Origins (13 page)

Hastelloy repositioned himself between Tomal and the mating couple.  “Let’s just leave them to their business and try getting some rest.  Tomorrow is going to be another long day.” 

With that the four men lay down flat on their backs and let sleep overtake them. 

The next day’s march was every bit as taxing as the first.  Other than two brief stops to allow everyone a drink from the river water, the group marched for eight solid hours.  As the sun declined towards the western horizon, the slavers took their captives over one last sand dune.  When they reached the crest, an enormous construction site came into view. 

The focal point of the activity was a giant square base that must have stretched some 750 feet along each side.  On the structure and in several spots leading up to it, enormous stone blocks were being pushed and pulled by what Hastelloy could only assume were slave laborers.  On three sides of the structure were row, upon endless row of tents.  The entire complex must have been home to over 50,000 slaves with room to expand up to several hundred thousand.

Mixed in among the working slaves were men with whips keeping the workers in line.  Around the perimeter of the complex was a large contingent of soldiers to prevent any escape attempts or acts of rebellion.  The immense scale of what Hastelloy saw simply made his jaw drop.  How could these primitives be so well organized?

The slave traders moved their captives into the work zone and proceeded to bargain for their sale.  Even the beat up Gallono was sold.  Hastelloy made sure he was right by Gallono to catch him as he was let down from the camel’s back.  He swung Gallono’s arm over his shoulder and carried his friend back to the other crewmen. 

The last Hastelloy saw of Anum and his ugly band of slavers was them hooking several carts full of grain, various fruits, onions, and dried fish to their camels and heading back north.  They were paid well for the lives they took and sold into torment.  The very existence of Anum’s group offended every cell of Hastelloy’s being.  He could respect doing evil deeds for the right reasons, but they only served themselves and cared nothing for the greater good of their civilization. 

Anum’s day of reckoning would have to wait, however.  The ropes around Hastelloy’s wrist yanked him forward as the slaves were taken to a sitting area for inspection and eventual assimilation into the work force.

Chapter 17:  Hallowed Ground

Professor Russell reached
the last rung of the ladder that brought him up into the main body of the Sphinx.  Exhausted from the climb, he collapsed to the floor and waited for the others to finish the taxing ascent.  As he desperately tried to fill his lungs with air he looked around the small chamber.  What he saw took his remaining breath away. 

Dr. Andre soon followed and like the professor, was shocked into silent awe.

Finally Alex reached the top of the ladder.  Desperately gasping for air she flopped flat onto her back and struggled to remain conscious.  Still panting, Alex exclaimed “That’s it.  The new diet and exercise program start tomorrow.”

“Shhh,” professor Russell whispered.  “You’re on hallowed ground.  A little reverence is in order right now.”

“Take a look around you,” Dr. Andre prompted.  “These paintings on the walls are depicting the plagues of Egypt.  Look here:  the river turns to blood, frogs, boils and sores, darkness, hail, and locusts.”

“We’ll need to date these of course,” Professor Russell added, “but if they’re genuine it’ll be the most powerful evidence to date that the slave exodus from Egypt really took place.”

Professor Russell drew everyone’s attention to the hieroglyphic drawings in the first scene.  “This one shows the great pyramid.  Correct me if I am wrong Dr. Andre, but depictions or writings about the pyramid simply don’t exist from ancient times.”

“That is correct,” Dr. Andre confirmed.  “There are two viable theories to explain this.  The first presumes the pyramid was so grand and well know
n that it did not need to be described or depicted.  The evidence of its existence would always be given by the standing structure itself.

“The more jaded theory assumes that writing about the pyramid, for whatever reason, was forbidden by the rulers of ancient Egypt.”

“The magnitude of this discovery keeps growing doesn’t it,” Alex said between labored breaths.

“This picture is strange though.  It depicts four obelisk spires located at each of the four corners of the pyramid,” Professor Russell observed.  “There’s absolutely no evidence such structures were ever there.”

“Forgive my ignorance once again about Egyptian history, but those two figures in the upper right corner, what are those creatures?  They look like giant dogs that walk upright.”  Alex asked sheepishly. 

“Those two pictures are of the great God Anubis.” Dr. Andre instructed.  “He has the body of a man and the head of a jackal and was associated with the mummification process in ancient times.  It is said he protects the dead
and brings them to the afterlife.  It is very fitting he would be depicted with the pyramid since it was constructed as a burial monument.”

Professor Russell cut off the discussion. “We can worry about all this later.  Right now we need to find where this chamber leads.”

The group proceeded up a ramp that brought them the rest of the way to ground level and into the belly of the Sphinx.  Ahead, for the first time in over an hour, the three explorers saw light coming from something other than their battery powered flood lights.

“How can there be light up ahead, where would the power be coming form?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know, but I sure intend to find out,” the professor replied and continued up the ramp with purpose in his step.

Chapter 18:  Getting Acquainted

Hastelloy let go
of the rope just long enough to wipe a river of sweat from his brow.  He had to admit, as far as slave labor projects went this one wasn’t so bad.  Everyone had copious amounts of food to consume, and the basic needs of clothing and shelter were also provided.  The overseers even had the forethought to stagger stone pulling days from the stone cutting ones for the workers.  No one was on a stone hauling crew more than two days in a row in order to avoid wearing the workers down.  Best of all, the laborers were removed from the work site at mid day to avoid working during the hottest two hours of the day.

Feeling the angry stare of the nearest guard, Hastelloy grabbed the rope again and continued hauling.  The sled carrying the 5,000 pound stone block needed to be dragged another couple hundred feet before it was in position.  He didn’t understand the words these people spoke, but he could interpret their body language.  The project leaders were clearly aggravated because the structure, whatever it was eventually going to be, was not coming together quick enough. 

Hastelloy let out a frustrated huff.  He identified all too well with their aggravation.  Four weeks already passed and the only progress his crew made towards their goal of finding the surviving Alpha crew was Tomal acquiring the ability to speak the Sigma language.  The other four knew the basics:
food
,
bathroom
,
water
, and of course
pull
, but that was it.  Tomal was able to carry on conversations with people around them, but there wasn’t much he could learn from their fellow slaves.  All any of them seemed to know about the project was the word
pull
.

Each day the Lazarus crew made sure they got assigned to the same cutting or pulling team.  Since no one except the five of them understood their language, they were free to talk amongst themselves while working. 

“Sir, I don’t think I’m out of line suggesting we need to come up with another game plan here,” Gallono stated.  “It’s been six weeks since we landed on this planet, and we still have yet to even see the Alpha ship.  I think we’ve given them enough of a head start, can we get down to the business of kicking their asses yet?”

“I’d say you’re perfectly in line with that statement,” Hastelloy answered.  “Tomal, how competent do you feel speaking with these people in their language?”

“Oh I pretty well have it down now, sir.  It really isn’t that difficult of a language.”

“Yes, yes, you’re just a magnificent person for learning the language so quickly,” Gallono groaned.

Hastelloy had to admit the engineer was getting more than a little cocky with his ability.  The bottom line was he knew he possessed a valuable skill to the mission and he made sure everyone knew it.

“You see that group of men on top
of the scaffolding over there?” Hastelloy asked with an inclination of his head.

“What about them?”

“The one in the middle appears to be in charge of moving the blocks from the quarry over to the monument,” Hastelloy observed.  “I think it’s time for you to suggest a better way to get these monstrous stones from here to there.  At this pace, even with this many workers, it’ll take twenty years before enough stones are moved to fill in what I can only assume will be a pyramid structure.”

“What good would that do us?”

“You’re smart, Tomal, but you need to work on seeing more than one move ahead in order to accomplish a larger plan,” Hastelloy wasn’t about to gloat, but taking a whack at the lieutenant’s inflated ego felt good.

“If you are able to solve that man’s problem he’ll like you,” Hastelloy continued.  “At the very least, he’ll think you’re useful and might employ you to solve other problems for which he can also take the credit.  That should eventually get you access to the overall project plans, or get close enough to discussions to figure out what’s going on.  I don’t have proof yet, but I get the feeling this is all related to the Alpha.  We need to figure out how and fast.”

Ignoring the Captain’s criticism, Tomal described his plan.  “I do have an idea that might work.  This concept of dragging heavy sleds 1,000 feet across the sand is such a waste.  If I was in charge I’d take one hauling crew across the river to that forest of sycamore trees.  With 500 men chopping away, it would only take about a day to have enough logs to pave the distance from the quarry to the pyramid.  Then we could just roll the stones across the logs and they’d get there much quicker and easier.”

Tomal’s eyes lit up as he continued.  “Then, while the workers were using that log road, I’d construct a pulley and gearing system so fewer workers could move the same amount of stones.  Then multiple log roads could be built and used.  I bet we could get this thing completed in less than a year if we did all that.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Hastelloy cautioned.  “Give the overseer the log road idea first.  Then when he needs another miraculous productivity enhancement you can go ahead with the pulley and gearing system you suggested.”

“W
ill do,” Tomal acknowledged.  “Tonight I’ll construct a scale model I can use to demonstrate the concept.  The tricky part will be getting the overseer to listen, or even acknowledge my existence for that matter.  He has armed guards around him at all times.  You know the law, overseers cannot be touched.  How do you propose to clear the way so I can make my next move?”

Ah, so he did hear his insult about not planning ahead, Hastelloy thought to himself.  Tomal was attempting to taunt him by throwing his own advice back at him.  Fortunately, Hastelloy was up to the challenge.  “Just leave that to me,” he said as he tugged on the rope.

Later that night, as Tomal rounded off a few sticks for his demonstration, Hastelloy explained his plan and for the first time in weeks went to sleep satisfied progress was finally happening.

The next day began as any other.  The crew consumed their morning meal, walked to the quarry, helped load a giant stone onto the sturdy wooden sled and began dragging it toward its destination.  About halfway to the pyramid, Hastelloy stopped walking and was run into by Gallono, and the next man, and the next, and the next.  Soon the entire work crew was standing still.  Out of frustration Hastelloy punched Gallono across the face, and in short order, a full-blown brawl broke out.  The lead engineer was not happy having the frustratingly slow process stopped all together.  He ordered the guards around him to descend on the scene and get things back under control and moving again.

While the guards were gone, Tomal used the opportunity to approach the overseer.  The man was startled by the unexpected approach, but was made at ease as Tomal lowered himself to his knees and presented a submissive bow.  His gesture was so exaggerated his forehead touched the sand in front of his knees and his arms extended out flat in front of him. 

“
Please forgive my fellow workers, sir.  They are only frustrated that they have to work so hard to achieve such little progress for you
,” Tomal said in the Sigma species language.

“
Get back to work.  Fighting slaves and their apologizer are not worthy of my time
.”

“
With respect, I have a way to speed the work along.  I beg you to spare 30 seconds and entertain my idea while the guards set those fools straight
.” 

Without waiting for a response, Tomal pulled six sticks out of his pants and set a square piece of rock on top of them.  Before he could give an explanation, the overseer’s foot shoved Tomal backwards and two returning guards pulled him away.

Tomal resigned himself to their care.  While each guard held an arm to usher him back to the work crew, Tomal looked back to see the overseer using his foot to roll the stone back and fourth across the sticks.  Next the overseer looked up and across the river at the forest.  Soon a smile streaked across his face.

“
Stop.   Bring that slave back to me.  I may have use for him after all
.”

In front of the giant stone, Hastelloy watched Tomal be led back to the overseer.  “Just leave it to me,” he said softly as he picked up his rope again.

“And my jaw,” Gallono added.  “Haven’t I been put through enough physical torment on this mission?”

“You’re getting there.  A bit more and you might actually earn a day off,” Hastelloy joked.  “Let’s get to work now and let those two get better acquainted shall we?”