Read Online Among Galactic Ruins by Anna Hackett - Free Book Online Page A

right.’”
    Dathan rolled his eyes upward. “Gods save us
from fucking cryptic clues.”
    Lexa ignored him. “Anything known as a
crossways near here? Maybe a crossways of these old caravan
trails?”
    “Yep. There are thousands of them. Some are
larger, but there’s nothing that stands out.” He chewed
thoughtfully on his food.
    Damon was impressed by the young treasure
hunter so far. He was smart, tenacious and prepared. Brocken
Phoenix was an idiot. He was going to lose his boy if he wasn’t
careful.
    Dathan set his own Sync down on the ground
in front of him. He touched the screen and sat back. A
three-dimensional map projected up into the night air in front of
them.
    It was a map of the Sea of Dunes. It showed
the path they’d traveled as a solid green line. Glowing dots marked
some points of interest. Damon leaned forward. He could see the
caravan trails marked in orange.
    Dathan and Lexa got deep into discussion,
pointing out options that could be the mysterious crossways. They
argued, agreed to discard some things, brainstormed.
    Damon pondered what the Sea of Dunes would
have looked like at the time the long-ago priestess had carved her
clues on the vase. “Have you got any historical maps? From the time
of the temple?”
    Lexa and Dathan stared at him, then she
bumped Damon’s shoulder. “Brilliant, Damon. We need to be looking
for a crossways that existed then , not now.”
    “I don’t have any historical maps from that
time,” Dathan said. “But I can get the computer to extrapolate back
to what the Sea looked like then. It won’t be a hundred percent
accurate, but it’ll be close.” He tapped his Sync.
    The map morphed and changed. The dunes
shrunk. Green grass and trees appeared, along with herds of
unidentifiable animals. The oases grew into lakes, and rivers
coursed across the land, headed for Zerzura’s once-bountiful inland
sea.
    “Amazing,” Lexa breathed, eyes bright as she
studied the map. “No wonder the Terrans settled here.”
    Damon studied the map, thinking about all
the planets he’d visited on various missions. Some planets were
covered in huge megacities, others vast deserts like this one, some
covered in forests so dense it was an effort to travel just a few
klicks, and some planets dominated by seas and rivers. Those rivers
had been like highways, used to travel on and give life to the land
around it.
    He stared at the huge rivers of old Zerzura,
and realized the giant valley they’d traveled through today had
been an empty riverbed of the largest river in the area.
    He looked up at the Manifestor constellation
shining brightly overhead. That large river had once traveled in
line with the Manifestor. He looked back at the map…and saw the
river crossed another large tributary coming in from the east.
    “The crossways, I think it was the junction
of two large rivers.” Damon pointed.
    Lexa leapt up. “You’re right! The rivers
would have been important back then, covered with boat traffic and
used for irrigation. The crossways of two large rivers would have
been a large landmark.”
    She shot him a wide smile that lit up her
face. Damon had received many commendations in his career with the
GSS, but they were nothing compared to that smile.
    Dathan traced the river to the large
junction. He tapped the Sync and the map changed back to the
current map. A large sandy space where the two empty riverbeds
crossed. “I know this place. It’s called Confluence.”
    “Confluence?” Lexa was just about bouncing
on the spot. “That’s another word for crossways!”
    “Okay, I’ll plot the best course to get
there, and as soon as the sun is up, we’ll head off.” Dathan closed
the map. “The Confluence is known for flash floods if we get any
freak storms.” He eyed the clear, starry sky. “But thankfully that
should be one problem we won’t suffer.”
    “I think I’ll stay up and keep an eye on the
fence,” Damon said. Something had set that alarm off and