The Mysterious Idol of U'bwadii

The rain hadn't stopped for almost a week now, and the constant cloud cover added to the gloominess that Moira felt. The pressures of the ending semester were beginning to add up and she knew that being one of the college's first female students to hold a doctorate in ancient cultural studies held high expectations by the administration. That's why she was running toward the anthropology and cultural sciences building. Today was the day that she would finally be able to touch the idol.

Almost ten years ago, Doctor Graham Chapel brought a beautiful golden statue back from the Amazon that was ornately detailed, including writing characters that were unheard of before in any ancient or modern language. To further complicate things, it seemed to be made from an unknown metal which meant that it had to be put through all sorts of tests before any real study could be done on it. After all these years, the anthropology department finally had complete access to it

The mixture of the depression over the stress and weather with the elation of being part of the cultural study team assigned to the idol meant that Moira was in a constant state of emotional flux. Moody, some people would call it.

Moira burst through the door placing all of her bags onto the chair next to the only free table in the large room. Various items of study—a skeleton, field tools, compasses and maps—littered the remaining desks and tables. On the far side of the room, in a dimly lit glass case stood the idol. It was approximately two feet high and very thick. The material it was made from was still be determined, but it was assumed that it was another form of gold, mostly from the **** weight and pliability.

Staring into the case was Tom Winters, another grad student whom Moira knew all to well. They had dated for some time but Tom had wanted to push the relationship into physical terms that Moira was not ready for. Her insistence to be a virgin at marriage had ultimately ended the romance. That was fine with her, for if the issue of sex was all that the relationship was hinged upon, she didn't want any part of it anyway. The fact that they were in the same department at the college had been difficult but she felt that they had finally come to a common ground, able to work professionally with one another.

"What's happened?" she asked, throwing on her lab coat.

"Fine. How are you?" Tom threw her a sarcastic glance and went back to scratching on the clipboard that he held a few inches from his face.

"Hello," she threw back, equally sarcastic, "and what have you discovered this fine morning, SIR."

"No need to get personal. Doctor Chapel is coming back in a few more minutes and we'll get started. No one's dared take the thing out of its case, if that's what you're wondering. I'm just busy jotting down the last of the characters in the inscription. I'll take and transcribe them to the chalk board so we can begin playing with possible translations."

Moira walked slowly around the case. She brushed her red hair back from her face and adjusted her thick rimmed glasses so she could see over the top of them. Damn, she wanted to get her hands on that thing.