CARTER – The Expedition
The Chronicles of Samuel Carter – Chapter Two
Foreword
This is the second of seven chapters of Part One of The Chronicles of Samuel Carter, where our main protagonist Samuel arrives in Egypt on his first expedition.
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Part One
1 The Call | 2 The Expedition | 3 The Chamber | 4 The Nightmare | 5 The Invitation | 6 The Staff | 7 The Cage
The Expedition
The next day Samuel set foot in the Egyptian desert.
“Behold the hidden tomb of Amun-Ra,” Jackie beamed. “We are about to make history!”
“This is… incredible,” said Samuel.
“Glad you took my call?” Jackie grinned.
He grinned back, glanced at the blue sky, and followed her into the tomb.
A bald, muscular man wearing a tank top, khaki trousers, and black army boots was waiting for them, a torch in one hand and a portable sonar scanner in the other.
“Everything ready, Boss. Signal amplifiers up and running.”
“Thank you, Aziz.” Jackie produced a palm-sized white case from one of her countless pockets and handed it to Samuel. “Here, wear these.”
Samuel took the case and flipped it open. “What’s this?”
“Wireless comm and AR contact lens.”
He looked at it in confusion.
“You take the pin and lift it to your eye. The lens will place itself like so.” Jackie demonstrated, putting her contact lens in her left eye.
Samuel followed her example, blinked once, twice, and felt a slight pressure and then nothing. “I don’t feel it anymore.”
“That’s normal. Tap your comm to toggle AR mode. Aziz will stay here and monitor signal flow. Everything we see, hear and say has to be transferred back to base.” Jackie took the sonar scanner.
Samuel put the comm in his ear and tapped it. “Nothing is happening?”
“Patience. It takes a minute to boot. Grab a torch.” She took one herself from the supply crate next to Aziz, switched on the sonar scanner and proceeded into the shadows of the red sandstone tunnel.
“So this lens… how does it work?” Samuel walked beside Jackie.
“You look at stuff, and if there are any records, you get an overlay of information on the object in focus. And then you can swipe and tap menus with your index finger to navigate around.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“Huh.”
They came to a round space with crates and tools stacked against the wall.
“It’s working.” Samuel looked at the tools, amazed by the detailed descriptions superimposed in bright orange letters.
“Fantastic. When you’re done cataloguing our shovels, let’s go and find something a little bit older.” Jackie turned around, studying the scanner display.
“What is it?” Samuel peeked over her shoulder at the beeping device.
“Aziz mentioned electromagnetic interference from somewhere in this chamber, but the scanner doesn’t pick up anything.”
“Not sensitive enough?”
Jackie gave him a sour look. “We take the left tunnel. The right one is a dead-end.”
Samuel nodded and followed her. Their footsteps crunched hard on the dry sand, the ceiling hung low above their heads, and their torchlights danced on the rough walls. The scanner pinged in rhythmic intervals, echoing down the dark passage. The walls were closing in on them.
“Jackie, this is getting a bit narrow.”
“Relax, we’re almost through. There is an intersection up ahead.”
“OK. Still nothing on the radar?”
“Solid rock all around us. No need to worry.”
“Great.”
Jackie chuckled.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You know, this is my first time in the field… I haven’t really done this sort of thing before.”
“You’re doing great. Just keep walking, one step at a time.” She turned and held her flashlight under her chin, lighting her face. “And remember… touch nothing!” she cackled.
“Very funny.” He rubbed his sweaty neck and continued in silence. The air was hot and hard to breathe, and the thought of being buried alive under all this rock did not help.
“Hey, stop that.” Jackie tapped his shoulder.
“Stop what?”
“Breathing in all the air. You’ll hyperventilate. Relax. Think of a sauna.”
“I don’t like saunas.”
“Steam bath?”
“No, thanks.”
“You’re weird.”
“And you’re wearing a white suit to an expedition.” Samuel took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief.
The intersection was spacious enough for them to stand upright. The path on the left led upwards, and on the right was barely more than a dark hole. They would have to continue on their knees.
“Don’t tell me,” Samuel pleaded.
“Yep, I am picking up EM interference from down there.”
“Of course.”
“Think of the reward, Sam. You go first.”
“ME?”
“That way, only one of us will get stuck,” Jackie teased.
“That’s… reassuring.”
A rumble shook the ground. Sand and stone fell on them.
“Boss. Abort—The camp—Lost contact—Sandstorm—Abort—Abort.” Aziz was shouting over the comm when the signal cut out, and the tunnel through which they had come collapsed, engulfing them in a cloud of debris and rubble.
Jackie sat up, brushing off dirt. “Aziz. Come in. Aziz,” she coughed.
Samuel groaned, wiping pebbles and sand from his face, spitting and cursing. “Goddammit, I hate tunnels!”
“Aziz. Status report. Come in.” There was only static.
Samuel took his foldable spade and started to stab at the collapsed tunnel.
“Stop! You’ll only make it worse.” Jackie glared at him.
“Oh, forgive me for trying to help.”
“Aziz will come.”
“What’s that noise?” Samuel stared at the dark hole.
“Don’t move.” Jackie pressed against the wall. The sound of a sea of scurrying insects rose from below. “Be very still and let them pass.”
“Them?”
The scratching and screeching grew louder and louder, culminating in a spine-chilling, ear-piercing noise as a putrid wave of scarabs poured from the black mouth and swarmed over them. They crawled over his arms, his legs, his whole body. A few seconds later, the sacred bugs were gone.
“W-W-What…” Samuel stammered.
“The storm spooked the scarabs.” Jackie’s matter-of-fact voice broke Samuel’s stupor.
“AZIZ!” He shrieked.
“Pull yourself together. The bugs are gone.”
“And we are trapped.”
“Not for long. Look.” Jackie pointed at the rays of light piercing through the rubble.
“Boss? Everything alright? Stand back.” Aziz called out and cleared a hole big enough for them to squeeze through. He peered at Jackie and Samuel from the other side. “You hurt, Boss?”
“No, we’re fine. What happened?
“S’bad, Boss. Storm hit us out of nowhere, and then scarabs everywhere. Men scared, Boss. They all left. Bad omen this, tomb cursed, they say.”
“What? This isn’t a Mummy movie… Bloody hell.” She grunted. “The equipment?”
Aziz shook his head. “Gone, Boss. Storm took it all. Comm down, too.”
“What are we waiting for? We should leave,” said Samuel.
“We have come this far. We are not going to turn back now.”
“But the tunnel—”
“The tunnel is still here. The storm’s gone, and help is on the way. The emergency beacon has been triggered. No point in hiking through the desert on our own.”
Samuel patted the dust off from his jacket, shrugged his shoulders, and shook his head.
Jackie picked up the scanner and checked the display. “Sonar is still working. Let’s see.” She moved towards the dark passage and stopped. “Come here, quick. Check this out,” Jackie said.
“What is it?” Samuel stared at the scanner.
“Here. See? That hollow space wasn’t there before.”
“A hidden passage.” Samuel’s eyes widened.
“After you, Doctor Carter.” Jackie gestured and then turned to Aziz. “Try and get the comms back up, Aziz.”
“Will do, Boss.” Aziz watched them as they disappeared into the tomb’s black maw.
The rugged earth scraped Samuel’s knees, and every inch was torture. He paused. “How far?”
“It hasn’t even been a minute. Keep moving.” Jackie pushed him from behind with the torch.
“Hey. OK, OK. I’m moving. It’s been more than a minute,” Samuel muttered.
“Barely.”
“—Why did you call me?”
“I ask myself the same thing.”
“So… you didn’t want to call me?”
“Me? No, of course not, but he insisted—” Jackie stopped herself.
“He? He who? Your dad?”
“What’s that smell?” Jackie spat. “Oh, you… good grief, move… faster.”
“Sorry, nervous tummy. I didn’t mean to.”
“Warn me next time? Unbelievable. Move!”
“I am moving as fast as I can. So? Who is he?”
“My brother.” Jackie kept a safe distance.
“I didn’t know you had a brother.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Sam.”
“Where is he?”
“Last time we spoke, he was here in Egypt.”
“Why didn’t he join us?”
“Enough with the questions. We’re close. Any signs of a passage?”
“Yes! I see it. There’s an opening up ahead on the right.” Samuel crawled faster.
“Slow down, cowboy. Wait for me.”
Samuel was already through the hole and out of sight.
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Tune in next week when Doctor Carter ends up in a pickle and hear him say, “I think I left the kettle on.”
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Oooo, where might that tunnel lead then?
Love the banter. Jackie's got some sass 😄
Nothing like breaking wind to make your characters realistic! 😂 Love the hints of trouble to come. And ewwww! 🕷️ 🦂 🪲 creepy crawlies! Keep your mouth shut, Dr. Carter!