The Second Relic: The Relic of Life Part 4

I walked into what appeared to be a hallway with an extra long corridor. Again, my mouth was agape at the exquisite care and craftsmanship that went into decorating and building this home for the deceased. The Egyptians believed in a vigorous afterlife. Nowadays, we just toss our deceased relatives in these dinky cemeteries with no provisions whatsoever and forget about 'em. It's sad, really.

At the end of the corridor there was a table with two chairs, each with a different design on the back of the seat. Hmm, was this the burial place of one of the pharaohs and his consort?

I walked through the door to the immediate left of the table and spotted a treasure chest surrounded by a pool of water and some water-lily pads.

Then I saw what looked like a half-wall with hieroglyphics. I thought it might be hollow, so I felt around for any evidence it concealed an entrance.

Just as I suspected, it was a hidden door. I walked through it.

I grabbed the ancient coins that were sitting on the stump and moved on. While I was there, though, I noticed it was starting to get dark in the tomb. A dark Egyptian tomb. My dream come true.

In fact, it was starting to remind me of the very first time I went into the catacombs beneath Sunset Valley's graveyard when I was a little girl. The rush that I got from it, I haven't quite been able to duplicate it. Until now.

I happened upon a chest that was -- EMPTY!!! Drat, that relic has to be in here somewhere. I'm gonna find it, if it's the last thing I do.

I disarmed an electric trap by standing on a floor-switch square. Hell, I've already had enough electricity in my body to power a metropolis. I actually think I may have developed something of a resistance to it.

I spotted a dive pool and no other entrances or exits so I decided to check it out.

After being down there for a few minutes and searching around, I found a switch. I heard something click but I wasn't sure where it was clicking.

Gasping for air, I came back to the surface, finding myself in yet another room. Apparently I'd swum through a secret tunnel.

After getting out of the pool I found a suspicious looking hole, so I decided to dig in.

Eww, bugs! Normally bugs don't bother me but the fact that I was wet, well... I brushed them away anyway. It was at this point I realized I was pretty much walking around in circles.

I was lost! And I wasn't sure how I was going to get out.

It became apparent that I would have to set up shop in here for the night, and I would try to find the Key to the Water Temple, which would hopefully lead me to the whereabouts of the Relic of Life.

I got myself into this mess. I was the one who was going to have to get myself out.

Dreaming dreams of gilded relics, Savannah

To be continued...

The Second Relic: The Relic of Life Part 3

Through the grasses I spotted a door -- without a chain. There was no way this could be this straight-forward, I thought. Just no way. It can't be.

With every step I found myself gape-mouthed, with my eyes big as saucers, taking in everything I was seeing. It was like I was in a dream. Except this wasn't a dream. It was real. I was really walking through an Egyptian pyramid, the real kind, the kind I'd only seen in magazines and on my favorite Halls of History channel. A couple of times I had to pinch myself.

While I was looking around, I spotted a suspicious piece of ground, and then I saw a water fountain. The piece of ground was a different color from its surroundings. I decided to go ahead and check the spot of ground out. Sure enough, it was a fire trap.

I then decided that I would counteract the effects of the fire trap I'd need to cross by jumping into the water fountain. I was apprehensive about it at first, but once I allowed the stream of water to caress my skin, the experience was cleansing and cathartic.

Now that I was wet, I would attempt to cross the fire trap.

To be continued...

The Second Relic: The Relic of Life Part 2

I walked in and it was like I was going into another world. It was quite simply the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. Wall after wall was filled with exquisite artwork dating back thousands of years. Whoever built this tomb -- er, shrine to themselves, because that's what most Egyptian tombs were -- had to be incredibly wealthy or influential -- or both. I decided, right then and there, that I was going to build my own family mausoleum.

There were untouched pools of water so clear I could see the sky's reflection on the surface.

In order for me to get to a switch I had to press, I had to swim. So I stripped down to my swimming trunks and dove into the water. Look, I'm a mermaid! (I'm missing the tail)

I got out and started looking for the switch to open the door.

I placed the star keystone I'd found on this one chest, and found nothing but some dried food.

I hopped back into the water to swim to the other side. Boy, I'm glad I taught myself how to swim!

Back on the other side, I stepped into a room that looked as though it hadn't been touched for thousands of simyears. "Why has no one found this place?" I wondered. "Creepy, it must be only for worthy adventurers." Like me.

The room was absolutely over-run with weeds. If the relic was in here somewhere, I'd have to wade through the grasses.

I didn't care how long it took me, I was going to do just that.

To be continued....

The Second Relic: The Relic of Life Part 1

I ate some oven-fresh pancakes at the market. I knew it would be my last meal for awhile, especially since I was headed to the other side of the desert for the Tomb of the Desert Ocean.

I spoke with Fikry Ameen, the special merchant, wanting to know just exactly where the Tomb of the Desert Ocean was, and just how far out of the way it was. "I do not wish this adventure on anyone," Fikry said. "But I believe if anyone can handle it, it is you. Please, do be careful."

And so, I was off. There is something about kicking up dust behind me that gives me a cheap thrill.

But don't think I didn't stop and take in the breathtaking view. Me and the desert. Just the way I like it.

All told, on foot and on bike, the trip was about four hours.

Finally, I was here. The Tomb of the Desert Ocean. It was bigger than anything I'd seen previously. This relic was in here somewhere.

But first, I had to get in here. There was no entrance door so I felt for a hollow spot in the wall.

When the entrance door revealed itself, my search for the Relic of Life had begun in earnest.

To be continued...

MorcuCorp HQ (cont'd)

The next day I was back at the Amin residence, and back looking at Satis and her brother, Imsety, home alone. Satis and Imsety were speaking (in Arabic of course) and I pretended to listen, all the while waiting and watching for the right moment to take my leave of them and go back to the commander's computer.

I walked down to the commander's desk, this time without further incident. I sat there and stared for a few moments at his laptop and his telephone. Okay, Layla gave me the password and I'd emailed Ari and asked her about obscure Windows commands. Now to remember everything they told me...

*type type type*

I typed in what I remembered of Layla's password. Oh drat, I must have put a letter or number in the wrong place. I tried again, and this time it went through!

Layla called me saying the password went through, and she was able to decipher the coded meaning of the words.

The second relic, the Relic of Life, was in the Tomb of the Desert Ocean, on the desert side of Al Simhara. I would have to get in there, get the Relic, and bring it back.

Of course.

By the time I got back to base camp it was well past 1 in the morning and I was getting sleepy. The next day I would go after the Relic of Life.

Dreaming dreams of gilded relics,

Savannah

MorcuCorp HQ

Apparently intrepid adventurers aren't supposed to get in here, especially if the folks set electric traps for anyone trying to get in. First I inspected it and determined that indeed it is an electric trap. Then, I attempted to disarm it, and finally I decided, ah, shoot, what the heck, I'm gonna try and cross it, and if it stings me, it just friggin' stings me.

I had to move around statues (what good are the doggone things if they don't block your path?) to unlock floor switches.

Then I crossed an electric trap, leaving it sizzling behind me, and I had to admit, I was feeling pretty good about myself.

But I took a few steps...carefully... towards one of the exit doors...and I heard...a small little clicking noise. What was that? I wondered.

Apparently I'd stepped on a hidden electric trap and gotten singed! Hell, I've had enough electricity going through my body to power a power plant.

Feeling a bit woozy after that one, I stumbled onward towards another room, this one containing a number of chests. I picked the locks on each and walked away with money bags, ancient coins, dive well fragments, even a crescent-shaped keystone.

I fit the crescent keystone through the hole and walked through the hidden door it opened.

I knew as soon as I saw the lamp and computers that this was where I needed to be. This was the main 'nerve center' of MorcuCorp and their entire international operation. I had to say, though, if they did run everything from here, it was certainly a sparse facility.

I saw the chest glistening in the front of the room. Aha, I said, this is where I have to put the mummitomium. As it was nearly midnight, there was no one inside. And this place was buried some distance below the ground. Of course. They couldn't put an operation like this above the ground, they'd most certainly be discovered.

I took the gemstones and ancient coins hidden in the chest but left behind the package of mummitomium Layla sent.

She phoned me soon afterward, with instructions to hack the boss' computer. I jotted the info down in my adventure journal. The reason to hack into the computer? To find the location of the second of the three relics.


I spotted a door in the back of the room and picked the lock to get into it. I spotted the computer I needed to try to hack. But hacking a computer? I hardly know what I need to know about computers, let alone hacking into someone else's. Boy, I needed a lifeline on this one. It was getting late, so I thought I'd try to tackle this in the morning.



In the meantime, some poor grunt left HIS computer on, so I used his machine to compose a letter to my publisher, realizing their deadline for having "Interview with a Mummy" finished and on their desk had already passed. I knew the closer I got to snagging these relics, the harder all this was going to be to synthesize. I needed an extension, and I needed one badly. I couldn't exactly say, give me one because I'm searching for a few elusive relics in Egypt. I composed a hasty email to my publisher that read like this:

"Dear Sirs: Please accept my apology for my tardiness in not turning in my drafts for 'Interview with a Mummy.' I had fully intended to turn them in on time, but I was called to return to Egypt for an important business matter. I shall have them finished when I return. Sincerely, S. R. Plumb."

I closed my eyes and waited. I decided to return to base camp.