The Lost Choice by Andy Andrews Page A

to narrow anything down with that list . . . but you haven’t asked about the script!”
    Mark and Dorry unconsciously moved closer to Dylan. “Was she able to actually translate that?” Mark asked.
    â€œWait a minute,” Dylan chuckled. “The words are Aramaic.” Noting the frowns on the faces of his friends, Dylan explained. “Aramaic is actually a grouping or combination of languages known almost from the beginning of recorded history. It includes Arabic, Hebrew, and Ethiopic, as well as Akkadian from Babylonia and Syria. Our first glimpse of this written style appeared around 900 BC.
    â€œPortions of the Bible and all of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written in Aramaic, and we have surviving doctrinal works from Sumaria in this same script. Believe it or not, Aramaic is still a spoken language in parts of Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Lebanon.” Dylan smiled broadly and held up the object.“So you see. It was not hard to translate.”
    â€œSo you were able to translate it!” Mark said.
    â€œWell,Abby was able to,” Dylan responded.“You wanna know what it says?”
    â€œYes!” Mark and Dorry answered in unison.
    â€œOkay. It doesn’t make much sense, but it’s kinda interesting. In any case, it translates as ‘By your hand, the people shall live.’”
    For a moment, all three were silent. Dylan put the object back on the coffee table. Mark picked it up.“Huh. By your hand, the people shall live.”
    Dorry held out her hand and waggled her fingers at Mark. “Let me see it.” Mark gave it to her. “What’s that mean?” she asked Dylan.
    He shrugged.“Don’t know. And we probably never will. It is an enigma that belongs in the same category as how it ended up in your backyard.”
    As they talked, Dylan told stories of the ancient finds that had been made over the years on the North American continent. Coins from the Roman Empire had shown up in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Alabama, and an Egyptian-minted Gallenius coin was found by geology students in a streambed near Black Mountain, North Carolina. A Chinese ship found in thirty feet of clay near Sacramento was carbon-dated over one thousand years old. A cave discovered in southern Illinois in 1982 yielded stones engraved with ancient Semitic script and portraits of Egyptians, Romans, and Hebrews. “And no one has any idea how any of this stuff got here,” Dylan said.
    It was almost ten o’clock when Dorry grudgingly announced the end of their evening. Explaining her work situation and the article to be written by morning, she and Mark walked Dylan to the door.“Thanks so much, Dylan. We really appreciate your time on this,” she said. “And please thank Abby too.”
    â€œNo problem,” he answered, “and I will thank Abby. By the way, I forgot to mention this. The thing is hollow.”
    â€œWhat?” Mark asked.
    â€œYeah, no big deal really. But she ran a scope on it— radio waves, direct light-beam attachments—and it’s hollow! Anyway, thanks for the pizza, and keep in touch, okay?”They assured him that they would.
    Within the hour, Dorry was writing, Mark was asleep, and the object of the evening’s discussion lay on the coffee table—a unique souvenir, a conversation piece . . . a relic from the ditch.

FOUR
    DENVER, COLORADO—OCTOBER
    MARK, DORRY, AND MICHAEL HAD EATEN BRUNCH earlier than usual. Scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, real waffles (not the kind from the freezer) with blueberries, orange juice, and coffee. It was the same menu Mark prepared every Saturday. The only wild card was the fruit that went into the waffles. Sometimes strawberries or bananas, but blueberries were Michael’s favorite, so most times they ate blueberries.
    Mark sat at the breakfast table scanning the newspaper while Dorry cleaned the kitchen and drank her fourth cup of coffee. This, too,was a