Chapter 37

Daniel kept his promise to Sam and they spent most of the remainder of their honeymoon relaxing, although there wasn’t very much to keep them from discussing their big find every so often, especially within the privacy of their hotel room. If they ever did discuss it out in public, it was in very hushed tones.

Besides going swimming and relaxing on the beach, they took a few leisurely sight-seeing tours to places like the Belize Zoo, the caves, the Maritime Museum, and Blue Hole National Park. They also visited more Mayan ruins – this time Caracol – but, at Sam’s urging, stopped along the beautiful Mountain Pine Ridge on the way there. To be completely honest, Daniel didn’t mind checking it out, as it afforded a gorgeous view.

As they stood in each other’s arms on the second to last day of their honeymoon, taking in the magnificent scenery of the Ridge’s Rio On Pools, Daniel had noticed the still, reflective nature of Sam’s expression. “A penny for your thoughts,” he’d prompted.

Sam blinked and shook herself out of her deep contemplation. “I was just thinking about everything that’s happened this past week, everything that we’ve done and all the wonderful moments we’ve shared together.”

Daniel smiled.

“I’m really going to miss this place,” she continued. “We only spent a week here, but we’ve learned so much about its history, visited most of the towns, met some very nice people …” she trailed off and met Daniel’s gaze. Her lips lifted into a broad smile. “And we found some very interesting things,” she finished.

Daniel pulled her even closer to him. “I have a feeling that we might just sway the scientific community with our findings,” he said quietly.

Sam’s smile faded. “You think so?” she asked with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “I mean, you think these findings and the ones from Egypt are enough?”

Daniel sighed and briefly looked out at the tall pines beyond the pools before returning his gaze to Sam. “Sam, I … ah … sort of forgot to mention that I have evidence from a previous study I did while I was at Chicago.”

Sam looked directly into his eyes, momentarily nonplussed. “What?”

“I had begun studying some ancient Babylonian ruins in the Middle East and found something quite remarkable there. They were mostly writings in Akkadian – ah, Cuneiform … that detailed a conqueror named Belus. They suggested that he was not from this land. The accompanying pictographs depicted him along with a set of stars or planets. From what I was able to translate, it seemed that Belus’ origin was a different planet.” His tone then became regretful. “Of course, I was ridiculed, even though I had some good supporting evidence, and you know the rest of the story.” Sam’s intent expression led him to clarify, “I didn’t pursue it any further. I’ve had it all stored away in a file cabinet ever since.”

Sam’s eyes became tinged with sadness and she nodded. “So, we’ll have three sets of correlating evidence from three distinct locations at three different periods of time. That … that might be enough to convince them,” she said, her tone still a shade doubtful as she briefly looked away. “The thing is that, if we get some actual recognition, this whole thing is so extraordinary it would be like a bombshell. Do you think people will be ready for it?”

“Were people ready for Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ or Wegener’s theory of Plate Tectonics, or Copernicus’ model of the universe?” Daniel returned. Her prolonged silence prompted him to continue, “We all take chances, Sam. We have something so incredible that we just have to share with the world. Whether they’re ready to hear it or not is just a chance we have to take. I would rather do so and have them reject it than keep it to myself and agonize over whether they might have readily accepted it or found it outright preposterous … wouldn’t you?” He stared at her, his clear, deep blue eyes questioning.

A faint smile appeared on Sam’s lips and she nodded. “Yes, I would,” she finally said, sounding much more resolute. Her smile broadened when she caught Daniel’s pleased, almost grateful, expression. She barely had time to react before he pulled her against him and initiated a slow, tender kiss.

“You’ve been so wonderful throughout this entire thing,” he said affectionately after their lips parted. They spent just a few minutes more admiring the splendid vistas before continuing on to the ruins.

The next day they pretty much stayed near the hotel, relaxing on the beach and walking along the grounds once more before they had to leave. That morning, Sam had awakened feeling somewhat queasy. At first, Daniel was a bit concerned, but she surmised that it was something she’d eaten for dinner the night before. Daniel’s concern ebbed away as her stomach upset eased up not long after.

The fall semester began in earnest and Sam and Daniel were trying to get back into the full swing of things. They were not quite as overwhelmed as they thought they’d be, as they had taken care of just about everything before the wedding. Luckily, they had a somewhat lighter load this term, both only teaching one class each. Moreover, Daniel’s graduate student, Kevin, had been granted a second research advisor in addition to Daniel. He and the other professor would both be sharing advising duties, which turned out for the best since it would free up some time for him to concentrate on his big find with Sam. Sam herself was not advising anyone this term, so she could potentially have even more free time than Daniel.

As far as their research was concerned, they would go over as much as they could at home. Daniel had dug his files from his previous research out of the cabinet that now occupied the home office and would spend quite a bit of time poring over it with Sam. Sam found as many references on the astronomical aspect of their research as she possibly could and shared them with Daniel. The half of the desk that was not occupied by the computer was littered with books, photographs, and instruments, both writing and mathematical. Whenever they had a good chunk of free time, the two would hole themselves up inside and meticulously pick through their data and bounce ideas off one another.

They would sometimes get so caught up in their work that they’d barely take notice of the phone ringing or a knock on the door. Such was the case one Saturday, barely a week after the semester started. Daniel and Sam were in the middle of a discussion about Daniel’s ancient Babylonian findings when Sam heard a light rapping on the door. She and Daniel briefly shared an annoyed look before Sam sighed wearily, “I guess I’d better answer that.” Daniel nodded as she eased up off of her chair and slowly made her way out of the home office.

On her journey to the front door, the knocking sounded several more times, causing Sam to roll her eyes and mutter, “I’m coming, I’m coming.” She opened the door and was immediately hit by a pang of guilt when she found Sara O’Neill standing on the other side.

“Hey there,” Sara said with a slightly teasing grin on her face. “Are you finally coming out of hibernation?”

Sam regarded her curiously for a moment. “What?”

Sara shook her head in disbelief. “’What’?” she repeated. “For about a week now I’ve been trying to contact you guys. Jack and I wanted to come over and welcome you back from your honeymoon. But whenever I tried to call the phone was either busy or there would be no answer. What’s going on – is your answering machine not working?”

A second wave of guilt hit Sam. “Oh, uh … yeah,” she muttered. “Daniel must have turned it off.”

Sara regarded her dubiously before a knowing look crossed her face. “Oh, I think I can figure out what’s been going on,” she grinned.

Sam briefly rolled her eyes and a faint blush colored her cheeks as she looked back at the other woman. “Right,” she said dryly. “No, that’s not all we’ve been doing. Daniel and I are involved in some deep research concerning a theory of his. We’ve been studying it since before the wedding and we’ve even done a bit during the honeymoon.”

Sara raised an eyebrow. “What? You spent your honeymoon doing work?? What’s wrong with you guys?” she teased.

Sam affected an awkward smile and shook her head. “No, we didn’t spend the whole honeymoon doing work. We just checked out some ruins that contain evidence linked to his theory.”

Sara nodded. “Ah, so you did the whole ‘tour group’ thing?”

Sam nodded back and smiled. “Yeah. Look, I’m sorry about this. I meant to call you after we got back, but we’ve just been so busy with this, plus the fact that the semester just started.”

“It’s okay,” Sara returned. “I’m just glad you two are okay and all,” she joked. She stopped as she looked Sam over. “You look a little pale, Sam. Are you okay?”

Sam’s eyebrows drew together. “Uh … yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

Sara shrugged. “You look like you lost a little weight or something.”

Sam gave a shrug of her own. “I guess I could have. I mean, we did a lot of exercising on this trip.”

Sara gave her a mischievous grin. “I’m sure you did.”

Sam smiled awkwardly once again and, before she could say anything else, Daniel appeared at her side.

“Sam, what’s … oh, hi, Sara,” he said rather absently upon noticing the other blonde in front of the door.

“Hi, Daniel,” Sara returned. “Long time no see. Sam tells me you guys did some work on your honeymoon. Did you drag her to a hundred and one Aztec ruins?”

A sarcastic grin flitted across Daniel’s features. “Sam had told me so much about you, but I don’t remember a propensity for hyperbolic assumptions ever being brought up.”

Sara fixed him with a confused look and then chuckled awkwardly. “Okay, you lost me there but that didn’t sound very complimentary.”

Still grinning, Daniel shook his head. “And it’s Mayan, not Aztec,” he corrected.

Sara rolled her eyes. “So sorry,” she said dryly. She placated him with a smile and continued, “So, what are you guys up to?”

Daniel and Sam shared a look before turning back to her. “Uh … well, it has to do with ancient … um … writings from different cultures,” Sam said carefully. “They show what appear to be the planets of our solar system, which is where I come in. We’re trying to prove that this is the case, using old astronomical data and such.”

Daniel gazed briefly at Sam. “Ah, yeah I think that pretty much sums it up,” he added in the same careful tone. He and Sam turned back to Sara, who was nodding thoughtfully. They shared a sigh of relief.

“That sounds pretty interesting,” she mused. “Actually it sounds like something that would be up Jack’s alley, what with the astronomy stuff.” A fond grin lit up her face. “So, what have you found so far?”

“Ah, some very interesting things,” Daniel replied cryptically. “But we really need to get back to work.” A few notes of apology were in his voice as he hooked his thumb in the direction of the home office.

Luckily, Sara took the hint. “Okay. Well, I just wanted to drop something off for you; call it a ‘housewarming gift’ of sorts.” She turned around and bent down to pick up an object that was sitting behind her, hidden from view. She presented it to Sam and Daniel and watched fondly as their expressions turned from curiosity into bemusement.

They were two medium-sized teddy bears attached together. One was wearing gold-framed eyeglasses, a light-colored wide-brimmed hat and matching outfit, and held a little decorated vase in one hand and a pickaxe in the other. The other had long eyelashes and tinted red lips, wore a cream-colored turtleneck shirt and blue suit skirt, and was holding up a telescope. It was obvious that they were supposed to represent both Sam and Daniel.

“Sara, these are … these are so cute!” Sam exclaimed before giving Sara a warm hug.

“They were Jack’s idea, actually,” Sara admitted.

Daniel raised an eyebrow and broke into amused chuckles. Sara looked at him curiously and he stopped, cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away.

“Thanks, this was so sweet of you both,” Sam smiled.

“It’s nothing, Sam. I’ve always thought you guys were such a cute couple and I’m glad you’re together,” Sara said warmly.

Sam smiled and gave her another hug before finally letting her friend go. She and Daniel waved to Sara as they watched her get in her car and drive off. “That was really sweet of her, wasn’t it?” Sam said, turning to Daniel as they retreated back into the house.

Daniel said nothing but gave her an amused grin.

“What?” Sam asked, a tentative smile making its way onto her face.

“I just can’t believe this was Jack’s idea,” he said, chuckling as he gestured to the teddy bears, which he’d set down on top of the coffee table.

Sam grinned at him and then shrugged. “Sara did say once that he could be a real sweetheart when he wanted to be. I thought I saw a pair of bears like this in their house when we were at that party,” she mused. “They wore matching sweaters and had an ‘S’ and a ‘J’ on them.”

Daniel looked at her thoughtfully. “Either way it is a cute gift,” he conceded.

Sam nodded as Daniel put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. “I guess we’d better get back to work,” he said softly, nuzzling her ear.

The action made Sam grin unabashedly and she turned to give him a delicate kiss on the lips before running her fingers through his hair. After a moment of pure bliss, they broke apart and made their way back to the office.

Sam and Daniel worked as much as they could on their research at home, but they also found time in between their classes and other obligations for discussion on their progress – in the privacy of each other’s offices, of course. One day, almost three weeks into the semester, Daniel met Sam in her office for another such progress report. It was mid-morning, around ten o’clock or so, and Sam was quickly reviewing some notes for today’s lecture in the Theory of Astrophysics course she was teaching. She wasn’t feeling so great but chalked it up to not having gotten enough sleep the night before, even though she’d had at least eight hours. She’d barely uttered a soft yawn when the loud knock came.

Sam looked up and signaled aloud for the person to enter. Daniel poked his head in and regarded her tentatively, prompting her to smile softly and ask, “Hey, what’s up?”

“Are you busy now?” he asked, still hanging back in the doorway.

Sam looked at her computer screen and, realizing that she had checked all her notes, looked back up at him and shook her head. “No, I’m set for this afternoon.”

Daniel’s timid expression melted away and he smiled as he made his way inside. He took a seat in front of her desk and looked at her earnestly. “I went back through our findings from Egypt and found something very interesting.”

Sam’s eyes begged him to continue. “Really? What?”

“There was no actual Egyptian god or goddess represented in any of it – not in the cartouches, not in the relief, not in anything. So we have the interesting problem of the Mayan god Zipacna with a possible extraterrestrial origin, same thing for Belus, but nothing about Egyptian gods or goddesses. The only things we have associated with that are those ‘foreign beings’ that somewhat resembled the indigenous people.”

Sam’s brows drew together in thought. “So, whom could those foreign beings represent?” she asked slowly.

Daniel shook his head. “I’m not sure. I do wonder if they are servants of a higher type of being, whether it was one of the gods or not. We did find the goddess Sekhmet in some of the pictographs on the far side of the hidden room, but the ‘foreigners’ were absent. I’m not sure if we can relate them in any way …”

He was cut off by another loud knock on Sam’s door. The two of them straightened up and she called out, “Come in!”

Dr. Steve McClellan smiled tentatively as he stood in the doorway. “Hey there,” he said to Sam. “I just wanted to remind you of …” he trailed off as he noticed Daniel sitting in front of her. “Oh! Hello,” he greeted Daniel as well.

Daniel smiled shyly and acknowledged the gray-haired man with a nod.

“Congratulations again to you both,” the department chair continued. “How was your honeymoon?”

“Oh, it was really nice,” Sam said, with a trace of awkwardness in her voice. “Beautiful weather and we did a lot of sight-seeing.” Daniel nodded his assent.

Dr. McClellan smiled warmly. “Great. Glad to hear it.” Upon noticing Sam’s expectant look, he continued, “Anyway, I just wanted to remind you about the Provost’s lecture series this afternoon – you know, on submarine groundwater discharge?”

Familiarity filled Sam’s eyes and she nodded. “Oh … right. What time is it?”

“Four-thirty to five-thirty,” Steve replied.

“I’ll try to be there,” she said rather unenthusiastically.

“Hope so,” Steve returned with a grin. “There’s going to be a great spread set up afterwards – cookies, pastries, and some gourmet coffees. They’re really splurging this time.”

Sam grinned as he made his way out her door. Once he was gone, she pulled an expression that was a mixture of dread and disgust.

“You don’t seem too thrilled about that,” Daniel noted in amusement.

Sam sighed. “I’m not,” she said, scrubbing her face with her hands. “Not only do I not find hydrology very enthralling, but I’m not in the mood for any of that other stuff – coffee, cookies …” She trailed off and suddenly felt an intense wave of nausea wash over her. “Ugh. I’ll be right back, okay?”

Daniel looked at her, concerned as she ungracefully rose out of her chair and made her way out of her office, her ultimate destination being the women’s restroom. Just over five minutes later she was back inside, looking as prim as she did before except that her face was a bit flushed. “Sorry about that,” she said apologetically.

Daniel shook his head and fixed her with a slightly worried expression. “Are you okay?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” she said. “I just … I think I got a little nervous when Steve came in; was afraid he’d ask what we were talking about or that he’d heard our conversation. It’s either that or I have a little bug. It’s gone now, though. I’m okay.” She gave him a reassuring smile.

Daniel’s concerned expression subsided and he gave her a tentative smile in return before revisiting their initial conversation.

One day several weeks later, Daniel was in his office double-checking the syllabus for the Archaeological Interpretation course he was teaching. It was a fairly new course but the professor who had previously taught it had retired at the end of the previous semester. The object of the course was to present students with simulated archaeological data for interpretation. Daniel was more than happy to instruct such a course, as it offered a subtle way for him to get other takes on his finds without taking the risk of prematurely exposing his developing theory. So far, things seemed to be going well and, although the simulations made for interesting discussions and debates, there were no heated arguments that Daniel half expected.

He was about to run through a PowerPoint presentation for the next day’s lecture when he heard a knock on his door. He straightened up, cleared his throat, and announced, “Come in.”

He half expected it to be Sam, as she’d mentioned coming by his office around this time to discuss something pertaining to their progress. He briefly raised his eyebrows in surprise when he found a student on the other side of the door.

“Dr. Jackson?” the young blonde haired man questioned.

Daniel’s brows drew together as he tried to recall the student’s name. “Ah, Waters … Dennis, right?”

The student nodded. “Can I come in?”

Daniel glanced quickly down at his watch and sighed. “I don’t have office hours now,” he replied, “But I’m sure I can talk for a few minutes.” He glanced back up at the younger man and smiled. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I hope this will only take a few minutes,” Dennis began. “I didn’t want to say this in class because, well, I didn’t think it was really the place for it. The thing is, I have a problem with the essay assignment.”

Daniel looked at the younger man expectantly. “What kind of problem?”

The student looked Daniel squarely in the eyes and assumed a difficult stance. “Well, first of all, we are supposed to create two different theories using the same sources. Do you know how difficult that is, especially concerning the simulations you presented to us?”

Daniel lifted an eyebrow at him, not quite understanding what the exact problem was. “Ah, well, that’s the entire point, Dennis,” he said. “It’s not supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to make you think. Challenging work such as this is par for the course in a 300-level class. Being a junior, I thought you would know that.” He was starting to get irritated, but his tone remained diplomatic.

Dennis snorted, as if he was annoyed with himself deep down. Still, he kept his unyielding eyes trained on Daniel. “With all due respect, Dr. Jackson, the assignment is lame.”

Daniel was momentarily struck by the student’s admission, but he merely gave him a calm, disarming smile. “I’m sorry you feel that way,” he said in a matching tone. “However, it is the assignment.” He was quick to add, “And it’s worth twenty percent of your grade.”

“Twenty percent of my grade?” The student repeated, as if it was the first time he’d heard about it.

Daniel simply nodded. “It’s on the syllabus,” he said matter-of-factly, pointing to his copy pinned up on the small corkboard on the wall to his right.

“Twenty percent of my grade to come up with two different theories for something like finding an Egyptian sarcophagus in a Mayan temple?” Dennis chuckled incredulously, though there seemed to be some derisiveness lurking behind it. “Which leads me to something else that I wasn’t comfortable bringing up in class, Professor: these ‘simulations’ of yours aren’t very realistic. I mean, finding a sarcophagus in the example I just gave made out of a material that has an extraterrestrial mineral signature? Come on! We’d probably never run into those kinds of things in the ‘real world.’”

Even though this was only a student’s opinion, Daniel couldn’t help feeling a tad insulted. His brow furrowed in frustration and he drew in a deep breath. “Can I ask you something, Dennis? Why did you sign up for this course?” Failing an answer from the younger man, he continued, “I mean, there has to be a reason, right? It’s an optional course for the Archaeology track and not many students from other disciplines take it for their upper division requirements.”

Dennis gazed down at the floor. “I just didn’t think the simulations discussed would be so ‘out there,’” he muttered lamely.

“Did you read the course description? It requires you to think outside the box, or at least attempt it. Problem solving is a skill that is useful far beyond the confines of archaeology, Dennis. In archaeology, the ultimate objective is to interpret the past. In this course, my goal is to teach you how to do to that by solving problems presented in different simulations. They are simulations, but there is nothing wrong with thinking outside the box. If you yourself have any simulations you’d like to present based on evidence that intrigues you, you can always submit them to me and I’ll have you discuss them during a lecture period or two. I’m always open to hearing other people’s ideas,” Daniel finished, hoping he’d gotten through to the belligerent student.

Dennis realized his argument really didn’t have a leg to stand on, so he started backing away from Daniel’s desk.

“Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?” Daniel asked.

“Yes, Professor,” Dennis replied, his tone letting on that he was still not very happy.

“Okay, then,” Daniel replied, affecting another disarming smile. “See you tomorrow afternoon. And remember, that paper is due in three weeks.”

Dennis snorted as he turned and headed for the door. “Hard ass,” he muttered as he exited and began sauntering down the hall. On the way, he passed a fairly tall, blonde-haired woman who regarded him oddly for a moment before making her way up to the professor’s door.

Sam knocked and then stuck her head in Daniel’s doorway. Her expression turned apologetic when she saw him sitting back at his desk with his eyes shut, sighing miserably. “Can I come in?” she inquired.

Daniel kept his eyes shut and nodded. Sam made her way inside and quietly shut the door behind her. She took one of the chairs from the small table and brought it next to Daniel’s desk. He opened his eyes and looked at her as she took a seat.

“Boy, he wasn’t in a very good mood,” she remarked, referring to the student.

Daniel looked at her wearily and nodded.

Sam gave him a sad smile. “You look like you could use a break and a good cup of coffee.”

“I think I could use a whole pot of coffee,” Daniel replied.

Sam chuckled sympathetically before reaching over to stroke his hair and kiss him on the cheek. “I have to talk to you. Do you want to go get a cup of coffee first?”

Daniel studied her face and then gave her a little smile. “Okay,” he replied.

Several minutes later, they returned to his office from the Anthropology faculty lounge, Daniel with a cup of coffee and Sam with a cup of tea. “What’s with the tea, Sam? I thought you were as addicted to coffee as I was,” he said with a teasing grin.

Sam gave him a slight smile and then shrugged. “I am. But my stomach is still a little upset so I didn’t want to take any chances. I thought some weak tea would be better.”

Daniel’s brows drew together. “You’re still feeling sick?” he asked, sounding very concerned. “I thought you seemed a little ‘green’ during breakfast this morning. How long has this been going on?”

Sam took a deep breath and slowly let it out, avoiding Daniel’s eyes the whole time. “Um, since not long after we got back from our honeymoon. But it’s not a huge problem.” She finally met his gaze and noticed the dubious expression he was giving her.

“Sam, don’t you think you should see a doctor? It’s been three weeks since the honeymoon. It could be something serious.”

“I just think it’s a little bug, Daniel. Maybe I picked it up while we were down there. You know how those stomach viruses can sometimes take a while to go away,” she insisted.

Daniel looked at her for a moment and then nodded. “I guess. So, what did you have to tell me?”

“I studied the alignment of the planets in both the Egyptian and Mayan glyphs and they don’t match any alignment of those in our solar system during either of these periods in time. The Mayan ones do differ from the Egyptian ones on a small scale, mostly because of planetary shift over time. But the bodies that are represented do not resemble our planets in any way, shape, or form. I can confirm that it is most likely not our solar system and that it depicts these beings coming from somewhere else in the galaxy.” She ended her statement with a little smile.

A matching smile grew on Daniel’s face and he nodded slowly. “That’s great, Sam. We should have a lot of incredible evidence to present to the Archaeological Institute of America in just over a month.”

Sam turned and fixed him with a stunned expression. “What?” she asked in a small voice.

Daniel’s smile grew. “I just heard back from them and we’re giving a grant proposal presentation to them on the twenty-fourth of October.”

Sam smiled brightly for a brief moment and then her expression became colored with worry. “Do you think we have enough time?”

Daniel met her eyes and nodded. “I do. We’re practically finished, now that you’ve confirmed the astronomical aspect of it. I’ve started writing up all the evidence as far as the anthropological aspect is concerned, so all we have to do is weave your half into it, make sure it all makes sense and flows well, do a few practice talks, and we should be fine.”

Sam nodded and a slightly uneasy expression found its way onto her face. Daniel couldn’t be sure if it was due to her feeling overwhelmed or nervous, or if she was feeling queasy again. His eyes tinged with concern as he looked at her. “I mean it, Sam. You really should see a doctor. I hate to see you sick, even if you think it’s just a little bug. I want to be sure that you’re all right. Promise me you’ll make an appointment before we give this presentation?”

Sam wasn’t nearly as concerned about her health as Daniel was, but she conceded to herself that waking up with the need to vomit every morning was just a tad annoying. Plus she was feeling a bit more tired than usual. Anxiety seemed to plague her a bit more as well, but she chalked it up to the research they were involved in, coupled with the newness of the fall semester.

She looked down the floor and sighed as she felt Daniel putting an arm around her. “Okay, I’ll make an appointment with the doctor next week.” She looked back at him and chuckled softly upon witnessing his grateful smile. “I better get going,” she said as she made to get up out of the chair. “I have to attend colloquium at four.”

Daniel nodded. “See you later,” he said softly, gazing at her tenderly as she made her way to the door.

Sam turned back to him and smiled before exiting and shutting the door behind her. On her journey out of the SBS building and across campus to her own department, she became mired in deep thought over their evidence and how they would present it to the Archaeological Institute of America. She hoped that she and Daniel would be able to convince these people that they were on to something very big and wonderful.