Runes

"It was a stone tablet. Strange, with alien markings all over it. But it held great power. Justin Thurman couldn't figure it out. It was as if glancing at them was a new world, brought in a great consciousness that overwhelmed the mind. He took one more look, then left the desert cave to rejoin the others.

Martha noticed him walking back. 'Still the same?' she inquired. Justin shook his head, exhausted, and let out a low moan. 'I guess. That same strange feeling is still there.' Martha went back to eating her sandwich, a little bologna and cheese on thin white bread. They didn't have much time.

Dog came over, juggling his assault rifle back and forth and acting inquisitive. 'No luck, eh?' Justin shook his head again, knowing the news would be bad. They had gone on this expedition to find artifacts like the tablet. But now they were cut off, abandoned without communication to the outside world. Their only hope was to find a power source or communication from the alien technology in the cave.

'I'll keep working on it,' Justin reassured them. 'We still have enough food for two days.' Dog rolled his eyes and grunted, more than happy to take his chances with the wild around them to find a way out. Martha finished her sandwich and got up, rolling up the wrapper with her hands. 'I'll go take another look. You two coming with me?'

Dog and Justin consented, putting away the cooler and rising to their feet. They had to get to work. There were a few hours of daylight left, and they were running out of time. Hiking up the slight rocky hill, the now activated alien technology beckoned them with a faint glow from inside.

They stood around the pedestal, the strange, glowing stone tablet etched with runes perched on top of it. The feeling hit again. As they gazed at the markings, tried to figure them out, tried to make sense of them, the aura always hit. It was like a power surged through them, their minds quickening pace and their understandings of life made infinitely clearer simply by gazing at the runes.

Dog growled, his usual trademark, and shook his head. 'It's making us smarter. It always does. But what else does it do?' Martha looked around in awe, her consciousness taking a large leap, and consented to let Justin answer. He pointed at the markings. 'Let's figure them out. We have to learn this language. Then we'll know if this is a way out.'

The hours passed, the three sitting in the cave, staring by lantern light and waiting for realization to hit them. Darkness had come, and they had moved their supplies into the cave. The best they could figure, the tablet was an instruction manual, or a religious writing, or maybe both. Enjoying the glow and the high they got from it, the three spent the night in the cave in preparation for evacuation the next day. They had to get out.

Justin woke dreamily, hair tossed and pressed by his sleeping bag, and looked about. There was Martha, sleeping peacefully in the light of dawn, wrestled up in her bag. Then the shock hit. Dog. The alien tablet. They were both gone. Waking Martha quickly, he filled her in and they both started to panic. Their food was gone, too.

They died of starvation two weeks later. Dog and the alien tablet were never seen again. Some residents in the local country reported seeing an unidentified flying object, a flash of light, and hearing strange noises. Presumed dead, the three bodies were never found, and the expedition was listed as a strange and unusual failure.

Reports of the runes and the effect they had were transmitted, but no one had ever been able to figure out the phenomena of the strange alien markings and their power over the human mind."