She glanced out of the small window. They were approaching Hong Kong’s sprawling skyline. She could make out the tallest buildings, rising like spears above the horizon. Almost there… The anticipation tingled through her like electrical sparks on their way to the ground, gathering in her toes.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Dharr entered the cabin. He had changed from the black body armor into a pair of ripped faded jeans and a short-sleeved, black button-down shirt that he wore open, revealing more of his scaly skin.
“We’ll be landing in a few minutes,” he said.
Alyssa pointed at the wide cuff bracelet that still encircled his left arm. “What is that?”
He lifted it to Alyssa. “It’s like a smartphone—only smarter.”
She reached out to touch it then pulled her hand back.
“Go ahead,” Dharr encouraged her.
Alyssa tapped it. A shimmering three-dimensional display appeared above it.
“Are you serious?” She laughed, her hand flying to her mouth. She leaned forward and studied the display and symbols. “During the fight, you used it to summon the plane.”
Dharr touched the glowing triangular icon, and a series of other symbols appeared. “This brings up the controls for the plane.”
“So, you control it remotely? And the guns, too?”
“We can, but the AI does a better job.” He pointed at a symbol.
“Artificial intelligence? So the plane flies itself? And shoots?”
Dharr nodded. He tapped the bracelet, and the shimmering image disappeared. “There’ll be time later. Let’s get ready.” He tagged Paul on his shoulder.
Paul groaned.
“Did you see that?” Alyssa asked him as Dharr left the cabin.
“See what?” Paul asked, groggy.
“What?” Tasha opened her eyes from the seat across.
Alyssa shook her head. “Never mind.” Clay would so geek out over this.
She looked out of the window again. They advanced on a skyscraper that soared above others. A glass dome capped its peak, encircled by seven towers interconnected with transparent skywalks along the perimeter. One tower stood taller than the other six, and a gold spire rose from its center.
Are we going to—?
The jet decelerated rapidly. Alyssa squeezed the arm rests at the sudden loss of speed. For an instant, her stomach clenched, her body expecting her to plummet, before she realized the jet was hovering. They descended slowly until the wheels made contact. Then the jets began to wind down.
Paul glanced out. “Are we here?”
Alyssa laughed softly. “You can sleep through anything, can’t you?”
“Hey, I’m still recovering from a near-drowning,” he replied. “Some sympathy and patience, please?”
Dharr came in again, followed by the other Rathadi, minus the combat gear. Nel had braided her long curls into pigtails and donned a crop top and short skirt straight from the eighties. Tef, the girl with the reptilian skin, stretched against the bulkhead in a leather jumpsuit that earned a raised eyebrow from Tasha. The twins, Jawad and Vol, sported surfer-style baggy shorts and tees. Alyssa watched their cheerful banter. They looked like a bunch of kids planning to hit the town, not the team of soldiers that had rescued her and Tasha in a firefight just a few hours ago.
A ramp at the rear of the plane tilted down, and they exited onto the landing pad on the tower. The wind whipped Alyssa’s hair as she spun, taking in the breathtaking view amid the sea of high-rises below them. The spired tower, tallest among the seven, stood to the south of them, across the glass dome below. Beyond it, lush green mountain ranges crested the island, topped by Victoria Peak. To the north, across the harbor, thousands more skyscrapers spread through Hong Kong’s Kowloon district.
A door slid open, and a young man rushed out of the interior of the tower. Alyssa smiled, her belly buzzing with anticipation. He stopped in front of Dharr and spoke rapidly. The language was foreign, with Middle Eastern inflection, but more melodic with strange, guttural undertones. She didn’t need to understand the words to interpret his mood. Alyssa’s smile wilted when he stopped talking to Dharr and faced her.
“You should not be here,” he said, switching to flawless English, curling his pale, thin lips. His face was strong and defined, with a sharp jaw, slender nose, and prominent cheekbones. His light brown eyes sloped downward in a serious expression. He pointed at Paul and Tasha. “None of you.”
Before any of them had a chance to muster a reply, Dharr intervened. “Please forgive Heru-pa. It appears he has forgotten his manners—” he drew his eyebrows together—“and place.”
Heru-pa’s jaw twitched, but he remained silent. Dharr motioned them inside. “Come, we have much to discuss.”
They entered the building. Well, that’s not quite the welcome I expected, Alyssa thought as they moved to a glass elevator.
Paul stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Dharr asked.
Paul grimaced. “Not a fan of glass elevators. Well, actually glass elevator shafts…”
Dharr gave him a blank look.
Alyssa squeezed Paul’s hand. “Come on,” she said pulling him in.
As the elevator descended, Alyssa watched the other six towers that surrounded the glass dome beneath them. They passed the level of the glass dome, and Alyssa gasped. Below them, a massive pyramid stood in the center of a twenty-story-tall atrium, surrounded by what appeared to be an indoor park. Above the pyramid, a ten-foot-wide golden disk hung suspended by a pair of wires, its brilliant polish reflecting the sunlight streaming in through the atrium.
The elevator stopped on the bottom floor of the atrium. Dharr and Tef exited. Alyssa followed with Paul and Tasha behind. Alyssa turned when she realized that Nel and the twins stayed put.
“You’re not coming?” she asked.
“No way,” Jawad said. Or was it Vol? “We’ll leave the talking to Dharr. You kids have fun.” He shot her a coy smile as the doors closed. “But do let us know when you’re going out again.”
They entered a spacious conference room and gathered around a twelve-foot-long gray slate table. Alyssa was flanked by Paul and Tasha, with Dharr and Tef taking seats facing them. Alyssa tensed when Heru-pa entered the room a few moments later and occupied the seat at the head. Dharr shot him a withering glance, not attempting to hide it.
“Who are the Rathadi?” Alyssa blurted out, not being able to contain herself a second longer.
Heru-pa’s lips, already thin, compressed into bloodless lines. Dharr took a breath and leaned forward. “We are the descendants of Ra, our first ancestor.”
Alyssa took a minute to let the words sink in.
“But… how?” she stammered. “I thought they… you… all died… killed by the Pureans.”
“The war between the Rathadi and the Pure Ones cost countless lives, but not all perished,” Dharr replied.
Alyssa swallowed, allowing her brain to catch up and consider the implications.
“And the Pureans? Did some of them survive, as well?”
Dharr nodded. “Horus destroyed Atlantis and all lives on the island, but the Pureans were a race of seafarers. Those at sea found strength in their hatred for Horus—and the Hybrids. They vowed revenge.” His face darkened. “And so the war has waged on for millennia. The Pureans, united under Nephthys—”
“Nephthys?” Alyssa interrupted. “As in, the Nephthys in Nepal?”
Dharr drummed his chin with his fingers for several moments before speaking. “The Nephthys you met is a direct descendant of the Hybrid woman who unified the Pureans,” he said. “They follow her in their cause to destroy us.”
“But she’s a Hybrid!” Alyssa exclaimed. “The Pureans are led by a Hybrid?”
A painful expression crossed Dharr’s face. He opened his mouth when Heru-pa cleared his throat and leaned forward. Both elbows on the table, he steepled his fingers and faced Dharr.
“I think our guests have had enough of a history l
esson for now,” he said.
“But I have so many more questions!” Alyssa pleaded. “What about the temple in Nepal?”
“All in due time,” Heru-pa said. “Perhaps it may be best if—”
“The outbreak four months ago,” Alyssa interrupted, “you knew about it. Why didn’t you help? Your blood could have been used to create a cure.”
“It is not our world,” Heru-pa said. “Not our problem.”
“It is now!” Alyssa fired back. “Nephthys has altered the virus so it’s lethal to Hybrids.”
“That is impossible,” Heru-pa replied.
“Tell that to the people who died in Cairo,” Alyssa pushed.
“As you said,” Heru-pa said coldly, “they were people, not Rathadi.”
“They had Hybrid genes,” Alyssa said.
“What?” Dharr cut in.
Heru-pa’s look betrayed his own surprise.
“I was there when the last of them died,” Alyssa said. “The doctor who constructed the cure for the virus four months ago confirmed it.”
Dharr scratched his neck. “How is that possible?”
“I’m not sure,” Alyssa said, “but I think Nephthys shared her blood with them, allowing them to fuse her DNA into theirs.”
Heru-pa snorted. “These individuals were not Rathadi. They were abominations. Our blood will protect us.”
“If what Alyssa says is true, these are grim tidings,” Dharr countered. “We cannot risk ignoring these reports.”
“And the cure?” Tef asked. “The one manufactured from your blood for the epidemic?”
“It didn’t work,” Alyssa said.
Heru-pa crossed his arms and sat back defiantly. “How did one of them just happen to escape and get to the hospital?”
Dharr tapped his fingers on the table. “Unless…”
“Unless Nephthys wanted her to survive and get to the hospital,” Alyssa said, sudden realization striking.
At this, Heru-pa nodded, a flicker of respect showing, along with an insulting amount of surprise.
“Why would she do that?” Tef asked.
“To confirm that the cure no longer worked.” Dharr said.
“Because she is planning to use the virus,” Alyssa whispered.
A ripple of unease passed through the room, followed by a long stretch of silence.
Dharr placed his palms on the table. “These reports are too serious to ignore,” he said. “If any of it is true, we may be in significant danger.” He rose. “Is there anything else you can tell us?”
Alyssa reflected, then shook her head.
“Thank you,” Dharr said and opened the door. “Please allow us some time to evaluate the new information.”
“But—” Alyssa started.
“You have given us a great deal of valuable and potentially troubling news. We must pass it on. Decisions will have to be made.” He touched her arm. “I know you must have many questions. Perhaps we can all meet for our evening meal together?”
Alyssa sighed, resigned. “I understand.” She gave a small smile. “Evening meal sounds great.”
Paul nudged Alyssa after they left the room. “Did you just make a date with him? I thought you and I are—”
“Going steady?” Alyssa teased. “He is pretty dashing, you know. I’ve always had a thing for bald and scaly.”
“I can shave my head,” Paul offered.
“What about the scales?” Alyssa asked, stepping closer.
“I suppose it’s hard to compete with a descendant of an Egyptian god.” His shoulders slumped. “There’s got to be a joke there somewhere.”
Alyssa grasped his head in her hands. “I thought I already lost you once. I’m not going to risk it again.” She leaned in and kissed him. “Not even for bald and scaly.” She moved in and kissed him again, first on the cheeks, then more deeply on his lips, heat rising in—
“What’s wrong with bald and scaly?” Tef’s voice rang from behind Alyssa. She whirled, staring at the Hybrid girl’s multicolored skin shimmering in the sunlight.
“Are we interrupting something?” Tasha asked, sheepishly.
“Uh, I was just…” Alyssa stammered.
Tef winked, and Alyssa let out a huge breath. She fired a glance at Tasha. “And, yes, as a matter of fact you were.”
Alyssa studied Tef’s skin. She swallowed and reached out. “May I?”
Tef nodded and held out her arm.
Alyssa caressed it, running her fingers along the skin. It was velvety and pliant, but its strength unmistakable. The small ridges between the scales were barely perceptible.
“It’s so… beautiful,” Alyssa whispered, mesmerized. “Your whole body is like that?”
Tef stepped back. “Now that’s getting a bit personal, no?”
Alyssa jerked her hand back, heat rising in her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
Tef laughed. “Just teasing. But you did have it coming for making fun of bald and scaly. And, yes, those of us who have been chosen by the serpent sentinel go through the morphing after the Rite of Transcendence.”
“Sentinel, morphing, transcendence,” Alyssa repeated, “Rathadi…” She rubbed her face. “I feel like I’m in a dream. There’s so much I want to see, learn…”
“Would you like me to show you?” Tef asked.
Alyssa perked up then eyed Paul. “I would love to, but Paul and I—”
“Go on,” Paul said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You sure?” she asked, her eyes crinkling.
“Better go before I change my mind,” he grinned.
“Thank you!” Alyssa beamed. She gave him another kiss.
“Dharr said we could check in with Clay and George,” Tasha said.
“I’ll go with you,” Paul said. He turned to Alyssa. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Come,” Tef said. “There are many Rathadi who would like to meet you.”
They walked back through the corridor and stepped into the atrium. Dozens of Rathadi strolled around the walkways or lazed on benches under green trees, watching children play on the manicured lawns, surrounded by vibrant flower beds, streams, and small ponds. The subtle concentric design of the walkways and the ponds drew the eye to the pyramid, no matter where Alyssa looked.
“What is this place?”
“It is our place of repose and play, but it also serves as a sacred place for our ceremonies.”
“It’s magnificent. It feels so open, almost like we’re outside.”
“It is difficult for some of us to spend much time among non-Rathadi.” A brief shadow crossed Tef’s face. “This building is our home.”
Alyssa reached out and touched Tef’s arm. “How many of you are here?” she asked.
“Almost seven hundred,” Tef replied.
Seven hundred Hybrids? Alyssa’s mind reeled. “Does Nephthys know where you are?”
Tef nodded.
“Aren’t you worried she’ll attack you?”
“She would never risk a full-out attack. She knows our strength,” Tef replied. “Still, we are prepared to defend our home—or to evacuate it—at a moment’s notice. It is something for which we train from the time we are born.” She sighed wryly. “This war is part of who we are.”
They crossed onto a bridge overlooking the glass pyramid and the large golden disk suspended above it. The light reflected from the disk and beamed down onto the glass, bathing the entire atrium in a soft orange glow. Alyssa studied the stairs leading to the top of the structure, stirring memories within memories.
“How did you survive?” Alyssa asked.
“Few Hybrids lived to see Horus free them from Set’s prison. Fewer yet survived the voyage to Egypt. By the time the ships reached land, only a small group of our Ancestors remained. Faced with the extinction of our race, we turned to science to ensure our survival.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ever wondered why Egyptian mythology is full of incest?” She cocked an eyebro
w, leaving the implication hanging.
Alyssa kept a stunned silence.
“Don’t worry. Turns out it’s only half-true. The more accurate description would be cloning.”
“Cloning?” Alyssa’s mouth dropped.
“Our ancestors used the genetic materials from siblings to create their offspring. Genes from our animal sentinels provided the genetic diversity needed to sustain us. So, from a few individuals, our race was reborn.”
Alyssa tried to process everything that Tef told her when somebody poked her from behind. Alyssa turned. A small boy stared at her with huge eyes. His face was round with a smattering of pale freckles dotting his nose and cheeks. His expression was curious and eager, like a boy who’d just walked into a bakery full of pastries.
“Are you Alyssa?” he asked.
“It appears you’re a bit of a celebrity,” Tef pointed at a group of children who had gathered behind them. Alyssa had been so engrossed in the conversation she hadn’t noticed them before. The children stood, staring at her. She smiled at the boy and motioned the kids closer.
“Yes, I am,” she said. “What’s your name?”
“Wen,” the boy replied.
“That’s a nice name,” she said. He beamed.
“Is it true what they say about you?”
“I don’t know,” Alyssa replied. “What do they say about me?”
“That you found the Hall of Records?”
“Well, my dad found it, actually. But I did get to go inside.”
“What was it like?” he asked, leaning in.
“Magical,” Alyssa said, lost in a memory.
His eyes grew even bigger. The other children nudged closer.
“Tell me more,” Wen said. “Did you see the sacred monument?”
“The sacred monument?” Alyssa blinked. “Oh, the pyramid! How do you know about it?”
“We hear stories from the elders,” a girl said. She looked to be a few years older than Wen. Her skin shimmered in the golden light like Tef’s, but seemed unfledged, lacking the radiance of the older girl’s.
I’m talking to the descendants of an Egyptian god…
Wen scooted closer and tugged on her hand. She flinched at the strange touch of his skin.
“Well, did you see it?” he asked.
Daughter of Ra Page 19
