"Terence West - Fallen Angels" - читать интересную книгу автора (West Terence)

The Sphinx, according to Egyptian mythology, was a creature of mythical proportions. It had the body of
a lion, but the head of a man. Towering above the crowd, the head shadowed them from the burning sun
of the Egyptian desert. Excitement was thick in the air.

A tall brunette woman, wearing a cotton t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts, stood in front of the sphinx.
She was speaking to several workers holding pry bars. She was beautiful, but not by popular standards.
Her hair was long and curly with curves at the bottom that rolled in toward her neck. Her eyes were a
deep green that showed her intelligence, but also displayed her youthful excitement. She would turn thirty
next year, but for now she still enjoyed being in her twenties.

Trying to explain what she wanted the workers to do, she demonstrated the technique with her hands.
The workers began to understand and went quickly to work. They slammed their pry bars into the edges
of a massive stone door that they had located in the front of the Sphinx and began to loosen the stone.
The door was flush with the surrounding surface. It was a very large stone, close ten feet tall and eight
feet wide.

An older man emerged from one of the tents that stood near the Sphinx. He was close to six feet tall, but
very overweight. He had a full gray beard matching his shoulder length hair. Adjusting his thick black
rimmed glasses, he looked down into the dig site and was mortified to see what was unfolding. Yelling at
the top of his lungs he tried to warn the men off. Knowing that his pleas were going unheard, he mustered
all his stamina and started to run toward the Sphinx.

The brunette woman heard his pleas, but ignored them. She had worked too hard and too long to be
stopped, especially when she was this close. She barked commands at the workers pushing them harder
toward her goal.

The stout man made his way through the group. "Alex!" He pushed his way to the front. "Alex, you can't
do this."

She turned and shot him an icy glance. "Freddie, I'm not going to stop now."

"You have to." He pulled her away from the group. "Alex, I just got off the phone with the Egyptian
Government and they've pulled the plug. They want us out."

Dr. Alex Robinson turned away from him. "Dammit. What happened?"

Freddie placed his hand on her shoulder. "They called the Chicago Museum of Natural History and
discovered that you lied about your credentials."

"I was wondering how long that story was going to hold water." She turned to look at her workers. They
had almost pried the stone loose. She smiled. "We have to finish, Freddie."

"I can't let you do that!" He was motioning emphatically. "The Egyptian Government is sending several
military units down here to see that we are escorted out and turned over to them. They want our heads
Alex!"

"Then they're going to have to drag me kicking and screaming out of here because I am not going to quit.
Not when I am this close!" She turned and began to walk back to the Sphinx. "You can leave if you want
Freddie," she smiled at him, "but I'm staying."