Ancient Relics (Shadow of the Ancients Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

of the objects catches her eye and she moves
closer to examine the object further.
    “These artifacts are remarkably well preserved for
being half a billion years old,” Paige announces.
    “That’s why I thought they couldn’t have been much
older than 100,000 years,” Logan remarks about her observation.
    Sifting through the objects to gain a quick
understanding of them, she reverts to the object that initially caught her
attention.
    “And what of this,” she says while picking up the
crystalline disc.
    “I haven’t the slightest clue,” he replies to her
query with confusion.
    The disc is solid crystal and has a diameter of
around twenty decimeters, a thickness of about a decimeter, and is completely
transparent with no markings.
    “Could it be a primitive laser data disc?” Paige
asks.
    Logan replies, “I had considered it, but there are
no markings or imperfections that would signal its use to store information.”
    Logan takes the disc from Paige and reexamines it
more closely.
    He runs his finger tips across it as though to see
if he missed surface imperfections.
    Most of the primitive data discs discovered up to
this point have all used a laser reflected against a micro-thin metallic
surface.
    The light reflected transmits a digitally encoded
signal from the disc and gives the reading device an image to correlate to
data.
    However, this object has no such imperfections
lasers could reflect from, and is completely clear.
    Logan notices a slight prismatic glean to the
interior of the crystal disc, however, giving him an idea.
    “Look here,” he points out to Paige, “See how the
light bends through the disc, like a prism?”
    “Paige looks closer and acknowledges, “Yes, what do
you think it means?”
    Logan hesitates to answer for a few moments, and
then walks over to a laser device.
    He places the disc under the optical reader of the
laser and turns the device on.
    Just as the laser hits the disc, a three-dimensional
image appears in the air. The light sensors in the room detect the holigram and
dim the lights automatically, and dim the windows to blackout the outside
light.
    “A holographic recording!” a smiling Logan exclaims
completely surprised and delighted at the sight.
    As the holographic image slowly spins in the air,
like a physical model levitating over the table, Logan moves his hand through
the image to show his logical self that it is only a trick of light.
    “Impossible,” he utters softly.
    The modern civilization of the Trillian Alliance did
not discover how to create three-dimensional hologram displays until the early
part of the late-Phoenix Epoch, not more than 4,000 years ago.
    While continuing to examine the light emblazoned
image, Logan thinks aloud again, “A half billion year old Holographic
recording. Who could have imagined?”
    As both Logan and Paige greatly admired the magical
image dancing through the air, the remaining team members walk into the room
one by one.
    The team members pause in their steps at the
spectacle they are bearing witness too.
    “Is that…” a forensic archaeologist named Dexter
starts asking for confirmation that the image is a Hologram.
    “It is,” replies Logan in anticipation of the
remaining, unspoken, question asked.
    While the well-defined image of the galaxy slowly
rotates, as if it is a galaxy in miniature hovering in the air, Logan has the
idea that this image may be a lost galactic map of the early galaxy.
    Indeed, it is an image of the galaxy from a
pre-cultural divide.
    One by one, Logan points out familiar star systems
and interstellar corridors.
    Familiar regions become clearer as they all study
the map with intensity.
    Pointing and prodding the holographic map like a
pincushion, naming stars and discovering mapped systems not yet explored by
their own civilization.
    “Well, it may not be necessarily complete, but it is
a start. And, better than we already have,” Logan says while reluctantly
shutting down the