The Forbidden Tomb

64

Manjani leaped to his feet and began to pace around the room. ‘If the priests were abandoning the city, they wouldn’t have left their message so open-ended. They would have been explicit about where they were headed next.’

‘Why?’ Sarah asked.

‘Because they didn’t have cell phones and they didn’t have e-mail, and they were expecting the city to be swallowed by the sea. This was their one and only chance to get a coded message to their followers, whether it was a priest who was stationed in Thebes or a pilgrim from a faraway land who would read the message ten years later. Keep in mind only those fluent in the priestly language would know how to read the actual message. Everyone else would look at the symbols and think that Amun had spared the priests by warning them about the flood. That alone would have kept the priests safe from harm. No one — not even the Romans — would have risked the wrath of their god by chasing after the priests. This wall bought their freedom.’

Cobb smiled. ‘Two birds, one stone. It kept the guards away, and it told the followers of Alexander where the priests were relocating to.’

‘Exactly!’ Manjani said. ‘Now all we have to do is figure out the location.’

Sarah, who had more than a little experience when it came to classified information and the acquisition of valuables, viewed things from a different perspective. ‘I concede I know next to nothing about history, but I disagree with your assessment. There’s no way in hell that I would put all of the pieces to the puzzle in one place. I mean, why put your jewels in a safe if you’re going to leave the key in the lock?’

Manjani considered her statement. ‘You raise an interesting point. Perhaps they hid the key to the safe but kept it nearby. Do you have any film of the other walls?’

Cobb shook his head. ‘Not on my phone.’

‘What kind of key are you looking for?’ she asked.

Manjani answered. ‘It could be directions, a reference to a landmark, or even the actual name of the place involved. I’m not sure exactly, but I know there’s something missing from the coded message.’

Sarah shook her head. ‘There was nothing like that further down the tunnel. The only thing I found was a series of steps that led back up toward the surface. That’s where I found the glow stick.’

‘On the steps?’

‘No, after the steps. It was in the grotto by the water.’

He nodded excitedly. ‘That’s right! You mentioned that before but we haven’t discussed it. Please tell me everything.’

Sarah glanced at Cobb, wondering how much she should reveal. A subtle nod gave her permission to continue. ‘At the end of the steps was a grotto with a number of columns that held up the ceiling. The room was connected to the sea by an underwater channel. That’s how I made it out when the bombs went off. I swam to safety.’

Manjani closed his eyes, as if he were praying while he spoke. ‘Please tell me you have video from the cave. Please.’

Sarah honestly didn’t know the answer. Her flashlight camera had been working when she looked around the cave, but she was sure that the footage was a low priority for Garcia. Their focus was the wall, not the tunnel beyond.

Fortunately, Cobb knew that he had the video on his phone. He had seen a clip earlier when he and Garcia had scanned through everything that had been recorded. ‘We have some footage of the grotto, but it’s not that great. Why are you so anxious to see it?’

‘Why?’ Manjani asked as he stopped his pacing and sat beside Cobb to plead his case. ‘Because of the image of Amun in the pictograph! Remember, he’s the god of all gods, and the priests are his disciples. They will do whatever he asks them to do.’

‘Which is what?’ Sarah asked.

‘Think, you two, think! What’s he asking them to do in the message?’

Cobb thought back to the image of Amun on the pictograph. A few seconds later, the answer popped in his head. ‘I’ll be damned. He’s telling them to look at the water.’

‘Exactly!’ Manjani blurted. ‘On one level, he’s warning them about the approaching tsunami. On another, he’s literally telling them to look at the water. And where in the temple would they look at the water?’

‘In the grotto!’ Sarah answered.

Manjani smiled. After all this time, he finally remembered how much he had missed the thrill of the hunt. Still beaming, he turned toward Cobb and laughed. ‘So, does this mean I’ve earned the right to see the footage?’

‘Sure. What the hell.’

Cobb glanced through the files until he found the one that he was looking for. ‘This is everything we have from the steps and grotto.’

As the footage began to play, Manjani stared at the screen. His eyes were glued to the monitor as he watched Sarah make her way up the steps toward the surface. He slid to the edge of his seat as he watched her movement through the darkness, the beam of her flashlight reflecting in the pool just ahead. As she reached the water’s edge, she shined her light upward, illuminating the domed ceiling of the dark cavern.

‘There it is,’ Manjani announced.

Cobb paused the video and stared at the screen. He saw the natural grotto that had been reinforced by elaborate pillars. The ceiling had been chiseled smooth, rounded into the shape of a dome. Though he had seen the image before, he hadn’t given it much thought. And, admittedly, he still didn’t see anything noteworthy. ‘There what is?’

Manjani sat back in his chair. ‘The second half of the message.’

‘You’ll have to do better than that. All I see is a domed cavern.’

‘Look closer. You see the markings across the dome?’

Sarah moved in for a better look. ‘Yeah, what about them?’

Manjani reached for the mouse. ‘May I?’

‘Be my guest,’ Cobb said.

Manjani clicked through the options of the computer program, searching for the right adjustment. With the click of a button, the picture reverted to a negative image. Suddenly, the once black specks now glowed white against a dark background.

He looked at Cobb. ‘Does that help?’

‘Are those supposed to be stars?’

‘Better than that. You’re looking at a star map.’

‘Great,’ Sarah joked, ‘the tomb’s in space.’

‘No,’ Manjani assured her, ‘the tomb is on Earth. The map above will give us a location below. All we need is an archaeoastronomer to read it for us.’

‘An archaeo-what?’

‘An archaeoastronomer is an expert in archaeological astronomy.’

‘You’re making that up.’

‘I swear, it’s a legitimate field! For instance, they would be able to tell you how the position of the sun influenced the placement of the megaliths at Stonehenge, or why the plumed serpent magically appears in Chichen Itza during the equinox.’

Cobb groaned at the thought of an additional expert on his team, particularly one in such a limited field. ‘Let me see if I got this straight: based on the position of the stars in the sky, an archaeoastronomer will be able to use advanced math to give us a specific location on the ground. Is that what you’re saying?’

Manjani nodded. ‘That’s correct.’

‘Couldn’t a regular astronomer do that, or even a computer whiz?’

‘Theoretically, yes, if they had the right software to chart the sky.’

Sarah laughed. ‘In that case, we’re good to go. We have a nerd on staff.’