He laid a few sheets of paperwork on her desk.
“What’s this?”
“Copies of notes from your father’s journal,” he answered. “They’re entries regarding his excursion into Eden.”
She picked them up as if they were as fragile as old parchment. “Where did you get these?”
He swallowed. “It appears that they were in the possession of Mr. Montario.”
“And he didn’t give them to me?”
“It appears that he wanted your father’s secrets to remain secrets. Perhaps, Alyssa, Mr. Montario was afraid that you would decipher the pages and determine the coordinates to Eden. In his own way, by keeping your father’s journal, perhaps he was trying to protect you.”
She held up the encrypted sheets of paper. “And how did you get this?” she asked him.
“It was with Mr. Montario’s belongings in New York, which were discovered soon after his accident. Your father’s property was then forwarded to me. So now I’m forwarding it to you.”
She examined the pages, noting the archaic forms of her father’s writing. The forms were a scramble of different languages and symbols. “Thank you,” she finally told him.
“I believe everything about Eden is there, including the coordinates. Knowing your father as I do, he would not neglect to write everything down for future reference.”
She shook the papers. “They’ll be in here,” she replied.
That’s what he wanted to hear. “Shall we prepare ourselves then?”
“For?”
“To seek out Eden and build on your father’s legacy.”
She looked around the tent, at the documents on her desk and the photos. “I need to sum up my reports regarding the carved bas-reliefs,” she told him. Not only was it her father’s belief that the carvings of the creatures upon the Göbekli Tepe pillars had been indigenous life supported by rich fauna that no longer existed, it was also in direct correlation with his studies that this area was once a garden-like environment, suggesting that Eden may have existed in this part of the world before it had faded to a desert.
“And there are other matters of preparation,” Noah said finally. “Not only will we have to gather sufficient amounts of lighting and gear but, given the plausibility of Mr. Montario’s statement, there is the matter of protection.”
“You mean armed protection?”
“It’s a simple matter of prudence,” he said.
“Noah, I’ve never touched a gun in my life.”
“They scare me to death as well,” he said. “But in this case, I believe it would serve to better our chances of survival. Wouldn’t you agree?”
She gave him a nonplussed look. “Noah, this is a high-priority expedition that has to be kept close to the vest. We can’t afford to let others to know the whereabouts of Eden, because it only heightens the probability that they may appropriate the region and compromise the site. This was my father’s biggest fear, you know that.”
“Do you see another way, then?” he asked patiently. “Please keep in mind that an entire team has been terminated by whatever resides within the temple. We will not be alone. And without protection, we may not stand a chance.”
Alyssa knew that he was right. “We need to keep this as covert as possible.”
“I understand.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“I will employ a team,” he said. “And have them here within a day.”
She cocked her head questioningly. “How would you know people like that?”
“In my walk of life,” he said, smiling his paternal smile she had seen so many times over the years, “you have to be ready for all contingencies. They will not need to know the location until we arrive there. I believe that will ease your concern of possible appropriation on their part should we keep them in the dark, yes?”
“They’re to understand, Noah, that I’m the expedition lead. Not their commander.”
“If they’re paid accordingly, then I see no problems.”
Still, she was on edge. She knew that getting the proper licensing in foreign countries meant you sometimes had to grease a few political palms. But this was something different. She’d be paying mercenaries with funds from the AIAA coffer. Or so she thought.
“All right,” she finally said. “Do what you have to do, Noah.”
“Of course, my dear.”
“I’ll assemble a team for the expedition,” she added. “People of my choosing.”
“And I’ll gather the goods and make the preparations. We should be ready to go in two days, yes?”
“Two days,” she confirmed.
Noah nodded. But before he turned to leave, he spoke to her once more. “A lesson,” he suggested, “in practicality.”
She loved this. It was always something her father did to develop deductive reasoning. It was a learning tool. “I’m ready.”
Noah raised a finger, using it the same way a maestro would direct his players with a baton. “A man is asked to perform a task,” he began. “He is told by the administrator to sit in a bathtub filled with water. He is then given three items: a spoon, a teacup, and a bucket, and is told to empty the bathtub with the least amount of effort. What should he do?”
Her smile flourished. Most people would answer “use the bucket,” since it’s bigger than the spoon and teacup. But the answer was simpler. “The least amount of effort to empty the tub,” she said, “would be to pull the plug.” In other words, genius was always in simplicity.
“Very good,” he told her. “I’ll catch up with you later, my dear.”
“Bye, Noah.”
After he left, her mind drifted to thoughts that she was about to follow in her father’s footsteps. On the desk sat a small photo of the two of them, smiling. It was a recent picture of the day they arrived together at the Göbekli Tepe, taken no more than three weeks ago.
How quickly, she thought, someone you love, someone so close to you, can be here one moment and gone the next. She traced the tip of her finger lovingly over the image of her father, missing him deeply, and then she allowed a single tear to slip from the corner of her eye.
Collecting herself, she turned to the sheets that Noah gave her, and began to read.
CHAPTER TEN
Let me begin this preamble by stating that I used the allusions mentioned in the Book of Genesis, the Torah, the Koran, and all the Göbekli cuneiforms as guides of reference as they relate to the geographical location of {Edin}, putting {Edin} at the {headwaters} of the four rivers that include the Tigris, Euphrates, Pishon and Gihon. Though the Pishon and Gihon are speculated to have been in the southeast of Turkey rather than northern Iraq, it is now believed that these tributaries dried up over several millennia, which would place {Edin} in Turkey rather than in Iraq, Africa or the Persian Gulf. By using these references as orientation points, I was able to triangulate a site in Turkey using the coordinates 36° 13′ 23.88″ N, 37° 55′ 20.64″ E.
With the use of satellite imagery and ground-penetrating radar, a most amazing discovery was made. Using those coordinates, I was able to determine a linear structure hidden beneath the sands in southeast Turkey. Without a doubt it is massive in size and constructed with geometric configurations that are (not) natural features derived by Nature.
So with the strength of this data along with my reputation, I presented a proposal to the Administrative Board at AIAA to financially back an expedition into Turkey in search of {Edin}. Not only did it take all of two days to garner complete support, but I was duly assigned the task to choose nine candidates to serve as my team.
My daughter, Alyssa, has chosen to remain in Göbekli Tepe to piece together the history regarding the development of mankind, rather than partake in a most amazing adventure. But she has chosen responsibility over curiosity, which shows me that she possesses a great deal of fortitude to see things through.