Kamaria (Birth of a new breed): Kamaria, #1

By Orion Diaram

This science fiction ebook, made by British author, Orion Diaram is the first ebook of a series where, in 1942, Iain Caine, an ordinary Egyptologist, is introduced by his two colleagues to an undiscovered area beneath the Pyramid of Khafre.
After a confrontation with a group of robbers who'd followed them there, a team of British military soldiers investigating the noise soon arrive.
Knowing things are about to get out of hand, his colleague Ak-nahiah attempts to save his life by doing the only thing she can.

Iain's life is dramatically changed after finding himself alone, in a desert he's not familiar with.
He has to act fast to gather his bearings before dying from either sheer heat exhaustion or starvation.
His fumbling around eventually leads him deep into a forest, where he again has to learn to survive on his own.
As time passes, he's confronted by a native people, who agree to help him learn their ways.
Through his lessons of hunting for food and experiencing first hand their brutal struggle for survival, the plot to what happened to these people 4,000 of their years ago begins to unfold.
Nature found a way.

Orion Diaram makes you experience the story as it unfolds, putting you in to Iain's shoes. There are no holds barred in this adventure when it comes to the graphic detail involved with the brutality he experiences along the way.

So sit down, read his epic story and ask yourself one question. What would you do have done?

Compliments to the Author
"Just finished reading Kamaria. It wasn't what I expected but wow what a read!!"

"I can promise you that you will never have read a book like this."

" I could feel the emotion and the fear the people were feeling."

"I didn't want to put this book down!. It's as tho Orion was actually there and writing in the first person."

"It's well written,well thought out, engaging  and  would totally recommend it to my friends and family."

From the eyes of the Author
Writing this book has been an awsome experience and the reviews I've had so far have been amazing!
All going well, the second ebook will be released soon. I tell ya, this story is just the beginning. There's 2 more to go.
Thank you everyone for the support you've given me.

Catergories of Kamaria (Birth of a new breed)
. science fiction
. action
. adventure
. aliens
. fantasy romance
. british author
. ebooks
. science fiction fantasy
. military
. series
. Orion Diaram

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orion Diaram
• Release date: Aug 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536581096

Book preview

Chapter 2: As stupid ideas go

It was like I had fallen through a thin layer of water, as my vision had become distorted for a brief moment.

I finally lost my balance, as I fell to the ground, landing on my backside.

I must have gone right through that thing.

I got up as quickly as I could and started to run round the ball of light to get to Ak-nahiah, but as I did so, it flickered a few times and disappeared.

I stopped instantly, desperately confused.

Where had everybody gone?

I was now on my own and somewhere completely different.

In front of me were the same style of pillars, placed on a platform, only this time I was in a pyramid shaped room, where the walls stepped up all the way to the top, instead of being flat and smooth.

Ak-nahiah. I called out, looking around frantically, Where are you?

In desperation, I set about looking over the pillars in great detail, trying to find some way of turning the ball of light back on.

Come on, come on. There has to be a way. COME ON!

It then dawned on me on how quiet and uninterrupted this place was ... and very hot too!

Why did you do that? Why did you have to push me in?

With nothing to be found on the pillars, I started to examine the platform, hoping to discover some kind of pressure sensitive plate, or anything.

After a while, I reluctantly took the hint that there was no way of turning it on from here. There wasn’t even anything around the walls, so I knew I had to look elsewhere, but where?

As I searched around, still not fully giving up, I looked up and noticed a clear glass cap type thing, at the very top, which seemed to be allowing the sun’s beam to enter. Fixed to the walls, a little way down from the cap, were bronze made brackets, from which hung, by chains, four large lenses, which looked meant to scatter the sun’s beam around even more, but not doing a very good job, as it was still dimly lit in here.

It smelt very dusty in here too. No, not dusty, more like mould and old sand. There was a way out ahead of me that had four arched shaped glass panels situated above it.

What the hell is this place?

I could feel a hint of curiosity seeping in and was already getting the sense of the pride the Egyptians must have had to build all this.

What struck me straight away was how undisturbed this pyramid was. Sand, which had been blown in through the years, was the only thing which roughly perceived the age of this pyramid. There was no evidence of thieves having ever broken in, nor was there any damage caused by people excavating.

Am I the first here?

As I looked back at the platform, on the off chance the ball of light will come back on, I was seeing tiny traces of red splattered upon it. What truly concerned me was that they looked just like blood splatters.

Who else had been here? Perhaps I wasn’t not the first person to be here after all.

So why was there no-one around? Why did this place appear untouched and undiscovered?

My guard was immediately put up and I found myself tempted to leave this place as soon as I could.

I gave out a frustrated sigh, trying to decide what to do. How the heck was I going to get back? Peter had been shot, but could still be alive and Ak-nahiah, now being on her own, had to deal with those soldiers.

God I hope you surrendered.

Yet, in the back of my head, I feared for her life, after seeing the way she dealt with those thieves. There would be no way she could win against trained men.

The ball of light had gone and right now it seemed like there was no way back. What could I do? I couldn’t find anything I could use to turn that ball of light back on.

Ultimately, it had become apparent that there was no alternative but to try and find someone who could help me.

The closer I edged towards the way out, the more I began to hesitate.

Disheartened by panic, I was now tempted to go back into the safety of the room and look for another way out, determined to conquer this. Yet at the same time, I instinctively knew I would be wasting my time.

Sadly, after looking around and pressing suspicious parts of the walls and floor, I conceded to the obvious.

There was no other way out.

Something kept nagging me about how in this pyramid was too well kept to have been forgotten or abandoned for any long length of time.

I wondered what Egyptian king had claimed this one?

I could feel my guard raising its self, as I grew uncomfortable with what could be outside. I was half expecting something dramatic to happen, like a crowd of people were waiting for me. Maybe to ambush me or shout Surprise!

The moment I stood at the entrance, an instant heat hit me and I was forced to take a step or two back into the shade. I looked on to note the very few clouds in the sky and the sun was beaming hard onto the rock ridden ground. I couldn’t see any plants or the like. Not even a single soul.

As my eyes became accustomed to the brightness, I could see a few buildings spaced apart in the distance that dominated the scene.

This was all very incredibly breath taking, but where the hell had I ended up? Where had Cairo gone? What were those buildings in the distance all about?

I was not where I was supposed to be and nor was I happy being here. This was not the Egypt I knew.

I’d only been here for a few minutes and was already beginning to feel like this place was going to be the death of me.

My legs had grown weak and I slid down the wall to sit down. I glanced back apprehensively inside the pyramid, hoping the ball of light would appear out of nowhere, but I promptly bowed my head, before aimlessly scanning outside and at the buildings ahead of me.

There was that sigh again!

Under normal circumstances I would’ve been all keen and excited, noting down and remembering everything I could, but a harsh wakeup call slowed me right down and brought me straight back to earth. As depleting as this all was to me, I surrendered to the fact that I just had to get on with it. Yet that didn’t stop me wondering if had a long and hard way to go.

The searing heat pounded on my face and the gentle breeze also seemed to be against me, as it blew the heat into me from all directions. A reminder for me to wake up and smell the coffee.

Now there was a thought, coffee! No, better than that, a nice cold beer! I was thinking about the Kronenbourg 1664! Hell, I would even have settled for the gnats wee they forced down your throat in the so called local, in Cairo.

I gave a little giggle out loud, feeling naughty because I was meant to be thinking on my feet right now.

Must think ‘water’... pfft, no comment!

I crouched down and grabbed a small handful of sand from the entrance floor, like I wanted to familiarise myself with this place and weighing my odds of survival here. The sand was as fine as you would find it in an egg timer and was almost impossible to prevent it from escaping through the gaps of my fingers.

As it did so, I began to feel this bizarre and unknown sensation inside of me. It was like I could feel the sand’s emotion and this pause for thought came over me. These lands felt like they hadn’t seen life for a very long time and I could almost sense Earth had been neglected for way too long. Suddenly it seemed like a lonely and neglected planet.

Why was I feeling like this?

inside kharfe drawing.jpg

The buildings ahead of me looked like they’d been standing there deserted for thousands of years, but at the same time they came across as being very modern and quiet obviously strange in design. The only way I could describe any of this was by drawing them. Ha! I raised my arms up slightly, remembering I had nothing to draw them with. Besides, it would have been too difficult to draw them out here because of the sheer brightness of the sun.

I’d be blinded for sure! Perhaps later, when I get the chance.

Finally, after succumbing to the obvious, I stood up and had a good look around, building myself up for the long journey ahead.

There was no question in my mind that I had ended up at another part of the desert, but the question was, where? Unfortunately, there seemed to be nothing around for me to recognise. Even the mountain belt in the horizon looked unfamiliar.

The building most noticeable was this huge mushroom shape, with what appeared to be antenna sticking out of its upper half. I instinctively got the impression this was the central building to the things that must have happened here.

To the left of this I saw a dome shaped building and in the middle of these two buildings, stood four small spike shaped structures.

As I searched to my left and right, I observed nothing but a perilous horizon, which seemed to go on forever. The shimmering from the ground reminded me that I couldn’t stay here for too long.

The most obvious course of action for me was to head straight for those buildings, but the problem was it looked like a good 10 to 15 minute walk and judging by the heat now, it was going to be testing trek, at best. There was no mistaking how hot and unforgiving this desert was, but I unfortunately there would be no use in staying here. Once I took my first step, there would be no going back.

Finally I’d come to the conclusion that I had to submit to the lack of alternatives I had. The realism of having no water or food, made it all the more daunting.

None the less I took in a deep breath and took the first step forward.

The moment my feet hit the ground, an intense heat shocked me, confirming this was going to be down to sheer determination.

You can do this man. Just keep walking and just keep looking at the buildings.

As I made my way intently across the barren land, I again searched around me to notice the pyramid in its entirety.

It was considerably smaller than the pyramid of Khafre, but certainly maintained to its full splendour. Whoever built this, made sure it was built to stay in good condition. Either that, or people came here often to maintain it.

I’d started to question over why this pyramid was so well maintained, when the Egyptians let the other pyramids at Giza get so rundown? Maybe when they built this place, they were in their prime? I was seriously curious to know why this place had not been discovered long before now?

As I progressed closer, it dawned on me just how huge these buildings really were!

The dome shaped building seemed to be the closest to me, so that had now become my obvious destination.

I found myself smirking, imagining what Ak-nahiah and Peter would think of this place? Ak-nahiah would no doubt be taking samples of the sand and everything else she came across and Peter would be talking for England, the way he always did when he discovered something out of his depth. This place would truly take their breath away!

My throat, at this point, had started to feel dry and I’d only been walking for...... hang on. My watch had stopped again! This was just my luck. I shook my head subtly in disbelief and chose to keep on walking regardless.

At first, the buildings didn’t seem to get any closer, just bigger. It was like the landscape was toying me, but I knew there was no way these could be a mirage. I pressed on, to discover the buildings were much bigger than I had anticipated. Much bigger!

At last, I’d reached the dome.

I could only guess it had taken me about twenty minutes to get here. My feet were killing me and felt like I’d been walking on red hot coal all that time! Going by the heat, hot coal was not far from the truth!

The design of this dome building was very impressive, the blocks from which it was made were perfectly carved and fitted snugly together. Rims of chrome seemed to outline, or emphasise the shape of the building and the windows were of a darkened glass, giving away nothing that was inside.

I’d finally come across the front of this building, to discover a huge solid bronze coloured metal door. From where I stood, I could see no means of opening it, so how on earth was I going to get in? More to the point, as I thought about it then, did I really want to?

I stepped closer to the door and started to notice its intricate design and then spotted the symbols engraved upon it. These looked very similar to the symbols I saw inside the hall within the Khafre pyramid. Yet still, I couldn’t see any handles or anything.

It was when I stepped closer, a violent release of fine sand ejected from the outside edges of the door and a frightening hissing sound forced me to back off quickly.

What now? I coughed, wiping the sand away from my eyes.

Was this a defence mechanism of some kind?

As soon as I recovered myself, standing back to where I started, the dust settled and the hissing stopped almost immediately after that.

I looked behind me to see if anyone was around and had come to investigate the noise.

Nothing..

Was this place really that deserted? There must have been someone around, surely?

I had no idea where I was, or how I was going to get back. Was I putting myself straight into danger?

Who in their right mind would abandon this place anyway? It was huge!

I discovered a stone as big as my fist by my left foot and so picked it up. As I rotated the rock around in my hand, I began to question if what I was about to do was such a great idea. Probably not!

As stupid ideas go , I threw the rock hard at the door, not really knowing what I was trying to achieve. Perhaps, I was challenging someone to do something about it. To come forward and prove I was not alone after all.

The rock shattered into fragments, as a heavy metal thud emanated for a split second. That door was not only large, but thick and solid too! Not even a scratch!

Yes, that was the stupid idea of the month!

This was becoming a challenge.

The heat’s relentless pounding on my head and shoulders, had drawn away much more of my strength than I had anticipated, though thankfully the sun was beginning to lower itself behind the horizon. Yet now I was beginning to wonder how cold this place could get during the night, recollecting that I was wearing only light clothes. I knew then it was time to think of something fast.

I had no equipment with me to make a fire and it was plainly obvious there was nothing around here to offer wood or anything else that I could burn to make one.

My stomach was now beginning to complain a little and I could feel myself growing more and more dehydrated. A headache was also making me feel ill, along with my throat, becoming so dry I was afraid to talk in case it hurt!

The sand underfoot was quickly becoming cold and I sharply feared I had no more than half an hour before I was in some serious trouble!

Maybe I should’ve joined the army or something and learned how to survive in the desert. Not really something you would consider when becoming an Egyptologist!

I had little option but to get into this building as soon as I could. The thought of heading for the other buildings had crossed my mind, but that looked like at least another 10 or 20 minute walk and I couldn’t afford to go all that way, only to find out I couldn’t get into them either.

A shiver suddenly came over me when, in the space of perhaps half an hour, the temperature had sunk uncomfortably to what felt like minus 15°C and still falling.

I went back over to the door, more cautiously this time, with the intention of examining it in detail. There had to be something that resembled a handle, or lever, anything that would open this stupid door!

With my hands over my mouth so I could breath on them to warm them up, I stepped cautiously towards door, waiting for that deafening hiss and whoosh of sand to try and blind me again.

Before I knew it, I was standing there, being allowed to touch the door, so what had changed?

As I touched it, I became shocked on how cold it was already!

Catching me off guard, the door split in two, to reveal this was not one massive door, but in fact two. Like traditional Japanese doors, the doors glided open, though these did so by themselves.

Almost immediately, a strange but refreshing air whooshed over me, willing me to go inside.

Even though the daylight was beginning to dim down, I could still only see complete blackness inside.

I hope there’s lighting inside, or I’ll be fumbling around in pitch black all night.

I took one more look behind, to see the sun only just seeping over the horizon. With little option but to follow through with my second stupid idea of the month, I took my bold steps forward and entered, hoping for my eyes to become quickly acquainted to the darkness. Whatever was inside, I begged it to be friendly!

Making me jump a little, I walked cautiously in, when the doors promptly closed behind me. However, before I got the chance to feel trapped in total darkness, I was immediately welcomed by lights coming gently on.

What is this place?

Ahead of me was a ramp, leading up to a circular platform, upon which I noticed a modern looking pulpit, which had two black screens.

My attention was then drawn to four strange looking machines situated along the wall at the opposite end, standing seven feet tall.

They gave me the impression that they were waiting for something to happen, with all of them having a single blinking green light.

To my left and right, were steps leading down, giving you access to these machines.

The whole area was light up by a single tube, which stretched all the way around the outside wall.

I got the strong impression this building was set only for one purpose, but what?

Curiosity got the best of me and I went over to the pulpit to find out what the two screens were all about.

A smile immediately grew on my face, knowing this was all a new technology and admittedly, I was finding it fascinating.

I wiped the dust from the left screen when a very deep humming sound softly vibrated the whole room, but it then stopped as I removed my hand from the screen.

As I searched around to figure out where the humming came from, I noticed outside was now dark. It had quite obviously reached night time already! How quickly had that sun gone down?

There were four triangles on the left screen with a symbol on each of them, so I tapped on one of them, wanting to know what would happen. It lit up and the humming sound returned, though now more constant and I now grew suddenly anxious, shivering with excitement, knowing I had just turned something on.

Unfortunately the excitement didn’t last for very long, as the triangle went dull again and the humming stopped just as abruptly.

I pressed the next triangle above the first, but nothing happened.

Ha, a puzzle.

I tapped on the first triangle again and waited.

As it lit up, I got the urge to tap on the next one.

Brilliant! Those two were now lit up! Common sense took over, as I promptly tapped on the last two in the same fashion and hey presto, all triangles were now lit up!

There was a coloured strip running up along right side of the screen. The humming was more comfortable to the ears, but nothing else seemed to be happening from that point on.

To my disappointment, all the lights went out again and the humming stopped.

Bugger!

After pressing the triangles in different orders for a short while longer, I realised the machines were reacting to what I was doing, with little lights blinking on and then going out again. The problem was, frustration was now starting to develop and I was starting to feel somewhat exhausted.

I couldn’t even begin to describe the kind of day I was having. Peter had been shot, probably killed and I had no idea what had come of Ak-nahiah.

And now it would appear I’d have to go without food until tomorrow, assuming of course I manage to find food around here.

The only plus side so far came from being in here and protected from the elements. I had to be grateful that I could at least get some sleep.

I was then thinking about the other buildings and felt I should head towards the mushroom shaped one first thing in the morning.

This place seemed to have been uninhabited for a very long time, yet what puzzled me somewhat, was why everything was still working. There was still power to this place, but where was this power coming from? Why was this place still ‘plugged in’, after all this time?

My respect for the ancient Egyptians had grown considerably, thanks to all this new technology. I could only imagine how much more there was here to discover.

I wondered if this was what brought my father to Egypt? Had he had the same dream as me? Had he found evidence which urged him to find this place?

Oh crikey, what if he did come here? What if he was here now? That would explain why he just disappeared and was never found again.

If my father was here, then I would have a better chance of finding him once I was refreshed for tomorrow.

I sat there for a while longer, leaning up against the pulpit, trying to figure out a way of getting back through the ball of light.

Was this building a way of turning it back on? Yet if that was the case, why was there no evidence of this type of technology around in the Khafre pyramid? What made it appear in the first place?

I had obviously fallen asleep at some point, as I’d been woken up by a powering down sound. It was then I’d noted the lights had dimmed down, as though helping me get to sleep.

Strange...!

Chapter 3: Power up

I’d woken up with a huge headache and I daren’t move too quickly in case I got disorientated.

As I dared to move a little more, the lights brightened to make things easier for me to see my surrounds.

So not only do the doors open and close by themselves, but the lights also go on and off by themselves.

I couldn’t see any signs that anyone had been here during the night, only the dusty footprints made by myself when I came in here.

Now I was a little disheartened knowing no-one had come this way during the night. Yet at the same time, a part of me was kind of relieved. I could have been murdered in my sleep or something!

I was reminded of where I was, as I stood up, immediately beginning to feel hungry and needy for a drink of water.

My lips felt so dry.

I rubbed my eyes and pulled myself together, knowing I still had things to do. I still needed to find a way back and I still needed to find out if my father had come this way.

I looked back at the screens to see if anything had changed.

Nothing. Nothing at all.

All the lights were off.

Saying that, why would anything have changed?

The screen and the four machines must do something. Perhaps there was more in this building which needed turning on, like a power supply perhaps?

I couldn’t see anything else in here to hint there was much more to be done.

I walked down the steps and went over to the closest machine, to examine its front panel and to see if I could make it do something.

Its tiny green blinking light carried on, as though it was on stand-by, but what was it waiting for?

There were a few more lights, which were off and nothing much more. Each of them seemed labelled with a different symbol.

I raised my head up and gave a gentle sigh, knowing the amount of thinking and planning I was doing, along with this headache, which wasn’t making things any easier.

It was no good, I couldn’t hang around trying to solve a puzzle, when I needed to concentrate my efforts on finding food and water.

As I walked promptly to the door, it again opened by its self, though much more quietly this time. Evidently the sand from the desert had built up around the hinges and so on and my making them open caused the sand to eject the way it did. Now that I’d got them moving again they could move much more freely.

It was crazily hot outside and immediately I was beginning to wonder if I should go out there at all. I was seriously considering going over to the four structures, to see what they did and if they could lead me to food or water.

It looked too much of a long walk to get to the mushroom shaped building and my headache was still giving me grief.

The sky had clouded over a little more, but they gave no relief from the sun, or the heat.

I had no idea what the time was, thanks to my stupid watch not working at all now. Hopefully, it was still early morning. I dreaded what this place would feel like in the midday sun.

I decided to use the suns location to get an idea of the time and yes, I was guessing correctly, it was early morning.

I grew a little concerned about the fine sand blowing into my face and eyes, yet how could I assume I had any other choice?

A second thought came to me and I contemplated on going straight to the mushroom shaped building.

I knew it meant walking some distance further, but it was more likely to have food and water inside, than those smaller structures.

Stop delaying Iain.

I seemed to be drifting more towards the four pointed buildings and so decided I might as well see what they had to offer.

I searched about the terrain, observing the shimmering across the horizon.

To my right, I could just make out the pyramid where I first arrived at this god awful place. My feet were killing me and to add injury to insult, there was something in my left shoe which was really beginning to hurt at this point. It was not a good idea to stop in the middle of nowhere, just to check it out, when I had to keep going and think about emptying my shoes out later.

Surprising me, it took very little time to get here and now over half way, the mushroom shaped building looked massive and really close.

It quickly came to me that the four buildings could be nothing more than large statues of some kind. I could see no visible signs of a door and besides, they were only big enough to house maybe three or four people at one time.

Like I said, statues perhaps.

Small black windows went all the way around which were badly scratched and this massive mirror finished spike pointed prominently up to the sky, like a spire.

Each structure, I guess, was roughly about 15 feet in height, from the ground, to the tip of the spike.

Oh Great.

Thanks to my staring at the spike, I’d now got purple and green streaks in my vision.

I took a quick look around this area, hoping for a little luck, but alas, I saw no hint of food or water. So there was no reason for me to stay here any longer and so I chose to move on, checking the other three structures, which were exactly the same as the first.

Knowing I was over half way to the mushroom building from here on in, I marched my way along.

What could I say, apart from ginormous.

Its looming shadow on the ground gave an instant relief from the sun’s relentless beam. It was still very, very hot, but at least I was sheltered from the sun itself.

I could only guess its height, of probably 12 hundred, 13 hundred, maybe even 15 hundred feet in height. There were three huge, what appeared to be antenna, sticking out of the sides of the upper bulk.

The walls seemed made off a solid and perfectly smooth concrete. This seemed more preserved than the dome building. The people here had evidently put a lot more pride and perfection into building this, reinforcing my theory that this had to be the most important building of them all.

I soon found myself questioning who actually built all this.

The preservation amongst all of these buildings here was significantly improved, when compared to the pyramids at Giza. Not only that, but compare all this to the Step Pyramid at Saqqara and the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur. Those both showed the pyramid era decline dramatically. Whereas here, the buildings must have been the first to be built, when the art of perfection within the building process was strong.

The pyramid here seemed very well built, but a nagging feeling pushed me into wondering if that was built with some importance, along with the dome shaped building.

Finally the four statues, which I believed did not appear to be connected with any of this. Their design albeit very imaginative, still seemed out of place. They looked built in a hurry.

You guys would love this.

I smiled, knowing if Peter was here, we’d both be standing here for hours, probably dying through dehydration and heat and Ak-nahiah would be pulling at our arms, trying to get us to get on with it!

I found myself sniggering, imagining it happening right now!

Still ....

Must get on.

Around the base of this place, four parts of the wall protruded out, as though to add stability to the structure. One, immediately in front of me protruded a little further out, so I naturally assumed this was where I would find the entrance.

As I strolled in that direction, I began to half expect the same surprise I got from the dome, with that sudden whoosh of sand.

Wait!

I saw no doors. None at all!

Please don’t tell me it’s blocked off.

Desperately searching, I simply couldn’t see any ways of getting in. This was getting stupid now.

I had to find a way in, or I was going to die. This did not look good for me at all.

I walked promptly around the place, checking all of the walls meticulously, using my fingertips to brush across indents which might suggest a door or a handle, or anything. There had to be another way in, but where the heck was it?

I’d done a complete circle and started to cursing under my breath, wondering where the heck I was going to go from here?

How could this gigantic building have no doors?

Hang on ....... The entrance to Khafre was discovered like this.

Egyptologists came to the same seemingly dead end and yet they never gave up. Note to one’s self, explosives can come in very handy at times.

Where I stood now HAD to be the way in and I just needed to push myself and look harder and then harder still.

I brushed my fingers over my trousers to clear any dirt etc. away and started to meticulously feel my way around the walls. My mind had completely strayed from the hunger and I had forgotten all about the heat exhaustion my body was going through. Perhaps a sense of hope was the fuel I needed to keep going?

What was this?

A pattern, no wait, symbols. But what do they mean?

Engraved on the wall, were the same style of symbols as the ones I saw in the dome. There was also a small vertical strip to the left of them and a series of dots above that.

A rush came through me, as I started to feel around a little more, begging for some kind of revolution and it was then I remembered one of the screens in the dome. It had those very same symbols showing on it!

No way. It can’t be that simple?

I stepped back hastily, looking at the wall and triangles in a quick scanning manor.

You need power and I know just where to get it from.

A rush of excitement encroached me and I found myself running back toward the dome.

The wind had picked up a little, causing the sand to rush through the air and sting my face in a harsh fashion. It was like the desert was trying to stop me, but no-one and nothing was going to stop me now. No way.

Ouch!

That bloody stone in my shoe.

Something was piercing into my foot and forced me to limp abruptly, almost causing me to collapse to my knees, so I had no other choice but to stop. I knew I wouldn’t be stopping long enough for any storm to be a burden to me, so I took both shoes off to save time and just left them there and I kept on running.

I got to the dome entrance in half the time and the doors opened promptly as I hurried in and made my way up the ramp, stopping excitedly at the screen, very keen to get this done!

This has to be a control panel of some kind.

I knew then what the, machines were waiting for.

They were waiting for me to turn them on, in order to give the other building its power.

Great, great, great!

All I had to do now was work out how to do it.

I touched the four triangles in sequence and the bar on the left lit up as I pressed each triangle in turn, keeping the momentum and the humming sounding going.

Ok, you’re all lit up. So now what? What do I do now? Come on Iain, think, think, think.

I studied the panel intently, looking for hints on what I might need to push now and the machines weren’t doing anything at this point. They were waiting for me to do something else.

I knew I had to do something with the vertical strip, so I put my finger on it, wondering what it would do.

To my complete surprise the lower half of the strip lit up, reaching up to my finger. As I slid my finger up, more of the strip lit up.

Giving no hesitation, I slid my finger all the way up to the top and with the whole strip now lit up, I removed my finger.

To my delight, four dots came on in sequence, from left to right. As each light came on, the machines came alive. Large pin shaped sections extracted from the sides, rotated a little and went back in, with their front panels now coming on.

A very satisfying smile grew on my face and I started laughing out loud. I jumped and I started dancing with joy.

I, am a genius.

With all of the machines on a loud monster like roar bellowed from outside!

Oh Crap, what had I done?

I sharply ran outside, worried that I’d broken something, only to witness a very pleasing sight.

The four buildings that I first thought were statues, had come alive, so I seemed I was wrong, they were not statues at all. Yet that still didn’t explain what they were there for. Perhaps they were controlling the flow of the current, like giant fuses.

Observing the pyramid, it seemed totally unaffected by any of this.

It then harshly dawned on me.

The ball of light!

The sudden notion that I may well have turned it on hit me. But what if those British soldiers came through? What if an army came through?

Now I was left the only decision I could come up with. I had to go over there and check it out. As much as I wanted to get back to familiar territory and as much as I wanted to get back to Peter and Ak-nahiah, my main concern was of this place being overrun by the British army.

As I took my first step, I sharply went all dizzy and found myself collapsing to the ground.

It had now dawned on me how dehydrated I really was and I knew now my need for water was becoming a must.

There was no way I was going to make it back to the pyramid and I knew I couldn’t sit here any longer.

I was dying!

The thought of this caused me to shiver, becoming already too familiar the notion that my life was slowly but surely ebbing away. This ominous realism that I could well die here was a massive shock.

I had to move on, I had to survive.

Get up you idiot! I demanded myself.

It now felt like the whole landscape was bearing down on me. The Sun now felt like it was beaming down a million degrees onto me and the wind had started to build up to the point where, a sandstorm was beginning to develop. If I didn’t move now, it would be impossible for me to go anywhere.

As daunting as it seemed, it was obvious that I had to overcome any weakness I might be feeling. This was about a last dash to the finish line.

With nothing but will power growing inside me, I used the wall to help me get back up, even with the dizziness still causing disorientation.

Pride had taken over at this point and I found my legs take over.

I began to focus on what I had to do and so strolled over to the exit.

There was nothing I could do about the ball of light. I was in no fit state to defend off an army.

To my left, I noticed some sand had gotten picked up in a whirl wind and was spiralling its way along the ground, luckily not heading this way.

How on earth am I going to make this? I asked myself, already growing defeated, No! I’m not going to die here.

I took in a few deep breaths, building myself up for the rush and suddenly burst into a sprint!

The second I exited the dome building, the harsh wind pushed me off balance, but I put all my strength together and forced my way forward, running as fast as I could.

As I reached the four structures, I became aware of a soft buzzing noise emanating from them, but there was no time wasting here. I simply didn’t have the time to stand here and admire.

The sand was really starting to hurt my face and it was quickly becoming impossible to see where I was going.

With only a little strength left in me, I marched defiantly on, in as much of a straight a line as I could.

I’d finally reached the walls to the mushroom building, where I could just make out lights on the wall.

I knew it! I shouted, proudly.

This was indeed where the entrance was!

As I got within two feet from the now lit up triangles, a column from either side of me came out from the walls in a mechanical manor and I soon found myself situated in between two new walls, as if they were sheltering me from the wind.

Come on! I demanded, Do something!

As if complying to my command, a horizontal beam of light stretched from one wall to the other, to create a ceiling of a blue smoky light above me.

Even though I was now completely sheltered from the heat of the sun, the wind was still getting to me, but not as much. I had to be thankful for small mercies at least.

To my concern, the ceiling started to descend quickly and before I got the chance to fear for my life and get out of the way, the ceiling ran through me, from head to toe and then disappeared

Shortly after that, a huge sinking feeling came over me.

No, no, no NO! I pleaded, as I helplessly watched the two walls either side of me go back into the wall.

The sands hit me with revenge, again forcing me off balance, almost pushing me to the ground!

What the?

As I regained my balance, desperately keeping my will power, I stared at the wall in front of me.

What is it doing?

I blinked my eyes a few times, thinking dehydration had affected me more than I had thought! .... but no, it was really doing it. The wall really was shimmering before my eyes.

I’d become totally oblivious to the sandstorm, as I stood paused with shock and amazement.

The wall ultimately shimmered its self into nothing, disappearing completely.

What is this place? I challenged it all, How can this actually be happening?

Because of yet another sudden gust of wind, I became rudely aware of the sandstorm and then immediately recollected my desperation for water.

It was like the wind was pushing me inside the building, as I found myself walking in involuntarily.

I edged forward nervously, wondering what would be inside. All of a sudden, this place felt threatening, yet at the same time, the better place to be right now.

The technology of this place was way over my head, so I had no idea what to expect. I had nothing to defend myself with and going by the sandstorm outside, I had no means of escaping either.

I then laughed, finding it all incredibly ironic that I’d recollected leaving my shoes outside!

It was frighteningly very dark inside, seeing no more than a meter or so ahead of me.

As I defensively took my first step inside, a faint glow of light came on directly above me. Edging forward regardless, I became mesmerised by the way more lights gently came on as I passed under them.

I was rudely interrupted by a white noise coming from behind me, so I took a peek behind, to discover the entrance had become a wall again. Thankfully though, I was not put into complete darkness for very long.

The lights above my head brightened gradually to reveal a simple arched ceiling made of glass. The way ahead was still a little too dark for me to work out what might be ahead, so I carried on walking slowly forward, eventually reaching the border of the darkness.

Chapter 4: That’s not Earth

From what appeared to be just head of me, a tiny flickering blue light grew slowly brighter as finally stayed on. This was shortly followed by another light doing the same thing and then another and another. Before long, lots of lights had produced a ring.

Immediately after that, more circles lit up further down, creating a tube of which I found myself standing in.

I had to smile, feeling like I was about to walk into a corridor of stars.

I walked more confidently on, wondering if all this was created to welcome a king, or queen.

As I studied around me, I could just make out my reflection, but it was all distorted, telling me straight away that the tube was made of glass.

I stopped, curious as to the state I must have been in, if the way I felt had anything to go by.

I was looking so very gaunt and weary.

I felt like I’d lost at least five stone, but physically I could see I’d lost nothing, which I guess was blatantly obvious, as it had only been a day without food or water. I wasn’t exactly crashing was I.

I got closer to the mirror, I could make out the creases in my face and around my eyes.

War torn hero my arse.

My attention was sharply made aware or red lights appearing out of nowhere further down. 12 red lights soon made up a new ring, immediately followed by three more rings cramped up behind it.

As I began to wonder what the heck was going on, the closest circle began to rotate and glide toward me.

I had a decision to make and fast! Should I run back the way I came? Or....

Almost immediately after that, the other three rings started rotating and began to follow the first one, splitting up their formation as they rushed toward me.

Within a second or two the first ring passed me. It felt like I was part of a circus trick and I was the one jumping through a ring of fire. Only on this occasion, the rings were moving, not me.

As it whooshed passed me, I quickly turned to question what it was going to do next. Making me jump, the other three whipped passed me, as they all then stopped at the end, gathering into a tight formation again. Immediately after that, came back for another pass.

I started to step back, making ready to run, the rings whooshed smoothly passed me again.

Again, I turned around to see the rings stop in a tight formation, with their spinning gradually coming to a stop.

All the red lights went out and with this huge relief the corridor lit up completely.

I discovered myself truly standing in the middle of this large glass tube, roughly 12 feet in diameter and twenty foot long, which was kept secure by a metal framework. I could see the rings which had passed me quite clearly now and they too were metal and very decorative.

I stood motionless at what I was seeing, as yet more of the inside was illuminated.

Glass doors of this tube slid open, as though allowing me to enter. At this point, there was nothing more I wanted to do, but go in.

I came to a stop, in awe over what I was seeing, as the glass doors politely closed behind me.

This had to have been the ground floor.

I was standing in the most enormous area I had ever been in, being circular in shape, at least three hundred feet in diameter.

The walls were perfectly smooth, as was the floor, all of which were made of concrete, or stone.

Straight away, my eyes were drawn to the ceiling and how high it was.

Hanging from this ceiling were three curtains, which made three rings, each being made up of hundreds of pretty crystals, much like a chandelier curtain.

Making this all much more spectacular were little spot lights following the shape of the curtains and causing the crystals to glitter like stars.

Over to my left, were mat white oval tables with chairs, which looked very modern.

I wondered if this was some kind of hall where people ate, which immediately begged the question, just how many people ate here at one time!

This hall was enormous!

What seemed the most strange to me, was how those few tables were still here. Why had they been left behind? I almost concluded these people had left in a hurry, but there was no mess lying around.

Something in the back of my head got me wondering just how much of all this was actually made by the Egyptians. Either that or the Egyptians were far more advanced than we had originally perceived, yet that seemed most unlikely, considering the discoveries made to date.

Why would they do such shoddy workmanship at Giza? When they’ve apparently achieved all of this here? A entirely new type of civilisation was being suggested here, one of which were totally out of character to the Egyptians we know.

There was a large picture showing an atlas of Earth at the far end and to my right were steps, which led to a large platform, upon which as were four cyan lit rings on the floor, each being accompanied by a control panel on a stand, much like a modern looking lectern.

I shook my head with amusement, realising I was getting used to the novelty of what was likely to be what around here.

As I stepped toward these control panels, I found myself suddenly paused by a single thought.

The atlas?

I stopped, stared and studied it.

Where is Africa? And where the heck is England?

I didn’t recognise any part of map at all!

That’s not Earth.

It wasn’t a map within a country because you could see the north and south poles, so presumably this must have been a grand painting that a school did, or something and the locals being so proud of it, hung it up for everyone to admire.

It must have been, because there was a faint green glow behind its huge picture frame.

The one thing which really grabbed my attention was the way in which there were clouds moving very slowly in front of the picture.

Oh and there was something else. It was shaded in such a way, that you could tell which part of the atlas was day and night.

It gets better. The shading was edging very slowly from left to right, imitating what it would be like if this were a real rotating planet.

I could have stared at it all day, but something told me I was going to be here for a while yet.

I must come back to this later.

Thinking nothing more of the atlas for now, I went to one of the control panels.

The blue rings were about five feet in diameter, with a series of rings getting smaller toward the centre, all of which were embedded into the floor.

On the control panel was the same type of symbols as the ones in the dome building, all of which were evenly spaced. Again, I couldn’t relate any of them to the Egyptian language I knew.

These must be numbers. Of course, 1, 2 3 and 4!

In all, I counted 12 numbers, but only one of them was glowing faintly.

The number 7.

The one thing you had to be good at when being an Egyptologist was learning how to decipher hieroglyphs and symbols. It was a bit like code breaking really.

I shrugged my shoulders after having a good look around, knowing there was nothing for me here. Secretly however, I was too keen to see what happen when I pressed this symbol! Besides, I was still incredibly hungry and thirsty, even though the desperation of food and water had died down. My body must have managed to find some reserves somewhere and I was good to go for a while longer.

I pressed on the symbol, slightly anxious of what was about to happen, when a bright blue misty curtain rose up, around me and within an instant, I found myself standing somewhere completely different.

I stood now in a smaller room, where either side of me on the floor, were more rings, with control panels next to them.

This place was becoming more amazing by the minute. How could I possibly have gone from one place to another without the aid of lifts or mechanisms to move me?

In my head I was beginning to wonder if all this was some kind of elaborate hoax, which was designed to fool people like me.

The ball of light I entered could have caused me to lose consciousness and a group of people moved me somewhere else before I woke up?

What a stupid theory!

So something else has to explain all this?

I could see doors in front of me, which were left ajar, so I hurried out of the room and found myself in a wide corridor.

Quickly looking left and right, I hoped to catch someone running away, or hiding badly, but I found no-one.

I sighed, sharply becoming disgruntled by everything.

Still, standing here wasn’t going to achieve anything, so I pulled myself together and started to scan around me.

I was now beginning to shake from both hunger and nerves and the feeling of loneliness and vulnerability was growing inside me. Right now I was begging for someone to bump into, someone to confirm I was still alive. Hell, even a dog or cat would be a sight for sore eyes.

There was a small part that kept me in check, because if it didn’t concentrate on the here and now, I’d go mad.

My attention was subtly drawn to how the air smelt how it would after a good rainfall in a forest.

The walls, ceiling and even the floor were polished with perfection. They seemed made of white marble tiles. There were a series of long vertical lights going along the outside wall, but these were subtle, making the lighting around here comfortable to the eyes.

The corridor itself was about nine foot wide, suggesting this building got busy with people passing to and fro. The corridor to both my left and right bent in a manner that implied if I walked all the way along, I’d end up back where I started.

Helping me make my mind up to which way I should go, I noticed doors evenly spaced all the way along to my left, suggesting a series of rooms. It was then I noticed two doors which were left open. Could I resist in taking a peek?

Could I heck!

This must have been living quarters of some kind.

It was a small room, which seemed to offer only the basic needs. A bed, which had been made and a small bedside set of drawers. Unfortunately the drawers were empty, so there went that hope of finding out more.

There was also a wardrobe, but it too was empty, hence it soon became apparent that I was going to find nothing in here that would inspire me. So I tried the other room.

Disappointingly, this room was pretty much in the same state and as the first one. Not only were these people minimalists, but also perfectionists with keeping things tidy. They must have spent more time keeping this place tidy, than having any other kind of life.

What’s this?

I stood corrected.

One of the drawers wasn’t closed properly and inside was a piece of clothing, a top I think. Yes, but it was extremely lightweight.

As I examined it, random colours glittered from it, but not from sequins or such like, but within the material itself. A lot of attention to detail went into this item.

As I offered it up to myself, I could blatantly see it wouldn’t have fitted me! The arms and body were way too long for me, giving me the impression whoever wore this was very tall.

Ha! I reckon Ak-nahiah could‘ve fitted into this.

Whoa!

I’d found something under the bed and put the top respectfully back into the drawer and crouched down to examine what lay there.

It was a photo, ripped in two.

Offering the two pieces together to complete the photo, my hands went suddenly weak and I ended up dropping the pieces onto the bed.

What is going on?

This could not be happening to me. The people in the picture looked frighteningly real.

Where am I?

The connection between the Egyptians and this place was getting very thin and I was now starting to wonder if they played any part in its construction at all.

I dared to look down at the photo again.

The picture was of a ..... I don’t know .... someone who was extremely tall and had blue hair. One I spotted had ribs along his forehead and nose.

What was this place? And what’s with their clothing and this top?

Maybe they were they disfigured or something. To the point where they would no longer be accepted to mingle with the public?

Strangely though, nothing here smelt like a hospital.

It would explain the cleanliness of the place, to stop infection and so forth.

The amount of rooms along this corridor alone suggested a lot of patients lived here.

Now with even more thoughts running through my head, I out the torn photo back on the bed and stepped out of the room, set on finding more clues and information about these people.

As I turned, my head suddenly went crazy and I found myself leaning up against the wall.

Bloody hell, I need to find something to eat and drink, fast.

I put the torn photo on the bed.

I made my way further along the corridor, when I came across a pair of larger doors, with more strange writings along the top.

These doors didn’t have hinges, so I naturally assumed they slid open like the ones at the dome. Unfortunately they didn’t want to open by themselves, regardless of how close I got to them, so I moved on.

A little further along, I found myself standing in front of slightly larger doors. These were made of frosted glass and had more writings above them.

As I stood deliberately in front of them, they slid quietly open.

I walked in and immediately felt welcomed by peace and relaxation and the smell, what was that smell?

It was like fresh air accompanied by the gentle aroma of .... lavender?

The walls were now a subtle white, with hints of yellow sponged on lightly on.

The area was completely different to any other places I’d seen so far. The corners were all rounded, with nothing here having sharp corners.

Candles!

There were actually candles in this room, none of which were lit of course. They had been used at some point though.

Various species of plants were placed nicely in each corner, but I didn’t recognise what they were, purely because I was never a huge enthusiast of plants.

Five comfortable looking mats were