Cleopatra 7.2 by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

Author:Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy
ISBN: 9780441012541
Publisher: ACE
Published: 2005-12-27T05:00:00+00:00

'But—why?" Cleopatra asked, appalled.

"So there could be a stable population along the banks of the Nile, mostly, and the cities not be endangered by the floods."

"And for this they drowned half of Egypt?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now we're discovering that without the floods, there is no silt, and without the silt, the land and the river both are much poorer. People have to use fertilizers for the first time in our history."

"But that makes no sense!"

"It did for a while. But now that the negative effects of the dams

have taken their toll, a project has been under way to reengineer the dams to allow silt-rich waters to pass through, creating an artificial flood that will raise the river so it can flow into newly dug irrigation ditches as well as the old ones. It will not be as high or as beneficial as the floods once were, but better than it is now."

"I must see this."

Gabriella considered what she had just said and caught her breath. "/ hope we don't see it from too close a perspective. The first release is scheduled for this week. If we are still down here when it happens—well, we won't be, surely."

She changed the direction of her thoughts. "There's to be quite a celebration. Once we're above ground again, well away from here, Mo will collect us, and we'll leave Alex for a while, maybe go to Cairo so we can see some of the festivities while we get lost in the crowds until these thugs find others to torment. Which won't take long, they hate so many people."

"How will my beloved find us? Once the handsome mercenary takes our bait and the amulet to be blended with him, that is?"

'I don't know. Does he have our cell phone number?" Gabriella asked. She was unaware that at that very moment her cell phone was ringing except that it was muffled by the paraphernalia in her bag.

CHAPTER 14

'Still no answer?" Andrew asked, as Leda hung up the phone once more.

'No. Not at the house and not at her office. I'm going to try her aunt. She might know what's going on."

But the phone at the contessa's villa switched at once to the voice mailbox. Leda left a message saying that she was concerned that she could not reach Gabriella.

'Try not to worry," Andrew told her. "We'll be in Alexandria by next Thursday anyway."

'We can find her there unless…" His voice faltered uncertainly and his eyes widened with question. "Unless you think she…"

Leda sat still for a moment, then said in her elegant, slightly accented voice, "Not dead. I'd know. But she is in trouble. I keep thinking of a place, dark, stone, cool…" She shrugged, the fabric covering her shoulder shimmering with the gesture.

'A tomb perhaps?" Andrew asked. His voice was hushed with the excitement the image gave him. He'd confided in Leda during their first long talk that as Andrew McCallum he'd cared only for modern, highly technical devices with practical applications.

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