Read The Navigators for Free Online Page A

the mine, it had been laden with dirt. Now, un-muddied, two people could easily move it.
    It was either very old technology, or very advanced. There was no way to tell. Glass has been around for thousands of years. Metals, form making, fans… nothing new there. The tubes along the underside were small and sleek, but things like that had been around for hundreds of years.
    Barry was a scholar, and not just of paleontology. The fact that the machine’s innovative construction gave it a futuristic aura—but that was always the leap to make when faced with something that had never been seen before. Titanium had rarely been used as a strong, lightweight support before the 1980’s. By the 90’s, manufacturers used it in every golf club shaft and bike frame.
    The lack of numbers or letters indicated that the designer had a universal appeal in mind. Whoever used it wouldn’t need to know the builder’s native language to make it work, but didn’t the ancient Egyptians do the same thing with their hieroglyphics? And the Mayans? Doesn’t a kids’ iPad game use the same approach, letting you learn as you go, never needing an instruction manual?
    The dots on the dials got larger as they moved from left to right, like the volume knob on a car radio.
    There were no easy answers. Every argument for one conclusion could create an equally compelling argument in the other direction.
    In the end, it didn’t matter.
    Using the machine might have killed its inventors or allowed them to enjoy riches and a life of comfort until they died of old age. No one could know for sure.
    Sometime before the morning sun peeked over his window sill, he allowed himself to shower, finally shedding all the mud he’d acquired the day before at the mine. But the questions persisted. Multiplied.
    Ancient civilizations had simple electric batteries, too, and skilled metal workers, choosing to work in soft gold to praise their kings, or to use copper chisels to carve their pyramid stones. If they had focused on something else, or if they had succeeded in creating a genius work like this, and didn’t tell anyone their secret, those things would just be waiting somewhere out in the sand.
    * * * * *
    When Roger opened the door for Melissa and me at Barry’s apartment the next morning, having arrived just minutes before us, he had just one thing to say.
    “He thinks he knows what it is.”

Chapter Six
     
    “C ome on,” I teased as we entered Barry’s apartment. “We’re all supposed to be out doing paleo stuff, not tinkering with strange machines. We should be digging up important things in the Florida mud.”
    “But digging up an important thing in the mud is exactly what we did.” Barry beamed. “This machine is significant. I’m convinced of that.” He stood next to the strange bronze-colored contraption, arms folded across his chest.
    Barry followed Melissa to the kitchen and grabbed a donut as she placed the box on the counter. “You’re in a good mood, Missy.”
    “Dad’s staying ahead in the polls. Looks like smooth sailing for the next few weeks.”
    “Nice. Daughter of the mayor. It has a ring to it. Will we have to call you ‘your highness’ or the First Daughter or something?”
    She blushed a little. “I don’t know.”
    “Well,” Barry turned with a flourish. “I’ve been inspecting our new toy all night. It’s not of our period.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Look at it.” Barry gestured at the machine. “There are no circuits or computer chips, not even vacuum tube bulbs! It has all these valves, like a steam engine, or some other sort of pressure system. It’s amazing. It’s either from very long ago or…”
    I eyed the big bronze egg. “Or what?”
    Barry shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s advanced. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
    “We’re stone cutters.” Roger leaned on the wall and stared at the machine. “How would we know anyway?”
    Barry took a bite of his donut. “I’m telling you, I