you've heard..."

"I see," Sam said in a tone of sincere sympathy.

"Anyhoo, here it is, " he pointed to a small desk on which sat a leather bound notebook. "Feel free to read it here and ask me anything you wish. I'll be up front trying to organize all this," his hands waved around them.

Sam smiled politely and nodded. "Thank you. Thank you very much for all your help." Sam sat down in front of the desk and inspected the journal carefully from all angles. The leather cover was well worn but still distinguished by the initials JMD. He opened it and started to read the faded but quite legible handwriting. The first part of the journal recorded the technical details of the expedition, listing supplies and outlining the course they were taking. Sam went over them, if only to assure himself of the document's veracity. Once he was convinced that it was truly the accounts of John Maynard Dinsmoore, he skipped ahead to the pages recounting what happened to the party that had set out to find the Box of Answers.

2. SOME THINGS THAT HAPPEN FOR THE FIRST TIME

All was lost, I had feared when, through eyes clenched almost shut, I saw the sun like a paper lantern dangling against a violently turbid sky. Somewhere between Heliopolis and Bubastis, we inadvertently plunged into a sandstorm that came from the East and took mere minutes to overcome everybody. From above it descended like a vast black cloud accompanied by a deafening din. I saw the camels go down first, then the men who struggled with the ropes to steady them. I saw our heavy equipment being flung about by the wind as though they were toys even as the sand poured over us, whipping and tearing at clothes and flesh. I remember its particles viciously filling my eyes and my mouth and stifling my futile screams.

***

I awoke I know not how many days later. When I opened my eyes it was to see another pair looking down upon me. He was beautiful, this man with hazel eyes and a look of serene benevolence. "Where am I?" I asked before recalling everything that had happened. "Where are the others?" The man pushed me gently back down the simple bedding on which I lay close to the ground. I looked around me and saw that I was in a plain, stone dwelling with narrow slits for windows. It was daylight far as I could tell. And as I endeavored to gather my wits about me, the man finally spoke with a deep baritone in perfect English.

"I'm afraid you are the only survivor of your group. I found you half buried in the sand after the storm. I carried you here myself."

"You're not Egyptian," I said rather stupidly as he was obviously Caucasian.

He smiled again. "I'm American. I am a priest here at the Temple of Geb."

I was speechless. I had set out to find the Box of Answers, which is supposed to be housed in the hidden Temple of Geb! But before I could utter a word, other men entered the room and stood behind him to regard me curiously.

"These are my brother priests," he said by way of an introduction. "There are six of us here."


"They're not Egyptian either," I said, once more with the remarkable grasp of the self-evident.

"We are Egyptian, American, Irish, Japanese, Brazilian and German," he explained. "And we are