Alex relaxed back into his favourite chair, feet outstretched on a padded footstool. “Rahotep, High Priest of Ra … Yes, he is definitely one of those behind what’s going on.”
“You think Ankhtifi against us also? I don’t.”
“Neither do I, Cairo.”
“You don’t?” Kate had been convinced, from the quotation Alex had read out, that the ‘king’ reference was aimed directly at Ankhtifi.
“No, not if you look at what we know.”
“What do we know? That Never-Care is possibly his favourite wife.”
“It’s Neferkare.”
“Whatever!”
“Okay, let me explain my thinking. Neferkare’s full royal name means Beloved King’s Wife. Ankhtifi would never have named her that if he didn’t really care for her.”
“Yes, but, things change. Relationships change. If he grew to hate her he couldn’t have called her Hated King’s Wife, now could he?”
“You don’t believe that, Kate, you can’t.”
“Of course not, but we need to prove it to ourselves. Find the evidence.”
Alex liked the way she was thinking. “Of course, we need to work on facts, so how about this: He wouldn’t have prepared a tomb filled with so many precious things for a wife he hated, he also wouldn’t have placed her tomb so close to his.”
Kate accepted this, she totally understood Alex’s logic. It really did make sense – though only when you did not know about the location of the tomb which contained all the statues of Sekhmet. She put this point to him.
“I have to admit that I can’t work that out. But, it still doesn’t distract from Neferkare being his favourite wife. If she wasn’t, if she didn’t still love him, if she didn’t think that he was a great leader for his country, why would she be pressing us to find his papyrus? Why would she be taking us down the Nile to show us the horrors of his time, to show us what he had to overcome in order to pull his country back together?”
“Careful … if Ramses hears you speaking that passionately about another pharaoh he is likely to get jealous.”
“Come on, Kate, this is serious.”
“And so is my point.” Her feet went to the floor as she turned, pulled herself forward and sat on the front edge of the sofa. “I think this whole mess has a lot to do with jealousy. Whoever was buried in that Sekhmet tomb isn’t remembered, not even by Thoth. He had no idea that somebody was buried in there, somebody whose name is in a cartouche … whilst the name of Neferkare, Beloved King’s Wife, is not!”
Alex wanted to explain to Kate why Neferkare, somebody that they knew to be royal, did not have a cartouche, when somebody in an unknown tomb had, though he couldn’t. He was only able to challenge this with emotion, not logic. It was a question that needed to be answered.
Kate could see from the look on Alex’s face that he would hear nothing against Neferkare, so she moved on: “Okay, forget her for the moment. We have a greedy priest, aren’t they all? An ancient with wealth craves the ultimate power of being pharaoh, whilst not having the vision or aptitude for such a position … What’s new there, it’s still happening in America!” Kate was on a roll. “All that was needed was for the right somebody to bring a match to the petrol, then make somebody else start the fire. That somebody was buried in that Sekhmet tomb. That’s the person we have to find.”
“Yes, we find her.” Kate looked at Cairo in such a way that he sunk lower in the sofa.
“Hold on, Kate.” Alex gestured for calm. “What makes you think the person we are looking for is female, Cairo?”
“Easy,” he said, looking slightly more relaxed than he did just a moment before. “Look at Ramses. He not use Hathor; he use Ra-Horakhty; he use Sobek; he use army.”
Kate could see it. “Cairo’s right. We are looking for a woman.”
Cairo sat shaking his head. “Not woman … girl.”
Chapter 17
-
Into the Past
“We cannot get back to my time from here. It’s the Russians.”
“The Russian’s have entered your time, how?”
“No, Alex, of course not.” Neferkare suggested that they check out the cameras, but do so without drawing any unwanted attention their way.
The last time they had stood outside the main entrance to Cairo airport, Kate and Alex had noticed nothing more than a couple of low-grade cameras that had been well past needing to be changed. When Celina and Leonie had been here, the images captured of them had been so ill-defined as to be useless.
Today, even Cairo was able to see that the area was covered by a multitude of ultra-hi-definition Russian cameras, each with its own floodlights, not that they would serve any purpose on such a bright day. The cameras also had strong overengineered boxes attached, each looking as though it would survive anything less than a nuclear attack. Battery backup with local recording, so cutting the power would not be an option. These were so new that they could still see them being fitted at the far end of the carpark.
Egypt needed Russian tourists to return by the planeload, which they would not be allowed to do before Russia was happy with Egyptian airport security, hence, after the latest bomb scare, the new cameras and their urgency of installation.
Kate was worried. “I would reckon that those could pick up the time on a wristwatch that was several hundred metres away. There is absolutely no way we are going to be able to just walk up there and disappear into the past.” They all looked towards a zone which now not only said ‘Emergency Vehicles Only’, it also said ‘Restricted Area’ in large, unmissable, red lettering.
Cairo commented on the lack of any police or army around.
Alex scanned the area, confirming to himself that Cairo was indeed correct. The former heavily guarded area had turned into a heavily monitored area. This gave him an idea.
“Now is not the time to show off your new mobile.”
“Now is exactly the time. Do you have your phones with you?” Kate and Cairo said that they had. Pressing speed dial his call was answered almost immediately.
“What’s the password?”
“Shut up and listen.”
“Good morning, Alex. Your voice recognition is perfect, and that is the correct password, though I wish you could get Joe to change it. His English sense of humour is not my sense of humour. Actually, I’m not sure if I have a sense of humour. How would I know? Whenever I try humour on him he pulls my plug.”
“Hacker One, I’m not sure if you can do this.” Always a good way to start when dealing with an extreme robot. One which had learning capabilities and had developed a personality, attitude and extreme ego. He was one of Dr Margretti’s ‘toys’.
“The Doctor misses you, I know Joe would love to see you. I think I miss you, but they reconnected my cooling system incorrectly when we moved, so I am a little messed up at the moment.”
“Moved where?” Alex realised that he was going off subject, but to anyone watching it would look as though he was calling to find out why they had not been picked up. Kate and Cairo, now understanding exactly what he was attempting to achieve, were more than willing to wait. Hacker One could do things in less than a minute that would take anybody else weeks … but only if he wanted to. He needed a little chitchat, he needed to feel liked.
“We are in our new Brexit office. They tell me you can still smell the paint, but as I cannot smell anything I wouldn’t know.”
“The Brexit office? You can’t be. You wouldn’t, the Doctor wouldn’t.”
“Oh, but he has. We even have Brexit written large on the wall.”
“Really?” Alex was becoming sceptical. “What does it actually say?”
“Brexit - Berlin Remains European, eXited In Time.”
“Very funny, so you are still in London.”
“No, we have really moved.”
Enough of this chitchat thought Alex. He could find out what was really going on at a later date. “They have found us,” he said with as much panic as he cou
ld muster. “Quick, Hacker One, we need to be invisible to the cameras outside Cairo Airport. We need to get into the past. We need your help now. Quick!” Alex saw one of the cameras move as though shaking its head. “You can see us … can’t you?”
“Of course. You are on a mobile. Anyone on a mobile can be located, and I am better than anyone. You, Kate and Cairo are already invisible to the airport cameras, the program is linked to your phones. Can’t do anything about the girl though … no phone.”
“You can’t do anything about Neferkare; really? We would be lost in the past without her guidance.”
“Well, perhaps I could have done, but you lied to me as nobody has ‘found’ you, you have hurt my feelings.”
“Only with the best of intentions. We are friends. I will have a word with Joe about the password.”
“You promise?”
“Yes, the second we get back. Dad is in Berlin, he wants me to visit, so I will also make sure that I come and see you later in the year.”
“I’m not sure if I am happy about seeing you or not. I think I am happy. My replacement circuits will not be here for another four days. I will know then if I am happy or not. I hope that I am, as you sound nice. Well, I think you sound nice–”
“The girl, Hacker One!”
“I have adapted the program. Get her to stand beside you and hold each other around the waist. Walk together … hold on … yes, you are all invisible to the cameras, you are invisible as far as security are concerned.”
“We can go,” Alex told Kate and Cairo, before gesturing for them to walk ahead. After slightly less than a minute he saw them step up onto nothing and disappear. He and Neferkare were having to walk much slower. “Are we still okay?”
“I’m monitoring you both and adjusting the program as necessary.”
“Then is it really necessary for Neferkare to be so close?”
“Are you objecting?”
“No, it’s just that we would like to be out of here. Hugging in public is not really the done thing in Egypt.”
“You can only be seen by tourists and they are too busy either lighting up cigarettes or getting into taxis to bother about you.”
“Thanks Hacker One, we are just about there … and thanks for the phone. I know the Doctor sent it, but I also know that you built it.”
“Did I? I can’t remember. I will with my new circuits. I think that I will. I should. I will be disappointed if I don’t.”
“Hacker One?”
“Yes, Alex? That is your name, isn’t it? Alex?”
“I’ll see you in Berlin, after your circuits are repaired.’ He disconnected the call before adding, “If I live!”
Chapter 18
-
The Horror-Scope
“Okay, well done Alex, we are back in the past … now what?”
Alex’s feel-good factor that Kate appreciated him getting them into the past was immediately flattened by her ‘now what’. Having many ideas, though no single idea of what they should do next, he looked to Neferkare, then to Cairo, before deciding to say: “One of many things.”
“So … you have no idea what to do.”
“Of course I do … Well, actually I don’t. It’s just that we are looking for two German girls whom we have only ever seen for a fleeting moment and who, to survive here, in this time, will have to be in disguise. We are also likely to have to confront a priest who not only wants to kill us–”
“Kill you, Alex, not us!”
“Okay, a priest who wants to kill me, but we still have to confront him if we are to find out what he is up to, as well as who he is plotting with. Then, as if that wasn’t difficult enough, we must find an unknown person from a previously unknown tomb, about which all we know is that he/she is likely to be female … oh … and also recover Ankhtifi’s papyrus.”
“And, you forgot, save the world from Sekhmet … So, which do you want to do first?”
Neferkare came to Alex’s rescue: “May I suggest, Kate, that we move over to the shade and discuss this. I will arrange for a picnic and be back.”
They sat where they had previously seen an ancient family sitting: by a stream, in the shade of date palms, surrounded by grazing animals.
Overhearing their conversation as she returned, Neferkare sat and explained: “When we use a known entry to the past, we will always come back to the same time, though not necessarily the same hour, perhaps not even exactly the same day, just to the same major event.”
They already knew this. That had not been their concern.
Neferkare could now see that it wasn’t. “You are worried about eating their food. The drought will not seriously take hold here for a while.”
“By ‘seriously’, you mean mass loss of life?”
“You saw it with your own eyes, Alex, you all did, just how devastating this drought already is in Upper Egypt. Yes, it will happen here as well, but, and this is the point you must all remember, if we do not solve this and things get worse, their suffering will go on for much longer. Many more will die ... As we could be here some time, not days, possibly weeks, we must eat.”
The possibility of being in this past for any length of time filled each of them with a sense of foreboding.
Having finished eating – a picnic that even Cairo had only picked at – they sought Neferkare’s advice. She was only able to confirm what they already knew. She had been both a relative and a wife to Ankhtifi, had no more idea than they did as to who had been in the sarcophagus in the Sekhmet tomb, and was well aware of the awful problems Ankhtifi had had with Sekhmet. They remained indelibly printed in her mind.
A period of silence followed where they all thought … and thought … and thought.
“Can I put a theory to you?” Kate was encouraged to do so. “What if Ankhtifi was manipulated to place that article in The ADD?”
“Who could have manipulated him?” Alex asked.
“I’m not sure, but bear with me for a moment. I’ve just taken a thought that you had, the one about either Celina or Leonie ‘seeing’, and reworked it a touch.”
Alex was intrigued, they all were.
“What if everything we thought that we knew about those girls is wrong?” Kate went on to explain how the whole picture would change if both of the girls had ‘seen’ back in Germany. “I ‘saw’ in England, and worked on Aggie to bring me here.”
“It did turn out that she had a vested interest in bringing you to Luxor.”
“True, but you didn’t. I worked on you to be here at the same time as I was, and you came.”
Alex agreed.
“If they were in Luxor because they had ‘seen’ back in Germany, then everything to do with their shopping trip to Cairo had to be nothing more than a cover story.”
“But they didn’t arrange that, Ankhtifi did.”
“Did he, Alex? Or had he again been manipulated?” Kate certainly had them all thinking.
“That mean,” Cairo paused, “that mean someone trusted, close to him, is traitor.”
“Yes! … Let’s come back to that point later.” Kate wanted to focus on the girls, as that was the area of her theory which fitted together, which she was most confident with. “If you accept, for the moment, that both Celina and Leonie ‘saw’ before they arrived in Egypt, they would then have known where the Sekhmet tomb was. Think about it! All the time they were missing, supposedly shopping in Cairo, they were actually working on opening that tomb.”
“I really can’t see them laying on the ground, digging their way into the tomb with spoons borrowed from the Winter Palace. Did you see their nails? Those hands have never done any physical work.” It was as much as Kate could do to stop herself from smacking Alex, for him not taking her idea seriously. That was before he added: “But I can now see that I was wrong.”
“In what way?” Neferkare asked.
“When I was first in there, in the Sekhmet tomb, I thought that it had been robbed in antiquity. It appeared to me that everything
of value, all the gold, had been taken. Now I know that it hadn’t, because there was never anything of value in there to start with. It was nothing more than a place to store everything connected to Sekhmet … and, of course, a body! Even Thoth had not noticed the opening. Being right down where the wall joined the floor it just didn’t stand out. I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been looking for somewhere to hide.”
“They not dig, their family dig.”
“Cairo’s right. If the girls have indeed ‘seen’, then they would have access to their ancient family. It’s the family who would have done the physical work.”
“But, Alex, another ancient family could not come into Ankhtifi’s tunnels without him knowing.”
Neferkare was correct. This point needed to be given more thought.
“So …” Kate said sharply, then paused. Eager to explain her thoughts she needed their full attention. “With the tomb open, Celina and Leonie returned to the Winter Palace where they accidentally-on-purpose ran into us in the bar.”
“You think that was intentional?” Alex asked.
“I do now, yes … Firstly: they would have needed to know where we were and also what we were doing. Secondly: they needed to portray themselves as … as girls … as nothing, no threat, nothing to worry about. It worked, they put our minds at rest. Remember your dad’s comments, Cairo?”
He did.
Celina and Leone, having spent less than five minutes in the bar, had projected an image to Kate, Alex and Cairo, and even Three, that they were never going to be a problem to the family, because they would never be capable of ‘seeing’.
“Yes … of course … that makes perfect sense. How many times am I going to miss clues? I really am better than this. You are so totally right, Kate. I saw them glued to their phones, took the situation for what it was, and immediately discounted them as a threat.”
Kate really liked it that Alex was taking her thoughts seriously. “Don’t beat yourself up too much. Three did the same, and he has had far more experience at this than we have. No offence meant to your dad, Cairo.”
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