Atlantis

Chapter 37

Standing at the entrance to the Fayyum Oasis, the pyramid of Amenemhet III looked more like an Indian mound than an Egyptian monument. Constructed of mudbrick over a series of chambers and corridors, the pyramid once boasted a limestone facade. Over the years, the exterior stone had been stripped away for use in construction, leaving the mudbrick core exposed to the elements. Now, its original, pyramidal shape was barely evident. The last rays of the setting sun lent a reddish-brown cast to the once-magnificent monument. All in all, it made for an unimpressive sight.

“It looks like a pile of dirt,” Bones observed.

“That’s a good thing,” Jade replied. “It’s not an impressive sight, which means it doesn’t draw tourists like the Giza complex does.”

“Where’s this awesome temple and labyrinth?” Bones sounded affronted.

“All that’s left are stones from the original foundation.” Sofia gazed at the scattered remnants of Egypt’s past glory, a sad smile on her face.

“We don’t care about that. We need the entrance to the underground chambers, which, according to Krueger’s notes, can be accessed through the main pyramid entrance.” Dane had spent the entirety of the flight studying the notes. Sofia was already familiar with the details, but Jade and Bones hadn’t had the chance to study them. Or, more accurately, Bones chose to sleep his way across the Atlantic, while Jade was either too proud, or felt too guilty about the way she’d treated Dane in Japan to ask for a turn. That, of course, did not prevent her from stealing glances over his shoulder whenever she got the chance.

Sand crunched beneath Dane’s feet and a dry breeze ruffled his hair as he approached the pyramid. A hand-lettered sign identified the pyramid as Middle Kingdom, gave its height as fifty-two meters, its base width one hundred, and directed them toward the entrance which lay at the pyramid’s south face.

A narrow walkway led to the spot where three monolithic slabs of limestone formed the entryway. Here, portions of the interior corridors peeked out from the eroded mound of bricks. Taking one last look around for unwelcome visitors, be they local authorities or Dominion agents, Dane led the way into the darkness.

They descended a stone staircase that ended in a small, rectangular chamber. Dane shone his Maglite on the ceiling, revealing an opening.

“Bones, will you do the honors?”

“Sure. I love being your personal stepladder.” One by one, Bones boosted his three companions up to the chamber above them, and then, with a helping hand from Dane, climbed up himself.

This chamber ran at a ninety degree angle to the one below, ending in an alcove, where Anubis, the Egyptian protector of the dead, stood watch. The paint was faded, but the god was easily recognizable. Moving as if in sync, Jade and Sofia took out digital cameras.

“No time for that,” Dane said. “Besides, I’m sure you can find pictures of this chamber online. It’s not exactly a secret.”

“But there is a secret passageway somewhere?” Bones asked.

“There is. This chamber was a decoy. Once upon a time, stout doors guarded that alcove. Grave robbers would waste time breaking them down, only to find themselves cursed by Anubis.” He shone his light on hieroglyphs carved above the god’s jackal head. “The true path lies above.” He pointed to another trapdoor in the ceiling. “You have to pass through three of these dead-end chambers in order to get to the burial chamber. But we don’t need to go quite that far.”

“What do you mean?” Bones asked.

“You’ll see in a minute.”

Like the chamber they’d just exited, this one was also rotated at a ninety degree angle to the one below and ended in an alcove guarded by Horus.

“Do we go up again?” Bones glanced up at the ceiling.

“We would if the burial chamber was our goal. But what Krueger discovered is that this particular chamber isn’t quite the dead end it appears to be.” He made his way to the alcove, stepped up onto the ledge, and ran his fingers across the hieroglyphs, the ancient stone cool and smooth to the touch. A shiver passed through him as he reflected on the fact that someone had stood in this very spot, nearly four thousand years ago, and carved these symbols. For a moment, he felt a brief kinship with that workman. What was life like for him? Could he have imagined how long his work would endure?

“Are you awake?” Sofia asked.

“Don’t mind him,” Jade said. “He’s a history buff and he sometimes gets weird around very old things.”

“You should have seen him scamming on my grandmother last Christmas.” Bones chuckled.

Dane ignored them. His fingers stopped on a flat hieroglyph that resembled a rowboat.

“This is the symbol for a door or gateway.” He pressed his fingers against the glyph and felt it give way. It slid back, creating a handhold which he gripped and rotated a quarter-turn, then released as the entire wall slid to the side.

“Awesome,” Jade marveled, while Bones hummed the theme to Indiana Jones.

The passageway behind the trapdoor was so steep that they were forced to descend with the aid of handholds on the wall. By the time they reached the bottom, Sofia dripped with sweat and gasped for breath. Jade was in better condition, though she leaned against the wall to catch her breath.

“It’s good thing we’ve got Krueger’s notes, or else we’d be screwed.” Bones shone his light down the corridor. It ran straight ahead, well beyond the Maglite’s glow, and intersected a cross-hall every ten meters. An engraved column stood at each intersection. “There’s something we need to decide right now.”

“What’s that?” Dane consulted Kruger’s notes.

“Which one of us has to fight the Minotaur?”

“Wrong culture.” Sofia laughed and squeezed Bones’ arm.

Jade and Dane exchanged knowing glances.

“Straight ahead, seventh passageway on the left.” Dane headed off down the corridor at a brisk walk, forcing the others to hurry to keep up.

“How did Krueger find his way through here?” Jade tried to walk and take in the scene all at once. She stumbled, and Dane caught her around the waist.

They froze for an instant, gazing into one another’s eyes, the sudden closeness foreign, yet so familiar.

“Get a room,” Bones jibed.

Jade pulled away from Dane and brushed invisible dirt from her knees. “Such tact.” She shot a dirty look Bones’ way. “It’s truly a wonder some woman hasn’t snapped you up.”

“I’m a roller coaster,” Bones replied. “I’m a short ride, but it’s always fun while it lasts.”

“You should try thinking about baseball,” Dane suggested.

“I didn’t mean…” Bones sputtered while the ladies laughed. “Forget it.”

“Krueger found the chamber by looking for places where Anubis and the gateway hieroglyph appeared together. Like this.” They had reached the seventh cross-hall. Here, Anubis faced left, the gateway symbol hovering between the tips of his long ears.

Aided by Krueger’s notes, they followed where the jackal god led, winding through the labyrinth in a dizzying set of twists and turns, until Dane was certain the whole thing was an elaborate ruse and they would spend the rest of their short lives wandering through this dark maze of sand and stone.

“Does Krueger say how long it should take to get there?” Jade’s tone held a hint of nervousness.

“It probably took him quite a while since he didn’t have directions to follow. He would have been forced to inspect every column and make notes along the way.” Dane flipped to the next page in Krueger’s notebook. “If we haven’t made a wrong turn somewhere along the way, it should be around the next corner.”

“Don’t jinx us, Maddock,” Jade said. “I don’t have the energy to go back and start over.”

There was no need to start over. The next turn led them to a dead end, just as Krueger said it would. And to what he claimed was the doorway to the Hall of Records.

“It looks just like the photographs.” Sofia beamed. Krueger’s journal included several snapshots of this wall, where, beneath the now-familiar gateway hieroglyph, an Egyptian carver had rendered the constellation Orion.

“Orion? Here?” Bones gave Maddock a knowing look. This wasn’t the first time Orion had figured into one of their mysteries.

“This definitely seems out of place.” Jade reached out and ran her fingers along the curved line of stars that formed the hunter’s shield. “But if this is a door, where’s the handle?”

“And what makes you think we can get in when Krueger couldn’t?” Bones added.

“Take a close look at his belt.” Dane winked at Sofia while Bones and Jade shone their lights on the carving.

Bones saw it first. “The stars are shaped like the indentations on top the Atlantean weapon we took from Daisuke.”

“Avery and I both recognized the shapes the moment they saw the photographs.” Sofia’s voice trembled with excitement.

“Did anyone bring the crystals?” Jade asked.

Dane drew a small pouch from his pocket. “What? Did you think we were going to scout it out and then fly back for the crystals?”

“Don’t be an ass,” Jade snapped. “I was just asking.”

“Quiet, you two.” Bones hissed.

“He has no call to talk to me like that.”

“I hear it too,” Dane said. “Listen.”

The corridor went dead quiet as they all strained to listen. Dane heard it again — whispered voices somewhere in the labyrinth.

They looked at one another. Jade and Sofia appeared stunned, Bones determined. There was only one logical conclusion.

The Dominion had taken Krueger alive, and they were about to catch up.