Page 16 - Unlikely Stories 2

The Antiquities Commission

Trelim lifted his gear and waited impatiently for the archaeologist,
who fidgeted and flitted from one exposed chunk of debris to the
next. Then he froze.
“Look at this!” Now he was exultant, as he plucked a jagged
section of curved metal from the ground. It didn’t look any different
to Trelim than the rest of the rubble. Ozok stared intently at the
piece. “I’m right! This will revolutionize our understanding of ancient
Mars.”
He shoved it into his pack and caught up with Trelim, who had no
desire to waste any time returning to safety. “At last,” Ozok chortled,
“we have the key to unlocking the linguistic secret barring us from
making sense of all the texts on the other fragments.”
“How’s that?”
“I’m certain we found traces of another civilization previously
unknown to science. Most of the symbols on the plaque I recovered
are nothing like those from the other sites. Another language
entirely—except for a small number of characters they have in
common. That shows the civilizations were related, even if they
weren’t concurrent. But more importantly, it gives science the
opportunity of finally cracking the code, based on the assumption
those shared symbols had the same meaning for both early Martian
cultures.”
“Sounds important.” Trelim was huffing on his lowgas tube. “Must
be valuable.”
“Priceless.” Ozok realized his companion’s remarks were succinct
for good reason: his own tank was almost empty. He sighted the
landmark, and saw that the weather was holding. They would make it.
“One more thing, Trelim, before we descend. Think about this:
you stand to gain five hundred shells and the return of your license
from the Antiquities Commission when I present my evidence. Your
part in this achievement will set you up for life. I saw you take a
hammer out of your pack before you put it back on. You might find
a dealer willing to handle an item as unique as this, but neither of you
would stay out of trouble for long. I did leave word with an old
friend where I was going and with whom. You are in front of me
now, and I’m not going to let you get behind me. I also have held on
to a tool which can double as a weapon. Again: think about it.”

15