Chaox Tempus

Temporal Attrition

-1- Maya Flight

The sun was low in the evening sky as the lone pair of Sleek F-14x Tomcats slid through the quiet desert air. The wind parted ways in advance of their swept wings and the sound of their whining engines trailed somewhere in the distance behind, likely still lingering over the Mediterranean Sea. It was as if the twin forms were as silent as desert itself, the only trace of their existence were the shadows cast below them, dancing and shimmering amongst the sands as they raced ever onwards towards the great Pyramids of Giza.

Ahead of the two test aircraft were the stars, eagerly awaiting the encroaching sunset. The moon hung low in the sky, crawling slowly in antithesis to falling sun; it would only be a matter of minutes until a rare annular eclipse would cover the entire region in penumbral shade. The twin craft were loaded with an experimental weapon system, some recon cameras and extra fuel tanks. Compared to any other military planes these two looked barren, with most weapon pylons unused. Their mission was simple, they had to race the sun and reach Khartoum in what was once known as Sudan; there they would land and begin a series of test flight sorties.

If anyone had been left alive in Egypt, the view would’ve been startling; nothing living had graced the land in sixty years. The planes themselves were quite odd as well, the lead F-14 was painted white, and except for a painstakingly crafted insignia of a Jaguar against an Erupting volcano, it sported no flags, or markings of any kind, not even engine intake warning marks, it stood out against the heavens like a falling star cutting through the sky. The trailing F-14 was another story, it was covered in a mosaic of Mayan glyphs; it is likely no one knew its original color, it must’ve been painted and repainted a dozen times. Upon the tail fins, provided one could look carefully enough, one could make out the word Chac, the name of an ancient Mayan god of Rain.

The Pilots and their R.I.O.s (Radar Interceptions Officers) glanced at each other, and engaged their sunfoils. The clarity of the cockpit glass shimmered and faded from clear and nearly invisible to a thick and mostly opaque gray. The Pyramids were coming up fast; they marked the first way point before changing to a more southerly course. Clouds began to brew in within the darkening sky, and in what would be pure coincidence, the Eclipse would begin in a matter of seconds. The radio silence was broken as Ranna flatly spoke “Sector course, arrow 2, mark in 10, vector 277″. Kade replied “Ryokai”. Ranna began a countdown, “Nine – Eight – Seven – Six – Five – Four – Three”

It wasn’t much of a coincidence after all, the eclipse began somewhere between the numbers 3 and 2, and the countdown continued flawlessly other than a little turbulence. “Two – One – Mark.” Both aircraft performed the change to course 277 and continued on their way. “Riley?” The voice came across the radio questioningly. Riley was Kade’s R.I.O. “What is it Hawk?” replied Riley. “Did your watch stop? My mission clock and my watch are both reading 19:54:32…” Riley looked at his clock and said, “Huh, that’s odd, are you imagining things? Mine’s counting normally” Hawk looked back at the clock it was counting; it must’ve been his imagination.

This would’ve been perfectly normal of course, Hawk was always worried about trifling things and it didn’t help that most of the other instruments were functioning normally. The H.U.D.’s (Heads Up Display) displayed the proper vector, and upon further checking, the dual F-14s were still reading the same time. It’s a pity they didn’t notice that the gimbals on both craft had begun to spin wildly, but nobody pays enough attention to those anymore and the anomaly didn’t last very long anyway. They continued on schedule and canceled the sunfoil once the eclipse was over. They would arrive at Khartoum in a few more hours.

-1.2- Advance Landing

The starlit skies over the Sudan were cloudless and silent. The horizon of the desert was clearly visible against the faint twinkling of infinite space and the desert was as black as an ink-spot. It would have been an amazing view from within the cockpits had it not been for the myriad lights, dials, meters and displays. The pilots had no way of enjoying the silence due to the mechanical sounds inside, air rushing from the vents harmonizing with the internal hums of the avionics systems; it was a veritable orchestra of technological cacophony. One had to be on the ground to truly appreciate the experience of a desert night.

“Kade, we’re coming up on Nav point Kh one, E.T.A. is five minutes” said Riley in a relaxed voice, he completed his thought, “Looks like we’re almost there, I sure hope the risk we took is worth it” Riley was a tall and slender man with dark hair and a chiseled jaw, who was frequently a bit too relaxed for military protocol; That was probably why he was with this two bit mercenary squadron. They didn’t really have a name, but most people referred to them as Ranna’s Irregulars, they were always the underdogs and always out for the extra Euro. Kade replied in a strong Australian accent “What do you mean, 5 minutes? Is the clock right? I’ve got no runway beacon, and the ground’s black as an oil covered peacock at night. Either there’s a power shortage that’s hit the whole city, or our navcoms are down.”

Riley radioed to Hawk, and confirmed the navcom readings; something wasn’t right, the radars were clear; there was nothing on the ground or in the air. Hawk checked the channels and found no signals. “Riley, there’s no broadcasts, not even on AM or FM” said Hawk with a slight amount of tension. “Hawk, maybe there’s some kind of interference; I’ll check the navsat data.” It was then that Riley’s easygoing personality changed, He frantically started checking instruments, nothing had signal. Kade spoke, “What the hell’s goin on back there, you sound like you’re about to start ripping components out.” “Kade, we’ve got nothing, no signals, the radar’s still workin we can see Ranna’s craft clear as day, but there’s nothing else, not even GPS data.”

The two craft were alone, lost from all signals. Kade shouted across the com channel “What the hell happened? The whole verse didn’t just shut down did it? We must’ve flown through some interference; it’s got to be our instruments!” Unfortunately the instruments were right, nothing was wrong internally and the whole universe had stopped transmitting and the real problem was about to make itself known; they were supposed to be landing and were approaching bingo fuel. Ranna calmly started radioing on every frequency for position, and emergency landing procedures, but there was nothing. In another half an hour, both planes would be on the ground, one way or another.

Hawk spoke up, “I’ve pulled up a contour map of the area this area, the navcom is matching data with the terrain cam’s, we’re in the right place, it looks like there’s a dry lake bed two clicks to the west, we might be able to land on it, but it looks a might short it’s flat enough, it’s either that or the Mesa eight clicks to the west, I say we alter course and do a flyover, not like we’ll be able to see much anyway. The Mesa’s long enough, but couldn’t tell you how flat it would be” It was one or the other, or land in the dunes below, nothing seemed a good option. Bailing out certainly wasn’t. If they lost the planes, they’d have more serious problems to worry about. Kade and Ranna agreed, and altered course.

It didn’t take too long to get to the lake bed. “Looks long enough” said Hawk. “Wait a minute; how can you see where-” The others all noticed it too, the reflection of the stars against the blackened ground; the lake bed certainly wasn’t dry. “You sure we’re in the right place?” said Ranna. “Yeah.” They flew on towards the mesa, and had enough starlight to see the outline of the black against the horizon, it was at least enough to know where it was. “Let’s try it” Ranna was the better pilot; she angled the plane and began descending “Just keep reading me our altitude in regards to the mesa, Last thing I want to do in this twilight zone is to smash into a cliff.” Kade’s plane trailed behind, it was tense, everyone was sweating, and everyone was silent. A small breath of air escaped Ranna’s lips as the rear wheels touched the ground. It was going to be a rough landing.

-2- Signs of God

The morning sun glared from the twin cockpits. The two planes had survived the landing, but weren’t going anywhere without much fuel. What’s worse was that Kade’s plane was damaged, the rear landing gear had taken a shock and wasn’t going to be retracting anytime soon and to make matters worse the nose wheel was broken. Kade’s nose was on the ground. Luckily everyone had survived unharmed. Kade and Hawk had gone off to look for some supplies, communications towers, or anyone who could help.

Ranna’s mind was full of thoughts; just maybe they’d bring back some firewood; not that it was likely they had a chance of finding firewood in the middle of the desert. It was cold at night and something they had hoped not to face again. Memories of lost comrades and a failed mission in Siberia came flooding to Ranna’s mind. The sunrise was serene, the contrasting hues made it hard to work. It was going to be really really warm in a couple hours. Ranna had to work fast, she was attempting to take full account of the situation, creating lists of what they had and what they needed, setting up camp and hoping to get a radio signal and attempt whatever repairs she could.

When Ranna got around to playing with the radio, the frequencies were still all blank, nothing, not even EM interference from other sources. It was as if the entire sky had gone into stasis. It wouldn’t be long before they’d have to find some shelter somewhere, there was no shade to be had anywhere, and they weren’t equipped with much extra water. Ranna didn’t like that a routine flight had turned into a nightmare survival situation. At least they were equipped to survive for awhile in an emergency; they’d been in plenty of bad situations before, this one was just the most anomalous.

Riley was busy checking the camera systems for clues and he was about to find more than he’d bargained for. The laptop link was set up and data was transferring, he checked the flight recording data, and everything was set, no glitches, no pauses. Or so it seemed on first check. Then, there it was, just before the first waypoint turn all of the exterior signals had disappeared. “Ranna, check this out, everything’s gone silent. It’s like we lost contact with the world here.” said Riley with a bit of intrepidness in his voice. Ranna came over and replied “huh, Damn it’s getting hot, what did you say?” Riley repeated himself and added half talking to himself, “What’s the time index? It happened at 19:54:32 huh. That’s strange.”

Riley checked the voice recorders, Hawk had reported his watch stopping then, funny that the flight recorders didn’t show any pauses. The camera data had finished compressing and was ready to be viewed. Riley forwarded to just before the time index and watched. The rear cameras had nothing, the forward cameras shown something entirely different. The eclipse was beautiful, and the moment it started a beam of light shown from the three pyramids to the Belt of Orion in the sky, plain as day, that pale white light was mysterious and inviting. The eclipse itself was strange, as if a path of god, the beams from the pyramids split towards the eclipse and another set of light from Orion’s belt into the center of the eclipse.

It was some kind of celestial gateway, and the two planes had flown right through it, but as the cameras went through it nothing changed. Just as if flying through the air, the intangible light was just that, a gateway in looks only, at least to the forward cameras. The rear cameras had shown an entirely different phenomenon, but Riley had neglected to look at them, his mind was too busy trying to solve the puzzle. If he had looked, he would’ve noticed that flying away from the sight, after time mark 19:54:32 two of the three great pyramids of Giza had vanished entirely, they just weren’t there anymore. Of course, He’d probably see it later upon the return of Hawk and Kade; they’d all have the chance to see it later, but it wouldn’t matter so much by then.

It was approaching 10 am, the ground was getting hot. Ranna had ordered the unpacking of the parachutes; at least they could turn the two planes into a giant tent, and gather some semblance of shade. As they were finishing the tent the radio squawk was a godsend… *SQK* “Anyone there?” It was Kade, A breath escaped from Ranna’s lips, and with it so had her hopes of hearing from civilization. The repeating distress beacon hadn’t attracted any attention yet. “We’ve secured a path to the lake; we’ll dig a foxhole here and use the chutes to create a small pocket of shade, waters plenty clean and fresh too. Suggest waiting until dusk to make the return trip, it’s getting mighty hot.” Ranna smiled; at least they’d have water.

-2.2- Abandon all hope

Kade and Hawk walked through the sun, in the general direction of Khartoum. It was bright; the kind of bright that makes you wish you could turn off the sun. Hawk looked at his watch, it was around eleven. “We should be relaxing, drinking a cold beer, getting ready for lunch and preparing for the mission, not walking through the desert with our flight suits, trying to find civilization.” said Hawk grudgingly. Kade also really hated the idea of walking through the desert, but he didn’t say anything. Hawk continued “Well, I’m sure Riley will figure out what’s up with the electronics, and they’ll send out a convoy for us soon.” Hawk’s voice was full of false self assurance, he didn’t believe a word of it, deep down he know they were out of luck, doomed to die. Kade’s silence wasn’t very reassuring.

After hours of walking, their feet hurt, the sun burned and the silence echoed. “Hawk, there, in the distance” Kade pointed as he spoke. “Is Khartoum burning?” asked Hawk. There in the distance on the endless horizon, black smoke poured into the sky. It was dark and billowing, one could’ve used any adjectives to describe it, the only thing special about it, was its appearance. The two walked faster, towards the source. It was approaching two in the afternoon. “Kade? Should we break radio silence and tell the other’s we’ll be late? It looks like it’s going to take another hour or so, by the time we return it will be around midnight, if we can keep this pace up.” “We have orders.” replied Kade. “But, we should inform them, we were ordered to return too you know.” “Look,” said Kade, “Ranna will know we’re just delayed, we’ll break radio silence if we get into a situation. You worry too much.”

The two finally reached the sight of the smoke, they approached cautiously only to find more silence. There, in the rocky desert, were 14 large torches arranged in a single slightly curved line upon a strangely shaped stone slab. From this distance it was difficult to tell exactly what it was; perhaps an entrance to a tomb. As they approached, they walked across what appeared to be scars on the surface of the earth, as if a great fire or rocket had scorched the desert’s rocky skin. There was oddly no sand here. The two men were affronted with a sense of foreboding, forlorn and fear. Upon the center of the horrifying dais was a gruesome sight, it was a person, it was difficult to tell if it was a man or woman. The person was wrapped in bandages, in some kind of fetal position, kneeling backwards; his or her arms were protruding from the bandages, with hands tied behind its back.

Kade and Hawk approached with trepidation, wanting to understand a bit more of what was going on. As they rounded the front of the body Hawk’s face turned sour and he began to dry heave. Kade looked at the scene with the cold eyes of a soldier confronting something that didn’t pose a threat. The face was twisted in agony and horror, a scream locked on the face, eyes wide open, frozen in the instant of death. There, on the body’s neck were several cuts, and a piece of bamboo. As if like a tracheotomy the bamboo presented what appeared to be a passage to breath. Blood was slowly trickling down the bamboo into a large clay bowl, upon some kind of cloth. The bowl was nearly half full. Along the ground were several symbols drawn in a kind of ash. They were unrecognizable to the pair, but modern day anthropologists might have determined that they were similar to ones from Abydos, around the time of the first dynasty in Egypt.

“My god, what happened here?” asked Hawk, recovering from the horrific sight. “I don’t know” replied Kade. Next to the dais, was another clay pot, Kade investigated, it was full of water. Hawk looked around as well, but there was nothing else there, no other signs of life, nothing. “We take the torches and water, and return to camp, we need the wood. “But what if whoever did this comes looking for us?” asked Hawk. “I don’t think they’ll walk out into the middle of the desert, they sure as hell won’t have any tracks to follow once the wind picks up.” Hawk wasn’t so certain. The two took a small break, backed away from the corpse and sat down. Kade started eating his ration. “How the hell can you eat that? Especially with that… thing behind us?” asked Hawk incredulously. Kade replied simply, “I’m hungry, and I’m not walking for eight hours on an empty stomach. This seems as good a time as any. You should eat too.” Kade was right, and Hawk knew it, his body was tired, he needed food, the two ate quietly.

“We’ll we better get movin, it’s been long enough and I want to get the hell out of here” said Hawk. It was approaching 4 and it would take about 8 hours to get back to base camp. No sooner than had Hawk started speaking, Kade was already trying to lift up the torches but having trouble. “Hawk give me a hand will you?” asked Kade. The torches were locked into the ground somehow, they wouldn’t budge. They spent another 5 minutes trying to remove one, but couldn’t manage. “What in the verse? These damned things are immovable”! It didn’t matter who had made the exclamation. Hawk gave up and started trying different torches, while Kade pulled out his survival knife and began to cut at the wooden base. As Kade tried to cut, he found he couldn’t, it was as if there was a mysterious force protecting the wood, he couldn’t even make a scratch, the torches weren’t going anywhere, unlike the approaching sandstorm.

-2.3- Shades of Death

“We should be alright up here” The chaotic sandstorm was almost directly on top of Kade and Hawk as their radio finally went to static. It had been fading in concert with the ever increasingly strong gusts of wind. As Kade struggled with the jar of water, Hawk had broken radio silence to inform Ranna and Riley of the sandstorm and their situation. Kade had agreed, primarily because the sandstorm seemed unnatural, as if divine, or perhaps infernal, providence was guiding the sandstorm directly towards the two. They were running flat out away from the storm front and towards the rocky hills to the west. The sand in the air was getting thicker, and they had perhaps two or three minutes before the wall of swirling desert would engulf them completely.

Kade let go of the water, it was weighing him down, he could survive a day or two without water, but not longer than an hour or two in a sandstorm of this magnitude. Perhaps the swirling red death was a punishment for taking the water from the ritual site, perhaps it was coincidence, he didn’t have time to think about it. Preparing to take their last breaths of air the two doubled their speed in an inhuman attempt to escape the inorexible advance of the sand. They were in the angry shadow of the wall now and there was no time left, Hawk’s mind filled with images of their untimely death, and he let out an angry cry as he felt the future escape and the ground hit his face. Hawk had tripped. Kade looked behind him at the sound and immediately doubled back, to help him up. There was only one problem, Hawk’s foot was stuck, and wouldn’t move.

Hawk cursed his luck, and bade Kade to go without him, resigned to the fate of the sands. Kade however smiled, “Hawk” he said, “Your bloomin clumsiness has saved us.” If it wasn’t the speed at which they were running, it was the sandy red color of the rusted iron bars that prevented them from spotting it earlier. The grate was on a hinge, and thinking quickly Kade pulled out his survival knife and cut the laces of Hawk’s boot. Hawk’s foot was freed as his boot fell into the abyss below. If there had been no howling winds, the two would’ve heard a thump. Within a few moments they’d opened the grate. Hawk removed his jacket and tied it to the top of the grate, he was going to be damned if he was going to let the sand follow him into the pre-dug grave. The two lowered themselves into the darkness as the gate slammed shut with a spring loaded clack. At least they were able to temporarily relax through the reprieve they’d been given, although, had they spent a moment to look at the scorch marks nearby, perhaps they would have questioned their hasty entry. A few seconds later the massive storm drowned the area in earth.

The landing hurt, and knocked the wind out of Hawk. It was dark, but Hawk had a flare in his pack. Kade searched and found it, the relief in his mind turned sour as the red-yellow light shimmered across the room. Looking about, the neutral expression upon his face became an aching frown. They’d managed to narrowly escape the sandstorm by entering a oubliette, and sealing the hatch behind them. Kade bent down and checked Hawk’s pulse. He was alive, but unconscious, he’d have to stay that way for awhile. The radio was dead, there was going to be no signal till the storm had passed, and even then, they’d be lucky if they managed to pass the storm without their prison being buried beneath a few feet of sand. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know things didn’t look good. At least Kade could eat Hawk if it came to it; the grim sarcasm left his mind as quickly as it had entered.

Kade looked closely at the walls. The Oubliette was large, perhaps 5 meters and square. It wasn’t going to be easy to reach the hatch, they’d have to dig into the ground and build a mound, there’d be time for that later. Three of the four walls were merely sandstone. The fourth held a different look. It was covered in hieroglyphics. They surrounded and incredibly large Jackal headed statue carved into the wall. Its eyes were gleaming crimson red, reflecting the light of the flare. It’s rather fitting that Anubis, the god who passed judgment upon those entering death was here to watch over them. Kade continued to observe of his surroundings, only to discover three charred skeletal corpses. It was not a welcome revelation. The skeletons looked inhuman, strangely shapen skulls and oddly large vertebrae. For just a brief moment, Kade actually thought this would be the end. It was then that he began to feel as if he was being watched, and for a slight second in that reality, it almost looked as if Anubis’ statue was smiling.

A few hours later the flare had run out and Hawk came to, to the sound of the deafening storm above. He moaned in pain as he inhaled, believing himself dead. It was when he began coughing, that the burning sensation of the sand within his lungs told him that he was indeed alive. “Welcome back to the land of the living” said Kade from the left wall. “Where are we” said Hawk “I-” his voice trailed off. “A bloody prison” was Kade’s answer. Hawk sat up and began searching for his flare, he couldn’t find it. It didn’t take Kade long to explain the situation to Hawk. They were going to be there for awhile. Hawk looked up towards the statue of Anubis; he could see the gleaming eyes even in the pitch dark. Something was causing them to shine. He walked towards them, but they were too high up. He reached anyway, hoping to determine where the source of the light was, but before he could, Hawk noticed the searing pain in his back, and fell back to the floor, once again out cold. Kade’s voice rang out “Are you alright?” There was no answer.

-2.4- Schisms

The sky was the most magnificent shade of blood orange, most likely due to the sand scattered by the hellish storm. It was in the distance now far away from Riley’s Vantage point atop of one of the F-14’s wings. The makeshift tent sat motionless between the aircraft and stood out in stark contrast to the rocky hues of the great mesa. Time had passed quickly, and it was already approaching night. A few of the brighter stars could be seen in the sky, along with Venus. Venus appeared incredibly bright in this particular dusk. Riley was surveying the last known position of his comrades with binoculars while lazily eating a field ration. The sight of Kade’s foxhole was now completely washed away by the storm. Riley couldn’t imagine Hawk or Kade returning in time. It had been barely an hour since the Hawk had broken radio silence. Riley continued to hope that his comrades were alive, but knew he had to accept what a storm like that meant. It was certainly unusual, having come and gone so quickly. The winds atop the mesa hadn’t even stirred.

“Found any signs of them yet?” asked Ranna coldly. Riley remained silent as he continually and methodically scanned the ground with his binoculars, only eventually answering Ranna’s question with a depressing grunt. It was clear he hadn’t found anything, and probably wasn’t going to. Ranna calmly paced back and forth in front of the makeshift camp, her mind contemplating plans to escape the unusual situation. Unusual was the right word, every combat flight officer was trained to expect the unexpected, to handle the unusual, but somehow her face scowled every time her mind led her to the inevitable conclusion, that there just wasn’t enough information and things weren’t making sense. She couldn’t accept there was nothing they could do, that would lead to desperation that they’d all slowly die in the middle of no-where, this just wasn’t something anyone would’ve expected. Her footsteps echoed quietly as she paced and occasionally she’d look up as the radio stumbled over some kind of background interference. Riley had left the radio scanner to continually to monitor as many wavelengths as it could.

The Sun finally sank below the distant horizon and the bright colors of dusk faded to the muted shades of twilight. As the Deep reds had become brilliant purples, more and more stars could be seen in the sky. Riley climbed down from his perch and reported to Ranna. Ranna wasn’t pleased, but there wasn’t much that could be done. She ordered Riley to keep the radio on for another hour and then shut it off to conserve power, a wise decision perhaps, but it didn’t really seem all that useful anymore. Riley walked over to the radio and pulled out a small sketchpad. He picked up his binoculars and this time began scanning the sky, hoping to chart the stars. Had he not opted to be a pilot he would have been an academic, the only problem was that there just wasn’t any money in it. This hadn’t stopped him from chasing his passions however, and it had even led to him being assigned in Ranna’s flight group. Navigation by stars or any means without a computer was a rare skill. With any luck, he’d be able to match the navigational data to the stars above and find out where they really were.

Riley was scratching his head, still trying to make sense of the sky when Ranna’s echoing footsteps were interrupted by a strange set of clicking. The two instantly looked up and towards the radio, simultaneously speaking. “The Radio!” Exclaimed Ranna as Riley said “Wait a minute-” The two dashed to the radio with the impatience of children who have been anticipating a knock at the door. Ranna reached the radio first and began to turn the dial backwards slowly to catch the frequency. There was a lot of static but not much else. Riley set his binoculars and sketchpad on the ground. “It’s gone” said Ranna with disappointment. “If it was Kade we’ll hear it again, try turning the dial back again, a bit slower, It may have been a very narrow band” advised Riley. Ranna’s spindly fingers slowly turned the dial back. The static hissed and popped. “Wait- go back, that didn’t sound like static.” said Riley. Riley reached over and turned the volume up.

The frequency was hissing and clicking, almost Morse code. Ranna reached down, picked up Riley’s sketchpad and instinctively handed it to him; if Riley had retrieved the pad, he might have noticed that his binoculars were missing. Riley began marking the clicks out with short and long drawings on the pad. “It’s definitely a code of some kind” he thought to himself. “Well, what is it?” asked Ranna. “I don’t know.” replied Riley. “Could they have broken the radio and be trying to fix it?” asked Ranna. “No, It’s definitely a code, it’s going to take me some time to decipher it, these three clicks keep repeating but-” his voice trailed off as the wheels in his mind began spinning. He spoke again “It’s, it’s- a countdown?” Indeed, there was a longer set of clicks that was cycling down between each repeating triplicate. “A countdown? To what?” asked Ranna. “I have no idea, but-” Riley began doing some calculations on his pad as he answered. Eventually he wrote the number 724. “It’s going to end in a little over twelve hours.”

Ranna knew that it wasn’t going to be easy to get far enough away to triangulate the signal, they had until sunup to get a good distance from where they were, and worst of all, the signal was fading. “Riley, get the hose, were going to siphon the last of the fuel in Kade’s plane to mine, we’ll take off and try to land closer to the landmarks Hawk gave us. With any luck, we can locate the source within 3 hours; let’s hope that gives us enough time to reach it before the countdown ends.” Riley agreed, “Alright, let me mark the position with the IR beam, hand me my binoculars.” “Where are they?” asked Ranna. “They were next to my pad”. Ranna looked and spoke “They’re not there.” Riley turned around, and his face froze staring at the ground. “Ranna, your shadow, It’s not where it’s supposed to be” Ranna looked down at her shadow as Riley looked up, but it was too late.

- 3 – Shadow play

Those who say time slows down when one is in extreme danger are absolutely right. Riley`s thoughts were moving so fast that time had no choice but to bend to his will, well at least his perception of time. Everything was perfectly still, the wind hung in mid air, waiting to effortlessly continue towards the unyielding horizons. The stars yearned to continue twinkling as they had for millennia before. His mind was desperately looking for the correct signals to send to his body to move in order to avoid the future, but that was the problem with the future, it was generally considered unavoidable. The worn bronze ripped into Riley`s ribcage with the cold abandon of modern steel and within a fraction of a second his heart was rendered impracticable; He didn`t even get a chance to scream.

Everything was silent between the quietus and the burst of sound waves from the following gunshot. The unprecedented burst of noise stretched across the endless desert with singular discord. If Ranna had been thinking about it, she would have immediately known that should Kade and Hawk have survived the sandstorm, they would have heard the agonizing release of the wasted bullet. Ranna now stood with her arm outstretched, the desert eagle pointed at the spot where Riley had stood; her eyes desperately searching for the shadow in the night. The dust was slowly settling from the rapid sequence of events. Riley was motionless, a look of horror remained unnaturally petrified into his face; Medusa would have been jealous. The stars restarted twinkling as the wind resumed its movement; time had begun flowing naturally again.

Ranna`s eyes scanned the surroundings for the assailant. She dare not call out for fear of showing her weakness nor did she need to move, she knew Riley was gone. Her efforts were however, futile; the nervous tension she felt emanated outwards slowly, anyone standing in her presence would have been instantly put on edge. The light flickering from the electronic readout and the smoldering campfire and the gibbous moon added just enough atmosphere to see amidst the camp, everything was cloaked in an eerie aura. Ranna couldn`t understand the speed of the enemy; she wasn’t even sure if it was human. It had appeared as a shadow, moving like the absence of light. Almost appearing to have come from Ranna`s own shadow.

Ranna`s pulse filled the silence with the energy of a thumping nightclub as she lowered her body to reach for a nearby flashlight. Continually scanning the area and listening for the slightest foreign sound, she moved carefully, like a cat stalking its prey. There was a faint sound behind her as she felt the cold flashlight and with a single move she turned her gun pointing directly at the most frightened cicada in the history of the universe. With a loud click, light poured from the flashlight onto the mesa`s stone plateau. The two aircraft glinted and reflected the newfound light as the makeshift tent that nestled between them rustled quietly in the breeze. The light sought across the ground, panning from left to right. The night was foreboding. Every sense in Ranna`s body was exploding, she was for the first time since she was a child, steeped in fear. And worse than that, there was nothing there.

Now it`s your turn, she thought. Her mind was working against her, screaming to her that Kade and Hawk had met their ends in the sandstorm. Reminding her that Riley had been erased from her life in less than a second. It was even making her flashlight tremble slightly alongside her gun. Her footsteps fell with the noise of one trying to make no sound as she slowly walked the outskirts of the camp. The glaring light seemingly flailing about at random, Ranna had completely lost her calm and she didn`t like it. She was always in control, but ever since she had landed in this encroaching nightmare she felt that control slip slowly away, hour by hour, minute by minute. At least her mind wouldn`t let her accept that nothing had been there. There was a shadow; a shadow had to come from something.

She resolved to regain control as her gun swung back towards the planes, a sound! Ranna listened closely, Footsteps! She sprinted around the aircraft towards the noise, gun and flashlight ready. The light searched the area, and came to rest on a reddish stain on the ground. Riley`s body was gone. Instead there was a slight shadow falling across the stain. Ranna raised the light just in time to see a pair of feet clad in black, wrapped with hemp rope. The figure was wrapped in so much black it could`ve been a shadow. This time she saw the figure in black leap. A Second shot rang out into the night, echoing mightily as if to find the first shot. “Damn” Ranna hissed. Had she missed? She felt the slightest semblance of security return. Without sound, the figure had leapt off the edge of the mesa, into the blackness of the desert below.

- 3.2 – Palliation

The sandstorm was gone but the empty darkness it had left behind lingered like the feeling one has after paying taxes. It appeared that not very much was going well, ever since the universe turned inside out and declared the rules of twilight zone law. At least it didn`t take too long for the soft green glow to fill the room, no room was not an appropriate word for it, cage was more apt. Kade had finally found Hawk`s small satchel and the glow sticks he kept inside of it. Hawk was never without his satchel, he kept the strangest trinkets inside of it, two glow sticks, lip balm, dental floss, four band aids, a green marble and a worn coin that might have been a quarter but was really just an old remnant of the United States. The light was enough to reveal Hawk`s twisted torso, more good news, he wasn’t bleeding. It was a full three hours before Hawk was conscious again, during which time Kade was unable to come into contact with the others, He doubted his radio still functioned.

With a loud crack Hawk straightened his body out, he had thrown out his back, but it didn`t appear to be broken. He finally had a chance to take stock. “This doesn`t look good” said Hawk. Kade said nothing. The two men were silent for awhile; they had been through enough to know what was on each other’s mind. It was clear that even if Hawk could stand, the two of them would not be able to reach the opening above. There really wasn`t any need to say anything. Kade began tossing the lit glow stick back and forth, passing the time. Hawk knew Kade was waiting for daylight. Kade hated staying still when there was nothing to do and Hawk knew Kade would stay awake until he had gotten rest. Kade always took the night watch, something about being on the prowl at night calmed him. To anyone but his team Kade looked entirely calm and in control, but Hawk knew the situation had him on his nerves.

Hawk could definitely see the trepidation in Kade`s movements. The glow stick back and forth, shaky, and then it fell on the ground. “Wait wait wait!” called Hawk. Kade looked towards him as he went to pick up the glow stick. “I can read that.” The glow stick had rolled against the statue of Anubis illuminating the glyphs against the wall. It didn`t take long before Kade had helped Hawk over to the wall. The six feet had felt like an eternity for Hawk, but he didn`t care, Egyptian symbols were part of his specialty. Everyone in the unit had a specialty, Hawk`s was signals interpretation, especially as it applied to dead languages. Hawk could interpret Sanskrit, Egal, Mayan, Hieroglyphics, Occam and various forms of Runic. The glyphs were fairly old, but many of them were simple; or perhaps only the ones he could remember were simple, unlike the strange glyphs surrounding the sacrifice. Kade waited patiently.

It was awhile before Hawk spoke “This is no prison, it`s a passageway, something about justice being the light that separates fear from righteousness, and here is gate.” Hawk tapped the symbol. “Entering through the gate of Anubis is the path unto the light of his temple.” Kade listened patiently as Hawk unnecessarily explained that Anubis was a jackal headed god of justice, often associated with death and the underworld, but there was no evidence of his temples ever being constructed underground in this manner. “So, what, we`re just supposed to go and march right on through the statue?” said Kade sullenly. “Yeah” replied Hawk, “pretty much all we have to do is open the gate, there should be a latch or, a lever or something in here.” “Pretty strange entrance for a temple though, I’ve never seen anything like this in the histo-” A large rumbling sound broke abruptly through Hawk`s weakened voice as Kade pushed the statue of Anubis into the wall. Hawk stared nonplussed as the statue rolled back into the wall and revealed a passageway.

“What, haven’t you ever seen the movies?” Hawk was still frozen in incredulity. Kade continued, “It`s open, I`ll see where it goes – wait here.” Hawk saluted in response to the order. There was a strange glow about the passage, light was coming from somewhere, a light glow fluttered about, it was rather faint and at the end of the corridor. Kade wondered if it had anything to do with the passage Hawk had translated as he removed his pistol and walked forward softly. Pressing his back against the wall he peered around the corner, and saw a much brighter spot in the distance, it appeared to be a mirror. Walking slowly along the new path he reached the mirror and saw in its depth many more mirrors receding into a dancing brightness. Kade moved along the passageway like a predator who felt on the verge of becoming prey, each footfall at a delicate pace until finally he sidled around another corner which led to an antechamber.

Beyond the antechamber was a grand hall with six sets of stairs descending in different directions. The ceilings were full of glyphs and statues of various animal headed idols appeared to stare across the room at various passages. Hawk would know what they were. Kade couldn`t help but wonder who really built this or what the structure`s true purpose was. The architecture was sublime, the ceiling held in place by columns, and made of megalithic stone slabs, If he had been an anthropologist, he might`ve noticed the similarities to underwater structures off the cost of India and Cuba, or seen the telltale signs of architects of Minos, but none of that mattered, he had to return for Hawk, there was no way he would stupidly begin exploring these ruins alone – no that was a mistake, these certainly weren`t ruins.

- 3.3 – The Moirai

The light flickering on the walls of the grand hall stopped. A moment that seemed unending was created. It was a moment so long that neither Kade nor Hawk had any idea how much time had actually passed. It was unbelievable. Here, underground a temple, a mysterious structure encroaching upon the depths of the Earth. Hawk could not believe the architecture. Amidst the verisimilitude of the situation were all the signs of a dream; A nightmarish phantasm. “Which stairs do we take to get out of here” asked Kade. If there was a way to shrug without moving, Hawk was doing so. “I have no idea, but there is a message centered over that stairwell.” Hawks eyes signaled what his arms could not. Kade looked above the firmament to the stairway second to the left of the central passage, there was clearly nothing written there. Kade scanned above the stone arches, finding the text and secretly began to worry about Hawk, perhaps he was more injured than he seemed; “is your vision alright?” he asked. “I think so”.

Kade couldn`t tell, but the writing was subtly different from that below the statue in the entry chamber, as if the same language but another time in its history. Kade helped Hawk to the message, “stop, it`s over there, don`t you see it?” said Hawk as he raised his arm in agony to point towards a different stairway. Kade stopped; “I don`t see writing over there”. Trust me, it is there, take me to that passageway. Kade complied and Hawk began to translate slowly – “Do not set your heart upon seeking riches, For there is no one who can ignore Shai; do not set your thought on external matters: for every man there is his appointed time.” Kade`s eyes fell upon Hawk, waiting for further interpretation. “It means we should not seek other fates, we will all reach our destiny and it cannot be changed, Shai, was the Egyptian god of destiny.” Kade nodded to Hawks clarification. “What I do not understand, is what the purpose of this temple is, I thought it was dedicated to Anubis”.

“That`s not the only thing that doesn`t make sense” said Kade, “I see nothing written above that stairwell, but there is an inscription over there, plain as day.” Hawk saw nothing. “several symbols, and a picture of a man-snake, holding a candy cane like stick, with three women in white robes, one with a thing that looks like a cow at her feet and wheat in her arms, another with a strange body, she appears to be squatting and a third with the head of a hippo.” Hawk stared at Kade as he said “That`s the Inscription I see over here. The Serpent Man is Shai, The three women are likely Renenutet, Meskhenet and Shepset. They are goddesses associated with fate; of the women Renenutet had the greatest power. Her gaze could wither her enemies or grant great abundance. Harvest festivals were held in her honor and offeri-” Kade cut Hawk off there, He didn`t need a lesson in Egyptology. It was strange, as if the ancient gods of Egypt were awake and showing the pair two different paths.

Kade and Hawk discussed which path to go down, and in the end they chose Hawk`s path. It didn`t really matter to Kade, he didn`t believe in fate, just choices and his own skill. Kade also knew he had to make a choice, he knew they wouldn`t be returning this way if he didn`t do something. Coming back up the stairs would not be an option with Hawk in this condition. He looked at Hawk and Hawk nodded, they both knew it would be risky. A moment later Hawk screamed in pain and then once again fell into the dark sleep of unconsciousness. The scream seemed to resound throughout the temple in another endless moment. If there was anyone else here, they would be certain to hear it, but Kade didn`t care one way or the other, he was tired of this damnable charade and would rather be captured and tortured than live out the rest of his life in this unreal world. As far as he was concerned, he was already dead and gone like the rest of his family, the only difference was that his soul was trapped here. Unfortunately, the only real downside was that Kade wouldn`t know if he had broken Hawk`s back or set it in place until Hawk woke up.

When Hawk finally came to, he looked around and tried standing up. The moment he was upright he started laughing. “I guess fortune really does favor the bold.” One might think there would`ve been more to it than that, but there really wasn`t. It had only seemed to be a bigger deal than it really was, the bit of fortune brightened their spirits and they began down the stairs. They went on and on, around and around and down and down, then at long last a few hundred feet underground they came to a closed door. The inscription upon it was invisible to Kade. Hawk sensed something strange, and indeed he had good reason. Oddly enough this warning was written in English. “The chamber beyond a Pandora’s box to some, an entrance to none; open the door to discover what shall become.” Kade reached for the handle as Hawk read aloud. Hawk would`ve stopped Kade but knew it didn`t really matter. They were here, and it wasn`t like there was anything better to do.

As Kade put his hand upon the door handle, he stopped. Hawk heard it too, in the silence; there was a threnody of voices upon the other side of the door. The pair looked at each other and Kade with new resolve easily opened the door to reveal at first glance, what appeared as a small room, however the room was anything but small; the ceiling was too high to be seen in the dim glow. Light poured in from somewhere above, the ground covered with sand. Along the far wall an altar of stone upon a circular stone dais; on the wall to the right, a painting with three women in white robes. There was no one here, and the ethereal music stopped. Hawk immediately became entranced by the painting. He could`ve sworn the figures in white robes where watching through their veiled hoods, but at that moment Kade heard it too. “We are the Moirai, the apportioners, Sisters three and you have come to set us free.” Hawk stared at the wall as the fates stepped forward from the painting.

- 3.4 – Zero Sum

Kade could not react; he would have been less unnerved had it been merely a hallucination or a trick of thirst. Beyond the three women was another world which seemed as real as any scene casually observed through windowed glass. Through the painting the trees flowed to an unfelt rhythm of wind while the clouds fixed amongst the flat blue sky cast their shadows into the dimly lit temple. Through the untenable transition between two worlds the Moirai shifted in appearance, with each step they took from their realm to this their clothes morphed, color and skin bleeding into the white cloth like ink dispersing through a cool glass of water. Gradually blue and gold usurped the soft white and the fates took a more Egyptian form, mirroring the ancient beauties in the ancient textbooks and paintings of the scholars and artisans. Their faces never once broke obfuscation as hoods and shadows became gilded funerary masks.

The one known as Renenutet stepped forward and tilted her head slightly. Kade and Hawk could feel their gaze piercing through the masks. Nothing could stop their unnatural vision which saw through a person’s core to the very soul and travelled back to the moment of birth revealing the panorama of life from the first stitch to the final fray. Hawk looked onward in disbelief and glanced back to Kade who had his pistol trained upon Renenutet’s mask and with one breath he spoke “Don’t move, not even an inch”. In response and almost as if in a round they spoke, each completing the words spoken by the previous, their voices although calm and soft were supernatural and filled Kade’s bones with caution. “Do not fear this moment, for this moment like all others are woven. You are where you are supposed to be. I am afraid this meeting is to be brief, and you have much to learn. You may ask what you are meant to ask.” Kade’s grip strengthened as he spoke “Who are you and WHERE in the verse are we?!” “We are the Moirai, and you are – Here.”

Kade was on edge, he was ready to burst, in his mind he was shouting, but instead he remained in control and his words cut the air like malicious daggers “Do not mock me, why don’t you tell me something I bloody don’t know?” The witches responded without showing any emotional response and their unnatural rhythm danced somewhere between harmony and melody, “As you wish. Your journey has not yet begun, nor have your hardships. You do not truly wish to leave, and your time is nearly up.” Kade snarled inwardly and thought about those words, it was clear to Hawk that they had struck a chord. Something about the words haunted Kade and he loosened his grip. Hawk continued watching in silence as Renenutet’s gaze fell upon him. “Hawk, now you must ask what you will” Hawk spoke without thinking “What will happen to us? Will we return home?” Behind their masks the Moirai smiled. “One of you will become something more than you imagined, and the other will have to make a choice, but before you do, you are going to free me. As for returning home, it was decreed that for one of you to gain the other must lose.”

There was a faint echo as the words hung in the air. Kade glanced to Hawk who was still staring at the Moirai who in turn focused their attention on Kade as if in reaction to something he was about to do. Kade spoke with more calm than before “Who are we supposed to save you from?” This time the fates did not answer, they merely looked towards the door. He continued with a string of questions ending with “How do we get out of here?” The fates remained motionless until Kade bordering on rage finally shouted “Damn it, you WILL answer me!” and once again tightened his grip and took a more precise aim. Soon his finger was brushing the trigger lightly in preparation to fire.” And in response Renenutet removed her mask; her cold icy stare froze Kade’s lungs. Her face was somewhere between beauty and horror, impossible to truly comprehend. The sting of being unable to breathe slowly spread through his chest reaching towards his body. Hawk too felt frozen in place, the moment stretching out across time like the dusky rose fingers of dawn.

If Kade’s body could have screamed in pain it would have crushed the awkward silence of the moment. Kade was pulling at the trigger with all of his strength. Again their melody came, “Do what you will, and fail”. Sometime between that moment and the next a gunshot rang out in the halls of the subterranean temple. The bullet’s path took it directly between Renenutet’s eyes and through the shimmering realm beyond where it collided with the stone wall behind the painting. Like ripples on a pond the painting began to swell with crests and troughs, the image of the world behind it fading away in the interference. The Moirai too began to slowly fade away. It was just like watching a Polaroid develop in reverse. As soon as the three fates visage had fully gone Kade doubled forward dropping his firearm and gasped for breath. It didn’t take long for the pain to subside. “What did you do that for!?” asked Hawk incredulously, worry permeating his voice. “They’re certainly not going to help us now!” Kade wasn’t listening; he was still catching his breath.

“What are we going to do now Kade?” Hawk was sitting next to the wall across from the door nervously twiddling his thumbs. “I mean, what the hell was that? We’re gonna die down here aren’t we?” Kade laughed. Hawk knew he was composing himself as well as he could. “We’re gonna follow the left wall and eventually get to an exit, and when we do, we’re gonna get back to the others and break out that bottle of champagne your girl sent with us.” Hawk’s mood didn’t change much. “Look Hayden, I promise, I’ll get you back home.” Hawk looked towards Kade and nodded in thanks, he knew Kade really meant it and that was enough for now. Kade held out his hand and helped Hawk stand. As the two headed up the stairs Kade asked, “Well you’re the expert, what do you think they meant?” Hawk shrugged and replied, “I don’t really know.” Neither of the two heard the jackal pup following along behind them as they continued to ascend the staircase.

-4- Tracing Failure

Ranna closed her eyes and crumpled in place near the edge of the mesa, her gun slipping from her fingers with the added weight of her sorrow. She had lost Riley in a matter of seconds and it wasn’t until now in this seeming respite from danger that the emotions she had kept in check came flowing forth. Raw and unbridled the feelings crashed forth as the last of her mental dam burst away. “Why?” escaped her lips in a soft whimper. The tears came forth in allegro, hitting the ground by her knees with the rhythm and certainty of a metronome. In all her life, she had been strong; she had to be, for no one would follow a weak commander on a mission. This was the first time that a crack had formed in eighteen years worth of battle hardened armor. “I’m not alone” she was repeating it – no chanting it to herself. She wanted the chant, needed the chant, to mend her armor as if by magic like a spell from a fantasy novel; she had enjoyed those once.

Ranna had lost comrades before, it was always difficult. None of the Irregulars liked to talk about it, it was easier to move on and forget than to reopen wounds that never seemed to heal. She had come close to losing it once, during the Hades campaign in Norway; her command decision had cost the lives of several young soldiers, and three of her own. This time was different, and it wasn’t just the situation – it was Riley. Of course Riley’s death would’ve affected anyone in the Irregulars, he was well liked and always the first to offer friendship to any new recruit but she had loved him. It wasn’t unrequited or tragic; the other irregulars knew about their love and it was the reason that Riley was the only one other than Ranna without a call sign. They were always professional on a mission, anyone looking in from the outside wouldn’t have known. There on the mesa, the small pool of Ranna’s tears would be the most fitting monument to Riley. Her body seemingly lifeless slowly tensed as her sorrow melted away into anger. It tore at her that she would not be able to give Riley a burial at home, that his body was lost in this nowhere land. As she stood she directed her words towards the absent assailant, “I will find you.”

Ranna picked up her gun and walked back over to the radio, she had a choice to make and she didn’t like it. She could rest, attempt to track the assassin or track the signal that was counting down unto oblivion. Her mind was waging a battle of logic on the field of emotion but the only victor was uncertainty. “I’ve got to find answers, but”. She didn’t care that she was talking to herself; it made her feel less alone and that gave her stability. Tapping the tip of her pistol against her temple in thought she looked at the small table, Riley’s notepad was missing. Thoughts fired through her mind in rapid succession; had the shadow taken that too? Without it she didn’t have much chance of tracking down the signal let alone trying to siphon the fuel by herself, and you needed more than one position to triangulate anyway “Hahaha, guess I don’t have much of a choice after all” It was a poor rationalization, logic usually fails before emotion anyway.

Ranna looked at the hammock strapped beneath her plane’s wing, and up to the cockpit. A moment later her equipment was spread upon the hammock and Ranna was cleaning and selecting her gear. Two days of rations, ammunition, radio, rope, survival knife, canteen and flares. Her mind was intent on leaving; she’d trace her quarry at night. When Ranna made up her mind, there was no one who could change it. After cleaning her firearm she looked once again into the black night. The cold emptiness and silhouette of the ground against the moonlit skies brushed her with a sense of rationalization; she knew that it was lunacy to head out in the middle of the night. She took one more look around, her gaze ending on Kade’s plane. Climbing up to the cockpit she peered inside, and there it was, his Psg-1, an old but still extremely precise sniper rifle. He took that thing everywhere, even if the mission didn’t call for it. On those occasions he would use it to hunt for food. “Damn, no ammo.” She couldn’t see the 7.62mm rounds that it used anywhere, and went searching the small storage compartments in the rear.

“Ah hah, just what I thought” There they were, about twenty rounds. Underneath was something she didn’t expect, a pair of infrared goggles, not quite night vision, but they’d do. Ranna knew Kade would be upset for taking his things, but he wasn’t around and possibly dead anyway. For all Ranna knew, she was alone; and every time she thought it, she’d echo her unending whisper “I’m not alone”. With her mantra in mind she set out towards the edge of the mesa, where the shadow had jumped into the night. Donning the goggles, she turned them on to see blackness. Not a trace of heat. There were no signs of life not even a tell tale difference between the Earth and the sky. She looked down at herself, holding out her hand. The heat glow was unmistakable. “Useless”. At least they still worked, she thought to herself. She removed them and tossed them back into Kade’s plane. She turned on her flashlight and with careful footwork she began down the Mesa in search of Revenge.

Twenty minutes later Ranna was somewhere on the side of the Mesa, the small spot of light was not making the descent easy, but it was easier than in the blackness. “How did the shadow survive?” Traveling through the desert and descending mountainous terrain is not easy, let alone without any path to guide you. Even in daylight such a trip would be considered treacherous. The further Ranna progressed, the more the self doubt in her mind increased its protests. “You’re stupid and you’ll die.” The thoughts were slowing her down, so much so that alas she stopped. “Damn”. Ranna let out a loud sigh and looked off into the blackness noting her failure. She mulled it over in her mind until she reached the conclusion that a night descent was one of the choices in life you’d later regret. She found a small place to lie upon the ground and unpacked an emergency blanket. As she lay upon the cold rock her mind focused on solutions, on what had happened, on what could happen. Even though it would be only a few hours until sunup, it took quite some time before she could quiet her mind and find slumber.

-4.2- Cursed Shade.

In the hours of predawn the shade`s figure remained silhouetted against the black sky moving with alacrity. The sky was angry, clouds rumbled above with thoughts of condemnation. The presence of the outsiders was a sardonic affront to the *Ennead and it was clear that they had sent this as an omen. This kind of thing was rare, and there were procedures to be followed. Never had there been such urgency about the landscape, it seemed to resonate with anger. The borders were closed and visitors were always announced; this was unexpected. Even more unexpected had been the order to execute them. The sky rumbled again. Riley`s death should have appeased the gods, but the signs of malignity were still there, obvious to anyone who knew where to look. Had the gods not seen their servant`s deed? Perhaps they were angered that one was left alive. Could it have been that they had also wished the destruction of the outsider`s blasphemous idols? No, there were others, the gods wishes would be fulfilled soon enough.

The racing servant picked up its pace, speeding towards the distant horizon. The explosions of sand that flew up into the air with each successive footfall receded ever farther into the distance. Even focused on the sprint, it was unable to keep its mind from the recent encounter. “Who were they and why had they come?” the question bore no relevance to the mission but it was still worth pondering. The visitors had such a strange appearance, their clothing and words were utterly alien, but at least they were still human and their flesh could be ripped asunder like any other. Riley’s body was beginning to get heavy and the shade was not accustomed to carrying that much weight. His corpse was still warm and leaving a blooded trail amongst the sand. As the thunder rumbled through the static night, echoing into the great beyond, the wind was kind enough to wipe away the ever lengthening path of blood. Like a great eraser to the board lagging slightly behind the chalk, only a few short moments of being existed between traces of passage and utter obliteration.

The figures footsteps raced across the darkened desert with great haste, hoping to arrive in time. The shade knew the Jackal would be disappointed to learn of her failure. Had she known of Shakespeare she would’ve cursed his name, she would not be the frail thing everyone believed her to be. Moving as wind she began to feel the heat in her lungs, her body would fail soon – so would anyone’s; very few could have maintained such a relentless pace. Pheidippides would have disagreed. Eventually her feet slowed under the exertion as her mind turned to darker thoughts. Oh how terrible it would be to return in shame, her master would surely send her to the depths. The wind which had been so kind now seemed inimical as she decelerated. The flow of blood had increased and was no longer being scattered towards the four directions. Even as an assassin she was surprised by the amount of blood that the body held, like an ever filling reservoir the liquid of life sprung forth giving its remaining spirit to the ground. Her feet were struggling now; Riley’s body was becoming improbably heavier – perhaps it was her guilt, she had never taken life before.

KaTHWUMP. That was the sound of 185 pounds of flesh hitting the sandy ground masking the sound of Nyssa’s collapse. She had to get up; she did not want her master to think her a laggard. The pain in her lungs subsided as she surveyed the horizon; the other had not followed her. When the last remnants of malaise had abated, Nyssa picked herself up from the ground, groaning in agony. She was wan from loss of blood; the woman had wounded her somehow. Her hand, now painted in wet crimson, instinctively pressed gently against the malicious wound in her side; becoming a cradle for her pain, much like how the distant mountains where the rising sun’s disc had managed to eke out a space between, had become a bed for the resplendent dawn. Unfortunately the scene was but only a scion, heralding the torrid day to come. It was time to get moving, wounded or not. Ignoring the pain she set down on one knee and lifted Riley’s body once again. She began to awkwardly race towards the sunrise, her body limping like broken machine.

The long journey was not a trifling one, from the high mesa Nyssa had travelled across kilometers of desert, towards the dunes and to the Nile. It was imperative she reach the dunes by early morning, they would be the most difficult. She yearned to reach the valley, there she could quench her thirst, and travel by river towards Nasser. Her lithe shadow was growing ever shorter, it was approaching mid morning and the treacherous dunes were still at least an hour away. The wretched heat of the desert accosted her calloused skin, enraging her wound. Although stricken as if by some kind of magic, her tremendous pain had faded completely, it was not through willpower but her prayer, her absolute faith. The gods were sided with her or at the very least, not against her. All morning she had feared, no, dreaded the visage of the house of Ba Pef, but it had thankfully yet to come. She was glad of that, but it raised a question within her, just who had the omen been meant for?

Nyssa`s black hair would have fluttered in the breeze had it not been braided Instead it bounced about randomly hitting her back in discordant rhythm. It had become the metronome to her disheveled march. She felt her weary pace could be matched by a tortoise on its back. She wished for the Nile, it`s visage to sate her mind and it`s waters to quench her throat. A horse would`ve been just as useful. The sand dunes lay in wait, threatening to take her life. They were evil beasts which fed on any soul foolish enough to attempt crossing. They were also tricksters and masters of disguise deceptively far away, using the endless heat to withhold their true height. Nyssa knew them, and their secrets. The now vanished stars had been her guide, showing her the path. If she could but forge a little ways into the vast she would reach an oasis. The one and only sacrosanct resting place lay hidden amidst the tessellated sands. It tormented her with its ineffable distance. Nyssa forced herself onwards tyrannically, one foot in front of the other.

-4.3- Xerostomia

It was cold. Ranna woke up shivering and without a blanket. For a brief moment she was in another land, another time. The wave of nostalgia gave way to a burst of blinding sunlight. Somehow the clouds had parted in exactly the way required to send a ray of direct sunlight to Ranna’s precise location. She sat up and looked around getting her bearings. It was around 7 in the morning. Ranna had slept through the sunrise. Mornings in the desert were like that, warming slowly from the nightly chill. She would have another hour or so before the heat would begin to set in, longer if the skies remained overcast. She soon saw her blanket around 50 meters below. Most people would`ve gotten stuck on the thought that they could`ve died so easily. Ranna stood and looked around, she`d not managed to get very far down the mesa in the night. She guessed correctly that it would take only a few minutes to climb back up to the camp sight.

Ranna’s mouth was dry and her face had the lines of her pack imprinted upon it from using it as a pillow. She was glad it had not fallen from the edge. As she opened her pack to search for her binoculars the distinct smell of blood washed over her. The sickening scent triggered memories of the previous evening forcing the tragedy to play through her mind once again. The sun`s ray was swallowed by clouds a moment before her face went pale from the memory and she immediately felt inundated with the feeling that someone had walked over her grave. When she was able to shake the feeling away she looked about for the source of the smell to no avail. Ranna lifted the binoculars and looked into the distance; some of the dead trees were swaying from the wind below. Hope of finding tracks had just become that much harder. It didn`t matter she would continue the descent anyway. Just how had her quarry managed in the night anyway?

Ranna was able to descent with little issue. Reaching the desert floor she took a drink from her canteen, but it didn`t help, her mouth still felt dry. Once again she scanned the distance – finding no sign of anything, just sand. She took one look back up towards the top of the steep mesa, her decision solidified. Looking towards Kade`s last position she spoke once again, “Kade, Hawk please respond”. The radio was silent beyond the hissing and crackling of the white noise. “Kade, Respond that`s an order”. Still nothing, she refused to admit that she was alone. Once again in the distance the clouds managed to part enough to let through another beam of sunlight, it struck the ground somewhere due east of Ranna. She wasn`t superstitious but with nothing better to go on, she began to walk towards it. She was overcome with a sense of calmness- as if Riley`s spirit was cradling her, sending her in the direction of her quarry. The sensation faded quickly, but it was enough to suggest that maybe, her gut feeling was correct.

Three long and lonely hours passed. Ranna could still see her mesa in the distance, she`d never been in a desert that felt this lifeless. Something about this place was unnerving, there were occasionally dead trees, but the sky lacked vultures, the ground lacked insects and prints, it was pristine desert with no signs of life anywhere. She had periodically scanned the distance and tried radio contact every hour. This time she was expecting no different as she lifted the binoculars to meet her eyes. She could still make out the F-14s atop the mesa, in the other directions there was nothing but desert, desert and more desert. “Nothing new, nothing unexpected.” she said as she continued marching. She was so busy watching the distance that she failed to notice a small cat at her feet. The cat, Abyssinian in appearance had short fiery red hair with deep emerald eyes. She walked towards the ray of sunlight which against all odds remained in place. The cat dutifully followed.

“Hey there cutie, where on earth did you come from?” It didn’t take too long for Ranna to discover her miniscule follower. The cat stood there, catlike, tilting its head for a moment before licking its paw. It may have been the heat, but Ranna had actually half expected the cat to respond to her query. “What’s your name, huh?” The cat was a sign, there had to be something nearby. How else could a cat to end up all the way out here, alone in the middle of nowhere. Ranna changed direction and headed towards the nearest high ground – some rocks to the northeast. In a little less than half an hour Ranna was at her destination, once again scanning the horizon. “How could I have missed this?” she spoke to herself as the cat rubbed against her leg, it must have been hungry. To the north the terrain became rocky, and there but a few kilometers away was a stone building. Ranna found it difficult to judge the buildings size from this distance. It looked pretty deserted, but it was approaching noon, perhaps the residents were inside. “What do you think, should we go have a look?” said Ranna, this time the cat responded “Meow”.

The arid desert laughed as Ranna walked cat in tow. The zero percent humidity was taking its toll, the water she had with her had become warm and unsatisfying. The building must be rather large, the hottest part of the day was approaching and it was still somewhere ahead. Everything was always somewhere ahead, Ranna cursed; the desert was just too damn big. The sun had moved 5 degrees since first sight of the building. “Kade, Hawk: Respond damn it”. Ranna was growing frustrated, there was still no response and it was hotter than yesterday. Usually this kind of heat gets to most people, first they give up and then they wither and die. The sun left Ranna’s body completely parched. At first she couldn’t tell if it was a mirage or a trick of the mind. A plume of black smoke rose from just beyond the building, the dark stack of smoke contrasted against the lofty bright overcast sky. Unconsciously Ranna’s speed increased as her thoughts began to brighten. At last, she would be in contact with the world and the nightmare would be over. That was her last thought as she watched the world melt away overcome by heatstroke.

-4.4- Blazing Cerements

The sensation was strange. Ranna’s eyes opened slowly, it was hot. If she could have, she would have sweat an ocean. She was disappointed; the cat was licking her face, its tongue felt like a combination of wet sandpaper and feathers. She had hoped that she would awaken to normality and that everything had merely been a dream, instead she felt paralytic. It felt like it had taken every ounce of energy just to bring the canteen to her lips. Slowly the drops drained into her throat, and a small amount of energy returned. It was twilight, dusk, the sun had set. In the distance she could make out the wafting smoke, it wasn’t much farther now. She’d be able to reach the building soon enough. The cat continued licking her face as it purred contently. Ranna sat up; it was considerably cooler now. The afternoon had been stifling. “I must’ve been out of my mind, what was I thinking trying to cross the desert?”

Ranna reached in her pack and opened a ration; it tasted good. She usually hated the damned things, they were stale and tasted a lot like your grandmother`s overly dry roast beef, even if they were supposed to be chicken. Right now, the whole world felt good, coming out of a situation where you could have easily died does that. Ranna knew things should have been worse and aside from being a bit sunburned, she was quite alive. “Here you go des” The abruptly named cat happily accepted her offering, the sound of its chomping on the last bit of MRE was acutely audible over the eerily quiet surroundings. Her once perfect auburn hair was now disheveled and covered in dust in the manner of someone who had failed at properly exchanging his or her vacuum cleaner bag. Her solei burned with intensity as she pushed herself onto her feet while attempting to brush as much of the desert from her jumpsuit as she could.

The building was two stories tall and made of large pieces of stone supported by corbelled vault ceilings and a stone colonnade. Someone had painted it cerulean blue with sharp red highlights. There were no symbols anywhere – and the doors were wide-open, inviting any and all stragglers inside. Ranna looked up. There was little room inside, it felt constrained, claustrophobic and more importantly forbidding. Here in this construct made mostly of cold red sandstone Ranna felt true fear overcome her. In a flash the rocks came tumbling down, the pillars shaking violently apart and falling in a paroxysm, heart pounding Ranna ran further, into the temple, towards the closer rear (or perhaps front) entrance. As she reached the portal, eyes closed, she jumped forward for her life. The cat followed calmly.

Ranna rolled over onto her back as the cat happily walked up onto her chest ready to attack her nose with its sandpaper tongue. Ranna looked in disbelief at the temple, standing soundly under the late twilight sky. Like a newborn baby, she brought her hands two her eyes to double check that the world before her was not some kind of phantasm. Had it been her mind? She looked away and contorted her head scrunching her eyes together in a repulse. The horror that lay before her was sickening, enough so that she backed in to the temple. Before her, the black smoke rose into the air billowing forth in mock pyroclasm. The piles of ash, no longer alight, gave an unnatural stench. The charred bones of, god knows how many, people lay on the ground in twisted repose. To the right, a single body covered in cerement lay on a shallow stone table. It was calling to her.

Forcing herself forward, she knelt down beside the corpse in true genuflection. It was the right height to be her beloved, she sat there long enough to miss the stars force their light through the now parting clouds. She drew forth her flashlight and took the corner of the funerary cloth. Peeling it back with the delicacy of one trying to walk on eggshells, she braced herself for an unwelcome visage. Ranna’s taught face morphed to confusion, looking around as if to find an answer. It was not the face of Riley but that of an Egyptian beauty. The tall woman had jet-black hair and her slender lips and delicate eyes had been painted with gold. The outlines of her eyes were the symbols of Horus, painted in azure blue. The symbols were drawn with the intention of drawing the eyes down the face, eventually landing upon tyet, made of red wood, which lay upon her now exposed neck. The cat jumped up atop the corpse and curled up into a little ball. “Yeah, I`m tired too” sighed Ranna, “But I can`t sleep just yet.”

Like the moon shining over the sea, the sands below somehow reflected a single star, the most brilliant one in the sky. It gave just enough light to make out footprints in the sand. Click. Ranna’s light instantly overpowered Sirius’ meager reflection revealing that a great many people had been here. Upon studying the tracks, it was obvious that they led further to the north. Had she been looking she might have noticed the lack of her feline friend`s paw prints. Were the gleaming sands playing tricks with her mind again? The tracks told of a great number of people, but it appeared that very few had returned from whence they came. “How many people died here?” The thought inspired chilling cracks in Ranna’s stark confidence allowing the ghosts of fear, worry and despair to flow. “Well Des, do I stay here and rest, or do I forge ahead?” To stay in an unfriendly place or chase after a band of murderers; the question weighed heavily on her mind and the sleeping cat gave no answers.