When "Happily Ever After" fails

And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales

The lawyers dwell on small details

Since daddy had to fly

But I know a place where we can go

Still untouched by men

We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by

And the tall grass wave in the wind

Just lay your head back on the ground

And let your hair fall all around me

Offer up your best defense

But this is the end

This is the end of the innocence

Don Henley - “The End of the Innocence”

“Professor? Err...I think you might want to come see this.”

Doctor Amjad Dimitriou looked up from the pottery shard he was examining. “What is it?” he asked.

His research assistant shook her head. “That’s just it, we’re not sure. We’ve found a cache of artifacts in the Southeastern quadrant, and...they don’t seem to fit with anything else we’ve uncovered so far.”

He smiled and stowed the fragment away. “Then by all means, let’s have a look.” The pair stepped out of the prefabricated hut and began making their way down to the dig site. Xeno-Archeology was a new branch of science, but it also drew from its roots. While the canvas tents of old had long been replaced with more sturdy structures, many of the tools they still used would be recognizable to their predecessors. They were also fortunate to have new technologies at their disposal, precision instruments that Howard Carter and Richard Leakey would have killed for.

“We were excavating Phase 37-Alpha, in Section 14, when we found them,” his assistant explained. “Professor Dhobhoz is examining the relics in situ. He’s the one that asked me to come find you.”

“37-Alpha...that’s the dwelling we uncovered, yes?” Dimitriou asked, after taking a moment to dig through his mental files.

“That’s right,” she nodded. “At first glance, it appeared to be of typical Post and Thatch construction. The charcoal deposits showed the dwelling was destroyed in a fire, and we’d already uncovered a nearby midden...in fact, that was where we were concentrating our efforts when the GPR came back with some odd returns.”

The Professor frowned. “What sort of returns? The site hasn’t been contaminated, has it?” he asked with sudden concern.

“I...don't know,” she admitted. “That was my first thought, only now...” She shook her head again. “I realize this is an alien planet, and we’re bound to run across the occasional enigma...but this?” She gave him a worried look. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

They picked their way through the excavation, passing other assistants sifting the tailings for smaller fragments. “You’ve got my attention,” he said, as they climbed down the ladder to the latest dig site, where they spotted the Ophipteran scientist kneeling on the dirt floor. He glanced up as they approached, waving them in closer.

“Come, come!” he said, “This is most intriguing!” he chortled.

Amjad knelt beside him, peering into the small void they’d unearthed. “What are we looking at?” he asked.

“I do not know!” he said. “Isn’t that delightful?”

The human looked closer...and froze. “Wait...is that…metal?” he said in disbelief.

“It is! And the GPR has confirmed this!” The alien professor could barely contain himself. “This will make for quite the thesis!”

“...that’s impossible,” Dimitriou got out, once he’d found his voice again. “The Iqoobaa were Neolithic...they had no metallurgy.”

“Or so we thought!” Dhobhoz exclaimed. “Obviously we were in error!”

“Now hold on...let’s not allow our enthusiasms get the better of us,” Amjad cautioned. “We’ve been on Omicron Ursae Majoris IV for months now, and so far, we have no evidence of any metallic items. No bronze, no iron...not even gold or silver. Not only that, we’ve found no forges, no mining sites...so how can there be metallic artifacts now?” He sighed. “Professor...the site must be contaminated.”

“Perhaps they traded with other tribes,” the Ophipteran suggested. “We have only scratched the surface of this world. It is possible other groups were more advanced.”

“Maybe,” he said, “but you’d think we’d have seen some evidence of that by now. Beads, nails…something.” He scratched his chin for a moment while he pondered the dilemma. “What about the stratigraphy? Have we have disturbed the site in any way?”

“The stratigraphy is consistent with the adjacent areas,” he riposted, his vestigial wings fluttering. “In fact, I am awaiting the results of the Radiocarbon tests we performed on the bone shards we found intermixed with the artifacts.”

Dimitriou nodded. “That would help pin this down,” he admitted. “If the dates were consistent with the rest of the site…”

One of the other assistants appeared before he could finish the sentence and handed Dhobhoz a tablet. Moments later he was bounding to his feet, thrusting the tablet into the human’s hands.

“See for yourself!” he asserted. “18,400 of your Earth years, with a margin of less than 200! It cannot be contamination!”

Amjad read the report and then read it again. He rose to his feet, still shaking his head. “Ok, I’ll admit this makes for compelling evidence,” he said at last, “but just think about it for a moment. We’ve been looking for evidence why the Iqoobaa disappeared, and so far, we’ve come up empty-handed. Then you find this,” he said, tapping the tablet, “and the dates for your metal artifacts are within the same timeframe of when they died out. So tell me...what does that suggest to you?”

The Ophipteran stopped fluttering about long enough to consider the question. “Are you proposing that these objects are from...off-world?” he asked.

“It’s a possibility,” Dimitriou shrugged. “I’m not prepared to rule it out just yet, at least.” He paused for a moment and looked at his counterpart. “Do your people have data that goes back that far?” he asked.

“No,” Dhobhoz sighed, “that was long before the forming of the Triumvirate. What few records we have from that era are deficient...little more than legends.”

“What about the Saurotaurs or the Ronin?” he pressed. “Any possibilities there?”

“Unlikely,” the alien scientist replied. “The Saurotaurs were still pre-technic at that point, and as for the Ronin…” He paused and then leaned in. “We have learned not to ask,” he mumbled. “That would be the same era when their Creators became extinct. It is a...painful memory, for them. They purged much of what might have retained long ago, rather than relive those dark days. They were only just self-aware when the plague took them, and I believe it traumatized their race.”

“I understand,” Amjad said. “Well then, back to the drawing board, as we say on Earth. Perhaps when we finish removing the artifacts, we will have a better understanding of their purpose, and how they came to end up here.”

“Let us hope so,” the Ophipteran agreed...when a strange look came across his face.

“Is something the matter?” Dimitriou asked.

“Not, it is just that…” The scientist paused for a moment. “It is my understanding that you Humans often have a...cynical view of the Universe,” he said. “I mean no offense, but…” he paused once again and then shook his head. “No...I am certain it is a fluke.”

“I’m afraid you’ve lost me,” the archeologist answered.

Dhobhoz took a deep breath. “It is just...does it not strike you as odd that the Iqoobaa and the Ronin Creators disappeared during the same time period?”

Amjad blinked. “Now that you mention it...it is peculiar,” he said at last. “But it must be just a coincidence. The odds of it being anything more are...astronomical.

The Ophipteran mulled that over and then nodded. “You are right,” he agreed. “Come,” he said, his concerns forgotten, “we have work to do! And theories to defend!”

The human chuckled as he followed the alien scientist back to the site. Once they finished excavating, they’d have a better idea of what they were dealing with. Dimitriou still thought it was some form of contamination...though how that was possible eluded him.

But that was the attraction of Archeology. The mystery.