Magnificent Trio

Chapter 23

  "I bloody knew it." Leo hit his fist into his hand before leaning on his desk.

  "Fitz, you all right?" Bobbi asked.

  "Yeah, I think I've, uh...." He looked back at us while tapping one of the computer screens. "Remember this?"

  "Yeah, from the castle chamber." Bobbi nodded as we got up to go look. I saw a picture of a carving in stone on the screen. Leo then brought up another image, this time it was of Will and Jemma.

  "Oh, is that the mystery man?" Hunter put his hands on his hips. "Well, I'm just gonna say what we're all thinking- He has a hog face."

  "Okay. So, look at the logo of the space program he's with." Leo zoomed in on the image and circled the badge. He then brought up the picture of the carving to compare them side-by-side. "And if you turn it upside down, they look similar, yeah?"

  "Possible."

  "Bit of a stretch, mate."

  "Okay. Well, um, what if the group who carved this symbol into the chamber door is the same group that sent Will through the portal?"

  "I thought NASA sent Will through." Bobbi crossed her arms over her chest.

  "Could go beyond NASA- Way beyond."

  "Please don't tell me you think some ancient order's behind all this, 'cause that's a bit mental, even for you." Hunter popped off, and I smacked his arm with the back of my hand.

  "I know how it sounds, but we're dealing with a portal that leads to another planet, so...."

  "Anything's possible." Bobbi nodded. "It's worth checking out, Fitz. What's on this file? Looks like it just restored." She then pointed at the other screen with the files from Jemma's phone.

  "Looks like it's a video file." Leo leaned over to look and went to open it. "It's probably another recording of the sky." He muttered before the screen went nearly black, but there were lights in the forms of cracks scattered about.

  "That's the cave." I stated, and the others glanced at me. "Uh, beneath the rock in some places was- what we assume- a luminescent mineral." Waving my hand, our attention turned back to the screen when we heard Jemma.

  "Shh! We have to be quiet or we'll wake them up."

  "Oh, I think this might be a naughty video." Hunter popped off.

  "You're the one who stepped on it." Will whispered back.

  "Or not. What the bloody Hell are they doing?"

  "Here, let me see if I can brighten it...." Leo tapped away on his keyboard, and the video wasn't as dark anymore.

  "Wait, I thought there wasn't any power on that planet." Bobbi's brows furrowed.

  "There wasn't, just Jemma's phone battery." I replied.

  "Then what's making that sound?" She asked, and we could hear Jemma softly giggling as they were nearing the back of the cave. "It sounds like a motor." Bobbi commented, and Leo raised the volume to hear it better.

  "Is this normal?" Will questioned.

  "Not as far as I know. It started a few weeks after we got here." Jemma replied, and my eyes went wide when I noticed the moving shape in the dimly lit cave on the floor. It was me. They were sneaking up on me. "I didn't know what it was at first until I realized where it was coming from."

  "I thought they were a fish."

  "Well, technically, Otter is amphibious but shares many characteristics with mammals. They're also capable of creating a wide range of tonal frequencies, so I'm not surprised they also purr." Jemma whispered back as she was recording the sound. "I speculate- since they've only done it in their sleep- it's a form of self-soothing. Otter has been exposed to a high degree of stress as of late, which would explain why this didn't occur before."