Sarah pondered this for a moment, "Well we considered this possibility, are they human though?"

"Well unless aliens have somehow evolved an exact copy of a human appearance, I would say most definitely. They look African, possibly North African." Sarah looked lost in thought at this revelation, so Krause continued, "I know what you're thinking. Thor Heyerdahl."

Sarah smiled at this. Alex had to ask, "Thor Heyerdahl?"

"He was an ethnographer and adventurer." explained Sarah, "Back in '69 and '70 he launched a couple of expeditions using ancient Egyptian boat design and construction to see if it was possible for them to cross the Atlantic. They were successful in reaching Barbados on their second attempt."

"Are you saying that's how they got here?" ventured Alex.

Sarah thought about this for a second, "There has been no evidence of any ancient Egyptian cultural or linguistic influences in the Americas. There has been no DNA evidence to suggest an African origin. So no, these people did not venture here, they were brought here."

"Though it does raise the question of how these people got here." contributed Kraus, "It seems unlikely that they came in through there," he nodded in the direction of the water pool, "and there are no other entrances into this cave."

"Well none that are obvious." added Sarah.

"Well I would like to start moving these remains to the surface for further examination. I will try to get some exact measurements and hopefully be able to extract some DNA to get a better idea where these people came from. And maybe, just maybe, if we're lucky find out what killed them. I could use your helper monkey to help me out with this."

"I do wish you would stop calling her that…"

"Dr. Marshall!" It was Morton kneeling on the ground near the Obelisk. "I think I might be able to narrow that time frame for you a bit."

"Do tell."

"Well this cave, I'm guessing, formed around one million years ago. The erosion patterns on the ground run underneath this thing. If this was buried, and the cave eroded around it, I would be seeing a radiating erosion pattern around it, and I don't see that here. So this thing had to have been placed here….oh!" Morton tried to get up and placed his hand on the Obelisk to steady himself. He then suddenly drew his hand back in surprise.

Alex laughed. "I bet that was pretty cold to touch, uhn?"

Morton just stared at the Obelisk. "No, it just felt….odd."

Alex furrowed his brow and looked back at Simon who smiled back at him brightly, "Oh, it's perfectly safe to touch."

"Well that's good to know." groused Morton.

"It's just that if you keep your hands on it for a long period of time, your fingers will get a little cold." offered Simon.

"Hmmm." Alex stroked his chin deep in thought. "It must be powered by passive energy absorption. Might be why it's down here."

"Powered? To do what?" asked Simon.

"I believe that is the next question on the agenda." Alex went up to the Obelisk to touch it. He reached out, and his fingers glided across the surface. "Has anyone ever read 2001: A Space Odyssey?"

"You mean it's like the Monolith?" It was Fenske's voice. "We've done measurements of it; there is nothing remarkable about it. There are no interesting ratios, no interesting number correlations. It stands roughly 3.11 metres tall, it's roughly 1.76 metres at the base, it's…"

"What I'm trying to say," said Alex as he turned around to look at Fenske, who was staring straight at the computer monitor. Alex found that slightly unnerving. "What I'm trying to say is that this surface is completely frictionless, like the Monolith."

"Frictionless you say?" It was Morton now looking lost in thought. His brow furrowed and moved quickly over to the ice coolers. He picked out a bottle of ice tea and a bottle of water, studied them for a second and then went behind the Obelisk. Alex followed behind him and was surprised to see him slowly emptying out the ice tea bottle.

"What are you doing?" asked Alex.

"A little experiment."

"Alex, can I get your help here for a minute?" It was Sarah's voice; she was standing by a cave wall, slowly rubbing her hand on it.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you to shine your flashlight upwards at a 45 degree angle towards me from this point." Sarah pointed to a spot halfway down to the floor.

"Okay."

"Julie found some carvings on the wall. They are badly eroded and I need to get some better contrast."

"What kind of carvings?"

Sarah didn't answer right away. Her brow furrowed in concentration. It was as if she was making sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

"They are Egyptian hieroglyphs."