This was good therapy. It gave the prospect of the upcoming digs and the dreams of space a chance to fight for dominance over his thoughts.
Other things were were swirling around in between, such as, why Eddie had to make such a big deal of it all. What's wrong with a few daydreams? Why couldn't Ernie just be himself? Was he that self-destructive?
Twin brother indeed! How could two look so much alike and yet be so different, Ernie wondered, not for the first time, nor the last. Nor was he the only one who asked.
Despite the one only shaving every other day, wearing just what he felt comfortable in and letting his hair grow into a pony tail, while the other dressed immaculately in a business suit and went regularly to the hair stylist; nothing could hide the fact that they were twins. So identical they were, even their parents often had problems telling them apart. There was even doubt who was born Ernie and who, Eddie.
But looks were one thing; personality and the path one took were another matter entirely.
Both had followed -- or tried to follow -- in the footsteps of their father. The one who followed was Edward. The one who tried, of course, was Ernie. Had Ernie not managed to finish his Bachelor's degree when he did, he would have had to sit through lectures by his own brother, by now, a Ph.D.!
After a series of county roads through Pointspass, Scarva and Lurgan, he got on to the motorway near Lough Neigh. That took him to the turn-off that led to the outer ring road, and followed the familiar route that led to the Braniel housing estates.
His parent's house was on a little lane facing the golf course. Behind it, beyond a few more lanes were rolling hills and farms, and some of Ernie's favourite walks.
He'd make his return trip early Monday morning, just so he'd have time for at least one long walk.
Mum and Pop were, of course, overjoyed to see him. Mum lost no time in arranging the teapot on the coffee table, surrounded by biscuits, cakes, tarts, scones, butter, jam, leftover apple pie and a few Kitkat bars.
'I don't know if Eddie told you or not, Pop,' began Ernie, as he poured his second cup, 'but we're almost set to start the digging at Thakanamen's Tomb.'
'Well! You don't say!' said Pop. 'Marie, did you hear that?'
'Yes, Alec love, that's where we made twins, so it is.' She said it with a tone of voice no different than had she said she baked a cake.
'Pardon me?' said Ernie.
Alec came to the rescue: 'Your mum and I were there exactly nine months before you and Eddie were born, so we were.'
'Oh, it was a romantic evening,' interjected Marie.
'Indeed it was.'
Ernie wasn't used to hearing his mother talk like this. Was old age finally creeping up on her?
'The stars were all out, and we were sitting on the edge of the mound looking over the desert, and I was just thinking, wouldn't it be nice if we could have twins.'
'A crazy idea, I thought,' said Alec. 'No one on either side of our family has ever had twins, so you know what chances there was of that.'
'... And then there was a vivid green shooting star...'
'I thought it was more a blue colour...'
'No, it was green love, and it left a tail clear across the sky, so it did, and I thought I saw it turn and come towards us before it disappeared ...'
'... which is ridiculous of course,' said Alec. 'Shooting stars don't turn. But anyway, I said, "Make a wish".'
'... and I said, "Twins".'
'... and I said, "My dear! No one on either side of our family has ever had twins".'
'... and I said, "But you said make a wish, Love, and I did!'"
'I, knowing you can't change a woman's mind, said, "We can always try, though, can't we!'"
'So we went into the caravan and we made twins, so we did!' finished Marie, speaking as though that were the standard procedure.
'So we did, indeed. The next day, word came that the funding had been cut off, so it did, so we had to pack up and come back to Ireland. Then, of course, there was the war with Israel, and all sorts of other things, so we never did go back.'
'Yes, and it's such a pity. You were so interested in that part of the world.'
'Was I?' said Ernie.
'Indeed you were,' answered Mum. 'Why, once, when you were five, we found you in Pop's study, so we did, standing on a chair looking at the globe. Your finger was on South-west Egypt, exactly where the excavation was. You had one eye open, close to the globe as you turned it slowly, as though you were an aeroplane coming in towards it.'
Pop added, 'You did indeed, but the uncanny thing was, you'd never been shown how to read a map.'
'After that, you seemed to have an interest in ancient Egypt.'
This wasn't exactly the sort of information Ernie had in mind when he proposed talking to Pop about the digs. In fact it didn't help him concentrate on the digs at all.
Apart from that there were no striking observations, save that Alec thought that had they been given one more week, they would have found a door or a passage into the underground chambers. Abdul Kalif, he said, could help them with that. He had spotted something about the site that could have been of utmost value had they been allowed to continue.
'Uncle Abdul?'
'Yes. You'd remember Uncle Abdul. He visited us several times when we lived in Bangkok, so he did.'
'Is he still about?'
'He is indeed, and he's still in the business, so he is. If you can obtain his services, he'd be a great asset.'
The walk the next day was pleasant. This time, he wandered down country roads turning here and there until he came to a hotel. He had a pint in the hotel pub, and then walked back. All the way, he tried to focus on the trip to Egypt, but his mind kept returning to the green shooting star. There was a slight tinge of familiarity about it that made him uncomfortable.
Why did mum have to bring it up, anyway?
Was it just a shooting star, or did it really turn and come towards them? Of course it didn't! It was an illusion, probably caused by a layer of hot air over the desert sand.
Then why did it bother him?
He didn't know. It just did.
When he got back to the house, he buried his doubts in such a plate of sausage, bacon, egg and potato furls as only his mother could fry.
Early Monday morning he started back for Dublin.
Chapter 3
To:
[email protected] From: Ernie
Subject: Re: long time no see
Hello Beta,
Beta wrote:
> It's really great being back in
> touch like this. You say you're
> working with your brother? What
> are you doing? I heard you were
> archaeologists like your dad.
Ernie answered:
> That's right. We're currently
> trying to get things together to
> go to Egypt. There's a tomb of a
> high priest that my dad began
> digging at but had to discontinue.
> That was just before we were born.
>
> Have you heard much from any other
> 'Salemites' - like Sam or Boz?
>
Beta answered:
> Sam is working for the city transit
> service in Seattle. He started there
> driving a bus, and now has an office
> job, married his boss ...
> Boz O'Hannan is still in Thailand and
> has a Thai wife ... My sister got her
> degree in sociology ...
Ernie answered:
> Things are coming together for the
> dig so we should be going to Egypt in a
> couple of weeks.
>
Beta answered:
> That sounds exciting. Egypt is one of
> the places I haven't been to yet.
> You'll have to give a full story
>
&n
bsp; Ernie's reply:
Do you remember Uncle Abdul, whom my
dad brought to the school at Salem House?
He's the one who gave us the lecture on
Egypt on our special Saturday class.
Anyway, he's been back in Egypt for quite
some time, still working along with
different archaeological projects. I've
contacted him and it looks like he'll be
with us on this dig. Now all we need is a
rich old bloke who has pots and pots of
money and doesn't know what t do with
it all, to fund the digs. I really hope
it works out.
cheers
ernie
End email
Two weeks before kick-off a rich bloke was found, permissions were granted, and volunteers began coming out of the woodwork. During the final week, Ernie managed to obtain visas for all of them through the Egyptian consulate, make hotel reservations, and arrange for pick-ups.
Two a.m. the morning they were to depart, Ernie heaved a sigh of relief, picked up everything they'd need, placed it in his folder, put that into his shoulder bag along with his notebook computer, and went home to wash up before leaving for the airport for their six o'clock flight.
He went out quietly so as not to awaken Eddie. He'd give him a wake-up call later.
At home, he took a shower, threw a few belongings into his big backpack along with his sleeping bag and called the taxi company.
The taxi on its way, Ernie took his backpack and shoulder bag, locked the flat and went to the bottom of the stairs to wait. He made sure his passport was in the pouch about his neck under his clothing, and his palm-top was in his inside coat pocket.
He was early, but thought it better to get to the airport first, and then maybe catch a few winks.
The taxi arrived. On the way, he gave Eddie a wake-up call .
The airline flight counter opened a few minutes after Ernie arrived, so he went to get his boarding pass. He sent his backpack through with the checked in luggage. The gate hadn't been assigned yet, so he found a seat near the centre of the departure area.
He couldn't sleep, so he got up and walked about the shops, looking at all the duty free goods for sale. It was nice to look even if he never had enough money for things like that (the notebook computer was originally his brother's, who had bought a nicer one, and the Palm Pilot was a birthday present from Pop).
He soon got tired of looking and found a seat. He went through his bag to double check that he had everything -- as though knowing something was missing would be of any use now that it was too late to go back for it.
Everything was there.
After some more walking about, the gate assignment flashed on the monitor, so he went to the appropriate waiting area and sat down.
He still couldn't sleep, so his mind went from this to that -- to the digs in Egypt -- to his dad's opinion that in a week they would have found the underground chamber -- to the green (or was it blue) shooting star.
Close to boarding time, he gave Eddie another call. He was checking in.
He appeared just as it was time to board.
They recognised a few of the other workers for the digs. Having all checked in separately, they sat in different parts of the plane.
They took off. Breakfast was served.
As the hostesses collected the empty breakfast trays, the fatigue of the past day or two and the sleepless night caught up, and Ernie dozed off.
Maybe it was because he was so tired, or that he was flying, and the last thought in his mind was the green shooting star. He dreamed he was a shooting star, flying over desert, looking for a place to rest.
Though the dream lasted only a few seconds, he was acutely aware of every passing millisecond, and took in every detail of the landscape below. He wasn't alone. There were six others with him. They came to a mound with a shallow pit dug into the top exposing a stone marker. He recognised it immediately as middle Groount architecture. On the far edge of the mound, two living beings were seated, facing away from them. He took note that they were humans, natives to this planet. Around about was an encampment of some sort. Though he saw it in vivid detail, he could just barely discern the function of each item. It struck him as being horribly quaint, but that was to be expected, as the residents of this planet were known to be a primitive race.
It only took him a split second to make all these observations. Now they were coming down towards one side of the marker, into the dug out area around it. As they descended, the dust and small rocks were blown out from beneath them until a bare rock floor was exposed. There, a square panel opened for them, and they went down in.
They were now inside a long passage. They proceeded in the direction away from the stone marker, sloping downward along a path with several angles to the left and to the right, until they entered a chamber. Inside were sculpted images and other items, some made from a yellowish metallic substance. Though the passage and chamber reflected middle Groount craftsmanship, the sculpted objects did not. He could tell by the way the yellow metal was used that it was considered a commodity of utmost value -- probably rare on this planet.
In the middle of the chamber was a pedestal on which stood a sculpture of something that looked part human, but had a different sort of head. As they approached, it slid backwards out of the way until it fell off. They came to rest in it's place.
Suddenly, he felt a release of his innermost being from whatever it was he was in. It was a sensation of being reduced, or stripped down, as though suddenly finding himself naked, not only of clothing, but of everything else that had ever been a part of his being. He was now no more than a particle of dust.
He and the six others flew upward and outward, and looked back at the pedestal.
There they saw a multifaceted crystal, now glowing green, now blue as the source of light moved about inside among the various facets.
An air pocket woke him up.
'Oh God!' he thought. 'Not the dreams!'
He went over the details of this one -- first the primitive looking encampment.
A primitive encampment?! Those were caravans and tents, three Land-rovers and a lorry! How could they have looked so primitive?
Then he remembered the two humans.
They looked like none other than...
'Oh God!' he said, slapping his own face with both hands.
'You -- er -- forgot something?' enquired the passenger next to him.
'Oh, no -- er -- sorry,' he said. Then he got up, and walked, shaking, to the toilets. He didn't really need to 'go'. He just wanted to get completely by himself.
One of them was vacant. He went in and sat down with his head in his hands.
Why hadn't he recognised them? Then it dawned on him. If the dream were indeed that of the green shooting star, he would never have met them yet.
Of course, that would make sense in real life, but for goodness sakes, this was a dream! How could he dream about seeing his own parents in such vivid detail, and yet not know them, as though they had never met? And since when does one make the observation, 'These are humans, they are native to this planet'? In a science fiction film, maybe, but be real!
As vivid and recurring as they were before, at least the dreams had never intruded into the real world in the way this one did.
He finally gained his composure and walked back to his seat. The passenger next to him only gave him a funny look as he sat down, but said nothing.
Try as he might, he couldn't sleep any more for the rest of the trip.
Chapter 4
The plane landed, and taxied to the terminal where all the passengers got off.
All the usual things happened that do when one arrives at a foreign destination. They presented their passports, they collected their bags, they checked through customs. Ernie's presence was needed, along with the letters of permission and other paperwork for the equipment being c
hecked through, so his mind was back to the business at hand, and off crystals, space ships and shooting stars.
This time, he wanted to forget.
The first few days were spent in Cairo, going here and there, and finishing off pieces of business that they couldn't do from Dublin.
Abdul met them in the lobby of Hotel Beirut the day after their arrival. They had lunch, during which Abdul recounted his fond memories of their father. Since Ernie's role on the team was to see to the logistics, he had a good reason to linger and chat, as Abdul was to be the resource man. But his private reason was, he still maintained the fondness he had for him as a boy.
He found himself still addressing him as 'Uncle Abdul'.
Eddie had also been fond of him as a child, but now he was an adult, and saw everything through thoroughly grown-up eyes. In his humble opinion, old Abdul was really no fonder of their dad than every other archaeologist he had worked with, but wanted the brownie points.
On the afternoon of the third day, the fleet of double cab four-wheel-drive pick-up trucks set off for the farther hinterlands of Egypt. Abdul drove the lead car and. Ernie sat with him in the front seat.
By driving all night, stopping only for a three-hour rest, they shortened the two-day trip to a day and a half. Ernie slept most of the night while Abdul drove.
When Ernie was awake, Abdul managed to keep him occupied in conversation. He asked more about Alec and told Ernie a few stories he remembered about him. Things went just fine until late the second day. The closer they came to their destination, the more familiar the landscape began to look.
Ernie had never been here in his life, yet, it looked familiar.
'Have any movies ever been filmed out here?' he asked Abdul.
'None, as far as I know. This is too far away from Cairo for most production companies. They prefer the pyramids. Why do you ask?'
'I don't know -- it just seems like a good spot to shoot a film, I guess.'
'Maybe you uncover the tomb of Thakanamen, and that will be a good background to shoot. I can then recommend it to the next film crew that comes,' said Abdul.
'I'm sure they'd want to build a nicer road out to it though,' said Ernie.
'That, they would indeed.'
Even the road was familiar.
Now, he remembered the dream he had on the flight. The details of it were vivid, down to the most minute feature. Was this the road that crossed the path of the shooting star on a diagonal course?