Chapter Twenty Eight - Part Two: Phoning Home

Allister and Koa arrived shortly after their conversation, pouring themselves large bowls of stew and sitting at the table. Allister grabbed a remote and turned on the TV to a local news station and the group periodically watched as they ate in companionable silence.

"We now go back to our top story regarding the massive brawl that took place near Skouze Hill."

All heads turned to the TV as the news anchors face was replaced with grainy video on the fight just after the override thrall punched the Proxy.

"Surveillance video obtained from an English speaking school shows the moment Andreas Pappas, a port hand at Port Peiraias, attacked Athens University student Christos Oikonomou. The fight prompted locals to take action to protect Oikonomou, resulting in a mass panic that caused several injuries. At least ten people are currently in the hospital with injuries, some of which are severe. Oikonomou survive the encounter but was left with a severe brain injury. Pappas is currently receiving medical care while in police custody."

"Well." Allister sighed. "At least they didna name you three."

Leta nearly jumped when her phone started to ring, seeing the call ID was Dr. Galloise.

"Sh**… I gotta take this." She said standing up from the table and walking towards her room.

"Remember," Allister called after her, "No locations, nothing goes back ta where ya are. Keep it vague, lass."

She was closing the door as she clicked the button to answer. "Hello?"

"Leta! Thank god you finally picked up. I've been trying to reach you for ages." Her mentor nearly shouted into the phone. "I saw the news! Dr. De Mar called me and said that he had you and two other interns running errands and you got mixed up in that brawl on TV."

'So that's the lie we're going with.' Leta mused, her mind mentally conjuring up the cringing face of the Judge that physically couldn't lie but was lying to cover for her.

"Yeah… It was supper scary." Leta played along, "That guy helped me up and then suddenly attacked the other guy. It was crazy."

"Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm perfectly fine. Just scrapped my knee when I took that fall."

"Where are you now?"

Leta paused, thinking about how to answer. "I'm staying the night. Koa and Hayoto that you met along with their friend whose a nurse and another friend who works at the zoo. We're all good. They've got a really cute pet that loves belly rubs."

"Aw…" She could hear Dr. Galloise melting on the other end of the line. The woman was a sucker when it came to cute animals. "What's it's name?"

"Bonnie Lass."

"Oh my gosh, that's adorable." She sighed, "Anyway, getting back on topic. That detective guy from a few days ago called asking about you. He wanted to know what you guys were doing at the fight. I just repeated what Dr. De Mar told me and gave him the Doctor's contact info. He may give you a call, depending on what the Doctor does."

"Good to know."

"Also," Dr. Galloise paused, taking a breath. "It pains me to no end, but we got word today that the dig is officially canceled."

"Holy sh**, really?" Leta gasped, faking surprise as best she could.

"Yeah… Unfortunately after you're accident and the fragile state of the site, they want to hold off on doing any more excavations until they can determine a safer way to do it. That could be next month or next year - no real way to tell at this point."

"Damn… So what does that mean for us?"

"Well, since we are officially bust, we'll be spending the day packing up and going back to our normal jobs. That could take a few days as we demobilize the contracts and equipment. Vigo and Pilar will be working a bit longer with Dr. Marrow, but me and the rest of the crew will be going back to Connecticut and returning to normal at the university."

"You, missy, are lucky indeed." She could hear the smirk in Dr. Galloise's tone. "Dr. De Mar has already told me that he's arranged for you to stay in a student flat during the summer with the rest of the interns, so it looks like you're staying here for a bit."

Leta was happy that they got her alibi in place already. "Good to hear." She smiled, "But damn, I'm so disappointed that they're closing the dig."

"I know!" Dr. Galloise shouted again, causing Leta to hold the phone back from her ear lest she go deaf. "It took months, MONTHS I tell you, to get those permits and it all goes to sh**!"

"I'm sorry." Leta spoke softly. She was honestly disheartened that the excavation that her mentor had been working towards for years went belly up because of her.

"Don't me. Crap like this happens. It's not ideal, but it's not out of the ordinary. I'm not upset with you-I'd rather have you healthy and no dig than you a vegetable in the hospital with a dig still happening. I don't need to do that kind of paperwork."

Leta chuckled, the silence growing between them for a moment before she spoke up. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Fire away, but I can't promise not to give you a snarky answer."

She grinned, "Do you think I have what it takes? To be an archaeologist?"

"Hm…" She could visualize her mentor tapping her finger to her chin. "Patience of a saint? Check. Love of history? Check. The mouth of a sailor? Check. Will eat anything given to her no matter how weird? Check. A willingness to get her hands dirty? Check. Stepping up when others would back out? Check. You're the whole package, Leta girl. Why? Where's this coming from?"

"I dunno." Leta shrugged, "I guess, with everything going on I just feel like I'm loosing the plot, you know? I came here to get in the ocean and uncover history. I feel like I'm not doing that where I'm at. You know my parents - digs have been part of my life since I was a baby. I feel like… maybe I'm in the wrong place, you know?"

"Girly, let me give you a hard truth." Dr. Galloise chuckled. "You ready for it?"

"Ready."

"You're going to discover that life is 90% sheer boring monotony that makes you want to rip out your hair it's so bland. The other 10% of your life is going to be filled with mind numbing terror that will keep you up at night. The keep to this is finding joy in the boring and bravery in the fear. You get that down, and nothing can stop you."

"That… doesn't make any sense at all."

Dr. Galloise chuckled, "I guess it's one of those 'eye of the beholder' kind of inspirational quotes that doesn't translate well. Look, kid. You're 'boring' is someone's terrifying. Dive under water where there are sharks? Get stabbed by coral? Needles at the hospital? You're everyday is someone's worst fear. Embrace that. Own that. When you do, the small things seem a lot smaller, and the big things more important. You are already willing to do the hard things in life, and that's more than others. Keep at that - keep doing the hard things, and you'll be unstoppable. Though, when you do write a book rewriting history, I'd like a mention and at least 12% of the royalties."

"Twelve percent?" Leta chuckled.

"An offer could be made for 10."

"Okay, now you're just being greedy."

"Nah, I'm being real. You've lived archaeology you're whole life - you know it doesn't pay half of what it should for the conditions we sometimes get in. Anyway," Dr. Galloise wrapped up, "I gotta go. I need to get in touch with Dr. Marrow to coordinate getting the equipment taken care of."

Polite good byes were exchanged, and Leta hung up, staring at the phone.

She paused, asking herself if what she wanted to do was a good idea before scrolling to her favorites and pressing the button.

"Ring…Ring…"

"Leta?"

"He mom. It's me."