Free Order of the Air Omnibus: Books 1-3 by Melissa Scott Page A

Etruscan was an ancient and obscure language when the tablet was made.”
    “Which was when?” Alma asked, her hands still on her hips, though her voice held more interest than irritation.
    “The first year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius, or 794 Ab Urbe Condita.” He glanced at Lewis apologetically. “That’s 41 AD to you.”
    Lewis shrugged as if to say he didn’t have a horse in this race.
    “So you’re fascinated by it, and you told Henry you needed another day.” Alma shook her head. “Ok, Jerry. What’s so interesting?”
    “It starts off in a very conventional invocational form, asking the goddess Diana to attend upon the speaker and to grant him her good will. Then it apologizes for any displeasure he might have incurred. It takes up pretty standard expiationary language – expiare , to atone or make reparations – though it doesn’t indicate exactly what crimes the speaker is making amends for. Then there’s a section of Etruscan, and another round of apologies. Then the speaker states that he is presenting appropriate sacrifices to Diana and asks for her help. This is where it really gets interesting.” Jerry’s long face was animated, and Lewis couldn’t help feeling a stir of curiosity. “He asks for her help in imprisoning animus infernus – a spirit of the lower regions.”
    Mitch uncrossed his arms. “So this is a very early form of a banishing ritual? That’s interesting in a historical sense. There’s always been a gap, hasn’t there? Between the pure Hermetic models and the Early Byzantine.”
    “It is fascinating for that reason,” Jerry said, twisting around to look at him, his tie akimbo. “And I can’t stress enough that this tablet is an important find for that reason alone. But there’s more. Not only is this a complete invocation dating from the Early Empire, but it was also found in situ at the Temple of Diana at Lake Nemi.”
    Alma’s eyebrows rose. “Ok, that is interesting. I know you said they started excavating there last year.”
    “Oh, they’ve started excavating, all right,” Jerry said regretfully, and Lewis couldn’t help but wonder if Jerry wished he were on the dig. “They’ve been excavating at the sanctuary, and now they’ve started draining the lake to raise the Nemi ships, the Roman barges that were sunk at some point. It’s a colossal archaeological expedition, well funded by the government, with all the latest equipment and the best experts. They’ve exposed the beams of the first ship, last I heard. It’s going extremely well and it’s certainly a notable find.”
    “Let me guess,” Alma said. “William Davenport.”
    “Yes.” Jerry smiled grimly. “Of course.”
    Lewis felt he was missing something important somewhere. “Wait,” he said. “Who’s William Davenport?”
    Jerry didn’t answer, just looked at Alma, who shrugged. “Dr. William Davenport is a well known archaeologist and excavator. He and Jerry don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. Well, on a lot of things that wouldn’t make a bit of difference to you or me.”
    “The interpretation of syncreticism in Hellenistic material is of vital importance,” Jerry said. “Whether you want to interpret the Lochias Kouros as indicative of Indian iconography of Krishna or not….”
    “We get it,” Mitch said, sitting up on the edge of his chair. “So the bottom line is that Davenport filched this thing from his own dig and sold it to Henry under the table.”
    “Henry didn’t say that in so many words,” Jerry replied.
    “Yes, but he’s got it. And Henry doesn’t look like the Italian government to me,” Alma said. “Surely they expect to keep the finds for their museums if they’re paying for the dig, not have the pieces sold off to private collectors.”
    “I expect so.” Jerry had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I think there’s some kind of issue about Davenport, from everything Henry wasn’t saying.”
    Mitch shrugged and reached for