continues from part one
Part 2: A Great Discovery
5000 years later…
“Steve?” Grabbing the radio, Steve brought it up. “Yes?” “You’ll want to come down here “I think we’ve got something!” Steve grinned. “Really? I’ll be right there!” Even as the radio was put down, Steve was already grabbing his camera and running out of the tent. For once, he was able to ignore the blistering heat of the desert as he headed towards the dig site. Around him, men and women were eagerly shouting and running towards the dig site, all eager to see what had been discovered. From within the crowds, Steve’s supervisor emerged, jogged over. An Indian woman, eighteen years Steve’s senior, she looked slightly out of place among the local workers, but her well muscled body left no doubt that she was more then capable of joining them on their excavations. “So what do we got?” Steve asked, his excitement almost overwhelming him. “Scanners show there’s something man sized at the bottom of the pit,” Geeta said. “With any luck, we should hit it within the next few minutes.” Steve grinned. “Awesome.” Leading the way, Geeta led him back towards the dig site, which was nestled near a large outcropping of rock that jutted up from the desert sand. There were numerous scaffolding platforms, winches, and cables strung about a deep hole that was being dug; at fifty feet, it had been very difficult to dig down that deep, but for the prize that might lurk down there, it would be worth all the work, blood, and sweat that had poured into digging. Reaching the scaffolding, Geeta shooed the curious workers aside. While they were entitled to watch the unveiling, they would need to do so from a spot where they wouldn’t interfere with the others. “You said man sized,” Steve told Geeta as they both got on a ladder and started down. “I take it you meant Sarcophagus sized?” “Yes,” Geeta said. “Precisely. And one of the bigger ones we’ve found.” They got off at the bottom of the pit. “Really? How so?” “If our scans are correct, then the sarcophagus is about twenty percent thicker then any other one we’ve found, that could mean that the mummy inside is that of a very important person.” “Which means they’re buried with treasure!” Young as he was at the age of twenty, Steve still held dreams of finding gold and all manner of treasure out here on these digs. So far, during his foreign exchange trip for the university, that had yet to happen, but he still held out hope. Geeta smiled. “Possibly, or he just wanted to be extra sure his rest would remain undisturbed.” “Well, afraid his luck is about to run out,” Steve said, eagerly climbing down more platforms and ladders. They finally reached the bottom of the pit, where several workers were already digging away at the caked mud, shovels tossing the earth aside and into baskets, where they were rapidly carried up to the surface, emptied, then brought down again. The workers, though weary and worn out from weeks of work, now had a surge of strength, and were tirelessly shoveling, eager to find what was beneath their feet. Jumping down with them, Geeta took a shovel and joined in, her muscles bulging as she scooped out the hard ground. Above, Steve stayed where he was, taking pictures, for his primary task on this expedition was documenting every find they came across. And while they had discovered some pottery and a few settlements, this find promised to be the greatest of all. The group dug for several more moments before Geeta’s shovel struck something hard. Everyone stopped, and looked at each other. A hush fell upon the site. Kneeling, Geeta took a hand trowel, started to carefully dig away at the last of the mud remaining. With several scoops, the earth was pushed away, and she found herself looking at a thick stone surface, jagged and worn down. Almost unable to breathe, she kept scooping the earth away, revealing more and more of the stone. And with each scoop, it became clear that this was something man-made, and not of the earth. A few minutes later, and she finally revealed the massive, aged lid of a sarcophagus long buried. Long had they searched for it, and now that it was before their eyes, she couldn’t help but smile. As the workers around them cheered, Steve couldn’t stop grinning either.
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