Kathlyn Trent, Marcus Burton 01 - Valley of the Shadow (10 page)

“Dennis, do you copy?” Marcus asked as they neared the bottom.

Reams came back. “We read you, Marcus, but the signal is weakening.”

“Copy that. We've got another corridor. Mark it Corridor C.”

"Copy."

At the bottom of the steps, the shaft narrowed dramatically. Marcus had to bend down to clear the ceiling, the flashlights playing against the white-washed walls. But they suddenly emerged into a brilliantly painted corridor with the Book of the Dead emblazoned across the ceiling and walls. It was magnificent.

“My God, will you look at this?” Juliana said, awe in her voice. “The colors are incredibly vibrant.”

From the colorless gloom of the entryway to the abrupt brilliance of the smaller passageway, it was as if they were suddenly propelled back into Ancient Egypt. The figures of Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephyths literally danced off the walls, singing the ancient songs for a new generation. It was hard not to stop and read, symbol by symbol, but there was more waiting up ahead and the purpose of this trip was reconnaissance. Later there would be time to come back, reflect, and absorb. Kathlyn could hardly get past the stuff. She wanted to sit right down and camp out on it.

“Isn’t this gorgeous?” she whispered to Marcus. “It’s absolutely amazing.”

“Come back, Dr. Trent,” Dennis was crackling in her ear. “We didn’t copy that.”

Marcus grasped her hand, caressing her fingers and pulling her along behind him. “We’ve just come across the Book of the Dead, painted on the walls of the Corridor C,” he said, the cobalt blue eyes moving over the ceiling. “It’s magnificent.”

The corridor seemed to narrow further, but it was an optical illusion, as the floor actually lifted. Suddenly, the shaft ended and a massive black face was staring at them. Kathlyn started, whereas Juliana actually shrieked with surprise. Marcus stared up at the thing, his eyes wide with surprise.  He stared at it a moment before reporting into his headset.

“Dennis,” he said. “We have a bust of Anubis at the end of the Corridor C, approximately seven and a half cubits high by four cubits wide. It appears to be made out of black granite and it's the meanest looking son-of-a-bitch you've ever seen. It sits in a chamber we're going to designate as Chamber D.”

Lynn let out a whistle as he examined the imposing features. “Twelve feet of solid black granite. That’s a hell of a lot. How did they get it through that damn corridor?”

No one had an answer. The only theory Marcus could come up with, he didn’t like. To get something like that into this chamber would mean there had to have been a second entrance. No, he didn’t like that in the least.

Moving away from the bust, they focused on the chamber itself. It was absolutely massive, spanning twenty foot ceilings, all painted with scenes from the Book of the Dead. Gold, yellow, blue and white glistened. A humongous stone arch gripped the ceiling and walls just behind the bust of Anubis, carved to symbolize the sky goddess Nut lying over the land. But a few feet past the carving, the floor dramatically cut off into a deep pit. Marcus cast his flashlight down it.

“There’s no bottom,” he said. He looked at Kathlyn, then Lynn, and tapped his headset. “Dennis, do you copy? I’ve got a bottomless pit on the other side of Anubis, spanning the length of the chamber, approximately 25 cubits in length by five cubits in width.”

“Copy that,” Dennis could barely be heard. “A forty foot by ten foot pit. What’s on the other side of it?”

They hadn’t gotten that far yet. They had been too consumed with Anubis, Nut, and the yawning pit. When they finally did cast their lights on the opposite side, Juliana let out another gasp of surprise.

All they could do was stand there and stare like idiots. Across the deep and dark pit, Aladdin’s cave of wonders had opened up in the heart of Egypt with more glittering possessions than any king could have ever hoped to take with him. It was a treasure trove of ancient riches, glistening with gold and precious stones like nothing any of them had ever seen before.  It was one of the great wonders of the ancient world come to life. Andy's running commentary as he filmed consisted of three words, over and over again, "Oh, my God. Oh, my God...."

              As they gaped at the sight, Dennis broke through the headsets again. “Marcus?” he said. “Did you copy my question? What’s on the other side of the pit?”

              There was a very long delay before Marcus could speak. When he did, he could only think of two very historic words. Something Howard Carter had once said upon the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb.  It seemed particularly appropriate as this moment.

“Things,” he finally said. “Wonderful things.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The first thing they saw were chariots, eight in all, with pounded gold foil around the cabs and golden wheels about five feet in diameter. The golden sheets had been molded and superbly sculpted, representing gazelle and ibis and crocodiles. Semi-precious gemstones danced in the eyes of the creatures and on the spokes of the wheels. The chariots rested four abreast, pointing toward an elaborately painted doorway on the opposite side of the chamber as if protecting the entryway from intruders. There were harnesses waiting for phantom horses and weapons waiting for a ghostly army of warriors.

Chamber D was massive, spanning about forty feet with a depth to the doorway of probably seventy feet.  There were ten great pillars lining the hall, painted yellow and white, with great lotus blooms at the top outlined in blue. With all of the flashlights shining upon it, the room was alive and glowing, like the regal coronation suite of a gilded monarch.

Kathlyn walked over and stood on the edge of the pit. "Can you believe this?" she said, awe struck. "Never in my life have I seen this kind of beauty."

"Dr. Trent, come back," Dennis was full of static in her ear. "We didn't copy."

She lifted the tiny mike closer to her mouth. She had been mostly talking to herself, but those who had remained topside needed to know too.

"We have eight gilded chariots across from the pit," she said loudly. "There's an entryway on the opposite side."

There was a brief pause. "Gilded, did you say?" Dennis' voice was full of excitement.

Kathlyn smiled; she could only imagine the hooting and hollering going on up above. "You heard me correctly," she said. "Eight of them."

She glanced over at the rest of the group; Andy was filming like a Hollywood director while Ed and Juliana were in conversation about the condition of the chariots. Lynn was still staring, open-mouthed, while Marcus stood off to one side talking into a small voice-activated recorder.  Most of them were as awed by the whole thing as she was; only Marcus seemed to be less affected. She thought maybe he was in shock.

"We need to figure out how to get across this pit," she said to Ed and Juliana. "Any ideas?"

Juliana dropped her pack and walked to the edge. Peering down, she looked skeptical. "I want to know how deep this damn thing is before I go jumping over it."

"What does it matter?" Kathlyn retorted. "A fall into it is still going to hurt, if not kill you. We need to get over it."

Juliana crouched down beside it. A strange look came over her face. "Do you hear something down there?"

Kathlyn lay down her stomach, hanging her head over the side of the hole. She was silent a moment. "Yes, I hear something," she peered at Juliana. "Sounds like the rustling of leaves."

"Or bugs?"

Lynn stood over them, his handsome face gravely serious. "I would guess we're looking into a snake pit."

"A snake pit thousands of years old?" Kathlyn had to dispute him. "There's no way they'd survive."

"Not individual snakes, but a colony might."

Juliana shivered and stood up. "I'd guess bugs."

Kathlyn pushed herself up also. "Whatever it is, it's alive down there and I don't want to find out with what." She looked up to the ceiling, inspecting every near inch she could see in the dim light. It became apparent that she was up to something. While the others kept an eye on her, Marcus stood off to the side, still engrossed in recording his observations.

Kathlyn began digging around in her pack, removing the nylon rope and a small grappling hook.  Juliana knew what was coming, as did Ed, but Lynn was in the dark until she tossed the thing with an experienced eye over the pit and onto a yellow-painted pillar on the opposite side. The grappling hook boomeranged around the post and caught the rope, securing it soundly about twelve feet above the floor. Marcus caught on too late to what she was doing and was unable to stop her before she swung across the pit. She was so smooth, so graceful, that Tarzan himself couldn't have done a better job. Because of the angle of the rope, she slammed into the side of the bottomless pit but it took just a few seconds for her to climb up the rope and deftly pull herself out.

Lynn, his mouth hanging open, looked at Marcus as the man rushed to the edge of the pit.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Marcus' voice was sharp.

Kathlyn coiled up the rope and tossed it with great accuracy back across the pit to Juliana. "I'm getting us across."

Juliana caught the rope. Marcus yanked it from her, glaring at Kathlyn. "This is my expedition, Dr. Trent. When you chase your arks or your grails, you may do things your way, but under my direction, we do things differently."

She remained perfectly calm. "You want to get across that pit. I just figured out a way. Do you want to finish your recon of this tomb or don't you?"

"Loose cannon tactics aren't going to work here."

"So what are you going to do? Take the time to build a bridge?"

His jaw was ticking furiously. "The object is not to bulldoze through this thing.  We're scientists, not pirates here to destroy all we come across."

"What have I destroyed?"

He pointed up at the pillar. "Who knows what damage you just did by hitting that with a grappling hook, much less throwing your weight on it."

She looked up at it. "It's fine. The hook is nylon coated so it won't gouge; it bounces off like a rubber ball. And my weight is insignificant against a rock pillar."

Marcus wasn't going to argue with her. If he'd been standing in front of her, he just might have spanked the living daylights out of her. As it was, he was about ready to leap over the pit without benefit of a rope just to get at her.

"Dr. Trent," he said slowly, "you may either do things my way, or you can go wait up topside with the rest of the crew. Any more renegade tactics like that one and I'll carry you back myself. Is that clear?"

He'd managed to tick her off.  "So what do you want me to do? Swing back across and wait for you to think of another way to breach the pit?"

"You can't come back the same way you came. We'll have to get a ladder down here or something to bridge the gap."

She repeated her question. "So what do you want me to do?"

He eyed her. "Just stay where you are. Don't touch anything and don't move." He turned to Ed and Juliana, looking slightly guilty that they had been a party to this. "Ed, what's your opinion of the integrity of the pillar? Will it support all of us?"

Ed shook his head. "I've no way of knowing unless I take a closer look."

"Do it."

Ed swung across and Kathlyn helped pull him up; he's wasn't exactly the adventurer type.  The others waited while he examined the pillar and declared it sound. Juliana went next, followed by Andy and Lynn. Marcus brought up the rear.

"Marcus, come back," Dennis was breaking up badly. "What's happening down there?"

Marcus wouldn't look at Kathlyn; she wouldn't look at him, either. She gathered up her gear like a good obedient girl and wait for him to give the order to move out.

"We just crossed the pit," Marcus said. "We're progressing into a third possible chamber, designation Chamber E for now. We'll probably lose you, so I want you to have Otis and Larry bring down a ladder to lay across the pit for our return. We can't get back across it the same way we went over."

"Ladder to Chamber D. Copy that," Dennis crackled.

Marcus turned to Lynn. "Have Sutton get good shots of these chariots. I want to talk to Kathlyn."

Lynn nodded, casting Kathlyn a sympathetic look as if to silently suggest to Marcus to go easy on her. As he moved away with the others, Marcus went over to Kathlyn.

"A word, doctor."

She put up her hand as if to block him out. "You don't need to say anything more. I get it, I'm not stupid."

"No, you're not stupid. In fact, you’re bright, resourceful and exceptionally brave. You perpetually astound me." When she looked up at him, surprised by the compliment, he wagged a finger in her face. "But you're also reckless, impetuous and aggressive. That kind of thing doesn't fly with me."

"I don't look at it that way," she said seriously. "I look at it as a calculated risk. I calculate the negatives and then I take the risk. I've been doing this for a lot of years, Marcus. There's no obstacle too great, no problem too terrible that I, or my team, can't solve.  I simply saw what I did as a means to achieve an end, and nothing more."

He sighed, trying to see her point of view. "I can appreciate that. God only knows, you're very successful at what you do. But I would ask, please, that you at least consult me before you go hurling over a bottomless pit again. At least give me a false sense of control since you'll probably do whatever you damn well please anyway."