The artefact

He was one of those children who were ahead of their years mentally. For seven years of age, he displayed the intelligence of a nine year old, and it was perhaps that advantage that made him remember, or link the small object he had found on a beach to the display in the local museum in his home town.

In the Egyptian section there was a slab of circular marble upon which was written hieroglyphic text around the centre, which no historian had ever deciphered. It surrounded a hole the size of a tennis ball, seemingly like there was a piece missing. For Scott Thompson, the black marbled circular object would fit nicely, yet he knew he couldn’t just walk straight in there to test it out, although he could see no reason why not.

He knew about procedure, and permission, and red tape. So he took it to his father, who didn’t seem that concerned about it. It was simply a round shiny stone found on a beach, washed up, or thrown there, but Scott simply wanted to fit it in the hole, if only for completion of the artefact. The museum staff probably didn’t even know it was incomplete, if at all it was.

Scott’s pressure on his father caused him to relent and they made their way to the museum, finding themselves standing in front of the large artefact which seemed like a giant wheel, seven feet high.

There was a rope barrier in front of it, but that was useless. Anybody could still touch it. Scott wanted to insert the stone there and then. It certainly looked like it would fit, but his father could not engage in such a thought. He liked to do things properly, so he sought out a member of staff, bringing them to the object, explaining what Scott wanted to do. The employee simply shrugged and said he could do it, knowing full well the headache it would have took to get permission, but since they were in front of the artefact with the stone, why not do it there and then? So Scott did, ducking under the barrier, and placing the stone into the centre, where it slotted perfectly, only for the hieroglyphs to start to shine.

Within seconds the whole thing became akin to a rippling, glowing spherical water surface. Scott crashed back into the barrier. His father picked him up, but continued, with the staff member and a few other people who were there in the Egyptian section to stare, and they all watched, not knowing that the missing piece was all that was needed to create a portal, or gate. It was the key that made it work, the last jigsaw piece that alerted other species on other planets that Earth was now accessible, and could be travelled to, and then the aliens came.