CHAPTER 1
THE DISCOVERY, PRESENT-DAY EGYPT

“I don’t know if I will ever get used to working in the heat of the Egyptian desert. I honestly think I am about to pass out,” Alex moaned. Her full name was Alexandra, but she preferred the simple, boyish name Alex.

“I told you to get a better hat, the holes in that one are going to sear your brain,” Mitch said.

“But it’s my favorite hat! Besides, I think it makes me look a little like Indiana Jones,” she said smiling and cracking an imaginary whip, as her long blond ponytail bounced and her bright blue eyes flashed with playfulness.

Mitch laughed at his partner, his darker eyes and complexion providing him more defense against the burning rays. “Back to reality, Alex! We have serious work to do and if we don’t speed things up, we’re toast. Dustimaine wants those ancient tools that were found yesterday to be cleaned and categorized by the end of the week.”

Mitch and Alex were members of an excavation team working near the Great Sphinx at Giza. They reported to Professor Abner Dusti-maine, who assigned them to finish up a site he had moved on from. The site was a large cellar, with an earthen stairway leading down into it. It was not far from a much larger site where he had found numerous ancient tombs, and where he was now focusing his own efforts. Very little had been found in the ancient cellar he left Mitch and Alex to work on, a few tools, broken pieces of pottery, but nothing of major consequence.

“I think Old Dusty really has it out for us,” Alex said as she brushed a few wayward hairs out of her eyes.

“Really? I never would have guessed that,” Mitch deadpanned. He then looked up at the massive monument that had fascinated them their entire young careers. “But at least we are working relatively close to the Sphinx.”

“Yeah, that is true,” Alex said, gazing up at it. “I guess I shouldn’t complain so much. It is extraordinary,” she sighed. After a few moments she looked back to her partner, “But we’re not actually doing our own work yet, are we? All we’re doing is making sure the boundaries of Old Dusty’s site are clearly identified and to search for any additional items he was too busy to look for. I’d bet if we both fell over dead right now, he wouldn’t even notice!”

“Sure he would, it would create more work for him having to cart out our corpses, and then he’d have no one else to do his grunt work for him. He’d be seriously choked with us if we kicked the bucket,” Mitch laughed. He then turned a bit more serious. “It is still an honor and a privilege to work in Egypt, Alex. It was our dream, remember?”

Alex nodded, thinking back to her father, Dr. Devlan Logan, who she had always idolized. A celebrated Egyptologist himself, he was responsible for igniting his daughter’s interest in Egyptology, opening her eyes to all the magic and wonder of one of earth’s longest-lived and most accomplished civilizations. His death had hit her hard. Alex wiped away a tear, “I know you’re right, Mitch. I shouldn’t complain so much. This is what we always dreamed about. It’s just so hard sometimes. I wish someone out there would give us a chance to do something bigger, you know, recognize our potential, like my dad did.”

Mitch smiled at her warmly. He knew how much her father meant to her and how much she missed him. “They will, Alex, they will some day,” Mitch said encouragingly, but inside, he felt exactly as she did.

“Logan! Carver!” a middle-aged man shouted at them.

“Oh no,” Alex whispered as the Professor stomped towards them.

Following closely behind the tall skinny frame of Professor Dustimaine, was his ever-present shadow Fessel C. Blothers. Fessel’s father was a wealthy philanthropist, who over the years had given millions to the university. As a result, Fessel was given a position that other more-deserving students were not given the chance for, in spite of his poor marks. Fessel was widely resented, but money could buy many things, even a spot in the highly competitive Egyptology program.

“Professor Dustimaine, we weren’t expecting you…” Mitch started to say.

“You two are falling further behind every day. What the devil are you doing out here?” the Professor demanded. He looked around, “Why did you let the workers leave so early?”

“Professor,” Alex said, “they had put in a full day already and Mitch and I need to catch up on our cataloguing.”

“Oh for crying out loud,” he said, shaking his head. “Those workers are here to be used, and you two don’t work them hard enough. The University’s paying for them and we expect full value for our money! You two are the only candidates falling behind, if that means keeping the workers here for longer hours to get ahead so be it. The rest of us have no problem making them work overtime.”

“But Professor,” Mitch tried to explain, “we don’t actually need them right now…”

“I don’t care what your excuses are, you are pampering those workers.” He leaned closer to them, “If you don’t get your act together and start producing better results, I am going to have you both kicked out of the program!” With that, he stormed off.
Fessel, still trailing behind his boss, looked back at Mitch and Alex, sneering.

“Little rat…” Alex whispered under her breath, glaring back at Fessel.

Even though they were still upset from being reprimanded and were growing very tired, Mitch and Alex soldiered on. They were clearing away some dirt and sand to allow them to get a good start in the morning and move on to the finer, more detailed work.

“Ugh, I am so sweaty!” Alex groaned. “My clothes are filled with sand and my back is aching.” She sat up and tried to stretch a little. “This has been one crappy day.”

“Didn’t you mention something earlier about not complaining so much?” Mitch grinned at her.

“You’re heartless! May millions of grains of sand find their way into your underclothes,” she retorted.

“Already done,” he said as he sat down. “Have I mentioned how much I hate Dustimaine?”

She laughed.

Pushing themselves even harder and ignoring their own weariness, thanks to Dustimaine’s harsh words, Mitch and Alex continued to work in the hot Egyptian climate for another couple of hours. Dehydration kept threatening them as their water supplies dwindled. They had not meant to stay out so long.

Finally, Alex sat down, exhausted. Her mood had darkened and she had grown quiet. It had been a long day, very long, with little to show for their efforts. She wondered if they ever would. She sighed and took a long drink of water, leaving only a few drops left. She felt unusually tired, defeated. A sense of hopelessness welled up. She kept these feelings to herself; she didn’t want Mitch to know. Alex closed her eyes. A heaviness overtook her as she fell fast asleep.

She awoke. She was alone. She panicked, how long have I been asleep? she wondered. Where was Mitch? She called out, but her voice sounded distant, strange. Why was it so dark? Surely there should be some light this close to Cairo.

Her heart started to beat fast. This was wrong, very wrong. She tried to yell out, but her voice was drowned out by a sudden, ferocious windstorm. Sand pelted her. She covered her face. She stumbled around, trying to feel for shelter. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t hear.

She tripped over something and fell hard. She looked down, her pantleg was torn. Whatever she had tripped on glinted in the moon-light. She looked closer – it was a smooth stone chest engraved with an ankh.

She reached out to touch the chest, laying her hand on it, but it was searingly hot. She cried out, her hand now badly blistered and burnt. She tried to get up, but she stumbled and fell. The air thickened, the wind stopped.

The chest started to glow like steel in a forge. She heard a massive explosion behind her. It came from the direction of the Sphinx.

She turned to see a wall of flame shooting towards her. The heat was intense, her lungs burned in pain. She screamed, turned and ran.

“Alex!” Mitch yelled out. His partner had suddenly screamed and taken off like a shot from where she had been resting. She had scared the living daylights out of him. He watched as she blindly ran from their site. “Alex, stop! What are you doing?” He got up to go after her.

Not hearing her partner, she ran blindly away from the flames she still saw and felt. Her footing was uncertain, unsteady. She didn’t see the slight depression in the sand. Her right foot landed in it full flight, stopping her dead in her tracks. She fell hard.

Mitch came racing up beside her. “Alex! What the hell has gotten into you? Are you hurt?”

She heard him this time. She was disoriented, confused. “Where were you?”

“What do you mean where was I? I’ve been near you the whole time, working while you catnapped.” He noticed her leg, “Geez Alex, you scraped your leg pretty good, it’s bleeding.”

She looked down at her torn pantleg, stunned, but she had already torn it, hadn’t she?

“Come, I’ll help you up.” He lifted her to feet, but she winced in pain.

“I-I think I sprained my ankle,” she said.

“Man, you took a bad fall,” Mitch said. “You are quite the klutz you know,” he grinned.

She laughed a little. Mitch always made her feel better. “I think I sprained my big toe, too.”

He just looked at her shaking his head.

“What? I’m serious, I’m hurt!” she pouted, her head clearing. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why did you go running off all of sudden like a mad woman? One minute you’re sleeping quietly, the next you freak out and run away? Something crawl up your pantleg?”

She playfully swatted him.

“You scared the crap out of me, you lunatic,” he said. “Seriously, what was that all about?”

She thought for a moment, remembering the images of the flames. She suddenly remembered her hand. She gasped, holding it out, expecting to see burned flesh. But there were no burns. She felt slightly disoriented. Slowly more details came back to her, “I must have fallen asleep and started dreaming. It seemed so real.”

Mitch listened as she recalled the strange and frightening reverie. “Whew,” he said. “I think you must have got some serious sunstroke today.” He felt her forehead; it was burning hot. “Come on, let’s get going.” He helped her as she limped along beside him.

“Wait,” she said, “what did I trip over?”

“Probably your own feet.”

She elbowed him, “I did not.”

He feigned injury, then laughed, “Alex, you ran off like your hair was on fire.”

She looked around at the spot where she fell. She tried to kneel down to take a closer look, but winced again. “Could you help me down?” she asked.

Mitch helped lower her gently. “Maybe we should get you bandaged up first.”

“No,” she replied distractedly, ignoring the growing bloodstain on her pants. “Later.”

“Stubborn as ever…” he sighed.

“My foot hit something solid.”

“Like a rock?” he asked facetiously.

“Here,” she pointed as she leaned over to brush some sand away. “This is no rock.”

He knelt down beside her. She was right. It was definitely not a rock.

“Help me dig this out.”

“Hang on a minute,” Mitch said, “I’ll go get our tools.”

Excited, they quickly established a small work area and set to clearing away the sand and rocks.

A smooth, stone surface was revealed. Their eyes grew wide as they saw what appeared to be a large, carved ankh, the Egyptian symbol of immortality, of life.

“I don’t believe it,” Alex said. “My dream…in my dream, I tripped over this.”

Mitch couldn’t believe it either. It was just as Alex had described. “Either this is a helluva a coincidence or you’re developing psychic powers.”

“Whatever it is, I think we were meant to find this,” she said.

“Fate, my dear Ms.Logan?”

“Why not?” she replied, shrugging her shoulders. “We’re due for a break if you ask me.”

They resumed digging. Finally, the mysterious chest was freed from its long-hidden, desert-resting place. They fell back and sat in the sand, both staring dumbfounded at what they had unearthed.

For a few moments, they were speechless, not taking their eyes off the chest. It was about one foot tall, by two feet long and one foot wide. It appeared to be carved from solid granite and was covered by strange-looking hieroglyphs. However, the most prominent symbol was the first one they had seen on the top of the chest. It was the only one on the lid, an intricately carved ankh, about twenty inches long.

“The ankh is figured so prominently, it’s very unusual,” she said.

Mitch nodded, “It’s usually accompanied by a series of hieroglyphs. And look at it, it has detailing in it like nothing I’ve seen before.”

“These symbols look an awful lot like ancient Egyptian hiero-glyphs,” Alex started, “but they’re kind of different. I can’t read them.” She looked to Mitch and realized he was having the same problem. “Maybe this is an early form we haven’t come across before?”

“Maybe…” he replied, as his fingers gently, but shakily, traced the symbols. “These carvings are so smooth, as if they’ve never been weathered, like they were carved by a laser beam just yesterday, yet they’re not sharp.”

“Want to open it?” Alex asked.

“Let’s examine it more closely first and see if we can decipher any-thing else about it,” Mitch said.

They continued to study the strange hieroglyphs.

“I don’t get it. I can’t make any of these out,” Mitch said in frustration.

“Do you have the most up-to-date list of known hieroglyphs?” Alex asked. “Maybe it’s a collection of obscure, little known glyphs.”

“Yeah,” he replied, “it’s here somewhere.” He rifled through the many pockets on his vest for a small book of hieroglyphs. He put on his reading glasses and began flipping pages in the well-worn book. After a few moments, he said, “Seriously, Alex, I can’t find them.”

“Well, maybe your eyes are going,” she quipped.

“You take a look then, smarty-pants,” he said handing her the book.

She looked through it, but also to no avail. “Very strange, looks like we have some research to do, or...”

“Or what?” Mitch asked.

“Or maybe we can find some answers by looking inside,” she said.
“Maybe,” Mitch replied, looking at it. “I just don’t want to break anything.”

They examined the chest further, but it seemed to be just a simple lid on top, no latches, nothing to undo.

“Well, I don’t see any harm in opening it,” Mitch said, “unless you think because of your dream that it’s boobytrapped and going to blow up on us.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said, her unease over her dream quickly being replaced by excitement and curiosity at the very real artifact before them.

They painstakingly cleaned the caked-in sand out of the groove be-tween the base and the lid and pried the lid off. They carefully laid it down on the sand beside them. Inside the chest were two metal cylinders, silver in color. Alex and Mitch each picked one up to examine.

“Mitch, they’re…they’re metal,” Alex whispered incredulously.

“Amazing…” he said.

“But this isn’t, I mean, no one has ever, there’s no record of such things…” she started to say.

“I know, I can’t explain them either.” Mitch looked at Alex for a moment. “What have we found? I mean, as strange as finding metal objects like these is the fact that they are as intricately carved as the chest.”

Alex was silent for a moment, trying to make sense of what they had discovered.

As they examined the finds, they saw that this time the ankh was carved on the top and bottom of each of the cylinders. Inlaid in each of the four ankhs were gems that seemed iridescent. Glowing as if from within, the sapphire, emerald, topaz, and ruby-colored gems shined and sparkled with untold depths. They were far more beautiful than any gem Mitch or Alex had ever seen.

“These are incredible,” Alex exclaimed. “Alone they would be priceless.” She paused. “Mitch, nothing like this has ever been found before in Egypt.”

“I know,” he responded, “they’re going to be invaluable additions to the Cairo Museum. I think people are going to start taking us seriously now.”

“What type of metal do you think these cylinders are made of?” she asked.

“I have no idea. They feel strong, like iron, but the metal is so silvery and perfectly smooth.”

“Do you want to open them?” Alex asked as she continued to gaze at the cylinders, fascinated. “Maybe they contain documents of some sort.”

She reflected on how the one thing that has been missing from Egypt’s ancient history were written records of how and why its’ magnificent monuments were built.

Mitch shook his head, “No, not here. It’s getting dark. I think we should go talk to Professor Dustimaine first, let him know what we’ve found. This could affect the direction this entire excavation is taking.”

“That’s exactly why we shouldn’t tell him, Mitch!” Alex protested. “You said it yourself, you’ve heard rumors about him taking credit for his candidates’ work. How hard have we worked just to gain enough status to participate in this dig? If we take this to Old Dusty, he’s just going to grab it away from us and take all the credit. I bet he wouldn’t let us near any of this again once we handed it over. Just think about what we’d be giving up. This could be the discovery of a lifetime!”

Mitch considered her comments. “You’re right, but eventually we’re going to have to tell someone. If Professor Dust Bucket found out that we’ve kept finds from him, he’d kill us first, strip us of our meager credentials second, and then send us home. We are already in hot water with him. You heard him earlier. He’d make sure we’d never work in the field of archaeology again. Besides, where do you think we’re going to get the time to do any additional research?”

“Tell you what, why don’t we just do a little homework on our own first, get a little less sleep for the time being. We’ll quickly analyze this ourselves, and then, when we have something more solid put together, which is unmistakably our work, we’ll bring it to him.”

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to find a few answers on our own. It would show we have initiative and that we’re resourceful,” Mitch conceded. “Maybe then, he’ll start respecting us a bit more.”

“He’ll have to!” she exclaimed. “Here, let’s pack them up.”

They carefully placed the cylinders back inside the chest, and hid it in a duffel bag, which they carried back with them along with the rest of their equipment.

“Do you think we can keep this out of sight from Dustimaine?” Mitch asked. “We have to watch out. He sometimes has that skinny little weasel, Fessel, check up on us.”

“We’ll be cautious,” Alex assured him.

“Let’s go find Jack and Bob,” Mitch said, “I’m sure they’ll be pretty interested in what we have to show them.”

“Hang on,” Alex stopped him, “let’s keep my dream to ourselves, alright. I don’t need anyone thinking I’ve lost my marbles or anything.”

“Too late!” Mitch gleefully replied.

She smacked him, “Seriously, Mitch. Not a word!”