situations. When I met him, I didn’t like his style, but now I trust him almost more than I trust myself. “They’ll probably hold for five more.”
“Except in the area that collapsed,” says Bridge.
“That’s something we need to find out,” I say. “How many other collapses have there been in Vaycehn’s history? And were any of them followed by deaths, just like those of the archeologists?”
Fourteen archeologists have died in Vaycehn in the past few years. All of the archeologists were working in the oldest parts of the city. And none of their bodies have ever been recovered.
That alone intrigued Ilona. But the fact that some claim the bodies vanished intrigues her more.
“You’d think information on collapses and deaths would be in the databases,” Julian says. He’s not a scientist or an archeologist. Until the Empire found him, Julian was an accountant in a small firm on Zonze, one of the most populous cities in the entire sector.
“Not if Vaycehn has always been as secretive about its problems as it has been about the fourteen dead,” I say.
“I don’t think they’re being secretive.” Ilona sits close to me, her fingertips tapping lightly on the tabletop. “After all, I was about to find out about the deaths.”
“Because most of those people were well known in their field,” Stone says. “If they came here and disappeared, it would be more suspicious than if they died.”
One of the other archeologists, Bernadette Ivy, nods. “We all know the risks of working underground. We don’t think twice when someone dies at a dig off-planet.”
Then she stops because we’re all staring at her. We all don’t know the risks of working underground. Most of us only know the risks of working in space.
“What risks?” Tamaz asks. Tamaz has also been with me for years. He sounds tentative, which is unusual.
“Ground collapse is one,” Ivy says.
“Probably the biggest one if you’re in a cave,” Stone says.
“Then there’s cultural issues,” Ivy says. “Sometimes the local population hates it when you touch something sacred—and you had no idea it was sacred.”
“Local laws prevail in some of those cases,” Stone says.
“Except in digs that are sanctioned by the Empire,” Ivy says, and then she bites her lower lip.
“Okay, so be honest,” Tamaz says. “The work you archeologists do is mostly safe, right? You don’t die if you make a mistake.”
He stated it like a sentence, but it was really a question. A nervous question.
“That’s right,” Stone says. “Mostly we don’t die when we make mistakes.”
“I mean,” Tamaz says, “if your clothes rip, you’re fine. You don’t usually need extra oxygen or some kind of gravity boot to keep you on a path or—”
“Enough,” I say.
Ivy’s cheeks are flushed, and Stone actually looks angry. I don’t want my people comparing their specialties. It does no good.
Tamaz bites his lower lip, as if he wants to say more. But he doesn’t.
I continue. “I think we get the archeologists’ point. Because those fourteen deaths occurred over time instead of all at once, they didn’t look that suspicious.”
“Exactly,” Stone said with a glare at Tamaz. “It just looked like that particular dig in Vaycehn was a treacherous one.”
“It took Ilona to put some of the facts together,” I say. “Like the fact that the dig itself didn’t collapse. These people died in a perfectly clear area.”
“And some of them,” Ilona says softly, “mummified in the short hours they were inside that area.”
Mikk shudders so violently I can see it across the table. A few of us have seen this before. Mikk saw it at the Room of Lost Souls. I’ve seen it more than once. First with my mother, then with one of my divers on the first Dignity Vessel I found, and finally, at the Room of Lost Souls.
“If you work this like a dive,” Stone says, going back to the original topic, “then we could lose a lot of archeological data. We need to spend time with each patch of ground, examining the layers of soil for evidence of—”
“You’ve only gone on tourist dives,” Tamaz says. “A wreck dive forces you to spend time in each section. You have to, or you really will die.”
An edge in his voice makes me hold up a hand. “I’m sorry to say that the in-depth archeological information is less important than the stealth tech. But you knew that when you signed on.”
Stone leans back in her chair.
“If we don’t find any tech,” I say, “then you and the other archeologists can stay if you want,