Treasure

The President's face clouded as he stared into the huge open pit that was once the summit of the hill. "Did you happen to dig up Topiltzin and Yazid?"

Sandecker nodded. "Two days ago. We sent their remains through the rock crusher. I believe they're both part of a roadbed."

The President seemed satisfied. "Just what the bastards deserve."

"Where is the tu

"In there." Sandecker gestured toward a well-used mobile home trailer that was converted to an office. A sign by one window advertised the

"Dispatcher."

The four Secret Service agents in the van had already exited and begun patrolling the area while the two in the cab of the truck jumped to the ground and entered the office to check it out as a matter of routine.

After the President's party passed through two doors into a small, ban-en office at the rear of the mobile home, Sandecker invited them to step to the center of the room and hold onto a railing that protruded from the floor. He waved at a TV camera in one corner of the ceiling.

Then the floor began to lower through the trailer and into the ground below.

"Pretty slick," said Schiller admiringly.

"Yes indeed," murmured the President. "I can see why the project hasn't been penetrated."

The lift dropped through the limestone and came to a jerking halt thirty meters under the ground surface. They stepped off into a wide-tu

A woman waited to greet them.

"Mr. President," said Sandecker, "may I introduce Dr. Lily Sharp, director of the cataloging program?"

"Dr. Sharp, we're all deeply in your debt."

Lily blushed. "I'm afraid I was only a small cog in the wheel," she replied modestly.

After she was introduced to Schiller, Lily began the guided tour of the the Alexandria Library.

"We've ed and catalogued 427 different sculptures," she explained,

"representing the finest work of the early bronze age begi

B.c. and ending m the transcendental style of the Byzanum era of the early fourth century. Except for a few stains from water seepage through the limestone, which can be removed by chemicals, the marble and bronze figures are in a remarkable state of preservation."

The President walked speechless through the long passage, stopping every so often to gaze in admiration at the magnificent classic sculpture, some of it five thousand years old. He was overwhelmed at the sheer numbers of it. Every age, every dynasty and empire was represented with the best its artists turned out.

"I'm actually seeing and touching the Alexandria museum collection," he said in reverence. "After the explosion I couldn't believe it wasn't all destroyed."

"The earth tremors stirred up some dust and caused a few bits and pieces of the limestone to fall from the roof," said Lily. "But the artifacts came through just fine. You're seeing the sculpture just as Jumus Venator last saw them in A.D.

391.'

After nearly two hours of studying the incredible display, Lily stopped at the last artifact before entering the main gallery. "The golden casket of Alexander the Great," she a

The President felt as if he was about to meet God. He slowly approached the golden resting place of one of the greatest leaders the world had ever known and peered through the crystal windows.

The Macedonians had laid their king out in his ceremonial armor. His cuirass and helmet were pure gold. The Persian silk that once made up his tunic was mostly gone, rotted away after nearly twenty-four centuries. All that was left of the great subject of romantic legend were his bones.

"Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, all stood and gazed at his remains," lectured Lily.

Each took his Turn, hardly able to conceive what lay beneath their eyes.

Then Lily led them into the great storage gallery.

Nearly a hundred people were hard at work. Several were examining the contents of the wooden crates stacked in the gallery's center.

Paintings, stained and soiled, but restorable, along with delicate objects carved from ivory and marble or cast from gold, silver or bronze were catalogued and repacked in new cases for transport to a secure building complex in Maryland for restoration and preservation.

Most of the archaeologists, translators and preservation experts were gently handling the bronze cylindrical tubes that held the thousands of ancient books, translating the copper tags and recording descriptions of the contents. The containers and their delicate scrolls were also carefully packed for shipment to Maryland for study and research.

"Here it is." Lily gestured around the chamber proudly. "So far we've found the complete books of Homer, much of the lost teachings by the great Greek philosophers, early Hebrew writings, manuscripts and historical data showing new insight on Christianity. Maps illustrating previously unknown tombs of ancient kings, the locations of the lost trading centers, including Tarshish and Sheba, and geological charts of mines and oil deposits long forgotten. Enormous gaps in ancient chronological events will be filled. The history of the Phoericians, Mycenaeans, Etruscans, and civifintions that were only rumored to exist, they're all here and accounted for in vivid detail. If restorable, the paintings will give us a true Picture of what the immortals of the ancient world looked like."

for a moment the President had nothing to say. He was numbed. He couldn't begin to digest the immensity of the astonishing accumulation.

As art, it was priceless. As knowledge, its value was incalculable.

Finally, he asked in a hushed voice, "How long before you'll be finished here?"

"We'll move the scrolls first, then the artwork," replied Lily. "The sculptures will go last. Working around the clock, we hope to have the passage and gallery emptied and the entire collection safely in Maryland by New Year's."

"Almost sixty days," said Sandecker.

"And the translation of the scrolls?" Lily shrugged. "That preservation is the slow part. Depending on budget restrictions, we're looking at anywhere between twenty and fifty years to make all translations and gain a full understanding of what we have."

"Don't worry about funding," said the President excitedly the project will have the highest priority. I'll see to that."

"We can't fool the international community much longer into believing these magnificent treasures were destroyed," warned Schiller. "We've got to make an a

"True," said Senator Pitt. "The uproar from our own people and those of foreign governments has not slackened since the explosion."

"Tell me about it," the President muttered dryly. "My popularity poll has dropped fifteen points; Congress is chewing my tail, and every one else is..."

"If you gentlemen will forgive me," said Lily shyly, "but if you can hold off for another ten days, I and the project members can produce some film and video tape of the major pieces of the inventory."

Pitt looked at the President. "I think she has just handed us a bombshell. A dramatic disclosure by the White House, backed by a documentary, sounds like a hell of an idea."

He took Lily's hand and patted it. you, Dr. Sharp. You've just saved my life."