Dark Dig - At the Dig

Delays at the Dig

Surviving the chaos around him, Marcus’ face twisted into a scowl. The sporadic twitching of his jaw muscles was only a visible display of the anger boiling within him. The entire area swarmed with a gaggle of police.

Every since the night that a hoard of gun slinging masked men attacked the camp and made off with 12 young women the area was reduced to chaos. The stress of three days standing around watching the teams of crime scene investigators rummaging through the carefully prepared dig site was more than he could bear. To Marcus, the clumsy stampeding rush to collect evidence looked like some satire of a Keystone cop movie.

While Marcus focused on the current chaos, he never thought about how lucky he was that the story had not leaked out to the press. Blessed by the extreme isolation, the police managed to keep the media at bay. Marcus really had no idea of how much worse things could be. If he stopped to think, he might notice how careful and deliberate the search for evidence was. He had no idea of what a hoard of journalists and camera teams could look like. Once news got out, the flood of reporters would be unstoppable.

Frustrated, all Marcus could do was look on and try to expedite the proceedings by working with the investigators. Perhaps if Marcus’ perception wasn’t distorted by a prism of anger and frustration, he might have noticed the police were working as systematically to collect evidence as he expected his team of archeologists to search for artifacts. Every clue was photographed, bagged, tagged, and cataloged to ensure they could reconstruct the events of that fateful night.

For the past few days, Marcus only sat idly by, watching the police rummage through the site. From the moment he learned of the attack Marcus complied with all their requests for documents. He even supplied the background documentation on everyone working at the site. At the edge of the site, he saw the local police, Inspector Campus, talking to the INTERPOL representative, Inspector Borga. They seemed upset and were engaged in an animated conversation. Eager to find out when he would be able to go back to work, Marcus approached them.

“Good day Dr.,” said Inspector Borga, in his heavy French-accented English.

“Good day gentlemen. I was wondering if you can give me some sort of progress report”, Marcus asked in his most pleasant, professional voice.

The two inspectors glanced at each other, before Inspector Campus, the local police inspector, sighed heavily.

“Well as you can see our teams are still collecting evidence. Just like you collect the artifacts of the past to understand history, we have to make sure we have a clear idea of what happened and right now that means collecting all the evidence left behind. I’m afraid I have one of those GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS situations,” Inspector Campus intoned.

“Oh, great! Shit! I’m really in no mood to play games. Please give me a report,” Marcus barked.

“Yes, I understand you are upset. Well, the good news first then. We are nearly finished with the collection phase and should be packing everything up soon,” Campus reported.

“That is the best news I have heard in the past three days. So now what is the bad news?” Marcus pressed.

Inspector Campus took a deep breath before he could continue his report. “We just got off the phone with our respective headquarters. We have both been informed to expect a team from the American FBI. We were told they are already in country and should be here by noon,” he explained.

Hearing this bit of news caused Marcus’ jaw to tighten, distorting his face into a foreboding scowl. More delays, waiting for more police to trample the site, were bringing him rapidly to the boiling point.

Before Marcus could say anything, Inspector Campus said, “I know this is upsetting news, but then no one wanted the FBI to take over. One bit of good news is the remote location has made it possible to keep the Media away. If you think we have been trampling your operation, just think what it would look like with camera crews running around”.

Marcus paused to consider. “Yes, a stampede of sensation-seeking reporters would make things much worse. Maybe I should consider myself lucky that the local police kept the press at bay and prevented an even bigger mess.”

He listened to the two inspectors discussing how they should deal with the American invasion. It was clear they were not happy yet compelled by their Headquarters to comply.

Their attention shifted in the direction of an approaching car. No one was allowed to drive to the site. A police motorcycle escort pulled over to park behind the compact rental car. Quickly, the patrol officer opened the car door and escorted a young man and an even younger looking woman over to the trio. The police officer stepped up to the group and saluted Inspector Campus before saying, “Sir, this is the American FBI team. They said you would be expecting them.”

"Yassou”, said the shaggy-haired young man as he extended his hand.

"Yassou”, replied Inspector Campus, while he shook the young man’s hand. “I’m very flattered you took the time to learn Greek, but I’m sure things will go better if we all stick to English. This is Inspector Borga, from INTERPOL and Dr. Marcus Atonasis, the archeologist in charge of this project. And you are?” inquired Inspector Campus. All three men scrutinized the new arrivals with mixed emotions, clouded with skepticism.

“Yes, thank you for agreeing to use English. I’m Ben Farley and this is Ruth Smith. I can tell by your expressions, you were expecting something more like a swat team, armored vehicles, and a swarm of big muscular men in black. We get that look a lot. Maybe it is because the popular movie image is so international. Ruth and I are just the on the ground liaison. We will coordinate with the worldwide recourses at our disposal to assist in any way”, Ben said as he handed everyone a business card and tried to convince the older inspectors of his abilities.

Ruth stepped up and shook hands before she cleared her throat to speak.

“I’m the lead agent and I will coordinate all requests for assistance. Ben is very good at reviewing material. He will ensure you have access to everything we are able to make available. You must understand NATIONAL SECURITY is always a top priority. Ben will screen everything prior to release. Since 9/11 there has been a lot of work done to make all Intel data more accessible. At the same time, the Edward Snowden effect has resulted in limiting our ability to collect as much data as we used to. We still have access to data collection we must keep secret. Around the office, we joke about having access to things that don’t exist. So, all we can do is access the information needed and provide you with the material. We just might not be able to explain how it was obtained. That’s how it works.” She concluded handing everyone her card.

Marcus could not avoid detecting the amount of effort Ruth was making to solidify her position as the lead investigator. Here was a very young woman fighting against eons of male domination. He made a note to avoid getting in her way because she looked like she took no prisoners.

Marcus cleared his throat and jumped in. “It’s very nice to meet you. I’m glad to see there is such an international effort to solve this case. You can count on my staff to assist. All I can do now is leave you with Inspector Campus and Inspector Borga. I really must leave now. I was supposed to pick someone up at the airport yesterday and I must rush to greet her, even if a day late. You do have my contact information if you need me”.

Quickly he shook hands all around. Relieved that his presence was no longer required, Marcus briskly walked across the windswept plateau. Walking across the dig site Marcus looked back at the huddled group of inspectors. It was clear they were attempting to establish some working protocol. A big smile spread from ear to ear as he thought how happy he was to leave them for a while.

He paused for one more scan of the area before he slid behind the steering wheel of his Land Rover. The A/C took a few seconds to start cooling the interior, slowly replacing hot mid-day air with a cool breeze from the A/C. He pulled onto the narrow access road before the draft of cool air soothed his emotional state. Instantly all the stress and turmoil of the last few days drained from his mind replaced with more pleasant thoughts of Carol.

The Long - Short Drive

Still trying to clear his mind of the tragic events, Marcus took a deep breath and turned on the radio. As if by magic, the music washed away the stress. The sound of soft jazz seemed to animate the vivid images of Carol dancing in his brain.

By the time he passed through the police checkpoint, at the bottom of the steep slope, he felt free once again. He turned onto the old winding road and headed back to the small village he called home. The serpentine road, through the mountainous terrain, turned the short distance of about 20 miles (as the crow flies) to more than 60 miles and prevented any attempt of speed. Eager to hold Carol in his arms, he focused on the narrow road ahead.

Marcus fought the car along the narrow road. Relieved to be away from the turmoil of the investigation, he could not completely shake the terrifying events from his thoughts. In his mind, he reviewed all the pieces of the puzzle that came together to create this situation. Were there some underlying threads running together that led him to be where he is now? He thought back to the moment he first became involved in this particular dig.

Yes, it all started when a poor Sheppard boy brought a broken urn to the museum. Marcus thought it was very strange the artifact was found so close to his native village. Being very skeptical of the authenticity he conducted a full range of tests. Marcus, a man of science, trusted the data and declared it to be an item of great historic value. He contacted the family who owned the land where the boy found the item and asked if he and a small group from the University could do more research in that area.

The lad guided them to a high plateau. Sheep were milling about grazing. Where the sheep grazed, they removed all the grass leaving the light, tan, sandy soil exposed to the wind’s seemingly constant attack. Marcus and his team spread out at arm’s length and almost instantly many more bits and pieces were found. A few hours later the group had a large plastic container filled with compelling evidence this was an area with great potential.

When Marcus returned to the university, he made his report and thought everything was out of his hands as the decision to do a dig was complex and required government action and obtaining land grants. He knew it was hard to get control of private property so he set about the task of cataloging the items in the container. When he completed the list of items, he sent copies out to other universities conducting similar research and more or less put the episode out of his mind.

Could this be related to the attack, Marcus pondered. After some consideration, he tossed the idea out. He could see no connection between the discovery and the kidnappings. Was there some sort of rivalry at the university over assignments and promotions he was not aware of?

Marcus had to admit he was more than pleasantly surprised when he was selected to head the team. At the time he thought it might have been just a practical decision based on the fact he lived near the site. But in a university environment, you never know what might motivate someone striving for tenure. Come to think of it, after the findings were made public to other universities there could be hundreds of researchers who wanted to lead this project. Could this be someone seeking revenge? It was out of his hands now and whoever was responsible would have to deal with forces they may not have reckoned with. Maybe the authorities investigating this attack were aware of some of the many possibilities and that was why they were being so methodical.

With a shake of his head, Marcus attempted to clear his mind of all the conspiracy theories clouding his thoughts. Again, he turned his thoughts to Carol. He focused on how he first became aware of Ms. Carol Dunmore. She was in his Greek Culture seminar. At first, Carol did not stand out of the crowd, but she did excel academically.

During the first student evaluation session, Marcus became keenly aware of Carol’s eyes. They weren’t deep blue, nor were they a sea of enchanting green. No, her eyes were a rather normal hazel. Yet he felt an intensity that seemed to penetrate him all the way to his soul. As soon as she sat down, to review her grades, her eyes bored through all of his defenses. Marcus knew, in his position, he could not let himself become too close to a student, but Carol was clearly showing him she was more than just a silly school girl.

That first encounter left a permanent impression, an impression that festered and burned in a strangely unfamiliar manner. He knew it was strictly forbidden to become involved with students. He also knew many good professors’ whose careers were destroyed, and he was determined to avoid the obvious traps. Nonetheless, he was relieved to see she did not sign up for the next semester, yet something about her lingered in his subconscious.

Marcus only taught at the college as a part-time arrangement. His primary mission was to conduct fundraising programs to get money to fund this dig. Most of his time was devoted to promoting speaking events where he would highlight some of the newly unearthed artifacts from the dig. As a courtesy to the college, he always invited the best students from the department to attend his presentations. In the past, the invitations went unattended. He remembered how surprised he was when Carol came up to him after one of his presentations, or was it the other way around. The events were just a vague haze and he was no longer sure of any details.

Now driving through the countryside, he thought about how Carol convinced him to show her the storage area where the Items were kept that were considered too erotic for public display. Carol seemed so eager to learn more about what his research was about. She did not seem shocked or embarrassed when she was confronted with the blatant sexual images.

Marcus was happy Professor Pontus encouraged Carol to attend the event. They were good friends and Professor Pontus was the reason he decided to come to work at the college in the first place. Pontus is a world authority on Greek archeology. He showed considerable interest in the dig Marcus was conducting. He had many questions regarding the exact nature of the site. It was Pontus who proposed the theory it could be a temple erected to honor some minor god or just the summer home of some rich aristocrat. One thing for sure, there is still much to be discovered. If Carol had not taken Professor Pontus Greek Culture class she might have never come to the fundraising event.

That meeting with Carol was the start of something Marcus seemed to have no control over. In the months following that fateful day many things happened and somehow Carol found her way to a place he never thought anyone could find.

Yes, Marcus remembered every detail of that meeting, and those precious memories helped make the long two-hour drive more pleasant. It was mid-afternoon when he pulled up to the hotel. The young man behind the desk greeted him as family and handed him the note left by Carol. At first, he could barely hide his disappointment of not seeing her at the hotel. However, after reading her message, he realized it was unrealistic of him to think she would be waiting for him in her room all this time. Their time together would come soon enough.