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YESTERDAY'S DREAMS

Chapter Five

Oddly enough although they were walking into the great unknown, Katheryn couldn't deny a sense of pride that bubbled somewhere deep inside her heart as she glanced both to her right and then to her left as she walked. Trent and Carlos surrounded her on either side, the three of them moving forward in unison with shiny visitor's badges shimmering on their individual chests. They were already ten minutes late. But due to the nature of the case, they had been lucky to still have a window of time with the required military personnel at the nearest base.

"I'm surprised they gave all three of us clearance," Katheryn whispered just loud enough for the guys to hear.

"Yeah," Trent replied flatly as he slipped behind Katheryn and Carlos to traverse a narrow hallway. "Flores must have more connections with the military than what he's letting on."

"I don't know," Carlos inserted. "He seems legit to me. Besides, if he had the necessary connections, why would he need us?"

Katheryn could see Flores and two guards waiting up ahead at the end of the hall and gently elbowed Carlos as their signal to be quiet. They all slowed their pace as they approached, lifting their heads somewhat higher to acknowledge their client.

"Mr. Flores. Nice to see you again," Katheryn offered, attempting to lace the atmosphere with as much feminine charm as she was allowed. Somehow she thought it would help alleviate what currently felt like a dangerous operation in the company of uneasiness.

"It is wonderful that you guys are here too," Flores grinned. "Now, after you." He stepped aside to allow the private investigating trio to enter before him.

The three musketeers walked into what appeared to be a typical conference room. There was a television set on a stand in the far corner of the room currently displaying the appropriate military logo while the man whom they were scheduled to meet with immediately rose from the farthest chair and rounded the table to greet them all.

The man's demeanor was terse and straightforward allowing for very little comradery or small talk. He was clearly there for business and nothing else.

Trent immediately could tell that this was making Flores quite edgy. By the look on his face, he sensed Flores nearly regretted all his years of dreaming about something like this. Suddenly it didn't seem like it was worth all the trouble in his eyes.

"Mr. Flores, would you like to open the box?"

Flores' nervous laugh faded as quickly as it washed over him. "What do you mean? I can do that?"

"Of course," the emotionless solider offered curtly.

Flores was lost for words along with the trio behind him. Why all of this bureaucratic nonsense if he was allowed to open it in the first place?

"Well," Flores' voice broke. "I suppose I'd be honored. Do you have a key?"

The man turned his Admiral stripes away from the group and returned with a heavy crowbar. "I'm sorry, but this is the best we can do."

"It won't work," Flores dared to mention. "We tried that already…in the field."

"Excuse me?! You already attempted to breach security precautions before alerting the military of your findings?"

"Y—yes," a reddening Flores blurted out as fast as he was able. "We didn't know we weren't allowed to. I'm sorry."

"Fine! You're lucky it was jammed. Now, step aside. I'll handle it."

The lid was partially dented in the process, but the Admiral's strength put all of Flores' team to shame.

Noticing Flores' shaking hand by his side, Katheryn slipped up beside him, gripped his shoulder comfortingly and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry. I'm sure it could have loosened up during the flight."

Flores glance up at her as if to say his thanks and that he hoped she was right. Otherwise, getting on this Admiral's bad side was a definite suicide mission.

The Admiral stepped aside once the box was open and turned to his guests, "You have half an hour to take photographs, notes, and data to study away from base. But the box and its contents must remain here at the base. All contents will be bagged and tagged for storage. You all are welcome here at any point during your investigation to study the items. But under no circumstances should this box and what's inside of it leave the base. Understood?"

All four of them shook their heads eagerly, not wanting to cause any confrontation with the overbearing military man before them.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have urgent business to attend to. Good luck."

The Admiral was gone from the room without saying another word or allowing the others a word in edgewise. For a moment they were left glancing at each other trying to simply make sense of it all. Both Trent and Carlos were equally as astonished by how much such a strong old man like Flores could be intimidated that easily.

"Well," Flores' voice shook unevenly as he turned around to face the others. "I guess we have some work to do."

Donning her camera, Katheryn gave Flores a nod. "I'll get started right away."

"Same here," Carlos stepped up. "I'll make a list of all the items."

Trent tipped his head in acknowledgement, "And I'll give Kim a call. I have a feeling we'll need to put the coffee pot on for this one."

"Well this is rather disappointing," Carlos remarked, tucking his notepad under his arm to reach into the large metal frame in front of him. He revealed to the others a set of rather antiquated spark plugs in one hand and a broken fishing lure in the other. "Why would anyone want to save these things?"

Katheryn carefully took the lure from Carlos as to not poke herself or further damage the item as she examined it carefully, somehow hoping to find a non-existent clue as to its reason for being. "I have no idea." She set it down on the table daintily and took up the camera from around her neck to snap a picture of it before scooting it over to the safety of the bare table.

"Is there any note here to tell us about this stuff?" Carlos asked, peeking into the box once again. The only reply he was given was a puff of dust in his face and a subsequent sneezing fit. Once recovered from the onslaught, he reached for the teddy bear in the corner and handed it to Kath. "Here," he sniffed. "Take it."

Katheryn grimaced, scrunching up her face as if it would do any good to protect her from whatever pathogens lay in front of her as she took a step back to take the photo this time.

This process continued for several minutes before the last item was photographed and recorded in Carlos' notepad.

"Well, I finally got through to Kim," Trent announced his returning presence in the doorway, still toying with his new cell phone in hand. "She's ready for us when we are done here. What have you two come up with?"

Katheryn was replacing the last item back into the box to take an overall photo when the Admiral appeared back in the doorway. He surveyed them all scrupulously as he brushed past them, not aiming for any particular measure of courtesy.

"Are you all through here?" the Admiral thundered.

"Y—yes," Kath replied shakily. "I just need a picture of the entire box on each side, sir."

"Very well. Please make it brief."

"I will." Katheryn snapped the photos and snapped equally back to attention in no time, giving the Admiral the sassiest of smiles that Carlos could nearly not hold back his laughter for.

Trent weaved past Kath and Carlos to offer his hand to the Admiral. "Thank you, sir, for meeting with us. I assure you we'll treat this matter with the highest respect."

You would have thought Trent had given him the worst insult of all time by the look that glazed over the Admiral's face. But he gave Trent's hand a firm shake before dismissing himself rather quickly from the room.

Mr. Flores was arriving back into the room, busy wiping his hands with a paper towel that he nearly collided with the Admiral. A pair of repetitive mentions of "I'm sorry" and "Excuse me" passed from his quivering lips before the reddening former military man came to rest in front of the others. "Boy howdy, I'm sure as hell glad I don't have to speak to that man every day."

"He isn't a lovely fellow for sure," Carlos quipped. "But what makes you so nervous around him, sir? If you don't mind me asking."

"No, not at all. But I really don't know, sonny. I really don't know. He just gives me the ever-loving creeps is all I know. Now let's get outta here."

"Wait," Katheryn stopped him. "Don't you want to see the items first?"

"Oh, oh yeah." Flores stopped, laughing off his brief loss of sanity to take a peek inside the box.

From the sidelines, Trent, Carlos, and Katheryn watched the man who had for years dreamed of finding hidden treasure like this slowly peek into the world of the past. None of them really knew if he knew what he was even looking at. But they all had a feeling that just to touch a piece of history was enough to send chills up his spine.

"Well," Flores breathed gently as he stepped away from the box. "This means more to me than I think you youngsters will ever understand."

"Oh, I understand," Katheryn chimed in. "I sorta have goose pimples myself thinking about the people who lived and owned these things before I was even born. It's amazing."

"That it is, miss. That it is."

Flores stared at the box a moment more in silence before he began to close the lid, the gentle creak of the hinges feeling all too final and quick in passing for the man who had spent a lifetime in search of true treasure. To think how such minute items held so much meaning to someone in days gone by made the team determined to help Flores find out just what it was they had helped him discover.