CHAPTER NINE
Bumpy airstrip, second refueling, 1940
"Ooomph. That's the second time we've had to stop to refuel," Ardeth said, as he came back from the small bathroom. Water dripped down his thick black beard for Ardeth had washed his face of the sand and grit which had been plastered onto his face by the open air biplane.
"It can't be helped," Martin said as he filled the tank of the airplane. "We shall reach Djeba by nightfall," he finished.
Ardeth nodded. "It is fitting, to reach Djeba as the cloak of The Great Mother covers the sky," he said as he swigged a cup of cold beer that had been offered to him by the owner of the small airstrip. He set the cup down and walked over to the airplane.
Martin nodded and the two men climbed into the plane.
"Here we go!" Martin called back and started the plane.
City of Djeba, 1940--Day Three of the Search, Just before Dawn
"Do you know where to go?" Martin asked Ardeth, after the two had been woken from their slumber by the owner of the small inn. Martin's sleep had been fitful, but Ardeth's sleep had been dreamless. Ardeth had been grateful for the deep, dreamless sleep, for he knew the next few days would be sleepless.
"The Great Mother--or Imhotep--will guide me," Ardeth said. "Her Temple is buried under the sands."
"Did you bring help?" Martin asked. "You might need help digging," he observed.
"Yes, my men should be here by morning," Ardeth said. "I shall need to go out into the desert," he said, not giving an explanation as he strode off.
Striding towards the end of the city, he came upon the stables.
Renting the fastest horse, he swung up on the stallion's back, and rode off towards the west at a gallop. A mile outside Djeba, Ardeth shuddered violently and the world seemed to shift, first sideways, then upside down. When the world righted itself again, most of the surrounding desert and the banks of the Nile were empty, except for ancient Djeba and what appeared in front of him.
He saw, in front of him, vaguely, a small Temple, and knew it to be the Temple of Nuit. As he looked at the vision, the Temple grew more solid.
Ardeth heard Imhotep's voice whisper,
"I have placed the two of us in the Crossroads of Time. Under the sands in this spot lies the Temple of Nuit where I constructed her nearly 4,700 floodings of the Nile ago. In my time, her Temple has just been completed and the moon is glinting off the walls studded with lapis lazuli," Imhotep whispered. "I am afraid the Hyksos took down the lapis lazuli," he finished sadly.
"Thank you, Imhotep. I can see the Temple as she stood in her glory. Your architecture is stunning," Ardeth said, feeling Imhotep's sadness. The ancient man had worked hard to build this Temple, and to know that the Temple had been desecrated, and later ruined by an earthquake, must have been devastating to the Great Architect Imhotep: lover and builder of one of the first stone buildings in the world.
"You are welcome. I know her Temple is to be toppled in an earthquake but that is what the Gods command. But the Gods do not command what is supposed to happen to Egypt in your lifetime. The Dark One has command of the one that would destroy this Egypt of ours. That much the Gods revealed to me. You are a Son of Nuit. You have done as she has commanded. Speed you well. Hurry!" Imhotep said as his voice faded out. The Temple of Nuit, as she has stood nearly 4,700 years ago, remained as a vision for a few moments longer before the Temple seemed to melt down into the sands of Egypt.
Ardeth knew this was where he needed to begin digging—and the sooner the better. He swung his horse around towards Djeba, and rode the mile at a fast gallop. Coming hard upon the stables, he swung down, and watered his mount. Leaving his mount to be groomed by the stable boy, Ardeth went to purchase the supplies he needed for his dig.
Ardeth knew he wouldn't have much sleep now, for he needed to unearth the Shrine of Nuit before dawn of the sixth day.
Telling John where to bring his men once they arrived in Djeba, Ardeth took the supplies, loaded the horse and took off again for the desert.
2644 BC, Temple of Nuit, Private Room (Just before Dawn of Day Three of Ardeth's Search)
An inner voice had commanded Imhotep to return to the Temple before Ra dawned. Imhotep still hadn't recovered from the effects of the mushroom, but he'd known what he had to do.
Seating himself before Nuit's shrine, he prepared another of the mushrooms, and ate it. When he'd induced himself into a trancelike state, he gained access once again to the Crossroads of Time.
He saw the Son of Nuit swinging up on an unknown animal. And his trance was none too soon, for shortly the Son of Nuit would reach where the Temple was located.
As the Son of Nuit passed near where he'd built the Temple, he said,
"I have placed the two of us in the Crossroads of Time. Under the sands in this spot lies the Temple of Nuit where I constructed her nearly 4,700 floodings of the Nile ago. In my time, her Temple has just been completed and the moon is glinting off the walls studded with lapis lazuli," Imhotep whispered. "I am afraid the Hyksos took down the lapis lazuli," he finished sadly.
"Thank you, Imhotep," Ardeth said. "Sometimes it is difficult to know the future, and even more difficult to know the names of those who rent Egypt and her Glory," Ardeth finished.
"You are welcome. I know her Temple is to be toppled in an earthquake but that is what the Gods command. But the Gods do not command what is supposed to happen in your lifetime. The Dark One has command of the one that would destroy this Egypt of ours. That much the Gods revealed to me. You are a Son of Nuit. You have done as she has commanded. Speed you well. Hurry!" Imhotep said, as the vision of the future faded out.
Imhotep opened his eyes. He looked around at the private room--the walls studded with lapis lazuli. He stood up, and made his reverence to The Great Mother and walked outside of the temple.
Ra was beginning to awake and Nuit was slowly, reluctantly heading west.
"Chosen One, you have done well. I know how difficult it is to access the Crossroads of Time and even more difficult to bring another into the Crossroads. But now my other Chosen One will be able to defend this very Egypt from those that seek to destroy her. Your Pyramid, and the Great Pyramids, and the secrets that they hold, will remain undisturbed. Your efforts will help restore Ma'at to Egypt. Your heart and the hearts of your descendents will be blessed with a happy afterlife. Your name shall be remembered well in Ardeth's time. Thank you, Imhotep," Nuit said, looking over her starry shoulder.
Nuit sent another one of her Daughters to shoot across the brightening sky. Imhotep saw the star hover of the city of Djeba, blink once, blink twice, then wink out.
Imhotep breathed a sigh of relief. It was good to know mankind would not be destroyed. Imhotep had felt horror when he'd seen the Pyramids explode as if they were faience shattering upon the stones.
Overhead, Ra reached his golden fingers out to Imhotep, welcoming him to a new day along the Nile. .
Day Five of the Search--mid afternoon
"Ardeth! I've struck something!" Dekel shouted.The boy was a hard worker, as well as the fastest runner. It had been the youth's idea to make shadoofs to lift the sand. Ardeth hadn't thought of using shadoofs to lift sand, for the shadoof had originally been invented to lift water from the Nile. As Dekel had pointed out, it didn't matter what the shadoofs lifted, so long as they lifted more than what a man could ordinarily lift. And Ardeth had agreed.
Ardeth, with deepening shadows under his eyes, strode over to see what the boy had unearthed.
"It is stone. Perhaps from the Temple?" Dekel asked, awed at the sight of the ancient quarried stone. The thought ran through Dekel's mind that the stone cutters hadn't had the advantage of iron, just bronze tools to cut each stone precisely to size.
"I think so. We will keep digging here. You have done well, my runner," Ardeth said, and smiled at Dekel. His initial anger at the teen's side excursion in the Qartrani Mountains had dissipated and Ardeth could see the beginnings of a tactical leader in Dekel: the young man scouted out potential resources beneficial to the Med Jai.
But Dekel would have to be trained to follow orders. Ardeth suddenly chuckled as the memory of himself at Dekel's age overtook him. For he too had been a little reluctant to follow orders and had often run off on side excursions, much to the dismay of his father.
Ardeth was bone-weary but he couldn't stop the digging to allow himself to sleep. The rasping sounds of sand being lifted by the shadoofs filled his ears, and Ardeth knew he'd be able to fullfil his task.
Twilight, Day Five
In the deepening twilight, as Nuit began to cover the sky with her velvety black mantle, the remains of a small temple wall were unearthed about a mile outside the present day city of Djeba.
The stones were limestone, broken in half, and standing no higher than a man, but nevertheless, Ardeth knew they were the remains from the Temple of Nuit. The stones were cracked, perhaps during the great earthquake that had sunk the delta port city of Herakleion.
In any event, the stones did not look as if they could remain upright for much longer. They wobbled when anyone tried to clear the sand from around their bases.
"Do not worry with that. I only need to find out which side of the Temple would have been indoors," Ardeth said, as he stroked the Ring of Nuit on his left ring finger.
He'd wished he could talk with Martin, but Martin's work had been done, and he'd returned to Cairo under Ardeth's orders not to reveal anything about their adventure. Most importantly, he'd sworn a blood oath to Ardeth that he would not reveal the location of the sunken city of Herakleion until such time as he—or his descendents--received a sign.
Martin had agreed, and the airplane carrying Martin had lifted up into the sky. Looking after the airplane, Ardeth felt his terror about airplanes dissipate. He knew the reason why: he'd accomplished the task set forth to him by Nuit, and under Imhotep's guidance, had found the location of the temple.
The Temple had been breathtaking in the vision. It had been an open air temple, and the walls of the temple were studded with lapis lazuli. The dawning light of Ra had glinted off the lapis lazuli studded temple walls and Ardeth couldn't help but being amazed.
He walked around the stones, looking at them carefully. His sharp eye caught an indentation.
--This was where the lapis lazuli was embedded in the walls--he thought to himself.
He clapped his hands.
"We are done, my Commanders! You have done well and now I shall send you to your dinners. Eat and drink well this night, my Commanders!" Ardeth said, dismissing his men. His men, laughing and talking, now that their task was completed, gathered up their tools, and began the mile long walk back to Djeba. The tone of Ardeth's voice told them he would be successful in finishing the one task remaining to him.
Ardeth watched them leave. The night was dark. He knew he'd have to dig in the sand until he found the golden shrine of Nuit and place her Ring underneath the shrine in the small cup.
He sat down at the small fire that had been left burning for him. Taking out a large clay pot, he opened the lid. The smell of meat and potatoes wafted up to his nose. He pulled out a spoon, and some bread, from the leather bag next to him, and began to eat, sipping occasionally from the large flagon of beer beside him.
It would be a long night digging, but the shadoofs would ease his labors. Ardeth was tired but he needed food. Overhead, Nuit hovered above him, sending her sister, the Bringer of Wind, to blow gentle, cooling breaths over Ardeth, ruffling his hair slightly, and causing Ardeth to smile around mouthfuls of food.