The Tomb Of Cleopatra

"Hello! My name's Jeremy James and I am an archaeologist currently researching on ancient Egypt." I was meeting my sister Lisa down at the King George Avenue in London. Lisa like me was an archaeologist too. But she lived and researched in London. She was 2 years younger than me. Recently she had called me and said that she had found something interesting about the Tomb of Cleopatra.

I stepped down from the taxi and paid the driver. As I walked on the street, I noticed that London was different from America. And I mean it. Everyone, everything seemed so distant and formal. Everyone minded their own business. No high-fiving dudes, no laughter, nothing.

I was feeling quite queasy and peckish. So, I decided to grab a snack. I walked into a Cafe called 'Munch Spot'. A beaming Barista greeted me. He was a short man. He had a round face, an imperial mustache, and a bald head with tiny wisps of hair from the side. 'Wha' woul' yeh like?' he asked me. I thought for a moment and said 'A cheese-grilled sandwich and a cappuccino please.' 'Comin' right up' he said engrossing himself in work. I decided to call Lisa and tell her to come here. I was kind of excited. I hadn't seen Lisa in almost 2 years. And I really missed her (please don't tell that her). The door sprang open once again. A woman of about 23 came in. She had long blonde hair and a pretty face with big blue eyes. She was about 2 or 3 inches shorter than me and was wearing a blue T-Shirt which said "PEACE!", jeans and white sneakers. It was Lisa! I felt tears rolling down my face as she ran to hug me. 'Ribs' I squeaked. 'Sorry' she said wiping her face and grinning. 'My god, Lisa! You've grown up so much!' I exclaimed. She smiled. We sat down. 'One more cappuccino, please?' I called.

'So? How are you?' I asked. 'Fine, fine.' she said airily. Just the a noticed a nasty scar on her hand, 'What is that?' I said pointing towards the scar. 'Nothing, nothing. Just a small cut. Got that while excavating in Egypt' she said. 'But how can you get a cut while excavating?' I asked. Something was fishy here.

'Do you want to hear about my investigation or not?' she asked changing the subject. 'Alright!' I said earnestly forgetting about the scar. 'Tell me what special finding have you got.' 'Okay, but not here. It's confidential. If anyone even overhears a bit of it, The Archaeological Department will be after blood.' she whispered. 'Alright,' I agreed.

We booked a cab to get to Lisa's flat. It was an hour-long drive from King George Avenue. Under normal circumstances, we would have freely talked about our researches. But this was a different situation. We tried to keep our voices low but I got over-excited and Lisa stamped my foot. 'Ouch!' I said angrily. 'Keep it down, you idiot' she said through gritted teeth. 'Yeah, sorry' I apologized knowing it was my mistake. Sometime later the taxi stopped. 'East Side Living' the taxi driver grunted. 'Thanks very much I said handing him the cash.

The East Side Living was a luxurious apartment in uptown London. I didn't ask Lisa how she had so much money because I knew that she was a superb student and had a top-notch job win Archaeologists Inc, the most famous archaeological company to ever be. We walked in through a magnificent gate. Inside was the most beautiful Flat system I had ever seen. On my right, I could clearly see a garden, a very big one, actually. It had a fountain in the center and lush green lawns all around. It had every type of flower: honeysuckles, roses, hibiscuses, you name it. Lisa showed me the garden. 'Let's show you the living space, shall we?' said Lisa. We exited the garden and entered the main Society. My mouth gaped open and my eyes wide when I saw the building. It had to be at least a 50-story building. Lisa giggled. 'What?' I snapped. 'Your Expression' she said giggling even harder. 'But don't let just your excitement go, there's more!' she said. 'This Society has 3 swimming pools, a rec room with almost everything and much more!' she told. About an hour later we entered our flat, or shall we say Lisa's? I don't know.

She opened the door. We entered the house. It was as great as the main society.

The living room had a big T.V. Cyan sofa's which made an 'L' around the living room. The rest of the house was fantastic too.

An hour later I sat in the living room going through Lisa's reports while she made dinner for me. It was almost 8.00 PM. Just then Lisa bought the dinner. The aroma already filled my heart with content. She put down the dinner. It had everything from my favorite cuisine. Rice, daal fry, Paneer Sabzi, Garlic Naan, kulcha, pickle. My mouth began to water. I wolfed the food and in about ten minutes I was asking for more. 'Gods, did they starve you there, Jeremy?' She questioned me laughing. After dinner, we sat down on the sofa. 'Did you study them?' Lisa asked shuffling through the reports. 'Yeah, I did.' I muttered. 'We'll discuss them tomorrow then, it's getting late. Good night!' she said and went into her bedroom. I would have gone to sleep too, but something inside me told me that Lisa was hiding something. I sat on the sofa pondering what it could be that she was hiding.

A loud 'Ting' issued from the grandfather clock that hung on the wall. It was 11.00 PM. I got up and yawned and slept on the sofa.

'Why on Earth were you sleeping on the sofa? Lisa asked me the next day. 'Ah, nothing. I was just feeling too lazy to get up and go to the guest bedroom.' I lied.

An hour later with our stomachs full of breakfast, we sat down to finally research the tomb, The Tomb OF Cleopatra. Lisa took out some books from her cupboard. 'Very rare copies, these books.' Lisa said pointing at the massive books. 'Tell all me about it I said quietly. 'Everything's a mystery. We know she died in hiding in Alexandria. 'This book-' she said 'was written by Suetonius'. 'Come again?' I asked. 'Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, he wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire'. she said impatiently. I gazed at the thick, red book. 'Historiae De Cleopatra et Marco Antonio' the title read. 'So, what does it say?' I asked earnestly. 'Well, you'll have to read it. But I'll give you a basic overview' she said. 'This book, it was written in somewhere between 30 AND 31 BC.' 'Uh huh' I said nodding my head vigorously. 'Suetonius says that Cleopatra's hiding was in a pyramid. And the selective group of priestesses which went with her in hiding preserved her in the same pyramid.' she said. 'And do we know the whereabouts of the pyramid?' I asked. 'Well no...., but we know that her patron goddess was Isis, the goddess of magic, death, healing, and rebirth. She was also the patron goddess of Cleopatra. There is a temple dedicated to Isis near Alexandria. We suspect that Cleopatra's tomb can be there' she told. The discussion went on till 3.00 pm. We concluded that the tomb was near Alexandria. Some 10 miles to the west of Alexandria to be precise.

'I've arranged a meeting with the Archaeological department. It's at 2.00 pm tomorrow. If everything goes right, we might be packing up for Egypt at this time a week later she said fervently.

We were sitting in a taxi and were on our way to the National Archives and Archaeological Office. 'Have you met the board before?' I asked her. Having never faced a formal meeting, I was pretty nervous and was scrounging for all the tips I could get. 'Yes, many times she said warily. The previous night I had done some practice by speaking to myself in the mirror. 'Geez, come on, brother dear. Stop being nervous, as long as you speak with a good presence of mind, we won't be getting in any trouble' she said trying hard to keep a straight face. 'Fine' I mumbled.

After what seemed to be forever, we finally reached our destination. As soon as I saw the building my mouth came hanging out forming an 'O'. The building was simply magnificent. The word 'wow' just summed up how the building looked. It was made of luxurious cream-white marble. Four towers going around it, just like they do in a palace. And at the center of the building was written 'National Archives and Archaeological Office'. The letters were covered in gold. The whole place gave an aura of extreme opulence. As we stepped into the main campus, panic started to seize me. Slowly, but surely. By the time we had reached the meeting hall, my legs seemed to be made of Jell-O. I was extremely twitchy and jumpy. The hall was just as magnificent as the outside campus. We sat down on the ovular table. 3 people other than us were already seated there. As we sat, a man bowed to Lisa and extended his hand towards me. 'Mr. James Rookwood, Chairman of the board of Archaeological Researches-' he said, 'pleased to meet you. 'And you' I said grinning nervously. James Rookwood looked like a classic explorer wearing Khaki pants and a cargo shirt. He had neck-length hair and an enormous walrus mustache. The other two members of the board followed James Rookwood's pursuit. They too bowed to Lisa and shook my hand. 'Henry Copperfield Vice-chairman of the board, pleased to meet you' he said gripping my hand and shaking it. Henry Copperfield had chopped hair; he was too wearing a classic explorer outfit. Though, he didn't have a mustache. His face was cleanly shaved. His hair was miraculously straight and neat. As though he had magicked them into eternal straightness. Then the third man stood up. He quickly bowed to Lisa, then shook my hand and let go of it so quickly as if my hand was sticky and gooey. He was bald. 'Harry Jameson, secretary of the board, nice to meet you' he said frigidly. I noticed that unlike the other members of the board, his posture was quite regal, unfriendly, and poise. As if he owned the place. He had beetle black eyes, which were as cold as the Antarctic. He wore a formal suit and tie.

'Let's begin, shall we?' asked James Rookwood. We both nodded our heads. We began to tell them about our findings. After two hours of discussion, they seemed pretty convinced about our findings. 'Very well we shall look into the matter. We'll revert you back in a few days’ time' James Rookwood said grinning.

As we left the office, we were both grinning broadly, knowing that our findings were a hit among the board members.

About three days later, we received a call from James Rookwood. He said that they found our findings pretty convincing and if we were ready then we could go to Egypt to research further on this through the board's sponsorship. We instantly agreed. For this was what we had been researching for. It was our foremost goal. As Rookwood confirmed our trip to Egypt, fat tears of joy leaked out of Lisa's eyes. These tears were the sign of how she had worked to make this moment come real.

We were packing for Egypt. Our clothes were crammed into two suitcases. The other two suitcases contained our tools and camping materials. The other four were full of books. As we packed the luggage, I once again saw the scar on Lisa's hand. I had almost forgotten about it in the past few days. I dared not to ask Lisa about the scar. But I again wondered, how could have she gotten that scar. I might have started to stare idly at the wall, cause Lisa shook me saying 'You better concentrate, or you'll have to deal with my lectures'. I nodded absent-mindedly.

The day finally came. We were at the airport, waiting for our flight. James Rookwood and Henry Copperfield were coming with us. Other than them, a team of trained professionals was coming with us. We were all pumped up and were full of excitement.

We were finally in the air. I was sitting on the aisle. The view from the sky was min-blowing. The clouds glittered with sunlight. It felt as if we were floating on cotton candy which was bathed with sunlight. To right was Lisa and beside her sat James Rookwood. Henry Copperfield was sitting in front of my seat. 'So, Mr. Rookwood, how long are we going to stay there?' I asked. James Rookwood looked at me. He chuckled. 'No need to call me 'Mr. Rookwood', young man he said, 'Call me James'. 'Okay,' I said. 'We plan to wind things up 'til next Christmas. Today is 1 December. So, 1 year and 25 days to be precise' he answered. We had already booked 10 flats in a posh neighborhood in Alexandria. It was quite near to our excavation site. I and Lisa were going to stay in one flat. Knowing that we won't be back in England till late, we rented the London flat.

Harry Jameson was going to be in charge of the Archaeological department until James Rookwood wasn't back.

The plane was in the air. The food cart had arrived. At first, I kind of amazed by the food cart. It was an all-automatic cart, which had a digital menu. It also had a conversing capacity. It greeted us and bade us goodbye too. The cart offered us our meal pack. We already helped ourselves a while earlier, so we beckoned the cart to go forward. The cart gave the same meal pack to the guy sitting behind us. He readily accepted. A loud 'scrunch' that came from the back indicated that he had started to devour his food. Then for quite a while (or it felt so) there wasn't any sound. Suddenly, a loud groan came from the back. Taken aback, we turned our heads. Oh! what a frightening sight it was to see. Thick, white froth was oozing from his mouth. His face had turned pale. He vomited. For a moment everybody was petrified. Then an old lady, bless her, shouted 'Somebody, anybody, call the medical staff!' An air hostess ran to get the medical staff.

'This looks serious the physician muttered, checking the pulse, etc. of the guy behind us. She stood up. 'I am sorry folks,' she said 'but this case is quite out of my field of experience'. Then suddenly a man stood up, he walked over to us. 'But it is quite in my field of experience' he said in a deep, booming voice. 'And, may I ask that who're you?' the physician asked, her eyes narrowing. 'Dr. Julius Kane. Toxicologist' he replied curtly. 'Oh,' she mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

Dr. Julius was treating the patient for nearly an hour before he said that the patient was going to be okay.

I got a shocking thought after the incident. That food cart was giving the meal pack to us. What if we had eaten it? That could have been lethal. This incident was scary enough for a horror movie. Lisa was visibly shocked and confounded by the happening. She hadn't uttered a single word since the gasp she had let out after seeing the guy behind us. She was all clammy and pale. I saw Lisa glancing at her scar like for ten times after the guy was poisoned. My mind once again thought, what could have caused that scar? I decided to ask James. But not now. I'd heard from Lisa that James had a habit of over-reacting. I didn't want any more stares since I had gotten quite a few when the guy behind us had been poisoned.

We landed at the Borg El Arab International Airport in Alexandria at about 6.00 P.M. Egypt surprisingly was not so hot at the night. With an A.C and a cozy bed, you could easily get a good night's sleep. 'Where's our flat?' I asked Lisa. 'Keep quite see. ‘I know where it is' Lisa muttered. We drove until we reached a big building with lots and lots of windows. 'Egyptian View Apartments' it said. All the crew, James, Henry, Lisa, and me entered the campus. It too, like the apartment in London, had a garden. Though, it was nowhere near the one in the Eastside living, in London. We got in our flat and the next thing I knew that I was snoring in the bed.

It had been about a week since we had arrived in Alexandria. The first week passed sprightly. The work on the site was starting from tomorrow i.e., Monday.

We had spent the entire week shopping, hanging out, and bidding our time until Monday.

I had moments when I found myself thinking, yet once again, about Lisa's scar. I had stopped Lisa about it, she'd always swat the topic away.

Monday arrived as fast as the week had gone. I had showered, had taken my reports and notes, and was ready to go. James told us to meet in the garden. I and Lisa jogged our way down there. James informed us that a bus was coming to pick us up from the building.

The bus arrived ten minutes later. We boarded the bus and took off. I snoozed off during the journey and was only woken up by a deafening scream from Lisa. I abruptly opened my eyes. The windows were cracked. Lisa's lip was bleeding. Everything was in shatters. 'What happened?' I asked anxiously. 'Ruddy goons, probably trying to thief us' she said in a low voice.

'Where are they?'

'Gone. James had a shotgun. Shot one of them.'

'And, where are we?'

'Near the site.'

What the ruddy hell was this? Two attacks now since we had London. I heard James's voice, 'All the crew members please come out of the bus, we are safe now.'

We bustled out of the bus. I was about to check the equipment when James pulled me by the collar and jostled me up to the commissioner's tent. Lisa and Henry were already present there. All of them looked grave. 'What the hell was all this?' I asked them uncertainly. 'Listen, Jeremy. Look it's we tell you all about my scar and these attacks. What we suspect, if it is true, then we're toast' Lisa said shakily. 'What?!' James said amazed. 'No, we can't Lisa. We'll be defying the board rules if we did' James said uncertainly. He looked at Henry as if he were urging him to say something, however, Henry remained quiet. There was a very pregnant pause. Then, Henry said 'We'll have to tell him, James.' 'What? Preposterous. Ridiculous. I won't allow it!' James said in disbelief. But, a stern look from Henry silenced James. Henry nudged Lisa to proceed with the story.

'The last time we came here, in Egypt, we encountered a bunch of rouges. Attacks almost every day, that's why we left. And this cut on my arm-' She raised her arm 'This cut was made when one of those gits sliced my hand. And the blade contained poison.' I gasped. 'That stupid git' she hissed. That's why the scar never faded. The poison, it was the reason. I felt red, hot anger surging through me. 'Bring me those brainless, barmy, old gits and I swear I'll kill them all.' I said through gritted teeth. 'Calm down, there's more' Henry said. 'These people. We persuaded the Intelligence Agency to track their origins. We came to know that they are the descendants of the priests of the Amun Ra temple. You know that Cleopatra patronized Isis. And you the past differences of Ra and Isis. So, we think, that they are trying to stop us to find the Tomb of Cleopatra' Lisa finished. 'We need to sleuth more about this I concluded. 'Meeting tomorrow, our flat, sharp 2.00 P.M.'

The meeting was an utter failure. Lisa kept on crying and James was still reluctant about the whole 'descendants of Amun Ra' thingy.

Almost 5 months had passed since I had arrived in Alexandria. The excavation was on and in full force. We had found several artifacts that backed our theory of Cleopatra lying somewhere beneath here. Of all the artifacts the most important were the crook and flail and the papyrus scroll that was encased in an iron case. And as for the rouges, we hadn't encountered any major attack since the shooting at the bus.

I had taken the papyrus scroll with me. I had a strong suspicion that this scroll contained the directions to Cleopatra's tomb.

I had researched all about that scroll. We had finally gotten a clue to where Cleopatra was lying. It was a riddle. A riddle that would lead us to glory and fame, if solved correctly. If we got it wrong, we'd die painful deaths. James had called Harry saying that we had come to know that it was a riddle.

I cleared my throat. 'The tomb lies there, the sunsets were, near the temple of Isis. But beware, seeker, you'd face challenges. You've got to know your directions. left, left, right, right, right is the pattern. But pay heed, left should be left and right is always right I read. 'Hang on! I think I got it! Remember the last time we came here, we found an old structure near the temple, James?' Lisa said. James nodded.

'It's got to be there.'

'But we don't know the directions.'

'It said 'left should be left and 'right is right. This means that we have to go only on the right side!'

'Brilliant, Lisa!' I said hoarsely.

We were leaving for the tomb the next day. 'All set, Jeremy?' James asked. I nodded.

I stepped onto the bus. Henry cleared his throat. 'All right men-

'And women' Lisa piped.

'And women' Henry agreed.

'This the big moment, we're inches close to victory. Win or die trying' was all Henry could manage.

We reached the site. A few hours of digging and some TNT explosions were all we needed for discovering the tomb entrance.

We walked into the tunnel. After what seemed an endless walk, we clambered into a large room. Big pharaoh pillars supporting the ceiling which was lost in darkness. Strangely the room was lit. Great fires roaring through the hall. When all of us were in the hall, the tunnel suddenly closed. That instant I knew it was a trap. Suddenly, the walls opened. Great razors coming out of it.

'Duck!' I yelled.

Our heads down we ran for the door on the other side. We entered another great room. Except for this time a man appeared to sit on the throne which was there in the room. He was wearing a magnificent blood-red cloak and on top of his head was sitting a crown decorated with jewels. 'Well, well, well. Whom have gotten here' said a cold, reedy voice, the same voice I had spoken to in The Archaeological department! It was him! It was Harry Jameson. Slowly he came down. 'Blimey, Harry! you scared us!' James said weakly. Lisa was still staring at him, her gaze transfixed. 'Come on let's go. We've got the directions' Lisa said imperatively. But to everyone's surprise, he yanked the scroll out of Lisa's hand. It landed straight into the fire. 'You abysmally foolish person!' Lisa shrieked. 'How're we going to find the tomb without that scroll' she demanded. 'There's no need to find the tomb of Cleopatra, girl' he said silkily. 'In fact, you're not even getting to the surface' he said as a matter-of-factly. 'Occidere eos' he hissed.

About two dozen men, all armed with swords started sprinting towards us. We all scattered in different directions. I ran as fast as I could. But the guy was catching up. He was too fast for me. I formed a plan. I abruptly stopped; the man had obviously not expected that. I smacked him hard in the face with my elbow. He issued a loud groan and fell to the ground clutching his face. I picked his sword. It was the only chance. I took a deep breath. And 'slashhhhh' ran the sword through his gut. I glanced around. Lisa was having trouble keeping with the man which was attacking her. I ran towards her. The man’s back was facing me. Without a second thought, I killed him. But there were too many of them. We were still outnumbered. I looked around, no was dead yet, I could feel it. So crept towards Jameson, slowly going behind his back, and then I put my sword by his neck. 'Hey, you barmy old codgers!' I yelled, trying to put some confidence in my voice. They looked at me, some of them gasped. 'Put your weapons down!' I commanded. All of them did. I signaled Henry. He nodded. He knew what to do. And minutes later sirens and shouts echoed through the chamber. The police had come. Henry had succeeded.

Me and Henry ad formed a plan, which would save us in case of any hitches. It was clear that someone from the Archaeological Department was after us. And they must’ve known that today we were going to uncover the tomb. To attack us inside the tomb would be the sturdiest plan. So, I had told Henry to be ready if I told him to call the police.

‘What now? Are we going to continue?’ I asked uncertainly. ‘We need to, we’ve come this far, we can’t turn back now’ James whispered. His voice shook. The recent happenings had shaken James the most. Harry was one of his best friends. And he would betray them, that thought was out of James’s wildest dreams. Henry beckoned us to move forward. We followed him.

The sound of our footsteps ranged through the tunnel. We walked and walked and walked. Skimming through the passages, we found a number of fake rooms. Ancient Egyptians did this. They made fake rooms. That made it harder for the robbers to find the tomb.

Suddenly, we came to a halt. Everyone’s echoed through the passage. ‘It’s probably it’ I said earnestly. Lisa didn’t reply. But her face showed excitement.

A minute later, Henry groaned. ‘Not again’ he sighed. ‘Another fake chamber folks.’

Everyone sighed, we moved on. ‘At this rate, we might’ve to camp here’ Lisa said. I shrugged.

Lisa was right. We camped there, right in the tomb. Can you imagine that?

The next day after eating canned food we had bought just in case; we continued our journey.

An hour or so later, we came to a halt again. This time we carefully tried to open the door. It didn’t open. And let’s be honest, none of us expected it to open on the first try. The door was sealed shut for thousands of years, all that rust it had accumulated, it was impossible to open it on the first try.

We excavated the surface. Slowly breaking the door. It opened.

This time we had reached our goal. We went inside. The room was beautiful. Jewelry of every king lay there. Pearls, Opals, Rubies, Diamonds, everything! It was a small chamber, yes, but very beautiful. With inscriptions and carvings all around it. We walked around the room. In the middle lay two golden tombs, the tombs of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. We were successful. Tears were on almost everyone’s face. All the years of hard work and research finally paid off.

Today was Harry’s hearing. We were all ready to go to the court. Today the truth would be uprooted. Why Harry betrayed us, how the Amun Ra rouges listened to him, everything.

I, Lisa, Henry, and James walked into the courtroom. In the middle, stood Harry. His beard looked overgrown and his eyes were bloodshot. ‘Take me today, I’ll come tomorrow’ he croaked. He glared at each one of us. ‘I’ll have the revenge’ he said.

The confessions of Harry were shocking. He was driven by greed and jealousy. All the attention went to James. He was always overshadowed. But the most shocking part was that Harry was of Egyptian descent. He was the ancestor of the Amun Ra priests. He came to know about this during his vacation in Egypt before their previous stay in Egypt, Harry got in touch with the rouges and slowly rose as their chief. He perfected his Latin. And all the near-fatal attacks on us were guided by Harry.

Even today I get goosebumps, recalling the incident that had happened a months ago. How could have Harry betrayed us? I needed to let go of that thought. Somehow it always came to me every now and then. But now all was well. Harry and rouges were in jail and they would be in for quite a time. But now all was well!