The Lost Tribes, page 20
“Sorry, April. Just an expression. I won’t use it again.”
“That’s okay. I know it was a joke,” she said, releasing her grip on Ben but staying close.
“This way,” Serise whispered.
Carlos’s light cast eerie shadows on the wall. Cases of dead animals came alive as silhouettes of their inhabitants stretched and elongated, their beady glass eyes reflecting the light. Ben fixed his gaze straight ahead and tried to shut out the ghostly images. This was worse than the sweat lodge. He was totally spooked. From the looks of his friends, he was not alone.
They arrived at two stone columns marking the entrance to the Egyptian exhibit. According to a plaque on the wall, the height of the original columns was over sixty feet. Beside them two bare-chested guards stood as granite sentinels. The walls were covered in stone carvings from the Book of the Dead.
“Gee, now I feel right at home,” Ben said.
Serise lead them across the room, through an open door and into a chamber containing the gold encrusted tomb.
“In here,” she gestured.
The towering artifacts left Ben awestruck. He felt as if he were walking into an ancient temple. “Time to do that thing with your mother’s watch, Serise.”
Serise rolled up her sleeve revealing a rugged green Timex. She pushed the top button activating a soft blue light. The watch beeped as Serise scrolled through the options. She stopped periodically to turn the light back on.
“Okay. Got it!”
Nothing happened.
“Are you sure you did it right?” asked Grace.
“Yes. I set it to twelve o’clock.”
Everyone waited. Nothing happened. Serise tapped the watch in frustration.
“Let me see that.” Ben grabbed Serise’s arm and pushed the light button. The watch was set to 12:00 p.m.
“Serise! You set the watch to ‘noon’ not midnight. You need to change it to ‘am’ and press ‘set time’ to finish. You would know that if you wore something other than designer watches.”
Serise snatched her arm away. “Without me you’d be stuck waiting for some fireball to get you!”
“You mean without my dad’s invisible satellite dish we’d be crispy critters,” Carlos said in a rare show of anger.
Serise glowered and reset the watch. An orange light shot out of the watch and bounced around the room. It found its way to a stone tablet before bouncing one last time to a chart on the wall. The tablet glowed, bringing low, but sufficient light into the room.
“Okay,” Grace said. “That was a fun laser light show. Now what?”
“Guys!” April said, her voice urgent.
“Shhhh, April,” Ben said. “We’re trying to think.”
“Should we try to open the sarcophagus?” asked Serise. “There are enough of us here. We could try to move the cover. There might be a dialer inside.”
“Eew,” Grace said. “Won’t there be … like … a dead person in there?”
“Ugh, no,” Serise said. “The mummy is at the University. They’re doing a bunch of tests on her. She won’t be back for a few months.”
“Whew,” Grace said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “That’s better.”
“How is that better?” asked Carlos. “It’s still an old coffin with dead people dust inside. Do you know what they did to people before they turned them into mummies?”
Ben shot a dirty look at him and nodded in April’s direction. “Not now, Carlos.”
“They pull their brains out through their noses …”
“Carlos!”
“ … I bet the heart and liver are over there in those canopic jars.” He pointed to four stone jars, the heads shaped like a baboon, jackal, falcon and human.
“Hey, guys?” April pressed, waving her hands to get their attention.
“Shhh. In a minute, April. Can’t you see we are talking?” Ben returned his attention to Carlos. “Stop being so gross around my sister. Anyway, what’s the point of opening the coffin? On the field trip they said there was fifteen feet of steel, concrete and rocks under it. We can’t dig through that.”
“Mom said the gateway is in there. I know I heard her correctly,” Serise said.
“Okay, then Carlos, you and I will push and see if we can open it,” Ben said.
They moved to the middle of the sarcophagus, planted their feet and shoved. The lid didn’t budge. Ben tried Grace’s trick and pushed the lid with one finger.
Useless.
“We need more leverage.” Ben looked at April. She crossed her arms and shook her head. He summoned Grace and Serise instead.
“Ready, set … PUSH!”
The four of them dug their feet into the floor and strained against the lid.
Nothing.
Panting and grunting, they tried several more times to no avail. Aris jumped onto the coffin and studied the queen’s face intently then shook his head at Ben as if saying “no.” Ben shooed the cat away.
“This thing must weigh a ton,” Ben sighed. “How’d they get the mummy out?”
“Beats me,” Serise said.
“Guys!” April said with more emphasis.
“What?” snapped Ben.
“There’s some writing on this thing. It’s warm and it’s glowing from the inside.”
Everyone stared where April was pointing. A symbol of a sun was, in fact, glowing from inside the stone. Underneath it, a series of symbols glowed.
“Hmm,” Ben said. “More hieroglyphics — four characters. Maybe this is the key to getting that stupid thing open. I reckon it will take thirty-three billion combinations to figure this out. Or we could get Grace to decipher it in four seconds.”
Grace clucked her tongue at him.
Ben pulled back his sleeve and punched tiny buttons on his watch with a stylus.
26 * 25 * 24 * 23.
“Sorry. My mistake. We only have to sort through three hundred, fifty-eight thousand eight hundred choices. We should be able to crack that code in … oh, I don’t know … a few hundred years.”
“Wait!” Serise paced the room. Light from the tablet was reflected on a chart above the display case. A copy of the Rosetta Stone. A diagram showing a translation of the Egyptian alphabet sat beside it. Serise stared at the closed sarcophagus. “I know this. It says ‘Revere Her Ever’.”
“Well,” Ben said. “That made everything abundantly clear.”
Serise ignored him. “I’ve heard this before.” She found a stool, stood in front of the chart and pushed symbols to spell the phrase. Nothing happened. “I don’t understand. That should have worked.”
Ben sighed. “Oh, well. Back to searching for a dialer, I guess.”
“Wait! It’s a palindrome!” Serise yelped, jumping up and down. “That’s the trick! It’s a palindrome! You know, the letters spell the same thing forward and backwards!” She spelled ‘palindrome’ on the chart.
The sound of stone grinding against stone echoed as the lid to the sarcophagus slowly swung open.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Through the Rabbit Hole
“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.”
Henry Miller
Ben gasped. The mummy was gone all right. In fact there was nothing inside the coffin but infinite blackness.
“This must be the gateway,” Serise said, sounding unsure of herself.
Ben gestured toward Carlos. “You can go first. You like that scouting explorer stuff.”
“Are you kidding?” Carlos said as the light from his flashlight was swallowed by the void. “It’s dark in there. At least we had that glow in the tunnel under your dad’s workshop.”
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of the dark,” Ben said.
“No. It’s just …” Carlos paused. “It’s just like old Star Trek reruns. I’ve got on a red shirt. Everyone knows that the person in the landing party who always gets killed off is the one in the red shirt. Want to know why you don’t see any Latino Captains on that show? I’ll tell you why. Because they all get killed off on the landing party. Why don’t you go?”
“You have to ask?” Ben replied. “After that lame explanation? The token Black guy always gets killed off first in the movies.”
“Good grief,” spat Grace. “I don’t believe you guys. I’ll go.”
“No way!” Ben said. “Look how dark it is! You barely survived the Woodland adventure challenge at school!”
Grace punched him in the arm then grabbed a flashlight from her pack. “But I did survive, didn’t I? You had to repeat the exercise three times!” Despite her assurances, her hands trembled and her voice cracked a bit. Ben knew she was scared of the dark. She crinkled her nose, peered over the edge and dipped her hand into the void. “I can’t see anything. Not even a reflection. But it feels like a warm bath, just not wet.”
She took a deep breath, climbed onto the lip and tested the barrier with one foot. “Something feels solid. Oh well, here goes nothing. Hey! It’s a hidden staircase!” Grace slipped into the sarcophagus and disappeared.
Ben held his breath so long that he was forced to suck in two lungs worth of air to refuel. “Well?” he yelled into the opening.
There was no answer.
“Grace?”
The sound was swallowed by the void. When Ben leaned over, his pack fell into the hole. He waited to hear it land. No sound returned. His stomach lurched as panic took hold.
“Now what do we do?” Serise paced frantically. “We can’t leave her in there. Someone has to go in and get her.”
“Someone? Like who?” asked Carlos.
She stopped pacing and pointed. “One of you guys.”
“Us?” asked Carlos. “Why don’t you do it? It’s your Mom’s museum!”
“She just works here. It’s not like we own this stuff. I never knew you were such a chicken.”
“I don’t see your feet moving very fast in that direction,” Carlos argued.
“I figured out the clue to get the sarcophagus to open. I can’t do all of the work.” She threw up her hands in frustration.
“Enough!” Ben yelled, trying to decide what to do next. His best friend had just disappeared and he knew it was his job to go in after her.
“I’ll go,” said a timid voice.
Ben turned in time to see April climbing onto the lip of the sarcophagus.
“No!” everyone said in unison.
Ben lunged forward, pulling her from the edge. “You’re my responsibility now. We’ll wait another minute. If Grace doesn’t come back, I’ll go get her.”
“Okay,” Carlos said
“Good plan!” Serise agreed giving him a thumbs up.
Two minutes passed with no sign of Grace. Just as Ben psyched himself to climb over the edge, a disembodied head poked through.
“Boo!”
Ben, April, Serise and Carlos nearly fell over each other trying to back away. Grace’s head hovered above an invisible neck. Aris jumped from Grace’s partially formed shoulder, purred, then vanished into the sarcophagus.
“Well, are you guys coming or not?” said Grace, exasperated. “I’ve been waiting forever. And why’d you throw a backpack at me? That thing missed my head by inches.”
“Where have you been?” Ben asked, once his heart returned to a normal beat.
“Exploring. It’s just a musty old cave. Kind of like the one under your dad’s garage, except with an echo. If that’s Safe Harbor, it’s time to be concerned.”
“Why didn’t you answer us?” Ben asked.
“Answer you? I didn’t hear anything down there. I thought something happened and came back up to get you.”
Grace climbed higher and leaned over the edge of the sarcophagus. Ben couldn’t see any part of her below the waist.
“I know,” Grace said. “Weird isn’t it. We better get going. Don’t know how long this thing stays open.”
Ben was skeptical.
“You can stay here if you want. I’m going back down to figure out where this thing leads.” She turned and disappeared.
Carlos dipped one finger into the void and scowled. “Okay. I’m going too, red shirt or not.” He descended cautiously clearly trying to feel his way down steps he couldn’t see. Inch by inch, the void erased parts of his body. And then he was gone.
“Serise, you go next and help April,” Ben said. “I’ll go last and bring her stuff.”
“Right.” Serise winced and lowered into the inky blackness. Her disembodied hand shot out and waited for April to grab hold.
Ben helped April climb over the edge. She stuck a toe into the void, felt around for something solid and placed her full weight inside.
“It’s okay, Ben. It feels okay.” She smiled and gave a thumbs up.
The black hole had now swallowed his entire expedition. Inhaling deeply, Ben hoisted April’s pack over his shoulder, stared into the well of nothingness and worked up his courage.
The sound of grinding stone startled him. The edges of the stone lid scraped as it swung back in place. Across the room, a beam of light shone through the frosted glass doorway. The clock overhead read 3:45 a.m.
The night watchman! The time clock was on the inside of the room to the right of the door. Sam would have to come inside to check in for his rounds.
“When the sun goes down, I’ll still be the one! My love is guaranteeeeed!”
The doorknob rattled once and then twice. Serise had been thinking clearly enough to set the lock. Keys jangled loudly on the other side.
The lid of the sarcophagus continued to swing toward Ben. Soon there wouldn’t be any room left for him to get inside.
He held his breath, swung his legs over the edge and jumped with both feet.
Geronimo!
He missed the first and second steps and slid, on his rear end, to the bottom of the steep stone staircase. He landed with a dull thud, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process. Above him, the barrier rippled like the surface of a pond. Within seconds, the sarcophagus closed, cutting off the light from the museum.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Lost and Found
“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”
Babe Ruth
“Ben? Ben? Ben? Ben?”
April’s voice echoed as she rushed to his aid. “Ben? Ben? Ben? Ben? Are you okay? okay? okay? okay?”
“Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?” asked Ben, still dazed. His hand throbbed. “Oh, yeah. yeah. yeah. yeah.”
All around them, hundreds of luminous, phosphorescent stalagmites and stalactites jutted out like giant glowing teeth. Ben wondered if this was what Jonah felt like when he was swallowed by the whale.
“Which way? way? way? way? This can’t be it. it. it. it,” Serise said.
“Let’s get out of here. here. here. here. The echo is driving me crazy. crazy. crazy. crazy.” Grace pointed toward an alcove.
“Now what do we do?” April asked then pausing as if waiting for another echo.
“Don’t know.” Ben poked the wall hoping to find another secret swinging door.
“Didn’t your father give you some kind of compass back at the garage?” asked Carlos. “Maybe we can use it to keep track of which direction we are going.”
“If for any reason we get separated, follow the instructions on this compass to get to Safe Harbor.”
Ben had forgotten about the device his father had shoved in his backpack. He touched the tiny apple on the front of the snow-white case. The screen roared to life.
A bullseye appeared in the center of the screen. “Enter password.”
“Awww man. Not again. Is this some kind of sick joke?”
He frowned and looked for a place to type a password. There was no keyboard or stylus to enter information. He poked the bullseye with his finger and shouted, “This is Benjamin Webster you stupid machine. How am I supposed to know a password at a time like this!”
“Fingerprint and voiceprint identification confirmed,” replied the compass in the same mellow voice as the computer game. “Benjamin Webster, authorized user. Please stand by.”
Ben almost dropped the device. Everyone crowded around.
“Sweet!” Carlos said.
“Please specify language requirement.” The device flashed a list of standard translation options on the screen: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Latin. Ben pushed the “page down” option. The list contained hundreds of languages, most he’d never heard of.
“Xenobian?” April asked. “Is the game loaded on that pocket computer too?”
“Let’s find out,” Ben said. “Computer! Xenobian, please.”
“Sheras needum doo,” the computer cooed as the screen filled with odd symbols. “Feras edum norvash?”
“Well that was helpful.” Ben sighed. “What the heck is Xenobian anyway?”
“It’s where your family is from.” Carlos wiggled his fingers as if they were antennae. “I’ve always thought you were from outer space.”
Ben scowled and returned his attention to the compass. “Convert to English please.”
“Askar.”
The new page displayed “Home”, “Maps”, “Language”, “Mission Status”, and “Gateways”. Ben chose “Home”.
“Use of COMPASS restricted to authorized members of Interstellar Observation Post. Encrypted. Access by DNA coding, fingerprint and voiceprint analysis.”
“Sonecian date: 14558.98. 5800.4 post apocalypse. Earth date October 30, 2016.”
“Uh oh,” Carlos said. “Not good. I don’t think our parents are jewel thieves.”
Ben punched Carlos on the shoulder. “Be serious. It’s probably a computer game. We can look at it later. Right now, we’ve got to find the real data. Something to help us get out of here.”
He selected “Gateways” and found a listing for the Sunnyslope Museum. A notation for “Safe Harbor” was in the sub-directory.
“Oh no!”
“Oh no, what?” asked Serise.
“We’re in the wrong place. It says to open that stone in case of emergency. The one with the palindrome on it. The dialer was inside. That’s why it was glowing. It says that if the stone is gone to press “Harbor” on the museum chart. Serise! You pressed “palindrome”. I don’t have any idea where we are!”
