CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 

Ti’ann returned to the trench, frowning over the call from the museum. She nodded to BinRal in passing. The Binnean had stayed near the new site since they’d started digging again late that afternoon, after Nathan was positive Samuels was gone. Nathan, however, had disappeared almost immediately—off securing the rest of the site. She hadn’t seen him since.

She joined Krin at the side of the trench, her gaze turned to the volunteers, grad students and excavators chiseling away the remaining muck and rock left after the EDU had taken out as much of the overburden as possible.

“What did they want?” Krin said under his breath.

“To tell us they’re glad Nathan Longfeather is working out, they’re happy about our new discovery, and could we have a report in with our hypothesis in two weeks.”

He looked up at her sharply. “How did they know about the new dig?”

“Good question.” She kept her eyes on the trench, as she thought over the call. “Did you go to the committee for the funding to hire Nathan?”

“No. I made other arrangements. Does this mean they’re paying now?”

“That’s the impression I got. What other arrangements?”

“I was going to borrow the money from Devin.”

“Krin…”

“Don’t start.” He held up a hand. “Doesn’t matter now anyway.”

She sighed out her irritation. “Okay. Fine. I still want to know how they knew about our find.”

“Nathan mentioned a friend on the Board. Suppose he told him?”

“That’s right. Mr. Alexander. I thought that was just a story.”

“Well the museum is paying for security now. Bet Nathan’s Mr. Alexander had a hand in that.” Krin fell quiet and they both watched the work below.

After a few minutes, she called into the pit and motioned one of the volunteers out, taking up a chisel herself. If she just stood there, she had too much time to think about all the questions she had. While she was grateful Samuels was gone, they still had the mystery of who’d been tampering with Monroe’s ship, Samuels’ impending return, and the tenuous state of some of their equipment. She didn’t even want to begin thinking about the situation between her and Nathan.

Ti’ann stepped onto the mini-lift as soon as Pat stepped off. The small platform did double duty hauling buckets of rock and soil up out of the trench and moving the team in and out of the more than ten meter deep pit. She had no idea how paleontologists worked before the advent of platform lifts and Excavation Digger Units—even if their particular EDU was constantly in need of repairs. Though she did enjoy getting down to the delicate work with the old fashioned brush and chisel. And work was always a good distraction from more…difficult thoughts.

Not that she regretted her night with Nathan. The entire experience had been too satisfying and freeing for regrets. But he’d been able to snap back into his work mode this morning with ease, an ease that left her reeling with uncertainty. He’d seemed to want her around right up until they left the ship, and then he’d sent her on her way without a backward glance. Without even a touch on the shoulder or a gentle look or something to say he’d enjoyed their night together. Doubt crept in during the day. Was that it then? One night and she’d have to look at him every day, want him every day, remember in exquisite detail what they’d shared, and not be able to have him again?

She’d told herself she was prepared for that. If all he wanted was the one night to work off his needs, then she was going to take what she could and not look back. Unfortunately, her logic failed her. She wanted more than one night.

She tried hard to concentrate on digging. She sat cross-legged in the dirt, knocking hammer against chisel to break apart the covering rock. The longer she focused, the easier it was to avoid thinking. So when a layer broke open to reveal something that wasn’t just rock, she had no idea how long she’d been working.

Scrapping away the extra chips with her hands, she brushed an area until it was free of dirt and fingered the smooth surface. It was green with a hint of gold. The color stood out sharply against the blue/brown dirt and purple rock they were clearing away.

“I’ve found something,” she said and all work in the trench stopped. Those nearest to her shuffled around to look and passed the word along to those farther away. Anya, the grad student nearest Ti’ann, shouted a description up to those standing around the top of the pit. The mini-lift activated and climbed upward.

Excitement rippled through the group, catching her up in the thrill. “Krin, do you have the hand scanner?” she shouted up as she brushed more dirt away from the green, trying to expose more of the new material. The hand scanner, at this range, was a hundred times better at reading the molecular content of an object.

Krin jumped off the mini-lift, already on his way down before her shouted request, and handed her the scanner. She ran the rectangular, inch thick box over the top of the green/gold object, keyed in the appropriate codes, and swept it across the object again, slowly, methodically as it scanned. While the devise ran its analysis, the area was sketched and recorded by a volunteer, and the coordinates were entered into a palm computer onto the 3-D site map. When the scanner beeped its completion, she keyed in another set of codes and waited. Krin sat on his haunches, a hand on her shoulder for balance, watching the readout screen as intently as she was. She couldn’t feel his breath so murmured, “Breathe,” to remind them both.

As the data started scrolling up the screen, her gaze darted through the contents. There was the genetic material again, concentrated in the green/gold object instead of being mixed in with the other local “ingredients” their anomaly was made of. The DNA had the same single base pair shift they’d found in the earlier scans. She gasped, paused the scrolling text, and pointed to one element they hadn’t detected earlier. Aminophentine-carboxylase, an enzyme that was extremely rare in nature. “Isn’t that…?”

“Exactly what Ripley and Hesh reported in decomposed Shifter remains,” Krin finished for her.

They both looked back at the green/gold surface. Smooth, featureless, warmer to the touch than it should have been in the damp earth. She let the information finish scrolling and read the scanner’s theory of what the object was based on known data. “Inconclusive. Organic. Most closely resembles animal specifications. No evidence of bone structure.”

“Holy shit,” Krin whispered. “You think it’s…?”

“A Shifter skeleton?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.” She glanced up at the faces hovering around the edge of the trench, looking small from that distance. Those in the trench were working again, but they were quiet enough she knew they were listening to what she and Krin said. “Val?” she shouted. The mini-lift hummed to life and ascended.

The Shifter, still in its guise as a human woman, jumped off the lift before it settled back into the bottom of the trench. Val anxiously looked at the scanned data, read the scanner’s hypothesis.

“Well?” Ti’ann asked, in a quiet voice.

In a murmur she could barely hear, Val said, “Part of a dead Shifter.”

Monroe called down to Val and the Shifter looked up at him, quiet but concentrating. It only lasted a few seconds, but in those seconds, Ti’ann was sure Val had told him everything. Shame she didn’t have that trait. Communication via telepathy had to be very handy.

For appearances, Val pulled a small flat comm-link from the pocket of a short-sleeved shirt and reported the findings to Monroe in a quiet voice. From so far away, it was impossible to gauge his reaction to the news.

Farther along the trench someone called, “There’s more here. Looks like what you found, Dr. Jones. But there are streaks and chunks of other material in it. Almost like marble.”

Ti’ann edged past the other people squatting and sitting in the rubble, continuing to dig. The newly uncovered area wasn’t a smooth, featureless patch but a curved and dented area of about half a meter square.

“It’s pretty,” Micca, one of the volunteers, commented.

This was Micca’s first dig, Ti’ann remembered as she scanned the new patch, and she wondered if the volunteer thought this kind of historic find was normal. Well, she’d learn better soon enough—if this dig didn’t send her running from paleontology.

“Beautiful,” Val murmured, echoing Micca’s comment.

Ti’ann hadn’t realized the Shifter had followed her. The scan revealed a similar composition to her part of the anomaly but with the addition of some precious and semi-precious stones streaked through it.

“This is really…?” Ti’ann heard the awe in her own voice.

“It is,” Val confirmed.

“And more.”

Ti’ann and Val spun to face the new voice. A man Ti’ann had never seen before stood in the trench, his back to Krin and the rest of the team, facing herself, Val and Micca. “Who the hell are you and what are you doing on my dig site?” There’d been no warning, no sound of the mini-lift moving.

The man smiled a little and looked at Val. Val’s green eyes widened as it stared back. They stood silently for long minutes and tension rose with each passing second.

Ti’ann squinted up to the top of the trench. Just at the edge, BinRal stood with a blaster in hand aimed at the stranger. Next to BinRal, Ti’ann was surprised to see Nathan standing with his blaster trained on a second newcomer, a woman who looked down into the trench but didn’t seem to take any notice of the weapon pointing at her head. It was impossible to see her expression clearly, but she looked to be frowning.

Ti’ann swallowed and turned back to the man staring at Val. He was tall and thin, with short-cropped dark hair and an amazing shade of silver eyes. They were like quicksilver or mercury and seemed to flow and melt and reform as she watched. It was so disturbing she found she couldn’t look him in the face. His clothes were simple, similar to the shorts and t-shirts her team wore. But he had bare feet, and his toes looked strange. She stared at them but couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong. She let her gaze travel to his hands, which were, to her relief, free of weapons. His fingers looked funny too. Kind of rounded off and smooth. She stared for several heartbeats before she realized he didn’t have any fingernails. Or toe nails. And it wasn’t as if they were torn off or removed, the skin was smooth and undamaged. The nails just weren’t there.

She glanced up at the woman again. She couldn’t see her feet at all and her hands were fisted. As she stared at the woman’s clothing—a match to the man’s and the only thing she could really distinguish clearly—she started to wonder if they were really human.

Val’s voice caught her attention. “It doesn’t seem possible,” the Shifter murmured to the man. “There’s been no contact at all. We were sure you were dead, but…”

The man was silent for a few breaths, then Val grinned, nodded and said, “Yes. That’s why I came. Am I helping you or should I translate for them?”

Another silence, another nod from Val, and Val turned to Ti’ann, grin huge but eyes worried. “Dr. Jones, this is more exciting than I hoped. I don’t know where to start.” It glanced at Micca hovering behind her shoulder then shrugged. “I think it’s important now that I come clean.” Val winked and shifted to natural form.

Around the trench her group let out a range of gasps and shouts and behind her Micca fainted. Ti’ann turned in time to catch the girl as she sank forward. After lowering her to the ground, Ti’ann spun back to Val to see the stranger also in Shifter form. Her gaze jumped to the woman standing at the top of the trench and there stood another Shifter. For several heartbeats, she stared, not quite believing what she saw.

They looked different from Val. Their bodies weren’t nearly as smooth and featureless. The one who had taken a male human form was noticeably smaller than the one who had taken a female form, the difference obvious even with the one so far above them. And their bodies showed subtle differences in shape. The one in the trench had stockier limbs and a wide face. The one above had a thicker middle but gracefully slim limbs and a much narrower head.

“Holy shit,” Krin said from behind the new Shifter. “Val, what the hell’s going on?”

Val stood so both Ti’ann and Krin where in view. The new Shifter moved to one side so it was no longer blocking half the trench. Ti’ann glanced past Krin and saw one of the grad-students, Joanna, leaning against the wall with her head between her knees.

“Dr. Jones, Dr. Freemont,” Val said. “These two are…well, let’s call them Zim and Sar. Their identifications aren’t part of your vocabulary.” The mouth formed in Val’s Shifter face lifted and dimpled its cheeks. “They are of a line that was long lost to us.”

“Lost? How?” Krin said.

“When? What do you mean lost?” Ti’ann said at the same time.

“It’s a long story, one to be told in a more comfortable place. But I have the answer now to your question about what this anomaly is.” Val paused and the other Shifter in the trench—Sar or Zim?—nodded. “You’ve uncovered the outer border of an underground city. An active Shifter city.”

Ti’ann dropped back against the trench wall, sucking in deep breaths so she wouldn’t fall down. Her head spun. She’d been afraid to really hope, afraid to consider the possibilities. In fact, she’d been convinced they’d actually found a Shifter graveyard after the data the hand scanner reported.

But it wasn’t a graveyard. It was a city. Shifters really built cities!

She turned to see Krin leaning over, his hands braced on his knees. He sucked in deep breaths too. He looked up at her, a heavy lock of red-gold hair in his eyes, and grinned. And despite her moment of panic, she smiled back.

“Oh, my god,” she whispered. And Krin broke into a full-blown laugh. She joined him, giddy with the realization that they’d stumbled onto something so huge. She stood away from the wall and hugged Val without thinking about it. The Shifter lifted its arms and hugged back. It felt solid and friendly and comforting all at once.

She turned to face the new Shifter. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you for allowing us to know about this.”

Its silver eyes flicked to Val then back to her. A mouth formed in its face and the mouth smiled. After what looked like an effort, it said, “You are welcome.”

She realized suddenly, by the effort it took to say those words, it probably didn’t understand their language the way Val did. “Can you understand us at all?”

Val answered. “They can, in a way. They know you protected knowledge of this place from the inspectors. They’ve been watching you since you arrived, knew when you’d discovered their city, and waited to see what you’d do. They had every intention of thwarting your attempts to excavate if it became necessary. When they realized you intended no harm, they thought to make contact before you found out anyway.”

Ti’ann stared at the new Shifter, watched its silver eyes blend and flow, and thought, that one’s Zim. She glanced up quickly to see the Shifter above them watching the proceedings. It hadn’t formed a mouth or any features recognizable to a human beyond the large silver swirls of its eyes. The silver looked a nice contrast to the gold of its skin. Sar, she thought. That one just seemed to be Sar.

Her gaze caught Nathan’s for a brief instant. He had the blaster lowered but still in hand. She wished she could read his expression from this distance. Though, even close up, she usually couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“There was debate,” Val said, into the hush. “Over whether to contact your group or not. They’ve been isolated for a very long time. My presence helped. Their ability to understand your language and the use of words, they picked that up from me. Without me even knowing.”

Ti’ann was sure she’d have been upset to learn they’d been in her head without her knowledge, but Val sounded fascinated. In awe. The awe part she could understand.

“Val, I’ve got so many questions I don’t know where to start?” She paused. “Should we offer them hospitality or…? They probably eat from the environment like you though, don’t they?”

Val grinned again. “They do.” Val stared at Zim when saying, “There have been some unusual changes in their lines. But we’ll learn more of that soon.”

“So, now what?” Anya asked. She and Glen were hovering over Joanna, who still had her head between her knees, but her face was turned toward the two Shifters.

“Yeah,” Glen said. “They’re here and we know about them. Now what do we do? Continue to excavate?”

“Now,” Val said in a voice that carried to the entire group, even those standing at the top of the trench, “we tour the city.”

Silence filled the woods. Not even the birds made any noise. And then Krin started laughing again, the sound of it breaking the stunned group into a chorus of noise.

“Excellent!” Krin said, clapping Zim on the back. The Shifter looked at him and even without features managed to convey shock at the gesture. “Sorry,” Krin said, still laughing. “I’m just excited. No harm meant.” He glanced at Val who nodded that all was fine.

“Can we go now? Do we have to take any precautions? Decontamination procedures or anything?” Ti’ann could barely talk around her excitement. A Shifter city. She was about to walk into an actual Shifter city! Two weeks ago she hadn’t even known such a thing existed and now she was going to see one!

Val talked silently to Zim for a moment, giving Ti’ann enough time to glance around her group. All of them looked excited, though some looked suspicious and wary. She wished she could see the expressions of the group at the top of the trench. BinRal looked relaxed and vigilant. The usual. If he was surprised, excited, offended, stunned, even worried, he didn’t show it in his body language. Nathan, on the other hand, looked tense and ready to pounce on something. Even at this distance, she saw he was scowling.

“What?” she mouthed the question at him, lifting her hands in a gesture she hoped he could interpret from so far away. He shook his head and motioned her to join him.

She was torn between staying with Val, hearing Zim’s conditions for their entry into the city, and going to Nathan. He looked so angry she was almost afraid to talk to him. With reluctance, she said, “I’ll be right back,” to Val and Krin.

Krin’s eyebrows lowered, concern plain in his green eyes. She didn’t try to calm his fears. She was worried too. She nodded politely to Zim then she crossed the trench to the mini-lift and rode it back to the top.

Nathan motioned her to one side, away from the others. He stopped so he could still see the crowd, but her back was to them. “What the fuck are you doing?” he hissed.

She took a step away from the venom in his voice. “I’m about to see something no one else has ever seen before, that’s what. Even Val hasn’t seen this city. What are you so upset about?”

“I’m upset because you could be running headlong and careless into a massacre. You don’t know what these Shifters are like? You can see how different they are from Val. The Shifters we know might not be violent, but we have no idea if these new Shifters are. How do you know this isn’t a lure to get you underground and kill you all without leaving any evidence?”

She stared at him a moment with her mouth open. If she were being perfectly honest, it hadn’t even occurred to her that the Shifters might mean them harm. After her own suspicions when Val had first arrived, her ready acceptance of the newcomers shocked her. She looked at the ground and tried to think beyond her excitement and curiosity.

Did it make sense that the Shifters were here to harm her group? They had to know by now her team had records, equipment, regular contact with people outside the camp. If nothing else, the Shifters would have picked up the information from Val. What would be the point of contacting them, then luring them away to kill them? And why tell them about the city at all?

She nibbled at her bottom lip and twisted the end of her braid around her finger as she thought. It didn’t make sense that the Shifters would come forward like this if they intended harm when they could easily kill off her group in some shifted form, hide or destroy the bodies and get rid of the equipment before anyone realized there was something wrong. Depending on how many Shifters there were of course.

And maybe that was it. Maybe there weren’t very many and they needed to get the group somewhere where their weapons were no good and a small group could ambush them. Or maybe they were afraid if the team disappeared without a trace more humans would be sent in to search the area.

She rubbed circles at her temples as her head spun. She looked up to see Nathan watching her, his look so intent she felt the need to fidget.

“You’re right,” she said in a quiet voice so it wouldn’t carry. “I didn’t even think about the possible dangers. Not very smart of me. I assumed these new Shifters were the same as Val, passive and non-threatening. But they’re different. So we can’t assume anything. But Nathan—” she stepped closer, her voice lowering with her intensity, “—I really want to take this opportunity. If this is authentic, if this is really a Shifter city that no one, not even the other Shifters, has ever seen before…” She sighed and spread her hands. “How can I resist?”

His frown didn’t exactly relax, but the lines around his mouth didn’t seem so deep and the furrows in his brow were less fixed. “I don’t like it. But I can’t stop you.” He grunted something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a string of curses. Straightening his shoulders, he said, “If you’re doing this no matter what, then you’re going to do it as safely as possible. Only a few of you will go down into the city at a time and either BinRal or I will accompany each group.” He paused a minute then said, “Or Clare. No one is to wander off alone. Never more than five people will be down in the city at once. And if at any time either I or BinRal feel these Shifters pose a threat, you’ll abandon the city without argument.”

She opened her mouth to object, closed it again before he could so much as grunt at her, and considered his points. Finally, she nodded. “All right. That seems fair.” She turned back to the trench, conscious of Nathan behind her. He didn’t touch her, even though he stood close to her, but she felt him along the entire length of her spine.

“Krin,” she shouted down into the trench. “Could you come up here?”

He jogged to the lowering mini-lift and joined her at the edge of the trench.

“Nathan’s worried so we’re going to take some precautions.”

Krin frowned and looked between her and Nathan. With a shrug, he said, “He’s the expert. What kind of precautions?”

His acceptance was so swift she went blank for a minute, forgetting what she was supposed tell him. Was Krin worried, too? How had she overlooked the dangers so easily? Nathan filled in the silence, outlining the steps he wanted to take to make sure everyone was safe. She listened and felt another touch of shock when Krin agreed without argument. He’d been as excited as she had about the city. He’d been more accepting of Val and the fact that the Shifters weren’t dangerous. Had something happened while she was talking with Nathan?

“Did Val say anything while I was gone?” she asked Krin quietly when Nathan finished. “Do they have anymore to tell us before we go into the city?”

“We shouldn’t need to go through any decontamination process. Their city isn’t sealed off from the outside environment and no human vectors have ever infected Shifters before. They said we might need to carry oxygen cylinders with us because, while they’re used to the underground air composition, it might take humans a few days to adjust.”

“Did they tell you what the change is? Why these Shifters are different from Val?”

Krin glanced back at the two strangers now standing on the edge of the trench as Val introduced them to Monroe and his group. A realization shocked through her. “James can talk to them directly,” she murmured.

“What?” Nathan leaned in to hear her but didn’t touch her.

She turned to face him and Krin again. “He’s never come out and told me, but I’m sure Monroe can talk with Val telepathically. I’ve seen them do it. Did you know about that, Krin?”

“Val told me. He’s the only one of their team who can. So?” He lifted his head and his eyes widened. “So he may be able to tell us if the new Shifters pose a threat since he can communicate the way they do.”

She frowned a little. “Maybe. At least he might be able to get an idea of their mood. Hostile or otherwise.” She glanced back at Val, still in Shifter form but for the mouth. The mouth was smiling a lot and Val seemed at ease. Would it turn against Monroe and the others if it had to choose between supporting humans and supporting this new group of Shifters? “You know Val better than I do, Krin. Can we rely on her…it to let us know if there’s danger?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “Val feels indebted to us for trying to help them while the inspectors were here. Val’s loyalty isn’t a problem.”

She nodded, trusting Krin, but not trusting the situation now that Nathan had brought it to her attention. “Okay then. We can assume Val will warn us if it detects something unusual. But we still go with Nathan’s security measures.”

A little tingling started in her stomach and worked its way through her limbs until even her fingertips felt suffused with nervous energy. Despite the possible danger, she felt her blood pumping with excitement, the thrill of discovery overwhelming her fear.

She was grinning again by the time they reached Monroe and Val. “We’ve decided it best if only a few of us go down at a time,” she said, which was true so she was able to say it without worrying about lying. There was no reason to let the new Shifters know they were concerned about ambushes.

Monroe said, “We were just discussing that and came to the same conclusion. We don’t want to overwhelm the city with too many curiosity seekers.” His eyes were intent on her, despite his relaxed, amiable expression. Was he worried as well?

“I think we can take volunteers for the following groups, but I’d really like to be in the first group,” she said. “If no one minds.” She felt Nathan move behind her, but no one voiced any objections.

“I’d like to go with the first group, too,” Krin said. “And obviously Val will have to go to translate. Monroe?”

“Yeah, I want to go.”

“I’ll be going with the first group.” Nathan didn’t ask and didn’t leave any room for objections.

Monroe raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment, which was probably for the best, Ti’ann thought with an internal sigh. “We can bring one more person with us,” she said. “Shall we ask for volunteers?”

They put it to the others. In the end, Glen was picked to accompany them. Clare had been eager to be in the first group until Nathan pulled her aside and quietly spoke to her. Afterward, she seemed more willing to pass on the first look.

Ti’ann had to suppress a sharp bite of jealousy when Nathan pulled Clare aside by the arm and kept a hand on her shoulder as he talked to her. She glanced at Mike, who didn’t seem to notice or mind, and felt small for her jealousy of something as simple as Nathan touching another woman, even in a casual way.

Ti’ann and Krin spent a few more minutes arranging the rest of the team into the smaller units that would be allowed to explore the city over the next two days. In the meantime, they were to continue working on the original excavation sites. For the moment, they called a halt to excavation of the city. That would have to be part of a future discussion, or negotiation as the case may be, with the Shifters.

“Will we need anything? Food and water? How long will we be allowed to stay?” she asked.

Val translated for her and said, “You should bring some food and water with you as they don’t have any suitable sustenance for humans. Other than that, you should be fine as you are. They tell me the temperature is warm enough that you’ll be comfortable.”

They gathered flasks of water, sealed packages of food, and two oxygen cylinders. By the time the sun dipped low to the horizon, they were following Zim and Sar to the entrance to the city.

 

E watched from a distance, surprised and confused by what he saw. These weren’t like the Shifters in the files he’d been fed. They were different. They talked of cities. An entire city of Shifters. An unexpected hunting ground. Dr. Ripley would be pleased with all the practice he got killing Shifters now. He knew he had to follow, had to witness and record all the information he could. This was important. This was why he was here.

But he hesitated as Ti’ann Jones, Nathan Longfeather and the others followed the two new Shifters. There was something different about them. Val called them Zim and Sar but those weren’t their real names. He could almost hear their names, almost understand. It disturbed him that he could understand when they weren’t speaking. But he was getting used to that with Val. He could hear Val when the Shifter wasn’t speaking out loud.

Dr. Ripley hadn’t warned him, but he’d been collecting enough information to figure it out by himself. Val told the others that Shifters were telepathic. That had become common knowledge, though Ripley had never told him. Perhaps he was telepathic too. Another skill to augment his superiority. He would be able to hunt Shifters by following their thoughts. If he could only understand.

He still hesitated, knowing they were getting too far away and soon he’d have to run or risk missing something important. There was something else about Zim and Sar that disturbed him. What was it?

E finally moved to action. He shifted into the form of a small, fast animal and scurried after them, careful to conceal his presence from the Shifters. But even as he followed, he puzzled over the question. What was it that bothered him about Zim and Sar? In his pre-occupation with the mystery, he forgot he was hunting to kill.