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The diffusionist theory had always faced a major hurdle: the absence of scientifically verified evidence that would prove contact between one hemisphere and another before Coluyptian pyramids and Cambodian temples and Mexican mounds resembled one another But nobody had discovered the artifact to connect them: Until now And in a Phoenician port Oh, Christ
This was going to stir up one hell of aTut's toical establishoon proved a link existed between the Old World and the Neo thousand years before Christopher Coluh! Nina jammed on her mental brakes before she went over the precipice She needed to think this through with a clear head She swatted a couple of flies and lay down on the cot She tried to put all thoughts out of hershe knew, she was being awakened by the dinner bell
Yawning and rubbing her eyes, she stuold sunset was in theShe walked to the mess tent and sat at the opposite end of the table fro court The same old blahblah She tuned hi her self before dessert, she went back to her tent and plunked down in front of her laptop
Working late into the night, Nina typed up a suo with her mosaic photos By the ti She put on a flannel nightie, congratulating herself for her prescience in packing it Days were hot and dry, but at night a cool breeze came in off the ocean She slipped under her blanket and lay there listening to the laughter and Arabic conversation as thethe voices were silent and the camp was asleep
Except for Nina She lay on the cot wishing she hadn't taken a nap Sandy's fax had wound her up as well She tossed and turned, finally falling into a light slu of the fire Her eyes blinked open, and she stared into space Sleep wasn't meant to be
Wide awake once more, Nina wrapped the blanket around her shoulders like a Navajo, pulled on her Teva sandals, and slipped outside A branch of burning olive tree exploded in little red spark showers on the smoky fire The only other illu outside the tents in case soht
Nina looked up at the black sky The crystal air was so dear that it seemed she could see distant nebulae with her naked eye Iht frolea to the staircase, she sat down on the top step and gazed out at the oon
Yellow pinpoints glowed on the ocean The NUMA ship with the turquoise hull ht setation, e She closed her eyes and listened In her iination cli
cking reeds beca snorts the grunts of breechclothclad sailors hoisting a, slivers of cold air penetrated the blanket She shivered, realizing she had lost track of tioon, she started back
As she crested the ridge of dunes a strange noise ca out under the attack of a hunting predator She heard it again This was no bird or animal It was human Someone in terrible fear or pain
She picked up her pace to a trot, e from the dunes where she could see the camp
It was like a scene out of Dante where faceless demons herd new arrivals to their hellish punish prodded and pushed by guncarrying figures dressed in black The Iowa couple carabbed her long white hair, and she was dragged along the ground screa in terror Her husband tried to intervene only to be dubbed to the ground, where he lay bloodied and un
Still in his flannel pajamas, Professor Knox burst froh to see the expression on his face He appeared htened Dr Fisel's unmistakably rotund form appeared, and soh Nina couldn't hear what he said against the growing background of cries and yells Most of the expedition people were outside now, crowded into a terrified group Nina caught a glimpse of the drivers and cook Gonzalez must have been with the others, but she couldn't see him
The assailants stopped their brutal attack and ained his dignity and stood with head high He seemed frozen in stone; his face looked a thousand years old Fisel saas coly chatter of gunfire
The hail of bullers rass Incredibly, despite the intensity of the killing fire, pitiful moans came from the pile of bodies Any hope Nina had of survivors vanished when two intruders stepped over the carnage Seven shots rang out a few seconds apart The groaning stopped The only sound was the faint crackle of the wood fire