by Ellie Mack
“Beta Team, Caleb.” Erik walked up to Helena, clipboard in hand and talked quietly about some changes.
“Paulo isn’t here. We have a replacement. Ze new guy brought shit load of new equipment that I sink you are going to want to see. Zis could blow top off your project.”
“What happened to Paulo? I just talked with him two weeks ago.” Helena made a mark through his name.
“Family medical emergency.” Eric shrugged.
“Damn. I knew his mom was going through chemo.” She sighed. “So who did they send us instead?”
He flipped through the papers, “Umm, Scott Thompson.”
She wrote his name down next to where she had marked out Paulo. Continuing on with the other teams before coming back around to the new guy. “That leaves Scott Thompson.” She looked up from her clipboard waiting. When he stepped forward it surprised her. “Scott! It’s you! You’re supposed to be in Peru.”
“Yeah, about that.” He raked his hand through his hair with his other hand stuffed inside his jacket pocket, with a sheepish grin. “One little earthquake and I’m rerouted to Roskilde. Go figure.” He shrugged, pleased to see Lena’s smile.
“Well, even mother nature is on our side then! If you’ll follow Erik to supply, I’ll catch up with you in a minute. I need to speak with my sister.” She motioned him towards Eric as she walked briskly towards Gabby.
Scott followed her with his eyes as he walked with Erik. It was easy to see the resemblance with the two of them together.
“You go to same University with Helena?” Erik’s accent was heavy, but his English was fairly clear.
“Yeah. We’ve been in the department for three years now.”
“Is she always hard worker?”
“Ninety nine percent of the time, yes.” Scott smirked, recalling their numerous competitive encounters.
“I’ve never worked with anyone as intense as Helena. Zere are days the crew call her our task master.” Erik turned down a row of tents motioning Scott to follow.
Scott chuckled. “Yeah, that’s her, especially with archaeology, Norse, just about everything.”
Erik rolled his eyes. “Obviously. She needs to unwind. I’m concerned about ze fainting.”
“Fainting?” Scott turned to Erik, concerned.
Erik told him about the fainting incident coming back from Copenhagen and then again at the meeting.
“That doesn’t sound good. Did you make her go see the medic?”
“I like how you say, ‘make her go see’. Yes, it is like that wis her, is it not?”
“Yeah” He nodded. He started to share a past experience with Erik just as Lena and Brad came into the supply tent together.
“Great, now that we are all here. Scott, let’s talk gear. How long will it take you to set up?”
Scott glanced at Erik, raising his brows in a ‘See what I mean’ fashion. “Roughly two hours. Maybe less if I can get some help.”
“Perfect. Brad, you help him set up in the morning. Will my teams working mess up the readings?” Lena was matter of fact, all business.
So much for having some small talk and catching up. “I thought we’d do a baseline, without human interference.” Scott tucked his hands into the pocket of his hoody.
Lena stood, hip slightly cocked arms crossed over her chest as she worked things over in her mind. “Fine. Start at eight. I’ll give the teams the morning off, maybe go over some basics in the mess tent and review procedures. I’m sure they will be thrilled. Oh, and put on your rain gear, it’s supposed to rain all morning, maybe into the afternoon.”
“Wonderful. First day out and it’s in the rain.” He kicked a clump of dirt with his toe. “Not much different than if I were in the rain forest.”
“Welcome to Roskilde. Glad to have you on board, Scott.” She grinned as she turned to leave.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Scott, Brad, and Joe loaded up a couple of the ATV’s with gear. Brad headed for the mess tent, grabbing them some things to snack on while they were out. He brought back a cooler full of water and juices and a couple storage bags of cereal and granola bars.
“How big is the perimeter of camp?” Scott asked looking at the amount of food that Brad set in the back of his ATV. “I told Helena it should only be a couple of hours.”
“We should be able to do it by then.” Brad straddled the first ATV, waiting for Scott and Joe to mount up on the second one. It wasn’t raining yet, but the grey skies threatened to cut loose any second. Scott followed Brad’s lead, heading down the make shift trail to set the markers around the perimeter of the camp.
Two markers were set before the skies opened up. After the second one, they were on the downhill part by the stone slab that was presumed to be an altar. Brad noticed the path along the bluff and a darkened area that he hoped was a cave. He jogged up the hill the short distance then motioned the others to get out of the rain. The ATV’s were parked just outside and the three men huddled inside the opening.
“Did you think to pack a flashlight?” Brad asked, rubbing his hands together to generate some heat.
Scott thought about what was packed in the tub. I think there are two in that red tub.” He motioned to the tub strapped on the back of his ATV. The rain was coming down hard. “There should be at least one and maybe a lantern. Brad pulled the drawstring on the rain jacket hood then darted over to the tub. He pulled out a flashlight and one of the bags of food.
“Alright, well as long as it’s pouring like this, I don’t think we should try to climb the back hill with the ATV’s. Why don’t we see how far back this cave goes and have a snack?” He offered the bag to Scott and Joe.
They moved about four feet inside and met with a collapsed area but there was room to squeeze past. On the other side it opened up to larger chamber. “Look here.” Scott motioned to Brad to turn the flashlight on the wall. There were runes marked on the wall.
“Hold the light.” He instructed Brad as he took several photos with his phone. He didn’t know if Helena had already documented the cave or not, but he would work on the translation in his own time. Thunder rolled loudly, a brief flash could be seen at the cave entrance. “Well, we can go back out in that or” he motioned to the dry interior ahead of them “explore how far back this thing goes.”
Joe and Brad said at the same time “ Explore.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Setting up the equipment took an hour longer than expected with the cave exploring and avoiding the worst of the storm.
Inside the cave, they discovered a split in the passages. After checking the time and lengthy discussion, the guys decided to make notes and direct them to Helena to be explored later.
Back at camp, Brad worked the software program to get the first readings from the markers. “You’ve got to see this.” He motioned Scott over. Joe followed, curious as to what the read out would be.
“Amazing. Now, this here.” He pointed at the first big anomaly. “Where is this?”
“That my friend is the main lodge. Which we figured to be the best bet for treasures.”
“And treasure I believe is what we have found. The signature indicates bronze and gold. Probably a cache, and look here!” He pointed to a smaller signature that seemed to be in the shape of a cross. “Probably a souvenir taken from a raid on a nearby abbey.”
“I think Helena will want to see this right away.” Brad smiled, giving Scott a high five.
“It’s good to be king of the gear and bearer of good news.” Scott beamed.
Chapter 9: Daytripping
Too much ale and a man’s heart is laid open
for all to see.
- The saga of Olaf Haraldsson C. 151
Scott set the radar equipment back inside the plastic tub as he watched Lena. She was gorgeous. He had watched her over the past three years in various classes. She had always been involved with someone else, but he held out a glimmer of hope.
He cleared his throat. “Hey Lena, I finished with the radar,
we’ll have the whole area mapped by noon tomorrow. What are you working on there?”
Lena turned towards Scott, leaning back in the folding chair. “Just reviewing the original finds of Price and Alkamp, comparing to the 1926 discoveries of Lundquist. There are so many discrepancies. We have to be careful to keep the site clean.”
“Yeah, if we fail to produce, they fail to pay us.” He walked the short distance to the chair next to her. “I need my paycheck to cover next semester. This is the only income I’ve got till we get back home.”
She offered a weak smile. Scott competed with her for top student in the department. The past two semesters he’d beat her, but it was still close. There had always been a certain amount of competitiveness between them. Scott worked harder than anyone she knew. He had two scholarships and at least two jobs.
Helena leaned backwards over the chair back, stretching. “What do you say we go into Copenhagen before the undergrads show up?”
Scott startled. “You mean just the two of us?”
“I don’t bite Scott. Come on we’ve been in the department since we were sophomores together.” Then she grinned and added, “Well, I won’t bite too hard anyway.”
“Sure, if you can drive.” He shifted slightly. He’d wanted her that long, yes. He wanted her the first day of class, but decided that he’d get to know her better. That was the wrong move but it seemed he was getting his second chance now.
“No problem. Let me wrap up here. I’ll meet you at the Jeep in about ten minutes ok? I’ll go change into something less grimy.”
He could have done back flips! He hurried to his tent, and quickly changed into a fresh shirt. Scott stood, leaning against the Jeep when Lena walked towards it, talking animatedly on her cell phone.
When she closed her phone and tucked it away, she looked irritated. She climbed silently into the vehicle. He did likewise. She turned the ignition on, then slammed it into gear and sped away, throwing gravel behind them.
“Whoa there Speedy. Want to talk about it?”
She sighed, a very loud exhale before slamming on the brakes and pulling over on the side of the rutted road.
“It’s just everything, alright? First Bryce keeps calling and emailing me begging for me to give him another chance. Now, Dr. Montgomery wants to make a camp inspection tomorrow and he’s scheduled the Denmark officials to visit Friday. Hell, we don’t even have the place fully mapped yet. It’s only been a month! We’re not even fully staffed and he wants everything done now! Niall’s, ugh. Don’t even get me started on their lackey Niall’s. I swear, if I find out that jerk is feeding them false information, or trying to put us in a bad light, him and me are going to go a few rounds.”
“We can show them the readings from the equipment I set up and the signatures where the common lodge is. That should placate him some. IF the equipment is worth of even half of what it costs, you’ve got a fantastic stash of artifacts waiting to be unearthed and now, you know specifically where to dig for the best return. Then there’s the cruciform tunnel system below that, that’s confirmation of your theory right there. And Nialls” Scott held onto the leather loop on the ceiling as they came to a screeching halt on the side of the road.
“We?” Helena turned to him, her jaw clenched, and her brows creased. “Get this straight right now Scott, this is my dig, my senior project. This is mine! I’ve been researching this since I was a kid. I know you’ve got all the cool equipment but you’re not stealing my discoveries.” She turned back facing forward, eyes fixed on the road ahead, but her jaw remained tensed.
“Whoa!” He held his hands up in surrender. “I know this is your baby. I’m not trying to steal anything here. Look, this could be a win-win for the both of us. That’s all I meant. I’m not trying to steal your thunder.”
She glanced over towards him. “Sorry. It’s been a stressful day. Hence, the daytrip.”
She turned her focus back to the rutted excuse for a road. After thinking about it for a few seconds she decided that he might be right. “OK, I know you’ve been pushing for the use of modern equipment. I was actually surprised that Simpkins would agree to letting you use it at Macchu Picchu. I mean seriously, the guy acts like that place is his personal property and has deeded rights to it.
“Ha! No kidding.” Scott chuckled at that. For the next few minutes they talked about the idiosyncrasies within their department back home. After a few minutes, they grew quiet again.
“So what’s your story Scott. I mean, I know we’ve been in the same classes for years, but I don’t really know much about you outside of class.”
“What do you want to know?” He clung to the door handle as the jeep jostled over a deep rut.
“To be honest Scott, I don’t really know anything about you besides you were a local kid like me, but not from the same neighborhood. What are your parents like? You’ve obviously got a brother, any other siblings? Are you the oldest? What about your parents? What do they do?”
Scott swallowed hard. It wasn’t so much that he had anything to hide, but he knew that Lena and her sister were from what his parents considered the rich neighborhood. “My mom works at the hospital. She’s in nursing school, trying to get her BSN. She works as a nurse’s aid right now.”
“Cool. My mom was a nurse.”
“My dad was in construction before he got hurt on the job. Now he’s trying to learn architecture.” He grabbed the strap on the jeep as she jostled them over another deep rut. “I have an older sister, she is married with two kids and one younger brother. He felt like I abandoned him when I went to college.”
“Oh, how old is he?”
“He’ll be twelve in August.”
Lena pulled onto the paved road that led into Copenhagen. “Finally. It’s a good thing we are still young and don’t have dentures or we’d have lost them back there.” She knew it was a stupid joke, but it always made her laugh when her father had said it.
They pulled into a spot in front of a pub that she couldn’t pronounce the name. They laughed as they both tried to pronounce it. “Come on. I’m buying.”
There was a large dance floor in the center, with tables lining the outside of the room. They moved to one that was midway towards the stage. Immediately, a waitress came over.
“American, Ja?” She smiled as she nodded back and forth between them.
“Yes. We’re with the Uni dig down the way.” Lena took the single page menu from her. On one side was English, on the other, Norwegian.
“Ja. My brother, he is at dig. Erik.”
Oh yes, Erik is great. He’s my right hand man.” She tried to read the girl’s nametag.
“You call me Roz, full name difficult.” She nodded again.
“Roz, I would like the traveler’s plate with the tea please.”
She handed her menu back to Roz, folding her hands in front of her.
“I’ll try today’s special, the Roast and Potatoes.”
They didn’t wait long for their food to arrive. There were only a few others in the place, but while they were eating, the crowd began to pour in. They were on their fourth round of drinks when the band set up.
“Come on let’s dance!” Lena tried shouting over the crowd noise. She grabbed Scott’s hand, dragging him onto the dance floor.
They fell into a smooth rhythm with each other as they moved across the crowded area. The band began playing a popular song that the radio stations back home had blasted so often, they both had the lyrics memorized.
Loudly, they sang the feel good song to each other as Scott twirled her, pulled her close placing his hand at the small of her back, pressing against Lena.
Scott leaned over and took her hand in his. “It’s OK. We’ll do what we can. Brad is holding down camp with his cyber chick. We’ll get on the mapping first thing in the morning.” He squeezed her hand. “Tell you what, I’ll buy us another round. You need to unwind!”
Moving back to the table before someone else snagged it, they talked abou
t the site, the undergrads, rumors about the professor, and reminiscing about their first two digs together. By the time Lena finished her drink, they were laughing together loudly.
Somewhere between the fourth and fifth Carlsberg, they shared a slow dance together. Scott held her close, but was cautious about making her feel pressured or obligated.
“You know what Scott?” She laid her head on his shoulder.
He hugged her tighter, his hand gently caressing her back. She smelled good and felt so good in his arms. “What Lena?”
She lifted her head and looked him in the eyes, leveling a serious look at him. “You are a true gentleman.” Then she kissed him softly. Her lips barely brushing against his, but lingering as she gently sucked his lower lip.
Scott was instantly hard. His body wanted to walk her to the back wall and take her right then and there. Thankfully, his head said she deserved so much more. As she started to pull away, his hand flew to the back of her head and held her there as he deepened the kiss, his tongue teasing, swiping against her lips, requesting access.
Slowly she parted for him. As they sat together, leaning towards each other, Scott cupped her cheek in his hand with a slight pressure keeping the contact intimate, the room surrounding them seemed to disappear.
After what seemed like half an hour, he gently released her. He clasped her hand and pulled her along behind him. They walked hand in hand to a grassy knoll just before the marina located at the head of Roskilde Fjord. They sat on the knoll, staring out over the calm deep waters of the fjord. The sun was just beginning to come up and Scott thought there was no better time to make his move.
He leaned over and kissed Helena. She readily responded to his kiss. In a matter of seconds he had her on her back, kissing her deeply, caressing her skin, cupping her breast. Occasionally they came up for breath. He caressed over her stomach and down her legs tenderly, lovingly.
