The sun beat down upon Joshua Craven as he began to chip away at the tomb entrance. He could feel the excitement welling up inside him, the first and possible greatest discovery of his archiology career. With every little chip of the thousand year old stone he was coming closer and closer to becoming the rich and succesful man he wanted to prove to his ex-wife he could be. Luckily for him the divorce papers would be signed and the decree absolute produced before she could get her hands on his wealth.
"How are thing's going?"
Hans Fiennes looked down on Joshua. The Austrian playboy had financed the expedition on a whim. He was impressed by Joshua's resolve and his attempts to raise cash through the roulette tables in Las Vegas. The sole reason for his inclusion in the party was his determination to taste the delicacy of Egypt, as he said himself, an Egyptian girlfriend would be something new.
"Everything's fine. Expect a breakthrough within the hour.," Joshua replied, beads of sweat dripping from his brow.
"An hour, why so long?" Hans replied.
"Because archeology is about recording and not disturbing. These walls have laid undisturbed for thousands of years, since before the birth of Jesus," Joshua tried to explain.
Hans snorted with derision.
"Man was not made to look to the past. We were made to chase the future. Break it down!"
"You can't do that."
"You forget, Mr Craven. I can do anything I like."
Hans signalled to one of his assistants and mimed in a swinging action.
"Bringen Sie den Vorschlaghammer!" Hans shouted.
In reality, Joshua shouldn't have been too shocked by the insistance of interference and and results as quickly as possible. His other investor was sitting under a large sun shade, she said very little and he often wondered why she was here at all. She had an individual porcelain beauty about her, an almost unnatural paleness but at the same time the most beautiful and captivating eyes he had ever seen. He had been drinking the night she first came to him with the map references of the lost tomb of Ho'Rah, even when he woke up in the morning he wondered if it was all just a delusion influenced by the Vodka in his bloodstream. It had proved to be no dream and she had even taken him to the casino where he had encountered Hans. Yes, there was an aura about her, maybe after the expedition he would ask her out to dinner.
"Stand aside," Hans commanded holding a large Sledgehammer in his hands.
"As you wish," Joshua replied, knowing there was no sense in arguing with a playboy millionaire with a large Sledgehammer in his possesion.
With a large wide swing, the metal head buried itself in the stone door and it began to crumble, a little too easy for Joshua's liking. Even his reclusive female had stirred at such an easy blow. With a second swing more of the doorway was revealed, the air turning musty as the fresh modern atmosphere mingled with the stench of undisturbed dust and stale air. Hans breathed it in and smiled.
"So this is the smell of the glorious dead?" he laughed.
The doorway was now open. Joshua felt a hand on his shoulder and the pale lady was by his side.
"We shall enter," she said solemly.
