Page 6 of Welcome to Bone Town
“A paper on Lunara? Who published it?” Dr. Slate asks.
All that awkwardness vanishes as she glares at him. “Oh, because no one would possibly publish a paper of mine, is that it?”
“I didn’t mean it like that. I justdidn’t know.” He huffs and crosses his arms. If he wasn’t such a massive man he would almost look petulant.
“It was the National Academies of Omega Sciences,” I offer, trying to be helpful before turning my attention back to Dr. Whitlock. “Your hypothesis revolving around the exact role Lunara played as the omega goddess was truly fascinating.”
Dr. Slate scoffs. “Everyone knows the myths that Lunara created omegas.”
“Of course, but that’s not what my hypothesis was.” She doesn’t elaborate.
His jaw tightens like he’s trying not to ask, but his curiosity is as obvious as a penicillin microbe in a petri dish. It’s almost comical.
I’m tempted to explain the thesis to him and put him out of his misery, but Dr. Whitlock shoots me a look that makes it clear I shouldn’t. Seems like she wants to make him work for it and ask for himself, which I can appreciate.
Having grown up around a lot of alphas, I like that she doesn’t bend to him. She’s got some fire under that nervousness. I think working with her is going to prove to be a lot of fun.
Dr. Slate picks up one of my thermal infrared cameras. I snatch it from his hand, then sheepishly set it on the table. I don’t like people touching my equipment, but there was probably a subtler way to do that. My things shouldn’t even be in here. This is the headquarters tent, and all the forensics equipment should be in the smaller tent next to it. Whoever the buffoons were who unloadedeverything got it all mixed up. It’s an organizational nightmare that’s had me on edge since I got here last night.
“Uh… why don’t I show you both around a little?” I motion back the way they came and let the two of them go out first.
Despite the late hour, crew members are working diligently to get the site set up because during the day it’s too hot to do anything laborious. The main tent is set in the middle of camp, but we’re headed to the west side where the mess tent and sleeping quarters are. Well, less sleeping quarters and more a field of identical tents made to provide us with the bare minimum to sleep and change.
You’d think with the millions of dollars they’re spending on this project they could afford to give us something slightly better than a dorm-room mattress, but it is what it is.
It doesn’t take long to get the two anthropologists situated. As of right now the site is still relatively small, and there’s not much to say about tents and dirt.
There’s plenty to say about bones, but with the sun setting and the flood lights not up yet, there isn’t much we can do tonight.
After leaving Dr. Whitlock and Dr. Slate at the mess tent, I return to headquarters, anxious to get back to my task. It’s gonna take me all night to move my things. Maybe longer since whoever unloaded them did so without any rhyme or reason. They put microscopes next to shovels, the Lidar next to the sample collection kits. It’s more disorganized than the room I shared with mybrothers in elementary school—and there were five of us crammed in there!
I’ve already spent all day trying to take inventory, and I’m still missing things.
Eager to set it right so I can actually get to work, I dive into my task. The main tent at least has a generator, so I can work here as late as I want. Maybe even listen to my music without disturbing anyone, as long as I keep it down.
As I shuffle through boxes of equipment, trying to set everything straight, a shadow falls to my right.
“If you’re here with the radar, set it over by the table,” I say, not looking up.
“You use radar for this shit?” The voice is deep, drawing my attention to a man in tactical gear. An alpha, if I had to guess, though everyone here is supposed to mask their scent while on the dig, so I can’t tell for sure. He’s tall, muscular, with a boy-ish grin that makes me want to know what he’s thinking. He even has dimples, which seem in complete opposition to his formidable build. I bet he could carry this stack of boxes in one hand while lifting me with the other, easy.
Not that an alpha would take much interest in lifting me.
He raises an eyebrow.
“Um…” What did he ask?
“Radar?” he prompts with a mischievous smile.
“Oh, uh, yeah. Ground-penetrating radar. It’ll give us a better sense of where to dig and what we might find. It’s pretty cool, actually. There’s this new device that useselectromagnetic pulses to generate an image of underground features and anomalies. It can even…” I stop myself before I can delve any deeper into technobabble, not wanting to bore him until he zones out. My family always gives me this droll, unfocused stare when I try to share the things I love with them, and I hate it. “Sorry.”
“No problem. You’re passionate about this.” He sounds sincere, I think. Right? It’s hard for me to tell sometimes.
“Most people don’t like listening to me talk about nerdy things.” I shuffle a few things around on the table, avoiding his gaze.
“Well, I’m not most people.” He leans against the table, making it creak and drawing my attention back to his face. “I might not understand what you were talking about, but I liked the way your whole face lit up. It’s clear you care about this stuff, and that’s…” His head gives one shake as he exhales a puff of air. He doesn’t finish the thought, but the look he’s giving me has my skin tightening everywhere.
“Are you the archeologist in charge?” He pauses like he’s trying to remember something, then snaps his fingers. “Dr. Slate, right?”
