The Artefact (standard:mystery, 477 words)
Author: Lev821	Added: Mar 23 2012	Views/Reads: 3884/5	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
What significance could a found artefact possibly have?

He was one of those children who were ahead of their years mentally. For
seven years of age, he displayed the intelligence of a nine year old, 
and it was perhaps that advantage that made him remember, or link the 
small object he had found on a beach to the display in the local museum 
in his home town. In the Egyptian section there was a slab of circular 
marble upon which was written hieroglyphic text around the centre, 
which no historian had ever deciphered. It surrounded a hole the size 
of a tennis ball, seemingly like there was a piece missing. For Scott 
Thompson, the black marbled circular object would fit nicely, yet he 
knew he couldn't just walk straight in there to test it out, although 
he could see no reason why not. He knew about procedure, and 
permission, and red tape. So he took it to his father, who didn't seem 
that concerned about it. It was simply a round shiny stone found on a 
beach, washed up, or thrown there, but Scott simply wanted to fit it in 
the hole, if only for completion of the artefact. The museum staff 
probably didn't even know it was incomplete, if at all it was. 

Scott's pressure on his father caused him to relent and they made their
way to the museum, finding themselves standing in front of the large 
artefact which seemed like a giant wheel, seven feet high. There was a 
rope barrier in front of it, but that was useless. Anybody could still 
touch it. Scott wanted to insert the stone there and then. It certainly 
looked like it would fit, but his father could not engage in such a 
thought. He liked to do things properly, so he sought out a member of 
staff, bringing them to the object, explaining what Scott wanted to do. 
The employee simply shrugged and said he could do it, knowing full well 
the headache it would have took to get permission, but since they were 
in front of the artefact with the stone, why not do it there and then? 
So Scott did, ducking under the barrier, and placing the stone into the 
centre, where it slotted perfectly, only for the hieroglyphs to start 
to shine. 

Within seconds the whole thing became akin to a rippling, glowing
spherical water surface. Scott crashed back into the barrier. His 
father picked him up, but continued, with the staff member and a few 
other people who were there in the Egyptian section to stare, and they 
all watched, not knowing that the missing piece was all that was needed 
to create a portal, or gate. It was the key that made it work, the last 
jigsaw piece that alerted other species on other planets that Earth was 
now accessible, and could be travelled to, and then the aliens came. 


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