What did it say in Genesis? “So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him…” Which begged the question: who wrote those words? Certainly not God. It could only have been a man. Making such a claim was the height of hubris. Narcissism taken to the nth degree.
Reaching his tent, Corbett stepped inside. Moving to his suitcase, he removed his computer from its hidden compartment and set it on the field desk. Plugging it in, he waited as it booted up allowing his mind to continue its rant. Where was the common thread linking the three great religions to emerge from the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity and Islam? Suppose God had been nothing more than a hallucination. Yahweh, the Lord God Almighty, and Allah… each one a mystical byproduct of fasting, sleep deprivation, thirst and hunger spread by delusional, irrational, self-proclaimed prophets. What if the word of God was nothing more than a series of contradictions, half-truths and superstitious ramblings? Little wonder it should lead to misunderstanding, misery, violence and death. And while men spilled each other’s blood over which was the truer lie, god, that eternal enigma, sits mute allowing the carnage to mount in his name. Families destroyed, innocents slaughtered… War without end.
At last the email icon appeared on the screen. Corbett clicked on it and entered the encryption code. Typing Reed’s email address, he wrote:
Dear Mom: Have encountered serious complications in town. Situation grave. To avoid contamination will need to move patient A.S.A.P. For complete recovery, urgent you send travel prescription now. – Sonny
Clicking on “SEND,” he waited for the screen to confirm the message had been delivered, then shut down the computer once more before returning it to its compartment and heading back up the mountain.
*****
It was just after noon by the time Corbett actually reached the entrance to the cave. A string of LED lights, still unlit, had been strategically placed to illuminate the upper reaches of the cavern. With the elevator cage now tethered by cable to the winch, the bulk of the equipment including the aluminum case containing the Riegel 3D Laser Scanner stood to one side along with its tripod ready to be lowered into the cavern below, where Roberto and Karim would begin assembling it. To one side, Ella waited with her photographic equipment, impatiently checking everything for the umpteenth time. Catching his eye, she smiled.
“Hurry and wait, hurry and wait… There must be a better way.”
“In archeology,” Corbett replied, “patience is the last virtue they ask you to give up.”
“Really…?” she smiled holding his gaze. “I’ll have to think about that.”
Skirting the equipment containers waiting to be lowered into the cave below, Corbett stopped at the water cooler which had been set up beside the winch. Taking a paper cup, he was filling it when he heard voices coming from his right. Sebastian was speaking with two student volunteers, a somewhat overweight young woman named Jennet and a young man of Greek descent named Nestor. Stepping closer, he could see them huddling around the initial excavation of a shallow pit. Perhaps two meters square and several millimeters deep, it stood beneath the reddish outline of a human hand impressed upon the limestone wall. Intrigued, Corbett dropped to a knee beside Sebastian.
“What have we got here…?” he asked.
“Muy interesante,” Sebastian replied. “Look at this. Yesterday, Nestor noticed it.” Sebastian turned, allowing his LED light to play across the silhouette of a hand in dark crimson.
“Some sort of marker,” Corbett noted.
“Which is why, as I mentioned, we decided it might be worth a closer look. And bueno, this morning we already have begun to uncover what promises to be a fully preserved skull.” He held up a trowel and a long-bristled brush. “Jennet has started sifting through the detritus. But we will need more help.”
The young woman called Jennet stood at the forensic sifting screen diligently examining what had been removed so far. “Everything takes time. We must be very methodical. Labor intensive, but critical.”
“Tomorrow,” Corbett agreed. “I’ll make sure you get one of the laborers from the village to help.” Looking closer, he stared at the petrified cranium being exposed in the rock, its lower jaw still imbedded beneath the surface.
“Male or female…?” Corbett mused.
“We shall see,” Sebastian replied. “But what we have uncovered so far is excelente – wonderfully preserved.”
“Nice work. Keep at it.” Corbett rose and stood staring past the sifting screen, his eyes tracing something along the cave wall.
“Something else…?” Sebastian questioned, his eyes following the same line of descent.
“Just thinking,” Corbett replied. “A cave like this, with a shelf of rock so near the mouth… No reason to go deeper unless…”
“Unless…”
“They found some way down… at least to where we found the wall paintings. 30,000 years ago, there would have been no other option. They must have had a way.”
Directing the light from his helmet ahead of them, Corbett moved to the far edge of the rock shelf as Sebastian followed. A rough natural rock pathway descended into the darkness following the contour of the cave wall. Irregular, it was perhaps a meter wide.
“An excellent observation, Michael,” Sebastian agreed.
“Maybe tomorrow we can have someone check it out.”
Abruptly, the rhythmic hum of a generator intruded upon the quiet of the cave as the LED work lights suddenly came to life, illuminating the entire upper cavern.
Sebastian smiled broadly. “And let there be light.” Behind them, Jennet and Nestor laughed and looked around them as Hector stepped from beyond the field generator out of the darkness. Spreading his arms, he looked at Corbett and Sebastian with a triumphant grin.
