The Ancient Curse

[Lady Jenn]

"Boring?" Lehmann said with a chuckle. "You stopped to ponder why I called it a FRAGMENT of Yggdrasil?"

He headed back upstairs, taking a look around the house before deciding on a course of action.

"Kirk," he said into his comms unit. "Send in a clean-up team, I'll bring Jeff in. Might be worth sending teams to get evidence from the other scenes as well."

[Darkleather]

"um, well it couldn't be the whole thing as Yggdrasil is kind of large."

Geoff followed Lehmann upstairs.

"You're going to 'bring me in'?  Well, I'm too interested to complain - just let me change out of my workout gear first.

Geoff went to nip back to his house and get changed

[Lady Jenn]

"I meant more how we wind up with a piece of the world tree just lying around here."

He went and stood by the car, waiting for Geoff to reappear while trying not to draw attention.

"We can't just hang around here forever," Lehmann said, sighing. "What the hell is he bringing with him?"

[Darkleather]

Geoff nipped inside and while he was getting changed logged on to his laptop to update his friend.  A couple of minutes was all it took to put an update in.  He pulled on jeans, boots a T-shirt & a leather jacket and then packed everything he thought he would need in a small holdall - laptop, camera and chargers for them and his phone.

He then dashed back outside

[Lady Jenn]

"Don't worry, you're not under arrest," Lehmann said as he opened the passenger door for him. "I can't keep you at our HQ any longer than you want."

As he spoke a car similar to his, along with two vans, pulled up outside the house. Both were unmarked so to the untrained eye would not have given any information away.

[Darkleather]

"I get to see the HQ?  Cool"

Geoff got into the car and looked on with interest as the unmarked cars swept up.  He chuckled - if Lehmann thought that the nosy neighbours would fail to notice 3 strange vehicles in the road, he was very much mistaken

"So, what's the plan?  Because, I have to admit, I never expected you to want me to go with you"

[Lady Jenn]

"First we get back to base," he replied. "I advise you make sure your seatbelt is secure because this car has a few...tricks up its sleeve."

He pulled out, waving to a female agent who had just got out of one of the cars before heading down the road. Once they were on a clear stretch of road he pressed a button on the dashboard, the car changing into something more akin to a racecar.

"How's that for a trick?"

[Darkleather]

Geoff clipped his seat belt securely in place.

"That's quite impressive - got your vehicles from the MIBs have you?"

[Lady Jenn]

"No, from our own tech guys," Lehmann replied. "Some of the best mechanics in the US work for us."

He finally pulled over next to a seemingly innocuous looking bridge. He flashed his lights at the bridge than drove towards it, but rather than hitting the wall he passed through it, entering a tunnel inside.

"If you thought Area 51 was secretive you've not seen anything yet."

[Darkleather]

"Clearly not - though I'm starting to wonder whether I'm actually awake or not."

Geoff was starting to seriously wonder whether or not this whole thing was some kind of dream brought on by eating cheese before bed.  Whatever, he decided to go with it

[Lady Jenn]

"I should just warn you this is secret enough even the President is only vaguely aware of our existence," Lehmann said. "So suffice to say if you blurt this to anyone you're in serious trouble."

They finally emerged from the tunnel into a small, grassy area, dominated by a large, two-storey building surrounded by similar cars and a pair of helicopters. People in suits milled around as well as mechanics and scientists.

"Welcome to Project Ghostland," Lehmann said as he brought the car to a stop. "A place so secret even the leader of the free world couldn't tell you where it was."

[Darkleather]

Geoff shuffled uncomfortably and hoped Lehmann wouldn't find out about the last few tweets he sent - he could be in serious trouble here.
He looked around, open-mouthed as they drove in.

"Damn, this place is massive.  How the hell do you guys keep this a secret?"

[Lady Jenn]

"For one thing there's a no-fly zone over this base," Lehmann said, stepping out of the car. "If you're not SPAIA authorised and you try flying over this place you'll be asked to politely leave...and when that doesn't work you'll be removed by force."

He led Geoff towards the entrance to the building, over which was an image of a tree with sprawling roots above it.

"We love Norse mythology so much we have the World Tree over our door," Lehmann said with a chuckle.

[Darkleather]

"You guys do like your Norse stuff."

Geoff raised an eyebrow as he looked at the image of the tree and noted the visage of Ratatoskr peering out from between the leave.

"You know your stuff as well, I see" he muttered

This whole thing was starting to freak him out just a bit - he was waiting for someone to tell him that they were Expecting Someone Taller.  If that happened, he'd just know he was dreaming

[Lady Jenn]

He led him through a maze of corridors till they reached a lab, opening the door to find a room full of tables covered in books, pieces of paper and assorted strange artefacts. The only sign of an occupant was a pair of lab coat adorned legs emerging from under a computer desk.

"Kirk, do you ever clear this room up when we've got company?" Lehmann asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're welcome to tidy if you want," came a voice as Kirk emerged from under the table, revealing the surprising fact it was a young woman with curly red hair and a pair of nerdy glasses on her face. She let out a giggle at the look Geoff gave her. "Why the hell does everyone always assume I'm a guy?"

[Darkleather]

"Probably just something to do with your name.."

Geoff paused

"..and the fact that Lehmann tells everyone that you're a bloke."

He grinned.....then wondered whether Lehmann actually had a sense of humour.

"So....what's the plan?  Who's the enemy?  How do we take the Egyptian priest down."

Geoff paused again

"Though if it involves scarabs and the Book of the Dead, I'll be hanging back...way back." He shuddered.  "I don't know which is worse - death by scarab or turning up for 2 disappointing sequels"

[Lady Jenn]

"Blame dad for my name," Kirk said as she cleared one of the desks. "Guy was obsessed with Star Trek to the point where when I turned out not to be a boy he thought it'd be HILARIOUS to give me the surname of his favourite character as my given name."

"You figured out what we're dealing with?" Lehmann asked her, deciding to ignore Geoff's comment.

"You mean OTHER than the Egyptian book of the dead and a fragment of the shattered tree of the world?" Kirk asked, raising an eyebrow. "You don't ask much do you?" She searched through a pile of papers and pulled out an archive covered in strange writing. "You'll be pleased to know Ark'haten himself isn't a threat. Unless the guy perfected immortality and never told anyone about it the guy's been dead at least four and a half thousand years at this point."

"So what are we looking at?"

"That's where the necklace comes in," Kirk replied. "I assume you two know about the Pyramids of Giza? What would you say if I told you there was a fourth pyramid on that site?"

[Darkleather]

"Could have been worse - could have been lumbered with Spock."

Geoff peered with interest at the documents and tried to think of a way he could get some photos - the guys online would love this stuff.  He perked up at the mention of the pyramids

"Quite likely actually.  There are several other pyramids in Egypt - the step pyramid at Saqqara, The Red Pyramid at Dhaffur and the Bent Pyramid...."

He trailed off as he saw them staring at him

"So, I've been there and I look stuff up."  He shrugged "So sue me"

[Lady Jenn]

"Well this pyramid most people don't know about," Kirk said, reaching under the table and pressing a button. "Computer give us a wireframe diagram of the site of the Great Pyramids."

"Well that looks pretty standard," Lehmann said as the image of the pyramids appeared as a hologram hovering above the table.

"Yeah, well watch this," Kirk said, moving the map below ground, where suddenly an immense fourth pyramid structure was visible. "Meet the pyramid of the Moon, you wouldn't know it because even SPAIA know about it by accident."

"How the hell is THAT hidden?" Lehmann asked.

"The only access routes we know of are inside the largest Gizan pyramid and a secret entrance near the Sphinx no-one has located," Kirk replied. "That necklace we're looking for? That's the symbol of the pyramid. Either of you want to bet that's a coincidence?"

[Darkleather]

Geoff leant forward in fascination as he stared at the hologram

"Bloody hell, that's massive.  But why did they build it underground?"

[Lady Jenn]

"I'm guessing Ark'haten had something to do with this?" Lehmann asked. "SPAIA have never been big on the whole coincidence thing."

"We're not sure whether it was built for him or if he was simply involved in commissioning it," Kirk replied. "But yeah, we have a good reason to think he had a part in it. The story goes that those necklaces unlock something within the pyramid. There is however...well, relatively speaking it's good news. I looked into the other crime scenes, but there's no record of the necklaces being at either scene. So either our killer is picking the wrong targets or the necklaces were moved before he got there."

[Darkleather]

"Presumably, even if he gets the necklaces he still has to get to the pyramid.  That's one of the most highly excavated and researched archaeological areas on the planet so it must be very well hidden."

Geoff met their gaze as they stared at him again

"So I read.  Sue me.  Just don't make me sit through the Son et Lumiere again"

[Lady Jenn]

"I'm guessing we're monitoring the place?" Lehmann asked.

"As much as we can," Kirk replied. "But the place is a tourist hotspot, we can't have a load of US federal agents walking around there without local security getting a bit touchy. I might have a lead anyway though, what do you two guys say to paying a visit to Las Vegas?"

[Darkleather]

"Las Vegas? Seriously?"

Geoff stared at Kirk

"I mean, yes they have their own little pyramid, but apart from that what can the tackiest city on the planet have to offer the investigation?"

[Lady Jenn]

"This," Kirk said, bringing up eBay on her tabletop computer, showing an image of a book similar to the one they had seen in the house, but this one covered in Norse runes. "I'm not sure what this book is but whoever the seller is might be able to...'assist' our enquiries. No-one's bidding on it so not like we need to worry about it being sold before you guys get there."