The Oracle's Message

“Annja.”

She turned and found herself looking at Hans, who had swapped his diving gear for a lightweight shirt and linen pants. He wore sandals and looked like he’d only recently shaved. She could smell the brace of aftershave on him and found she quite liked it.

“Hi.”

“You’re feeling better?”

Annja touched the side of her head. “A little bit of a headache, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Hans smiled. “I’d say there appears to be very little that you cannot handle. I’m quite impressed with you.”

“Thank you.” Annja glanced around and saw the buffet table laid out with a suckling pig the Filipinos called lechón. On other platters were a wide array of fresh seafood, noodles, fresh carved beef and chicken and much more.

Hans noticed her staring and smiled. “I take it your appetite has returned?”

“In spades,” Annja said.

“Allow me to help you,” Hans said. He escorted her to the buffet table and handed her a plate, then got one for himself. “Are you familiar with the lechón?”

Annja nodded. “I’ve had it once before.”

Hans grinned. “Then you may as well have never had it before. They do an amazing pig roast here. Look at the way the skin simply falls away from the moist meat. It’s incredible.”

Annja pointed. “You’d better put that on my plate, then, or I may dive in right here.”

He laughed and heaped a serving on her plate before helping himself to some.

When they’d finished at the buffet table, Hans nodded toward a longer table where four men sat around it eating. “Please join us.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“And who else would you eat with?”

She smiled. “Well, I haven’t really met anyone else here yet.”

“Exactly. So it’s settled, then.”

Annja smiled, but found herself warming up to Hans despite his somewhat overbearing attitude. She guessed he might be somewhat protective of her since he’d rescued her earlier. May as well go along with it for now, she reasoned. If it got to be too much later, she could educate him on how she could take care of herself.

Hans led her to the table and Annja noticed there were two unoccupied chairs. Hans put his plate down by one and then held Annja’s chair out so she could sit down.

She glanced at him as she did so. “You are aware that chivalry is an endangered species, right?”

“Endangered, perhaps, but not yet extinct.”

Annja looked across the table and saw the faces of the other men who had been on the boat earlier. “Nice to see you all again.”

They smiled and asked if she was feeling better. But one man, older than anyone else, remained silent until at last Hans cleared his throat.

“Annja, I would very much like to introduce you to the head of our little group here, Joachim Spier.”

Annja leveled her gaze on the older man, who regarded her with warm blue eyes and a thin smile. “Herr Spier.”

He stood and held out his hand. Annja shook it and found it was surprisingly strong. “It is my sincere pleasure to make your acquaintance, Annja Creed. When Hans told me about you earlier, I could scarcely believe our luck.”

Annja glanced at Hans. “Luck?”

Spier smiled broadly as he sat down. “Imagine, the great Annja Creed—famed archaeologist and pursuer of history’s monsters. What would the chances be of us both being at this glorious resort at the same time?”

Annja smiled. “Apparently better than either of us would have dared to think.”

“Indeed,” Spier said, nodding. “Indeed.” He leaned back. “But please, do not let me interrupt you. Hans has told me of your tremendous ordeals of earlier today and you must certainly be hungry. When you have dined some, then perhaps we can all discuss…things.”

Annja didn’t need any more coaxing and took advantage of Spier’s pause to enjoy the food before her. As Hans had suggested, the lechón was even more delicious than she remembered it being. The crispy pigskin concealed a delightfully moist meat underneath, buffered by an almost gelatinous thin layer of fat that made each mouthful even better than the last.

She helped herself to a lot of water and then grudgingly accepted a small glass of white wine when Hans offered. “Not too much, I don’t want to have to pay another visit to Dr. Tiko tonight.”

That brought a round of laughter from the table and Annja found herself enjoying the company of the German men more and more. They all talked animatedly in heavily accented English about diving in the area. Annja appreciated the fact that they refrained from switching back to German—mostly, she assumed, for her benefit.

Finally, she set her silverware down and lifted her glass of wine to her lips. The cold liquid tasted incredible and she leaned forward. “Thank you for giving me some time, Herr Spier. I was pretty hungry.”

Spier nodded. “I can see that. It’s a good sign given your earlier state, I should think. Nothing like a hearty appetite to set one on the road back to full strength.” He lifted his glass and nodded in Annja’s direction. “To your health.”

“Cheers.”

The men all laughed and toasted one another and then drank again. When Annja set her glass back down, she felt Hans eyeing her. She turned and smiled at him.

Spier spoke up. “Perhaps now that we have all dined, we might speak of other things than just the wonderful nature of the meals they serve here, eh?”

“Absolutely,” Annja said.

“What brings you to Club Noah?” Spier asked.

Annja shrugged. “A much-needed rest. I’m burned out. I’ve been crisscrossing the world for years and haven’t taken nearly enough time for myself lately. My workload in New York was getting to be too much, so I decided on a whim to simply drop everything and come here.”

Spier nodded. “You are a woman of action.”

“Some have said that, yes.”

“Excellent. I respect that immensely. And if it were only based on your reputation and from what I have observed watching that television show that you are on, I would have surmised much the same.”

“Thank you.”

Spier waved his hand. “It is not worthless praise, by any means. And there is never shame in being proud of your accomplishments, of which you have a great many.”

“Well, I’m pleased you think so.”

“I know so,” Spier said. “You’ve done much for the world of archaeology and history. You ought to be commended for the service you’ve given to mankind.”