Carnal Punishment. Mia Crawford

metal was warm from its long sleep under the hot desert. Her archaeological training had always taught her to note the context of any artifact, to carefully measure and record its surroundings and to painstakingly remove it from the earth with the utmost of care. As she touched the lever she trembled. A feeling overwhelmed her, surging up from the deepest depths of her being. This sensation was much stronger than her years of study. Something was urging Tessa forward and in defiance of her training, she pulled down on the lever.

      With a deep groan, the sands opened beneath her and she plummeted through the earth. She fell about six feet, landing with a thud on the hard ground. Her breath was knocked out of her, and she rested for a moment before gingerly coming to her feet. Miraculously, she did not seem to be hurt.

      This was so typical of her luck. The one time she flouted the conventions of her profession, she was punished. Brody was going to kill her when he realized that she had messed up his dig site. That is, if she could even get out of there. She stared up at the small opening above her. Light filtered down weakly through the hole; if she could find a stone or something to stand on, she should be able to pull herself out fairly easily.

      Her escape plans were forgotten when she looked around more carefully. She wasn’t in some kind of underground cave, but a man-made chamber. There was a diffuse light in the place, whose source she could not immediately locate. Through the dimness she could make out writing on the walls. They were hieroglyphs. Her heart pounding, she stumbled to the wall to look more carefully. Yes, there was the name of the third-dynasty king whose tomb the team had been searching for. Sekhemkhet. Next to that was a common warning against grave robbers: Beware Ye Who Enter. The next line was odd, however. The usual threat in tombs was the curse of Osiris, which promised that “death comes on wings to those who enter the tomb of the pharaoh.” The hieroglyphs were different here, though. Tessa bent forward, studying the wall intently. It read Carnal punishments await those who flout these warnings. She frowned. Obviously her understanding of hieroglyphics wasn’t nearly as good as she thought it was because carnal punishments didn’t make any sense.

      She continued examining the hieroglyphs. There was more writing. It said that intruders would face the displeasure of Geb, the earth god who was Sekhemkhet’s sworn protector. Tessa was really puzzled now. Khnum was the pharaoh’s chosen god, or at least that’s what scholars thought. Geb was the god of earth. He was linked to earthly pleasures. Indeed, she noticed that the hieroglyph depicted Geb as ithyphallic—that is, in a state of constant arousal. She couldn’t help smiling. Geb would be a great spokesperson for Viagra.

      Still, it was strange. As far as she knew, Geb had no link to Pharaoh Sekhemkhet. Why was he said to be protecting his tomb? This find was going to turn Egyptology on its head.

      Tessa looked around more carefully now, eager to impress this room on her memory in order to bring back a detailed report to Brody. The chamber was small, and appeared to be empty except for two sconces on the walls that must have once held torches. She stared above her. Beautiful blue flowers with spiky petals were etched in the walls. They were water lilies, but that didn’t make any sense either. Water lilies were another symbol of sexuality and procreation. They weren’t commonly used to decorate tombs. None of this was logical.

      Wait, what was that? An object lay in the chamber’s far corner, and Tessa retrieved it. It was a small doll, only about two inches long. She picked it up, examining it carefully. It was a female figure with a small head and torso and an enormous pelvic area. Tessa had read about these. It was a paddle doll, a common symbol of sexuality and fertility. They were often placed in tombs to bring pleasure in the afterlife. She rubbed the treasure with her thumb. It was magnificent.

      There was a noise behind her and she whirled around. The sconces on the wall now held torches that were somehow lit. Their flickering light seemed to actually deepen the gloom in the chamber rather than the reverse. Her throat tightened with fear. “Who’s there?” she called.

      There was the faintest scuffling sound and she turned away from the torches toward the noise. Someone was down here with her, but where? She could hardly see anything through the gloom. She backed away, moving toward the opening she had fallen through. She could have sworn it was nearby, but staring up at the ceiling, she realized it had disappeared.

      Tessa paused. Was she going crazy? There now seemed to be a scent in the chamber. Tessa could distinguish the odor of safflower mingled with almond oil. It was warm, masculine and exotic. It seemed to envelop her, and despite the strangeness of everything, the smell was calming.

      She felt a pressure on her arm, and she turned, thinking she almost glimpsed a figure in the half light. Nothing. The pressure again now, like a hand stroking her hair ever so lightly. It was actually a pleasant sensation, oddly reassuring. She couldn’t see anyone.