Back To Earth. Danilo Clementoni

tombs. It was something very valuable, at least to them.”

      â€œThat seems like a bit of a leap of logic,” Jack began, trying to have some say in this matter. “Saying that something valuable was buried near the tomb of the gods. It’s not as though they provided GPS coordinates. It could refer to almost anything, anywhere.”

      â€œYou're right, but all inscriptions, especially those dating from so long ago, have to go through a process of interpretation and contextualisation. That’s what the experts are there for. And I’m one of them, by the way.” As she said this, she pretended to be a model posing in front of paparazzi cameras.

      â€œOk, ok. I know how clever you are. But right now, try to make this clear to us mere mortals.”

      â€œEssentially,” Elisa continued once she had composed herself, “having analysed and compared all kinds of historical finds, including facts, legends, rumours, and so on and so forth, the consensus of the greatest minds in the world is that there is an element of truth in this reconstruction. On this basis, they unleashed archaeologists from all over the world to search for this mysterious object.”

      â€œBut where does ELSAD fit into all this?” The colonel was beginning to regain his cerebral function. “What they told me was that this research was aimed at recovering some imaginary alien artefacts.”

      â€œAnd maybe that’s exactly how it is,” replied Elisa. “It’s now widely believed that these ‘gods’, who in ancient times were wandering around Earth, were none other than humanoids from a planet outside our solar system. Because of their technological superiority, particularly in medicine and science, it’s quite possible that they were mistaken for deities capable of performing miracles.”

      â€œI see,” interrupted Jack. “If I appeared in front of a tribe in the middle of the Amazon in an Apache combat helicopter and started launching missiles, even I could be mistaken for an angry god.”

      â€œThis is precisely the effect that they would have had on the people of that time. There are some who even believe that it was these aliens who implanted a seed of intelligence into Homo Erectus, thus transforming them, in just a few tens of thousands of years, into those we now call Homo sapiens sapiens.”

      Elisa looked carefully at the colonel, whose expression was one of astonishment, and decided to sink a low blow. “To tell the truth, as the person in charge of this mission, I’d have thought you’d be better informed.”

      â€œI'd have thought so too,” Jack blurted out. “Obviously, those in authority follow a ‘less said the better’ philosophy.” Anger was beginning to take the place of his former schmaltz.

      Sensing this, Elisa placed her computer on the table and brought her face so close to the Colonel's that for a moment he held his breath, thinking that she even wanted to kiss him. “Now for the best part,” she said.

      Returning to her seat with a swift movement, she showed him another photograph. "While everyone’s been throwing themselves into the search for this notorious ‘Tomb of the gods’, by going off to rummage through the Egyptian pyramids, the tombs of the gods par excellence, I’ve been formulating a different interpretation of what’s engraved on the tablet, which I believe is the correct one. Look at this,” she said, complacently showing him an image that depicted the text according to her own interpretation.

      The two cronies listening to the conversation of the diners would have given anything to be able to see the photos being shown to the Colonel.

      â€œDamn!” cried the larger one. “We have to get our hands on that handheld device.”

      â€œLet’s hope that at least one of them reads it out loud,” replied his thinner companion.

      â€œLet’s hope that this ‘romantic dinner’ is over soon. I’m sick of sitting outside in the dark, and what’s more, I’m starving.”

      â€œStarving? What d’you mean? You’ve just eaten my share of the sandwiches.”

      â€œNot all of it, my friend. There’s one left and I intend to gobble it up.” Smugly, he turned to remove it from a bag on the rear seat. In turning, however, his knee hit against the power button on the recording system, which gave out a faint beep and died out.

      â€œYou clumsy idiot! Are you trying to attract attention?” The thin guy hastened to switch the instrument back on. “Now I’ll have to restart the system and that will take at least a minute. Just pray that they’re not saying anything important, otherwise this time I’ll kick your fat ass to the Persian Gulf!”

      â€œSorry,” said the fat guy in a quiet voice. “I think it’s time you went on a diet.”

      â€œThe gods buried the vessel with precious contents to the south of the temple, ordering the people to stay away from it until they returned, for fear that some terrible calamity would otherwise befall all nations. Four blazing guardians were stationed there to protect the site.

      â€œThis is how I translate it,” said Elisa proudly. “In my opinion, the correct name for it is not ‘tomb’ but ‘temple’, and the Ziqqurat of Ur, where my research was carried out, is none other than a temple erected for the gods. There are certainly a number of Ziqqurat in this area, but none of them are this close to the house belonging to the person who, presumably, was the one who inscribed the tablets: dear old Abraham.”

      â€œVery interesting.” The Colonel was scrutinising the text. “The place that everyone has identified as the ‘House of Abraham’ is only a few hundred metres from the temple.”

      â€œAlso,” Elisa continued, “if these beings really were aliens, imagine how interesting this ‘vessel’ could be to the military. Perhaps even more so than the ‘precious contents’.”

      Jack was pensive for a moment, then he replied, “that’s the reason for all this interest on the part of ELSAD. The buried vessel might be much more than a simple earthenware container.”

      â€œWell done. And now for the moment of truth,” cried Elisa theatrically. “Ladies and gentlemen, I now present what I found this morning.”

      She touched the screen and a new photo appeared on the device. “But it’s the same symbol as the one on the tablet,” exclaimed Jack.

      â€œExactly. But I only shot this photo today,” replied Elisa, feeling pleased with herself. “Apparently, Abraham used the same symbol to represent the ‘gods’ as the Sumerians had already used: a star with twelve planets around it, and, incidentally, it’s the same as the one I found engraved on the cover of the ‘container’ that we are in the process of unearthing.

      â€œThat might not mean anything,” remarked Jack. “Maybe it's just a coincidence. That symbol could have hundreds of meanings.”

      â€œYou think so? How about this one? What do you think it is?” she asked, showing him the last photo. “We took this from the outside of the container, using our portable X ray equipment.”

      All Jack could do was stare in amazement, his eyes wide open.

      Theos spacecraft – Data analysis

      Petri was still absorbed in his analysis of the probe when Azakis returned to the bridge. “They said they’ll get back to us,” he said.

      â€œWhich means they’re going to discuss it amongst themselves,” remarked Petri bitterly.

      â€œMore or less what we expected, eh?” replied Azakis, patting his companion on the back. “So what