The Menagerie 2 (Eden) Read Online Free PDF Page A

her forefinger. She felt the faintest charge of static electricity, an imperceptible sensation.
    “Can you do it, Ms. Moore?”
    “Sequencing will take time,” she said. “The symbols may be similar, but languages evolve over time. And in this case we’re talking about an evolutionary change that might have taken place for over sixty-four million years—if it’s the same language at all.”
    “The writings throughout this ship are believed to be instructions or captions for the managing crew, but we’re not exactly sure. But one thing is for certain, Ms. Moore. If we can decipher the language, then we can expedite matters. Right now our teams of scientists are having a difficult time gathering the data necessary to reverse engineer this craft.”
    Just then the ship began to vibrate, a tremor really, the effects of an aftershock.
    “It’s been doing that quite often,” said O’Connell. “But it passes.”
    “And how often is often?” asked Savage.
    “Two, maybe three times daily.”
    Savage could tell that O’Connell wasn’t being completely honest. If the seabed was soft enough and the tremors large enough, then the vessel could pull free from the wall and sink to the bottom of the crater, more than five miles.
    Savage gave O’Connell a steely-eyed glare, knowing that government often deceived those by telling them what they needed to hear in order to achieve the ultimate goal, regardless of the dangers involved. There was no doubt in Savage’s mind that they were in a precarious position; one that O’Connell was obligated to risk his life for in order to achieve the means. Everyone on board, he suddenly realized, was expendable.
    Time was undoubtedly of the essence.
    “In order to aid you in your efforts, Ms. Moore, I had my technicians go through the ship and catalogue every symbol in their given sequences. I hope this will help.”
    “It should, yes.”
    When O’Connell waved his hand over the mushroom gem, the image disappeared. “Now if you’ll follow me,” he said.
    They came to a doorway that was oddly designed. But Alyssa recognized it immediately.
    She walked to the doorway and noted the myriad of symbols etched into the framework surrounding the teardrop opening. A vast majority of the cryptograms she didn’t recognize. Few on the crossbar, however, were enough to piece together a meaning.
    ALL LIFE UNDER ONE
    After stepping back from the door, she appraised its framework.
    “Do you see something of importance, Ms. Moore?”
    “Don’t you see it?” she asked.
    Savage and O’Connell took to study.
    The framework had uniqueness to it, something Savage had seen before.

     
    It was an Egyptian Ankh. It was upside down, however, which gave it new meaning due to its positioning. And then she took a closer look at the lettering in the door’s framework by tracing a fingertip along the etched grooves of lettering.   
     

     
    “Do you know what this is?”
    “An Ankh,” replied Savage.
    “And this has meaning?” asked O’Connell.
    “In Egyptit’s a symbol of life after life. But upside down it’s believed to be the key to life. The teardrop shape at the bottom is symbolic of the womb. The writings along the framing of the doorway has to have meaning behind the interpretation along the crossbar.”
    “You have deciphered the crossbar?”
    She nodded. “I’ve seen this script before. In Egypt , inside the steppe pyramids in South America . . . in Eden.”
    “And what does it say?”
    “All life under One.”
    “Does that have meaning?”
    She shrugged. “Obviously. But to what? One command? One ship? One place? One God? I’m sure the answers are within the characters in the vertical beam. But I don’t recognize the symbols.” She desperately felt the need to stay behind and study the clues. But on the other hand she knew time was limited. And then: “Do you have these symbols marked down for me?” she asked O’Connell.
    He nodded. “Everything has been