“What, that white blob on the screen? That’s what has you so excited?” he said, standing back up and scratching his head.
Doctor Tyson wouldn’t allow the man’s ignorance to dampen his mood. He reached out with both hands, clasping the accountant’s shoulders and smiling.
“Yes, yes. That blob is the most beautiful blob I have ever seen. That blob is a void, a large empty space within the pyramid,” he said.
Rogers looked again at the screen and then at Doctor Tyson.
“A chamber?” he said.
Doctor Tyson nodded vigorously.
“Not just any chamber, mind you. A previously undiscovered chamber. No void of that size has been discovered since… since, when Ahkbar?” Doctor Tyson said.
“Since the middle ages, Doctor,” Ahkbar said, busying himself with a printout of the image.
“Since the middle ages, that’s correct!” Doctor Tyson said.
This news seemed to have very little effect on Rogers and Doctor Tyson could feel the temptation to punch the man begin to rise again.
“Well, what’s in it?” Rogers said.
Doctor Tyson threw his arms out.
“Well, we don’t know. Yet. I mean no one even knew it was there before now. The journey of discovery has only begun here,” he said.
“Huh,” Rogers said, leaning closer to the screen.
“Well, how do you get to it? I mean, if these lines here are tunnels or something, how do you get to it? There are no lines going to it like these other blobs,” he said.
Doctor Tyson rubbed his face and ground his teeth.
“My dear man. If there had been passages leading to it, it would not until this very hour have been undiscovered. We won’t know anything until we get into the blob, er, chamber itself and see what lies within,” Doctor Tyson said.
Rogers wrote something down in his notepad, then looked at Doctor Tyson.
“Well, this is something isn’t it? The Consortium will be very pleased with your progress, I can assure you. How do you intend to get into the chamber, Doctor?” he said.
At the mention of the Consortium being pleased, Doctor Tyson felt a weight lift off his shoulders. He envisioned the heavens opening and money and resources raining down.
“Well that part is very simple, Bill. We will do some blasting of the stone, some digging as we get closer, until the chamber is made accessible,” he said.
“Absolutely not!” Muhammed Ali said.
Doctor Tyson felt the weight come crashing back down on his shoulders.
3
“But the chamber is there! You saw it, Ali!” Doctor Tyson said, chasing Muhammed Ali across the burning sands.
Ali did not turn around. He threw a hand in the air.
“No! Is only blob on screen! Pyramid is wonder of world. Will not be destroyed because of smudge!” he said, hustling toward the line of vehicles parked in the distance.
Behind Doctor Tyson, Ahkbar followed, with Rogers far behind them all.
“A smudge on the screen does not measure ninety-eight feet long and fifty feet high, Ali! It’s a chamber and it must be opened!” he said to Ali’s back.
Muhammed Ali reached his vehicle and threw himself behind the wheel, slamming the door. He started the engine just as Doctor Tyson reached him.
“Please, this is my life’s work. You can’t just shut us down like this, Ali.” Doctor Tyson said, gripping the door.
He stared at Ali, pleading with his eyes. Ali’s expression was as stoic and hard as it always was.
“Pyramid is thousands of years old, a treasure of Egypt and the world. It cares nothing for your life’s work, Doctor. Even if it is not smudge, there is nothing to tell us is anything of value. Perhaps was cost saving measure,” Ali said, reaching for the shifter.
Desperation made Doctor Tyson reckless. He grabbed the steering wheel. The bureaucrat’s words astounded him, for the absurdity of them if not for their prohibition of exploring the space.
“Sir, please! When you are building a tomb for a god you don’t worry about cutting costs! There’s something in there and I know it. The world needs to know it!” Doctor Tyson said.
Muhammad Ali only stared at Doctor Tyson.
“No. Is smudge,” he said, then put the SUV into ‘drive’ and sped away, almost knocking Doctor Tyson to the ground.
As Doctor Tyson watched Ali’s vehicle grow smaller in the distance, Ahkbar and Rogers came running up, fatigued and out of breath.
“Were you able to convince him, Doctor?” Ahkbar said.
Doctor Tyson could only stare at the road. He didn’t know how long it was before he heard Ahkbar pleading beside him.
“Doctor! Were you able to convince him?” Ahkbar said.
Doctor Tyson turned his head to look at his assistant. Behind him Rogers stood swaying, looking like at any minute he was going to pass out.
“What? What did you say, Ahkbar?” Doctor Tyson said.
“Were you able to convince him? Is he going to allow us to open the chamber?” Ahkbar said, his eyes pleading with his mentor for an answer.
Tyson saw his own pleading in those eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to answer Ahkbar’s question. Seconds passed and then a plan began to form in his mind.
“Yes, yes, Ahkbar. I was able to convince him. But we must act fast before he changes his mind. Ali has left, to prepare the permits. I need you to go, take… the accountant with you. Hurry. Get the things we need. I will prepare the site,” Doctor Tyson said, turning away from Ahkbar and gazing at the great pyramid. In a haze, Doctor Tyson hurried back toward the Tomb of Khufu.
“You intend to begin excavation today, Doctor?” Ahkbar said behind him.
“Hurry, Ahkbar! Go! The whim of bureaucrats shifts like the sands! We cannot wait!” Tyson said, waving his hand in the air.
Nothing could be allowed to stop him from getting inside the chamber.
* * *
Doctor Gil Tyson unwound the spool of wire enough to reach the wall above his head, where he had calculated the void to be located. He knew he didn’t have much time, knew that as soon as Ahkbar spoke with Ali, his assistant would know there was no permission, no papers to be handed over, and certainly no admittance into the chamber. Everybody would know he had lied and they would all come back to the pyramid. They would come back to the pyramid and try to stop him. He had to have opened the chamber before they returned. Only then would they see what he already knew, that within this undiscovered void were treasures like nothing revealed before. When they saw, they would change their timid minds. When they saw that he could open the chamber with no damage to the pyramid, they would thank him for bringing the glory of ancient Egypt to the modern world. Reaching the spot, Doctor Tyson stuck lumps of C-4 explosive to the stone. He shaped the explosive in a way he thought would blow open the void without harming the surrounding structure. In truth he did not fully understand the nature of explosives. These kinds of things were left to more brutish men. He was a man of science, but sometimes science took you in places you did not expect, like the interior of the Great Pyramid of Giza and handfuls of explosive.
He worked the C-4 for several minutes, knowing that with each second that passed his plan could be thwarted. It had taken longer than he liked to get the explosive and the wire. Longer still to study the image and calculate where the void was. It felt like it had already been hours, but he knew it could not be. No matter. He stepped back and surveyed his work. Thinking it satisfactory, he grabbed the detonators from his satchel and began sticking them in the shaped charges. This done quickly, he attached the wires, wiping sweat from his eyes and trying to keep his hands steady. This complete, he turned and ran down the passageway, trailing the wire after him with his right hand, holding the trigger in his left hand, careful not to squeeze too tightly. He only made it a few feet before he heard the voices. Shouting voices, voices calling his name. Voices, begging him to stop. At least one ordering him to do so.
Doctor Tyson looked down the
passageway, back the way he had come. Shadows of running figures danced on the wall in the dim light as footsteps grew louder in their approach. He could only stare for a moment. Breaking his gaze, he turned and looked back at the explosives on the stone just above him. Anger boiled in his breast, desperation seized his mind and he cursed those who now approached. Cursed them for their short sightedness, damned them for their timidity. It was all lost to him now, all his work, all his theories would remain incomplete and unproven. He would be a laughingstock to the scientific community. He remembered what Ali had called his discovery. A smudge. That’s what all his work would amount to, a footnote in a forgotten journal, his epitaph would be every false discovery. Every failed dig would be called Tyson’s smudge, his legacy a laughingstock.
No, it didn’t have to be. He would not allow it. He steeled himself as Ahkbar, Ali, and Rogers burst from the turn in the corridor and stood facing him.
“Stop! Come no farther, Ahkbar. Any of you!” Doctor Tyson said holding out his hands.
The three men stared at Doctor Tyson. He could see realization move across their faces by degree as their eyes moved from his hand to the wire, to the wall above him.
“Doctor Tyson, what are you doing? Please don’t,” Ahkbar said.
Rogers took a step back from the others, his face pale.
“Is that what I think it is?” he said, his voice a trembling warble.
Ahkbar ignored him and took a step closer.
“Please, Doctor. It doesn’t have to be this way. It’s not over. There are other ways,” he said.
Doctor Tyson looked at his assistant, actually feeling pity for the young man. He had been his faithful companion through it all. Coming to him as an intern, his enthusiasm and unvarnished support had meant everything over the last five years. No doubt he would stick by him now. It hardened his resolve, knowing that should he do nothing it would not be his reputation alone that would be ruined. Ahkbar would be branded a failure even before he had a chance. He took a step back and brought the trigger close to his chest.
“No Ahkbar, do not come any closer. The world must see. You must carry on my legacy. Promise me, won’t you? Promise me you will not let the world forget what I—what we have discovered?”
He could see the tears in Ahkbar’s eyes and it almost broke him. For a moment he thought the young man would run to him, try to save him from his decision, but another beat him to it.
“Enough of this coddling! You are endangering the Pyramid, Doctor!” Ali said, tromping toward him.
“Goodbye, Ahkbar, make them remember me,” Doctor Tyson said and then squeezed the trigger.
4
Emma sat in the courtroom. Not for the first time she stared at the clock above the judges head. All the cliches about time seemed to be at play. The minutes seemed to drag, each one lasting many times their prescribed length. She could swear that each second that ticked off sounded like thunder to her ears, echoing across the quiet courtroom. She sighed to herself, honest enough to admit that the exaggerated noises she heard might be the result of too much drinking. Well, not too much drinking, but stopping and letting herself get sober.
“God, I need a drink,” she said, slumping back in her wooden chair on the defendant’s side of the aisle.
“What was that, Ms. Spaulding?” the judge said, looking down at her over his glasses.
Emma looked up at the judge. She thought he had picked the right profession because he sure looked judgmental. Before she could tell him exactly what she said, her court appointed attorney stood up and buttoned his sport coat.
“Ah, nothing, your honor, my client was simply conveying to me privately her plans for an afternoon meal,” he said.
The judge shifted his gaze to the young public defender.
“You mean lunch, councilor? In my courtroom and every other place, the afternoon meal is called lunch,” the judge said.
The young lawyer looked embarrassed as he sat back down. Emma kept a cold stare on him and he would not meet her gaze.
“Oh, now you say something? Where was all your fancy talk when that asshole was running me down, huh? I thought you were supposed to defend me? You know, cause you’re a defender?” Emma said through her sneer.
Her lawyer squirmed in his seat.
“Hard to defend you when everything they said was true. They had a damned video of the whole attack—”
Emma gave him a rueful glare. The lawyer held up his hands and surrendered.
Staring him down a second more, Emma looked at the judge. He sat motionless and quiet, reading over a single sheet of paper. Above him the hands on the clock continued their ponderous orbit. She couldn’t take it anymore. Emma placed her hands on the table and stood up.
“Your honor, if I may,” she said,
“You may not,” the judge said.
Beside her, she felt her do-nothing attorney tug at the sleeve of her leather jacket. She shook it off as she did the judge’s prohibition.
“You seem a reasonable man. I mean, I guess you’re reasonable. I haven’t really heard you say anything during this whole farce, but that’s okay, maybe you were a public defender once, like my lawyer here,” she said, gesturing to the still seated lawyer.
The judge looked like he was going to come out of his skin.
“Ms. Spaulding! I will not tell you again. Sit down this instant and remain quiet. Trust me when I say this. Anything you add now will only hurt your case. Do you understand me?” he said, picking up his gavel and pointing it at her.
Emma was undeterred.
“Your honor, the prosecutor over there has spent the last hour or so spinning a web against me while my guy sat here and tried to remember what it is he does. That video tape doesn’t begin to tell you all the facts. I came out of The Drag Inn and this Jammer is standing on the corner with his wand in the air. When I called out to him to stop, he ignored me,” she said, pointing at the plaintiff across the aisle, his arm in a sling and gauze around his head.
The judge let out a sigh, seeming to resign himself to being unable to control her.
“And that’s when you tackled the plaintiff, pinned him to the ground and beat him with his own wand, Ms. Spaulding? I mean I ask, but we all know that’s what happened because we saw it in the security camera footage,” the judge said.
Emma was about to respond when the prosecuting attorney stood up and buttoned his own suit jacket.
“Your honor, it is not my intention to waste the court’s time. We have established that Mr. Corpus was indeed engaged in conjuring, but it was not of a nefarious nature. He was in fact an agent of the Hemisphere beautification project and was at the time of the attack using his magic to conjure trees along the city streets, the cutting of trees in the forest prohibited by agreement with the supernaturals dwelling therein,” he said.
The judge held up his hand and nodded.
Emma felt her ire rise.
“Says him!” she said.
“No, Ms. Spaulding! Says the municipality of Hemisphere by way of the official hiring agreement so entered into evidence!” the judge said, reaching over, grabbing a sheet of paper, and holding it high.
Emma sneered, some part of her knowing she was backed into a corner of her own making, wanting to tear down the walls to get out of it.
“You know what, fine! Look judge, I’ve got things to do, places to be. Can you just… do whatever it is you’re gonna do, so I can get out of here,” she said, waving a hand in the air and sitting back down.
The judge could only stare at her and she felt the heat of that look, like it was a physical thing.
“Okay, Ms. Spaulding, have it your way. I’ll get you on your way and save everybody here a lot of time. I find in favor of the Plaintiff. A restraining order is so granted. You are not to go within a hundred yards of Mr. Corpus. This court is adjourned,” he said, banging his gavel down.
The echo had barely died away before Emma was out of her chair and racing for the door.
&nb
sp; Bursting out of the courtroom, Emma headed for the stairs. The offices of the Prison system were on the second floor. Her latest appeal of the review board’s decision had been scheduled for half an hour ago and she hoped they had waited. It was a ritual repeated every six months and this time it had fallen on the same day as her court case.
As she approached the stairs, she looked left, down another set of stairs that led to the main entrance. There, descending towards the door was none other than Warden Bulger. Emma skidded to a stop on the slick, polished marble floor and raced after him.
“Warden Bulger! Wait!” she said, grabbing the center handrail and taking the steps two at a time.
Warden Bulger turned his head slightly, looking over his shoulder at the sound of his name. He didn’t stop and pushed through the front doors out into the sunlight.
“Warden Bulger!” Emma said, catching the door before it closed.
Warden Bulger continued to ignore her as he descended the marble steps to the street. Half way down them, Emma caught up to him, grabbing him by the arm and jerking him to a stop. The warden did not immediately look at Emma. He sighed and looked away, to some point in the distance.
“Warden Bulger, please. I’m sorry I was late. I had… a court thing and, well, you know, the wheels of justice, right?” she said, straightening her leather jacket and trying to catch her breath.
“Is there something I can help you with, Ms. Spaulding?” the warden said, finally looking at her.
Emma cleared her throat and felt tension threatening to close it.
“Well, our meeting. It is scheduled for today. I just wanted to make my case. It’s just been crazy, but this is very important to me, to my partner that you hear what I have to say,” Emma said, moving in front of the Warden, who tried to step around her.
“Forty-five minutes ago, Ms. Spaulding,” he said.
Emma felt confused. She reached out and touched his arm, stopping him.
“What?” she said.
“Your appeal was scheduled for forty-five minutes ago. And while that was today, it is most certainly not now. I imagined forty-five minutes was more than enough time to wait and when the time had elapsed and you did not appear, we rendered our verdict and I dismissed the board,” he said, successfully stepping around her this time.
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