Time Leap (22 page)

“
Like Piltdown
Man?”

“
Right.”

This was all very
interesting. A different type of human, with a larger brain size,
could definitely account for this advanced technology.

As we got closer to the
second pyramid, the sound of some sort of construction work became
louder… and then we saw something that really opened our eyes.
About a hundred metres ahead, a huge piece of stone was being
levitated – right in front of us. It must have weighed several
tonnes. Workmen were clearly manoeuvring it using some sort of
device, lifting the stone effortlessly in any direction they
wanted. As I was gazing at this in amazement, Niki drew my
attention to something else.

“
Look at
that
Joe
!” she
gasped.

Close to the man
levitating the huge stone block, another engineer was cutting
another block in half. Again, he was pointing some sort of device
in the direction of the stone, and seemed to be cutting it by
magic.

“
Is that a
laser?” I asked.

“
I don’t think
so,” she replied, “I think it’s something we’ve yet to discover…
you can’t lift stones like that with light.” We both looked on
incredulously. “I think it’s sound!” she whispered.

These ‘Boskops’, these
amazing people, had discovered how to use ultrasound to move, cut
and lift huge blocks of rose granite – effortlessly. It was truly
amazing to witness, and I discretely took as many photographs as I
could with my phone. In our world, the most we can do with
ultrasound is clean our teeth or monitor a foetus in the womb.
These humanoids twelve thousand years ago had taken the technology
to a whole new level.

Both Niki’s big questions
had now been answered. First, the pyramids were not built by the
Egyptians – their construction was at least 8000 years earlier than
the experts imagined – well before the Ancient Egyptians made their
appearance – utilising an advanced form of ultrasound to cut and
lift the huge granite blocks. Second, they were designed as
take–off ramps for small aircraft which travelled the globe. This
race of people had astounded us by their technology and know–how,
and we both wanted to engage in some sort of conversation with them
and learn more. And that’s exactly what we got – but not quite in
the way we were thinking.

As we were reflecting on
our discovery, someone approached us from behind, grabbing our arms
and confiscating my phone. We turned to see two men dressed in
uniform, speaking harsh–sounding words.

“
I’m sorry, we
don’t speak your language,” I apologised.

“
Ting bu
dong
,” Nik said in Chinese.

Clearly, conversing with
these people in any language we knew was useless – but it wasn’t
difficult to understand their discontent with our presence on the
building site. They tied our arms and forcibly led us away to a
structure close to one of the smaller pyramids. We were pushed
through an entrance by the guard with my phone, whilst the other
guard went elsewhere.

“
Was this the
type of holiday you imagined Nik?” I said, trying to make light of
the situation. The rap on my back from the guard told me clearly
that talking was not a good idea. The second guard returned ten
minutes later with a woman. She was small in stature, and around
thirty–five, I guessed. Her appearance was very different from the
men, and she wore a beautiful multi–coloured silk robe. She was
undoubtedly one of the Boskop people.

The woman beckoned us to
sit on two small stools in the room. We complied, and she sat close
to us, across a stone table. She spoke some words, which sounded
very different from the language the guards used. Her voice had an
amazing soft yet resonant quality about it. With my arms tied, I
shrugged by shoulders, thinking it was the only way to convey my
non–understanding. She seemed to get it, and her attention switched
to Niki. She seemed very interested in Nik’s appearance – her face,
hair and dress – and examined her very closely. Suddenly the woman
reached out to touch Nik’s face – to which Nik automatically moved
her head away. The woman smiled reassuringly and beckoned Nik to
let her touch her head.

“
I think it’s
okay,” I said to Niki. “I don’t think she’s going to hurt you.”
Niki nodded and allowed the woman to touch first her hair then her
skin. I watched the woman’s eyes as she carefully and gently
touched Nik’s face. She had dazzling large eyes, which shone with a
brilliant blue-green radiance. She placed two fingers from each
hand on the temples of Nik’s head and closed her own
eyes.

“
Oh!” gasped
Niki.

“
What is it?”
But Nik’s eyes were now closed. She was still breathing, which I
was relieved to see, and after a couple of minutes she appeared to
be completely relaxed. My instincts told me to just watch and
monitor. There was little I could do with my arms secured in any
case, and the Boskop woman didn’t seem like the sort who would harm
Niki (not that I’ve got loads of experience of Boskops). After
about ten or twelve minutes, the woman took her hands from Niki’s
head, kissed her on both cheeks, and smiled at me.

“
Now I know,”
she spoke in broken English. “I know about your World. Welcome to
ours.”

I was stunned – utterly
stunned. What exactly had happened at that moment was beyond
belief. We had travelled more than twelve thousand years back in
time and discovered a race far more advanced, in many ways, than
our own. A peaceful race, I conjectured. And this woman, this
anomaly in humankind which twenty–first century scientists had
named the ‘Boskops’, had just spoken to me in my native
tongue.

Niki came round as if
from a long and very restful sleep.

“
Joe,” she
said gently rubbing her eyes, “I just had an amazing dream!” She
turned to see the woman smiling at her. “And this is Crimson,” she
told me.

“
How on… how
on earth do you know that?” I asked.

“
We just
connected,” she replied. I looked into Niki’s eyes to see her more
contented, more joyous and more at peace than I’d seen for a very
long time.

“
Would you
like to see our World? I mean, visit it in person?” Niki asked
Crimson.

“
I would,” she
replied, “but another time. People need me here now – and I have
much work to do. But please return – I would like to show you more
of our land.”

“
We will,” Nik
replied, embracing Crimson. “Thank you.”

Crimson took my phone
from the guard and returned it to me. We left the building and
returned to the small park, from where we jumped back to the
present. It had been an amazing, eye–opening couple of days, and we
needed time to take it all in.

***

Thirty–Two

Having returned to
London, it was difficult at first to get back to our normal way of
life without thinking about our trip to Egypt - and the Boskops .
The experience had had a big effect on both of us – particularly on
Niki, who seemed to have changed in her thoughts. She was much
quieter and more thoughtful than usual, and would sit still for
long periods in the lounge within her own world. Eventually,
though, over time, we both gradually got back to our usual
routines.

Some time later, we were
having dinner in Niki’s favourite Italian restaurant, and the
conversation inevitably came round to our Egyptian
adventure.

“
That was
something else, wasn’t it Nik?” I said. “Egypt I mean.”

She nodded, and put down
her fork. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget it Joe – we must go
back.”

“
We will,” I
replied, “we have to. When I look at the pictures I took, they
don’t look real. They’re like something out of a movie set.” I
paused and then said, “What exactly happened with Crimson, Nik? And
what was that ‘Vulcan mind thing’?” She looked at me, recalling the
experience.

“
It was like I
was connected to the Universe, to everything. And all the things
that people usually worry about – money, health, security, war –
just meant nothing. And then I suddenly could see her world, and
how it was so different from ours. It was based on pure love, and
that was all that mattered.”

“
All you need
is love,” I quipped, instantly regretting it.

Niki just
smiled. “If
you
could go back in time to any period you wanted Joe, where
would you go?”

“
What do you
mean ‘if’? We can go anywhere we want, at any time, can’t
we?”

“
I mean if I
let you,” she grinned. This was the Niki I knew.

We had been back from
Egypt for over two weeks now, and having travelled to the place she
always wanted to go, Niki was eager for me to explore my must–see
destination.

“
Okay. Of all
the places I’d like to go, it would have to be China, of course.
You know I’ve always been interested in ancient Chinese
artefacts.”

“
Are you
calling me an ancient artefact?” she asked.

“
Well, you are
a bit arty. Seriously, Xi’an at the time of Emperor
Qin Shi Huang
. I’d really
like to know what’s in that tomb of his.”

Emperor Qin (pronounced
‘Chin’) was the first to unite the many disparate kingdoms within
Niki’s homeland into one country. It is said that the name China
actually comes from the name of the Emperor. I’d read that he
achieved this unification by first waging wars with the kings close
to his home territory (wars which he always won), and second by
making friends and allegiances with distant kingdoms – those really
too far away to wage expensive wars with. It seemed to work – for a
while anyway.

Qin’s capital, Xi’an, is
situated in Shaanxi Province in Central China. The city’s wall,
still completely intact, dates from the Ming Dynasty (around 1370
ACE). The area is famous for the Terracotta Warriors, thousands of
lifelike earthenware soldiers and horses which were constructed to
guard the area surrounding Emperor Qin’s mausoleum. I’d seen the
warriors on a trip to China to visit Niki’s relatives several years
ago, and that’s when I became fascinated by Qin’s tomb. You
wouldn’t think that pottery figures could scare anyone away, but it
seems that the mausoleum has never been plundered or
excavated.

“
I’m always
ready to go to China with you Joe, but you don’t need to go to
Xi’an just to know what’s in the tomb: it’s all written down in the
history books.”

“
Are these the
same books which tell us about the pyramids? I quipped.

“
That’s
different! We record our history properly in China – we have
meticulous records.”

“
Meticulous!
I’ve never heard you use that word before.”

“
Don’t forget
I’ve read more English literature than you Joe Cooper.”

“
Well, reading
about what’s in the tomb, and seeing it with your own eyes are two
very different things.”

“
You’re
right,” admitted Niki.

“
I
am?”

“
Yes, you’re
always right. But whilst reading about the treasures is perfectly
safe, seeing them with your own eyes is going to get you
killed.”

She did have a point.
According to the ‘meticulous records’, craftsmen were ordered to
make crossbows and arrows which were then primed to shoot at anyone
who entered the tomb. And if that didn't work, rivers of mercury
(simulating the great rivers of China) ran throughout the entire
complex – and we all know how poisonous mercury can be.

After Qin’s grand funeral
ceremony had been completed, and the treasures were hidden away,
the inner gates were blocked and the outer gates lowered – trapping
inside all the workers and craftsmen who had worked on the tomb.
No–one could escape – all those who knew of the tomb’s treasures
and secrets were buried alive with their knowledge. But despite the
possible dangers, a burning curiosity was driving me to take a look
inside the tomb.

“
Maybe if you
were invisible, you could get away with it.” Niki suggested as we
left the restaurant and headed for home.

“
I’ll work on
that,” I said.

*

I decided that
I needed to do more research if this idea of mine was to be
successful. By successful, I mean not getting shot by arrows,
overcome by mercury poisoning or buried alive in the Emperor’s
tomb. Niki had been right about the Chinese records of the time –
they were pretty damn good. In particular, I discovered that a
peasant rebellion broke out during the late Qin Dynasty. This was
quelled by military general
Zhang
Han
utilising all 700,000 people employed
on the construction of Qin’s mausoleum. As a result, all work on
the tomb was suspended. This seemed like a good time to visit the
site – but how to become invisible?

“
Well, for a
start, you can’t go like
that
,” Niki replied whilst we were in
our office, researching the trip.

She was right, of course.
As a twenty–first century foreigner, I was going to stand out like
a sore thumb if I wore jeans and a tee–shirt with John Lennon’s
face emblazoned across the front. But seeing that I was dead set on
jumping to ancient China, she said she’d help. Somehow, Niki was
going to make me look Chinese – and at the same time make us both
look like we were natives of 209 BC China, the time of the peasant
rebellion in question. I was interested to see how she was going to
achieve this.