The Unknown Artifact

The announcement played on the hour, every hour, every day. “You are on day 261 (out of 265) to bring me the Peace Manifesto from the Eagle. If I do not have her in five, you will burn.” We were burning anyway; our country was attacked daily from all sides; ambushed by land, air, and sea. Our own soldiers turned against us. The United States was falling. The glory of the once mighty Empire of the Eagle was coming to an end. Politicians exchanged threats and money to no avail; citizens pleaded for their lives. There was only one entity that could save them all, a child, a girl, or so we were told.

“Surround the house! We found her!”

“Hold steady!”

“Do not fire! I repeat, do not fire!”

These are the sounds that I heard as I was trying to hide in my secret, evidently not so secret, room. My cameras told me they were just random kids, but their actions were that of the Peace Manifesto Finders, or PMF’s, men. They were going to find me. But how? I made sure to cover my tracks. Everything in the house hides the entrance and yet they were here. I tried calling the emergency number on an old, blue Nokia indestructible cell phone I found in the city landfill the other day.

“911 What’s your emergency?” answered sarcastically.

“My name is Sienna Marshall. I live at 58 Courtland St. Mercedes, TX. I’m ten years old. There’s someone trying to break into my home. Please hurry!” I managed to get out between sobs and almost screams.

The operator failed to put me on mute. “We’ve got her!” I pounded the power button quickly and took the battery out. They would not find me again. I heard the PMF team yell, “FIRE!” The explosion came, and I barely caught a glimpse of bricks flying. The world went black.

I jerked from my unconsciousness in a medical facility I was unfamiliar with. I had been to every doctor and hospital in Southwest Texas. Looking up at the bulletin board to see the words George Washington University Hospital while I heard loud chirps of a heart monitor on my left and scribbling on my right. I couldn’t move and my throat throbbed around the tubes. I found enough energy to make a sound and wiggle. “She’s waking up. Call the doctor.” the nurse uttered before filling my IV with something that made the world dark again, but this time it was different

I sat in a white room bright with warm light. It hurt my eyes. And my head. My mother handed me the Tiffany’s bag we always used for small presents we made for each other. This time it rattled. “Momma, what is it?”, I squealed.

“It’s something I need you to protect.”

I opened the bag carefully. Inside was a tiny box wrapped in a paper grocery bag from Winn Dixie. When I unwrapped the box, a necklace fell out. It was a heart made of black tourmaline with ‘322’’ carved like an eagle, majestic and regal. “It’s beautiful! Where did you get it?”

“Your abuela gave it to me before she died. She told me that it was handed down to her from her mother and her mother before her. It is a legacy that you must protect. Do you understand?”

“No momma, I don’t.” I sobbed. I wanted more explanation, more time. She was gone. As I sat there holding the necklace and turning over in my hands, I felt the edges changing. Sacred geometry and elemental symbols lined the edge of the locket like the ridges on a coin. The locket came to life in my hands. The heat poured over my body as the Eagle gave me these words: “You are the Agent I seek. Protect me, for I am your salvation.”

It was the sweetest dream I had of her since she disappeared three years ago. I started to tear, but I opened my eyes only to see the doctor reach for my neck, and I felt the heat, the scarring burn from the eagle. I lay frozen on the bed.

“Where did this come from?”, the doctor asked, bewildered. “I was informed that all of her personal effects were taken when she arrived. Where did you get this?”

“It was my abuela’s. My mother gave it to me a long time ago.”, I scratched out hoping my partial lie was enough to deceive them. I noticed the doctor was wearing a necklace with an eagle as well. I knew I was in trouble. I was taught to never believe in a coincidence.

PMF surrounded my bed. The officer grabbed my neck, and the doctor grabbed his hand. “She is my patient!”, he shouted.

“She is my prisoner!”, the officer retorted.

“Patient before prisoner. She is a child with extensive injuries that YOU caused during a raid on a scared ten-year-old. Wait outside BEFORE. I. HAVE. YOU. REMOVED.”

“I am Levi Melech; you will contact me immediately when she is healed enough to talk. I will be contacted as her next of kin. DO. I MAKE. MY. SELF. CLEAR.?”

Levi left and stationed guards at every door on the floor. The doctor introduced himself as Yoram Zohari, a pediatric geneticist with the University Hospital. He whispered, “I want to show you something.” He opened the cabinet door that acted as a closet. “Do you see this hook in the back?”

I nodded.

“Get in the closet. Close the door. Pull the hook five times. It will activate an escape hatch taking you to the helipad on the roof deck. Tell them the words of the Eagle. They will know what to do.”

“But…”

“Wait until I am gone and go. NO BUTS.” he mouthed.

Dr. Zohari unlocked my restraints, relieved me of my ivs, and started a recording of my vitals but didn’t let the bed down. The door locked behind him. “She can’t get out of a locked room on the fifth floor.”

After a minute I heard the officers walking around. It made enough noise for me to jump out of bed. I scrambled to the closet and closed the door. The escape hatch activated seconds before I heard the officers break the window.

I was ushered to the life flight helicopter.

The pilot proclaimed, “Mirror-mode on.”

“Lie down.” the nurse ordered. “I heard we have a special guest on board today.”

The pilot asked one question. ”What do you have to say for yourself young lady?”

I told him what the doctor stated. “And what is your message?” I repeated what the eagle had proclaimed.

“Wheels up! Now!”

I looked up. Shocked. Secret Service agents were in the copter with me. “Welcome aboard ma’am. I am Nerys Rhys, head of your service detail. Just one moment please.” She turned to her radio. “Flight 28633 leaving the acquisition station, reporting for duty.”

This wasn't right. Her voice was too familiar. It couldn’t be, could it?

I felt us lift off. “Why are you calling me ma’am? I didn’t do anything! I am just a kid. I am not anyone special. I am no one!”

The co-pilot swiveled around. “Oh I assure you, you are very special indeed.” Dr. Zohari gave me a twinkling eye.

A screen folded down from the ceiling. “Conference call ready?”, said Nerys

“Yes ma’am”, exclaimed an unknown agent.

“Nerys, it’s great to see you.”

“Mr. President. I have what you seek.”

I screamed with such a pitch the copter plummeted almost straight down. Nerys held me until I stopped. Dr. Zohari turned and helped fly the aircraft.

“Not you! It’s not you!” I finally heard. I comprehended that enough to stop and only whimper.

“Please bring her to Arlington. We will have the exchange there.” claimed the President.

“What exchange? What are you going to do?” I am almost screaming again.

Dr. Zohari whipped his chair again. “We will be there in a moment. Do you have your necklace?”

I nodded as we landed on the lawn. That did not take long at all.

“Good”

The doors to the craft slid open, and I was escorted to the President. Dr. Zohari held my hand.

“Where is my peace? Where is she? You promised me she was here!” a hooded masked person appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

“She is here.” The doctor took my trinket from my neck, but before I could protest he put his finger over his mouth to hush me.

“Today, we stand unified against a common enemy, the old glory of the United States.” the figure yelled into the cameras. “You will watch the final fall, young and old, dead and alive shall be witnesses to the most historical event in our new story. I will take the Eagle and end the mutiny within you all.”

Then, he took his off as well. He aligned the eagles of the necklaces causing mine to open.

“She does exist after all!” exclaimed the figure as the mask slowly slid down the face. Salt and pepper hair framed a sharp angular face; narrow black eyes pierced the screen.

“With me as your supreme ruler, you will have ultimate freedom. This union signifies a new order of Liberty. We have no enemies. There is no war on our borders. We are all citizens. Come Eagle and let us join together!”

The Eagle, now very much alive, joined the President, myself, Zohari, and Nerys. She screeched and stretched her talons at the blackening sky. Earth, air, fire, and water surrounded us like a tornado. Thunder rolled seconds before the lightning strike appeared. Blood spattered the lawn where the figure stood and fell. I was rushed back to the helicopter; a hidden battalion swarmed in while the sky turned cloudless blue for the first time in almost a year. Cameras went dark before the President brought them online again.

“Today you have witnessed a great tragedy…”

Dr. Zohari and Nerys flew me home to Mercedes.

“Do you have any questions about your new position Agent 322?”

“Abuela, I didn’t know it was a locket!”