'What's this?' the professor asked. He rushed towards a shaft where the bottom part of a wooden cabin was stuck below the ceiling on the left, and the top part of another cabin peeped up from the floor on the right. Panels on both sides displayed the outline of a hand. The professor pressed his palm against the right one, and a rumbling sound could be heard in the bowels of the temple.
'Father, in the name of the ... .' Metjen glanced around uneasily. Trueth thought he was right to curb his tongue--even if the gods had run out of juice for the moment, they might still be listening.
The cabins jerked and started moving silently, one went up, the other one went down, more followed in an endless silent chain.
'Look at this,' the professor said. 'How does it work? An elevator needs electricity.'
'The Sails of Ra on the roof will do their duty,' Seisi said. 'They are collecting sunlight, turning it into the buzzing power that feeds the garland as it feeds many of our devices. This one is for transporting goods. I only use the flying bridges. ' Seisi said.
The professor shook his head in bewilderment. 'Solar power and electricity. I don't believe this.'
'You better do, you're in a temple,' Metjen said. 'Trueth, you see this? We won't be without mod cons.'
He stopped and regarded her from the side. At least he had the decency to be ashamed. But then, he was only a man. They noticed nothing even if it was right under their nose or nipped them in the rear end. She wanted to hold on to what she had got, so Trueth gave him a break. One near loss was enough.
'By now I'll believe almost anything,' she said. 'Tell me who to pray to, and I'll start right away. Ouch.'
The last bit was directed at the two Servants who had dropped her unceremoniously as they gaped at the device flowing around its silent circuit.
Seisi reassured them this would be safe, told them to get into one of the ascending cabins, wait three floors and get out as soon as they saw pillars. The professor jumped into one cabin going down. Metjen banged his head against the nearest wall.
'Do not fret, he will reappear--unless he has chosen to remain below...,' Seisi said with a frown.
The professor chose not to do that and returned on the other side, beaming all over the face and giving them a double thumbs-up.
'It moves sideways at the bottom, just as it should,' he yelled.
'Count three floors and only exit the garland when you see pillars,' Seisi shouted at a pair of dusty trekking boots floating upwards. He put his hands to his head and muttered something under his breath. They waited, but no professor came into sight. Obviously, he had got out as instructed. The only question was where.
Seisi heaved a deep sigh and addressed the others. 'If you do not see pillars the first time, the cabin will move round and you can exit when it descends. Otherwise, you do as the master of learning did, and you ascend again. But it will be evening soon, we should seek a place to make camp. We cannot frolic with the garland. I'm--I am much puzzled why your sire is so excited, it truly is nothing. '
Metjen sent his team on in pairs with Trueth and her bearers waiting behind until only Metjen himself was left. As she floated upwards, Trueth heard counting from above and applause as somebody presumably had spotted pillars.
She peeped out of her stretcher as they ascended, climbing up the chimney with its airborne bridges on one side, floating past immense dark cavities on the other. Before she could wonder what those might contain, her holy paramedics, having a better overview, also seemed to have spotted what they had been searching for, cheered and swayed her stretcher out of the cabin.
She indeed spotted pillars--a whole forest of them, reminding her of Karnak. The Kemet variety did not feature brownish stone but was covered in a lacquered surface in black with figures and text inlaid in blue. Trueth could have bet she had discovered another version of the ubiquitous pyramid texts, this time in the 3-D version courtesy of the temple of Osiris.
This hall was significantly larger than its poor cousin back in Luxor. Unless she suffered from an optical illusion given that the shiny pillars still supported a stone roof. Multicoloured light flowed through rectangular windows below the ceiling, windows covered with translucent panels reminding her strongly of stained glass.
The whole set-up appeared enormous and made her realise she truly found herself in a place of worship. It dwarfed the shrine of Ra which would have fitted into one hall with room to spare. Sweeping this temple floor could qualify as an Olympic discipline.
A movement in the corner of her eye showed that worshipping was under way. The professor who apparently had exited on the right level, was dashing around the pillars, reading texts and clapping his hands like an excited child in a giant's playground.
Metjen floated up behind them, found his father, breathed a sigh of relief and pried his parent away from the inscription he was reading.
'One thousand Sails of Ra... solar panels on top of this hall alone,' the professor shouted with excitement.
Trueth knew the ancient Egyptians used their temple walls for their records. The approach worked, but changing the figures after each audit had to be a real pain. Thinking of pain made her realise her leg throbbed again, threatening further discomfort.
The stretcher wove its way among the pillars until they gave way to a courtyard filled with the shadows thrown by two monumental pylons. Only the top of the encasing walls were still lit by the golden light of the evening sun. In the middle of the courtyard squatted a massive stone trough. It was arid as the desert and Seisi regarded it with a vexed expression.
'I was of good spirit this would carry water. We are in need of liquid, and now we will have to fetch it from the Nile.'
Drink Nile water--Trueth could only hope Metjen's dauntless mother had brought purifier pills. It was better no to dwell on such niggling thoughts. Instead, she took a deep breath of what felt like the first fresh air for aeons. It smelled of flowers, of muddy water and moist air, virginal and fresh without even a tinge of wood smoke.
The Servants lowered her to the floor and Trueth groaned as she raised herself on her elbows. 'Maybe you leave me here? This movement hurts my calf. I need a doctor--a healer I mean.'
Seisi shook his head. 'It will take a while until my people awaken. The fallen prophet said so, she advised to bring provisions and medicine, and she sent them forth through the light,' Seisi said.
So it had been Iseret looking after their wellbeing. Trueth found that thought strange but comforting. She would say a prayer for Iseret's caring black soul--if she did not die of gangrene beforehand. That was another problem with ancient civilisations. They tended to be unsanitary and harmful to general life expectancy.
'Trueth is right. She has to rest. How far away is the Nile? We'll be nice and safe in this courtyard. ' Metjen's mother examined a sky deplorably successful in its attempt at fading out the spectacular colours and handing over to the night-shift.
Seisi presented her with a stern non-look. 'We cannot make camp within the holy precinct. We shall rest in the shadow of the first gate. It takes only a few steps to the Nile, but we must make haste to get water before nightfall. The fallen prophet said the beasts will come back before man.'
That sounded ominous and Trueth wondered whether she had imagined the rustling behind those sweet smelling bushes in their faience containers. Before she could send anybody investigating, her four Servants picked her stretcher up one final time and carried her away from the warmth and safety of the courtyard.
They passed four pairs of gigantic pylons; only when they left the final pair did Seisi raise his hand. 'Halt your steps, we have arrived.'
Gingerly, the Servants lowered her stretcher onto the still warm slabs in front of the temple entrance. The slabs ran down several wide steps into an alley tastefully guarded by recumbent sphinxes with jackal heads. Out here, Trueth felt exposed. She would have preferred the courtyard; but the last thing she needed was smiting from above. Thinking about it, she wondered whether the gods might not help instead. Her team had done the impossible and got this place working again. Surely, gods owed them a smidgeon of divine relief?
Mrs Al-Nour had rummaged through the boxes and presented foldable plastic water containers and purifier tablets with a flourish. Seisi accompanied by Nefer, Isis and Tiye went to fetch the much-needed liquid.
Seisi had explained that they were still on holy ground but apparently the entrance was not as sacred as the rest. They would not commit a sacrilege or something that would be hard to explain afterwards-or even worse: that might cause penalties, when the sleepers came forward. Or the gods. If they ever did that.
The cats had been released from confinement, so Metjen threw a weak veil over their camp to stop them from straying. 'Whereby I'm convinced they won't run away. Mish-Mish loves humans and Blondie only loves his food so they will not stray.'
Trueth was not sure she agreed with that judgement as a distinctly smelly furry body snuggled up next to her, exhaling with relief. She dug her hand into Blondie's luxurious pelt and her mood improved--there was nothing like hairy mammals when you were looking for comfort. Voices and footsteps announced the return of the water bearers. Their containers were full. It appeared as if at least the Nile was still there, and no beasts had returned yet, or they were not yet hungry. The survivors certainly were, and food there was enough.
'I was expecting many more people, dear,' Mother Al-Nour said forlornly. Metjen jumped up and walked away, with Seisi on his heels. The last thing Trueth noticed before she dropped into an exhausted sleep was the two men in deep discussion.
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Image is from DeviantArt, 'Dendarah Temple' by Lystea.