Page 140 - The Chronicles Ser2 (6-10)

coated in a slightly off-white, polished plaster base. There were rows of shelves and alcoves covering
two walls facing each other. The backs of the huge doors had also been polished to a mirror finish.
Finely etched into this surface were glyphs and images relating to the Kryst. However; the language
was Hagunenon.Lyris explained that the alcoves and shelves had contained the cylinders and the
other artifacts that the Keterians now had in their possession. Glyphs on the shelving edges
indicated that the objects that had been there, were being kept for the “Masters” should they
return.
“That would indicate the Kryst left or abandoned this world before the Hagunenon did” said Misha.
Trok meanwhile was recording everything for future use. Lyris opened the other knapsack that
Micha had been carrying and took out a tripod and a scanning laser assembly which she attached to
the the tripod. She aimed it at the wall opposite the door; which at first sight seemed to be totally
blank. However; upon closer inspection there appeared to be some kind of polished crystalline
surface attached to the plaster. Further investigation revealed that the entire surface was one
massive slab of the crystalline substance.
“We found about about this by accident when one of the archaeologists; using a coherent light
source to get a diffraction index, shone it against this wall” Lyris said, indicating Trok should dim the
lights to an almost off position, so that the level returned near to where it had been when they had
entered leaving the doorway open to shed light on the interior.She waited till Misha’s eyes adjusted
to the dim surroundings then said “Now; watch!”and turned on the laser and set it to scan the wall
in tiny increments starting in the topmost left hand corner.

As the beam from the laser hit a spot on the crystal surface a holographic image appeared.
The images changed rapidly as the beam sacnned a line across the surface. Pages of Glyphs,
diagrams, starcharts, pictures of places and peoples. The amount and variety of data was mind
boggling.
“It’s one of the densest archive of material I’ve ever seen” Misha gasped. Trok barely managed to
keep pace with the fluctuating images.
“I hope I can get the bulk of this and replay it as stills later. You wanted to see the Kryst language in
context… This is going to take decades to scratch the surface. I found the Krall method of data
compaction dense and precise… This is a whole magnitute higher, possibly several magintudes” he
said incredulously. Lyris smiled like a cat that had just finished off the last of the milk.
While Trok continued to record as much of the archive as he could Misha and Lyris went outside to
explore their surroundings.
“Were all of the shelves and alcoves full of artefacts when your people came here?” Misha asked as
she picked over some broken pieces of tile that had been decoration for some long destroyed wall.
“Oddly enough no; there were obvious traces that some objects had been removed in the past.
Some of the missing items it seems would have been quite large. We still managed to aquire a
substantial amount though!” Lyris replied. Then noticing Misha had picked something up said “Oh;
have you found something?” she asked. Misha had been turning over rocks and rubble when
something glinted at her from the dirt. It was covered in a caked encrustation of soil and sand. But
the edge that was exposed appeared to be metallic, more precisely, it appeared to be a firey bronze
colour. Lyris handed her a spare water flask and Misha washed away the crud from the object. It was

a decorative disc shaped brooch about
ten centimetres in diameter.On it’s
reverse side was a sprung clasp
arrangement. When she turned it over
both women gasped. In rich and pastel
coloured enamels and burnished metal,
was a striking geometric design. A
central lower wedge was silvered and
had been machine engraved with fine
lines and concentric circles. About a