That evening, members of the royal family, special cabinet, guards, and foreign press were together in Mena House. Garin was away, developing photos taken from aboard the Heru, but most were gathered, which provided David opportunity to press Caroline and me for descriptions of the notch.
There were similar exchanges. Cabinet members questioned each other on their discoveries. Nikola asked Thierry if different stone may have conductive or insulating properties. Thierry said Howard hadn't let him take one physical sample, yet, then suggested that David knew all about masonry. That led back to David questioning Caroline, which in turn led Caroline to ask if there were mummified remains in the area.
That led Dr. Hassan to a series of accusations against former regimes of Egypt, European colonial powers, and non-Nationalists, whom he believed responsible for many Egyptian antiquities being in private collections or European museums.
I tried to pay attention, but after barely sleeping the night before, I was exhausted.
At breakfast, we were again given assignments. Garin was to be pulled from the Heru and entrusted with the tasks of photographing the notch and installing a mobile ray station there. To compensate, Chief Custodio was asked if he would give assistance aboard the flagship barque, which he accepted, no offense to me, he said.
I wouldn't have minded a chance to ride upon an airship, but I trusted my chance might come in time; as it had in being allowed to drive a steam-cab. I was content with the responsibility of escorting a member of the cabinet.
As the group began to disperse, Alpha sat down by my side.
"Thierry's asked a favor of me," he said.
I raised my brows, as I was swallowing my aish and fuul.
"Of you," Alpha admitted.
"Wants me to invite Caroline along?" I asked.
"You seemed to get on with her yesterday."
"She never made threats, or pulled a knife on me, or burst into song--"
Alpha made a dismissive wave. "Hypatia promises Thierry's selection went through proper channels. La Nouvelle and the other territories don't have diplomatic relations with old world nations. It's normal they would send correspondence and travel requests through the church in Roma. He has recommendations from several Jesuits. So...."
Lady Antonia had perhaps influenced the Malik's decision.
"Understood, Captain."
Alpha started to rise but then sat again. "I'll be leaving to go to salat with my father, later. Thierry's meant to be with Howard and Hypatia, while I am gone. If you see Hakim, and he wants to be a guide, tell him I'll pay him for the day. He was right, yesterday."
"He wants to be an Egyptologist when he's grown," I said.
Alpha nodded before leaving.
Caroline seemed unsurprised by my invitation; the way her eyes darted toward Thierry when I asked.
"I would be delighted to join you," she said.
We spent the morning investigating a degraded stone monument alongside the causeway of the Pyramid of Menkaure. This monument, now step-sided, was identified on Dr. Hassan's map as the Pyramid of Queen Mother Khentkaus. It had its own outer temple and a short causeway, which ran alongside a warren of structures like an ancient town, though we did not know whether the living or the dead had resided there.
David was interested, he said, because the complex had all the features of the greater pyramids, though on a much smaller scale. We might cover the area in a brief time. He did a lot of climbing and crouching to view structures from multiple angles and made measurements with his tools.
Later, we crossed the field of rock-cut chambers to have a picnic lunch near the Pyramid of Kafre, where Dr. Hassan was showing some boat pits to guests of the foreign press.
Valentine, still acting as escort, approached us.
"Emma Orczy and Hillary Kurzmann," he said to me, pointing-out two journalists. The older woman writing upon a notepad and the younger woman holding a camera did not look familiar, but I recognized their names. Orczy and Kurzmann were the pair who had written of the Vespa Verde.
I thanked Valentine for the information, not wishing to be more specific in David or Caroline's company. I suggested we move on after eating. As we were packing up, the Malik's state-car-- more like an enclosed carriage than a cabriolet --came along the road through the Necropolis. Malik Paris Arafa called David to his car.
I did not follow, though I saw Alpha with his father.
On David's return, he said he was wanted to work with Nikola on a demonstration to be given near the Great Pyramid.
We found Nikola along the east side, where a pavement of black basalt stone was all that remained of Khufu's mortuary temple. Dolores and Hedone were still with him and Garin and Hakim were there.
We spent the earlier hours of the afternoon bringing equipment from Mena House, and then following direction to put the strange coils, lights, smoke-generators, and projectors in place. With eight of us, there were soon too many hands to be useful. Caroline, Hedone, Hakim and I took the opportunity to rest on the sun-warmed black stone, shaded by the stretching shadow of the pyramid.
With great humming and popping, visible bolts of electricity arced between Mr. Tesla's coils, and threw flickering light into Khufu's shadow, while David's lamps and projectors cast figures in silhouette against the stone.
As the devices quieted between tests, I noticed a cloud of dust towards the north.
Nearby Hakim called out, "The Malik is back!"
The trail of dust followed the road behind the pyramid. Shortly, rays of light cut through the smoke and dust at the corner of the great monument. The dark state-car emerged from the cloud, headlamps lit and driving towards us with several steam-cabs trailing.
As the vehicles stopped, the Malik's blue Azawakh bounded from Hypatia's side toward his master's car. The door opened and the Malik exited; followed by a figure in a black thawb leaning on a cane.
Murphy was back.
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Chapter 70! The Iron Man was ranked at #320 in Science Fiction today and passed 2,900 reads. Thank you new and continuing readers!
The media for this chapter is the Steve Jablonsky piece "Autobots Unite". I asked myself: What song says "electricity", "epic entrance", and "in the desert"?
I just finished writing this chapter. But it's still Friday here, so I'm not behind.
I think the next chapter may be Sound and Light. Not sure. Need to start writing it.
There may be some minor updates to the Extras after I post this.