Area 51: Nosferatu-8 by Robert Doherty Page A

limestone facing that had been put on it ripped off. He also killed everyone who had ever been inside, sacrificing them to the Gods."
    "That makes no sense—to destroy what you have just built."

    Kajihi shrugged. "Such is the way of Gods and Pharaohs. It is not for men to understand." He pointed toward a dark opening about fifty feet up the pyramid.
    "There."
    "Are there no guards?"
    "Not outside. There is no need. Fear keeps people out. There are guards of a sort on the inside, though, for those who would be foolish enough to overcome their fear. Do as I do and we may survive."
    Nosferatu remembered the strange metal spider that had killed Mosegi. His hand strayed to the knife at his belt although he knew it would do little good against the creature. When he had entered so many years ago for his tube, Kajilil had told him the gray cloak would help hide

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    him from the creature so he had to assume that was still true.
    Kajihi clambered up the large stone blocks toward the opening, Nosferatu and the two Bedouins following. He could see clearly in the darkness, but his senses were picking up something beyond what was visible.
    Nekhbet.
    He felt her nearby presence as something palpable, emanating from the ground.
    She was alive. Of that at least, he had no doubt. They entered the tunnel and the presence grew stronger. The air was still and dry as they descended into the Great Pyramid.
    He could hear Kajihi counting to himself. After perhaps a quarter mile the Watcher abruptly halted. He placed his ring on a spot on the smooth rock wall and a door appeared. "Hurry," Kajihi hissed.
    They passed through the door and Kajihi shut it behind them. "You are now in the Roads," he informed them.
    Nosferatu slowly turned, facing one way in the stone corridor, then the other.
    He had no doubt about which way to go. "This way."
    The other three followed as Nosferatu led them deeper along the Roads. They came to a juncture and Nosferatu unhesitatingly turned to the right. Nekhbet was close, very close. Nosferatu felt as if his chest would explode his heart was beating so wildly.
    They turned another corner and he recognized the hallway through which he and his five companions had escaped so many years ago. He broke into a run, the others hustling to keep up when Kajihi suddenly halted and hissed a warning.
    Nosferatu almost ignored the Watcher, but he forced himself to halt. Kajihi tapped his ear, indicating for him to

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    listen. Nosferatu cocked his head. Metal on stone. Coming closer. Kajihi lay down, pressing against one side of the wall and throwing his cloak over his body, indicating that they should do the same. Nosferatu forced himself to the stone floor, draping the gray cloak over his body.
    The sound grew closer, moving more slowly. Nosferatu could visualize the golden orb and black metal legs. His body tightened as the sound grew much closer. It was next to them, then passing. The sound faded slowly and Nosferatu twitched, anxious to move. He pulled aside the cloak and started to get to his feet, but Kajihi reached out and grabbed him, shaking his head.
    Reluctantly Nosferatu once more buried himself under the cloak and waited.
    Minutes of silence passed. Then he heard it once more. Metal legs on stone walls. Coming their way. The creature came back down the corridor and passed once more.

    As soon as the sound faded, Nosferatu was on his feet. There was no holding him back. He ran down the tunnel and skidded to a halt outside the metal bars of the cell. The gate was open and he pushed it aside, stepping in. One black tube rested on a slab in his old cell, covered with millennia of dust. Sometime in the past seven thousand years they'd moved Nekhbet back here.
    Nosferatu ran his hands lightly over the lid as if he could feel her flesh instead of cold metal. Kajihi and the two Bedouins came into the cell and watched him quietly, sensing the emotion pouring off of him. Nosferatu went to the top of the tube and delicately