The Moses Legacy - Adam Palmer [46]
The fax described certain events in England and warned of the threat posed by two people: an Englishman called Daniel Klein and an Austrian citizen called Gabrielle Gusack. The document went on to say that both of them were highly respected academics and that they were believed to be travelling in the company of the Vice Minister of Culture, Akil Mansoor.
However, the document took great pains to emphasize that there was no suggestion that Akil Mansoor was in any way, shape or form aware of the threat posed by these two individuals. Indeed, it was because of his ignorance of the danger they posed that he was himself vulnerable to them and it was for this reason all the more imperative that he be warned and that they be apprehended as quickly as possible.
But where was Akil Mansoor now? And where were Daniel Klein and Gabrielle Gusack, for that matter?
A few minutes later, Mahdi’s secretary had tracked down the information that Mansoor had flown with Klein and Gusack to Luxor with the intention of visiting the Valley of the Kings. But because the secretary had said it was urgent, Mansoor’s office had kindly given his mobile number.
The minister wasn’t sure if there was coverage in the area where Mansoor was, but he decided to try. The call went straight to voicemail, and a voice told him that the number could not receive calls for the time being and invited him to leave a message.
The Minister of Health left an urgent message for Mansoor, hoping that he would hear it soon.
Chapter 33
‘It’s known to the locals as the Valley of the Monkeys and the tomb itself is known as the Tomb of the Baboons, because of the depictions of baboons on one of the walls.’
Mansoor was driving them on a spur road across the hot, dry sands, from the main car park of the Valley of the Kings to the western valley, some three kilometres away.
‘Didn’t they actually find a cache of mummified baboons in the valley?’
Mansoor glanced at Daniel and smiled. ‘They only found one from this western valley. Others were found in various other locations.’
They had arrived at the entrance to the valley. Gabrielle spoke from the back of the jeep.
‘You know, the best way to see this valley is on foot. It has some wonderful rock formations around the narrow paths that you can’t get to by car.’
‘I don’t think our friend could take the heat,’ Mansoor replied with a mocking smile, applying the brakes.
‘Then why are we stopping here?’ asked Gabrielle.
‘We have to get the guardian to open the tomb,’ Mansoor explained. ‘Let’s hope he’s at home.’
The three of them stepped out of the jeep and into the silence of the western Valley of the Kings. But this time, the blast of dry heat that hit Daniel was not quite as oppressive as it had been before. What was disconcerting, however, was the desolate loneliness that hung in the air around them. This, Daniel realized, was the sensation that the old adventurers must have felt in the main valley when they first explored and excavated the area, before it was transformed into the tourist beehive that it had now become.
Mansoor looked around, as if this were new to him also, and then started walking towards the guardian’s house at a snail’s pace.
‘The ancient Egyptians believed that the valley was watched over by Meretseger, a local goddess whose name translated, appropriately enough, as “She who loves silence”. But there was a bit of a pun in her name, because the first syllable, Mer, was also the first syllable of the word for pyramid and the goddess was said to dwell in the pyramid-shaped mountain that overlooked the valley. To the ancient Egyptians she was perceived as both kind and cruel – the dispenser of