As Nicasio prepared to end his phone conversation with the professor, he still had difficulties believing much of what he was now telling him, so far away on the other side of the world. He found it strange that the man had gone to such lengths to pry into what had started out so simply as a history project. It seemed Dr. Simons had become consumed with this new witch hunt for females. Any women remotely associated with Stanford, Yale, academia and the Amazons. And what frightened him most was the cryptic means he might now be employing back in California to get such deep intelligence on these individuals.

He held the phone slightly away from his head now in hopes the professor would soon end the call.

"OK, Professor. So where do we go from here?"

"Young man . . . how much deeper do you think your girlfriend will seriously be able infiltrate this?"

Nicasio didn't like the sound of the word 'infiltrate.'

"Well . . . we'll see after a few days. That's where she is now . . . staying at the professor's house on Andros."

"Fantastic."

"Yes. But I can't promise much more, Sir. Not without totally blowing our cover. Vasiliou thinks we're just tourists over here. Some random acquaintances of Theofilos."

"Will you be in touch with her tonight or tomorrow?"

"Who Daniela? She chose not to bring her phone to the island. Something about her parents she told me. But I did give her some specific instructions."

"Like?"

"Exactly who and what to be looking for."

"OK. . . But she needs to provide us with more, Nicasio. Certainly the whereabouts of those logs!"

"She's working on that Dr. Simons, trust me. And also the name of the professor in Spain. The woman who made the Spanish translations."

"So wait. . . Vasiliou had a collaborator on those diaries?"

"Yeah. So she told us. I suppose she did that for complete accuracy of the Spanish text."

"With which institution?

"She said it was the Universidad de Sevilla."

"Ah yes. I believe Harvard supports some on-going connection with them . . . through a Spanish language and literature course . . . or something. God knows how many of the women we're tracing are also linked up with Spain through Harvard and Stanford. As you can see this is becoming a nightmare for us!"

"And this Spanish professor, Sir. She is one of the scholars who also left her teaching post. According to Vasiliou. To join up with her efforts I suppose. Whatever those efforts are really about."

"Do you know that for sure?"

"So she told us."

"What is it with these women? And why would Vasiliou tell you all this?"

"I don't know, Professor. I can't figure that out myself. Maybe for Daniela's sake? Because . . . well . . . it's all ancient history to them now. Right? Besides, she's still pretty unsuspecting of us. Thinks we're just American tourists."

"I see."

"Don't worry, Professor. I'll search out the Spanish language academic tonight on the Net. It shouldn't be difficult to find her on a faculty listing. Especially if she just up and left the same year Vasiliou did."

"No need Nicasio. I've got the best leads and sources here for that. We're logging way back into the IP address records of everyone who communicated or continues to message with Vasiliou through email, Skype, Facebook or Twitter. If there's a woman who ever was in contact with this Greek professor . . . we can find her. I'm working on getting phone text logs over the years as well. The history will all be there for us in black and white."

"Christ! Dr. Simons, can you do that? I mean, should you be doing that?"

"This is war, Nicasio . . . a type of it, anyway. . ."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'll explain everything when you're back in California."

"Everything? My god, professor! There's actually more to all of this?"

"Listen. Nicasio, you must be prepared to travel to Spain if we need you there. We might even be able to get an injunction of some kind. To demand the actual historical texts which were in possession of that Spanish professor."

"Dr. Simons! That can't be legal what you're suggesting. Or the information you are accessing."

"Maybe it needs to become so."

"What? I mean . . . for Christ's sake. Phone hacking and email snooping has brought down some well-known tabloids, newspapers and people if you remember. It's put a few journalists in prison. Is Berkeley really looking for that kind of trouble?"

"Those were just tabloids, Nicasio. Entertainment only. This is very different."

"How is it different, Professor?"

"This whole thing just may just be bigger than Cal's interests, my boy."

He did not respond.

"We have to play to win now . . . do you see? You need to gather your courage, son."

"What? There's no winning, here! Not if those women . . . from Stanford or wherever . . . had already discovered the tholos down in Big Sur before us."

The professor was silent.

"Dr. Simons, if they broke into that tomb years ago as the marble analysis suggests . . . they've got to know a hell of a lot more than we do about it . . . Maybe more than we'll ever know."

Again, there was no comment.

"Precisely," he finally said. "But it's actually what they're doing with that information that's extremely critical right now."

"Critical to what?"

"We're not certain. But we're getting very close."

"Close? To what?"

"Do I have to remind you, young man, what the whole Amazon ethos was about? What their core belief system supported? At least historically and artistically . . . we have records of all that."

"Come on, professor. That's crazy! Are you suggesting. . ."

"From what I can tell, Nicasio, this large confederation of women is intelligent, dynamic and potentially dangerous. And my investigations over here show they're growing with no restraint. They're organized, and becoming more robust. It's some sort of international female society . . . and seemingly with an attitude."

"Professor Simons . . . really. This is just too. . ."

"The group is obviously involved in some kind of . . . let's say agenda. This Greek professor you spoke to has been operating silently. But she's been like a beacon for the past decade. Through social networking and her . . . obvious charisma . . . she's recruited a lot of talented women to join this thing."

"Ok, so let her. . . What is your overall fear here, Professor?"

"We've been tracking them since you left, Nicasio. It's all about some cause. And revolves around that Amazon site discovery. There's no doubt about this now."

This time it was Nicasio who remained silent.

"And . . . we're finding they're very well-financed. A good strategist would say . . . in some kind of . . . preparation phase. The Internet activity seems to suggest a sort of gathering potential for some event on the horizon.

"Come on, Professor!"

"Nicasio, my gut instinct tells me to believe this."

"Why?"

"We can sense it in all the chatter we've been receiving."

"Who's tracing this? Why do you keep saying we? "And don't use that word . . . chatter! It's just too . . . terrorist-group sounding. You make this whole thing sound like its subversive! Something hostile or . . . revolutionary."

"It just may be, my boy."

"With all due respect, Dr. Simons . . . I personally think you're sounding kind of paranoid."

He suddenly regretted using such a harsh term.

There was a pause.

"Call it what you want, Nicasio. But this thing has been evolving steadily for over a decade and it's ever expanding. My observations are it's very organized. Some sort of world-wide secret community is forming. And all indications are it's close to going public. And soon. This could possibly impact us all. Negatively in some way."

"Oh come on now . . ."

"Uncovering what's going on with these women is essential right now. It has to be continued quickly and responsibly. But with caution. Do you understand?"

"Ok, professor. OK. But just tell me who you are referring to . . . as we?  Who exactly are you working with . . . in these new investigations? The real authorities? Or some amateur hackers from the IT department at Cal?"

"I'll share all that with you when you return, Nicasio. It's not safe to say more here. Just know the agencies brought into this do see the situation as involving an . . . organization of interest and a possible threat."

"Of interest? Threat? Jesus!"

Nicasio knew he needed to calm down. The conversation was escalating out of control.

"Alright, professor . . . I'll continue to search for information from my end here . . . and even go to Spain if you need me there. But just leave me out of any illegal intelligence gathering. OK?"

"Nicasio . . ."

"No. Professor! I just don't believe this is any matter of national security. And if it is, I don't want any part of it. I just want to finish writing my fucking dissertation and get on with my teaching career! Can you understand that?"

"I gave you my word. Your PhD is secure. And will be approved. Just don't be too sure about anything else right now. Not until we know more. Stay vigilant wherever you are. Gather what you can, my boy. You should be returning to Cal in good time."

"Ok, Professor. But maybe you should get a little R&R yourself these days. You've been on this case pretty long and hard . . . for over a month now. In the end it's just a research project, right? Historically important? OK. Definitely. But nothing more, alright?"

"Well I hope you're correct about that, young man. Just keep in touch with me."

"I certainly will do that. Good day, professor."

"And give your girl a big 'bravo' for me . . . her continued work with us is critical now."

Nicasio waited for a pause and then switched off his Blackberry.

For several moments he could only stare blankly at the small device's empty screen. He then went into the bathroom, undressed and stepped mindlessly into the shower. Under the hot water he closed his eyes and tried to picture Daniela's subsequent conversations with Dr. Vasiliou back on Andros.

Could there really be something so much more secretive in this woman's dealings? Greater than just a private desire to conduct research on her own terms? And what was suddenly happening to his trusted professor--so far away geographically and now mentally from him? This once calm advisor sounded like a totally different person. Had he really become so obsessed over this project--so emotionally volatile from a series of computer hacks?

Nicasio wondered these things as he opened his eyes under the water. It endured the world blurred and stinging. Was this what happened to people who devote their entire life to an intensive inquiry? A total unraveling of themselves at some point? His mind continued to race aimlessly in many directions as he let the cool water drench his hair and refresh his entire exhausted body.

He struggled to focus on his old passions, like an ice-cold beer or to sit mindlessly in front of a basketball game. It was those little pleasures which once kept him balanced amid his own intensive drive to study. But now the thought of these little diversions did not even come close to supplanting his worrisome feelings about Daniela and how things had spun out of focus for them. He grabbed a towel and walked across the drenched floor of the bathroom, slipping twice and catching himself before a fall.

He looked into the mirror while drying off. His hair and beard were already both slightly longer since coming to Greece, and at this hour he had an exhausted and truly pale demeanor. He also felt strangely distant from anything he once believed in. The reoccurring thought of why he had become involved in any of this investigation began to further depress him. As he continued to dress, the young historian mused about the long, exceptionally strange--yet beautiful day he had spent on Andros. He refused to let those events and revelations on the island mix with Professor Simons' latest paranoid investigations. For he knew they would only amplify his already anxious mood. Yet his thoughts regarding Daniela would not stop interrogating him further.

What difference did it make that this reclusive lecturer would be still in contact with members of a worldwide female research community? Was this really any real cause for alarm? Perhaps there was something troubling about Vasiliou . Her not insisting upon the publication of a historically important primary text . But this criticism of her stemmed more from  his own dedication to the era of his studies than anything else. Was it so unethical academically if Dr. Vasiliou intended to write-up the contents of those discovered diaries at some later date, as she had told them?

Only the fact that the enigmatic professor's many followers were all female, did her past actions remain puzzling to Nicasio. And only slightly troubling to him. But on second thought--as he considered where his closest partner in life now remained--profoundly isolated, and in this charismatic woman's private company, did Nicasio realize that even after he had showered, he was already sweating again.

* * *