by Kevin Ashman
‘You’re awake,’ she said with a smile. ‘Feel any better?’
‘I do,’ said Brandon, ‘though it’s taking a while to come around.’
‘You’ve been through a lot,’ she said, ‘we both have.’ She sat next to him on the sofa and touched his hand. For a few moments they stared at each other, enjoying the closeness and physical contact.
‘India,’ said Brandon, breaking the moment, ‘we still have unfinished business to discuss.’
India released her hand and stood up, walking over to the mirror.
‘Unfinished business?’ she asked, shaking her hair from the towel.
‘You know what I mean,’ said Brandon, ‘what happened last year between you and me.’
‘There is no you and me, Brandon, not anymore.’
‘I know,’ he said, ‘but there are things we need to discuss, things I need to explain.’
‘You don’t have to explain, Brandon,’ she said, ‘what happened, happened. Can’t we leave it at that?’
‘But that’s the problem,’ said Brandon, ‘I don’t want to leave it.’
India turned and stared at him.
‘Brandon,’ she said, ‘now is not the place or the time. We can’t afford to be distracted so why don’t we just concentrate on getting to the bottom of what’s happening around us. Once that’s done, we’ll sit down and talk. Is that alright?’
‘Promise?’ asked Brandon.
‘I promise. When we are back in London, we’ll meet up and discuss it like adults.’
‘That’s all I ask,’ said Brandon.
India smiled.
‘Good, in that case, could you give me a few minutes to get dressed?’
‘Of course,’ said Brandon, ‘I’ll nip downstairs and see if I can find an English newspaper.’
----
Half an hour later Brandon walked back into the room. India was dressed in a white cotton dresses she had bought a day earlier and her red hair fell loose about her shoulders, brushed to a fiery shine. A sash around her waist showed off her curvaceous figure to the full.
‘Wow,’ said Brandon, ‘you look great.’
‘Thank, you,’ she said with a smile, ‘after all these weeks in khaki trousers it’s nice to wear something girly for a change.’
‘Well it certainly does the trick,’ said Brandon, ‘you look fabulous.’
‘Okay, Brandon,’ warned India with another smile, ‘don’t forget our agreement.’
‘Of course,’ came the reply and he threw the newspaper on the bed before sitting at the small round table. ‘So, have you had a chance to think about what happened last night?’
‘I have,’ said India, ‘but to be honest, I’m at a bit of a loss.’
‘In what way?’
‘Well, for a start that tomb was like nothing I have ever seen or read about in any of the books.’
‘Why not?’
‘It was carved out of natural rock with no decoration or even plastered surfaces. No statues, no effigies, nothing, just an empty sarcophagus.’
‘Is that not normal?’
‘No it’s not, and what about all that water? I have never heard of anything like it before. Obviously that disk was intended to stay there and anyone removing it would be caught in the flood. A very effective defence don’t you think?’
‘I do,’ said Brandon, ‘but why go to all that trouble to protect an empty tomb?’
‘That’s what confuses me,’ said India. ‘The casket definitely belonged to Khufu because I saw his cartouche on the side. But the tomb was sealed with no body interred. If it wasn’t for the elaborate trap I would say it was just another false chamber left by the tomb builders to throw off any grave robbers.’
‘Unless, ‘said Brandon slowly, ‘the water wasn’t there to protect a body, perhaps it was there to protect something else.’
‘Like what? The tomb was empty.’
‘No it wasn’t India, there was one thing there, remember? The disc at the bottom of the sarcophagus. It’s too much of a coincidence that the removal of the disc triggered the water. Perhaps the trap was to prevent anyone removing the disc from the tomb.’
India stared at him.
‘You may be right,’ she said, ‘but we’ll never know. There’s no way we can go back and retrieve it now. It’s under a hundred feet of water.’
‘No it’s not,’ grinned Brandon and reached down to get his still wet pack, ‘I have it right here.’
----
‘Brandon,’ gasped India, ‘I thought you dropped it in the confusion.’
‘No chance,’ said Brandon, ‘after all that hassle there was no way I was leaving the one thing we had found. I put it into my pack before we left the tomb.’
‘You genius,’ said India with a grin. ‘So, come on, get it out, let’s see what we’ve got.’
Brandon retrieved the disc while India cleared the round coffee table. He placed the artefact on the surface and India brought a towel to wipe away the grime.
‘Well, whatever it is, it’s not gold,’ she said as she wiped.
‘Damn,’ cursed Brandon, ‘I thought that was my pension pot, right there.’
‘It seems to be made of glass,’ said India, ‘or at least some sort of translucent stone. Hang on, let’s do this properly. She picked up the disc and took it into the bathroom, using the shower to clear the grime from the surface. Finally she returned and placed it on a clean towel on the table.
Brandon stared at it with interest. The disc was about the same size and shape as an average dinner plate. The underside was flat while the top surface was smooth but heavily scratched. The whole thing was milky white and when Brandon held it up, he could see the glow of the hotel light through a hole in the centre.
‘Well,’ said India eventually, ‘any ideas?’
‘Not a clue,’ said Brandon, ‘you?’
‘Nothing,’ said India, ‘but I know where we may get an answer.’
‘Where?’
‘The Cairo Museum.’
‘Are you are kidding me?’
‘Why?’
‘You think we are going to just march in there with a stolen artefact and just ask someone what it is.’
‘Of course not,’ said India, ‘what I’m suggesting is we go in there and have a look around. See if they have anything similar that may give us an idea.’
‘Oh,’ said Brandon, ‘I see. Okay, let me get some stuff together and we’ll head on over.’
‘Excellent,’ said India and five minutes later, both walked out of the hotel and headed toward the Cairo museum of antiquities.
----
Across the city, Muburak was in Captain Rashid’s back office. The doors were locked and the blinds lowered so none of the day staff could see in.
‘What do you mean you can’t arrange access?’ snapped Muburak, ‘we had a deal, remember?’
‘We didn’t have a deal,’ said Rashid, ‘it was a request, nothing more. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a problem but there have been developments, Muburak, and the whole area is off limits, even to tourists.’
‘But why?’
‘There seems to have been a flood in some chambers beneath the statue. We’re not sure what has happened yet but it looks like ground water has burst from one of the flooded chambers and breached the tunnels beneath the Sphinx. We have engineers checking if there is any damage to the foundations as we speak.’
‘But surely you can arrange a pass for me to get through.’
‘I could but it’s pointless. All the known passages are flooded so whatever it is you seek, there is no way of reaching it.’
‘Damn,’ said Muburak, ‘I was so close.’
‘To what?’ asked Rashid.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ sighed Muburak. ‘Hopefully the water will subside soon and when it does, I will return.’
‘There is one other thing,’ said Rashid. ‘When we first heard about water seeping from the ground near the ruins we naturally attended as quickly as
possible to check there was no damage to the Sphinx.’
‘And was there any?’
‘It’s too early to say but what we did find was the metal barrier between the paws had been opened in the night. Someone had cut off the padlock.’
‘Who would do such a thing?’ asked Muburak.
‘We’re not sure who they are,’ said Rashid, ‘but take a look at this.’ He turned to face his computer screen. ‘This is security camera footage of the front of the Sphinx from last night. The picture is poor but you can clearly see two people running from the between the paws just before dawn this morning. We believe that somehow, these people may know something about the flooding.’
‘How can you say that?’ said Muburak, ‘the picture is too poor.’
‘I know,’ said Rashid, ‘but there is another camera nearby and it picked up this one frame where the female is looking directly at the lens.’ He clicked his mouse and a picture appeared on the screen. ‘You can see her hair is soaking wet,’ continued Rashid, ‘and we believe it is the same woman who we saw on the other camera.’
Muburak stared at the screen, his mouth tightly shut as he suppressed his anger.
‘We don’t know who it is,’ continued Rashid, ‘but I have people working on it right now.’
‘Don’t bother,’ said Muburak, ‘I know exactly who it is, it’s India Sommers and if she was in the tomb before the water came, I need to apprehend her urgently.’
----
‘It’s not like the museums you may have visited at home,’ said India as they approached the coral coloured building, ‘this one is far more haphazard. You’ll see statues just piled up in corridors as well as unopened crates. Many of the exhibits are unlabelled though it has to be said, the major ones are very, very impressive. Tutankhamun for instance is mind blowing. Apparently, there are far more exhibits locked away in vaults than there are on display but I know there is talk of a new museum being built soon to accommodate it all.’
‘Fascinating,’ said Brandon as he glanced around nervously.
‘Did you know,’ continued India, as they passed a smaller statue of a Sphinx in front of the building, ‘during the troubles a few years ago, somebody broke into the museum and stole some of the artefacts? It was potentially a disaster but when the people heard about the robberies, they formed a human chain around the museum to protect their heritage.’
Again Brandon’s response was minimal and India looked up at him quizzically.
‘Brandon,’ she asked ‘are you alright?’
‘Keep walking, India,’ he said, ‘and don’t look around, I think we are being followed.’
Despite his advice, she looked back nervously and saw a man walking close behind wearing dark glasses.
‘Is that him?’ she whispered, ‘the guy in the cheap suit.’
‘That’s the guy’, said Brandon, ‘he’s been following us since we left the hotel.’
‘Who do you think it is?’ asked India as they approached the museum entrance.
‘Probably one of Muburak’s men,’ said Brandon. ‘He must have tracked us down.’
‘What are we going to do?’
‘I’m not sure,’ said Brandon, ‘but this situation just got a whole lot worse. Let’s get inside and see if we can lose him there.’ They entered the white arched entranced and joined the throng of tourists inside. Brandon looked over his shoulder and saw the man joined by a second.
‘This way,’ said India and pushed through the crowd toward the far end of the main hall. All around them, the museum’s visitors jostled as they sought the best views of the artefacts but all thoughts of sightseeing were long gone for India and Brandon as they looked for a way to escape their followers.
‘Over here,’ said India and ducked behind a stone sarcophagus set upon a high plinth. Brandon followed her through a door and they walked quickly down a gloomy corridor. A young man walked in the opposite direction and challenged them in Egyptian.
‘I’m sorry,’ said India, ‘we are lost and need to find the way out.’
‘No problem,’ answered the young man in English, ‘this way please.’
He turned and took them further down the corridor away from the main hall before opening a door.
‘Thank you for your visit,’ he said and stood aside as they stepped into the open air.
‘A fire escape,’ mumbled Brandon, ‘excellent. Come on, let’s get back to the hotel. By the time those goons realise we’ve escaped we can be out of Cairo.’
As they turned to walk away, a man stepped out from behind a pillar and blocked their path.
‘Miss Sommers,’ said the man, ‘Mr Walker, I require you to come with me immediately and I will not take no for an answer.’
‘And why do you think we would do that?’ asked Brandon aggressively.
‘Because of this,’ said the man and lifted one flap of his jacket to reveal a pistol in his waist band. ‘Please don’t try anything rash, Mr Walker,’ he said, ‘just walk in front of me toward the train station. There’s no need for anyone to get hurt.’
‘Look,’ said India, ‘whatever it is that Muburak wants, just take me. None of this is Brandon’s fault.’
‘I’m sorry, Miss Sommers,’ came the reply, ‘I can’t do that, start walking.’
Knowing they had no other choice, they both turned and walked toward the train station, closely followed by the man with the gun.
----
Chapter Fifteen
The King’s Chamber
Khufu’s Pyramid – 2600 BC
Adio screamed as Haji reached him with the knife and curled up into a defensive ball.
‘Nooo,’ shouted Sagira from across the room and Haji turned to face her.
‘Be quiet, child,’ he said, ‘I have already told you, the gods have greater plans for you.’
He turned back and reaching over the curled body of Adio, used his knife to cut away at a rope hanging from the ceiling. Sagira stared in confusion but before she could ask any questions, an almighty roar behind her made her spin in fear and she screamed again as an enormous portcullis of granite slid from the ceiling, crashing to the floor and making the whole room shake. Twice more he repeated the task and two more slabs of stone came crashing down, blocking off their escape route and forever sealing the tomb from the outside world.
For the next few minutes there was silence and as the dust settled, Adio sat up to look around him. He was still scared but the fact that he was alive gave him hope. Against the far wall Sagira sat, her eyes wide with fear. Next to the Sarcophagus knelt the one remaining priest, his head bowed low in homage to the king while Haji stood motionless at the far end of the room. The other bodies lay where they had been slain, motionless in the pools of sticky blood. The silence was absolute.
Adio looked over at Sagira.
‘Sagira,’ he whispered, ‘what’s happening?’
Sagira looked up at Haji but he ignored her and just stood there, his eyes closed as if in a trance.
‘I don’t know,’ Adio she said, ‘I just don’t know.’
The room fell into silence once more until finally Haji took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
‘Get to your feet, Chuma,’ he said to the priest, ‘the time is upon us.’
The kneeling priest stood up and faced Haji.
‘Then let it be done,’ he said.
The two priests walked to the centre of the room and after a pause, leaned against one end of the sarcophagus. The strain was evident on their faces but suddenly there was movement and the stone coffin pivoted just enough to reveal a small hole in the floor.
Sagira stared in amazement and lifted her eyes to see Haji looking at her.
‘Come,’ he said, don’t worry, ‘no harm will befall you. There is a task that your dead king requires of you.’
Sagira stood and walked slowly over to the sarcophagus.
‘You too,’ said Haji, speaking to Adio.
The boy joined them and they stood at the edge
of the hole, staring down into the darkness.
‘Many days ago, the gods revealed their plans to me in a dream,’ said Haji. ‘In that dream they foretold that you two would lead the way through the darkness. This is where the prophesy comes true.’ He pointed into the hole. ‘You will enter the pit,’ he said, ‘for the entrance is big enough only for a child. At the bottom you will see a large stone suspended in the air by two ropes. It swings freely beside a pile of smaller rocks. The larger stone is a counter weigh that balances a door to this tomb. By placing the smaller stones upon it you will cause it to lower, thereby opening the way for our king. This is your destiny, do you accept it?’
Sagira peered down into the pitch darkness.
‘We do,’ she said looking up.
‘Then take a candle,’ said Haji, ‘and I will lower you down.’
Moments later, Sagira clung to a length of rope as she was lowered into the pit. After about ten feet, she reached the floor of the darkened room and held the candle up before her. Sure enough, the counterweight was hanging from two ropes and a pile of smaller stones lay beside it on the floor. The rope disappeared back up the hole and seconds later, Adio climbed down with a candle of his own.
‘Sagira,’ said Haji from above, ‘you must place the smaller stones on top of the larger one. Do this so your king can sleep safely in eternity.’
Adio nudged Sagira and pointed to a darkened hole in the far wall, a passage way leading away from the chamber.
‘That may be a way out,’ he whispered, ‘we can flee right now and get away from them. They can’t follow because they can’t fit through the hole above.’
‘I don’t know, Adio,’ said Sagira, ‘Haji said our role was prophesised.’
‘Sagira, you saw him kill those priests, how do you know he won’t kill us as soon as he is down here?’
‘I don’t,’ said Sagira, ‘but I can’t go against the gods. Come on, help me with the stones.’ She turned and lifted one of the small rocks, struggling to lift them with her weak arms.
‘Help me, Adio,’ she said.
Adio paused but finally stepped forward and helped her pick the first rock up onto the counter weight. Over and over again they added stones to the rock but it didn’t move. Eventually they lifted the last one but still the counterweight remained motionless.