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Authors: Lewis Ben Smith
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potential to become even more so, depending on what else is in that chamber. MacDonald, I would like a rough translation of the Tiberius manuscript within the next forty-eight hours, if possible. Make sure that you and Dr. Parker agree on the translation before you forward it. The sealing ring, candle, quill, and everything else should be carefully analyzed, photographed, and documented so that I can present them to the Bureau before the week is out. Any questions?” There were none. He had chosen his team well.
“I’ve collected all necessary samples of the dust from on and around the table,” Dr. Apriceno interrupted the briefing. “We can begin moving it from the chamber to the lab in a few moments. The table is not secured to the floor, but we will need to remove the other artifacts from the top of it before we transport it.”
Guioccini nodded his agreement and dismissed the team. They waited outside the chamber while Giuseppe donned a pair of gloves. Moving carefully, Dr. Rossini reentered the chamber and used a pair of padded forceps to gingerly lift each object from the tabletop and place them in clear plastic boxes, which he then sealed with airtight lids before handing them to Isabella and Dr. MacDonald, who gingerly carried them to the lab. Once the inkwell, ring, candle, and candleholder were removed, Rossini asked MacDonald to take a careful look at the ancient document and the quill that rested on it. The Vatican archeologist very carefully prodded the quill with a long-handled pair of tweezers. It shifted easily, without any of the papyrus adhering to it. Breathing a sigh of relief, he gently placed it in an oblong plastic box and handed it out to Dr. Rossini. Then he carefully lifted the ancient stool that had sat under the writing desk for twenty centuries and carried it to the mobile lab as well, shielding it from direct sunlight with a thin sheet of opaque, acid-free plastic wrap. It was surprisingly light from dry rot, and he doubted that it would ever be able to bear a person’s weight again. While it was an interesting and rare find, it could wait until after the ancient manuscript had been translated and analyzed.
Returning to the chamber, he carefully studied the writing table and the ancient document it held. He pulled a small tape measure out of his pocket and measured the width of the table itself, then the entrance of the chamber. He also measured the height of the table and compared it to the opening as well, frowning for a moment. “Dr. Rossini,” he said, “is this block of stone removable?” He indicated a block that protruded near the bottom of the opening.
Rossini studied the projecting block for a moment, and gave it a gentle nudge with his foot. It shifted outward easily, so he gently pulled it from its resting place and laid it alongside the other blocks that had kept the chamber walled up for twenty centuries. MacDonald nodded his thanks, and then stepped out of the chamber to breathe some clean air and retrieve a large sheet of the acid-free plastic wrap. Coming back, he carefully stretched it over the entire tabletop and fixed it to each side of the table with a rubber-tipped pair of clamps.
“Dr. Sforza,” he said. “You are young and sure-footed. I want you to very carefully lift the far side of this table out of the chamber, keeping it perfectly level the entire time. I will grasp the opposite side. Then we will carry it quickly across to the mobile lab. Ancient documents do NOT like sunlight, so we will expose it for the briefest period possible. Just please, don’t trip!”
Isabella laughed nervously. “If I do, please don’t fall after me!” she said, envisioning the priceless relic smashed between their falling bodies like a prop in a slapstick comedy movie. But they were both exceedingly careful, and covered the thirty feet between the mobile lab and the chamber entrance in a few seconds, while Dr. Rossini held the lab door open for them. In a moment the
“I’ve collected all necessary samples of the dust from on and around the table,” Dr. Apriceno interrupted the briefing. “We can begin moving it from the chamber to the lab in a few moments. The table is not secured to the floor, but we will need to remove the other artifacts from the top of it before we transport it.”
Guioccini nodded his agreement and dismissed the team. They waited outside the chamber while Giuseppe donned a pair of gloves. Moving carefully, Dr. Rossini reentered the chamber and used a pair of padded forceps to gingerly lift each object from the tabletop and place them in clear plastic boxes, which he then sealed with airtight lids before handing them to Isabella and Dr. MacDonald, who gingerly carried them to the lab. Once the inkwell, ring, candle, and candleholder were removed, Rossini asked MacDonald to take a careful look at the ancient document and the quill that rested on it. The Vatican archeologist very carefully prodded the quill with a long-handled pair of tweezers. It shifted easily, without any of the papyrus adhering to it. Breathing a sigh of relief, he gently placed it in an oblong plastic box and handed it out to Dr. Rossini. Then he carefully lifted the ancient stool that had sat under the writing desk for twenty centuries and carried it to the mobile lab as well, shielding it from direct sunlight with a thin sheet of opaque, acid-free plastic wrap. It was surprisingly light from dry rot, and he doubted that it would ever be able to bear a person’s weight again. While it was an interesting and rare find, it could wait until after the ancient manuscript had been translated and analyzed.
Returning to the chamber, he carefully studied the writing table and the ancient document it held. He pulled a small tape measure out of his pocket and measured the width of the table itself, then the entrance of the chamber. He also measured the height of the table and compared it to the opening as well, frowning for a moment. “Dr. Rossini,” he said, “is this block of stone removable?” He indicated a block that protruded near the bottom of the opening.
Rossini studied the projecting block for a moment, and gave it a gentle nudge with his foot. It shifted outward easily, so he gently pulled it from its resting place and laid it alongside the other blocks that had kept the chamber walled up for twenty centuries. MacDonald nodded his thanks, and then stepped out of the chamber to breathe some clean air and retrieve a large sheet of the acid-free plastic wrap. Coming back, he carefully stretched it over the entire tabletop and fixed it to each side of the table with a rubber-tipped pair of clamps.
“Dr. Sforza,” he said. “You are young and sure-footed. I want you to very carefully lift the far side of this table out of the chamber, keeping it perfectly level the entire time. I will grasp the opposite side. Then we will carry it quickly across to the mobile lab. Ancient documents do NOT like sunlight, so we will expose it for the briefest period possible. Just please, don’t trip!”
Isabella laughed nervously. “If I do, please don’t fall after me!” she said, envisioning the priceless relic smashed between their falling bodies like a prop in a slapstick comedy movie. But they were both exceedingly careful, and covered the thirty feet between the mobile lab and the chamber entrance in a few seconds, while Dr. Rossini held the lab door open for them. In a moment the
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