Saturday, July 20, 2013

The Box - a short story done as writers group exercise


The Box


 


Whatever adjectives you might append, it was a Box.  However, not an ordinary box, which is why it was on auction at Sotheby’s London  a year ago; attracting quite an interest among a diverse crowd.

The box was part of an estate auction of the late oil scion Nicoli Kapitza. Nicoli was the direct descendent of Peter Kapitza, who had won fame as a Nobel prize winner in Physics in 1979. Unfortunately, Peter had fallen in disfavor in his native Russia for his anti-nuclear stance, which was very unpopular during the cold war. So as not to alienate further, son Nicoli had subsequently kept a very low profile, avoiding the political sphere completely, making himself rather obscure and clandestine in the Russian society. Not much is known, but the resultant estate of Peter bequeathed to Nicoli was sparse in that the family’s prosperity had been diminished greatly by Peter’s ostracism, so what was accumulated by Nicoli was by his own work, mostly land acquisition and real estate, stock, and  property purchased to allow for a luxurious though unobtrusive life.

Nicoli had gotten the box from his father Peter’s estate.  It was a minor item. Not much was discussed about it except Peter had told his son that it was a gift imparted to him by some scientist interested in his work in nuclear physics. It sat in his study. Interesting, but not at all engrossing, considering the beauty of czarist Russia art competing for attention in the family home .  Relegated to use as a paperweight.  Curious in its markings, but Peter had a full plate to deal with, and never took time to explore his gift further

 Nicoli was a lackluster but shrewd man whom was able to parlay a small drill bit manufacturing firm into a conglomerate of oil-related companies. The rewards of his acumen left his heirs very comfortable by any standards.  That being said, the auction would have been uneventful had it not included our Box.

Another consignee was to have auctioned off the estate, but upon a rudimentary search, found some adjectives concerning this box so perplexing they turned to Sotheby’s for a more expert opinion of what was apparently a treasure; the value of which,  still unknown. We shall explore what was discovered.

Sitting in the gallery for the auction was Professor Hassar Al-atrash of SCA, Supreme Council of Antiquities, Cairo.  Sotheby’s had turned to him first, being cognizant of the Egyptian position of the export of ancient objects. Council research of the box had yielded the discovery that the sycamore wood used in its construction dated back to the reign of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses, about 1200 B.C..   Ergo, the Egyptian government wanted to protect anything of this age brought out of Egypt without a permit. Any pending claim, however, was muddled by the fact the writings inscribed on one side of the box quickly were determined not to be Egyptian hieroglyphics as indicated by the age of the wood it was inscribed in, but Nahuatl pictographs, which, of course, dated from 300 AD Aztec culture, substantially later than the box construction. And an entirely different land. The authenticity of an claim by Egypt was now confusingly muddled.

This perplexing discovery resulted in the Egyptian Council seeking technical assistance  as to the meaning of the symbols.  The Archeaological  Museum of the University of Amsterdam, having reputation in the study of Aztec language and pictographs, was enlisted to see just what the markings were, so the actual box was displaced by courier to Holland. 

As pictographs, the inscriptions were not as literal as the hieroglyphic style, and the exact meaning could not be determined, but, in this hand-off to The Archaeological Museum of the University of Amsterdam for edification, it was theorized the inscription was nuanced proclamation that the box contained something of great significant value.

With this information, as is custom with academic institutions, baffling challenges generated are often discussed in various symposia and conferences within the various disciplines in the academic community.

Without an unnecessary specific line of how they found out, suffice to say  another of our attendees at auction  was Professor Armand Uteg , physics emeritus of Massachussetts Institute of Technology . With full indulgence of  the estate, Sotheby’s, and  University of Amsterdam, our box of building mystery was subjected to another trip to be subjected to radiologic examination . The purpose of this travel being to date the actual age of the object.  Our box now was now credentialed for an examination on the North American continent.

Professor Uteg, in his examination, did date the object, and even more importantly discovered  in fluoroscopy that the box had a interior cavity; and in that cavity was a smaller cube of some metallic nature. 

The mystery deepened. The nature of the box became more convoluted with each discovery receiving more attention. The circle of people interested grew as well.

While all interested parties knew about the M.I.T findings, publication and word of mouth had piqued the interest of some more unpublic parties. One such party was Dr Chen Lu,  chair of the Department of Metallurgy, Xi’An University of Architecture and technology.  While a learned scholar and respected research fellow , Lu was as much a professor as he was operative to the Chinese MSS, Ministry of State security .  Through that affiliation he had been given information of astounding interest.

While under the auspices of professor Uteg, the box as noted had yielded the knowledge of the enshrouded cube. Additionally with the lead of the pictographs indicating some importance to the box; and perhaps to the cube, the box had been clandestinely appropriated under the guidance of the U.S. Department of State as initiated into that action by the C.I.A., (Central Intelligence Agency) and a rather “black’ operation of the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation  who had some unnamed representative at the Bond Street Sotheby’s facility for this auction.

These parties, along with an assorted company of collectors and casual observers who saw a superficial catalogue description as being enough to generate interest, sat as audience awaiting the calling to auction. 

Our now inexplicable, obscure, intimidating, unique, and mysterious box was introduced as Item #334.  “Ancient unique square wooden container of unknown historic origin from the estate of Nicoli Kapitza.  Assorted murmers and whispered conversations gathered to an audible exclamation of anticipation. The box was placed on a bare pedestal table as attention turned to the auctioneer.

The family this day was represented by Karla and Karl Kapitza, daughter and son of the late Nicoli. They were not there to bid, and really were quite content with their bequeathment, but in deference to their Father, and unabashed curiosity to see what their windfall might be, they sat anxious for all to be done and over.

Al Atrash of Egypt was in attendance mostly to put in an appearance and to answer questions pertaining to the Box origin.  Perhaps, also, to make sure Egypt still was not being robbed of some national treasure.  He, also, would not bid.

On the other hand, The M.I.T. had some wealthy benefactors backing up their desire to do further research on the box.  Professor Uteg was in attendance to bid, armed with the very full wallet of the financial office of the University in the person of Luther Goldman. They had been verified  by Bank of England representing Sotheby’s interest up to the equivalent to 2 million U.S. dollars. They appeared sedate and respectable.  No fidgeting.

Chen Lu  representing Chinese interests was also in audience accompanied by a unnamed “money man “ One can only guess who he was, but what he was, embodied certification at highest level diplomatic  credentials thru the Chinese cultural attaché and English Ambassador from China,  Li Xiaoming.  They didn’t need monetary verification. They sat inscrutable as porcelain statues. The inscrutable Asian mystique covering their dispositions.

 The United States was also well represented by both academic and intelligence operatives.  Presence was undoubtedly backed with government money.

Some unknown covert parties of note from what we can only guess to be private corporate interests were also there, mostly identifiable by their supposed nondescript but, in reality, stand out black suits and pastel  “power” neckties. All had earpiece headphone appliances not unlike the security people at the perimeters.

Unnoticed by all but one, standing without bidding paddle in the rear of the room, was a pedestrian looking, but well dressed man; unnamed, totally uncredentialed, and without any governmental, academic or private capital representation.  He was truly unobtrusive, but of intent interest in our Box. His suit was impeccable Fleet Street, but had curious unique metallic buttons.  But not curious enough that anyone even took a second  look at him.  Perhaps a mistake?  No, definitely one.

Several unidentified but certified others held their paddles at ready as the auctioneer began.

The bid opened at $217,000 pound sterling .  (about $340,000 U.S.) Multiple  paddles went up instantly.  Bidding was spirited. Egypt immediately upped  a hefty amount. Heads bobbed as the bid jumped around the room.

Perhaps unknown, undoubtedly  to the Kapitza’s,  Sotheby’s,  Egypt, and most probably  to  M.I.T’s  Awan, was knowledge that had definitely brought the Chinese, the American’s, corporate money , and some few others to make all possible effort  to obtain the Box.

While the box was in Uteg’s care, and M.I.T. published copius paper product to Holland to ascertain origin of the Box, research had yielded more information that was not given to University of Amsterdam, but was passed on by the Massachussetts facility to the C.I.A.,  and then , shall I say, “appropriated” by Chinese agents and a unsubstantiated private party .

This  information had special significance for the Chinese metallurgy people, and  reason why a now very uncharacteristic, very fidgety, Chen was more than keeping up as bids escalated. Bidding in Pound Sterling passed the equivalent of five hundred million dollars U.S.!

At M.I.T., the interior cube had yielded two more secrets. This cube was  indeed metallic, but not of a common alloy.  Characterized as being chondrite, the nickel ferrous composite found in meteorites might have sufficed, except this specimen had two anomalities. One, the composition was ferrous nickel silicon (rather than  the normal iron nickel composite) , which had been, up until this box, never discovered in any specimens found on Earth.  Ferrosilicon had been machined on earth used as base for high temperature transformer coils but our sample was closer to what is known as silicon carbide or carborundum.  This is a mineral found very rarely in nature and never in nature in this alloy with nickel. More significant, and the second strange attribute; it had been  machined in some manner into a  perfect cube.

Bidding went crazy.  It was obvious governments wanted this offering, and were intent. But not as intent as the black ops people or the corporate interests. 

Chen was obviously nervous now. His silk suit rumpled as he stood and sat rapidly as his paddle went up and down in unison. Uteg and M.I.T. had long dropped aside, outbid by the deeper pockets of the Chinese and other U.S. interests, Even Gates people were having a hard time as the bid went stratospheric at an amount equivalent to 780 million dollars U.S.

Then it came down to a very sweaty Chen, and his very uncomfortable companion against the U.S.,while unnamed, had undoubtedly both government and private capitol invested in their backers. 

8 hundred million: 9 hundred million equals in Pound Sterling . The room stilled. Uncanny silence. Only the auctioneer and the tote board announced the rise of the two paddles, one against  another. Casual murmuring distilled to silent focus.

One  BILLION Dollars bid. That’s six hundred thirty-seven million, five hundred thousand pounds on the Sotheby’s tote board.  But it didn’t come from the Chinese. It didn’t come from the Americans.  It came from a private party.  Who had this kind of money? While it was placed by an employee, and not publicly disclosed, the bid actually came from Carlos Slim Helu , resident of Mexico and the world’s wealthiest man. This bid came out of nowhere. It was up for grabs as the gavel came down. SOLD.

As a public auction, neither the Chinese nor Americans could let out they had spent a billion dollars on an unknown object.  It would never float with the constituencies. They had no choice but to cease and desist. Dejected and determined this would not be the end of this. There were still avenues of recourse. Just not public ones.

Information known to the Chinese and Americans giving them authorization to get this Box at (almost) no limit, was the fact that not only was the cube inside made of unique metal, and machined somehow, but  this cube emanated a low frequency, low threshold,  recurring pattern, magnetic wave. It was a puzzle to them but a vastly compelling one that had tremendous implications.

Three people. Only I, the singular mysterious man, and now You will ever know this final fact: The cube with its unique composition and  emanating code was actually a key. How? And a key for what?  Only two knew that.

The  Kapitza children were estactic. Their fortune had surpassed the national gross annual  income of many Latin American countries, and ,while not at the level of their countries’ richest man , Alisher Usmanov, their net worth had just made them Russia’s 29th  richest family.

The Box was taken from the podium at the front of Sotheby’s  auction room back to a holding area table where it was placed in a foam padded black leather attache case to await paperwork  being completed, funds transferred, and the pickup by a security team and armored  vehicle.

While some celebrated, and others braced for the inevitable negative calls to superiors, only you and I will ever be privy to the knowledge that the man in the  Seville suit with metallic  buttons, with seeming impunity from security; even unseen in the later-to-be-viewed security tapes; lifted the attache case from a table  in the Sotheby’s holding room and carrying it at his side, calmly exited the front door at 34 Bond Street and disappeared, unnoticed and unrecorded, even by numerous cameras in the perimeter.

He and the box were never seen again.

Perhaps incidental, but interesting to note, that subsequently  that very evening after the auction, 34 reports of UFO’s  were received by various magistrates in England .  That could be discounted to weather anomalies except that the Stanwick, England Air Traffic Control Center logged 8 reports within the same narrow time window from pilots declaring a sighting of an  extremely rapidly moving lighted object heading North by Northeast before it disappeared off radars. No transponders of vessel identification as is the norm of any terrestial aircraft were operating from it. The reports were never put into public record at direction of the Royal Air Force command.

This leaves only I left behind, for now, to relate this fascinating story to you.

 
-Jerry Wendt 2012  ... told anonymously to me at an undisclosed location

 

Use of names of actual people is incident only to the dramatization of this story and in no way should be construed as having any relevance to their real lives.

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