Once Upon an Alien
Copyright© 2014 by Misguided Child
Chapter 16: Ancient History
"The symbol inscriptions are finer than any that I've seen before," Cody began, giving his initial impressions of the metal plates. "The symbols are small, and spaced very close together. I don't understand how they did work this fine. It looks more like laser etching than normal scribing." Cody paused for a moment to inspect the plates carefully before continuing with, "The physical condition of the plates is amazing. Despite all the rough handling, since we retrieved the plates from the tomb, there are no scratches on the metal, other than the inscriptions."
Cody extracted a tool, used for scraping mineral deposits from stone, from his satchel, and tried to scratch the plate. He carefully examined where he had tried to make a scratch, shook his head, and tried again. His second effort was very determined, but he still couldn't mark the metal.
"Efforts to scratch the metal do not produce results," Cody said, under his breath. "I really, really don't think these symbols were scribed."
Cody shook his head in consternation before continuing his initial observations in a normal voice with, "The plates themselves are extremely light weight. I would estimate that each plate weighs less than five grams. Each plate is about ten inches by eighteen inches and is very thin. I would guess, each is less than a thirty-second of an inch thick. Further examination with the proper scales, and micrometers, needs to be made at the proper time." He paused again before saying, "The plates do not appear flexible." Cody tried to flex one of the metal tablets, putting steadily increasing pressure on the plate. Finally he said, "Correction to my last statement. My best effort does not produce a flex in the material, at all."
"If Brian had a vest of those plates, he would still be alive," Shawn commented from over Cody's shoulder.
Shawn had noticed what Cody and Carl were doing, and moved to the seat behind them to watch their progress.
Cody glanced over his shoulder at Shawn and sternly, but quietly, said, "You know better than to try to play the 'woulda, coulda, shoulda' game after you lose someone. All it does is force you to dwell on something that you can't change. A structured 'after action debriefing' will identify what could have been done to prevent the tragedy so we don't make the same mistakes again. Anything else is counterproductive. Are we clear?" Cody asked, demanding a response. Shawn nodded, and Cody continued in a normal tone, "This stuff would make good body armor. I don't know what the translation will say, but I'll bet that whatever this metal is, it will cause more than a few raised eyebrows. Okay," he continued, shuffling the plates. "I will assume the first plate is the one with the Seeker's Ankh at the top. Let's figure out what these have to say."
The next two hours were spent translating a section, trying to define the various possible meanings, noting them, and moving to the next section of symbols. Often, the same method was used that is used when determining words in the English language. Specific meanings were guessed at by the context of the symbols around it. Cody was lucky, in a way. The entire text was written in Sumerian symbols. Cody had always been particularly proficient with Sumerian symbols, but something had dramatically improved his proficiency. His improvement was noticeable, but the translation was still not easy.
Cody immediately noticed another oddity, beyond the material of the plates and the fine detail of the inscriptions. The formatting of the message that the symbols represented was very unusual. Nearly every ancient translation Cody had seen, except for shipping lists and similar lists, had been in some type of prose. Studies had concluded that ancient man used oral history to pass knowledge from the older generation to younger generations. Oral history, couched in prose, made the histories easier to memorize, and easier to ensure that the stories didn't change radically over time. The studies claimed that when man evolved to recording those oral histories on tablets, they kept the prose format of the words. The symbols on the metal plates were not in a prose format, and the translation was chilling.
Cody sat back to read the translation, after he was finished, and the results were compiled. He had a moment of disorientation, or disbelief, as he read the words. Despite all he had been through, and seen, and experienced, the translation was still hard to comprehend, much less believe.
I am Enki (name symbol, closest approximation) of the Anunna (Sumerian symbol for gods). I thank Man (Sumerian symbol previously believed to mean high level slave) for the aid given my world.
Anunna are very long lived, and we can extend our lives with sleep (symbols for tools and sleep indicate sleep assisted by tools. Assisted hibernation and cryogenics come to mind). Sleep has allowed me to be involved with Man, from Man's first conceptual understanding of Self, until the loss of the second Archive of Knowledge.
Our world was damaged in a battle with the Enemy (Evil, or guilty of great sin symbol). The Enemy unleashed a weapon on our world that slowly burned, consuming our home. Anunna came to Man's world for the resources to repair our home world. We could not retrieve enough resources, quickly enough, to reverse the damage. Our best efforts could only slow the advance of the destruction as our world burned.
Doctors (symbols for scientist, doctor, physician) found a way to raise Man from his bestial (Low level slave symbol with animal qualifier) state, early in Man's evolutionary path. Man's intelligence increased to meet our needs, and Man's stature improved to meet our desires. Man's bestial (High and low slave symbols) nature still remained, from his early evolutionary place in God's (Sumerian symbol for a higher being, above gods symbol. Note: new Sumerian symbol translated based on context) plan. A solution was discovered to suppress Man's bestial nature, by placing a shroud over Man's mind. The shroud would suppress the anger of the beast. The shroud also suppressed Man's innate capabilities, that were his birthright of evolution on this world. The shroud can only be removed with an Anunna-designed tool (virus, germ, or very small tool symbol. Medical tool? Antidote?).
The Enemy returned, and the Anunna chose to flee. The Anunna devised a plan, to use Man, to fool the Enemy. The Anunna desired the Enemy to believe that they had encountered another space faring race that was more violent, and aggressive, than the Enemy. The Anunna High Council ('gods' plural symbol with high command qualifier) decreed that Man was to be left to fight the Enemy alone. Selected Men were adjusted, and they were given the technology necessary for spaceflight, and to fight the Enemy.
The Anunna were divided on what to do about Man. A faction of Anunna feared Men free of the shroud, because we stole mankind's evolutionary childhood. Also, prior experiences with other species taught us the danger of disrupting a species' evolutionary cycle. Every instance proved to be a danger to the Anunna, and self destructive for the species. Each species ultimately destroyed themselves.
The Anunna against freeing Men of the shroud believed the shroud would inprove Man's chance of survival by preventing Man's self-destruction.
I, and many of my brethren, believed that we owed Man his freedom for his assistance in saving our world, even though it was forced assistance.
My brethren and I designed the shroud. We were more intimate with Man's inner being, and evolution's intended attributes for Man. We understood Man better than any other Anunna. We believed the shroud reduced Man's chance for survival, because each Man would be isolated unto himself.
Before the Anunna fled this world, I created three stores of knowledge for man. The antidote needed to strip away the shroud was included with each store.
The Enemy arrived, and met Man in battle. Man was decisively victorious, surprising many of my brethren. Man, even with the shroud, defeated the Enemy. This was cause to fear unshrouded Men even more. The Anunna determined that even shrouded Men were too dangerous, so the Anunna chose not to return to Man's home. I returned, alone and unauthorized, to aid Man's recovery after the battles with the Enemy. I was found out, and betrayed, and was unable to return to my home world.
I, Enki, opened the first cache of knowledge, and released the antidote. This action created a city state called Atlantis. The beginning effects of the antidote are felt within minutes, but the full impact of the shroud's removal will not be apparent for twenty-four hours. A Man, when exposed to the antidote, will share the effects with any Man that is near. The ability to pass the effects of the antidote to other Men is limited to two days. Each man, to which the antidote is passed, can pass it again for two days. The cycle will continue until there is no new Man that can use the antidote. This limiting factor allowed only Men near to Atlantis to be freed from the shroud. I realized my error, and resisted opening the remaining stores of knowledge until better travel accommodations could be established, so the rest of mankind could be freed.
My Anunna opponents had discovered my original plan, and left behind a cadre of Men to thwart my efforts. Nearly every Man, that was exposed to the antidote, died when Atlantis fell. I escaped, and began the long task of reaching, and opening, the second store of knowledge. My Men helped me, protected me, and hid me, while I labored at this task. I failed. My opponents had planned too well, and their forces were too strong. Rome destroyed the cache at Alexandria before I could succeed, and I had no more time. I was too old, even for an Anunna, when I began my task of freeing Man. The hardships of living as a primitive shortened my life, and mechanical aides were no longer enough to extend my corporeal existence. My last hope was a tool to extend my spiritual (symbol for soul and mental activity combined?) existence.
As my last act, I will lie dormant, with the help of a tool. I will wait as long as I am able, with the hope of assisting Man, one last time, with Man's last chance at removing the shroud from His mind. If you are reading this, you already know the location of the final cache. Beware, for the cadre of Men, that my Anunna opponents organized, are clever, ruthless, and determined.
Thank you, Man, for your aid in saving our world, though your aid was forced. I apologize for the short-sightedness of my brethren, who seek to deny you your birthright. Forgive us our transgressions against your species.
May God (symbol for higher being again) guide you and protect you,
Enki
Cody sat back, stunned at the translation.
"Damn," Shawn softly swore from over Cody's shoulder.
Cody looked around, and saw everyone, even the guards, crowded around him. The people that couldn't get in position to read the translation were getting whispered interpretations of the translation. Even the Co-pilot was in the group, to ensure the aircrew were fully aware of whatever was happening, or any danger that faced them.
"That, son, will blow the lid off the archeological world," Cynthia said softly.
"Can you say understatement?" Briana asked dryly. "This answers so many questions, but will our poor documentation be enough to convince anyone that it's real?"
"It does answer a lot of archeological questions, but it won't matter unless we're successful in Egypt," Cody answered, trying to bring a little reality back to their circumstances, and put the translation into the context of their current situation. "They may doubt the translation, but they can't doubt the uniqueness of the metal. I'm really not worried about who believes what. As it stands right now, we may not survive our failure. Hell! I'm as worried about surviving our success, as I am about surviving our failure."
"What capabilities is it talking about?" Maria wondered aloud.
"Probably mental abilities, like Professor Frost uses sometime," Carl replied with a shrug.
"But, he hasn't had any antidote," Amy pointed out. "Why is he able to use them without an antidote?"
"Think about it, girl," Briana said, smiling at her friend to take the bite out of the sarcasm. "You're in college, and supposed to be able to think. What do you know about the human anatomy? This ... this shroud the translation talks about. It must have been some type of medical adjustment that could be passed down through the generations, probably through our DNA. What do you know about medicines' effects on the human anatomy?"
"That ... that they heal people?" Amy asked, confused by the question.
"They don't heal everyone equally, though, do they?" Briana asked softly.
"Two people with a headache can take the same dosage of aspirin. The headache will go away for one, but not the other," Shawn said thoughtfully, nodding.
"So, what does that have to do with the antidote?" Amy asked angrily.
"It has nothing to do with the antidote," Shawn said, as comprehension dawned. "It has everything to do with the shroud. The shroud the plates talk about was something medical, some kind of medical solution, like a disease, or a vaccination," Shawn continued, searching for the right words to explain what he was thinking. "Just like any other medical application, it should have a differing effect on different people."
"The shroud isn't restricting Professor Frost's innate ability like it does everyone else's," Amy said as the concept dawned on her.
"I can almost see the light bulb flashing on over your head," Carl said with a grin. "Don't feel bad for not getting it right away, Chica. I didn't either."
"Don't call me Chica," Amy said absently, as she thought about the shroud concept.
"That would explain all the strange capabilities that people have exhibited throughout history," Briana mused. "And it would explain people like Einstein and Ramanujan. They didn't think like normal people because the shroud didn't restrict them the same way it did normal people."
"It would also explain how people like Tibetan monks can learn to do impossible things through training," Shawn mused thoughtfully. "They can overcome the restraints of the shroud through training. That means that everyone can, if they are trained right."
"Well, according to that translation, maybe Einstein and that other guy, whose name I can't pronounce, were normal. Maybe the rest of us are handicapped, with something like an alien bag over our heads," Jamil observed sourly, not happy with the idea.
"That's true," Amy agreed. "The shroud could explain something else too. Nature is inexorable. Mother nature will have her way, despite anything man or alien does. Man existed thousands of years with animal and sail power. Man went from the horse and buggy in 1900 to landing a man on the moon in 1968. We went from sail power in 1900 to nuclear powered battle ships in just a little more time. Maybe mankind is ridding itself of the shroud naturally. I mean, how do you explain advances like that?"
"Lack of interference from Viper could have something to do with it," Manuel volunteered.
Maria shook her head and said, "Amy's right. Interference could slow progress, but lack of it can't explain the explosion of advancements."
Cody began placing his journal, and the plates, back in his satchel as the discussion continued around him. His hand paused on the staff.
"When are you going to take that cover off, Professor," Carl asked. "I'd like to see what the top of that thing looks like."
"Not yet," Cody said, just loud enough to be heard over the sound of the aircraft engines, and the conversation. "It isn't the right time yet. If I don't wait until the right time, we'll lose an advantage. I don't know what the advantage is, but I'll know when it is time."
"Cody," Cynthia said hesitantly, unsure if this was the right time to bring up the subject, but it felt right to her. "This morning, when you woke up outside Beirut, you were acting strange. You said that you had a dream, and that you would tell me about it when we got in the air. Do you think it was important? Do you think it is something we should know about?"
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