The Awakening_Book 1 of Valkyrie's Curse series

by Ellie Mack

  “What about the people who aren’t in camp now?”

  “We gave a list of everyone to Detective Olsen, including the people who hadn’t checked in.”

  A few groups grew loud, talking amongst themselves, while several more questioned Erik.

  Gabby was at one of the close tables, trying to get Erik’s attention. Erik wrapped things up as quickly as he could, then pulled Gabby aside.

  “Last night, Alpha team reported to their leader, then they took off in one of the jeeps to town. So it looked like on paper that they were still in camp. I heard that a bunch of the guys did the same thing. Your list that you gave to the police may not be accurate.”

  “Great. That’s just fucking great!”

  “Sorry. I thought I should let you know as soon as possible. I mean, come on they are college kids. They want to have fun while they are here, and there are some cool bars back near the campus here.” Gabby chewed on her lower lip for a second. “Where did Lena go?”

  “She went back to her” he realized that they shared living quarters and she wasn’t with the rest of the crew “your tent. She’s pretty upset.”

  “Oh you don’t think I don’t know that? Trust me. I’ve heard Lena’s full range of emotions from happy to angry. This is beyond angry. When she’s in full raging bitch mode, it’s bad. Our dad was the same way.”

  Erik offered a weak smile. “Maybe you should go try to talk to her. I’ll talk to the team leaders and tell them to check in on everyone on their team tonight.”

  Gabby grabbed a couple ice creams for her and her sister and took off at a jog towards their home away from home.

  Erik moved over to the table where the team leaders were gathered, he had already talked to them about a brief meeting after the general assembly.

  “Emphasize to your team members that this is the perfect time to fill out their required field work papers. Tomorrow morning, Scott and Brad will offer tutoring here in the mess tent for anyone who wants help.

  I need each of you to check in personally with your team members tonight. I understand that a group checked in then immediately left camp to go party. We need to make sure that they are all back safe and sound and if not, who is missing.

  I’m concerned that if they try to get back in camp now, they will have to go through the police and end up losing their position on the crew. Talk to them, calm them down, and let them know this is just temporary.”

  Scott walked up to Erik, waiting for him to finish.

  “Well, that went about as well as could be expected. I have a couple ideas that we could”

  “Not now Scott. I am already handling everyone’s shit. You’re going to have to wait.” Erik walked off.

  Scott watched after him as he left. In a quiet yet mocking voice he had the discussion with himself. “Well, what’s your idea Scott? I was just thinking, well, it could be risky, but I have a contact that may be able to get us back up and running. Oh you don’t say? How can this contact help? If you give me the go ahead, he can get us replacement parts on the equipment. Great idea. Why don’t you do that? Should I check with Lena first. I would.”

  Scott reached into the freezer for an ice cream sandwich before heading to Lena’s tent.

  “Knock, knock, Can I come in?” Scott wadded the wrapper and tossed it into the trash bin that stood between her and Erik’s tent.

  “Come in Scott.” It was curt.

  “Hey. We’ll get through this. Like you said, it’s just a setback.” He walked the short distance to where she lay on her cot staring at the seam of the tent.

  “Yeah? And what if it takes a week? Or a month? I know there is treasure here. I know this site has historical significance. I know there’s an important story here, an important historical story. But with this crap going on, I may get shut down.”

  She swung her legs over the side and sat up. “This is just a job to you and everyone else here. This could be the end for me if I fail.” She crossed her arms over her chest her voice punctuated. “I. Will. Not. Fail!”

  He knew that she was lashing out at him, just like in the jeep. “You don’t think anyone but you stands to lose in this if it doesn’t turn around?”

  Lena’s only response was to draw her knees up and wrap her arms around them, setting her chin on her knees wearing a scowl.

  “I would miss my chance at winning the fellowship. I don’t have a trust fund to fall back on. I don’t have anything to fall back on. Why do you think I push myself so hard to get the scholarships? Because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to get my degree. You’re not the only one with something to lose here.

  Every person in this camp signed on for their own reasons. This isn’t some spring break party. Sure, they want to let off steam and have down time, but everyone here is prepared for the work. This isn’t Disneyworld this is an archaeological dig. I think they know the difference, don’t you?”

  She set her feet down on the floor, her arms at her side. “I didn’t say they thought it was like going to Disneyworld. You’re not really helping you know. Now if I fail, I’m reminded that I screw everyone else up that’s here as well. Except whoever the dead girl is. That’s a whole other level of screwed up.”

  “Look, all I’m saying is that you’re not the lone wolf here. We are a team. We can work better as a team without one person being the star player.”

  That stung. She knew she was being a bitch, but at the moment she didn’t care. “I think you should leave Scott.”

  He threw his hands up in the air in surrender. “Fine.”

  Scott turned around and in two steps he was outside the tent. He stood there a few minutes contemplating.

  If anything went wrong, he could be arrested but he felt he had to risk it. He took off at a jog. Heading towards the gate. He stuck to the shadows, slipping around the guard’s post and out the gate. He jogged up the road about a half mile before he stopped. This was the highest part of the hill, so he hoped this would work.

  He took out his satellite phone from his jacket pocket, flipped the antenna up and held it up to check for a signal. He got a connection.

  “Leroy? I need a favor.”

  Chapter 15: Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui

  Fear not any challenge for you carry the blood of your ancestors within you and the strength of our Gods behind you.

  - Viking Proverb

  It was close to midnight when Scott got up the nerve to talk to Lena. He stood outside of her tent for several minutes before he got up his nerve.

  He cleared his throat. “Lena?”

  “Yeah?” It sounded like she had calmed down some.

  “Can we talk?” He shifted back and forth on his feet.

  She sighed audibly. “Fine.”

  He lifted the flap and ducked through the tent opening. He held a 2 liter of cola and a bottle of Jack, lifting them towards her in offering.

  She motioned for him to come sit down as she sat up on her cot.

  “I-I-I-I’m going to go see Erik for a bit.” Gabby glanced between them. “Let you two talk in private.”

  She slipped on her loafers and jacket and raced past Scott, stopping when she was beside him “She’s still in a mood, so be warned.” It was barely above a whisper.

  “I brought a peace offering” He lifted the bottles. “ A little bird told me you had ice.”

  Lena pointed to the cooler between the two cots. “Yeah, until they get the cooler fixed we either use it or watch it melt.”

  The tone of defeat was obvious in her voice.

  Scott poured their drinks in two plastic cups then added a good bit of Jack and a couple of ice cubes. He set the beverages on the fold-up table they had set up for their personal things then took the drinks the few steps to Lena on her cot.

  “May I sit?” He offered her the drink.

  She moved over a few inches to allow him room to sit as she took the drink.

  He stared down at his cup for a few minutes before speaking. Scott let out a long sigh. “In t
he words of our esteemed instructor Dr. Sempkins,” he mimicked the professor’s voice. “Nothing easy is worth having. The bigger the headache, the bigger the discovery.”

  She harrumphed as she took a big swallow of her drink.

  He glanced over to see her expression. “I was on a dig with him in Bolivia last year. We had guerillas come through and trash our camp. We had flash floods that destroyed half of our tents. There were delays from the government, but through it all, Dr. Sem said, he spoke again in his mimicking voice. “An archaeologist is a master of patience and perseverance. Just like the stories we uncover that have remained for thousands of years hidden, waiting to be discovered, we remain constant to do what no one else will, sift through the debris to reveal history.”

  Lena swirled her glass thinking about that before taking a big swig.

  “One week before our permit was to expire, Dr. Sem hit a major discover, the base of a statue. He found one marking on this rock that was mostly buried. He worked on that for over an hour, meticulously brushing away a little more dirt until what looked like toes appeared. He would stop, make some notes, then brush a little more. Then he jumped up, and ran back up the hill, then over to the side.

  At first we thought maybe he was bit by some insect. But he was excited! Then he drops to his knees, his eyes wide and shouts ‘We did it!’ I swear, the man showed emotion!”

  “That would have been worth seeing” Lena interjected as she took another drink.

  “That one mark indicated that it was a statue of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, the ninth emperor of the Incan empire. His name translates as earth shaker. His village grew from a little hamlet into an entire empire and eventually, he was in charge of the group that overtook the Chimu. He conquered the entire valley of Cusco and nearly half of western South America. He was the originator of the Sun Culture, and Sem believed that he was responsible for the overthrow of Macchu Picchu.

  So anyway, he jotted a few things down in his notebook, took a gazillion photos, got the crew over to take pictures and sketch the layout and tell him what they saw.

  None of us got it.

  He called the survey team over to set up the transit, and had them map the area.

  While we sketched out the lay of the land, he would give us hints, prodding us.

  After the survey team was finished, he had us step back where he was standing and laid out the scenario for us.”

  He started mimicking the professor again. “Look here, see. The rain, loosened the soil and we had a landslide. Look at the lay of the land around this and look at the slump pattern above. The mud flowed down and knocked the statue off its base. He pointed down the slope about one hundred yards. We dig there to find the statue. Once we can read what the statue is saying we will know where the temple was.”

  We set in and worked till sunset, then he ordered torches set out. We kept digging. It was close to ten at night, Dr. Sem has the time written down exactly.”

  “Of course. He is meticulous.”

  “We found it. The statue was exactly where he said it would be. We kept working until we uncovered it completely. He went over it thoroughly. The inscriptions indicated the temple behind the statue, and another to the west over the rise. That had us stumped for a bit, but they were both covered by this landslide.”

  Scott finished his drink then continued. “He worked all night on that statue. We were all exhausted because we had been the ones digging. So, in the morning, he let us sleep in a bit. But you know, in the jungle it’s hot sticky and humid. No one sleeps good. We knew it was huge, he had the cook fix us sausage and eggs.”

  “Oh dear. I know what that means, a full day of work.” Lena got up and refilled their cups.

  “You know it! So he puts us to work to dig starting at fifty chain lengths behind the base of the statue. There were seventy steps from the statue to the temple. When we had uncovered the stone frame of the doorway to the temple, he had us move to the west to uncover that one.

  He got a grant to stay there another six months and his team was able to uncover the temple, enter it and they discovered a huge cache of Incan gold, and cultural items.

  The secondary temple had been raided at some point, so there wasn’t much there. However, the vast majority of items are in the museum in Bolivia.”

  “I want to be like that. Able to see the past through the mudslides and through the fallen ruins.” Lena took a bog drink. “Did he really show emotions?”

  “He sure did.”

  “My respect for Dr. Sem just went up another notch.”

  “Yeah, he’s pretty dry in class but you get him out in the field, he’s a different man.” He swirled his cup before swallowing the rest and getting up to fix them another. “The point is, this is just a bump in the road. Just like the guerilla troops that came in smashing stuff. You’re tougher than this. When we get the equipment back up and running, we will pinpoint exactly our best chances for discovery. Until then, there is nothing stopping us from using our mental tools. You’ve been taught by one of the best in the field. Nobody can take those tools from you.”

  Scott walked back over, carrying the drinks.

  As he sat down, Lena sat more upright, no longer slumped over.

  “You’re right! We don’t have to depend on our equipment. This has been done for a long time without all these fancy tools. Scott, you’re genius!”

  She took both drinks from him and set them on the ground and threw her arms around his neck, pushing him backwards on the cot as she kissed him aggressively.

  For a few seconds, Scott didn’t quite know what to think. This was not how he expected things to go. His brain was trying to figure out all the reasons why he shouldn’t be doing this, but when he felt her breasts pressed against his chest, he went with it.

  His hands caressed up her back, on her sides, then he cupped her head holding her firmly in the kiss before he dropped his attention lower to her neck.

  With one move, he scooted them onto the cot, tucking Lena beneath him as he kissed his way down her neck and over her collar bone. He tugged her shirt over her head, tossing it on the floor. Feathering her skin with more kisses, working his way towards her breasts. He cupped her left breast in his hand, kneading, flicking her nipple with his thumb as his mouth found the right. Scott flicked his tongue over her nipple through her bra.

  Releasing her other breast, he reached around her to unfasten her bra, tossing it with the shirt.

  He raised up enough to look at her body. She had perky round breasts that were simply beautiful. They were a perfect fit in his hands.

  He lowered his mouth over one nipple then the other, flicking his tongue, swirling his tongue around the areola, then sucking them into his mouth.

  Lena’s back arched as he sucked, moaning with pleasure. She tugged his shirt over his head, tossing it with hers.

  He continued kissing a trail down her ribs, down to her belly button as his thumb hooked on the top of her shorts and tugged them off over her hips. Her abdomen was a perfect plain with a slight bit of definition of muscle. He kissed across her lower abdomen from one hipbone to the other before moving lower.

  One flick of his tongue had her gasping. This was something Bryce would never do. He fully expected oral pleasures for himself but he never reciprocated. Lena fully enjoy Scott’s talented tongue.

  He pushed one finger into her wet slit as he flicked her clit with his tongue.

  “Unggghhhhh” her hand was on his head, stroking her fingers through his hair.

  Gabby had come back to their tent and was just about to go in when she heard her sister moan. She was tempted to peak, but decided to let them have their privacy. She headed back to Erik’s tent.

  Scott continued with two fingers inside her, while he licked and sucked on her clit.

  Lena clutched a hand full of his hair as she arched into him, lifting her hips up, reaching her climax.

  Now it was Scott moaning as he licked furiously as she convulsed against him. When she
slowed her rocking, he moved up her body, unfastening his shorts and moving between her legs.

  He kissed her deeply as he held his member until he found his mark. Slowly he pushed inside of her.

  He swallowed her moans as he began to thrust slowly at first, then increasing his tempo. They moved in perfect unison.

  Both were trying to be as quiet as possible, because sound traveled in this camp.

  Scott lifted up, breaking the kiss, his eyes scrunched as he forced himself to slow down. He wanted this to last for both of them.

  When she looked up at him, overcome with lust and ground against him, he could no longer hold back. His thrusts became faster, a little rougher. He wasn’t holding anything back as he thrust fully into her.

  “Lena.”

  She nodded, on the verge of climaxing again.

  He dropped his head over hers, kissing her roughly as he thrust a few more times before reaching his peak. Scott slowed his pace, but continued his thrusts for several minutes before he stilled.

  Breathless, he moved to her side, pulling her against his chest. They lay together, breathless until they dozed off around two in the morning.

  Chapter 16: Coffee, Bacon, and New Plans

  Ill is the result of being more given to big talk than using one’s wits.

  - the Sagay of Bjarn of the Hitdoela champions, c.19

  “Hey you two, cover up so I can come in and get dressed.” Gabby had leaked inside briefly and stood outside the tent doors.

  “Wha?” Lena shifted in the bed looking towards the doorway and realized that they were only partially under her blanket. She pulled it up over them both. Scott cuddled up against her, pulling her closer.

  “OK. It’s safe.” Lena eeked out hoarsely.

  Gabby came through to get her things and change clothes. “How late were you two up?”

  “Dunno. Sometime around two I think.” Lena rolled over facing her sister. Scott draped his arm over her waist. “What time is it?”

  “It’s nearly nine. You want me to bring you something? Breakfast will be closed in just a few. A coffee? A plate?” Gabby changed her clothes while Scott was still sleeping.