Driving at a moderate pace, Nicolae reached the campus of the university; he parked his car and exited, preparing to enter the large building and discuss the terms of the matter.
Right now he is still a professor and this exploration would be considered an internship, this chance plus many others will achieve the effect of an interview as the team will test his capabilities, and if they decide he is worth the trouble then he will officially join in as an archaeologist and will have more opportunities, if not he can stay as a professor and maybe look out for different alternatives when he gains more experience and knowledge.
Nicolae didn't waste his time and soon went into the meeting room.
"Welcome, sir Andrew, sir Thomas, and ma'am Elizabeth; it is an honor to meet you," Nicolae said as he extended his hand to shake theirs.
"It is an honor to meet you too, sir Nicolae," said Andrew, the leader of this exploratory group.
"I'm sure you know, but today we will explore the Great Basin desert and its surroundings, in the hope of getting new fossils; hehe, you don't need to worry if we don't find anything. After all, such cases are rare.
There are already some areas we are aware of that were thoroughly researched and some that we have more leeway with our exploration since they need more research.
We have a map that points out our exploration zones; that is where we will do our duty," explained Andrew, the leader of the team; naturally, as the leader, he was in charge of the operation and the decisions.
"Yes, sir," replied the other teammates.
After Andrew pointed out more about the tasks and activities they ought to do, they prepared their equipment and flew to their destination.
"Well we are here, all that is left for is our terrestrial movement and the dangerous predators, don't forget our formation and your equipment, if a dangerous animal comes up to us, use your tranquilizer guns, and be very careful on such matters, I explained it before and I will do so again to emphasize this point," warned Andrew as they should not be joking about their life.
"Yes, sir," responded the team in unison.
"Good, it's great that all of you are ready, then let's go," they said as they walked away slowly from civilization, using a car they hired, they crossed a majority of their destination in a broad amount of time.
Reaching their destination, the team stopped their car and went out, reaching for the unrestrained wilderness.
It was evening on the verge of night, around 9:30 PM clock.
"Looks like we will be stranded here for the time being; let's prepare the equipment for the night. After all, we don't want to freeze to death or to remain defenseless at the mercy of the predators, right?"
After taking some time to make the preparations, their camping tools were opened and arranged at their proper destination, helping to keep them safe and protected from the surrounding power of the mother nature.
"Well, not that that's done with, let's talk about ourselves a little; why did you come here and became an archeologist," asked Andrew, the captain of the team.
"I'll start first. Perhaps I don't have a specific reason, perhaps I was simply aligned to it, but I just happened to reach here, somehow, I was good at geography and history, well better than the other courses, and I didn't have any other opportunities, I wasn't that professional and didn't study a lot on the other aspect of the school, I was just good at these 2 subjects.
My family wasn't rich, they didn't have the opportunity to bring in meditations and I had to work hard, at least at what I was good at.
I worked and strengthened my knowledge of history and geography, I worked hard for it but it still took a lot before I could get the results I wanted.
After a lot of hard work and struggle, when I reached high school, I participated in the history and geography olympiad and won until the national level.
This gave me a scholarship to a popular college with a major in history, and I was excited to bring the news to my family.
Yes back then we were very happy, tears of joy streamed down their faces as we celebrated the news, it was fun, it was great, my parents even let me host a party, it was the time of my life, a happiness after many struggles, so much I didn't even know what to do with it.
But sadly, not all things tend to remain the same; with the powerful influence of the world, they crumble very easily.
Soon after, I got the news that my father had cancer. It was stage 4, and he didn't have much time left to live. I was conflicted, I wanted to help my family as soon as I could, but that would leave me to lose my opportunity in the scope of finding a job and contributing to the family.
We argued, we discussed, and eventually, we agreed that I would go to university and also will get a part-time job.
From there, there was not much difference. I worked hard and struggled again as if I was crawling through mood until I reached here. My Mother is still alive and very happy for me because I became something."
"You really had it hard," replied Elizabeth.
"Yea this is hard to believe and accept until it happens to you," replied Nicolae.
"Indeed, everyone has their struggles; we all have to deal with them in our own way," was the final reply from Andrew.
"Alright, I'll go next," said Elizabeth, the only feminine voice in the group.
"For me, it's not that complicated. In fact, it might even be a little hilarious that I came to this position.
Well, I'm what can be called a woman with a love for fashion, I have that fashion sense about me, always attracted to and even enthusiastic about it, I would always want the newest fashion, the newest shoes, and the newest handbags and since my family was rather rich, and I was pretty smart with good grades, obedient of my family requests, I was always rewarded, given the things I asked.
I will ponder over their style, analyze it, and draw new styles; I just did things like that. Initially, that was my destination for a future career.
But in high school, things took a turn of events.
That is the place where I met my boyfriend, now husband, and he managed to conquer me.
We shared hobbies and activities. He was infatuated with history, and we always used to play different games involving history, for example, past battles, who were their leaders, and who contributed the most.
We added a basis of truth or dare and the loser had to answer, if the results were a draw we would draw a different card from a different set that had more profound questions about the principal subject from the main deck of cards, and each player could prepare the deck of cards filled with questions for the opponent to answer if the opponent answers correctly it would be his turn to challenge you, if both answers correct its a draw if both fail to answer correctly, it's still a draw, the one remaining who answers correctly despite his opponent failing to answer will win.
Regarding that whenever we choose to dare, we would tease or slightly indulge ourselves in temptations, we could compliment each other and indulge freely, or when choosing truth we will talk about ourselves, of course, we never forget to condiment ourselves with an additional bonus of teasing languages and jokes at the expanse of the other, eventually, I fell in love with his hobby as well, so things turned around and I got here"
"Well, great story, Elizabeth; we are happy that you shared your story with us, and I hope your first experience with us will be a memorable one," complimented Andrew.
"Well, how about we spice things up a bit with our conversation and fry a little beef," said Andrew as he unpacked a small mini grill. Putting the meat to roast, preparing some potatoes, and alongside with vegetables.
He took out a few glasses and poured some wine into them before handing them to his team.
"This is also for you but not too much; if the alarm is sounding, I want you to be awake and neutralize the threat. We also have sensors that can detect nearby animals that come close, and alongside it, a half-spherical blockade made of intertwined iron around our camping with enough place to cover all of the tents. The gaps in it are enough that even small animals like snakes can't get in if they try."
"Now I guess it's time for my story.
It's simple, realistic, and repetitive.
I was a man with not much hope, I was a listener always attentive to details, even the smallest of them, and I knew how to follow orders, I guess I didn't have much freedom in most of my life.
My family was also strict and I joined the military, more like forced, there I utilized my talent, and advanced in rank but I never got my freedom, I just got more people in my control taking their freedom myself, but that alone didn't guarantee my freedom, so to get this new and fresh experience and to escape my dissatisfaction with the situation I was forced in, I looked around to see what I would find when some things gathered my interest I took unto them and with my hard work and dedication I got here and reached the position of a captain.
"Congratulations sir, how was your freedom," asked Nicolae.
"It was beautiful, beautiful and unimaginable, like a hawk who soars into the sky, like a drug akin to life essence that has been permanently injected into me, and I can never go back; this is my life now, and I will never turn away from it now."
"Now, what about you, Nicolae," asked the captain.
"It would take a multitude of reasons to explain why I became an archeologist. Besides, with my needs in mind, I could've chosen a different career, but being an archeologist is the most useful career compared to the rest of them.
I've become an archeologist out of my greed, a strong desire I wish to satisfy.
Saying it in simple words, I wish to fulfill my desire to experience and enjoy the mysteries of life to the fullest.
Life is too short to be thwarted away into the dirt, and there are too many opportunities waiting to be explored with too little time at our disposal, there are too many events, risks, and knowledge waiting to be devoured by me, to be digested and converted into my fulfillment, to experience everything and become a whole person, that is also the drug that keeps me away from the fear of death, depression, disappointment, and the overall hardships of Heaven.
I always considered life a challenge from the world itself, and to prove myself to it, I always took the initiative to crawl onto the ground and took the hardest and most complicated solution, working hard to maintain their genuinity, developing my skills to match my tasks.
It took time, I accomplished what I wanted to and managed to reach here for my first goal job. I also have the desire to advance, gain more experience and visit even more places, this again depends on my effort, and this same effort I am very curious to see how it will be rewarded.
"That's great, then I will expect a lot from you Nicolae," commented the captain.
After some time the food was finally ready, taking some plates, eating freely, and drinking some wine the group of 4 people continued and profounded their subjects and discussions. It became night after the festivities were done.
"Ok my comrades, it is night and tomorrow we have a lot of work to do, without a doubt its time to sleep, now clean this mess up and go to sleep," spoke the captain with a sense of hilarity as he used the word comrade in a jokingly manner, probably from the wine.
After cleaning the group entered their tents and went to sleep, awaiting for the day and responsibilities of tomorrow.