PIERCE STEPPED BACK IN horror. Somehow, it all became real to him—the room, the tomb that lay beyond, the passage through the rock. All this had been done by men, the physical power of slaves, who had received death as their sole reward. He looked down again, noticing the emaciated bodies, the ribs visible through the leathery skin. They had been glad to die.
“What do we do now?” Nikos said. He was frowning in disgust.
Barnaby walked over to a wall and leaned against it. “We have to go down there. They may be guarding the entrance to the tomb itself. Or, they may have been buried with the plans. Don’t forget, the architect was murdered as well.”
There was a long silence in the room. Pierce lit a cigarette and paced up and down, feeling his legs move, testing his muscles. It was as if he wanted to reassure himself that he was alive.
“I’ll go down,” Nikos said.
“You don’t have to,” Barnaby said. Nikos spat. “You think a few bodies worry me? Give me a light.” Pierce handed Nikos the light, and the Greek jumped down through the opening into the room below.
He winced at the smell. It was stronger in the little chamber than it was above. He shone the light onto the bodies, looking at the faces, eyes closed, mouths open. The teeth were very white. He walked over to one. “How did they die?” Barnaby was leaning over the hole. “Probably strangled…You can see the marks at the throat.”
Nikos looked and saw the thin lines. A few bodies still had ropes knotted around their necks. He reached forward to touch one.
“Careful!”
It was too late. The body disintegrated before their eyes, the skin flaking off, the innards falling to the floor as dust, the bones crumbling.
“Don’t touch anything,” Barnaby said. “They haven’t been mummified and in this dry air are imperfectly preserved.”
“I’ve noticed.” Nikos coughed in the cloud of human dust.
Pierce was astonished. It really is true, he thought—you return to ashes and dust. He shuddered.
“Look for a man better dressed than the others,” Barnaby said. “He will be the architect.”
Nikos moved among the heaps of bodies, picking his way carefully. At length, he found an aristocratic-looking man stiffly propped against one wall, with dark hair, a long nose, and a narrow face. He was dressed elegantly in loose white robes coming to the knees, belted with a gold clasp. In death, the man wore a sad expression, as if disappointed.
“I think I found him.”
“Wait a minute,” Barnaby said, “I’m coming.” He climbed down and went over to Nikos. For a moment, he stood silently examining the man.
“That’s him, all right. Now let’s find the plans.” He flicked his beam around and saw a half-burned papyrus. Very little remained, just a corner of the roll. He looked at it closely.
“Don’t touch,” Barnaby warned. “This is it—the architect’s drawing. You can see there the passage leading in from the cleft and here the antechamber directly above us. From that room, another passage runs off—” He stopped. They had reached the point where fire had devoured the papyrus. Barnaby straightened.
“Well, at least we know that much: The main passage runs from the room upstairs, not here. Let’s go back.”
In the antechamber, Pierce was looking very pale and green.
“Not feeling good, Robbie?” Nikos said, smiling.
“Screw you,” Pierce said.
Barnaby walked to the far wall. Now that he knew what to look for, it took only a few minutes.
“Here it is,” he said.
They broke away the door and saw a long passage ending in blackness. Pierce shined his light down it and saw smooth stone at the far end. The passage was perhaps four feet high and one hundred feet long.
“Shall we?” Barnaby said.
“I’ll lead,” Nikos said, “in case the door at the far end is difficult.”
“No,” Barnaby said, “I’ll lead.”
Nikos shrugged.
Barnaby led. Nikos followed, and Pierce came third. Bent over, they walked along, panting softly. The walls here were smooth, carefully finished. Pierce marveled at the competence of the stonemasons. It was very dark, the only light coming from the flashlights.
They reached the far door.
Barnaby pushed at it with his open hand, and it gave way easily.
“Well, what do you know?” he said.
He stepped forward and suddenly screamed, a high-pitched wail that trailed off into cold silence.