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situation. Dani still had the
rented Volvo out at the borg, leaving Maya temporarily stranded. There was no
way around it. She’d have to run the five-odd miles from the cabin to the borg.
She yanked the laces of her boots tight, grabbed a flashlight out of her
suitcase, and exited the cabin, locking it behind her.
    “Maya!”
    She swung
around, searching for the speaker. James was standing half in and half out of
his rental car, waving her over.
    “C’mon,” he
said. “Indigo said you needed a ride.”
    The next few
minutes were tense. The streets were empty and James took advantage, whipping
the car along the roads winding through open farmland at a breakneck speed. Maya
gripped the car’s door with one hand and the edge of her seat with the other,
questions jostling around in her mind. Who was behind the theft? What exactly
had been taken? And why had the dig been targeted right after she and Dani had
arrived, or was that a coincidence? As much as Maya would like to believe that,
she couldn’t quite bring herself to, not given the potential importance of the
anomalous burial to the People.
    They arrived at
the site within minutes and tumbled out of the car as soon as it was safely
parked. A cluster of flashlights huddled near the trailer. From the number of
voices, Maya guessed most of the students had already arrived. She clicked her
flashlight on and hurried toward them, James close behind her.
    Her steps slowed
as she neared the trailer. Indigo sat on the steps leading into it, an ice pack
pressed to the back of her head, a bruise spreading across her jaw. Helene
leaned over the other Daughter, gently patting her back. Dr. Lindberg and two
of the students were standing close by, in deep conversation. They turned
toward her and James as they approached, Olaf shaking his head.
    Maya knelt on
the lowest step in front of Indigo and gently grasped her chin, turning her
bruised face into what little light there was. “Are you all right?”
    “Maetyrm.”
Indigo winced and touched her fingers to the bruise along her jaw. “Whoever it
was got the jump on me. Knocked me out cold. I didn’t even hear them coming.”
    Apprehension
tightened the skin on the back of Maya’s neck. Not many people could move
quietly enough to elude a Daughter’s keen hearing.
    “I’ve failed.”
Indigo dropped her head into one hand. “Failed Dr. Lindberg, failed the People.
I’m so sorry.”
    “Oh, bosh,” Helene
said in her thickly accented English. “These hoodlums, they did this to you.
Steal the artifacts, loot the dig, and then hit this poor girl on the head as she
tried to do her work.”
    “Can you tell me
what happened?” Maya asked.
    Indigo nodded,
then winced and held her head still. “Dani was still here. We lost track of
time talking and were a little late making our last round. I stopped to wash my
hands. Popcorn. Hate having dirty hands.” Her shoulders rose and fell on a deep
sigh. “Anyway, Dani said she wanted to stretch her legs, so she went out ahead
of me. She hadn’t been gone two minutes when the lights went out. I came out of
the bathroom and took a blow to the jaw, then one to the head. It must’ve
knocked me out for a minute. When I woke up, Dani was hovering over me
assessing my wounds.”
    “Where is she?”
    Indigo hesitated
and cut her eyes toward Helene. “I think she’s trying to restore power to the
trailer.”
    Dani jogged
around the end of the trailer, flashlight in hand. Her gaze zeroed in on Maya.
“Around back,” she said, then pivoted and disappeared into the dark behind the
trailer.
    Maya stood and
studied Indigo’s wan features. “I’ll be right back. Try not to move too much
until we can have a doctor look you over.”
    “Yes, Maetyrm.”
    James appeared
at Maya’s elbow. “I’m coming with you.”
    She looked him
square in the face, saw the suspicion blooming there, and nodded. “Yes, that
would be best.”
    Dani was
standing under the power lines, her flashlight