Hoists? Yeah, right! Harley said. Satima. She is pretty, and thank goodness we have her. Im just grateful she filled in at the last minute when the older gentleman wed hired wound up ill. If I know our friend Joe at all, I know hes very happy! she said to Henry. We wont go far, since we seem to be feeling a wee bit nervous! And we wont be late. Well bring you something to eat and see if you want to be social when we get back, okay? If, and only if, youre absolutely positive you dont want to take a ride with this handsome, if ridiculous, guy and me?
Henry laughed. Oh, Harley, youre a sweetheart, but give it up. You know Im not coming.
She grimaced, a delightful movement of her face. Yes, I do, she admitted. But weyour devoted studentshave to try. Ill bring you a special treat for dinner.
Dont worry about me, guys. Ill be fine.
Sorry, we will worry about you. At least we can make sure you eat. Im willing to bet youre going to be up all nightand you wont even notice that you havent slept, Harley said.
He smiled and made a shooing motion with his hands. Go! Get on out with you. Be young and have fun and dont become an obsessive old curmudgeon like me. Jensen, get her out of here!
Yes, sir! Jensen said.
Harley still hung back. Youre neither obsessive nor old, she insisted. Okay, wait. Maybe you are obsessive. Anyway, well be back by nine or so, and like I said, Ill bring you something delicious.
Sounds lovely! See you soon.
And at last, Harley and Jensen left.
Dr. Henry Tomlinson turned his attention back to Unknown Mummy #1 for several long moments. Many pharaohs and royalty and even esteemed but lesser men, like Amenmose, ended up with unknowns in their tombsservants needed in the next life.
Almost the entire lid of the coffin had been torn open. That afternoon, two of the students had painstakingly cleared out the rubble around the mummy. But Henry felt as if he was indeed looking at remnants featured in a B horror flick; the thing really did appear to be a man whod been wrapped up with his mouth open in horror, left to silently scream into eternity.
Mummies werent wrapped like this alive. Unless, of course...
Hed never been intended to be a mummy?
Hed been a murder victim.
Could this unidentified mummy be Amenmose himself? he wondered excitedly. They hadnt identified the mans tomb.
Great question, but it wasnt scientific to jump to conclusions. X-rays would give them an image of the insidesand that would probably tell them if the facial contortions had happened because of some accident in the drying process or if he had somehow been wrapped alive!
No, it couldnt be Amenmose, Henry decided. According to the ancient texts and all the information at his disposal, Amenmose had died before burial. Besides, theyd discovered one coffin in an inner tomb, deep in a hidden recessagain, just as the ancient texts had said. Amenmoses enemies might have defiled his tomb if those who loved him hadnt concealed his remains. The mummy here, found in the outer chamber, couldnt be Amenmosenot unless there was a great deal they were missing! Sorry, old boy. Lord only knows what happened to you, Henry told the mummy.
Hey!
The inner flap to the preparation tent opened again. Henry looked over to see that it was Alchemys director at large, Ned Richter.
He was smiling. As he should have been. Their day had been fantastic.
Hey, Henry said. He liked Richter okay. Although not an Egyptologist himself, the man was studious and yet always ready help out with manual labor when needed.
Henry didnt like Richters wife, Vivian, so much. She was an Egyptologist, tooat least in her own mind, he thought with a snort. Okay, so she did have her masters degree from Brown; she was just annoying as hell and she didnt think clearly or reason anything out. She was an attractive enough woman with short dark hair and dark eyes, and she claimed the maternal side of her fathers family had been Egyptian.
She liked to pretend that she knew what she was talking about.
She seldom did.
Just checking on you! Richter said.
Henry heard Vivian speaking behind her husband. Tell him to come with us. Well get some food and drinks.
Hey, Viv! Henry called out. Im good tonight. Going to work. And a couple of the students are picking me up something to eat. Listen, he added in a more affable voice, cant wait till you and I have a chance to talk tomorrow. We can compare notes then!
Cant you make him come? Henry heard Vivian whisper.
No, Richter said flatly. Hes head of the examination and prep all the way through the removal to Cairoby Alchemy and the Egyptian government. As you know, he muttered.
See you in the morning! Henry called pleasantly. Yes!
But hed barely turned around before he heard the inner tent flap opening again.
This time, it was Arlo Hampton, the Egyptologist whod been employed specifically by Alchemy to watch over their investment.
Arlo was youngtall, straight and a little skinny. He preferred his thick glasses to contact lenses. Good thing for Arlo that nerds were in; he was, beyond a doubt, a nerd. But a friendly and outgoing nerd. He loved Egyptology, and yet, unlike certain other people, he wasnt full of himself or convinced that he knew everything.
Hey, I knew youd be alone with the treasures, snug as a bug in a rug! Arlo told him cheerfully. There was something slightly guilty in his voice. I wanted to make sure you were okay, though.
Im great. And, of course, if you want to join me...
Im beat, Henry. Im what? Thirty years younger than you? I dont know how you do it. Im going to have a sandwich with the grad students when Harley and Jensen get back, and then hit my bunk until tomorrow. If thats okay. I mean, I should be like you, hard at work... Oh, I did just meet Belindas boyfriend on Skype. Seems like a decent guy. So Belinda, Roger and Joe are taking care of their personal business, and then were all going to meet and after that
I saw Harley and Jensen. Theyll bring me food. Youre fine, Arlo. Have a nice night.
Yeah, thanks. Strange, though. Something doesnt feel right his evening. Am I just being paranoid?
Yes. And shoo. Go on, Arlo. You worked hard today. And Im an obsessive old bastard. Get out of here!
Arlo grinned. He lifted his hands. Im gone!
And, at last, he was.
Henry was thrilled. He even began singing Ariels song from the Disney movie The Little Mermaid.
He walked back over to Unknown Mummy #1. Strange, he said, shaking his head with perplexity as he studied the mummy. Just who was he? And what brought him here in this state?
But then he shrugged. Hed found natural mummies at other sitesservants whod stood guard after burial rites and died where they collapsed after the tombs were sealed and they slowly asphyxiated.
Henry walked back over to his desk to dictate notes into a recorder for the exhibit, which would one day be based on this project. The earliest Egyptians buried their dead in small pits in the desert sand. The sand and the heat naturally mummified the dead. Later, to prevent animals from digging up the bodies, they resorted to creating coffins. Coffins kept out animals, but they didnt allow for the natural mummification that had been occurring when the bodies had gone straight into the sand. So the Egyptians began to learn the art of embalming. They quickly discovered that the wet parts of the body needed to be removed. That included the heart and lungs, brain and liver and other organs. These were stored in canopic jars, where they were guarded, just as the body was guarded, so the dead were protected and ready as they entered into the afterlife. The process became forty days of drying with natron, a form of salt. Of course, a body was never simply dried. It was adorned with oils at various stages and also treated with religious rites.
Henry walked back over to his desk to dictate notes into a recorder for the exhibit, which would one day be based on this project. The earliest Egyptians buried their dead in small pits in the desert sand. The sand and the heat naturally mummified the dead. Later, to prevent animals from digging up the bodies, they resorted to creating coffins. Coffins kept out animals, but they didnt allow for the natural mummification that had been occurring when the bodies had gone straight into the sand. So the Egyptians began to learn the art of embalming. They quickly discovered that the wet parts of the body needed to be removed. That included the heart and lungs, brain and liver and other organs. These were stored in canopic jars, where they were guarded, just as the body was guarded, so the dead were protected and ready as they entered into the afterlife. The process became forty days of drying with natron, a form of salt. Of course, a body was never simply dried. It was adorned with oils at various stages and also treated with religious rites.
Henry stopped speaking; he thought hed heard something moving in the preparation tent. That was odd. The local guards and the staff who worked for Alchemy were weary and bored with the findings. Egyptians had been unearthing mummies forever and ever, and even the security force of Americans and Brits was more bored by the ancient than intrigued. Most of them had worked around the world. They were, in a word, jadedand far more interested in the pay scale than the work itself.
He looked around the tent. Nothing. Everything as it had been. Crates and boxes and mummies and treasures!
He shook his head, impatient with himself. He was incredibly lucky to have this time alone in the preparation tent. Hed been the one to do the research and the calculations; hed been the one whod garnered the sponsorship that had provided the money for this expedition. His papers had raised significant interest. It wasyes, indeedhis baby.
But eventually Dr. Arlo Hampton would want his time here, his chance to study these mummies, these treasures. So would Yolanda Akeem, their liaison with the Department of Antiquities. Then, of course, there was Ned Richter...and his wife. Hed bet that Richter couldnt care less if he got any time with the mummies and ancient treasures or not. Richter was there to guard Alchemys interests and, Henry suspected, to ensure that they looked as if they were being incredibly magnanimous to the Egyptian government. After all, Alchemy financed these expeditions, he was almost certain, for tax breaksand the media attention and promotion they provided.
Fine. The excavation was a great success. And this was his time. His time alone with all his treasures!
He started to go back to his work, but he couldve sworn hed seen movement from the corner of his eye.
He stood up and walked around.
Nothing.
Henry sat back down and continued his recording.
Ancient Egypt
There was something behind him!
He tried to spin about.
And he saw nothing but binding, the linen binding that had been used on the ancient dead, saw it wrapped around fingers and a hand, saw the fingers and the hand circle his neck and
Fingers, like wire, clutching his throat, so powerful, so strong...
He fought their hold. Wriggled and squirmed. He tried to rise; he couldnt. The pain was terrible. The world began to blacken before him; little dots of light exploded in the darkness. And all he could think was that
The mummy!
The mummy had risen to kill him!
It was impossible. Impossible. Impossible...
He was a scientist. Rational. He didnt believe.
He was a scientist...
And as the last electrons exploded against the stygian pit of his dying mind, he couldnt help but think...
He was a scientist.
Being killed by an ancient Egyptian mummy.
It didnt make sense. It wasnt right.
Chapter One
One Year Later
The New Museum of Antiquity
New York City, New York
The moon that shone down through the skylights in the temple region of the museum created a stunning vision. Opalescent light shimmered on the marble and made it appear that the ribbon of Nile river by the temple was created of crystal and glass. The lights in the area were dim, designed to look as if they were burning torches set along the walls.
The exhibit in the New Museum of Antiquity was impressiveeven to Harley, despite all the time shed spent in the real Sahara. In designing this space, the organizers had also borrowed heavily from another famous NYC museum, all to the benefit of the Egyptian displays. Harley felt a sudden breeze from an air-conditioning vent, and she shivered.
Mummy thing getting to you, huh?
Pardon? Harley turned quickly to see the speaker. The words had been teasing; theyd also been spoken in a pleasantly deep, masculine voice.
The voice aroused a strange memory she couldnt quite reachand seemed to whisper to something inside her, far beneath her skin.
She hadnt seen the speaker before, despite the fact that his voice seemed oddly familiar. Here, on opening night, she shouldve known most of the invited crowd. But she didnt know him, andas her chosen field of criminology had taught hershe studied anyone she didnt recognize in a situation such as this evenings event.
A soiree to celebrate the exhibition. This was opening night for the traveling exhibit that would, in the end, return to Egypt, where the precious artifacts of that country would then remain. But tonight they celebrated the very first time the exhibit had been seen! It would open to the public in the morning. It had, quite properly, been named in honor of Henrythe Henry Tomlinson Collection of Egyptian Culture and Art.
There would be toasts in his honor, of course.
This phenomenal display would not have been possible without him.
But Henry was gone, as much a part of history as his treasures.
She sensed that this manwith his deep, somehow familiar voicewas connected to Henry.
She definitely hadnt seen him before.
He wasnt the kind of man you forgot.
He was tallwell over six feet, she thought. Because shed recently taken identification classes that taught criminologists to look for details to include in descriptions, she also noted that not only was he about six foot three, but he had excellent posture. Nicely muscled, too. She had no doubt that he was the kind of man who spent time in a gym, not to create impressive abs, but to train the complex human machine that was his most important tool.
How could she be so sure of this? she asked herself. And yet she was.
He wore a casual suit, no jewelry. He was freshly shaven, and kept his dark hair cropped close to his head.
Someones bodyguard?
Beneath the glimmer of the moon that showed through the skylights, she couldnt quite ascertain the color of his eyes. She had a feeling they were light, despite the darkness of his hair.
Thirty-three to thirty-six years old, she estimated. Carefully nondescript clothingdark blue suit, dark blue shirt, pin-striped tie in shades of blue and black. Sunglasses resting on head.
He moved closer to her; she was certain hed been doing the same kind of study on her that shed nearly completed on him.
No, shed never seen him before, but she had heard his voice.