Free Luca by Jacob Whaler

interest is evident in her beautiful eyes.
    “What just happened? How did that little jewel come out of the rock?” Her hands slip out of her pockets. She stares into Mercer’s face.
    “Good.” Mercer pinches the green jewel between his thumb and index finger. “Do I have your attention?”
    “Full and undivided.”
    “I know what you’re thinking. You think this is all a trick. How could this rock and the green jewel—advanced technology—be found imbedded in a layer of 3.5 billion-year-old rock?”
    Qaara nods. “It had crossed my mind.”
    “To answer your question, I’ve upgraded your security clearance.” Mercer tosses Qaara a clear memory cube. “Feel free to access the files under the LUCA Project for some background reading.”
    “LUCA?”
    “It’s all documented in the files.” Mercer turns his hand and lets the rock slide onto a nearby table. “It describes our efforts to analyze this artifact, discover its composition and open it. For now, you’ll have to take what I’m saying on faith.”
    “I’m not used to working on faith .” Qaara leans back against the window. "But the story is fascinating. Is there more?”
    So much more, Mercer thinks.
    He caresses the green jewel with his fingers. “For now, what I have is bits and pieces of a story that’s difficult to believe, even for me. I need you to fill in the blanks.”
    “I’ll do my best.”
    “For starters, we’ve analyzed the orbit of the Cloud.”
    “The one that’s taken over the Mesh and has the whole world thinking the end times have come?” Qaara pulls out her jax and scans the news headlines. "The president tried a little too hard to sound confident in her public announcement today. That’s enough to worry anyone. But what does the Cloud have to do with this rock of yours?”
    “Everything, actually. A select inner circle here at Genesis has known about the Cloud for years. For obvious reasons, we’ve kept it secret. Our internal experts charted its long orbital trajectory through the Milky Way and found something interesting. Any guesses on how much time has elapsed since the last time Earth passed through the Cloud?”
    “I’m no astrophysicist. How could I possibly—” Qaara stops and smiles. “You’re kidding. Could it be 3.5 billion years? The same as the age of the rock layer where you found this jewel?”
    Mercer nods. “Give or take a couple million years. A rather strange coincidence, wouldn’t you say?”
    “OK.” Qaara stands up. “You’ve got my complete attention now. For real. What are you trying to tell me?”
    “I think you better sit down. What I’m about to say is for your ears only.” Mercer glances over his shoulder. “I can’t emphasize that enough. The men outside the door are here to help me impress upon your mind the importance of keeping this discussion, and that memory cube, absolutely confidential. If you ever—”
    “Mr. Mercer.” Qaara pulls up a chair. “I get it. And I am duly impressed with your storm troopers outside the door, so if that was your intent, you've succeeded. All of this will be kept strictly under the radar, as they say. That’s my job. Now please tell me the rest of the story. I’m dying to hear it.”
    Mercer’s eyebrows rise. The last time he was spoken to in such an abrupt and direct manner was by his father, just before he died.
    He finds it refreshing, especially coming from Qaara.
    “OK,” Mercer says. “Where shall I start?”
    “You called this the LUCA Project,” Qaara says. “What a strange sounding word. What does it mean?”
    “Last Universal Common Ancestor.” Mercer crosses his legs and leans back. “The most recent organism from which all living things are descended. A basic hypothesis in evolutionary biology.”
    Qaara nods, letting her eyes wander the room. “And what does that have to do with our 3.5 billion-year-old rock, this green jewel or the Cloud that will soon overtake Earth?”
    “It all runs together.”