T R E M O R S

 

 

 

 

A story as old as time, Cleopatra is returned to life, after her tragic departure.

 

 

 

 

 

For hundreds of years after Cleopatra's suicide pact, the Pharaoh Queen of Egypt, remained undiscovered. Cleverly, she ordered her sarcophagus and that of Marc Antony, to be relocated to a secret tomb, as protection from Rome and looters. And there her mummy remained, lost in the mists of time.

 

Cleopatra's tomb had been taken down in the striking of 365 AD. She had rested buried deep, undisturbed, under sand and sea for some sixteen hundred years, newly threatened by anthropogenic warming of the planet, and increasingly acidic seas, disturbing her peaceful inertness. 

 

On dry land teams of archaeologists searched in vain for Cleopatra's tomb. Scouring Taposiris Magna, a spoonful of dust at a time.

 

It was time for the Gods to smile once more on the last Pharaoh queen. To reward her patient suffering, a revered Goddess in much need of recovery.

 

The earth's crust is constantly moving, so much so if many people had knowledge of the statistics, they would stay indoors afraid to brave the tectonic wilds. Fortunately, what you don't think on can do you no harm - scientific ignorance being bliss - and so life goes on.

 

Most seismic activity is concentrated in a number of distinct earthquake belts, typically the edge of the Pacific Ocean, or in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean

Most of the mid-Atlantic Ridge is deep underwater and far from human development, but Iceland, sits directly over the mid-Atlantic Ridge so has experienced earthquakes of a magnitude of six on the Charles F. Richter Scale.

The Richter magnitude scale, also known as the local magnitude (M) scale, assigns a number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake, based on a 10 logarithmic scale.

Vibrations produced by earthquakes are detected, recorded, and measured by instruments called seismographs. These devices may amplify ground motions beneath the instruments over one million times, transcribing the vibration activity into the well known zig-zag trace on a roll of paper; called a seismo-gram.

Over 80 per cent of large earthquakes occur around the edges of the Pacific Ocean, an area known as the 'Ring of Fire.' This is where the Pacific plate is being subducted beneath the surrounding plates - a continuous process. The Ring of Fire is the most seismically and volcanically active zone in the world.

In the Mediterranean, the most affected coasts, both for number of events and for intensity, are those of Greece and Italy, thus Cleopatra would have known of them, if not experienced them personally. From 1600 BC to the present day at least 290 tsunamis have occurred in the Mediterranean, some of them quite destructive.

The most significant events have occurred in Greece. Around 1600 BC, with the explosion of the volcano Santorini, in the Aegean Sea, the collapse of the caldera caused a devastating tsunami, with waves about 50 metres high, which spread throughout much of the eastern Mediterranean, affecting Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Palestine which were devastated by the waves. According to some experts, this tsunami could have been the cause of the sudden end of the Minoan civilization in Crete. The Gods were not pleased on that occasion.

Subsequently, in 365 AD, a strong earthquake off Crete, with an estimated magnitude of 8 - 8.5, caused a sharp rise of the coastal platform, which in some places exceeded 10 metres. This earthquake generated a great tsunami which caused thousands of deaths and serious damage throughout the Mediterranean, destroying the port and the famous library of Alexandria in Egypt, and inflicting serious damage to the ports of the Middle East and all the way up the Adriatic Sea. In 1303 another strong earthquake off Crete produced a violent tsunami which caused many victims and serious damage in Crete, with very intense phenomena in Israel and Egypt.

 

With so much coastal carnage, one might begin to wonder why populations congregate along the Mediterranean rim.

In 1956, a strong earthquake off the island of Amorgosin the Aegean Sea with a magnitude 7.5, generated a tsunami with waves reaching 25 metres in Amorgos and 20 in Astypalaea, causing strong impacts in all the islands of the central-southern Aegean sea. This tsunami also reached Crete, with waves of about 2 metres.

More recently, in May 2003, a strong earthquake in front of the Algerian coast (Boumerdes) generated a tsunami which did not produce damage in the nearby coasts but spread as far as the French and Liguria coasts. The most significant damage was recorded in the Balearic Islands, where the waves caused heavy damage to many fishing and pleasure boats and floods in Mallorca and Ibiza. In recent years, several earthquakes of magnitude between 6.5 and 7 have generated small tsunamis in the Mediterranean. The most insidious occurred in 2017 near the island of Kos (Greece) and Bodrum (Turkey) where the topographic height which the sea reached was recorded as almost meters.

On October 30, 2020 a 7-magnitude earthquake located north of Samos Island in Greece generated a tsunami that hit the Dodecanese islands and Turkey, particularly affecting Izmir (Izmir) province. The tsunami reached runups greater than 1.5 meters and, locally, peaks close to two meters in height were recorded. Widespread damages were recorded in Izmir province where the withdrawal of the sea followed by the tsunami and the rush of the waters claimed one victim.

 

So it is that in the present, it was bound to happen sooner or later, but fortunately for the submerged aquatic queen, the Gods were in a kindly mood, whipping up quite a maelstrom.  Cleopatra would have been grateful had she known. A tremor measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale caused significant underwater movement, combined with a tsunami to reveal ornaments washed from within a mausoleum that was previously under sand and debris. Not unnoticed by UNESCO's Ocean Commission division chief, Professor Jacques Daccord, in Paris, working alongside Dr Roberta Treadstone, at Blue Shield, England.

 

Trough all of this commotion, Cleopatra's mummy remained inside her tightly wrapped cocoon of bandages that contained the preserving, oils, spices and herbs, keeping her as fresh as could be expected for someone sixteen hundred years old. All wrapped in an outer covering of reinforced material tightly laced from behind. Fortunately, well enough sealed, but newly in danger from increasing acidity in the sea, that would begin to eat into material despite the protective layers of oils and resins.

 

 

 

 

Cleopatra - The Mummy - A John Storm adventure with the Elizabeth Swann

 

 

A story as old as time, Cleopatra is returned to life, after her tragic departure.

 

 

 

 

 

PROLOGUE    INNER CIRCLE OF SIX - Nazi funded medical human research laboratories Joseph Mengele's Fourth Reich escape to Brazil reserve plan.

CHAPTER 1.   THE POISON ASP

CHAPTER 2.   WRATH OF THE GODS - The destruction of Thonis and Alexandria

CHAPTER 3.   NEW WORLD ORDER - A Neo-Nazi plan to regenerate Aryan supremacy

CHAPTER 4.   CYBERCORE GENETICA - Nano computer technology is purchased at an auction by a religious sect.

CHAPTER 5.   INCUBUS

CHAPTER 6.   SPLICE

CHAPTER 7.   TREMORS - Cleopatra's tomb lay lost for centuries. Until a shift in the tectonic plates triggered a tremor off the coast of Alexandria.

CHAPTER 8.   PANAMANIAN RUNNING MAN -

CHAPTER 9.   THE AMAZON

CHAPTER 10. TOMB RAIDERS - Safiya Sabuka and Musa Bomani dive among sifting sands to discover precious artifacts and golden treasures.

CHAPTER 11. SCOTLAND YARD

CHAPTER 12. OPERATION ALEXANDRIA - Neo-Nazi occultists recover Cleopatra's sarcophagus from underwater tomb near Palace.

CHAPTER 13. KIDNAP - Charley is taken prisoner 

CHAPTER 14. UNESCO - Catholic Church fear grave desecration heritage theft, asks agencies for help. Interpol issue Red Notice.

CHAPTER 15. REPLICANT - The Society reproduce Cleopatra using Francisco's RepliVator™, uploading synapse sequence and implanted memories.

CHAPTER 16. FULL STEAM AHEAD - Storm speeds to Thonis, then uses the Swann's AI sensors and the Ark database to find tomb has been plundered.

CHAPTER 17. RITUAL SACRIFICE - The Baron prepares a drugged Cleopatra for ceremonial impregnation.

CHAPTER 18. SANCTUM INTERRUPTUS - John finds secret Nazi hideout near Alexandria, disturbs ritual - rescues Cleopatra, arresting conspirators.

CHAPTER 19. THE CHOSEN ONE - The reincarnated Cleopatra falls for her rescuer. John comes under her spell, despite her being a replicant.

CHAPTER 20. MILITARY INTERVENTION - The military detain Cleopatra to appease stakeholders, despite media & medical protests. Storm distraught.

CHAPTER 21. DÉJÀ VU - History repeats itself, military lock up technology as gross violation of human rights, John left disillusioned:  FINALE FOR NOW

 

 

 

 

    

 

...

 

 

 

GRAPHIC BRIEF - SUGGESTED LAYOUTS/ FORMAT

 

CHAPTER 1.   THE POISON ASP - Overwhelmed by grief, Cleopatra poisons herself with a cobra bite in her mausoleum

CHAPTER 2.   WRATH OF THE GODS - The destruction of Thonis and Alexandria

CHAPTER 3.   NEW WORLD ORDER - A Neo-Nazi plan to regenerate Aryan supremacy

CHAPTER 4.   CYBERCORE GENETICA - Nano computer technology is purchased at an auction by a religious sect

CHAPTER 5.   INCUBUS - Franco Francisco accepts offer of employment from Roberta Ferrara

CHAPTER 6.   SPLICE - Klaus von Kolreuter perfects a method of gene manipulation

CHAPTER 7.   TREMORS - Cleopatra's tomb lay lost for centuries, until shift in the tectonic plates trigger tremor off the coast of Alexandria

CHAPTER 8.   PANAMANIAN RUNNING MAN - Marjorie Boyle videos exceptionally fast athlete, Sam Hollis investigates

CHAPTER 9.   AMAZON QUEEN - Elizabeth Swann navigating river and docking at Manaus

CHAPTER 10. TOMB RAIDERS - Safiya Sabuka and Musa Bomani dive among sifting sands to discover precious artifacts and golden treasures

CHAPTER 11. SCOTLAND YARD - London's secure DNA database is stolen

CHAPTER 12. OPERATION ALEXANDRIA - Neo-Nazi occultists recover Cleopatra's sarcophagus from underwater tomb near Palace

CHAPTER 13. KIDNAPPED - Charley is taken prisoner, John, Dan and CIA rescue her

CHAPTER 14. UNESCO - Catholic Church fear grave desecration heritage theft, asks agencies for help. Interpol issue Red Notice

CHAPTER 15. REPLICANT - The Society reproduce Cleopatra using Francisco's RepliVator™, uploading synapse sequence, implanted memories

CHAPTER 16. FULL STEAM AHEAD - To Thonis, then uses the Swann's AI sensors and the Ark database to find tomb has been plundered

CHAPTER 17. RITUAL SACRIFICE - The Baron prepares a drugged Cleopatra for ceremonial impregnation

CHAPTER 18. SANCTUM INTERRUPTUS - John finds Nazi hideout near Alexandria, disturbs ritual - rescues Cleopatra, arresting conspirators

CHAPTER 19. THE CHOSEN ONE - The reincarnated Cleopatra falls for her rescuer. John comes under her spell, despite her being a replicant

CHAPTER 20. MILITARY INTERVENTION - Military detain Cleopatra for stakeholders, despite media & medical protests. Storm distraught

CHAPTER 21. DÉJÀ VU - History repeats itself, military lock up technology as gross violation of human rights, John left disillusioned

 

 

 

 

THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN STORM: CLEOPATRA & THE MUMMY

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The rights of Jameson Hunter and Cleaner Ocean Foundation to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. This website and the associated Cleopatra artwork is Copyright © 2022 Cleaner Ocean Foundation and Jameson Hunter. This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the authors' imaginations, and any resemblance to any person, living or departed, is entirely coincidental.