The Coming of Kalki

by Poulomi Sanyal

  “Alright. Now I am going to call you. Do you have your cell phone on you?” he said, once his little set-up was ready.

  “I do.”

  “Perfect. Now, watch what happens to the speakers after I dial your number,” said Chris as he dialled Zoya’s number. Zoya focussed her attention on the speakers as instructed. In about a second, they started to vibrate, emitting a buzzing sound. In another second, her phone rang. She cancelled the call and looked at Chris.

  “Why were the speakers vibrating?” she asked, when he returned her gaze.

  “Exactly, right?” said Chris enthusiastically. “Well you see, when your phone was about to receive my call, the signal came in to this room wirelessly from the nearest tower. But before it was able to set off the ringer on your mobile device, the speakers caught the signal. Speakers convert electricity into sound, which is produced by vibration. Therefore, the phone signal, which is an electromagnetic wave, interacted with the speaker to generate vibration and sound. You see?”

  “Yes, I do. But how does that explain intuition?”

  “I thought you’d ask! Just like the speaker, which is a rather simple device, can pick up an electromagnetic wave when it’s in the vicinity, so can our brains, which are many times more complex and powerful. Now, say that your mom is calling. Your brain picks up the signal of the incoming call before your phone does. Given the heightened capacity of the brain of a Hekameses, you are able to immediately decode this signal and figure out that your mom is calling. You react by way of missing her or wishing to speak with her and that, my friend, is what you thought was your intuition!”

  “Wow! My mind is blown,” said Zoya, looking awestruck.

  “And why wouldn’t it be,” agreed Chris with a giggle.

  “You are an excellent teacher, Chris. Did anyone ever tell you that?” gushed Zoya.

  “Um, no. Not in so many words,” said Chris, blushing. “Tell me then, what else can I show you today? I’ve covered everything I had in mind, but if there’s anything else you are curious about, then ask away.”

  “I don’t know. Let me think. Oh yes, there was something else that was on my mind.”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “Well, the other day you were telling me how—”

  “We are able to recover people’s memories, especially if they are the children of Heka. Do you want me to show you?”

  “Yes. See? You did it again!”

  “Did what again?”

  “Read my mind.”

  “Hahaha. Didn’t I already tell you, that is not how this works? We can’t just read people’s minds like that, just because we have Heka. That would drive us insane.”

  “Yes, yes, I know. The thought needs to be directed towards a particular person specifically, in order for them to hear it. Alternatively, if we want to read someone else’s thoughts, someone who is a child of Heka or otherwise, we would have to focus intently on the person for several minutes, et cetera et cetera. You told me all about it,” admitted Zoya, grinning ear to ear.”

  “There you go! So, you were paying attention.”

  “Always,” said Zoya, still grinning. “Now, are you going to show me how the memory recovery thing works or not?”

  “Now now, no need to get testy. Come, follow-me. The set-up is over there,” he said, pointing to the southwestern corner of the room.

  In that corner was a large metallic chamber, the size of her bedroom, that could be entered from the side through a low door.

  “What is this?” asked Zoya. Whenever I am in the lab, I think about asking you and then I end up forgetting.”

  “It’s a RF shielded room.”

  “A what?”

  “A Faraday cage, you know?”

  “No, I don’t,” said Zoya, looking puzzled.

  “Oh, I forgot that you aren’t in electrical engineering. It is a kind of chamber or box which keeps out electromagnetic waves. Your phone, for example, would not ring in there even if it was turned on and someone was calling. Let’s go in.”

  “Sure. Your set-up is inside it?”

  “Yes. The signals from our brains are very weak. In order to capture or replicate them properly, we need to make sure that other, stronger signals, will not interfere.”

  “Got it,” said Zoya, stepping inside the room.

  “Here, sit on this chair and put on the head-set,” said Chris, as he made to get the equipment ready.

  Zoya put on the head-set and sat on the chair as indicated. Once Chris was ready, he sat across from her.

  “Ready?” he said.

  “Yup!”

  “Alright. When I say ‘go’, you will begin. What you have to do is quite easy. Try to recall what happened in the last few days. Go back in time to as far as you would like for up to two months or so. I don’t think we have space on this disk to record more than a couple of month’s worth of memories and this is just a demonstration. So two months will be fine, not more. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir!” said Zoya in a teasing tone.

  “Perfect. Give me a sec. Okay. Go!”

  Zoya closed her eyes and started thinking about everything that had happened in the last few days, trying her best to leave out the awkward bits. She thought of the lab, her first meeting with Chris, her surprise on discovering who he was. Then she recollected her encounter with Dr. Cobb, his comical and friendly face, his messy office. In her mind, she travelled back one day at a time, until; she was on the plane on her way to London and then that dream, oh how embarrassing. She took off her head-set in a hurry, breaking into a sweat.

  “Oh, what happened?” said Chris.

  “Nothing,” lied Zoya, looking at the floor, her face flushed.

  “We don’t have to record any more, if you don’t want to,” said Chris with a tone of understanding.

  “I don’t want to,” said Zoya.

  Did the dream get recorded? she wondered, feeling worried. Even a part of it captured on tape would be humiliating. What would everyone think of me?

  “Mmmm, Chris,” she finally managed to say. “Do you mind if I look at the tape first, in private?”

  “Why, of course. You can also edit some parts out if you like. I can show you how,” he said, showing his perceptive side.

  “Oh, thanks!” Zoya felt relieved. Chris smiled affectionately. He then turned to the computer and started working on it.

  “Oops! It looks like Dr. Cobb has changed the device password again. I can’t access the recording,” he said, after a minute or two. “We had a break-in at our sister lab in Germany recently. Some sensors were stolen. Since then, he changes the passwords randomly, once or twice a month.”

  “I see. I could run to his office and fetch the new password,” volunteered Zoya, looking for an escape to gather herself.

  “That would be great, if you could. In the meantime, I have some e-mails to send.”

  Zoya smiled and taking her leave, rushed up the stairs to the offices on the second floor. After passing through the long and winding corridor, she finally arrived in front of Dr. Cobb’s door. There were voices inside. She hesitated to knock and stood there with her ear to the door instead. It had a large key-hole through which she could see glimpses of the scene in the room. There weren’t any passers-by today. So, she stayed to listen.

  “Missing! Are you absolutely sure?” came Dr. Cobb’s voice from behind the door.

  “Positive,” replied a booming male voice.

  “What if he has lost his phone, Wolfgang? Have you thought of that possibility?” said Dr. Cobb sitting down at his desk.

  “Albert, after all these years, you still doubt my thoroughness. How unfortunate!”

  “I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just…it’s just hard to believe, is all. Wanda and Alejandro missing at the same time! Two of our pillars, taken and that too at this critical hour!” Albert became thoughtful and rested his head on his hand, his face grave with worry.

  “We do not know that they are taken, Albert. There is
no need to read more into this than we should, so soon. Without hope, we are nothing.”

  “Perhaps. But the situation is dire, I must admit. Did I not tell you from the start not to trust this Nirmala lady? I smell some foul play. She is not one of us and never shall she be. At worst she is a risk to our cause, at best a liability, a weak-link. Imagine how much trouble we could have avoided had Alejandro not insisted on risking his life to save hers when the police apprehended them.”

  “Nonsense, Albert! She has been fully vetted by none other than Wanda Faraday, herself. There is no longer any need to doubt her intentions, no. But regarding her capabilities, I also am not so sure. Nevertheless, right now I feel that she might still be with Alejandro and they are both in some sort of trouble,” roared Wolfgang Müller as he paced restlessly inside the room.

  “Well, if you are right about her then I hope Alejandro can get them out. Could we send aid? Your friends from the embassy perhaps?”

  “Not until we have more information, no.”

  “What a pity, oh my. And over there in Egypt, Wanda, dear old Wanda is caught up in what devilry, we do not know. All alone and at this age. My, she is two hundred, no two hundred and ten to be exact, if I may say so!”

  At this point, Zoya who was still listening at the door, gave out a little gasp, unbeknownst to the speakers in the room.

  Two hundred and ten years old, oh my! she thought. That family painting in Dr. Faraday’s living room must have been hers after all.

  “She is not alone,” said Wolfgang, interrupting Zoya’s thoughts. “Last I heard, she was heading to Cairo and Amon was with her.”

  “Oh, I see. That would be somewhat of a relief. Amon is a hardy chap. What are they looking for in Cairo?” asked Albert.

  “Nothing. It was a detour planned by Amon to confuse anyone who gave pursuit. They intend to go to Hawara. Despite her age, Wanda is far stronger than many. Heka has kept her in excellent health. I would not underestimate her.”

  “Oh no, I would dare not underestimate Wanda Jacqueline Faraday, great grandniece of Sir Alfred Faraday of the house of the Earls. Dear me, I would not. I just fear that they are up against an enemy, far more dangerous and ruthless than we reckon. That is all. Do you think they made it to Hawara?

  “I am not sure. We spoke in a hurry before she left for Cairo. She was afraid there might be spies around. We discussed having her and Amon go into hiding after their trip. She said time was limited. Something was going to happen in April at the rising of the full moon that might end the world, and there might be something hidden in the ruins of Hawara or Abydos that can save us. She said nothing more."

  “Dear Lord, is that so? In that case, we must act quick. What do you think we should do?”

  “I have been thinking about that,” said Wolfgang. “and I believe we need to go straight to the lair of the enemy without wasting any time.”

  “The lair of the enemy? But we do not know where it is!”

  “No, but I found some clues.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes,” said Dr. Müller, now lowering his voice to a bare whisper. Zoya had to press her ear to the door very hard in order to listen, but even then, she missed some of the words.

  “Do you remember…Weilhammer…joined Aifra…track- ed…Iceland” is all Zoya heard.

  “What?” hollered, Dr. Cobb.

  “Shhh, quiet. This is sensitive.”

  “Don’t worry. There is an employee strike today. No one else will be around,” assured Dr. Cobb. “Now, back to your point. You have tracked the sensor Weilhammer stole from your lab and it’s in Iceland, you say?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you are sure that he has joined the Aifra?”

  “It is my hunch, yes. His disappearance, the break-in to our lab, the stealing of the sensors, everything points to Aifra.”

  “Very well. If that is the case, then; I will hunt him down and his trail will hopefully lead me to their lair,” said Dr. Cobb decisively.

  “I cannot allow this!” growled Wolfgang. “The journey is too treacherous for you. If my calculations are correct, the hide-out will be in some remote, desolate location, extremely difficult to access. Getting there will be a test of endurance, I assure you. Remember your last trip to Mexico, to study the cenotes? You nearly had a heat-stroke and I can still see the marks from the sunburns on your face. You need to recover. I vill go this time.” Wolfgang growled, slipping briefly into a German accent in his excitement.

  “That is not viable either, I am afraid. Without you, we do not have the resources to rescue our fellows stranded in foreign lands.”

  “What do we do?”

  “How about, we send Chris?”

  “What about Zoya’s training?”

  “I will look after that until we can get Alejandro here. Wanda left Zoya in his care.”

  “Good. We have a plan. Let’s find Chris. He must leave immediately,” said Wolfgang as he hurried to the door, “Albert, there is a student here—”

  “Zoya, my girl! Were you looking for me?” interrupted Dr. Cobb as Zoya’s startled face appeared through the open door.

  “Y-e-s, sir, I was,” she managed to stammer. “We don’t have the new password—”

  “Ah yes, I can give the password to Chris. In fact, we are going over to meet him right now. Have you met Dr. Müller, by the way?” said Dr. Cobb, walking up to the door and ushering Wolfgang out of the room in a hurry.

  “No, I have not,” said Zoya, in a small voice.

  “Wolfgang Müller. Nice to meet you,” said Dr. Müller, extending his hand.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” she said, shaking his hand, his crushing grip making her wince. Then they made for the labs in silence. Zoya was deep in thought. Too many questions were forming in her head and amid them, a resolution.

  CHAPTER twenty-three

  Amon felt himself tumbling down a chute of smooth stone at terrible speed, towards what seemed to be a bottomless pit. He held on to Wanda with one arm and tried to break their speed with the other. After falling for about thirty feet or so, they landed with a thud on a soft and lumpy floor. Amon lay there in a heap, not sure if he had died from the crash.

  Why is the ground soft? Shouldn’t my body have been broken from the impact? he wondered. It must have at least been a thirty-foot drop.

  He thought about Wanda. She lay motionlessly across his legs. Then, she stirred. A sign of life. Amon sat up in a rush, but he could not see anything. They were in the fathomless depths of the ancient temple where no light ever dared to creep in.

  “The hidden tunnels of Hawara,” Wanda whispered in the darkness. Amon suddenly remembered the flashlight that was still on his head and turned it on.

  “We landed on bags of sand.” He noticed when the light was on. “Sebastian’s team must have put it here to prevent accidents in case anyone fell through the trap-door.”

  “Yes,” said Wanda. “Are you alright? I fell right on top of you.”

  “Yes, I am fine. You are not heavy. How about you?”

  “I feel a bit sore but it could have been worse. Quick thinking,” she said, smiling appreciatively.

  “Thank you. But now, the real question; how do we get out?” Amon said, standing up, dusting his trousers with both hands and searching around the room with his flashlight. He gave Wanda a hand to climb off the sandbagged area.

  They noticed that they stood inside a small, rectangular room, similar to an underground vault, but it was not a tomb. The walls were carved and painted and there were marks on them where torches must have been set, back in the days when the temple was in use.

  “We cannot go back the way we came in, of course,” said Wanda.

  “No. Not unless someone roped us up from above. So, there must be another exit. Unless whoever designed it, intended for this room to be a trap.”

  “You have a point. Perhaps it was also a trap,” said Wanda thoughtfully.

  “What?” said Amon, suddenly panicked.

&n
bsp; “Mind you, I said, also a trap. It may not exclusively be a trap.”

  “You speak in riddles.”

  “What I mean is that; this room probably stores a treasure that has the risk of being stolen. So, it may be designed to confine possible trespassers and lead them to their deaths. Which makes me think, we have arrived at the right place. What I am looking for may be here in this very room.”

  “What? Even if we find this treasure, how is it going to help us, if indeed we are doomed to death? God help us!” said Amon sitting down on the sandbags, his head between his hands.

  “Let us not lose hope. There must be a secret doorway that the priests would have used. There would be a rune on the wall to operate it. If only I could find it,” said Wanda walking over to the wall to her right and scanning it with her eyes.

  Amon removed his backpack from his shoulders and pulled out a map from it.

  “The map says that the far northern corner of this room is yet to be excavated. I wonder if the door is hidden behind there. The only way to get through it then would be to blow it up with grenades,” he said, gravely.

  “No. I wouldn’t risk using a grenade down here. These ruins are too fragile. The walls may cave in and bury us alive.”

  “How cheerful!”

  Wanda smiled grimly. “Why don’t you give me your flashlight and stand guard near the chute in case someone else should fall through it in our pursuit. I will search the walls for the hidden passage. We must hold on to hope,” she said as she came over to Amon’s side and held out her hand. Amon did as was asked and Wanda walked towards the northernmost section of the room, flashlight in hand.

  * * *

  Here, the corner of the room was buried inside the earth with only a small sliver of the northern wall exposed. Wanda delicately palmed that strip of wall, closely studying every engraving that adorned it. Several minutes passed and she found nothing. The air in the room was suffocating and she was starting to feel light-headed. In her exhaustion, she leaned on a lump of soil protruding from the wall on her right when it crumbled under her weight, uncovering a new section of the original masonry. She toppled over, falling on her hands and knees.