The Golden Temple

Chapter 7:

Chapter 7:
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       Parker woke some time later, face down on the bed, with the sun streaming in through the windows. She hadn't bothered to clothes the curtains, so the influx of light assaulted her heavy-lidded eyes. She guessed it was about mid-afternoon, and a quick glance at the clock, confirmed her suspicions. It was two. Before anything else, she put in a call to her dig, pleased that it hadn't been David that answered the phone. She repeated her clear instructions to keep David out of the loop. If anything was discovered, David was to be kept in the dark. If he discovered anything, it was to be confiscated immediately. He needed to know that even though Parker wasn't there, she was still in charge of the dig.

        She called Spiro to ask about her luggage, and discovered that everything from her dig, was sitting neatly outside her hotel room door. A long, warm shower finished waking her up, leaving her feeling energized, and a bit hungry. She didn't know where the rooms of her two cohorts were. She didn't know where to go for food. She'd barely been awake enough last night to stumble into her own poorly lighted room. After carting all of her stuff-which wasn't much considering it was easier to pack lightly on digs- into her room, she set off in search for her new business partners, as well as the Grecian equivalent of continental breakfast.

It didn't take her long to find out that Spiro arranged a lunch for them when they all emerged. A quick chat with the hotel manager cleared up any confusion Parker may have had. She found herself outside, in a beautiful garden that was private to hotel guests only, eating her lunch, and admiring the effort that must've been put into the garden. Walkways were neatly cut in, each one lined with colorful flowers. It was a welcome change from her usual desolate view of Egypt's sand dunes. She'd just finished up when Alexandro made an appearance, carrying a plate piled high with meat. She looked down at her own plate, covered with fresh fruit, crackers, and cheese, then back at his plate before emitting a chuckle. Something had to fuel those muscles.

He took a seat beside her, with a big, toothy grin, "hello." She nodded at him, not really in the mood to talk to the explorer. Their conversation would only end in an argument. She'd learned early on her disagreements with explorers. From her very first dig, she discovered that explorers and archeologists didn't have the same views. As content as archeologists were to go by in the background, they still reveled in the little bit of recognition they would get. But, explorers always liked to be the center of attention, and were overly arrogant because of it. Alexandro was no different, one look into his rugged features, and you'd see it. Not David arrogant- not in his looks-but in his work. He thought he was going to find something out there; he thought he'd be the name of the project, and she and Menos would just be his helpers.

     "Not up for talking, huh," he stuffed a piece of meat in his mouth, "that's fine. There'll be plenty of times to talk during the exploration. You know how soon you become friends with the ones you're stuck in the middle of nowhere with." Parker did. With no one else around, as humans, they would have to have some sort of human contact to stay sane. With only each other, they'd leave this inevitably long expedition best friends, until they all went back to their respective places, and everything they discovered would become distant memories that they liked to talk about. Until the trio met again, they'd all be complete strangers who shared some amazing history.

     She sighed, picking up another cracker, covering it liberally with cheese, "do you know what time we're leaving?" "Sometime this evening," he put down his plate long enough to check his watch, "I'd say in three hours or so. You missed Menos. He's up. Back with the artifact." Parker thought the professor's obsession with the new artifact was rather unhealthy. She made a mental note to ask him about some of his life long passions. She had the sneaking suspension that Athena's temple was the first thing on that list.