The Moses Legacy (5 page)

Akil Mansoor had been true to his word about providing first-class service to bring Daniel over to Egypt. As an internationally acclaimed scholar, Daniel was accustomed to flying. But he wasn't used to changing his plans at short notice.

So now, Daniel was trying to relax in the First Class lounge of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport. Bedazzled by its gold leaf adornments, he considered trying the aromatherapy treatment or shiatsu massage in the travel spa. But there wasn't going to be enough time before boarding. His normal remedy for stress was a single glass of wine taken slowly and savoured, but he didn't like drinking before a flight, so he stuck to mango juice.

The boarding call came quite soon after that. He followed the other priority passengers feeling somewhat calmer than he had been when he first arrived at the airport.

He didn't know why now of all times, he should think of his ex-wife Charlotte. Perhaps because travelling by air reminded him of their near-constant travel between the two worlds of New York and London, bringing back a flood of memories and endless speculations about maybes and might-have-beens.

Once airborne, he decided that he wasn't really interested
in the in-flight entertainment. He always found it hard to follow the plotline of a movie on an aeroplane, but the one thing he could always do on a flight was read. So he took out his widescreen smartphone and carried on reading a legal thriller that he had started a few days ago, set in California but written by his favourite British author.

‘Is that the new one?' asked the huge, muscular man in the seat next to him. He had piercing eyes that looked at Daniel in a way that was neither hostile nor friendly, but was certainly unwavering. He was going bald, but did not look more than about forty.

‘What, the book?' asked Daniel, seeking to clarify the man's question.

‘The reader.'

‘Er, yes,' said Daniel, hoping to get back to the novel. ‘It's like a smartphone, only better.'

‘Is it any good?'

‘I've only had it a couple of weeks. But it seems okay so far. It's one of the new 3G ones. You can order the books direct to the reader in over a hundred countries.'

‘I was thinking of getting one myself. Not that I read much of the commercial trash that they're spewing out these days. I'm more into academic books.'

Daniel wasn't really interested in prolonging the conversation, but it would have been rude to seem too aloof. ‘What's your field?'

‘Oh, I don't really have a field as such. A jack of all trades but a master of none. I'm what would have been called a dilettante in the old days. Anything from the anthropology of the Balinese to Egyptology and ancient hieroglyphics. That's why I'm off to Egypt, you know. A spot of amateur research. Not for any academic purpose, you understand. Just for fun. A cruise down the Nile, a visit to the Valley of
the Kings and all that. I inherited a spot of money from my late aunt and that rather lets me indulge my passion. What about you?'

‘I'm a professor of ancient Semitic languages.'

‘Oh gosh, now I feel awfully embarrassed. Here I am, an enthusiastic amateur and you're one of the intellectual giants of our time. You must seriously look down on people like me. A little learning is a dangerous thing and all that. The name's Carter, Wally Carter. Pleased to meet such an eminent scholar.'

Daniel smiled. ‘Daniel Klein. And there's nothing wrong with being an enthusiastic amateur.'

‘Could I have a look at that phone? Like I said, I'm thinking of getting one.'

Daniel hesitated a moment and then, realizing that this man could hardly run off with it, handed it over. The man appeared to press a few buttons and Daniel was about to say something when the man handed it back.

‘It looks pretty good. How's the battery life?'

‘Reasonable.'

‘Listen, I know this is very cheeky but do you think I might take your number? I'd love to keep in touch.'

Daniel wasn't keen but obliged, not wanting to be rude.

‘Well, I should stop bothering you and let you get back to your book.'

Daniel smiled with relief as he took his phone back and turned away. What he didn't know was that with a few swift movements, the big man had downloaded an application that would enable him to track the phone – and Daniel with it.

Joel awoke in the men's communal tent, sweating heavily. He knew that at this time of year even the nights could get hot, but not like this. He was sweltering and itching.

What was it?

His arms, his legs, his torso. He hadn't felt like this since he had chickenpox as a child. Except that this time it wasn't just a scratching itch, it was a burning sensation.

He tried to look at his arm, to see what was causing the itch, but it was too dark. He had a torch by his bed, though he wasn't sure if he should turn it on – it might disturb the others. But he had to know. Finally, plucking up the courage, he switched on the touch and shone it at his forearm.

And when he did so he got the shock of his life!

His arm was covered with boils. But these were not normal round boils. They were long, elongated trails of fiery red-orange on his skin, almost snake-like in appearance. And they were accompanied by a burning sensation. Joel realized that something was seriously amiss. The boils alone were frightening enough, but his head was also aching and his eyes watering. He realized that the sweat was not from the external heat and it was actually rather cool outside. The sweat came from his own body. He was going down with a fever.

He knew that there was a medical officer in the sick bay next to the soldiers' hut and he decided to go there. Staggering out of bed, he threw on some clothes and began walking. But as he got to the entrance to the tent he fainted, emitting a cry that woke several of the others and raised the alarm.

 

An hour later, a helicopter arrived to take Joel to a hospital in Cairo. There was talk about a scorpion sting which the commanding officer tried to play down. He told them that according to the medic, Joel had chickenpox and it was more serious because he was an adult. However, he added, if they had already had it as children or been vaccinated against it, they had nothing to worry about.

Jane took advantage of the situation to make another visit to the latrine with her concealed mobile phone. However, instead of texting Senator Morris, this time she decided to call him and tell him what had happened.

‘Okay, now listen carefully,' said the senator. ‘This is what I want you to do: you need to get a sample of his clothes—'

‘But they've flown him out to Cairo,' Jane rasped into the phone.

‘Did they take all his things with him?'

‘Probably not.'

‘So most of his clothes are still in the tent.'

‘I guess.'

‘Okay. We only need a sample. Preferably something that he wore recently. Put it in a plastic bag and pack it with your things. I'll give you instructions on how to get it out.'

‘Okay, Dad.'

She put the phone away before stepping out of the latrine… where she was confronted by a soldier.

‘Who were you talking to?' he demanded.

Jane gasped in fright, fumbling mentally to find the right words to placate his suspicions. Then she noticed the red marks on his cheeks… and the sight made her realize that her own torso was itching.

‘It's definitely Proto-Sinaitic,' said Daniel, struggling to contain his excitement.

Mansoor had pulled out all the stops to make sure that Daniel got the VIP treatment when he arrived at Cairo International Airport. He was fast-tracked through border control and customs at breakneck speed and brought to a luxury Cairo hotel in a stretch limousine. Now, after a good night's sleep and a Mediterranean breakfast, Daniel was studying the carefully arranged fragments of stone as well as the pictures of them in various lighting conditions.

‘The strange thing, in my opinion, is that these stone fragments have smooth flat backs as well as flat fronts. And the overall thickness is no more than two inches. That suggests that they were small, portable stones and not just broken fragments of a large monument. This is the first time I've seen Proto-Sinaitic script on tablets like this. It's usually found carved on local rocks in short one-line inscriptions, obviously designed to be seen by anyone who passes by. It's basically a sort of simple graffiti by the untutored and uneducated.'

He looked up at Mansoor. Despite their mutual reservations, they had taken an instant liking to one another. It had been the firmness of the handshake by both men that had cemented the bond of trust between them.

‘Did you find this anywhere near the turquoise mines at Serabit el-Khadim?'

He noticed the fleeting eye contact between Mansoor and Gabrielle.

‘Where the original inscriptions were found, you mean? No. They were found about 130 kilometres east of that.'

‘So that also makes it pretty far from the Temple of Hathor.'

‘Hathor?' said Gabrielle excitedly. ‘The Egyptian cow goddess? Why do you ask?'

‘I was just thinking about the story of the Golden Calf,' said Daniel. ‘You know… when Moses went up Mount Sinai and the Israelites got restless and built a golden calf and started worshipping it.'

He noticed that Gabrielle's excitement was growing. At first he thought she was just happy to be working with him again, but he sensed that there was more to it than that.

‘We were wondering,' Mansoor asked gingerly, ‘if there was any possibility that this could be an early version of a known Hebrew text.'

Daniel spoke his next words very slowly, sensing what was coming. ‘
Which
known text?'

There was a long pause before Mansoor replied. ‘The Ten Commandments.'

In the silence that followed, a hundred emotions swept through Daniel's head. It was as if they were waiting for him to laugh. But laughter was the last thing on his mind. He chose his next words carefully.

‘I noticed the word
El
several times – that's the Hebrew word for God. And I also noticed a few instances of the word
Yahowa
or
Yehova
– which is now usually read as Jehovah, the sacred name of God in Judeo-Christian religion.'

‘And?'

‘Well, that at least opens the possibility that it's a text of the early Israelites,' Daniel concluded.

‘There's no evidence that the early Israelites worshipped Jehovah,' said Mansoor. ‘The only ancient group known to worship a god called Jehovah were a nomadic group called the Shasu of Yahowa.'

‘But there is evidence that the Israelites were descended from a larger group called the Habiru,' said Gabrielle. ‘From whom we get the name
Hebrews
. And they could be the same people as the Shasu of Yahowa.'

‘The Habiru was a term used for roving bandits,' said Mansoor. ‘The Shasu were shepherds.'

‘Some people think the names may have been used interchangeably,' Gabrielle pressed on.

‘But we have graphic depictions of both people,' Mansoor replied firmly, ‘and they wore different styles of clothes.'

‘That still doesn't answer the question of whether this could be the Ten Commandments,' said Daniel, trying to get the discussion back on track. ‘And to answer that I'd need to compare it to the text in a Hebrew copy of the Bible.'

 

They made their way to the university library where Daniel lost no time in studying a photo of the assembled stones side by side with the Ten Commandments, looking for any signs of the recognizable words
El
and
Jehovah
with similar spacings. After a few minutes he looked up, disappointed.

‘I can't find any sign of a match,' he said. ‘Although the words
El
and
Jehovah
appear in both, they don't appear in the same places. That proves that the text on the stones is something other than the Ten Commandments.'

He noticed that Gabrielle's mood mirrored his own. Mansoor on the other hand appeared to take it more philosophically.

‘Oh, well. Back to the drawing board.'

‘Could I ask why you thought it was the Ten Commandments? I mean apart from the fact that it's fragments from two tablets and they were broken.'

‘Because of—' Gabrielle started. But she broke off in response to a look from Mansoor. ‘Because of where it was found.'

Daniel was about to ask Gabrielle to explain when Mansoor got a call which interrupted their conversation.

‘Yes?… A mobile phone?… But how did she?… You were supposed to have searched them… No, we don't want any trouble with the Americans… How many of them?…
And
the soldiers?… And what does the doctor say?… Quarantine? On whose decision?'

‘First of all, I have some good news. Carmichael is no longer a problem.'

Senator Morris was addressing the professor and Audrey Milne in their regular meeting room in the Capitol Building.

‘How sure can we be that a copy of his manuscript won't pop up somewhere down the line?'

‘Goliath didn't just dispose of Carmichael and the woman, he—'

‘Woman?' echoed Audrey nervously.

‘He has a maid –
had
a maid – who apparently doubled as his secretary.'

‘And he killed her too?'

There was a sharp edge in Audrey's tone. The senator wasn't sure if it was chiding or fearful. Either way he didn't like it, but he wanted to keep her onside.

‘She was there at the time. Apparently she was his de facto carer. Also, as I said, she was his secretary. That is, she typed the paper for him. That means she knew about it.'

‘But what about copies?' the professor reminded him.

‘He wiped the computer and burnt down the house. Unless they sent a copy somewhere else, the only copies left are the ones with you.'

‘But how is this going to help us end the vile dominion of the Semitic interlopers?' asked the professor.

‘Carmichael's paper can't. But what it revealed certainly can. It appears that he was right: the sixth plague can make a resurgence.'

‘What do you mean?'

He told them what Jane had told him about Joel and about his instructions to her to get a sample of his clothes.

‘You don't really think…' The professor trailed off.

‘It was an article of faith among the Israelites that they were spared from the plagues,' said the senator. ‘But after this young man on the dig has become ill, it looks like Carmichael was right. The Israelites were stricken by the plagues too. And we can use that to our advantage.'

Audrey sat there in silence. It wasn't until the meeting had ended that she made her way to her car and drove safely out of the area before making a phone call. There were three or four rings before it was picked up at the other end.

‘Israeli Embassy.'