The Rings of Poseidon Read Online Free PDF

cautiously. "You're a
Doctorate Degree student from the University of Houston?" she
asked.
    "Sure thing. I've spent the last couple of
years on digs involved with Mayan remains and I'm a specialist on
their obsession with the calendar and the movements of Mars and
Venus. I'm no expert on Bronze Age Britain, I'm only here for the
change and the experience. And to see what sort of interest there
was in the heavens here, because you cover roughly the same period
as the pre-Mayan era. You're in charge of this one and you're
giving the orders," he added, grinning.
    Alicia was treating him with some deference
nevertheless, and wondered whether she would show the the same
deference to another woman or another black. She drew her attention
back to the job in hand and showed him the aerial photographs of
the site. Frank agreed with her, though he would have accepted her
word anyway, for he meant it when he said she was giving the
orders. After all, it was to be her report which would pass or fail
her degree. She watched him striding cheerfully across the rough
grass to join Alan Wainwright.
    Alicia stayed behind in the 'office' for a
few moments. The computer looked to be hooked up properly, but she
didn't bother turning it on yet: time enough when there was
something to enter. It crossed her mind that either Steve knew
about the subject or his instinct for things mechanical was
considerable. The little box of CDs was on the table alongside the
machine, so she flipped it open and gave a passing glance. The
three programme CDs were back-up copies, for emergency only, but
there were plenty of blanks for the data. "I hope we'll have plenty
of data to put on them!" she thought, and flipped the lid down.
    She picked up the aerial photographs again,
but didn't really see them. In fact she was not seeing the
Portacabin or the remains turned up so far either, nor was she
seeing the other scant furnishings of the cabin. Alicia was
thinking of her parents in a Birmingham backstreet and of the
various friends and acquaintances she had made and lost along the
way through school and university. Many of her friends at school
now had dead end jobs or families or no jobs at all. She couldn't
help thinking of the old saying that the further you climb the
further you have to fall - and she had climbed a long way from
those backstreets. Still, in spite of what she had said to
Professor Harrington she felt in charge and confident. When he
called in to see how things were going, he would be impressed.
    Alicia shook herself from her day dreams, got
up from the desk, left the cabin and walked after Frank, who was
already watching Jamie and Andy.
    "You know," said Jamie in a burst of unusual
chattiness, "I think this is a house, but the roof's collapsed.
Well, the middle of it. And some of these stones show signs of a
fire."
    "Do they now?" remarked Frank, staring at the
place indicated by Jamie. "It's only the top one. Perhaps it's a
chimney."
    "It's no' a chimney, there's no' enough soot.
They just look a bit burnt is all."
    "You're mebbe right," said Frank. "I'd better
get Alicia over here before we disturb anything, but it seems to me
this room may have been destroyed by fire."
    "Aye? Well, that's one canny woman."
    Alicia had reached the site by this time and
Frank climbed out of the hole to call her.
    When she examined the excavation she agreed
with Jamie that there was some evidence of burning.
    "They seem to have used whalebone to support
roofs at Scara Brae, but perhaps the builders here used wood to
support the roof," she mused, looking long and hard at the
stones.
    "There would have been a chimney," she said,
"but these stones have been exposed to a short period of heat
rather than a long period of smoke."
    She straightened up. "There's been some
collapsing of roof stones and there are faint indications that
there was a fire. I think the best thing is to expose the roof
stones and see the extent of damage, and then dig carefully down
and see what's