***** Vol.3 Chap.48 Secret discovery *****

Not much of a poker player, Frank went outside and scanned the horizon. Admiring the view of the Giza Plateau, he spotted the Sphinx in the distance, glistening in the evening sun. At first, he was mesmerized by the Sphinx. Then a lightning bolt stroked him. He bolted into the tent and headed straight for Joe.

“Joe!”

“Yes?” Joe responded without looking up. He was deep in a poker game with the other archeologists.

“May I borrow your sonar scan for the evening? There is a mount over there I want to scan.”

“Sure.”

“Thanks, I will be back in the morning.”

“No problem.”

Frank was ecstatic, although he tried to conceal his emotions as best as he could. He quickly entered the tent, picked up his backpack and the sonar scanner, and left the tent sites. It was already getting dark, but he knew the way well. He walked briskly instead of jogging for fear of damaging the equipment.

It took him quite a few hours to get back to the Sphinx. By the time he arrived, it was way past midnight, but he had no time to waste. He immediately unpacked the sonar scanner and began collecting sonar images of the Sphinx from different angles and at different spots.

When the first scan came back, Frank glanced at the image and saw a large black spot. That was an excited find. He knew that the large black spot showed that there was a cavern inside the Sphinx. That was just what he needed. Frank kept on collecting images from different angles and from different positions. After another two hours, he was satisfied that he had collected enough sonar images.

As soon as he finished collecting the images, he set his program to work and to beep when the program was done. Then he lay down and was asleep in no time.

He did not sleep well. In his dream, he saw the Sphinx springing into life as an oversize tiger. It was chasing him all over the Valley. When it caught up with him, the tiger would swallow him whole.

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At another time, he saw a ghostly figure dressed in skins holding a shepherd’s crook coming out of the mouth of the Sphinx. The figure stood in front of him and motioned him to follow. Afterwards, the figure walked right through the Sphinx and disappeared.

Frank tried to follow and felt solid rock as he tried to go through the Sphinx. Frustrated, he sat down and threw stones at the Sphinx. The stones bounced back.

After a while, the ghostly figure again reappeared from the mouth of the Sphinx and motioned to him to follow. Once again, the figure walked through the front part of the Sphinx and disappeared.

Again, he tried to follow, but could not walk through the stone statue.

“Beep, Beep, Beep.”

Frank rubbed his eyes and looked at his laptop. The words “Program Finished” were flashing on the screen. He jumped up and executed another program to display the reconstructed three-dimension picture of the insides of the Sphinx. He was delighted as the display shows a small cavern inside the Sphinx. But the display was too coarse to show if there were any openings and if there were any tunnels leading to the small room. But that is all Frank needed to see. He knew he had to get inside the Sphinx. He did not know how, but somehow, he had to find a way in.

He was so engrossed in his findings that he had forgotten about the time. By the time he put his laptop down, the sun was already shining brightly and he heard buses carrying tourists coming to the Sphinx. Quickly, he packed up his gears and headed back towards the tent site. As he was hiking back, he resolved not to say anything about his find. This is a secret only between the Sphinx and him and should remain a secret between the Sphinx and him alone.

It was almost midday when he arrived at the familiar rising and had some lunch. As he was feasting on his provisions, he took a few sonar scans of the uprising. Of course, the scans were dull and uninteresting. He wanted it to be that way, anyway. Satisfied, he headed back to the site.

He returned the equipment to Joe and gave him a copy of all his programs for 3D reconstruction and left detailed instructions on how to use the program.

“Found anything interesting?”

“Nah. There was an uprising over there. I thought I would make a wonderful discovery, but it was nothing but layers and layers of stone underneath.”

“Ah, the joys and disappointment of scientific discovery.”

“I think you are right. I don’t think I am cut out for archaeology. I think I will go back to my computer programming.”

“You don’t mean that you are leaving us so soon?”

“Well, I have done all I can.”

“There are lots more programs we would like to have developed.”

“I am sure you do, but my vacation is ending and I need to go back to keep my students happy.”

“I understand. Well, good luck.”

“I left all the code with your assistant, and I want to see you publish your findings with the new program.”

“You bet I will. We will be happy to put your name on any scientific papers we published from now on.”

“That is unnecessary. But if you must, you can mention my help in developing the program in the Acknowledgment section.”

“For sure.”

“Thanks, Joe, goodbye.”

“Bye. Hope to see you around again.”