Atlantians

Chapter 12

"I've had no luck finding a cave entrance yet Katarina."

Katarina turned and saw Christiana standing in the opening of her tent. "Come on in Christiana." Katarina waved her in as she stripped off her shirt and tossed it on her cot. "You can't find the entrance."

Christiana shook her head as she walked into the tent. Her eyes scanned the inside of the tent as she started talking. "We have been all over the area. We've looked everywhere that we could think an entrance would be hidden. I'm all out of ideas."

Katarina was quiet as Christiana talked. She sat on the edge of her cot and took off her sturdy work boots. Her socks followed before she stood up and wiggled out of her jeans. "Have you extended your search outward?"

"Yes, but we haven't found anything."

"Hm..." Katarina mumbled as she moved over to the washstand that she had set up in one corner of the tent. She poured warm water into the wash basin and dipped a worn wash cloth into the water. She wrung out the wash cloth and got busy rubbing the dirt and grime off her body. It had been several days since she'd washed and you could tell it. It was hard trying to find the time to bathe on an archeological dig especially one in desert regions.

Katarina dried herself off before she changed into clean clothes. She bundled her others clothes up and tucked them underneath her arm. Katarina motioned for Christiana to lead the way out of the tent. "I'm positive that there is a cave entrance somewhere. There's no way that they could've dug out that entire cave system. It's huge and it looks old." Katarina talked as they left the tent and headed through the excavation site. On the way, Katarina dropped her clothes off to the crew members assigned to laundry duty.

"Want me to show you all the places that we've looked?"

Katarina looked up at the hot bright sun and pulled at the shirt that was already sticking to her skin. "Sure maybe another pair of eyes will spot something that you guys missed."

"Maybe," Christiana said doubtfully. "But we've looked all over in a radius extending three miles out in every direction."

Christiana sounded defeated. Katarina bumped her shoulders with the younger woman. "Don't sound so defeated. Cave systems can extend for miles. The entrance to this system could lay over five miles away. We just haven't found it yet."

"I hope so. The land around here is pretty in its own way, but I'm tired of looking for something that I can't find."

Katarina laughed. "That is exactly what archeology is Christiana. We are constantly looking for things that we can't see and aren't sure is there. That's all part of the fun and it's an adrenaline rush when you do find something after days of digging."

Christiana gave Katarina a soft smile. "You give me hope then."

"Show me where you've looked for the cave entrance around here."

Christiana sighed and pointed to a ridge behind the camp. "We started there and then moved in a clockwise rotation till we ended up back where we started."