Covenant

2

Ahmed Khan struggled to understand what Lucy Morgan had said.

“The remains are completely unmineralized,” Sheviz gasped before Ahmed could speak. “They are not comparable to any known variant of Homo sapiens. Awaiting analysis from Field Museum, Chicago.”

Ahmed shot a questioning glance at Lucy. “How can it not be human?”

“Look at the chest structure, the cranium, the fused sternum.”

Ahmed looked again at the remains and a tingling sensation rippled through his nerves. The skull cap was elongated as though stretched to double the height of a human cranium, the eye sockets were cavernous and shaped like giant teardrops, and the vast plain of the chest was a sheet of fused bone, only the base of the ribs visible, protruding from the spinal column still buried in the rocks.

“Cranial capacity, three thousand cubic centimeters,” Sheviz whispered, shaking his head. “A bigger brain than ours.”

Homo sapiens—modern man — had been believed for millennia to be the only intelligent species of life in the universe. Now, Lucy’s discovery had extinguished that fallacy as brutally and instantly as man’s first fires had banished the darkness and the beasts of the night. Here were the remains of an unknown species, immensely powerful in stature and yet seven thousand years old. Bigger. Stronger. Smarter.

“In the name of Allah, what is it then?” Ahmed asked.

“We don’t know yet,” Lucy said. “We need the measurements I’ve made to be examined and I need this specimen out of the ground and back in Jerusalem. Whatever it is, it didn’t evolve on this planet.”

The Bedouin glanced at the blackened void above, now shimmering with legions of stars.

“We should leave the camp. It’s dangerous to be out here at night.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Sheviz whispered reverentially, ignoring him. “This is going to change everything, rewrite the history books. We’re never going to look at ourselves the same way again.”

“We’re never going to look at anything again if we’re arrested by Israel,” Ahmed pointed out patiently. “We should return to Be’er Sheva and maybe come back tomorrow.”

“No way,” Lucy snapped. “We need to complete the excavation. Do you understand what this is? It shouldn’t be here.”

“Neither should we. You’re digging in a restricted military area.”

“This is more important than Israel’s damned restrictions.”

Ahmed struggled for words.

“Those remains have been here for seven thousand years; they’re not going to get up and run off any time soon.”

“This could be the most important scientific discovery of all time,” Lucy said.

“Perhaps, sadiqati, but I don’t want to be the next set of bones you dig up out here. Your camp lights are visible for miles. How long do you think it will be before Israeli soldiers notice them, or maybe even insurgents from across the Sinai?”

Before Ahmed could stop her, Lucy reached out and slid his rifle from his shoulder.

“Fine, we’ll see you back in Be’er Sheva in two days if you’re worried about guerrillas or a prison cell.”

Ahmed hadn’t expected such a thinly veiled challenge to both his authority as a guide and his courage as a man. He straightened his posture a little.

“As you say, I would not make a big deal out of nothing.”

Lucy tilted her head in acknowledgment. “Neither would we.”

Ahmed sighed heavily, shaking his head.

“I’ll radio the university from the jeep and tell them that you are safe.” He gestured to the rifle. “Six rounds. I’ll come back with supplies in the morning. Ma’assalama.”

Ahmed turned and strode away into the darkness, pursued by Lucy’s mysterious words. It’s not human. A profound thought crossed Ahmed’s mind. We are not alone in the universe. It occurred to him that the remains could be worth a fortune. He was attempting to calculate how much when a scream shattered the silence of the night behind him.

Ahmed whirled. “Lucy?”

The air burst out of Ahmed’s lungs as the weight of a man slammed into him and he fell hard to the unforgiving earth. He rolled onto his back and lashed out with one foot toward the silhouette of a man against the starlight above, slamming him hard in the groin. The man gagged and staggered backward as Ahmed scrambled to his feet.

The Bedouin lunged toward his attacker, but before he could reach him something heavy cracked across the back of his head and plunged him into a deep and silent blackness.