as Stephen Weir, assistant to Porter Stone. It was essentially an aggregation of all the strange, unanticipated, or unfortunate events that had occurred since the site went live two weeks before—in other words, the reason he was here.
Logan read over the list twice. Many of the items could be immediately discounted—lights flickering, systemic effects like nausea or dizziness—but several others remained. Firing up the laptop’s word processor, he began to make a list.
Day 2: On a routine reconnaissance, the engine of one of the Jet Skis abruptly went wild and refused to cut off. The occupant was forced to leap off to save himself, breaking a leg in the process. When the boat was finally recovered, the engine would not work at all. The following day, however, it operated normally.
Day 4: Three people, using the library late in the evening, reported hearing a strange, dry voice whispering to them in an unknown language.
Day 6: A cook reported two sides of beef missing from the meat locker—almost two hundred pounds. A careful search yielded nothing.
Day 9: Cory Landau was found wandering the marsh outside the perimeter after nightfall. When questioned, he said he’d seen a strange form in the distance, beckoning to him.
“Huh,” Cory had said to him not half an hour before. “Maybe that explains it.”
Day 10: Every electrical object, computer, and other equipment in Green shut down spontaneously at 3:15 p.m. Attempts to restart them were unsuccessful. At 3:34 p.m., they resumed functioning normally. No explanation was found.
Day 11: Tina Romero reported that the outfit of an Egyptian high priestess was missing from a closet in her office.
Day 12: Several eyewitnesses in Oasis, the drinks lounge, reported seeing strangely colored lights flickering near the horizon, accompanied by an ominous chanting, barely audible.
Day 13: A worker in the communications room reported strange noises and a machine that suddenly sprang to life when it should have been dormant.
Day 14: A machinist reported seeing a strange woman in Egyptian garb at a distance, walking across the Sudd at nightfall.
Day 15: An as-yet-undiagnosed equipment problem forced a diver to panic and surface, causing him severe injury.
Logan looked up from the screen. He already knew about the last one, of course. He’d witnessed it himself.
His thoughts drifted to King Narmer’s curse. Any man who dares enter my tomb will meet an end certain and swift.… His blood and his limbs will turn to ash and his tongue cleave to his throat.… I, Narmer the Everliving, will torment him and his, by day and by night, waking and sleeping, until madness and death become his eternal temple . There was something the recitation of incidents had in common. Except for the diver and the Jet Ski rider, nobody had been hurt. That did not jibe with the details of the curse.
Of course, Logan thought to himself, nobody had yet found—or entered—Narmer’s tomb.…
For perhaps the dozenth time, he wondered what Narmer’s tomb might contain. Why had the pharaoh expended such effort, madesuch lavish sacrifices of gold and men’s lives, bestowed such a curse, to make sure his remains were never violated, his most important possessions undisturbed? What was Porter Stone keeping from him? What would a god take with him to the next world?
There was a quiet sound behind him. Logan turned from the laptop screen to see Ethan Rush standing in the doorway.
“Mind if I come in?” the doctor asked with a smile.
Logan took his duffel bag from the guest chair and placed it on the floor. “Help yourself.”
Rush stepped in, glanced around. “Rather spartan accommodations.”
“I guess the interior decorators were uncertain just how to stock the lair of an enigmalogist.”
“Funny thing about that.” Rush took the empty seat, glanced toward the bookshelf. “Interesting selection of books: Aleister Crowley, Jessie Weston, Stowcroft’s Organic Chemistry, The Book of Shadows
Logan read over the list twice. Many of the items could be immediately discounted—lights flickering, systemic effects like nausea or dizziness—but several others remained. Firing up the laptop’s word processor, he began to make a list.
Day 2: On a routine reconnaissance, the engine of one of the Jet Skis abruptly went wild and refused to cut off. The occupant was forced to leap off to save himself, breaking a leg in the process. When the boat was finally recovered, the engine would not work at all. The following day, however, it operated normally.
Day 4: Three people, using the library late in the evening, reported hearing a strange, dry voice whispering to them in an unknown language.
Day 6: A cook reported two sides of beef missing from the meat locker—almost two hundred pounds. A careful search yielded nothing.
Day 9: Cory Landau was found wandering the marsh outside the perimeter after nightfall. When questioned, he said he’d seen a strange form in the distance, beckoning to him.
“Huh,” Cory had said to him not half an hour before. “Maybe that explains it.”
Day 10: Every electrical object, computer, and other equipment in Green shut down spontaneously at 3:15 p.m. Attempts to restart them were unsuccessful. At 3:34 p.m., they resumed functioning normally. No explanation was found.
Day 11: Tina Romero reported that the outfit of an Egyptian high priestess was missing from a closet in her office.
Day 12: Several eyewitnesses in Oasis, the drinks lounge, reported seeing strangely colored lights flickering near the horizon, accompanied by an ominous chanting, barely audible.
Day 13: A worker in the communications room reported strange noises and a machine that suddenly sprang to life when it should have been dormant.
Day 14: A machinist reported seeing a strange woman in Egyptian garb at a distance, walking across the Sudd at nightfall.
Day 15: An as-yet-undiagnosed equipment problem forced a diver to panic and surface, causing him severe injury.
Logan looked up from the screen. He already knew about the last one, of course. He’d witnessed it himself.
His thoughts drifted to King Narmer’s curse. Any man who dares enter my tomb will meet an end certain and swift.… His blood and his limbs will turn to ash and his tongue cleave to his throat.… I, Narmer the Everliving, will torment him and his, by day and by night, waking and sleeping, until madness and death become his eternal temple . There was something the recitation of incidents had in common. Except for the diver and the Jet Ski rider, nobody had been hurt. That did not jibe with the details of the curse.
Of course, Logan thought to himself, nobody had yet found—or entered—Narmer’s tomb.…
For perhaps the dozenth time, he wondered what Narmer’s tomb might contain. Why had the pharaoh expended such effort, madesuch lavish sacrifices of gold and men’s lives, bestowed such a curse, to make sure his remains were never violated, his most important possessions undisturbed? What was Porter Stone keeping from him? What would a god take with him to the next world?
There was a quiet sound behind him. Logan turned from the laptop screen to see Ethan Rush standing in the doorway.
“Mind if I come in?” the doctor asked with a smile.
Logan took his duffel bag from the guest chair and placed it on the floor. “Help yourself.”
Rush stepped in, glanced around. “Rather spartan accommodations.”
“I guess the interior decorators were uncertain just how to stock the lair of an enigmalogist.”
“Funny thing about that.” Rush took the empty seat, glanced toward the bookshelf. “Interesting selection of books: Aleister Crowley, Jessie Weston, Stowcroft’s Organic Chemistry, The Book of Shadows
Similar Books
