“’Some guys they hired?’” Shay asked. “You mean mercenaries?”
“Nah, not from what I can tell. Nothing serious anyway, but the buzz is that they somehow got information on the location from a spell.”
Lily shrugged. “Maybe whatever that wizard did for the client made the coin easy for other people to find. Magical resonance and that kind of thing. I’ve heard of it before.”
“Damn.” Shay nodded. “Could be. But that means if we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to hit Switzerland soon, if not immediately.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Peyton replied. “Which is why I’m glad you’re here. So what’s the call?”
“Book a couple seats on a supersonic for tonight. I have my lecture to deliver, and I’ll head out right after that. If we have the coordinates, it should be a quick pick-up.”
“A couple of seats?” Peyton looked at Lily. “You’re taking her?”
Shay nodded. “Yep. Can’t learn to be a tomb raider if she never goes out on tomb raids, and this one sounds low-key enough. I’m sure we can avoid the Japanese guys without trying too hard.”
Lily blinked and jumped to her feet, excitement all over her face.
Peyton laughed. “Wow. Don’t think I’ve ever seen you express that much emotion.” He shrugged. “Okay, I’ll get another set of equipment ready to go.”
Switzerland and magic coins might have weighed on her mind on any night, but as Shay finished delivering her lecture to the wide-eyed undergraduates in the lecture hall, she didn’t give a shit about the artifact or the raid.
Truth. That’s what I delivered to them. Fucking truth. I love it, and they love it. Maybe there’s some hope for this shitty world after all.
A petite blonde in the front row raised her hand.
Shay pointed at her. “What’s your question?”
The girl smiled. “Well, you talked a lot about how there were two tunnel systems, but most of the legends seemed to concern only the upper human tunnel system. It was basically incidental that they discovered the other tunnel system.”
“Yes, I’d say that’s an accurate evaluation of what happened.”
“Do you think that the legends were fueled more by the Oriceran tunnels then, or it’s just a coincidence, and people were lucky to have even found the older tunnel system?”
Shay smiled. “Great question. Yes, in this case, I think it is a bit of a coincidence. In most cases of Oriceran influence, there’s at least a semi-direct link between the existing lore and the truth. At least the truth as best we know when it comes to the artifact or location, even if it’s obscured behind heavily accreted myths and legends. In this case, we were just lucky there happened to be more ancient tunnels. Nothing wrong with a little serendipity in the pursuit of the truth though, right?”
The gathered students chuckled.
Shay moved to her lectern and tapped the tablet. A picture of a smoothly-carved tunnel lit by portable string lights appeared on the screen in the front of the lecture hall. “This is where things get very exciting. Just because we know about Oriceran now doesn’t mean that every rumor or legend is true, or even evidence of anything more than good storytelling.
“This is where historians and archaeologists have a lot of work to do to dig, metaphorically or not, into these rumors and legends to discern the actual truth. Then, and only then, can we have a true understanding of what has unfolded on Earth and Oriceran. The more we understand about what might have happened, the better we know what to look for.”
A huge undergraduate in the front seat raised his hand.
“Yes?” Shay asked.
He shrugged. “So, you know, everyone’s talking about how all this old stuff maybe is Oriceran, maybe it isn’t, but they didn’t say that before. They used to say a lot of stuff was alien, you know, like the pyramids, but now they say it’s Atlantean.”
Shay nodded slowly. “That’s correct.”
“Just saying, how do we know that’s right? Maybe there’s like a thousand planets out there filled with elves and crazy aliens, and they’ve all done different things. We’re all just assuming it’s Oriceran because that’s the easy explanation. Like you said earlier…something with a P?”
Damn. Good instincts, kid. I wish I could tell you the complete truth, but this time I just have to point you that way.
Shay shrugged. “It’s definitely a possibility, and one I don’t think any responsible truth-seeker should discard. Paradigm changes in our understanding make certain things seem obvious in hindsight, such as Oriceran influence. It’s entirely possible that in the future, provided we get concrete evidence, we’ll find there are other ancient influences on our world that haven’t previously been accounted for.” She rubbed her hands together, and her eyes gleamed with excitement. “If you take anything away from my lectures, it’s that you should continue to question. The truth isn’t what someone says in a book. The truth exists out there, yearning to be found, and it’s your responsibility as future scholars to find it, even if it’s uncomfortable.”
The blonde from before frowned. “Uncomfortable?” She looked at her friend sitting behind her, but the other girl just shrugged, clearly not understanding what might be discomforting about archaeology.
“Yes, uncomfortable,” Shay repeated. “Most of you don’t get it. You’ve grown up your entire life with magic being a real and obvious thing—something taught in school alongside history, with elves and dwarves and wizards being something the government had to make laws for.” She shook her head. “I was just a kid when the truth came out about Oriceran, but it still blew me away. Everyone had always told me, ‘Magic isn’t real. It’s just something in books and movies.’ And then the next thing you know,
