The Seventh Scroll - Smith Wilbur - Страница 127

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moving slowly up the ascending shaft, and Nicholas counted aloud each

pace he took.

"One hundred and eight, one hundred and nine, one hundred and ten-'

suddenly they came to the recent low river level. It was clearly marked

as a dry line on the walls of the tunnel. The paving under their feet

was also dry and free of the slippery coating of slime. Fifty paces

further on they passed the high flood level of the river, which was just

as clearly etched on the rock floor and the walls. Beyond that the

tunnel had never been immersed, and the walls were in the same condition

as the Egyptian slave workmen had left them four thousand years earlier.

The marks of the bronze chisels were as pristine as if they had been

inflicted just days before.

Only ten feet beyond the highest point that the river waters had ever

reached, they came out upon a stone landing. Here the floor levelled

out, and then the tunnel turned sharply back upon itself.

"Let's spare a minute just to think about this as a feat of

engineering." Nicholas took Royan's arm and pointed back down the

tunnel. "Taita has placed this landing on which we are standing

precisely above the high-water mark of the river. How did he work it out

so exactly? He had no dumpy level, and only the crudest measuring

equipment.

is. It's a he And yet he calculated it as accurately as a piece of

work."

"Well, he tells us repeatedly in the scrolls that he is a genius. I

suppose we will have to believe him now." She pulled against his grip.

"Let's go on. I must see what lies around this corner," she urged.

Side by side they turned through the one hundred and eighty degree

corner and Nicholas held the hand lamp high, with the electrical cable

trailing back down the shaft behind him. As he lit the way ahead, Royan

exclaimed aloud and seized Nicholas's free hand. Both of them froze with

astonishment.

Taita had designed the turning of the ascending ramp for dramatic

effect. The lower section of the shaft through which they had passed was

"crudely constructed, the walls irregular and undressed, the roof lumpy

and cracked. Taita had calculated his levels so finely that he had known

that the lower levels of the shaft would be submerged and damaged by the

water. He had wasted no effort on beautifying them.

Now before them rose a wide stairway. The angle of its ascent was such

that, from where they stood on the landing, the top of it was hidden

from their view. Each step stretched the full width of the tunnel, and

rose, a hand's breadth. The treads were cut from slabs of mottled

gneiss, polished and fitted to each other so precisely that the joints

between them were barely visible. The roof of the tunnel was three times

as high as it had been in the lower reaches of the tunnel, perfectly

domed and proportioned. The walls and the curved roof were of

beautifully dressed blue granite blocks, keyed into each other with

marvelous precision and symmetry. The whole was a masterpiece of the

mason's art, majestic and portentous. There was both a promise and a

menace in this vestibule to the unknown. Its simplicity and lack of

ornamentation made it even more impressive.

Royan tugged softly at Nicholas's hand and together they stepped on to

the first tread of the stairway. It was carpeted with a fine layer of

dust, soft and white as talcum powder. The dust rose in soft eddies and

wisps around their knees and then subsided as they passed on upwards. It

muted the harsh glare of the electric lamp that Nicholas carried high in

his right hand.

Gradually, as they went on upwards, the top of the staircase came into

view ahead of them. Royan dug her fingernails into the palm of

Nicholas's hand as she saw what lay ahead. The staircase ended on

another level landing, across which a rectangular doorway faced them.

They stepped up on to the landing and stood before the doorway. Neither

of them had words to express this supreme moment: they stood in silence

for what seemed like an eternity, holding each other's hand with a

fierce and possessive grip.

Finally Nicholas tore his eyes off the gateway, and looked down at

Royan. He saw his own feelings mirrored in her face, her eyes shone as

though lit from within by an incandescent passion. There was no other

person alive with whom he would wish to share this moment. He wanted it

to last for ever.

She turned her head and looked at him. They stared deeply and solemnly

into each other's eyes. Both of them were aware that this was a high

tide in their lives, one that could never be repeated. She tightened her

grip on his hand, and looked back to the doorway facing them. It had

been plastered over with white river clay, a surface that had mellowed

to the shade of ivory. There was no crack or blemish in its smooth

expanse, like the flawless skin of a beautiful virgin.

Their eyes fastened avidly on the two embossed seals in the centre of

the expanse of white clay. The upper one was in the shape of the royal

cartouche, the rectangular knot surmounted by the scarab, the homed

beetle that signified the great circle of eternity.

Royan's lips formed the words as she read them from the hieroglyphics,

but she uttered no sound. "'The Almighty. The Divine. Ruler of the Upper

and Lower Kingdoms Egypt. Familiar of the god, Horus. Beloved of Osiris

and of Of Isis. Mamose, may he five for ever!"'

Below this magnificent royal seal was a smaller, simpler design in the

shape of a hawk, with one broken wing drooping across its barred breast,

and the legend: 7, Taita the slave, have obeyed your command, divine

Pharaoh." Underneath the maimed hawk was a single column of

hieroglyphics that spelled out the stem warning: "Stranger!

The gods are watching. Disturb the king's eternal rest at your peril!'

reaking the seals on the doorway was a momentous act, and despite the

fact that the time before the onset of the rains was fast running out,

neither of them was prepared to undertake it lightly.

They had to make every effort to keep permanent re ds cor of everything

they discovered, and to inflict as little damage as possible while

gaining access.

They spent one of their precious remaining days preparing for the

break-in to the tomb. Naturally, Nicholas's first concern was the

security of the tomb area. He asked Mek Nimmur to place an armed guard

on the causeway over the sink-hole in the approach tunnel, and access

beyond this point was restricted. Only Nicholas, Royan, Sapper, Mek,

Tessay and four of the monks whom Nicholas had selected were allowed

across the bridge.

Hansith Sherif had proved himself repeatedly during the clearing of the

lower tunnel. Physically strong, willing and intelligent, he had become

Nicholas's principal assistant. It was Hansith who carried the tripod

and spare camera equipment while Nicholas photographed the approach

tunnel and the sealed doorway. He shot three rolls of high-speed film to

make certain that they had a complete record of the unbroken seals and

the doorway surrounds. Only when the filming was completed would

Nicholas allow Hansith and the other three monks to bring up the tools

needed for the break-in.

Sapper moved the Honda generator up as far as the sink-hole, to reduce

the voltage drop over the distance that the current had to travel down

the cable. Then he set up, the floodlights on the upper landing of the

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