Griffin smiled. “Then I have good news for you.”
“Really?”
“We will have quite a lot of time to figure this out.”
Cassie picked up the bee, turned it over and shook it. “I don’t see anything falling out that says, ‘Take your time. No rush.’” She set it back down in dismay.
The scrivener was beaming smugly. “Ah, but that’s exactly what it says. It’s in the third line of the message.”
By now, everyone around the table was staring at him.
“When the bull turns the season,” he repeated, apparently expecting them to comprehend. When they didn’t, he continued. “It’s a clear reference to the vernal equinox.”
“The what?” Cassie asked.
Faye took up the explanation. “The vernal equinox is the date when days and nights are of equal length.” She turned to face Griffin. “But I don’t understand why you would necessarily connect a bull to that date.”
“I admit it’s a bit of a stretch,” the scrivener replied. “Due to precession, the constellation associated with the vernal equinox has shifted over time. Approximately every two thousand years, the sun rises on the equinox in a different constellation. It currently rises in Pisces and in a few hundred years will shift to Aquarius. At the time our Minoan friends buried their relic, the equinox would have occurred in the constellation of Aries the ram.”
“So how come they’re talking about a bull?” Erik asked.
“Because Minoan civilization first flowered when the equinox constellation would have been Taurus the bull. Their mythology continued the tradition of associating the vernal equinox with the bull long after it was no longer literally true.”
“But what’s this got to do with us?” Cassie urged impatiently.
“My dear girl, you really need to brush up on your astronomical phenomena. The vernal equinox is the first day of spring. It usually falls somewhere around March 21st.”
Cassie began to count excitedly on her fingers. “But that’s more than eight months from now!”
“Precisely,” Griffin nodded. “Hence my assertion that we have plenty of time to solve this riddle.”
“Which means you’re convinced we can’t find the relic til then?” Cassie asked dubiously.
“Well, it would certainly be consistent with what occurred on Ida,” Griffin replied. “If we hadn’t been in position at precisely that time of year, we wouldn’t have found the bee.”
“They’ve hidden these objects in space and time,” Faye observed.
“Eight whole months,” Cassie exhaled in wonder.
“We’ll still need to apply ourselves before then,” Griffin warned.
“Yeah, yeah,” the pythia dismissed him. “But not tomorrow.”
“And not next week either.” Erik glanced around at his companions. “I don’t know about you guys, but I vote for taking a week off.”
Faye and Maddie exchanged a look.
The memory guardian replied, “It’s fine with me if Maddie agrees.”
The operations director smiled wryly. “Go on. Get outta here.”
The trio didn’t need any further encouragement.
Erik sprang out of his seat.
Cassie stood up too. “All the things I could do with a week off.” She closed her eyes, imagining the possibilities.
Griffin collected his files and followed his teammates.
“There’s a beach in Tahiti I haven’t been to in a couple of years,” Erik said half to himself. “Just hanging out. Sun, sand, surf, island chicks.” He turned back to Maddie. “How about it, chief?”
“You expect me to foot the bill for that?” Maddie asked incredulously.
“Oh, come on. I risked life and limb on this last recovery. I deserve some R and R.”
She eyed him appraisingly and then said, “I suppose we can work something out.”
Taking that as a yes, Erik smiled happily and headed for the door.
Cassie followed him out. “I think I’ll get a pedicure.”
“A pedicure?” he echoed in disbelief.
“Hey, you relax your way, and I’ll relax mine.”
Griffin brought up the rear. “I confess I’m rather eager to get back to the vault. I miss my books.”
His companions sighed in exasperation.
“Griffin, you really need a chia pet or something,” Cassie muttered.
The trio happily continued to discuss their plans as they walked down the corridor. Maddie and Faye kept silent until their voices faded in the distance.
The operations director shook her head in disbelief. “They’re the oddest mix of characters I’ve ever seen in the field. It’s amazing they even found their way to the airport. Much less…” she trailed off.
Faye completed her thought. “Much less managed to accomplish the impossible.” She picked up the golden bee and considered it, smiling. “I don’t believe we’ve even scratched the surface of what they can do. Exciting times are in store for the Arkana, and they’ll be at the forefront of it all.”
“I can feel my ulcer acting up already,” Maddie groaned.
THE DRAGON’S WING ENIGMA
The Dragon’s Wing Enigma
Book Three of Seven – Arkana Archaeology Mystery Thriller Series
http://www.mythofhistory.com
Copyright © 2012 by N. S. Wikarski
Third Revised Edition 2017
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1 – Look Out
A Long Time Ago in a Land Far Away
They sat at the entrance to the cave watching the light fade over the peaks. There were two of them—a man and a boy. They didn’t speak but merely watched the sky and the valley floor below them falling into shadow. They could see smoke rising from the hills beyond. They didn't know how many had perished, but more deaths were sure to follow. Torches dotted the green pastures beneath their perch—evenly spaced—all climbing a single trail up the mountain. Fire in the sky and fire below. The torches grew ever brighter as the sky grew ever darker. Soon the lights would reach even this most secret of hiding places. The men who carried them lived for no other
