She laughed, excitement like a strong drug in her system. She wanted to spin in a circle or run down the empty street.
Something moved in the shadows and she started. Dathan walked out from behind a column.
She pressed a hand to her chest. “You’re far too good at creeping.”
“Occupational habit. Pays to have light feet.” He smiled at her. “You’re practically vibrating.”
She spread her arms. “It’s just so exciting. I’m never the first one on a dig. Usually my team comes in at a later stage.”
“So, enjoy the moment. This sure as hell isn’t an Institute dig.”
She choked on a laugh. “No, it isn’t.” She let the laugh loose this time and did a twirl.
Dathan smiled and then waved her over. “Come look at what I found.”
She followed him to an arched doorway.
“Look.”
She gasped and crouched. “Oh my Suva, he’s so well preserved.”
The body of a man, lying on his side, arm curled protectively over his face, lay on the sandy floor. His skin looked like leather.
“The sand’s preserved him.”
“A mummy,” she whispered. She shone the light farther into the room. “Look! Two more.”
They got close enough to see, and her throat closed. A mother and child.
The larger figure had strands of long black hair. She was curled around a small child, possibly a boy.
“It’s like they just lay down and died.” Eos turned slowly, noting the many artifacts scattered around the room by the receding sand. Furniture was still in place. “What the hell happened here?”
“They didn’t abandon the colony.” Dathan picked up an object, a frame that might have once held a holo-picture.
“No, something catastrophic happened.” She looked over at him, then down at the bodies at her feet. Damn, she needed more light to inspect them properly. “The residents here never left.”
“Then there’s a good chance any treasure they had never left either.”
She nodded. It would take a full team from the Institute years to study the site completely. She needed to get to work, and do what she could with her limited resources. Just being here, on a site no one had stepped foot in for maybe thousands of years, had blood pumping through her veins.
The melancholy of finding the dead was buried under the weight of excitement. So much to study. And still the greatest treasure in the galaxy to find.
“Can we get some lights down here? And I need my kit from my cabin. I can start?—”
“Doc.” Dathan gripped her shoulders. “We’ve had a pretty big couple of days. We can’t do any more tonight.”
She shook her head. “I can start on the?—”
“No.”
“Don’t you want to find the treasure?”
“Of course I do. But even I know the benefits of a good night’s sleep and starting out fresh.” He turned her to face the distant glow of theInfinitas. “Come on, Z is getting a fire going and Niklas, funnily enough, is a hell of a campfire cook.” They walked through the silent streets. “You ever slept under the stars, Doc?”
She was still feeling peeved. “Why would I want to sleep under the stars when there’s a perfectly good bed in theInfinitas?”
He shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re missing, trust me.”
