Adventures of the Romeo Gang - “Deadly Harpoons”

Disclaimer: (The following story is pure fiction. All names, places and events are coincidental and are only used to embellish the story.)









Adventures of the Romeo Gang - “Deadly Harpoons”
by Mark Ryan © 2010

It was a great day for fishing. The sun was shining in a blue sky and I could see a few wispy clouds off in the distance. The Romeo gang had planned a fishing trip for mid August and Paul had made all the arrangements. The Romeos (Retired Old Men Eating Out) are retired school teachers who meet each month for lunch, camaraderie and laughs. We were all to meet at 7:30 AM at Solomon’s Pier along Gloucester Harbor near the Heritage Maritime Museum. Paul told us to just park near the museum around the circular driveway.

I was the first to arrive and parked my car at the end of the driveway. I got out of my car and walked around the area just looking at all the sights and enjoying the fresh air. Since I was the designated photographer, I began shooting a few photos. The harbor was coming alive as fishing boats moved out from their docks, men worked at the coast guard station and a rowing team paddled in unison to the calls of their crew captain.

Next to arrive was Joe Laprusso who parked his car a few spots up from mine. As he got out he said “Bongiorno Marco”. I repeated the greeting and said “Buongiorno, Signor Giuseppe”. “What a beautiful morning. I hope the fishing is just as good. Bella Fortuna to all of us”.

The other guys began arriving and parked around the driveway. We all greeted each other with the affection of a close knit Italian brotherhood. Although Paul had sent out an email about a month ago to the entire Romeo gang about a possible fishing trip, only five members responded positively. And here we all stood with great expectations to catch the big one. The small group consisted of Paul Giraldo, Joe Laprusso, Joe Pignato, Jim Terluccio and me Marco Greico.

We all grabbed our small duffle bags filled with needed items for the day. This consisted of a sweat shirt or jacket, sunscreen, bottled water, lunch, snacks and a small cooler for a fish or two. Carrying our bags we all walked down to the dock to await the fishing charter boat called the “Sandy T” and a half day of deep sea fishing.

The boat arrived a little late and we all got on board and introduced ourselves to the deck mate Pat and the captain who liked to be called Captain Blue. His real name was Ron Bernstein. The boat was a 37 foot Duffy Hull finished by Cape Island Boats and powered by a 715 HP Cummins electric diesel engine. With this engine, it was extremely fast but also comfortable as it skimmed across the water. The wheel house was also loaded with modern electronics for communication, navigation and fish finding.

Captain Blue said, “Sorry we are a little late, but we needed a jump start before we got here”. He explained, although the boat was new, they had to jump start the engine early this morning. Evidently, Captain Blue’s family was on board yesterday for a boat christening celebration party and someone left on some radio electronics that drained the battery. However, with some simple jumper cables and a spare battery charger the engine started right up. He then said, “It should be just fine now since the running engine will recharge the battery to full strength”. I could see the jumper cables hanging out of the stern storage locker.

After leaving the dock we quickly made our way out of Gloucester Harbor and saw other charter boats cruising along the rocky shore or small harbor islands looking for a good fishing spot. We pulled up close to a small rocky out cropping as the waves crashed against the rocks. There were flocks of sea birds, mostly cormorants, flying around the rocks and skimming the water looking for their morning breakfast.

We cast our baited lines toward the rocks and after a while didn’t have much luck, not even a single bite. However, we did sea a lot of jellyfish swimming near the surface. In fact it looked like some of the jellies had actually engulfed some small fish as they descended below the surface. As we got closer to the rocks we could see that some of the fish were being digested or dissolved inside the belly of some bigger jellies. As we reeled in our lines I snagged some jellies and pulled them aboard. One had a small cod fish incased in its translucent body.

The deck mate Pat tried to unhook the jelly from the line with a long fish knife. As his hand got closer, a jelly tentacle slapped him on the wrist and Pat yelled, “Boy that stings like a sonavabee”. Joe Pignato quickly held the jelly down with a fish net handle as the mate Pat cut it free and dropped it into a fish catch box to examine later. As we stared into the catch box we could see the small cod had been stung by the jelly and was now paralyzed. It was incased in a clear sack as it was slowly dissolving in digestive juices.

Captain Blue said, “The jellies have become quite a problem lately as the water has gotten warmer this summer; the fish catch has also decreased. I hope the jellies you see out there isn’t a sign of a poor catch today. Gloucester Harbor seemed to be particularly affected by the jelly swarm”. We decided to leave the area and try another one closer to shore to hopefully catch some fish rather than jellies. As we got closer, the boat eased in to an out cropping of rocks and the captain used engine power to help keep us steady. This was a bit difficult since the waves kept pushing us closer.

After steadying the boat we cast our baited lines toward the rocks and saw even more jellies floating at the surface. Jim Terluccio was on another fishing rig and snagged another jelly. As he started to reel him in, we noticed that a mass of jellies around the boat began to glow in unison with a blue-green bioluminescence. It was like they were signaling each other. Suddenly the individual jellies seemed to all connect together into a large jelly colony around the boat.

The jelly mass started to creep up the sides of the gunwales like a giant amoeba, tipping the boat to leeward. The Captain yelled “If this keeps up, we will definitely capsize”. The boat paint under the jelly mass started to peel and dissolve. It was like the jelly was trying to digest the boat. We needed to do something fast before the amorphous jelly mass engulfed us all.

As the jellies continued up the sides of the boat, they all glowed with brilliant blue-green luminescence. This made me think that they must have an internal electrical network. At that instant I saw the jumper cables, that were used earlier today, stuffed in the stern utility locker. I said, “We may be able to shock the jelly network with some electric battery juice”. I then yelled to the mate Pat to attach jumper cables to the boat battery and then touch the free ends to the jelly mass on the gunwale. In a split second Pat told the captain to rev the engine for extra juice and he zap the jelly mass.

In an instant, there was a flash of blue light across the water for a hundred feet around. At the same time we all heard a loud sound like the jelly giant had screamed. Immediately the jelly ooze encasing the boat started to dissolve and ran off in watery streams into the ocean. Evidently the electric shock fried the jelly mass and it burst like a water balloon.

The captain threw the throttle in gear and we were out of there in seconds. We radioed an SOS to the coast guard and warned other boats in the area to stay clear of Gloucester Harbor. In the meantime we saw other boats in distress and radioed our defense method to them. All the beaches around Gloucester were quarantined by the authorities until the threat passed. Later, a change in wind direction caused the jellies to move out of the harbor into deeper waters reducing the local threat.

As we hurried back to the dock, I told the captain that we needed to bring the sample jellyfish to a marine research lab for analysis and suggested Cat Cove in Salem, MA.. I said that I knew the director there and could call him for advice. Using the marine radio phone I called the Cat Cove Marine Research Station and spoke to my friend Dr. Joe Barenson. He told me to bring the sample in today and he would ID it.

After getting to the dock we safely transferred the jelly to a Styrofoam cooler and put it in the back of my car. We all left in a caravan of individual cars and got to Cat Cove in about an hour while fighting all the traffic. Dr. Joe met us at the door and took the cooler containing the jelly into his lab. He then carefully put the jelly in a specimen bowl filled with salt water and examined it under a stereo microscope while taking several photos.

After consulting several books and comparing all the characteristics of color, luminescence, size, number of tentacles and nematocysts and other markers, he came to his conclusion. Excitedly, Dr. Joe said “I can’t believe it but it looks like an Irukandji “!
We all said, “What?” Dr. Joe continued, “However, this must be a mutation because the known species are only 2 cm across and live off the coast of Australia and this species is 20 cm across”. “The Irukandji jellies have a bell shaped doom with only 4 tentacles extending 10 times their diameter and covered with nematocysts. These nematocysts are like little cannons that shoot out deadly harpoons containing toxic venom”.

Joe Laprusso then said, “Dr. Joe, can I use this desktop computer to do a Google search on Irukandji?” Dr. Joe said, “Go right ahead, it’s already on, just hit the space bar to activate the screen.” Joe then Googled the keywords and in a second several citations came on the screen describing info about Irukadji. Clicking on several, Joe Laprusso said, “The initial sting is not bad but some severe debilitating affects take place about an hour later.” “These affects cause paralysis, vomiting, rash and can even be lethal if not treated. The normal treatment for jellyfish stings is with intravenous antihistamines”. “However, there is a new treatment recently discovered for these jellyfish stings involving intravenous infusions of Magnesium”.

After hearing this, Paul Giraldi said he would call Captain Bernstein and tell him to get his deck mate Pat to the local hospital immediately. Dr. Joe said he would call the hospital and tell them about the jellyfish species he identified and the possible treatment.

Afterwards, Dr. Joe said, “I know a little about jellyfish because one of my grad students is breeding various jellies here at Cat Cove in several small aquaculture tanks in one of our labs.” “I think he is still here, so let’s go talk with him”.

In a few minutes we had walked through a labyrinth of corridors and small labs and then came to the Jellyfish Lab. Dr. Joe walked in and saw his student there working at a microscope. The student was startled and jumped back. Dr. Joe said, “Sorry to startle you, but these friends of mine are interested in your work on jellyfish”. “First, let me introduce you to our guests. Mohamed Abdul this is Joe, Joe, Jim, Paul and Mark”.

Mohamed was cordial and then said, “Glad to meet you all and I would be happy to show you around”. He then said that he was cross breeding various jellies and studying them as food sources for various marine predators like the Bluefin Tuna, Swordfish and Sea Turtles.

He said that, “The fish and jellyfish have a reverse predator-prey relationship. The adult fish feed on jellyfish and then the jellyfish feed on small fish and their larvae. The populations continue to go up and down. When fish populations increase the jellies decease and vice versa. Most often there is a balance, except recently climate changes and warm water currents and global warming have upset the balance. Over fishing has also decreased fish populations and increased jellyfish ones”.

He also said he was interested in certain chemicals used in medical research related to nerve diseases and was experimenting with the neurotoxins produced in jellyfish stingers. He then pointed to his aquaculture tanks and said he was breeding species of the Portuguese man-o-war (from Spain), Moon jellies (from the U.S.), Pelagia (from Italy) and Irukadji (from Australia).

He continued to say that he recently had made progress with a cross between the Australian and Portuguese jellies to produce an intermediate jelly that produces a biochemical to help with Parkinson’s disease. I then thought to myself that this new species must be the ones we saw early out in the harbor.

Dr. Joe then asked Mohamed if any of his populations have escaped from their tanks or somehow got into the local sea water? This surprised Mohamed and he stumble with his answer. He then said, “Absolutely not. The jellies are under strict experimental controls to prevent cross contamination.” I thought his answer was too abrupt and he was hiding something.

We then thanked Mohamed for the tour and left. Later, Dr. Joe said he would keep a closer watch on what was happening in the jelly lab and probe further to see if it was associated with the recent jellyfish blooms along the local seashores. We then thanked him for the visit and left the lab. As we approached our cars in the parking lot, we saw Mohamed go out a side door carrying a sealed five gallon white bucket to his car. Was this a brazen act of defiance or part of an ongoing secret project?

We all looked at each other with suspicion. Jim Terluccio then said, “We have come this far today, maybe we should follow him just to see where he goes”. We all got in my car and drove after Mohamed trying to stay back a few cars so as not to be seen. He drove to a local marina just a few miles away and parked his car. We watched from a safe distance and called Dr. Joe to tell him what we observed. Dr. Joe said he knew the marina and would use the lab research boat at Cat Cove and be there in a few minutes.

Dr. Joe left Cat Cove and quickly sped off in his boat toward the local inlet where the marina was located. From a distance he saw Mohamed speeding out of the inlet and headed for a small rock island out in Salem Harbor. It was now low tide and Mohamed maneuvered his boat around the rocks and poured out some water slurry from his white bucket. He continued to do this at several areas about one hundred feet apart. He then beached the boat and carried the bucket up to several tidal pools and poured more of the bucket contents into each tidal pool. Evidently, he was seeding the area with jellyfish larvae to incubate further in the natural surroundings.

Dr. Joe sped up close to where he saw Mohamed and yelled to him from a short distance. Mohamed was taken by surprise and knew he was caught red handed. He dropped the bucket and pulled out a gun from his pocket and started shooting at Dr. Joe. Dr. Joe ducked low in his boat and sped off in the opposite direction. Mohamed then got back in his boat and headed for the marina. Dr. Joe pulled a cell phone from his pocket and called the local police and told them about the incident and the gun shots.

In the meantime, we were still standing in the marina parking lot and heard the gun shots from out in the harbor. I then heard my cell phone ring and it was Dr. Joe who explained what happened and that he had called the police. At that instant we saw Mohamed tie up his boat to the dock and run to his car. As he got to the car, he saw us all standing at the end of the lot and began firing his gun in our direction. We all ducked and hid behind some parked cars. He quickly started his car and headed for the lot exit.

Several police cars sped down the exit road and screeched to a stop blocking the exit. Mohamed turned his car around and began heading toward us. He stopped along side our car and jumped out pointing his gun and corralled us all together. He then grabbed Paul by his arm and stuck a gun in his ribs telling him and everyone else not to make a wrong move or get shot. He shot his gun straight up in the air again to warn the police that he had hostages as the police held their position behind several parked cars.

Mohamed then pushed Paul into the open door of his car in an attempt to drive passed the police with his hostage. He then shot his gun in the air to call attention to what he was doing and yelled to the police to let him out or he would shoot Paul. He raised his gun again to shoot and it just made a clicking sound. The gun was empty and he would have to reload. At that instant Joe Pignato leaped at Mohamed knocking him to the ground with the gun falling free from his hand. Joe pinned Mohamed on the ground and they struggled back and forth. In a desperate effort, Mohamed tried to raise his head to squeeze free when Joe head butted him smack in the nose. Blood squirted everywhere and Mohamed was knocked out cold. In an instant the police took over and helped Joe up. The police then cuffed Mohamed on the ground as he still laid there unconscious from Joe’s head butt.

We all patted Joe on the back and congratulated him for his quick actions. Although we knew he was still athletic, he was also in his late 60s and we didn’t expect such a quick response. I then said to everyone, “From now on we will have to kid Joe about his quick action and remind him that he really used his “head” to save the day, no “butts” about it”. We all laughed with a sigh of relief and said thank God it’s over.

In the meantime, Dr. Joe had docked his boat and watched the whole incident from a distance. After it was all over, he approached us and didn’t know what to say except he was thankful that everyone was safe. He also thanked Joe Pignato for his quick action.

After the police took statements from all of us, it was now time to leave. After driving everyone back to Cat Cove in my car, we all got in our separate cars and said goodbye for a while. We were all exhausted from all the excitement of a very long day. We then said that if any of us heard anything we would call and tell each other. It was now time to go home and just unwind.

When I got home, all the local TV stations were broadcasting a breaking news story. “Gun shots fired at local marina. Disgruntled worker at Salem Research lab unsuccessfully tries to shoot boss as a result of work disagreement and is arrested”. Maybe that’s all the public had to know for now. However, there was more to this. Mohamed was hiding something. It will probably be a while before all the pieces are put together.

After several weeks, Dr. Joe called me and told me the whole story. I then called the Romeos to relate the news. Dr. Joe said that during the weeks after the incident the police began an investigation which started off as a simple attempted murder case until other information was found in Mohamed’s lab and apartment. When the new evidence showed connections to an international terrorist group, the FBI and Office of Homeland Security were brought into the investigation. After searching Mohamed’s home computer they found emails and information from other known terrorists located in the U.S. and the Mideast. In fact, many of them were on the FBI watch list.

Evidently, Mohamed was part of a sleeper cell to commit acts of “Bioterrorism” and had ties to Al Qaeda. Although he had not traveled out of the country during the past year, his passport showed previous trips to Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, spending several months in each location. During that time he was brain washed by Islamic extremists to believe in Islamic Jihad and death to the infidels.

He also had contacts with other scientist along the east coat of the U.S. working in marine labs similar to Cat Cove. All of these scientists were grad students from the Mideast with similar ties to Al Qaeda. They were all working on projects that involved local fisheries and jellyfish aquaculture to commit acts of bioterrorism.

Periodically, Mohamed would write encouraging reports and publish articles describing the positive results of his research efforts. These efforts described how jellyfish could be used as a food source for fish and increase the local fish populations. This meant that local fishermen would be able to catch more local fish like cod, stripers, and bluefin tuna. In addition, he wrote other articles that described how certain chemicals found in jelly stingers could be used to help the treatment of neurological conditions or diseases like Parkinson’s disease or mental illness or even Alzheimer’s. These claims gave people hope. However, they were only a cover up.

The published articles were only a ploy. Mohamed was actually cultivating aggressive jellyfish in his aquaculture tanks to attack the young larvae of developing fish and thus reduce future populations in the local fishing grounds. He was also developing aggressive stinger jellies to attack people swimming at local beaches. He had already used his aggressive jellies along the coast of Australia and Italy where hundreds of beach goers had been seriously injured or died. He was now concentrating his efforts along the eastern seaboard assisted by other terrorist strategically located in cities from Maine to Florida.

Over several weeks, the FBI had raided all the labs and apprehended over twenty other members of this sleeper cell, thus stopping any further damaging activities. However, serious damage had already been done to the delicate balance of this ocean ecosystem. It will take years to correct it. This will include a united effort to increase fish populations through methods of aquaculture, fish farming, reducing over fishing, monitoring foreign fishing fleets and also by climate controls that will keep everything in balance.

Lastly, more diligence would be necessary to watch our backs and prevent foreign invaders from inflicting harm right here in our own local neighborhoods. We all have to keep our eyes open. That includes the general public as well as the federal agencies formed to protect us. Although the acts of bioterrorism may happen slower than those of a suicide bomber, they are all just as deadly.

Comments: (always welcome). Email to markryan82@comcast.net

Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank my Romeo friends for their colorful backgrounds and giving me the inspiration for my stories.

References:
BG 12-14-09 Healthy Fish
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2009/12/14/conflicting_reports_raise_health_quandary_for_consumers_of_fish/?page=full
Monterey Bay – Fish List
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=39
Jelly Fish
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2009/11/27/jellyfish_thrive_as_waters_warm_threatening_fishing_industry_in_japan_and_elsewhere/ New England Jellies
http://wbztv.com/local/jellyfish.sea.jellies.2.1030577.html
New England Fish Industry
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enUS228US228&q=new+england+fish+industry
Foreign Fishing in New England
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enUS228US228&q=new+england+fish+industry+and+foreign+ships&cts=1262714847976&aq=f&oq=&aqi= Portugeese Man o War
http://www.kensavage.com/archives/massachusetts-beaches-now-have-to-deal-with-jellyfish/
Jellies Off Italy – Pelagia noctiluca (Orange glow) – feeding on fish larvae – decline of predators like Blufin – Warmer water – Climate Change
http://my.lifeinitaly.com/blogs/justindemetri/165-when-jellyfish-attack.html
Facts on Irkanji jellyfish
http://www.timsaxon.co.uk/Irukandjifacts.html
More Facts on Irkanji jellyfish
http://www.irukandjijellyfish.com/
Jellyfish Photos
http://www.jellyfishfacts.net/jellyfish-pictures.html?jellyfish_picture=1

Adventures of the Romeo Gang - "The Golden Harp of Pythagoras"

Disclaimer: (The following story is pure fiction. All names, places and events are coincidental and are only used to embellish the story.)

The Golden Harp of Pythagoras
by Mark Ryan © 2010

During May 2009, the Romeo gang met for lunch at a local restaurant. The conversation was lively and eventually we talked about taking a fall cruise to the Mediterranean and decided to book our passage within the next month. We had been playing with this idea for several months and finally bit the bullet. We needed to book at least 6 month’s in advance if we wanted to get specific dates and accommodations. The group decided to fly from Boston, MA to Barcelona, Spain and then board the ship there for a fourteen day cruise in November. The ship was the Norwegian Jade from Norwegian Cruise Lines and we got group accommodations with ocean view, making stops in six ports including Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Egypt. Although there are more than 12 Romeos that meet for lunch regularly, only four decided to take the cruise (Marco Greico, Joe Pignato, Joe Loduccio, and Joe Laprusso).

On the departure date in November, we boarded our plane at Logan International Airport and after a 10 hour flight on British Airlines; we finally arrived in Barcelona, Spain and boarded the ship. As we walked up the gangway, the ship stewards and officers graciously welcomed us aboard. Our assigned steward’s name was Tony and he was a handsome young man of Italian decent that could be mistaken for a movie star, at least that is what my wife kept on telling me. Tony was tall, had black curly hair, and had dark tanned skin. He talked with a deep Italian accent and would make the most mundane discussion sound exotic with his proliferation of adjectives. He brought us to our assigned stateroom and showed us the amenities as he put the luggage on the corner rack.

When I tried to tip him for the services, he said that instead of tipping everyday we could leave any gratuities in an envelope in our staterooms at the end of the cruise. As he moved his hand, I noticed a tattoo on his right wrist. It was a two inch pentagram (an outside pentagon with five interior triangles forming a five pointed star in the middle). I commented to Tony about the tattoo and he said that it was for a social group that he belonged to from his hometown in Crotona, Italy. He also said that he was a college student and was studying mathematics as were some of the other stewards onboard the ship. In addition, he heard that we were retired teachers and out of respect for this worthy profession he would treat us with special care.

Before Tony left he showed us the Cruise Itinerary Booklet and pointed to the various activities available. He also reminded us that our first dinner would be in the second deck dining room at 5:00 PM. However, he said that we had the rest of the afternoon free to wander about the ship and to find the various attractions and get our bearings. Tony also said that we had three days to explore the ship before our first port of call in Rome, Italy where we would dock for 12 hours and do some sight seeing.

The ship had set sail about an hour after we boarded and was now cruising along at about 8 knots. The sea was calm and we could see some land off in the far distance. There were some flying fish swimming along side the ship as they continued to jump in and out of the water. As we strolled along the outside deck we met some of the other Romeos and their wives and decided to stop at the pool area for drinks at a side bar. Although we were not rich and famous we were enjoying the surrounding luxury as we watched some of the passengers and their children already splashing around in the pool.

Sitting at the bar I glanced at the Cruise Booklet which described some of the ship amenities that included a Spa, Casino, Hot Tub, Exercise Room, Running Track, Golf Driving Nets, Sports Deck with Basketball and Tennis Court, Shuffle Board, Swimming Pools, Dinning Rooms, Internet Café, Teen Sports and Arcade, Dance Club, Lounges and Bars, Gift Shops, Theater for Broadway Style Shows, Parties and Theme Nights, Live Music and Jazz Clubs, Library, Board Games as well as a few other activities. Since there was so much to see we decided to split up and meet later for dinner. While some of the women went to the gift shops, the men the casinos and I wanted to check out the internet cafe and secretly look up the tattoo symbol that I saw on our steward’s wrist. There was something curious about the way Tony vaguely described it.

When I got to the Internet Café there were about 20 laptops scattered around on small tables. You could order coffee at a side bar and then sit at any open computer. The computers were all self service with open Wi-Fi access to the internet. I immediately clicked on the internet logo and then Goggled the word “Pentagram” and some other key words. In my search, I found information about the great mathematician Pythagoras who lived in Samos, Greece about 570BCE and started a school where he taught his students to live a simple life style and to study mathematics. The students were called Pythagoreans and after many years of study could be initiated into the inner circle. Only the truly initiated were identified with a Pentagram Tattoo. However, the only thing I remembered about Pythagoras from grade school was the Pythagorean Theorem regarding a right triangle. It said that the square of the longest side of a right triangle was equal to the sum of the squares of the shorter two sides. In algebraic symbols it could be stated that c2 = a2 + b2.

As I found other citations on the Net, they described that Pythagoras had a love for learning and in his earlier youth studied with the great mathematician Thales. Later he traveled to Egypt and spent 22 years learning the “Ancient Mysteries” from the high priests there. After a while, he was welcomed into the priesthood and learned the secret oral history. He also wandered through the great Egyptian temples where he found other secret mysteries inscribed on the temple walls written in ancient Hebrew and Greek. In order to read the inscriptions he quickly learned the ancient languages written in hieroglyphic vertical symbology and later in the Phoenician Alphabet of linear words. During this period, he was captured by warring tyrants from Babylon and spent 12 more years there in captivity before returning home to Samos, Greece.

On his return home, Pythagoras found the town of Samos, Greece to be over run by warring tyrants and escaped to Crotona, Italy were he started his school of philosophy. Although Pythagoras is known for his mathematical knowledge he was also a very religious man and a spiritual leader and thus founded a religious movement called Pythagoreanism.

Although the school only allowed men into the inner circle, women could also listen to his teachings in open public forums even though it was against the law for women to attend public activities. In addition, the Pythagoreans of the inner circle were vegetarians who also believed in reincarnation. They thought that the soul of man would continue to come back in the body of a living form until it reached a pure state. At that point the soul would then be most god-like and not return and remain with god in a celestial heaven. The Pythagoreans also divested themselves of all personal belongings and made them community property to be shared. The main focus of the school was both mathematical and spiritual. Students would learn about nature and science through the mathematics of numbers and geometry as well as the spiritual goodness of mankind. The secrets of the universe could all be described with a pattern of numbers and by the geometric shapes of triangles, rectangles, pentagons and circles. He saw these shapes in all forms of living and nonliving things like buildings and flowers and the human body. Many of the important mathematical rules and proofs that were discovered at the school either by Pythagoras or his disciples are still in used today.

Pythagoras even discovered the principles of the musical scale. He found that if you plucked a stretched string it made a specific sound. If you then plucked the string with half its length, it made the same sound but at a higher pitch which could be repeated continuously. He then found that by taking other fractions of the same stretched string you could get seven distinct sounds before it would repeat the initial sound at a higher pitch. He called this sequence of eight notes an octave and numbered the scale of notes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 which later was designated with the musical scale notes C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C. From this discovery, many musical instruments were made with more precise accuracy. It is speculated that Pythagoras actually invented the Lyre or small harp. This was a triangular harp with eight chords or strings; in fact it was in the shape of a right triangle. Other stringed instruments were previously invented but not with the mathematical and numerical accuracy as the Lyre.

Later he assigned numbers to the written alphabet and found that the names of the Gods and all things in the universe could be described with a special number. However, modern English names must first be transcribed to their Hebrew or Greek origin to obtain the true Pythagorean special number. A simple example of this can be derived from the following table of letters and numbers. The first row of the table has the numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 with the second row having the letters A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J and the third row having the letters K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T and the fourth row having the letters U,V,W,Y,Y,Z. Thus the number (1) is assigned to the vertical letters in the table (A, K or U) and the number (2) is assigned to the letters (B, L or V). Thus, the numerical value of the name SAM would be 9+1+3 = 13 which can be reduced to the special number 1+3 = 4.

Combining the number theory for the musical scale (1 through 8) and the higher octave (9 through 16) with the alphabet chart above, you can describe a single object or even a phrase with a selection of musical notes. And thus, it is said that Pythagoras could play a melody on his Lyre that could be interpreted as a word or phrase or even a command that might invoke a change in nature such as lightning, wind, fire, storms. Did he possess God-like powers?

Since the Pythagoreans were sworn to secrecy, none of his teachings or discoveries were ever written down into formal texts. All of the ancient mysteries and his new discoveries were only passed along orally. The school that he developed only existed for about 500 years and then was suddenly disbanded for its political views. The ruling authorities burned and destroyed all the Pythagorean temples, buildings and houses and killed many of its followers. However, many disciples escaped and traveled throughout the Mediterranean and beyond, teaching the discoveries and mysteries. Unfortunately only fragments of this lost knowledge were eventually written down from memory or oral history.

Although there was more to learn about Pythagoras from the Net, I was gone long enough and needed to return to my cabin now and come back later. Since I was also the designated photographer for the group I would use that as an excuse to return each evening to the Internet Café to download my photos and organize them into digital albums. However, after that I would then have more time to explore more information about Pythagoras which I found to be so fascinating.

I went back to my stateroom and met my wife and we dressed for dinner. We then made are way to the dining room to meet the others and enjoy some quality time eating and relaxing with our new and old friends. During dinner, Joe Loducio had us all in stitches while telling stories about his early youth in the seminary. After dinner, we enjoyed a musical production of “Mama Mia” in the Ship’s Theater which was a belly full of laughs
and great entertainment.

Since my wife and I were tired from the long day of traveling and the evening’s activities, we decided to retire to our cabin at about 11:00 PM. However, we were still awake at midnight and a bit hungry. Since I read in the cruise booklet that they were serving midnight pizza and snacks on the lido deck tonight, I told my wife I would get us some food and be right back. On my way there I met our steward Tony and stopped to ask him about the tattoo and the information that I learned on the Net.

He apologized for the quick answer that he gave earlier and said that the Pythagorean Society was actually a secretive religious group but since I was a retired teacher and he was a student, then we shared the same love of learning and so he could tell me a little about it. In a short while, he confirmed that he was a full member of the Pythagoreans and that their main focus involved the spiritual power of numbers. He said he could tell me more later but was on his way to a group gathering at 1:00 AM on the poop deck and that I could watch from a distance but to keep out of sight.

I quickly got some pizza and brought it back to the cabin for a late night snack. My wife and I ate a few pieces and then she decided to go to bed. Within five minutes she was asleep and it was now almost 1:00 AM. Since my wife had already fallen asleep, I didn’t see any harm if I snuck out for a few minutes and watched the Pythagorean gathering.

I quietly left the cabin and locked the door behind me. I then went up to the poop deck at the stern of the ship on the port side and looked around but saw no one in sight. Just before I decided to return to my cabin, I heard a group chanting in the darkness of the starboard side at the far end of the deck. Not wanting to be seen, I quietly climbed a bulkhead ladder and peaked over the roof of a small utility locker and saw a group of men chanting, as a bearded man played a small harp. The notes on the harp were quite distinctive and had a melodic sound. The sky was bright with stars and there was a full moon. However, a shadow started to cover the moon and within a short time there was a full lunar eclipse. I didn’t want to believe my eyes but it was like the musical tones on the harp had caused the eclipse. I quickly climbed down the ladder and returned to my cabin before being spotted. Although I was tired from the long day, I couldn’t sleep a wink thinking about the day’s events and especially those that had just occurred.

On the 3rd day we docked in Rome and went ashore to try some sight seeing. We decided to see as many places as possible since we were only here for twelve hours and had to be back aboard ship for an 8:00 PM departure. The three Joes in our group had been to Rome before and we decided to make a whirlwind tour of the city and see all the important sights which included the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, St. Peter’s Square, Spanish Steps and the Coliseum. After leaving the ship we rented two small cars and saw most of the areas that we had planned. We also stopped to buy a few gifts and had lunch at a small café near St. Peter’s Square. After seeing the Coliseum we were exhausted and headed back to the ship at 7:00 PM and had a late dinner.

After dinner we all retired to our cabins to relax a bit and later would meet in the lounge at 9:00 PM for tonight’s Theme Night of “Horse Racing”. Several of the passengers were chosen to carry cardboard horses around a small race track on stage for a make believe horse race while the audience would bet on various horses. We all laughed as each horse was given a secret handicap to be performed during the race. The horse from our table was jockeyed by Joe Pignato and his handicap was to leave some horse poop every 5 feet while Joe Laprusso used a pooper scooper to cleanup. We all laughed so loud that our tummies ached. At 11:00 PM we decided to call it a night and retired to our cabins. We were all really tired from a full day of activities and decided to skip the late night snack and go to bed early.

On the next few days we docked in Athens, Greece and then in Izmir, Turkey. After renting a car or taking a tour bus we saw as many as the main attractions as possible. In Greece we saw the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus and a few other places. In Turkey we saw the Agora Ancient Market Place, the Hisar Mosque and the Roman Aqueducts.

We spent the seventh day at sea and continued enjoying all the amenities onboard ship.
During free time I continued to download my trip photos to a digital album and save it to a flash memory stick and some CDs. I also continued to research additional information at the internet cafe about the Pythagoreans and learned even more about their discoveries.

On several nights I watched the Pythagorean ceremonial rituals from a distance making sure that I was not seen. They always included a chanting song with the melodic sounds of harp strings. At each occasion, the harp sounds seemed to trigger an event of nature that was unexplainable. On one night a water spout appeared off the bow of the ship and flying fish swam around in an ever widening spiral. On another night brilliant colored lights appeared in the night sky like the Aurora Borealis. At each of these events the musical sounds seemed to spell out an alpha-numeric command to initiate a beautiful natural phenomenon.

When I saw Tony the next day, I questioned him about what I saw and he said that the ultimate goal of Pythagoreans was to use their power for the good of mankind. Thus they became the earthly servants of the ancient Greek Gods especially Osiris, Isis and Horus. They were empowered by the Gods to bring peace and tranquility to the world. Only after years of training and trust would they be sent out to help people in need. They would only travel to undeveloped countries helping those suffering from starvation or floods or disease and keep their efforts secret. Using their powers they would divert water to arid regions, make crops grow in the dessert, or command natural predators to kill disease spreading insects. They never visited developed countries since they had their own resources to help themselves.

However, a Pythagorean could be easily tempted by this power and become greedy. In fact, some Pythagoreans have left the group and had become fallen angels and used there powers for evil ways and personal gain. It is this greed that has spawned all the upheaval and wars that have occurred throughout time and is the eternal battle between good and evil. Many evil tyrants have used these fallen angels to help them in their conquests.

However, the true Pythagoreans were only focusing on the good of man during this current cruise and would be celebrating the achievements of some of its elders in Alexandria, Egypt at the Fortress of Qaitbey. A temple of Isis had been built within the fort and it is there that the celebration will take place. Tony then said that we were welcome to attend if we wanted.

I later learned from the internet that fortress was built in the late 1400s and was located on the shores of Alexandria at the same site as the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria. The lighthouse was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world built in 285 BC and later destroyed by conquering armies and a devastating earthquake in 1100 AD. Pieces of the lighthouse were used to build the Fortress of Qaitbey while other pieces still remain submerged under water in the harbor.

On the eighth day, our ship finally arrived at Alexandria, Egypt and we looked forward to enjoying two exciting days there, sightseeing and visiting the local area. We made arrangements to visit the various temples, museums, and other structures and discover the history of an ancient Greco-Roman-Egyptian past.

After visiting some of the other attractions around Alexandria we arrived on a tourist bus at 3:00 PM and entered the main gate to the Fortress of Gaitbey. There were roof top gardens and lookout towers on the outside and hundreds of rooms inside located along stone corridors. Only some of the rooms were open for public viewing. When we got to the ground floor we followed a sign to the Temple of Isis which was presently closed for a private showing for the Pythagoreans. However, I saw Tony standing at the entrance and he said we could go in and be seated at the back of the large temple chamber and he would sit with us.

On the front wall of the temple was an altar with a golden harp. This was a special harp and had supernatural powers beyond those that were used at the rituals that I saw on the ship. In front of the harp was an open casket containing a deceased elder who was being honored today. There were Egyptian vases and statues to the left a right and hieroglyphic symbology adorned the walls. On the right wall there were several tunnels that led to subterranean catacombs for burying the dead.

Tony explained that this was an elder who had recently passed away at the age of 111 which was considered to be a holy number among the Pythagoreans and signified perfection. The number (1) is the monad for reason, the sum of the ones is the triad for harmony and the three ones is the holy trinity. Consequently the elder had reached the final stage of mortal life and reincarnation and now would enter the kingdom of god.

The high priest gave a eulogy and signaled the attendees to sing the funeral chant as he played a melodic song on the golden harp. After several minutes the air became warm and a vibration could be felt on the floor. Suddenly a light appeared above the elder’s body growing larger for a minute and then in a flash was gone. The elder’s soul had passed from this mortal life into the after life. We were all astonished and couldn’t believe what we saw.

Without warning an intruder jumped on to the altar and grabbed the high priest around the neck holding a silver dagger at his throat. He yelled to everyone to sit down and that no one would be hurt if they all remained calm. He then grabbed the golden harp and forced the priest down a tunnel on the side of the altar leading to the catacombs and was gone. We all thought that his escape exit was odd since there was no other way out. Was the intruder one of the fallen angels that Tony had described? Did he know a secret way out?

Tony told us to cautiously leave the fortress and he would see us back at the ship. He also instructed some others to contact the police while he and other Pythagoreans went after the intruder. In a few minutes Tony was gone and running down the tunnel to the catacombs. At the end of the tunnel was a labyrinth of passage ways and he didn’t know which to choose. However, he heard pounding footsteps at the entrance to one tunnel and quickly chose it. The tunnel was dark but there was a bright light at the end with a ladder leading up through the ceiling into another chamber. Coming out of the chamber he saw the intruder at the other side trying to open a stone door that led to a public corridor. Evidently he had planned his escape route.

Tony quickly ran toward the intruder and they struggle for the dagger. In the scuffle, the priest was thrown to the ground with the harp. At that moment, the priest saw that this was the only opportunity he had to save Tony and himself and prevent the evil which the intruder could do with the golden harp. He quickly picked up the harp a played four notes in rapid succession, over and over. Luckily he knew many of the reincarnation notes and chose the appropriate ones.

The intruder grabbed his own throat gasping for air and realized that he was now under the spell of the harp and that his end was near. He then grabbed for the priest but the priest quickly jumped back just out of reach. The intruder then screamed in agony as his legs began rubbing together and made the clicking sound of a bug. In a flash he was gone and a beetle suddenly appeared in his place on the floor of the chamber. The harp sound had reincarnated the evil intruder into another life form which was more appropriate for his recent evil deeds. He had become a dung beetle whose life is spent forever eating dog manure. The intruder had now been put back to his appropriate place in the evolutionary ladder of mortal life. It will be many centuries before he is deserving enough to be reincarnated back to a human form again. When the police arrived, Tony told them that the intruder had escaped and that everyone was now safe, as he looked at the floor and saw the dung beetle quickly run into a corner hiding in a pile of manure.

Later, we all met back at the ship before it departed for the next port of call. We finally relaxed and continued to enjoy the ship’s amenities and knew that we are sworn to secrecy, never to reveal what had happened.

A couple of weeks later we had arrived back home and I was sorting through all the photos to make a final slideshow and put it on CD. After which I would be able to send the CDs to the others and share the great memories of the trip we will never forget. Unfortunately, there were some memories that we will have to save for the next life.

Comments: (always welcome). Email to markryan82@comcast.net

Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank my Romeo friends for their colorful backgrounds and giving me the inspiration for my stories.

References:
Cruises – Mediterranean (Spain,Italy,Greece,Turkey,Egypt)
http://cruises.hotwire.com/b/c/sc.asp?d=11/1/2010&d2=11/30/2010&i=865189&c=34&v=660
Flights – Boston to Barcelona, Spain
http://www.hotwire.com/air/review-fare.jsp?actionType=2&searchId=5257564613&selectedSolutionId=68246375404&selectedPGoodId=79476796489 Archeology, Greece – Boston Globe Archives
http://search.boston.com/local/Search.do?s.sm.query=archeology%2C+greece&s.tab=globe&p12=search_globe_searchbox&s.dateRange=&s.si%28simplesearchinput%29.sortBy=-articleprintpublicationdate
Temple of Isis – Egyptian Harbor – BG 12-18-09
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2009/12/18/egyptians_lift_pieces_of_a_temple_from_alexandria_harbor/ Life of Pythagoras - Seven chorded lyre – Zeus – Isis – Oracle
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/tbulfinch/bl-tbulfinch-age-34.htm
Pythagoras and the Pentagram
http://hubpages.com/hub/Mathematical-greats-Pythagoras
The New Pythagoreans
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-New-Pythagoreans-Modern-Mathematicians
The Golden Ratio
http://www.contracosta.edu/math/pentagrm.htm
Pythagoras and Numerology
http://www.mathgym.com.au/history/pythagoras/pythnum.htm
Travel Itinerary in Greece – Island of Samos
http://www.travelinstyle.com/TURKEY/treasuresGRAnatolia.htm
Ancient Mysteries of Egypt and Greece
http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/ancient_mysteries_of_egypt_and_g.htm
Pyramids to Pythagoras – History
http://www.fig.net/pub/athens/papers/wshs2/WSHS2_2_Brock.pdf
Map of Alexandria
http://www.planetware.com/map/ancient-alexandria-map-egy-ancale.htm
Pythagoras in Alexandria
http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/Masonry/Essays/pythagoras.html
Ancient Landmarks
http://www.blavatsky.net/magazine/theosophy/ww/additional/ancientlandmarks/PythagScienceOfNumbers.html Ancient Secret of Numbers
http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/sta16.htm
Lighthouse of Alexandria - The Pharos
http://www.egyptologyonline.com/alexandria.htm
Astrological Resurections
http://casehq.blogspot.com/2008/10/where-did-jesus-come-from.html
Pythagoras and Reincarnation
http://greatthinkers.suite101.com/article.cfm/pythagoras_and_reincarnation

Adventures of the Romeo Gang - "The Marblehead Heist"

Disclaimer: (The following story is pure fiction. All names, places and events are coincidental and are only used to embellish the story.)



The Marblehead Heist
by Mark Ryan © 2009

During a warm Monday afternoon in June the Romeo gang met for lunch at the Boston Yacht Club in historic Marblehead, MA. The Romeos (Retire Old Men Eating Out) are retired school teachers and supervisors who meet once a month for camaraderie and laughs. This month they would enjoy lunch at BYC as guests of Paul Giraldo who is a life member there. After lunch we were all invited to visit Abbot Hall (Marblehead Town Hall) which houses the town government offices and the town art gallery. The gallery was honored to have on display a valuable painting titled “The Spirit of 76” painted by the famous American Artist, Archibald Willard. The painting was purchase by General John H. Devereux and given to his native town of Marblehead as a gift in 1880. Joe Balsaro had made the arrangements for the visit with John Daniels from the local Marblehead Historical Society.

Joe was also a local history buff from Swampscott where he lived and was an active member of the Swampscott Historical Society. It was a short distance up the hill from yacht club, so we decided to walk and leave our cars parked at BYC. As we walked along the narrow streets of Marblehead, we could see all the historic houses with small signs attached to their front siding. On Front St. the signs all depicted the names of the original home owners and their profession. Some were ship builders, sailors, ship captains, sail makers, cobblers, butchers, dress makers, carpenters and the like. These names illustrated the trades of the hard working people who inhabited this New England town in the early 1700s.

When we got to Town Hall we entered the front door and were greeted by the security guard at the front desk. After telling him that we were expected by Mr. Daniels he directed us to the second floor art gallery. It was here that the great painting “The Spirit of 76” was on display. As we entered the gallery we saw John Daniels who apologized for not calling us earlier and canceling our visit since the gallery had a robbery on the previous night and everything was in disarray.

Mr. Daniels said that the only item stolen from the gallery was the painting titled “The Spirit of 76” which had been cut out of its frame. Evidently the frame was too large and difficult to remove. After cutting out the canvas, the thieves just rolled up the painting in a long tube and carried it out the front door as they quickly made their get away in a small car parked on the street.

When questioned by FBI Agent Bob Turner, the guards revealed that they heard the front door bell ring at about midnight and saw two Marblehead policemen standing in the foyer. Speaking through a locked door and an intercom system, the police said they were responding to a silent alarm from a house next door where an intruder had entered the second floor of Town Hall by jumping across from an adjoining roof. Consequently, they needed to come in and investigate the second floor rooms. Although the security company policy prohibited any unknown personnel entering after hours, the guards let the police in since they saw their official uniforms and they were in hot pursuit of a criminal.

As soon as the police entered, the two security guards were overpowered, tied up and the security system disabled. One of the assailants disguised as a policeman brought the tied up security guards to the basement and bound them with duck tape to separate support posts. At the same time, the other assailant ran upstairs to the art gallery, cut out the large painting from it’s 8 x10 foot frame and quickly returned to the first floor. As soon as the other thief came up from the basement they walked out the front door and got in their car and drove away. The entire operation took less than ten minutes. When the FBI was called in to investigate early the next morning they said that the robbery was similar to the Gardner Museum Art Heist that took place nearly 20 years ago. The thieves used the same policeman disguise, disabled the alarm and got away in a small car. The eleven paintings taken during the Gardner Heist are now valued at over 500 million and a reward has been offered for 5 million.

Although we were disappointed not to see the art gallery and paintings we were glad that no one was hurt. We then said are goodbyes and told Mr. Daniels that if he needed any help to please call us anytime. After exiting the front door we all thought that it would probably be a long time before things were back to normal at Town Hall.

The next day John Daniels received a note and Town Map that had been left at the front desk. However the guard did not see who had left it. The note read that if Mr. Daniels wanted to get the painting back safely he was to go to the Old Burial Hill Cemetery (Town Cemetery) in two days at exactly 6:00 PM on Wednesday and find instructions left there at the tomb of General John Glover. Since the note did not demand a ransom he decided not to call the FBI but instead called his friend Joe Balsaro for help.

After hearing from John, Joe called a few of the Romeos (Marco and Paul) for additional help and we all decided to meet back at BYC the next day and make a plan. It was Tuesday morning at 9:00 AM and we all met in a small private dinning room for coffee. When Marco heard that a map was included with the note, he brought some other maps of the area and a computer just to be prepared. Marco was an amateur Geocacher and liked reading maps, GPS coordinates and finding secret treasures.

After some discussion, we decided to let John Daniels go to the cemetery alone the next day and to track him by the GPS App on his iPhone. To make sure it all worked we even had a dry run on Tuesday and it worked like a charm. We further decided to let the FBI know our plan only after getting the instructions at the cemetery on Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon we met back at BYC and setup a command center in the coffee room. As John left BYC we watched his progress on the computer screen using Google Maps and the GPS App on his phone as he drove his car to the Town Cemetery. He also kept his phone in his pocket with the phone line open to Marco’s phone. This allowed us to hear any conversation and background sound as well as track him on the computer screen.

When John got to the cemetery he saw an older women standing near the General Glover tomb. He walked over to the woman and asked her if she knew about the painting. She had been crying and her face was all flushed. As we listened on the Marco’s phone, she introduced herself as Mrs. Gertrude Spinney and explained that she knew where the painting was because she heard her boss talk about it. She was a live-in house keeper to a person who lived near Crocker Park and believed that the painting was brought there late Monday night and stored in the basement. She also said that she had worked there for over 25 years and had recently been let go by the owner’s new mistress who disagreed with her about how to manage the house. As the live-in housekeeper, she had a small room at the back of the house and was requested to move out by the weekend.

She further explained that she needed to meet at the cemetery away from the house so as not to attract attention from the neighbors and also to determined if Mr. Daniels could be trusted to help her. She was also disgruntled about her firing and only had a few days to do what was right. Feeling confident that she could trust Mr. Daniels, she said that the owner was away for the day and that she still had a key to the house and knew the pass code for the security alarm. Furthermore, we could go there today and see if the painting was in the basement without the owner knowing.

She said that the house was shaped like a Castle and built into the side of the mountain located in back of Crocker Park on the corner of Front St. and Crocker Park Lane. John said he would go with her but would also have a few friends meet them there for help. He picked up his phone and told us to meet there in 15 minutes. I also thought it was time to call FBI Agent Bob Turner and left a message about what happened and where we were on his voice mail.

Since Crocker Park is only one block up from BYC, the three of us (Paul, Joe and Marco) walked over to the Castle House and met John and Mrs. Spinney as they drove up in John’s car. As we walked to the front door I saw the name plaque on the house siding just like those on Front St. identifying the home owner’s profession. Here it read: Rocco Angelini with a silhouette of the Archangel of Death. This must be the house of Rocco Angelini, the Angel of Death – Assassin for the Mob. As I gulped, I asked Mrs. Spinney if that was the same name as the mafia family Angelinis. She said yes but Mr. Angelini had always been the nicest man to her. We all shivered in our boots and wondered if we should go any further.

Since Rocco Angelini was not home, we had a surge of courage and decided to continue our search for the painting and knew that the FBI would soon be here to assist if there was any trouble. When we got to the front door, Mrs. Spinney entered the pass code into the security panel and we all sighed with relief as we heard the door unlock. Mrs. Spinney turned the door handle and walked inside. She then turned on the lights and we followed her to the basement. The basement had several furnished rooms with an office in the far corner. After searching for several minutes we couldn’t find any painting.

We all gathered in the small office and Mrs. Spinney recalled that she had not been in the basement for a few years but thought there was a closet in the office where a bookcase now stood. I went over to the bookcase and tried to move it. After a few tries it opened into a long hallway instead of a closet. After turning on the hall lights we cautiously walked down the hallway which eventually turned into a rock tunnel. When we got to the end of the rock tunnel, it opened into a giant cavern lined with glowing quartz crystals. Evidently, the one hall light caused multiple internal reflections in all the quartz crystals as if there were millions of stars covering the cavern walls.

Thinking out loud, Joe Balsaro said that we must be standing in the center of a giant Geode formed millions of years ago as the hot earth cooled and pockets of gems stones formed. He also said that we must be standing in a cave directly under Crocker Park which from outside looked like a solid mountain of granite. As our eyes adjusted to the bright light we saw hundreds of paintings delicately hung on the cavern walls. As we closely examined each painting we knew that they must be priceless originals done by the masters like Rembrandt, Degas, Manet, and Vermeer. I recognized many of the paintings to be those from the Gardner Museum theft which Agent Turner told us about and the cavern served as an ideal place to store them. The quartz lined walls were like a silica gel that absorbed damaging moisture. The depth of the cave under ground and under the frost line kept the temperature cool but constant.

A loud gun shot brought us all back to realty as we turned and saw a big man standing near the entrance with his gun in the air. It was Rocco Angelini who had returned home unexpectedly. He shouted for us all to come to the center of the cavern immediately or be shot dead. When we all had assembled in the center he saw his house keeper and realized how we had got into his secret place.

John Daniels said that all we wanted was the Marblehead painting and that we would leave without revealing his secret. Rocco laughed at the flat out lie and said we would never leave alive. He further said that he had kept this hidden cavern a secret for many years and would continue to keep it hidden after getting rid of his intruders. He also said that his priceless art collection was for his own enjoyment without the intrusion of the outside world. However, he knew that there were other ruthless men who enjoyed a similar passion for the arts and periodically would sell pieces from his collection to buyers from around the globe. These deviously rich men were from Japan, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South America and would pay millions for these world treasures.

Without warning he quickly grabbed Mrs. Spinney and threatened to shoot her in the head if we didn’t follow his directions. He then told us to move down the entrance hallway into his private office. As we assembled in the office he directed us to a small anti room and pushed us all inside and locked the door. As we stood in the pitch black cubicle, we heard steam fill the space from vents on the floor and realized we were standing in a sauna room. The temperature kept on climbing as we choked for our next breath. After a while, Mrs. Spinney passed out and lay on the floor. We needed to make a last ditch effort and escape this death trap. Although the room was in total darkness I felt a bench seat against the wall and pull it free. With the help of the other men we used it as a battering ram and jammed it against the door. After a few whacks the door broke and fell open. Luckily Rocco Angelini had left the office when he heard noises upstairs. With the fresh air streaming in, Mrs. Spinney came to and we all could finally breathe with relief.

In the distance we heard some gun shots and then they stopped. Afraid that Rocco Angelini would return and finish us off, we turned off the room lights and hid in the corner. After what seemed an eternity, we heard the door knob turning and then open wide and saw the silhouette of a man standing in the bright light. Instead of the angel of death, it was FBI Agent Bob Turner, the angel of mercy and we all gasped with relief that we were saved.

Evidently, Agent Turner had surrounded the house with a squad of other agents and seriously wounded Rocco Angelini and some members of his gang. They had come back to the house unexpectedly to plan another heist and were not expecting the FBI. After being handcuffed, they were all arrested for possession of stolen property and later would be charged with numerous counts of theft.

During the next few weeks the paintings were all inventoried and arrangements were made to return them to their true owners. “The Spirit of 76” was reframed and brought back to Abbot Hall with a promise of better security measures. Mrs. Spinney was notified that she would receive a 5 million dollar reward from the Gardner Museum for the recovery of their paintings lost for nearly 20 years.

Hearing this, Mrs. Spinney was overcome with joy and said she would share the reward with all of us. However, we all declined since she initially made the find and put her life on the line. The rest of us only helped.

As for the Romeos, we were glad that another exciting adventure had come to a happy ending and couldn’t wait for the next lunch date so we could share the story with our friends and "Oh Boy" would we exaggerate our roles.


Comments: (always welcome). Email to markryan82@comcast.net


Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank my Romeo friends for their colorful backgrounds and giving me the inspiration for my stories.

References:
Boston Yacht Club
http://bostonyachtclub.net/
The Spirit of 76 - Painting – Town of Marblehead
http://www.marblehead.org/index.aspx?NID=708
Geocaching
http://www.geocaching.com/about/
Google Maps – Marblehead,MA
http://maps.google.com/
Gardner Museum Heist
http://www.boston.com/news/specials/gardner_heist/heist/
Gardner Reward – 5 Million
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/gardner_heist/news/view/2009_03_12_The_year_of_the_heist/


FBI Art Theft Program
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/arttheft/northamerica/us/isabella/isabella.htm

Adventures of the Romeo Gang - "Climate Manipulators"

Disclaimer: (The following story is pure fiction. All names, places and events are coincidental and are only used to embellish the story.)


Climate Manipulators
by Mark Ryan © 2009

In December 2008, the Romeo gang met for lunch at Burton’s Grill in North Andover, MA near Merrimack College. The meal was great and the conversation even better. The Romeos (Retired Old Men Eating Out) are retired school teachers and supervisors who meet each month for camaraderie and laughs. After the great meal Joe Balsaro passed out some calendars for the New Year to his Romeo friends. The calendars were from the Swampscott Historical Society of which Joe is a volunteer member. The calendars included weather records from the local area that were printed on each date which Joe had contributed. Joe being an amateur weather buff included a discussion of some of the weather highlights and noted with some concern a disturbing weather pattern that he had accidently discovered.

Joe has kept meticulous weather records for years from his own mini weather station and each day sends the data to local TV stations as a local weather observer. When recently tabulating the some weather data he noticed various warming trends to the ocean waters along the New England coastline especially near the shores of Nahant, MA. The ocean temperatures are immediately accessible online from weather buoys and new undersea sensors of the NWS (National Weather Service). Along with the temperature spikes he also noted volcanic eruptions occurring in different regions of the world, especially along the Ring of Fire. These volcanoes exist along the Pacific Rim which encircles the coastlines in the Pacific Ocean off the continents of Asia, Australia, North and South America. There seemed to be a connection between the temperature spikes along Nahant beach and volcanic eruptions along the Ring of Fire.

A few months passed after the December Romeo lunch and we all got a notice that the April meeting of the North Shore Science Teacher’s group would hold their meeting at the Marine Science Center (MSC) of Northeastern University. The meeting would include a brief tour of the center and a discussion on the latest research being done at the facility.

The marine labs are located in Nahant, MA on rocky a coastal peninsula which originally housed an underground military base for harbor defense built in WWII and later used to launch SAMS (surface to air missiles) during the 1950s and 60s. The university bought the property in 1967 and then built the marine labs there.

Being retired science teachers the Romeos are always invited to attend these local science meetings and continue to learn all about the new and exciting ideas discussed in today’s science classrooms. Although the Romeo’s mostly meet for lunch each month at different restaurants, a few also attend the science teacher meetings and decided to go to this one. Those planning to attend were Jim Terlucci, Joe Balsaro, and Marco Greico. All were excited about touring the new MSC labs because it was almost 40 years since they last visited as grad students when the labs first opened. Joe Balsaro also thought the visit to the MSC might shed some light on his disturbing discovery concerning the Nahant ocean temperature and volcanoes.

The MSC is well known for its cutting edge research in Marine Ecosystems, Community Ecology, Marine Genomics, Neurophysiology and Microbial Ecology, Biological Oceanography, Vertebrate Systematics and Ecology (including fish and marine mammals), Algal Biotechnology, Marine Pollution Remediation and Ocean Climatology. The center also offers some courses in marine science to students from local high schools as well as to those in graduate school.

On the planned date of the science meeting we all met in the main library of the MSC and listened to a brief discussion of the center’s educational goals and the type of research that was done there. After this brief introduction we toured some of the labs which were located underground in the now vacated military missile silos. We first entered a large steel door and then turned down a long lighted tunnel which went on for about 500 feet. Along one wall of the tunnel were display cases which housed small skeletons of various marine fish and mammals. Along the opposite wall and on the floor were the skeletons of several giant whales that measured over 50 feet in length. These whales had washed ashore after being killed at sea from collisions with large ships but who also died after being disoriented by the warmer water viruses caused by global warming. Several doors along the tunnel walls were labeled with the names of various labs doing research at the Nahant facility.

One lab door was open slightly and the tour guide peaked inside and asked Dr. Lamb who ran the lab if the teachers could take a quick tour. This was the Ocean Climatology Lab and Dr. Lamb reluctantly agreed to show us the lab and all the gizmos and high end electronic equipment that encircled the facility. As we looked around, he said please don’t touch any machines because I am in the middle of an experiment. Dr. Lamb was quite protective of one machine over in the corner that seemed to be running at high speed and had dials on it for longitude and latitude as well as high frequency EMR (Electromagnetic Radiation). The EMR dials seem to be set in the powerful range of gamma radiation (1026) Hz. That seemed quite odd since this EMR range was beyond the capabilities of current machinery and was similar to solar flare radiation on the sun’s surface. When I looked at the dials for (Lat/Long), I recognized that they were set for the west coast since my family had once lived there.

Being curious about the machine settings and the electrodes sticking into the rock wall, Joe Balsaro asked Dr. Lamb about them. Dr. Lamb didn’t think that mere high school science teachers could understand the power of his machines and quickly ended the tour by saying he had to get back to work. We were then quickly ushered out by the guide and continued our tour in the long tunnel.

Later that evening we heard on the news that Mt. St. Helens in the state of Washington had erupted again as well as some other volcanoes along the Pacific Rim. Hearing this, Joe wondered whether these eruptions were connected to the settings on Dr. Lamb’s machines. He also got on his computer and looked up the off shore ocean temperature data for Nahant from the NWS web site and sure enough saw the unusual temperature spikes he had seen before.

After verifying this data, Joe called the other Romeos who had visited the MSC lab at Nahant and said that we needed to go back tomorrow and confront Dr. Lamb with this evidence. We all agreed and said we would meet there at 12 noon and just confront Dr. Lamb with our information so he could explain a justifiable reason. Otherwise, we had to notify federal authorities because manipulating any natural phenomena must be a criminal offense or at least under some government control.

The next day we all met in the parking lot of the Nahant MSC and went straight for the Ocean Climatology Lab. We entered the long tunnel and saw the lab door open and walked in. Dr. Lamb was startled and asked what we wanted? We explained the coincidence of the Nahant ocean temperature spikes and volcano activity. Although Dr. Lamb was surprised and irritated, he quickly explained that he belonged to a group of scientists that saw a need to control global warming before it is too late. This new science was called geoengineering. He also thought that there was nothing wrong with what he was doing. Besides, what could these local-yokels do?

We all looked at each other with surprise since we had heard about how geoengineering scientist would use the new technology to tinker with the Earth’s delicate climate balance. We also read that some of these scientists who have studied the idea were worried about the possible misuse of their research. If this technology for manipulating world climate fell into the wrong hands the world could be held hostage if these mad scientists threatened the world with their new ability to cause violent earthquakes, massive floods or devastating hurricanes.

Dr. Lamb explained that some geoegineering scientists met at a conference to discuss the ramifications of this manipulation and also to discuss some possible technical methods. The conference was sponsored by NASA and held at Stanford University in 2006. Dr. Ken Caldeira of Stanford constructed various computer models of geoengineering which predicted that if you blocked 20 percent of the sunlight over the Arctic Ocean with volcanic ash, it would be enough to restore the lost Arctic sea ice which had occurred recently. In fact recent volcanic eruptions filled the atmosphere with enough ash to deflect sunlight and reduce global temperature by an average of 0.9 degrees. This would certainly help since global warming is melting the sea ice at an alarming rate.

However, he didn’t tell us that Calderia was “philosophically opposed” to the idea without first reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Even President Obama’s new science advisor, John P. Holdren told the Associated Press in April 2009 that geoengineering the climate is being discussed by the White House but that these measures would only be used as a last resort.

Dr. Lamb said that he couldn’t wait any longer for the slow wheels of governmental action to control global warming. He had to do something now before it was too late even if there was some collateral damage. Consequently, he had actually developed machinery over the past few years to manipulate climate. By using high energy EMR Gamma Radiation that he shot into the mineral veins that traveled through the Earth’s crust to the center of the Earth, he could control heat vents all over the world.

Scientists had recently discovered that mineral veins of iron, copper, silver and gold spread out through the solid Earth like strands in a giant spider web connecting the Earth’s core to external heat vents. These heat vents were strategically located along tectonic plates in deep ocean valleys as well as within the major active volcanoes along the Ring of Fire. After firing bursts of EMR radiation down through the Earth’s neural network of mineral veins, he could cause specific volcanoes to erupt and spew volcanic ash into the atmosphere. The ash would then block the sun and thus cool the underlying areas a few degrees. With his Gamma Machine he could temporarily and periodically curtail global warming.

Jim Terlucci tried to explain to Dr. Lamb that tinkering with the Earth’s delicate climate balance would cause damaging side effects. Although the volcanic ash might reduce atmospheric temperature and curtail global warming, it would also cause health, economic, weather and agricultural problems. The ash in the air would cause respiratory difficulties for local populations. The blocked sunlight would reduce the growing season for farmers. The ash in the air would seed clouds and cause torrential rains. These environmental problems would cause an economic burden to nations providing relief to their effected citizens. Dr. Lamb was so blind sided by his desire to reduce global warming that he could nor see the resulting damage and asked us to leave; saying that there was no law against what he was doing.

As we returned to the parking lot of the MSC we were completely distraught with Dr. Lamb’s decision and decided to take other action. We all said that maybe new laws should be created to prevent this malicious climate manipulation and that we should contact our state senators and congressmen to immediately do something. We knew that Senator John Kerry was very active in areas of reducing carbon emission that effect global warming. In fact an international summit of 192 nations would soon be held during December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark to update the Kyoto Protocol from 1997.

The next day the three of us met again at Senator Kerry’s office at the state house in Boston to discuss this serious matter. However we were told that we had to make an appointment and were disappointed. At that very moment Senator Kerry came out of his office and we quickly told him that there was a world wide crisis brewing in Nahant which would cause devastating consequence and that he could fix it. He agreed to meet us in his office and Joe Balsaro explained his discovery of ocean temperatures and volcanic activity and the subsequent meetings we had with Dr. Lamb. We then asked Senator Kerry to write immediate legislation to block this malicious environmental manipulation.

During the following weeks Senator Kerry attended the Copenhagen Summit and introduced his ideas regarding carbon emissions, global warming and preventing geoengineering from manipulating the climate without strict controls by all nations involved. When he returned home from Copenhagen he further strengthened his commitment to working on this serious problem by introducing legislation that would put strict government controls on geoengineering and prevent haphazard tampering with the environment. Since Joe Balsaro had been so instrumental in bringing this problem to light, Senator Kerry named the legislation “The Balsaro Bill”. That made us all feel gratified that even after retiring; we could still contribute to society and make a difference.

Comments: (always welcome). Email to markryan82@comcast.net

Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank my Romeo friends for their colorful backgrounds and giving me the inspiration for my stories.

References:
Burton’s Grill – North Andover, MA
http://www.burtonsgrill.com/
Ring of Fire – Pacific Rim Volcanoes
http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/ringfire.htm
EMR Radiation Spectrum
http://www.astrosurf.com/luxorion/qsl-em-radiation.htm
Nahant Marine Science Center
http://www.marinescience.neu.edu/pdf/NewsltrSp2007.pdf
Boston Globe Articles 11-13-09 Climate Change
http://search.boston.com/local/Search.do?s.tab=globe&s.largeMap=&s.sm.query=climate+change&s.ypsearch=&s.yplocation=&when=&qf=&qn=&qc=&qs=&s.town=&s.si%28simplesearchinput%29.sortBy=-articleprintpublicationdate&s.dateRange=
Climate Change Summit
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2009/11/30/climate_talks_progress_but_hurdles_remain/
Climatechangegate
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/12/02/climategate_dissent_on_ice/
Manipulating Earth’s Climate
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/11/18/talk_of_manipulating_earths_climate/
Climate Engineering
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/04/09/us_considering_climate_engineering/ Underwater Sensors off Massachusetts
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2007/09/10/under_the_sea/

Adventures of the Romeo Gang - "Bagdad Time Machine"

Disclaimer: (The following story is pure fiction. All names, places and events are coincidental and are only used to embellish the story.)





Bagdad Time Machine
by Mark Ryan © 2009

The Romeo gang met again for lunch at the Portagalia Restaurant in Cambridge, MA. We are all retired science teachers who still enjoy each other’s company and camaraderie. The menu listed all kinds of dishes with a Portuguese flavor. We laughed about the good old days and toasted our good fortune. The meals were so plentiful that we all took home some left-over’s in a doggy bag. I had the “Bacalau A Braz”, which was shredded salt cod scrambled with eggs, straw potatoes, onions and tons of spicy garlic seasonings. It was just delicious but I know I would pay the price later on.

After leaving the restaurant we said our good-byes to most, as some of the group took the bus to Harvard Square and other connecting destinations. Being retired senior citizens, we used our Charlie Cards to get on the bus which happily gave us half price fares. After getting on the bus, most of the passengers began to move away from our group and held their nose. Unfortunately, the garlic odor of Bacalau in my doggy bag followed us everywhere. Along the way, we saw Harvard University and Jimmy said that our mutual friend John Cox worked at the University Museum of Archeology. Since it was still early in the day, we decided to stop and see the new exhibit on the great Pyramid of Khufu (also called Cheops), which had opened this week.

We entered the museum and asked if John Cox, the curator was available. The guard asked who was asking and Jimmy said just tell him his friend “Skinny Jimmy” is here. In a few minutes, John Cox came out and greeted us all, as he held his nose. We explained that it was the Bacalau and we all laughed. However, he was very disturbed about another matter and told us that some Egyptian artifacts had been stolen during a robbery this morning. I said that explains all the crime tape around one of the display rooms.

Since we were all close friends and had attended college classes together at Harvard, he took us into his confidence and showed us the crime scene and pictures of the missing items. We were all buddies in college and did everything together. John Cox was the Mayflower Puritan from Cambridge and we three were the Dead End Kids from the North End; (Jimmy Terlucci, Joe Loduccio, and Marco Grieco). John went into the field of archeology and the rest of us became high school science teachers.

John further explained that one of the stolen items was the mysterious “Bagdad Battery” which was dated 248 BC, an artifact on loan from the Iraqi National Museum in Bagdad. This museum contained thousands of priceless items from early Middle Eastern civilizations dating to 2500 BC. Unfortunately, the museum was looted by vandals during the American Invasion of Iraq in 2003, with most items still missing.

John told us that the Bagdad Battery was a small pottery vase containing an internal copper cylinder with an iron rod down the center and sealed on top with bitumen tar. Although now empty of any fluid, the interior of the vase had a residue of an acidic salt solution like vinegar or wine. From initial speculation, it was assumed to be a crude battery able to produce a few volts of electricity and probably used in early electroplating activities. In fact, figurines made of copper and plated with gold were found with the artifacts. John also said that modern uses for batteries and electricity had not been discovered until after the experiments of Alexander Volta and Benjamin Franklin in the late 1700s. The Egyptians were certainly ahead of their time in many ways.

However, the vase also had a double bottom that rotated at the base with a notched scale of numbers and symbols. When John experimented with the vase and rotated its base in a high electric field, it attracted lightning from storm clouds and caused a temporary time warp. This certainly brought a surprised look to all our faces. Did John say that the Bagdad Battery was also a crude Time Machine?

John emphasized this “Time Machine” revelation and said that since we were all scientists, we understood the significance of the device and what it might do in the wrong hands. He then asked us to help him follow the thief and recover the Bagdad Time Battery. We said we would be glad to help our old friend and asked where the thief might have gone. With great excitement, he said the thief had gone back in time to the Egyptian Pyramids in the year 2500 BC. We all said what?

John said that the Time Batteries first appeared in the Pyramid of Cheops from 2500 BC. This is also the time when all the other great pyramids started to appear and each took over 20 years to construct. They were built with such precision because of the great mathematical skills possessed by the Egyptian scientists. The angle of all the pyramid sides sloped up at exactly 52 degrees and the sides were exactly aligned with celestial north, south, east and west. Contrary to popular belief, the pyramids were not constructed by slaves but skilled Egyptian laborers who were well fed and paid for their efforts. Normally working the farm land, the laborers were available to build the pyramids for three months a year, during the rain and flood season.

John knew where the thief was headed since he left clues near a wall map of Egypt in the museum and circled his destination. After showing us the map, John showed us another Time Battery device and said that this would help us track the thief and follow him through time. He turned some dials on the bottom of the vase and said ready? We all looked surprised and said, now? A few minutes later, we gather in a circle and held hands as a blast of lightning opened a time tunnel or worm hole to the year 2500 BC.

When the dust cleared and we could see again after the flashes of brilliant light disappeared, we found ourselves next the Cheops Pyramid. We quickly hid in a side building and put on robes and hoods to disguise our appearance. Afterwards, we entered a secret tunnel that led to the under ground burial chamber at the base of the pyramid. Here we saw the head priest arranging all the materials that the pharaoh would take with him on his journey into the after life. There were jewels and gold piled into a long boat with silver oars. The pharaoh would use this boat to travel the celestial rivers commonly seen during meteor showers. Among the items there were also newly constructed Time Batteries to help the pharaoh navigate through time worm holes when needed.

Some Egyptian guards stood at the end of the tunnel holding their staffs as the high priest held his scepter. At that very moment, the thief burst into the chamber and knocked a guard to the ground, grabbing his staff. He quickly turned and aimed the staff at the other guards shooting bolts of lighting which temporarily paralyzed them. The staff was just like a modern stun gun but more powerful.

Evidently, Egyptian scientists had become very knowledgeable about the secrets of electricity and were able to produce lightning bolts at will. In our studies at Harvard University we saw Egyptian hieroglyphics and wall paintings of royalty using scepters that fired off lightning but thought the paintings might just be an exaggeration to scare off the general population. However, here in this hidden burial chamber we actually saw the staffs used to their full potential.

Before the high priest could react, the thief took his scepter and pushed the priest away from the pharaoh’s royal boat and stunned him with a lightning bolt. He then grabbed the other Time Batteries and put them in a sac with some jewels and gold. He now had in his possession the power of the universe. He could travel through time, appearing and disappearing at will. Gathering riches as he desired and living for ever, so he thought.

However, he was unaware of the “Grandfather Time Paradox”. Einstein and others showed that if you were to travel in time and change any of the events of the past, then all related events of the future would never exist. If you change the events where your grandfather did not meet your grandmother, then your father and you would never have been born.

Since he now had all the Time Batteries, they will be removed from ever existing in the past and consequently they will not exist in the future. If he time traveled with them back to the future, they would not exist and time travel would not be possible. Thus is the paradox.

As he packed items into his sac, his back was turned away from the tunnel entrance where we were hiding. In one quick motion, I jumped from the tunnel into the chamber and grabbed another Lightning Staff which lay next to the guards still unconscious on the ground and shot the thief with a bolt of energy.

After tying up the thief we returned all the stolen items to the Pharaoh’s Celestial Boat and took back the original stolen Time Battery. We had to leave everything the way we found it so as not to change the delicate fabric of time and keep future events unchanged.

Without delay, John quickly set the Time Battery back to our original time and place in the moving universe and told us to all gather in a circle. When we were ready John pressed the last setting on the Battery and we all fell through the Worm Hole of Time back to the present.

After we recovered and were back at the Harvard Museum, the thief was arrested and taken away. John thanked us for the help and asked us to never speak of our journey through time. For now, it must be kept a secret so that it will never again be used for evil. Maybe someday scientists will think of new ways to overcome the Grandfather Paradox and only use Time Travel for purposes of good.

As I looked around to gather my belongings, I realized that I had dropped my doggy bag during the scuffle at the pyramid. Hopefully the high priest found the smelly bag of Bacalau and used it as a secret ingredient to embalm mummies. Maybe after all these years we finally know what preserved the mummies so well.

Comments: (always welcome). Email to markryan82@comcast.net

Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank my Romeo friends for their colorful backgrounds and giving me the inspiration for my stories.

References:
Boston Globe – Iraq Museum
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/11/25/google_documents_iraqi_museum_treasures/
Bagdad Battery – Forgotten Ages – Pharaoh’s scepter
http://www.forgottenagesresearch.com/out-of-place-artifacts-series/The-Baghdad-Batteries-and-BeyondEvidence-of-Ancien.htm
Portagalia Restaurant
http://www.portugaliaincambridge.com/
Pyramid of Cheops
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza
Google Map – Pyramid of Cheops
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108225010408651456817.00045e5602149dcd83943&ll=28.921631,4.21875&spn=120.432631,259.453125&t=p&z=2
Time Travel
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enUS228US228&q=time+travel&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g10
Space-Time Theory
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/exploration/timetravel/index.shtml