Monsters, Myths, and Microchips by Andrew D. Connell

Author:Andrew D. Connell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction
Publisher: Erebus Books
Published: 2020-04-09T00:00:00+00:00

— CHAPTER 5 —

OSIRIS ONE

Azar stepped into the mining lift, shadowed by his squad of elite bodyguards. The grim-faced killers were equipped with semi-automatic machine guns and sleek in-ear comms buds. A grubby-faced miner pulled the gate shut behind them. The lift rattled to life and descended with a jolt. A sprinkling of sand fell through the mesh roof.

This is a cage, not a lift, Azar thought. He brushed his shoulder clean and straightened his lapels. He only ever appeared in his sharpest suit, tie, and shoes – always ready for business. Dusty mine shafts were no exception; he could step straight off the lift and into a shareholder meeting without looking out of place.

His secret tunnelling project beneath the Giza Plateau had made a significant discovery, one that rivalled the pharaoh’s crown he had discovered eight months before.

The lift clunked to a stop and echoed through the shaft.

The soldiers escorted Azar into a descending mineshaft. Makeshift lights were draped overhead, illuminating a path of wooden planks. The miners stood aside, eyes gleaming from the shadows. Azar paid them little attention. Thousands of people populated his payroll. Some were seen by the public, necessary fronts for his legitimate businesses, but the teams working down here were a secret task force of handsomely paid archaeologists, engineers, scientists, and miners.

Malik rushed up the tunnel, his dirt-smeared face alight with exhilaration. ‘The structures look bigger than anything we discovered at Tjenu.’

‘Have you crossed the chasm yet?’

‘No. Our miners have spent the last three days securing Osiris One to the rock strata.’

Malik led the way into a vast circular tunnel lit by floodlights. They climbed down a series of ladders, across several gantries, and stepped onto the tunnel floor. The curved walls towered 10 metres high and wide.

Osiris One was a tunnel boring machine usually employed to dig underground freeways and train lines. It could chew through 50 feet of solid rock per day and leave a perfectly round tunnel behind itself. But instead of plugging the end of the tunnel like a cork, the entire machine had slid two-thirds of the way into a gaping chasm.

Malik pointed to the shadows dominating the far side of the abyss. ‘From what we’ve surveyed, the structures appear to be the outskirts of a city.’

Azar’s heart quickened. Sprawling walls, vast buildings, and fallen obelisks ended at the edge of the chasm. Megalithic blocks carved out of time-defying granite stood snapped and broken like honeycomb. It was a forgotten civilisation, cleaved in half and buried by some prehistoric cataclysm.

Malik directed Azar to a platform overlooking the void. ‘As soon as Osiris broke through the last layer of rock, it triggered the collapse. There was nothing we could do to stop it. The end of the tunnel disappeared and slid into the fissure, taking Osiris with it.’

‘Do you have a depth on the chasm yet?’

‘Nothing precise, but estimates are at least 1,000 metres.’

Azar peered over the railing. The colossal steel body of Osiris One teetered over the void. Malik pointed to the web of steel cables stabilising Osiris to the chasm walls.

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