Vanished

by S. L. Menear

  We ducked the sharp pellets and covered our faces with bandanas. The sphere kept firing until the huge stone was reduced to a much lower but longer pile of rubble. The portal closed, and the device landed back in my hands.

  “Wow, I had no idea I could command it.” I grinned, admiring the result of the laser’s work. “This is great. I don’t mind carrying it around now. I wonder what else it can do.”

  Banger chuckled. “That was awesome, my queen. Shall we continue?”

  “I can’t get out of this scary tunnel soon enough.” My hands trembled as I placed the globe back in my belly pack. “Better keep your shield up and watch out for spears.”

  “What if the explosion damaged the ancient defense mechanisms?” He brushed some dirt out of my hair. “You could get killed.”

  “I’m willing to take the risk, rather than hiding behind you with spears constantly shooting at us.” My voice sounded squeaky. “I really need to get out of here.”

  He pulled me in for a hug. “You’re doing fine. Start out slowly while we test the tunnel.”

  We climbed over the rubble and eased down the dark passage, distancing ourselves from the cave-ins. After ten minutes, I had to stop and catch my breath. My backpack was laden with heavy crystal pyramids, and my lungs were coated with dirt. Except for an occasional cough, Banger seemed unaffected, like he was out for a casual stroll.

  “How do you keep so fit?” I asked, standing in front of his tree-trunk thighs.

  He grinned. “It’s the only way to survive missions with you.”

  “You’re lucky your good looks make up for you being such a smartass.”

  “That’s another thing all the girls tell me.” He adjusted the straps on his backpack. “Ready?”

  As he took a step past me, spears flew at his head. His quick reflexes and the shield saved him, the sharp pointed tips piercing the shield’s thin metal cover and sticking into the wood. The frightening attack had occurred in mere seconds.

  I stepped in front of him. “Whew, that was close. Better stay behind me.”

  “You think?” He yanked the spears out of the shield.

  I swiped dirt off his cheek and planted a kiss before slowly moving forward, ever vigilant for traps. Thank god the security system built by the Atlanteans somehow sensed my unique energy pattern and withheld deadly spears as long as I remained in front of Banger. I prayed it wouldn’t malfunction, but there was no way to know until it would be too late.

  The nightmare passageway finally ended at a stone door. I located the lock, brushed away accumulated dirt, and inserted my key. The door opened to a five-by-eight-foot pumphouse beneath the Great Pyramid. I recognized the room because the low ceiling and rectangular design matched the diagram I’d studied earlier.

  “According to the plans, we need to activate the hydrodynamic system before the crystals will generate electricity. It’ll probably take a while for the water to flow in from the Nile and build up enough pressure to get the pump going,” I said, looking around for the valve control. “I assume we’ll have enough time to replace the components up in the electric corridor after we open the water valve.”

  “How do you know so much about mechanical engineering stuff?”

  “I’m an airline pilot. We have to study schematics for every system on our airliners and fully understand how they operate.”

  “Makes sense, but weren’t those ancient diagrams a lot more complex?” He arched a brow.

  “I’ve had plenty of experience with complicated jet airliner systems, but you’re right that Atlantean technology is different. They used the Earth’s electromagnetic energy for most things, and they seem to have been overly fond of lasers.”

  He glanced around. “How are we going to open the water valve? I don’t see any controls.”

  The walls appeared to be solid stone with no markings. I closed my eyes a moment and tried to picture the diagrams from the room under the Great Sphinx. “I remember seeing a hand crank on one of the drawings. It has to be here.”

  “Ask the Eye where it is,” Banger said. “Might save us time and effort.”

  “Sorry, I should’ve thought of that. My brain gets foggy after spending a long time in closed-in spaces.” I pulled out the Eye of Atlantis and held it in my right hand.

  A hologram appeared and showed the sphere zap a spot on a stone wall, opening a hatch that hid a hand crank. The image vanished, and I put the Eye back in the leather pouch.

  “Looks like another job for my trusty little buddy.” I pulled it out and spoke the command in Atlantean, “Open the water-valve hatch.”

  The sphere flew out of my hands and zapped a spot on the wall where dirt obscured a circular metal cover. I jumped back as sand and dirt fell away, and the hatch popped open with a loud clang, revealing a large-diameter handwheel.

  “Amazing. I like this ancient tech.” I bowed and pointed at the crank before putting the globe back inside my belly bag. “This looks like a job for you, my liege.”

  He glanced around. “I suggest you find a door into the pyramid before I open that valve, just in case a ten-thousand-year-old mechanism malfunctions and floods this chamber.” He paused and smiled. “Not that stuff like that ever happens to us.”

  I ran my hands over the walls and felt an energy spike in a spot the size of my medallion. A little scraping exposed a gold slot. After a few minutes of careful dirt and dust removal, my key fit perfectly and triggered the door to open. Warmer air rushed in, and my flashlight revealed a slanted walkway leading upward into darkness.

  I coughed again. “What if some of the dust we’ve encountered contains toxic mold? We could die from what anthropologists call the Pharaoh’s Curse.”

  “A better time to worry about that would’ve been before we jumped out of the jet.”

  “Really?” I crossed my arms. “All right, Mr. Smartass, get cranking.” I stood in the doorway so it wouldn’t close.

  He grasped the wheel with both hands and twisted.

  Nothing happened.

  He grunted and tried again. The crank groaned but remained stuck.

  “Help me break it loose.” He moved so I could grab one side of the wheel.

  When I stepped away from the door, it dropped down and sealed the room.

  “Oh boy, this had better work.” I grasped the crank with both hands.

  Slowly, and with much effort, Banger and I loosened the wheel and began turning it amidst loud creaking. After three complete turns, it reached its limit, and the stones seemed to moan.

  “What’s that weird sound?” He cocked his head. “I hope I didn’t activate an ancient self-destruct mechanism built by vindictive Atlanteans.”

  “I’m hoping it’s just the water pipes.” I pressed my hand against the wall and felt a steady vibration. “But just in case there’s a problem, we should probably leave now.”

  “You think?” Banger’s sarcasm hadn’t missed a beat.

  I stuck my medallion key in the slot, and a small piece of gold broke off the inner lock and fell onto the floor.

  “Uh oh, we might have a problem.” The door wouldn’t open. Frustrated, I pressed harder on the medallion. “Come on, already.”

  I reached down and picked up the gold chip. “I’m afraid the lock is broken. I hope we can reattach this.”

  He pulled out a butane lighter and held the flame to the spot on the lock where the gold chip had broken off. “Wait till it gets soft and stick that piece back on it.”

  My feet felt cold and wet. I glanced down.

  Water had pooled around our ankles.

  “The room’s filling with water.” I glanced around but couldn’t see where it was flowing in.

  “Great.” He glanced at the floor and held the flame closer to the gold.

  Water swirled around my shins as my voice shot up two octaves. “Is it soft yet?”

  He touched the spot. “It’s hot but not soft. This gold must be alloyed with a hard metal, and the water is rising fast. Better do someth
ing queenly.”

  I pulled out the sphere and commanded it to give the broken spot one quick zap with the laser. The little globe fired once and closed up shop. I replaced it in my belly bag and pressed the chip onto the hot gold. The molten heat welded it in place.

  Banger splashed a handful of water onto it to cool the metal, and steam hissed out of the slot.

  Meanwhile, the water in the pumphouse had risen almost to my hips. I pressed my key into the lock and prayed.

  The stone door lifted, Banger slipped through it, and I followed. As usual, the door slammed shut behind me as we sloshed up the dark ramp in our wet boots. The crystals in my backpack felt like their weight had doubled since I’d begun the climb. It wasn’t long before my heart hammered my chest, and my breath came in short spurts.

  Banger tapped my shoulder. “Sam, stop and take a breather. We’re probably high enough to avoid a flood.”

  “Okay, but just for a few seconds,” I gasped. “We don’t want these spare parts inside our packs when the pump starts.”

  “Why?”

  “If the pyramid starts vibrating, we’ll vibrate along with it, and the crystals we’re carrying will produce electricity.”

  “And you think we’ll get shocked—or worse?”

  “It’s possible, especially with our luck.”

  He lifted his shield and pointed ahead. “Then get your shapely ass up this ramp.”

  I hurried upward and prayed we’d get the components placed in their slots before the pump started. We rounded a sharp turn and found a door covered with electrical symbols printed in faded red paint.

  “This must be it.” I ran my hands over the door, felt an energy spike, and found a key slot hidden under ten millennia of dust. Mike’s tool came in handy once again. After a little scraping, wiping, and blowing, a gold slot reflected the beam from my flashlight. I pushed my medallion into it, and the door opened inward.

  Thank god!

  “Sarcasm before beauty.” I grinned and waved Banger in ahead of me.

  A long, narrow corridor with nine copper-bottomed platforms loomed in front of us. The nearest end had a special slot for something else.

  I pulled off my backpack and opened it. “This looks like it’ll fit here.” I pulled out a copper device I’d taken from the engineering room under the Sphinx and tried shoving it into the slot. It wouldn’t slide in, so I turned it around and tried again.

  That time, it fit perfectly.

  “We’ll place the ones you’re carrying first.” He pulled a crystal pyramid-shaped terminal out of my backpack and handed it to me. “Do your magic.”

  I set it on a square platform built for its exact size and shape. The crystal fit perfectly on the copper base. “One down, eight to go—but we have to hurry.”

  We moved to the next station and placed another sparkling pyramid.

  “Good, keep going.” He nudged me forward. “I’ve got six of these mothers in my pack.”

  I inserted my last crystal and rushed to the next station. Banger handed me one from his pack, and I locked it into place. Five to go.

  A weak vibration stirred under my feet.

  “Uh oh, the pump is starting.” I rushed to the next station.

  We placed four more with speed and efficiency as the vibrations grew more intense.

  “One to go.” I reached for it.

  Just as I set the pyramid-shaped crystal on its base, it gave off a spark. “Ow!” I looked at the lighted component and spotted a number that hadn’t been visible before. “Crap, they’re in the wrong order.” I yanked the pyramid off the base and rushed back to the second platform.

  “How do you know that?” Banger followed me.

  “They have numbers that weren’t visible until they started to power up.” I yanked out the one that had been on the number two base and replaced it with the ninth one from the far end.

  Banger squinted. “That’s a number?’

  “Yeah, it’s written in Atlantean. I have to put these in the right sequence.”

  The stone floor shook.

  “How can I help?” Banger glanced down at his feet.

  “Our wet leather boots might be a problem.” I handed him the crystal I’d pulled out.

  “You think?” He held the component like it was a live bomb. “You’re the queen. Shouldn’t you already know how to assemble this stuff?”

  “Sorry, I never made it to queen school, but I know if we don’t fix this fast, we’re going to get fried.” I yanked out the crystal in the first spot. “The one you’re holding goes here, and this one goes on the final base.” I rushed to place it as the vibrations grew even stronger.

  “What about the other six?” Banger asked as he placed the crystal.

  I checked slots three through eight. “They’re all wrong. Hurry and help me replace these.” I yanked one out and rushed to where it belonged, handing the other one to him. “This goes in spot number five.”

  We set about reordering the crystals as the vibrations intensified. The components filled with bright light and started to hum.

  “This is the last one.” I set the final pyramid in spot number seven just as the corridor began to buzz. “One more thing.” I pulled another copper device from my pack and shoved it into its slot at the far end. The instant it locked into place a jolt of electricity knocked me onto my butt.

  The entire pyramid hummed with deep vibrations, and intense blue-white mini bolts of lightning crackled from the nine power crystals.

  “Oh, crap.” Energy buzzed around me, stinging me like a hundred bees.

  Banger pulled me to my feet. “Time to go. I hope there’s another door at this end.”

  I ran my hands over the end wall. “I think it’s here. Help me scrape off the dust.”

  Electrical sparks stung us as we worked to uncover a key slot.

  “There it is.” I shoved my medallion into it, and nothing happened. “It’s dirty. I have to clean out all the dust.” I pinched my nostrils shut as I blew hard into the slot.

  Banger shouted, “Sam, we’re running out of time here.” He waved at the growing electrical storm.

  My hand shook as I stuck my key into the lock. This time the door opened.

  Bolts of blue lightning roared and flashed behind us as we rushed through the door.

  “Whew, this is one time I’m grateful the door closed so fast.” I shined my flashlight on him. “Did you get zapped?”

  “Yeah, a little bit.” He showed me a nasty burn on his right arm.

  “This entire pyramid is humming with energy. I wonder if it’s safe to stay inside a while and look around. What do you think?” My head tingled as I pulled on my backpack.

  “Ah, Sam, nothing with you is ever safe. That’s what makes working with you so exciting.”

  I sighed. “The Blue Dragon had better be here. We’ve been through enough already.”

  I headed up the corridor, trying to keep my balance on the shuddering stones. “Hurry, let’s see where this goes.”

  Giza

  Mike scanned the expanse between the Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid—nothing but empty desert and clouds overhead moving in from the northeast. He glanced at his watch. “They’d better call or show up soon.”

  Lance nudged him. “Uh, the soldiers are coming back.”

  A Jeep pulled up, and two armed men jumped out, the pyramids silhouetted behind them.

  One with a black, bushy mustache said, “Why are you still here? It’s getting too cloudy for pictures of the moon over the monuments. Let me see your passports.” He held out his hand.

  Mike hesitated, trying to come up with a clever lie, when a mild vibration shook the ground beneath his feet. “What the hell was that?” His eyes wide, he took a few steps back and pointed behind the Egyptians.

  “We’re not falling for that.” The officer opened his hand. “Passports, now.”

  Mike pointed again. “But it’s not supposed to do that.”

  Lisa took her cue and screamed,
“It’s going to explode. We have to get away from here.”

  The soldiers turned around and froze, staring at the Great Pyramid. Jagged electrical sparks fired across the giant monument, deep humming grew louder, and the ground under them shook. The Egyptians jumped into the Jeep and sped toward the pyrotechnic display.

  “I don’t know what’s happening, but you can bet Sam had something to do with it.” Mike stared at the giant structure as thousands of blue lightning bolts danced across its surface.

  Lance’s eyes widened. “Whoa, what should we do?”

  “If we get too close, the authorities will think we had something to do with this and arrest us.” Bryce grabbed a handle on the SUV to steady himself on the pulsating ground.

  “What about Sam and Banger?” Lisa focused her binoculars on the pyramid.

  Mike clenched his fists. “I hope they aren’t inside, because if they are, they’re probably fried to a crisp by now.”

  “Think we should drive closer to the Sphinx and hope they’ll come out there?” Lance focused his binoculars on the stone beast.

  Mike checked his earbuds. “We’ll wait a few more minutes and see if they contact us.”

  Sixteen

  The Great Pyramid

  We rounded a corner on the slanted ramp and faced a tall metal cage big enough for two people. I stared at it, trying to remember the diagrams I’d studied back in that room beneath the Sphinx. Meanwhile, the stones vibrated all around us and pulsated with energy.

  “This is an odd place for a cage.” Banger examined the unusual metal bars.

  “There has to be a reason—” I snapped my fingers. “Of course, it’s a Faraday cage. We need to get inside fast.”

  Banger tugged on it. “The door’s locked, Sam.”

  “Let me try.” I ran my hands up and down the cage bars, searching for a latch. There wasn’t one.

  “Better think of something fast, my queen.” Banger gripped the bars to steady himself on the shaking floor.

  “Be the queen—maybe that’s it.” Speaking the ancient language, I commanded the cage door to open.

  The jewel in my newly acquired bracelet illuminated, and the door swung open. I glanced at my wrist. “I wasn’t expecting that to happen.”