Kathlyn Trent, Marcus Burton 01 - Valley of the Shadow (23 page)

Kathlyn ran her fingers along what was the southeastern portion of the pit. It wasn't rock; that much she knew. It was very clammy, almost moist to the touch.  She began picking at it with her dirty, broken nails. Juliana came to help her.

"You think this is something?" Juliana asked.

Kathlyn picked at it some more. "I don't know,” she shook her head. “It's mud, that's for sure. And take a look at that." She pointed to the bottom of the pit; there was a two inch by six inch slit at the very bottom. "Remember that tide of scorpions? I’ll bet that little hole leads to a shaft that lets out somewhere near Chamber A."

"It sure leads off in the right direction."

"A brilliant booby trap," Kathlyn turned back to the mud corner she had been picking at. "Anyway, as fascinating as that hole is, I don't think it's a way out. I'm more concerned with this mud facade."

"Then let's check it out."

Juliana dug into Kathlyn's back pack and came back with a brush. Using the wooden end, she hammered at the dirt.  "By the way," she murmured. "He's taking it a lot better than I thought he would."

"What?"

"I can't say I'd be this calm if my pregnant wife was trapped in a tomb."

Kathlyn almost smacked her. Instead, she cast her a vicious glare. "Shush," she hissed. "He doesn't know."

Juliana was surprised, almost outraged. "You didn't tell him?"

Kathlyn shook her head, shushing Juliana to keep her voice down. "There really hasn't been the opportunity. I was waiting for the right moment and it just hasn't presented itself, so keep your mouth shut until I can spill the beans."

Juliana gave her a long look and went back to hammering the dirt. "You really should tell him, Kat. It's not fair to keep that kind of thing a secret."

"I wasn't trying to," Kathlyn replied. "It's just not the kind of thing I wanted to tell him over the phone and when we first arrived today, I wasn't going to blurt it out. I was going to tell him tonight when we were alone, but it seems like those plans have been drastically changed."

"The longer you wait, the more ticked off he'll be."

"If I tell him now, it will just put more pressure on him and he doesn't need that."

"If it were you, would you want to know?"

Kathlyn stopped digging and looked at Juliana. "Damn," she whispered. "What am I going to do? I don't want to upset him but I'm damned either way."

"I know. But he really needs to know."

"Needs to know what?" Marcus walked up on them, crunching over the bugs. But he was distracted from his first question when he saw what they were working on. "What have you found?"

Kathlyn was only too happy to show him. "Mud, I think," she said. "We're trying to see if we can chip it away."

Marcus picked at it, thought it looked promising, and sent Lynn back out of the pit for the pickaxe that was up in the antechamber. When the man was gone, he turned to his wife.

"What do I need to know?"

Kathlyn flinched, hoping he had forgotten about that. But he had a mind like a steel trap. Juliana thought she should probably give them some privacy, but there really wasn't anywhere for her to go. Still, she managed to amble away, smashing bugs as she went.

"Well," Kathlyn wasn't sure where to start. "We were just discussing... I just didn't want to burden you right now, Marcus. We have enough to think about without adding any pressure."

"What pressure?"

She put her hands on his, almost imploringly. "I just don't want you to be mad at me, so I'm trying to explain my reasons.  It really wasn't a big deal until all of this went down and now I'm just not sure if this is the right time. It's not like I'm trying to keep anything from you."

Lynn was coming back down the rope. "Marcus!" he shouted.

They stood back while Lynn dropped the pickaxe. It was a heavy thing, too heavy for him to carry down a rope with his bad arm. Even though the bullet had passed clean through the muscle, it was still very tender. Marcus bent over and picked the axe up as Lynn dropped to the ground beside him. He looked back at his wife.

"Kathlyn, what are you talking about?"

She looked around and realized all eyes were on her; Marcus, Lynn and Juliana, who tried not to be too obvious about it. Still, they were all listening, and Marcus was waiting for an answer. She was beginning to feel sick to her stomach with nerves.

"Don't be mad at me," she said.

He laughed ironically. "How can I be mad if I don't know what's going on? Come on, we don't have time for this."

"You'd better make time."

"Then spit it out."

"Okay, but I warned you. I'm going to have a baby."

Marcus just stared at her. Lynn started to laugh, slapping his knees and snorting.  Juliana tried to shut him up, but he continued to snicker and snort as if it was the greatest joke in the world. He said something to Juliana about the pool, but she slapped a hand over his mouth and neither Marcus nor Kathlyn had fortunately heard him. The pickaxe on Marcus shoulder hit the ground with thud as he lost his grip on it.

"You've got to be kidding."

His denial angered her. "Absolutely, I'm kidding. I'd absolutely joke about something like that at a time like this."

Her sarcasm was warranted. He shouldn't have sounded so blunt. But Marcus was so surprised he could hardly think. His first instinct was to be wildly thrilled, but when he thought about the predicament they were in, it just made him sick. All he could do was pull her into his arms and hold her close.

"Oh, Kathlyn," he murmured. "I just can't.... oh, damn...."

"You're not happy," she felt horrible.

He was quick to reassure her. "No, sweetheart, that's not it at all. I'm just surprised as hell. I never expected this, not in a million years."

"Neither did I. But three pregnancy tests don't lie."

It was a lot to absorb. "Christ, I'm goddamn scared to death now."

"Why?" she pulled back, gazing up at him. "Nothing has changed. We're still trapped and we still need to get out of here. I'm perfectly fine to do what needs to be done."

His eyes trailed down to her abdomen and gingerly put a hand over her still-flat belly. "And you're sure about this?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Trust me, Marcus. I'm sure. There's no doubt."

"How much are you? I mean, how far along?"

He was showing a little less shock, a little more excitement. "About eight weeks,” she said. “Far enough that I feel like crap sometimes, but for the most part, I feel great. I haven’t seen a doctor yet but I suppose I should at some point."

Lynn did some more snorting and choking, whispering something to Juliana, who pressed another hand over his mouth. When Kathlyn and Marcus looked at the pair, Juliana merely smiled.

"Congratulations," she said. "A September baby."

Lynn was awfully excited about something that didn't even concern him. Neither Kathlyn nor Marcus could guess it was because he had won the pool regarding the fact that she had gotten pregnant before they were married. Juliana would never tell them and fortunately they didn't ask what had the man so wound up. At the moment, they were fairly well wrapped up in each other.

Marcus had the strangest expression on his face. It was a dopey sort of smile, something Kathlyn had never before seen on him. "What are you thinking?" she ran her hands through his dark hair before winding her arms around his neck. “I can’t tell if you’re happy about this or just shocked.”

He laughed. "I'm thinking that three months ago the biggest thing in the world to me was finding the tomb of Ramses VIII. My world has turned around one hundred and eighty degrees since then. It's really amazing."

"Then you really are happy?"

His expression softened and he captured her lips with his own, suckling gently. "I can't even find the words to express how I feel,” he kissed her again, with great passion. “Picking that fight with you the first day you arrived was the best thing I ever did."

"You really were an ass."

"Apparently you're attracted to that kind of man."

"Let's hope this baby has better sense."

He kissed her again, cherishing the taste and feel of her. "This baby will be perfect." He touched her flat stomach again, not yet showing. "Christ, I can't believe it. Are you sure?"

"How many times are you going to ask me that?"

"I guess until your stomach gets as big as a watermelon."

Kathlyn made a face. "Now, there's a pleasant thought."

He laughed, holding her tightly against him. There was so much more he was feeling that he just couldn’t put into words. He felt as if he was living a dream but that dream, at the moment, was more like a nightmare. Such good news didn't change the fact that they were in a bad situation. As Marcus and Kathlyn experienced their tender moment, Lynn reached down and picked up the pickaxe from where it fell.

"I hate to break this up," he said. "But there aren't going to be any parents, much less a baby, if we don't get out of here."

Marcus and Kathlyn released each other. "Let me have this," Marcus took the pickaxe from Lynn. Backing everyone up, he took a perfect swing at the wall, pounding it with his tremendous strength. Chunks of rock and mud flew in all directions. When he was about three feet into the wall, a huge portion of it fell away, and beyond was nothing but blackness.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The mood was heavy enough to be sliced with a knife. It was an oppressive feeling, a stillness and gloom that was difficult to stomach. In spite of the hurried work and urgency going on around them, for the people of Kathlyn and Marcus' teams, it was as if Time was standing still. There was nothing that could possibly be done fast enough to help them and tempers were short.

They clustered around a table that had been set up just outside the shaft.  The news media, having caught wind of disaster, flew overhead in helicopters like vultures looking for a kill. Mark and Debra Jo were having a particularly difficult time, and Dennis was nothing short of frenzied. Larry and Andy stood back out of the way of the others, feeling useless and grim. McGrath, Ed, Otis and Gary were at the bottom of Stairwell B at the moment, assessing the structural integrity of the collapse. The last thing they needed was to have more of it come down in their hurry to free those trapped inside.

"It's been an hour," Dennis paced back and forth. "What is taking them so long?"

Debra Jo watched him walk in front of her. "They' have to make sure the ceiling isn't going to fall down on top of us," she stated the obvious. "It's only been a couple of hours since the collapse, Dennis. I'm sure Marcus and Kathlyn and the others have plenty of air still so as soon as Otis determines the structural veracity, we'll get a drill in there and see how deep the blockage is."

That wasn't good enough for Dennis. His pacing increased. "I just can't believe this happened," he said. "Of the entire tomb, Corridor C should have been the most sound. For that thing to come tumbling down just doesn't make any goddamn sense."

"Dougray and Abrahams said they heard a popping noise and then the entire thing fell," Debra Jo said. "Who knows what happened? Maybe it had something to do with the bullets earlier."

"They didn't make it that far down in the tomb," Mark said. He was pacing in a far less frantic fashion.  "Otis inspected that corridor when we first discovered the tomb. He said it was sound. He must be down there having nightmares right now."

Dennis fussed with the gloves on his hands. "Whatever happened, it's not his fault.  We've just got to get moving on removing the debris. The longer we wait, the more chance there is that they won't make it."

"They'll make it," Debra Jo said firmly. "Kathlyn's been through things like this. She'll figure a way out."

Dennis almost told her that this wasn't like one of those sanitized relic-searching expeditions but he kept his mouth shut. He didn't really know what Kathlyn Trent had been though. He fidgeted with his gloves, looking down at the hundreds or workers at the base of the slope, waiting to be pulled into action.

"We've got to get that damn drilling equipment here," he said. "They're trucking it from the delta. All we need to do is drill a hole in the debris to pump some fresh air in there. Then we'll have more time."

McGrath, Ed, Gary and Otis suddenly emerged from the shaft. Everyone clustered around them, demanding answers. McGrath held up a hand to silence the clamoring throng.

"Otis thinks we can go ahead and start removing debris without an inordinate amount of danger," he said. "But we'll have to shore up the walls and ceiling as we go, which is going to take some time."

"We don't have time," Dennis snapped. "We've got to get to them as quickly as we can."

"I'm not going to risk another cave-in," McGrath said pointedly. "We need to think of everybody's safety, Dennis, not just those trapped inside. For the moment, I believe they're okay. I doubt the entire tomb caved in. Once we get the drilling equipment going, we'll be able to see just how deep the collapse goes."

Dennis grunted in frustration. "We've got six hours before it arrives. What do we do until then? Stand around and twiddle our thumbs?"

McGrath sensed his anxiety; they were all strung out on adrenalin and apprehension. "We start removing debris,” he tried to get Dennis to focus. “Get your workers started.  Otis is going to move some men in with two by fours to start bracing the ceiling."

Dennis fled down the slope, shouting at the workers. While McGrath and Otis debated the best way to remove the rock, Debra Jo and Mark pulled Ed and Gary aside.

"How bad does it look?" Mark asked.

Ed lifted his narrow shoulders. "Bad. It's a cave-in."

"Do you think the entire tomb is involved?"

"I don't think so," Gary said, eyeing Ed as if the two shared a secret. "But there's something strange going on down there."

"What do you mean?"

Ed lowered his voice. "We mean, Dr. La Coste, that we smelled the distinct odor of explosives."

Mark and Debra Jo paled. "What?" Mark whispered. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "McGrath smelled it, too. He wants it kept hushed up until he can figure out what the hell is going on."

"Someone blew up the corridor?" Debra Jo was beside herself. "Who in the hell would do that?"

Ed shook his head. "Who knows? We're in the Middle East. One of those workers could have planted something for all we know. And there could be more."

"Then it's a danger for anyone down there," Mark said.

"But we can't spread the word," Gary interjected. "First of all, the workers would be too scared to go down in there and we need them to remove the debris. If we lose our workforce, we'll never get them out. Secondly, it might have been one of them who set the charges. We need to be very, very careful how we approach this."

"Dougray and Abrahams made it out," Debra Jo said. "Maybe they can give us more clues."

Ed lifted his hands in resignation. "Maybe. I'm going to talk to Abrahams right now and see what he may have to say about it."

He walked off into the darkness of the Egyptian night.  He was found with a bullet in his brain two hours later.

***

"It's a chamber of some kind," Marcus was shining the flashlight into the emptiness of the black hole. "It runs the entire width of this pit."

Kathlyn shook her fist in a gesture of victory. "I was right. That's how they brought the bust of Anubis in."

Marcus inspected the roof and floor of the space beyond. "It's wide enough, that's for sure.  Let's get the hell in there and see where it goes."

They were actually looking into the shaft from the roof level; the floor itself was about ten feet below them. Marcus let himself in, dropping down easily. Kathlyn swung down into it, trying to avoid the bugs that were now in her face. She hung for a moment, dropping neatly into Marcus' arms. He set her down carefully to help Juliana down, and finally Lynn came though. Little creatures were dropping from the hole they had created, making soft pitting noises against the dirt as they fell.  But it was apparent this wasn't the source of the bugs; the room itself was void of any life. It was, literally, as quiet as a tomb.

Marcus shined the flashlight around. The chamber was hewn from rock and jagged terra-cotta colored walls surrounded them. The air was very stale. Directly ahead was a small, narrow doorway.  Marcus moved through it, seeing that he had come into a corridor. Shining the flashlight in both directions, he could see nothing but an endless passage.

"Take your pick," Kathlyn muttered, standing behind him. "Right or left."

He thought a moment. "Right would be toward KV2, and left to KV7."

"Let's go left."

It was as good a direction as any. The ceiling of the corridor was so low that Marcus and Lynn had to bend over so they wouldn't hit their heads. It was very dusty, very stuffy, evidence of little or no airflow and, most likely, no real way out.  Several feet down the tunnel, it took a sharp downturn at about a twenty degree angle. Impressed into the walls of the shaft were crude niches, apparently for ancient torches to light the way. Had this been a basic exploration excursion, it would have been fascinating, but as it was, they paid little attention to the details.

"What do you suppose this tunnel was used for?" Kathlyn asked.

Marcus shook his head. "I can't even guess. I'd say it was used to as a passageway to travel between the tombs. For priests, maybe. I just don't know."

The floor leveled out. There was about an inch of soft powdery sand beneath their feet, but the walls were solid rock. Bringing up the rear, Lynn looked around the corridor and shook his head.

"One thing is for sure," he said. "They didn't bring Anubis down this. I think your theory is discredited, Dr. Trent."

Kathlyn had to agree. Marcus could barely squeeze his bulk through the opening much less a massive statue. They traveled for a short span, difficult to measure because the corridor seemed endless and there was no real sense of distance. When they finally came to a fork in the path, Marcus looked up to notice a carved-out wall niche with a statuette resting in it.

"Look at this." He blew on the statuette and the dust billowed up, leaving behind a golden lady in classic Egyptian garb. "I would guess that this is the grand lady of them all, the mighty Isis."

It was breathtaking, and sorely out of place in the gloom of the deserted passageway. It was almost as if someone had just set it there, forgot about it, and left it behind. Kathlyn strained to catch a good look at it.

"How can you tell?" she asked.

"Because she's normally the only one not portrayed as an animal,” he told her. “She's almost always a human female, normally holding the lotus blossom signaling rebirth."

Kathlyn peered closely at the statuette. "She's holding a lotus," she said. "What a marvelous piece of work."

Lynn and Juliana had to get a closer look, impressed by the beauty and art. Kathlyn ran a finger along the base of the statuette, noticing the hieroglyphics. "Marcus?" she said. "Did you notice what these said?"

He looked closely at the small symbols. "It says Imydwat. It means ‘That which is in the Netherworld’."

Juliana looked around. "So what does that mean? Are we possibly in what they considered to be the Netherworld?"

"That would sure make sense," Lynn said. "Catacombs that interconnect with the tombs of the kings. That would be enough Netherworld for me."

"Interesting thought," Marcus said. He looked down both forks of the corridor. "Any guesses now?  Both of these shafts run away from the Valley of the Kings. They go further back into the mountain."

Lynn took a look. "If these were passages for the priests, then there has to be a way out. We'll find it if we just keep going."

Marcus cocked an eyebrow. "An opening that hasn't been covered over by three thousand years of sand? I seriously wonder about that."

"So what do you want to do?"

He shrugged. "Keep going. What choice do we have?"

Kathlyn was still looking at the statuette. It really was a fabulous piece, grossly out of place down here in the dungeons. As she lifted it up from the niche to get a better look at the base, the entire world seemed to come apart.

There was a huge thump that vibrated through the stone as if a giant gong had just gone off. They all looked around in alarm as the rumbling grew worse. The floor began to quiver and small rocks began breaking off of the ceiling.

"What's happening?" Juliana asked as dust from the ceiling shook down on her. "An earthquake?"

Marcus felt the entire corridor shake. It wasn't an earthquake; this was steady and powerful. He looked at his wife, holding the statuette, and a horrible thought suddenly struck him. Racing over to the niche where the golden figure had stood, he ran his fingers over the bottom and was sickened to find a small, moveable piece of rock where the statuette had rested. He rubbed his hand over it, noting the resistance, as if there was something below it exerting forth some pressure. It took him little time to deduce what it was.

"Christ," he hissed. "She’s triggered a trap."

Kathlyn was horrified. "A trap? But I didn't...!"

"I know you didn’t mean to," he grabbed her hand as the rumbling grew louder. "That statuette was probably a lure to catch thieves if they managed to make it into these catacombs. When you picked it up, it triggered whatever this is."

She was absolutely sickened. "Triggered what?"

The corridor answered her. Suddenly, from the ancient walls, thin shafts of sharpened wood began to shoot out, prompted by the ancient mechanism that was slowly coming to life. After three thousand years, the antiquated gears and levers still worked. It was an engineering masterpiece, a modern explorer’s nightmare. Marcus pushed her down the nearest corridor that wasn't spitting the deadly projectiles.

"Run!"

Kathlyn took off as fast as her legs would carry her. It was dark except for the jagged beam of the flashlight as Marcus ran behind her. More projectiles began to sling from the walls, always managing to be a hair's breadth behind Lynn, who was bringing up the rear.  She could hear Juliana shrieking as the spikes sailed past her. Around them, the rumbling was growing to deafening proportions.

The walls of the corridor suddenly ended and the floor itself dropped off into a dark, dusty void. Kathlyn came to a halt as Marcus shined the flashlight into the dirty mist; they could see something spanning the gap, old and dusty and crumbling with age. But they didn’t have a choice.