by K. T. Tomb
Indeed, it had been a long six months but the reward had been astounding. To have found the mythical labyrinth built by Daedelaus had been life changing for them and tonight they were at the University of Athens to celebrate that very triumph. As they walked around the room greeting their colleagues and friends, Chyna couldn’t help feeling proud to be amongst the ranks of such intellectual and influential people. She smiled at Lana from across the room and raised her glass to her in salute. The lead archaeologist who had called them in to consult on the dig was present, so were all the members of his team who had become their family during the time they had spent on Crete. Professor Cartwright would have it no other way. Strict and proper, as the British often tend to be, he tolerated no dissension among his ranks and those who got into fights or abused their team mates or the members of the local authorities that worked with them were immediately dismissed and sent home. One such fellow had been Ethan Doyle; a cantankerous young man from a rich family of adventurers who was convinced he knew all there was to know about ancient Greece. He had tried to assault a young lady from the Greek Archaeological Service one night in her tent. He had cursed them all as he left, saying they hadn’t heard the last of him. But they had and they were now enjoying the fruits of their labor.
Professor Cartwright mounted the podium and cleared his throat, signaling to the room for silence.
“Colleagues, Dignitaries of the Greek government, patrons and friends; tonight we gather to celebrate the culmination of my life’s work and the discovery of a lifetime,” he said. “After six long months under the heat of the Cretian summer sun, we proudly present to you a display of the artifacts uncovered at the site of Daedelaus’ legendary labyrinth. Thought to be a mythical story, we have this year proved that there is indeed some fact to be found among the pages of the sagas and legends of world history; giving even more credence to the thought that archaeology isn’t a waste of time after all.”
The audience laughed and applauded his comment and after a brief moment, the professor raised his hand to the crowd.
“Should I be allowed to, I will stand here and talk all night, but I will relinquish the stand to our consultant and partner Miss Chyna Stone of the Found History archaeological company, who was instrumental in locating and uncovering many of the pieces you will be seeing tonight. Please welcome her to the podium.”
Again, the crowd applauded as Chyna mounted the stand and exchanged a hug and kiss with Professor Cartwright. Lana whistled crudely from the sidelines making Chyna smile broadly.
“Good evening everyone and welcome to the University of Athens. Tonight we make history as we unveil to the public the largest collection of Minoan artifacts ever to be assembled in one place since 1500 B.C. This experience has been the hallmark of my career as an archaeologist and it has been a tremendous pleasure to be in the company of such genius over these past months. It was a hard existence but the work was worth it and tonight we are all eager to share some of our excitement with you.
“When Sir Arthur Evans discovered Knossos in 1900, he searched tirelessly for more proof to the myth of Daedelaus, Icarus and King Minos but for the next five years he could not find the site. With the use of satellite imagery and our expounded knowledge of the ancient Greeks, this year Professor Cartwright was successful in this. The story goes that King Minos contracted Daedelaus to build the labyrinth to contain a Minotaur; a creature that was half man and half bull which he relished in throwing his enemies to. He would challenge them by saying that if they survived the Minotaur and his maze then they could have whatever they desired of him. Daedelaus was so successful in its construction that even he had difficulty emerging from the finished structure; but for the fact that he did, King Minos imprisoned him and his son Icarus in a high tower. The myth of their escape is an entirely different story but I think we all know how Icarus flew too close to the sun and fell to drown in the sea.
“Cuneiform tablets found in the palace ruins of Knossos by Sir Evans spoke of the riches of King Minos and of some of his treasured items, none of which Sir Evans could locate since the tablets placed them in a chamber within the labyrinth. However, the true triumph of our expedition was the discovery of King Minos’ legendary treasury and all the items listed on those tablets found years ago.” Chyna paused as the crowd gasped. They had not revealed that piece of information to the public before; even the representatives of the local authorities had helped to keep it a secret until the unveiling.
“All, excepting a bronze mask described as being decorated with gold filigree and set with amber stones, which we have nicknamed the Minoan Mask. We do have our speculations of the possible fate of the mask but that is another theory to be proven, for another expedition and for another day. Tonight, we invite you to gaze with delight upon the Minoan Treasury of Knossos.”
At that, the doors to the exhibition room were opened and the crowd poured in to take a look at the priceless objects they had found. With a look of satisfaction on her face, Chyna stepped down from the podium and went to hug her assistant, Lana. She took the glass of whiskey the waiter offered her over the bar and leaned back to sip it.
“Aren’t you going in?” Lana asked happily.
“Not right now, Lana, I’ve seen it all already. I just want to breathe, and drink and relax in one of those comfortable looking armchairs for a while. Let them regale themselves in our brilliance for a while.”
“Indeed, Chyna, by the way, cocky much?” she quipped as they took a seat by the window which overlooked the vast university grounds. The night was dark but the lawns and pathways were elegantly lit. “Why did you choose to mention the Minoan Mask?”
“I can’t help it; its absence from the horde still baffles me. How could we have found every single piece from a list of over a hundred treasures and the only thing missing was that mask?”
“Do you think there’s a story behind its disappearance, Chyna?”
“No Lana, I’m sure there’s a story behind it.”
Just then, Chyna caught a glimpse of a man hurrying into the exhibition hall. He looked very familiar but as she tried to get a better look at his face he vanished behind a group of people who stood talking in the doorway. She dismissed it and turned her attention back to Lana and their conversation.
“Well, tell me what you know,” she pressed.
Chyna put her drink down on the table between them and leaned forward. She took her Smartphone from her jacket pocket and swiped her code on the screen.
Pointing to a map of the Grecian Sea, she said, “I think it’s here.”
“That’s the middle of the ocean Chyna,” Lana scoffed. “Miles from Crete. How would that have happened?”
“That’s the part we have to investigate, my friend. Do you remember the story of the Dorian Invasion? How Artemesia and her father invaded Crete even though Minos had agreed to their peace terms and married her?”
“Vaguely, I’m not as up on my ancient Greek history as I used to be.”
“She betrayed him because after the marriage he placed her among his wives and concubines instead of deposing his first wife Pelephone for her. She was a princess after all, how could he count her as a sixth wife? So she plotted with her father and they invaded Crete anyway but not before she stole all the treasure that Minos had not placed in the treasury and took them to sea with her aboard the ships that she commanded.”
Chyna paused to sip her drink.
“Go on,” Lana urged her.
“Well Artemisia’s ships were pursued by a fleet from Heraklion and they engaged them in battle just south of Thira. I think that they lost their course either while fleeing or maybe they came upon a storm but they may have been lost or wrecked further north near Mikonos. In any case, the satellite imagery I found indicates a mass off the coast of Cesme, which I think is the ship bone yard of Artemesia’s fleet.”
“Oh dear, Chyna. Have you told anyone else about this?”
“Absolutely not, Lana, I’ve been waiting for the oppo
rtunity to speak to Professor Cartwright about it but everything has been revolving around the opening.”
Lana nodded her head in agreement and lifted her glass from the table to make a quiet toast.
“Well then here’s to our next adventure and prolonged stay in the Mediterranean.”
“Cheers to that!” Chyna agreed; neither of them were looking happily at the prospect of returning to New York in the dead of winter. The state had been experiencing the most severe December weather on record for years.
As the girls sipped their drinks and looked about the room, Chyna saw the man again. He darted quickly out of the exhibition hall and headed straight for the exit. Before he stepped through he turned to look around the room. Chyna almost dropped her glass as she stood quickly to meet his eyes. It was Ethan Doyle and he didn’t seem pleased to have been spotted. He ran out the door and into the night. Soon after Professor Cartwright came bursting from the hall. When he saw that Ethan had already gone, he turned and walked to where the girls were standing by the window seats.
“Did you see him?”
“I did, professor. Why was he here?”
“That I don’t know,” he replied sadly. “What I do know is that he made off with the docket that was in front of the empty case we put up in honor of the Minoan Mask.”
“Oh, that’s hardly a threat, it only had information in it that we intended for public knowledge anyway,” Chyna said, relieved and taking her seat again.
“It’s true, but now he knows just as much as the rest of us do.”
“Not exactly,” Lana chimed in, lifting her glass to her lips again.
He looked at the two of them quizzically.
“Professor Cartwright, I think you should have a seat with us,” Chyna said.
As the last of the dawdling crowd began to leave the exhibition hall, Chyna summed up her story of speculation to the professor about the location of the mask. There was a look of utter amazement on his face as he slowly leaned back in the chair and put his hands into his pockets. He came up with a pack of Rothmans’ cigarettes in one and a shiny silver lighter in the other. Chyna knew from the time spent in Knossos that he only smoked when he was nervous or deep in thought, or both as was the case at that moment.
As he lit the cigarette, he said, “Thank God the Greeks haven’t implemented any of those pesky anti-smoking laws as yet.”
The girls laughed, indeed most Mediterranean and “Near East” countries had not yet done so.
“Will this be the next expedition for Found History then, Chyna?” he asked.
“Most certainly, Professor,” she replied, “and we were sort of hoping that you would come along with us. We both know you’re a venerated deep sea diver.”
“That I am,” he said, smiling, “and I would be delighted to come along. I think we need another person in our little troupe though, someone with in-depth knowledge of the area, the customs and who can grease a few wheels for us if the need arises.”
“Fariha!” both girls said in unison.
The professor smiled and nodded his head.
***
Fariha Katsakis was a long time associate of Professor Cartwright’s. She had been among his student archaeology teams since her first year in his graduate program at the University of Aberdeen. When she graduated she had been immediately snapped up by the Greek Archaeological Service as a chief field agent. Whenever there was something of interest happening or the professor was on a dig in the region, Fariha did what she had to in order to be attached to the case. It had been Fariha whom Ethan had tried to assault in Knossos.
As she took her seat around the table on the balcony of Chyna and Lana’s hotel suite, Fariha looked extremely excited.
“It’s not often that I get invited to secret archaeology meetings,” she joked, smiling brightly.
“It’s not often that we hold them,” Lana replied, smiling back.
Chyna opened the door to let the professor in and they too took their seats. Lana unrolled the charts and opened the reference books to the marked pages.
“Fariha, by now I know Cartwright has filled you in but I do hope he did so carefully. After seeing Ethan Doyle lurking around at the opening the other night, I’m not too convinced that we aren’t under surveillance.”
The others looked at each other quizzically but Chyna remained as serious as a judge.
“You’ve got to remember that Ethan had his own ideas about Artemesia’s ships and often told us that he was only on our dig to gain some credibility with his father so Ethan could convince him to fund the excavation that he really wanted to do; which was to hunt for the site of the Battle of the Heracleidae. Now Ethan assumes he knows as much as we do, but someone with as many resources as he does is bound to take out a few insurance plans and from what we know about him, he can be a ruthless son of a gun.”
“Chyna, do you really think he could pose a serious threat to us?” Fariha asked skeptically.
“You do remember what he tried to do to you in the field, right?”
Fariha nodded silently.
“This could become very dangerous, very quickly for any one of us. Be very cognizant of this, Fariha.”
Her counterparts all nodded in agreement. Lana rose from the table to push the beverage cart out from the living room and invited everyone to make themselves the drink of their choice while they awaited the arrival of their lunch. Drinks in hand, they chose to lean over the charts on the table for the rest of their discussion, the shade from the huge potted palms on the balcony and the cool breeze made for a comfortable atmosphere to work in. Fariha produced more detailed digital maps of the coastline near Cesme and showed the group the shadowy formation on the ocean floor.
“Of course, it could just be a coral bed, Chyna,” she mentioned. “But I think the water is too deep and cold right there for coral formations.”
“That is why I suspect it’s what we are looking for, Fariha.”
“So what’s our next move?” the professor asked Chyna.
“We need to get ready to go to Turkey,” she replied. “Got any connections over there, Fariha?”
“As a matter of fact, there’s a young archaeologist on the historical society board in Izmir that I can call. He should be able to get us any clearance we might need. Of course you know that in order to bargain for the possession of the Minoan Mask, should we find it, we would have to turn over and possibly agree to curate everything else that we find there.”
“Of course, we would be excavating in Turkish maritime space so anything found legally belongs to them. All I’m interested in is the mask. It would be priceless to have it to complete our exhibit along with maybe Sir Evan’s cuneiform tablet of the labyrinth’s contents.”
“Any luck with that, professor?” Lana pitched in.
“I did manage to get in touch with the head of the museum that houses it in Heraklion, but I think it’s going to be a power struggle between the Athenian and the Cretian authorities. I can only hope that they will come to some agreement over it seeing it’s a bit disjointed from the Heraklion exhibit as it stands right now.”
“That’s true,” agreed Fariha.
Just then there was a knock at the door, their lunch had arrived. As Lana went to the door to let the room service waiter in, the rest of the group moved to fix themselves fresh drinks. None of them heard the closing of the sliding door on the balcony above them.
***
Chyna awoke to the sound of her cell phone ringing. She snatched it up from the bedside table in her hotel room and looked at the clock, it was 3 A.M. Who could be calling at that hour of the morning?
“Hello,” she said as she answered the phone. She didn’t even look at the caller ID.
“Chyna,” said the professor, “I’m sorry to call at this hour but I’ve got to go back to Crete this morning. I left quite a few of my research papers and equipment there to be shipped back to Scotland but I think I’ll need them if we’re to go straight on to Turkey as we plann
ed.”
“Fair enough, Cartwright. When will you be back?”
“I’d say tomorrow afternoon. Are you going to go ahead and make the travel arrangements?”
“Sure am! The girls and I meet at 9 to finalize all the plans.”
“Okay! Well, count me in and I’ll see you all tomorrow afternoon.”
“See you then. Travel safely.”
The call cut off before he could say another word in reply. It seemed strange but Chyna was too tired to think about it and went straight back to sleep.
The girls heard nothing from Professor Cartwright the next day. All their attempts to reach his cell phone, his base camp in Heraklion and his hotel in Athens came up empty. The attendant in Heraklion said that he hadn’t seen Cartwright at all since they had left for Athens the month before. Chyna started to worry.
“We can’t leave for Izmir without him,” she told the others. “What if something’s happened to him?”
Lana walked into the living room and sat down with a grim look on her face.
“He didn’t board his flight yesterday morning. He was booked on it, but the airline said he never made it onboard.”
“Do you think he’s been kidnapped?” Fariha asked.
“I’m not sure what to think, Fariha,” She replied, then turning to Lana she asked, “Did you make contact with his students, the rest of the dig team from Knossos?”
“I did, the day before yesterday. They were supposed to pack up the base camp and be on a flight into Athens for a debriefing this morning. I haven’t heard from them though.”
Chyna felt crestfallen. She put her head in her hands for a minute then said.
“Check their flight, Lana. See if they left Heraklion and if they arrived in Athens. See if they made it to the hotel and then if you can get them on the phone.”
“Right away, boss lady.”
Turning to Fariha, Chyna said, “I told you this could get dangerous.”
As it turned out, the team left Crete and arrived the night before in Athens. What happened to them after that was the mystery. No one at the hotel had seen them and their rooms were never checked into. The baggage claim clerk remembered the strange group of foreigners and even showed Lana the receipts he had collected from them for their checked luggage but the trail went cold there at the ground transportation concourse. They seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth, just like the professor.