CHAPTER 1
Ruins of Hamunaptra-April 1936
The area where Hamunaptra once stood was busy with activity. An American funded excavation was taking place. Hired Egyptian workers were busy digging deep into the sand in search of the lost wealth of Egypt that was rumored to exist there.
The head of the dig was Dr. Robert Henderson. An expert in Egyptology, he heard of Hamunaptra but like everyone else he thought it didn't exist until it was found ten years earlier. Since that time he and his assistant Dr. Laura Sanders were raising the money needed for a major dig. At the same time they tried to gain as much information as they could so that they would know what to expect. Once they had enough money it was off to Egypt for what they called the "Discovery of the Century".
But so far the dig wasn't going well. They were digging for three days and it seemed like they weren't making any progress. Worse, some of the workers were starting to get scared, for they knew about the history of Hamunaptra. But they kept working for the chance to make money to feed their families.
In the main tent Dr. Henderson was busy studying a map of the area when Dr. Sanders came in.
"Do you think we're in the wrong place?" she asked.
Dr. Henderson looked up. "What do you mean?" he asked her.
"Well, we haven't found a single sign of Hamunaptra since we were here."
"We were only here three days and..."
Suddenly they heard screams outside. They ran outside in time to see workers scrambling out of the pit. They looked down and saw a growing mound of sand.
"What is that?" Dr. Sanders asked.
"Scarabs," Dr. Henderson said. He read about the flesh-eating scarabs in a report, but he didn't know whether to believe it or not. He believed it now.
Thinking quickly he grabbed a nearby box of dynamite and put it into a wheelbarrow. He then took out a fuse and lit it.
"Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?" Dr. Sanders asked.
"Yes, now get back!" He sent the wheelbarrow down into the pit and then ran for cover.
They had all managed to get to cover when the explosion came, causing the ground to shake underneath them. Dust and sand fell on them.
"Don't you think that was a little excessive?" Dr. Sanders asked, coughing from the dust.
"You can never be too careful with scarabs," Dr. Henderson told her.
Just then they heard shouts coming from the pit.
"Now what?" he said.
They went back to the pit and looked down. The blast had removed five feet of sand from the bottom of the pit. It also created an opening in what looked like a secret tunnel.
"I think we've found it," Dr. Henderson said.
A few minutes later Dr. Henderson and Dr. Sanders lowered themselves down into the tunnel. They looked around for more scarabs before deciding which way to go. They decided to go one way but soon saw that was tightly sealed off. It was more tightly sealed than some pharaohs' tombs.
"Is this some kind of tomb?" Dr. Sanders asked.
"Hard to tell," Dr. Henderson said. "There aren't any hieroglyphs or pictures on the walls. Let's go the other way and see."
They proceeded to walk the other way. They walked for an incredible distance before they came to a large solid granite door. It had a carving of Seth on it with a hieroglyph inscription under it. It also had a series of locks.
"Whatever's behind that door they sure wanted it to stay here," Dr. Sanders said.
Dr. Henderson then read the inscription. "Whoever opens this door shall release a force of incredible destruction across the land."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. It could be just a curse." He then studied the locks. There were symbols above them. "I think only one lock opens the door. The others would trigger a trap."
"Do you know which lock it is?"
"Well, the Egyptians would sometimes leave a secret code to tell them which lock to open in case something happened. Now, according to these symbols I think it's the seventh lock. But I'm not sure."
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"We might as well. We've got this far. Here goes." He grabbed the seventh lock and turned it clockwise then counter-clockwise. There was a loud click then a hiss that made them both jump. The door then slowly opened. They both let out a sigh of relief.
"Lucky seven," Dr. Henderson said.
They went inside what indeed turned out to be a tomb. A large granite sarcophagus lay in the middle. Along the walls were paintings of a girl. All around her were scenes of death and destruction. It was an eerie and almost scary sight. Along the back wall were hieroglyph inscriptions.
"Whose tomb is this?" Dr. Sanders asked.
"I'm about to find out," Dr. Henderson said. He walked over to the wall and began reading the inscriptions. When he was done he turned back around, a shocked expression on his face. "It can't be. It just can't be. I don't believe it."
"What is it? Do you know whose tomb this is?"
"It's Tetisheri's tomb."
Dr. Sanders was shocked herself. "The Queen of Destruction? But she's only a myth. No one had been able to prove her existence."
"Until now. Do you know what this means? This is the Discovery to the Century! This even rivals the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. Go get the workers. We need help moving her out of here."
It was late at night when a crane raised Tetisheri's sarcophagus out of the hole of the tunnel. The workers were either looking at it with awe or nervousness. It was then loaded onto a truck and taken to the Cairo Museum. Unknown to all of them, a disguised Ardeth Bay was there from day one, keeping in contact with the rest of the Med-Jai. He followed the the truck to Cairo.
Ruins of Hamunaptra-April 1936
The area where Hamunaptra once stood was busy with activity. An American funded excavation was taking place. Hired Egyptian workers were busy digging deep into the sand in search of the lost wealth of Egypt that was rumored to exist there.
The head of the dig was Dr. Robert Henderson. An expert in Egyptology, he heard of Hamunaptra but like everyone else he thought it didn't exist until it was found ten years earlier. Since that time he and his assistant Dr. Laura Sanders were raising the money needed for a major dig. At the same time they tried to gain as much information as they could so that they would know what to expect. Once they had enough money it was off to Egypt for what they called the "Discovery of the Century".
But so far the dig wasn't going well. They were digging for three days and it seemed like they weren't making any progress. Worse, some of the workers were starting to get scared, for they knew about the history of Hamunaptra. But they kept working for the chance to make money to feed their families.
In the main tent Dr. Henderson was busy studying a map of the area when Dr. Sanders came in.
"Do you think we're in the wrong place?" she asked.
Dr. Henderson looked up. "What do you mean?" he asked her.
"Well, we haven't found a single sign of Hamunaptra since we were here."
"We were only here three days and..."
Suddenly they heard screams outside. They ran outside in time to see workers scrambling out of the pit. They looked down and saw a growing mound of sand.
"What is that?" Dr. Sanders asked.
"Scarabs," Dr. Henderson said. He read about the flesh-eating scarabs in a report, but he didn't know whether to believe it or not. He believed it now.
Thinking quickly he grabbed a nearby box of dynamite and put it into a wheelbarrow. He then took out a fuse and lit it.
"Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?" Dr. Sanders asked.
"Yes, now get back!" He sent the wheelbarrow down into the pit and then ran for cover.
They had all managed to get to cover when the explosion came, causing the ground to shake underneath them. Dust and sand fell on them.
"Don't you think that was a little excessive?" Dr. Sanders asked, coughing from the dust.
"You can never be too careful with scarabs," Dr. Henderson told her.
Just then they heard shouts coming from the pit.
"Now what?" he said.
They went back to the pit and looked down. The blast had removed five feet of sand from the bottom of the pit. It also created an opening in what looked like a secret tunnel.
"I think we've found it," Dr. Henderson said.
A few minutes later Dr. Henderson and Dr. Sanders lowered themselves down into the tunnel. They looked around for more scarabs before deciding which way to go. They decided to go one way but soon saw that was tightly sealed off. It was more tightly sealed than some pharaohs' tombs.
"Is this some kind of tomb?" Dr. Sanders asked.
"Hard to tell," Dr. Henderson said. "There aren't any hieroglyphs or pictures on the walls. Let's go the other way and see."
They proceeded to walk the other way. They walked for an incredible distance before they came to a large solid granite door. It had a carving of Seth on it with a hieroglyph inscription under it. It also had a series of locks.
"Whatever's behind that door they sure wanted it to stay here," Dr. Sanders said.
Dr. Henderson then read the inscription. "Whoever opens this door shall release a force of incredible destruction across the land."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. It could be just a curse." He then studied the locks. There were symbols above them. "I think only one lock opens the door. The others would trigger a trap."
"Do you know which lock it is?"
"Well, the Egyptians would sometimes leave a secret code to tell them which lock to open in case something happened. Now, according to these symbols I think it's the seventh lock. But I'm not sure."
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"We might as well. We've got this far. Here goes." He grabbed the seventh lock and turned it clockwise then counter-clockwise. There was a loud click then a hiss that made them both jump. The door then slowly opened. They both let out a sigh of relief.
"Lucky seven," Dr. Henderson said.
They went inside what indeed turned out to be a tomb. A large granite sarcophagus lay in the middle. Along the walls were paintings of a girl. All around her were scenes of death and destruction. It was an eerie and almost scary sight. Along the back wall were hieroglyph inscriptions.
"Whose tomb is this?" Dr. Sanders asked.
"I'm about to find out," Dr. Henderson said. He walked over to the wall and began reading the inscriptions. When he was done he turned back around, a shocked expression on his face. "It can't be. It just can't be. I don't believe it."
"What is it? Do you know whose tomb this is?"
"It's Tetisheri's tomb."
Dr. Sanders was shocked herself. "The Queen of Destruction? But she's only a myth. No one had been able to prove her existence."
"Until now. Do you know what this means? This is the Discovery to the Century! This even rivals the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. Go get the workers. We need help moving her out of here."
It was late at night when a crane raised Tetisheri's sarcophagus out of the hole of the tunnel. The workers were either looking at it with awe or nervousness. It was then loaded onto a truck and taken to the Cairo Museum. Unknown to all of them, a disguised Ardeth Bay was there from day one, keeping in contact with the rest of the Med-Jai. He followed the the truck to Cairo.
