The Golden Crystal (11 page)

The Thompson brothers were asleep in the passenger compartment, reclined in their leather seats and surrounded by duffel bags full of equipment.

The remainder of the group was spread out throughout the plane’s cabin. Bryce Reynolds was planning and organizing his thoughts on a laptop while Cole Reed napped in a seat across the aisle from Bryce. Two new team members sat toward the front of the cabin, keeping mostly to themselves. Sean Bartlinski and Gary McGowan were soldiers for hire with connections in Whittenfield’s organization, and though they had been cordial enough when they joined the team at the airport, it was obvious they weren’t here to make new friends. Bryce hoped they were able to follow orders, but judging by their smirks and snide comments, he figured they’d be more of a nuisance than an asset. Bryce just prayed they’d know which direction to fire when the shooting started.

The plane was heading toward Barcelona, Spain, for a refuel, then a short hop over the Mediterranean to Cairo. Jeff Thompson’s jury-rigged tracking device had worked wonders, allowing them to track Vilocek and his men all the way to Egypt. The only problem was that they weren’t sure how much battery life was left in the phone. Or if Agent Beka had figured out that he’d been duped and led them on a wild-goose chase around the globe. 

Cole had been up for hours after their briefing, reading through the pages of the journal. He’d painstakingly copied down the texts written in invisible ink into another notebook, and when he’d finished the entire journal, Whittenfield had come in with an entire box of his father’s journals and notebooks. Cole spent the rest of the night and into the following morning translating those.

Most of the journals were empty, just research regarding other projects and assignments Whittenfield, Sr., worked on over the course of his long career. Most of it had nothing to do with the strange substance that had consumed his son’s professional life, but it made for fascinating reading nonetheless. Cole read about defense contracts and weapons developments that had never seen the light of day, mostly due to a lack of financial backing. In some cases, however, the projects had been fully funded and the research and consequent prototyping had been completely successful. These projects — about 40 percent, by Cole’s best guess — were simply abandoned for economic or political reasons: the end of a major war, change in administration, et cetera. It seemed like most of Whittenfield Sr.’s work was groundbreaking and cutting-edge for its time, but it had, for the most part, been all but forgotten. 

Some of the journals, however,
did
have references to the mysterious substance. Apparently it was a crystalline solid — like a piece of quartz, the almost perfectly translucent crystal mineral that was found inside geodes and used for things like jewelry and industrial and commercial products. One journal, dated April 1946, described the mineral:

…The substance appears similar in structure to the common mineral quartz. It is solid, sharp at the edges. In the presence of natural and artificial light the rock emits an almost bluish glow, faint but bright enough to be noticeable. It is this particular element of the mineral, though we do not at this time know what it is, that we believe to be the variable that creates the mysterious properties we’ve experienced. 

As well, it is through the extraction and attempted duplication of this substance that we have continued the study of the mineral’s properties. Last month, Dr. Enko Vilocek stole the original artifact and disappeared with it. Half of my team left with him, and I am now struggling to recreate my experiments with the duplicate substance, though the properties are not nearly as powerful… 

The earlier journals had no mention of the rock, nor did they have any bluish hidden ink at all. Cole explained this to Whittenfield, who had a theory as to why. 

“Well, assuming your ability to read this ‘invisible ink’ is related to whatever sort of tests and injections Vilocek subjected you to, I’d wager that it’s also related to whatever they’ve found within that rock. Remember, Vilocek also has had a ‘duplicate synthetic’ copy of the original,
and
he’s had the original in his possession for many years.”

“So whatever it is that causes this rock to emanate the bluish glow is
also
what your father extracted from the original mineral,” Cole asked. 

“Exactly — and he somehow managed to transfer that property into a liquid — his ‘invisible ink,’ except that instead of being visible in light, he made the ink only visible in the presence of the mineral. Knowing that whoever would find the crystal later would want to know more about it and therefore search for his journals, he made sure that they would have to have
both
the journals
and
the rock in their possession.”

“…Or in their bloodstream,” Cole added sarcastically. 

Bryce chimed in as the plane lurched through some turbulence. “So, we know that Vilocek’s on his way to Egypt, but do we know where exactly?”

“No,” Whittenfield said, “but I ran another trace a moment ago. Jeff’s phone is still transmitting, and their movement has all but stopped somewhere just south of Cairo. I don’t know for sure, but I’d bet they’re heading to the Great Pyramid of Giza.”

“Actually, that makes sense,” Cole said, reaching into the box at his feet and pulling out one of the journals. “I found something here that I couldn’t figure out, and there’s no mention of it anywhere else.” He thumbed through the book, finally stopping near the back.

“At first I thought it was just a random doodle, or something unrelated to the crystal. But the more I thought about it, I realized he wouldn’t have used the invisible ink to write a doodle.”

Whittenfield and Bryce leaned in, looking at the page Cole had opened to.

“It looks like Washington, D.C.,” Bryce said after a moment, “but just the streets and intersections. See, here’s where Whittenfield Research would be.” 

“I think you’re right, Bryce,” Whittenfield said. “I can make out Pennsylvania Avenue — this main line running through the center of the image. And there’s where the Capitol Building and the White House would be.”

“But what’s the triangle around it?” Cole asked. “And the circled area at the bottom?” 

“It does resemble a pyramid…” Whittenfield said. “Could the Giza pyramid be what my father was intending to get across?”

“But why would he put a map of an American city behind it?”

Whittenfield looked for a moment at the bluish writing on the page, then ran his thumbnail across the bottom edge. There was a small, almost imperceptible fold that subtly interrupted the pattern. He gently flattened out the fold, revealing a string of words directly below the drawing, where the bottom of the pyramid would be. 

Potomac River, location of original (Lower Room?)

“The
original?
” Bryce asked. “Is that the original piece of the rock he’s referring to?”

“Could be — maybe his team found the crystal at the bottom of the river. The reference to the
Lower Room
fits the description of one of Giza’s inner sanctums. Maybe that’s where Vilocek’s headed now, thinking that’s where the
pure
crystal, the
original
original substance is hidden there.” Whittenfield stressed the first “original,” as if implying that the ‘original material’ Vilocek and Whittenfield, Sr. had been in contact with was a small part of a larger crystal. 

“So,” Bryce said, “we go to Giza. Follow Vilocek into the Great Pyramid, and figure out what he’s looking for. We get it before Vilocek does, and get out alive — all while dodging the Egyptian authorities and a couple of thousand tourists.” Bryce’s assessment didn’t seem overly optimistic. 

“Exactly,” Whittenfield said. “Like I said, we have our work cut out for us.”

NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY WHO built the Great Pyramid at Giza, or for that matter, how they accomplished the monstrous task. The assumption, of course, is that the ancient Egyptians — most likely using tens of thousands of slaves — laid each rock in place one at a time until the massive structure was completed. They say the Egyptians were building a tomb for their ruler, the Pharaoh, that would serve as both a final resting place as well as an embarkation point from which the Pharaoh would rise to the heavens and take over as the god Osiris. 

While the pyramids certainly
did
serve as graves for the highest Egyptian rulers and leaders, Pharaohs included, how an ancient civilization designed and constructed them is still a mystery. Modern research and archeological evidence suggests that humans alone — unaided — would have an absolutely terrible time trying to lift and fit each block into place. 

The Great Pyramid, while considered finished, looks rather
unfinished
. This is due to the lack of an apex — the top of the pyramid seems to be cut off about thirty feet below the natural pinnacle. Scholars and Egyptologists have speculated that this capstone, the last piece of the pyramid to be placed, would have been about thirty feet across and an exact scale replica of its mother pyramid below it. No one has heard or read any account of a capstone ever being completed, placed on top, or even seen, for that matter. We are left to speculation as to the original builders’ intent — was it meant to go without a capstone? Or was it simply scavenged and looted during one of the many raids of the Giza pyramid complex over the millennia?

Finished during the Fourth Dynasty in 2560 B.C., the Great Pyramid, or the Pyramid of Cheops, was built in a 20-year period of pharaoh Khufu’s reign, and consists of about 2.3
million
blocks, the largest weighing in at over 80 tons (160,000 pounds). These blocks were carried or dragged from Aswan, about 500 miles away, over the sand. To put the building of the structure into perspective, based on renowned Egyptologist Sir Flanders Petrie’s measurements, there would need to have been about 5 blocks put into place
every minute
of
every hour
of
every day
for 20 years. 

Further, the foundation of the entire complex is set on a 13-acre square bedrock that is almost perfectly level — varying in height no more than half of an inch throughout. This is a feat of engineering that we still cannot accomplish today, even aided with advanced surveying technology. 

Most of the outer “casing” — a white protective shell — was cracked and broken during a devastating earthquake, and subsequently taken away. Remaining is the interior, or core, of the pyramid. The original entrance to the building is almost 60 feet up from ground level, and marks the beginning of the Descending Passage. It is said that this original entrance was blocked by a huge rock that was so delicately and perfectly balanced it could be moved with the touch of a single finger. 

The main chambers are the King’s and Queen’s Chambers, located toward the center of the pyramid. These two chambers are reached via the Ascending Passage, which branches off of the Descending Passage and continues upward for 129 feet. A Grand Gallery marks the upper section of the Ascending Passage with a 28-foot tall ceiling leading to the King’s Chamber. Numerous shafts and what are thought to be circulation vents pockmark the internal walls, and to this day there are passageways yet unexplored and undiscovered. 

The builders showed impeccable craftsmanship and attention to detail with the pyramid’s construction, aligning the entire building to true north and the stars, with an exceptionally small margin of error. Historians have compared the accuracy to that of a modern-day optometrist. Measuring precisely the same distance on all four of its bases, the pyramid is thought to only be slightly off due to the erosion and earth’s movement over thousands of years. 

About 350 feet diagonally down, below the base of the pyramid, lies the Lower Chamber, or Subterranean Chamber, at the lower end of the Descending Passage. This is believed to have been another burial chamber, but was left unfinished. A pathway branches off horizontally from this chamber, heads south for about 53 feet, and ends at a wall. A deep pit rests in the center of this chamber, thought to be about 60 feet deep (filled to about 15 feet deep with rubble and broken rock). 

These two strange anomalies discount the theory that this chamber was designed as another crypt. Most other Egyptian pyramids were designed with this main subterranean area as the official main chamber, but the burial chamber was always designed to be last along the path — the final resting place of the king. If one or both of these uncommon passageways leading
out
of the underground burial chamber were meant to lead to another room or pathway, then this could not have served as a burial chamber. 

Instead, the Lower Room would have been meant for something else — some secret or item meant to be protected by not only the massive structure above it, but the tomb of the dead king himself. Was the room unfinished on purpose, meant to deceive and misguide the explorers to come in the following centuries? Or was the Lower Chamber built to house something besides a tomb altogether?

7:19 PM - GIZA, EGYPT 

Agent Karn scanned the area below him through the scope of the Vortex Tactical Range Finder binocular/camera system. He had the tripod set up southeast of the Giza necropolis, on a ridge overlooking the dunes that formed natural sand moats around each of the three large pyramids. His lookout point was far enough away to deter detection, and the kit allowed him to peruse the surrounding grounds, zoomed in so close and so accurately it was as if he was walking around among the scattered guards. 

Agents Beka and Rogers were with Karn. Corinne and her uncle, Professor Andrews, were lying in the sand behind them. They had waited there for almost an hour, until the sun was about to set — waiting for the guards to change shifts. 

The security at Giza is more technological than human. Eight guards manned four posts — really just semi-underground bunkers that doubled as crew lounges for the Giza workers and staff. Four others monitored an 8.2 mile perimeter, and four more actively traveled around the grounds. Karn didn’t see much cause for concern in getting through the guards. The electronic security system would be the real challenge.