CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Echoes of the Past

Trembling in front of the giant map of history that illuminated the control room of the agency, Lily could not help but dwell on what they had discovered lately. An artifact that they had recently managed to salvage from the Ancient Egyptians showed that they were, in fact, up against a far more technologically advanced enemy than they had first supposed. Alexander came forward and put his hand gently on her shoulder. “Buy one, get one half price, Miss Thompson?”   She looked at him, probing his face, a faint grin lingering in the corners of her lips even in such a serious moment. I just want to ask how many more incidents we are going to encounter. And who is sponsoring that? “We’ll figure it out,” Alexander said to her, his words carrying the determined gaze from his blue eyes. This moment was immediately cut short by the arrival of Emily, who ran into the room with much fervor. So without explaining it to herself, Emily shouted, “Lily, Alexander! You need to see this!”  The