Chapter 3

Stepping out of the airport, Williams flagged down a cab.

“The Lush Gardens Hotel,” Williams told the driver.

The driver opened the door for him, and he got in.

The ride from the airport to the hotel was a short one, and when Williams arrived, he was breath taken at sight. The grounds were decorated with gardens, fountains, and white statues.

“Thank you,” Williams told the driver as he bent to pay him. Then he turned and returned his gaze to the hotel.

A valet approached him and helped him to the reception area, and there Williams booked a room.

Still, with the help of a valet, Williams moved up to his room, where he spent the rest of the day, ordering hotel services to bring whatever dish he wanted up to his room, and there he stayed to plan his next moves.

He had an exploration to do in the Valley of the Kings, but first, he needed to visit a few historical sites.

For two days, Williams visited ancient landmarks and had a grand tour of most places in Egypt. He took photos to relive the memory, and he tried different dishes, all exquisite and all worth it.

However, on the fourth day, he visited the great pyramids of Egypt, and he was amongst the tourists who went in through the only passage to see the tombs built within.

After passing and stopping to admire the tombs of each king and the paintings inside the tombs, which told ancient stories, Williams wondered how long it would take archaeologists to discover the last of the tombs and how wide this grave was, for he knew there were lots of tombs yet to still be discovered.

He later visited the Sphinx and the ruins of a temple located in Saqqara, Cairo. Williams’s need to excavate kicked in, and so, he began to explore. With his brush, Williams dusted the woods, bones, and metals and analyzed those of great importance. He dug from one tomb to the next, surprised by the beauty which the tomb held. Surely, if he was a thief, he would make a great fortune from these. He moved to another tomb and continued in a careful search with his sieve and trowel till he saw the bones of a man.

It had to be an arm. His brush guided him to the elbow of the arm, and he saw that it didn’t link to any full skeletal frame. He brushed and removed the sand covering the bones till he got to the fingers, then he saw it right there, gleaming in the sand. There were pieces of jewelry, all made from gold, lying beside the fingers showing that this king was buried with his gold, but one thing caught Williams’s attention.

At first, he wasn’t sure what it was, but then curiosity made him move the sand, which partly revealed the staff, and he sucked in air. The gold sparkled, and diamonds flashed like fire. It called to Williams like something that wanted to be seen, as if it had a silent voice of its own. How had something like this gone this long-neglected in the sand?

Still, it called to Williams, and he took the bait and dashed toward it, clearly not thinking.

With his bare hands, forgetting decorum, Williams dug and clawed around the long pile of gold, hoping it wasn’t longer than this, and he wasn’t disappointed. It didn’t just look like a staff, it looked like something held by kings to rule, a great ornamental staff of power.

Perhaps, it had been lost during the tomb robbery in olden times, and someone had discarded it, or was it an accursed thing for it to be lying here, exposed for anyone to find? Only Williams wasn’t just anyone. And to him, this was more.

Williams got it out of the sand. He took it in his hand and turned it this way and that; light reflected and bounced off its body while the diamonds kept glowing.

Around the staff were ancient markings and designs of ancient Egypt, and on no part of it could rust be seen.

After careful examination, Williams soon agreed it had to be the rarest of metals that had been used in the shaping of this staff called the Crystallon, and also, the name was engraved into the staff in Egyptian, which, no doubt, gave it its glam.

How much would this cost? How much would people pay to see such a priced item? A fortune?

Williams didn’t need anything to identify this. He already knew what it was. And with that, he very well wrapped the staff and was about to leave. He was done with his search. And more especially, he was done with his trip.

Still, on the site, Williams placed a call to Miriam in the archaeology department, and she answered.

“Miriam!” Williams called.

“Oh, no, professor,” she said. “Are you aware of what time it is?”

“That’s not important right now. Besides, you’re the one who told me to call at any time. Also, I know you go to bed late. I have something I think our department will be interested in.”

“Our? But you’re retired, professor.”

“Listen. I found a staff. I don’t know how old it is. But judging by the looks of it, I can say it’s very old. It has the name Crystallon written on it in Egyptian.” He slightly unwrapped the stuff and looked at it. “Or rather, I think it’s made from Crystallon.”

“Crystallon?”

“Yes.”

“Goodness. Means it’s valuable, then.”

“Absolutely.”

“Did you find this in some museum?” Miriam asked.

“No. I found this one myself,” Williams said. “On an old temple ground. Odd enough, the skeletal bones of a man were holding it. It seemed someone died with it in his or her hand – a pharaoh, maybe.”

“Are you serious?”

“Hold on.” Williams unwrapped it, took a photo, and sent it to Miriam’s social media account. “I just sent it to you. Check it out, and tell me what you think.”

Williams heard Miriam gasp.

“Oh my.”

“I know, right?” he said.

“Williams, that’s a fortune,” Miriam said. “That is a grand piece of history.”

“My thoughts exactly. I want you to run diagnostics on the staff and tell me if you find anything related to it. I know it’s a staff used by a pharaoh of old, only I don’t know which one. It’s not like I know all their names anyway.”

“I understand. I will get on with that right away.”

“Thank you. And Miriam?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Tell no one.”

“Uhm, professor?”

“Yes?”

“You too, tell no one else about this. Try not to tell the Egyptians about it as well. They may want to take all the credit, and knowing its worth, they may never give credit to you. See if you can bring it back here.”

William nodded. “Will do.”

It was his intention, even though he felt a pang of guilt since it was wrong. However, this was him making history, and soon, his name would be remembered or written down in history as the one to discover this. Seemed, in the end, all he wanted was gradually coming to him.

An artifact like this in the US museum would add more fame to the United States, and since the Egyptians had no idea that this was here, there would be no accusation or record of theft, to begin with. A long-lost staff was discovered.

This was a perfect chance to have his name written down in history. He wouldn’t be just some professor who was obsessed with archaeology. No. He would be one of the most celebrated, even by his peers. Many would refer to his name with pride. It was his time to bring glory to himself and his nation.

He was, after all, about to boost US tourism. Questions would be asked, and people would want to know. All that could be forged. Anything could be said to silence the questions of people.

And people would talk about it. It would grace the news. There would be talks about stealing it, and the government would increase security around it.

Williams rewrapped it, and inside his long coat, he concealed it as he walked out of the site.

He had been alone in this desert-looking region, and really, he hoped no one had seen him.

Two hours later, Williams was at Cairo International Airport about to board a plane for the US. His box passed through the security, and the staff was one of the things he placed by the side when he wanted to pass through the metal detector. When asked what it was by a stern-looking lady, he said it was his new walking staff.

The lady had peeked without touching the staff, and she briskly concealed it. “You may go,” she said.

‘Goodness!’ Williams thought. What had that woman thought he was with? Didn’t they know he was about to depart to the United States with one of their most prized treasures, one that they would get to see on the TV soon? Maybe, then, the woman would remember that she saw something similar, then she would raise the alarm.

It was then Williams saw the wrong side of this. While he may be making his name in history, he would potentially be ruining the chances of future American archaeologists to come here. It could make things tense between the US and Egypt. He didn’t want that. But this was what Miriam wanted, and now, he had to do as she asked.

When Williams got onto the plane, he unconsciously had contact with a few people, including the pilot, as he walked up to his seat. Soon, everyone took their seat, unaware of the silent unseen killer with them on the plane.

Before the plane departed, William felt his strength wane, and he blamed it on the trip. Perhaps, he didn’t know that he was this tired. And now his body knew that he was about to make it back home, it had fallen sick.

Thirty minutes later, the plane was airborne, and in the enclosed space of the plane, Williams’s body shivered a little.

“What is wrong with me?” Williams asked. He was barely sick.

Williams’s fever increased, and even with the coolness of the plane, he was sweating, and soon, he began to groan slowly as he felt the stabs of a million scorpions all over his body. This drew the attention of a few passengers and the air hostesses.

“What’s wrong?” Williams heard someone ask.

He didn’t know who had asked, and he didn’t care. He just wanted to get out of this feeling, and he wanted to desperately stop drawing attention to himself.

Maybe, if he was on the ground, he could have been receiving treatment to discover what this was.

And why was it getting worse? Why was he groaning? Why was his body heating up? And why were they all looking at him with sad sorrowful faces? Couldn’t they help? Why couldn’t anyone help?

“Sir!” Someone called. “Are you okay?”

Worried, more passengers came to see his state, and just as all the strength left him, it felt like a hand seized his heart and squeezed it, strangling the life from it.

Suddenly, Williams gave up the ghost, and everybody drove back in dread and disbelief.

“Is he dead?” someone asked.

A plane passenger that was also a doctor got up to check Williams’s vitals, but he sensed no pulse. So, he briskly drew his hand back as he had just touched fire and said, “He’s dead.”

“Goodness,” someone uttered.

A man removed his suit jacket and used it to cover Williams’s face from the children, who were beginning to stare.

Everyone was shocked, and even the person next to Williams didn’t feel comfortable, so he had to stand up and move to the toilet.

The man who had gotten to the toilet wondered why he was feeling the way he was feeling. His body was warm, and why was it getting worse?

Then he thought about Williams and said, why was he groaning? Why was his body heating up? And while were they all looking at him with sad sorrowful faces? Couldn’t they help? Why couldn’t anyone help?

Worse still, he was now in one of the stalls, trying to calm down or even take a rest. He could hear the mutterings of people outside as they talked about what had just happened. They were making a big fuss over nothing. Maybe, the man fainted. Or he was being delusional and couldn’t just accept that someone was dead.

The man noticed his hands shaking slightly. His breathing was uneven and fast as the adrenaline rush faded off, and he realized something. He felt sick.

This must be some kind of illness. But where had he gotten it from? How could he even begin to understand and accept that the man he had sat next to was dead?

His head hurt because of the sudden realization.

Three hours into the flight, which was still over Africa, everyone still pondered on what had happened and why Williams had to die the way he did; little did they pay mind to the gently stirring illness they felt.

They were with a dead body on a plane, one that had come in alive, and this was definitely emergency enough for the pilots to turn the plane back to the airport, so why was everyone just pondering on the dead man and not thinking about the obvious situation?

It was then the plane dipped, dived, and began to free fall. A man, clawing to the seats for support, found his way to the cockpit only to see both pilots slumped forward, dead.

The man was weak as he said, “Lord, save our souls.” But before he could turn to warn the passengers who screamed and cried out loud, holding onto their seats while some hugged themselves, the plane reached the grounds of the Sahara desert, and there it turned into an inferno from an explosion that had its parts flying in every direction possible.