The Ancient Starship Read Online Free Page A

ship and whatever it was that she was researching out here?
    They turned a corner, the light now so dim that the colours had almost completely faded out of the landscape. Amelia stumbled over a root, then straightened up to see they’d reached a small clearing in the trees. In the middle of the clearing was a huge granite boulder.
    â€˜Here we are,’ said Lady Naomi.
    â€˜What do you want us to do?’ said Charlie. ‘Climb up and look for Egypt from there?’
    â€˜Not quite.’ Lady Naomi took a little device from her pocket and the boulder vanished. In its place was a small workstation – a desk made up of various screens and keyboards, like something halfway between a jumbo jet’s cockpit and the computers from Dad’s old job with the government. None of it was human technology, though. Maybe it was the strange sounds and weird glow that gave it away.
    Not that it mattered. It had come as a surprise when Krskn didn’t know what species Lady Naomi was, but Amelia hadn’t ever thought being an alien was a reason not to trust or like someone. And yet, she couldn’t help feeling a prickle of unease as she looked at Lady Naomi’s equipment and realised that every piece had been brought to Earth to study … what? What was Lady Naomi getting up to out here?
    â€˜This is amazing!’ Charlie said. ‘But what do you do when it rains?’
    Lady Naomi pressed a button and a holo-roof flashed into position overhead. ‘Want to see what all this can do?’
    Amelia and Grawk drew closer and watched as Lady Naomi brought her machinery to life. She entered a series of passwords and scanned her fingerprints and retinas before an enormous holo-screen lit up. Amelia gasped. The bush was hidden from them by a vast image of Earth – the whole globe rotating in space.
    Lady Naomi put her hands into a pair of holographic gloves and began to manipulate the image, turning the planet until she found Africa, then zooming in to Egypt. Amelia saw the Nile winding like a piece of green string against a pale yellow background. As Lady Naomi zoomed in tighter again, Amelia realised this wasn’t a computer generated map – this was a real satellite image. She could even see cars and trucks moving along the road. The image drew closer until she could see the texture of the roads themselves, and the dry grasses growing beside them.
    â€˜Are you a hacker?’ Amelia asked. ‘Is this all government spy satellites?’
    â€˜Don’t worry,’ said Lady Naomi. ‘It’s all perfectly legal.’
    Amelia noticed that she hadn’t answered her question. Lady Naomi didn’t even say which laws she was obeying – Earth’s? Control’s? Or someone else’s?
    â€˜All right,’ Lady Naomi murmured to herself. ‘We know it’s near one of the pyramids of Giza …’
    â€˜Underneath one,’ Charlie corrected.
    Lady Naomi clicked her tongue, a disappointed kind of sound. ‘Truly ancient, then. If it crashed into the ground before the pyramids were built, then it must have been there for over five thousand years.’ She sighed. ‘Oh, well, let’s see for ourselves …’
    It wasn’t hard to work out which pyramid they wanted. A black perimeter fence with orange flags had been set up around the corner of one, and the fence itself was now surrounded by cars, vans, film crews, tourists and their tour buses, and local people who were either keen to get a glimpse or sell drinks and snacks to those who were.
    Lady Naomi zoomed in to the centre of the fenced area. The whole dig had been roofed in with a black tarpaulin. Charlie groaned.
    â€˜No, no, this was to be expected,’ Lady Naomi said. ‘They know that every single kid with a camera and a drone helicopter will try to get a shot.’
    â€˜What then?’ said Charlie.
    Grawk grumbled beside Amelia and shifted around to gaze into the