The Coming of Kalki

by Poulomi Sanyal

  In about an hour, they reached the shore. Two armed, uniformed men of the Coast Guard, rushed up to meet the boat.

  “Code word,” said the taller of the two.

  “Anubis,” said Wolfgang.

  “Come,” said the stranger. “The other two boats? Where are they?”

  “That one is ours.” Wolfgang pointed to Wanda’s boat. “We lost the third.”

  “No!” said the second Egyptian Coast Guard. “We heard the firing. They were out of range from here, but we tried to take some hits. Is everyone safe?”

  “All; but one,” said Wolfgang grimly. Right behind them, Alejandro could see the other boat arrive. The taller Coast Guard hurried to meet them.

  “I am sorry,” replied the guard as he hung his head.

  At the shore, there was a jeep waiting for them. It was a Coast Guard vehicle. Their hosts led the Hekameses to it. No one spoke until all were boarded. The tall Coast Guard took to the wheel.

  “The plan is, I will drop you off at the encampment tonight. We have set up the camp about five miles from your location. Have dinner, get rest and in the morning, we will bring you the camels that you need. When do you want to leave?”

  “We will leave at four in the afternoon,” Wolfgang growled. “Does anyone else know about the planned attack?”

  “No, sir! As promised, we kept it between the fifteen of us on my team. Don’t want to draw international attention. They would never believe you and impede your mission, leading us all to our deaths.”

  “Correct. I appreciate it. Thank you,” said Wolfgang.

  “So, six camels, then?”

  “Five,” Wolfgang corrected with a heavy heart.

  No one spoke any further. At the camp, there were two others waiting for them with a warm dinner of lentil soup, grilled meat and aish baladi with a side of baba ganoush. Alejandro found it hard to swallow, the resentment of leaving Nirmala behind followed by the tragedy with Zoya seemed to coagulate like a lump inside his throat. After a few bites of chicken and half a bowl of soup, he got up and went to look at his copy of the script of Horus. Wolfgang had made sure to hand everyone individual copies of the words before the trip to ensure the success of their mission. Zoya’s they had lost when the boat overturned, but Alejandro’s was in his backpack and Amon had been able to save it. It lay drying on the tent floor next to a portable heater.

  This is our only hope, now, he thought as he prepared to turn-in for the night.

  * * *

  The morning of the 24th was ushered in by a tumultuous thunderstorm accompanied by high winds. A very rare occurrence in these parts of the world.

  Perfect, thought Alejandro. What else, can we expect? An army of gorillas waiting for us at the pyramid?

  For the first time in his life, Alejandro could not muster his usual cheerful disposition, no matter how hard he tried.

  Breakfast was a sombre affair with dried fruits and an assortment of breads and relishes. After lunch, they had a brief round-table with Wolfgang rehashing the plan. At four everyone had mounted their camels and soon they were off.

  Thankfully, the storm had abated, but there was still a strong wind blowing. The camels struggled against the gusts, slowing the procession down a fair bit. By the time they got to the Red Pyramid, it was ten-past five. A little later than they had anticipated. They dismounted and took stock of the situation. The Red Pyramid was one of the less popular ones among the tourists, and that day, Amon’s contacts had made sure to close the site early at three. Consequently, the area was quite deserted. Wolfgang reached into his backpack and pulled out a map of the pyramid and its architectural plan.

  “Okay. As decided, we will go in through the maintenance shaft right here. Does everyone see?” asked Wolfgang, gathering the rest around him.

  A collective “Yes”, sounded from the audience.

  “Amon will lead the way, since he has been here before,” he continued.

  “Not through the maintenance shaft though,” Amon corrected.

  “Perhaps, but you are the only one who knows the pyramid layout from the inside.”

  “True.”

  “Good. Let’s go. Time is running,” said Alejandro, looking at his watch.

  He hurried towards the corner of the pyramid where the opening to the maintenance shaft was indicated on the map. The others followed. Once at the opening, Amon paused to speak to the team.

  “Going in,” he said as he lowered himself down the dark, narrow, tube-like passage.

  Alejandro followed. Then Wanda and Chris. Wolfgang took the rear. It was a very steep climb down a rickety ladder into the fathomless depths of the ancient structure. After clambering down for several minutes, Alejandro heard Amon land with a soft thud just ahead of him. He followed his companion and soon he had landed next to him inside a cavernous room with a high ceiling.

  “Oh, my! You were right.” He gasped, taking in his surroundings. “Look at those baffles. Almost like a church organ,” he whispered, his eyes turned towards the ceiling. His voice was magnified manifold as he spoke, reverberating from the walls to create an almost surreal effect. Soon, the others arrived and everyone’s eyes turned immediately to the ceiling.

  “It’s like inverted steps cut into the roof,” said Wolfgang in awe. “How they managed to do that in such primitive times is beyond my understanding.”

  “That is what we have been telling you all along, Wolfgang,” said Amon. “They may not have been primitive after all.”

  “We will soon find out,” said Alejandro. “But first, we must find the engraving of Anubis on the wall.”

  “Here, I know exactly where it is. I remember this room like I was here yesterday,” said Amon walking up to the northern corner of the room, just below the elaborate baffles. He pointed at the wall in front of him. There it was, right before their eyes, the slanting frame of Anubis, crumbling yet astute, a little worn around the edges but still as fierce as ever.

  Alejandro gasped as he walked up to it. The others joined in. They were standing there in awe for what seemed like forever when Wolfgang suddenly cleared his throat.

  “It’s five twenty-two,” he said, stirring his audience with this rude awakening.

  Everyone scurried to the backpacks they had laid down on the floor earlier and took out their copies of the incantation. In a couple of minutes, they were back in front of Anubis again.

  “Should we turn our backs to Anubis when we stand, then?” asked Chris.

  “Yes, that’s what it said in the prophecy,” Alejandro supplied. “Oh, I almost forgot…”

  “What?” snapped Wolfgang, getting impatient.

  “My microphone,” said Alejandro as he pulled the little battery-powered clip-on microphone from the pocket of his blue jeans and attached it to his shirt.

  “Alright. Ready? The time is nigh,” Wanda hissed, looking at her watch.

  “At the count of three then,” said Wolfgang as he started counting, “One, two, three.”

  It was exactly five-thirty-five when they started chanting together in a chorus. Their voices rising and falling in tandem like the waves of an ocean. Their hearts beating fast. The rhythm got faster as time progressed, resonating from the wall of the chamber and bellowing out of control. They had one hour. If they did not achieve their end by the that time, the prophesized moment would pass and no one knew what would happen next.

  The Hekameses persisted, not even stopping to moisten their throats. There was no time for that. The fate of the world was at stake. Alejandro’s microphone was working beautifully and it seemed like they were hitting the resonance frequency with their chorus every so often but nothing seemed to happen. Nothing at all, other than the drumming of their tired vocal cords and the unified fluttering of their hearts.

  It was ten-past-six, the hour had almost passed. Alejandro could feel his voice growing weary and his heart was heavy with the smell of defeat. He felt like he was going to collapse on to the floor. He looked up to the ceiling, hoping for a
miracle. And then, he saw something strange. A faint glimmer of light coming from the end of the maintenance shaft.

  “Look!” He pointed. The others stopped chanting and looked up. The light was getting brighter and brighter by the minute and a strange humming sound was issuing from it.

  “No! Don’t stop chanting! Continue,” Alejandro yelled. “Here…take my microphone,” he added, tossing the device to Wolfgang. “I will go up the shaft to see what it is. Maybe they detonated the beast. Don’t wait for me. Keep chanting,” he said as he hurried towards the shaft opening. The others picked up from where they left off and continued to chant. Wolfgang’s deep voice now hollered through the microphone.

  Alejandro, climbed up the narrow shaft as quickly as he could, his limbs trembling with fear and anticipation. The light grew brighter and brighter as he moved up. Finally, he emerged from the passage, squinting to adjust his eyes to the resplendent glow outside. He stood up and scanned his surroundings. The light seemed to be coming from a location due East and it was accompanied by the sound of galloping hooves.

  Alejandro had adjusted to the brightness around him and could see clearly. From the distance, two riders entered into his field of vision, hurtling out of the horizon at terrible speed, advancing towards the spot where Alejandro was standing. The one in front was clearly Zoya and behind her, another woman; her long, white hair fluttering in the wind, her robes like wings, wafting around her. The ethereal light seemed to emanate directly from her slight frame, bathing the dessert with its splendor. From their throats issued the humming drone of an ancient incantation, the mighty script of Horus. Alejandro fell to his knees.

  Kalki, she is here! he thought.

  * * *

  Meanwhile, in Cairo, Amon’s friends from the Egyptian Coast Guard were gathered in their observation tower with their telescopes trained in the direction of the Red Pyramid, as per plan. They were to keep an eye on the area while the Hekameses went through with their mission. It was nearly six-thirty and nothing notable had happened. They were beginning to wonder whether this whole project was a hoax of some sort. Husani, the Coast Guard engineer, was about to leave his post and get himself a bite to eat when he suddenly saw something strange through his telescope.

  “Hey guys, look here!” he said, waving to his two colleagues who were nearby.

  “What’s going on?” said one, walking up to him.

  “What is that light I see? Coming right out of the head of the Red Pyramid like a laser! It’s incredible. Here…take a look!” He moved aside to offer the telescope to his colleague.

  “There is no need,” replied his friend, “I can see it with my naked eye, whoa!”

  “It’s like a high-power energy beam!”

  “Do you think, that’s the bomb?”

  “No! The bomb is supposed to detonate thousands of feet above the earth. We wouldn’t be able to see that from here at all—”

  “Oh, look!” His colleague cut him off. “What are those colours in the sky?”

  “No way! That light seems to be ionizing the atmosphere,” said the engineer.

  “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know, I don’t know,” said Husani, barely able to contain his excitement, “But this is huge. I have never seen anything like it before. The ionised atmosphere…it could…act like a Faraday cage around the earth or something…. this is mind-blowing.”

  “The what? Please explain this to me in a layman’s terms, I am totally lost.”

  “It’s like…like…I mean…” he fumbled for words. “Think of it like a shield that will stand between us and the electromagnetic waves that will come out from the bomb that exploded above it. The bomb cannot affect us anymore!”

  “What? You can do that?”

  “Seems like it. I had no idea either. This day will certainly go down in history as one of the finest the world has ever seen.

  epilogue

  It was a little past midnight, and Nirmala stood alone on the deck of the FRV Ulysses, wrapped in her favorite crimson pashmina, wearing her freshly washed hair down over her shoulders, as a light breeze played gently with its strands. The air smelled like the lavender of her shampoo. She stared idly into the peaceful starry night ahead. Yet she felt slightly anxious. She could hear a piano playing in the dining hall, one level above hers and the sound of merriment issuing from around the stairwell that led up to that level. But it didn’t do much to calm her nerves.

  I can’t believe, he isn’t here yet. He’s never late, she thought, checking her watch, yet again.

  Just then, she spotted a man trotting up the gangway to her left. Even from the distance she could clearly discern his lithe frame in the mellow light of the full moon. She ran to greet him.

  “Alejandro!” she exclaimed, “I’m so glad—” But before she could complete the sentence, Alejandro scooped her up in his arms, lifting her briskly off the ground and whirled her around in his excitement.

  “Oh, hey put me down you crazy,” she giggled, gently pounding on his broad shoulders with her balled up fists. Alejandro set her down in front of him and moved back a step, looking her up and down before smiling broadly.

  “You look good,” he said with a smile.

  “Oh, shucks.” Nirmala blushed. “What took you so long? Everyone else is here already,” she complained, trying to change the subject.

  “Didn’t they tell you? I stopped by at the bazaar in Cairo.”

  “Yes, I know. What on earth for, though? Is this really the time for souvenir shopping? You missed all the celebrations,” she grumbled.

  “There will be more time for celebrations later. The war in only just beginning. But for now, first thing’s first, I have something for you.”

  “Something for me? Really?” she beamed. “Show me!”

  “Do you want to go sit over there? My legs are a little cramped,” Alejandro asked, indicating a set of benches about fifty feet away.

  “Sure.”

  They walked up to the benches and sat down on the one closest to the deck lights.

  “So? Are you going to tell me, now?” Nirmala asked, turning to face him, once they were seated. Their eyes met and for the first time, Nirmala saw in his, something she had never seen before. The goofy, lightheartedness had disappeared, replaced by a tenderness that made his attractive features appear all the more endearing. A flush rose to her cheeks at the thought.

  “No. I’m going to show you,” Alejandro chuckled. “Hang on, where did I put it? Ah, here it is.” He pulled out a rectangular jewellery box from his pocket.

  “Jewellery? You know, I’m not that kind of—”

  “Shh!” Alejandro said pressing his right index finger lightly over her plush lips. “Just open it,” he added softly, handing her the box.

  Nirmala blurted something inaudible, blushing profusely as she opened the box.

  “It’s a locket!” She lifted the little locket of sterling silver out of the box, placed it delicately in the middle of her palm and examined it closely. It was shaped like the bust of an Egyptian deity. “Who is this?” she whispered.

  “It’s Heka.”

  “Who?” Nirmala’s eyes widened.

  “Heka. The Egyptian god of magic. The personification of magic itself in the eyes of the Egyptians. Our organization is named after him.”

  “Oh!”

  “You have earned it. You are truly a Hekameses now!”

  Nirmala burst into laughter. “That is so thoughtful of you. Do you guys have these too?”

  “Nope just, you. You’re that special.”

  “Oh, stop!” Nirmala slapped him playfully on his arm. “Is this what was keeping you, then?”

  “I had to look everywhere for it.”

  “Ha! Well, I love it. Thank you.” She leaned over and gave him a warm hug.

  “But now you have to tell me the whole story.” Alejandro winked.

  “The whole story?”

  “Yeah. What happened with Zoya after you saved her last
night.”

  “Oh that! So, this was a bribe?”

  “You can say that.”

  They both laughed.

  “Alright. How much do you know?”

  “Let’s see…after the Coast Guards found us at the Red Pyramid, they drove us to Cairo. That’s when Zoya told us how you dived in after her, and brought her to the surface and how the guards on the ship pulled the both of you back on board. After that, she said something about the songs of Meera and how they told her what to do. It was a short drive to Cairo. We were all tired. So she didn’t go into much detail. But she did say that the ship’s crew and the Egyptian Coast Guard helped her find a horse, so that she could ride to meet us in Dashur. While she was riding, along with two other men from the Coast Guard, this strange rider appeared and started riding alongside of her. Before she knew it, she had lost the men from the Coast Guard and it was just her and the rider, Kalki that is, riding at terrible speeds over the blazing sand, bathed in a strange light. After that as you probably already know, we all chanted and then we passed out. By the time the Coast Guards found us and we came back to our senses, there was no sign of Kalki anywhere. She had just vanished.”

  “Into thin air.”

  “Yep.”

  “Yeah, I heard that part when the team came back to the ship.”

  “I thought you might have. So tell me the rest. What happened in between? I mean, how did you summon the Kalki?”

  “Well, once we were brought on board, we were attended to by the vessel’s paramedic. Zoya swallowed a lot of water and had to be revived. We had her rest for a few hours in the paramedic’s cabin downstairs. But she was restless. When I brought her some soup later that evening, she asked me to help her travel to Dashur to join the rest of you. She was worried that the mission would fail in her absence.”

  “Brave of her. So, what did you tell her?”

  “I offered to help.”

  “Why am I not surprised?” Alejandro grinned. Nirmala smiled back. “Please, continue,” Alejandro added.

  “At first, I thought I’d ask the admirals to escort her, but then I had another idea.”