Page 34 of Taurus's Quest
“And I think Andreas likely wasn’t the only person meddling with data. Depending on the ease of transmission or influence, compromising individuals in key locations seems highly likely. People who, like Andreas, could fudge numbers with no one the wiser.”
“You’re talking about a worldwide conspiracy, and I have a hard time believing it’s possible because I can’t be the only person questioning and trying to alert to the danger,” she stated.
“Maybe you aren’t. Do you think your bosses went around telling others about your theory?”
“Doubtful, seeing as how the reaction was disbelief and amusement that I even took the device’s measurements seriously.”
“Yeah, well, it worried Andreas enough he tried to kill you to shut you up, which leads me to the next question. Would you be notified if an astronomer in another country got murdered?”
“Not notified so much as I’d hear about it through office gossip.”
“But you’d assume an accident or random act of violence, right? Same as they would have, if it happened to you.”
“I can’t believe we’re discussing people being murdered so casually,” she grumbled.
“Agreed. We should be doing much more entertaining things.”
“Such as?”
He arched a brow. “I could go for some more honey.”
So could she, but as she parted her lips to say, please do, the tablet dinged.
Taurus scowled. “Stupid thing has shit timing.”
Agreed.
“How come we’re getting the books so fast? I thought Aquarius said we wouldn’t get most until the morning.”
“Knowing him, he’s found a way to speed up the process. Boy’s a genius.”
“Boy,” she snorted. “He looks as old as you.”
“We might appear similar in age, but I’ve been serving a decade longer,” he boasted.
A reminder of the age gap that should have bothered but didn’t.
“What do we have this time?” she asked, leaning close to see the screen.
“Looks like a diary, and a boring one at that.” He flipped the pages, scanning the text before resorting to the search function. Antikythera displayed zero results, but the word Labyrinth dropped them on a page that started with:
What a wildly wonderous day. I discovered some eroded steps leading upwards to a cave and have stumbled across the mouth to King Minos’ Labyrinth, or so I assume, as there is a grand door of bronze upon which the king’s symbol is etched, along with a bull’s head and a warning. As if I would enter. Guess I’ll have to find a different cave to hide my wares, lest the soldiers confiscate it all again. Bloody thieves.
Taurus glanced at Circe and grinned. “I do believe this is the journal of a smuggler.”
“Does he say where this door was located?”
“Hold on. He rants a bit about the unfair laws and the way they’re impeding his business. Here we go.”
His finger traced the line of text.
While the climb to the cave is arduous—why did it need so many steps?—I am returning for another peek at that bronze door. The townsfolk have long claimed the gorge is haunted, but I don’t care. The soldiers have taken everything, and now I am reduced to begging unless I can find a treasure. Perhaps the maze will have something of worth. I just wish it wasn’t so difficult to reach. I’m still healing from the tumble I took when the stone steps crumbled underneath me.
“So definitely looking for a gorge,” she murmured. “But that doesn’t narrow it down much.”
“There was a town nearby.”
She snorted. “Again, not useful.”
