Blueblood 3: The Others - 9. I Am Amasis. Pharaoh and a God

We went with Tad Morsi to the remote site and I scanned the writing there on the walls. Once that was done, Colin and I were done. The computer did its job reading the writings and we even printed out the translation. We also said we had a little business to take care of, we might have to go somewhere but would be back.

“Business?” Dr. Morsi asked.

“Definitely.” Colin nodded.

Stan did scan the map to Buddy and used his own digital map to see the land better. He then saw the topography and saw the terrain. “It is a few miles away. I used the two towns or villages and the distance Amir put down in kilometers...looking at the map, it will take a couple of hours to get there through the desert. Your destination should be here.” He said pointing on another map. He looked at Mark. “A few hours before sunset should have you there on time.” He pointed to the map. “This is all desert.”

Colin nodded. “We’ll be in SUVs. We got those big balloon tires, we get through anything.” He shrugged. “We’ll be ready for whatever.” He looked at George. “We’ll need our sun guns and all the equipment. Serum?”

“I’ll bring it,” George said.

Colin gave Stan a smile. “And unfortunately, you have to stay and man Buddy.”

Stan nodded. “Yeah, I knew that.” He sighed.

Mark nodded also. “And he can’t be alone, so I stay, too?”

Colin nodded. “Yep.”

Mark put his arm around Stan. “It will just be you and me here.”

“I’ll be working!” Stan smiled. “But glad you’re here. I’ll keep a fix on your location the whole time.” He said to Colin.

Mark became serious. “But keep in touch!” He held his satellite phone up.

It was three in the afternoon when we headed out. The driving was done by Colin and Chuck. The SUVs had large tires for traveling in loose sand. We didn’t know what we’d find. We made our way with me looking at a computer screen to see the best route and whether we were heading in the right direction. The computer was determining the best route as we left a “road” behind. I had visions of camel ridden caravans going across the sands.

To my surprise, it was mostly rock where we went. It was after sunset when we got close to the area we were supposed to meet Amasis.

“I assume we’re being watched,” Colin said to everyone and no one.

I nodded and looked at the map again, zeroing in. The mountain was a big pile of stone, windblown sculptures in the rock of a mound that stood several hundred feet. It could be a forgotten tomb. It wasn’t too large, so we traveled around the whole thing. Colin pulled to a stop and put the SUV in park.

It was night now, but the stars were out and the moon was half full. It was a few minutes later we saw three dark figures come out from somewhere.

“Here we go.” Colin clipped his translator on and turned it on. We all did. The earpieces in our ears, we were ready.

When the figures got closer, we saw one was Amir. He was dressed bare-chested but had a white cloth around his waist and a gold belt. He carried a tall…something with a wide blade. He had on a folded head covering in a blue cloth. Around his neck was a decorative something in gold. He also had a sword strapped to his waist. He was clearly a guard. The other two men were dressed like him, with some other decorative neck ware. The rank? Amir bowed slightly. “Amasis will see you now. If you drive this way, we’ll show you where you can secure these vehicles.” He turned and began walking away.

Colin started the SUV and we did follow Amir. The truth was, if he hadn’t led us, we never would have found the entrance to this cave. I guessed it was a cave. It did not look man made, or maybe it was to make it easier to hide. We drove around an outcropping and turned back in. Never would we have seen the cave opening. We drove deep into this cave, the headlights showing where to drive. The floor of this…cavern was bumpy, but well-traveled by foot. Then I saw there were torches as we got further in. Amir held his hand up for us to stop and we got out. Then he turned to the other two men and spoke to them. I glanced at my portable screen and saw the computer working on what Amir had said. He continued to speak to these other two men, who walked behind our vehicles, took a stance and held their spears firmly. No one would get these vehicles!

“They’re speaking an ancient form of Arabic,” I said quietly to Colin. “The computer at home is searching for any spoken form and getting the resources.”

Colin nodded at me and smiled. “I hadn’t thought to do that. Good thinking.”

I grinned and pulled his portable screen up. “But you did.” He showed him the screen as it worked on the language. “Buddy will be accessed by all of us,” I whispered. I looked again at the screen as it needed more information. “We need more input.”

“Amir,” Colin said making Amir look at him. “Could you say more in that language you used with those guards?”

Amir looked at us puzzled. “Why?”

“So we can learn it,” I said. “Is this the language that Amasis uses?”

He nodded. “He can speak a little English, but I translate for him. That’s why I send the emails. He cannot read English or write in that language.”

Colin smiled. “But we will speak in his if you give us more.”

Amir looked doubtful. “What should I say?”

“Talk about your day,” Colin suggested. “Or tell us about Amasis.”

Amir began talking. I could see a few words appear on the screen, but it was still working.

“This is an old form of Arabic,” I said to the others who were looking at their own screens. I smiled when the screen soon came up with complete sentences. I grinned. “You just told us about what you had for lunch,” I said and heard it spoken from the speaker on my device.

Amir looked shocked again.

“You guys eat camel?” Colin asked and I heard it in the old Arabic.

Amir’s eyes widened. “Yes, but only young ones. The older ones are a little tough. It’s pretty good.” He grinned. “Amasis will be pleased with this.”

“We have the backup batteries.” I grinned at Colin.

Wayne was right behind us. “We have the solar chargers, but we need the sun for that to work.” He looked at the surrounding rock of the cave. “I feel like I’m back in a mine.”

I patted his arm. “It will be fine.” I chuckled.

Amir led us deeper in the tunnel. We traveled a long way. Torches were lit at various points. Then the torches became small bowls of metal that burned brighter. The ground now was not a slant like it had been, but steps that at last flattened out to a floor that had been smoothed down. Going in more, the cave tunnel widened and then suddenly, we were in a vast cavern with a very high ceiling that was jagged rock, but before us lay a polished stone floor. It was like someone poured liquid rock from wall to wall and it was frozen solid and it shined. There was a decorative pattern to the dark stone floor. Then we saw what had to be gold thrones sitting on a raised section of floor. There were two thrones at the other end unoccupied. Beside the thrones were tall gold lamps that burned with a flame. Two grand statues of a gold something, it had the head of a dog or some canine. A jackal? It had the body of a human male garbed with the cloth in gold around it’s waist like Amir had on. They also held spears.

“Oh, boy,” Colin grumbled to me only. “Whoever this person is…he has a very high opinion of himself.”

I nodded. We watched as several people came from behind the throne dressed in white, with the decorative neck pieces. Four were females and two were males. The men were bare-chested like Amir. Like Amir, they were handsome. All of them. The women were very pretty and the men were very handsome, but clearly Egyptian. The men had shaved heads. The women had long black hair that had gold bands in their hair. Not one of them was a vampire. A man and woman came from behind these people and they were vampires. They both had the eyes of vampires and even though their skin pigment was dark like Egyptians, the skin was paler than the others. “This must be the bad version of the Ten Commandments,” I said to Colin who smiled at me. “Or a weird episode of Stargate: SG1.” That made him chuckle.

“You and TV and movies.” Colin said. “I have an addiction to coffee you tease me about?”

The man had on the headdress of a pharaoh and the woman had a crown of gold. He was bare-chested, but he had more around his neck and waist. He also had those two things I would find out was a crook and flail later. I looked it up. Even though he was a vampire, he was very, very handsome and became a vampire in his thirties. The headdress hid the fact that his head was also shaved. He had a nice chest with no hair of any kind on it. She was breathtakingly beautiful. Supermodels should look as good! She looked to be in her early to mid-twenties. Her long dark hair fell below her shoulders and she wore a white gown. Also, a wide neck piece covered the front. She sat, but the man remained standing.

“I am Amasis.” The man said in a loud voice. He waved to the woman on the throne. “My wife, Queen Nabia.” He said it in English.

Colin walked a little closer and the two males came down to stand between Colin and Amasis. Colin chuckled. “Sorry, I didn’t think of the protocols.” He said quietly, but his translator said in old Arabic louder.

Amasis’ eyes widened as he heard it. “You speak my language?”

Colin shook his head. “I don’t, but this does.” He held the translator out a little.

Protocol or not, Amasis came down staring at the translator. “What magic is this?” He asked amazed.

Colin shook his head again. “It isn’t magic. It’s science. We had Amir teach this device to speak your language.”

Amasis looked at Colin and sniffed. Then he walked past Colin to me and then looked at the others with us. “All but two of you are…like me.” He looked at Colin. “But not like me. How?”

Colin waved to George. “This man came up with a medication we all take.” He brought George forward. “He can explain better why we’re no longer like you.”

George looked questioning at Amasis. “Do you know what you are?”

Amasis frowned. “I am a resident of the Otherworld.”

“You consume blood,” George said. “You must drink that daily. Isn’t that true?”

He waved at the others on his raised dais. “They provide me with my nutrients; as they do with Queen Nabia.”

George nodded. “You don’t know about the venom or what you became?”

Amasis frowned. “I am a god.” He said simply.

Colin rolled his eyes and muttered to me. “Here we go.” Colin walked forward. “How long ago did this…trip to the Otherworld happen?”

Amasis looked around. “I’ve always been here.”

Colin nodded. “We were all like you are now.” He waved at Amasis. “Are we gods as well?”

“You’re here.” Amasis reasoned. “You must be something like that. How else would you get here?”

Colin shook his head. “We’re from a whole other world.” He looked at Amasis. “Do you know about this world?” Colin pointed down to the ground. He waved at the others there. “These people are human. Where did they come from?”

Amasis looked at his servants. “They were sent to serve me. Every so often new ones come to take the place of those less worthy.” He looked at Colin. “Why are you asking me these questions?”

“To explain what we do and what we are, we need to understand what you know about your life,” Colin said. “Do you ever go above?” He asked pointing up through the cavern roof.

“I cannot go above,” Amasis said.

“But we can,” Colin said. “We can make it possible for you to do the same, but we need to instruct you.”

“We need a little history from you,” George said.

Colin looked at the people here. “How are you feeding these people? They have to eat. They have color, meaning they go out above. Where do they live?”

Amasis looked at the others. “They come and work. Others come at different times and it rotates.”

“How do they do that?” I asked.

“There are tunnels they go through.” He waved at his wife. “She is from those tunnels. I gave her the gift of life for this Otherworld.”

Colin nodded. “You bit her.” He took a deep breath. “Do you know the word vampire?” Only the translator didn’t have that word.

Amasis’ eyebrows came together. “I do not know this…vampire.”

Colin looked at Amir. “How can he not know?” He asked Amir in English. "I sent the message about us. How can he not know?"

Amir nodded. "We have gotten messages for several generations. Only I was shown how to get them and respond by the one trusted before me." He shook his head. "I do not know of the ones except for the one you sent us."

Colin shook his head. "You didn't see the one I sent through the Internet?"

"I have heard of this Internet, but I don't know this message. I responded to what I received."

"Oh, boy," I said to Colin. "He doesn't know what he is."

“How long has he been down here?” Colin asked Amasis.

Amir looked at Amasis concerned. “Forgive me.” He bowed to Amasis and spoke in old Arabic. Then he looked at Colin. “I do not know how long. He’s always been here. He had many wives.” He thought. “It’s said he had a thousand; just not all at one time.”

“A thousand!?” Colin looked at Amasis shocked. He spoke again in old Arabic. “You’ve had a thousand wives?”

Amasis nodded. “Some were like these are now.” He pointed to his servants that were human. “I gave the gift to a couple, as I did with Queen Nabia.”

Colin looked at Amir. “How can he not know what he is?”

Amir shrugged. “He knows what he is. He’s a god.”

"Colin," I began quietly to him. "The word vampire means different things to you and me. Their understanding of it's meaning could be totally different than either of ours."

“How is he supporting all of you?” Colin asked. He waved at the gold. “I see gold, but how does he support these people?”

Amir shrugged. “There were more servants before. There were soldiers.” He explained. “They would seize and take what is needed. Our treasury is well stocked.”

I walked over to Amir. “Fine. You know what he is.”

Amir shook his head. “I know what he is.” He shrugged. "I read this word vampire. Doesn't it mean god? I assumed there were other lesser gods that wanted to be greater gods. I contacted you to make Amasis a greater god.'

“You have access to the Internet?” I asked.

Amir looked baffled. “I receive messages from the others. I’ve heard of the Internet, but I don’t access it.”

Colin walked over to Amir. “But you were working in the house we were staying in. You were out in the world. You know this isn’t the afterlife or Otherworld.”

Amir looked at the Queen. “I know what my mother taught me.” He waved at Queen Nabia.

I nodded. Here was the age thing again. She looked several years younger than Amir. “I see.”

“I was raised to do this,” Amir said simply. “So were they.” He pointed to the other Egyptians with him. “The guards as well.”

“You’re in contact with other groups,” I said to Amir. “You tell him what they say?” I pointed to Amasis.

Amir nodded. “I maintain contact with the others, I can read some of their languages like I do English. We had the contact in the past. They received things written on parchment or paper. Now, a man told me about this email. I had a man I thought was a friend set it up for me.” He looked sad. “He was killed in a conflict near here.” He frowned. “But he was a thief!”

I walked to Colin. “This may take a while.”

Colin nodded. “It’s going to.” He sighed. He looked at Amasis. “So, you’re Amasis?”

Amasis nodded.

“THE Amasis?” Colin wanted to clarify.

“Named after one that died before I was born,” He said, “when I was in the world.”

I frowned. “That was over twenty-five hundred years ago.” I hissed at Colin.

Colin nodded. “Yes. We’ve got nearly three thousand years of history to tell him about.”

“And tell him what he really is,” I added. I shook my head. “Two thousand years below ground? I’d go crazy!”

Colin nodded. “Maybe he has.” He walked closer to Amasis and the two males stepped in front of Colin. “Come on, guys!” He said to the guards. “If we wanted to hurt him, what would you do? We want to help him! Why do you think we’re here?”

Amasis looked at the men and nodded his head away for them to back off. “They are my protectors.”

Colin nodded. “I have them, too.” He waved at Shelly and Chuck. “I also have the ones like me. They don’t just protect me, but all of us.” He smiled. “We want to help you.” He said to Amasis. “We’ll begin teaching about the real nature of this world.”

Amasis nodded. “You have been out there. I have not.” He looked at his surroundings. “If I can leave here, that would be wonderful. I’ve been through the tunnels, but I can’t go up.” He smiled at us. “Of course, you must stay as my guests.” He chuckled. “I haven’t had that many guests.” He looked at Burke. “I had a few down here with hair like yours. They wore strange clothing, too. But they were military.”

I nodded. “Nazis?” I speculated to Colin. “That was a while ago, wasn’t it?”

Amasis nodded. “It was just a while, but they didn’t speak my language. You do.” He looked at our translators. “They didn’t have your science magic.”

We talked some more, but was beginning to get near dawn. There was no sun down here, but there was still a schedule. Amasis took us to another chamber where showed he had food prepared.

“I understand you eat,” Amasis said.

“We do.” I patted Colin’s stomach. “Some more than others.”

Colin looked warily at Amasis. “This man is my husband.” He wanted to see if that bothered Amasis.

Amasis nodded. “Some of my wives were male.” He wasn’t bothered at all. I tapped the translator to see if I heard right.

The food was pretty good! Well-cooked and tasty. We showed Amasis our devices which fascinated him. He wanted to know how it worked. How do you explain to someone who didn’t even seem to know about electricity? Nabia didn’t say much. She hardly spoke at all but listened. My mother and Gabriella came to speak with her. She spoke in hushed tones and not much even to them. Nabia knew Mom and Gabriella were vampires like she was…or had been like she was.

Later we were shown where we would sleep. The chamber Colin and I were taken to was pretty big. The floor again was smooth like stone poured over the cave floor and gleamed. There were a lot of pillows and coverings to keep warm, not that it was cold underground. It looked comfortable.

“Wow.” Colin sighed sitting on a thick pillow and nearly landed on the ground. “Whoa.” He chuckled as he steadied himself. Then bounced a few times. “This is comfy.”

But I was thinking about what we’d seen and learned. “How could this…possibly evolve?”

Colin looked up at me. “I don’t know, but it did.” He pointed out of the chamber. “That guy is the real Amasis!” He rolled his eyes. “I thought my being two hundred was old, but if he is, he’s ancient!”

I nodded. “But these people serving him aren’t!” I began pacing as Colin did in a circle as I thought. “They lived in the world! How can they not know? Amir came and went those many miles. He got there by camel!?”

Colin leaned back on his elbows and smiled. “We’ll have to find out.”

“And if he granted this gift to other wives…where are they? Are they still around?” I asked. “He doesn’t even know he is a vampire! He thinks this is the afterlife and he’s a god!”

Colin nodded. “I heard. He does think he’s in his afterlife.”

“And Amir?” I asked. “He’s smart. He got this friend to hook up something to get emails, but Amir is pretty unsophisticated on many things!”

Colin nodded. “Whose mother is now Queen!”

“Which means she was turned after Amir was born,” I said. “Where is his natural father?”

Colin shook his head. “I have no clue.” Then he grinned as I walked past him thinking more in my circle. He grabbed me down and threw me on the pillows. “The problem for you is there aren’t any instant answers. You’re used to hitting a browser and the answer is delivered to you.” He smiled. “We’ll have to get to know them.” He chuckled. “There were areas in the South where homes didn’t have electricity until the 1960s or 1970s! Or plumbing! This area is even more isolated!”

I nodded having heard that. “There still are.” I grinned. “Wait. You didn’t have plumbing at Wentworth?”

“Nope. We didn’t have electricity.”

“Plumbing,” I growled. “I know you couldn’t have electricity. You didn’t have plumbing?”

“Oh,” he smiled. “No, the old place didn’t have that. Pumps and outhouses.” He smiled. “If it was just pee, a chamber pot.”

My eyes widened. “You didn’t have toilet paper then either?”

He shook his head. “No. We had shitrags!” He grinned more. “If they were clean and available, that is. Why do you think it was important to have a bath before sex?” He brightened. “Now, the bidet! That was a great thing in Europe and fancy houses in New York of mansions in other places. Rinsed your ass clean!”

I grinned but groaned. “That’s disgusting!” I laughed.

“We don’t know how isolated these people are. We drove a long way through the desert. They might not have electricity yet or if they do, no TV.” Colin reasoned. “Amir does. We need to find out how and how he got to work and back.”

“How is that going to help us find those other vampires? I know the answer is here.” I said to his smiling face.

“We’ll have to find out,” Colin said simply with a shrug. “And you will be the one to talk with Amasis, Nabia, and Amir.”

I looked surprised. “Me?”

Colin rolled his eyes. “Yes, you.” He grinned. “No one can resist the Devon charm.” He smiled kissing me.

I pushed him back a little. “You’re not bothered by this?”

Colin shrugged. “Sure, but worrying over it isn’t going to get the answers.” He smiled. “Nabia was gorgeous.”

My eyes widened. “You think so?”

Colin nodded. “Sure. For a second she even tempted me! Now, Amasis, he was scrumptious!” He grinned a little evilly.

My eyes widened even more. “Is he?”

“You think so, too!” Colin said. “I’ll be letting you get close to Amasis and Amir and Nabia. They’re all tempting.”

I grinned. “Nah.” I said pulling Colin closer. "They don’t have what you do that I love,” I said slipping my hand in his shirt. “They had nice chests, but yours is so much nicer,” I said as my fingers went through his chest hair. “And there’s one more thing.”

Colin grinned. “What’s that?”

“I love you.”

Colin smiled. “I know. I love you, too.”

I grinned kissing him deeper. “I know.” Then my hands went to the pillow we were on. “This is comfy!”

Colin pulled his shirt off. “Let’s test it out!”