six
.
“This is incredible,” Ari breathes out as he looks at the monitor. Jurgen has affixed a camera on a monopod and Christen is in the shaft, lying on her stomach with her arms extended into the blackness moving it slowly around the chamber. The rest of the crew is huddled around a flat screen monitor, eying the results. After Christen does her careful overview of the chamber, she backs out of the corridor and gets some assistance in freeing herself and getting back on solid ground in the tomb.
It’s nearly eleven o’clock and dinner time has long since passed and even with the excitement of the new find, the crew is tired from exertion and the heat and hungry. Now that they’ve gotten a chance to see the dark interior of the new chamber, they call it quits for the day. They decide to head back to camp to eat in the mess hall to stage their next plan of attack down in the new chamber tomorrow.
Christen’s last thought before sleep overtook her was that she missed seeing Tobin today.
XXXX
May 22nd
Christen gives them a wide eyed look as she crawls backwards in the narrow shaft, “Okay,” she says, the smile that hasn’t left her face since they first broke through earlier today widening with excitement, “here goes nothing,”
The plan they’ve devised has Christen entering the chamber the first with Vero and Brigid and following her. Since the opening is so narrow, they are the only three of the group small enough to fir through. Asim and his crew will work on removing the large limestone slabs to allow more access while the three evaluate what is inside the chamber. The engineers have Christen rigged up in a harness with a line for safety and there’s a short ladder leaning against the limestone slab in the interior of the newly opened chamber. The safety line is there in case Christen slips off the ladder while on her way down. It will be an awkward movement to perform on her own. Christen does a very ungraceful backwards crawl in the narrow area until her feet hang over into the void. She slows her movements, creeping back until she can bend her waist and her feet find a stabilizing slat of the ladder she had put in place earlier. Soon she stands in the dark chamber, her headlamp flashing on her surroundings.
“I’m on the ground,” she calls out and Vero begins to climb up inside the tight passageway.
The perimeter of the room is loaded with artifacts. With her headlamp, she sees a what she thinks may be a wooden wagon with its dusty wheels leaning against the side with an ornate table beneath it lined with jars on the far wall with dust coated crates and bundled items spread on the floor before it. To her left is a throne along with a carved relief of statues on each side of it. The floor here had about a foot and a half of dirt piled out about three feet. She imagines it will take weeks for them to remove everything safely.
A rush of cool air refreshes her warm sweaty skin and she turns her head to the right and smiles when the beam of her headlamp falls on a smiling Tobin.
”I am very proud of you,” Tobin whispers, aware of Vero entering the narrow shaft and is preparing to crawl towards them. Christen steps to her with her arms out, needing to feel Tobin once more. She kisses her hard, needing to convey her emotions to her. She feels how Tobin skillfully probes her lips with her tongue and opens her mouth to accept it and moans softly at the sensation.
Vero makes noise as she crawls, her boots scraping against the limestone and the two break their kiss.
”I will find you, my love, I promise,” Tobin whispers urgently, her lips brushing against Christen’s cheek.
Christen nods, ”I will be waiting for you, my sweetheart,” she replies. They kiss and hug once more before Tobin steps back.
Christen has tears in her eyes, a deep sadness filling her as she looks at Tobin once more.
“Hey, Christen,” Vero calls out, making the woman turn towards her voice. She sees Vero’s legs moving freely as she attempts to find the ladder.
“Here,” Christen says, grabbing hold of one of her legs and guiding it to the ladder.
When Vero is standing next to her, her headlamp falls on Christen’s tear stained face, the tracks of wetness cutting through the dust she’s covered in.
“Are you okay?” she asks with evident concern.
“Yeah,” Christen sniffles, nodding and wiping at her eyes. She gestures to the room, “It’s just so beautiful,” she says emotionally, hiding the truth from the woman. She turns her head, letting her headlamp rest in the empty space Tobin last occupied and reminds herself to be patient.
They’ll meet again.
XXXX
July 4th
“So, Christen,” Becky smiles at her from across the table, “just how may skids of freight do I have to expect for pick up at the airport?” The attractive blond in her thirties is Christen’s coworker and is actually Dr. Rebecca Sauerbrunn, Head of Preservation in the Archeology Department at Stanford University.
Christen is making her first social appearance outside of her home, at the backyard holiday celebration since arriving home three days ago from Egypt. She’s been gone for just over two months on the expedition and was mentally and physically exhausted upon her return. She spent over twenty hours in bed before she even considered calling her Mom and announcing her return. It was only yesterday when her parents showed up at her house with the lunch and her dogs, anxious to hear about her trip in more detail than the sporadic emails, scarce phone calls and the evening news announcing her amazing finds.
Their visit stretched out to the evening and Christen ordered food in, enjoying their company and catching up on what she missed while she was gone. Her sister Channing had called earlier in the afternoon and made it for dinner, excited to see her sister and had anxiously and not so patiently for dinner to be over and the second or third glasses of wine to be poured before she leaned across the table and stared at her sister.
“What?” Christen had asked, wondering if she had food remnants on her face, self consciously wiping at it with her napkin.
“Did you meet your soulmate?” Channing had asked with large eyes.
Christen had, in fact, prepared for this question from her family ahead of time. Yesterday, while she was lounging in bed, thinking of Tobin, she weighed the pros and cons of how a truthful reply would be perceived as opposed to just lying and saying she hadn’t met her soulmate. Obviously, she went with the latter.
“No, I didn’t,” she had answered, seeing a brief moment of disappointment on her parents’ faces. She has never before blatantly lied to her family about anything before and she felt guilty about doing it now, yet she didn’t want to face all of their questions about Tobin. She knew that having to explain her mystical situation to them would make her begin to doubt if Tobin would ever find her. She was lying to them for her own self-preservation and keeping her hopes alive that she would meet Tobin sometime in the fall.
Channing had sweetly reached her hand out across the table and squeezed her forearm, giving her an optimistic nod full of confidence. “It will happen,”
Christen gave them all a relaxed smile, “I know it will,” she had stated calmly with conviction and without a trace of disappointment in her voice, “it will happen when it’s meant to be.”
If the cool confidence she had in her voice shocked her family, they did an excellent job of hiding their surprise. Usually she would fret about the topic, leaving them all feeling anxious for her. Not tonight. Maybe they thought the trip had changed her, made her realize some things, but they didn’t speak of it. Her Mom politely changed the subject and they moved on to other subjects and didn’t circle back to the topic.
Now it’s the Fourth of July and she’s at her co-worker and good friend Alyssa Naeher’s house for a late afternoon barbeque and to watch the fireworks. “Well,” she starts to answer Becky, her lips curling into a smile, “a thirty-two foot box truck should do it.”
Becky’s eyes grow large, dilating slightly, “Really?” she asks, her mouth left slightly open as a grin appears on her face.
Christen nods, glancing over at Alyssa who had let out a low whistle. “Six skids from KV20 and two from KV60.”
Alyssa, whose specialty is Ethnoarcheology, which is the study of past societies with special regard to social structures and religious beliefs, looks excited. The beliefs of the ancient Egyptians is her favorite culture to study. She leans back in her chair and rubs her hands together, “Tell me you brought back some funerary items,” she says, wiggling her eyebrows and it makes Christen laugh. She’s certain Alyssa’s had a few beers, since this is a bit out of character for her.
“We’re all going to have our hands full,” she smiles at them, “there’s actually a few boxes we found that we weren’t able to open in the field,” she explains, “so we’ll have some mystery pieces as well.”
“No bones or organs?” Sydney Leroux-Dwyer asks before she takes a sip from her wine glass with her pinky out. Her specialty is Forensic Archeology, studying the dead or their organs. What ancient cultures ate, what made them sick and how they died are what she looks for, hence wanting to know if there are any body parts.
“Possibly,” Christen nods with a coy smile, “we have plenty of jars we suspect are canopic. We recovered over five hundred artifacts, I'm shocked Ari sent us so many.”
Just then, a slim woman with long black hair, carrying a wrapped tray of sort of edible delight Christen assumes, approaches their table with another woman in a wheelchair trailing behind her, a blond with short hair and both arms sporting tattoos who has a beer in a drink holder on the arm of the chair with her strong arm muscles flexing as she pumps the wheels. Becky, Crystal and Alyssa immediately stand to greet her, so Christen does as well.
“Ali,” Alyssa greets and then nods to Ashlyn, “Ashlyn, so glad you both could make!”
“Thanks,” Ali, the tray carrier gives them a dazzling smile, “I brought some appetizers,”
Alyssa takes the tray, “Thanks so much,” she says, “what do we need to do with them? Heat them or no?”
“Twenty minutes at three hundred and twenty-five degrees,” she replies. Alyssa nods and gives Ashlyn a fist bump as she walks away to enter the house.
“Ali, Ashlyn,” Becky states, “I’d like for you meet Dr. Christen Press, freshly returned from a dig at Luxor,”
“Christen, please,” she smiles warmly at Ali as they shake hands, then she moves to Ashlyn to do the same.
“Christen Press,” Ashlyn whistles, “I’m a big fan,” she states, “the article you wrote about the dig in Greece was something else,”
Christen’s smile brightens, “Oh, are you also an archeologist?”
“No,” she laughs, “that one is,” she points to Ali, “I’m an athlete,” she jerks her thumb at Ali, “this one’s the archeologist.
“Dr. Ali Krieger,” Becky supplies, “our new preservationist and researcher.”
“Ah,” Christen nods as the pieces fall into place, she knew her department was hiring someone before the upcoming semester, but hadn't kept up on it while she in the field. “Nice to meet you. How are you settling in?”
“Anxiously awaiting for your return with artifacts, preparing lesson plans for my fall classes and ready to get started,” Ali smiles brightly. They offer her a chair and move another one out of the way for Ashlyn to join them and then they all sit down.
“Well, welcome to the team,” Christen grins, “I can’t wait for the shipment to arrive,”
“I bet,” Sydney laughs, “Ali, can I get you something to drink?”
“What are you drinking?” she asks.
“Sangria,” she replies.
“I’d love one,” Ali smiles at her, “thank you.”
“Another beer Ashlyn?” Sydney offers, looking at her expectantly.
“I’m good for now,” she nods, “but thanks,” Sydney gives her a nod and leaves for the garage where one of the bars is set up.
“So, what sport do you play?” Christen asks Ashlyn, turning to face her.
“She’s an Olympic Gold medalist for para basketball and pro women’s sled hockey,” Ali states proudly. “She plays for the San Francisco Steel.”
Ashlyn gives them a shrug with an amused look, “What can I say,” she says, her grin becoming a wide smile, “I love sports.”
“That’s pretty awesome, Ashlyn,” Christen smiles as she sips her sangria.
“Yeah, I’ve been super lucky with opportunities to get where I am today,” Ashlyn states genuinely.
“You should hear her podcast, Chris,” Becky encourages, “it’s super interesting and really fun,”
Christen glances over at the tattooed blond who looks slightly embarrassed with the attention. “I love listening to podcasts when I’m working out,” she replies, “send me a link for sure,” She doesn’t miss the wink and silently mouthed thank you from Ashlyn who then lifts her beer and takes a drink. She likes the woman already, she thinks, her and Ali.
She asks Ali about her favorite expedition and most interesting classes she’s taught. The group gets to learn more about the newcomer as Ali happily shares some stories.
“Oh, Christen,” Ali says, pulling her from her thoughts, “it was years ago when I was in Egypt, but I remember seeing photos from KV20. Just where was the new chamber located?”
Christen launches into an abbreviated version of their dig, trying to make sure Ashlyn wasn’t bored with the conversation. She’s surprised with how attentive and involved in the conversation Ashlyn is, who easily explains it as another one of her passions and asks her a slew of interesting questions. After she answers all of their questions, talk turns to pets when Becky asks her how the dogs responded from her being gone so long.
“Khaleesi ignored me until bedtime,” Christen laughs, “she was so mad. Morena just whined and barked and then wouldn’t leave my side for most of the day.”
“Ali,” Sydney nods, “show Christen your puppies,”
Christen looks from Ali to Ashlyn, “You have puppies?” she asks them with wide eyes.
It’s hours later and the professional fireworks show has long since been over, the occasional colorful explosions now lighting the sky from individuals in the neighborhood.
Christen, Ali and Ashlyn really connected during their time together, the three feeling that special chemistry when meeting a new person. That instant friendship and kinship that doesn’t happen often in life. Before they leave, phone numbers are exchanged and plans are made for dinner at Christen’s house during the week and a play date for their dogs.
When Christen leaves Alyssa’s house that night, she feels like she’s made two new friends and she can’t wait to work with Ali.
XXXX
July 10th
“That’s all of them,” Christen announces and she gets a confirming nod from Becky who is holding a clipboard and makes the final checkmark with a flourish. “One hundred and ninety-seven artifacts,” she announces as she sets the clipboard down on the table.
“It’s incredible,” Ali marvels, looking at the ten tables lined against the wall that hold the safely wrapped items in odd shapes.
“I want the body parts,” Sydney declares, rubbing her gloved hands together, “I want me some ancient spleen,”
Ali crinkles her nose in mock disgust as Christen and Alyssa chuckle. “Alright,” Becky reigns them in, “I’ve organized the artifacts list into proper sections of areas of studies,” she states, “so let’s go through this and organize the items in the lockers for storage until they are brought out for study and preservation.” The women get to work and end up staying an hour late to finish and all the items are under lock and key within the preservation lab until Monday morning when the team will begin their work. The amount of items will keep them busy for over a year to preserve them properly.
July 27th
“So,” Sydney swivels in her office chair to face Christen, “what about your soulmate?” she asks frankly. It’s been weeks and Christen hasn’t mentioned a thing and she believes it’s because something actually had happened in Egypt. Christen just doesn’t have the same spark in her since she’s returned from her expedition and that behavior is very uncharacteristic, especially since the expedition was such a success. She’s concerned for her friend.
Christen sighs, “Syd,” she says heavily, “you’re gonna think I’m crazy.”
Syd studies her carefully, seeing how suddenly exhausted Christen looks and it has nothing to do with the interviews she’s been doing with the national and local TV news crews. The news is out that they've found a new chamber and Christen has been in high demand to speak about her experience. She patiently waits for her best friend to speak.
“I met her,” Christen finally admits flatly and frowning.
“Did it not go well?” Syd asks cautiously, leaning forward in her seat.
“No,” Christen sighs, “I fell in love with her,” she says dejectedly, shaking her head as she picks at the hem of her shirt. She glances around Syd’s office, seeing the others through the open blinds over the glass windows at work at their stations. “Listen,” she says evenly, “I’ll tell you all about it,” she states, “but not here. Dinner at my place tonight?”
Syd nods, “Of course.”
----
“Wait, wait, wait,” Syd says, shaking her head and holding a hand up, “you met her and said your words, but she never said hers and yet you fell in love? And she says you’re not just soulmates but you have a soulbond?”
“Yes,” Christen nods, sighing heavily again, “and I won’t meet her again until the fall,”
Sydney eyes her, still having a feeling there is more to the story. If they were in love, she knows for a fact her best friend would be a hell of lot happier and she would be texting and video chatting her soulmate. Something’s off.
“I’m gonna go let the dogs out,” Christen announces morosely, needing a breath of fresh air and rising from the sofa. Speaking of her situation is upsetting her and she needs a break. She has been sinking herself into her work and doing her best not to think about it and maintain some sort of blissfull ignorance to the whole situation. Now, after talking about it, she feels a bit hopeless and suddenly doubtful that Tobin would ever find her. First, there’s the geographic reasons, Tobin is in Egypt and she’s in the United States. Then there’s the whole thing about how in the world would Tobin find her when there’s over three hundred million people living in the United States. She doesn't even want to try and analyze the whole issue about Tobin being a ghost either.
As soon as Christen leaves the room, Sydney pulls out her phone. She realizes something is very wrong with this. She needs reinforcements.
“Hey Alyssa,” Christen greets with surprise and confusion at the woman standing before and seeing Ali and Becky pulling up in front of her house as well, “ah, come in?”
Alyssa enters silently with a nod, giving Syd a questioning look and Syd just stands up and motions her to follow her to the kitchen. Christen waits by the door, greeting Ali and Becky, noting Becky has a six pack of beer in her hand and Ali is carrying two bottles of wine. They follow Syd’s voice to the kitchen and all sit down, Christen busying herself with getting wineglasses and an opener and stashing the remainder of the six pack in the refrigerator.
When she finally sits down with a glass of Malbec, she sees all eyes on her.
“Tell them,” Syd nods and Christen releases a heavy sigh and nods. She knows these are her good friends, she’s known Syd from undergrad here at Stanford and became friends with Becky and Alyssa during her post grad work years ago and since she’s met her, Ali has fast become a very close friend.
She tells them everything, starting with her soul mark and how it’s in Coptic and how she felt she would meet her soulmate on the expedition. She tells them about Sitre In and for some reason keeps Tobin’s given name to herself. That part she wants for herself. She tells them how she would appear and disappear and how nobody else could see her. How Sitre In finally admitted to being sent there to her, to help her.
She tells them about Sitre In stating they are soul bonded and she’s scared to really research what that means. She shares how she has fallen in love with a ghost and how this spirit has promised to find her in the fall and she’s now doubting herself and feeling like she was a little crazy. When she finishes, she drains her glass and leaves the table to refill it, figuring it’s a Friday night and she may as well get just drunk to deal with her emotions about all of this. The table is quiet while she does this, exchanging concerned glances as if they are trying to silently communicate who should speak first to her.
“Well,” Alyssa starts, then she clears her throat and wraps her hand around her beer bottle, “it’s possible,” she offers, “things like this do happen.”
“People fall in love with ghosts?” Christen asks sarcastically, “And how does one have a relationship with Casper?” she snorts.
Alyssa rolls her eyes and then gives her questioning look, “Really?” she asks, “Casper?” she shakes her head, “Chris,” she says softly, “soulbonds exist. You remember the stories we’ve heard of people who felt they had past lives? In their interviews, they speak of things with such detail, there's no doubt they lived in past cultures. It's rare for someone to remember more than one period of their past life, but the ones they do, they speak of them with authority.”
“And how about how you’re always telling us how familiar you feel about Egypt?” Becky questions softly.
“But how does it work?” Christen questions, growing frustrated. “I don’t get it,” she says, her fingers twirling the stem of her wineglass, “are you saying Sitre In and I had a relationship in a past life? Who was I? Hatshepsut?”
Again, the women around the table exchange looks before Sydney speaks. “It would make sense.”
Christen rolls her eyes at the absurdity of the idea. She’s no queen, she dismisses it immediately.
“Christen,” Ali says gently, “I have to admit,” she says rather hesitantly, “how you speak of Hatshepsut’s reign and when we were unloading her belongings a few weeks ago,” she shrugs, “you sounded like you owned some of them.”
“Yeah, remember when we were working on the bracelet?” Syd joins in nodding her head rapidly, “you said you thought it wasn’t her favorite, like you knew. Like it was yours. I heard it.”
"That's just because I saw them all already," she tries to defend herself.
The group just rolls their eyes at her and snicker. Christen huffs slightly as she lets their words sink in. She respects their opinions and she knows that of all the people in the world she could speak to about her particular situation, the ones around her kitchen table right now are possibly the most qualified. Alyssa, who specializes in studying cultures and religions and the whole soulmate phenomenon. Becky, who has her own interesting soulmate story and had researched relentlessly the topic while trying to understand it. Her mate met her, professed his love and left for three tours in the Marines, seeing her only twice for less than a week in three years’ time. They are happily together now but Christen witnessed the longing and confusion Becky went through during that time. Sydney, whose mate Dom immediately wanted babies and family life when Syd wasn’t ready to even marry him yet. They went through a lot of emotional anguish before really communicating their wants and desires and eventually finding a middle ground they were both satisfied with.
“The idea of a soulbond is that two people share one soul and over time, with each reincarnation, you meet.” Alyssa explains, “It sounds like something happened during the time of Sitre In and Hatshepsut, especially if Hatshepsut choose Thutmose the Second in the Field of Reeds. For Sitre In and Thutmose the Second to have the same soulmark could have been some mistake. You said Sitre In and Hatshepsut spoke their words and consummated their love, so even if Hatshepsut chose Thutmose the Second in the Field of Reeds, the Gods must have realized some kind of mistake happened. There must have been an interruption of the soulbond cycle and now it’s being re-established.”
“She did say that the Gods were confused how it happened,” Christen slowly shares, “Sitre In and Thutmose the Second had the same soulmark,” she says quietly.
“And they were both Hatshepsut’s soulmate in her lifetime,” Ali mentions, “I wonder what anguish she went through when she was in the Field of Reeds and had to decide between Sitre In and Thutmose,”
An unexpected deep sorrow pulls at Christen’s chest, “I’m sure it wasn’t easy,” she comments. She grabs her glass and takes a drink. Then explains to them in detail what Sitre In had told her what the Gods had said and what the plan was for her.
“I would think if the Gods pulled Sitre In out of the Field of Reeds and sent her to you and she told you she would find you, then it’s going to happen,” Sydney says with confidence, “The waiting is going to suck, but it will be worth it.”
Christen isn’t completely convinced. “It just bothers me that she didn’t say her words back to me,” she says with a sigh, “I feel like it isn’t complete,”
Ali nods knowingly, “I know what you mean,” she takes a drink from her glass, “Ashlyn didn’t say it for months after we met,”
“Really?” Alyssa says with surprise, “you two are so amazing together.”
Ali nods, “We are now,” she says, “but Ash was hesitant. At the time, she wasn’t fully at peace with her disability and hadn’t grown into the person she is today. She thought I wouldn’t be able to commit to a life with her being in a wheelchair and didn’t want the heartbreak.”
“Was she in an accident and that’s how she ended up unable to walk?” Sydney asks her and Ali nods.
“How did you guys work past that?” Becky asks curiously.
“With a lot of patience and persistence on my part,” Ali crinkles her nose, “but Ash finally accepted I wasn’t going anywhere. Then we started getting close, nothing physical but talking every day. Her best friend finally convinced her to continue physical therapy and went with her almost every session and things changed for the better after that.”
“That’s some best friend,” Alyssa remarks approvingly.
“Oh, she’s something else,” Ali chuckles warmly, “She’s amazing.”
“But wait,” Becky says suddenly, turning to Christen, “you said Sitre In stated she couldn’t say it back because she has to go back through the Underground to find you. So, she’ll say it when she meets you in a couple of months, right?”
“I guess so,” Christen replies with uncertainty.
Sydney slings her arm around Christen, pulling her close, “I think you’re scared,” she states, “and it’s because this is a scary thing. Especially now,” she says, “because you’re waiting. And it’s killing you because your mind keeps pulling out random thoughts and making you doubt yourself and your feelings you have for her now that you're back home.”
Becky gives her a sympathetic smile, “I know this waiting,” she says, “but you’re going to be so busy with the artifacts, the time will shoot by,”
Christen nods, beginning to feel better. “Yeah,” she says slowly, “you’re right.”
“And we’re here for you,” Alyssa reassures her, “any time you need to talk,”
Christen gives the woman around the table each a grateful smile, “Thank you guys,” she says heartfully, “I’ve had this,” she runs her fingers over her soulmark, “on my mind for so long and now, having met her and fallen in love,” she shrugs her shoulders, “and it not being the fairy tale I thought it would be,” she shakes her head, “It’s been making me doubt everything. I’m questioning if she’ll be the same person I fell in love with in Egypt.”
“It’s her soul you fell in love with,” Ali reminds her, “and I’m sure you’ll feel it the moment you meet.”
Sydney gives her a squeeze, “Well,” she touches her forehead to her, “we’re all here to keep you thinking positive.”
Christen lays her head on Syd’s shoulder and looks around at her friends, “Thanks you guys,”
XXXX