“Was it empty?” Nabinger asked.
“No.”
Nabinger waited, then could wait no longer. “Did they find the pharaoh’s body?”
“No.” Kaji sighed and all the energy seemed to drain out of his body. “I don’t know what it was that they found. There was a box inside the stone. A box of black metal. Metal such as I had never seen before nor have seen since.” He gestured with his hands, indicating a rectangle about four feet high by two in breadth and width. “It was this size.”
Nabinger shook his head. “This is all a story, Kaji. I think you have taken my money for a story that is a lie.”
Kaji’s voice was calm. “It is not a lie.”
“I’ve seen the pictures Martin took. All the walls were intact. The seals on the sarcophagus were intact and the original ones. How do you explain that if these Germans did what you said? How did the walls get put back up? The seals put back on? Magic? The pharaoh’s ghost?” Nabinger was disgusted.
“I am not sure,” Kaji admitted. “I do know, though, that the Americans and the British sealed off the Great Pyramid for eight months in 1945, while the war was ending. No one could go in. Maybe they put everything back. It would have been difficult but possible. When I went down with Martin all the walls were back up as you say. It made me wonder, but I knew I had seen them broken through earlier.”
“Why didn’t you tell Martin?” Nabinger asked.
“I was just a laborer then. And he would not have believed me, as you do not believe me now.”
“Why are you telling me?”
Kaji pointed at Nabinger’s notebook. “Because you are interested in the special writings that no one can read. The Germans had those writings. That is how they found the chamber.”
“This makes no sense,” Nabinger exclaimed. “If the Germans came in here and ransacked the chamber, then why would the Americans and British cover it up?” Kaji remained silent.
“Ah!” Nabinger threw his hands up in disgust. “There were no Germans in here in the first place. How many times have you sold this story, Kaji? How many others have you stolen from? I tell you, I will not allow you to get away with it.”
“I have not lied. I was here.” He reached inside his robe and pulled out a dagger.
Nabinger started, thinking for a second he had pushed the old man too far, but Kaji held it by the blade, offering the handle. Nabinger carefully took it.
“I stole that off one of the Germans. They all wore them.”
Nabinger felt a chill as he looked at the handle. A miniature, very realistic ivory skull was at the end, and swastikas were carved into the bone handle along with the lightning bolts that indicated the infamous SS. He wondered what animal the bone had come from, then decided that was information he was better without. The gleaming steel was intricately detailed. Nabinger squinted — there was something written there. There was a word on the one side:
THULE
and on the other side a name:
Von Seeckt
Nabinger had heard of Thule. A place of legend, written about by Ptolemy and other ancient geographers as the northernmost inhabitable land, north of Britain. He had no idea what that had to do with the Nazis or the pyramids.
“Who was Von Seeckt?” Nabinger asked.
“He was the strange one in the group,” Kaji said. “Ten of the twelve were killers. I could tell by their eyes. Two were different. One was the man who read the symbols and pointed the way. Two of the killers guarded him always. As if he was not there of his own free will.
“The second man: Von Seeckt — which is why I stole only from him — he was different also. He was not one of the killers but he wanted to be there. He was very excited when they found the black box. That was when I was able to take the knife. They gave him the box and he put it in a backpack. He carried it with him when they left. It looked heavy, but he was a strong man.”
“That is all they wanted?” Nabinger asked. “Just that black box?”
“Yes. As soon as they had it we went back out. They had a truck waiting and drove away to the north. I ran and hid. I knew the guards would look for me when they found the broken walls and the empty chamber. But they never came for me. I never heard a word, which was strange also.”
Nabinger held on to the dagger. “How do I know you didn’t get this on the black market? It does not prove your story.”
Kaji shrugged. “I know it is true. I do not care if you believe it is true. I am at peace with Allah. I have told the truth.” He pointed at the MRI. “I was reminded to tell you this story because when the Germans opened the sarcophagus and pulled out the box, the man I stole the dagger from had one of those”—Kaji paused as he searched for the word—“a small machine that made noise when he pointed it at the big black box. It chattered like a locust.”
“A Geiger counter?” Nabinger asked.
“Yes. That is what I have heard it called.”
“The black box was radioactive?” Nabinger said, more to himself than Kaji. Nabinger looked at the Egyptian, who returned his gaze levelly. Although there was no logical reason to believe the old man, for some reason Nabinger did. What had been sealed in the sarcophagus? What had the ancient Egyptians possessed that was radioactive?
There was no doubting that the MRI was picking up some form of residual radiation.
Nabinger sorted the story out in his mind. There was only one clue to pursue: the name on the dagger. Von Seeckt. Who was — or probably more appropriately — who had he been?
“What are you doing?” Kaji asked, as Nabinger tucked the dagger into his waistband.
“I am keeping this,” Nabinger said. “I paid for your story and this is the only proof.”
“I did not agree to that,” Kaji said.
“Do you wish me to tell your men of your deal? Of the money I just gave you?” Nabinger asked. “They would want their share.”
Kaji eyes narrowed. Then he stood and shrugged. “You may keep it. It is an evil thing. I should have gotten rid of it long ago.”
CHAPTER 4
“This is Johnny. I’m out of town for a bit. Back on the tenth. Talk to you then. Leave a message at the beep. Bye.”
Kelly slowly put the receiver down, not bothering to leave a message. It was after nine in the morning on the tenth. “Oh, Johnny, you’ve done it now,” she whispered to herself.
There was no doubt in her mind that Johnny Simmons was in trouble. He had a strange sense of humor, but he wouldn’t have sent her that tape and letter as a joke. She knew he was dead serious when he went on an assignment.
After the little he had related to her about what had happened in El Salvador, she could well understand his seriousness. He had listed nine in the morning three times in his letter. He would not have forgotten or blown it off. At the absolute minimum he would have changed his message by remote as he had said he would.
She turned on her computer and accessed her on-line service. To find out where Johnny was, she would have to follow him, and information was the way to start. There were two avenues of investigation to pursue, and she knew they were the same two areas that Johnny would have looked into before he went on assignment. The first would be to get background information about Area 51 and Nellis Air Force Base. The second would be to get more specific and look into the UFO phenomenon as it related to Area 51.