Trafalgar and Boone and the Books of Breathing

by Geonn Cannon

  “Now this is more like it. Apparently the artisans of Thebes knew how to build a temple.”

  “Artisans...?” Trafalgar said.

  Dorothy said, “Ah. Yes. The, ah...”

  Trafalgar touched her arm. “Don’t fret about it. Come on. It’s a long flight but we’ll be working in the dark. I’m certain Amenemhat will be here before we know it. No sense in wasting time.”

  “Agreed. Lead on.”

  Dorothy adjusted the strap on her shoulder and followed Trafalgar up the steps into the temple. “Have you given more thought to the plan?”

  “I did little else on the flight. It’s not as if we had much of a view. When Amenemhat arrives, we’ll separate him from the woman he’s traveling with. We must keep her safe at all cost. As far as we know, she’s an innocent in all of this.”

  “Agreed.” They stopped inside the walls in an avenue flanked on either side by stone sphinxes. Ahead they could see immense stone columns which rivaled the heights of buildings in London. “This is spectacular. It’s almost a shame this has all been thoroughly catalogued. I would love to spend a weekend simply exploring here. How old do you suppose those columns are?”

  “Roughly two decades.”

  Dorothy frowned. “What?”

  “Ground water caused a collapse just before the turn of the century. Eleven of them fell like dominoes. Georges Legrain supervised their reconstruction.” She swept her torch across the space. “Currently they’re working to reinforce the rest so it won’t happen again in the future.”

  “When we return home, you’re telling me everything you know about these ruins.”

  “Everything? That could take a very long time.”

  Dorothy shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll have many long nights to fill if you’re going to be moving in.”

  Trafalgar aimed her light at Dorothy’s face. “Is that an official invitation?”

  Dorothy held up her hand to block the light. “Oy, how many invitations do you need? Miss Trafalgar, I have a spare room. I would be overjoyed if you filled it with your things and slept there on a regular basis. We work together often enough and spend enough hours brainstorming that it’s a waste of your time to keep trekking back across the river to your home. And while I should consider you as just another member of the Mnemosyne Society, you are in fact its co-founder, and I would be lost without you. Please. Move in.”

  “Very well,” Trafalgar said. “I’ll consider it.”

  “Oh, for bloody--”

  Trafalgar snickered and faced forward again. “We pass through this hall, then move south into the first court. The sacred lake is just beyond there. We’ll set up and look for opportunities to lay a trap for Amenemhat when he arrives.”

  Dorothy reached into her pack and touched the ka statue, confirming it was still safely tucked away. She had to keep reminding herself that Desmond was actually inside it, his essence or soul or whatever it was that made him who he was. She would have a hard time believing it was even possible if it hadn’t happened to her. She didn’t remember anything from her time inside the statue, a prison from which Desmond had thankfully freed her, but she’d definitely been somewhere while Amenemhat was occupying her body.

  Up ahead, Trafalgar paused to examine the columns before she went right. Dorothy followed.

  “Can I make a confession?”

  “Is now the proper time?”

  “We have all night. I’d rather not spend it entirely silent.”

  Trafalgar said, “True.”

  “My grasp of Egyptian history is... sketchy at best. I know the general details, and I can translate if I have enough resources, but when it comes to the finer details, like the location of this temple, I’m a novice. When you asked for my help with the ka statue, I was honored. And I felt... superior. It was wrong of me. I should have acknowledged that this is your area of expertise.”

  Trafalgar looked back at her. “I’m surprised to hear you admit inadequacy so freely.”

  “I wouldn’t do it with just anyone. Our partnership is about strengthening one another’s weaknesses. We can’t do that if we keep them secret.”

  “Logical.” She started walking again.

  Dorothy moved to walk beside her. “So...?”

  “So?”

  “Your weaknesses...?”

  “Oh. Hm... I don’t like dogs.”

  Dorothy rolled her eyes. “That’s hardly comparable.”

  “Well, it’s a weakness.”

  “I’ll try to keep it in mind for future reference.”

  They arrived at the sacred lake. The night sky was reflected in the still water, and Dorothy stood for a moment to take in the size it. She had expected a small, ornamental basin but this truly did earn the title of ‘lake.’ Dorothy shook her head at the monumental scope of the temple.

  “This is unbelievable. It’s the size of a full city!”

  Trafalgar said, “The ancient Egyptians weren’t exactly known for their subtlety.” She slipped the bag from her shoulder and sat it down. “We have a lot of space here. The size will give us plenty of options for concealment.”

  “It also gives him a lot of options for entry points. It won’t do us much good if we’re concealed here and he enters from the north.”

  Trafalgar said, “Mm. You have a point. If Beatrice was here, we could at least cover three of the potential entrances. But I suspect he would enter the same way we did. He has no reason to suspect anyone will be here waiting for him, and he’ll be inclined to enter through the main gate out of reverence for the grounds.”

  Dorothy said, “You do seem to be in your element here.”

  “I enjoy Egyptology. That’s probably why Leola sent me the ka statue in the first place.”

  Dorothy took off her jacket, draping it across a nearby stone so she could roll up her sleeves. “If I could make a suggestion...?”

  Trafalgar nodded. “Of course.”

  “Abandon this hobby before she sends us anything else.”

  Trafalgar chuckled under her breath and set about preparing for Amenemhat’s arrival.

  #

  They set up near the main entrance, with Dorothy to the north and Trafalgar at the south. They would wait for Amenemhat to enter, then cut off his exit. If he did enter from one of the other access points, they could easily conceal themselves behind plinths and columns until they were behind him. Dorothy assumed he would enter the pool alone, leaving his hostage at the top of the stone steps leading down to the water. That would also give them the high ground. Trafalgar believed she could recite the correct passage from the Books of Breathing before Amenemhat could ascend the steps, which meant he would be safely back inside the statue while Desmond was returned to his body. Dorothy had the strobe gun Threnody gave them, with which she could hopefully paralyze their foe long enough for the spell to take effect.

  The hostage would be safe and their foe vanquished without a fight. It was the ideal solution, so Dorothy was confident there would be any number of wrenches thrown into the plan.

  Once everything was ready, Dorothy figured they still had two hours until Mazzi returned. They used their packs and jackets to create padding against the stone walls and settled in to get a little rest. Dorothy stretched her feet out in front of her and looked up at the night sky. She’d agreed to take the first shift listening for the plane, but Trafalgar was still fidgeting enough that she knew she was still awake.

  Finally she said, “Is there something on your mind?”

  “Yes, actually. Say everything goes well. Desmond is safely returned to his body, and the spirits are returned to the statues. What happens then?”

  “We go home.” She realized what Trafalgar was asking. “But you mean to say what happens with the statues containing two human spirits.”

  Trafalgar nodded. “We discussed it already, but we didn’t come to a satisfactory conclusion. And I can’t think of an attractive option. Either we store them somewhere in your archives, in which case we’ve essenti
ally imprisoned them, or we destroy the statues which feels like cold-blooded murder. It’s not as if they can defend themselves.”

  Dorothy considered the question carefully before she answered. “I still believe destroying the statue would be the only proper course of action. Speaking as someone who very recently was stuck inside one of them, if anything happened to my body, I would prefer to simply be released to whatever is supposed to come after.”

  “So you believe in the afterlife?”

  “Of course. After all of this, how can you not? You saw someone else in my body, and you saw me in Desmond’s. That’s proof we aren’t just random consciousness inhabiting meaty bodies. There’s something that makes us who we are. That must go somewhere when we die, otherwise Amenemhat wouldn’t be able to transfer it into the statue where it survived for all these centuries. Amenemhat and Henuttaui should have passed on back then. Destroying the statues wouldn’t be killing them. They were killed long before either of us were born. There is a third alternative. We allow them to inhabit someone’s body. Find someone who is suicidal, perhaps, or a patient who is unlikely to recover from their illness.”

  Trafalgar said, “Hardly ideal.”

  “Mm. I wouldn’t have wanted that. If Beatrice could create a golem or Threnody could construct some sort of automaton, it would still be a horrifying and unnatural extension of life.”

  “And Agnes’ fear of a despot gaining the ability,” Trafalgar said. “The charter of the Mnemosyne Society. To protect the ancient world from modern society...”

  “And protect modern society from the ancient world.” Dorothy drew her legs up and rested her arms across her knees. “I’m not sure we’re doing a very good job of it.”

  Trafalgar said, “I disagree. I believe Amenemhat would eventually have been awoken no matter what we did. Whether it was fate or happenstance that it occurred now, and that you were the one whose body was stolen, we can’t be sure. But imagine how terrible it would have been if Leola read the words. Amenemhat would have awoken Henuttaui by stealing someone else’s body and we would have no idea it even happened. Even though the event was certainly traumatic for you, I’m grateful it happened now, in this manner.”

  Dorothy said, “And I’m grateful it happened in the presence of the Society. They’re certainly coming together as a team. There’s certainly no one else I would have wanted as my saviors.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Trafalgar rested her head against the pillar.

  “Rest. I’ll wake you in an hour or so.”

  Trafalgar’s eyes snapped open. “You’re the one who should rest.”

  “I slept on the plane.” Cat-napped, really. “You were squeezed into the seat again. Now that you can stretch out comfortably, you should take advantage of it.”

  Trafalgar nodded, eyes already closed. Dorothy crossed her arms over her chest against the cold of the night and tilted her head back to continue watching the stars. She had no intention of waking Trafalgar; she deserved the rest after spending so much time on the translations. Besides, Dorothy really was still coming to terms with the time she’d spent in the statue. It was hardly any time at all, especially compared to how long Desmond had spent in it, but she was reluctant to abandon consciousness when there was so much to appreciate happening overhead.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Trafalgar was understandably irritated when she woke and discovered it was already dawn, but she couldn’t be too angry about getting some rest. They were going through Dorothy’s pack in search of a suitable breakfast when they heard the engine of Mazzi’s plane coming in from the north. They took cover in a position that allowed them to see the Valkyrie when it passed over the ruins. Mazzi dipped the wings, starboard and then port, before she cut to the east.

  “Here we go,” Dorothy said.

  Trafalgar nodded.

  They didn’t know where Mazzi would land or how long it would take Amenemhat to get from that point to the temple, but time was short. They made sure to eliminate any signs of their presence from view and positioned themselves where they wouldn’t be seen from the main entrance. Dorothy had checked the strobe gun in the night, just to ensure the weapon worked, and just seeing the beam of it hurt her eyes. She couldn’t imagine being targeted by the thing. She checked to make sure it was on, then held it against her thigh and settled in to wait.

  #

  Amenemhat’s attempts to stay awake and therefore prevent any of Desmond’s memories from creeping in as dreams had failed. The only thing that kept him awake on the airplane was sheer terror at what he was experiencing. Ruby and the pilot both seemed completely at ease with the prospect of rising into the air and flying hundreds of kilometers in a metal canister which was barely large enough to fit all three of them. He tried not to look over the edge at the terrain, or at the horizon which was changing much too rapidly for his tastes.

  He had to focus. He gripped the ka statue with both hands; it hadn’t left his sight all day. He could almost hear Henuttaui calling to him from within the stone. He watched the back of the pilot’s head. She seemed wary of him, suspicious. There was something in the clipped way she spoke that made him feel as if she knew who he really was. But no. That was just his paranoia creeping in. He was sweating more than the temperature could account for; he was starting to believe that Desmond... Desmond... Tin-something... that the body was rejecting him. Perhaps playing vessel to two alien essences was too many for one body to cope with. It was no matter. He didn’t care what happened to Desmond Boone... Desmond... T-Tindall’s... body when he was finished with it.

  The pilot twisted to look at him, then pointed down. He risked a glance and, despite a lurch of fear when he saw how far away the ground was, he was also thrilled to see his temple. The glorious Precinct of Amun-Re of the Karnak Temple. It was surrounded by modernity, blocks of city streets clustered around the ancient site, but the Nile still ran sure and strong alongside. And despite the obvious decay, he could see the temple was still revered.

  “They remember you, Lord,” he whispered, though the wind caught his words as soon as they passed his lips. He settled back in his seat and closed his eyes.

  If Amun was remembered, then his spells would work. He just needed faith. He began muttering the words under his breath as the pilot began her descent.

  #

  Dorothy had a crimson scarf wrapped around the lower half of her face, knowing that if she didn’t, the stone dust swirling through the temple ruins would cause her to sneeze at an inopportune moment. She was crouched by one of the columns with the strobe gun gripped in her hand. She would occasionally stand up to prevent her legs from falling asleep or cramping when their foe arrived. Trafalgar was several meters away behind another column, barely visible from Dorothy’s position. She seemed to have found a comfortable position which didn’t require frequent shifting.

  “It sounded as if they landed nearby,” Dorothy said. “So it shouldn’t be much of a wait.”

  “Here’s hoping.”

  It was close to twenty minutes before they heard movement in the forecourt. Their theory that he would use the main entrance had proven correct. They both retreated farther around their columns to be certain they were completely out of sight, but Dorothy craned her neck forward so she could see when Amenemhat entered. The woman hostage was first, of course. She was dressed casually in a white blouse and off-white slacks. She was wearing makeup, her hair was pinned out of her face, and she slowed down to scan the frescoes as she came though the doorway.

  Dorothy was relieved to see she wasn’t acting terrorized, but there was also the concern that she didn’t understand how much danger she was in.

  Amenemhat entered behind her. Dorothy thought her body was in rough shape after being possessed, but it was nothing compared to the treatment Desmond seemed to have faced. He looked pale and exhausted, bags under his eyes and hair unkempt. His skin shone with sweat that had darkened the collar of his shirt, which it appeared hadn’t been changed since Dorothy was occupyi
ng the body.

  She blinked at that thought. What a peculiar life I lead.

  Amenemhat moved past the woman and nudged her to continue. “There will be plenty of time to gawk later, Ruby.” He spoke with a thick accent that made him sound like a stranger. The woman, Ruby, walked behind him toward the sacred lake. Dorothy was frustrated that the hostage was now between her and Amenemhat, but that might make it easier to separate them. She looked to Trafalgar, who gave a nod, and they both stepped out from behind the columns. They fell into step behind Amenemhat and Ruby.

  “I believe that’s far enough, Priest,” Dorothy said.

  Amenemhat and Ruby both turned, both startled by the sudden command. His anger quickly turned to rage.

  “You again? What sort of demon are you?”

  “No demon,” Dorothy said, “just a clever woman. Miss... Ruby, is it? Please step toward us. You’ve no idea how dangerous this man is.”

  Ruby looked between them and Amenemhat. “I’ve got some idea. But you, I don’t know at all. For all I know, you’re the people trying to keep him from saving the woman he loves.”

  Amenemhat said, “Yes! Yes, these women are attempting to stop me from saving Hannah.”

  Dorothy said, “What he’s told you are lies. His name is Amenemhat, a High Priest from ancient Egypt whose spirit is inhabiting the body of my good friend, Desmond Tindall.”

  “He said his name was Desmond Boone.”

  “He was confused. I’m Boone. The Lady Dorothy Boone. This is Miss Trafalgar. We are simply trying to put things right.”

  Amenemhat said, “Ruby, this is madness.”

  “Then why are we standing in an ancient temple? What was the purpose of his visit here?”

  Ruby hesitated. “He... he said there was... there was something he needed to do. In order to ensure his success.”