"Robert Doherty - Area 51 - Excalibur" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doherty Robert)

ROBERT DOHERTY
AREA 51

EXCALIBUR

1

CHAPTER 1 : The Past
THE SOLAR SYSTEM 2528 B.C.

The starship used a slingshot maneuver around the star to decelerate from
interstellar speed. It was a small ship, a scout, and as the craft slowed, its
sensors aligned on the signal that had diverted it to this system from its
centuries-long patrol. The nose of the ship turned toward the third planet out
as the data was analyzed. The signal was strange—a passive one, a uniform
reflection of light rays from the system's star off something on the planet's
surface, but there was little doubt the unusual effect was contrived by
intelligence.
Searching out, analyzing, and then eventually reporting back concerning any
intelligent life was the ship's mission. The nature of the species that crewed
it was to find, infiltrate, consume, and ultimately destroy any intelligent life
not like it.
Having picked up no active scanning in the solar system or signs of advanced
weaponry, the ship emitted an energy pulse as it sent a spectrum of scanning
signals toward the third planet to determine the source of the crude signal.
Unknown to the crew, the pulse was noted by passive sensors as it penetrated the
atmosphere and reached the surface of the planet. A sophisticated computer,
operating on low-power mode, intercepted the pulse, analyzed it, and projected
possible courses of action in a matter of moments. In low-power mode the options
were limited and the course of action was quickly selected.

2

THE GIZA PLATEAU 2528 B.C.

The Great Sphinx glowered at the morning sun, while behind its left shoulder the
smooth limestone sheathing covering the newly constructed Great Pyramid of Giza
caught the rays of light and uniformly reflected them into the sky. At the very
top of the five-hundred-foot-high pyramid, a blood-red capstone, twenty feet
tall, glistened, an alien crown to the greatest structure ever built by human
hands. The massive structure stood alone on the stone plateau, towering over the
surrounding countryside, the nearby Nile, and the Sphinx complex.
The painted face of the Sphinx was sixty feet above the ground. From the front
paws to the rear, it was over two hundred feet in length. It was set low in a
depression in the Giza Plateau, stone walls surrounding it. To the east, in the
direction of the Nile, were Khufu's Temple and the Temple of the Sphinx, where
both Pharaoh and stone creature could be worshipped. A covered ramp led from the
right rear of the Sphinx to the Temple at the base of the pyramid. While the
pyramid was new, the surface of the Sphinx was scored by weather, having been
there since the beginning of Egypt in the time when the Gods had ruled over