mine, just customers.”
The three of them held their shot glasses up to each other
and downed their drinks. It wasn’t good but Argentine had swallowed worse.
“First? Are you sure you’re ready for this?” the lieutenant
asked. “I could use your help but this is how I earn my keep – I can handle
them if you need me to.”
Argentine looked at him with an ever-increasing respect.
“You could really handle those guys all by yourself?” he
asked.
The lieutenant just shrugged.
“I’d say we’re all in this together, so let’s get it over
with.”
CHAPTER TEN
An obvious
Forgery
Earth
2027 A.D.
Professor
Garfield picked up the impossible artifact from the table in front of him.
In reality, his mind was only now coming to grips with the
fantastical story that their employee had told them… What was his name? Cris?
The professor had fired him, of course. To try and play such
an obvious prank on a reputable archaeological team like the professor's was
not just illegal; it was insulting.
Still, he'd been so insistent… Actually coming to tears in
proclaiming his innocence. He actually thought the boy might have a future in
the theater if he could get his act together long enough to pursue it.
Still…
He looked again at the piece before him. It was remarkable.
There was still a large amount of clay fused to it; the original
figurine must've actually been kilned with the object already inside. Which was
the whole point, really…
The professor admitted to himself, though, that he'd never
seen this type of crystal before. Was it actually acrylic? It seemed too hard
for that and was totally devoid of any scratches – and it was crystal clear.
And of course the rectangular dimensions seemed to be
perfectly cut.
He was almost regretting that the forgery was such an
amateurish attempt. If it hadn't been for the tremendous amount of almost
microscopic laser writing engraved inside the crystal he might've at least been
tempted to believe it.
As it was, though, it was written in English.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Real Life Is
So Much More Fun Than School
In
Her Shuttle at the Spaceport
Astrogator Sami
Parker was excited. She didn’t even mind waiting in the shuttle by herself.
They were embarked upon a real life adventure. She hadn’t
had many of those in her life.
She’d grown up the daughter of a single father who’d worked
hard to put her through school. She hadn’t known that he’d been suffering from
the wasting disease until after she’d graduated. By then there was nothing to
be done. He’d died a happy man knowing that his daughter would have a better
life than he’d had.
She’d always been good at mathematics but she hadn’t
realized she had a talent for astrogation until the People’s Republic
evaluation exams had flagged her name.
So instead of being assigned as some midshipmen grunt, they
had sent her to one of their elite schools for another couple of years of
training.
She’d almost flunked out.
It wasn’t because she didn’t excel at astrogation; it was
because the coursework bored her. Her instructors constantly thought she was
cheating because she could arrive at complex solutions without following all
the steps. She had also never quite learned the importance of being discrete;
she saw nothing wrong with correcting her professors if they made a mistake in
their equations… Which they’d done often enough.
Even astrogators with average marks, however, were given
access to the greatest toys and technology the Republic could provide. All in
all it had been a happy time in her life.
The Pelican was actually her first assignment. She’d been so
happy to actually be living the life… Manipulating space-time and gliding the
curves that so many people couldn’t see… She was so in her element that she
hadn’t even realized the captain had
The three of them held their shot glasses up to each other
and downed their drinks. It wasn’t good but Argentine had swallowed worse.
“First? Are you sure you’re ready for this?” the lieutenant
asked. “I could use your help but this is how I earn my keep – I can handle
them if you need me to.”
Argentine looked at him with an ever-increasing respect.
“You could really handle those guys all by yourself?” he
asked.
The lieutenant just shrugged.
“I’d say we’re all in this together, so let’s get it over
with.”
CHAPTER TEN
An obvious
Forgery
Earth
2027 A.D.
Professor
Garfield picked up the impossible artifact from the table in front of him.
In reality, his mind was only now coming to grips with the
fantastical story that their employee had told them… What was his name? Cris?
The professor had fired him, of course. To try and play such
an obvious prank on a reputable archaeological team like the professor's was
not just illegal; it was insulting.
Still, he'd been so insistent… Actually coming to tears in
proclaiming his innocence. He actually thought the boy might have a future in
the theater if he could get his act together long enough to pursue it.
Still…
He looked again at the piece before him. It was remarkable.
There was still a large amount of clay fused to it; the original
figurine must've actually been kilned with the object already inside. Which was
the whole point, really…
The professor admitted to himself, though, that he'd never
seen this type of crystal before. Was it actually acrylic? It seemed too hard
for that and was totally devoid of any scratches – and it was crystal clear.
And of course the rectangular dimensions seemed to be
perfectly cut.
He was almost regretting that the forgery was such an
amateurish attempt. If it hadn't been for the tremendous amount of almost
microscopic laser writing engraved inside the crystal he might've at least been
tempted to believe it.
As it was, though, it was written in English.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Real Life Is
So Much More Fun Than School
In
Her Shuttle at the Spaceport
Astrogator Sami
Parker was excited. She didn’t even mind waiting in the shuttle by herself.
They were embarked upon a real life adventure. She hadn’t
had many of those in her life.
She’d grown up the daughter of a single father who’d worked
hard to put her through school. She hadn’t known that he’d been suffering from
the wasting disease until after she’d graduated. By then there was nothing to
be done. He’d died a happy man knowing that his daughter would have a better
life than he’d had.
She’d always been good at mathematics but she hadn’t
realized she had a talent for astrogation until the People’s Republic
evaluation exams had flagged her name.
So instead of being assigned as some midshipmen grunt, they
had sent her to one of their elite schools for another couple of years of
training.
She’d almost flunked out.
It wasn’t because she didn’t excel at astrogation; it was
because the coursework bored her. Her instructors constantly thought she was
cheating because she could arrive at complex solutions without following all
the steps. She had also never quite learned the importance of being discrete;
she saw nothing wrong with correcting her professors if they made a mistake in
their equations… Which they’d done often enough.
Even astrogators with average marks, however, were given
access to the greatest toys and technology the Republic could provide. All in
all it had been a happy time in her life.
The Pelican was actually her first assignment. She’d been so
happy to actually be living the life… Manipulating space-time and gliding the
curves that so many people couldn’t see… She was so in her element that she
hadn’t even realized the captain had
Similar Books
