Egypt Rising

by Stan Schatt

  “Should Paul be checked?” Mrs. Hargrove asked.

  “If he was only in the room for a few seconds, he should be fine,” Matt said. “He doesn’t have any of the symptoms.”

  After the ambulance had left, the two fathers headed out the door. They would follow the ambulance to the hospital.

  “Tell me everything you know about this fungus,” Mister Thornton said.

  “You’re not going to like what I have to say,” Matt replied, but then he began his explanation. Mister Thornton’s face grew gray as he listened.

  “What are their chances?”

  “I don’t know the odds for survival, but I’m afraid they’re not good. I never found a sealed room when exploring with Olivia, so I never bothered to teach her about using the masks and oxygen tanks. I never thought they’d go exploring without me.”

  “She’s your daughter despite anything I had to do with it,” Mister Thornton said.

  Matt nodded ruefully.

  Chapter Twelve

  As we expected, President Mubarak reacted to the pressure of all the demonstrations by sacking his cabinet but he refused to step down. He promised that he would not run for re-election. We knew wouldn’t satisfy the crowds, and it didn’t. The Government even brought in a camel to attack protestors! The army is allowing demonstrations but has stationed tanks around Tahrir Square. I wonder when the army will step in.

  —From the Secret Diary of David Hargrove

  University Hospital was the finest hospital in Cairo. Its ultramodern courtyard and entrance made it abundantly clear that it was private facility that was not cash-starved like its Government counterparts. Receptionists sat next to gleaming new computer monitors while floors and benches were spotless.

  All of that meant nothing to Olivia or to Taylor since both had fallen into comas, forced to rely on IV drips to feed them nutrients while electrodes and consoles monitored their heart and brain activity. Tom Thornton and Matt Hunter had become strange bedfellows. Still a bit restrained from years of not ever really speaking to each other except for a few required polite words when necessary, their daughters’ adventures and current conditions had thrown them together in a way neither could have imagined.

  When the ambulance was on its way, Matt had quietly removed and pocketed Olivia’s necklace. He wasn’t sure what powers it actually had, but he knew someone from the Government would likely try to seize it once word got out about Olivia’s actions. He had deposited the item in a safe deposit box, hidden the key, and then destroyed any records associated with the rental.

  Olivia’s outfit was another matter. He had removed the robe and crown without any resistance from the objects. His only conclusion was that they seemed to be inoperative when the wearer was unconscious. He hid the objects even though he assumed that the Government would eventually get around to seizing these items. Since they didn’t seem to work without the gemstone, he wasn’t too worried about a fearsome weapon getting in the hands of a power-crazed government or person.

  His notebook and radar records were another matter. Olivia hadn’t explained what happened to her vest when she changed first into the robes and later into an army uniform, and finally into a conservative female dress. Since he couldn’t ask Taylor or Olivia, he fretted that his notebook would get into the wrong person’s hands.

  Without the notebook and radar results, Matt knew he wouldn’t be able to replicate his daughter’s route. As he remembered, the radar results showed hundreds—if not thousands—of natural caves under the Giza plateau. It wasn’t really clear which ones connected to the Sphinx.

  Tom Thornton worried about both his daughters. He prayed as he hadn’t prayed in years. Being a practical businessman, he tried diplomatically to broach the subject of investing in developing some of the technology found in the Hall of Records. Likely there were medical advances hundreds if not thousands of years in advance of current medical practice. What he saw Olivia do when she laid her hands on Taylor reminded him of reports of medicine men and “healers” who had used such techniques.

  Watching Olivia convinced him that these healers drew on an oral history passed down for thousands of years but that now bore only a faint resemblance to the ancient medical knowledge. It would be like people thousands of years from now remembering that a plane capable of flight required wings even though they no longer remembered it also required a tail.

  Most scientists scoffed at reports of eyewitnesses. He knew what his eyes saw. Matt was too worried about Olivia to have that discussion yet, but in principle he wasn’t opposed as long as the public would benefit. He knew Tom well enough to know that the investor was ethical and a man of his word.

  So, the two men sat side by side in armchairs in a private double room that Tom had demanded and gladly paid for. The girls’ beds were at opposite corners of the room while the chairs were placed near a window. From that vantage point the fathers could keep their eyes on both girls. Both men watched the television on the wall where stations were broadcasting video that showed a country in turmoil.

  President Mubarak had first offered a new Prime Minister and cabinet as evidence he could change to meet the mob’s demands. Revolutionary leaders had rejected these offerings and had continued demonstrations comprised of hundreds of thousands of citizens.

  The Army had stood back, but now was taking an active role in keeping the two sides from further violence. The generals in charge refused to have the Army step down until there was a Government with a constitution that was approved by citizens in a democratic election.

  Now the Revolutionary Council was starting to splinter. Its leaders were united in demanding that President Mubarak step down and that there be elections, but they differed on almost every other specific point. The Muslim Brotherhood, long banned by the Government, was the best organized of the various factions, and it appeared poised to have the most influence on the election.

  The cheers from the crowds were so loud that they echoed from the television even though the volume was muted to a murmur. President Mubarak had stepped down! Tom and Matt looked at each other. Even though he investor would lose with the fall of Mubarak, he shrugged. He had carefully spread his investments in other countries, so his finances were safe.

  More important right now was just how stable the country was and how safe for foreigners and for their investments. He had hired a private security service that was licensed to carry weapons. He now had twenty-four hour on-site protection. Matt had taken up his offer to move in since there was lots of room and it was more convenient to travel back and forth to the hospital from the mansion.

  Both men rose when Doctor Shaheed entered. The short man with his white coat and rosy cheeks didn’t seem to have the gravitas associated with his status as the best brain surgeon in all of Africa. His oval face was marked with two very thick, dark eyebrows that almost but not quite connected. His speech made it unnecessary to see a diploma. He had the clipped British associated with a Cambridge education.

  Doctor Shaheed had a grim expression on his face as he studied the two girls’ charts.

  “All vital signs are stable, and the lung operations went well. We’ve cleaned out the spores, so there no longer is any danger of pneumonia.”

  “When will they regain consciousness?” Matt asked.

  “Now that we’ve eliminated the most immediate threat and stabilized their conditions, the next step is to perform brain surgery. The disease has caused inflammation of key areas of their brains, so we need to go in and remove the spores that are causing this problem.”

  Mister Thornton felt there was something that Doctor Shaheed was not telling them. He had sat in business negotiations long enough to sense when someone was being evasive.

  “What is your prognosis? How dangerous is the operation?”

  The doctor shrugged. “It is impossible to say at this time. I hope we have caught the disease before it has done permanent damage, but we will not know until we see for ourselves. The survival rate is gen
erally low, but the girls are young. Their brain cells are still growing and capable of regeneration, so it is possible that their bodies might be capable of replacing permanently damaged cells. If it had been either of you gentlemen, I would say the odds would be ten percent that I would be successful. For the girls, the odds are a bit better —maybe forty percent.”

  The news hit both men very hard, and neither spoke. They stared at the two girls with tears in their eyes, lifting their heads only when the physician walked up to each man and solemnly shook their hands. It was an old world practice no longer done by American or even British doctors.

  “I shall do my very best,” he said.

  He then turned and left. Soon a nurse entered and told them that the girls would be prepped for surgery, and it would be performed the next morning. Matt and Tom stared at each other. Neither wanted to leave the room since doing so might represent the last time they saw the girls alive.

  Both looked towards the door when a small figure entered. He looked appropriately serious. Doctor Fayez was immaculately dressed as usual. His eyes scanned the room and studied the two girls before studying the two men.

  “What are you doing here?” Matt asked brusquely.

  “I had wanted to talk with your daughters,” he said.

  “I didn’t think Government agencies were still operating,” Tom said.

  “Oh, things change, but some things remain the same. Someone must protect Egypt’s treasures.”

  “You mean try to kill innocent children when they look for something you’d just as soon keep hidden?”

  Matt’s words were said with such violence that Doctor Fayez took a step back from the men.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I heard your daughters were involved in an incident at the Citadel and injured somehow. We’ve had our differences, but I am a father. I know how you must feel.”

  Matt pulled out the card Olivia gave him and offered it to Doctor Fayez.

  “A man who tried to kill the girls had this card in his pocket.”

  Doctor Fayez studied the card. “I have given away thousands of my cards. I resent the idea that I would be involved in anything so horrendous. How dare you question my honor! He drew himself up to his full height and stormed out of the room.

  “You might have handled that better. I think if he wasn’t an enemy before, he certainly is now,” Tom said in a very flat voice.

  Matt heard Tom’s tone and realized the remark was said matter-of-factly and not in a judgmental way. It was true. He still needed to work with Doctor Fayez including the dig at the Tomb of the birds, but that would be another day. He wasn’t ready to crawl or plead or apologize to anyone today, not when his daughter’s life was still at risk because of something Doctor Fayez might have done.

  “Do you think he’s capable of working with a killer to protect what’s under the Sphinx?” Tom asked.

  “I never thought so before, but now I don’t know. Let’s see if he comes back and starts asking questions about Olivia’s strange powers. That a sure telltale sign he’s trying to keep everything quiet,” Matt said, much too tired to think through all the implications at the moment.

  “What about security here while we’re gone?” Matt asked.

  “I’ll make a call and arrange to have someone here day and night,” Tom said

  The millionaire had a sickening feeling in his stomach and realized just how worried he was about the girls. He couldn’t bear the idea that they would make it through surgery only to be assassinated because of what they knew. He took out his cell phone even though it was against hospital policies and dialed a number. He had paid for a wing of this hospital and no mere nurse was going to keep him from protecting these two girls.

  While Olivia’s body lay completely still, her mind was very active. She felt herself trapped in a world where images sped past her faster than she could understand them. It was if someone asked her a question and she couldn’t quite think of the answer even though she knew it was there somewhere. The images turned to a series of brilliant colors and sounds that grew louder and more intense. Finally, the ringing sound was so loud and so physically painful that she tried to scream. No sound escaped her lips.

  She felt completely vulnerable. Part of her worried about people intent on killing her, yet she couldn’t speak or move to protect herself. Her mind was active, though. I could use the ancient knowledge I used to save Taylor and Mister Hargrove—if only I could move. No one else in this modern world knows the secret of laying hands on a patient and using energy fields to cure us. Modern doctors are like witch doctors. I love Taylor and Dad so much. This can’t be the end.

  Then everything went black.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The Ebers papyrus refers to the ancient Egyptian medical practice of the laying of hands on a patient.

  —From John Francis Nun, Ancient Egyptian Medicine

  Brain abscesses commonly occur when bacteria or fungi infect part of the brain. Swelling and irritation (inflammation) develop in response to this infection. Infected brain cells, white blood cells, live and dead bacteria, and fungi collect in an area of the brain. Tissue forms around this area and creates a mass.

  —From MedicinePlus, the U.S. National Library of Medicine

  Matt and Tom sat in the waiting room at University Hospital. Doctor Shaheed had been in the operating room now for hours. When Tom’s phone rang, he picked it up, happy for any distraction. As he listened, his face muscles grew tighter. He gritted his teeth so tightly that his jaw hurt. He mumbled a few words and hung up.

  “It’s started sooner than I thought,” he said.

  “What happened?”

  “Amy called me from the house. Some Army people showed up and demanded that my staff give them the garments Olivia was wearing.”

  “Did she give it to them?”

  “She couldn’t do it. Last night I took the robe and crown you gave me and put them in my safe, the one built into the wall. It’s guaranteed to withstand just about anything but a nuclear strike. The same people who build bank vaults constructed it for me. The officer was furious, but he couldn’t open it.”

  “Won’t they just force you to open it?”

  “Maybe, but I have some friends in the Revolutionary Council.”

  “You’re joking.”

  “No. You know I always hedge my bets. I’ve donated to several of the members of the Council over the years, including some funds for the Muslim Brotherhood.”

  “But they were illegal up until now.”

  “That makes no difference. I always felt that if they ever won, their Government would need investors too. Business is apolitical. I didn’t put all my eggs in Mubarak’s basket.”

  “You’re going to call your friends?”

  “Amy called my assistant. She knows what to do. I’m not so sure that anyone wants all this to be made public. You think the new masters of Egypt want to lose their entire tourist trade? Do you think the world’s largest investors want the world turned upside down with new technology?”

  “But we might be able to market some of the medical technology. Who knows? There might be a cure for cancer somewhere in the Hall of Records.”

  “We’ll try. Every major pharmaceutical company, cancer hospital, and sadly, many doctors, will fight any cure we offer. What if all a doctor has to do is put on a crazy outfit and rub his hands together before sticking them in a body and killing the cancer cells? How do you charge for that?”

  “You’ve grown a lot more cynical since your younger days,” Matt said.

  “I’d say I’ve grown a lot less naïve. I kind of miss my old idealism. In any event, we’re safe for the moment.”

  The time passed slowly. Matt tried to meditate, but he kept seeing Olivia as she looked on the hospital bed, so still and so vulnerable. He had even felt compassion for Taylor even though the girl had been a royal pain in the ass in class.

  Tom Thornton tried to keep thoughts of the girls from destroying h
im by throwing himself into routine business calls. He ignored the angry looks from nurses. When a doctor came up and complained, he calmly told the doctor to check with Doctor Negip. Thornton knew the hospital’s chief administrator was effusive in his praise for his generous donations. That man would make sure the silly cell phone rule didn’t apply to him.

  Doctor Shaheed stepped out of the operating room after several hours and approached the waiting room. He looked smaller in his hospital greens, as if he used up all of his energy and vitality and now ran on fumes. He slumped into a chair across from the two fathers and met their eyes with his own bloodshot pair.

  “It went as well as could be expected. There was a lot of damage, but I believe I found all the spores and cleaned out the abscesses. Now all we can do is wait and see if the swelling goes down.”

  “When will we know?” Tom asked.

  “If the girls get through the next twenty-four hours without any fever, then we know there’s no more infection. Then it’s a matter of waiting to see if the swelling goes down. That could take a few days.”

  “Where are the girls now? Can we see them?” Matt asked.

  “They’re in recovery. Give us another half hour. I’ll tell one of the nurses to come out and escort you in. Right now you really don’t want to see them. It looks worse than it is.”

  “Thanks for everything you’ve done. I won’t forget it,” Tom said.

  Doctor Shaheed nodded. He rose and headed back into the operating room. Matt wondered if he came out like that for all patients or just for special patients whose fathers are on the hospital’s Board. It didn’t matter. He was grateful that Olivia was getting the best possible care. He also was grateful that the huge gulf between him and his old friend was bridged by the love they both felt towards Olivia. Every day it felt a little more like how it felt when the three of them had been inseparable. Elizabeth would be happy that the two men no longer were enemies.