Chapter 1.
"Jesus, how the hell do these people cope in this heat, it's unbearable". James whined, wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his dusty, baby blue shirt.
Egypt was a hot country to be in. With temperatures reaching as high as 39 C in the hottest month to as low as 12 C in the coolest month and well, we, of course, had to pick the hottest
."They soak towels in cold water and wrap them around their heads and necks to keep cool". Explained Judy, looking over some satellite images, all while quietly saying "Dumbass" under her breath. James, on the other hand and completely unaware of Judy's last comment, continued grumbling about the heat but eventually decided on seeking refuge in his tent and disappeared.
It's been a hectic few weeks, ever since one of Weyland's satellites picked up a beacon here in Giza 3 weeks ago. The satellite images had shown a clear outline of a pyramid, not quite like the ones you would already see here. This one was gigantic and seemed to have stairs starting from ground level, all the way up to the middle half of the structure. Also when a 3D image was made, you could faintly make out huge statues of people outside the main entrance and of course the fact it seemed to have appeared out of thin air something you wouldn't find an Egyptian pyramid doing, it of course stirred up quite a bit of excitement.
After that, everyone has been all hands on deck, with some friends at the British Embassy in Egypt and a couple hundred thousand dollars thrown here and there we managed to get the ball rolling fairly quickly as Peter Weyland, CEO of Weyland Corporations wanted to be the first one there, no surprise.
Since Charles Bishop Weyland, Peter's father, went missing back in 2004 after an expedition went wrong in Antarctica, he's been hell-bent on finding out the truth. He's convinced himself that it wasn't an act of mother nature or God, but an act of something more sinister. Claiming that the government and/or other corporations are hiding things in Antarctica and that Charles found something or did something that caused his disappearance. So after the accident, Peter has scoured the globe looking for anything resembling the pyramid found on Antarctica and get to the bottom of what really happened that fateful night, so you could understand the level of emergency.
The dig so far seemed to be going smoothly. Everyone was doing their part, from setting up tents to marking out area's to start digging.
I, on the other hand wasn't doing very much. I hated it. The hot weather, the blinding sun light, the smell, constantly feeling sweaty, constantly feeling thirsty and don't even get me started on the bugs and lizards, eek. Oh to be back home with a fan, TV, and ice cream.
Ugh...Tis but a dream.
You're probably wondering why I'm here if I hate it so much. Well you see, I have this older sister named Claire and she was hired by the Weyland corp, and you see she thought it would be a brilliant idea to bring her hot weather hating, cranky, antisocial, 20 year old little sister along to interact with humans and see the world...Well haha, you can imagine how that will turn out.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate her efforts in trying to help me get out more, but for the love of all that is holy, why here? Why couldn't the pyramid be somewhere wet, like Buenaventura? It rains there over 250 days.
Ugh...Tis but a dream.
"Sasha! SASHA! Come on, you need to hear the prep talk, too. Shouts Claire from outside my tent.
"FINE!" I shout back, throwing off the damp towel I had over my face. Grabbing a clean pair of denim shorts, a white vest top, and a pair of flip flops, I start to get dressed and make my way outside to meet Claire.
"Do I have to listen to it?" I ask her, tying my hair up into a messy bun, all the while taking a quick sniff of my pits to make sure I don't smell like a 3 day old rotting cooked carcase.
"Of course you do, your part of the team...unofficially". She replied, as she screwed up her face at my unlady like display. She then added "Gross", turned and walked away.
Shrugging my shoulders, I quickly caught up to her, and we walked quickly over to the rest of the team.
"Ok. Everyone here?" Said Claire, to which everyone responded with a yes, an aye or, in my case, a cough. Claire is the team leader on this project since she studied geography, history, languages and science and went on to do a degree in Egyptology at the University Of Oxford, which means she knows what she's talking about and I've no fucking clue about basic math. Go figures.
"Right, so according to satellite imagery we have about 2 days of digging before we find the entrance to the pyramid, but before we crack on I want to sort out a team that will be going in first. Tom, I need you since you're our medic. Steve and Carl, I'll need you both to help me take samples of the pyramid for data analysis. The rest of the team will be myself, Sasha, Adam, David, and Alan. Are there any questions?" Announces Claire.
"Do I really have to go, can't I just stay out here?" I ask, confusion clearly written all over my face.
"I want you to experience this with me, and besides you'll be a lot safer in there with me than out here with strangers". She replies while glaring at a man, staring a little too long in our direction.
Rolling my eyes, I respond with a "fine" and turn towards my tent, catching Claire's smile.
"Alrighty then, let's get digging". Says Claire, ending the Prep talk.After entering my tent I immediately flop back onto my cot, pull out my headphones, open up my music playlist in my phone and press play on Linkin Park - In the end and dread the up coming days.
2 hours later
"Sasha, you coming for some dinner?". Asks Claire poking her head in my tent.
"Sure, give me a sec". I reply groggily, drool dripping out of my mouth, wetting my pillow. Eww.
"Gross" whispers Claire, but before I could respond, she was walking back to the fire.
Dragging myself up, wiping my face and licking my teeth, I make my way to the fire and sit next to Claire as she hands me a bowl of food, that consisted of some kind of unappealing vegetable soup.
'Why does it smell like an Ewok just died?'.
Faking a smile, I thank Claire and cook for the food, and take a sip. Lord, have mercy. it's awful. It's worse than a dead Ewok. I'm 89% sure Chewbacca took a shit after eating a vindaloo and slap it in a pot and said fuck it. This is not edi...wait was that a carrot?
After everyone heads to their own tents, leaving me and Claire at the fire I set my bowl of inedible mysteries down and get comfortable.
"Ever wonder if they're real?" Questions Claire.
"Is what real?" I ask perplexed.
"You know...Aliens". She replies, wonder in her voice.
"Random question". I laugh. "But I have wondered if we're alone or not. I doubt we'll ever know the truth". I say.
Getting up I say good night to Claire and head back to my tent for the night. Exhausted I dress in my pyjamas and settle in, still thinking about the last question Claire asked me.
Are aliens real?
To be honest, I've no clue. I wouldn't like to think we are alone. In the vastness of space, the entire universe, all those planets and no other life? Surely, that can't be true.
But then who am I to understand the complexities of existence? To understand how life works, how creation works. Just to even have the opportunity to understand would be a dream, and that's all it'll ever be.
Ugh...Tis but a dream.
