Area 51 (7 page)

"Perhaps you are starting to understand those symbols?"

"Who were these men?" Nabinger asked, flipping the notepad shut.

"They were Germans," Kaji replied.

"Germans? How could they have gotten into Cairo? The British still held the city."

"Ah, that was the easy part," Kaji replied. "Throughout the war Cairo was one of the major centers for espionage,

and all sorts of people came and went freely."

Kaji's voice became excited as he remembered. "Cairo was the place to be in World War II. All the whores worked for one side or the other or many times both. Every bar had its spies, most also working for both sides. There were British spying on Germans who were spying on Americans who were spying on Italians and around and around." Kaji chuckled.

"There were fortunes made on the black market. It was no trouble for the Germans to send these men into Cairo.

Especially that July when everyone was more concerned about preparing to flee or how to ingratiate themselves with the invaders than about strange groups of men moving in the dark."

"Where did the Germans get their drawings from?" Nabinger asked.

"I do not know. They used me to get inside only. From there they took charge."

Nabinger asked the question closest to his heart. "Did they know how to read what they had?"

"I do not know," Kaji repeated, "but they had someone with them who could understand it in some manner, that was for certain. There were twelve of them.

We went to the dip, where the tunnel turns and heads up toward the Grand Gallery, and halted. They searched and then began digging. I became frightened and upset then. I would be blamed, because the guards knew me and knew that I was leading this party in. They were destroying my livelihood with their picks and shovels.

"The German in charge"--Kaji paused and his eyes lost their focus--"he was an evil man. I could see it all about him and especially in his eyes. When I complained he looked at me, and I knew I was dead if I opened my mouth again. So I stayed silent.

"They worked quickly, digging. They knew exactly what they were doing because inside of an hour they broke through. Another passageway! Even through my fear I was excited. Nothing like this had happened in my lifetime or many lifetimes before me. This passageway led downward, toward the ground beneath the pyramid.

No one had ever thought of that before. No one had ever considered if there was a passage into the ground. They had always searched for ways to go up.

"They went into it and I followed. I did not understand what they were saying but it was easy to see they were excited also. We came down the tunnel"—Kaji pointed behind him--"as you and I did earlier today. There were three blockages set up in the passageway. I could see the original writings on the walls and knew we were entering parts that had not been seen by a living man in over four thousand years. They tore through the blocking walls as quickly as possible, leaving the rubble behind.

"The tunnel ended in stone, but the Germans didn't let that stop them as they had not let the three other walls stop them. They used their picks and broke through. And then we were in here. And the sarcophagus was there just like you see it in the pictures of Martin's expedition, with the lid on and the seals intact. In the air I could feel the presence of—Kaji paused and Nabinger blinked. The old man's voice had drawn him in, the effect magnified by being in the very room he was talking about.

Kaji looked at the center of the floor where the sarcophagus had once been.

"The Germans were not archaeologists. That was certain. The way they broke through the walls showed that. And the fact that they broke the seals and lifted the lid. In 1951 Martin took six months before his men opened the lid, carefully detailing every step of the operation. The Germans were into it in less than five minutes after entering. They were interested in nothing but the sarcophagus. Not the writings on the walls here, not the seals. Nothing but the stone box."

"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."

4

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

T-134 HOURS, 45 MINUTES

"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.

Kelly had more than a glancing background in the field of UFOs, which was why, in addition to their friendship, Johnny had sent her the package in the first place. Her trouble eight years ago with the Air Force at Nellis Air Force Base had had to do with that subject and had for all practical purposes destroyed a promising career in the documentary filmmaking field. What had appeared at the time to Kelly as an excellent opportunity had turned into a disaster.

Kelly took the package Johnny had sent her and went through it one more time, this go-around making notes of key words on a legal pad. When she was done, she looked at what she had:

Las Vegas Postmark

The Captain

23 Oct. transmissions, Nellis AFB

Red Flag

F-15

"Mailbox"

Dreamland

Groom Lake

Kelly accessed her on-line data base and set up a Boolean keyword search. She started with the date in question, combining it with Nellis Air Force Base, and drew a blank. Then she switched to both the twenty-third and twenty-fourth of October and accessed any news about F-15's. This time she got a hit. She drew up the article, from the Tucson Citizen, dated the twenty-fourth of October: F-15 Crashes, Pilot Killed

Officials at Davis-Montham Air Force Base confirmed last night that an F-15

fighter jet from the 355th Tactical Training Wing crashed during training yesterday on the Luke Air Force Base reservation.

The pilot, whose identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, was killed in the crash.

The aircraft went down in rough terrain and recovery operations are under way.

(No further information was available at press time.)

Kelly checked, but there was nothing on the crash in the following day's paper, which was unusual. Kelly flipped open her atlas. Luke Air Force Base was in Arizona, hundreds of miles from the Nellis Air Force Base Range. She hit the delete key. This had nothing to do with what she was looking for.

Then she paused. Or did it? How often did F-15's crash?

Not exactly every day of the year. Was it just coincidence?

Kelly did not believe much in coincidence. She felt her gut tighten further.

What had Johnny stumbled upon? If this F-15 was the F-15 on the tape, the Air Force had gone through a lot of trouble to point the finger in a different direction from Nellis and Area 51. And not only was the plane reported as having crashed, the pilot was dead. He had been very much alive on that tape.

Next, Kelly tried mailbox in conjunction with UFOs. This produced three hits, all of which identified the mailbox as an actual mailbox along a dirt road outside of the Groom Lake complex where UFO enthusiasts gathered to watch for strange craft over the mountains. Obviously the man who had sent Johnny the tape--the Captain--was one of those people. At least she now knew where she could find that link in the puzzle if she needed it.