Hero Born: Project Solaris (11 page)

I ignored the jibe about the food. Mom had always been able to lecture me about eating healthy, while lighting up another cigarette. The hypocrisy wasn't lost on me, but I was far too happy to see her to let it bother me. "Jillian?"

"Usir was all too willing to help us rescue David. He claims that anything the grey men want, he wants to oppose," she said.

"That makes sense. We don't know much about Usir, but I learned some details. Like I said before, he's older than he appears. A lot older. Project Solaris, Mohn's experiments with supers, goes back to at least the early eighties," Mom said, frowning. "I'd start there. Also, we need to learn more about Object 3, whatever it is, and we know it's vitally important to the grey men. My investigation suggests he's holding it in Mohn's San Francisco office, but I was never able to confirm that. I still don't even know what it is, except that it's old and has something to do with the grey men."

"I might have some answers about that--well, I might have some clues, anyway," Kali said, withdrawing her laptop from the backpack on the floor next to her. She opened it, scanning something.
 

"Don't keep us in suspense," Mom said, planting her hands on her hips.
 

"I was curious about this Mohn Corp, and I had a couple hours to kill this morning while I was waiting for you guys to wake up," Kali said. She swept her long hair from her face as she looked back at the screen. "Did you know Mohn Corp is the world's leader in funding for archeological digs? That seems really odd for a tech company, so I started looking into that. My mom was really interested in Egyptology, and I was pretty much raised on documentaries. It wasn't hard figuring out the common thread to what Mohn's funding."

"You found a connection?" I asked, rising from the bed and moving to stand behind Kali so I could see the screen. Kali had several tabs open in Google images, one for Cambodia, another for Egypt, and a third for Mexico.

"Look," she said, cycling between the images. Each showed an archeological dig. "Notice anything? Each dig site is connected to a pyramid. Every culture Mohn is interested in worshipped the same structure."

It seemed there was a lot more to Kali than the shy, distracted, teen she pretended to be. I'd never have considered investigating how Mohn Corp invested their money, and I doubted Jillian would have, either. Kali had caught something both of us had missed, and demonstrated a knowledge of archeology far beyond the single semester I'd taken.

"Nice catch," I said, as I studied the screen. "The question is
why
? What is it about pyramids that's so important to Mohn Corp?"

"I don't know," Kali said, shifting to face me. "But if you think that's interesting, wait until you hear this. During my research I looked into Usir. There's a link to a Wikipedia page, which claims that Usir is another name for Osiris. That's the Egyptian god of the dead."

"We need to find someone who knows more about Egypt. Maybe they can shed some light on the Osiris connection, or on why a corporation would spend millions digging up pyramids," Jillian said. She bit her lip. "I don't think Auntie Hateya would know anything useful, and contacting her might be risky. David?"

"I wanted to talk to Professor Smith anyway, that's the guy I mentioned last night," I said. I gave her a victorious smile. "During my second semester, I took Meso-American anthropology. It was a fun course, and for a little while I considered becoming an anthropologist. Professor Smith knew all about pyramids. I'll give him a call, and see if we can pay him a visit today."

Chapter 18- No Such Thing As Werewolves

Professor Smith wasn't available to see us until after class that afternoon, so I did what any sensible fugitive does. I slept like the dead until about twenty-five minutes before we were supposed to meet him.

Kali shook me lightly awake, and I fumbled groggily to my feet. I was still tired, but the additional five-hour nap meant I at least felt human. My clothing was still soiled from my, uh, situation during my captivity, but I couldn't smell it and hoped no one else could either.
 

"I used the last of my cash to do some more shopping while you were asleep," Kali said, giving me a warm smile. She produced a Ross bag, fishing out a T-shirt, socks, underwear, and--mother of god--a clean pair of jeans. "I hope they fit and aren't too cheesy. I didn't really know what you wear."

"It's perfect," I said, shucking out of my soiled shirt and pulling on the clean one.

"I'm going to head to the JC library to do a little more research while you and Jillian visit this professor," she said, setting the Ross bag on the table. "I got a few things for Jillian too. How long do you think you guys will be?"

"An hour, maybe?" I said, fairly certain we could do it in that time. "We'll swing by the library to get you when we're done."

Kali gave a nod, picking up her laptop as she headed for the door. She slipped out quietly, but the door opening still woke Jillian.

"Issit time to go?" a sleepy Jillian said, worming her way out of the blankets. She blinked blearily awake, slipping from the bed. She wore nothing but a long T-shirt, which exposed tantalizingly bare legs.

"I think so," I said, glancing at the clock. I took twenty seconds to straighten my hair as best I could, then started putting on the rest of the clothes Kali had brought. "Kali bought you some new clothes. They're in the bag on the table."

"I love that kid," Jillian said, scooping up the bag as she walked into the bathroom. She emerged less than five minutes later, looking like she'd spent a day at the spa. I'd have given just about anything to know how ladies managed to do that.

She'd brushed her hair, changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a long blue sweater, and even added a bit of lipstick and some blush. She'd transformed into the typical college student, a smart disguise given where we were.

Of course I'd managed the same thing accidentally. I resembled a student who'd stayed up all night playing
World of Warcraft
, then stumbled into the only class I hadn't managed to miss that day.

I led Jillian from the room. We trotted across the street to the wide lawn in front of the administrations building. Some things were the same. The giant oak tree was still there, complete with a half-dozen kids sitting in a circle chatting.

Other parts were different. They'd finally finished the three story brick parking garage where the lot used to be. I'd have bet a whole lot of students were happy about not having to park three blocks from school. I threaded between buildings, enjoying the feeling of nostalgia. That surprised me, as I'd only been gone for two years. I hadn't even gotten a degree.

We finally reached the anthropology building, a three-story brick structure with dozens of classrooms. I held open the door for Jillian, admiring the view as she walked past. She slipped into the air-conditioned hallway, pausing to wait for me. Rows of stadium seating ringed the room, with a raised stage up against one wall. I'd attended a lot of lectures here, and still pictured it full of students despite it being empty. The only other person was Professor Smith, a mousy-looking scholar in his mid-thirties. He wore the same Harry Potter style glasses he'd had when I was a student, and had the same mussed, dirty-blond hair.

"David," he said, smiling warming as we approached. "I was quite surprised to hear from you. Welcome back."

"Thanks for seeing us, Professor Smith," I said, extending a hand. He shook it.

"Please, call me Blair. I'm not your teacher any longer. So what brings you to the
alma mater
? Your email was pretty vague."

I hesitated for just an instant. I felt I could trust Professor Smith with what was going on, but did I really want to draw him into all this? No, that wasn't fair. So I decided to lie. Awkwardly.

"My friend Jillian is a writer," I said, gesturing at Jillian. "She's working on a techno thriller and had some questions about how several ancient cultures might be related."

"Ahh," the professor replied, eyes going flat. "This isn't going to be one of those 'prehistoric alien' style books is it? I can assure you there's no such thing as werewolves, elves aren't real, and aliens didn't build the pyramids."

Jillian choked. Loudly. She blinked a couple of times, recovering quickly. "Not exactly, no. It's more of an Atlantis conspiracy style book."

"Ahh," the professor repeated. He didn't seem any more enamored with that idea. "What sort of help do you need?"

"Let's say a corporation was digging in Egypt, Cambodia, and Mexico," Jillian said, darting me a glance that promised swift death when we left. "What might they be hoping to find? Is there a common thread between all three cultures?"

"Well, there's the obvious," the professor said, giving a shrug as he began packing papers into his brief case. "All three built pyramids. I suspect you already knew that though, which is why you picked those three. I'm not surprised you're asking for more. That's a pretty flimsy connection, and one that's been done to death. Badly."

"So there are other connections?" I asked, trying to take a little pressure off Jillian.

"Several, yes. First, there's the common history. All three cultures have similar creation myths, and all three believed that time is cyclic," Smith explained. "I'm sure you've heard all that 2012 nonsense. It was kicked off by the Mayans and their belief in the long count. They believed that when the count ended the age would turn, though they were frustratingly non-specific about exactly what that meant. Most scholars assume it was just a way for them to mark time, and that we're looking too hard for meaning that isn't there."

"And Egypt has similar myths?" Jillian asked.

"Remarkably. They teach that their gods emerged from a great flood that wiped out the world, and that another such flood would one day come again." The professor adjusted his glasses, somehow managing to look even more owlish in the process. "In a nutshell, their Book of the Dead taught that it was possible the entire world might be wiped out, leaving Osiris and his legion of the dead as the only survivors. He was their god of the underworld. This fate wasn't certain though. The Egyptians believed it might be avoided, though they didn't say how.

"They also believed in cosmic cycles, which is where the connection to the Mayans comes in," he continued. "Their calendars were similar, and the Egyptians believed that there were many ages, just like the Greeks, the Cambodians and half a dozen other cultures. Does that give you enough to work with?"

"The Osiris stuff is interesting," Jillian said, perking up. "I don't suppose he's based on a real figure? Someone in history? And was there anyone similar in the other cultures?"

"Some Egyptian deities are based on real figures, like Imhotep. Osiris, unfortunately, was not. At least as far as we know," Smith said, giving an apologetic shrug. "There are similar figures in other mythology though, which is interesting since they're separated by thousands of miles and just as many years. It's interesting that several cultures seem to follow parallel lines, though I doubt that's because of any real connection between them. Still, it might be useful if you're pursuing the Atlantis angle. Each of these cultures was built on the bones of an even older culture, one that some people believe was quite a bit more advanced than anything that came after."

"Is there any evidence of these older cultures?" Jillian asked.

"Some," Smith said, leaning back against his desk. "There's a lot of evidence that the Sphinx is many thousands of years older than we assume. It suffered what appear to be millennia of water erosion, which would only have been possible in the Pleistocene--the last ice age. There's also Gobekli Tepe, in modern-day Turkey. The ruins are several thousand years older than either Egypt or Sumer, but are of a size and complexity we'd have assumed impossible in a pre-agrarian society."

"That's fascinating," I said, and meant it. I wasn't sure how that related to Usir, or Mohn Corp, but I felt certain there was a connection I was missing.

"How's this for a potential plot?" Smith asked, giving a smile. "All three cultures really are descended from a greater culture, your Atlantis. There really was a catastrophe that wiped out this culture, leaving nothing but a few clues scattered over the world. Whatever catastrophe occurred before is cyclic somehow, which is supported in all three mythologies. It's coming again, and your heroes are trying to learn the truth so they can prevent it."

The room dimmed, and I staggered. Jillian's arms settled around my waist, keeping me from falling. Images burst into my mind, somehow familiar, though I was positive it was the first time I was seeing them. The sun, with tendrils of fire bursting from the surface. A jet black pyramid bursting from the water near the Golden Gate Bridge. A platform made of black stone, with a golden disk in the center. That last was the most powerful, and I sensed a deep connection with the platform.

"I think I need to sit down," I murmured, allowing Jillian to guide me to one of the seats in the first row.

"I'll get you a glass of water," Professor Smith said. He hurried from the room.

"David, what happened?" Jillian whispered, squeezing my hand as she eyed me intently.

"I don't know. Everything got really fuzzy, and I guess I had some sort of vision. It's the first time it's happened," I said. My head was starting to clear, and color was returning to the world.

"Oh my god," Jillian said, eyes widening. "David, you're a precog, like your mother. She used to have visions. I never saw one in person, but she used to tell people that they knocked her on her ass. What did you see?"

"I don't really know. The sun. A black pyramid. They were familiar." It took me a moment to realize why. I met Jillian's gaze. "I know where I've seen them. They were both in Mom's sketchbook, back in her apartment."

Chapter 19- Decisions

Kali was gracious enough to let me use her laptop, a sleek, silver netbook that complemented her college student look. She'd gone for coffee and I'd spent nearly an hour browsing, but wasn't really sure what I was looking for.