H2G2 Storytime III: From Prussia with Love. Part XLII
Created | Updated Aug 13, 2006
"This place stinks," whispered Sreka.
"This is an outrage," hissed Von Trapp.
It hadn't been explained to the four tired men why they had been banned from the "Halls of Congregation" but whether through ritual or predjudice they weren't allowed in. As such the combination of villainy wanted in.
And now they were slowly but surely being pulled by Daltmooreby rather strained grapple up to an hidden vantage point above so they could spy on events behind the impressive gates.
The cultist guards, it seemed, were few in number. Whatever presence they had had of omniscience, it was lost when Vandaveer noticed that the same guard further down the tunnel network. They weren't as many here anymore as they'd like people to think, long patrol routes to different places.
Sreka was the first to scramble up the lip of the alcove and looked around. The cave was wide but uneven. Pehaps an older path that had been lost to collapse elsewhere.
"Sreka!"
Sreka knelt, helping Vandaveer up and Von Trapp second. The three waited as a quiet whirring noise brought Daltmooreby to the edge last. The spy unhooked the grapple and its wire returned to his belt.
"Up there," said Vandaveer pointed toward light which was shimmering off the wall ahead.
The four headed that way, coming to a fork. Von Trapp scouted the secondary path, returning to say it lead away from the illumination. So the left path was chosen and after a few minutes walking they found the maw opened into a big arena of light.
Far below they saw red hair, which could only belong Mary walking across a long stone bridge over..? What? He could see the water but not its contents.
Vandaveer took the binoculars from Daltmooreby's lapel before the ex Agent could protest and peered from the overhang.
Bridge over...
"Look like fish skeletons," he said aloud, lowering his voice when he heard his own echo.
They watched Mary walk to the centre of the bridge which shaped into a large circle.
In front of her, at the back wall was a set of double doors and large long podium which - to someone more interested in these types of things - was a hybrid of the houses seen above.
"Nobody seems to be in the seats at the water's edge." Vandaveer observed, peering around the arena's floor."
A creaking of doors echoing throughout the room turned the four men's attentions to the far wall.
Sreka looked to Mary, whose posture was as straight as ever.
"Welcome home, Sister Mary", came an aged voice.
A hooded robe walked with caustion down the steps. All that could be seen from the material was a pair of gnarled hands. One twisted into its chest and the other clutching a glossy black cane with turquoise swirls.
"Abbot", said Mary, genuflecting deeply.
"Amazing. Simply amazing," breathed Ody as he jogged lightly down the corridor with torch in hand, running his eye over the walls.
Jamila and X were helping Arthur keep up. Though feeling better, Arthur's body had not yet repaired enough for the tiring distance the four adventurers had travelled since entering the Moon Chamber's elusive doorway.
Far in the distance behind them, the low whop whop whop of cogs and gears bringing themselves out of over a millenia of retirement.
The fact they could still hear it - albeit barely - having come so far made Jamila suspect the system ran behind the thick stone walls though off the top of her head she had never come across Ancient Egyptian machinery doing such a thing.
This whole placed didn't make sense. The path they were on was clearly the main one, any deviation led to a path either collapsed or plugged with an avalanche of dusty sand.
Ody stopped in his tracks. The hieroglyphs all led in one direction and seemed to be converging...his heart was in his throat.
"It's ...it's...
"A big round room." said X with deflating literalism.
"Look at them all!" said Jamilla the hieroglyphs ran up the walls and arched above their heads into a dome of fashioned rock.
"This room must hold a collossal amount of information about the city!" Ody exclaimed like an excitable school boy.
"er...Professor" said Jamilla. She had walked to the centre of the room and opposite her on either side were two arches. she was turning this way and that shining her torch through the doors.
"What is it?" said ody walking over to her.
"You should see this."
Ody's jaw hit the floor. Racing away in either direction were more circular rooms, the arches led directly into the room next door and the rooms appear to stretch to vanishing.
"We've walked into the middle of some huge recording of events. The amount of Hieroglyphs - it's staggering this will take a lifetime to decypher."
"Do you have any idea what it says at all." said Arthur sitting down to catch his breath.
"Well...er let's see....something that this is the 72nd - good grief! 72nd chamber of the Halls of Testimony.
X whistled appreciatively.
"And?" prompted Arthur.
"Aaand..." said ody gazing straight upwards so lost in thought his tongue crept out the corner of his mouth, and he squinted for several seconds "Something [inverse serpent] happened here [reeds lain flat], a long time ago.[eye of Ra] 'In the reign of [Many goat herds]...Ram...Rams...oh Rams Ram S's - Rameses!"
Hang let me try again and he began to describe aloud the story contained in the hieroglyphics inscribed into the walls, that told the tale of The age of Rameses and of the jewel called the Turqoise Moon....
