Free Project Solaris 2: Hero Rising by Chris Fox Page A

extending a hand and brushing the warm crystal with my fingertips. A moment later, the stone pulsed, and a beam of red light shot into the space near where Mom had appeared. A ruby hologram of a man appeared. He had a broad nose and long neck, and his style of dress was closer to African tribes I'd seen in
National Geographic
than to Egypt. He glanced around the room at each of us, then his gaze settled on Mom's hologram.
    "
Hokoko con butu
," he said in a deep voice, delivering a deep bow to Mom. She blinked at him, then looked at me. The figure stood waiting, raising a holographic eyebrow when Mom didn't respond.
    "Professor Galk, do you have any idea how we can communicate with this thing?" Jillian asked. 
    He shook his head slowly, eyes wide and fixed on the ruby figure.
    "I might," I said, extending my senses toward the stone. Its base code was similar to Mom's, and it worked a lot like a human mind. I figured I could read minds, so reading the crystal might work. I concentrated on its code, sensing confusion and excitement.
    Those emotions were layered atop something deeper, so I explored a little further. To my surprise and delight, I realized I was sensing thoughts. The way those thoughts interacted with one another was governed by the crystal, and the crystal's matrix was easy enough to understand. 
    "Mom, I'm going to try something, all right?" I asked.
    "What are you going to do?" she replied, eyeing me dubiously.
    "I'm going to link your crystal to this one. You should be able to translate for whoever this guy is," I said, almost certain it would work. "Are you okay with that?"
    "If you're sure you know what you're doing," she said in a way that made it clear I didn't.
    "It's a risk, but like I said, we're pressed for time. This guy has answers we need." I didn't wait for her to reply. I concentrated on Mom's crystal, specifically the area where her thoughts were generated. Then I did the same for the red crystal. I'm not exactly sure how I did it, but I formed a link between the two.
    Mom's eyes widened, as did the strange man's. They locked gazes, and a pulse shot between their two crystals. When it faded, both holograms had become multicolored, part red and part green.
    "I can feel his thoughts," Mom said, looking at her counterpart in wonder. "He can feel mine as well. He's learning about our world, and I'm learning about his."
    "What can you tell us about his world? When is he from? How long has he been here?" Steve asked, eyes alight with greed for the knowledge.
    "He doesn't know how long he's been here, but he's been asleep since this place was sealed away," Mom said, cocking her head to the right. "Apparently, he's a mirror of a deity who ruled this land for millennia. That deity was overthrown, and this place was sealed away."
    "Ra," I said, suddenly understanding. "This thing is a mirror of the original Ra, the one Osiris told us about."
    "
Ootak
," Ra said, pointing at the wall opposite us. 
    I withdrew my cellphone, and used it as a flashlight. The entire wall was dominated with a mural, one with intricate detail. The colors were incredibly vivid, so much so that it could have been painted yesterday. I was cognizant of Steve's revelation that things should have decayed here, and this was more proof that they hadn't.
    The image showed a gigantic, stone lion, one that looked curiously like the Sphinx directly above us. The chief difference was the head--instead of that of a pharaoh, it was a massive, male lion. That was interesting, but the structure dominating the rest of the image was far more so. A massive, jet-black pyramid sat behind the Sphinx. The Sphinx provided scale, and if it was accurate, that black monstrosity was over a thousand feet tall. It was two or three times the size of the stone pyramids we'd just seen an hour ago.
    "What the hell is this place?" I asked.
     

Chapter 15- Ra
     
     
     
    "My god," Steve said, sinking to his knees as he gazed at the mural. "Do you have any idea