The morning sun was already shining on the desert sands of The Valley of The Kings, dominated by dunes and boulders. Near KV5, there was the temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon.
When Ryan arrived at the KV5 excavation site, his colleagues were already milling around the excavation and campsite, busy with their own tasks. Wearing a khaki jacket and sun hat, Dr. Maria approached Ryan. Her bright green eyes glistened in the sunlight. But suddenly she stopped.
"Ryan, is something wrong?" she asked, noticing Ryan's blank expression. "You seem lost in the sands of time."
Ryan smiled weakly.
Dr. Hassan, who was standing not far from them, chimed in. "Did something happen?" he asked with a slightly worried tone.
Ryan's brow furrowed, hesitant to share his experiences. Finally, he decided to share just a little of what he had experienced.
"I saw…" he said, massaging his temples. "A priest here at KV5, before we got off work yesterday. He was writing on the tomb wall, then he turned, and our eyes met. He saw me, I'm sure." Ryan's voice dropped to a whisper. "The priest wrote 'Akhet' (the horizon where the sun rises) and 'Kephri' (the scarab god). Then, he was gone. Gone."
Dr. Maria's expression turned curious. "That's interesting. Maybe your mind is processing the hieroglyphs we found yesterday?"
Ryan shook his head.
"Seeing spirits now, Ryan?" Dr. Matt teased with a chuckle. It turned out he had been standing behind Ryan.
Ryan frowned again. "No… it's not just that. The hieroglyphs, the air… it all seemed real."
His colleagues exchanged glances.
"Maybe it's exhaustion? We've all been working too hard. Or maybe you're still shaken by what happened to Dr. Rose?" Dr. Hassan said.
"No," Ryan said, shaking his head. "It felt… real. Like the priest was really there."
Dr. Maria put her hand on Ryan's shoulder to reassure him. "We're here for you, buddy. Take your time."
Dr. Hassan nodded sympathetically. "All this excavation work can be overwhelming."
Ryan nodded, but inside he felt disappointed. They wouldn't believe him.
'They'll never understand,' he thought with a soft sigh. "It's a good thing I didn't tell them everything…"
He sighed softly.
***
The KV5 tomb chamber was silent, except for the quiet conversations of the team members and the soft clink of tools as they dug.
Ryan was sitting on the floor cataloging some of the artifacts they had found that day, but his mind wandered back to the gods visiting him and his sudden arrival in Ancient Egypt. Because he daydreamed, what Ryan wrote in his notebook became an incomprehensible scribble.
Dr. Matt, who was standing behind Ryan, saw what Ryan was doing. He frowned and whispered, "Ryan? Is everything okay?" as he brushed a small clay animal figurine with a brush. The figurine was a children's toy in ancient Egypt, often made in the shape of a cat or dog, and carved by hand.
Ryan looked up then glanced at his indistinct scribble, and then sighed.
Then he replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… a little lost in thought."
"Haha, I'm sure you need a cup of coffee to help you focus. Here, take one." Dr. Matt handed Ryan a cup of coffee, which he poured from a thermos not far from where they were.
Before the cup was fully in Ryan's grasp, it slipped. The hot liquid almost splashed the artifacts lying in front of Ryan.
Ryan gasped and hoped that the coffee would stop for a moment so as not to damage the artifacts.
Suddenly, Dr. Matt's hand that was outstretched to hand him the coffee and his mouth opened and had time to shout "Watch out!", and all the team members and whatever they were doing stopped. Even the dust particles that were seen hovering under the sunlight froze.
Ryan was confused and got up from his seat in panic. But he was the only one who could move, everything around him was not moving.
'What happened...?' Ryan wondered inwardly.
Hesitantly, he reached for the floating cup. His fingers curled around the outside of the cup and scooped up the coffee that had nearly splashed onto the artifacts.
And suddenly, everything around Ryan returned to normal. Dr. Matt's mouth moved again and he uttered a cry "Ryan! Catch—" He stopped, seeing the cup safe in Ryan's hand. "What... How?"
"You almost spilled it," Ryan replied, trying to keep his tone casual.
Dr. Matt's eyes narrowed slightly. "I could have sworn…"
He looked down at the coffee cup again and was surprised to see Ryan standing up instead of sitting down, but then shook his head. "Never mind. Get back to work."
Ryan took a sip of his coffee, pretending nothing was wrong. But confusion was gnawing at him.
'What happened… How could time stop like that…?'
As he scanned the room, he saw Dr. Maria examining a piece of ceramic. Ryan paused for a moment, thinking about trying to tell Dr. Maria who was usually so considerate of him. But he decided not to tell anyone about his experience.
'There's no point in telling them. They'll blame the heat of the desert sun…'
His hands moved deftly as he examined, photographed, and documented all the artifacts that the other team members kept handing him in batches, but his mind was elsewhere.
This was the third strange incident in just a few days.
***
As the entire team was preparing for dinner, Dr. Hassan suddenly exclaimed with a grim expression. "Team, we received news of another excavation team that will be excavating KV7, which is close to our location. They will arrive in a few days."
The team members answered casually and did not pay much attention to the news.
"Who is leading the excavation team for KV7?" Dr. Maria asked casually.
"Professor James is leading the team," Dr. Hassan continued with a frown on his face.
The room fell silent, forks and knives frozen in midair. The team members exchanged glances.
Dr. Maria's eyes narrowed. "James? Isn't he—"
"The self-proclaimed 'King of the Nile' who is famous in the media?" Dr. Matt interrupted sarcastically.
Ryan's eyes widened. "Isn't he the guy who stole your discovery, Dr. Hassan?"
Dr. Hassan nodded. "Yes, Ryan. Actually, yes. We just didn't have any proof."
Dr. Matt, who had previously worked on the excavation team under Dr. Hasan, said in an irritated tone. "How could James be in our area at the same time?"
"Who else is on his team?" Dr. Maria asked cautiously.
"James' cousin, Sophia Hill," Dr. Hassan replied.
"Sophia?"
The mention of Sophia's name made the room even more uneasy. The woman was known for her cunning, her presence with Professor James would only add to the tension.