in here," Shalimar grabbed Willows arm as they turned to leave the crypt.
Brennen stood at the entrance and smiled, "Maybe that was meant to be the easy part." He ushered them out of the crypt and they ventured back into the catacombs.
End of Chapter 4
Sorry for the long delay guys, I've been pretty busy lately and have had little time for any creative indulgence. I promise you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter. Thanks for your patience.