Chapter 13

After our meal another taxi took us to the Egyptian Antiquities Museum. This was very large building and very cluttered. Tommy especially liked the famous Tutankhamun collection. The beautiful gold death mask and sarcophagus were in the Royal Mummy room. Eleven other Pharaohs or dignitaries kept the same sleeping quarters.

We stayed until closing because there was simply so much to see or read about. I had found the director later in the day and pillaged his language and with it took much of what he knew of Egyptian history.

We had another nice meal but this time at a hotel. When I rolled Tommy to the boat we viewed the Al-Qalaa or the Citadel at night. The lights shining on it made it look much more mysterious than a castle with a wall around it.

I now dispersed some of the knowledge I had gained and talked about the old city and some of the remaining wall. We saw churches, mosques and synagogues all over the city.

Though it was dark we went to the ancient city of Thebes and saw the Valley of the Kings. I only talked about a few of the New Kingdom pharaohs and their final resting places here. On a lark I sent out our own probes and found many more unmarked sites. All had been pillaged though over the years.

The phone call that I figured should have come in twelve hours ago finally arrived. Margaret said, "How are you guys doing? It is kind of lonely around here now."

The probes at home indicated that Tom was at his computer now. "Let Tommy tell you about our trip. I would like you to keep it quiet though. We have not had a talk with your husband yet. If things work out well you and he will join us next week."

"Where are you now?"

Tommy spoke to the air, "We're in Egypt at the moment. We went to a gigantic bazaar and bought you presents. It was so crowded that it was hard to even walk. We had a nice meal then went into a gigantic museum and saw King Tut's death mask and a lot of other neat things. It was getting dark and we had another good meal. Right now we are over the Valley of the Kings outside Thebes. I got some clothes that an Egyptian boy would wear if he were on a camel crossing the desert.

"Megan learned Arabic really quick and talked to a man about... about buying something. They talked a long time and I think Megan got a good deal. Do you think dad will let me keep the three camels I got cheap?"

"Thomas Claystone, you didn't buy camels did you?" This was said in a loud and high if not worried voice.

"Next time mom. I only bought a bag that goes on a camel's back to hold things."

"I am going to swat your bum when you get home. You had me going."

The girls talked too but refused to give any hints of their purchases. They did say that one or the other of the parents would like what was purchased. Sandra said, "We'll see the great Sphinx and the pyramids next. It is supposed to be very beautiful at night. We are going to check and see if there really were some hidden rooms in the pyramids."

During the call we arrived at Giza and the girls described what they saw. Even with their change in mentality they were still tourists standing in awe of what was before them. Tommy kept adding phrases about some of the camels used to carry guests.

We all followed the probes as they did their investigation. Megan got very excited and said, "Mom! mom! I see a small room. This one isn't on the charts. There's a sarcophagus, weapons and some pottery. The body has a gold death mask still in place. The grave robbers never found this room. The probes show a tunnel that goes deep under the room and goes east then goes straight up. It's all full of sand."

I had a thorough knowledge of the pyramid in question. This lower room appears to be the real resting place of the pharaoh Cheops for there is a chamber that was picked clean some twelve metres above. Grave robbers were a fact of life especially when the thought of losing ones life meant little to the very poor.

"Is that the Cheops Pyramid?"

"Yes, yes it is. We could be famous... but we can't tell anybody. Either they won't believe us or they will wonder how we know of its existence."

Tommy excitedly said, "Can't we dig it up. I could use a gold death mask."

"Thomas Claystone, you are treading on thin ice. That would be not only a crime against Egypt but against the entire world. Everybody will want to know about this find not just what you decide to leave behind."

"Sorry mom. I just wasn't thinking."

Margaret asked, "What are you going to do about this discovery Leif?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? This would be more important than King Tut. He was not as powerful as King Khufu."

"Nothing I can do. If Tommy wants, he can begin some archaeology courses. If some of your universities will recognise them then he can find the hidden room for us. It is probably better though to leave the find for a bit longer until your science finds out how to preserve what people find better. I found a lot of information out at the Egyptian Antiquities Museum. The rooms themselves are being slowly destroyed. They would be in much better shape if they had never been opened."

"You're right. I just wanted to see what was in the room."

"Margaret, I can send in a small device. They are smaller than a fruit fly. A trip through the sand may be possible but will take a considerable amount of time. There are some small openings between the blocks of stone. The devices can take some pictures and relay the information out to us. The time taken would be from a few weeks to a few months depending on what difficulties are found along the way."

"Can you really do that? I would just love to see what the room looks like."

"The units are on their way."

"Thanks Leif. This is so exciting. Oh... I have to go. Tom has crawled from his cave."

We all said our goodbyes and we continued to look for anything new outside the pyramid. We found old stone foundations and portions of a stone road. Pottery and even some glass was found but this was just garbage thrown away by people thousands of years ago.

We did find a lump of gold. Two probes went close to it to give us a better idea of what it was. The metal itself was worthless to me but Humans found some value in it. This gold turned out to be fifteen gold coins, twenty nine silver, and forty six bronze. It was at the base of a destroyed wall but the top of the wall was two metres under the sand. The coins were a half metre below that. The nice thing about this situation was that the wall had no intrinsic value. There was nothing to be learned about it other than where it had been placed. There wasn't even mortar used to hold it together.

The find had been noticed by the others. I said, "The coins will show nothing except the period they were produced. They were probably buried for safekeeping at some time in the past and after the wall had been erected. We can extract the coins without damaging any value the wall may have. What do you think? Do you want more souvenirs?"

"Ya!" Came from Tommy and the rest smiled and said yes mentally.

There were a great many ways I could extract the coins but that would not make the find worthwhile in my opinion. I made four shovels and had the boat scrape away a wide area of sand around the coins. We now got out and dug. Sand kept falling back into the hole so the hole had to be made quite wide. Ten minutes later the wall was found and the three got very excited.

Sandra and Megan threw the sand to Tommy and I to throw further away. They found themselves in each others way most of the time. Intelligence did not overplay a human's capacity for adventure and perhaps a bit of greed.

Megan finally found the lump and carefully pried the fused metal to the surface. After checking with the probe the hole was filled again. This took a much shorter time. With everybody in the boat the tractors were used again to put the majority of the sand back as it was.

The three Humans stared at the lump now not knowing just what to do. I said, "The soil has been moist at times and some electrolytic action has occurred. The sensors tell me that there is more than enough information on the coins to reconstruct each of them back to their original state. The ions that migrated can be put back into position. If you want I will make a special bath of chemicals and dissolve the dross.

They just looked at me basically hoping that they would get their coins back. The lump they found was not nearly the same as shiny metal.

A container was made then the individual chemicals. The lump went into this container and the fumes captured. A med unit worked over the coins. A small tractor moved the coins as they came loose. The med unit knew what the coins were supposed to be like from what the sensors said. In half an hour the first of the sparkling coins appeared. It looked freshly minted. All of the dross had been reworked to capture any of the metals. Now the coins were oxidised to show the patina of age.

The coins were now spread on a flat surface for my crew to examine. Sandra said, "These aren't Egyptian. They're Roman. Some of the coins have Julius Caesar's face on them."

"Well they date back to the time of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemaic rulers. They may not be as impressive as our find under King Khufu's pyramid but still it is over two thousand years ago. Each coin is worth a considerable amount of money. Let me incase them in a hard clear plastic so they will not be damaged and you can dispose of them as you want."

Megan said, "Some of these are yours Leif. I don't feel right if you don't get any." Sandra and even Tommy agreed.

The fabricator made some of the material I wanted and the pieces of metal were submerged. An extension of the plastic was put in at the edge of the coin and over the head on its surface. A small hole formed and now they could be worn if this struck any of their fancies.

When they were all in front of them I took three gold, seven silver and eleven bronze coins. The gold ones I looked at and gave one to each of the people in front of me. "These I choose to give to my wives and a family member as presents."

Soon the girls claimed to be sleepy and we broke apart. Tommy went to his quarters while my wives showed their appreciation for my gifts. We got to sleep much later but that was only their regular time. We woke up at three in the afternoon just as we arrived a day ago.

Cairo was a much different city on Sunday. Much of the city was closed up but it was still possible to find places to eat. When the inner man was appeased we started our own tour once more. Megan or I told the other two what we were seeing below.

When Tommy was starting to get a bit bored we flew to Alexandria and gave him a brief history lesson. We then flew up the Nile. Part way up Margaret phoned and Tommy gave her a running documentary of what we did since awakening. The coins would be a surprise. We found Victoria Falls and Tommy vividly told his mother what he saw He didn't run out of words as we flew over Lake Albert then to Lake Victoria. We searched for the streams that fed the lake to find the probable area that would form the real start. It turned out to have many starts and just considered the lake as the beginning.

Margaret hung up to do some chores. We were going to depart soon but I had Borin look for a pride of lions. When we found one we swooped down. We got within a metre of the cats and they didn't know we were there. The girls and Tommy spoke in low tones as if not wanting to disturb the cats quietly sleeping in the late afternoon.

Tommy happily piloted our way home after finding the course for himself. Sandra had him go by way of China to show him where we had gone the week before. He thought his sisters lucky to have gone twice but he was the one piloting the ship now and that was better than getting any number of rides.

The girls used the cleanser on each other. Tommy and I took care of each other. We landed in the back yard again and came into the house. Margaret was aware of our approach because we mentally broadcast it to her.

She kissed each of her children and only after a small amount of hesitation did the same to me. We sat at the table and she said with wide open eyes, "Ok now, what did you get? I can't wait."

Each of the girls slipped a bronze coin across the table. Before Margaret examined it they each pushed over a silver coin. Tommy now pushed a single gold coin to form a line in front of their mother. Margaret was dying to ask but decided to check instead. She started with the first coins and her eyes grew large. The second type was checked and she hurriedly moved to the centre coin.

"Where... where did you get these?"

Tommy said mentally and I carried his thoughts to his mother, "We simply found an old horde of coins left by a merchant or maybe a Roman soldier. They have not seen the sun for over two thousand years. The gold coin shows Julius Caesar from when the Roman empire ruled Egypt. There are some older coins too and now I have to study Roman history to find out more. We wanted you to have these."

Margaret had tears in her eyes and got up to hug us. When she settled down a bit she said, "Wait until I show Tom. He will just love these coins."

I reminded her in a whisper, "Margaret, you have to first consider if you are going to join us or not. I would like a chance to talk to Tom first. Seeing these coins may not be bad because I could have purchased them. The fact that I was not born here may give him too many problems unless this is handled with a bit of finesse."

"When do you want to talk to him?"

"Please tell me first about your wishes. Do you want to join my crew? It means long hours away from most of the rest of humanity. You will not be able to teach because you will be learning yourself for many years to come. When that is well underway you will work on our ship. The research ship is still not decided on because of the time it takes to fabricate it and train the large crew."

"I have done a lot of thinking about this. You said my lifespan now would be very long. Even ten years of learning can't be that long..."

"Thirty or more Margaret."

"Ok thirty years of training with an unlimited lifespan is not that much. I would be happy to accept a position on your crew Leif."

"Thank you Ensign second class Claystone. You may speak to Ensign first class Claystone to get an idea of what we were doing." Turning to the girls I said, "Take your mother to the boat. Get your pilot to show her where we were the last two weekends and find a place to visit for next weekend."

I got two quick but intense kisses and they all ran off dragging their mother. Tommy was right behind ready to give his expertise if it were needed.

The door to the study was closed and I knocked on the door. "Tom, it's Leif. You have a few moments?"

"Come on in." When I got in, he said, "I was only studying. What's up?"

"I just want to talk for a few minutes. This is going to spoil your day in a nice way I hope."

"What is it?"

"Well I have to talk around the bush for a few moments to set the stage. Please bear with me. First I was born basically the way I am now though that was almost thirteen years ago. I want you to look at my earlobes and my teeth for just a moment."

Tom turned his head and looked at me and I opened my mouth to show him my nice white teeth. "So?"

"They are not the way I was born. I had no earlobes and had to grow them. I had more teeth and they were smaller. I had to change a bit to fit in."

"What is all this leading to?"

"I don't like to lie but sometimes I allow people jump to the wrong conclusion. You thought my family was Italian. I said that my family had spread out for a thousands of years and we were a lot more like Europeans than just one nationality. You made an improper assumption because I actually wasn't born on Earth at all."

Tom was stunned. In a moment he said, "That can't be. You're Human."

"I am very close to a Human but not a perfect match. My race is very much like Humans but there are some differences like my teeth and ears. There is more too if you care to listen."

"Go right ahead."

"My people are called the Seffra. I think a long time ago one of our race learned about his mind or was a sport and had it naturally. Anyway he was able to command his body to heal itself. This lead to increased intelligence and then to mental communications. The self healing feature allowed us to live a long time if we chose to not end our lives earlier. Our minds retained knowledge very well and with our intelligence we found new correlations in science.

"We built a very good civilization that has lasted a long time. Large ships were sent out with many families onboard. They would visit different solar systems and try to learn a bit more about life and our universe. Sometimes we would find races in need of help and we would give it. Sometimes the races were belligerent and we left them alone. A few of the more intelligent and progressive races were asked to join us. Their numbers are few for most of those races are happy where they are.

"On occasion we come across highly advanced races that kill other races. Some justify this irrational act so their own kind will be the last surviving race. Other beings need to hunt. As part of this ritual they eat other intelligent species while leaving animal life alone. They have machines that make any type of food imaginable.

"Those races that wantonly kill others have met a weak champion of the beings they kill. We have been in an open war for thousands of years. If we find the Graskor or the Suma we attack. If we do not they will do the same thing. So far it has been our research that has kept us ahead most of the time. Our ships are not as heavily armed but can move quicker.

"My own story mainly begins when I was given a special crystal." I paused for a moment and Tom came out of his reverie and asked, "Shouldn't the rest of the family be listening to this?"

I gave a weak smile and said verbally, "Borin, hail the boat and put an interior image on the monitor here."

From the computer speaker we heard, "Yes, Captain."

Tom looked at the computer screen and saw his family sitting in strange chairs in an even stranger enclosure. Tommy looked in the pickup's direction and said, "Hi dad."

"Where are you?"

"In orbit at the moment," he said while trying to suppress showing his utter joy of flying. "We are three hundred kilometres above the Atlantic at the moment coming onto the coast of Africa in thirteen seconds."

"What are you guys doing?"

"I am learning to pilot and navigate. Mom is learning about power systems. Sandy is interfacing with the computer to search for any wreckage that fell to the Earth a few million years ago. Megan is studying the precision fabricator we are going to be building. Leif says that we may build a research vessel here. I am going to be one of the pilots that will take the parts to orbit. You can be one too," he said with grin that said he had found something of great value.

"When are you coming home?"

"Anytime you need us. We can be there in two or three minutes max. Those astronauts have nothing on me."

Tom simply said, "Have fun," and I could detect quite a bit of longing to be with them.

Tom turned back to me and asked, "Why did you come to Earth Leif? From what you said there are a great number of advanced races that you would fit in with better than with Humans."

"We found the Suma plundering a world. We were forced to attack a large grouping because another and larger force of Suma were right behind us. We destroyed all of the major ships. In a subsequent Suma attack, my own smaller ship was severely damaged. Borin who you know of as a computer entity is actually that. She is a true artificial intelligence. She put me and my crew into stasis before she was also severely damaged.

"Close on three centuries later a chance movement of the ship caused me to awake. I found two of my crew dead. I awoke Borin and began repairs. Though the repairs could be made anywhere there was a ready supply of raw materials, I still wanted people to be around me. Earth was only ten lights away and I came here. Your people produce some very heavy elements that I need to rebuild some portions of my ship. I could produce them myself but the process would take years longer. I simply made good diamonds and sold them for the money needed to purchase what I need.

"I flew invisibly across the Earth and continued selling my goods and eventually came to Stanley Park. I was interested in learning more about Humans. When I found that Sandra was going to be attacked I had to do something. It was easy to find in their minds that this was not an acceptable practice. As you know I helped her and read the mind of the worst of the perpetrators. He had killed and raped before. I wrote out his crimes on a piece of paper and drew the police to the area.

"In the process I found my first wife and this led me to my second.

"My plans for the future are to build the precision fabricator mentioned by your son and use it to manufacture some of the intricate components for my ship. If it looks like Humans can be trusted then I would start building my own research vessels and crew them with Humans. The Humans though have to have their intelligence increased, as well as being able to converse mentally. In the process you gain full control over your body. This means that you heal quickly, and basically have the ability to stop the aging process. My people have done this and live for thousands of years if they wish."

Tom asked in a weak voice, "You want us to help you build ships and then crew them? Was what Tom said correct?"

"Yes it was. The down side is that your increased mental abilities will distance you from the rest of humanity that has not had the treatment. You read the newspapers and watch the news and will see even more vividly how much more Humans act childishly. Later it will appear much worse simply because you can see ways of avoiding all that unpleasantness."

"What do you see for me personally?"

"Anything you want. You go into training and in ten years you see what you really want to do with your life. You then learn about that particular facet. Your brain will be able to handle a wide selection of knowledge. You will be a scientist in a few fields and an engineer in others. Your entire training will last for thirty or so years."

"Anything else Leif?"

"Well; when a male is altered similarly to my race, I think he will have a much stronger urge to procreate or at least practice at this ability. The females are very receptive but need a break once in a while. This is accomplished by the family having eight to fourteen wives. There have been larger families but they are fairly uncommon. The women like this arrangement very well and usually work out amongst themselves who needs to have some male attention. Because of our long lives few children are produced though some women have had hundreds of children in the course of their lives."

"So that's why you want both of my daughters."

"Partially but mainly it is because my race can detect an aura that is around all living things. Both of your daughters, by sheer coincidence, have the aura that very closely compliments mine. It is like opposite poles of a magnet attracting each other. I could not leave them and be happy and they are the same way. Most marriages in our race do not necessarily have the auras complimenting to the same degree. There is usually only a fair match and they still get along very well.

"Your family will be coming back soon and you could talk to them about my offer. Sandra, Megan and I can facilitate the transfer of thought among the three of you that have not gained this ability. You might find this fun to discuss your concerns. Your son has not been officially asked to join the crew yet but by now he considers himself already committed. Whether you are ready to commit yourself or not, I would like to offer a trip to anyplace on the planet next weekend."

"Where have you gone?"

"Better let your children answer. Their replies would be much more heart warming with their exuberance. Now you may want to get back to your studies. Don't be alarmed if thoughts now come into your head. Just reply the same way and Borin will understand. This will speed your education up greatly and bypass the subterfuge that Borin had to use to hide her abilities."

I went to the kitchen and began to make a meal. This was no time to have a family discussion in a public place even if it were all silent. An hour later the family got back. Tom was in the backyard when he saw each of his family suddenly appear close to the house. They ran to him and gave him a very excited hug. Tom was just getting used to the silent form of communication and was still trying to come to terms with it.

Over our meal a great many different things were discussed. This was much quicker and richer than verbal communication. I acted as mediator in some ways and kept the discussion on what I could give to the group and what their responsibilities would be.

Nobody argued with the long training time now that they knew how short it was in comparison to the remainder of their lives. Megan, after the meal showed her powers of healing. Margaret was not as bothered this time but not unaffected either.

Tommy just said, "Neat! Can I try that?"

A distinct, "No," came from both parents.

The discussion went on to where we had gone the last two weekends. The girls were very graphic about their dealings and even talked to each other verbally in Chinese. Tom was worried about legal ramifications but considered that we were smart enough and had enough resources to get us out of trouble.

They talked of what they had purchased and then about the child falling. The two parents looked at me strangely trying to figure what I had done and how I had done it.

Tommy used very animated speech about his contributions to this weekend. It was a bit odd to see his hands moving and even his head but no sounds issuing from his mouth. After a slightly biassed rendition of the story he ran and got the coins we had found. As predicted, Tom was enthralled with their age and beauty. His children gave him a set similar to what was given to their mother.

The find under the Great Pyramid was left for last. I said, "Probes are currently working to get in. This has to be done with the minimum of damage. There is a considerable amount of sand blocking the tunnel and I am not optimistic that we will get through soon. You might want to think of ways that we can give the world this information without letting them know that we are doing it or that a race with superior technology has found it."

For the next week things remained much the same. Everybody went to school and tried to forget that they were now crew. Tommy had to continue with sports and extra curricular activities even though he wanted to go home instead. We had a trip to see some of the ruins in South America. Tommy had to give up his chair to his father and felt a bit put out about that.

From the jungle floor we found obsidian daggers and other weapons. Traces were found of skeleton remains for this must have been an ancient battle. With so many to choose from we took a sampling of the best for our collection.

We again did some shopping. Everybody including myself learned a bit more about preparing food. Margaret forbid Tommy coming home with an eight metre anaconda. He pretended to sulk about not getting even one camel either.

Margaret and Tom were preoccupied at school and their colleagues noticed. Tom got a call from Tommy's teacher which didn't help his concentration any.

Mrs Schroder said, "We are concerned about your son Mr Claystone. We had a simple science test. One of the questions pertained with flying to the moon and what they would find along the way. I believed the class would have just replied from information about the Apollo missions we had studied. Your son's reply was much more detailed. He not only gave figures for mass and thrust but continued with what would have to be done to achieve a stable orbit.

"The mathematics was far over my head and I sent it to the math department at your university. It just came back today stating that everything looked perfect."

Tom replied, "Tommy's newest love is space flight. As you know I am an aeronautical engineer and he has asked me quite a few questions. This was a good way for us to bond a bit more before he wants to be on his own. His inquisitive mind has absorbed quite a bit of mathematics as long as it had to do with his current passion. If you want a good idea about current engine technology ask him during lunch one day. Make sure he eats something because he will run on for so long that he will forget."

That night we had a talk with Tommy. We knew it was hard to hide his light under a bushel. Tommy was in the near genius area and it was thought to put him with his peers. Tommy didn't like this because it would keep him away from his studies more.