Alex Mitchell - The 13th Tablet

‘You’re still there?’ asked Jack to the voice down below.

‘Yes,’ said the man.

‘You’re still there?’ repeated Jack, pretending not to hear.

‘Major, I told you, I am not going without the tablet,’ said the man.

‘What do you want with it?’ asked Jack.

‘That is not your concern. We don’t want to harm you. Just give us the tablet. You will never see us again.’

Jack turned to Mina and whispered, ‘Have you finished?’

‘Almost,’ she replied. She looked up and saw the water rising almost to her feet. She yelped. ‘How are we going to get out of here Jack?’

‘We’ll swim if need be,’ he replied grimly.

Jack suddenly realised he shouldn’t have wasted time talking to Mina. He had misjudged his opponents. There were two of them, but he had been speaking to only one. Where was the other man? He quickly turned around and there he was, climbing the other side of the mound. He had circled it while Jack was foolishly trying to gain precious time by bartering with the other man. It was too late. Before he could dive behind the tree, the man shot Jack twice. The force of the impact spun him around, and with a thud, he fell down on the sodden ground.

‘Jack!’ screamed Mina.

The man then took a shot at Mina, who instinctively flung her arms up to protect her face. The bullet hit the clay tablet still clutched in her hands, which shattered into tiny pieces and plopped into the rising waters. In shock, she watched the pieces sink into nothingness.

‘Yakov, we must go. We’re done here,’ shouted the first man, from down below.

‘I’m coming,’ he called, throwing a last look at a pitiful Mina, who had crawled to Jack’s body and was hugging him to her, her tears merging with the steady rain.

‘Are they gone?’ muttered Jack.

‘You’re alive? Oh Jack, I thought you were dead!’

‘Have they gone?’ he asked again, weakly.

‘Yes,’ she answered.

‘I think he shot me below the shoulder, I’m losing a lot of blood. The other bullet just grazed my wrist. We need to get back to the cottage.’

He was breathing heavily and his head was spinning. They waded through the muddy water, Mina supporting him most of the way, until they reached the main road which, fortunately, wasn’t flooded. From there they managed to make faster progress back to the cottage. As they reached it, Jack slumped, unconscious, on the doorstep, finally overcome.

December 20th. Hildersham. Mulberry Cottage

Mina stayed by Jack’s bedside in the upstairs room for two days. When they had returned on that fateful night, Joshua had made up his mind quickly. Although Jack had lost a lot of blood he was confident he could take care of him at home rather than take him to hospital, where they would have had to explain the gunshot wound. Jack had drifted in and out of consciousness the first night and had slept through most of the next day. This morning Joshua had pronounced that he was out of danger and was recovering. Mina thanked the heavens in a silent prayer, and kissed Jack’s brow.

Joshua and Daniel were sitting downstairs, discussing Mina’s notes. The night she returned with Jack, she gave Daniel what was left of her soaked notebook. He had managed to salvage most of it, but some parts were missing. On the second day, Mina had translated viva voce what was left of the cuneiform inscription she had copied in the storm, and this was what Joshua and Daniel were now discussing.

‘There you are, Mina. How’s Jack?’ asked Daniel.

‘He’s much better. We spoke a little, but he fell asleep again.’

‘I’m still stupefied,’ Joshua said to Mina, ‘to realise that the tablet was hidden under Noah’s Ark and not in the church.

I cared for this church all my life and my father before me! Never mind, I’ll probably never be able to resolve that mystery. How do you feel about talking over your translation of the tablet?’ Joshua asked.

‘Alright,’ replied Mina.

‘OK. Unfortunately, we’ve lost the introductory elements so I don’t know how the Babylonian scientists made their predictions,’ said Daniel.

‘They weren’t really scientists, you know, Daniel,’ replied Mina.

‘Are we going to quibble about terminology?’ asked Daniel.

‘No, no. So what do we have?’

‘We have a series of omens and lots of equations. I don’t know if they are dates, astronomical precisions, places, or something else. I just can’t tell.’

At that moment, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

‘Jack,’ said Mina, ‘are you crazy? You should be resting right now.’

‘I’ve rested enough, and I can’t leave the three of you to figure it all out without me.’ They laughed. Daniel fetched cushions for Jack, as he fell into an armchair.

‘Man, I’m exhausted,’ Jack said. ‘So where were you?’

‘Well, we were just assessing what we’ve got so far,’ said Daniel.

‘And?’ asked Jack.

‘Not much. Have a look,’ he said, handing him Mina’s translation of the tablet.

After a few moments, Jack put the notes down, ‘I have an idea. It isn’t really my field but I think some of these are mathematical equations, a little basic, but very effective in flood management. I had no idea they were so advanced. I mean, really. Sure, there have always been floods, but we have always considered flood management to be something new.’

‘But what about ancient dams, Jack?’ said Mina.

‘There’s more to flood management than just a dam. How do you build a dam? Which material do you choose, inclinations, localisation, height, etc. and for each new variable, new equations. We’re talking about complex systems.’

‘And can you tell which equations have to do with flood management techniques?’ asked Daniel.

‘Maybe,’ said Jack.

‘Fantastic,’ said Mina, ‘could you do that while we work on the rest? But take it easy.’

‘Alright. First I will take a nap,’ he replied, smiling at Mina.

Later that evening, Jack woke up in the armchair to find Mina and Daniel’s heads almost touching, so focused were they on the translation. Mina turned around to see Jack’s pointed gaze, drilling an imaginary hole into Daniel’s skull. She gave him a look in return which said ‘You’re being silly.’

Knowing that he was still watching her, she pretended to yawn and stretched her back, lifting her arms above her head and arching her back towards Jack. He was mesmerised by the outline of her figure under her tight jeans. Had he not been recovering from a serious wound, he would have grabbed her by the waist there and then and pulled her to him. Instead all he could do was stare.

Daniel sat up suddenly, totally oblivious to what was passing between Jack and Mina.

‘We’ve made some progress, but we’ll need you to explain the equations,’ said Daniel.

‘Alright, alright. I’ll get down to it. I’ll need a pen and paper.’

‘Here you go,’ Daniel said, handing him what he needed.

Jack read through Mina’s translation and understood why they had been so transfixed. It was a maze of calculations, imbedded within the biblical flood narrative. It was very weird, but quite clearly it was done on purpose to hide their findings. An hour later, he had finished.

‘Here you go,’ he said. Mina and Daniel turned around together.

‘Can you explain what you’ve found, Jack?’

‘Well, I’ve highlighted what I think are equations to do with flood management, and what I think is astronomical data.’

‘That’s great. Astrological information could be the key,’ said Daniel.

‘I said astronomy,’ said Jack, ‘don’t go confusing science with hocus pocus astrology.’