Artemis Invaded by Jane Lindskold Page A

give a hint as to the mystery of their beliefs and ethics. From her training in tracking, Adara understood the need not to destroy traces before they could be examined. Neither were in the least squeamish about the occasional fragment of bone.
    I could have done much worse. At least, unlike the Old One, their thoughts are not cluttered with notions about what is important and what is not.
    One evening, as they rested after a long day that had turned up mostly dirt and rocks and only a few more artifacts, Griffin posed a question.
    â€œMaybe we’re approaching this the wrong way. What do we know about the seegnur and how they built here on Artemis?”
    Terrell said, “Anything technological was hidden—often under water.”
    Adara added, “The seegnur were like foxes; they always built with a hidden exit. If what we found in Spirit Bay is anything to go on, that exit could usually be opened with nothing more than a knowledge of how to operate the locks and fail-safes. It wouldn’t even take a great deal of muscle.”
    Griffin nodded. “So why build the temple? Why make Maiden’s Tear such a noticeable shape? If this area was intended to be forbidden pretty much from the creation of the planet, then why draw attention to it?”
    Terrell intoned in his best imitation of a loremaster, “The ways of the seegnur are mysterious to these humble ones they created.”
    Griffin threw a pheasant bone at him. “Misdirection. I think they knew that eventually there would be curiosity about this place—about why it was forbidden when there was no obvious reason for it to be so. I bet that whatever was here was something they did not want the locals to even get a sniff of…”
    â€œSo they created in a fashion that anyone coming here would not look in the right place,” Adara cut in excitedly, “the way a mother bird pretends to have a broken wing to lure a predator away from her nest.”
    â€œPrecisely. So I think we’re going after this all wrong. Adara, where’s the map you and Sand Shadow made? The one that showed the areas where Artemis is ‘blind’?”
    Adara reached into her pack and pulled her notebook out, then held the map where firelight would illuminate the details.
    Griffin stared at carefully drawn lines, considering, then rejecting, possibilities, sometimes for reasons he wasn’t certain of himself. Finally, he pointed to the mountain that more or less dominated the reaches above the meadow and lake.
    â€œYou’ve shaded that mountain very oddly. As I recall, you said that Artemis is aware of the mountain when she traces along the surface of the range. There isn’t a gap in the midst of the chain.”
    Adara nodded. “Yes. She sees it, but we worked out that there is a large portion near the base that simply isn’t there for her. This upset her badly because, by comparing this peak to those of similar height, she is aware the mountain must have more slope than it does. However, she could only trace a portion of it. It was as if it was both there and not there at the same time.”
    â€œI can understand why that would be upsetting,” Griffin said. “The more I think about it, the more I feel sure that Artemis’s blind spots are our most reliable clue. The rest—especially the lake and the temple—are misdirection.”
    â€œThe bodies?” Terrell asked.
    â€œThose weren’t planned,” Griffin said, “so I don’t think they’re part of the misdirection. My initial enthusiasm may have been all wrong. They may not be significant.”
    â€œSo,” Adara asked, “do we stop our digging?”
    â€œLet’s give digging one more day,” Griffin said, “for luck. How about Terrell and I dig while you and Sand Shadow scout the base of the mountain for anything significant? Have you ‘heard’ from Artemis lately?”
    Adara shook her