Oli, A Very New Moon

by Carl Derham

CHAPTER 2

  Disappeared

  Night had enfolded the ancient landscape of Giza, and Stephan led the way through the compacted desert sand. He’d returned home after about two hours to find Oli, sitting in the same position, gazing out at the pyramids as the sun slipped behind the crimson outline of a distant mountain.

  They approached the menacing shape of the pyramid of Khufu, some two million three hundred thousand blocks of stone, some weighing in at nine tons, piled one on top of another, the four sides of the pyramid aligned almost perfectly with the four points of the compass. Oli found that he was craning his neck more and more as they approached the entrance. The dark shape above was silhouetted in the minimal light that the half moon was providing. They climbed a hand-cut trail of steps to the entrance and in no time were standing in front of the dark hole that disappeared into the carved limestone.

  “I hope you don’t suffer from claustrophobia,” said Stephan, with a knowing grin on his face. “This passage leads down to the unfinished chamber. It’s a hundred metres long and it was obviously designed with children in mind.”

  Oli wasn’t aware of any phobias. He would quite literally have a go at anything. They descended into the heart of the pyramid with the beams of their torches dancing on the stone walls around them. The passage was just over a metre high and a metre wide. The slope was steep enough to make the act of walking upright slightly awkward, but Oli found that walking in a doubled-up position was nearly impossible. There were planks of wood on the floor with pieces of batten nailed across them to give the walker something on which to purchase. On several occasions, Oli nearly lost his footing and had to brace himself on the rope railings that ran down either side of the passage. The second time he did this he knocked his torch against the stone and it went out.

  “Are you okay?” Stephan shouted, shining his torch up the tunnel to see Oli braced against the walls, shaking his torch with a movement of his wrist and pointing it at his face. It flashed into life again and he threw his head back and shut his eyes, blinded by the beam. This sharp movement caused him to lose his grip on the batten and he landed flat on his ass.

  “Fine thanks,” he choked, pulling himself back to his feet and rubbing his aching rear.

  Stephan turned, chuckling to himself and continued down. He had been down here many times and was well practiced in the technique and he was a good fifteen metres ahead of Oli.

  “I’m just going to rest for a minute,” Oli said, as he steadied himself with his arms on the walls and his shoulders pressed against the ceiling. Stephan turned around to acknowledge him just in time to see Oli’s upper body disappear through the floor. It all happened too fast for Oli to scream, he just managed a sharp intake of breath and a stifled “Wha…”

  Something very bizarre was happening. He could sense that he was falling. His arms and legs flailed around him seeking solid ground, but he failed to find anything solid under his feet or near his hands. He could see nothing but pitch black. He realised that he must have dropped his torch. He had no idea how fast he was falling, or if indeed he was falling. It seemed like a bottomless pit, but he couldn't feel any air rushing past him. The previous year, Oli had taken part in a tandem skydive for charity. He knew how a person was buffeted by the air when falling from a great height. This was not in any way similar to free falling. Eventually, after a period that seemed like minutes, but was in fact seconds, he relaxed, stopped his flailing arms and legs and just hung there, listening for any clues that would explain this most a-typical occurrence. There were no recognisable thoughts going through Oli’s head, just total confusion. His head darted from left to right, up and down in an attempt to see something other than the pitch black that surrounded him. He wasn’t falling. Of that, he was certain. He wasn’t bumping into rocks and being smashed to pieces. Also fairly certain. He wasn’t lying on the ground covered in huge rocks that were slowly expelling his final gasps of air. Totally certain about that one.