Chapter 5: Familiar Faces

After about 30 minutes of driving, Professor Thelete arrives at the venue where the proposal meeting will be held. It is at a well-known hotel and a section has been coordinated off that is for the event tonight.

After parking his car and locating the specific area that the meeting will be held, the Professor finds himself entering what looks like a security checkpoint. He sees a security guard that works for the hotel.

“Invitation please, sir,” the guard said stoically.

Professor Thelete handed him his invitation.

“Welcome Professor Thelete. You will head over to the next section, where you will turn over all of your personal effects and be patted down for the security of everyone. We will also hold on to all devices that can be used for recording purposes such as laptops, cell phones, audio recorders, video cameras, etcetera.”

“We will return these to you when you leave for the night. If you need anything from your laptop for your presentation, please transfer it now,” the guard said, as if he was reading from a script.

“Why such lengthy measures?” The professor asked, slightly confused.

“Ah, first time at one of these events, I see. It is to protect the research of the people presenting. In other words, to protect intellectual theft and to make sure that each person’s work remains their own and no else steals it,” the guard explained.

The professor continued down the corridor and, after following protocol, put into the locker where not even the guards protecting the lockers had full access. Much like a safe deposit box, it takes two keys or, in this case, two codes. One that the guards have and one that the professor has, both are required to access the locker.

Afterwards, the professor walked into the lecture hall and saw that it was already active with many people, some of whom he recognized, most of whom he did not. This particular event was only open to certain disciplines such as archeology, history, or any other disciplines that would help lead to the discovery of the past such as language etymology or ancient languages that still needed to either be deciphered or had more documents that needed to be translated like ancient Sumerian.

Someone from the crowd of people recognized professor Thelete. It was a colleague of his from the same university that he lectured at whose discipline was in American History.

“Professor Thelete? What are you doing here?” Dr. Schroder asked, as if supremely confused.

“The same as you, I imagine. Here to give a proposal,” Professor Thelete stated, mildly annoyed.

“Really? It seems like they count even mythology as a valid discipline for historical discovery these days. Sad really how far our culture has fallen,” Dr. Schroder took great pleasure in taking a jab at his colleague.

“Tell me, did you just come here to pester me or did you have anything that you actually wished to discuss?” Professor Thelete asked, not even attempting to hide his annoyance.

Before Dr. Schroder could respond, though two others walked up to them. Both of which Professor Thelete recognized. One was male who was an archeologist, the other was a female who was linguist, specializing in dead languages. Both were in their late 40s to early 50s.

“Dr. Schroder, is that you? What a pleasant surprise. I didn’t know that you would attend tonight.” The well-dressed man said cheerfully.

“Yes, and who is your friend?” The linguist asked.

“This is professor Thelete. He is an adjunct lecturer at the same university that I teach. He really isn’t a friend of mine, more like a colleague. He specializes in Comparative Mythology.”

The middle-age man introduced himself. “Hello, my name is Dr. Cromwell and I am an archeologist and this my esteemed colleague Dr. Lee, she specializes in dead languages,” he said, pointing to his right, where Dr. Lee was standing.

“Yes, I know who both of you are,” stated Professor Thelete. “Your research has helped make breakthroughs in my own line of work. It is good to meet you both in person. Are you presenting here tonight too?”

“Yes, we both are. I am trying to procure help for funding a new dig site in Nova Scotia for what I believe to be an undiscovered settlement of the Vikings,” Dr. Cromwell said with enthusiasm.

“I have discovered new tablets that can help unlock more of the oldest story ever told. I am so excited to add new lines to the Epic of Gilgamesh. I will need help updating the story and getting recognition,” Dr. Lee stated with a warm smile on her face.

“What about you Dr. Schroder? What are your latest discoveries?” Dr. Lee continued.

“I have located a document that may change our entire thinking about the assassination of Lincoln. I will need help to verify its veracity as well, gaining access to other potential documents that would prove a grand conspiracy,” he stated with little positive emotion in his voice.

“Wow! That sounds very intriguing, Dr. Schroder. What about you Professor Thelete? Will you present here tonight too,” asked Dr. Cromwell, “or are you here just to learn the process in the hopes of one day gaining tenure?”

“I have a proposal for tonight, but I will not say what it is other than it is directly related to my primary field of mythology.” The professor wanted no more snide remarks after Schroder took a jab at him earlier in the night.

“But I did not see your name on the list,” Dr. Lee stated, confused. “The panel puts the proposals in order from least important to most important in terms of potential ramifications on human society. That means that either you are the first to go or the last one to present. So, you are either considered the least important by the panel or the most important.”

Before Professor Thelete had any time to respond, a voice from the speakers overhead could be heard.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, if you all could take your assigned seats, please. Tonight’s events are about to begin.”

“You will soon find out,” Professor Thelete stated flatly before everyone started to head to their respective seats.