Pyramid of the Ancients Read online

  “This is quite a place you’ve got here,” she said, turning to look around while taking a moment to compose herself.

  “Yes, indeed,” Dr. Eisenberg said with pride. “The find of a lifetime.”

  “But why all the security?” Rebecca asked, again facing the professor. “I admit that it’s a well-preserved and fascinating discovery, but it just seems like overkill.”

  “Didn’t NASA brief you on what is here?”

  “They didn’t have time,” Rebecca replied. “I had to cash in every favor I had built up during my years with NASA, as well as add a few new IOUs, just to get back on the roster. But that took so much time that I was barely cleared just before the supply shipment left. Dr. Goldsmith pulled a few strings so I could accompany them, and he convinced the higher-ups that you would brief me when we arrived. He said they didn’t much like the idea, but were willing to make an exception for you and Dr. Goldsmith.”

  Dr. Eisenberg was silent for a moment, then his countenance changed and he became much more serious. “Maybe that’s for the best. It might be better if you hear about our discovery firsthand. Rebecca, do you know why I requested you specifically? Do you have any idea why I asked you to come here as my assistant?”

  Rebecca felt that familiar churning of her stomach that signaled the onset of worry or fear. Something in Dr. Eisenberg’s expression and tone of voice made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. “No,” she answered. “But I was extremely grateful for the invitation. Since Jeffrey started on this dig, I’ve been looking for a way to be with him.”

  At the mention of Jeffrey’s name, Dr. Eisenberg’s face darkened noticeably. “Come with me,” he said as he put his arm around Rebecca and began directing her towards the southwestern section of the structure. “We have much to discuss.”

  Rebecca was silent for a few moments as they began walking through the ruins. Finally, she asked, “Why did you want me as your assistant, then?”

  The professor threw a quick glance at her, then looked around at the bustle of activity. “Not here,” he said. “I’ll tell you when we get somewhere more private.”

  The younger woman walked on in silence, her thoughts cycling through the myriad reasons Dr. Eisenberg would need her as an assistant. Giving it up as a fruitless exercise, she decided to change the subject. “So what is this place?” she asked.

  “We’re not entirely sure,” Dr. Eisenberg began. “Jeffrey and Jerome think it may have been some sort of palace. You did know Jerome was here, too, didn’t you?” he asked, looking over at her.

  “Are you kidding?” she said with a chuckle. “Those two have been nigh inseparable since they studied with you in college. I would’ve been surprised if he wasn’t here.” More seriously, she added, “Actually, Jeffrey told me a while ago. So, getting back to the subject…what do you think it is?”

  “It’s hard to tell. It may be a palace, but it could just as well be a temple, or the foyer to a bathhouse, for all we know,” Dr. Eisenberg replied.

  “What makes Jeffrey and Jerome think it’s a palace, then?” Rebecca asked.

  “Well, because of what we found below.”

  “Below?” Rebecca echoed quizzically.

  Dr. Eisenberg nodded. “A few years back, during one of the military skirmishes with the terrorists still hiding out in these mountains, one of the explosions exposed part of these ruins. Since Jeffrey and Jerome were working on another dig not too far away, they heard about it and applied to the government for approval to excavate. Once the military rooted out all the terrorists from the area, the government gave it the green light. As they were excavating, they realized the blast did more than just expose the ruins. It also caved in a portion of a wall, which revealed a hidden staircase that led many feet below ground.”

  As the professor was talking, the pair had been drawing closer to a single structure located in the far southwest section of the ruins. The building was about the size of a small garage with a single door on the front, which was guarded by two Iraqi soldiers with the new Ionian Technology laser rifles slung over their shoulders.

  “Here we are,” Dr. Eisenberg said as they stepped up to the building. The guards, obviously familiar with the doctor, simply waved him by. He ran his hand under a laser reader while looking into a retinal scanner. After a brief pause, the light on the panel turned green, and was accompanied by a loud click. Grabbing the door handle, Dr. Eisenberg opened the door and gestured for Rebecca to enter.

  She found herself looking down at a flight of steps about six feet across. The walls, stairs, and high arched ceiling were made out of the same type of marble as the ruins, and were covered with similar shapes and designs. Although the staircase was well lit with modern lights, Rebecca felt a sinister chill run down her spine, as if some malevolent beast were waiting at the foot of the stairs to devour her.

  “You may want to use the hand railing,” Dr. Eisenberg stated, misunderstanding the cause of her hesitation. “As you can see, the steps are very large.”

  Still trying to shrug off the disturbing sense of oppression, Rebecca simply nodded, grabbed the hand rail, and began her descent. At the bottom of the giant steps, Rebecca entered a rectangular room nine feet deep by twelve feet wide. Directly in front of her was a single door as wide as the stairs and over ten feet in height.

  As he reached the bottom step, Dr. Eisenberg resumed his narration. “Jeffrey and Jerome ended up here, but they couldn’t open the door. They even tried drilling through it and the walls, but everywhere they drilled, they encountered some sort of invisible barrier. That alone would have been more than enough to excite them, but there was more to the discovery than that. This room, which we refer to as the antechamber, was completely empty except for a short table, upon which sat a single book that was written in a language neither of them recognized.”

  “So, naturally, they called you,” Rebecca said with a smile.

  “Naturally!” Dr. Eisenberg said in a deep, playful tone as he returned her smile. Removing his glasses, he began cleaning them on his shirt as he continued. “When they showed me the book, I instantly became intrigued. I tell you, Rebecca, I have never seen anything like it.” He held up a finger to correct himself, “The book, I mean. It contained diagrams and directions showing how to build a machine. The language in which it was written has similarities to Hebrew. But even though I am fluent in Hebrew, it was beyond my ability to interpret, so we had to bring in a specialist. And boy is he special,” he added under his breath as an afterthought.

  Lost in her own train of thought, Rebecca didn’t even hear the professor’s last comment. “But I don’t understand,” Rebecca said. “How old is this ruin? I was under the impression that it was several thousand years old, at least. How could a book survive all that time without turning to dust?”

  “Let me tell you now, Rebecca,” her companion said seriously, “you are going to see many things that you will not understand and that don’t seem to make any sense. Get used to it. Anyway, the book was made out of a very durable material and was in great condition, considering its age. And as for the dating of the find, that’s quite a fascinating story by itself. Based on the numbers of layers of rock above it and the index fossils contained in those layers, and using radiometric dating, we came up with an age that far exceeded even our best guesses.”

  Rebecca waited several seconds for Dr. Eisenberg to explain further. When it became apparent that he was clearly enjoying the suspense his delay was creating, she decided to humor him and play along. “How old is it? Five thousand years? Surely it couldn’t be much older than that?”

  Taking a deep breath, Dr. Eisenberg leaned closer and whispered slowly, as if he were afraid the walls might overhear: “Seventy-four million years! And that’s just the upper ruins. This area below dates at over one hundred twenty-two million years!”

  The professor leaned back, his eyes watching Rebecca’s face intently as the weight of his words sank into her consciousness. Her brows furrowing i
n confusion, Rebecca was silent for several seconds as she contemplated his statement. “But that’s impossible,” she finally responded. “That would put it during the Cretaceous period, which was millions of years before…”

  Dr. Eisenberg nodded his head in excitement as he finished her sentence, “…before humans even evolved.”

  Rebecca seemed frozen to the ground as the implications struck her full force. “Are you implying that aliens built this?”

  “We’re not implying anything. We know they did.”

  The sinister feeling Rebecca had felt before coming down the stairs seemed to engulf her once more. Then, afraid of his answer, she asked Dr. Eisenberg the question burning in her mind. “What do you mean?”

  “The book we found contained the instructions for how to build a gravity control device,” Dr. Eisenberg explained. “We knew this was bigger than we ever imagined, so we involved the U.S. and Iraqi governments as well as NASA. Our specialist did his best to translate the instructions, but it still took NASA over six months to build a prototype.

  “Once it was completed,” the professor continued, “our translator also discovered that the book explained how to open this door using the gravity control device.” He placed his left hand on the door in front of them for emphasis.

  “And what did you find?” Rebecca asked, uncertainty creeping into her voice.

  “We found the remains of two of the aliens, as well as another book, and…another machine,” Dr. Eisenberg said in hushed excitement.

  Could it be true? Rebecca wondered, her mind reeling. No, it can’t be. Aliens can’t be real. I know what I believe. Life was created by God, not through evolution. But if that’s true, then how do I explain this? Aloud, she numbly repeated Jeffrey’s words, “This discovery will blow all of that religious junk back to the Middle Ages where it belongs!”

  The professor, confused by her statement, simply asked, “What did you say?”

  Looking up at him, she clarified her thought. “It was just something Jeffrey said to me the last time we spoke.”

  At the mention of her husband’s name, Dr. Eisenberg’s face took on a more serious look. “Yes…Jeffrey.” Taking Rebecca by the shoulders, he looked at her with concern in his eyes. “Before we go into the main chamber, I…I have to tell you something about Jeffrey. I didn’t want to tell you like this, but there’s just no time to do it any other way.”

  The professor’s voice and demeanor caused Rebecca to stiffen in concern. “What’s wrong? Is he okay?”

  “Yes, he’s fine. But—”

  Before he could finish his sentence, the door in front of them slid open. Standing in the doorway was a woman in her mid-thirties dressed in the typical dark blue jumpsuit with the NASA logo scrawled across the left breast. As soon as the door opened, she looked up from the clipboard in her hand, stared at Rebecca for a second, and then blurted out, “BECKY!”

  2

  Reunions

  “Lisa?” Rebecca asked in astonishment. “Lisa Staley, is that you?”

  For a moment, the two women simply stared at each other. Then Rebecca dove forward and embraced her best friend as tears of joy sprang into her eyes. Whether it was due to the shock of seeing her or something else entirely, Lisa became rigid as Rebecca’s arms enveloped her. A moment later, she relaxed and weakly returned the hug.

  Pulling back from the embrace, Rebecca wiped the tears from her eyes and laughed. “Look at you! You cut your hair and got highlights!” she exclaimed as she pulled gently on the ends of Lisa’s hair, which fell just below her ear.

  Several seconds passed as Lisa just stared at Rebecca, as if still trying to accept the reality that she was actually there. Finally snapping out of her daze, Lisa glanced at Dr. Eisenberg, then back to Rebecca, her expression a mixture of surprise, confusion, and, oddly enough, something that bordered on discomfort or even fear.

  “Oh, that,” Lisa said, running her fingers through her hair. “I had that done months ago. I just got tired of taking care of it all of the time.”

  “Well, you look great!” Rebecca complimented. “And I see you’re still keeping in shape. How are the girls? Jenny must be…what, fifteen now?”

  “Sixteen, and going on twenty-five,” Lisa corrected. “And Amanda becomes a teenager in April—God help me,” she added with a forced smile.

  Rebecca shook her head in amazement. “I can’t believe it has been that long. It seems like just yesterday that we returned from Ka’esch—” she cut herself off, but it was too late. “I mean, 2021 PK.”

  Just as she had feared, Lisa’s face changed slightly. Not much, but Rebecca knew her friend well enough to know that her usage of the name of the planet and not its designation made Lisa uncomfortable. Only a few of her family members and friends knew the truth about what had happened on that life-altering trip almost seven years ago.

  And a couple of them, like Lisa and Jeffrey, didn’t believe it. They found it easier to believe she had had an “intense dream” during her two-week coma rather than believe it had been a vision given to her by the Creator of the universe. Rebecca unconsciously reached up with her right hand to touch the circular scar that marred her skin beneath the clothing on her left arm, just above the elbow. She was thankful that God had left her with a physical reminder of the vision so she would forever know that what she experienced on Ka’esch had been more than just an “intense dream.” Unfortunately, as powerful a reminder as it was to her, it was not enough to convince her husband or her best friend.

  Rebecca and Lisa, both lost in their own thoughts brought on by Rebecca’s remark, let an awkward silence hang heavily in the room.

  Finally, clearing his throat, Dr. Eisenberg spoke up. “So, Mrs. Staley, what brought you into the antechamber?”

  Taking a deep breath to shake off the momentary lull in the conversation, Lisa responded. “I came looking for you. I tried calling, but you must’ve turned off your comm.”

  Dr. Eisenberg nodded. “Yes, I did. Is something wrong?”

  “No, nothing’s wrong,” she said with an odd note to her voice, as if referring to more than just the doctor’s comment. “It’s just that the techs said it should take them a couple of hours to install the core, and the brass wants us to run a test this evening at 1900 hours.”

  “Excellent. Thank you for letting me know,” Dr. Eisenberg said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, I was just going to give Rebecca the grand tour,” he continued as he put his arm around Rebecca and began to lead her past Lisa and through the doorway.

  Before they had taken more than a step, Lisa held up a hand to stop them. “Wait. Doctor, I…I was also going to tell you that Dr. Jennings wants to see you,” she said hurriedly. “She has a question about the Egyptian pyramids. Why don’t you let me show Becky around? It’ll give us a chance to catch up.”

  Although Rebecca had no idea why, it was obvious that Dr. Eisenberg wasn’t at all happy with Lisa’s suggestion. After a few seconds of consideration, he nevertheless capitulated. “Fine,” he stated, his expression contradicting his words. Turning toward Rebecca, he put a hand on her shoulder. “It was wonderful to see you again, Rebecca, and I’m glad you’re here. I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to…visit more. I’ll see you later,” he said, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “Again, I…I am sorry.”

  Without waiting for a reply, Dr. Eisenberg glanced at Lisa, then headed back up the giant staircase. Rebecca watched him go, wondering exactly what was going on.

  “So,” Lisa said, bringing Rebecca’s attention back toward her, “I was thinking—”

  Rebecca, still puzzled by the previous conversation, interrupted her. “Lisa, first tell me what’s going on.”

  Lisa frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “C’mon, Lis. There was some definite tension between you and Dr. Eisenberg,” Rebecca said, frustration altering the tone of her voice. “And he mentioned something about Jeffrey. What’s wrong with him?”

  Lisa’s features softened as
she looked at Rebecca. “Becky, I…well, the bottom line is… you need to talk to Jeffrey and ask him yourself. I didn’t want Dr. Eisenberg to tell you something you should hear straight from Jeffrey.”

  The blood drained from Rebecca’s face. “Tell me one thing: Is Jeffrey sick, or dying?”

  Lisa tried to smile, but it was tinged with sadness. “No. It’s nothing like that.”

  “Where is he?” Rebecca asked.

  “He went into the city to pick up some supplies. He should be back soon,” Lisa said. “Becky, I understand your concern. You know what? I think it might be better if we head back upstairs and wait until Jeffrey gets here. Whattaya say?”

  Rebecca turned slowly to stare at the wall as she considered her friend’s suggestion. She wondered whether she should just wait for him, and tried to fight off the nagging sense that whatever was going on obviously wasn’t something good. Then again, she wanted to know what it was that Jeffrey was so convinced would challenge religion. In fact, it might be better for her to learn what that secret was without him around to complicate things…At least it would help take her mind off whatever was going on.

  But what if Jeffrey gets mad because I didn’t wait for him to show me around? she couldn’t help but wonder. If he did get angry, it could strain their relationship even further. Lord help me, she prayed fervently.

  Making up her mind, Rebecca looked back at Lisa and shook her head. “No, I want to see it now, if you don't mind. It will be one less thing Jeffrey will have to worry about,” she said, forcing a smile.

  Lisa studied her friend’s face for several seconds as if trying to read her mind. “Are you sure?” she pressed. “I really think you should wait for Jeffrey. You know how he is.”

  Rather than deter her, however, Lisa’s words had the opposite effect. She doesn’t want me to go in there, Rebecca suddenly realized. The two women had been friends since they met in the Marines almost twenty years ago. And although they hadn’t seen much of each other in the last three years, Rebecca could still read Lisa well enough to know she was hiding something.