Intervention: A Science Fiction Adventure (5 page)

As the group leaders
left, they talked amongst themselves, comparing thoughts and ideas
about this idea of moving the large stone blocks. Sanar, on the other
hand, went to his living quarters. He wanted to spend some time with
his wife.

Nearly three weeks went
by before Ra spoke to Sanar again. As before, Sanar sent his aides to
summon the necessary group leaders as soon as he finished receiving
the information from Ra. This time the information was for the group
leaders working at the monument site.

“You will see I have
drawn the means with which you are to prepare the site for the
monument where the stone blocks are to be placed. Now that the site
has been cleared, you are to dig a shallow trench into the stone in
the shape of a perfect square, which will be the base of the
monument. When this trench has been made, you will fill it with
water. Remove any stone that the water does not touch until the water
touches the stone equally all the way around the site. Once this has
been done, stretch twine from one edge to the other, as tightly as
possible, and then remove any part of the rock that the twine
touches. When you have done this, you will have a perfectly flat and
level base onto which the stone blocks will be placed. When I have
received another vision, I will summon you.”

Two days later, Sanar
visited the monument site to see how the work was coming along and to
be sure it was being done as Ra had instructed.

As Sanar approached the
work site, he was in awe of the size of the base where the monument
was to be erected. Even though he drew the plans that were being
followed to the letter, it was still an awesome sight to actually see
everything firsthand. From a distance, he saw what looked like a
small city of dwellings for the workers being erected, many already
finished and being occupied. The roadway on which the large stone
blocks would be transported was already cleared and laid out; some of
the liquid rock had already been poured into place. He had never seen
so much work done in such a short time. The appearance of Ra had an
amazing effect on the workers, and understandably so. Thousands were
working together as never before, moving almost as one.
Truly
an amazing site
, Sanar thought as he arrived at the tent
of the group leader overseeing the work of the base.

“It seems the time I
spent coming here was wasted,” Sanar began. “You have done more
than I thought possible. At this pace, we shall live to see the
monument completed. Ra must be pleased.”

“Thank you, Sanar.
The work could never have come so far without the methods Ra has
shown us through you. I hope you will tell Ra of our progress,” the
group leader responded.

“I do not speak to
Ra, my friend; Ra speaks to me. Although I’m sure Ra sees what all
of us are doing all of the time,” Sanar answered. “I will leave
you to your work now. I would not want Ra to see me keeping you from
your task. Besides, I must be in the temple so Ra should not have to
wait to speak to me.”

Several months went by
before Sanar heard from Ra again. These were long and frustrating
months. Although the time that passed between visions from Ra was
frustrating for Sanar, he nevertheless waited patiently in his
private chambers every day for the moment when Ra would favor him
with a new vision. The daily reports brought to him by his aides were
always full of good news. On one such day, Sanar’s aide reported
that the first of the stone blocks was nearing the monument site on
the now completed road. Sanar feared that soon he would receive word
that the workers did not know what to do next, as Ra’s instructions
thus far were almost complete.

As Sanar waited
nervously in his private chambers, fearing his aide would bring news
that the work had stalled because they needed further instruction,
which he could not give because of the long absence from Ra.
Suddenly, his chamber grew bright with a supernatural light.

Images came to his
mind; he quickly drew them on the crude parchment. “As you wish, so
shall it be,” he spoke out loud. As the bright light faded, there
was a knock at the door of his private chamber.

“Enter,” Sanar
replied, his voice and body weakened from his experience.

“Are you all right?”
the aide asked upon seeing Sanar’s ashen face.

“Yes,” Sanar
replied. “Summon the group leaders from the monument site
immediately.” As the aide left, Sanar sat back in his seat to rest
and regain his strength.

Sanar awoke to the
sound of the knock at the door. “One moment,” Sanar said
automatically as he struggled to gather his wits from the state of
rest he had found. “You may enter.” Sanar began to make a copy of
his notes for the others. “Please, sit while I make you a copy of
the vision Ra has just given me. You may place your previous drawings
on the table there,” Sanar said as he motioned to a large table in
the corner. Quickly, but carefully, he proceeded to produce a perfect
copy for the group leaders to take with them to the monument site.
“Here, this will show you where you are to place the stone blocks
for the first level of the monument. The placement of the blocks must
be exactly as I have illustrated; there can be no error.”

“It shall be as you
say, Sanar,” one of the group leaders responded.

“It is not I who say,
but Ra who says,” Sanar replied. The group leader’s eyes grew
large and fear took over his face as he was reminded where the
instructions originated. “Relax, I’m sure Ra can see the fine
work you are doing, and I am sure he is pleased. Think for a moment,
if he were not pleased, would he not let you know?”

“Thank you, Sanar.
You’re right of course. I will return now to the monument site and
start placing the stone blocks at once.”

The next day when Sanar
went to his private chambers, he quickly noticed the old drawings
left on the table by the group leaders the day before were gone. He
looked everywhere, but they were nowhere to be found. He went out to
question the guards.

“Did anyone enter my
private chambers since yesterday?”

“No one but you has
passed through these doors since you left last night. I have been on
duty since before you left last night and have not left my post. I
swear to you, no one has passed through these doors.”

Sanar went back into
his private chamber and began examining the corners, the seams
between the stone blocks—anywhere a secret entrance might be
hidden. After searching for a while, the chamber began to grow bright
once again. Sanar sat quickly at the writing table, but, no images
came to him. Then the voice of Ra himself spoke to him.

“Sanar, do not
question your guards. I removed the old parchments, as I will all of
the previous drawings once they are no longer needed. I want you to
go to the work sites and make sure the work is being done as I have
instructed.”

Except for this
exception, Ra spoke to him only when it became necessary to keep the
work on the monument from coming to a halt. When there was plenty to
do, he felt sure he would not have any visions. He still received
reports from his aides every day telling him of the progress on the
monument. So, as Ra had instructed, Sanar arranged to visit the
quarry and the monument work sites.

Sanar went first to the
quarry site to see the large stone blocks being cut from the ground.
As he neared the quarry site, Sanar saw the small city of dwellings
were now completed and being used to their fullest potential as the
workers labored and rotated around the clock in shifts. They even
worked at night by torch light. As he drew nearer, Sanar saw
thousands of men working all different phases of the operation. The
surveyors were where the next blocks were to be cut from the solid
rock. At least two, perhaps three hundred blocks were being worked
on. Each block was labored over by a team of about twenty-five stone
cutters. Runners brought fresh cutting tools to replace the worn or
broken ones. Women brought food to the men where they worked. Only
one man from each team would stop to eat at one time so the work
could continue uninterrupted. There were also women who circulated
continuously, each with two jugs of water hanging from both ends of a
wooden pole carried across their shoulders to offer the workers
relief from the relentless dry heat of the high desert sun.

Sanar went to the tent
of a group leader. “The work seems to be going very well,” Samar
said to announce his presence. “The progress you have made is truly
amazing.”

“Thank you Sanar,”
the group leader responded. “As you know, we’ve been working
nonstop since Ra appeared and spoke to us that day so many months
ago. Have you more news from Ra?” the group leader asked.

“No, I have come to
travel with one of the stone blocks to the monument site to see if
there is anything that might make things go more smoothly. I noticed
the workers were loading a block onto one of the sleds as I arrived.
I will journey with that block to the monument site.”

The group leader turned
to one of his assistants. “Have a seat placed on top of the block
about to be moved for Sanar and accompany him to the monument site.”

Like a giant team of
horses the nearly five hundred workers tugged steadily at their
ropes, keeping the wooden sled moving slowly forward as Sanar sat on
top of his perch on the stone block. Another hundred or so men were
taking the wooden poles from behind the sled and quickly carrying
them up in front and placing them in the sled’s path to keep them
rolling. On top of the stone block in front of him were two more men
pouring oil onto the wooden poles so they would roll as easily as
possible.

The men worked much
harder than usual because of Sanar’s presence. He was almost
god-like to them now, having been named by Ra himself, and second
only to the Pharaoh in their world. It was not an effort spawned from
fear, but rather from pride.

Sanar noticed how well
the sled rolled on the wooden poles over the stone road Ra had told
him how to make. Suddenly, one of the workers in front of him slipped
and fell under one of the sled’s rails. He was instantly crushed.
The workers did not stop the sled, but instead kept pulling as
another worker climbed up onto the sled to take his place. This
bothered Sanar to see a man crushed so.
What
kind of god must Ra be to allow good and faithful men to die in order
to build a monument to him?
he thought. Sanar could not
bring himself to turn around to look at what was left of the man
after the sled had passed over him.

Sanar turned to the
group leader’s aide accompanying him and asked, “Does this sort
of thing happen often?”

“No, it is quite
rare, but the men are working harder trying to impress you. He was
just careless I suppose; it’s sad, but it happens.”

As they drew near the
river Nile, Sanar could see a barge sailing away from where the large
stone blocks were loaded onto the vessels. Another barge was being
tied to the loading dock and a long and heavy wooden ramp was lowered
across the side of the barge for the stone block to slide into its
resting place for the voyage to the monument site. Once the sled was
pulled alongside the loading ramp, Sanar, followed by the others on
top of the block, found a safer vantage point to watch the loading of
the block onto the boat for the next phase of its journey. Before
boarding the barge, Sanar made a point of telling the workers who had
pulled the sled that not only was he pleased, but he was sure Ra was
also pleased with the work they were doing. He told them to remember
this as they pulled each stone block. Sanar’s words were quite
sincere, and the workers knew it.

The gentle breeze of
the river felt good on Sanar’s face and brought some relief from
the heat of the afternoon sun as they slowly sailed along. He felt a
little unsettled by the food and drink that were brought aboard
especially for him. Although he was used to this treatment at the
temple, here he only watched as others labored in the hot sun, and so
after a small portion for himself, he ordered the remaining food and
drink to be given to the workers on the barge. They thanked him
relatedly, but Sanar silenced them by saying, “It takes far more
nourishment for you to do the work you are doing than it takes for me
to watch you doing it.”

The sun was getting low
on the horizon by the time the vessel reached the point where the
stone block was to be unloaded. The block was pulled atop another
wooden sled. This was truly a magical sight from Sanar’s viewpoint,
for in addition to all the workers it took on the first part of the
journey, now there were an additional fifty or so men carrying
torches to light the way for the rest of the workers.

This part of the
journey would not take nearly as long as the first. The distance from
the river to the monument site was only about one-third the distance
of that from the quarry to the river. Sanar could already see the
torches burning in the night from the monument site as they left the
river. In less than two hours, they had arrived at the monument site
and Sanar found himself in the group leader’s tent enjoying the
food and drink that had arrived before him in anticipation of his
arrival.

By the time he finished
with his refreshments, the stone block had been removed from the
wooden sled and was almost ready to be placed where it was to rest
for thousands of years to come. Sanar watched the workers place the
block into its resting place, only to see it removed again when a
small and very thin twig was able to be placed between the stone
block and the previously placed block it was to rest up against.
Quickly the stone workers of the group went to work, removing just
the slightest amount of the stone, and trying it again, and again,
until it fit so well that one could not see where one stone ended and
the next stone began.