Dark Dig 11 - A Busy Day

A Busy Day

The gently tapping soon evolved into a loud pounding on the chamber door. Jason called out, “Hey, Ellen sent me to bring you to breakfast. I thought you had a busy day ahead of you!”

“OH, shit it is morning already?” responded the unmistakable voice of Marcus from within. “Tell Ellen we will be there in a few minutes,” he continued as Carol raced to the bathroom beating him to the shower.

With amazing speed, they both showered and dressed in just a few minutes and rushed to the main building to join the others for breakfast. Carol dove right into her plate of ham and eggs, in a vain attempt to ignore the smirks on the faces of everyone seated. Marcus plopped down on the seat next to Carol and beamed about what a wonderful night and how he still could not believe it was already morning.

“Well, ‘GOOD MORNING’! I’m glad Jason went out to check on you two. You know how I feel about punctuality, now sit down and join the rest of us for breakfast,” Ellen scolded.

After the arrival of the two stragglers, the conversation returned to the topic being top priority. Ruth spoke about how she got an update from the embassy monitoring section on Christina’s conversations. She observed there was nothing much to report as all the conversations were with hospital personnel. That was why she wanted to get the cell phone delivered ASAP.

Ben talked briefly about how the cyber team was now using the Trojan horse to gather a lot of message traffic and they will give a detailed report as soon as they can pinpoint the locations of the suspects. He explained that they might even get some information on the remaining kidnap victims.

Marcus was busy gulping down forkfuls of food, but he listened intently. It was clear he wanted to keep abreast of developments, even though he would not be personally involved with the case today. He felt his first priority was to the dig. He had been spending all of his time and attention on the missing women and he felt guilty about neglecting his duties. Over the past few days, he learned there was a team of extremely dedicated people with much more expertise on the topic of criminal investigation than he had. Now that the mystery vault was open, he knew he must be there to oversee the operation and to get a better idea of what he was dealing with.

Marcus glanced at Carol to determine how much more time she would need before she was ready to hit the road. Carol was finishing her toast and draining her coffee cup. As soon as she put the cup down, Ellen asked if she wanted a refill. Carol could see that Marcus was giving her the “look” so she politely declined the offer, but she did ask if she could take a cup with her.

Marcus jumped up and kissed his sister on both cheeks and apologized again for being late for breakfast and then added if she could make it two coffees to go. Ellen slapped her brother on the ass as she filled two thermos cups with coffee.

“Here you are Sir, I hope you enjoyed eating at Ellen’s drive through,” Ellen joked with Marcus, as she kissed Carol on both cheeks. “You be extra careful today. I had some really strange dreams about how the Gods are celebrating their re-discovery. That is the good news, at the same time I kept seeing dark shadows obscuring the celebration. So, all I can say is be extra careful,” Ellen cautioned.

On his way-out Marcus paused long enough to inform Ruth and Ben he expected a full report from them over dinner. Then he assured Ellen he would be home no later than 7 PM to make sure the fatted calf would be served when he got home.

After Carol and Marcus left the conversation turned to working out an agenda for the day. Fronia provided a lot of information that would save time and effort. After all the details were agreed to, Ruth stood up and stretched her arms up over her head. Ben interpreted this as a signal to get a move on and he checked his pockets to ensure he had the car keys. Fronia saw this activity and hopped to her feet. She kissed Ellen and Jason on her way out the massive door.

Ruth asked Ben for the car keys with a twinkle in her eyes. Then she suggested he sit in the backseat with Fronia so they could talk about how best to get the phone and present it to Christina. Ben agreed to Ruth’s suggestion and slid into the backseat. He asked Fronia how far to the nearest cell phone shop and she said it was very near the hospital so it would not be a detour. Then he went over how she should try to establish a bond with the girl. Let her know you had Marcus give you her old phone number so the clerk could set up the new phone just like the old one and even keep all the old phone data that was stored in the cloud.

Fronia did not speak much while Ben went over if briefing. She only interrupted him when they were about a block from the store.

Ruth thought it best if Fronia went in alone and got the new phone it would make it look more like a girlfriend doing a favor than a clandestine FBI operation. Everyone agreed it was the best option and Fronia took the paper with the old number and even the pin number from the old phone (thank God for Uncle Marcus’ registration paperwork) he had miles of files on everyone working at the site and now Fronia could see why all that information might be needed.

The store was rather quiet and Fronia was able to obtain a new phone and have the tech make the requested modifications in a matter of minutes. While Fronia was in the store, Ruth called the embassy to get an update from Christina’s monitor. In seconds she had a data file down loaded and was busy reviewing the log when Fronia came skipping back to the car, like a typical adulterant with a new cell phone.

Before she started the car, Ruth handed the log to Ben so he could use his Greek skills to peruse the listing to see if there was anything of interest or something that might be a clue they could follow up on. Fronia babbled about how the new phone was much better than the one she had, maybe hoping the FBI would spring for a new phone for her as payment for all of her efforts.

Ruth took the new phone and dialed the number her CYBER TECHS provided. It was a number that appeared to be for Dr. Atonasis, but it was really to a special data bank where the Trojan horse could be downloaded with no trace. The download only took a minute. While Ruth was working on the phone tap, Ben carefully examined the conversation log and after a few minutes he started to notice one name that Christina had inquired several times about. Someone named Zepo.

When he mentioned this to Ruth, she thought a moment and then suggested that Fronia could perhaps find a way to ask Christina if “Zepo” had come to see her. That could get Christina to think Fronia was someone she could trust. As they drove the short distance to the hospital, they discussed several strategies before they came up with a plan that Fronia thought might work best. Fronia pointed out it would be hard for her to explain how she knew Zepo, so she suggested that she present Christina the new phone and explain that Marcus thought she might want to get in contact with her friends.

Ruth and Ben went straight to the cafeteria to wait and Fronia stopped at the reception desk to inquire about Christina’s status. The receptionist supplied the room number and informed her that she might be in the lounge at the end of the hall if she was not in her room.

Fronia sped off toward the elevator and disappeared behind the sliding doors. Nervously Fronia fidgeted while the elevator silently slid up the building, until the doors opened at the proper floor. With great trepidation Fronia hurried down the corridor. She paused outside the door and tried to organize her thought before she knocked. Fronia stood straining her ears trying to hear some reply. Just as she decided to try the lounge at the end of the hallway, she noticed a young woman coming from that direction.

“Me synchoreíte,” Fronia opened.

The girl looked surprised that anyone would address her but stopped to see what she could do to assist.

“Ti chreiázesai,” replied the girl with a perplexed expression on her face.

Fronia continued in her basic local dialect, “I’m looking for Christina Dorphous. I was told this is her room, but she isn’t in.

“Do you know if she is in the lounge area where you are coming from?” Fronia inquired.

“Oh, I’m Christina. I was just walking up and down the hall to get some exercise. What did you want to see me about?” Christina replied

“My uncle, Marcus Atonasis, asked me to stop by and deliver this new cell phone to you. He said he felt very bad about everything you have been through and thought you might want to get in contact with your friends. He wanted to come himself, but there have been some important discoveries at the site. I guess you know how he gets personally involved in the operations, but he thought you might want to have a phone with all of your data restored. So, he had me get the clerk to restore your phone number that was in your registration file and he wanted me to have the cell phone tech retrieve as must data as possible for you,” Fronia explained.

“Oh, thank you so much. Yes, I have been wanting to tell my friends that I’m OK and let them all know I will be home tomorrow afternoon,” Christina babbled as she led Fronia into her room.

“You will be released tomorrow? That is great. I know you must be excited about seeing your friends again. Now that I have met you, I feel really bad about the fact I have not met you before. I guess maybe I should accompany my uncle more often, but you know how it is, who wants to be hanging around their uncle’s work place. After all, I do have a life of my own and there are a few guys I prefer to hang around with more than Uncle Marcus,” Fronia continued, hoping she could build a little bridge to support some girl talk.

“Well now that you mention it, I really want to see my boyfriend again. I mean ‘I REALLY WANT TO SEE HIM’, if you know what I mean?” Christina admitted with a seductive giggle and a very discernible twinkle in her eye.

“Oh, hell yeah. I got a guy, he is a deck hand on one of the fishing boats, that I will even stand in the rain, at the dock, to make sure he does not get sidetracked in some bar before he gets to me,” Fronia confided hoping to coax Christina to reveal more of what was clearly racing through her mind.

Fronia’s last statement was greeted with an outburst of near hysterical laughter. Fronia watched in amazement as Christina started hugging herself and rubbing her thighs together. Fronia was curious about this reaction and hoped she could get Christina to tell her more about her boyfriend.

“I see that you know what I’m talking about. The big problem I have is I live in a small village – you know – like the one you live in. It makes it hard to do anything without everyone knowing. So, when we are able to get together alone, we have a lot of catching up to do,” Fronia acknowledged.

Christina was apparently having trouble focusing on what Fronia was saying. She was clearly in a very high sate of arousal. Christina was now nervously crossing and uncrossing her legs and she repeatedly tugged at the light weight robe she was wearing. Each time she pulled on the robe it rubbed her unprotected nipples causing them to become hard dark red projections clearly visible through the thin garment.

“So how do you and your boyfriend find a way around the small village spy network?” Fronia queried.

Fronia settled into a big chair next to the table where Ruth concealed the BUG. Christina was clearly getting extremely aroused by this conversation. Her constant tugging on the robe made her dark red nipples visible atop her braless breasts. She was now wiggling on the edge of the bed. Fronia was not sure if she was really listening to her or if she had retreated to some private place where she was reliving some event that provided her with the stimulation responsible for her arousal.

“Come on! I really need to learn how to keep my love life secret,” Fronia coaxed hoping to get her to tell her something that could be used to find the other girls.

Christina giggled, feeling as though she found a new confidant, she moved closer to Fronia and in a very low-pitched voice said, “I know what you mean about everyone knowing too much about things they have no need to know. Until I found my current boyfriend, Zepo, I was going with the local guys and my parents would know I kissed him almost before it happened. Luckily, Zepo doesn’t live nearby. In fact, he lives in Athens and attends the University. He is majoring in Political Science, but he works part time as a truck driver for one of the companies that deliver supplies to the site. That is how I met him. I had to reconcile the invoice with the items delivered. While I was going over the paperwork, he took a coffee break and came back with a cup for me. I mean it was not like in the romance movies. There was no earth-shaking thrill, no music in the background. It was Just two people doing their job,” Christina pontificated.

Fronia sat quietly listening to everything Christina said. She tried to keep the details locked in her brain to assist Ben when he went over the print out later. Now Fronia knew she was making progress and sought to find out more.

“So, Zepo is not a local boy? How did you get from Clerk/Driver to lovers? I mean it must be hard to meet when he lives in Athens and you are either at the site or living with your parents,” Fronia inquired.

Christina burst out laughing. “You must think the site is some MEDEVIL CLOISTER or something. Sure Dr. Atonasis runs a tight ship in the office, but after duty hours well . . . us girls have all come up with signals to inform our room-mate that they should go to the break room or movie or some place for a few hours,” Christina related with a sly smirk appeared on her sweet cherub’s face like something you might expect from a harlot.

Fronia only nodded and let a pregnant pause hang in the air for a long time. “So, you met your lover while he was delivering food to the kitchen and he lives in Athens. That seems like a very long-distance relationship. How did you go from checking invoices to lovers? It sounds like it could be a very interesting story. If you don’t mind me being curious,” Fronia teased.

“Oh, it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, I was not aware he was interested in me at all until it was pointed out that every time, he made a delivery he asked if I could be the one to check the invoice. He would talk about how he was from a small village on the other coast and he knew how restricting life can be. He told me that was the reason he decided to study Political Science. He wanted to make big changes in the way people in small villages are treated. He was like a window to a new and exciting world. I told him I felt the same way and he asked if I would like to attend a meeting of people that share this point of view. I said I would love to and he picked me up after work on my last shift and well . . . he managed to get me back in time for me to go to work after my three-day break.” Christina explained as a bright red blush crept up her cheeks.

“Ok, so you have been seeing Zepo a lot over a long period of time. Do you go to these meetings just as a way to get away for a few days of fun? Or have you become personally involved in their mission?” Fronia inquired.

At this Christina laughed and wiggled her butt more vigorously on the bed. Her state of arousal seemed to be mounting as she recounted her experiences with Zepo. “Oh GOD, I miss him so much! Just the thought of him drives me crazy. Yes, at first, I went to the meeting just to spend time together with him, but it became clear if I became more active, I would be able to see him more. I became so active I started telling the other girls in the kitchen about the meetings and some of them though the ideas were good and started attending meetings too,” Christina declared.

Fronia looked at her watch and gasped, “Oh dear it is getting late. At least now you have a phone so you can call your friends and let them know you are alright. I am sure you want to let Zepo know where he can find you. He might be able to pick you up when they release you. If you need anything just call the number on the note I attached to the phone. That is Marcus’ office and someone will make sure you are cared for. I’m sorry to rush off I really enjoyed chatting with you. In my village there are not many girls my age so I don’t get much chance to ‘girl talk’. So, good bye,” Fronia chirped and kissed Christina on both cheeks before she slipped out the door.

By the time Fronia got to the front door Ruth had the car pulled up to the entrance. She slid into the back seat next to Ben and Ruth sped off on the way back to the Konus mansion. Along the way, Fronia recapped her conversation with Christina. Ruth listened intently as Ben debriefed Fronia.

Suddenly Ben shouted, “Christina is using the phone. We should get a full recording of her conversations by time we get to your place Fronia,” Ben elaborated.

The conversation rambled as Ruth drove along the ancient streets. The beauty and splendor of the towns and villages was lost on the trio, they were too deep into the events of the day. During the chatter, it seemed there was a contention. Everyone was more convinced than ever that Christina knew much more than she was telling and she was faking the memory loss. Now Christina’s boyfriend might also be a key person of interest. They agreed there was now much more information and many new leads to follow-up on.

As soon as they parked, Ellen rushed out to greet them. She kissed everyone before she guided them to the garden where a table awaited them

“I just got a call from Carol they are on their way home. Marcus got his first real look at the items in the vault and has turned it over to the cataloging team. Carol said he is so excited about what he saw that he is bound to monopolize the conversation tonight. So, while I have a chance, tell me about what you accomplished,” Ellen challenged, as she served a cool white wine.

All three attempted to answer simultaneously. Ellen held up her hand and they paused. After Ellen got some resemblance of order restored, they each took turns relating the part they played. Ellen listened and nodded her head at intervals indicating she was in the process of assembling the information they provided. By the time they finished updating her she found the wine bottle was empty and had her servants bring more.

As Ellen pondered the new information a frown clouded her face. Slowly she put her hands on the edge of the table and spread her palms flat. Her eyes were closed as if she were in a trance. The only sound was made by the birds twittering in the old trees surrounding the patio. Then suddenly even their songs halted, creating an eerie feeling of untold danger.

Carol felt the same tingle of electricity that she remembered from the stormy night at the dig. She glanced toward Ruth and was shocked to see how her hair was sticking out, charged with static. Even Ben’s hair was glowing with this unseen power. As if the mighty pendulum of the universe got stuck between “TICK and TOCK”, nothing moved. Only Ellen moved. She trembled and quaked, her hands clutched at the table edge attempting to stabilize her and prevent her from falling to the ground. Out of Ellen’s writhing body, a God awful, primeval groan erupted that shocked everyone to the core of their mortal souls. Ellen twitched and rocked from side to side.

“Aphrodite is crying and her bastard son, Eros, is dancing at her feet. I see him carefully collecting her tears. All the other Gods are lost in some drunken orgy. They celebrate because they feel a rebirth resulting from the unearthing of the ancient artifacts. They are totally uncaring they are too absorbed in their own self-importance,” Ellen intoned in a ghastly unearthly voice, before the bird songs again filled the air, and the earth returned to its rotation.

Everyone at the table sat motionless. A servant walked in with a fresh bottle of wine and that seemed to break the spell. Fronia was the first to speak.

“Ellen, are you ok? What happened? What do you mean about Aphrodite is crying?” Fronia asked.

“Wow, Ellen I can’t believe what just happened,” Ruth gasped.

Ben was about to comment, but a clamor in the hallway interrupted his train of thought. The disturbance turned out to be the jubilant arrival of Carol and Marcus who could be heard ordering the servants to bring Champaign lots of Champaign.

The couple arrival exploded into the garden scaring the birds forms their perches. Ellen struggled to her feet to greet them and escorted them to the table. The servants were already serving the Champagne by the time everyone was seated again. Everyone was talking at once and nothing was being said. Only after Marcus raised his glass to toast the day did everyone calm down and raise their glass in the toast.

Great Events and Success.

After drinking the toast, Marcus commandeered the floor and started babbling about all the exciting things they discovered. He introduced his speech with an explanation of how glad he was that he sent the HAZMAT unit in to clean the place. They found a lot of airborne participants that they are now carefully analyzing. He pointed out the history of deaths by exposure to things left in closed rooms for centuries.

The most famous case being King Tut, when King Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered on November 26, 1922 after more than 3000 years of uninterrupted repose some believed the pharaoh unleashed a powerful curse of death and destruction upon all who dared disturb his eternal slumber.

Marcus was quick to point out that event was later proven to be greatly exaggerated, but they did find traces of organic material that could result in respiratory problems and possibly death. So, he felt it to be prudent and not take chances. The lab will spend a few weeks testing the material collected. Ben’s phone started ringing and he jumped up to answer and moved away from the table far enough to be able to talk without disturbing Marcus.

Marcus rambled on about the events of the day. He explained that while the HAZMAT TEAM was busy clearing the air his digging team was busy clearing the area outside and they found new evidence of pathways from the vault to areas that we have only begun to explore.

Now we have a much better idea of the layout of the area and it appears that the two theories about its purpose are both accurate as far as they went. It is now very clear that some rich aristocrat built a lavish pleasure palace here and had a temple devoted to EROS build within the grounds. Discovering the new corridors showed how the entire complex was laid out.

This Vault seems to be more of a secure storage area for the religious trapping used in different ceremonies. At least that is what the catalogers think, because of the way the artifacts are arranged in specific groupings. Sort of like in church they would have all the Christmas decorations together and all the Easter stuff together and so on. All I can say is WOW – DOUBLE WOW! This will keep the museums busy for a long time. Marcus continued to describe in vivid details some of the more bazaar items found.

Ben rushed back to the table and whispered something in Ruth’s ear. It must have been important as she got up and excused herself and rushed off with Ben. Marcus stood watching this with a perplexed expression on his face. Fronia offered her observation to help Marcus understand why they left. She briefly went over what they had accomplished that morning and thought this might be the monitors reporting on Christina’s phone activities.

“Oh, right. I was so wrapped up in my great find; I forgot that you were going to give Christina a new phone. I hope Ruth and Ben will come back and fill us in on the latest developments. Fronia what did you think when you talked to Christina? Were you able to get her to say anything that she might not have felt comfortable saying to someone like me?” Marcus asked.

“I found out she has a boyfriend who studies Political Science at the University in Athens. He drives delivery trucks to earn extra money. That is how she met him at the site. He has taken her to a few of the cult rallies and she seems to be totally infatuated with him, but maybe the FBI caught her talking to him. Ruth and Ben might need me to help them with translation because – well, you know how the dialect can make it confusing if you only know book Greek,” Fronia commented.

Marcus nodded in agreement and raised his glass in a new toast, “to the TRUTH”!

Carol was only listening with one ear. She was more concerned about Ellen. In her effort to determine what was causing her friend to look so ghostly pale she learned of the episode that occurred just before they arrived. Ellen tried to brush it off as just an overreaction brought on by the heat and too much wine.

“The Gods turned their backs to me,” Ellen sobbed.

“What do you mean? Is that what you saw?” Carol queried Ellen as she pulled her chair next to her.

“Oh, Carol, I just don’t know what I mean any more. I was just sitting here with Ruth, Ben and Fronia, when suddenly I was . . . I think I was in a tree looking across a big field. The topsoil had been removed and there were places where digging had recently been conducted. I saw Aphrodite crying and her bastard son, Eros, was dancing at her feet. It appeared he was carefully collecting her tears. But the image that scared me most was all the other Gods were lost in some drunken orgy. They were not concerned about humanity, all they wanted was notoriety. They want to see HEADLINES ANOUNCING the rebirth of their mighty regime to once again rule over Greece. I could see in the way they were engaged in some drunken orgy that it was the master plan of Eros. He was collecting Aphrodite’s tears to spread among the peoples of the world to cause their chaotic political card houses to crumble. Well, no, I did not see it that clearly but that is the ice-cold dagger that remains stuck deep within my soul,” mumbled Ellen while she clutched Carol by the hand.

Before Carol could ask Ellen, any more questions Ruth and Ben rushed to the table. They were obviously excited about some file they just received from the phone monitor. Out of breath, Ruth panted, trying to make herself understood.

“Fronia, we need your help. Christina just called her boyfriend “Zepo”. The monitors just sent an audio file so we can listen to what she said but maybe you could do a better job of translating than the language geeks at FBI HQ can do and much faster,” Ruth exhaled.

Suddenly everyone was crowding around the two FBI Agents. Fronia beamed at being considered worthy of such a daunting task. Ellen touched Fronia on the shoulder in a sign of support. At the moment of contact Ellen jerked back and grabbed the table for support. Marcus rushed to her side and Jason held her on the opposite side. The two men steadied her and guided her to a chair. Fronia was concerned about her mother’s condition, but realized she could do nothing that Jason and Marcus could not do.

Ruth looked at Marcus with a questioning glance and saw Marcus wave her to move to the study where they could listen to the audio file undisturbed. Carol led the way to the study and Ruth a Ben took seats on either side of the large oak table. Carol sat next to Fronia and helped Ruth set up the speaker so everyone could listen to the conversation. Ruth explained that even though only Fronia could understand what was being said they all should listen carefully to try to detect any sounds in the background that might help them learn more about where they operated. Ben added that on the way back from the hospital he called inspector Campus and asked that he inform the local authorities to put Mr. Zepo under surveillance, but should not approach just keep tabs on his activities and who comes and goes from the location.

As Ben was finishing, Marcus entered the room and sat next to Carol. He announced that Ellen was feeling better, and Jason was taking her to bed. Apparently, Jason told Marcus about the earlier incident and they both thought it best if she rested while they went over this voice file. Marcus pointed out that both he and Fronia would first listen to the entire conversation and then play it again to translate. Ruth observed it would be good to have two people able to translate, then with exaggerated melodramatic effect she clicked play.

Almost instantly the typical phone greetings were exchanged. Instantly the two voiced how much they missed being together. Long distance kisses were exchanged, and Christina’s voice started to change. Her voice took on a low pitch with a sultry seductive tone. Zepo’s voice took on a stern domineering quality. He was heard demanding Christina to give details of the experiment. With a loud lusty laugh Christina recounted her three days under the influence of “Aphrodite’s tears”. Using the worst possible pornographic words, Christina described the horrific details the lewd debauchery. As she recited the event you could hear the erotic thrill in her voice. Gleefully she told of how she found ways to have sex with two even three men at the same time. Periodically, Zepo could be heard coaxing her on asking for more details.

Fronia was no prude, but the words Christina used where starting to make her blush. Everyone listened closely to the verbal exchange, but only Marcus and Fronia understood what Christina was saying. With each new phrase her voice became huskier. Her breath became short gasps between her pornographic details. Marcus poked Fronia on the shoulder and winked. He was sure Christina was rapidly reaching an orgasm. Zepo chanted encouragement to her and it sounded like he was also near the sexual summit.

Sighing deeply trying to catch her breath after she climaxed Christina begged Zepo to rush over and give her what she REALLY WANTED. After she pleaded with him promising him, ensuring him there was nothing she would not do for him, he agreed and told her he could be there in less than an hour. He was on a delivery run in the area and he could stop by if she made it worthwhile.

Before they played the file again, Ben smiled sheepishly and admitted his Greek was not good enough to understand everything, but he had a vivid image of wild sexual behavior. Marcus looked at Fronia with a frown. Clearly, he did not want her to be exposed to this level of debauchery. At the same time, he was sure she heard nothing she hadn’t already heard. No one could say if there were any background sounds as the conversation was very loud and drowned out any other sounds. Maybe the audio techs might be able to filter out some clues, but that would take time. Marcus agreed hearing what the police had to say would be more enlightening than going over this cyber sex review again.

Now Ben was eager to get a report back from inspector Campus. He said he was going to have Zepo followed 24/7. As if on cue, Ben’s phone rang. He stood motionless for a long time with only a grunt or a “I see” to acknowledge he was still listening. Finally, he terminated the call and turned to the others in the room.

“That was inspector Campus. He got a phone report from the people following “Zepo”. It appears that the lad did indeed rush to the hospital to ‘visit’ Christina. He used the fire escape to get to the third floor and then they saw a light go on in the room they determined was the one Christina was in. They reported the light was turned off a short time later, but they had some high-tech listening device with them that captured the sound from that room. They recorded everything and it will be made available tomorrow. They said he only stayed just over an hour and they are still following him. They want to give a full report on a video conference tomorrow,” Ben reiterated.

Everyone looked around and noticed that Jason and Ellen were missing. Carol only mentioned the fact in passing, thinking Ellen must still be shaken from that event that seemed to have traumatized her. The remainder of the Champaign was consumed before everyone headed off to bed to get a good night’s sleep before facing a new day.

New Discoveries.

The kitchen staff had the breakfast table set and trays of pancakes, fried potatoes and eggs were carefully positioned around the large surface. For a change Carol and Marcus were the first to take their place at the table. Carol nervously looked around, afraid that they were late. The piles of untouched food showed they were the first to arrive. So why was everyone else late. Marcus was hungry and didn’t hesitate to fill his plate with the piping hot food. Seeing Marcus attack the food, Carol decided to join him and the servants started pouring coffee. Before Carol could set her cup down after her first sip, she heard Ruth and Ben in the main hallway.

Marcus barked out, “We’re in here.” His voice was distorted from the food he was still chewing.

Ruth entered behind Ben and just as she was about to take a seat, Jason and Ellen entered. Carol wondered if Ellen’s late arrival was a residual from the events of the night before. Soon everyone was talking, and the morning greetings were cheerfully exchanged. Ellen did not exhibit any of the traumas that haunted her the night before. In fact, she seemed to have a glowing aura and beamed joy and laughter, almost like a school girl after a fantastic date. Jason seemed to be in an excellent mood also.

The morning meal was nearly over before Fronia dashed in. She hurriedly kissed everyone present in a friendly greeting. She did not even try to make an excuse for her tardiness. It was obvious to everyone that Fronia had been ridden hard and put away wet. Her hair was matted; her blouse was half stuffed in and half hanging out. Carol was positive she saw a pair of black lace panties peeking out of Fronia’s handbag. Fronia seemed immune to the scrutiny and flopped into a chair and started eating like she was starving.

Everyone at the table was staring at Fronia. At first Fronia didn’t notice that she was the center of attention. When she stopped to gulp down a glass of orange juice she started looking around. As she became aware that all eyes were upon her, she blushed and then went on the offensive.

“What are all of you looking at, can’t a girl go out and have some fun without getting a big red A tattooed on her forehead? To tell the truth as I was walking past a few windows on my way, it was abundantly clear there was a lot of hot passion being vented last night,” Fronia huffed.

Laughter exploded after Fronia’s last remark and shy glances were shared. Marcus got up and started kissing everyone in preparation to depart. Carol followed him, but before she departed, she pulled Fronia to the side.

“Fronia, first I want to thank you for assisting yesterday. You really helped with getting Christina to trust you and then translating all of her erotic pornographic cyber sex. So, I know how I felt after hearing all that and I’m positive I would have done exactly what you did. So please, don’t be mad because we joked with you,” Carol confided.

By the time Carol was finished talking to Fronia, Ben and Ruth were waiting at the front door. Ben was waving his arm in a motion indicating she should hurry. With a final check in the hallway mirror she dashed out to join the group. Marcus was waiting in the car and had the motor running as she slid into the passenger seat.

“Sorry for the rush, but I want to get to the office in time to do a few checks on the progress made by the team before we engage in a video conference with ‘Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dumb’. I really would love to hear that they have captured the gang and freed the girls, but over the past few days I have learned optimism is a fool’s game,” grumbled Marcus as he sped out of town.

“Well, I’m sure my people will provide more details on the cyber tracking system so we will be able to pinpoint the location of their operation. Oh, I’m sure that when the ‘MOVIE’ version of this case is made there will be wild car chases and pyrotechnical extravaganzas filling the big screen with blazing glory. Ben and I are old school, right Ben? We use our heads not our guns. Don’t be fooled, just like all agents; we are highly skilled in all forms of defense. Ultimately, the BEST DEFENSE is being smarter than your opponent. Gather as much information possible and methodically piece together the big picture until you know the best way to take them down. I share your frustration with Inspector Campus and Inspector Borga. They work with a different point of view and under greater restrictions than we are used to. By now you should be aware that this case did not warrant the highest priority. Your operation may be the center of your universe, but it was not a major political target in a major city. Inspector Campus and Inspector Borga are just like Ben and me, hard working agents. They were assigned because they are good foot soldiers. Ben and I know we are not super stars. You may have seen the TV show ‘X Files’ well Ben and I joke that we are the ‘Y (Rhymes with WHY) Files’. Let me be clear we are able to use the full resources of the FBI, but we never get any really big cases or for that matter any recognition. As frustrating as Inspector Campus and Inspector Borga may seem they have done a lot of the leg work and provided access to levels of security we would not been privy to without their help,” Ruth pontificated.

Suddenly Carol started laughing. Sputtering between bursts of laughter she apologized to Ruth for not being focused on what she was talking about. Then, gasping for breath, Carol reiterated her thoughts about why Ellen pulled Jason off so early last night and why she seemed in such great spirits this morning when she arrived late for breakfast.

Ruth chuckled at the thought of Ellen and Jason having sex while everyone was gathered around listening to the vulgar debauchery on the wire tapped phone conversation. Ben blushed at the thought, but Marcus only smiled. After all, his sister was only 9 years older. She might have a bad leg, but she was basically a healthy woman. Marcus only stayed at the family Manson when he was in the area and then he had his own private living quarters. There was no reason to think there was any problems with either Ellen or Jason that would preclude them form a happy married life with all that entails.

The lively conversation continued, topics switched and swayed as the car burned away miles of winding road. Good vibrations radiated from everyone made the long drive seemed to take no time at all. Once they parked, the group split up. Ruth and Ben went to the Security Office to check on Todd.

Marcus and Carol headed for the Admin Office. Carol went directly to her desk; Marcus went directly to the cataloging section. Carol started sorting through the messages and notes left there by her staff. She was always amazed at how dedicated her staff was and today made her even happier. She had requested information about personal contacts between Christina and the other missing girls. Now looking over the reports Carol found that her staff was ever vigilant. There were no less than five separate notes detailing the connection Christina had with the other missing girls.

Waving the notes in the air above her head, Carol rushed to show Marcus. He was reluctant to turn his back on all the newly processed items, but Carol made it impossible to ignore her.

Patiently he listened to her detailed assessment of how Christina recruited other girls she worked with to join the cult and how each of the six Greek girls seemed to be given a mission to entice at least one young woman from the group of volunteers. Their method was simple. They used exactly the same tactics used for centuries. They took advantage of youthful exuberance and frustrations to trigger a rebellion. Taking a page from the American student protest of the 1960’s FREE SEX MOVEMENT it was easy to attract willing followers.

Marcus took the notes from Carol and studied them closely. He was shocked at how everything was played out in the open right under his nose and he never suspected a thing. He pondered the evidence and tried to comprehend how all these little pieces would fall into place and develop into a bigger picture that would explain why his little Archaeological Dig was attacked by thirty armed men.

“This is really great work. I guess you could say ‘I had my head in the sand’ as I never had any idea of what kind of social life the people living here was like. There is still the big question. Why did they attack the site with thirty armed men? The women were not chained to the walls. They were free to come and go as they pleased. There was no need to kidnap them,” brooded Marcus as he glared at the notes.

“Maybe we will learn more at the video conference this morning. Speaking of which we better get back to the office it is almost time for the video. We can stop by the security office and fetch Ruth and Ben on the way,” Carol coaxed.

Marcus was still trying to get comfortable in his seat, while Ruth, Ben and Carol huddled in the background, when the video feed went live. The image of Inspector Campus flashed then rolled before stabilizing on the monitor.

“kalí méra,” Campus greeted. “There is much new material to cover and I must explain, up-front, there is a lot of work in progress even as we speak. I want to give special thanks and recognition to our colleges from the FBI. Ruth and Ben have supplied us with valuable information and data that has helped greatly in putting more pieces of the puzzle together. We are now able to track Zepo and Christina and monitor their movements. This will enable us to find their hiding places and their contacts. This will enable us to make plans to round them up and crush their operation. We have been able to locate several of their operations and hiding places, but so far, we have not been able to locate the leader igétis latreías or, ἑλληνική as his followers refer to him. We want to gather more information about the nature of this cult and at the same time isolate and capture this ‘ἑλληνική’. Inspector Borga has reports from INTERPOL that indicate there is a strong connection to terrorist groups with ties to Iran. I will let him explain in more detail,” concluded inspector Campus with a nod of his head to move to permit Borga to step into the field of the camera.

Borga cleared his throat and fumbled with a stack of notes as he prepared to report, “Good Morning, as inspector Campus pointed out, INTERPOL has been tracking down new leads as a result of the excellent work of the FBI. Now that we are able to decode the message traffic and even track individuals, we are seeing how widespread this cult is. We now think that there never was a ‘KIDNAPPING’. Rather we now believe the 12 young women were recruited to be trained and used to establish cult centers in France, the United Kingdom and even the U.S.A. We are not sure what the six Greek girl’s role was. From what we observe from Christina’s activity, it seems they are just unhappy young girls rebelling against their parents and seeking thrills. This is where the new drug comes into play. We are still trying to understand how it works and what the short term and long-term effects are, but from what we saw with Christina, women become wildly sexually aroused and totally uninhibited and seek sexual pleasure blatantly and wantonly. Once we knew what to look for, we found that there have been literally thousands of reports of public sexual exhibitionism that could be related to this drug. With the increased reporting of strange disturbances with sexual miss-conduct we have started to gather data on the effects the drug has on men,” Inspector Borga asserted. He was cut off by Marcus before he could continue.

“I’m very happy to hear that so much progress is being made, but I still have not heard a single bit of information to explain why this dig site was attacked,” Marcus grumbled and scowled at the camera.

“Yes, that is a question we have been trying to answer from the first day. You may think your site is the center of the universe, but it is not a major government office, nor a huge sporting event with thousands of spectators. As you noticed, the TV news was not very interested in the event. At first, we thought it might be the local sheep herder, but after a lot of wasted man-hours, we could not find any evidence pointing in that direction. Now that we are able to read their message traffic, we are getting a better understanding of that they are doing. Now, it is clear the attack was a sort of smoke scream to smuggle the girls out and have them disappear, but they could have had access to even more girls that age at the university. We have picked up a few things indicating the cult leader is some sort of religious fanatic. The fact your dig appears to be some ancient religious site might be a factor,” Inspector Borga injected.

“Well, all I see is wild speculation. I have done everything I can to facilitate, yet it seems we are chasing a ghost,” Marcus spat in a curt reply.

Inspector Campus pushed his way to the camera and addressed Marcus directly. The preamble was rapid fire harshly spoken Greek. He was fed up with the harping condescending tone Marcus use when he was frustrated.

After venting on Marcus, he apologized to everyone and explained, “I agree with what you observe. Everyone here wanted this to be a quick fix. I want to emphasize the positive. We are now moving faster. Each hour we are learning more about the Cult and their operations. We have even started to learn more about the mysterious leader. This is a very critical phase of the operation. We must not rush in and let all the chickens run away before the trap snaps shut,”

“I realize you are right, but I’m not into police work and this situation has been a thorn in my side from day one. I think it would be best if I concentrate on my Dig and let you do your job, without me breathing down your necks,” Marcus conceded. Then he turned around to see if anyone else in the room wanted to present any new information. He noticed Ruth was busy on her laptop, obviously retrieving data from her HQ. After a short pregnant pause, he mashed the terminate key and the monitor went blank.

Ruth looked up from her laptop and took a deep breath. Ben rushed over to see what Ruth was working on. Carol absentmindedly started to rub Marcus’ shoulders. The atmosphere was super-charged with the raw emotions of frustration and anger.

“I was rather busy checking the reports from the cyber geeks and they have been very busy. They are not allowed to give all the info they find to the local police not even INTERPOL as there are still restrictions on how much we can say without letting people know how much we know and how we know it. Ben and I have a lot of sorting and scrubbing to do so we can provide more data to the inspectors,” Ruth confided.

“Come on Marcus, you promised to show me more of the new artifacts,” Carol goaded, attempting to get Marcus out of the office and his mind on a more pleasant subject.

We will be in the security office using the secure communications so check there when you are ready to leave,” offered Ruth as she and Ben gathered up their paperwork and computers.

“Thank you, Carol, for reminding me that I have a real job and I should devote myself to it and stop trying to play cops and robbers. I’m sure they have cataloged a lot of the new objects. You better leave your sensitivities here, because all of the artifacts are really sexually explicit. I think two of my team have had to recuse themselves from handling some of the art work because they found them offensive. Just giving you a heads-up,” Marcus warned Carol as they walked to the storage area where the cataloged objects were kept until they could be crated and shipped to the University for closer examination.

“Oh, Marcus you act like I’m some silly school girl. You should know by now I’m very open-minded. But now that you bring the subject up, I think Ellen was having some visions, of a very mature nature herself, last night. The fact that Ellen and Jason were so late for breakfast tends to support my theses,” Carol gushed as she moved close to Marcus and kissed him behind the ear.

After they checked in with the cataloging staff, Marcus escorted Carol to the rows of items that had been processed. Carol was amazed at how everything looked like it was new. There was no broken, chipped, or tarnished tell-tale signs of antiquity. Carol slowly proceeded down the first row pausing occasionally to examine a plate or a vase. She came to an abrupt stop in front of a shelf containing statues.

One of the items was about 4 feet tall and maybe 5 feet wide. It was clearly a group of two men and one woman. There was no mistaking what activity they were engaged in. The woman was on her hands and knees between the men and the art work was of such exquisite detail it was easy to determine the image was captured at the instant of orgasm. Carol giggled a bit nervously as she carefully examined the details. As she moved around to see it from every angle, she thought it looked so lifelike. In her mind’s eye she envisioned these lovers caught, unaware, by Medusa. Carol could almost see the snakes on her head writhing as she approached the trio. At the peak of their passion, Medusa reared her ugly head and their wonton sexual fire was transformed to marble, their orgasmic explosion frozen into cold hard stone to be preserved and viewed for eternity.

Carol carefully examined the statue. She was unaware that she was slowly running her finger tips over the stone surface. The room was silent, yet she could hear the panting, gasping, moaning resulting from raw lust being consumed by the trio. A quiver ran down her spine and her body tingled in ways she was all too familiar with. It reminded her of the first time Marcus took her to the storage area in New York. Lost in her private universe of erotic bliss, Carol did not notice Marcus approaching from behind. At his touch, Carol jumped like she had been hit by a cattle prod.

“OH GOD MARCUS, you startled me!” exclaimed Carol as she tried to recover her composure.

“Sorry, I did not want to scare you. I noticed how you were admiring this sculpture. It is just one of more than a dozen. Each one deals with a different erotic theme. I have never seen any sculptures that match this level of perfection,” Marcus explained.

“Yes, I was just thinking a crazy thought about how this looks so lifelike it is like they were victims of Medusa,” Carol replied.

Before she could say another word, Marcus mashed his mouth over her lips and kissed her with a passionate kiss that sent sparks raging through her body igniting her lustful desires. Unable to resist the flaming passions she wiggled and jerked until her lithe body was void of any encumbering clothing. Marcus was not far behind and soon had Carol spread on a sturdy table. As if possessed by some errant spirit of sexual debauchery they writhed and jerked in a spastic tango of pure lust. Uninhibited by thoughts of possible discovery or observation they let their passions burn hot.

After a time – a time neither of them could say the duration - the real world crashed in upon them. With the sudden restoration of the here and now they became aware of their nudity. Totally purged of any residual prudishness they quietly dressed, only pausing occasionally to kiss. Suddenly aware of the time they laughed and agreed they should go pick Ruth and Ben up and head home before Ellen gets mad at them for being late.

Ruth was just getting up from a corner desk as they entered. Ben was busy faxing some documents to the police HQ. Carol noticed Todd seemed to be spending a lot of time looking in Ruth’s direction, but it was a small room and there were not many places to look.

“Hey! I was about to send out a search party. We are all finished with the review of the new data and Ben filtered it and sent what was releasable down to our buddies. I do think we are closing in, but I will not bother you with details if you really want to stop ‘PLAYING COPS AND ROBBERS’. Right now, all I want is one of Ellen’s excellent meals and a shower,” Ruth summarized.

Marcus gave a crazy distorted smile and said, “Please give me the short version on the way home it might help kill time.”