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  “All right. So the Hebrews came to a new land where some of the native tribes were bigger than they were, so they called them ‘giants’, and gave them scary names,” Kaylin said.

  “The Bible says that the Anakim were so big that the Hebrews were ‘as grasshoppers in our own sight,’ Bones argued. “That’s more than just bigger. And remember, these are the descendants of the Nephilim. They’ve been interbreeding with regular humans for generations.”

  “Still, Goliath was a big guy,” Kaylin said, refusing to give ground, “so it would make sense that Rienzi marked all of the passages that referred to these ‘giants.’

  “Goliath is generally accepted as being one of the Anakim. By the time the book of Joshua is written, which is well before David, we are told that there are only three places where the Anakim still live. One of those three places is Gath, Goliath’s home. Rienzi would have had no reason to note any of the other races unless he was trying to make a connection.”

  “But why aliens? Why couldn’t they just be big people?” Kaylin protested.

  “Actually there are several reasons.” Bones took a final swig of his soft drink, draining the can. He belched loudly, crushed the can against his forehead, and dropped it on the table. “The most important of which is that it is the only way to explain that sword.” He paused for a moment and stared at Kaylin as if challenging her to argue with him.

  “That sword is the ultimate anachronism. It’s made of some combination of metals we’ve never seen. It hasn’t aged in thousands of years. It has been used in battle, but never nicked or scratched. I don’t know that it could be duplicated even today.”

  Maddock could see that Kaylin was thinking this over. Suddenly, he had an idea.

  “It also explains why Rienzi was threatened with excommunication,” he said.

  Kaylin looked at him, frowning while Bones smiled and nodded.

  “Now you’re getting the idea, Maddock,” Bones said.

  “Something that’s been bothering me is the fact that the church effectively shut Rienzi up about his discovery. You would think that discovering an ancient artifact that proves the truth of a story in the Bible would be a good thing, but in this case, the church didn’t want the word to get out.” Maddock’s mind was operating at a fast clip now. “Obviously, Rienzi was making claims about the sword and what it signified that went above and beyond simply claiming that it had belonged to Goliath. Claims that the sword was the creation of a superior alien intelligence, and that Goliath was part alien would have been objectionable to the church.”

  “And it would explain why his peers scoffed at his claims,” Kaylin said thoughtfully. “I’m still not convinced, but I’m willing to keep listening.”

  “Fair enough,” Bones said. “A million or so years ago, according to anthropologists, Homo Erectus migrated out of Africa. By thirty thousand years ago, the only hominids around were Homo Sapiens. Oddly, despite the fact that Homo Sapiens is a much more highly developed being, there is no fossil record of a progression from Homo Erectus to Homo Sapiens. It’s as if we just burst onto the scene with our big brains and frail bodies.

  “There’s also the issue of structures like the pyramids. How did our ancestors build them? There are megalithic structures all over the world made up of giant stones that people did not have the technology to move. Take the walls of Sacsayhuaman in Peru. One of the stones was measured at eight and a half meters high and weighs over three hundred sixty tons.”

  “We can move objects bigger than that,” Kaylin argued. “I read about a lighthouse that was moved a while back. It weighed in the thousands of tons.”

  “You’re talking about today, not thousands of years ago,” Bones replied. “And then there are the accounts of aliens in the historical record. There are carvings of images that look remarkably like astronauts, rocket ships, even light bulbs. There are also written records. Take the Tulli Papyrus, for example. He opened his folder and selected a single page printout. He held up the page and began to read.

  “In the year 22, in the third month of winter, in the sixth hour of the day, the scribes of the House of Life noticed a circle of fire that was coming from the sky... From the mouth, it emitted a foul breath. It had no head. Its body was one rod long and one rod wide. It had no voice. And from that the hearts of the scribes became confused and they threw themselves down on their bellies ... then they reported the thing to the Pharaoh ... His Majesty ordered ... has been examined ... and he was meditating on what had happened, that it was recorded in the scrolls of the House of the Life. Now after some days had passed, these things became more and more numerous in the skies. Their splendor exceeded that of the sun and extended to the limits of the four angles of the sky ... High and wide in the sky was the position from which these fire circles came and went. The army of the Pharaoh looked on with him in their midst. It was after supper. Then these fire circles ascended higher into the sky and they headed toward the south. Fish and birds then fell from the sky. A marvel never before known since the foundation of their land ... And Pharaoh caused incense to be brought to make peace with Earth ... and what happened was ordered to be written in the Annals of the House of Life so that it be remembered for all time forward.”

  Maddock tried to digest what Bones had read to them. It just seemed so far-fetched. He was impressed, though, that Bones had obviously done his research.

  “There’s also the fact that our ancestors had a great knowledge of astronomy. They knew that the sun, moon, and planets rotate. They also knew the circumference of the earth and included it in their architecture. Ancient maps have been discovered that showed things that ancient humans shouldn’t have known, like the coastline of Antarctica beneath the ice.”

  “Let me see if I’ve got this,” Kaylin said. “You’re arguing that aliens not only intervened in human pre-history, but interbred with humans, thus making the aliens the ‘missing link.’ And that Goliath was closely descended from one of these alien races.”

  “I’m saying that some people believe that,” Bones corrected.

  “So we’re all aliens?” Kaylin asked, with a sick look on her face. “That’s hard to digest.”

  “I guess so. At least, we’re all part alien. The Anakim and the others might have been a remnant of aliens who continued to breed mostly among themselves until so few remained that they had no choice but to mate with humans.”

  “Did you do all this research, or did you have your friend Jimmy help you?” Kaylin asked.

  Bones stuck out his tongue.

  “Okay, I think I’ve heard enough,” Maddock said. “Without agreeing with you that Goliath was an alien, let’s operate on the assumption that Rienzi believed that he had discovered proof of that very idea. The sword, amazing as it is, would not have been sufficient proof, especially two hundred years ago. They would have dismissed it as an undiscovered metal, or perhaps a miracle.”

  “You’re right,” Bones said. “There’s more that we haven’t discovered. Something Rienzi found that supported his claims. We have to find it.”

  Chapter 21

  They arrived in Professor Sowell’s office to find him seated at his desk, an expression of amused bewilderment on his face. He motioned for them to take seats opposite him.

  “We’ve run tests on the composition of the sword. Frankly, it does not belong.”

  “It doesn’t belong in that time period, you mean?” Maddock asked, dropping down into an uncomfortable, straight-back wooden chair.

  “I mean it doesn’t belong on this planet.” The professor paused while this bit of information sank in.

  Next to him, Maddock heard Bones chuckle.

  “What’d I tell you?” He stood behind Maddock and clapped a hand on Maddock’s shoulder.

  Sowell ignored Bones’ comment and continued.

  “The component elements are terrestrial. The metal, however, is an unknown alloy. Whatever that alloy is, it gives the sword its strength, durability, and lightness. The blade is harder
than titanium, lighter, and has an extremely high melting point though I have only managed a rough estimate. There are other tests I could do, but I do not want to risk damaging it. Not that I have any confidence that I could damage it with anything short of a nuclear explosion.”

  “You think it’s an alien artifact,” Bones stated, squeezing Maddock’s shoulder.

  “I can’t tell you what it is,” Sowell said, “I can only tell you what it is not. And it is not of this earth, at least not of any known alloy.”

  “Did you learn anything from the inscription on the blade?” Maddock asked, eager to change the subject.

  “Yes,” Sowell said. “I was able to scan the images and send the information to your friend Jimmy. He just updated me on his findings. The writing resembles hieroglyphics and will take some time to decipher. That is if we can decipher it all. He has managed to translate a small portion, and is confident that he is correct.”

  “Forgive my ignorance, but why are hieroglyphics so hard to translate?” Kaylin asked.

  “No frame of reference,” Sowell explained. “Decrypting an alphabetic cipher, for example, involves finding patterns such as frequency of occurrence of certain letters or finding double letters and using them to identify words. Once the code is broken, its child’s play. With hieroglyphics, each symbol can represent a word, a sound, a concept, or even a story. That is why Egyptian hieroglyphics were a mystery for so long. Until the Rosetta Stone was discovered, there was no reference from which to translate them.”

  “How did Jimmy manage to break any of the code, considering the sword may not be of earthly origin?” Maddock asked. “It almost sounds too easy.”

  “Apparently the computer found matches from a variety of sources: Egyptian hieroglyphics, Viking runes, even some Central and South American Indian pictographs. Much of what he has at present are bits and pieces that are meaningless out of context.”

  “You said he was able to translate a portion of the writing. What does it say?” Maddock’s curiosity was piqued. Having been the one to first notice the writing on the sword, he was eager to learn what it said.

  “Not what, but where,” Sowell said, pushing a computer printout of a map across the desk. He turned it around so that the three of them could see it. “The writing pinpoints a location in southwest Jordan.” He circled a spot on the map with a ballpoint pen. “A few of the other words he has translated include “rock” and “red.” Coupled with these coordinates, we are confident that the writing on the sword is pointing to this location.”

  “Petra,” Kaylin breathed the word more than spoke it. She turned to Maddock, her eyes wide with excitement. “Rienzi claimed to have been the first to rediscover Petra. Many of the artifacts he lost on the Dourado were discovered at Petra. That must be where he found the sword.”

  “I take it this is good news?” Sowell asked, his smile unreadable.

  “Absolutely,” Maddock said. Standing, he clasped the professor’s hand. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help.”

  “I should thank you,” Sowell said, also rising to his feet. “It is the most amazing artifact I’ve ever seen.”

  “It certainly seems to be so. Well, I guess we’ll be taking it with us now,” said Maddock. “Where is it?”

  A sudden change came over Sowell. His face seemed to harden. His ears reddened, and his fists clenched.

  “The sword?” he asked in a clipped voice.

  “What else would I mean?” Maddock asked. Warning bells were going off inside his head. He stepped closer to the desk. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bones position himself between Sowell and the door.

  “Mr. Maddock, the sword requires further study. If we could reproduce this metal, do you have any idea what the implications for industry and defense would be?”

  “Give me my sword,” Kaylin said in a cold voice that caught Maddock by surprise.

  “Why do you need it?” Sowell asked. “You completed your father’s quest. We will pass all our findings along to you. You have had the satisfaction of finding it. Now let us, your countrymen, get something out of it as well.”

  “My father bought that sword with his blood. It belongs to me, and it’s not for you to ask why I need it.” Her voice remained calm, but her eyes were shining with barely contained rage.

  Kaylin’s expression suggested she was on the verge of climbing over the desk to get at Sowell. If that were to happen, Maddock did not know if he would try to stop her.

  “Give us the sword, Sowell,” Maddock said firmly. “You have your test results to study. Don’t make this hard on us and depending on how things unfold, Ms. Maxwell might permit you to study it again at some point in the future.”

  Sowell’s eyes flitted rapidly between Maddock, Kaylin, and the door where Bones stood.

  “Commander Wrexham deems it in the interest of national security that the Navy takes possession of the sword.” He swallowed hard. “He took it this morning.”

  “You’re lying,” Maddock said flatly. Sowell reached for the bottom drawer of his desk, but before he could get it open, Maddock grabbed him by the wrist and yanked, dragging him face down across the desk.

  “I’m telling the truth,” Sowell sputtered.

  “Shut up,” Maddock ordered. Sowell lay on his desk, head hanging off one side, legs off the other. Maddock grasped the hair on the back of his head with one hand. The other held Sowell’s arm pinned behind his back. Maddock knew just how far the arm would bend before popping out of its socket, and he held it at the threshold.

  “You forget that my friend, Bones, is a Cherokee. Indians have ways of making people talk, don’t they Bones?” He looked at Bones, who nodded, smiling wickedly, his white teeth gleaming like fangs.

  “You don’t think I believe that voodoo hocus-pocus, do you?” Sowell wheezed. The pressure Maddock was putting on the back of his head was forcing his throat down against the edge of the desk. His face was turning purple from lack of oxygen.

  Bones knelt down in front of the man. “We Indians do have our ways,” he crooned. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his Swiss Army knife. “But they aren’t mysterious, spiritual ways. They’re just plain nasty.” He opened the corkscrew and held it up to Sowell’s eye.

  The professor squirmed and kicked, but Maddock held him firmly in place. The man had to be running out of air by now. After a moment, the struggling ceased, and Maddock felt the man relax.

  “It’s in the safe,” he said, his voice a faint whisper.

  Maddock decreased the pressure on Sowell’s neck enough for the man to draw a breath and tell them the combination to the safe, which was, predictably, hidden behind a framed Ansel Adams print. While Maddock continued to hold the professor, Bones opened the safe and retrieved the sword which, along with its scabbard, was now protected by a layer of bubble wrap, which seemed odd considering what they knew about the sword’s durability. He supposed it was a good idea to protect the aging scabbard.

  “The commander was going to pick it up tomorrow,” Sowell said, as Maddock let him stand. A miniscule flick of his eyes toward the clock on the wall was enough to give lie to his statement.

  “Tell him we knocked you out and stole the sword,” Maddock said and drove the heel of his palm into Sowell’s temple. As the professor crumpled to the floor, Maddock doubled up his fists and struck the man a two-handed blow to the base of the skull. He turned to the others.

  “Sowell was lying about Wrexham picking it up tomorrow. We’ve got to get off this campus now. He’s probably going to be here any second.”

  The three of them scrambled out of the basement office and hurried to the elevator. Maddock looked at the numeric display. The elevator had stopped on the first floor and was now descending to the basement.

  “Come on!” he shouted, dragging Kaylin down the hall. Behind him, the bell rang, and he heard the elevator doors begin to open. They were not going to make it to the end of the hall in time. Their options exhausted, he darted
through an open door, with Kaylin and Bones right behind him.

  It was another office, much like Sowell’s. Fortunately, the occupant was out as was the light. There was no way to shut the door without drawing attention to whoever might get out of the elevator. They stood just inside the office door. Maddock strained to listen but did not hear anything. For a moment, he thought he had overreacted that the elevator had been empty, but then he heard footsteps. Someone knocked on a door.

  “Sowell?” a voice boomed down the tiled hallway. “Open up!” The person knocked again. A pause, then the sound of a doorknob turning. Maddock heard the sound of the commander entering Sowell’s office. “Sowell, what in the…” He heard thumps as if someone were shoving furniture aside. Wrexham had found the professor. Perhaps there was a chance.

  “Go,” Maddock mouthed to Kaylin and bobbed his head toward the door. To his surprise, she neither questioned him nor protested.

  Hastily removing her shoes, Kaylin hurried to the door, glanced toward Sowell’s office, then sprinted in the opposite direction. Maddock watched her disappear around the corner, and then moved to the door himself, with Bones behind him. Just then, he heard the sound of the commander coming back out of the office.

  After a moment, footsteps again echoed down the hall, followed by an insistent tapping sound, which Maddock took to be Wrexham pressing the elevator button. The metallic ring of the elevator bell a moment later confirmed his instinct. He heard the doors open, and then close seconds later.

  Maddock placed his hand on Bones’ chest. They needed to make certain that the commander was really gone. He silently counted to twenty, all the while listening for the sound of footsteps that would indicate that they were not alone in the basement of the building.

  Twenty seconds.

  Nothing.

  He nodded to Bones, then peered around the door.

  Still nothing.

  He moved silently on the balls of his feet out into the empty hallway. He had taken no more than five steps down the hallway when a firm voice rang out from behind him.