By Garry Francis
The Incas are well known for the advanced construction techniques they used that can't be explained, even to this day. This has led to all sorts of outlandish theories suggesting alien involvement. Mainstream scholars consider these theories to be bunkum. Your friend, Professor Baumbeker, is one of those sceptics. At least he was.
During a recent archaeological dig near Cusco, Peru, the professor discovered an amazing metallic sphere that defied all Inca technology and all modern technology, as well. He kept this discovery a secret until he could determine what it was and where it may have come from. He had only confided in you, as he knew that you could be trusted to keep his secret.
Late one evening, Professor Baumbeker rang you in a most excited state. He was babbling like a lunatic and you had to get him to slow down. As best as you could make out, he had found that if he placed his right hand on a particular marking on the sphere, he could see into another world.
"You have to see this Amos. It's like looking into an unknown dimension. You have to get down here straight away."
"But professor, it's late. I was just about to go to bed", you explain.
"Oh, so it is", the professor replied. "I didn't realise how late it was. Well, come down first thing in the morning."
And so, first thing in the morning, you headed down to the professor's laboratory. The light wasn't working for some reason, so you grabbed a torch off the bench and shone it around. The metallic sphere was sitting on a workbench in the centre of the room, but there was no sign of the professor. He was probably just running late.
While you waited for the professor to arrive, you sat down at the workbench and placed your right hand on the marking that the professor had described. Almost instantly, you saw a vision of the professor. You jumped back in shock and explained it to yourself as your imagination playing tricks on you.
You waited a little while and the professor still didn't arrive, so you once again placed your right hand on the marking on the sphere. This time, you could only see darkness.
You concentrated on the professor and explored the surface of the sphere with your right hand, then absent-mindedly touched it with your left hand. Quite unexpectedly, there was a bright flash and you felt as though all the atoms in your body were moving away from each other then reassembling themselves again. What happened? You could no longer feel the sphere and, as your eyes readjusted from the bright flash, you could sense that you were no longer in the dim light of the professor's laboratory, but were now in complete darkness.
You could only hear the dripping of water...
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