Ascendants of Ancients Sovereign - By Phillip Jones Page 0,20

looked closer, they noticed the object looked more like a small planet of some sort. More accurately, it seemed to resemble a moon more than it resembled a habitable world. Though it was clearly made of a different material than the rest of the statue, it blended.

The platform beneath the man’s feet was at least eight feet in diameter and had smooth edges. An inscription started at its top and circled around and around until it ended near the floor.

Shalee and George looked at the inscription and then at each other. Once again, George shrugged. Sam, on the other hand, found a starting point and circled the statue.

“What are you doing?” George queried.

“I’m reading,” Sam replied with an indignant roll of his eyes.

George shook his head. “What do you mean, you’re reading? You can understand the chicken scratch on this stupid thing?”

“There’s nothing stupid about it. It’s quite simple,” Sam retorted while laying his hands across the markings. “Every language has a pattern, and I recognize these symbols.” The doctor paused. “They’re just familiar.”

George slapped the top of his forehead. “Here we go again with the familiar thing. Are you some sort of freak?”

Sam laughed. “Like I’ve never heard that before.” He paused and refocused. “Okay, okay. Let’s take a closer look. This can’t be any harder than the 16 other languages I learned.”

“Holy crap, man! You know 16 languages?” George blurted. “I think you’re full of crap. I bet you can fart the alphabet, too. Where in the hell would you find time to learn them all?”

“My father made me learn them during my summer vacation when I was nine,” Sam answered, acting as if it was nothing out of the ordinary, as if anyone could do it. “But I haven’t mastered methane verbalization.”

George’s jaw dropped. “Okay, Sheldon.”

“Goodness-gracious,” Shalee added. “I love that show, George.” A moment later, she pointed at Sam. “Oh my, I know who you are! If memory serves me right, you’re the kid who was all over the news. I remember because we’ve got the same birthday. We’re both 23, right?”

Sam nodded. “Sure, if yours is April 3rd.”

A wide smile appeared on Shalee’s face. “How fun is this? It is April 3rd. I was impressed when I watched the news and learned how all your languages were self-taught. I remember thinking how lucky you were to be going into your last year of high school when I was nine. I didn’t even get through the fourth grade before you graduated. My teachers made quite the fuss about you. They talked about you all the time. They told us we could be just as smart as you if we applied ourselves.”

Shalee would have continued to ramble, but George interrupted. “Oh, shut up! So what ... he’s smart. Don’t get too excited, or you’ll have to swim your way out of here.”

At that, Sam turned. The fighter walked up to George and got in his face. “I don’t know who you are, nor do I care, but if you talk to her like that again when I’m around, I’ll have a few things to say about it … and I don’t mean verbally. Women are to be respected. Didn’t your mother teach you anything?”

George threw his hands in the air and backed up. “I feel you, stud. I feel you. I’ll do a check-up from the neck up. Hell, I’ve got the same birthday as you do, too. I know who you are, Mr. High Society. Maybe I should jump on the Sam bandwagon, too.”

George turned and walked toward the doors and thought, I remember the news. You’ve had everything handed to you on a silver platter, Mr. Smart, Rich Ass. Life has been a breeze for you. Try living a day in my shoes, you holier-than-thou freak.

Annoyed with George’s antics, Shalee turned to face Sam. “So … don’t you think it’s kind of cool we all have the same birthday? Weird, huh? I’m pretty sure I look younger than you though,” she added with a wink.

Sam studied Shalee’s face. “You do look young, but how could we possibly decipher if having the same date of birth is a coincidence?” He turned to face the statue.

Shalee paused to digest Sam’s response. “I suppose you’re right.” She watched as Sam started to move his fingers along the markings. “So what does it say? Is there anything I can do to help?” she questioned. “I’m fairly smart.”

With a low, calm voice, Sam responded. “Unless you have a pen and