Recipe for Adventure Pt. 03

"You knew Squiggles?" I asked and he laughed.

"Of course I did," the man said smiling. "He was a dear friend, a confidant and he even saved my life once."

"Antarctica," I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Indeed..."

We began our tour as any other visitors to the museum but after a time we passed through an ancient wooden door marked 'Authorized Personnel Only'. It was written in English, Arabic and German. This is where our behind the scenes visit began. We got to see the labs where specimens were examined, scanned and restored. There were several storage rooms where shelves were cluttered with antiquities of all shapes and sizes. We went up one flight and there were rooms with nothing but sealed glass containers with ultraviolet glass to protect the objects within. I knew they were protected with cutting edge security but it was okay to gawk like a school kid all we wanted. The minister guided me away from the main group and we chatted about Squiggles and his Widow. I found out that the late Professor Squire had been connected quite well with people of great importance worldwide. That is why my dig had been approved; it was a favor to the heir of a good friend.

"Heir," I said and the minister nodded. "I never actually met Professor Squire."

"It was his dying wish that someone take over his work. His widow has anointed you young man as the inheritor of his legacy and the influence he carried in life, congratulations!"

"I don't know what to say," I whispered as the impact of the responsibility came crashing down. "I don't want to disappoint you or him."

"If my gut instincts have anything to say about the matter, you won't. You remind me of him after a fashion. When I studied abroad and first met him he was unsure but had a burning desire to know things. In his lifetime he unearthed quite a few earth shattering discoveries. Not all of them are for public consumption and if that ring on your finger is any indication you understand what I mean."

"I do indeed," I said and he laughed.

"I want you to see something that he brought back from Kadath. It is one of my absolute favorites."

I followed him to another room and in the very center was a tall display case. Most of the items in it were fashioned from gold. The minister made a gesture over his head and the lighting in the case went dark. He produced a key and unlocked the case. He reached up to the third tier and lifted up a fist sized pyramid fashioned of what appeared to be a red-gold material. The minister handed me the object and it was as heavy as I expected. It was a four sided pyramid and all of the sides were covered in some weird cuneiform writing. The characters were unlike anything I had ever seen before. Even in the books I had read there was nothing like this. I turned it over and when I looked at the base I saw a circle of seven small holes. My first thought was the Key that the Chancellor had given me.

"What's inside of it?" I asked.

"What makes you think it opens up?"

"I've seen something like these holes before," I admitted.

"She gave you the Key?" he asked his face losing color rapidly.

"Of course she did," I said. "I am the heir after all."

"Well said young man. Do you have it on you?" he asked his lower lip trembling.

"Yes, do you want me to..."

"Yes... instantly... please..." he pleaded. "I've waited forty years to see what is inside Plato's Pyramid."

I reached into my back pocket and retrieved the Key. It squirmed in my grasp and I knew it was meant to open this relic. I brought the two together and the tendrils slid easily into the holes and the top of the pyramid opened like a flower revealing the treasure within. I plucked the polished black cube from the heart of the pyramid. I turned it over in my hand and admired its simplistic beauty. It was surprisingly heavy for a three inch square. I handed the cube to the minister and he smiled as he examined it himself. I could see the wheels turning in his mind. What was it? What did it do? He looked at me and handed it back. I took it and instinctively ran the pad of my finger across the perfectly smooth surface of the cube. Wait, it wasn't perfectly smooth! There were tiny imperfections upon the exterior of the relic.

"Do you have a microscope here?" I asked and the minister nodded.

I removed the Key from the pyramid and it closed once more. The minister returned it to its place in the case and he closed and locked it. Another gesture and the security system was restored. We went upstairs while the students continued their tour of the museum. I was given the honor of sitting down and examining the cube. I set it on the lighted surface of the microscope and adjusted the magnification. Slowly the image came into focus and there on the glasslike surface of the cube were tiny written characters. The micro printed characters were the same alien letters I had seen on the surface of the pyramid. The minister called a technician over to scan the cube so we could see all the characters and get an accurate measurement of each letter.

We both stood there waiting impatiently as the cube was scanned and a virtual version of it created.

It appeared that each of the six sides of the cube contained a different archaic language. The scan completed we saw that there were thousands of characters and each of them were only micrometers wide. I looked at the minister and he was smiling with the joy of a life complete. What did the text represent? Where the hell did it come from? The minister mentioned the Pyramid of Plato. Did that mean he believed this artifact was of Atlantean origin? I was about to ask him when he waved me off as we continued to examine the cube. The next test was to discover what it was made of. A laser probe would bombard the surface of the cube and read its chemical makeup. The technician ran the test and leaned forward as he looked at the results. He ran the test a second and then a third time. He began ranting in Arabic. He was speaking too fast for me to follow.

"He says that the material doesn't appear in our data base. He also says that the second and third test failed. The material appears to be absorbing the energy of the laser. How is that even possible?"

"Tell me about Plato's Pyramid."

The minister retrieved the cube and gave it to me. He ordered a copy of the initial scan to be copied to a thumb drive. He handed me that as well. We joined the students and he finished the tour. I pocketed the cube and the thumb drive. We were going to head off to a dinner and I guessed that maybe after the meal I might get some answers. Our hosts provided clothing for the gathering. I was still uncomfortable about wearing a tuxedo but I looked good in it. The ladies wore gowns that while elegant were quite modest. That had to be expected considering where we were. As we arrived I introduced each and every member of my dig team. Even the security force had been invited to dine with us. We had a nice blend of archaeologists, anthropologist and even two Egyptologists. I thanked the First Minister for his kindness and the tour of the museum.

There was fine food, great music and excellent company. I did get a chance to meet other members of Squiggles' fan club as I called them. They were all elderly gentleman with distinguished credentials from all over the world. There were more degrees in this room than on a thermometer. When I told them where I planned to dig they showed quite a bit of concern for our safety. It wasn't people we had to worry about but the conditions we would be working in. That particular part of the desert was nothing short of brutally unforgiving. If we got into trouble people could die. I asked them for suggestions and soon I had several pages of guidelines to work under. After that quick bit of note taking the group looked among themselves and there was a kind of silent vote taken. Most of them nodded where two shook their heads and apparently outvoted. I was about to ask what was going on the First Minister held up his hand and explained.

"You have quite an evening ahead of you. Have fun, drink, dance, and return here at one in the morning. We will explain the rest then. Oh by the way, come alone Dr. Donahue."

"I will be here," I said and took my leave.

I thanked the others and showed the papers over to our onetime army ranger who was part of our security team. He looked them over and agreed completely with the others. He had actually researched the area we would be digging in and had made suggestions for our spending budget. Base camp would be our first and foremost concern. We would require regular infusions of fuel and water to maintain ourselves. I told him to keep Felicia in the loop. I was both nervous and incredibly excited. This was my first dig that I was in charge of and we had to do it by the numbers so that no one got hurt. That was a promise not just to me but to every member of the team.

I followed the advice of the older men. I danced with nearly every woman in the room. I drank my fill and tried at least a little bit of every dish at the table. The only left was to take a pair of beauties to my bed. I warned everyone in my team that dawn would come bright and early before I left with Felicia and Carol. I made no excuses or hid the nature of my relationship with them. I checked my watch and did the mental math. I had roughly three hours to enjoy with my girls before I had to leave them for my meeting with the fraternity as I considered the collective of elderly men. They sure acted as if they belonged to some elite club, maybe they did. The three of us reached our room at the hotel and I placed a do not disturb sign out just in case.

"You seem a little distracted," Felicia said as I unzipped her dress for her.

"Yeah, what's up," Carol asked as she turned her back to me.

"I have a meeting at one in the morning," I said as I unzipped Carol and watched the dress pool around her feet.

"I knew it," Felicia said as she undid her bra. "Ah that's better... they are going to tap you to fill Squiggles' position, whatever the hell that is."

"I think you may be right," I said as I tossed my jacket onto the back of one of the chairs. "It's all very cloak and dagger stuff." I kicked off my shoes and removed the cuff links from my shirt. "So if I return all tight lipped do not press me for details."

I was still getting undressed as Carol and Felicia waited for me on the bed. It had been days since we had the opportunity to be intimate. I was already pretty stiff by the time I tossed my briefs over my shoulder. Felicia was stretched out like some hungry lioness while Carol was curled up licking her lips. I crawled between them and Felicia took charge at once. She ordered me to lie still and simply enjoy myself. Carol and Felicia took up positions so they could take turns sucking me off.

"Say it," Felicia said as she held my cock in her gentle grasp.

"I was wrong," Carol said pouting but Felicia narrowed her eyes. "I thought you'd pick someone new to play with tonight."

"Who did you think I was going to attempt to seduce?" I asked as they began licking and stroking me.

"That dark skinned gal with the uber long hair," Carol said between licks.

"Carol, that young woman is a member of the Saudi royal family. I doubt she'd ever take anyone less than a prince to her bed." I said as Felicia took me between her lips and Carol continued to stroke the base. "I missed the two of you."

"We know," Carol said as Felicia deep-throated me. "Damn girl, you've been practicing!"

"Unnn... yes she has," I growled.

Carol took her turn and nearly took me to the base but not quite. They took turns until I was shaking. Felicia straddled me and teased the head of my cock with her slick pussy lips. Carol sat and watched as her punishment. Felicia finally, after what seemed like forever, let my cock slide deep inside of her. We both moaned as she sank down. Carol watched not so patiently as Felicia rode me. The leisurely pace of the love play drove us all crazy for different reasons. The loud thunk from the other side of the bed got Carol's attention. She swung around and leaned over baring her backside to me.

"Oh god, he just got a lot harder," Felicia said seeing Carol's ass up in the air. "Figures, I knew he liked your ass more than mine."

"I like both of your asses," I said as I leaned up to suckle her titties.

"Your jacket fell on the floor," Carol said. "What made that noise?"

"Look in the pockets," I suggested before returning to my feast of Felicia's nipples.

The rhythm changed as Felicia thrust her hips harder and faster now. Carol reappeared with the thumb drive and the black cube. She climbed back up onto the bed and sat up by my head. While Felicia fucked me harder than ever I warned her how close I was. Carol took the thumb drive and plugged it into the side of her watch. I cried out one last warning to Felicia as I was only moments away from coming. She was panting and nodding as she rode me and when my load pulsed inside of her it pushed her over the edge. Felicia cried out and then slapped a hand over her mouth. Carol set the thumb drive and cube down.

"My turn," she squealed in delight.

Felicia gave up her position but when Carol tried to mount me I shook my head. Carol giggled and got onto her hands and knees. I licked her pussy while my body recuperated from the intense fucking Felicia had put me through. The former detective picked up the cube and examined it. She weighed it in her hand and said it would make a great paper weight. Carol was whimpering and shaking after a few minutes of tongue lashing. I stopped teasing her and slid into her eager sex and it practically swallowed me whole. As I began thrusting Carol started cursing. Felicia warned her to keep it down but it fell on deaf ears. Carol was loud by nature and it was difficult for her to not express her pleasure. I moved a little faster until I was hammering her as hard and fast as I could. Carol's voice was echoing off the walls but no one came to tell us to keep it down. I slapped Carol's ass and she almost lost it. She looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at me.

"Oh, it's going to be like that huh," I growled.

"Oh crap," Felicia said as I stood up and impaled Carol on my cock.

Carol lost all restraint as I thrust up into her slow but hard. I held her by her inner thighs and drove my cock into her harder and harder. Felicia watched us and I knew she wanted to be where Carol was now. I felt Carol's climax as it built. She was really damn close now. I slowed down and she whimpered as I drug it out. I wanted to see if we could get the hotel staff to show up and tell us to pipe down. It never happened. I pounded her good and deep and her back arched as she climaxed. I continued to hammer her from below even as she begged me to stop and let her breathe. I was rewarded with a second orgasm from Carol and only then did I stop. I slowly lowered her to the bed and she fell face forward panting and gasping. Felicia was ready and eager for round two.

Felicia knelt in front of me and trapped my cock between her breasts. She pushed them together as I slowly thrust. She licked the tip when it appeared and had me gasping and shaking in no time at all. I moved my hips a little faster but what I really wanted was my cock buried in her cunt. Carol watched from the bed and wanted to see me fuck her. I growled and grabbed Felicia by the hair and drew her to her feet. I spun her around and lifted her off her feet by her hips. Carol flew to the floor and took my cock in hand. She aimed me carefully as I lowered the detective and impaled her leisurely. I heard her cry out as her pussy gobbled me up. With help from Carol I was able to get a better grip on Felicia. There she was with legs spread wide in front of our audience. Carol clapped her hands together as I began fucking Felicia.

"Did I look like that?" Carol asked and Felicia nodded. "I can see his cock spreading your tight little pussy."

"Feels so good... unnnn so deep," she whimpered. "Fuck me professor!"

"Here it comes," I said through gritted teeth.

I held her in place and began hammering her from below. My cock swelling inside of her as I did so and watching Carol's faces as I made love to Felicia. She was licking her lips as her hands drifted between her legs. There was something about the quiet shy girl masturbating in front of us that really turned me on. Felicia called her a dirty little slut and that seemed to push Carol to the next level. She stood up, bent over the bed and flashed us her cunt from behind as she returned to playing with her pussy. Felicia warned me how close she was but I was already beyond the point of no return. A minute later I was howling as cum filled the detective's pussy to overflowing. We took a break but continued after a cat bath and an order of snacks from room service.

I was forced to retreat from our love play after midnight. I had just enough time to take a quick shower and dress before it was time to meet with the First Minister and the others. By the time I reached the ground floor I was directed to the meeting place by one of the hotel staff. They had taken up audience in one of the smaller dining halls. They rose from their seats to greet me and I shook hands with them and then took up the empty chair left for me. We all sat and the First Minister began things. It was an enigmatic beginning to things.

"Can you keep a secret," he asked.

"Yes I can," I replied.

"What I mean is this," he said beginning again. "Can you hear or see a thing and never mention it to another living soul for the rest of your life?"

"I can and I have," I answered him.

When I believed they belonged to a fraternity I was only half right. They were members of a secret society that had existed for thousands of years. They manipulated politics and business with such ease it was frightening. Tales of the Illuminati and the Masons were but shadows compared to them. At the end of his dialogue I was asked to join them. There are families that had been a part of this order for generations. Occasionally a family dies out without an heir or in this situation an entire family simply disappeared. To their utter surprise I was the closest thing to a biological relation as they could find. If I accepted I would take up the Van Dekker ring and if I declined I could drink from a concoction they would offer and my memory of this meeting would be wiped from my mind. The weight of the decision hung heavy on me. This didn't just involve me it would impact the future of the girls as well. I was going to have to be selfish once more. I wanted this and in time they would have to understand.

"I agree," I said after a long time.

"I told you he would," the minister said smiling. "What say you Grandmaster?"

"He is an excellent replacement for Van Dekker," a figure said as it stepped out of the shadows. "He didn't jump into his decision. I could see the wheels turning as he weighed his options. He is your responsibility. I will teach him our ways and after this dig of his we will introduce him to the other two. Welcome to the Order of Chthon Mr. Van Dekker. Give him his ring."

The First Minister reached into his pocket and retrieved a box. He opened it and we all got to our feet. I walked over and stood before the older man. He was all smiles as he took the silver ring with the Elder Sign on it and replaced it with the ring from the box. I glanced down at the insignia and recognized instantly. This wasn't lost on the minister.

"You've seen the hidden room," he said frowning. "That was none of our doing. What happened there they did on their own. Wicked deeds of wicked men I assure you."

"I believe you," I said.

"You live in the Pickman house?" one of the other men asked and I nodded. "Have you met the rats in the basement?"