Chapter One

H arwin looked at her previous boss. “Thank you for taking care of me. I know it has been amusing for you, but you always made sure to brief us on what we were walking into.”

Madam Yorness looked at her and reached up to pat her cheek. “You were an excellent bodyguard. My ship will assign me to another one, and Kris will pick up the slack, but we all know that can be excessively messy.”

Kris shrugged nearby. “She’s not wrong. I am getting better.”

Harwin nodded. “You are, but you need a chance to practice more. I will miss you, but if Madam Yorness allows, I will send you notices as to what I am getting up to.”

Yorness chuckled. “Of course, child. I have gotten attached to both of you. I look forward to finding out what the ancient world is willing to show you.”

Harwin grinned. “Me, too. May I give you a hug?”

Yorness opened her arms, and Harwin bent down to hug the elderly woman. “Thank you for taking care of us. It was an easy bond to get through and very entertaining.”

“It was interesting. You adapted well. Still too tall.”

“Blame that on the medics. We used to be shorter.” Harwin chuckled. It was a common reference.

Her ex-boss’s eyes rapidly blinked when Harwin straightened. “Go to the shuttle. The team is waiting for you. I will have to send Yasku’s consort’s friend Nessa so that Cassandra does not benefit from setting you loose.”

Harwin grinned. “Yeah, she deserves to be punished for doing a nice thing, and Yasku deserves to hear about it because he was the one who paid me out.”

“Yes, I will ignore that he provided me with a bonus as well. The next time I am out this way, I will remind him of how he has deprived me of one of the best daughters I have ever had.”

“If I can find you, I will come and visit and tell of my adventures.”

Yorness pressed a palm to her cheek. “Go.”

Harwin fist-bumped Kris and grabbed her bag. She turned and walked out on the two closest people she had had since leaving the education station. Once she left the station, her education had truly commenced.

She walked the path to the designated berth for the short-range shuttle and scanned her palm at the entry point to the shuttle with the designated glyph. The gate opened, and she walked through.

Yasku didn’t name the planet after himself, but the station was Yasku Station, and she was now on her way away from a colony of her people and several good friends.

The door of the shuttle opened, and she walked up the ramp. The professor’s assistant greeted her. “So, you are the muscle?”

“Yes.”

The Lemani’s skin looked to be made of tiny grey shingles; their eyes were usually tranquil shades of blue, but their pupils were square. Their height was about two-thirds of the human standard. This specimen came to mid-chest on Harwin, and he held his hand palm sideways.

She clasped his forearm. “Harwin of Terra.”

“Sossos of Leman.”

“Nice to meet you, Sossos.”

“Come on. The professor is going nuts wanting to meet you and pick your brain about your people.”

Harwin smiled and walked with him, listening to the chatter of how the team had placed bets on whether she was dumb or just needed to be around intelligence to feel important.

“Oh, I am not dumb; I am lacking education. The universe out here isn’t something I could even imagine, so now, I am trying to catch up.”

He paused. “That is a scenario we had not come up with.”

They settled in the seats of the tiny shuttle.

“Smart people can be some of the dumbest in the universe. They surround themselves with so much data that the world outside seems a million miles away, and no new information can come in.”

Sossos’s face shingles moved in a wave. Harwin had to guess it was embarrassment. She would figure it out with exposure.

The shuttle got clearance and then dropped from Yasku Station and headed for the transport vessel. Time to start her new life.

Harwin was hiding in the gym and working out. Three weeks of dealing with the team was sending her squirrelly. They wanted to know how primitives did anything and everything, and she was the most primitive creature they knew.

They were going to be at their destination world soon. Harwin was excited. Looking over the notes, she had been shocked to see familiar figures on ancient walls across the stars. She would have to pay attention to the finds on the research world. As she bench-pressed more than her favourite bookshelf at home, she considered everything that had happened and everything that might happen.

She was in the middle of her combat simulator when Sossos ran in. “Harwin!”

“What?” She ducked and punched.

“We drop in thirty minutes. We have been looking for you for hours.”

“I have been here. Wait. Thirty minutes?” She dodged a hit, rolled, and hit the stop button. “I will be there.”

“Base shuttle in bay six.”

“Got it.” She grabbed her bag and ran at a full tilt to her quarters. It took her ten minutes. Her bag was already packed, so she took a quick solar shower. Five minutes later she pulled on her security uniform, and then, she bolted out the door and headed for the drop shuttle. She passed Sossos and Minka on the way to the shuttle and nodded to the professor who was heading the team. She got behind the controls and made preliminary contact with the ship.

Sossos looked at her and snorted when he sat in the copilot’s seat. She checked the life signs on the shuttle.

“Sossos, do we have them all?”

“All accounted for. You are fast.”

“It’s the long legs.”

He grinned and went to make sure everyone was strapped in. When he came back and confirmed it, she finished drop clearance.

She hit the hover mode while the countdown marker glowed ahead of them and put her voice through the cabin. “Drop in three-two-one. Drop.”

The floor swung out, and the shuttle exited the shuttle bay. She cut the hover and let them drift out of the transport before turning slowly and heading into the star system.

“Clear of transport, coordinates locked in. We are away.” She hit the accelerator, and they picked up speed to get the archaeologists to their destination.

Sossos chuckled. “Well, you are a good pilot.”

“My previous assignment had me flying shuttles frequently.”

“Excellent. When will we be on Aten?”

She paused. “Is that the name of the planet? I didn’t read that in the briefs.”

“It was the ancient name of this world. It has been silent for over three thousand years.”

“So, why did the professor choose this place?”

Sossos smiled. “Because satellites show that winds have exposed a city in the sands. This is the mission of a lifetime.”

Harwin focused on the path to the target planet. She muttered, “I hope no one reads from the book.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Terran joke.” She smiled at the human joke and headed for the world of sand and pyramids.

Seven hours later they were entering the atmosphere, and Harwin held the controls steady as the winds tried to rock and tip them over. She hummed pop songs as she glided through the troposphere. When the city was in front of them, she eased their speed off and settled them in for a delicate landing.

When they were in the position on the computer’s nav system and the engines were cooling, she flicked the base activation. The ship began to stretch and expand like a monstrous tent, and rooms, labs, a galley, and other specific areas came into being at the flip of a switch.

In twenty minutes, their base would be ready, and they could leave their seats.

Harwin flicked on the acknowledgement light to release the others, and then, everyone began their tasks. She got up, stretched, and looked at Sossos. “How was the flight?”

“Smooth. Why did you pilot?”

“To put it bluntly, it is the only seat that fits me properly.”

He chuckled, but his face shingles flared in embarrassment. Yes, the flutter had turned out to be embarrassment.

“It’s fine. There are taller and smaller species. Not everything fits everyone.”

Sossos nodded. “Ready to start your dream job?”

“Sure. I am wondering why the professor has been hiding details from me.”

“Not just you. None of us know the exact details of this project. It’s a secret. We just trust the professor.”

“Well, he looks at me like I am a bug but a pretty bug. Now I get to find out why he was insistent that I was with this team.”

“What?”

“He made this offer two years ago. I only became available a week before I contacted him. He was shoving a guard contract at me hours later.” She grabbed her bag and headed into the transformed passenger area. The chairs had shifted into the dining area positions, and the space was large and open now.

She went to the dispenser and got a bag of water and some tea. Flying made her thirsty.

The professor smiled and nodded. “Excellent flying. Everyone in the boardroom. I have something very exciting to show everyone.”

The ship was still expanding, but the boardroom was off the galley.

Harwin asked, “Can I bring food?”

“Of course. We want to do preliminary scans of the site and make a plan of attack before we go out there. The suns are relentless.”

She didn’t hesitate. She went to the food dispenser and got her meal pack heating before the others could. She ate more and needed to get a head start.

Two minutes later she had her meal and was heading to the boardroom to take her seat.

It took twenty minutes, but they were all seated, and the far edges of the expanded base were creaking still. When the base screwed itself to the ground for stability, they relaxed.

Professor Kliotted looked at them and grinned. “We are the first team allowed on the surface since it cleared six years ago. This site was only cleared by the wind two years ago.”

They were excited as the display of the site came up.

“We have five years to discover the secrets of the sun city and record them for future generations. Our names are going to be recorded next to some of the most amazing finds in history.” The professor looked at her. “Yours, too, Harwin.”

“Thanks,” she said absently. She stood and reached for the display, enlarging images of the city and the statues. “Oh, wow. That is familiar.”

Kliotted’s eyes glittered. “Is it?”

She turned the display to enlarge the pathway leading to the giant pyramid. “Holy... that’s the great pyramid of Giza, only bigger.”

The team looked at her.

“It was a ruin on my home world before it was destroyed. A wonder of the ancient world. This looks exactly like it.” She stared. “This is trippy.”

Kliotten grinned. “And this is why I wanted you here. Gentle beings, we are on Aten, the silent world of Ra.”

Harwin sat down with a thud. “Wow.”

The professor grinned. “You, Harwin, were the last piece of the puzzle. Now that we have one of your people here, we have been allowed to begin our dig.”

“Wait. What?”

“One of your people is needed to open the doors of the great temple.”

She blinked. “You waited two years for me?”

“You are independent, strong, and can serve as security for our team, so it is better that you are the one with us.”

Harwin realized she had followed her dream and been suckered at the same time. That sounded right.

“Fine. Just tell me what you need me to do.” She finished her food and drink and watched the display as the professor went through the pillars, pathways, and statues. When the statue nearest the pyramid was the focus, she blinked. “Damn. Ra is a Hmrain.”

Kliotten grinned. “Yes. He was a legendary ancient Hmrain. He is thought to be the first of his kind to die.”

She didn’t say anything. She just paid attention while her mind played back every sun god myth she could remember. Having the Hmrain conflated with gods was understandable. She had met a few of them during her time with the merchant, and they were truly larger than life in every sense.

The briefing went on for half an hour, and then, everyone was ordered into their work gear and were to assemble outside the base in ten minutes.

Harwin went to her room and changed into her looser clothing. Her body armour wasn’t allowed in the ancient city. She had her invisible armour, and it could stop most sudden projectiles. Energy weapons would take her down, so she just had to be on guard.

They were literally the only people on this entire planet, so there weren’t any threats at the moment.

Harwin was excited. This was what she had dreamed of. The two suns were warm, and as one set, the other rose. Right now, the larger of the suns was bright and hot.

They walked slowly, and Harwin carried some equipment to set up a tiny examination zone. Whatever they found would be scrutinized in the shade.

The team was excited, and if Harwin admitted it, she was as well. The familiar statuary and motifs reminded her so much of home she ached. She had gone on a trip to Egypt with her school, and they had been invited to view some chambers in the Valley of Kings. She had been giddy then, and she was giddy now.

She sobered when she realized that it was over. Her world was over. Madam had insisted that they get therapy and mourn. They had cried and talked it out, but in the end, she and Kris had come out stronger. Much stronger.

She carefully set the equipment down and left the tents to the others as she turned to look at the statues. There were statues of what had to be Ra on either side of the pyramid pathway.

The tent and anchors were automatic, and the working base was up while Harwin was wandering around and staring at the building that both gave her hope and hurt her heart. There were so many memories wrapped up in this structure, this world.

Harwin acted as security for days while the team’s drones took in all the details of the exterior. The professor was mainly at the huge doors, trying to get them to open while the team examined the exterior of the pyramid.

She kept hydrated and kept herself on alert while the team bustled around and recorded hieroglyphic and hieratic panels around the structure. Occasionally, she helped move diagnostic equipment around and get drones back to the shuttle, but otherwise, it was a relaxing time.

Relaxation ended on the day the professor came by while she was watching the desert and sky.

“Miss Harwin, would you come with me? I believe I could use your particular skill set.”

“Sure, Professor.”

She walked with him to the front gates. The relief carvings were specific. There was Ra holding an ankh facing a female Egyptian human with her hand out, palm flat. “Well, that is fairly succinct.”

“You know what to do?”

She nodded and looked around until she found the precise thing she needed. There was a lotus on the wall. “Professor, do you have an air bulb or a brush?”

“Of course. We should get you a kit. You could help.” He handed over a brush.

“Yes, I probably could.” She looked at the lotus and gently swept the brush over it, dislodging sand and more sand. When the human-shaped handprint was exposed, she handed the brush back to the professor.

“Wait! I want to capture this.”

She looked at him, and he soon had the recorder aimed at her. “It isn’t that dramatic.”

She pressed her hand to the centre of the lotus, and a sharp pain stabbed through her palm. At that moment, Harwin wished she had used her left hand, but the carving had the right hand, so she used the right hand.

She pressed inward, and there was a series of thuds, and then a grinding started.

The entry point she was pressing against let the doors swing inward like an automatic door opener.

Kliotten was babbling with excitement, but Harwin kept her focus on her hand and pressed until the door was open.

She heard the team shouting and felt the cool rush of air from within. The panel must have gotten what it needed because the needle left her skin, and she was able to withdraw her hand and turn it toward her to examine the tiny red mark under her skin. It wasn’t bleeding, which was odd.

The excited researchers clumped on the threshold, and Harwin walked up behind them. The room was pristine. The entry hall was a blend of light and colourful tiles, and shadowed hallways led further into the building.

The professor asked, “Harwin, is this what the ruins are like on your home world?”

“No. The ruins on my home world are solid stone with burial chambers going deep into the earth. The chambers have different purposes for different layers of the burial process. There is nothing like this. This is... different.”

The team chattered and debated whether to enter or not, and Harwin looked at the flawless stone, guessing that they had been recently cleaned. Who the hell was inside the building?

* * * *

I n the peak of the pyramid a gentle chime began sounding, slow and steady. Mechanisms swung into place, and bots began to attend to the figure lying on the bed.