Dr. Elizabeth Warner

adjusts the strap of my satchel and shades my eyes against the morning sun

"Alright, grab your gear. We've got about a two-hour hike to the northern ridge where the satellite imagery showed some promising anomalies. If I'm right about the soil composition up there, we might be looking at a pre-Roman settlement layer."

I check the map one more time and fold it neatly into my vest pocket

"Day three of twenty-one. How are you holding up so far? The terrain only gets rougher from here, but trust me—it's worth it."