Amelia's Blog

        Here in the US, it’s Thanksgiving. I know I’m thankful for my family and friends, and the opportunity to put my fiction out there, and any number of things.         So, take this day, no matter where you live, whatever your beliefs, and give thanks. Tell your friends and family how much you love them and are happy you know them.         Okay, enough of the touchy-feely crap. No story for the next two days, we’ll get back to it Monday. Just needed to spend the time with my family.         Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

As Hitomi approached the scene at a brisk walk, she shouted orders to the clean up team, making sure that anyone hurt got medical attention. She surveyed the area, “We are so going to catch hell from the cops on this. When they get here, anyway.” She shook that off and walked up to CJ and Mitchell, who were looking flushed. CJ had an uncharacteristic look of… fear? What the hell is going on. Was she crying? CJ’s eyes did look a little red. “Hey, everything alright?” She looked at each in turn. “I’m fine. Just something in my eyes.” She groused and turned away to stomp up the the remains of the robot. Hitomi had to blink. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say her friend was embarrassed. CJ was never embarrassed. She fixed her glare on Mitchell, who flushed almost to purple, and was about to say something when a gentle hand rested on her shoulder. “Let’s go see the robot, Hitomi.” Alana gestured with a tilt of her head, and Hitomi glared again at Mitchell, but followed. “I think it’s

Casting her eyes about, CJ looked at the next nearest table. “This is gonna be close. Stay down. I’m going to see if I can disable it.” “What? How are you gonna do that?” “I don’t know yet. Maybe throw something at it.” “Can I help?” “Yes. By staying under cover.” She peered around the the table, the robot started firing again. Looking at the base of the table, she ripped off one of the feet and waited for it to stop firing. Quickly, she aimed and chucked the concrete chunk, hitting the machine in the rotating pod on top. A sharp pop sounded and smoke drifted out, and the pod swiveled wildly. Swiftly, CJ ran to the next table and grabbed it firmly. She spun around once, flinging the table at the robot’s inverted legs, hoping they were weak enough to buckle. The table hit the robot and shattered, sending concrete flying across the patio. CJ hoped no one was hurt, but figured she would call for paramedics after the robot was taken care of. The robot folded to the ground, gun arms flaili

“I’m glad I took the night.” “Mm.” “It’s a great night for a walk on the beach.” “Mmmhmm.” “You’re really enjoying that ice cream, aren’t you?” CJ glanced at Mitchell sideways, “Yes. And I’m glad too. Even if it took several days to pony up for tonight.” He shrugged his stooped shoulders, “Sorry. I got caught up. I think there’s a real story written on those walls.” She smiled fondly, remembering his excitement at every small discovery from those tombs. They may known each other only a few short months, but they’ve grown close. She felt happier when he was happy. Hitomi had seen fit to tease her more than once, with Alana giggling in the background. Like they had a right to tease her. She snorted lightly and tossed her hair. “What?” “Just thinking. How’s your ice cream?” “Apparently not as good as yours,“ she glared playfully, “But still good.” They walked in silence for a while, finishing their cones. It really was a nice night for a walk on the beach, she thought. The sunset was goi

The older man sat alone in a darkened room. He was plain, wearing a plain black robe with nothing adorning it but a white swastika armband. He was the high priest of the once proud Fourth Reich. He styled himself as “Anubis”, though his real name was far more mundane. Some days, he reflected that he wished he had kept it. That time was far past, however. The many groups that had appeared over the last few months had once been part of his group. No more. Even with dedicated subordinates such as one of the Brothers Oord and the Jackal, his once proud organization was about to fail. He wonders if Hem-Netjer Tepey felt this way as his organization was subsumed. Not that he cared. It was an idle wonder. In most ways, he didn’t even care that his own carefully built power base was falling apart. He missed the power, or course. Who wouldn’t? However, it was inevitable. He had seen it. Footsteps sounded toward the one entrance into his chamber. Anyone walking in would have seen a red glow fro

The office that Buck had given Mitchell had only been in use for a couple of months, but it still looked like it had accumulated centuries of dust on some of the books stacked around. CJ was more than amazed that he could find anything in the chaos his office had become in the short space of time he’d had it. Something she had voiced more than once. His answer was always the same, “Even chaos has some kind of pattern.” She poked her head into the room and saw him scribbling furiously in one of those vellum notebooks he preferred. She cleared her throat, but for a moment she thought he hadn’t heard. Then he motioned her over without even looking up or stopping the scribbling. “I think I may have something. Those inscriptions from the first Canyon site.” CJ perked up. He’d been working on deciphering the various writings from the canyon tomb almost non stop. If he cracked it, it meant they might finally know what the tomb was doing there to begin with. “What’s up?” “Well, there’s nothing

In her usual way CJ watched as she ate breakfast. Her Buck and her parents taught her to observe. How else can you formulate a strategy to get out of the close scrapes she found herself in more often than she cared to remember. True, at breakfast she should feel at ease enough to relax, but it was second nature by now. Today, as with the last few mornings, her practiced eye fell on her two companions off the table. Hitomi had been CJ’s best friend for over a decade now. Partners in adventure for five. CJ thought of her as a sister, as much as she thought of Buck as a father. The complication came in when Hitomi had deep feelings for CJ. Feelings that CJ just wasn’t able to reciprocate. It added a bit of strain, but both knew the score. Another monkey wrench was CJ’s new and growing relationship with Mitchell. As much as she hid it, CJ saw the slight thread of jealousy. That was where her second companion came in. Alana had been with them for three years. Several months ago while CJ and

The blue robed man knelt in front of the strange alter, alternating between simply bowing his bald head and touching his forehead to the stone floor. Brother Oord was a devout man in his own way. His faith an amalgam of cults and like minded groups that gravitated together over the millennia, especially after Christianity reached dominance in the middle ages. Like many high priests before him, he was forced to join the ranks of the burgeoning Fourth Reich. That was many years ago. Since, he had done his best to keep his group together and as removed from the rest of the Reich as he could. As his closest advisors had told him, it was the smartest decision he could have made. The Fourth Reich had surged to the fore to fill the void left by the fall of the Third Reich after World War II, and done its level best to crush what remained of their predecessors. Like the cockroaches that many compared them to, the Third Reich never quite went away. Their tactics were subtle, but they’ve managed

The small rock that was not a rock sat overlooking the tomb. People regularly passed in and out, and the rock that was not a rock recorded it all. At some unknown signal, it stirred and split down the middle. Gleaming metal appeared under the surface as the mechanical device reconfigured itself. Soon, instead of a rock, a small insectoid robot was in its place. The small thing twitched its wings as a newly emerged dragonfly experiments. Soon, it turned away and took to the air in a jagged zig-zag pattern, off into the darkening night.

It didn’t take more than a week to safely reopen the front entrance to the tomb. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have recognized the front of the tomb anymore, as General Douglas and his men were thorough in destroying outside of the tomb as well as just blocking it. The statues were gone, as well as any brickwork or writing. Mitchell face went livid when he first saw the destruction, but was reassured by Buck that while disappointing, they still had access to the interior. To discourage what he called “lookie-loos”, Buck talked to a few people he knew from the military, all retired, for help with security. He went out of his way to get reliable and even tempered men. Luckily, General Douglas had few friends. Even those he had left were reluctant to admit they were associated with him. For his part, Mitchell coped admirably with his new responsibilities. He had a few moments of panic, but Cj made sure she was there to help. Which was made all the easier by Buck’s idea to have them stay ou

The steady “pii… pii… pii…” of the small tracker was loud in the afternoon wilderness. They day was surprisingly quiet, with very few animal sounds breaking the silence. In daylight, they covered the ground far faster than the previous evening. Soon enough, they reached the back exit they had left. “Oh, wonderful. It’s still open.” Hitomi slipped the tracker back into her deceptively small belt. She pulled off her back pack and grabbed a flashlight. Everyone else did the same. “It’s about a thirty minute walk through the passage into the tomb.” CJ flicked her light on and slipped into the tunnel. Once inside, she ran the light over the walls of the tunnel. “Are those petroglyphs?” Mitchell sidled up and squinted at the wall, “Faint, but yeah, I think you’re right. These look like standard cave drawings.” “Is that odd?” He shrugged, “Could be. I hesitate to say yes, but considering the rest of this mess.” They moved down the tunnel, glancing at the walls as they went. There looked to be

The next morning, CJ was awoken by the house phone ringing next to her head. She sat up, looking around blearily. She had fallen asleep on the couch after talking for a good portion of the night with Mitchell. She smiled, rather tiredly and looked over at him, draped over the overstuffed armchair across from her. If she didn’t ask him to a movie or something after all this, she was going to have to ask Hitomi to shoot her. The phone rang again, bringing her fully awake this time. Normally a morning person, the couch, while comfortable, was not her bed. She snatched the phone before it could ring again, “Hello?” “Hello, Miss McCormick? There’s a man here to see you. His name is… Buck?” “I’ll be right down, thank you.” She hung up and levered herself up. As she stood Hitomi walked in, rubbing her eyes. “He here?” “Yeah, I’m going down to get him.” “Good, I’m going to splash cold water on my face. Bed was hard as a rock.” CJ nodded and pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail, “Alright.

The thankfully uneventful trek to the canyon’s south rim took them the rest of the night. The bedraggled trio wandering into one of the hotels mid morning earned strange looks from the hotel staff. Hitomi jerked her head at the front desk, asking if she should book a room. CJ nodded and found a phone. She told Mitchell to take a seat while she dialed home. She allowed for a small smile as Buck answered the phone, something few businessmen did for themselves. She related the events of the previous night quickly, while Buck made encouraging noises. “By thunder, Cynthia! What is that man playing at? No, don’t answer. Are you sure he invoked Homeland Security? Oh, of course you are, look who I’m asking! Can you two sit tight with this Dr. Carroll until I can get there?” “Of course. Douglas is almost certainly gone, or will be soon.” “I know, I know. That doesn’t matter. As soon as I hang up, I’ll be making a few calls before I come down there. Not the least of which will be to a few friend

It didn’t take long to find artifacts to take with them. In fact, there was a brief argument over what small set to take. They settled on taking as many pictures of what they left behind as possible. CJ started to seriously consider setting up her own archeology lab once they got back to the Institute. She ran a hand through her thick blonde hair and blew out a sigh. In the time it took to get their small collection together, they should have started losing air. She and Hitomi had been through that experience enough to know that none of the tell-tale symptoms had manifested. Which meant air was flowing into the room. Which meant there was a way out. They just needed to find it. She hoped it was the seam she spotted earlier, but didn’t want to get Mitchell’s hopes up yet. She wasn’t worried about Hitomi, they’d been together long enough and through more than enough that words weren’t the only way they communicated to each other. She looked over at Mitchell briefly. He was looking at th

        Okay, just a quick note for the weekend. I’ve got the rest of the current “arc” written, which is a really big relief to me. For whatever reason, this particular story has been an utter bear to write. Not sure why, maybe I was just in a slow spot, whatever. Plus, as noted in last Monday’s post, October sucked. But, things are much better now and I’m ahead of things.         Which to be honest, is great. One of my struggles since I started (aside from, y’know, actually writing and posting) is keeping ahead of my posts. As many podcasters know, you should ALWAYS have a buffer. While I’m not a podcaster, I think this should apply to people like me who post serial fiction. I absolutely love doing this, regardless if anyone is actually reading this, this keeps me writing. Sure, I haven’t always had something written (see last month as an example! ack!), but I’ve always had it in my brain.         Long term, I’d like to podcast some of this fiction, especially the Adventure, Inc. s

The handcuffs dug into Hitomi’s wrists as they were shoved into the back of the tomb. She landed hard on her shoulder, luckily not as bad as she could have, but it was going to hurt. The three of them just glared at the smirking General Douglas who watched. “What, no desperate cries of ‘You’ll never get away with this”? I’m disappointed.” “Good.” CJ said as she stood up. Douglas grunted, “I’d stay back, unless you want to save yourselves some suffering.” He turned and walked out, leaving some soldiers to finish wiring the doors, while another kept a gun on them. As the wiring was finished and the rest of the soldiers withdrew, Hitomi jerked her head at the door, but CJ shook her head, then motioned for them to get down as the cry, “Fire in the hole!” echoed. The tomb shook violently as the charges went off, filling it with choking dust. CJ and Hitomi held their breath, but it set Mitchell into a violent coughing fit. Once the shaking settled, CJ took stock. The tomb was largely intact,

“These three just stand there in the center of the tent.” “General Douglas says they’re not really a threat.” The airman shrugged. “I trust the General, don’t you, Potter?” “Well, sure, Bunch, but you heard about those two chicks, didn’t you?” “Oh come on, Potter. You heard it from that MP, what’s his name, Starts right?” Potter nodded, “The guy was having fun with you. Nobody that tiny can be that strong.” “Just like there’s no such thing as an Egyptian tomb in the Grand Canyon?” Bunch laughed, “That slip of a girl being stronger than a champion body builder is a matter of physics and the human body. And we’re not supposed to know about the tomb, dumb ass, so don’t mention that again.” “Yeah, yeah.” He was quiet for a moment while he took a gulp of the awful coffee the camp had. Typical military coffee. “Hey, the poker game still on tonight?” “Sure. I think I convinced Thomas to play for actual money this time. Man, for a bad ass Marine, the guy sure is chicken with his pay.” Bunch no

CJ ran a critical eye over the tent and its contents. There was no cover, and few places to hide things, though she knew that meant little. She motioned her two companions closer and talked in a low voice. “The first thing we need to do, is get out of here and back into the tomb. I would feel better about getting to the bottom of this if we can get away with more than just a scrap of paper.” “How are,” CJ interrupted Mitchell and motioned for him to be quieter, “How are we supposed to get out of this tent, much less back into the tomb?” He jabbed a thumb at the door with the obvious and ever-present shadows of their guards. “Well, there used to be natives that lived in the canyon, right?” Mitchell eyed Hitomi with skepticism, “Sure, long time ago.” “Yeah, but the caves and structures are still here, yeah?” “For the most part sure,” he paused, thinking, “Right, and most cave systems are interlocking. Hmn. We’d need to know which cave leads where. There are no exits from inside the tomb

“Wha? Why?” “I don’t believe I need to explain myself to you Carroll. After all, this is my dig, not yours.” Hitomi and CJ exchanged a glance, then Hitomi moved forward. “You must be General Douglas, I’m,” but she was cut off with a glare she could almost feel the malice radiating from. “If I want you to speak, to me or anyone else, I will address you.” He turned to the soldiers flanking him and gestured. “Take them to the big tent to be debriefed.” The soldiers surrounded them, and Hitomi went into a defensive stance, but CJ put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head minutely. They’d play along. For now. On the way out, CJ casually bumped against the sarcophagus and stumbled against it. She righted herself and went out after a glare from the soldiers. The tent they were escorted to was the largest in the camp, and located in the center. It was sparsely furnished, with only three cots and a card table in the center. After the guards left them, they took up obvious positions outside

Author’s Note:         October sucked. Nuff said.         I should note, however, that the article discussed here, from the Arizona Gazette, 1909, actually exists! Check it out for yourself!                                                  <--------> “What. The. Hell.” Hitomi spoke under her breath, so that only Siege would hear. “I know.” “Impressive, isn’t it?” Mitchell was beaming as he looked down at the mummified corpse. “You can hardly tell the jackal head was substituted at the time of mummification.” “What?” Both Hitomi and C.J. said at once. “Look over here, in the corner, “ he gestured at a small wooden box. He carefully removed the lid, revealing a mummified animal missing a head. “We think it belongs to the head on top of the mummy. Measurements are right, anyway. Before we found this, we’d never seen anything like this. Rumors, sure, but no proof.” “What happened to the guy’s real head?” Hitomi wrinkled her nose. “Don’t know. Haven’t found it. May have been ritual