My head was swimming when I finally woke. I didn't know how long I was out, but I was missing enough time to be taken back to my tent and for Jeff to arrive. He was sitting beside my cot reading a book when I peeled my eyes open and rubbed the gunk from them.

I checked my watch, squinting at the dial. It had been eighteen hours since I went out to the grid! I estimated that I had been unconscious for ten of them. Now, it was morning, and I could hear the workers beginning their day.

The dig! I looked at Jeff, wide-eyed. "Please tell me they're not digging where I told them not to."

"As far as I know, they are not," he reassured me, "but, I wasn't told all of the details. You feel like going over it?"

"I have to pee first. And I want a shower," I said. I was feeling pretty nasty. "And breakfast. I'm starving!"

I noticed that my left arm hurt but before I could panic, Jeff explained.

"They gave you an IV with fluids and a sedative. When it looked like you might wake up, once the sedative started to wear off, I had them take it out."

"Thank you," I said, relieved. Medical procedures and equipment made me feel extremely uncomfortable and I'd have been hard-pressed to not panic had I woken and had an IV. But, first things first: pee, shower, food, in that order.

"No problem. Let me grab the hand sanitizer and the bath supplies and I'll help you." We walked, or rather he walked and I wobbled, toward the porta-potties. Now as I said, there were many things that I strongly preferred, but didn't really need. Not so with hand sanitizer and porta-potties. It felt very unpleasant to think about how many people didn't wash their hands after a porta-potty visit. Therefore, the alcohol-based cleanser was a must, at a minimum.

"Do you want at shower?" I asked him.

"Oh yeah, but let's get you settled first. I'll shower while you eat."

"Okay, sounds good." I went into the makeshift shower tent and studied how the system worked. Once I knew, I took a warm "camp" shower. This was one of the benefits of working out in the desert; there was no shortage of heated water. However, water in and of itself was not available in unlimited quantities, so I got wet, turned it off, soaped up, then turned it back on to rinse off. I planned to shave in the wash basin back in the tent.

"What color do you want for breakfast? There's purple, white, or yellow," Jeff called from outside.

"What's purple?"

"Blueberry muffin with fresh blueberries on the side and grape juice or grapes. Probably some other dried fruit that's vaguely purple."

"Hmm... Nah. I'm assuming white is oatmeal and yellow is eggs?"

"Yep."

"Let's go with yellow. I need some protein."

"Okay, eggs, a banana, and some yellow cheese. There's some yellow sweet peppers, too."

"Sounds good. Have them add some coffee." Coffee wasn't yellow, but it didn't matter. It went with everything.

I dried what little moisture was left on my body in the desert dry heat and dressed, then we headed back to the tent. I shaved and, five minutes later, breakfast was delivered. While I ate, Jeff took his shower. It was an hour and twenty-two minutes before we had the chance to sit and talk about what happened.

I pulled the desk chair around beside him and sat, one leg crossed ankle-on-knee, and tried not to pick at the string on my sock. I wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of rehashing what I'd seen, but Jeff needed to know.

"Okay, you were mumbling about eyes and not digging somewhere while you were out. What the hell happened?" he asked.

"I found a place where I don't think we should dig." I described what I'd seen and felt. Jeff listened but refrained from commenting. By the end, I was bouncing my foot like I sometimes did when starting to feel overwhelmed.

"What do you think it was? I mean, logically, it can't be an infinite void with floating eyes."

"I know!" I couldn't help it; I stood and started to pace from the desk to the washstand to the cot and back, making a triangle around poor Jeff.

"You know that they won't be able to resist it now, right?" he asked calmly.

I sighed, "Yeah."

"So, what are you going to do? You want to go home?"

I paused and really thought about what he asked. Honestly, I did want to leave. But, I didn't think it would be the responsible thing to do. I sat down again.

"I should stay. Maybe there's a way to dig that's not as bad as some other way and I can help figure it out. Else, they're liable to just drill into it and then we're in trouble."

"You really think it's as bad as all that?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, I do. I know what I saw might have been some kind of hallucination, but I also know what I felt. I mean, when's the last time I broke down like that in public? Screaming and everything?" I was uncomfortable just thinking about it.

"It's been awhile since it's been that bad," Jeff admitted. "Though, it's not uncommon for you to panic."

"This wasn't a panic attack, Jeff. I was afraid not just for my life, but for my whole existence. If they stumble into that chamber and let that thing out? I think humanity is doomed."

Jeff was quiet. "What do you think is the likelihood that you ran across something that caused this... vision... and emotional response? Like, some kind of, well, a thing that can project thoughts or whatever?" he threw out.

I nodded. "I think that's probably as likely a scenario as the whole void-in-a-room experience. We just won't know unless we dig."

He was quiet for a while. "So, Mr. Sheridan offered us a lot, and I mean a lot, of money if I convinced you to stay." Jeff was always honest with me. I liked that.

I also liked money. I grinned. "So convince me to stay."

He laughed, then grinned. "Hey, Tony, I think we should stay. You could help them dig properly."

"Uh huh, uh huh," I said, pretending to think about it. It was a good game that Jeff had taught me to play; how to lie, but not lie. "Okay, I'm convinced," I said. Now, when someone asked, I could truthfully say that Jeff convinced me. It was a way to plan something sneaky. I was terrible at lying, but sneaky? That, I could do.

Jeff was in the middle of complaining about his flight when Mr. Sheridan arrived.

"I'm glad to see you awake and unharmed, Dr. Graham," he said.

"Thank you," I answered, not sure what else to say.

"Has Jeff talked to you about staying?" he asked, getting right to the point. I appreciated people who did that; small talk was excruciating for me.

I made an effort to curb my smile because the situation was dire, though I wasn't quite successful. Being sneaky was fun. "Yes. He's convinced me to stay. I know that you will dig, even though I've told you not to. You need guidance to do it right. We don't want to open that chamber until we're ready."

Mr. Sheridan seemed happy with my response, smile or not, and grinned himself. "Good! I'm glad to hear that."

"But you should let me follow that passage off the grid, first. I'm pretty sure that's the Queen's Tomb. My chamber didn't have anything of monetary value in it that I could sense." I hoped I could delay him a little while I figured out what to do for real.

"I've actually come to ask you about that. I'm bringing in another team from the University for 'the Chamber' you found. They're not superstitious. None of the team that's here want to work on it, so they'll keep working on the Queen's Tomb."

Jeff's forehead crinkled. That usually meant he was thinking really hard. "I'm surprised that so many of your workers stayed, if Dr. Graham put on the performance that you say he did."

"Many of my workers need the money and I'm known for offering a fair wage. So, they stay. But, I will admit, they do have their limits," Mr. Sheridan admitted

I spoke up. "What I saw wasn't superstition, Mr. Sheridan. If I saw it in the ground, then it's real. At least in some way, it will be real."

Mr. Sheridan scoffed. "Really? I know that you've always led us true, Dr. Graham, but an unlimited void with eyes? I don't know what you saw, but I hardly think it would be that."

Logically, what he said was true. Was what I thought I saw actually in the ground? I made to speak further, but Jeff motioned behind Mr. Sheridan's back for me to keep quiet.

"So, when do you want to show us where to dig?" Mr. Sheridan asked.

"I'll show you anything about the Queen's Tomb any time you ask, as long as I'm not sleeping, of course," I answered. It was good to state boundaries.

"Naturally. That would be excessive, even on my part. You know how I like my artifacts," he said, smiling, "but I can wait until you're awake."

I laughed, actually getting his joke. He really liked gold and things he could sell. It was funny that he called them 'artifacts' as if this were a professional archaeological dig.

"And the Chamber?" he prodded.

"Honestly? It's going to take a few days for me to be prepared to risk seeing what I saw again." I admitted.

"Understandable. I can live with that, as long as I feel you're not trying to simply delay me."

Again, right to the point. He was, at least, an honest man. Well, with me, anyway. Most of the time.

I nodded, agreeing. "I'm ready to go out and start to map out the Queen's Tomb today, if that will work for you," I said.

"Same fee as always," Jeff interjected, "for the Queen's Tomb dig."

Mr. Sheridan chuckled. "Same fee as always."

"Triple for the Chamber. It's obviously quite disturbing for Dr. Graham to work on such a project. There could be psychological issues. Consider it... hazard pay."

Mr. Sheridan paused, considering. My guess was he was doing some quick math in his head. "Done. But, again, if I feel that Dr. Graham is merely stalling, I will renege on that deal."

Jeff nodded. "That seems fair. We agree."

I grinned. Jeff was good to have along.

Once Mr. Sheridan left, we made our way out to the Queen's Tomb site. I showed them where to access the passageway and explained what I saw of the collapsed portion to the head engineer. I then set to work to attempt to inventory the chamber itself.

In it, there was a sarcophagus. It and the mummy inside were still intact. I'd work to convince Mr. Sheridan to donate the mummy, at the very least, to research. I'd also try to convince him, or the buyer of the elaborate outer stone coffin, to allow the University team coming in to take detailed pictures and video so they could study the markings and attempt to identify the Queen.

I knew that he would allow them to study the walls; he didn't make much of a profit selling painted rock, even when the painting was as cool as hieroglyphics. When it came down to it, shipping large slabs of rock was just too expensive.

No, what he wanted was what I found in the corners and around the dais on which the sarcophagus rested; caches of gold, silver, semi-precious stone like turquoise, jewelry, statuettes with real jewel eyes, smaller mummies of cherished pets, and other sundry things that could be sold for quick profit. These, he could sell on the market, if he did it quickly, before the government got wind of it.

It was my guess that he'd offered the University team a ginormous stipend to turn a blind eye to the Queen's Tomb. Sometimes, it was shameful what people would do for money. But, I knew I had my price, too, so I said nothing.