once released. A small sloshing sound accompanied it.
Safia glanced at the others. Had they heard it, too?
“I told you I thought the thing was hollow,” Clay whispered.
Safia reached and rocked the heart on the chamois. The center of gravity rolled with the rocking. It reminded her oddly of one of those old Magic 8 Balls. “There’s some type of fluid in the center.”
Clay backed up a step. “Great, it had better not be blood. I prefer my cadavers desiccated and wrapped like mummies.”
“It’s sealed tight,” Safia assured him, examining the heart. “I can’t even spot a way to open it. It’s almost like the bronze heart was forged around it.”
“Riddles wrapped inside riddles,” Kara said, and took her turn rolling and checking the heart. “What about more lettering?”
Safia joined her. It took them half a moment to orient themselves and find the two remaining chambers. She ran her finger over the largest, the left ventricle. It was smooth and bare.
“Nothing,” Kara said, surprised and baffled. “Maybe it wore away.”
Safia checked more thoroughly, painting it with a bit of isopropyl alcohol to clean its surface. “I see no scoring or trace. It’s too smooth.”
“What about the left atrium?” Clay asked.
She nodded, turning the heart. She quickly spotted a line arcing cleanly over the face of the atrium.
“It’s the letter R, ” Kara whispered, sounding slightly frightened. She collapsed down on a chair. “It can’t be.”
Clay frowned. “I don’t understand. The letters B, WA or U, and R. What does it spell?”
“Those three ESA letters should be known to you, Mr. Bishop,” Safia said. “Maybe not in that order.” She picked up a pencil and drew them out as they should be spelled.
Clay scrunched his face. “ESA is read like Hebrew and Arabic, from right to left, opposite of English. WABR … UBR. But the vowels are excluded between consonants.” The young man’s eyes widened. “ U-B-A-R. The goddamn lost city of Arabia, the Atlantis of the sands.”
Kara shook her head. “First a meteorite fragment that was supposed to guard Ubar explodes…and now we find the name written on a bronze heart.”
“If it is bronze, ” Safia said, still bent over the heart.
Kara was shaken out of her shock. “What do you mean?”
Safia lifted the heart in her hands. “When I pulled the heart out of the statue, it seemed way too heavy, especially if it’s hollowed out and full of liquid. See where I cleaned the left ventricle with the alcohol? The base metal is much too red.”
Kara stood, understanding dawning in her eyes. “You think it’s iron. Like the meteorite fragment.”
Safia nodded. “Possibly even the same meteoric iron. I’ll have to test it, but either way it makes no sense. At the time of the sculpture’s carving, the peoples of Arabia didn’t know how to smelt and work iron of this quality, especially a masterful piece of art like this. There are so many mysteries here, I don’t even know where to begin.”
“If you’re right,” Kara said fiercely, “then that drab trading post unearthed in the desert back in 1992 is a far cry from the whole story.Something is yet undiscovered.” She pointed to the artifact. “Like the true heart of Ubar.”
“But what do we do now? What’s the next step? We’re no closer to knowing anything about Ubar.”
Clay was examining the heart. “It’s sort of strange that the left ventricle has no letters.”
“ ‘Ubar’ is only spelled with three letters,” Safia explained.
“Then why use a four-chambered heart and spell the letters in the direction of blood flow?”
Safia swung around. “Explain yourself?”
“Blood enters the heart from the body through the vena cava into the right atrium. The letter U. ” He poked a finger at the stumped large vessel that led to the right upper chamber and continued his anatomy lesson, tracing his way. “It then passes through the atrioventricular valve to the
Safia glanced at the others. Had they heard it, too?
“I told you I thought the thing was hollow,” Clay whispered.
Safia reached and rocked the heart on the chamois. The center of gravity rolled with the rocking. It reminded her oddly of one of those old Magic 8 Balls. “There’s some type of fluid in the center.”
Clay backed up a step. “Great, it had better not be blood. I prefer my cadavers desiccated and wrapped like mummies.”
“It’s sealed tight,” Safia assured him, examining the heart. “I can’t even spot a way to open it. It’s almost like the bronze heart was forged around it.”
“Riddles wrapped inside riddles,” Kara said, and took her turn rolling and checking the heart. “What about more lettering?”
Safia joined her. It took them half a moment to orient themselves and find the two remaining chambers. She ran her finger over the largest, the left ventricle. It was smooth and bare.
“Nothing,” Kara said, surprised and baffled. “Maybe it wore away.”
Safia checked more thoroughly, painting it with a bit of isopropyl alcohol to clean its surface. “I see no scoring or trace. It’s too smooth.”
“What about the left atrium?” Clay asked.
She nodded, turning the heart. She quickly spotted a line arcing cleanly over the face of the atrium.
“It’s the letter R, ” Kara whispered, sounding slightly frightened. She collapsed down on a chair. “It can’t be.”
Clay frowned. “I don’t understand. The letters B, WA or U, and R. What does it spell?”
“Those three ESA letters should be known to you, Mr. Bishop,” Safia said. “Maybe not in that order.” She picked up a pencil and drew them out as they should be spelled.
Clay scrunched his face. “ESA is read like Hebrew and Arabic, from right to left, opposite of English. WABR … UBR. But the vowels are excluded between consonants.” The young man’s eyes widened. “ U-B-A-R. The goddamn lost city of Arabia, the Atlantis of the sands.”
Kara shook her head. “First a meteorite fragment that was supposed to guard Ubar explodes…and now we find the name written on a bronze heart.”
“If it is bronze, ” Safia said, still bent over the heart.
Kara was shaken out of her shock. “What do you mean?”
Safia lifted the heart in her hands. “When I pulled the heart out of the statue, it seemed way too heavy, especially if it’s hollowed out and full of liquid. See where I cleaned the left ventricle with the alcohol? The base metal is much too red.”
Kara stood, understanding dawning in her eyes. “You think it’s iron. Like the meteorite fragment.”
Safia nodded. “Possibly even the same meteoric iron. I’ll have to test it, but either way it makes no sense. At the time of the sculpture’s carving, the peoples of Arabia didn’t know how to smelt and work iron of this quality, especially a masterful piece of art like this. There are so many mysteries here, I don’t even know where to begin.”
“If you’re right,” Kara said fiercely, “then that drab trading post unearthed in the desert back in 1992 is a far cry from the whole story.Something is yet undiscovered.” She pointed to the artifact. “Like the true heart of Ubar.”
“But what do we do now? What’s the next step? We’re no closer to knowing anything about Ubar.”
Clay was examining the heart. “It’s sort of strange that the left ventricle has no letters.”
“ ‘Ubar’ is only spelled with three letters,” Safia explained.
“Then why use a four-chambered heart and spell the letters in the direction of blood flow?”
Safia swung around. “Explain yourself?”
“Blood enters the heart from the body through the vena cava into the right atrium. The letter U. ” He poked a finger at the stumped large vessel that led to the right upper chamber and continued his anatomy lesson, tracing his way. “It then passes through the atrioventricular valve to the
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