They stood around the worktable, as Professor Yao carefully laid out bone in proper sequence, forming the hint of a human form. The majority of the skeleton had not been recovered, but obvious bones like the skull, with missing mandible, one long femur and a pelvic girdle served as a clear roadmap to human anatomy.

“So what we have here is clearly mongoloid,” Yao said for the benefit of the students standing around the table, scratching notes into their field journals. “Although other races do have overlapping characteristics. Butterfly cheekbones, projecting lower eye borders and complex cranial sutures all are indicative of Asian ancestry. Given where we are, I think at the moment it’s safe to assume the specimen is Asian.”

A nervous tittering filtered through the students as they quietly made notes as Yao examined the bones.

“The depth of the pelvic girdle is wider and given the cranial slope of the forehead is gracile, I’d say this was definitely a female.”

“Uh, professor?” One of the American students raised his hand with a perplexed look on his face. “Gracile?”

“Didn’t your professors teach you anatomy?” Yao chided. “Gracile is a gentle sloping of the forehead where males tend to have a heavier brow ridge.”

Lotus stepped forward and joined Professor Yao at the table. “So a woman,” she stated matter of factly.

Yao nodded again.

“Any signs of trauma? Maybe her age?”

Yao picked up the jawless skull and turned it over to examine the skullcap. “Sutures are not completely fused. And what dentition we do have, shows her third molar had not completely erupted. That gives us about 17-21 years.”

“So a young woman.” Lotus said, yearning to touch the skull and knowing better. Her own inner demons would not allow it.

“Very young.” Yao agreed. “No other signs of trauma from what remains we do have. But then, there is no obvious signs of disease either.”

“So the question is,” Lotus mused, looking out the tent flap into the desolate desert camp. “How did she get out here?”

For the second time this week, Lotus’ assistant ran up the hill shouting her name. “Professor Horemheb, I found something!” Huffing and puffing, the boy shoved an object into her hands before she could react. The orange and gold necklace hung limply from her hands as she stared at it, in a state of utter shock. “I found it in the secondary grid,” she heard her assistant say. “It just came loose without much effort about the same level as the skeleton.” His eyes were bright with excitement and he looked to her for approval.

Unable to move, Lotus stared at the artifact in her hands. Terror washed over her body, not for the find, but for the demons it would bring.