The Golden Crystal by Nick Thacker Read Free Book Online Page B

you — I’ve been expecting you!” He smiled at them as the large guard took up a position to one side, blocking the exit. “Please pull up a chair, we’ve got some work to do,” the man continued. He held out a hand, as if greeting an old friend over drinks and a cigar. “We have been working diligently for the past few months, trying to plan our trip, but I’m afraid we’ve run out of time.” He looked at Jensen. “We needed to call in an expert.”
    Professor Jensen frowned. “You have a very indelicate method of ‘calling in’ your experts. What do you want with me?”
    The man smiled again. “Jensen Andrews, 52 years old, native of Santa Fe, currently serving as Regents Professor of Ancient and World Studies. Your work in ancient civilizations — specifically the study of prehistoric peoples — has always fascinated me. But recently, you published a paper in a research journal called ‘The Golden Civilization: The Original Discoverers of the Number Phi.’”
    Jensen looked at him, confusion settling on his brow. That paper had been a side project he’d had in interest in for some years, but nothing more than a “notch on his belt” for his accreditations list — something to publish in order to keep his tenure. He’d spent a few months researching the “GoldenRatio,” represented by the Greek letter ‘Phi’. The so-called ‘Golden Ratio’ refers to a mathematically irrational number — 1.618, and the ratio 1:1.618. Jensen had written that this number appeared numerous times in nature — from the spiral shapes of some shells and mollusks to the growth patterns of certain plants and trees — even in human anatomy. 
    Many groups of people throughout history had recognized the ubiquity of this number and its ratio. Some groups had ascribed mystical properties to it, and some artists and architects paid homage to that mysticism by incorporating it into their work. Da Vinci, the Greek Parthenon — even in modern design, reflected in the layout of streets and buildings around the world. 
    But the true roots of the number — rather, the original “discoverers” of the ratio — were still unknown to modern historians, and it was this puzzle that Jensen had tried to solve in his paper. The results were compelling, yet many of his colleagues and contemporaries at the academic level dismissed the treatise as far too bold of an idea with too little supporting evidence. 
    The work had been an interesting aside to his professorial duties at the university, and it had helped to keep him occupied during the previous summer. Still, even he didn’t think the paper was definitive enough to warrant much attention after it was published.
    “Professor Andrews, I feel that you would be a valuable asset to our team. My name is Dr. Tanning Vilocek, and I have spent the last thirty years of my life trying to find the solution to one problem. I believe you can help me solve that problem.”
    “Dr. Vilocek, I don’t understand — what exactly is it that you’re trying to accomplish?”
    “And why were we kidnapped?” Corinne suddenly interjected. “Why not just ask for help?”
    Dr. Vilocek didn’t respond. Instead, he sat down and sifted carefully through a stack of papers on the table. With a large pair of tweezers, he gently extracted one document from the pile. It was old — very old — two yellowed and cracking pages loosely bound together. He carefully slid it toward Jensen and Corinne.
    “If in fact this item is one of a larger collection, we have underestimated immensely the gravity of the situation. As the men here have seen firsthand, the item has already shown some intriguing characteristics. 
    “On the first day of the month, we had placed the stone next to a wilted flower on the sill. Within the night, the flower had begun to heal; it was a most unexpected reaction, and we have since determined that the stone itself was the cause of this reaction.”
    Jensen faced Vilocek, shocked.