Closed Golden

[Eugene]

The walk back to Lee and Sophie endured in a silence much unlike the quiet on the way out. Euge's attention entirely upon the strange object, his mind did not register they were back in the presence of their surfing partners until Ivy proclaimed the oddity of their partially buried treasure.

"It looks aerospace," Euge stated as he held the object out for all to examine, "but at the same time it doesn't look like any aircraft part I've ever seen. Look here;" he twisted the object to expose a fractured edge. "The carbon fiber honeycomb sandwich is a common construction technique, but I've never seen this honeycomb material before, and the outer layer feels like a radar absorbing material." Eugene's scowl deepened as he trailed off, his confusion reflected in the expressions of his three comrades.

 

[Lee]

Lee listened to Euge when he talked and agreed, it looked like some kind of craft, but in his experience, it looked more like a high tech skin of some highspeed boats.

"That looks more like something that came off a sleek boat," he gave his opinion and tapped the material, "but it's so clean... too clean, like it came out in one big piece and gets cut later?" It felt like a rubber and a really fine felt at the same time, and really reminded him of a bigger version of the sharkskin suits that some competitive swimmers use.

Wiping sweat from his head, Lee put the beer bottle down and gave the object more thought. There were grooves on the honeycomb structure like something ran through it. "Maybe it's a filtering thing."

 

[Sophie]

Keen eyes and eager minds, no other object on Ocean Beach that day would be so thoroughly inspected and Sophie watched the discussion in silence.

What Eugene held fitted comfortably between the span of his hands, measuring about twenty-six inches at its widest part. The layers forming its four-inch thickness were skilfully compressed and resulted in a product that weighed more than it looked. A portion of its surface had sheared off, likely from damage wrought when it collided against the rocks lining the Bay area, and between yet unidentifiable fibrous laminas, Sophie recognised the markings of a membrane filtration system. An angled breakpoint on a lateral aspect of the object betrayed that it had been part of a larger structure--but, what?

In order to find out, the mysterious article would have to be taken back to ACME Science for proper examination. It was then that the doctor turned to Ivy and spoke, in a low, calm tone:

“I will call Zachary and tell him,” she reached for the mobile phone stashed at the side of an open duffle bag, “we will not meet him at O’Sullivans. He should return to the compound instead.”

 

[Ivy]

Ivy wasn't surprised at the group's reaction to the beach treasure. Lee Jordan was once ACME's greatest detective, Eugene Grovington was a genius with anything that flew and Doctor Sophie Conrad's upbringing gave her a broad wealth of knowledge. If all of them agreed this was something worth looking into, then there was no argument otherwise.

"Good call," Ivy replied as she tied the surfboards down and climbed into the driver's seat.

They left Ocean Beach just as the sun sank into a bright orange line nestled in ultramarine blue, and reached Accolade Tower by the time stars began to show. Despite the original plan of meeting for a quick dinner and drinks at O'Sullivan's the crew seemed happy with Chinese take out, eaten at casual intervals while ACME's science lab tested the object.

Ivy rarely came into this space. Since her promotion to Commander her time was spent with various small groups of agents on direct assignments. The labs were more her brother's domain, and as she watched him navigate the place like a creature in its natural environment she couldn't help but feel a small sense of sibling pride. The take out Chinese kept them sated, and by the last egg roll, several test results were presented.

Eugene was right, there was a radar dampening material on one side. Lee and Sophie's identification of the honey comb shape as a filter also seemed to be spot on. But it would be a photo coming days later that broke their case. A local newspaper declared that sea monsters were spotted near the west coast of San Francisco, sighting eye witness reports and a distant photograph. Anyone who saw the object pulled from Ocean Beach would recognize the 'scales' immediately. It seemed to be composed of the same dark material, cut in such a way to minimize damage by breaking off during impact. Someone had advance technology and was using it around San Francisco. It was large, possibly a transport vessel... and it was swimming too close for comfort.

To be continued elsewhere...