Pulse

FORTY- TWO

After driving over a speed bump that felt more like a springboard, Gallo pulled up to the Ilissia Gate that lead to the heart of the university's main campus. A streetlamp lit her face through the car's windshield. Her lip quivered as she held her I.D. up to the armed guard. Despite passing through the gate, sometimes daily, she had never entered the campus for less than academic reasons and her gut reminded her of it every few seconds. The guard waved her through.

After passing through the main gate successfully, she began talking about the history of the buildings as they passed. Like a nervous tour guide on her first day, Gallo gave a verbal dissertation on the Informatics building, the Energy Policy and Development Center, and the School of Theology building before pulling to a stop at the outer edge of the parking lot for the School of Philosophy, which housed the Archaeology Department and its vault. She put the car in park, and looked at Queen sitting next to her, and Rook, sitting hunched over in the rear of the small car. Both grinned at her.

With a huff she said, "It's not like I break into my own university every day, you know."

"It's not every day I cram myself into a sardine can, either," Rook said. "Can we go now?"

They entered through the side door of the six-story, utilitarian building that looked more like a hospital than a place where works of art and history were studied. Gallo waved to students who recognized her and smiled nervously as they shot odd looks at Rook. They entered a stairwell and descended two levels. Gallo stopped in front of a door marked Basement Level 1: Archaeology, Anthropology, V

"Through this door is a long hallway. Pierce's office is down here, too. The vault is at the end of an adjacent hallway. There will be one guard, Sebastian. He will recognize me, but only full-time staff are allowed unscheduled visits to the vault." She took a deep breath, licked her lips, and added, "But I'll try."

They entered the basement hallway, passing Pierce's dark office on the way. The hallways, though underground, were well lit from above and accented by the occasional sconce hanging on the green walls. The red industrial rug lining the floor masked their approach, but Gallo stopped them well away from the corner that lead to the vault and motioned for them to stay put. After taking one more deep breath of the basement's stale air, she rounded the corner and headed toward the vault. Despite the intimidating title, the vault was little more than a warehouse with one entrance — a thick steel door that required a keycard to enter. A keycard that hung from Sebastian's neck.

Sebastian smiled at Gallo as she walked toward him. He tipped his hat toward her and in his best English said, "How are you, Dr. Gallo?"

She smiled. Sebastian had a reputation as being a ladies' man. Given his smile and use of the English language whenever she spoke to him, she didn't doubt it. The man was charming. But the gun at his waist also meant he could be deadly. "I'm fine, Sebastian, how are you?"

"I was bored, but now.. " He held his hands out toward her. "You have arrived. How can I help you?"

Doing her best to hide her twisting stomach, she replied, "I was hoping I could look at a few items in the vault. I don't need to remove anything, I just need to confirm—"

Sebastian was shaking his head. It seemed he took his job more seriously than his flirting. "I'm afraid you'll have to make an appointment or return with Dr. Pierce."

"You know he's out of the country."

He shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I could lose my job. Were it in my power, I would take you anywhere you wanted to—"

"There you are!" Queen's voice echoed down the long hallway. Sebastian leaned over and looked around Gallo. Queen strode toward them, smiling wide. "A girl could get lost in this maze."

She stopped next to Gallo and extended a hand to Sebastian. He shook it, smiling wider. "And you are?"

Queen mocked surprise. "What, you can't see it? We're cousins."

Sebastian glanced at Gallo, his expression fiendish. "Cousins. Perhaps I can show you — oof!"

Queen yanked on the man's arm. He fell toward her as her knee came up and met his gut. When he doubled over, Queen brought her entwined fists down on the back of his head. He collapsed to the floor.

Gallo backed against the wall, hand to mouth.

"He'll live," Queen said, then whistled down the hall.

Rook walked quickly toward them as Queen wasted no time removing the keycard from Sebastian's neck. They entered the vault a moment later, where Rook secured the guard with plastic zip-tie handcuffs.

Despite her shock over Queen's violence, Gallo maintained her composure and when Sebastian was secured, said, "Follow me." She led them through rows of shelves containing an assortment of artifacts, labeled drawers, and unopened crates. Despite the age of the room's contents, the tightly controlled atmosphere in the room smelled more of ozone thanks to the four air conditioners that kept the air dry and temperature even. During blackouts, this was one of the few locations on campus that had a dedicated generator.

Gallo paused in front of an aisle. "This is it. Everything on both sides of this aisle represents what we have recovered from the shipwreck. My instinct says to ignore the drawers because they hold the smallest objects, usually potsherds or coins, but since we don't know what we're looking for… "

"I'll take the drawers," Rook said.

They set to work, inspecting every artifact, but most were clearly irrelevant — shards of rotted wood, ancient tools, bowls and cups. Nothing stood out as important.

After twenty minutes of searching Rook loudly closed the last of the drawers. "There's nothing worthwhile here. It's like looking through some ancient guy's trash."

"There's got to be something," Gallo said.

Queen shook her head and put down a sword hilt. "Maybe somewhere else?"

Gallo stood up straight. "You're right." She looked at Queen. "When George found the amulet he didn't catalog it. He hid it." "Before he gave it to you?" Queen asked. Gallo nodded with wide eyes. "In his office."

They exited the vault, leaving the still unconscious Sebastian behind. Feeling a sense of urgency, they began running. After rounding the corner to the main hall, Queen stopped short, reached out, and stopped the other two.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Gallo asked.

Rook saw immediately. "Pierce's office. The door is open."

"Look at the lights," Queen said.

All of the lights leading to Pierce's office, both ceiling and sconce, had been broken.

They crept to the door, unsure of who or what they'd find inside.

"Maybe it's a janitor?" Rook asked.

Gallo shook her head. "They don't break lights."

Glass shattered from within the room, followed by a heavy crash as something heavy fell over.

"Stay back," Queen told Gallo. She stood to the side of the door and whispered to Rook. "Whoever is in there, shouldn't be. I'll hit the lights, you go in swinging."

Rook nodded. Queen counted down from five on her fingers. With her last finger down, she slid into the room and flicked the light on just as Rook barreled in, fists clenched. But the sight inside the office locked him in place.

Two figures, enormous and cloaked in black, leaped up and let out twin shrieks of agony. As one sprung onto the desk at the center of the room and lashed out and up with a wooden staff, Rook caught a glimpse of what looked like ash gray skin. Then the lights shattered and darkness returned. The shrieking was replaced by the sound of fast movement.

"Oh sh—"

Rook was struck head on and flung from the doorway. He sailed across the hall and into the wall, which dented inward beneath his girth.

Gallo screamed as two shadows moved like liquid, out of the office and down the darkened hallway. But it wasn't just their cloaked appearance that frightened her, or that they moved on all fours, like animals, it was that they were running on the walls. They disappeared into the gloom, but could be heard exiting through the stairwell.

Queen exited the office, ready for action, but found only Gallo hiding behind a potted plant and Rook struggling to stand. She helped Rook up. "You okay?"

"Never better. What the hell were those things?"

Queen shrugged and looked at Gallo. "I–I don't know. They looked like… they looked like wraiths."

"Wraiths," Rook said. "That's just spectacular. So why were wraiths in Pierce's office?"

She shrugged, looking wild-eyed.

"Agustina," Queen said, "we're almost done and they've gone. Does Pierce keep a flashlight in his office?" "You're sure they're gone?"

Rook and Queen just waited. Gallo entered the office slowly. They could hear her inside, shuffling through paper, fumbling. There was a loud crash as something shattered, followed by a whispered expletive. Light filled the room a moment later, glowing from a small desk lamp. A broken jar of candy sat on the floor, but that was just the beginning of the mess. The office had been ransacked. Filing cabinets had not only been opened, they'd been destroyed. The desk drawers had all be torn out and upended. The couches had been slashed and gutted.

"Hold on," Rook said. He moved to the phone, one of the only items in the room that remained untouched. He hit the call button and said "Nice try assholes," before popping open the back, tearing out the batteries and removing a bug, which he promptly smashed. "We're good."

Rook moved behind the desk, where the two dark-clad figures had been hunched. A three-foot-square safe sat on the floor, beaten but secure. "This is what they were working on." After wiping a finger along the edge of the safe where a line of plaster clung, he looked at Gallo. "Where is this safe typically?

Moving slowly, Gallo stepped over a coatrack and took hold of a crooked painting. She lifted it to reveal an empty space in the wall.

"Impossible," Rook said as he tried lifting the safe. "This thing weighs a ton. I doubt four men could move it."

"Do you know the combination?" Queen asked from the door where she was keeping watch.

"Nine, seventeen, nineteen, ninety-five. That was supposed to be their wedding date. George and Julie."

Rook ignored her and dialed in the numbers. He opened the safe a moment later. Inside lay a single piece of wood, shaped like a bust, but worn and indistinct. He took it out and placed it on the desk. "Great, another chunk of old wood."

"George wouldn't have saved this without reason." Gallo looked at it up close. She could just make out what used to be a face, possibly wearing a helmet, which led to a slender neck, shoulder, and pair of breasts. On the right shoulder sat a figure, whose details had not yet fully faded. An owl. Gallo gasped. "It's… she's… Athena. This must have been a small part of the Argo's prow."

"But why would George want us to find this?" Rook asked.

"The prow of the Argo was made from a tree taken from the sacred forest of Dodona, where the world's first oracle presided. From prehistoric times up through Greek history the site was revered as a place of prophecy. It was believed that the prow of the Argo held this power, too, perhaps aiding Jason in his quest."

A prophetic tree," Rook said. "What's it got to say for us now?"

Gallo leaned in close. "Maybe nothing." She dug her finger into an odd notch where the neck met the head. She could see that it had been worked recently, pried at, probably by Pierce. Something clicked and the head twisted to the side revealing a cylindrical space within the neck. "Maybe everything."

Filling the space was a single cylinder. It slid easily from the bust, where water had not yet reached. It was a tube-shaped piece of pottery that had been sealed with wax, but had already been carefully cut. Gallo traced a finger along the cut. "This is what he wanted us to find."

She opened the tube and found a parchment inside. She pulled it out, laying it on the table. Defying everything she knew about archaeology, Gallo slowly unrolled the parchment, which was in extraordinary condition. Her only consolation was that she knew Pierce had already done the exact same thing. Flakes fell from the sides, here and there, but the document was still intact.

"A map?" Rook said looking down at the image. Several coastlines had been hand drawn on both sides of a large island. Text filled the spaces of the land masses to the left and right. "The text is ancient Greek and faded. It will take time and equipment to enhance and translate."

Queen left her post by the door. "Could George have translated this?"

"Too much of the text is faded. A few words here or there maybe, but not on his own. Besides, I don't think it's the text he wanted you to find."

"What then?"

"I recognize this island," Gallo said. She looked at each of them, stopping at Queen. "It's Gibraltar, twenty-five hundred years ago." "You're sure this is it?"

Gallo lifted the map and held it in front of the lamp. The backlit map revealed a watermark at the center of the island — a circle with two lines through it. "The Herculean Society."

"What's in Gibraltar?" Rook asked.

Gallo shrugged. "Maybe nothing."

Rook grinned. "Maybe everything. Right, I get it."

"Whatever it is, George believed it might help."

"And it's all we've got." Queen rolled up the map and reinserted it into the bust, which she placed back in the safe and spun the lock. "Did Pierce keep a weapon?"

"In his top desk drawer. He got it after he was attacked."

Rook found the tipped drawer and searched beneath it. He found a 9mm Glock. "Not bad."

"Am I coming with you?"

"Did those things see you?"

Agustina thought on it. "No. They never looked in my direction." "Then you'll be safer staying here." "But I'll be arrested."

Queen took her by the shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "Go back to Sebastian. Wake him. Cut him lose. Tell him you were coerced, that we would have killed you both if you didn't cooperate."

"What if he doesn't believe me?"

"He will," Queen said, then delivered a hard slap to Gallo's face, splitting her lip.

Gallo cringed in pain, but understood the reason for it. "Thank you."

Then, as easily and quietly as the two wraiths, Queen and Rook entered the hallway and disappeared into the darkness.