Red Diamond?

Several millennia has passed, civilizations and empires have risen and fallen and it was now the early twenty first century.

It was an unusually fertile period of thought. The ideas of evolution, progress, liberty, radical encounter with God, the struggle for existence, human control over human destiny, and universal caring were invented or substantially developed during this time.

A group of research students who had traveled out of their country for a research camp, were making their way up a mountain trail in Italy, searching for biological specimens native to the range.

As they moved along the trail, the sky slowly darkened and a storm soon erupted.

They quickly searched for cover to weather out the storm and soon discovered a small cave-like opening on the side of the mountain.

Fortunately for them, the cave was deep enough to properly shield them from the storm.

They quickly set up their camping equipment and lit a fire to keep themselves warm as they waited for the storm to pass.

The storm went on for hours, the whole night in fact, only letting up at the crack of dawn.

The rays of the rising sun broke through the clouds and washed through the cave, illuminating the entire cave floor and waking up the cuddled group of friends from their 'not so comfortable' sleep.

As the light washed across their faces and the walls, there was a sudden flash of red within the cave.

Sampson Griffin, a member of the group traced the source and walked forward to examine it.

Upon taking a good look he froze suddenly, his jaw falling to the ground and his body trembling.

Taking a deep breath, he suddenly shouted, "guys, quickly come check this out. We're rich!"

"What do you mean? What did you find Sam?" Joshua Connors, the leader of the team asked as they all approached the wall.

Sampson took out a pair of tweezers and started prying something out of the wall. He succeeded and pulled out a tiny red stone, holding it up for all of them to see.

"Is that....? It can't be..... I don't believe it. Is this really what I think it is?" Joana Nickson, Sampson's girlfriend as well as the analyst of the team pulled out a loupe; a small magnifying glass perfect for observing small objects.

"It is... it really is a red diamond. I never thought I'd get to see one in my lifetime", Joana said after carefully observing the tiny rock.

"It looks like there's more. Joshua, get me a bag to collect them", Sampson said as he pulled out his mountain climbing pickaxe and started going to town on the small hole, prying the rocks loose revealing a few more tiny red diamond crystals.

Joshua quickly pulled out a zip lock bag and held it open as Sampson, one after the other, filled it with the red diamonds he could dig out.

"I think that's enough. It would be bad if we draw too much attention. Red diamond is normally priced at a million dollars per carat. What we have already is worth a quarter billion...probably. Besides, we have to report this to the government since this mountain is not private property", Joana mentioned and they agreed.

They suspended their research trip and returned to the city to report their findings.

Due to the fact they were the ones to discover the treasure trove as well as willingly report their findings, they were rewarded with honorary citizenship and allowed to keep their diamonds.

The news soon erupted with the discovery of a deposit of red diamonds.

The government quickly beefed-up security for miles as a government funded mining company took up residence at the base of the mountain and started operations.

Using the small cave opening as a starting point, they built a long mining tunnel heading deep into the mountain. The number of red diamonds actually found in the mountain was mind blowing.

The mining operation continued for months as more tunnels were created and the initial tunnel almost reaching the center of the mountain, covering a distance of five miles from the entrance.

As a miner dug at the end of the tunnel, he struck a surface harder than the others. He braced himself as he struck with more force than before.

Even after a few more swings, the surface refused to budge. He gave up and retrieved a jack hammer from the cart behind him.

After a few attempts, the rocks finally gave way, but there was a sudden flash of crimson light, temporarily blinding him.

"Mama Mia! The heck was that?" he asked himself in a stereotypical Italian accent as he aggressively rubbed his dazed eyes. After his vision cleared, he knelt and looked through the opening.

"That's one big ass diamond, my bonus is going to be huge", he said excitedly as he quickly tore through the crack unearthing a red pearl the size of a fist with an ominous dark-red swirl within it with thin traces of murderous intent.

He took a step back as he pulled out his long range walkie talkie and shouted into it, "Boss, it's Tom! Please respond!"

"I'm here Tom. What's the problem?" the foreman was alarmed by the sudden call.

"There's something weird here. You've got to come check it out!" "I'll be there soon", the foreman said as he and his assistant took a rail car towards the end of the tunnel.

Within the half hour it took for the rail car to arrive, the murderous intent that emanated from the pearl had frozen the blood in the miner's veins.

He fell to his knees, a quaking mess as tears and snot streamed out of his eyes and nose respectively with his mouth foaming rabidly.

He grew weaker and weaker as he fell to the ground unconscious.

The foreman and his assistant were just in time to see the ominous red light fade within the pearl.

"Is that a red diamond?" the assistant asked after seeing the scene. "Tom, what's wrong with you? Hey...Get up!" the foreman said as he shook the unconscious miner.

The assistant knelt in front of the miner and checked his pulse.

"He seems weak but he's still alive. Probably a seizure. We have to get him help soon", the Assistant reported.

"I'll send him back and call our superiors. Make sure no one approaches that pearl", the foreman instructed as they placed Tom's unconscious body in the rail car and he left for the entrance. 

As the rail car arrived at the entrance, the foreman called for the medic team to attend to Tom while he sped towards his office.

Upon arriving, he quickly called his government handler and gave a detailed report.

A few hours later, several black hawk helicopters appeared over the horizon, approaching the mine quickly.

The helicopters landed and multiple men in suits and biohazard gear alighted and began preparations. 

When they were ready, the foreman led his superior and his men to the rail cars and rode towards the end of the tunnel.

After they arrived, they stood a hundred meters away from the pearl as the foreman gave a quick recount of the situation.

The group in the biohazard suit then slowly approached the pearl with their devices, checking for any sort of radiation.

After a few hours, they returned to give their report to the others. "So, what have you learned?" the government handler asked.

"Sir! The pearl has biological readings, as if it is a crystalized coagulation of a creature. They do not match any creature we know of but, it does emit a little bit of radiation.

From the report, we can conclude that a large composite of the radiation was released at once when the pearl was unearthed. Though the current readings are safe in the short-term, long-term exposure could cause radiation poisoning, though these are still hypothesis. Further study must be done on the pearl back at the institute", the team leader reported.

"I agree. That will be the best solution. Besides, keeping it here will definitely disrupt operations. We must quickly transport it. Get it done", the handler instructed.

"Yes Sir!!" the team concurred as they approached the pearl, and with a large pair of tongs, removed the pearl, placing it in a lead-cased box.

After making sure that there was no residual radiation in the air, the group finally exited the tunnel.

"Ensure that this matter remains a secret and be sure to properly compensate the miner who had first contact", the handler said clearly indicating his desire to buy the miner's silence.

The pearl was quickly transported out of the mountains and out of the reach of common people.

The pearl hopped from Institute to Institute but the scientists in these Institutes could go no further in their research.

Carbon dating showed the pearl was thousands of years old but other than that, they could not find anything else they didn't already know about it.

In the end, they had no option but to seal the pearl away indefinitely in the one institute that had the machines to do so; the Sienna Institute for Genetic Research and Analysis.

For the next fifty years, the pearl sat quietly, deep in the depths of the Institute's most secure vault, possibly to never be brought out again. Or was it?