The Viking Seal

CHAPTER 21 - Tales Out Of School

Mel sat at the table in the lounge cradling an empty mug in her hands and chewing the inside of her cheek. Arvil passed through now and then, busy with his chores, and Captain Eddie stayed on the bridge monitoring the radio and keeping an eye on the weather. Arny flopped down on a bench along the side of the lounge and gave her a smile.

"You worried about them?"

"A little. Stone isn't used to tent camping, especially in this kind of weather."

"You guys don't use tents?"

"Well yes but usually for eating. We bed down with the animals when we're on a dig."

"Ugh."

She laughed. "It's not so bad. They provide a lot of protection from sand storms and the sun when there's no other shade."

"You're talking about camels, right?"

"Yes. Ship of the desert." She said with a satirical chirp.

Arny considered that and then decided he'd take the tent. "I wouldn't worry too much, Gretta is a very capable woman in almost any element."

"Almost?" Mel smiled questioningly.

"Yeah, well except for our apartment. That she just can't seem to manage."

"Are you ever- will you be getting married some day?"

"I hope so, if I stay alive long enough anyway."

Mel looked alarmed and blurted, "Alive!"

"Hey, sorry. That's just cynical me. Gretta's work borders- hell it more than borders, it's downright smack in the middle of some very dicey adventures. That's her term, adventures. I call them horror stories."

He looked up with a sardonic grin and realized that he had given Mel a dose of unnecessary panic. "Oh, look, Mel. It's nothing to fret about. Gretta has been doing this for ages now."

"Ages? She's only what, thirty-five?"
"Thirty-seven actually but don't tell her I told you."

Mel wasn't thrilled to hear that Gretta was closer to age with Stone than she was, and her next question came without forethought.

"How old are you?"

Arny sat up and grinned at her expression. "Not doing a comparison inventory are we?" Her face closed and he stopped grinning. "I'm thirty-eight. Listen, Mel, age has no bearing here. We're all adults and we all have our own skills and limits."

"I don't know much about you and Stone, but Gretta and I have been together for a while now and while I'm a bit of a nuisance when she gets a call from her boss, I know it's something she does well, and has for some time... before I met her even. My first time with her was in Mexico, and I want to tell you, Gretta was a study in determined efficiency."

"Stone really isn't in the same class. He just happened to come to the attention of the Congress because of the tomb we uncovered with my father. A lot of people died over that, and Stone was very pleased that it was all over." She pushed her mug away and stood up, going to the windows overlooking the coast. "I just don't want him to develop a taste for the kind of work Gretta does."

That was clear enough, Arny thought. Gretta was looked upon as a bad influence. Maybe not bad but undesirable at least.

"They'll be fine."

Arvil joined them at the table and asked about their work, unaware that Mel was having grave misgivings. In an ill-considered attempt to sound blasé, Arny had them both sitting speechless as he recounted his experiences in Mexico and Peru and Gretta's exploits on behalf of the Congress. When he got to the parts about the killings and the various means, Mel sank back and went very pale. Arvil's mouth hung open, soaking up every single word.