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Athena was a goddess. She also was a very cautious person, and completely level headed in every instance she entered. There was now a conflicting amount of interest in her desire for knowledge, and the desire to observe without upsetting the local lands. She did not know the magical capacity of the world, nor the reaction of the locals. In her mind, she retraced everything she had learned and seen.

1- The goddesses were in slumber for 5,000 years.
2- These goddesses, were in fact, deemed myth, from that time.
3- From points 1 and 2, mortals would not believe anything said, but saw.

From this, she deduced a simple conclusion: proof of goddessdom would be easily attained if she showed magical powers. However, the complications had existed.

1- Their knowledge of magic was next to limited, proven by pleas to heal.
2- Their chariots no longer came by horse.
3- Their weapons were no longer swords, spears, and shields.
4- Their militaristic intentions were extremely rapid to deploy, less than an hour.

These points concluded that mortals had not lost the ability to wage war. While her garter held miniature designs of her aegis, helm, and spear in disguise, and she herself could easily display her force, her knowledge of retaliatory strikes was limited. What had struck her most unexpectedly was their ability to fly without wings or a pegasus. Small buzzing creatures had been tamed, the typical "whump whump whump" sound a new thing to her. This was a strange land indeed, and athena was anything but a person who enjoyed ignorance. However, she was about to be indoctrinated with typical mob protocol.

The group of survivors did not comply quite the same as the military had expected. While some huddled around each other, they sat in a quarantined circle.

"This is a mess. The military tries to get us to bend over and line up like pigs to a slaughter? Don't they care that we've lost friends and family?"

"What do you mean," Athena asked, unsure what was wrong.

"They have something wrong going on here. Normally, the police come with ambulances first, with firemen. There's nothing of the sort here. The military doesn't have time to investigate natural phenomena. Well, you're different, but still, the local authorities are usually the first response teams. As big news as you are, the military doesn't get called into earthquakes without local help. Something's odd."

"You're awfully calm, and why isn't anyone telling who I am?" Athena asked.

"I dont' know. it's like... serenity flows from you. Everyone can think straight. But you're our prized discovery. The military is known for... well... stealing and harassing what isn't theirs."

"That's rather terrible, in my day," Athena began, before stopping herself. Her hands relaxed, as the trembling of the earth began, starting at the temple and creating a fissure in the earth. Panic ensued, as she retained her level head. "Commander, get us out of here."

David made his way back to Mclock unsure of what to say. Mclock just had a bewildered look on his face. "What the hell are you doing here get back to the tent." "Ummm sir she isn't exactly into cooperating with us. She..." The ground began to shake and heave as a quake hit. It didn't last long, but it was enough to light a fire under the local militarys a**. They had the right idea. However they couldn't go leaving with them so they need to pull out for now. "Alright looks like we have to try this a different way." Mclock called up the men and ordered a withdrawal for the moment. They needed to look for a better way to get this situation under control. "Once its cleared out we can try and come back, but for now lets pull back and get out of these civi cloths." David followed Mclock as they along with the others moved out of the area as quickly and quietly as they could.

Kanelos smirks a bit. "Well, there's definitely something strange going on here. She seems very concerned for her fellow people, but she turns around and exposes two trying to get away..." he muses.

Calling over to the two trying to sneak off, he shouts, "You two, get over here! Into the truck, it's too dangerous for you to stay here!" Motioning to them, he has two soldiers approach the men to escort them to their ride.

"Thank you, madame, for cooperating. I'm sure we'll be able to make a lot of progress with you," he says, guiding her to a jeep and opening the door to let her in. He might have been a gruff military officer, but he knew to personally treat a civilian lady with some respect.

Once they were in the jeep, he gets out a clipboard and a pen, and asks, "Now, miss, let's start from the top. Please give me your name and then tell me exactly what you saw take place: the events leading up to and during the disaster, and what happened afterwards until we arrived."

"Shouldn't you tell me who you are first? Or has the military lost it's manners?" Athena said gently, the old ways still flourishing within her mind.

As the trucks began to roll out from the disaster area, Kanelos smies a slight little bit, saying, "Ah, of course. I'm afraid I'm not accustomed to dealing with civilians, so do bear with me. I am Colonel Kanelos of the Hellenic Army. And you, miss?"

"Hmmm, alright. Sounds like a cave-in at the ruins. Perhaps there was an earthquake..." Kanelos replies, nodding as he writes down this information. "Thank you, Athene," he says. "I have just a few more questions, about the layout of the ruins. We need to know at about what part survivors should be located, as well as what parts might be an additional cave-in liability. Once we know this, I can send in my report and the rescue teams can go in to search for survivors. Then we can send them a more detailed map to work with once we get settled at the perimeter."

Pausing a moment, he adds, "Oh, if there is anything else you would like us to note, do say so. Information is key in these situations."

Kanelos stares Athene down for a moment, thinking. "Awful demanding, isn't she? Acting like she's in charge of us, here... What's with this woman?"

Leaning back in his seat, he replies, "I understand you're worried about anyone who might be there, but the last thing we need is a rescue team that winds up having to be rescued. In addition, heavy machinery is almost certain to have to be used to rescue many of the people there, and if it isn't done correctly the victims may easily wind up killed by the very people trying to save them. The ten minutes it will take us to get there and for someone to share this information will not kill anyone, and in fact rescue operations would be underway at this time if the tremor before had not occurred and certain persons had not been... Uncooperative."

Then his handheld radio notified him of an incoming message. Picking it up and listening, he replies, "Understood, over," and puts it back down.

Turning to face Athene, again, he continues, saying, "Also, there was no earthquake. No seismic activity in the hours, or even minutes, before the accident. And I've just gotten word that the area did not cave in, but rather some force pushed outwards out of the ground. This is consistent with the initial reports of an explosion the scale of which should never occur at an archeological dig. So no, I can not let you out onto the road to be completely lost track of. Instead, there is a possibility of foul play and you are a witness who may prove important in the ensuing investigation. It is even possible that you could be considered a suspect if such is confirmed to be the case, though naturally that would only be in the event that incriminating evidence is found. At any rate, we will most likely have to turn you over to the Hellenic Police before long."

It was at this point that the caravan of trucks reached their destination, tents already set up to provide a headquarters.

"Now, if you will accompany me, we can get things moving."

Kanelos was not happy with this latest act. "Christ, lady keeps jumping to the most outlandish conclusions," he thinks, frowning quite severely as he puts his palm to his face. "All we're trying to do is make this search and rescue operation run in a calm and orderly manner instead of rushing people into a deathtrap haphazardly, and she calls it slavery!? And then to have the gall to claim that we're holding her and the others prisoner for a made-up crime... Has the woman never heard of an investigation? All I've asked for until now is some simple information!"

Then it hit him... Could she be hiding something? He honestly couldn't see any reason why this woman would be so completely filled with such rage at the mere suggestion of revealing what happened at the accident site other than that there was some secret she was trying to keep.

It was at that time another soldier approaches him. "Sir," he says, "shall we detain her?"

Before answering, Kanelos checks the current time. "Dammit, the rescue operation could have started fourty-five minutes ago if those stubborn idiots would have sat down and taken five to give some information..."

"...No," Kanelos sighs, shaking his head as he watches Athene head for the civilians. "She's not going to talk for now. We'll let her and the survivors simmer down and get into a more rational mindset before we try to ask them again. In the meantime, get a picture of that Athene woman. We'll add it to our report for the general. In addition, we can't hold back the rescue teams any longer. Make it VERY CLEAR to them that there is an extreme danger of structural collapse of the ruins, and that we will provide them with more information as soon as we can. It's regrettable that we have to jeopardize them and the survivors in this way, but we don't have a choice at this point."

With that, Kanelos heads for the main operations tent, to type up a quick progress report to be sent in electronically.