Origin Read Free Page A

Corps of Engineers.’
    Lynn took the hand, shaking it firmly. ‘Army?’ she asked, surprised. She took a quick look at the others, spread out behind Daley in a fan formation. Definitely military. The air about them was unmistakable.
    ‘Hey, who else is gonna deal with an emergency operation thousands of miles from civilization? It’s us or you wait another two weeks for a civilian team. If the body’s uncovered already, you don’t want it decomposing.’
    Lynn nodded her head, understanding. ‘Yes, of course. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to seem rude, I just wasn’t expecting a military team. You’ve extracted bodies from the ice before?’
    Daley nodded solemnly. ‘Soldiers die in frozen parts of the world all the time. And we never leave a man behind.’ He gazed into Lynn’s eyes. ‘Now take us to the body.’
    Lynn had to admit that there was something to be said for military efficiency. By lunchtime, the army engineers had been shown the site, done a full reconnaissance of the area, and drawn up a detailed plan of action, which Lynn had quickly approved. It seemed they had indeed done this before.
    Back at base, Major Daley sat with Lynn and Devane in the dining room, cups of strong hot coffee on the aluminium table between them. The two NASA scientists were taking Daley through the events of the initial discovery, and the major was asking questions and taking notes.
    ‘So since talking to Atkinson last night, you didn’t go back out to the body until this morning?’
    Lynn exchanged looks with Devane, then shook her head. ‘No. Samuel ordered us to return here and stay until you guys arrived.’
    Daley nodded. ‘Good.’
    ‘Why?’ Lynn asked, all too aware that her answer hadn’t been entirely truthful. After their meeting and discussion with the team the night before, she and Devane had descended the ridge again, documenting the find with high-definition cameras and taking detailed notes. Using their own specialized tools, they had even managed to shave some skin cells from the frozen body and cut some of the hair for later DNA analysis, as well as taking a small strip of clothing for radiocarbon testing. The unpredictable weather on this freakish continent could mean that the entire site could have been covered under several feet of snow by the time a specialist team turned up. The body could well have been lost for another forty thousand years, and Lynn was damned if she was going to let that happen. She felt uncomfortable admitting this to Daley however, and so the evidence they had gathered now rested in her personal backpack, stowed in her private cabin.
    ‘OK,’ Daley announced. ‘We’ll go ahead with phase one of the plan at fifteen hundred – extraction of the body. We’ll get it into one of the pressurized refrigeration units on board the first Chinook and then we’ll all extract by twenty-two hundred tonight.’
    ‘What?’ asked Lynn, shocked. ‘We’re
all
extracting? What about our mission?’
    Daley disregarded her concerns completely. ‘You’re now part of a major scientific find, Dr Edwards,’ he said charmingly. ‘Your mission has changed.’
    True to his word, Daley ensured his team had the body out and loaded by that evening.
    His men were so efficient, Lynn couldn’t help but be impressed. They extracted the body with an almost loving care. Lynn and Devane watched fascinated as more and more of the ancient corpse was revealed. The strange clothing continued downwards, ending in some sort of cold-weather boots. And then there was something else, something
metal
buried next to the body.
    Lynn moved forward to have a closer look but was gestured back. ‘I’m sorry, Dr Edwards,’ Daley said with gruff impatience. ‘These extraction tools we’re using are dangerous. Please remain in the safety zone.’
    Disappointed but not surprised, Lynn moved back. Daley hadn’t wanted her there at all but she had argued her case thoughtfully. The army guys, no matter how