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.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Daniel.
‘I’ll tell you what I mean,’ replied Jack. ‘There are two hundred and fifty billion stars in our own galaxy and over one hundred billion galaxies swirling about in space. That’s a lot of stars in space to be influencing or predetermining a man’s personality, or his direction in life. How many planets and stars did Babylonian astrologers know and use at the time, and how many are used today?’
‘That’s not the point,’ said Daniel. ‘Babylonian astrology focused on predicting events that affected the entire nation and its cities. Whatever it is today, astrology then was about trying to predict future meteorological events, earthquakes, famines, wars.’
‘I still think it’s horseshit,’ said Jack, ‘the only thing this tablet does is give a few exact moments in the sky. It’s astronomical information.’
‘He’s right you know,’ said Mina to Daniel.
‘He might be right, but how did they find these dates or places, if not through astrology?’ asked Daniel.
‘That, I don’t know,’ she answered, ‘it could be through a number of different observations. We don’t have that part of the text.’
‘OK. Jack, what about dates?’ asked Daniel.
But Jack had already fallen asleep.
Chapter 28
December 21st, 2004. Hildersham. Mulberry Cottage
Mina peeped through Jack’s door. ‘Morning Jack.’
Jack had had a rough night, but he felt better this morning.
‘Morning beautiful.’ She came and sat on the edge of his bed.
‘We’re making progress,’ she said. ‘Come down for breakfast and we’ll tell you all about it.’
‘You know, if you’d rather I stayed up here, just tell me. I’ll leave the two of you alone,’ said Jack.
‘Jack, you aren’t really jealous of Daniel, are you?’ Mina asked, grinning.
‘Me. Never. Why? Should I be?’
‘No, you shouldn’t,’ she said, and she slowly bent down to kiss him.
Just as they were about to share their first kiss, they heard Joshua at the door and sprung up out like guilty teenagers. Joshua came in to check on his patient. After examining him, he announced that he was quite satisfied with his condition.
‘Jack, I’m amazed by your recovery. You must be made of steel,’ he said appreciatively.
‘I know, doc, it’s my curse,’ said Jack with a smile.
‘You’re almost as good as new,’ said Joshua.
‘It’s all thanks to you. I owe you one.’
‘Bring this whole matter to a close and you won’t owe me anything.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ said Jack.
When Jack eventually came downstairs, he found Mina and Daniel sitting at the breakfast table, arguing about the notes, which put Jack in an excellent mood.
‘We’re not getting anywhere,’ said Mina.
‘I don’t agree,’ said Daniel.
‘What’s going on?’ Jack said, pulling up a chair.
But Mina went on regardless. ‘Alright Daniel, maybe you’re right, but how do you explain the term
‘It must be an image to describe the huge scale of the flood.’
‘And the
‘That I don’t know. I’ve thought about it the entire night and I still don’t have a clue.’
‘But what sort of river flood are they talking about?’ asked Jack, ‘what sort of flood could be that awful that they’d think of warning us thousands of years ago? Are we talking about a major city?’
‘That’s why we may be wrong in our interpretation of the text,’ said Daniel.
‘What if my first guess was wrong, and what I took for flood management measurements were actually successive dates, maybe encrypted?’ said Jack.
‘Come on Jack, Daniel has been at this for days,’ said Mina.
‘I don’t know,’ said Jack, ‘even if we had a perfect description of a star position, we’d still need another event to compare it with.’
‘Mina, he may be right. Let me try out his theory.’
