“The Egyptians,” Valerie said without blinking.
“The Egyptians?” Cody responded, letting the truck drift dangerously into another lane, “the ones from Egypt?”
“One in the same,” Valerie said with a laugh, her mind snapping back to the present, “but right now, you need to watch where you’re going.”
Cody brought the truck back in line as he continued to ask questions, “but Egypt is at least 6,000 miles away from the Grand Canyon, Valerie. Do you believe any of this?”
“I believe that it’s an intriguing story,” she answered, “and would probably make a good movie, but no, I never really believed any of it, it’s just that…” she hesitated as Cody stared at her.
“It’s just that, what? He asked.
Valerie looked at Cody’s rugged face and saw a face that probably thrived on excitement and adventure. “It’s just that your bird may actually be real, Cody,” she said as her pretty face lost some of its color. “It may date back thousands of years. What if it is Egyptian – what happens then?”
FIVE
Valerie had seen many photographs of Death Valley, but now venturing into the valley on Highway 190, she felt as if she was suddenly surrounded in a 360 degree IMAX theater experience. The landscape was both beautiful and foreboding. She was surprised by the number of cars on the two-lane road.
“I work with a great group of guys, Valerie,” Cody said as he turned off the main highway onto a sand and gravel side road. “They know I’m bringing you along, but pretty ladies are scarce out here so you may get some gawks.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been seriously gawked at,” Valerie responded with a broad smile, “but I believe I can handle it.” The rugged terrain surrounding the truck reminded her of the pictures she’d seen of the Mars landscape. She sat silent as she tried to imagine what might lie 100 feet below the surface of this desolate place.
“Tranquility Base just ahead,” Cody said as he slowed down.
Valerie saw a tall drilling rig and several parked trucks. She also noticed two portable structures that almost looked military. Several workers by the rig turned as Cody pulled up and stopped.
As Cody exited the truck and walked around to the passenger side, Valerie had already jumped down to the ground. He was okay with that. He knew she wanted to be accepted like one of the guys out here and not treated special. “This is our guest for the day, gentlemen,” Cody said turning toward Valerie, “Dr. Valerie Case; She’s the chief curator over at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.”
Everyone in the crew took off their hardhats and smiled. Ben Smith, the project manager stepped forward with his hardhat tucked under his arm; “You’ve really got a great museum down there in L.A., Ms. Case,” Ben said, shaking Valerie’s hand with a coal miner’s vigor, “My wife and I take our kids there as much as we can.”
“Thank you,” Valerie answered with a broad smile. She was trying her best to get used to the heat but she had stepped into a blast furnace after leaving Cody’s truck. “We try to vary the galleries and keep things interesting,” she said as the first beads of perspiration formed on her brow. She pushed the boney hat back a little. “We’ll rotate special exhibits in and out as often as we can.”
“Yeah,” Ben responded with excitement, “I remember the exhibit you had last year, the one about the mummies, I believe it was called the Secrets From The Tombs.”
Even in the 98 degree heat, Valerie felt a cold chill wash over her body as she turned to Cody. “That’s right,” she responded, “I’m glad you remembered it.”
Ben was about to say something else when Cody stepped forward. “Ms. Case wants to go down to see where we found the artifact, she’ll be riding in number one, and I’ll be in number two. We still have a stable tube?”
Affirmative,” Ben answered as he looked out to the tall tower that housed the equipment necessary to take them down into the hole. “Cars one and two are ready for descent.”
A four feet diameter hole had been cut into the sand and encased with curved carbon fiber walls. The main, six inch diameter drill tube was located against the wall of the encasement and tracking cables stretched downward for over 100 feet. The tracking cables carried two separate cars, as the crew called them, but the cars were actually three foot diameter caged platforms. A worker would stand on the metal platform to be lowered into the encasement shaft.
Cody had explained the details and procedures involving going down into the shaft while in transit to the site, and Valerie nodded and seemed to understand.
Now, standing by the drilling platform, Valerie was not so sure anymore. She was fitted with a helmet that had a wide LED light bar built into its face, and told about the emergency procedures that probably would not be needed. She was shown a three foot wide wire cage that would drop her into an abyss 100 feet below the earth.
“This will be your car, Ms. Case,” Ben Smith said, adjusting the straps on the back of her emergency harness, “You’ll be riding in number one – Cody will be right above you in number two.”
Cody could see panic growing in the curator’s eyes. “Valerie,” he said, as he removed his helmet and motioned for her to do the same, “we don’t need to do this, I’ve got cameras on the cars, I can send you video.”
Valerie looked at Cody and studied his face, “My big brother put me in a shallow hole he had dug when I was three,” she said. “It was a joke, supposed to be funny, but I was terrified that I would never get out.” She looked around at the crew as they watched them talking, “I need to do this,” she said, placing the helmet back on her head. “I assume you’ve got barf bags.”
Cody was about to answer when another crewman move quickly to intercept Ben. The project manager turned immediately to Cody and handed him a printout.
“We probably need to step into the trailer,” Cody said as he motioned for Valerie to follow. “There’s been a change of plans.”
SIX
The trailer was small, but air-conditioned, and Valerie felt the cold air blowing on her face as soon as she entered, but an even colder chill had washed through her body on the way to the trailer.
“There’s been a discovery,” Cody had told her in a whisper.
“Water?” she had asked.
“Not water,” he had responded as they climbed the steps to the trailer. The mobile unit was being leased from the state by Cody’s company and measured twelve feet wide and thirty feet long. It was known simply as the project trailer.
As Valerie and Cody sat down at a small table centered in the space, Ben Smith and another man soon entered the trailer.
Cody introduced the man with Ben as Mark Stone, assistant project manager and chief geological engineer.
“I wanted Ms. Case to hear this,” Cody said as he looked at everyone around the table, “as it certainly falls into her realm of expertise. Mark, would you brief us one what was found today?”
Mark went to a white board next to the wide side of the table and began drawing. “Cody, as you know, while you were in L.A. this morning, our drilling continued according to program.” He drew a horizontal line representing the surface of the earth, and then, a vertical line representing the drilling shaft. “Exactly one hour ago, as you and Ms. Case came on site, the drill operator indicated a spin off of the drill head.” He drew a horizontal line across the vertical line. “At 120 feet, the head separated as it broke through a thin crust of earth and spun out into open space.”
Valerie wasn’t sure what this all meant, but she knew that it was important.
Cody stood as he moved toward the white board. “Thank you, Mark,” he said as he retrieved a black marker from the board’s long tray. “We know now that what happened a few hours ago was unpredictable, and certainly unforeseen.” He drew a big oval beneath the horizontal line at 125 feet. He looked at all of the faces at the table, but particularly at Valerie’s. “We’ve found a chamber under the 125 foot line,” Cody said, “a chamber of undermined dimensi
ons, but evidently very large. Our mission is to still find water, but I believe we’ve found much more.” He turned to the flat screen on the wall and pressed a button on a hand held remote. “I wanted everybody here to see this at the same time.” He turned on the flat screen monitor as he sat down. “We are currently lowering a camera into the space so we’ll all see what the camera sees in real time.”
As the flat screen sparked to life, Valerie leaned forward. She was nervous and more excited than she had been in a long time.
As the video camera was dropped into the chamber, it showed a stone floor rising slowly in the flood of light. The floor was covered with sand, but the huge blocks of stone that made up its surface were clearly distinguishable. Then the camera panned to the right in the dark space. At first the broadcast images were of nothing but sandstone walls and scattered rocks on the floor, but then the light caught what appeared to be a columned portal.
Everyone around the table sat silent as they watched the camera zoom in on the ancient doorway. If not for the hum of the over-worked air conditioner, there would have been no sound at all in the small room.
As the camera continued to zoom in, the four quickly discovered that the columned off area was actually a deep alcove, a recess in the stone wall, like a display area in a museum.
Valerie gasped as she stood and put her hands on the table. She could not believe what she was seeing on the flat screen.
The lights from the camera played upon a huge beetle carved from sapphire, mounted to a polished stone face. The beetle had its finely carved wings spread out, like it was in flight. The intricate wings appeared to be made from gold.
“The Scarab Beetle,” she said in a low voice, trying to catch her breath. She walked over to the wall mounted monitor and stood staring in amazement, her face just inches away from the screen. Valerie turned and looked around the table at the others and realized that no one had even the vaguest notion as to the significance of this discovery.
“It’s the Talisman Scarab Beetle!”
SEVEN
As he and Valerie headed back to Los Angeles, Cody knew that the dynamics of the situation had shifted dramatically. If nothing else, he would surely lose his contract with the state and would probably have to lay off half his crew.
In her initial excitement, Valerie had contacted the director of the state archives and described to him their Death Valley discovery in detail. After her call, it had all happened so fast. The Department of Natural Resources was no longer in control. The drilling site was to be closed immediately and a different team was to be sent in – A team of state archeologist and research scientists. The Secretary of State had complete control of the situation now. Valerie Case had been assigned the job of directing the operation through the oversight of the museum. She would now be in charge of any additional drilling or excavation at the site.
“Cody, I am so sorry,” Valerie said as they drove back to Los Angeles, “I didn’t realize what this would mean to your company.”
“No need to stress over this, Valerie,” Cody responded, “my contract was going away in a couple of weeks anyway. You did the right thing out there today. What we saw on the video was incredible; I knew, as I was watching those images from the chamber that my time in Death Valley was pretty much over. That video from the hole put me off the map,” he said with a smile, “It’s time to move on.”
“Did you realize what that video was showing us today?” Valerie asked, her face flushed and very serious, “do you really realize the significance of what we saw?”
“Not a clue, Valerie,” Cody answered holding the smile, “but I know that it sure made your day.”
“The Scarab Beetle we saw was from Egypt, Cody,” she said a she turned toward him leaning hard against her seat harness. “It’s identical to the one that was on the wall in King Tut’s tomb.”
Cody sped down Interstate 5 as he considered Valerie’s statement. “But Egypt, Valerie, seriously – how could that be possible?”
“The Vikings came to North America, why not the Egyptians?”
“Across the Atlantic Ocean?”
“By 300 B.C. the Egyptians were building vessels over 100 feet long and were trading with territories and settlements all up and down the Mediterranean. They were crossing the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea.”
“But the Atlantic Ocean?”
“If the vessel was large enough, it could be possible,” Valerie nodded, “they could have easily navigated from the Mediterranean Sea right out into the North Atlantic.”
Cody looked at Valerie and squinted, “So you’re thinking maybe now that the Grand Canyon story might be true?”
“I don’t know what to believe now, Cody, all this has happened so fast.” Her cell phone rang and she recognized the number immediately; it was the director of the state archives.
“I’ve talked to your boss, Valerie,” the director said, “just to let her know that you’ve been put in charge of this special project.”
“Yes sir,” Valerie answered as she glanced at Cody.
“You’ll still be Chief Curator of the museum, Valerie, but your office will now be in Death Valley. The Secretary of State has authorized the use of whatever resources you may need to proceed with the excavation of the site.”
“I’ll need my own people, Mr. Tifton,” Valerie said with authority. “I know the state is sending in people, but I’d like to put together my own team.”
“Absolutely Valerie, you put together whatever team you need. The state people also know to take orders from you. You’ll be totally in charge.”
After terminating the call, Valerie looked over at Cody and beamed.
“You look like a little girl that’s just been set loose in a Barbie store.”
“How would you and your crew like to work for me?”
Cody raised his eyebrows and removed his weathered ball cap. He ran a hand through his dark hair. “Larson Engineering work for you?”
“For me and the museum – with a new state contract drawn up by me.”
“Was that the Governor on the phone?” Cody asked, studying the spark in her eyes.
“Close enough,” Valerie answered.
“I get triple time on weekends and holidays,” Cody responded with a chuckle as he put his cap back on.
“You not only will be working for me, but for the state of California,” she said, still beaming.
“Oh yeah,” Cody said, faking a frown and letting out a sigh, “In that case, I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Valerie laughed; “When we get back to the museum,” she said, looking at her watch, “we’ll go up to my office and work out the details.”
“Wow,” Cody responded as he nodded, “from rags to riches in less than two hours – will miracles never cease?”
EIGHT
The museum had closed by the time Cody and Valerie parked next to her SUV in the employee parking lot. As Cody followed, Valerie traced her way across a myriad of sidewalks to a narrow side door. She punched in a code, and then swiped her ID card – the door swung outward.
“Before we go to my office, I’d like to show you a few Egyptian items we have in our archives,” she said as she stepped into the hall. She pointed her cell phone at the ceiling and several can lights came on. “We’ve had some problems with the ground floor elevator, so we’d better take the stairs.”
Valerie had to swipe her card again to gain access to the stairway that led down into the basement archives.
“Must be pretty important stuff,” Cody said as they started down the stairs.
“Every part of history is important, Cody, and the related historic artifacts irreplaceable. We just try to be as secure as we possibly can.”
When they reached the bottom of the stairway, Valerie opened a panel on a dimly lit wall. She keyed in a code and the basement ceiling came alive with a flurry of light. Cody was taken aback by the number of display cases and glassed in areas around the perimeter of the room. Just in a quick
glance, he could see dozens of artifacts, some large and some very small. Cody let out a low whistle. “Man-oh-man,” he exclaimed, “your entire archives must be dedicated to Egyptian history.”
“This is the Egyptian quadrant,” Valerie explained, “There are twenty other quadrants on this floor that house various other artifacts and historic memorabilia from all over the world.”
Cody stared at Valerie for a few seconds then took a slow look around him. “How many square feet do you have in your archives?”
“A little over 50,000,” Valerie answered with a proud smile. “The basement area has the same footprint as the first floor.”
“Incredible,” Cody responded, shaking his head from side to side. “I would have never dreamed that all this space was down here.”
“Let me show you a few key items in the Egyptian collection,” she said as she moved toward a row of dimly lit cases. “We rotate items in the collection out on a quarterly basis.” She said as she pointed to a beautiful black and gold chair in the first case. “Third Dynasty, fifteen hundred BC.” There next to the chair, on a high pedestal, was a life size sculpture of a cat. “The cat’s a little older – by about 500 years,” she said, pointing to a mask hanging on the backwall of the case; “A funeral mask, or death mask – part of the Twelfth Dynasty.”
In a tall case by itself was a human size sculpture with a bird’s face. Cody was amazed at the detail of the carving and the bright inlaid colors.
“That’s HORUS, Valerie said, “the Falcon God – eighth century B.C.”
“Wow, you’ve got everything so well displayed,” Cody said. “So you bring visitors down here?”
“Not the general public,” she answered with a grin, “just VIPs like yourself. These cases are set up as environmental test cases. We test the lighting levels, humidity and air quality daily, but the artifacts will eventually be moved back into storage or upstairs during rotation periods.”
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