Chapter 1- 4

The hostel room door rattled again as the knock was repeated. The sound jarred Kate out of the warm haze she had been sinking into and she started up off the toilet in a slight panic, almost tripping over the panties laced around her ankles.

“Missus, missus… it is Ibrahim, are you ready to go yet?”

Recovering her equilibrium, Kate pulled up her panties and moved over to the door.

“I am not quite ready to go Ibrahim. Come back in about 15 minutes, I should be ready then.”

“Okay Missus,” came Ibrahim’s reply, muffled somewhat by the door. “I will come back in a little while. We must get moving soon, because it is a long ride back to the camp after we pick up the supplies and equipment.”

“Ok Ibrahim, I will be ready soon... just come back in about 15 minutes, like I said.”

Kate could hear the boy’s footsteps recede down the hallway, back towards his room. Kate plopped down on the bed and looked over at the clothes she had laid out to wear. Her sexual frustration was even greater now that she had been interrupted but Ibrahim would be back shortly and she would barely have enough time to finish cleaning up and get dressed. With a sigh, Kate pulled herself up off the bed and returned to the sink to finish her morning ablutions.

*****

As he watched Ali take charge of the workers and get them moving, Alex was again glad that Ali had agreed to come along on this job as supervisor, it made setting up and doing the basic work very easy because Ali had been doing this kind of work for years—most of those years spent working with Alex and Kate. It didn’t hurt that most of the workers were either related to Ali or came from the same village—or both.

Now that Ali had his marching orders and was busy getting things started on the test trenches in the village area Alex was free to head off to the temple and get started on the basic survey there. Alex picked up his gear, slinging the lightweight tripod for the laser transit over his shoulder, and he headed down what was once an ancient causeway towards the temple.

As Alex walked down the causeway, he dwelled on the recent behavior of his daughter. Ashley had always been a good girl—straight A’s in school, she kept out of trouble, or at least major trouble, and was actually interested in what her parents did for a living. She was at an age now though, where she was starting to get, for lack of a better word, rambunctious.

The episode with the outfit earlier in the morning was just the most recent example. Starting high school in the fall was only likely to make things worse. Alex sighed in recognition that the next few years were likely to be… interesting. At least the kid was good at heart and was smart… maybe that would make things a little bit easier.

*****

The strange woman crouched over Ashley’s limp form, hand still resting on the girl’s forehead, her dark eyes unfocused and lips moving as though she was speaking quietly to someone. As the minutes passed the woman’s form slowly shifted. Her skin grew lighter and her figure lost some of its curves and became less voluptuous while her facial features shifted until, with the exception of her raven hair, ebony eyes, and the clothing and jewelry she wore, she was an exact copy of Ashley.

The woman rose from her crouch and raised her hands before her, turning them back and forth and clenching and unclenching her fingers as if examining them. Apparently satisfied, she then ran her hands over her body and face, as if feeling their new configuration. Examination complete, the woman looked down at Ashley and smiled.

Ashley started to stir slightly, as though moving in her sleep. Her eyes began to move rapidly beneath closed eyelids and an occasional mumble escaped her lips. The woman once again crouched over the girl, laying her hand once more on her forehead. Ashley quieted slightly at the touch. After a moment, the woman straightened Ashley out on the floor in the shade by the wall and removed the borrowed shirt that Ashley was wearing, rolling it up to use as a pillow for her head.

“Sleep… sleep and learn, young one.”

With those words, the woman began to walk towards the exit from the inner shrine. As she approached the archway, the voice of Alex could be heard coming from the far end of the pillared courtyard, “Ash, you in there? C’mon it’s time to get to work.”

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