Sticking out of the sheafs of paper was a red post-it. Obviously, there was something in that brief that his assistant had wanted to call to his attention, so Brian O'Connor grabbed that brief. It was the one titled Cryptozoologie and Paranormal Investigation. He opened the briefing to the place that was marked with the red sticker. Three words leapt out at him before he started to read, "UFO", "TRANSDIMENSIONAL," and "Hell."
His eyes leapt to the top of the page. He never understood how bureaucrats could manage to distill the most exciting information into a boring report. They had done that here too, but still the text screamed there was more to the story.
In a nutshell, an ancient seer's bowl had been filled with water, and had started receiving transmissions of some sort. The bowl vibrated producing oscillations in the water, which were clearly recognizable as whispering. The language hadn't been identified, but the gist of the text was that the researchers were divided on whether they were receiving messages from heaven, hell, the dead or extraterrestrials.
The bowl itself was an ancient druidic device that had been remade several times by different people. It had at one point been classified as ancient Roman or Babylonian. In the Middle Ages it had been foisted on the unsuspecting noblemen as being the Holy Grail. Perhaps it was Jesus' cup from the last supper. At that time drinking from a bowl and passing it around was not uncommon. It was smaller than most bowls, more of a loving cup than a bowl in some respects. It had been base metal reworked with silver and gold and platinum in different ages, so it was hard to accurately date the piece. An experimental measurement estimated the age at 3 billion years, which is what had gotten the extraterrestrial advocates really excited. One of the scientists did point out that it simply meant that original ore used to make the vessel was probably quite pure, and so it had been hammered into a bowl without smelting. Pure metal alloys suggested meteorites, which rallied the alien supporters.
"I have to see this bowl for myself," O'Connor said rising.
"I expected as much, I had them bring it over, they're in the small conference room with the bowl," said his assistant.
"Thanks, John, you've got a good head on your shoulders."
He went straight to the black case on the conference room table and opened it. He looked at the men around the table for the first time, and asked, "Is this the grail?"
"Could be. Here watch what happens when I put some water in it," said Dr. Wilson pouring from the carafe on the table into the bowl.
Instantly a high pitch whine filled the room.
"It sounds more like feedback than a message!" O'Connor found himself shouting in response to the noise.
"Yes, a lot of interference," said the researcher closing the lid to silence the noise.
"Wait, what was the bowl used for originally?"
"Well, for serving wine or blood or entrails, I suspect depending on the time period - but really it was - is some sort of communications device."
"Have you tried filling it with blood or wine to see if the audio improves? Different liquids have different densities and vibrate differently."
"They'll have blood and wine in the kitchen, sir," John said brightly, "I don't know about the entrails, but I suppose we can get them?" he added uncertainly.
"Sheep's entrails - most probably. They were preferred by the Vestal Priestesses," said the second researcher.
"Oh, or volcanic water! The Delphines used hot springs effluent," said the third researcher.
"John, we're going down to the kitchen. Make calls get the sheep guts and call the Smithsonian to see if they have hot springs or volcanic water in their vaults. We may not need them, but get them just in case," Brian said grabbing the black case under his arm and leading the researchers out the door.
The White House kitchen was a madhouse. There was a State Dinner for 1500 scheduled for that night. That size affair required the erection of a tent on the South Lawn.