"Don't worry, Miss Datta. We have maps and routes. My brother pinpointed the general location from his research," he assured her, and then turned to the tracker.

"I appreciate your taking this seriously mister DuBois, however I hired you to guide, not to lead." Baron Cormack said, pointing his cane at the Frenchman. "It is not up to me for what the others in this room do. It is up to them. You might not know, but a few of your peers here have braved wars and conditions you would be quite familiar with, and I daresay by the end of this expedition, you'll face a few things even you don't expect in the jungles." The Baron's last words ended in a rough cough, and soon he was nearly bent over before Alcander took the initiative and came to his aid, keeping him upright. 

"But we'd be foolish to not listen to someone experienced in that region, yes?" Alcander reminded the aging Baron, of which he nodded and collected himself. "Yes, of course, of course. It's why I'm hiring him." He chided Alcander, though he patted the archaeologist's hand in thanks, indicating he could take a seat once more. "As for your pay, you will get half upfront. But I assure you it will be immensely more than a usual assignment you would procure on your own. I do not know all of you well, so I do not know if I can trust you with all of the money. However, I know you well enough that you'll earnestly search for the City of Life if you believe it is there. So if you return empty handed, you'll still receive the next half of your payment." With that, he called to his attendant. "Bertram!" 

The attendant marched off for a moment towards the back end of the room, grabbing a small crate. "As for your third condition, Mister DuBois, it seems like a condition many of the learned people here share. And allow me to tell you that to recite all of the proof would take hours, but allow me to demonstrate a few pieces of information to you skeptics..." 

Bertram placed the crate down, and unlatched it. The butler reached inside with both of his hands, and produced what looked to be a stone tablet with a language on it that Alcander, and perhaps a few others would recognize as Aramaic. Gingerly, he placed the tablet on the table. "This was found by my brother in Israel. I will give you a chance to read it, of course. But it provides a bit of clarity to the old biblical theories of the Garden being connected to the Tigris and the Euphrates. Ay, Alcander?" 

The young man was rendered speechless as he read the text, and he gripped the tablet, running his thumb over it to make sure it was an authentic piece. The elder decided to speak for him, knowing Alcander would confirm. "You see, the bible does not state how long the Garden held Adam and Eve. Indeed the Garden did occupy a space very close to the levant...One hundred and seventy five million years ago." A hush fell over the room. "But when the continents split, the rivers and the fertile crescent moved...The Garden did not. Adam and Eve, before their sin, were endless in life from what the tablet says. They built a city, and humanity grew from their origins in Africa." 

Alcander shook his head, not out of disagreement but out of disbelief. "Why is this not in the Bloomsbury Museum?" Alcander asked. The Baron gave a chuckle. "You think I would let someone else handle this? I'll donate it as soon as we're done, but that proved invaluable in my research. As did this..." 

Bertam then produced what looked to be the skull of a strange turtle, only it was nearly the size of Bertram's chest. With a grunt, he placed it onto the table. "Can anyone tell me," the Baron began, trying to keep a new coughing fit at bay. "-what this is?" He began to cough louder, and Bertram retrieved a drink for him. "It's a Sauropod, or what the locals call "Mokele M'bembe," he said after a moment and a sip of water. "Found in the Congo by an expedition team back in 1907. But as you all know, the beasts we called Dinosaurs died sixty five million years ago." 

"So, how old is this?" Alcander asked. 

"Fifty years old." 

Alcander hesitated, and then inspected the Skull. The Baron did not smirk or grin, but watched on with interest as Alcander performed a small once over of the bones. There was a large hole in the skull between the eyes and the mouth, where the airsacs of the strange and ancient beast would be located, with its nostrils at the top of its skull. "The Bantu City of life reputedly protects itself with beasts of ages long past." The Baron explained, and Alcander finished his inspection. Elle and perhaps Lysandra would be able to vouche for what the archaeologist said next. 

"There's no traces of sediment or rock markings. Give or take a year... he's right."