‘I don’t know,’ Nina replied absently. The leader’s face was blurred and warped by the crystal, a yellow tint discolouring it, but she could see enough to tell that its head was not the same shape as a human’s. It was larger, the rear of the skull extending backwards – like the image on the key.

Again, it wasn’t the same as the remains of the Veteres. They too had elongated heads, facial features resembling the popular conception of a Grey alien – or perhaps that very image was some residual racial memory of Homo sapiens’ former masters. But these seemed simultaneously somehow more and less like humans: the faces more so, the giant bodies definitely less.

Another species entirely? Could a second advanced race have existed at the same time as the Veteres? She doubted it. As history had proved several times, other intelligent hominids did not survive contact with a more advanced – or more violent – species.

Then there was the Veteres writing on the key. So were the bodies here some racial variant, or had the mummified remains in Eden been unusually small?

Answers would only come through detailed scientific analysis. Which meant the main issue now was how to deal with a find of this magnitude. ‘Okay,’ she said, addressing the others, ‘we’ve made an amazing discovery. So we need to decide what to do next.’

‘I told you, the law of finds applies here,’ said Vorster without hesitation. ‘The ship and everything in it are all ours – we just have to stake our claim, and we can do that by radio from the Torrox.’

‘It’s also an archaeological find, though,’ Nina countered. ‘And a burial site.’ She indicated the sarcophagi. ‘I should notify the International Heritage Agency. They’re equipped to handle discoveries like this.’

‘And then what happens to our claim?’ Vorster demanded. ‘We can’t sit around waiting for lawyers to argue it out in some court. The iceberg’s melting! It won’t be long before it breaks apart – and then this whole thing will end up at the bottom of the ocean.’

‘We still have to find out what happened to Arnold and the others,’ Imka added quietly.

‘But we must protect the find,’ said Cheng. He gazed at the towering shape within the nearest sarcophagus, then regarded the recess near its foot. ‘The key will fit in this . . .’

‘Don’t even think about it,’ Nina cautioned. ‘Nobody touches anything in here. This is a find on the level of the tomb of Tutankhamun. It needs to stay intact until it can be properly surveyed and—’

‘By who?’ cut in Vorster forcefully.

She ignored him. ‘—and catalogued. And we still don’t know what happened to the crew of the Dionysius . . .’

Nina trailed off. Something had changed. The only illumination in the chamber had been the team’s flashlights, but now she could pick out details in the shadows. ‘What’s wrong?’ Eddie asked.