before the birth of Christ, before history was even documented. The facts boggled the mind. If the tests were correct, then how could this tablet possibly exist?
She looked again at the motley crew. She had to go to somebody. Why not a rock star, and an Indian with a talking monkey thrown in to sweeten the nuthatch? Nobody else would be willing to believe her.
"Okay, you're hired.” Grayson sighed, truly at the end of her thin grip on sanity.
"Then let's discuss our fee,” Stud interjected before the moment passed. “If this is purely on a consultant basis, we get fifty dollars an hour, plus expenses. On the chance this involves any monster slaying or any contact with the undead in any form or fashion, our fee is tripled."
"You are a blood-thirsty little creature. Aren't you?” Dr. Grayson noted, dryly. “In any case I can't pay anything close to such a large amount. You'll have to abide by the restrictions lain down by the university."
"And they are?” Stud asked. “Quite frankly, what you're saying smacks of communism."
She stopped, letting his words sink in before ignoring them completely in favor of retaining her sanity. “Since this course of action is not fully sanctioned by the college board of deans, I'm going to have to treat this as if you are laborers for one of my archeological digs."
"Which pays what?” Stud shot back.
"Forty dollars a day each, excluding the chimp.” Dr. Grayson felt an aneurism building in the back of her brain.
"Why not the chimp? I have the same rights as any other citizen of this great country.” Stud rose to his full height—a good four foot-three. It wasn't imposing, but she hoped it made him feel better because the sight was giving her a case of the giggles.
"Because for me to pay you, you have to have a social security card,” she smirked, thinking she had finally tripped him up.
"Here you go. Now, sign me up,” Stud said smugly, pulling the card from his wallet and handing it to her.
"How does a monk...” She paused as he gave her a dirty look. “Excuse me—chimpanzee—get a social security card?” She stared at the social security card in her hand with disbelief.
"The internet, baby,” he answered with a slick smile.
"Look, can we get down to business, please?” Breathred begged before things could deteriorate any worse than they already had.
"Come with me.” Dr. Grayson turned her back to them not waiting for the rebuke she knew the chimp had boiling in his throat.
She led them to the back of the classroom where a set of double doors led to her private office. The office was separated into two parts. A small desk and filing cabinet sat to one side. The other side of the room was dominated by a long table full of artifacts obviously from her various digs. Grayson immediately led the trio to the far end of the table, stopping in front of a broken slab of stone.
Once they were settled, she started, “Two years ago, while on a dig in Canada, I unearthed the tablet I'm about to show you. While this is commonplace on most digs, this particular tablet proved older than anything ever found in the northern hemisphere of the Americas. It even predates the pyramids.
"My team and I were excavating an isolated region located in Alberta. We thought we had stumbled onto an ordinary village site. For the most part, that was true. It wasn't until we excavated one of the outbuildings we unearthed, for the lack of a better term—a temple.
"The temple was simple in construction, like others associated with the Inuit tribes who populate the Northern Americas, except for one thing. The others were dominated by animal totems, but the central god of this particular structure was humanoid in form. The wooden totems we unearthed were carved in the shape of a female. My first guess was they represented a new earth mother, or rather an old one as yet unknown to the archeological record. Some of the inscriptions seemed to back this hypothesis.
"In the center of the main
She looked again at the motley crew. She had to go to somebody. Why not a rock star, and an Indian with a talking monkey thrown in to sweeten the nuthatch? Nobody else would be willing to believe her.
"Okay, you're hired.” Grayson sighed, truly at the end of her thin grip on sanity.
"Then let's discuss our fee,” Stud interjected before the moment passed. “If this is purely on a consultant basis, we get fifty dollars an hour, plus expenses. On the chance this involves any monster slaying or any contact with the undead in any form or fashion, our fee is tripled."
"You are a blood-thirsty little creature. Aren't you?” Dr. Grayson noted, dryly. “In any case I can't pay anything close to such a large amount. You'll have to abide by the restrictions lain down by the university."
"And they are?” Stud asked. “Quite frankly, what you're saying smacks of communism."
She stopped, letting his words sink in before ignoring them completely in favor of retaining her sanity. “Since this course of action is not fully sanctioned by the college board of deans, I'm going to have to treat this as if you are laborers for one of my archeological digs."
"Which pays what?” Stud shot back.
"Forty dollars a day each, excluding the chimp.” Dr. Grayson felt an aneurism building in the back of her brain.
"Why not the chimp? I have the same rights as any other citizen of this great country.” Stud rose to his full height—a good four foot-three. It wasn't imposing, but she hoped it made him feel better because the sight was giving her a case of the giggles.
"Because for me to pay you, you have to have a social security card,” she smirked, thinking she had finally tripped him up.
"Here you go. Now, sign me up,” Stud said smugly, pulling the card from his wallet and handing it to her.
"How does a monk...” She paused as he gave her a dirty look. “Excuse me—chimpanzee—get a social security card?” She stared at the social security card in her hand with disbelief.
"The internet, baby,” he answered with a slick smile.
"Look, can we get down to business, please?” Breathred begged before things could deteriorate any worse than they already had.
"Come with me.” Dr. Grayson turned her back to them not waiting for the rebuke she knew the chimp had boiling in his throat.
She led them to the back of the classroom where a set of double doors led to her private office. The office was separated into two parts. A small desk and filing cabinet sat to one side. The other side of the room was dominated by a long table full of artifacts obviously from her various digs. Grayson immediately led the trio to the far end of the table, stopping in front of a broken slab of stone.
Once they were settled, she started, “Two years ago, while on a dig in Canada, I unearthed the tablet I'm about to show you. While this is commonplace on most digs, this particular tablet proved older than anything ever found in the northern hemisphere of the Americas. It even predates the pyramids.
"My team and I were excavating an isolated region located in Alberta. We thought we had stumbled onto an ordinary village site. For the most part, that was true. It wasn't until we excavated one of the outbuildings we unearthed, for the lack of a better term—a temple.
"The temple was simple in construction, like others associated with the Inuit tribes who populate the Northern Americas, except for one thing. The others were dominated by animal totems, but the central god of this particular structure was humanoid in form. The wooden totems we unearthed were carved in the shape of a female. My first guess was they represented a new earth mother, or rather an old one as yet unknown to the archeological record. Some of the inscriptions seemed to back this hypothesis.
"In the center of the main
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