by S. Y. Lee
Rotating the cube around, he tried to find a loose edge or hinge, but there were none to be found. If this were indeed a box, it was well-crafted. He put the object back in its original place, and once again attempted to close the door. There was no glow this time. Themba chuckled nervously to himself. He must be losing his mind. Rubbing his eyes, he walked towards the stairs leading down to the main entrance.
Chapter 12
Thessaloniki
The clay jar stood on the table in the middle of the trailer. If anyone looked closely, there was a hint of paint on the surface, now long faded after centuries in the dirt. The jar was about a foot tall, and one of its handles was partially broken off.
Leaning forward with both palms faced down on the table, Lex peered into the empty jar. He looked up and across at Richard, who was seated on a foldable metal chair.
“Well?” his counterpart asked.
“I don’t think so,” Lex said, throwing his hands in the air. “Maybe? Maybe she’ll think it is, and we can get out of here.”
“She’s smarter than you give her credit for.”
“She’s a damn assistant! What does she know?” Lex growled, though he knew Richard was correct.
They had been at the site for five days now, and the crew had worked quickly to set up at the coordinates given by Jessica. Trailers and tents had been brought in for everyone and they hadn’t left the site since arriving. Jessica had even hired a cook to make sure that there was never any reason to leave.
The two archaeologists had been staring at the fragile artifact in Richard’s trailer for a while. The crew had found it this morning, in a small hut they had unearthed. The crew worked fast and it appeared that Jessica’s directions had brought them to a previously undiscovered village, buried away by years of sand and dirt. To the unknowing crew, it appeared that all was going well. So far, it had been a respectable excavation, and they had already discovered a few items of worth. They didn’t know what they were really here for.
Over the past few days, the two men leading the dig had debated the interpretation of Pandora’s box. Lex was dismissive of the American’s argument that the item could be a jar. At the same time, he felt silly arguing about the form of a non-existent object. Might as well search for the tomb of Hercules or the Golden Fleece while they were at it, he thought.
Richard, on the other hand, was becoming more invested in the search. After doing further research, he had to admit that there were signs the box could be found around where they had set up camp, if it was to be found at all. He kept his promise not to disclose the details of the trip with his wife or to contact her, but he wished his better half was here with him. She would have loved the romanticism of the search. At the same time, she was also accustomed to him not staying in touch while on a dig.
Lex opened his mouth to say something, but two sharp raps on the trailer door pre-empted him. It opened the next second, without invitation. The knocking was a formality, more of a notification, instead of a request to enter. One boot in front of the other, stepped in the now familiar sight of Jessica, still dressed in the proper attire. Since arriving, she had spent most of the time in her trailer, only coming out for meals and intermittently to check on the progress of the dig.
She adjusted her glasses, eyeing the jar between the two men, neither of whom said a word. Walking pass Richard, Jessica tiptoed to peer into the jar. Then, looking sideways at Richard first, then at Lex, she stepped back, leaning against the trailer wall. Her expression hadn’t changed a bit since coming in, yet the two grown men felt like children being caught with their hands in the candy jar.
“It’s not it,” she stated simply.
Richard looked at Lex, expecting him to make an argument or launch into a tirade, but no words escaped him. Lex stood there silently, rubbing the five-day-old beard on his chin. Richard couldn’t tell if he was thinking or was just trying to avoid eye contact with Jessica.
“They just unearthed another hut. Let’s go take a look,” she said, and headed towards the door.
Richard got up and followed in her footsteps. At the door, he looked back and saw Lex still standing there.
“Hey!”
Lex was startled and jumped visibly.“Yeah, I’m coming,” he grumbled.
*
Jessica was tapping her foot on the ground when they caught up with her. She had been waiting for them to climb down the ladder to the site in the pit, and they now stood in front of an ancient stone hut, still partially covered by dirt. This was the sixth such hut the crew had found and it looked nearly identical to all the others. The layout of the buildings reminded Richard of a cul-de-sac. This one appeared to be in the middle of the cluster.
A woman was kneeling on the ground near the doorway with her back facing them.
“Miss Elfman, you said you had something?” Jessica asked the tiny woman. Natalie was barely five foot tall, and as skinny as they come. On top of that, she was dressed casually in an oversized orange hoodie and tattered jeans. On the first day, some of the crew had mistaken her for a child.
“Miss Elfman?” Jessica asked again, the impatience evident in her tone.
Richard reached down and tapped his diminutive colleague on the shoulder, who turned around, looking surprised at his presence. She had been so engrossed in whatever she was examining that she hadn’t noticed they were there. When she saw Jessica’s face, eyebrows arching downwards in annoyance, she stammered, “Oh… Yes, yes! I… I found something.”
“What is it?”
“Uh, a stone tablet,” Natalie said, motioning for them to join her on the ground. Richard and Jessica each took a knee on either side of her, while Lex chose to stand directly behind Natalie, straining his neck to look over her head.
It was, as she said, a stone tablet. It was about ten inches wide and twenty inches long, and it was filled with inscriptions. There were cracks all across the surface of the small slab of stone, and while it looked like it might crumble at any moment, all of the writings were still intact.
“It’s Mycenaean Greek, written in Linear B,” Natalie said, her fingers tracing the edges of the tablet. “I took a picture of it on my phone and as soon as I get back to my trailer, I can start on the translation. It shouldn’t take too long. I recognize some of it, but I can’t be sure.”
Lex had bent further forward now, his head right above Natalie’s. “What do you recognize? What does it say?” he asked, almost directly into the poor woman’s ear.
“Like I said, I’m not sure.” Natalie pointed to the middle of the slab. “There’s something here about boxes. Multiple boxes?”
“And that word, after that, means test or trial, I think,” Richard interjected, guiding Natalie’s hand over some of the symbols.
“This is weird,” she continued, “There’s a name that is repeated a few times. I think it’s Pandora. You know, the woman who opened the box and then bad things happened. But many boxes? Wasn’t it just one box?”
Jessica hadn’t said a word in a while. Her eyes darted left to right on the tablet then back, as though she was reading a book. She didn’t notice Richard studying her, wondering what she was doing. Between him and Natalie, they could only interpret a few words. Maybe there was a specific symbol the non-academic was looking for. Something from the information Stephen Wells had obtained that she hadn’t shared with the group.
When her eyes stopped moving, Jessica stood abruptly. “What about the rest of the hut? Is there anything else in there?” she asked.
“We’re still digging. The back half is caved in, so it might take another half day or so.”
“Okay. Keep digging. Hand me your phone,” Jessica said, extending an open palm to the woman crouched on the ground.
Natalie reached into her back jeans pocket, and pulled out her phone. It was one of the newer models, the kind that took pictures as sharp and crisp as a still camera. She had a good inkling of what was about to happen and didn’t want to hand the device over, but she also
knew she had no choice.
When Jessica had the phone in her possession, she immediately accessed the picture of the stone tablet and deleted it. Then, she dropped the phone on the ground and viciously stomped on it with the heel of her boot, nearly breaking it cleanly into two pieces with the first strike. Natalie cringed and grabbed Richard’s arm instinctively as she witnessed the brutal destruction of her phone.
“What was that about?” Richard shouted at Jessica, still down on his knee.
“Pictures are not sanctioned,” Jessica said without emotion, unmoved by Richard’s raised voice. “I need to talk to you and Mister Huffington. Bring the tablet.”
Jessica headed towards the ladder and climbed out of the pit, leaving the three people stunned. Richard gave Natalie a quick pat on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, not knowing what to say, while Lex took a few steps back. The Englishman was more intrigued than unnerved by Jessica’s actions.
Carefully, Richard picked up the stone tablet, worried it might fall apart at any time. Cradling the slab in one arm like Moses with the ten commandments, he got up and proceeded to the ladder. Lex followed, giving a parting glance at Natalie, who was still staring at the broken shards of her phone. It all seemed a little unnecessary to him, and he started to wonder if there was something else Jessica hadn’t told them about this dig.
Their chaperone was standing in front of Richard’s trailer, holding the door ajar for the two men. She beckoned for them to walk faster. Her normally calm demeanor had been replaced with a sense of urgency.
Once inside, Richard set the tablet down beside the clay jar and joined Lex on the far side of the table. Jessica was the last to enter and she slammed the trailer door hard behind her, locking it for good measure.
“You owe us an explanation,” Richard said, consciously tempering his voice and tone. He was upset at Jessica’s behavior and handling of Natalie, but he didn’t want to quarrel.
Jessica took off her glasses, latching it on the top of her button-down shirt. She sat down on the couch built into the wall of the trailer, and heaved a deep sigh, pulling her long, brown hair back tightly as she tied it into a ponytail with a hair tie on her wrist.
Lex cleared his throat loudly. He had the same questions as Richard, and he wanted answers. The tension in the stale air was palpable. The trailer was windowless, and though they could faintly hear the activity outside, it felt like the three of them were in a capsule in space. Jessica tilted her head back, resting it against the wall, her eyes staring at the ceiling.
“We’re close,” she said. “Very close.”
“For God’s sake, woman!” Lex yelled. Her nonchalant attitude had pushed him over the ledge finally. “I want to know what you know! What does this tablet mean? Why so secretive? I doubt anyone else in the world cares about Pandora’s box!”
“And how did Wells come across the information? What does he want with Pandora’s box?” Richard added. He knew the questions were unlikely to be answered, but like Lex, he had been holding it in for too long.
Infuriatingly to both men, Jessica didn’t respond immediately. It wasn’t unusual, but in the agitated state that they were in presently, it almost seemed like she was taunting them. After a long while, she spoke. “The tablet, says that Pandora’s box was broken after she opened it, into several pieces.”
Richard was flabbergasted. “Hold on, you mean to tell me you can read this?”
“And how is that possible? This wannabe here can only read a few words!” Lex piled on.
“Wannabe? You pompous pretender! At least I can read a few words! You wouldn’t even have known what language this is in!” Richard fired back.
“Enough!” Jessica snapped. She was now looking at them.
Richard blushed, embarrassed that he was acting like a child in front of the younger woman. He hated how Lex brought out the worst in him, but he was such a detestable human being. Lex came from money and a privileged background; Richard had to work hard to get to where he was. Lex sought out fame, while Richard let it come to him. It was never about magazine covers or getting a movie made based on himself. He possessed a genuine thirst for discovery and respect for history, and he loathed Lex’s oafish approach. The fact that their different paths had converged at this point disgusted Richard.
Composing himself, Richard said, “Okay. So, what else does the tablet say? I recognized the word “test” or “trial.” I know that from my research on Hercules.”
“According to the tablet, the pieces were put away into separate boxes, until which time the Gods decide to test humanity again,” Jessica said. “We must find the boxes.”
“How many boxes are there? And does it say what tests they are? Do we have to slay ogres or hydras? What happens if humanity fails?” Lex pushed. It wasn’t much, but this was the most they had been able to pry out of Jessica since getting here.
“No… It says the tests will be “other worldly.” To save this world, we must save other worlds,” Jessica said solemnly, ignoring the first question.
“And Mister Wells believes this is real?” Richard asked.
Jessica got up, placing the glasses back on the bridge of her nose, and walked to the door. Looking down as she twisted the handle, she said, “I know it’s real.”
It was just audible enough for both men to hear, as if she had been afraid to utter the words.
Chapter 13
Thessaloniki
“We’re lost!” Sarah exclaimed.
“We’re in the right vicinity. We just need to ask someone for directions. Many of these roads aren’t drawn on the map. Look, the mountain’s right there! How can we be lost?” David pointed at Mount Olympus in the distance, his other hand on the steering wheel.
The twins had decided to rent a car and explore Greece on their own instead of going on a guided tour. David was the designated driver while Sarah navigated. The trip had started out positively with both siblings in high spirits. However, by the second day, they were arguing about every minor detail of the trip, from which hotels to stay in, to what restaurants to eat at.
Presently, they were trying to make their way to Mount Olympus. They didn’t know what they were going to do once they got there, but Sarah had been excited about seeing it, and it was a compromise between the two, after David insisted on a beach day before they went home to gloomy London.
The last stop they had made to ask for directions was a gas station not far back, and the only help the owner, who only spoke Greek, had been was to point at the mountain in the distance. He could have pointed at the sun and it wouldn’t have made a difference.
The old Toyota came to a fork in the road, and while it was the middle of the day, the twins hadn’t seen another vehicle in a long time. David knew he probably should have turned the car around at some point, but he figured they couldn’t get more lost.
Sarah was on her phone, having given up on trying to guide her brother. There was only one road sign and it pointed to the right. It was in Greek, and all David knew was that it didn’t say Mount Olympus. The sign for the other road was long gone, the post bent over, evidently hit by a vehicle at some point. David looked over at his sister, but she was either actively ignoring him or just so focused on her little screen that she was oblivious to the world.
He thought about it for a few seconds, then veered the vehicle left. When he was on the field, soccer ball at his feet, he always went left to his favored foot.
*
“Miss! We’ve got something else!” Natalie heard one of the crew shout out to her. She was hunched over a table just outside the most recently discovered hut, examining some broken clay fragments. The earlier encounter with Jessica still rattled her, and she would have quit right then if not for the pay check she had been promised. She was sure that if she checked her contract, which she had only skimmed before signing, there would be a clause about pictures and non-disclosure. The rich always played by their own rules with their fancy paperwork.
The cr
ew member who had called out to her came out, his clothes covered in dust. He set a wooden box down on the table and went back in. It was a couple of minutes before Natalie diverted her attention away from the fragments, looking up and realizing the person had gone. She looked at the box that had been set down beside her, squinting at the designs on its surface. She had never seen anything like it before. To her, it looked like a giant wooden dice, with pictures instead of pips.
Using the tip of a brush, she nudged on the edges, rotating it slowly to examine each side. As far as she could discern, there were no openings or latches to indicate that this was a box of some kind. Natalie assumed it to be a solid block of wood, likely used as a decorative piece or weight. Normally, she would have gone to get Jessica and the two professors immediately to inform them of this new finding, but the previous interaction had left a sour taste in her mouth. There was no rush, Natalie thought. Maybe it would be better to wait until she could figure out if this was anything noteworthy.
“Hello?” someone said. It was coming from somewhere behind Natalie. The voice was female, with an English accent. Natalie cocked her head. Apart from her, Jessica was the only woman working on this excavation.
When she turned around, standing on the raised ground about twenty feet away, was a young blonde woman dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. The crumbled map in her hand gave away her identity as a tourist. A lost tourist from the looks of it. Right behind her, stood a young man who looked remarkably alike.
“Hi?” Natalie responded tentatively.
“Hi! Thank God you speak English!” the girl said excitably. “My brother here took too many wrong turns and now we’re miserably lost. Can you tell us where we are and how to get to Mount Olympus?”
Chapter 14
Chicago
The rain was coming down hard outside, rattling loudly on the tiles of the roof. The air felt dense, like the sense of dread one feels right before something ominous was about to happen. It had been raining since before the sun had risen, not that it could be verified that the sun had indeed shown up that day. Water fell from the skies like a seemingly unending waterfall.
