As he comes to each statue, Doug is sure to show as much as possible with his helmet cam.
"I would say," Starts Doug, "Whoever did this also built the pyramids on Earth." Jon makes a facial gesture, puzzled
"Why would a Being carve out a mountain like this," he says. Doug glances at him and then says "We're not in a mountain, Captain."
"We're in pyramid," Mikhail interrupts. Doug gives him a slight scowl for ruining the big news.
"That's right. We're in a pyramid," Doug says as he studies the statue they are standing next to, "One that is much larger than the three on the Giza Plateau." His light finds the top of the figure. "Anubis," the archaeologist says, his voice somber and almost reverent. The four just stand together gazing upward and ponder what they are looking at.
"Yes. Definitely Anubis," Says Hank in agreement.
"Jon. We're not at all comfortable with what we see here," Bill's voice sounds nervous over the radio.
"That makes two of us, Bill," Jon agrees as he inspects the surroundings. "Are you advising we scrub?"
"Negative. Clear to proceed," comes the response a few minutes later, "again, with extreme caution. We believe it's obvious you're not alone there."
After a brief rest, the crew presses on their way. As they go deeper into the passageway, they begin to find more artifacts with gold in them. As Doug takes a small statue made of the shiny metal, Mikhail turns his attention away, viewing the archaeologist's actions as thoughtless and finding them to be disturbing.
They enter a room at the end of the corridor. As they scrutinize the room, they drift apart. Doug goes to one wall and is amazed. The whole surface is covered in what appears to be hieroglyphics. Jon examines some statues he finds. Doctor Doolan is fascinated by a jackal-headed urn sitting on the floor in the corner of the room. After a few moments, Jon takes note and walks over to her. They both examine the small container.
"Digger," Jon says, "Come here. Look at this."
Doug rushes over.
"Canopic jar," He says, "that's a canopic jar." He looks around the room. "Should be three more. Since this was in the corner, the other three should be in the other three corners."
"Canopic jar," Jon asks.
"Yes," starts Doug "When the ancient Egyptians mummified someone, they removed the stomach, lungs, intestines and liver and preserved them in these jars in the belief that the person would need them in the afterlife. The jars were then placed in the burial chamber, one in each corner. Since the heart was believed to be the soul, that was left inside the body."
He picks up the jar and examines it. "This head looks like Duamutef, so this would contain the stomach," he says.
"Duamutef," Katherine asks
"Yes. Each of the four jars has a head on it. They represent the four sons of Horus, and each one protects a specific organ. Duamutef, here, with a head like a Jackal, protects the stomach. Hapi has a baboon head and protects the lungs. Imseti, a human head and he protects the liver and Qebehsenuef; the falcon-headed son, who is the protector of the intestines."
"I see."
"This isn't ancient Egypt, Digger; this is Mars. Do you think these serve the same purpose?"
"I dunno," says Doug, shrugging. "Possibly." He surveys the area "The odd thing is, they're supposed to be in the burial room with the sarcophagus, and I don't see one here."
All three search around the room for a sarcophagus that Doug just told them should be in the room. Just then, Jon detects what appears to be a faint golden glow coming from a doorway across the room. No one realizes that Mikhail is not searching, but is watching them instead.
"What the hell," he says puzzled. Everyone turns and observes the glow as well.
"The same glow from last night," Doug whispers. As they approach the entrance way, the glow disappears.
The Discovery
The four approach the doorway with their weapons at the ready, Mikhail stops at the door.
"Captain," he says with a voice sounding foreboding, "we should not go in there." Jon regards him a moment, confused.
"Why the hell not," he asks, "that's what we came here for." The Russian eyes him a moment.
"Heed my words, Captain. Is not good idea."
"Yeah," the astronaut retorts, "Try and stop me." Without hesitating, he crosses into the next room with Doug and Doctor Doolan in tow. Mikhail, of course, does not follow.
"Exercise extreme caution," comes the warning from Bill on the radio.
"Don't worry. We all remember our training," Jon answers, then to the crew "Right?"
"Yes, sir," says Katherine.
Jon motions for them to spread out and search the room. They fan out, being quite cautious about everything in the area. The room is dark with a heavy, musky odor in the air. The three survey their surroundings, the lights on their helmets finding many shiny objects.
"Holy shit," Doug exclaims, "look at all these gold statues!" His helmet light, at long last, finds the wall he is searching for and expected to find.
"Captain," he yells out. "Hieroglyphics." Jon and Doctor Doolan come over to the archaeologist.
"What's it say," Jon asks, "Can you translate?"
"I can't translate the script word for word... uh... I would need time for that...," starts Doug, "But I can tell you there are depictions of the Egyptian gods Anubis and Osiris here. The text seems to be saying something about traveling a long distance, but I'm not quite sure... um... to where." He glances at Jon as though asking him for the answer and realizes his light is falling on something shiny under some rubble in the middle of the room
"What is that," he ponders out loud. The exploration party walks over to the pile, which is about 8 feet long, 3 feet wide and about 3 feet tall and appears to be covering something made of gold. It strikes them as more than a little odd this is the only mound of debris they came across. After a few moments of looking at the mound in front of them, Doug says to Jon, "Are you thinking what I am?"
"I have no idea," Jon says, examining the area, "It's weird that it's the only thing covered with rubble." He makes a facial gesture at Doug, "Kinda makes you think it's this way on purpose." He then realizes it's only him, Doctor Doolan and Doug present.
"Where the hell is Miko," he asks.
"He stayed in the other room. He didn't want to come in here," the physician answers.
"Damned fool," says Jon, angered by Mikhail's failure to follow procedure, "He knows we're supposed to remain together. What's his fucking problem?" He starts for the door, and at the same time, Mikhail steps into the room.
"Miko," Jon shouts, "Get your ass over here. Now!" The navigator, not wanting to, heeds the commander and comes over
"Stay with us. What the hell's your problem, "Jon says. "We found something here under this debris. Let's get this junk off, so we can investigate and get our asses back home."
Jon, Doug, and Mikhail begin to take the larger pieces off, and Doctor Doolan takes off what chunks she can.
"Be careful, and don't hurt yourselves. My med bay is a few miles from here," She warns. They clean the debris from the item, and more of the mystery starts unfolding. With each piece of rubble removed, Doug gets more excited, and he begins to work faster.
Working near the bottom of the article, Doug uncovers the evidence he is looking for... a bump. A bump which, as he expected, represents where the feet of a mummy would be.
"Holy shit," He exclaims, "It's a sarcophagus." He peeks up at Jon, smiling like a kid in a candy store. "A God Damned, honest to goodness sarcophagus, Jon. I told you it was real," Doug cannot seem to hide his enthusiasm.
"We were right," Digger says as he starts to rush to get the rest of the rubble off the object.
A few minutes later, all the major debris is removed. The four step back and find themselves in awe at the shining relic which does, indeed, prove to be just what the archaeologist said. Jon and Doug both make sure they provide good visuals on the coffer with their helmet cams. As Digger walks down the length of the f
unerary box, he describes in detail what he is seeing.
"This is a gold sarcophagus," his narrative begins, "that we found in Olympus Mons on Mars, for what appears to be an Egyptian Pharaoh. I can't tell yet which Pharaoh this is... or, um... was... but," he gets a little closer to the encasement, "It's starting to become familiar. We'll clean the object off a little better, and I hope I can tell who we have found."
He glimpses up at Jon with a smile of satisfaction on his face. Standing there, he realizes Mikhail, again, is nowhere to be found.
"Where's Miko," he asks. Jon and Doctor Doolan perform some reconnaissance. "Miko," the captain shouts, "Where the hell are ya?" He searches the area and his light lands on Mikhail's face. He is poised about 10 feet away with a strange, menacing gaze in his eyes.
"Right here, Captain," He says with an ominous tone in his voice, as he raises his hand. In the palm of his hand is the device the real Russian navigator kept hidden from the others all this time.
"What's that," Jon asks, "A bomb?" He levels his carbine and takes aim at Mikhail. "Drop it, Miko, or I swear, I'll put a bullet right between your eyes and yours will be the first blood spilled on Martian soil." They glare at each other while the tension builds. "Borznekhov, don't make me do this," the captain warns.
"No, captain, this is not an explosive weapon. This is a device which the one you call 'Mikhail' was given to steal our DNA to use for your own purposes." He crushes the metallic box in his hand and tosses it on the ground. The three stare in disbelief.
"What are you talking about, Miko? That wasn't part of this mission," Jon says, confused, "And it wasn't what you told me your so called 'secret' mission from your superiors was."
"You are here to bring back proof of our existence which your planet is not ready for yet. We cannot allow you to do that," Mikhail moves forward, menacing. "Stay right there. Come any closer, and your head is history." Jon says, sounding as threatening as he could. Miko stops in his tracks.
"You're not making any sense Borznekhov," the captain says as his finger tightens on his weapon's trigger. Doctor Doolan and Digger follow Jon's lead and train their weapons on the Russian navigator, who studies all three. "I would not do that, Jon Carson. It is not advisable," he states.
"Who the hell are you," Jon asks. "What did you do with Miko?" The being just stands there, staring at him. "You better answer me, or so help me; I'll blow your fucking brains out... or whatever is in that head of yours."
Without warning, a shot rings out. Doug is so nervous he fires his weapon by accident. The projectile misses the target. In one motion, the creature turns to face him while raising his hand. This causes Doug to be thrown across the room, landing on the floor near a wall. "Stupid human," the alien says. Jon and Katherine duck for cover behind some large urns and keep their M4s trained on the being.
"Doug, Doug. Are you okay," Hank is screaming on the radio as Digger regains his composure.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Stay right there, you son of a bitch," Jon yells at the being, who is now starting to advance on him and the doctor.
"You asked for it," Jon says. He pulls the trigger on his M4 and with a loud crack, the shot leaves the barrel. The deadly piece of lead streaks to the head of the being, who stops in his tracks and makes a hand gesture. The bullet strikes the wall well away from him. Jon tries to fire his carbine again, but the weapon levitates by itself and moves toward Mikhail, who points to the ground and the gun falls. He leers at the other two astronauts who are still pointing their weapons at him and waves his hand.
"Your weapons will no longer function," he states. As though testing what he was just told, Doug squeezes his trigger with no result. The being trains his gaze on him.
"What the hell?" Jon says, startled "How'd you do that?" The creature doesn't say a word. He turns his attention and stares at the lead astronaut then walks over near the sarcophagus. The captain prepares to rush him.
"I would not do that if I were you human," he warns, "I know you are planning to attack me. That would not be wise. I told you to heed my words and not come in this room, but you don't listen. You, like everyone else on your planet, are trying to learn things you are not ready for and cannot understand. We cannot permit this." His Russian accent is now becoming diminished as he speaks, and his voice rises in pitch, almost as if he were singing.
"I am not the one you call Mikhail," he continues, looking at the large gold object in front of him. "My name is Pawah. I am a High Priest. I am here to protect my Pharaoh." His face begins to change. "I am what you humans refer to as," he pauses for a moment while glancing at Jon, Doug and Doctor Doolan, who are now standing together, "Anunnaki." The astronauts gaze at him in disbelief as he completes his transformation.
His head becomes elongated; his eyes are like large black almonds. His nose all but disappears, and his mouth is but a slit in his face. His skin takes on a light gray cast. His clothes change from the Russian Cosmonaut suit to robes of linen, and his boots become papyrus shoes. This whole metamorphosis happens in mere moments. With the three astronauts in a state of shock, Pawah opens one of his hands, and a staff appears like magic.
"Houston, are you getting this," Doug asks, whispering.
"Roger. Receiving loud and clear."
"The one you call Mikhail tried to come here last night. I stopped him. We are a peaceful people, but he, like you, would not take heed and I had to do things that are distasteful to me. His lifeless form is outside, near where you all slept in the darkness." The creature says.
"You alien son of a bitch," Jon says as he rushes at Pawah. Doug steps forward to stop him, but before he could, the high priest turns and raises his hand. In the blink of an eye, the alien's would-be attacker is levitated as if pulled up by the neck. The captain starts to gag as though someone is, indeed, using a choke hold on him.
"Put him down," Doctor Doolan screams. The alien allows Jon to remain suspended in midair for a moment while he speaks. The whole while, Jon struggles to breathe and grab at his throat, trying to gain his release. The being continues speaking;
"You are the aliens here, and I warned you your actions are not wise. You humans do not listen. You think you are superior to everything in this universe, but you are nothing. This is why your planet is in the state it is and also why we cannot allow you to show us to your world." He makes a hand motion, and Jon falls, limp, to the floor, coughing and gasping for air. The physician and Doug rush to him. "You are lucky I let you live for now," Pawah finishes, showing his disgust for the humans.
"Captain, are you hurt," The doctor asks as she reaches him. Jon rubs his neck.
"No, I think I'm fine."
Katherine checks his neck to make sure nothing is wrong.
"Doesn't seem to be any broken bones. Can you breathe okay?"
"Yes. I said I was fine," he says as he gets on his feet.
Pawah turns his attention away from the astronauts and aims the top of his staff at the sarcophagus, causing the lid to open. After a few moments, a living creature steps out. The crew can see the new being is a male, with an elongated skull, but not quite the same facial features and skin tone as the high priest. This being's eyes appear almost Asian in nature; he has a thin face with broad, almost feminine, lips and a prominent nose. His midsection protrudes, something of a "pot belly" and he is wearing what appears to be a tall headpiece and white robes with gold trim. As he exits the crypt, the room begins to fill with a soft, golden glow. Doug realizes that he has seen this glow before, as does Jon and Doctor Doolan.
Pawah, who has a lot of respect for this being, helps him out of the casing and gets down on one knee in front of him. He turns to the astronauts who are still standing behind him.
"Down, insolent humans," he commands, "Bow before my Pharaoh." Forced against their will, the humans drop to their knees. From statues at digs and in museums, Doug recognizes this being that just emerged from the sarcophagus. He can't help but stare at him. "Akhenaten," he says almost whispering. He
nudges Jon, "That's Akhenaten,"
"Silence," warns Pawah. "You are not permitted to speak in the presence of the Pharaoh unless he commands you."
The creature - Akhenaten - peers at what he considers to be his human captives and considers them. He approaches them, comes face to face and one by one; he gazes deep into their eyes as if peering into their soul. His expressionless face does not change. His eyes are wide open and black. Almost appearing dead, as a shark's eyes. He walks almost like he is gliding on air. He retreats toward his sarcophagus and without saying a word, he catches the eye of Pawah. Glancing at his high priest, he motions at the explorers.
"Yes, my Pharaoh. I know," the Anunnaki says as he stands up. He addresses Jon, Doug and Doctor Doolan.
"We know what you have discovered on your planet, and you have come here to take that which is ours. You would travel back to your home world and tell others of your species. Soon, they will come, and this most holy of places will become desecrated." He lifts his hand as if bestowing a blessing. "We cannot allow this. We have been watching you destroy your own world."
As he talks, he points the top of his staff at the three astronauts, who begin to feel dizzy and a little faint. The room begins to spin as though they are drunk or losing their equilibrium. Pawah's words start to echo in their minds.
"What's happening," Doctor Doolan asks, frightened.
"I... I don't know," Jon stutters, "B... but I'm feeling... strange... funny." He glances around the room, "Seeing... things." He finishes.
"Me, t... too," Doug stammers, reeling from the sensation. He leers at Pawah "What're you doin' to us," he demands.
"You are joining us," the high priest states.
"What does that... mean," Digger asks, holding his head.
"We cannot permit you to go back to your planet. You will stay here... with us."
As he speaks, the three astronauts start to visualize images of Ancient Egypt; the pyramids of the Giza Plateau, the Sphinx and the "City of the Dead." Pawah begins to chant, and the images begin swirling about them and before their eyes. What they are seeing appears so real, they can almost reach out and touch everything. The impression is so powerful, the room they are in vanishes before them. In what, to them, is an instant, they are standing on a dirt road in the ancient city of Amarna, and yet, they are somehow disjointed from, and floating above, the scene.
The Mons Connection Page 6
