After whisking through the underground steps leading down into the subway, they experienced an initial, visual jolt. The contrast of Moscow’s ostentatious subway to the bleak concrete walls of an ordinary subway back home was startling. Then Michael observed a familiar sight: the turnstiles. Leading the way, Michael bypassed the purchasing of tickets and jumped over the turnstile, a bad habit he had developed during his teenage years growing up in Brooklyn. Anna followed suit, as they raced to the nearest train, managing to jump inside as its doors closed. Michael and Anna sighed with relief when the train surged forward, but the moment was fleeting. As the train shuddered to a stop and opened its doors again, their anxious eyes met. “We gotta move, come on,” Michael urged as he started making his way to the front of the train car.
As they dodged and squeezed around the late-night passengers, the doors closed shut and the train pulled forward, slowly departing from the Kurskaya station once again.
When they reached the door at the end of the train car, Michael spoke, “We gotta make it to the front car.” Opening it, he stepped onto the short-end platform and carefully stepped over to the next car’s platform. He extended his arms and as soon he felt Anna’s hands, he squeezed them tight and pulled her to himself. It was in this manner that they managed to pass through all of the cars and reached the train’s front car.
The air conditioning system seemed to be out of order. As the train roared through the tunnel, the stale outside air rushed in through the open windows, cooling off their faces with a dry and dirty smell. Every time the train stopped at a station, however, the heat became unbearable, making them wish it would start moving again. In the middle of the car, Anna found a metal bar to lean against. Michael approached her saying, “Next stop we’re getting off. I’m tired.” As the doors shut and the train started pulling away from the station, he walked over to the front of the car.
Anna reached inside her purse and pulled out hair elastic. Moving quickly she smoothed and pulled her long reddish-brown hair into a ponytail. Her skin was starting to feel damp, so she started unzipping her jacket. Suddenly somebody’s hand was squeezing her wrist tightly, something pointy pressed against her back. Above the subway noise, a male voice in her ear threatened, “I’ll kill you if you scream.”
The train lugged to a stop at the next station and the doors opened up, letting the passengers in and out. Michael started for the doors. “OK,” he called out, turning toward Anna, “Let’s go.” He spotted her standing absolutely still with the Medjay right behind her, holding her tightly. Furious, Michael strode toward Anna. The tribesman was becoming more of a nuisance than a real threat. Then he noticed the Medjay’s sword. He stopped.
“You make one move, and she is dead,” the Medjay said ominously, his eyes red and bloody.
Meanwhile, the doors slammed shut and the train started moving again. The subway’s roaring filled the car once again. Anna put her left hand onto the metal bar to steady herself as the train turned a corner, jerking them both to the side. Still, the Medjay kept his sword pressed hard against her back, and his large hand wrapped tightly around her right wrist.
“What do you want?” Michael demanded.
The lights went out and Michael instinctively jumped. The Medjay seemed to have anticipated the move and managed to avoid the initial blow to his head. Michael grabbed and twisted the Medjay’s hoodie with his left hand while the other hand groped blindly for the Medjay’s hand holding the sword. In the total darkness the subway noise seemed deafening.
“Anna, get away!” Michael screamed just as the lights flickered back on, blinking unevenly for a few moments until the car was fully lit. The train sped up into the curve, its wheels screeching, the car swaying. Still struggling, Michael finally managed to locate and then with his two hands tightly squeeze the Medjay’s hand holding the sword. The car jerked, throwing them both forward. Michael’s arms were stretched in front of him, pulling at the handle of the sword. The train jerked again, slamming Michael’s full body weight on top of the Medjay’s.
“Aaah,” the Medjay cried out, but he managed to hold onto his sword as the train came out of the curve and the car stabilized.
The passengers in the car had slowly moved, positioning themselves away from the two men fighting on the floor. Michael could hear many voices talking, but could not make out a single word they were saying. The Medjay growled as he pushed away, managing to free himself from Michael’s hands as he jumped back onto his feet, still holding onto his sword. Spotting Anna in the crowd, the Medjay leapt to her, throwing out his free arm and catching her in a chokehold. A tense cry rose up from the passengers, yet none made any attempt to intervene. After seeing the full extent and size of the Medjay’s sword, Michael was not surprised.
“Leave her alone!” Michael commanded, jumping to his feet. The train started slowing down, jerking to a stop at a station. Amid the screeching noises and the doors sliding open, Michael could hear the crowd screaming and rushing out, their cries echoing through the underground station. Passengers waiting on the platform stepped away. The doors closed and the train began moving. They were alone with the terrifying Medjay.
Anna screamed, “What do you want from me?” In reply, the Medjay started dragging Anna to the door leading to the next train car. Michael followed them as the Medjay opened the door, glaring at him. “Please,” Anna gasped, digging her fingers into the Medjay’s arm, which was clenched around her neck. She could barely be heard above the thunderous noise of the moving train. “No, please, no,” she whimpered as the Medjay, laughing wickedly, jerked her back and forth, pulling her onto the tiny platform that separated the two cars. Michael followed them, stepping onto the overcrowded platform.
“Do not come any closer or she is dead!” the Medjay shouted. “Give me the map.”
“Who are you and why do you keep pursuing us?” asked Michael.
“I’m Asim from the Egyptian tribe of the Medjay warriors. Her father stole the stele from us and tried to sell it to smugglers to pay off his gambling debts.”
“My father never gambled,” cried Anna as she attempted to wrench out of his grasp. “He never even played cards.”
“He hid the stele and mailed the map to her,” continued Asim, ignoring her remarks.
“He didn’t mail me any map,” Anna screamed, struggling against him.
“That’s a lie and I want that map right now,” Asim demanded, brandishing the sword and bringing it to Anna’s neck.
Suddenly the train shook violently and stuttered to a screeching, deafening halt. Michael grabbed one of the metal chains hanging loosely between the cars. White smoke from the brakes filled the surrounding area.
Anna! Michael thought, squinting hard to see through the thick smoke. He spotted her clinging to the edge of the platform with half of her body hanging off the platform. The Medjay had fallen as well, his feet almost touching the tracks as he held on to Anna.
“Anna, hold on!” Michael shouted, grabbing her arm. The train started pulling forward, slowly accelerating. He tried to pull her up but the Medjay held tightly on to her, unwilling to let her go. Anna tried to wrap her legs around the coupling mechanism of the interconnecting cars, but that also proved to be useless.
“Let her go!” Michael shouted. “I will pull her up and then will get you out.”
The Medjay shook his head in disagreement.
“Trust me, I will not leave you.”
The Medjay shook his head again.
“Remember Berlin? I saved you! Didn’t I?” asked Michael.
“Her father is the thief. He stole the stele and I killed him. Now it’s her turn!”
“Listen!” Michael screamed. “Your name is Asim, right?”
“Yes, Asim, the Protector.”
“OK. Asim, her father didn’t steal your tribe’s stele. That’s the lie.”
“My chief informed me that he wa
s the thief.”
“Your chief was mistaken.”
“Our Great Chief is never mistaken!” the Medjay thundered. “And now the daughter of the thief will die with me!” Asim started pulling Anna down.
“Nobody has to die!”
“Michael!” Anna screamed, pain and fear twisting through her voice. “I can’t hold on any longer.”
“Asim! No!”
“He’s forcing me down,” Anna screamed again, struggling as tears mixed with sweat ran down her cheeks.
“Last chance!” shouted Michael. “Asim, if you want to die today then it’s your choice, but don’t make that decision for her.”
“We both will die today,” Asim declared, forcing Anna’s hands to release their hold.
“No,” replied Michael firmly. “Only you.”
Anna straightened her back, allowing Michael to squeeze in between her and the Medjay. With one hand holding Anna’s arm and the other squeezing the metal security chains tightly, Michael managed to give his right leg a powerful thrust, striking the Medjay’s face. The Medjay screamed but still held on to Anna. Michael pounded him several more times with his foot, unleashing all of his rage. He stopped and leaned toward the Medjay, breathing heavily. “Give up! Come on … I’ll help you up!”
The Medjay growled.
“It doesn’t have to end this way!” Michael pleaded.
“We will all die today!” the Medjay screamed and lunged, attempting to pull them both down with him. Holding on for dear life to Anna and the metal security chains, Michael snapped into position and in a wild rage started kicking the Medjay, now aiming for his throat. The Medjay’s strength was waning. Anna felt his grip loosening as he feverishly struggled to hold on to her. Michael stopped to catch his breath and looked down at the filthy, sweaty, grunting Medjay warrior clinging to Anna.
Once again the wheels began their screeching noise and a white smoke started to plume up from below as the train started to slow down, pulling into the next station on the line. The Medjay’s bloody and bulging eyes stared into Michael’s. A moment later, they heard the thumping sound of his body being tossed against the wheels as the car jumped and swayed. The penetrating smell of burning ripped flesh filled the air.
Michael pulled Anna to the top of the platform between the trains. “Are you OK?”
“I’m alive!” Anna cried out, tears streaming from her eyes as she tightly embraced Michael.
“It’s all over,” Michael said, rubbing her back as they walked through the train. He picked up her purse and handed it to her. They were both shaking as they wearily stepped out onto the crowded station platform.
“Aahh!” A woman’s shrieks pierced through the station, echoing through the magnificent hall. The screaming woman stumbled but was caught by several passengers as a crowd started to gather. People started flooding to that part of the station. The screaming woman was now silent, her face still portraying the horror she must have observed.
Michael and Anna started walking to the exit, but were pulled along by the gathering crowd. Passengers were looking down on the tracks and then desperately trying to get away from the sight. Some of the women screamed in terror or wept, while most people looked ill and disturbed by what curiosity had driven them to look at. This attracted more gawkers who pushed through the crowd to fill their eyes with what had caused the disturbance.
Peeking around various passengers, Michael and Anna finally managed to see what they already knew. Wedged between the train car and the platform was a man’s head, ripped from his body. The man’s disheveled Afro hair was still visible from one side of his head as the other side was severely burned. The one remaining eye, bloody and bulging, stared into the faces of the curious.
Anna and Michael quickly turned away. Several police officers were running to the scene, barking orders and directing everyone away. Michael and Anna held tightly onto each other as they walked away. Michael was not sure how he was able to walk, but knew that if he sat down he would not be able to get up again for a long, long time.
Michael was surprised when he glanced up and read the name of the station. “Kurskaya? This is the same station we used to get inside the subway system.”
“We probably made the full circle on that train,” said Anna, pointing to the map of the Metro.
As they made their way to the exit, they admired the subway’s rich designs that represented the essence of the long-gone Stalin era with its rich ostentatious design, communist slogans, chandeliers, loads of mosaics, gorgeous artwork and sculptures that once symbolized the victory of the Soviet people over poverty and starvation.
Chapter 38
Café Алёнушка, Moscow, Russia
Sunday, September 24
12:05 a.m.
“This place looks okay,” Anna said. Visibly exhausted, Michael and Anna stood in front of a small, but brightly lit diner. They were quite shaken up and troubled, the events on the subway train still fresh.
“Yeah,” Michael answered wearily. At this point, he was not going to be picky. He peeked inside; it was almost empty with only a few couples sitting at the tables.
As they walked inside, a sweet voice called out to them in Russian. They turned to see that the voice belonged to a young waitress.
“Sprechen Sie Deutsches?” Anna asked hopefully in German.
“Or English?” added Michael, observing the waitress shaking her head.
“English yes,” the waitress responded with a heavy Russian accent, turning to Michael. “Please,” she gestured for them to follow her to a corner table next to the window.
“My name is Tanya,” she announced while Michael and Anna were making themselves comfortable. “Here is menu,” Tanya handed them some menus and slowly walked away.
“Hey, Michael, look!” Anna exclaimed joyfully, “The menu has pictures!”
“Oh good.” Michael opened his menu and scanned the pictures. “I’ll have a beef stroganoff, what about you, Anna?”
“Beef stroganoff?” she asked, surprised.
“Beef stroganoff,” Michael replied informatively, “A Russian dish of sautéed pieces of beef served in a sauce with sour cream. From its origins in nineteenth century Russia, it has become popular around the world, with considerable variations from the original recipe.”
“Incredible!” exclaimed Anna, “You don’t carry an Encyclopedia Britannica in your back pocket by chance, do you?”
Michael smiled and signaled their waitress. Tanya approached the table and shortly was on her way to the kitchen to place two orders of beef stroganoff.
Michael looked around. He could see two couples sitting at a table on the far side of the café. He turned to look out the window. Nobody was lurking outside. He pulled his backpack a little closer to himself and unzipped it, removing the Cuban cigar box.
Michael looked at Anna, “Shall we?”
“Sure, Michael, I can’t even possibly imagine what could be inside this old cigar box.”
“Me neither,” said Michael as he stared glassy eyed at the old Cuban wooden box made around the 1970s when Cuba and Russia were still at the peak of their relationship. The label on the box read: Cuban Partagas Torpedo. At the bottom of the label was the word Habana. Michael carefully pulled back the black adhesive tape holding the lid down and dramatically opened it. Inside was an old folded piece of paper. He picked it up and saw that it was a piece of paper torn out of a daily planner, discolored yellow. He unfolded the paper as Anna watched.
At the top was the date: March 6, 1983. The paper was written in English, in very small print. When they examined the signature at the bottom, they were surprised to realize that Kirilov had written it.
* * *
Greek historian Herodotus who visited Egypt in the five B.C.:
A hundred thousand men labored constantly on the construction of the Great Pyramid. T
hey were relieved every three months by a fresh lot. It took ten year’s oppression of the people to make the causeway for the conveyance of the stones. It is built of polished stone and covered with carvings of animals. To make it took ten years, or rather to make the causeway, the works on the mound where the pyramid stands, and the underground chambers, which the Pharaoh Cheops (Khufu) intended as vaults for his own use: these last were built on a sort of island, surrounded by water introduced from the Nile by a canal.
Arabian doctor Abdallah Muhammed bin Abd ar-Rahim Al Kaisi:
The pyramids all have four sides, whereas each side is a triangle. Opposite of Misr al-Fustat (Cairo) are three pyramids. The largest of them has a circumference of 2,000 ells, with 500 ells on each side, and a height of 500 ells. Every stone is thirty ells wide and ten ells thick and is prepared and fitted to the finest. Near the town of Pharaoh Joseph is a pyramid much larger than this one. Its circumference is 3,000 ells; its height is 700 ells. Each of the stones is fifty ells long. Near the city of the Pharaoh Moses are some pyramids even larger and mightier. One pyramid, called the pyramid of Maidum, is as large as a mountain. She consists of five layers. Al-Mamun has opened the large pyramid opposite of al-Fustat. I went into it and saw a large chamber, which was squared on the floor. In the middle of this chamber is a square well pit of ten ells depth. If one steps down there, one sees a door on any of its four sides. In the chamber is an opening that leads to a passage to the highest point of the pyramid, but there are no steps in it. It is five spans wide. It is said, that in the time of Al-Mamun they went up there and had reached a chamber where the corpse of a man was found.
* * *
I’m pretty sure that Herodotus was absolutely right. The artificial canal was created in the rock bed of the Giza Plateau and is located at the height of the maximum level of the river Nile, which is eight meters and thirty-two centimeters. This canal begins at the foundation of (what I call) the baffling pyramid that was unearthed not long ago, and penetrates the underground burial of the Khufu pyramid on the same level at eight meters and thirty-two centimeters. The water introduced by the canal surrounds the artificial island where Pharaoh Khufu’s sarcophagus was placed. Basically Khufu’s chief architect HemIwno created the system of connected water containers that, complying with the laws of physics, provided a strictly set level and volume of clean constantly refreshed water inside Khufu’s real burial place.
Four Ways to Pharaoh Khufu Page 27