The First Interbellum (1918-1939)

Johnny1A.2 · 08-15-2016, 01:11 PM

LATER.

Conners sipped his own drink, waiting for Bingham to continue.

“We tried to continue our own work even so,” Bingham went on, “but it
was soon all too clear that whatever it is that’s going on here is directly
connected to the item, or its current possessor. We know for a fact that
he is in town, and my people have been trying to shadow him, but his
movements are hard to track, he has his own people working for him as
well, and there are other players.

“A few nights ago, two of my people were staking out a place in the woods
to the west of the city,” Bingham went on. “To their surprise, they found
themselves caught in a cross-fire between our quarry’s men and persons
unknown.”

Conners tried to show little sign, but hearing that his alertness jumped, he
suddenly made the connection between the corpse found in the woods
and what Bingham was saying.

“They informed us of this, and when we put the pieces together with
some other sources of information, we realized that your organization
was involved as well. That led me to contact Robert. There is more
going on here than any of us know, and I think we might be wise to…
shall we say compare notes?”

Conners looked at McLaird, who nodded in approval.

"What can you tell me about this 'item'?" Conners asked.

"I've spoken with my client," Bingham replied. "I can't tell you anything
about him personally. But I can tell you that we're talking about an artifact
of the Atlanteans. I haven't seen it myself, and apparently there no available
photographs. It was described to us, though, as being egg-shaped, and
apparently made out of yellow glass. About six feet long, give or take a
little bit. Covered in facets, or so I'm told.”
-
Bingham fell silent for a moment, then continued, saying, “From what we
were told, it was found in Australia, back before the turn of the century.”

“Atlantean artifacts in Australia?” Conners asked, trying to sound doubting.

“Don’t pretend to ignorance, Mr. Conners,” Bingham said dismissively.
“You know better, and I know that you know better. Artifacts of those
times are few and far between, but they’ve been found all over the world.
Europe and Asia, North and South America, Australia and Africa.”

Conners nodded. “Granted.”

“Anyway, I can’t tell you very much about how it passed from Australia to
San Francisco, which is where my client, and his rival, made their bids for
it. Mostly because I don’t know much about that myself, you might be
able to find out more than I know on your own. I know a bit about the
auction where it was up for bid, but I am not at liberty to discuss that.

“But what I can tell you is that this item, this thing, whatever we want to
call it…it’s not inert. It’s some kind of machine or device, and it’s not dead.”

“It’s still working after what, six thousand years?!” Conners asked. This time
his doubt was not feigned.

“Apparently,” Bingham replied. “Keep in mind that I’m going by information
provided by my client and talking to people who have been near this thing.
It’s all second-hand information.”

“So what does this…item…do? Or what happens when it works?”

“Nobody knows that it’s supposed to be for,” Bingham replied, “or so I
am told. But as for what it does…by the accounts of the people who have
been near it, sometimes it flashes and glows, spontaneously. It has been
observed to make strange sounds as well, again for no clear reason.

“By some accounts,” Bingham went on, “it can be dangerous. One story
goes that a man who was standing near it happened to be resting his hand
on it when it suddenly flashed for a few moments, and when it was done
the man’s hand was maimed, 'withered' the witness said. I don’t know exactly
what that might mean, other than that the witness told us that his hand
never worked again, and he ended up having to have it amputated because
it was starting to rot.”

“Charming,” McLaird commented. “Do you believe your witness?”

“I believe she believed what she was saying,” Bingham said. “She was badly
shaken up by the memory, though, so I’m not sure how accurate her
recollections were. But there are other accounts, at third hand. One story
associated with this thing is that it was stored on a cattle ranch for a long
time, and that while it was, the herd showed a markedly higher rate of failed
pregnancies and deformed offspring.”

MORE LATER.

08-15-2016, 01:11 PM	#32
Johnny1A.2 Join Date: Feb 2007	Re: The First Interbellum (1918-1939) LATER. Conners sipped his own drink, waiting for Bingham to continue. “We tried to continue our own work even so,” Bingham went on, “but it was soon all too clear that whatever it is that’s going on here is directly connected to the item, or its current possessor. We know for a fact that he is in town, and my people have been trying to shadow him, but his movements are hard to track, he has his own people working for him as well, and there are other players. “A few nights ago, two of my people were staking out a place in the woods to the west of the city,” Bingham went on. “To their surprise, they found themselves caught in a cross-fire between our quarry’s men and persons unknown.” Conners tried to show little sign, but hearing that his alertness jumped, he suddenly made the connection between the corpse found in the woods and what Bingham was saying. “They informed us of this, and when we put the pieces together with some other sources of information, we realized that your organization was involved as well. That led me to contact Robert. There is more going on here than any of us know, and I think we might be wise to… shall we say compare notes?” Conners looked at McLaird, who nodded in approval. "What can you tell me about this 'item'?" Conners asked. "I've spoken with my client," Bingham replied. "I can't tell you anything about him personally. But I can tell you that we're talking about an artifact of the Atlanteans. I haven't seen it myself, and apparently there no available photographs. It was described to us, though, as being egg-shaped, and apparently made out of yellow glass. About six feet long, give or take a little bit. Covered in facets, or so I'm told.” - Bingham fell silent for a moment, then continued, saying, “From what we were told, it was found in Australia, back before the turn of the century.” “Atlantean artifacts in Australia?” Conners asked, trying to sound doubting. “Don’t pretend to ignorance, Mr. Conners,” Bingham said dismissively. “You know better, and I know that you know better. Artifacts of those times are few and far between, but they’ve been found all over the world. Europe and Asia, North and South America, Australia and Africa.” Conners nodded. “Granted.” “Anyway, I can’t tell you very much about how it passed from Australia to San Francisco, which is where my client, and his rival, made their bids for it. Mostly because I don’t know much about that myself, you might be able to find out more than I know on your own. I know a bit about the auction where it was up for bid, but I am not at liberty to discuss that. “But what I can tell you is that this item, this thing, whatever we want to call it…it’s not inert. It’s some kind of machine or device, and it’s not dead.” “It’s still working after what, six thousand years?!” Conners asked. This time his doubt was not feigned. “Apparently,” Bingham replied. “Keep in mind that I’m going by information provided by my client and talking to people who have been near this thing. It’s all second-hand information.” “So what does this…item…do? Or what happens when it works?” “Nobody knows that it’s supposed to be for,” Bingham replied, “or so I am told. But as for what it does…by the accounts of the people who have been near it, sometimes it flashes and glows, spontaneously. It has been observed to make strange sounds as well, again for no clear reason. “By some accounts,” Bingham went on, “it can be dangerous. One story goes that a man who was standing near it happened to be resting his hand on it when it suddenly flashed for a few moments, and when it was done the man’s hand was maimed, 'withered' the witness said. I don’t know exactly what that might mean, other than that the witness told us that his hand never worked again, and he ended up having to have it amputated because it was starting to rot.” “Charming,” McLaird commented. “Do you believe your witness?” “I believe she believed what she was saying,” Bingham said. “She was badly shaken up by the memory, though, so I’m not sure how accurate her recollections were. But there are other accounts, at third hand. One story associated with this thing is that it was stored on a cattle ranch for a long time, and that while it was, the herd showed a markedly higher rate of failed pregnancies and deformed offspring.” MORE LATER. Last edited by Johnny1A.2; 07-05-2017 at 01:03 AM.