Power Hunt (ArcMed Book 1) (ArcOn 3)

by Erinn Price

  Kharim seated us on one side and quickly set the table. A place for him and Sara, was set directly opposite Matthew and me. Sara placed our food in front of us and we all ate in silence, considering what we had to do tomorrow.

  “Thank you for the pods by the way, they really are very comfortable. My wife tells me you are the inventor?” Kharim asked.

  “Morgan invented most of the technology we use in the medical field. As well as some of our security items.” Matthew said, before I could speak. I gave Matthew a glare, I could speak for myself. He just looked back at me. Maybe he did not want me to tell them too much about my work.

  “Impressive. From what Toby has said, Alexis is also extremely inventive, but more in her thought process than in physically making things.” Sara said, smiling.

  “Your parents must be very proud of the two of you, well now three. I would love to meet them sometime.” Kharim said.

  “Our parents have always supported Alexis and I, no matter what we did. I know for a fact both would love to meet the two of you. Once this is over with, I am sure we could arrange it.” I said smiling. As a historian, my mother would love to talk to both of them concerning the history of Egypt.

  We finished supper and then Matthew and I went to our room.

  “I bought you some sleepwear. I only realised last night, that I had not bought any. I hope that is alright?” Matthew said.

  “Thank you, Matthew. You are a very good babysitter, ensuring your charge is fed and clothed.” I teased him.

  I heard his laughter as he went to the bathroom to have a shower. Tired, I quickly got changed into the pyjamas Matthew had bought. The shorts and top fitted perfectly, which I should not have been surprised about. Details like that, would not be missed by Matthew. He likely knew my exact height and weight without needing to ask or look it up. I fell asleep before Matthew finished his shower. My brain still needed to recover and the day, short as it had been, had tired me out.

  Chapter 12

  I woke up to find myself alone again, and another set of clothing at the foot of my bed. The flat shoes even matched the outfit, which considering who must have bought them was surprising. Men do not usually consider things like matching shoes. I had a quick shower and got dressed. Not sure where the others were, I just made my way to the lounge I read in yesterday.

  “Morning. Help yourself to breakfast, it is just yoghurt and fruit today.” Matthew said. “Kharim and Sara have gone in to work but will be back this afternoon.”

  “Morning and thank you for the clothing.” I said.

  “You are very welcome. We could go to the Valley of Kings first, as Tutmose I seems the most likely, but it is already late in the morning and it will take us more than six hours to get there. I suggest we go see if we can visit Khufu’s tomb first, as it is the closest. Next, we can go to Amarna to see where Akhenaten wanted to be buried, then tomorrow we can go to the Valley of Kings.” Matthew said, then he pointed to the table. “Your necklace arrived, Sara left the package on the table for you.”

  I looked to where he was pointing and saw a package. As I watched the package disappeared, revealing my necklace. It was exactly as I remembered and as I removed my mother’s necklace from my neck and held it next to my necklace, their differences became even more obvious. Where my mother’s necklace was fancy and sophisticated, mine looked rough and simple. The two had absolutely nothing in common.

  “Do you think there is anything more to the necklaces, or that they were only a clue to point us to the Book of Thoth?” I asked Matthew.

  “I do not know. I suggest you keep hold of both, you never know if there is more to them.” Matthew said. “Sure, they led us to looking for the Book of Thoth, but there are easier ways to have done that.”

  Nodding in agreement, I picked up both necklaces and placed them around my neck. I did not want to use my nanos yet to hide them, fortunately my top was sufficient. It completely covered both necklaces, and no one would even know I wore one, let alone two necklaces beneath the top.

  “Do you know where we need to go?” I asked Matthew.

  “Well, considering how big it is, I think the pyramid will be hard to miss.” Matthew said. “Fortunately, it is open to the public.”

  “Should we not be looking for their sarcophagus’s and mummies? The legend does say the Book of Thoth was buried with him.” I queried.

  “I have a feeling it will not be that easy. If it was, the book would be public knowledge and have been found long ago.” Matthew said.

  “You think the book is elsewhere? That the myth just gives clues where to look for more clues?” I asked.

  “Yes. If it was simple, the book would have been found long ago. You feel that as well.” Matthew answered.

  “Yes, I do not know why, but I do think there is more to the necklaces. If the book had been in a simple sarcophagus, then it would have been found. If it had been found by another, there would be some evidence of it, even if it was another myth.”

  Matthew nodded his head, but he stopped and watched me. He could see I was considering something. “What is it?”

  “What if the boxes mentioned are not boxes, but sarcophaguses?” I asked.

  “You think we are looking for one sarcophagus, consisting of six sarcophaguses inside one another, with the book in the last one?” Matthew queried.

  “Yes. The only problem with that is, how did Neferkaptah get all the sarcophaguses out? He struggled to get the book, according to myth. Do you think he would have taken the sarcophaguses as well and then used them as his personal sarcophagus?” I asked, but it was more to myself as I tried to work through this line of reasoning.

  “I do not know but let us go to the tombs and see if we can learn anything, for now, it is our best option. There is very little recorded and preserved history concerning this, it really does seem like it was hidden or removed from history, on purpose.” Matthew said.

  I nodded and followed Matthew as we left the house. “Matthew, can you set your glasses to scan, then tonight we can ask Scarlet to check the images for anything that may help us. There may be some code we cannot see, but Scarlet might be able to pick it up.”

  “Good idea. I will do so.” Matthew said, as we walked to a bus. “This should take us to the Great Pyramid.”

  It took us about twenty minutes to get there and I must admit to being a little awestruck, as I saw the pyramids and Sphinx for the first time. I had seen them in pictures of course, but it did not come close to showing you the majesty of seeing them for yourself. I also cannot explain the sense of awe I was struck with, just by physically being near such an ancient site. I began to understand what had driven my grandfather to explore and look for such ancient sites. I turned to Matthew, but he was busy scanning the people and the area. He did not seem as awestruck with wonder as I was. I wondered if it had something to do with him being a Hunter, as he referred to himself. I still meant to ask him what he meant by that, but the time never seemed right.

  Matthew got us in line and we bought tickets allowing us access to all open exhibitions and tombs in the Giza complex. We joined a group heading to the Pyramid of Giza, which was the tomb of Khufu. I was still unsure of what exactly Matthew was hoping we would discover, but not having any better idea, I followed along. I was still feeling lost, without my link to the network and to my nanos. I just opened the link, not interacting or downloading anything, just making it accessible. I would try to do little searches throughout the day and see if I suffered any ill effects. If not, then I will try a more complete link. The quicker I could get my capabilities and network back, the better I would feel. I felt worthless and worried that Matthew was in such a good mood, because he could now truthfully say that he was ‘babysitting’ me.

  We entered the pyramids and I was once again distracted. The sheer scale of it was amazing and as we went deeper and deeper underground, the feeling of wonder just increased. There were many guards standing at entrances to some side tunnels and I could not h
elp but wonder what was down them. Some of the tunnels did not seem to fit in and looked to have been made later, maybe to explore or reach a section of the pyramid that was closed off.

  At first, I thought it was my imagination. But as we got closer to the area where Khufu’s tomb and sarcophagus was said to have been, my necklaces seemed to get hotter. I did not want to say something and maybe have someone overhear, so I thought to Matthew. I knew it was dangerous and that my brain needed more time, but this was important.

  “Matthew, my necklace is heating up.” I took his hand and just placed it over the necklace, he would be able to feel the heat through my top. He gasped softly and then seemed to stare at me intently. Looking around, he hid me from view and then looked down my top at the necklace. His other hand traced the heated areas.

  “It is just the iron sections of your necklace heating up.” Matthew thought back at me. “Wait. There was mention of an Iron Throne of Khufu, but it was never found. With the world’s problems and uprisings, they stopped exploring. The Iron Throne could still be here, and your necklace is somehow attuned to it.”

  “Well, where and how do we look for it?” I asked. “You also could just have done a heat scan of my necklace, you did not need to look down my top.” I saw him smirk as I said that and just shook my head at him.

  I activated my network and examined the area around us. There was no sign of anything iron, but I did pick up a signal. “We are being followed and watched.”

  “What, how? I have been watching for their signal.” Matthew said.

  “Sorry. I forgot to update you, they changed their signal, when they chased us for the book.” I apologized. “Oh hell, do you think they followed you yesterday and know where we are staying? We have to warn Kharim and Sara.”

  “No, no. Calm down. I think this guy came across us by accident. There will likely be agents of the Shadow Organisation spread out all over. Especially places that have links to the location of the Book of Thoth.” Matthew reassured me. “They just don’t have a link to show them the way like we do.”

  I was glad that we had been speaking mentally through the link I had established with him right at the beginning, when we first met. Matthew grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him as we exited the tomb.

  “My necklace is getting cooler.” I thought to Matthew.

  “That suggests the Iron Throne is close to where his sarcophagus was. Likely above it.” Matthew thought to me, “now how do we get to it?”

  “You follow my cleverly drawn map.” Scarlet said. “I did a scan of the pyramid and there are tunnels leading up. None lead directly above where you want to go, but one gets close.”

  “Scarlet, what are you doing here?’ I asked.

  “Checking up on you of course. How else I am supposed to know if you are okay or not. You might need me to save you again.” Scarlet said. “I am still not convinced your boyfriend can protect you. I have been with you the whole time, waiting for you to realize you need my help.”

  I heard Matthew chuckle and looked at him, shaking my head. “Stop encouraging her, and if you have not realized it, she is insulting you. We still need to get rid of our tail.”

  “Leave that to me. Just make your way to that tunnel and wait for your chance.” Scarlet said.

  “This should be good.” Was all that Matthew said, as Scarlet stopped talking.

  “He has a gun, look out he is going to kill us all.” I heard a female voice call out behind us, in the direction our follower was.

  “Shut up or I will shoot you first.” A loud, male voice said. At this, chaos broke out and the guard stationed by the tunnel we wanted to take, rushed down our tunnel heading for the voices. There seemed to be a lot of arguing and shouting going on behind us.

  Wondering how Scarlet had done that, I nonetheless followed Matthew down the passage as quickly as possible. I also changed both our signals again, as our follower would more than likely have noticed it and used it to follow us.

  “That was fun, the man has been arrested and taken in for questioning. No one saw you going down the passage. They were all too worried about the mad man with the gun.” Scarlet said.

  “How did you do that?” Matthew asked.

  “Easy. I just jumped to their cell phones and made as if it was people talking. Half of them did not even seem to realise the voice was coming from their phone and not a person.” Scarlet said. “I am glad to see you are doing better sis, you had me worried, but your brain seems to be functioning better. Your patterns seem nearly back to normal.”

  “You are monitoring my brainwave patterns?” I asked.

  “Duh. How else am I supposed to know if you are fine or braindead?” Scarlet asked.

  “Well, if I am walking and talking, I am definitely not braindead.” I informed Scarlet and then added, “And no Scarlet, there are no such things as zombies.”

  “Well, you could be mostly braindead and be walking around. Although I think that then, you would be drooling more, than talking.” Scarlet said. “I will have to investigate that further, no conclusive evidence either way.”

  “I am not braindead Scarlet.” I told her.

  “As fascinating as this conversation is, we are getting close to the area.” Matthew said. “How is your necklace doing?”

  “It is warm, but not as hot as it was in the tomb.” I said. “Wait, it seems to be getting cooler now.”

  “Okay, there is a junction ahead.”

  As we approached the junction, we could continue going straight or turn left. Left would take us further away from the location we wanted to get to and unless there was another side tunnel going right somewhere ahead, it too would be a waste to follow. Suddenly, the section of wall directly opposite the tunnel going to the left, seemed to disintegrate.

  “Well, I guess that is the way we need to go.” Matthew said.

  “My necklace is really hot now.”

  “Weird. My scans showed nothing different in the composition of that wall and nothing behind it.” Scarlet said.

  We followed the new tunnel, which sloped upwards sharply for about five minutes. It opened up into a large room. In the centre of the room was a large throne made of iron. Not iron sheet metal, but smooth iron with hieroglyphics on it. Hieroglyphics marked the walls and ceiling of the room as well. Columns surrounded the throne and were placed throughout the room. Strangely enough there was nothing on the columns. Lining the walls were statues of Anubis. Each statue stood upright and held a spear. It looked like they were guarding the Throne.

  “Trouble, incoming.” Scarlet said, as six men rushed into the room behind us.

  “I thought you were watching out for them.” I said.

  “Well, excuse me for getting distracted by the throne and weird dog statues.” Scarlet said. “Why weren’t you watching, you said you weren’t a zombie?”

  Matthew and I ran to get behind one of the pillars, but as we did one of the men fired at us. I felt a sharp pain along my arm and on my chest but did not have time to inspect either.

  “This room is wrong.” I heard Scarlet say, “It is too big.”

  I could not follow what she was rambling on about, and Matthew seemed not to be doing anything. It looked like he froze. “Scarlet, something helpful please. I do not feel like dying.”

  “Oh. Don’t worry, your boyfriend will handle them. I did warn you that he is a bit slow.” Scarlet said.

  At that, Matthew seemed to recollect himself and growled, “I was hoping you would not have to see something like this, till later in our relationship.”

  My mind was still trying to grasp his meaning and to figure out what relationship he was talking about, when Matthew sprang into action. The men trying to kill us, had spread out and were closing in on us, surrounding us. Matthew moved so fast, it was difficult to follow him, but I saw him move to one man and kill him. He was a blur of deadly intent as he moved, and I felt a flash of fear as I watched him. He was a killer, out and out, and those men stood no chance.
With precision and efficiency and no emotion he moved among the men, killing them all. I watched in frozen disbelief, not understanding how he could move like he did. What was he?

  “Oh, good move. That had to hurt.” I heard Scarlet say and realised she had been giving a running commentary the whole time. My brain had just been too shocked to register what she was saying. “That was impressive.” Scarlet said to Matthew, as he re-joined me. I just stood and blinked at him, not moving or saying a word.

  “You broke her!” Scarlet wailed. “She is a zombie.”

  Even that, could not get a response from me. I had never seen such efficient violence in my life. Television was completely different from the real thing.

  “She is not broken, just in shock.” Matthew informed Scarlet. “Come, we have to get out of here. If needed, we can get Richard to send us a team, to bring us back here. Scarlet can you scan and take pictures of everything in this room.”

  “What do you think I am? I did that long ago, before you marred the pretty floor hieroglyphics with the blood of your enemies. Oh, that sounds great, I can’t wait to tell Toby how you marred the floor with the blood of your enemies. He is going to be so jealous that he was not here to see it first-hand. The real world seems an awful lot like the game world. Tombs, dungeons, treasure hunts and enemies to vanquish.” Scarlet told us.

  Neither Matthew nor I stopped Scarlet from rambling on. I was not capable of anything at the moment. Meekly letting Matthew lead me out of the throne room and along the passage.

  “Nice!” Scarlet exclaimed. “The tunnel is closing up after you. I hope it takes care of those bodies as well. It would be messy when we come back here, if they were still there.

  Matthew got us out of the pyramid, but then instead of getting onto a bus, Matthew stopped a taxi and pulled me into it. The divide was up, so the driver should not be able to hear us, but I needed to be sure. I sent an NND to the front of the taxi, to hear if any sound came through. When I was sure we would not be heard, I nodded to Matthew, “It is fine, he cannot hear us.”