<< Go Back

Redemption

By Jacques R. Pye

Order Now!

Prologue: Alliance Date 24.145
Earth
Middle East, Central Continent

Professor Thaddeus Newman stood at the end of a long, sloping tunnel that had been chiseled through solid rock ages ago by thousands of men using only hand tools. Hard metal against solid rock had hewn this perfectly squared passage from the Sun above to this deep place beneath the Earth’s surface. The task had required years; his crew had removed the debris its creators had piled in as backfill in a matter of days. The tunnel’s designers had intended it for a statelier, more majestic use, but necessity had forced them to convert it to this: a final repository for the most hideous evil they had ever encountered.
Thaddeus faced a pair of tall, bronze doors. He and his team were thirty meters beneath a rugged landscape, but the illumination array filled the anteroom with non-damaging light sufficient for him to see the intricate writing and carvings before him.
“Forty-three hundred years old, and the colors on the murals, the edges on the carving, are as vivid and distinct as the day they were buried in this tunnel,” he said. “The seal on the door remains intact,” he continued, touching the cords and the clay seal with his gloved hands. “The murals on the wall were meant for a king, but, if I am correct, there is no king behind the doors.”
“Are they what you expected?” asked Hashpeth, his assistant, eyeing the doors.
“Yes, Hashpeth. The inscriptions are Egyptian hieroglyphs, Middle Kingdom, but sloppily, perhaps hastily, drawn. The artisans did not want to be down here long. Let me see if I can read them.”
He paused, and then continued, “Hmmm.” His fingers following the writing just above the seal, he read aloud, “‘Behind these doors lies Ankhamen, a Nephilim, who killed Pharaoh Amenemhat. Disturb him at great peril, to you and to the world. Pharaoh Senusret has placed a curse of death on anyone who opens this tomb.’
“Hashpeth,” he called. “Please call up the reference library, specifically the material on incantations and spells.”
Instantly, an airscreen appeared, displaying his desired pages.
“Well, Hashpeth, at last, we have found him, Ankhamen, a Nephilim.”
“Do you think it will be with him?” Hashpeth asked.
“Genesis stone? I expect it will be with him, maybe in him. It is the only material that can kill a Nephilim, or so the legends say. Senusret must have acquired some of the stone and used it to kill Ankhamen.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, but if Ankhamen is truly behind these doors, dead, then someone had to have Genesis stone to kill him. Now, let’s see about this curse.”
Thaddeus began perusing his references on the airscreen. He scanned several pages until he finally found what he needed. “Here it is, ‘Curses and Counter-Curses of the Middle Kingdom.’ The inscription says there is a curse of death on anyone who opens these doors. We must find the counter-curse.”
“Professor, do you believe that a curse from Senusret has any real power?”
“Hashpeth, I have seen many strange things in my archeological experiences, many of which cannot be readily explained. There may be higher powers or spirits at work around us. As for the curse, it may be real, it may not, but I believe that it is better to respect the beliefs of ancient peoples than to disregard them. So, here is the curse of death most commonly used during this time in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, and,” he paged a few more times, “here is its most common counter-curse.
“Hashpeth, my chest, please.”
Hashpeth walked to one of their supply containers and removed a small, black chest with gold inlay. He brought it to Thaddeus, who opened it and removed a gold ankh suspended on a gold chain.
“The symbol of life, to counter death,” Thaddeus commented as he placed the chain over his head and around his neck. Referring to the airscreen, he recited the counter-curse in the Egyptian of the Middle Kingdom.
Using a small, low-power maser, Thaddeus carefully separated the clay seal from the cords and placed it into an artifact chest, which catalogued its entry. He then slowly worked at the knot of the cords. With some effort, he finally opened the knot, and pulled the cord from the handles on the doors. These he also placed into the artifact chest. Thaddeus was orderly and meticulous.
He slowly pulled the doors open, revealing a black abyss. His workers brought the illumination array closer to the gaping entrance. Light flooded the chamber. There, in the center of the room, reposed a large sarcophagus, covered with hieroglyphs. Thaddeus examined them with wonder and interest.
“These tell the story of the assassination of Amenemhat by Ankhamen, who desired to be Pharaoh, and of Senusret, Amenemhat’s son, who returned quickly from battle once he received the news.” Continuing around the sarcophagus, he read, “Senusret found Ankhamen enthroned, having established himself as Pharaoh. Ankhamen had power beyond any mortal. Following Senusret, many died trying to overthrow him. Then, a god, whom Senusret had not known previously, showed him a stone that could kill Ankhamen. This god identified Himself only as ‘I Am’ and gave Senusret a large stone, red-black in color, and taught him how to work it. From the stone, Senusret made an ankh, arrowheads, spears, and a dagger. With his army, he attacked Ankhamen in the palace. The archers and the spearmen weakened Ankhamen enough that Senusret could come near him and kill him with his red-black dagger. Senusret avenged his father and regained his throne. He then buried Ankhamen in this chamber and filled the entrance tunnel with sand and stone. He erected an obelisk to ‘I Am,’ and gave Him thanks once a year.”
“Quite a story,” Hashpeth said. “Shall we open the sarcophagus?”
After carefully removing the three seals on the sarcophagus, they attached lifters that raised the lid and placed it on the floor. Thaddeus noted the absence of the usual aroma of mummification. Workers brought lighting closer, directing it into the sarcophagus. Thaddeus and Hashpeth peered inside and gazed with wonder at the perfectly preserved body of a stately man, over three meters in height, not mummified. The man was dressed in a plain tunic, with no pharaonic garments. A red-black stone ankh protruded from his mouth, and a dagger made of the same stone pierced his chest. His body was covered with dozens of small lacerations and puncture wounds, dried blood crusting most of them. The tunic, likewise, showed blood stains. Senusret had not wasted time or dignified him with a typical burial.
While moving a lighting array, a worker bumped hard into Hashpeth, sending him tumbling into the sarcophagus. As he fell forward, Hashpeth unintentionally grabbed the dagger, pulling it from Ankhamen’s chest. Immediately, Ankhamen’s eyes opened, and he sat up. With one hand, he grabbed Hashpeth and threw the bewildered man against a wall, the dagger flying into the air. Thaddeus reached for the falling dagger, but Ankhamen caught it in midair. He plunged the dagger into Thaddeus’ chest and jumped from the sarcophagus. Removing the ankh from his mouth, Ankhamen looked at Thaddeus and said in Middle Kingdom Egyptian, “As for the death curse, I am the curse.”
He ripped the gold ankh off Thaddeus, leaped to the doors, grabbed them by their handles, and pulled on them with all of his strength. The doorposts warped and gave way, burying Thaddeus and Hashpeth under the collapsed framing. Ankhamen smashed the illumination array, and ran up the tunnel, flinging Thaddeus’ terrified workers against the walls as he made his way toward the sunlight. Once out, he surveyed his surroundings, then bolted north, leaving behind the dead and bewildered.

Order Now!

<< Go Back