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TWO DAYS OF CAREFUL excavation sat mapped on the table, along with several dozen little bags. She brushed a hand over the fragment of femur. Fifteen thousand years and this is all that's left of a living, breathing person. Someone with hopes and dreams. someone who had friends, family.
“You alright, Nel?” Chad leaned on the tent leg.
“Humbled, is all.” The bones were anatomically modern human, enough left to show naturally decaying edges. And a few wounds that never healed. She pointed to the map that had each bone located. “Some of these look like they might be perimortem.”
“Think they met an untimely end?”
“Maybe. They were buried, that's for sure. I'm curious to see what that point brings back—if it was unused it might have been a grave good.”
“When will the data come back?”
“Should be waiting for me when we get back. Danilo promised to push it through after ruining my day on Tuesday.” She collected the bags and tucked them carefully into her pack with the maps.
Chad snorted and helped her pack away the rest of the day's finds. “That guy has too much fun messing up our days. I assume you're going to expand the unit on all sides?”
“Yeah, on Monday. I'm just glad we got all this out before the weekend. I'd hate to leave something so precious for Los Pobladores to fuck with.” She clipped the tool box closed and hoisted it onto her shoulder with her pack. “Mikey, you coming?”
He was still bent over the total station, glasses perched like a mayfly on his nose. “I want to get this thing re-calibrated. I’ll hike down in a few.”
“K. I got something to show you, though, so come see me when you get back.”
He waved absently, showing he’d heard, fingers already twirling the various pegs on the yellow case. Nel shoved the Jeep into first and rumbled down the road. Between weird residue and malfunctioning equipment, her site was setting a record for strange.
•
NEL LEANED BACK IN the chair. It creaked softly in the warm night. The screen door banged as the students traipsed out for their nightly drinking.
“Remember that?” Chad eased himself into the chair beside her.
“I do. Now I’m too lazy to bother getting spiffy. I’ll settle for a dirty-beer and a quiet porch.”
He nodded and tipped back his gin and tonic. “Do you ever miss it?”
“Hell no. At least, I don’t miss the bar scene. I could use a little fun though.”
“CRM is good for that. I like the crew mentality. Everyone cooks and drinks together then passes out at 9:00.”
Nel laughed. “I do miss the food. Damn, you remember Carl’s Bar-B-Q?”
“Fucking heaven. One of my favorite humans.”
They were silent for several moments, listening to the buzz of insects and street lights. Nel tilted her head back, eyes closed. “Damn, today just took it out of me.” A frown shadowed her face, but she didn’t open her eyes. “Mikey come home yet?”
“No. No surprise, though. He was pissed at the total station. He tried to recalibrate it twice today.”
Nel groaned. “That thing sucks. Sometimes I miss just measuring off the datum.”
“It’s a great tool, but technology is rough.” He drained his drink.
After a moment Nel stood and stretched. “I’m going to go shower and maybe nap.”
“What’re you having for dinner?”
Nel shrugged. “No idea. It’s almost too hot to eat. I’ll knock if I’m headed out. When you see Mikey, send him my way.”
•
NEL STARED AT THE OPEN email. The protein analysis glared up at her from the screen. She had seen tools with caribou, rodent, even bear. She'd never expected the tool to be positive for human proteins.
She quickly forwarded the data to Mikey and Martos before flicking open her phone. Her brows snapped together when her call went straight to Mikey's voicemail. “Hey, Mikey, it's me. Just wondering where you got to. Protein analysis is back, got something interesting you need to see. Come find me when you're back.”
She hung up then dialed Martos. He was often in the office late.
“Dr. Martin de Santos.”
“Hey, it's Bently.”
“Ah, how're things going?”
“Alright. Had some local color, but nothing we couldn't handle.” She hesitated. She hadn't mentioned the encounter with Los Pobladores on the highway yet and had a bad feeling it would get her funding revoked. “Got some news for you. We got a body.”
“In situ? How intact? Is it a burial?”
Nel laughed. “I've sent you all the details. Looks like it's a burial and fairly intact. Close to a hundred bones. Got them all mapped in now. I'm thinking it wasn't a natural death, though.”
“Broken bones?”
“There's some perimortem damage, yeah, but more than that. We found a point just above it, which was unusual for grave goods. I got the analysis back and It's positive for human protein, Martos.”
“What?”
“Yep. Looks like we've got us a murder weapon.”