I have been in love with physics since my first exposure to it, it is my religion, it is my life. I love believing that each and every interaction can, on some level, be explained by a mathematical formula, even if that formula needs a little bit of statistical uncertainty for lubrication.
It was my second year of grad school, and, as much as I loved my school work, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so I also have my distractions. This particular day, the day that would start me on a path which would eventually shatter my world view and shake the rest of my beliefs to the core, this particular day, I was lounging on the couch, watching an Ancient Aliens marathon on the history channel.
A bug eyed dude with crazy hair was suggesting that the similarities in all the world's religions may have been the result of visitations from an alien race in our distant past. Of course that's at once absurd and then strangely plausible as the circumstantial evidence is laid out.
My buddy, fellow grad student and physics explorer, Jenny, was spending this lazy Sunday with me, indulging her own methods of distraction. As she lit up another joint, I asked, "What do you think? Are they out there?"
"Of course, how could they not be?" was her immediate reply. "I had a dream about an alien climbing into bed with me one night. He was green and all wet and slimy, covered in mucus, and he had seven tentacles that were long and thick as cucumber," she said as she squeezed her thighs together and squirmed moving her legs back and forth against each other.
Jenny always got a little horny when she smoked weed and I could tell she was getting pretty high as she put her hands between her legs and squeezed with her thighs rubbing the crotch of her jean shorts.
"Wait a minute!" I said. "You are telling me you had a dream in which you let a slime covered alien penetrate you with his tentacles?"
"He immobilized me with mind control! I couldn't fight back!" Jenny exclaimed as we both broke out into hysterical laughter.
We laughed about that just a little longer than it deserved. I don't know if it was because I was getting a second hand buzz or whether it was because of the sexual tension in the room. Jenny is smokin' hot. Well, at least in a nerdy girl kind of way.
She has long dark hair that falls in loose curls when she lets it down from her default pony tail and she wears some nerdy black glasses that betray her intelligent side. The glasses are an interesting counterpoint to her amazing boobs.
They aren't so big that she has a hard time hiding them underneath a sweatshirt but in the spring, when T-shirts come out, there are some days when I have a hard time looking at anything else. Jenny has a habit of wearing what's comfortable and that sometimes means low cut and tight. The cleavage at her neckline and the perfect curves her breasts make as they resist the pull of gravity are like magnets for my eyes.
Today was the first warm day of spring and not only had the T-shirts come out but Jenny had on some cut off jean shorts that made her legs look like they were a mile long. These shorts must have been her favorite pair because they were nicely worn in and a little frayed. The low rise of the waistline stopped just below the place where her slender waist gave way to the curve around her taught hips.
As hot as she was, I had never managed to get her attention, at least not in that way. We have known each other since we were kids so I guess I'm just part of the day to day scenery to her at this point, particularly since we've been room mates in this apartment for the last two semesters.
Money is tight when you are a grad student, even with the lab assistant position. Since we have been friends for so long, it only made sense to split living expenses. Moving in together sounded like a great idea at first and I thought it might lead to some opportunities.
Reality is never the same as fantasy though, and our living arrangement turned into more of a living hell for me than a Shangri-La. Jenny looks innocent but she is a bit of a slut. Don't get me wrong, I love slutty girls. The sluttier the better as far as I'm concerned. It makes me feel like I might have a chance, normally.
In this case, though, Jenny was out of my reach. It's not that I'm a bad looking guy. I eat right and even run sometimes when I'm thinking over particularly complex ideas. The physical exertion and rhythm helps me relax and focus my thoughts. The problem is, Jenny just doesn't see me as boyfriend material. I'm her study partner and hang out buddy.
The worst part was that now, I had to see the losers Jenny chose to bring home with her. For example, there was that cretin, Jim, from the wrestling team. They met at a party and had apparently had a lively discussion about whether the WWF was a real wrestling federation and how fake, or not, the wrestling was.
Apparently, there was an offer to show some wrestling moves if there were only a soft surface available. Why Jenny offered her bed is beyond me. Maybe it was because he worked out a lot and he had a ripped six pack.
I was sitting on this very couch as they walked through the door making a bee-line for Jenny's room. The only greeting I got was when he demeaningly said,"Hey Sport," and they disappeared behind her door.
The sounds she made that night were intoxicating. I watch my fair share of porn but to hear someone you know, in the flesh, just on the other side of the wall, is different. I could tell she was having some very pleasurable sensations but her moans were, at the same time, sounding like she was so frustrated. Like she wanted to trip the circuit but just couldn't quite get it to blow.
I know the feeling. I rubbed myself raw that night out of desperation. I know, I know, creepy invasion of privacy getting off on her sexual encounter but she shouldn't have been so loud if she didn't want me listening. It's not like she didn't give me shit the morning after her best friend Beth and I hooked up. I know she had listened in when Beth and I blew off some steam after finals.
Sitting on the couch with her looking like she did had me just about to make another feeble attempt to get in her pants. I was about to paw at her sexy bare leg as she stretched out on the couch when Jenny yelled.
"Look!... Isn't that Professor Bailey?" as she pointed excitedly at the TV.
Sure enough, on the screen was a picture of Dr. Bailey. He looked younger but there was no mistaking his intensity. The episode playing was all about an academic expedition to Peru. A research team was sent to the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu to help decipher some carvings and try to understand how the stones of the rock wall masonry there had been cut so precisely with the ancient tools available at the time of its construction.
The episode was very interesting and included a legend about a supposed "star gate" carved in the rock near lake Titicaca. What a name! The legend was that an ancient Inca priest possessed a key that would open the portal of the gods.
The episode went on to say that the research team had been run off the site under suspicion of unauthorized removal of artifacts. The allegations were never proven but the lead researcher had been under investigation ever since.
Dr. Bailey must have been part of the research team when he was a graduate student in archaeology. Now, he taught intro to world history to auditoriums of bored undergrads but, years before, he was obviously part of this expedition to Peru and possibly wrapped up in the scandal. Maybe that was how he ended up here teaching such a low level class.
Jenny looked at me with a positively devious smile and said, "Let's break into Dr. Bailey's office and find out what he had to do with that research trip!"
"Are you fucking insane! How strong is that stuff you're smoking?"
Jenny looked at me with pleading eyes and said,"I'm sooo bored right now. You know the archaeology department shares space in the physics building and Dr Bailey's office is just down the hall from the physics lab! Don't you have a key or something since you work as a lab assistant?"
It was even easier than Jenny knew because that building and the labs were only locked at the outside door and lots of people had a key card. Students and staff both kept late hours on projects and security was basically non-existent past that automated door. Still, we could be caught by some random person in an area that we really had no business poking around in.
Jenny saw the wheels turning in my head and added, "Don't worry, if old man Bailey catches us. I'll just offer to suck his cock and all will be forgiven"
Of course, I had already decided I was in. Any excuse to sneak around in the dark with Jenny would easily over rule all the logical thoughts I might have urging more caution.
Being after eight on the Sunday evening before spring break, the campus was eerily deserted. We easily gained entrance to the building and walked down the stairs to the basement and into the darkened corridor. Most of the lights were off but the glow from the florescent fixture in the stairwell gave enough light to make our way.
Jenny was glued to my side as we crept down the hall. I was trying to act cool but my head was exploding with fireworks as her breast pressed against my arm. I let my arm hang down to my side and gently placed my hand on her exposed thigh as we walked further pressing our bodies together and against the wall.
There was an intoxicating mix of adrenaline and hormones coursing through my veins. The fear of being discovered had my senses on full gain and Jenny's proximity gave those senses a fine source of stimulation.
The office door had a large rippled glass pane with, "Dr. Bailey, Archaeology" painted in block letters. I tried the knob to the wooden door. It was unlocked and opened with a creaking groan.
Inside, the light from a computer monitor illuminated the room with a faint glow. It looked a lot like you would expect a profs office to look. There was a large wooden desk surrounded by bookshelves. I wondered out loud, "What are we even looking for?"
Jenny tip toed into the room even though there was nobody around but me. She whispered, "I don't know but look at all those pictures and objects on the shelves. They all look Central American to me. There has to be a connection."
One of the frames on the wall held a newspaper article. Jenny read and paraphrased for me, "This article is about the expedition! It seems that the leader of the expedition, a prominent scientist, did take an artifact but that the university had arranged with the Peruvian government for it to be removed and brought back."
The article goes on to say that this scientist believed that the artifact was the, Key of Aramu Muru. Although he spent years trying to prove that this artifact predated the Incan empire and was in fact related to the legend of the gate of the God's, he was never able to produce irrefutable evidence.
Jenny then gasped,"His career took a nose dive after this failure but his protege, Milton Bailey, continues to research the mysterious artifact."
"I knew it!" Jenny exclaimed.
"Congratulations Inspector Gadget," I taunted, "Now let's get out of here before you get me in real trouble."
We turned to leave, but as we were headed for the door, Jenny noticed a case that she hadn't seen on the way in. It was almost hidden behind the door but when we turned back toward the exit we could see a three foot tall display case.
The top and some of the sides of the case was glass and the lower half had several shallow drawers. In the top glass partition there was a stone object resting on a stand. The object had an unusual shape to it and a weathered grey granite exterior.
The shape of the object was mostly flat and round, a little smaller in diameter than a dinner plate but about an inch thick. It also had a prominent feature on top and bottom, a raised ridge that looked like a cucumber that had been sliced in half lengthwise with half the cucumber glued to the top of the plate and the other half directly below.
