"Eric Flint & Ryk E. Spoor - Boundary" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Eric)

“Yeah,” said Joe. “There’s some marks on the skeletons. Look here, around the pelvis.” He
pointed with a stick to the first skeleton.

The newcomers gathered around and shone flashlights on the exposed fossil, as the sun was
starting to go down and long shadows were gathering in the arroyo. For several minutes there
was silence.

“What the hell made that?” Jennings finally asked, frowning at the three neat
half-centimeter holes that appeared to punch completely through the pelvic bone.

“Looks almost like a bullet hole.” That was offered in a jocular tone by one of the other new
arrivals, Ned Rhodes. But the quip trailed off a bit too abruptly.

“Too neat,” Jackie responded immediately. “My dad’s hunted all his life, and I’ve gone with
him. A bullet would’ve mushroomed when it hit the bone, if not sooner. And even if someone
had been using military-grade jacketed bullets, the holes are too small for the caliber guns
you’d use to hunt big game.”

“Funny thing, too.” Helen extended her hand, showing several small, round, dark-brown
pebbles. “These are all over the area.”

Jennings took one and studied it, then, put it up against one of the holes. It was clear that
they were essentially identical in size.

“Bizarre. Cysts that causes bone loss, eats it away or something?”

Helen’s eyebrow quirked upward. “Now there’s an interesting idea, Mike. We’ll have to
section a couple of these, see what’s inside.”

“They all look the same size. Are they?”

“Within the limits of my field equipment, they’re identical. Perfectly spherical and
measuring, by field micrometer, 4.65 millimeters in diameter. We’ve measured ten of them at
least, and all of them are just the same.”

Dr. Sean Carter, the senior of the newcomers, had been silent until now. Finally he spoke.
“Um, Helen, don’t take this the wrong way, but are you sure… uh…”

“That there’s been no contamination of the site? Yes, I’m sure. And I’ve kept detailed notes
from the beginning. Even more detailed than usual, in fact.”

The newcomers were silent. Helen Sutter had the reputation, among other things, for being
one of the most meticulous field paleontologist in the country. Her notes were used as models
in at least two textbooks and an unknown number of classes. If she said she was taking
unusual care, the only thing that would have kept the site more pristine would have been not
to dig it at all.

Carter was studying the bones and their positioning. Helen saw him judging angles,
glancing along certain lines, then picking up one of the dark brown pebbles and studying it
pensively for a long time, while the others continued their examination of the site.