The Lost Choice by Andy Andrews

Author:Andy Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2011-09-01T16:00:00+00:00

TEN

DENVER, COLORADO—NOVEMBER

MARK HAD RESCUED DORRY FROM A ROUGH morning at the Post in time to join Dylan and Abby for lunch at a diner downtown. It was their fifth time together since their first meeting as a foursome. They were discovering quickly how much they enjoyed each other’s company and to a person were increasingly interested in the broadening mystery of the relics.

Mark’s experience as a detective had made him the acknowledged leader of their quest, and at his direction, they had each agreed to shoulder separate tasks—exploring different angles—for information. Mark sent requests to the data banks of the FBI, Scotland Yard, and Interpol hoping a “stolen items report” might include a description of one of the objects. Unlike news releases, which report broadly, he explained, arrest reports required itemized listings. Still, he was not optimistic.

Dorry worked a reporter’s angle with friends in the research department at the Post. Focusing on archaeological finds, she narrowed the search to “leaded bronze pieces weighing less than 200 grams” and waded through mountains of articles—most of them pre-Internet from AP or UPI.

As they ordered and ate sandwiches, the four friends tried to lay out their facts and questions in as orderly a fashion as possible. As Abby listed her findings, mentioning again that the two relics were hollow, Dylan stopped her. “Hey, here’s a question,” he said. “Are both hollow in the same way?”

Noting Abby’s furrowed brow, he explained,“I mean . . . were they cast in hollow form? Or were they left hollowed by pressure—like when you bend a car antenna until it breaks. If you do that to an antenna in two places, you are left with a piece that is closed at the ends and hollow in the middle.”

“I see where you are going with this,” Abby said as she narrowed her eyes to concentrate. “If I ran a scope on the objects and concluded pressure closure . . .” She paused.

“What?” Dorry asked.

“Pressure closure would prove the objects are in secondary— broken—form.”

“And that would mean . . . ?” Dorry prodded.

“It would mean that we have a new question,” Abby said.“And that would be:What did these objects look like in their primary form?” She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. “I made the assumption that the relics were relatively unchanged because of the lack of erosion on their surface. But that doesn’t preclude the possibility of a catastrophic event. And in archaeological terms, that can be anything from a meteor strike to a hammer blow. It’s the opposite of erosion, which happens over time.”

Abby was quiet for a bit, thinking, then breathed deeply. “This gives me a direction, at least,” she said and turned to Dylan.“Tell Mark and Dorry about Perasi.”

“Well,” Dylan began, “at the museum, we have this one guy, Perasi—that’s his first name; he’s Indian—he is a computer god! Short, stubby kid. He never goes home . . . I swear he sleeps there. He’s with Library and Archives. Anyway,” Dylan said with

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