Because of the depth of their objective, she expressed her eagerness to move in with the D-8’s. Max, as director of the expedition, insisted on a classical and methodical approach into the ground, in hopes of carefully uncovering artifacts in identifiable strata as they dug. He had been communicating by short-wave radio with the Cartel, receiving instructions to make everything look like a normal palaeoanthropological effort, in order to avoid suspicion. On his own, he might have agreed with Diana. But he was being paid by big oil to conduct a covert operation, and money talks. If the authorities at the University knew the truth of his involvement, only his tenure would keep him from being summarily sacked. What the hell, he thought. He was tired of all the academic work at the University anyway, for relatively low pay. He yearned for the luxuries enjoyed by those who now retained him, and a prolonged dig would give him more time to bed the women of the expedition, maybe even Diana.
