Chasm Waxing: A Startup, Cyber-Thriller (51 page)

“
Why don’t we use the
robots?” asked Becca.

“
That
’s a terrific idea
,” replied
Josh. With the Professor’s help, he proceeded to tie a
rope
to
the handles and attach it to the
robots. They cleared the
way
and reversed the direction of the
robots. The mechanical
archeologists
strained under the load.
One of the door’s handles cracked. Moments later, there was a
loud
whoosh, as the top of the
door crashed down to meet the tunnel’s dirt floor.

“
Wow,” said the Professor.
“That rush of air meant that the room was hermetically sealed.
That’s incredible.”

*

General Shields anxiously
watched the
entire
chai
n of events
through a Jumbo, resting close to the apex of the tunnel. When the
stone entry fell to the ground, a sense of wonderment overtook the
op enter.

Then, the atmosphere of the room
changed completely.

A SWARM analyst cursed. “General
Shields, we’ve just lost comms with every Swarmbot. Someone else is
in control.”

“
How’s that possible? The
satellite link
is completely
encrypted
. Not even Ramstein knows that
we’re
piggybacking
on their network? Get Fischer in here
ASAP.”

*

Becca and Josh shined
their miner’s helmet lights into
an enormous
, reflective
cave.

“
This cave is gilded. I’ve
never seen anything like it. This structure would be nearly
impossible to build, even today,” said McMillan. The cavern
was shaped
like
one-quarter of a dome. The far wall, opposite the stone door, stood
at a right angle.

Becca asked, “Professor, where’d they
get all this gold?”

“
It’s a colossal amount. I
don’t know. I don’t even understand how
they
architected the cave. The
biggest mystery is how the Hebrews sealed it for so long.
It’s
like
they
smoothed
the karst
limestone,
and then overlaid it with a gold-infused sealant?
Maybe the Queen of Sheba helped
him?
I don’t know. But, Solomon must
have built this cave during the height of his kingdom. The Bible
says that Solomon was the richest king on earth. It also states
that gold and silver were as common in Jerusalem as
stones.

“
There’s no way Judah had
enough gold, during the time of Jeremiah, to build this cave. That
was 500 years later than Solomon. By that time, Judah was weak
and
poor
.
And remember, the copper scroll says that the tunnels were
Solomon’s. Digging the
original
tunnels, hollowing out this
cave, smoothing the walls, laying the gold, hermetically sealing
it—this was a monumental effort. Solomon must have used slaves,
just like he used
for
his copper mines.”

The golden floor of the
cave was 75 feet long. At
its
highest
point, the ceiling of the
semi-egg-shaped chamber was 20 feet tall. To the immediate left of
the stone entry, Josh saw a wooden chest. El Minero and all
four
excavators
quickly extended the ventilation system into the
golden cave and rushed to position portable lanterns. Light danced
in the chasm. It reflected off the gold, like a house of mirrors.
Two large, covered objects stood in front of the
archeological
team. Beyond the obstacles,
a long
rectangular tent was visible—at
the far end of the cave.

As McMillan looked in the
direction of the
tent,
he said, “Oh, my Lord. That’s the Tabernacle. God
instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle in painstaking detail.
He
spent
two
chapters
of the Bible describing the creation of the
world, and over 50 chapters detailing the
requirements
of the Tabernacle.
Before there was a Temple, the Tabernacle housed the Ark. It was
instituted right after the Exodus. That Tabernacle could be 1500
years older than Jesus.”

“
Why would Solomon go
through all this trouble to protect the Tabernacle?” asked
Becca.

The Professor thoughtfully
considered his answer. “Solomon built God a permanent house, the
Temple. Maybe
he
wanted to take care of his temporary house, too?
Or, maybe he foresaw a time like King Hezekiah’s or King
Jehoiakim’s, and he desired to protect
the Ark? I’m just guessing.”

Josh ran to the wooden container. It
came up to his naval. “Professor, do you think the Ark is in
here?”

“
I don’t think so,”
replied McMillan.

Josh lifted the top off
the box.
This unveiled
another chest, coated in silver. “Help me remove
this.”

Becca could now see white
and blue linen robes, a turban, and a purple apron. The Hebrews
called the kilt-like apron, an ephod. The ephod was fringed
in
gold
and decorated with an elaborate blue and scarlet
pattern.

A golden square, the size
of a 10-inch picture frame, lay on top of the ephod. The adornment
contained
embedded,
polished stones and jewels. Each gem
was set
in a
grid-like pattern. It was three stones across, by four rows—for a
total of 12
distinct
jewels
. Two
black stones, in settings of gold, were secured to each shoulder of
the purple ephod.

“
Ahh,” said the Professor.
“This box contains the high priest’s garments. The most famous—or
rather, the most notorious—high priest in the Bible was
Caiaphas.”

“
He worked to persuade
Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus,” said Josh

Becca looked at her boyfriend,
astonished. Eight months ago, he’d mocked her and called her a
Bible thumper.

The Professor continued,
“This golden square
was
known
as the high priest’s breastplate.
The chains at its
top,
connected to the golden settings of those two
onyx stones. That enabled the breastplate to hang, like a
huge
necklace. The breastplate
covered
the high priest’s heart. Each
stone
represents
one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus came from
the tribe of Judah.” McMillan pointed to the red
gem
, at the
breastplate’s top right quadrant. “That’s a ruby.”

“
It’s so
beautiful,” said Becca.
“What tribe is
signified by the diamond?”

“
Well,
blow me down
, Becca. You think all I
do is study Bible trivia? The Professor laughed. “But, I’ll take a
guess. I believe that
it
’s Zebulun
.
”

“
I want to be from the
tribe of Zebulun,” she exclaimed.

The Professor chuckled. “Look at
this.” He pointed to the Hebrew script etched on the two black
stones. “This writing lists the names of the 12 tribes of Israel;
six on each onyx stone.”

“
Let’s close this up and
keep searching,” urged Becca.

El Minero’s crew had
removed the two tarps
from
the objects immediately in front of the
Tabernacle.

“
Hey
mates
, slow down,” said
McMillan.

“
Alright,” answered El
Minero. “Juans, fork the ventilation system. The air in here is
still too thin.”

McMillan walked toward the
bronze object, closest to him. Becca and Josh followed. “This is
the bronze altar. This
platform
was used to burn the animal
and grain offerings.” The altar was eight feet square. It stood
waist high.

The Professor continued to the next
object. It was closer to the tent. It looked like a fountain or
bird bath. “This is the Bronze Laver. The priests used it to wash
their feet and purify themselves before entering the
Tabernacle.”

As the explorers got
closer to the Tabernacle, the colors of the outer curtain
became
visible
. There were intricate patterns of blue, purple, and red,
intertwined in the fabric. Golden
cherubim were also woven
into the veil.
McMillan walked to the center of the 45-foot long, by a
15-foot
tall
curtain. He peeled it to the left.

“
We’re about to walk into
the Holy Place. Only the priests could enter this area. Because of
the
people's
sin,
they weren’t allowed
into the Tabernacle. I’ve got goosebumps.”

“
Should I go in?” asked
Josh. “I mean I’m Jewish, but I’m certainly no priest.”

“
Your call,” replied
McMillan. “If I were you, I’d take Baruch’s scroll seriously. God
gave you the wisdom to create the AI. I’ll respect you, no matter
your choice. However, I’m
reasonably
sure that if you want to see
the Ark, you’re going to have to enter this Tabernacle.”

Josh stopped hesitating. “Let’s
go.”

Josh, the
Professor,
and
Becca nearly tip-toed into the Tabernacle’s Holy Place.

Their lanterns and the
illumination from their
helmets,
sparkled across the
golden
objects
in the room. A golden table was to their immediate right. In front
of them, at a distance, was something that resembled a golden
podium. A
seven-branched
menorah was on their
left-hand
side.

“
That’s the table of
showbread,” said the Professor, pointing to the right. “Every
Sabbath, the priests would eat 12 loaves of bread, signifying the
12 tribes of Israel. When Jesus said he was the ‘bread of life,’
the showbread may have been on his mind.”

McMillan pointed to the
left. “That’s the golden lampstand. It’s the Tabernacle’s
only
interior
source of light. They didn’t have miner’s helmets back them.”
He laughed. Like a lot of Brits, the Professor laughed at
his
own
jokes.

The golden lampstand—also
known as the menorah—was a
seven-branched
candelabra. Candle-like
flames would burn on the tips of its seven branches. It was the
height of one man. The span of its branches was two men. Hanukkah
was a celebration of the Temple menorah that miraculously produced
light during the Maccabean Revolt. The Maccabees
warred
against
the Syrian ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes in 165 BC.

“
When Jesus said, ‘I am
the light of the world,’’ continued the Professor, “many Bible
scholars think he was looking at
a
giant
menorah in the Temple
courtyard,
while celebrating
Hanukkah.”

“
And what’s that, in front
of that other curtain?” asked Becca.

“
That’s the golden altar
of incense,” replied McMillan. The Professor led the team closer.
The incense altar was the width of a skinny man and three feet
tall. “As the incense burned, smoke wafted into the air. The smoke
symbolized
prayers
ascending before God.

“
What amazes me most, now
that I’m standing in the Tabernacle, is that God said that
everything in here is an
exact
replica
of His throne room in heaven. In
other words, if you die and go to heaven, you’ll see all this
again. If you read the Christian Bible’s last
book—Revelation—you’ll find references to almost all these
artifacts.”

As the intrepid excavators walked past
the altar of incense, they stood in front of another curtain. It
was similar to the first curtain they passed when they entered the
Tabernacle. The Professor took a deep breath. “Beyond this
partition is the Holy of Holies. If the Ark of the Covenant is
anywhere, it’s on the other side of this veil.

“
Be careful. Don’t touch
it. There are stories in the Bible of people that touched the Ark.
They died on the spot. Let me be frank. I’m very nervous. And, I’m
very excited. All at the same time. Only the high priest—and in all
of
Israel,
there was only one—was allowed to go past this curtain. And
he could only enter on one day of the year.”

“
Yom Kippur, right?” asked
Becca.

“
Yes, Yom Kippur—the Day
of Atonement. The high priest sprinkled sacrificial blood,
from
the bronze
altar, on the Ark’s Mercy Seat. If God accepted the sacrifice, the
high priest would live. If not, he died—right then and there. He
wore bells and a rope around his waist, so the other priests and
worshippers could listen. If the
bells
went silent, they used the
rope
to remove
the dead high priest.”