Black Harvest (The PROJECT) Read Online Free PDF Page B

bored.
    Two large men in boxy, dark suits came in and sat down. They glanced her way, then ignored her. They ordered lunch in stilted English, along with a bottle of retsina, the strong Greek drink she thought tasted like turpentine. They began talking business. It took her a moment to place the language as Georgian. Selena couldn't speak it, but she understood the basics. From what she could make out, the men were talking about importing olives. Or maybe they were selling them.
    Selena tuned them out and ate her meal slowly, thinking about Nick and what it would be like to live with him. Maybe it would be better to leave things as they were. She finished, signed her bill and walked past the table with the two men. Their eyes followed her out of the room.
    It was Saturday, already after noon, and the museum closed at 2:30 on Saturday during the winter months. She decided to go now. She got directions to the museum at the desk.
    The day was beautiful and chill, with the clear blue sky and crystalline quality of sunlight she'd found nowhere in the world except Greece. For Selena, it was one of the most beautiful and interesting places in the world. Snow-capped Mount Olympus dominated the spectacular scenery.
    Olympus, the home of the gods. She wondered what the gods would think of modern Greece, mired in a sea of opportunistic corruption and impossible debt. Even Ulysses would not have been able to sail those waters.
    The museum was modern, two stories high. She paid a modest fee and began exploring. The first floor was given over to artifacts and sculpture. A nice statue of Dionysius, god of wine. A display featuring coins and relics from early Christian and Roman sites in the area. Interesting, but none of it useful. She went upstairs.
    The prime exhibit was a hydraulic water organ over two thousand years old. She wondered what the music had sounded like. The rest of the floor dealt with life in classical Dion. Tools. Pottery. A child's toy horse, small statues of the gods, everything displayed in glass cases that ran along the walls or stood on plinths on their own.
    Selena came to a new section. The centerpiece of the display was a full scale cast taken from the lid of a tomb. It was perfect, unmarred by weather and time. A young and handsome face was carved on the lid in bas relief, helmeted and confident and haughty, the lips full and voluptuous. Even in the cold white of plaster the face was astounding, beautiful, perfectly proportioned, as if the lips would suddenly open and speak. Selena looked at the inscription engraved below and translated in her mind.
     
    Aetolikos
    Safe in Elysium

CHAPTER NINE
     
    "You found his tomb?"
    Harker put Selena's call on the speaker. Nick and Stephanie listened.
    "Not his tomb. A cast taken from inside it. The tomb was only discovered last fall. The archeologist in charge sealed it and stopped excavation during the winter rains, but he's about to start up again."
    "How did you find that out?"
    "I had coffee with the curator of the museum. He was thrilled to have someone to talk to and very enthusiastic about the tomb. It's built into the side of a hill with several rooms. The connection to Alexander makes it a priority dig. There could be something there."
    "Can you get into it?"
    "I don't know. I've got some names and I've got the location. Nothing's going to happen until Monday."
    "What's your plan?"
    "Go out there, introduce myself, use my credentials. Butter up the chief archeologist and hint at good publicity for him. Everyone wants academic recognition. Tell him I'd appreciate a guided tour. I think he'll go for it."
    "And?"
    "If I see something, check it out."
    Harker picked up her pen, twirled it in her fingers. Nick waited for the tapping to begin and breathed an inward sigh of relief when she set it down.
    "Is anyone else showing interest?"
    "Not that I've noticed." The connection hissed with atmospherics. "This place is like a ghost town. There aren't many people staying