Knight in Shining Armour

Sera is Here!!

Chapter - 1

Around 66 million years ago, dinosaurs became extinct due to a huge asteroid which struck the earth and now also people search for fossils to prove their existence. There was a myth that dinosaurs didn't go extinct, they just space travelled to some other planet similar to Earth. But not all researchers believe that and are still in search of fossils that will discover some hidden truths of history. 

Sera is one of the most renowned palaeontologists who discovered many famous fossils and has done notable work, achieving many awards in her field. She is a young ambitious girl of 25 years old who loves her work. People called her a 'Wondrous Researcher' because nobody knows how she does her research and where she goes before discovering the great fossil of all time. Unexpectedly, she is the one who believes that myth. Her work requires her to roam all around the world and amid one such research, she was roaming around in the Netherlands in search of some new fossils. Though it is a flood-prone state, it was hard to research but she was determined to find something there.

One day, a flood hit the state but was not severe so she decided to do some volunteer work there. She helped the local rescue team to provide medical help, providing food and clothes to the victims. She realised that there are a few people who are also helping people, but are sort of weird as they all are wearing strange masks and whenever she finds them afterwards, they sort of disappear from the site completely. She found them different from others and started to observe them. 

She noticed that they don't provide any normal help. Instead, they do the heavy work like lifting stones or driving water out of houses but what she found unusual is that each person can do such things alone without support and they do it without letting anyone notice them. She was confused to see that but thought that maybe this is how they trained. The next day, she heard some noises and came to her balcony and found that all those unusual rescue workers were telling people to leave that area as it would be completely destroyed within a few hours because of a huge flood. She called the rescue team office where she is helping and asked about the matter to which they replied that there are no signs of flood again and that police will soon take action against the people spreading false rumours. 

She was suspicious of the matter as being a palaeontologist she can detects the weather conditions and it seems something fishy to her but she ignored it and moves back to her room, suddenly she slipped and was about to fall but someone caught her on time. She saw that it was one of the masked men of the rescue team and asked him how he appeared out of nowhere. He was leaving but she held onto him and remembered that he is the one who gives instructions to other members of his team and said "You are their leader, right? Can I know your rescue team name or why you guys are spreading such rumours of flood?".

"I can guess you are stalking us very hard to know my position. And about the rumours, I suggest you leave, until and unless you want to live underwater".

"Whoa! That's some ridiculous thing. Firstly, I'm not a stalker and I also believe that there will be a flood soon"

"Really? You are the first one to believe this, how do you know?"

"I'm a palaeontologist and it helps me to study the climatic conditions also and there was dew on my plants when I get up, also there are sort of temperature drop which are signs of rain and if it rains then there will be flood definitely!"

"Impressive! So now you know it well that means you should pack your bags and leave"

He left from there, she sensed something and ran behind him but he just disappeared like he flew out or something. She sensed that there was something strange about these rescuers. She started to pack her bags and called the team again to take people out of the area as it will definitely rain resulting in flooding. 

She was about to leave but suddenly an old lady fell in front of her and begged her to help. She lifted her up and asked her what help she needs and the woman told her that she left her husband's only photo in her house and rescue team people are not allowing her to go there. She started to cry in front of Sera and with no choice she agreed to help the lady but she knew that they would not allow her to go so she decided to do things differently. She took out a black cloth and made its mask like they all are wearing and straight went to that house hiding from them. The house was almost flooded, water was reaching her waist and all the items were floating. She finds the photo frame floating, suddenly a case hits her from behind and when she looks closely, she finds that it was very old and precious. She thought that case is important so she also took it with her. The moment she came out of the house it collapsed and she got shocked as, if she was a moment late then her subordinates would have to dig her specimens.

She took the things to the lady but she only took the photo frame and returned the case to Sera. She told the lady that the case looks precious but the lady replied: "my old man was fond of collecting stones from the seashore and it was the first stone he brought for me when we were young but now he is not there so let it be and you bring back the thing which is precious to me so as my gratitude, accept this small gift". The lady took the bus and left. 

The masked leader comes towards Sera and asks her if she loves to do charity or if it's just some act of stupidity to jump in the flooded house which can fall anytime. She was checking the case given by the lady and replied to him that if he hates charity work then he should not hold the house for her.

"What?", he asked in confusion. She looked directly into his eyes and replied, "Didn't you hold that house until I got out? What? You thought I'm blind to not see a big man like you".

"You're welcome", he replied.

"I don't remember thanking but no issue, you can think like I did", she put the case in her bag and waved at him as her bus was here. While she got on the bus, she shouted "Let's not meet again like this", and left, he was standing there thinking that he should not save her, she is not at all grateful.

On the way back she checked the news on her phone and found that finally they issued the flood alert. She looked back but he was not there and thought that maybe he was one of those saviours, who was sent by someone above us. She took out the case from her bag. When she opened it she found that it was not an ordinary stone but a piece of bone. After looking at it closely she found that it was a nail. She made a call to her subordinates to get ready for a new surprise. She closed the case and put it in her bag, looked up at the sky, smiled and thought "It's true, doing a good thing won't be a waste".

Later on, she did research on that nail and they found that it is a treasure, a nail of similar genes of a dubious hadrosaurid dinosaur, who was discovered in 1883, at the Maastricht Formation in Netherlands. Though it is obscure evidence, after finding the nail, it becomes great research and once again Sera proved that she is that wondrous researcher, to whom even fossils call. It became a huge milestone in her career and she got many awards. But there is always a hidden sacrifice and struggle for success. More famous she gets, the more she gets surrounded by people who envy her. She got busy with all this, a month passed by and one day she saw the news about the same flood in the Netherlands. Reports tell about the place being completely destroyed but somehow everybody was safe from such a severe flood, she smiled as she was aware of the fact that everyone is safe but somehow she was confused as there was no news of those masked refugees who actually helped people. She thought that maybe the media didn't cover them as they wanted to be secretive.

"Sera-Sera-Sera, listen", her assistant comes to her and seems to be in a hurry as it was something important.

"What? Why are you being a bullet train? What happened?"

"Yo-you are transferred !"

"What!"

........to be continued.