Poignant Skies

Artifacts

The following morning after the incident, Selena was able to go back to Dr. Kurt's home. She rested for the whole day. Lee thought of something that could probably cheer her up.

He remembered the mauve flowers called Aliva which he brought at his parents' gravetrees. At the current time of the year, the flower park was going to be filled with Alivas and many other flowers endemic to Novus.

"Hi." Kurt said as he knocked at the ajar door.

She rolled to side to face him. "Hey."

"How would you like to see some more flowers?"

She smiled at him. He sat beside her in bed. The light of the setting sun lighted up his face. "Then maybe we can go to that restaurant where we could get that expensive grilled meat."

"Didn't you say that it was too expensive for you?"

"I'll charge it to NICC." they both laughed.

"So it's like we are going to a date?"

Lee paused for a second. "Yeah, like a date."

"You also promised to take me to the museum."

"Okay, museum first, flower park, and then grilled meat."

"It's a date then."

The next day after lunch, Lee loaded his fully charged solar battery in his vehicle plus an extra in the compartment. The museum was on the edge of the habited zone and would take more than an hour to get to from his home.

Lee coordinated with security on their plans for the day. Selena wore a common grey cloak over her new pale pink dress. She looked very much like a Novan citizen.

"Shall we go now?"

As Lee and Selena got into his vehicle, they saw the NICC security go inside their vehicle as well.

"These guys can be quite the stalkers." Selena remarked.

"It's their job." Lee smirked. He turned on his electric car and they sped off to the famous Novan museum.

Lee and Selena arrived at the Museum of Mother Earth. It was located at the edge of the city and was one of the oldest structures still intact.

"I used to come here almost everyday for my research." Lee told Selena. "They said the musuem was built to mirror an old Greek structure.."

"Parthenon." Selena said.

"Yeah." Lee looked at her as she stared blankly at the museum's facade. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She smiled at him. "Shall we go inside now?"

Lee paid for their tickets. Right behind them were Lt. Han and one more NICC security agent casually following them like ordinary people.

Lee was quite familiar with the museum. The staff knew Lee as well. Even the security personnel was glad to see him.

"Mr. Kurt! I see you are on a date?"

"Karl, this is Ms. Selena Marie. I am hosting her."

"Oh, what planet are you from?" The old man asked gleefully.

"Planet Num."

"Oh how wonderful! My family migrated from Num to Novus when I was 14. What continent are you from?"

"Uhm..." Selena looked at Lee.

"I believe it's quite confidential." Lee whispered with a wink.

"Oh... I see." Karl replied. "Oh well, I shall leave you two now. Enjoy!"

"Thank you Karl. We'll see you around."

Lee led Selena to the Earth's History wing.

"What was that about?" Selena asked.

"When I say confidential it means you're probably a Num rebel. You probably came from prison and requested for an asylum."

"Oh. And Novans actually allow Num rebels to migrate to Novus?"

"On rare occasions, like exceptional genetics, skills, and other political reasons."

"I see."

Lee went on to tour Selena around. They started with the Earth's history where they sat on a bench to watch videos of how Earth and the solar system it belonged to was formed. Then they went on to look at some items showing some old crystals, fossils and the like.

Then they moved on to the Evolution area which showed human evolution throughout the millenia. There were very old items such as stone tools from the stone age, golden cups from the medieval period, an old radio from the 90's and many others.

Next, they looked into the Cultural area where they saw some artifacts from the different nationalities on Earth. There were some old blue ceramics from China, some royal jewelry from England, and a tea ceremony set from Japan. There were also some eeringly realistic wax statues on podiums showing features of the different races such as Caucasian, Asian and African.

"Technically I can put myself into one of these podiums and stand as an artifact." Selena said.

"That would be a new attraction." Lee replied. "A living artifact." They both chuckled.

All of a sudden, the fire alarm rang.

"Please evacuate the building immediately." The voice in the anunciator said. Lee saw Karl running towards the Evolution area.

"What happened Karl?"

"There's a fire in the Written Articles section." Karl replied as he was catching his breath. "And the supervisor who knows the code is on leave. We need to get the manuscripts out."

"I know the general code for emergency. I'll come with you." Lee turned to Selena. Lt. Han and the other agent just arrived. "Selena go with them. They'll keep you safe."

"Okay."

"This way Ms. Marie." They immediately escorted her out of the museum.

Lee went with Karl to the area where the fire was but there were no flames in sight. The sprinkler system had just bursted but the manuscripts were protected by the glass cases.

"I thought there was a fire?!" Karl asked the young security personnel. He came running towards them looking rattled.

"Sparks!" He yelled anxiously. "There were.. there were sparks everywhere!"

"Relax son!" Karl shouted. "Did you see what happened?"

"I came here and there was smoke everywhere."

Lee looked around and saw no trace of explosion or whatsoever. He ran outside to check on Selena when he saw that the NICC security were already lying unconcious on the steps of the museum.

Lee checked their pulses and there were still alive. They sustained some head injuries. He called for help which immediately came in less than a minute.

"Selena..." Lee said. She was nowhere to be found.