Weezy looked ready to explode. She spoke through her teeth. “What … was … the … date?”
Professor Nakamura folded his hands on his desk and stared at them. He spoke in a low voice.
“Fourteen thousand years.”
In a flash Weezy was out of her seat and on her feet, leaning over the desk.
“Did I hear you right? Fourteen thousand years?
“Yes.” The professor looked up at her. “And if you know anything about human history, you wil know that is impossible.”
“I know there’s a lot we
The professor nodded. “This is true, and there are arguments about which human civilization was first. It appears to be Sumer, but that can be traced
back only to five thousand B.C.—seven thousand years ago. The test says your pyramid is twice as old. Clearly that is impossible.”
“Not if it belonged to an advanced civilization that was wiped out by the Great Flood.”
Jack glanced at her, not sure if she was kidding or not. But she looked dead serious.
“You mean like in the Bible?” he said. “Noah’s flood?”
Weezy kept her eyes on the professor. “The Sumerians had exactly the same legend, long before the Bible was written. Al the ancient civilizations of
that region had a story about a great flood that cleansed the land. Am I right, professor?”
He stared at her. “How old are you?”
“I’l be fifteen next month.”
“Fifteen … you know much for fifteen.”
“I read a lot. But back to the Great Flood. Maybe a flood was only part of it. Maybe it was much more severe. Maybe it wiped out the civilization that
made that little pyramid and forced human beings to start al over again from scratch.”
The professor rol ed his eyes. “Next you wil be quoting Immanuel Velikovsky.”
“I know the name,” she said, “but I’ve never read him. I’ve heard he’s a kook.” She smiled. “But then, some people think
look him up.” She held out her hand. “May I have my
fourteen-thousand-year-old ‘hoax’ back now?”
“I am afraid I do not have it with me.”
Weezy frowned. “You’re going to run more tests?”
“Yes, but not me, personal y. I took the liberty of sending it to the Smithsonian Institution for dating.”
“You
Jack didn’t care al that much that she’d added the “us.” He too was ticked that the professor had taken it upon himself to send their pyramid al the way
to Washington, D.C.
“Now just a minute, young lady. You gave that over to me for investigation and that is precisely what I am doing. The Smithsonian Institution has access
to equipment I do not. They wil find an accurate date of origin. Is that not what you wanted from me?”
Jack thought about that. He’d been to the Smithsonian on his eighth-grade trip just this past spring and had been wowed by the sheer size of the place
—al the buildings, al the exhibits. Too many to see on just one trip.
Weezy’s lower lip showed just a trace of a quiver. “But you should have asked first.”
The professor nodded. “Yes, I suppose I should have. But I thought you would be happy to know that some of the greatest experts in the field wil be
studying your artifact.”
“Wel ,” she said slowly, “I guess I am. But what if something happens to it along the way? Or what if it gets lost? Things get lost in the mail, you know.”
“Oh, no. I did not send it by mail. I used overnight delivery. Federal Express. And I packed it very careful y in a box. It wil be fine. The Smithsonian
Institution handles valuable artifacts al the time. They wil take good care of it.” “They’d better,” she said.
Jack didn’t see much point in hanging around here any longer so he rose and
stood next to Weezy.
“Wil you cal us as soon as you hear anything?”
The professor slid a sheet of paper and a pencil across the desk. “Leave me your phone numbers. As soon as I hear from the Smithsonian, you wil
hear from me.”
