Fic: Bones: In the Trenches, Part 29/30
Chapter 29: Crimes Against Humanity
Author: amilyn
Rating: PG-13 (themes, abuse)
Chapter 28
Chapter 29: Crimes Against Humanity
***
The next day, she was brushing the side wall of her grid square when she saw a flicker of light. She leaned in closer and brushed it, then climbed out.
"Jeff?"
He squinted up at her. "What do you want to do now? Tear down my field in addition to me?"
"No." She paused, thought. Then she continued. "Your work shows you to be an excellent archaeology student. Could I ask your opinion on something I've found?"
"Is this some kind of trick?"
She frowned. "Why would it be a trick?"
"Because of what you said... Never mind. What do you want?"
"Like I said, I'd like to ask your opinion on something."
He dusted his hands off and followed her.
A few minutes later they'd gathered two other grad students, along with Dr. Stires, and Dr. Cordova, the site manager.
Each person climbed down, brushed at the glint, examined it with a magnifying glass, and went silent, then let the next person examine it.
"Should I remove the remains?" Temperance asked.
Dr. Cordova nodded. "We want to keep this as quiet as possible. This is potentially quite damning, and we can't be sure even our guards are uninvolved in the massacres. Make sure you document everything."
The rest of the day Temperance felt her erector spinae and splenius capitis tensing, and she reminded herself to inhale deeply and exhale completely, as if she were running or practicing karate. The entire site was more quiet than usual, and Temperance was surprised the silence wasn't more conducive to steady work.
As the sun began to set Dr. Cordova made sure they locked all remains and artifacts up safely, and warned them to be particularly careful of being alone, and not to tell anyone about the details of their work.
Temperance thought that was an odd request since they'd all signed non-disclosure agreements, but she said nothing. The walk back to camp was uncharacteristically silent.
Jeff and Stephanie held hands, and Maria and Jasmina walked so close their shoulders touched. The others clumped together.
Temperance walked alone, then she ate dinner alone. In her tent, she reviewed her findings and made notes for the paper she planned to write before falling into a fitful sleep.
The somber mood continued into the next day. The sky was gray for the first time since their arrival, and the trail smelled of damp earth and foliage. In addition to the ubiquitous humidity, a mist fell.
By the time they got to the dig the precipitation had stopped, so they were able to uncover the site.
"This isn't a dig anymore," Stephanie said.
"It's a mass grave," Temperance said.
The others nodded then went to work.
They hadn't broken for lunch yet, but the sun had emerged around ten and was already at its midday height. At this latitude, and just days from the summer solstice, it was almost directly overhead, and the bright shadowlessness seemed unnatural.
"Stop!"
One by one, the students stood, looking for the source of the sound.
"Was that Dr. Cordova?" Maria asked. She looked from person to person, but they were all frowning and still, and no one was speaking.
There was a thump, then a crack and a crash accompanied by a sharp cry. Footsteps approached. Metal rattled. Strange male voices called to each other in Spanish. The footsteps came nearer.
Daniel and Jasmina started to climb out of the hole.
Boots appeared. Legs in camouflage. Military jackets and hats. Each soldier carried a rifle. At least one had a machine gun. All of them wore sidearms.
Before anyone managed to move, the soldiers circled them. So many of them. Maybe twelve. Their rifles were at rest, but their fingers were near the triggers.
The one Temperance faced looked her up and down. He stroked the barrel of his gun slowly.
Temperance felt suddenly cold. Her heart slowed. Then it began to pound so all she could hear was blood rushing in her ears.
The soldiers all looked the same: backlit and faceless. The sun against their caps cast a shadow and obscured any glimpse of their true appearances.
Temperance trembled. She forced herself to turn. Jeff and Stephanie hadn't made it past their knees, but the rest were standing.
One man stepped forward. He wore gold insignia, and his hat was not the basic camouflage but a black and red beret. The leader.
He walked casually. His rifle was slung over his back, and his hands were behind him too. He stepped to the edge of the hole and brought his hands forward. One held the pelvis they'd unearthed the day before. He fingered the bone and tipped it back and forth so one spot glinted in the sun. The light reflected off the jacketed bullet embedded in the bone, so it flickered just like it had the previous day.
"This is not something that should be found," he said in Spanish. He strolled around the top of the grave they were all in. He tapped the bone against his palm. "This is shameful for all of Guatemala. It is something from a time that is best forgotten." He leaned forward. "You." He pointed at Maria. "Do you speak Spanish?"
Maria nodded.
"Do you speak English?"
She nodded again.
"Tell them what I say. I want there to be no confusion."
Maria's voice was wet with tears and barely audible.
Temperance breathed shallowly. Nausea roiled through her.
She'd spent the past two weeks cataloguing the damage to these remains, the vicious attacks that had cut into and left marks on nearly every type of bone they'd recovered. This could happen to them just as easily, to all of them. Just like Jean Donovan and those nuns in El Salvador, they could suffer the same fate as the people they were there to help.
They could be killed and mutilated, left in the mass grave they were excavating.
"You will not speak against this regime. Remember you are guests in our country."
Maria repeated his words.
Temperance turned to Dr Stires. She couldn't control the quaver in her voice as she asked, "What do we do?"
Dr. Stires met her gaze and held it, then he stood up straighter. "We tell the truth. We do not flinch." He looked at each of the others, one by one, before turning back to the head of the soldiers.
There was a long moment where they watched each other. Temperance's heart pounded.
The leader nodded. "We want you to be safe during your visit, so we will take this," the leader said, still tapping the bone against his palm. "My officers will stay and provide security. Bad things could happen if...certain people heard of your discoveries." He turned and walked away. All but two of his men followed.
They disappeared into the fog that swirled back up from the valley and clouds blew in again.
Three days later the entire group was back on the chicken bus. Despite the heat both Jeff and Stephanie and Jasmina and Maria sat next to each other. It was over a week earlier than they had planned to leave, and even Valdez didn't speak. The silence on the bus reflected the silence regarding the genocide. Now they were all party to that silence.
Temperance's notes were tucked into an inner pocket of her duffel along with a copy of the picture she had taken of the fully-jacketed U.S. bullet that had been lodged in the young man's pelvis. She would show her documents to Dr. Stires when they were back in Chicago, and would write a paper revealing what the soldiers had hoped to suppress.
Temperance vowed to return, to restore identity to more of the dead they had begun to recover, to return them to their families and give them back their history.
***
Chapter 30
***
Posting Schedule: There will be 30 parts, and the last part will be posted tomorrow. The story is posted both here and at ff.net.
Author's Notes
The following are real people:
Jean Donovan
Thanks upon thanks to my wonderful betas and sounding boards: jennasq, b1uemorpho, and havocthecat. HUGE and effusive gratitude to my line-editor and prodder to make this story as good as I could at this time, as well as encouragement and sounding board services while I planned and wrote for two years to Ayiana2.
Feedback is most assuredly welcome.
***
Author: amilyn
Rating: PG-13 (themes, abuse)
Chapter 28
Chapter 29: Crimes Against Humanity
***
The next day, she was brushing the side wall of her grid square when she saw a flicker of light. She leaned in closer and brushed it, then climbed out.
"Jeff?"
He squinted up at her. "What do you want to do now? Tear down my field in addition to me?"
"No." She paused, thought. Then she continued. "Your work shows you to be an excellent archaeology student. Could I ask your opinion on something I've found?"
"Is this some kind of trick?"
She frowned. "Why would it be a trick?"
"Because of what you said... Never mind. What do you want?"
"Like I said, I'd like to ask your opinion on something."
He dusted his hands off and followed her.
A few minutes later they'd gathered two other grad students, along with Dr. Stires, and Dr. Cordova, the site manager.
Each person climbed down, brushed at the glint, examined it with a magnifying glass, and went silent, then let the next person examine it.
"Should I remove the remains?" Temperance asked.
Dr. Cordova nodded. "We want to keep this as quiet as possible. This is potentially quite damning, and we can't be sure even our guards are uninvolved in the massacres. Make sure you document everything."
The rest of the day Temperance felt her erector spinae and splenius capitis tensing, and she reminded herself to inhale deeply and exhale completely, as if she were running or practicing karate. The entire site was more quiet than usual, and Temperance was surprised the silence wasn't more conducive to steady work.
As the sun began to set Dr. Cordova made sure they locked all remains and artifacts up safely, and warned them to be particularly careful of being alone, and not to tell anyone about the details of their work.
Temperance thought that was an odd request since they'd all signed non-disclosure agreements, but she said nothing. The walk back to camp was uncharacteristically silent.
Jeff and Stephanie held hands, and Maria and Jasmina walked so close their shoulders touched. The others clumped together.
Temperance walked alone, then she ate dinner alone. In her tent, she reviewed her findings and made notes for the paper she planned to write before falling into a fitful sleep.
The somber mood continued into the next day. The sky was gray for the first time since their arrival, and the trail smelled of damp earth and foliage. In addition to the ubiquitous humidity, a mist fell.
By the time they got to the dig the precipitation had stopped, so they were able to uncover the site.
"This isn't a dig anymore," Stephanie said.
"It's a mass grave," Temperance said.
The others nodded then went to work.
They hadn't broken for lunch yet, but the sun had emerged around ten and was already at its midday height. At this latitude, and just days from the summer solstice, it was almost directly overhead, and the bright shadowlessness seemed unnatural.
"Stop!"
One by one, the students stood, looking for the source of the sound.
"Was that Dr. Cordova?" Maria asked. She looked from person to person, but they were all frowning and still, and no one was speaking.
There was a thump, then a crack and a crash accompanied by a sharp cry. Footsteps approached. Metal rattled. Strange male voices called to each other in Spanish. The footsteps came nearer.
Daniel and Jasmina started to climb out of the hole.
Boots appeared. Legs in camouflage. Military jackets and hats. Each soldier carried a rifle. At least one had a machine gun. All of them wore sidearms.
Before anyone managed to move, the soldiers circled them. So many of them. Maybe twelve. Their rifles were at rest, but their fingers were near the triggers.
The one Temperance faced looked her up and down. He stroked the barrel of his gun slowly.
Temperance felt suddenly cold. Her heart slowed. Then it began to pound so all she could hear was blood rushing in her ears.
The soldiers all looked the same: backlit and faceless. The sun against their caps cast a shadow and obscured any glimpse of their true appearances.
Temperance trembled. She forced herself to turn. Jeff and Stephanie hadn't made it past their knees, but the rest were standing.
One man stepped forward. He wore gold insignia, and his hat was not the basic camouflage but a black and red beret. The leader.
He walked casually. His rifle was slung over his back, and his hands were behind him too. He stepped to the edge of the hole and brought his hands forward. One held the pelvis they'd unearthed the day before. He fingered the bone and tipped it back and forth so one spot glinted in the sun. The light reflected off the jacketed bullet embedded in the bone, so it flickered just like it had the previous day.
"This is not something that should be found," he said in Spanish. He strolled around the top of the grave they were all in. He tapped the bone against his palm. "This is shameful for all of Guatemala. It is something from a time that is best forgotten." He leaned forward. "You." He pointed at Maria. "Do you speak Spanish?"
Maria nodded.
"Do you speak English?"
She nodded again.
"Tell them what I say. I want there to be no confusion."
Maria's voice was wet with tears and barely audible.
Temperance breathed shallowly. Nausea roiled through her.
She'd spent the past two weeks cataloguing the damage to these remains, the vicious attacks that had cut into and left marks on nearly every type of bone they'd recovered. This could happen to them just as easily, to all of them. Just like Jean Donovan and those nuns in El Salvador, they could suffer the same fate as the people they were there to help.
They could be killed and mutilated, left in the mass grave they were excavating.
"You will not speak against this regime. Remember you are guests in our country."
Maria repeated his words.
Temperance turned to Dr Stires. She couldn't control the quaver in her voice as she asked, "What do we do?"
Dr. Stires met her gaze and held it, then he stood up straighter. "We tell the truth. We do not flinch." He looked at each of the others, one by one, before turning back to the head of the soldiers.
There was a long moment where they watched each other. Temperance's heart pounded.
The leader nodded. "We want you to be safe during your visit, so we will take this," the leader said, still tapping the bone against his palm. "My officers will stay and provide security. Bad things could happen if...certain people heard of your discoveries." He turned and walked away. All but two of his men followed.
They disappeared into the fog that swirled back up from the valley and clouds blew in again.
Three days later the entire group was back on the chicken bus. Despite the heat both Jeff and Stephanie and Jasmina and Maria sat next to each other. It was over a week earlier than they had planned to leave, and even Valdez didn't speak. The silence on the bus reflected the silence regarding the genocide. Now they were all party to that silence.
Temperance's notes were tucked into an inner pocket of her duffel along with a copy of the picture she had taken of the fully-jacketed U.S. bullet that had been lodged in the young man's pelvis. She would show her documents to Dr. Stires when they were back in Chicago, and would write a paper revealing what the soldiers had hoped to suppress.
Temperance vowed to return, to restore identity to more of the dead they had begun to recover, to return them to their families and give them back their history.
***
Chapter 30
***
Posting Schedule: There will be 30 parts, and the last part will be posted tomorrow. The story is posted both here and at ff.net.
Author's Notes
The following are real people:
Jean Donovan
Thanks upon thanks to my wonderful betas and sounding boards: jennasq, b1uemorpho, and havocthecat. HUGE and effusive gratitude to my line-editor and prodder to make this story as good as I could at this time, as well as encouragement and sounding board services while I planned and wrote for two years to Ayiana2.
Feedback is most assuredly welcome.
***