The Ka

by Mary Deal

  The smells and noises, animal calls, voices and language rang familiar. The more she concentrated on perceiving details, the more they faded. When she relaxed, they came in with clarity and again, she felt herself being drawn into something for which she had no understanding or rationale. Strangely, she was filled with a sense of returning home after a pathetically long absence.

  Chione had not felt her feet trodding the inlaid stone path as they moved along. Instead, she floated, like in a dream, and Aaron was with her. That made it his dream too. A rush of elation as well as frustration engulfed her as she lost track of the vision. She wanted to be home. The moment the visuals faded, she realized she was having a lucid dream, consciousness and rationale intermingling. She struggled to stay calm and not disrupt the flow of events. “This is Akhetaten—our home!” her mind screamed.

  “We have important matters to attend,” his deep voice said.

  When she tried to focus on the lips through which that wonderful voice flowed, the image of his face faded in and out. Vertigo overtook her. She felt drunk. “More,” she said. Then someone nudged her shoulder.

  “Chione,” the voice said softly. It was not that same low voice but another that also rang true in her heart.

  “Home,” she said aloud.

  “Chione,” the whispering voice demanded. “Chione!”

  She opened her eyes and saw Aaron in the dimmed light of the Pillared Hall. “Akhetaten,” she said.

  “Chione,” he said quietly. “You're making too much noise. Someone will come to find out what's going on.”

  “I-I spoke?”

  “Sh-h,” he said again. “Sound echoes off these stone walls.”

  She glanced around, suddenly cognizant of where they sat. Aaron's wonderful face and reassuring smile were the only things that kept her from crying out for Akhetaten. “I-I guess I was dreaming.”

  He studied her. “You're disoriented,” he said. He seemed so attentive.

  “Were you dreaming too? Was I in your dream?”

  “Yes, you were, and no, I wasn't dreaming.”

  “Was I sleeping?”

  “Can you usually sit up unsupported while you sleep?”

  “I'm sure I dreamed you and I were at Akhetaten, in Tell el-Amarna,” she said, excited. “The city wasn't in ruins. What I saw of it was….” She was lost for words. “You were with me, Aaron. We were headed toward a great palace.”

  Aaron's mouth hung agape as she related details that he corroborated. “I never dreamed tapping into other planes of existence could be so real.”

  “It gets better.”

  “This is an example of what you've experienced all along?”

  She cast her gaze downward and swallowed hard. “And more. I don't have to try to receive information. It's suddenly being heaped on me.”

  “When did all this begin?”

  “When we reached the site on day one. It's as if some special energy exists around this dig and I've tapped into it. Or… it into me.”

  “Evidently me too, Chione.”

  “It's awesome.” She was overwhelmed and swiped at tears. “I can't contain it any longer. I'm sometimes frightened, and yet so compelled—”

  “Listen, there's no reason for you to be alone in this.”

  “Aaron, I can't control what I receive. It happens in a rush. How will you cope?”

  “Trust me. I'm already tapping into your experiences.”

  She felt the longing in his heart and knew that was what kept them attached. Even when she told him she wished no more dependencies. Ego's last stand. Deep in her heart, she knew they were meant for each other, and his patience and fate kept throwing them together. She could not push him away any longer and would not try to. “We were together,” she said, marveling. “You're a part of it all.”

  “You mean you've seen me in other visions?”

  “What did you perceive just now, Aaron? Do you know who you were?”

  “Not who I was, but that you and I were together and headed toward this behemoth ancient structure.” She waited as he tried to mentally rebuild the experience to glean all he could. “I felt we were home,” he said. “Then I remembered California and that really threw me.”

  “Me too! Me too!”

  His smile encouraged. They already had too much to think about and all she wanted to do was sit quietly and absorb everything.

  Perhaps Aaron really did not realize who he was in the vision. He seemed only to think he was himself together with her, witnessing a scene that took place thirty-five hundred years earlier. He had not yet realized he could become someone else and thought he had merely peeked into another place and time. He needed to discover this on his own.

  She concentrated on the vision they had just shared. Curiously, she found herself wondering who she might have been. Within moments she felt herself floating again. An ethereal spiral rose majestically above her, opening at the top into light. The air spun with a continual snakelike hiss and enveloped her until suddenly she was yanked upwards with great velocity and lost consciousness.

  They splashed in a shallow reflecting pool. Aaron laughed playfully. She quickly pulled loose a handful of lotus pads and whipped them down over his head with a spray of water. They laughed gleefully. She ran away, splashing, daring him to catch her. He grabbed her and they fell together. Then, looking past him, she was surprised to see a woman, regally costumed, approaching, attended by handmaidens. The woman watched them, seemed saddened, and then led the servants away.

  When Chione next looked to Aaron, he had become someone else. The face resembled Aaron's but he had become another person who looked familiar. Gone were the sturdy khaki pants and shirt, replaced by a pleated white linen tunic soaked with green silty water and stuck to his bronzed skin. He dabbed at the black kohl around his eyes. She did the same to hers and found it streaked down her cheeks. She quickly washed her face in the water.

  He was sensually aroused and ran his hands down her curvaceous body and pulled her against himself. “I will have you now,” he said.

  “Oba,” she said softly.

  He quickly laid her backward in the water, holding her head up with a hand. His other hand lifted her leg and she raised them both. He was about to take her at that moment, right there in the pond, and it filled her with wantonness.

  They kissed passionately. By the time the kiss ended, the scene had changed. It was a new day, a new time. They were naked and lying under a blanket on a woven reed pallet covered by a thick soft mat. More lattice panels of red mashrabia wood covered the walls. Rich colorful tapestries hung everywhere. A flask of uro and two marble goblets wait on a low carved table. The rich scent of incense hung in the air on trails of smoke.

  “Umayma,” he said, whispering, and then sighed heavily.

  “Come to me,” she said in an urgent provocative tone.

  “I cannot, after all, Umayma,” he said. “We must protect Yahya. You're my only hope.” He turned away quickly. “Protect Yahya.”

  Her longing for this man through eons welled up. She reached for him again but found him gone.

  “Oba!” she cried, still reaching for him.

  “Chione!” that other voice insisted.

  Again, she felt a strong nudge. She opened her eyes to find herself lying on the sitting mat beside Aaron, propped on an elbow close to her. The insufferably hot air in the Hall brought to mind another time when she had meditated and came out of it feeling lustful. She rolled to him and pulled him into her arms.

  “Chione!” he said, exasperated. “It's me, Aaron.”

  Chione withdrew quickly when she realized what had happened. “I'm sorry, Aaron, I'm sorry,” she said, sitting up. “I was really dreaming that time, didn't know I'd laid down.”

  Aaron smiled, sat up, evidently not angered. “You used to meditate lying down too.”

  “You mean we did it again?”

  “Just went with the flow. Is that how it happens to you too? You intend to meditate and it yanks y
ou into a scene somewhere?”

  “Aaron, it happens if I simply clear my mind. It happens on a lesser scale while I'm concentrating deeply, like when I'm working.”

  “Like we saw you do in Inventory with that little box that had a piece missing off the back?” he asked, as he strained to see her in the dim light. “You zone out to some other place while you're working?”

  “Not often while I work. But I get flashes of scenes. The visions usually never lasted unless during meditating, daydreaming, or in a similar state.

  “Well, I flashed on something, just now.”

  “What was on your mind a moment ago?” she asked.

  “I was trying to sort out all that I received in that first presentation.”

  “Concentrating deeply, you were ripe to be swept away.”

  “Is that how it works?”

  Without realizing it, she placed a hand on his knee. He noticed but had not moved. “That's how it's been happening,” she said, withdrawing her hand. “It's like some other power wants us to view these scenes.”

  “Do you think all these visions have something to do with the lives of people associated with this burial?”

  Chione smiled. “Now you're getting it.”

  “Because we're both open to extrasensory input? Simple as that?”

  This was mind-boggling. Aaron was finally learning how much he had opened himself up for when he became enchanted with her abilities. Maybe he did have potential to develop. Maybe he had some garbage, some blockage, to clear out of his psyche before knowledge came through with ease and clarity. Judging from what he was now receiving, had he somehow cleared his psyche in absentia? Was he seeing an aspect of his inner self that was closed all these years? On the other hand, was he likely to become possessed by something he had no power to control?

  Chione was undaunted, eager for experience, driven to learn all she could. She evidently had many more experiences than he did and always returned from them rational and coherent. The scientist in Aaron felt enticed to find an explanation to the peculiar occurrences. She wondered how he rationalized the dream and vision sequences he recently experienced.

  Chione needed time to think things through and hoped by merely concentrating upon them, she would not be swept away again. Somehow she needed to comprehend what was happening before it happened again. More than that, she had to know the meaning of the scenes that were so natural she could have lived them. She no longer merely watched, but now participated. How much could she endure without becoming swallowed by the paranormal?

  She returned from that last scene filled with lust and desire for the man who began as Aaron. He became someone else for whom she felt the same burning intensity? Then just now, when they returned from their supernatural excursion, how was it that she and Aaron found themselves lying side-by-side, similar to the two people they experienced in the vision?

  Her mind reeled. Too many questions needed answers. The Pillared Hall seemed suddenly cold. She wanted to cuddle up with Aaron, keep warm, but that would be impossible. “It's late,” she said, reaching for her boots. She hesitated, felt awkward. She wanted to give him an endearing peck on the cheek, say good night, and show appreciation in some simple way. He would misinterpret her motivation. She rose to her feet. “I'll see you in the morning,” she said nicely.

  He smiled that same encouraging smile as she turned to leave. “Sure. Good night, Umayma,” he called after her as she padded across the stone floor in her socks.

  She trained her flashlight beam on the floor of the passage. When she climbed the last flight of stairs heading toward the First Chamber, she clicked off the beam and made her way toward the dim light near where the others had bedded down. Aaron's pallet had been placed next to Kenneth's just outside the doorway to the First Chamber. On the other side of Dr. Withers, Clifford snored.

  As she entered the First Chamber, she heard reeds creak. A quick look back told her Aaron had laid down and stretched out. In the dim light, Kenneth raised up. “Hey, you two learn anything?” he asked not too quietly.

  Normally, she would detest hearing someone pry into her visions. This time she felt at ease, even playful. By now, the team members could not help themselves. They were all being affected in one way or another, especially Kenneth, who seemed thankful he and Bebe had drawn close again. He smiled all the time and touched her lovingly when not around the locals. Chione listened from just inside the First Chamber.

  “You awake?” Aaron asked quietly.

  “Can't sleep,” Kenneth said. “Not much back support on these woven things.”

  “Softer than stone though.”

  Chione wondered if any of hers and Aaron's conversations seeped up the passageway. If Kenneth had difficulty lying on the woven cot, how had he spent his time? Certainly he would not have lain in discomfort all that time. Chione shuddered at the thought anyone might have crept close while she and Aaron tapped into that other existence.

  “Aaron,” Kenneth said, keeping his voice low. “How do those vision things work?”

  “You're asking me? You'd better talk to Chione.”

  “You get `em too, don't you?” Kenneth's curiosity was never more evident. What a time to start a conversation that could take too long to explain, if one could.

  “Sometimes,” Aaron said.

  “What did you get tonight?”

  “Some names. Remind me in the morning to look at your wife's dictionary.”

  “Got it right here,” Kenneth said, reaching under his cot. “Earlier, none of us could sleep so we got out some reference materials and studied for a while. What I really wanted to interpret were some words I heard a couple locals saying. They acted awfully suspicious. If I can translate those words, we might learn who we can or can't trust.”

  “Oh, the thefts you're referring to?”

  “Yeah, I don't trust some of those workers out there,” he said. “I learned in Nam how to tell by a look in the eye if a guy planned to shake your hand or flip out a knife. He didn't have to blink to give a clue.”

  “You think you can read something in their actions?”

  “I'm on to something, but these guys are harder to read because their eyes are always smiling.”

  Aaron sat up as Kenneth produced the dictionary. One of them brought out a tiny pocket light and Dr. Withers rolled over away from the beam. Kenneth held the light close while Aaron accepted the dictionary and began flipping pages.

  “What exactly are you looking for?”

  Aaron flipped more pages. “Yahya.”

  “Where'd that come from?”

  “Heard it in meditation.”

  Kenneth would not believe let alone understand what she and Aaron had just experienced. In any event, the episode was too personal to divulge and Aaron should have waited until morning. As it was, their peers thought she and Aaron had rekindled their relationship and were trying to be discreet by telling everyone they were meditating together.

  “Ah, here it is,” Aaron said. “Yahya means gift of Aten.”

  “How was that word used?”

  “ `We must protect Yahya'.”

  “Run that by me again?”

  Aaron flipped through the pages. “Wait a sec,” he said. “Oba.”

  “Strange words,” Kenneth said.

  “Yeah, here it is,” Aaron said. “King, Oba means king.” He flipped more pages. “One more. Umayma.”

  “I haven't heard those words among the locals,” Kenneth said.

  Chione strained to hear. She hoped Marlowe and Bebe behind her in the room would not wake and catch her eavesdropping.

  “Little mother,” Aaron said. “Little mother?”

  “Make any sense?”

  “Like pieces of a puzzle.”

  Aaron lay back and stared up into darkness. Chione knew his active mind would keep him awake late into the night. “Umayma… Oba… Yahya,” he repeated as Kenneth also lay back. With Aaron repeating the Egyptian words like a mantra, Chione wondered if he would b
e pulled into another trance.

  28

  The sandstorm thickened the air and left only a few feet of visibility.

  “Face masks, scarves and protective goggles are now standard attire,” Dr. Withers said in an authoritative voice.

  The following four nights, the team slept down under. No one came to disturb Chione during meditation in the Pillared Hall. With so much to do to keep the encampment safe, the last few nights Aaron had not joined her.

  Most of the laborers' tents had been dismantled and taken away. It was anybody's guess where they bedded down, but they always showed up each morning. Masud suggested that many caves could be found up in the cliffs behind the site and that the locals knew of them from past digs. Many of the workers had no fear of the dead and might sleep in opened tombs if they found any.

  The team's yurts had been collapsed on top of personal belongings and battened down with heavy boards, boulders, and anything else weighty enough. The whole campsite looked forlorn, devoid of the hum of busy voices, chanting, and onlookers; replaced by the eerie howling wind and blasts of arid sand.

  Because of the dust, Clifford suggested any film be developed in Luxor across the Nile. Since he knew his way around, he took the film. Upon returning, he announced finding a reputable shop near the train station. In exchange for fast developing service, he promised the shop owner and two clerks and their families a tour of the tomb.

  Yafeu and Irwin did their best to keep sand out of the food. Old portable electric grills and burners were rounded up because the wind kept blowing out the pilot light and burners on the propane range. Even the pyramids that kept potatoes, vegetables and other edibles fresh on storage shelves were now covered with cloths. All prepared food was wrapped airtight before being transported out of the cook tent and then down under.

  Once at dinner, after having announced finding sand in his food, Clifford said, “If we stayed long enough, our teeth would wear down like the Ancients who got use to chewing on the grit.”