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“You will take this one and sacrifice it on the altar of Thoth immediately. Nowwhere is the other
one and the man who helped you make them?”
“Stephan-Sept said something about needing crystals or calcium or something like that. He said
he had to make a trip across the desert. He proved himself a good worker. I don’t know why he
left. Don’t let the gods hurt me,” the drunk blubbered. “Just sacrifice the weapon and don’t make
others. Leave for the temple, now,” Cam-Thoth-A said as he threw the man down.
Not needing rest, the android walked to the quarry. The stone cutting quarry was the only place
on the Moon that he knew of having crystals and calcium. The ten ton granite blocks were being
carved out of the rock in the quarry, the old fashion way. Sand was placed on the stone and large
bars of copper pushed back and fourth cutting straight lines into the blocks. This work was
taken up again after the battle as it was considered holy and the gods were watching every move
made to shape the monument.
The pyramid had been worked on for the last two years. With the foundation finished, the
first of the large stones were brought to the pyramid. At the quarry, the work started with the
rising sun and finished at sunset. This work day had two hours left. A group of sledge pullers
sat drinking and laughing at the other groups pulling sledges with stones. It wasn’t Cam’s job to
keep these people working, but he had to go over and ask about their unusual behavior.
Walking up to the tallest of the crew, Cam asked, “Why aren’t you pulling your sledge for the
glory of the Pharaoh?”
“I am the leader of the Lion Gang. We are two stones ahead for the day. All of this rabble won’t
ever catch up to us. Two weeks ago a man came to our group searching for some crystals that are
commonly found in the quarry. He traded help with the pulling of the stones for a large bag of
these crystals. Now, using his trick we are the fastest gang of sledge handlers in all of Thebes.”
The speaker had well defined muscles. In fact all the members of his crew had unusually large
muscles in their legs and arms.
“What was the trick?” Cam-Thoth-A asked.
“You won’t believe it,” said the gang leader. “In fact, the other sledge gangs still don’t believe it
even though we have provided two weeks worth of proof. We throw two buckets of water on the
sand in front of the sledge. Every twenty yards we do the same. Yes, we use a lot of water that way,
but the sledge slides on the sand like the lane is greased. We move stones faster than anyone
else. It’s a marvel.”
The creation of this pyramid presented great joy to the inhabitants of the city. A monument like
this hadn’t been done for over two hundred years. While Cam-Thoth-A knewof this importance,
his current mission focused his attention on hunting down the man. “Where did this Stephan-
Sept go, and how long ago did he leave?”
“He left last week,” the Lion gang leader said. “He said something about needing a special suit
for a desert trek. We have no idea where he needed to go.”