He lowered his voice a bit.
"Now there is another thing I should tell you: The extent of our own recorded history goes back just two hundred forty-seven years. That's it. No one is sure what happened before that. But it seems that some kind of disaster befell this planet back then and completely wiped out everything. And I emphasize the word completely. Nothing from that part of our history has ever been found. Not a scrap. Can you see the irony, gentlemen? We have in our possession artifacts that are thousands of years old, yet we have none from as recently as three hundred years ago. Whatever hit our planet, hit hard. Whatever few survivors there were, we are their children. Our civilization bounced right back, relatively speaking, but there are many years that are simply blank. What's more, we have found geological evidence that indicates this planet suffered similar catastrophes down through the ages. Near-total extinction events that leave absolutely nothing behind, unless its been hidden well underground."
He swept his hand around him. "So you can see, for us, the ancient things in this room — and the mysteries they hold — are even more puzzling.
He pointed to one large volume. "More evidence: This we call the Book of the Dead. It is an ancient collection of names; possibly of people who were shipped here and died soon afterward. There are hundreds of these names, but here's the rub: Many are the same surnames we use here today."
He indicated another volume. It was so old it smelled like dirt.
"This book seems to show us how this long-ago government was run. How the political structure worked. How the people came to rule. Coincidentally — or not — it is just about the same form of government we have now."
Another ancient book. Its cover had long ago faded away.
"This is apparently a recounting of a love story between adolescents. Or a silly interpretation of one." Another book, dirty and slim. "This might contain ancient recipes for beer, vodka, whiskey." Another blackened book. "This tells the reader how to grow things, like tobacco, wheat, and coffee beans."
Gordon returned the books to their case.
"Careful interpretation of these volumes, as well as other things, is what led us to our conclusion. They are about us, yet again, they are not about us. They didn't originate here, so neither did we. And not only are their materials unlike anything manufactured here, we can't seem to duplicate them, either. We've tried. Yet the pictures within seem to speak of a life that is very familiar to us. Things like bustling cities, vast agriculture, financial dealings, art, music, sports — our culture itself. But it's all from somewhere else. We believe these things were hidden thousands of years ago in hopes they would survive the periodic catastrophes, be found, and interpreted. But either by design or fate, these books bring up more questions than they answer. The deciphering process has been going on for more than two centuries. It continues, very slowly, to this day."
Hunter, Tomm, and Zarex were fascinated by all this, but only to a point. Certainly it was a big deal for a civilization that was so backward it didn't even know about flight to discover that thousands of years before, they'd been moved from one planet to another. But for the three spacemen, such a thing was ho-hum. Throughout the Galaxy, populations had been evacuated from planets before, such as when a collision was imminent between two star systems or clusters, or if a planet's puff had run out. Then there were the nefarious types who conquered worlds and delivered their inhabitants into slavery. Where the three of them had come from, while unusual, moving one people from here to there was certainly not unheard of.
So Hunter asked himself, What does this have to do with me?
It was almost as if Gordon had heard him. "Obviously, you are from a more advanced situation than us," Gordon said. "And the truth is, before you three came, we weren't even sure if there were any other planets out there in the entire universe. Never mind people. But we do have a connection. And I think once you see what we mean, you'll agree with us."
He then unlocked the next door and rolled out a drawer.
It contained another glass case, but inside this one was a piece of tattered cloth about five feet long and three feet wide. It consisted of just three colors: red, white, and blue. Hunter nearly fell over. He recognized this thing right away. It was a flag: red, white, and blue, the same design as the one he always carried in his pocket.
"Is there any chance that this looks familiar to you?" Gordon asked.
Hunter took his flag out and compared it to the frayed banner inside the glass case.
It was a perfect match.
Stunned silence in the chamber now. Tomm and Zarex were just as baffled as he. Where the flag in the glass case was barely more than bits and pieces of cloth, Hunter's flag was intact, almost brand-new by comparison.
Gordon looked at Hunter. "May I ask where you got that flag?"
It was a good question. Hunter had found the flag neatly folded in his left-hand pocket the day he suddenly woke up on the desolate planet of Fools 6. The flag and his name tag, which identified him as Hunter, Hawk, were the only two real clues he had about his true identity. But he rarely told anyone about the origin of the flag; even Tomm and Zarex had no idea how he'd come by it. And he wasn't about to tell Gordon — at least not right now.
So he replied to Gordon, "If I ever find out, you will be among the first to know, I promise."
Gordon thought about that a moment and smiled. "I hope to hold you to that," he said.
Then he pulled out another drawer. It held another glass case, and inside were two dozen more red, white, and blue flags. Several were as small as the one Hunter carried in his pocket. Others were larger, but not by much. Some were as tattered as the one they'd been shown first; others were in the last stages of decay. They all appeared to be thousands of years old.
Hunter just couldn't believe what he was seeing. He'd only encountered the red, white, and blue emblem once before on the mysterious spacecraft found beneath the ice on Mars. Before that, he'd thought the flag he kept in his pocket was the only one of its kind in the universe. To see so many now, right in front of his eyes, was a shock.
"You found these?" Hunter asked Gordon in astonishment. "Hidden below the ground?"
"We did," Gordon replied. "And the fact that you are carrying one in such good shape… and the fact that you are, well, not from here. I… well, I guess I really don't know what it all means."
Hunter was unable to take his eyes off the tattered flags.
"Neither do I," he replied.
"Notice this one," Gordon said pointing to a flag that seemed to be made of polymers rather than cloth. It had been stamped with the strange design of a circle with a line passing through it. Several other remnants were scarred with similar markings.
"We believe that symbol indicates the object was forbidden or banned at one time," Gordon explained.
Hunter spoke up. "But clearly this is the flag of this… other place. Why would it be banned?"
"Just one of many things we don't know," Gordon replied. "But this, and the Book of the Dead, seems to indicate that our forefathers came here not by their own decision."
Hunter finally took his eyes off the flags and looked up at Gordon.
"This place, where you think you came from thousands of years ago. Any idea what it might have been called?"
"We are not one hundred percent sure," Gordon replied. "But the consensus over the years has it the place was called America."