Carved in Stone

by Stein Willard

  Sadik offered the cup to his mother and took his seat next to her. “I’ve noticed. The last time she visited the mainland, Yegane had to beg for her to eat something lest she collapsed.”

  “She’s lonely, son. I don’t know how she could’ve held out for so long. I am scared for her.”

  “She will be fine, Mother. Aspen is a very strong woman.”

  “You sound awfully sure of that,” Aka said as she looked at her son over the rim of her coffee cup.

  “I think we might have found Phage.”

  The coffee cup clattered to the floor as Aka stared at her son. “Sadik?”

  Wondering vaguely what it was with the women in his life and breaking things, Sadik grabbed a dishtowel and quickly cleaned up the mess. At this rate, he might soon have to bring his own crockery from the mainland for his overnight stays. He only spoke again after he’d served his mother another cup of coffee.

  “Last night I brought her a picture of an American woman.”

  “Is it her? Are you certain?”

  “I don’t know, Mother, but Aspen acted odd when she saw the picture. She took off to the beach and I haven’t seen her since.”

  Aka cast her eyes to the sky. “I pray that the time has come for someone to chase those pain-filled shadows from her eyes. She has suffered enough.”

  “I believe so too.” He finished his last sip of coffee. “The jet is on standby.”

  “Do you have to leave already?”

  “Unfortunately yes, Mother. I have to collect Yegane and the kids in Athens and fly back to Ankara.”

  “When will I see my grandchildren, Sadik? Potlemis must be grown by now.”

  Sadik grinned at his mother. Aka had the tendency to exaggerate sometimes. The kids had spent the holidays with her and Aspen a few weeks ago, now she made it sound as if she hadn’t seen them in months.

  “I am off to London in a month’s time and I’m sure Yegane and the kids would like to visit you during my absence. You can see for yourself then how grown-up my heir is.” He gave his mother a quick kiss.

  As he made his way through the large villa, he thought of Aspen. Last night when she’d left him standing on the terrace, he’d questioned his decision of giving her the picture. He, too, was stunned the first time he’d seen the American woman. As a child he’d spent hours painting with Aspen in her underground studio. While he’d played with colours and textures, Aspen was always hard at work on a new portrait of a fair-headed, golden eyed woman. He lost count of the number of paintings the Sultana had made of the warrior woman. The physical similarities between Aspen’s mate and the beautiful archaeologist were unmistakable. He made his way to the most highly secured wing of the house. Using his thumb print at the steel door, he was admitted inside. The door opened into a large seating interior intended as a waiting area. He walked right through to another door. His thumb print allowed him access again and this time he found himself in a huge airy room. Everywhere he looked were artefacts and memorabilia from all ages you could think of. As a child, he was never allowed to wander through here unsupervised out of fear that he would break something of inestimable value. Now, as a grown man, the area held a sense of mystery for him. The fact that all these things were shaped and crafted by people who died thousands of years ago always sparked his imagination. He advanced deeper into the room until he came to a stop before another door; through the thick shatterproof glass he could make out the life-sized statue which was raised on a small podium.

  His eyes slowly moved over the statue. Dressed in typical 2nd century Galatian Royal regalia, stood Aspen, the Last Queen of Galatia. Cast in timelessness, the ever-present sadness was visible on her beautiful face as she stared intently at whatever it was that had held her attention more than three thousand years ago. Sadik entered the room, his own bearing drooped. It always happened to him whenever he stepped into what Aspen called her mausoleum. Various artefacts of Galatia were placed around the room, just like in the tombs of ancient Pharaohs. The Queen was indeed buried like the revered leader she was in her short reign. This was also the last resting place of Phage the Amazonian. Every last piece of evidence pertaining to the warrior was locked up in here. Tapestries depicting Phage’s many exploits and glorious victories against the Romans adorned the walls. An air-tight glass cabinet in the corner held scrolls which celebrated the life and love of the great Royal couple. Sadik took all this in before he returned his attention to Aspen. That’s when he saw the picture lying at the statue’s feet. He picked it up and looked at the image.

  They had fitted the waiter with a retinal camera, very state of the art, to take this picture and Sadik had to admit the quality was excellent. It was an exceptional representation of the woman. Large golden eyes stared out of the picture and Sadik smiled. The woman was gorgeous. He found her a little too intimidating, with her towering 6ft2 frame and powerful shoulders. Nonetheless, she was very beautiful. He shifted his gaze from the picture to the statue. It was obvious Aspen turned while she still had the picture in her hand. He turned away and walked over to the shelf which was directly on eye-level with the statue. He moved away some of the artefacts and placed the photo there.

  He turned back to the statue and grinned. “Now she will be the last image you see before you turn and the first one when you open your eyes.” He reached out and gently stroked Aspen’s hand. “I will return with her at the weekend. Try to hang in there in the meantime.”

  CHAPTER 6

  Aeron’s cell phone rang where she was busy stuffing clothes into the washer. She closed the door to the washer and patted her pockets looking for her phone.

  “Hello,” she greeted as she set the machine.

  “Airhead? How do you feel today?”

  “Probably the same way you do. What time did you get home?”

  A deep sigh sounded and Aeron could hear the rustling of bedding. If Caroline was still in bed at this time, they must’ve been out very late.

  “I had to hunt down the group. They met some of the diggers from another site and moved on to another bar. It took me two hours to round them all up and another hour to get them to their dorms.”

  Aeron chuckled. “I take it they are all grounded now.”

  “I wish. The faculty had them sign indemnity forms and these kids see that as a passport to decadence. My babysitting duties end when they clock out for the day. But I think I can work my way around that and keep them busy until late evening for the next few days.”

  “How wicked of you. It’s quite clear why you’re in charge and not them. What do you have planned for the rest of the day?”

  Caroline stifled a yawn. “I plan on sleeping the day away and maybe read a little. You?”

  “Doing my laundry as we speak. I will pop in at the museum later to see if there’s anything that needs to be done before tomorrow and then I’ll probably hit the gym.”

  “I read somewhere there’ll be a competition in Boston. Do you plan to take part since it’s your hometown anyway?”

  Aeron flexed her shoulders. Her love for bodybuilding started in high school when her extremely tall, thin body was a source of ridicule from other students. After coming home one day, she found her father sitting at the kitchen table with pamphlets and posters.

  “Here’s an option, honey,” he said as he studied the picture of a female bodybuilder. “Imagine what this would do to your self-esteem and what you could do afterwards to those morons who pick on you.”

  She was hooked on the idea immediately. When after four months of religiously using the home gym in the basement and eating healthily, she’d begun to see the changes. Her body posture was the first visible change. Where previously she had walked with her shoulders stooped to make herself seem shorter, she now walked up straight with her shoulders pushed back. Her tormentors were quick to pick up on the physical changes and stayed out of her way.

  “With my current workload I doubt it. But I will have to start participating again sooner or later. I have about six
months left on my contract with the THA. It will be easier to prepare once I’m back in the States.”

  “Maybe you can even start teaching, who knows,” Caroline teased.

  “That will never happen. You were born with the patience of Job; last night was a perfect example of how right you are for teaching. I prefer working with dead people, who don’t talk back or give me attitude.”

  Caroline laughed. “You’re right. Patience was never your strong point. Anyway, I know you’re busy, but I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful time last night. It was almost like old times.”

  Aeron was warmed by Caroline’s words. “I had fun too, Caro, but please let’s not do it again soon. It’ll take a long while for all the alcohol to leave my system.”

  “Yeah, mine too. I’ll leave you to your laundry. See you tomorrow.”

  “Bye.”

  The rest of the day became a blur as Aeron tried to keep busy lest her mind returned to the disturbing erotic dream she woke up from that morning.

  ***

  Aeron met Caroline’s eyes over the head of a sulking student and smiled. True to her word, Caroline had come up with a plan to keep her students busy until eight o’clock every evening. Despite the sulking and pouting, Aeron was simply relieved to have all those hands available to help her with the labelling and cataloguing. With the help of the students they have made a huge dent in the stacks of material that had been piling up over the past three months.

  She returned her attention to the scattered remains on her work table. The dig at the Roman Baths resulted in a good find and she was eager to assess the articles, but since the dream she has had two nights before, she found it difficult to concentrate. Instead of pushing herself to work and make mistakes, she could rather save herself the time it would take to redo the work later. Grabbing her bag, she waved at Caroline and left. What she needed then was a nice workout in the sun. Hailing a taxi, she gave him the address to a nearby dig that was also commissioned by the Turkish Heritage Association.

  As she walked around the dig, the sun kissing her skin, Aeron immediately felt lighter. She missed spending time on a dig, the sun beating down of her. She loved working for the THA and the prestige the position brought. But nothing will truly compare to being in the field. She rounded a makeshift tent and grinned.

  Dr Harold Klimt, a friend and fellow archaeologist was groaning as he tried to push a plastic container with top soil under a collapsible table.

  “Need help, Skinny?”

  Bespectacled brown eyes lifted to meet hers. “Hey, Bruiser, you’re a godsend. I was about to call you over here anyway” He waved her closer. “But first, let’s put all those muscles to the test.”

  Between the two of them they managed to push the container out of the way and under the table. Harold walked over to the cooler and took out two bottles of water. Aeron nodded her thanks and walked to a table in the corner to look at what looked like small lumps of dirt.

  “You struck dirt, it seems.”

  Harold smirked and came to stand next to her. “I arrived yesterday. We were digging in what was believed to be a Greek marketplace, when the metal detector went haywire.” He carefully unfolded a cloth and held up a bronze coin, his face bright with excitement. “Look at this.”

  Aeron reached inside her shirt pocket to take out her glasses. Holding the coin up, she carefully studied it. Her training immediately kicked in. “Hmmm… Early Byzantine. Well preserved too.”

  “Well I thought so too. But turn it around.”

  Aeron did and her mouth fell open. “What is this?” She looked at Harold before she studied the etched image closely. “This is not Queen Zenobia’s bust. I… I don’t understand.”

  Harold’s eyes were intense as he looked at her. “That’s why I wanted to see you. I think we might have found something quite spectacular here, my friend. If not Zenobia, then who?”

  Aeron felt her skin crawl in anticipation. This could be the find of the century! She studied the coin again. The features were fierce and strong. This was not the bust of any Roman, Greek or Egyptian woman. She swallowed hard. The only other explanation could be… NO. She can’t think about that right now. Nor could she make a conclusion without having seen the proof. She prayed Harry would understand that it would take many years, decades even, before this find could be verified. She suddenly couldn’t wait for the weekend and her meeting with Sadik. If he has the proof that he said he did, then he would be able to make sense of this coin.

  “Imagine what will happen if the world finds out that the Amazons really existed?” Harry muttered.

  A sadness filled Aeron. She’d been at the mercy of the pompous asses that run the archaeological word. As defining as the find was, it was probably not enough. She turned to Harold.

  “They might need more, buddy.”

  Harold grinned. “And so they shall.” He walked over to a locked chest. “I carried this thing with me since yesterday.” He rummaged in the wooden box and came out with a heavily wrapped tablet. Before Aeron’s eager gaze he gently opened it. “Come see for yourself.”

  Aeron stood closer. Her eyes almost bugged when she studied the tablet in Harold’s hand. “Holy cow, Harry!”

  “I thought the same.”

  ***

  Sadik drummed his fingertips on the table as he studied the three men standing on the other side of his wide, gleaming desk.

  “And?”

  The shortest of the men spoke first. “We did as you instructed, sir. All we have to do now is to wait.”

  Sadik climbed to his feet and circled the desk. “Gentlemen, I don’t know how else to emphasise the importance of this project. Failure is simply not an option.” He rubbed his chin. “I still don’t understand how the three of you could’ve missed Dr Whittaker’s paper.” The men lowered their gazes. “You’ve almost placed me in a very uncomfortable spot with the Sultana.”

  “That was a regrettable oversight on our side, sir. We assure you it will not happen again.”

  Sadik pierced the man with a sharp glare. “Yes, because a repeat of such incompetence would surely be regrettable. You may leave.”

  As the men filed out of his office, a small frown wrinkled his brow. The phone call from his mother earlier was still on his mind. Aka had pleaded with him to bring the archaeologist to the island as soon as possible. It seemed Aspen was more withdrawn now than ever. She rarely ate and had stayed in stone form for the whole day on Sunday. He’d suspected she could alter her transformation patterns. There had been a few incidents when he was growing up: reports that Aspen had been sighted walking around during the day. It just never struck him that she would willingly choose to remain in stone. That was not a good sign at all. That was why he sent his own team out to reel in the fish. The intercom on his desk beeped.

  “Yes.”

  “You asked me to remind you of your four o’clock meeting, sir.”

  “Thank you, Amara. Are the others already in the boardroom?”

  “Yes, sir.

  “Please make sure the audio link with the Sultana has been established.”

  “Already done, sir.”

  Sadik’s lips turned upward. Luckily not all his staff have been infected by the Science team’s incompetence.

  “In that case, I’m on my way.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Harold took a long pull on his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Aeron, on the other hand, just stared down at her beer.

  “Talk to me, Bruiser. You’re awfully quiet.”

  Aeron looked up, looking her friend straight in the eyes. “Something just doesn’t add up, Harry.”

  Harry rolled his eyes. “What is it this time, Aeron?”

  “I don’t know, but this just doesn’t seem right.”

  “What doesn’t? The find, the context …what?”

  Aeron took a swig of her beer, her eyes distant. “Why now? I mean, this dig’s been active for seven years. It’s just strange that these artefacts s
hould appear out of nowhere.”

  “What do you mean ‘nowhere’? We dug for it and found it,” Harry huffed.

  Aeron grimaced. “I didn’t mean it like that, Harry.” She patted the vexed man’s hand. “Why would ‘Amazonian’,” she made big air quotation marks, “artefacts suddenly appear now? Look at the timeline. If anything had to show up at the pace you’ve been going, I’d say you should be getting finds from the Ottoman period.” She looked at Harry closely. “You get where I’m going?” She could see the doubt in Harry’s eyes now. “I’m not questioning the find, Harry.”

  Harry lifted his beer bottle to his lips and didn’t take it away until it was empty. He delicately burped behind his hand. “I understand. But there can be many explanations for that. Remember Professor Grammar’s find at the Russian Steppe?”

  “Yes. He dug up a Colt in what was supposedly a Viking burial site.”

  “And?”

  “It’s suspected that the weapon could’ve belonged to grave robbers or an early 19th century archaeological team.”

  Harry looked incredibly smug as he signalled the waiter. “You want another one?”

  Aeron looked at her beer. “I’m fine. Thanks.” She waited until Harry had ordered another beer. “You need to get your thoughts together, Harry. This find is huge and now that I know, I’ll have to let the Board know. The media will be swarming the site by Friday.”

  Harry paled a little. “Do you have too?”

  “Regretfully, yes, my friend. Do you have any idea how many women, like myself, want to believe that Amazons really existed?”

  Harry harrumphed. “As long as you help me with my speech for when the media comes knocking.”

  Aeron shrugged. “The THA has a PR consultant who will be eager to help you with that. But if you want my personal expertise, you have it.”

  The waiter placed the beer in front of Harold. “Will that be all, sir?”

  “Yes, thank you.” He turned his attention back to Aeron. “Will you give me the heads up before the media wave crashes down on me? I want to look good when that happens.”