Intervention: A Science Fiction Adventure (4 page)

“You must look
forward to your appointment—it means you won’t have to walk so
far to the temple each day,” joked Pasis, one of Khufu’s
advisors.

“You’ve found me
out already,” Sanar replied smiling at his friend.

Pasis continued, “But
seriously, I have several new ideas we need to discuss as soon as
your appointment is made official. I have already told Khufu of some
and he looks favorably on them. With your help, I know we will be
able to make our land the greatest in all the world.”

The first gong sounded,
interrupting their conversation and indicating the ceremony was about
to begin. “We have to wait until my appointment is official, of
course,” Sanar responded. “For now, we best go to our places for
the ceremony.”

The wives moved to an
area to the side of the balcony overlooking the thousands gathered
for the afternoon ceremony, as the men took their places on each side
of the altar where Khufu, not yet present, would speak to the crowd.

Once everyone had found
their way to their appropriate place, a second gong sounded. The
murmuring of the crowd, as well as the talking of the advisors and
their wives, ceased as everyone now awaited the appearance of Khufu.
Though this ceremony took place every afternoon, there was always an
air of anticipation after the sounding of the second gong as everyone
waited for Khufu to emerge from the temple to speak. For Khufu was
the Pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt, the voice of Ra from whom all
knowledge and wisdom flowed. His words could change the course of
their lives in an instant forever. He held the power of life and
death over everyone within the realm. Everyone who could attend the
afternoon ceremonies did so, and when Khufu spoke, everyone listened.

The hot afternoon sun
beat down relentlessly from the cloudless sky. Sanar took advantage
of the moment to check his appearance. He didn’t want Khufu to see
him not at his best. Not that it would affect his appointment; he
just wanted to always be at his best where Khufu was concerned.

It was so quiet you
could hear a pin drop when the third gong sounded, signifying Khufu
was about to make his entrance. Every eye was fixed on the archway
where Khufu would emerge from the temple, and as the inner door was
opened, a mist of incense smoke preceded Khufu’s entourage, who
were dressed in ceremonial garments, through the archway and onto the
balcony. They took their positions so as to be on each side of Khufu
once he arrived at the altar. Once in their places, Khufu emerged
through the smoky archway. His movements were slow and magical as he
moved towards the altar to once again face his people.

Khufu stood silently.
He wore a white cone-shaped headpiece signifying his rule over Upper
Egypt, combined with the red headpiece signifying his rule over Lower
Egypt, which together signified him to be the ruler of Upper and
Lower Egypt. Khufu looked straight ahead and above the thousands
gathered before him. Even his eyes were fixed on the distant heavens,
giving him a god-like appearance.

“Ra, most powerful of
all the gods, sends you his blessings.” Khufu’s voice bellowed
through the crowd with this usual beginning to the daily ceremony.
“My voice is the voice of Ra, as he has chosen to speak to you of
this world through me, Khufu, until such time as Ra himself chooses
to speak to you himself. Ra speaks to me, and I speak to you.”

The sun suddenly grew
dim. Everyone looked up, but there were no clouds to be seen—no
reason for the sun to darken. A single ray from the sun shown down
upon the altar. After a moment, an eye began to appear over the altar
just above and in front of Khufu in such a way that, no matter where
you were, it appeared to be looking directly at you.

“It is the eye of
Ra!”

“The almighty is
here!”

Gasps of awe could be
heard as everyone dropped to their knees and bowed their head in the
presence of the almighty Ra. Nearly three feet in diameter, the eye
of Ra seemed to float by itself. Khufu reeled back in fear as a voice
so loud it could be heard for miles around began to speak.

“Behold! The eye of
Ra looks upon you.” A moment of silence was given for this to set
in, then, “Rise up before Ra and take heed, for I bring to you a
task,” the voice continued. “Under the guidance of Khufu, all
will help to build a monument to me, Ra, according to plans to be
drawn by your new chief architect, Sanar, whose appointment I now
make official. Take heed—anyone who fails to devote his or her life
to this task shall know the wrath of Ra.”

A series of energy
beams suddenly came down from the heavens in rapid succession,
striking and vaporizing all of the statues of the other gods. The
Egyptians stood in awe of what they had just seen. The eye of Ra
continued to stare as a few moments passed. Then, once again the
thunderous voice rang out.

“Remember, the eye of
Ra will be watching you.” With that, the eye began to fade just as
it had appeared, until it completely vanished. The single ray of
light returned to the heavens, and the sun once again shone brightly.

The thousands stood in
absolute silence under the once again hot afternoon sun as they tried
to understand what had happened. Khufu, gratified that the voice of
Ra had publicly confirmed his position of leadership as Pharaoh,
cautiously moved back up to the altar. Those who were not at the
afternoon ceremony, heard the voice of Ra from a distance. They
joined the crowd to be sure their absence was not misinterpreted by
Ra.

“Ra has spoken,”
Khufu bellowed in the loudest voice he could muster. “Return now to
your homes. Rest and return here at the morning’s first light.
Tomorrow we begin to build the greatest temple of all for Ra
himself.” Khufu stepped back from the altar, turned, and
disappeared through the archway into the temple. His entourage
immediately followed and the door quickly closed behind them.

Nefree, equally
unsettled by what had just happened and regretting every bad word she
had ever thought about Khufu or the temple, quickly found her way to
Sanar, now the second most important person in the realm by the words
of Ra himself. Sanar found himself surrounded by temple officials.
His status had been highly elevated the moment Ra named him chief
architect. He was doing his best to appear calm. Nefree placed her
hand on his shoulder to confirm her place by his side.

One of Khufu’s
personal aides emerged through the small crowd and spoke to Sanar.
“Khufu wishes you to join him in his private chambers. Please,
follow me.” A hush fell over the small group for, with the
exception of only a few select personal aides, no one had ever been
inside Khufu’s private chambers. Nefree watched with tears of pride
on her cheeks as Sanar, following Khufu’s aide, disappeared into
the temple.

Khufu’s aide opened
the door and stood to one side to allow Sanar to enter Khufu’s
private chambers. Khufu was seated with his red and white headpiece
beside him. Although Khufu tried to appear calm, he was obviously
shaken by what had just happened. “Please, come sit by me.” Khufu
said as he motioned to a seat in front of him. As Sanar seated
himself Khufu continued, “I must admit I am at a loss for words,
although I don’t believe there are any words, even for a Pharaoh,
for what has just happened.” Khufu paused and then said, “I feel
it is safe to assume that you are as surprised as I am.”

“I too, have no
words,” Sanar replied. “Although I can assure you I will do
everything in my power to fulfill the wishes of Ra.”

“Yes, yes, of course
you will. I don’t doubt that for a moment.” Khufu went on, “As
we speak, quarters are being prepared for you and Nefree here in the
temple. I have sent my personal aides to your home to gather all your
belongings and to bring them here to your new chambers. Within your
living space, you will have a private chamber like this one in which
you may receive instructions from Ra. No one may enter it aside from
you and your new personal aides. Not even Nefree may enter. I have
assigned you several of my best personal aides for this purpose. I
have also assigned temple guards to stand watch over the entrance to
your personal chambers with instructions that no one but you and your
aides may enter. For now, I wish for you and Nefree to come eat with
me. By the time we have finished, your new quarters will be ready.”

* * *

After they had eaten,
Sanar and Nefree went to their new quarters. While Nefree looked at
every nook and cranny, Sanar went into his private chambers to get
acquainted with the place where Ra would speak to him. At the far end
of the inner chamber, he saw a beautiful large drawing table with all
the drawing tools he could imagine. He sat down at the table and
began to feel strange. The chamber grew bright with a light that did
not come from his crude oil lamps. Images suddenly appeared in his
mind. He picked up a writing tool in order to record them. He would
later think,
How amazing that Ra
is already speaking to me!
For now, there was no time. He
put the images onto the parchment as fast as they came to him. He
drew rectangular blocks to be quarried from nearby stone, complete
with dimensions. He drew a large square onto which the monument would
be built and the location where it was to be laid out.

“Yes, I understand,”
he said out loud. “It shall be done, as you have told me.” The
bright light slowly faded and the chamber was once again dim and lit
only by the small oil lamps.

Sanar sat back in his
seat looking at what he had drawn, feeling suddenly tired from the
experience. He summoned his aide. “Go tell Khufu that Ra has just
spoken to me. I must see him at once.” Expecting his aide to return
with a message from Khufu, Sanar was surprised to see Khufu enter his
private chamber himself.

“Ra has spoken to you
already?”

“Yes, just a few
moments ago.” Sanar went on, “He did not actually speak, but
instead put images into my mind. I drew them here as they appeared.”

Khufu looked at the
images. “How many of these stone blocks are to be made?”

Sanar looked a little
puzzled. “I’m not sure; I was not told. But judging by the size
of the square where the monument is to be built, the number must be a
large one.”

Khufu looked at the
large square and its dimensions. “Are you sure about the dimensions
of this square? It appears so large.”

“Yes, those are the
dimensions Ra put in my mind,” Sanar replied. “There is no
mistake. I also was told I would be given more instructions as time
went on, but that we should start with these large stone blocks and
the large square.”

“We will start with
this first thing in the morning,” Khufu said. “Till then, try to
get some rest. You look tired; I think we’re all tired tonight.”

Khufu met with his top
advisors. After several long hours, it was decided that in order to
quarry the stone as fast as possible, dwellings would have to be
built near the site where the workers could rest between shifts.
While the men worked their shifts, the women would prepare meals for
the workers and bring them to the quarry site. Since so many stone
blocks were to be quarried, the workers were to be divided into
groups. The first group was to start carving the large stones from
the ground. The second group would construct dwellings for the
workers. The third group would make tools for those in the quarry to
use in carving the stones. The fourth group would build dwellings for
the workers at the site where the monument was to be built. The fifth
group would clear the site for the construction of the monument. In
addition to the laborers, within each of these groups were surveyors,
architects, advisors, and group leaders.

* * *

“I feel like I should
be doing more,” Sanar told Nefree as he sat in their new quarters.
“I’ve been sitting in my private chambers every day for weeks
now, and I’ve received nothing—not a word since that first
night.”

Nefree tried to calm
her husband. “Darling, the workers have barely even started. I’m
sure Ra will speak to you when the time is right.”

“Some of the group
leaders were here just yesterday to report that several of the first
stones have been completed, and they wish to know how they are to
move them to the monument site. I don’t know what to tell them.”
Sanar lifted his head up and looked at Nefree. “I will go to my
chamber; perhaps Ra will speak, and if he does, I must be there.”

Sanar felt odd as he
walked toward his private chambers. The guards opened the door for
Sanar to enter; he spoke softly as he passed through the doors. “I’m
not to be disturbed.” The guards gently closed the doors behind him
and stood firmly at their post.

Sanar sat in front of
the drawing table. Suddenly, the light began to brighten as if the
sun were in his private chamber. He saw pictures in his mind just as
he did before. Sanar drew the images that were placed in his mind as
quickly as he could. There were more this time, and Sanar could
barely keep up. As soon as he had finished drawing the last image,
the light faded. Sanar quickly summoned his aide.

Upon the aide’s
arrival, Sanar sent him to bring the top group leaders back from the
work sites so he may show them how they might move the giant stone
blocks.

In the meantime, Sanar
made several drawings, one for each of the group leaders, as well as
a copy for Khufu. As soon as all the group leaders had arrived, Sanar
gave each of them a copy of the plan to move the giant stones.

“You will see on the
drawings a formula of materials that when mixed together and allowed
to set for two days, will become as rock. You are to use this to
construct a road on which you will transport the stone blocks to the
monument site. In order to move the stone blocks on this new road,
you will construct sleds as I have drawn for you. Trees will be cut
down and trimmed of all their branches till they are no more than
cylindrical poles. These are to be placed under and in front of the
sleds. As the sleds are pulled forward by the laborers, the poles
emerging behind the sled will be picked up and moved to the front of
the sled. Also, to make this task as easy as possible, oil should be
placed in the sled’s path as well as on the timers. If you have no
questions, return to your work sites and start preparing to move the
stone blocks.” Sanar continued, “When I have received another
vision from Ra, I will again summon you. When you come here to
receive new drawings, you must bring with you the previous drawings,
and under no circumstances should anyone make any copies of these
drawings. If they do, they will answer to Ra.”