October 24th, 1355 A.D.Elizabeth Tamboline stared at the strange spherical device hovering ominously above its perch connected to the ancient book. It wasn't a book so much as a foldable device of mystic properties. That the book, with the perch connection and hovering ball, could project strange images into the air in the same shape as the pearlesque fist-sized sphere was quite frightening to the woman. She wished Michel would get rid of it or return it to the royalty from whence it came.
"I have an idea, Michel, why don't you take it back?" she inquired as innocently as she could.
"Please, Elizabeth, try to understand," Michel started casting a side long glance at her from where he was packing a trunk. "This device is very crucial. The royalty doesn't know what it is for...fortunately. But, were they to discover its truth, all would be lost to humanity. It has to be hidden, divided up into its three parts, and kept from the world at large."
"How do you know all this?" Elizabeth asked.
Michel stopped for a second to ponder the question and how best to answer. An uncomfortable silence fell within the small, subterranean room they were within. Several hundred feet below the streets of London, was where the place was located. It wasn't a sewer, but it was designed with the same stone bricks and labyrinthine halls. The facility was dark, yet somehow not dank, and barely lit by candle and lantern. A dripping sound echoed off the stone which caused Elizabeth's attention to refocus to the source.
"The Dolphin told me," Michel finally replied and walked to the other end of the room.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and stared at the source of the dripping water. The source was from the skin of a dolphin that was sitting with its fins perched on the side of its tank. The most unnerving thing about the standing dolphin, with its hind quarters still in the water, was that it was staring at her. Not maliciously, but strangely knowingly.
"Look, about the dolphin, Michel...it's freaking me out," she shifted her gaze to her husband.
Michel looked to the dolphin and tried to smile. However, things were far too serious for any such jovial gestures. He shook his head, knowing what lay ahead.
"I understand. This is necessary, though," he stated with nodding approvals by the dolphin. "I need you to take Shanna, Telsa, and Avery to the resistance headquarters. They will guide you to safety while I am away on this mission."
"You're really going to deliver all three of the parts to different parts of the world? How long will this take you?" she put her hand on top of Michel's.
"Not as long as you would think. For I will only be delivering two parts. The third, will remain with our family. The perch we will keep as an heirloom," he said in response.
"The perch? And how will we get away with that if someone knows what they are looking for?" she wondered in trepidation.
"I've already come to a conclusion on that matter," he said, this time with a sincere smile. "I have found a small globe to put within the clasps of the perch."
"That won't damage the device?" she queried.
"No, not at all. It is a light globe and completely accurate," he spoke.
"Completely accurate...how do you know this?" she asked and saw him open his mouth to reply. "Wait, let me guess, the Dolphin told you?"
Michel smirked to his wife's jest and saw her returning the gesture. He wrapped his arms around the woman and felt relieved she was handling the affair so well. He sat back on his legs and held Elizabeth's hands in his.
"We will make small marks on the globe indicating the resting place of the other two artifacts. This way, should the need ever arise, they can be found," he mentioned as his wife nodded in understanding. "Only we shall know the final locations. Now, I should be going."
"You're not going to encourage any more riots are you?" she jested.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault!...I love you. Godspeed to you," he replied.
"My love goes with you as well," she returned. Strange clatterings from the dolphin echoed throughout the room. And the mission was under way.
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