"So, how's it going?"
Galya's brush stopped moving over the recently-cleared area, and she glared up at Mac. "Do you have something specific in mind for this interruption, or are you just here to annoy me?" she asked acidly.
Mac grinned saucily, green eyes twinkling.
Galya shuddered. "You know, with that hair you do look somewhat insane," she bit out snappishly.
Mac, for all the white halo of hair on his head, stuck out his tongue. "When you're as old as I am," he retorted, completely disregarding the incongruity of his words and actions, "You're eccentric. Not insane."
Galya did not even dignify that with a response.
"And I was honestly looking for a progress report," Mac continued in a more serious vein.
"The University?"
"Wants a formal evaluation. With the discovery of the Essene site -" Mac paused, remembering the remarkable young man who had been a part of the dig for such a short time. Galya smiled a little too, and he continued quickly. "We've been granted an extension, and a budget increase, but we've also attracted much more attention. The global arena got a little whiff of what's going on here, and now the University's fending off rabid reporters and our most illustrious colleagues, all of whom are slavering for their pound of flesh." He sounded more than a little irritated.
"Well, you certainly have pounds to spare," Galya grunted, her attention back on her carefully measured plot of dirt. That startled a snort out of the somewhat grim head of the excavation.
"Takes one to know one," he threw back absently.
Galya glanced down at herself before laughing lightly. "You wish," she retorted. Noticing her friend's abstraction, she set her brush aside and rose from her crouch, eyeing him critically as she stretched. Mac winced at the sound of popping vertebrae, and Galya let out a blissful sigh, fists kneading her back.
"We're making good progress," she offered.
Mac's face was a portrait of exasperation. "I'm going to need something a little more specific," he responded snidely. "Or I'll make you give it to the Board instead of just writing something up."
Galya winced. "We are," she protested inconsequentially. She shook out her legs slightly. "You don't need to throw me to the wolves just yet," she smiled, holding out her hands.
Mac's face twisted into a bit of a scowl, and he didn't respond.
"Mac?" The slightly older man flapped a hand at her, and she began to be concerned. "Mac?"
"It's nothing," he sighed, and Galya saw a rare, worried expression on his face. It made him look weary, and old.
"Mac," she warned, carefully keeping her tone light.
"I just can't help but wonder," he capitulated softly.
Galya nodded a little, the smile more of a wince than a comforting expression. "Daniel always struck me as one who would keep in touch," she responded.
After having known one another for so long, Mac wasn't surprised at all by her perception. "We knew he was mixed up with something funny," he said at last, offering Galya his arm. The light was gently falling as dusk crept over the desert. There was a slight chill in the air.
"It's only been two weeks or so," Galya took Mac's arm, and the two headed down the bluff towards Smitty's realm. "Give it a little time," she urged. "He's no doubt finding his feet again."
Mac frowned. "I can't help but think that he wasn't really ready to face it all just yet," he sighed. "There was a powerful hurt there."
Galya raised an eye at the strange expression. Catching the look on her face, Mac grimaced. "My Great-Auntie Elise," he offered by way of explanation. At the twinkle in his best friend's eye, he concluded with a hasty, "And I'm not too keen on the military types we let waltz in here and -"
Galya's face darkened and Mac knew he'd brought out the kindred spirit in her. "I just don't see them being able to fix it," she growled. "They were, after all, at the root of the issue. And I don't believe for a second that Daniel told us everything. Remember the first night he was here?"
Contemplating the obviously censored life story Daniel had given to the dig's motley crew, Mac rubbed a thumb over his eyebrow. "I may not like it," he disagreed, "but I think that in the end, they're the only ones who could fix their mistake."
Galya grunted somewhat bad-temperedly, and Mac snorted. "You sound like a boar," he commented snidely.
Galya let out a hoot of laughter as she stepped under the pavilion, lengthening her stride so that she was almost dragging him along. "Better than being a bore," she said pointedly. Ziv, standing in front of them in line, turned warily at Mac's pointed groan of disbelief. Seeing the two of them, his eyes widened and he turned back around, tilting his head to let the fringes of his blonde bangs hang in his eyes.
He nudged the slightly taller, dark-haired figure in front of him out of the conversation with his fiancée, and jerked a thumb back at the two foremost professors in charge of the dig. "Check it out," he grinned.
Katie and Tobe glanced back at the debate in full swing, and as voices rose Katie prudently stepped behind Tobe. "Oh, I see it now," he said teasingly. "I'm easily sacrificed in the face of self-preservation, am I?"
"Tobe, you know I love you," Katie replied with perfect seriousness. "But I don't love you enough to go any closer to that!" she pointed at the whirlwind of noise and gestures that had once, presumably, been two rational humans. Tobe grinned and ducked behind the smaller Ziv, who was backing slowly down the line of food, away from the increasingly raucous dervish that was Galya and Mac.
Scary phrases such as 'report for the Board' and 'full site evaluation' were being thrown through the air with frightening ease, and fielded by opposing sides with terrifying aplomb. Ziv, closest in range to the combatants, shuddered convulsively.
"Say," said Tobe with some interest as Ziv flinched back from a particular barrage of sound – 'on-site review' – "If you die, can I have your stereo?"
The blond Aussie glared at him, and was nearly taken out by his own shoelaces as he stumbled away from what was promising to be a war zone that would put most of the Middle East to shame. "No," he snapped. "I'm going to send it to Daniel." He sniffed haughtily, then slipped past the pair fixated with morbid fascination on the phrase 'rescinding of tenure' to take a place farther up in the food line.
"Hey!" Katie and Tobe objected in tandem, for a moment drowning out Galya and Mac's argument in their indignation. Once again, Katie moved further up in line in an attempt to get away from the two, who were arguing like an old married couple without the drawbacks of ever having been one.
By the time they had gotten their food, the fight looked as if it was turning nuclear, and so without hesitation Louie slammed down his tray and hollered, "TIME OUT!" at the top of his lungs.
The resulting silence was a gift from the gods, and there were several relieved sighs from around the table at the temporary cessation of hostilities. Between the senior members of the dig, they managed to get a reasonable review of progress together, and decided that Louie, for his sin of rudely interrupting a calm discussion between two sensible adults, wouldbe grantedthe priviledgeof typing it up.
After the much-ritualized evening bath, they once again gathered around the campfire. Katie and Tobe snuggled together, with Louie tending to his ever-peeling nose on their right, and Michelle and Saloma speaking in low tones to each other to their left. Ziv was looking somewhat nervous about being unwillingly ensconced between Mac and Galya, but since he had the fiddle out, the truce had lasted into the late evening.
When the relative quiet around the fire turned expectant, with speculative glances at Ziv as he carefully tuned his violin, a sweet voice broke the silence. "What do you think?" asked Saloma quietly, glancing at the others. "How about something a little patriotic?" The tiny smile was enough for the others, and Ziv smiled.
"Lead us in a round?" he offered gently.
"Alright," she agreed. Then she grinned. "Something Daniel would love if he were here," she said. "Hebrew first, then English. Ready?"
Her low, rich voice blended beautifully with Michelle's higher counterpoint as they began to sing.
Lo yisagoy el goy herev,
Lo ilmedu od milhama
Lo yisagoy el goy herev
Lo ilmedu od milhama
Ein Od Od Ein
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead
Just walk beside me and be my friend
And together we will walk on the Path of Hashem
Ein Od Od Ein
The round continued, and the others joined in, until the entire group had gone through the whole song three times. The sound, at once hopeful and mournful, rose through the air over the dig. To those singing to a friend far away, the light from the fire and the stars was the only illumination for their souls, the sound of the crackling fire and the music calling to each of them and lending a soothing, magical air to the evening.
Therefore, none of them was prepared for a dark figure to stumble into the circle of light created by the fire as the last notes from Ziv's violin died away.
- - - - - - - - - - -
nervous glances to stage left and right
I'm back!
Thank you to all of those prodding me to get my butt moving. I love you all, treats to everyone! In defense of my relative silence recently, I must make a confession. I lost the thread of this story (needless to say, I have it again, and no, I won't bore you with an explanation. :) I am without cable at college, and so what I've been doing for weeks during winter break is binging on Stargate, trying to get a feel for my characters again. I was really lost for a bit, but am clawing my way back. Sorry for the delay.
The correct translation of the Hebrew given above, as I understand it is, "And neither shall nation raise up sword against nation, and neither shall any (country/people/insert noun here) war anymore." That is (minus the stuff in parenthesis for your clarification), apparently, a direct and correct translation, but if anyone who speaks the lingo knows of a better way of putting it, I'd really appreciate it.
As a New Year's Resolution, I solemnly vow that you will not wait as long for the next chapter as you have for this one. : )