The aircraft was older than Hank by at least a decade or more. Its silvery aluminum wrapper and twin prop engines were a reminder of flying days of yesteryear.
“You sure this thing is safe?” Hank asked as he climbed aboard.
“She’ll get us where we need to go,” Sid replied from the cockpit.
Sean and Tommy had been in sketchier airplanes, so they were comfortable with Sid’s aircraft. Slater obviously was as well.
“No substitute for being prepared, eh?” Sean said to Slater.
“Absolutely,” Slater said. “Sid runs a tight operation. Some people might say he’s a micromanager, handling everything himself. In his line of work, though, it’s probably safer that way.”
Tommy was sitting in the seat closest to the cockpit. He leaned around and looked in at the array of controls. Sid was busily flipping switches, running through his preflight check.
“How long you been flying?” Tommy asked.
“Me? Oh, I’ve never actually flown a plane before. Just picked up this old jalopy last week on a whim. Thought it might be fun to try out flying.”
Tommy’s forehead crinkled, matching the concerned frown on his face. “Wait, what?”
Sid smirked. “I’m just messing with you, mate. Been flying over ten years now. Got a few thousand hours. You’ll be safe with me.”
Tommy offered a tenuous laugh and leaned back in his seat. Despite Sid’s reassurance, now he wasn’t as comfortable as he’d been before.
Once the plane was in the air and leveled out at cruising altitude, Sid spoke into the headsets. “Feel free to move about that cabin and all that. This flight will be a non, non-smoking flight. So, smoke ’em if you got ’em.”
The men in the main part of the cabin looked at each other with quizzical expressions. Slater was in the copilot seat, and he turned around with a big grin on his face.
“You boys don’t smoke, do you?”
The other three shook their heads.
“Then I suppose we’ll wait until we land to light up.”
“Thank you,” Tommy said. “That’s very considerate.”
Slater snorted. “I wasn’t being considerate. We just don’t have any cigars on board.”
“Cigars?”
“Yep. Never smoked cigarettes. But I do enjoy a good cigar.”
He turned back around and stared out the side window at the vast wasteland below.
“It all looks the same, doesn’t it?” Slater said.
The deserts almost seemed endless. Vast stretches of sand as far as the eye could see, only occasionally interrupted by a town or a small oasis with clumps of trees.
Hank stared out the window for a minute like all the others. His mind wandered back to the treasure they were trying to find, and he turned toward Tommy.
“You said that we’re looking for the grandest pyramid, one that looks over all the others.”
Tommy nodded. Sean listened through his headset but kept his eyes out the window.
“And you said something about Anubis. I think I’ve heard that name before,” Hank said. His eyes were fixed on Tommy as he waited for an explanation.
“Yeah, so there are a couple of interesting things about this little riddle,” Tommy said, tapping the case in his lap with an index finger. “Normally, when people think of the largest pyramid on the Giza strip, they think of the biggest of the main three that are grouped together.”
“That’s not correct?”
Tommy shook his head. “No. I mean…yes, it is correct in that the great pyramid of Giza is larger than the other three and is certainly the biggest of any of the mainstream pyramids.”
“Mainstream?”
“Yes. You see, there is another pyramid that no one visits. It’s actually not really a pyramid in the sense of how it’s shaped. It’s open, so the chambers, pathways, and corridors are all exposed.”
Hank listened carefully. He’d never heard of such a pyramid, not that he was an expert on ancient Egypt. His knowledge on the subject was minimal at best.
“You’re right, Tommy. I’ve never heard about a pyramid like that before.”
“That’s because the Egyptian government doesn’t promote it. In fact, they almost go out of their way to make it seem like an unimportant part of history. There are no barricades to keep people out, no gates, no guided tours, nothing. It remains largely ignored by most visitors to the Nile River Valley.”
Hank considered Tommy’s explanation. “So, what makes you think that we’re going to find one of these stones at this unusual pyramid?”
“It’s bigger than the others, for starters. It’s built into a mountain a few miles from the main three. The pyramid actually is the mountain in a way.” He paused for a second and took a swig of water. “Whoever built it cut the passages and chambers straight out of the rock. The real key, however, is that it overlooks the other pyramids. If you stand on the top, you can see the big three off in the distance. It’s higher than all the others.”
“Which figures into that part of the riddle.”
“Exactly.”
Hank considered Tommy’s answer for a moment before asking his next question. “What about Anubis?”
“One of the ancient gods of the First Dynasty,” Sean answered. “For a time, he was considered to be the guardian of graves and ushered souls into the afterlife. By the time the Middle Kingdom began, he’d been replaced in that role by Osiris.”
Hank turned around and looked at Sean, who was still staring out his window. Sean twisted his head slowly and gazed at Hank with an unnerving look in his eyes, like a wild animal about to devour his prey.
Hank whipped back around to face forward for a second and then turned to Tommy. “Is that true?”
“Yep,” Tommy said. “He nailed it. Anubis is a strange figure in the grand scheme of Egyptian deities because he didn’t have a well-defined role in many of their myths. It’s thought that he was the guardian to the afterlife by some. Others consider him to be nothing more than a priest with an animal’s head. One thing that remains consistent is that in many hieroglyphs, Anubis is present for the embalming process during mummification.”
“Which is why he was considered to be the god of mummification by many,” Sean added.
“Correct.”
Hank was still confused. “Okay, so what’s so important about Anubis in regards to the stones we’re trying to find?”
Tommy shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. I do find it interesting that a deity that is considered somewhat unimportant in the history of Egypt is also mentioned in tandem with a pyramid that is as equally unimportant.”
It was a lot for Hank to take in, and he still didn’t reach any sort of clarity.
Tommy could see his associate wasn’t connecting the dots. “Maybe it will help to think about all this in terms of what we’re looking for from a zoomed out view. The lost city of Zerzura was said to be the final resting place for a relic that could give eternal life to humans.”
“Okay.”
“Since the dawn of time, people have been desperate to unlock the mysteries of the afterlife or to defeat death entirely and live forever. Zerzura was purportedly a place where the latter was made possible.”
“Until it was swallowed by the desert thousands of years ago,” Sean chimed in.
“Right,” Tommy said with a quick look back at his friend. “The legend says that the king of Zerzura, a man named Hussa, offended the gods by boasting that he was one of them. He claimed to possess a relic that could keep him alive forever. According to the story, the gods sent an earthquake to destroy Hussa’s temples, palaces, and the entire city. After that, the legend claims that the gods then sent a giant sandstorm to cover up any evidence that the place ever existed.”
Hank frowned. “Sounds a little hokey to me.”
“Indeed, but that’s the story.”
“And these stones,” Hank said with a perplexed look on his face, “they’re somehow supposed to magically make this city re
appear?”
“That’s what it sounds like.”
Hank blew air through his lips, making them flap loosely for a few seconds. “Sounds like a wild goose chase to me.”
“You would think that if you hadn’t seen the things we’ve seen,” Sean said. He was once again staring out the window at the desert below.
“Oh yeah? Like what?”
Slater was curious now and turned around in his cockpit seat to look back at Sean while he answered.
“We’ve seen all sorts of strange things in this line of work,” Sean said. He twisted his head and leveled his gaze at Hank again. “We’ve seen a man eat a piece of glowing fruit that killed him. We’ve seen a terrorist speak to a plate, and the plate answered. It’s easy to think of the supernatural as hokum or ridiculous until you see the unexplainable phenomena happen right in front of you. Then all your doubts just melt away.”
Hank’s eyes widened. “You’ve seen those things?”
“We’ve seen all sorts of weird stuff. Maybe someday we’ll have answers to some of it. I have a feeling that we won’t know it all until we meet the Almighty. But I know this: There are forces at work in this world that neither science nor religion can accurately explain. So, if I was you, I’d be prepared for darn near anything. Because if these tablets say that a desert city will rise from the sand, I’m inclined to think it’s entirely possible.”
Sean’s words lingered in the cabin amid the drone of the plane’s engines outside.
Hank hadn’t expected an answer like the one Sean gave. It caught him off guard.
“Supernatural?” Hank said. “You guys have seen that kind of stuff?”
“Now and then,” Tommy said.
“You say that like it’s no big deal.”
“I’m not a religious man, but I do consider myself to be a pretty spiritual guy. Sean does, too. We understand that there are forces at work in the universe beyond our feeble understanding. It’s a bit strange when you see some of those things happening right in front of you, but believing it can happen takes a little of the edge off.”
Hank shook his head. “I don’t know about all that. Pretty sure I’d freak out if I saw some weird stuff like you’re describing.”
“The universe,” Sean explained, “our reality, exists in a constant state of potentials. Only choices or observations change the reality. Our beliefs affect it. Many of the great spiritual teachers taught that. Even Jesus of Nazareth.”
“Well, I don’t know about all those miraculous things you guys are talking about, but if there’s a treasure popping up out of the desert at this Zerzura place, you can bet your sweet caboose I’ll be there to scoop up my share.”
Sean smiled at his friend’s materialistic sentiment. “If that’s what you’re looking for, maybe you’ll find it.”
“Anyway,” Tommy interrupted again, “I didn’t mean to make this a big spiritual discussion. Getting back to the pyramid in Egypt, I think we’ll be searching for a statue or maybe a drawing of Anubis. This clue suggests we’ll find the stone in the god’s shadow.”
“If it was in plain sight, someone probably would have already picked it up by now. Right?” Hank bounced his gaze from Tommy to Sean and back again.
“Probably. It’s a good bet the thing is hidden underground. We won’t know until we get there.”
“One thing we do know,” Sean interrupted, “is when we should look. Sunset.”
“That doesn’t give us a ton of room for error,” Slater said.
“No, it doesn’t. So, we should get to the site early and make sure we cover all the bases.”
He didn’t tell the others, but Sean had excused himself before they left the airport in Qatar and made a phone call. The way things had gone, it wouldn’t hurt to have a little backup. And Sean knew just the person for the job.
Chapter 12
Giza, Egypt
“Like we never left, huh?” Tommy said as he and the others exited the beige SUV and stepped into the hot desert air.
The blazing sun beat down on them from the western sky, sucking the moisture from their skin and lips in a matter of seconds.
“Yeah,” Sean said as he pushed his sunglasses closer to his eyes and took in their surroundings.
He’d been to Cairo more lately than he cared to remember. Each of the recent visits had resulted in some close calls. Based on the events of the last forty-eight hours, there was no reason to think this one would be any different.
Sean eyed the horizon but didn’t see anything suspicious. “Let’s move,” he said. “The sun will be setting in a bit, and I’d like to know where we need to be when it happens.”
“Good call,” Tommy agreed.
Sid had remained at the airport to refuel the plane and keep things ready in case they had to make a quick exit again like they’d done in Dubai. That left the other four to handle things at the pyramid. Slater had brought up the idea of staying at the airport with Sid, but Sean insisted he come along for the ride in case things went sour. No such thing as too many guns on one’s side in a fight.
The group took a short detour into the city to get new phones for Tommy and Sean since theirs had been confiscated by Dufort and his men. They also got cleaned up from their dirty, sweaty encounter in the Empty Quarter.
Sean looked up the remainder of the hill from where they’d parked. It was a few hundred feet to the top. They were already close to level with the top of the great pyramid off in the distance.
“It’s just like you said, Schultzie. It’s like they’ve completely ignored this place.”
“I know. It’s weird, isn’t it?”
“Sure is,” Hank chimed in. “No gates, no fences, nothing. Almost like the Egyptian government doesn’t think it’s important.”
“And they reroute people to the other pyramids,” Sean said. “Classic diversionary tactic. If no one thinks this place is significant, they won’t come. The government promotes the other sites like crazy, and meanwhile this one sits idly by without much notice. It smacks of a cover-up to me, but I’m a bit cynical when it comes to things like that. So, I might be the wrong one to ask.”
Tommy smirked and shook his head twice. “Come on, cynic, let’s see if we can find a god with a dog head.”
The four men trudged along the worn path up the slope. Sean brought up the rear. His head was on a swivel, eyes scanning everywhere an enemy could hide. Still, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Deep down, he wished this one would be easy. One voice in his head kept saying that Dufort was gone, left behind in Dubai with no way to figure out where they’d gone. The other voice, however, was the one Sean usually heard more clearly. It was the voice that had saved his life on more than one occasion. That voice was telling him something wasn’t right, that things were too quiet.
They reached the top of the hill and paused to catch their breath. Tommy was the first to turn around and look out at the scene below. The city was off to the left with the main three pyramids of Giza standing tall on the plateau across the Nile.
From their vantage point, the four men could clearly see that the mountain pyramid was easily higher than any of the others.
“Definitely the tallest,” Slater said with his hands on his hips. “I hope your translation of those tablets was right. Otherwise we’ve just wasted a heck of a lot of time coming up here.”
“It was correct,” Tommy said. “I’ve looked over it several times. This has to be the place.”
He led the way down into a passage lined on both sides by smooth cut stone. The rock was so precisely cut that it appeared to have been done by machines.
Hank noticed the craftsmanship and ran his fingers along the stone. “How in the world did they do this so perfectly thousands of years ago? It’s like it was done with lasers.”
“There are some historians and archaeologists who believe it was done by machines or some form of ancient technology we no longer know about.”
They crossed a threshold into a more open area that wo
uld have been a chamber if there was a roof. Instead, it appeared more like a big open-air room. There were huge stones lying on their sides, strewn about in several places. They might have been pillars long ago but now appeared more like benches. Smaller rocks, possibly a fireplace, surrounded a pit carved into the floor.
Tommy noticed something over to the right and motioned for the others to follow. He stopped at a wall carved from the rock and pointed to some holes cut through it. He peered through the openings and saw there was a room on the other side.
“Look at these holes,” he said.
Sean stepped close to one of them and ran his finger along the inner edge. “It’s perfectly smooth.”
“And even, too,” Tommy added. “This couldn’t have been done with hand tools, not for this depth of cutting.”
Hank and Slater each raised an eyebrow and glanced at each other with a dubious expression.
“Over here,” Tommy said, motioning to a recessed section in the chamber’s floor. It had been cut into a perfect rectangle. “Here’s another one. This entire chunk was cut right out of the rock.”
“Like it was all done in one piece,” Sean said, mesmerized.
“You two sound like a couple of those alien conspiracy theory guys,” Slater said with a chuckle.
“I’m not suggesting it was aliens who did all this,” Tommy defended. “What I am saying is that the people who were here long ago must have had access to technology we never believed possible. It’s the only explanation.”
“That or they just had some really skilled craftsmen.”
Tommy shook his head and pointed at a nearby wall. “Look over here,” he said, taking a few steps to the wall. “See this, where it looks a little blackened?”
The others nodded. “Those are scorch marks.”
Slater shrugged. “Maybe they had a fire.”
“Or maybe they had some kind of machinery we never learned about in school, something that made building the pyramids—their entire empire—much easier than we ever believed possible.”
The Sahara Legacy Page 9