The Land of the Pharaohs — Chris Hawley

Bill Steadman's NGO, Youth for the World is gaining such fame that United Nations Environment Programme invites him to address a conference on Climate Change. The reaction to his speech is mixed, praise from developing countries but damnation from the powerful nations. Bill is obliged to watch his back, lest he be eliminated. The Russians have the Super Magnobile and want to get hold of bubble technology for their planned colonisation of Mars. And the Zoggs are watching for the right moment to take over the Earth, using their mysterious secret weapon, and subjecting the remnants of the human race to eternal slavery. In Land of the Pharaohs Bill meets two men with associations with ancient Egypt. With them and his close friends he bubbles back to Egypt to the year 2578 BC, a time when the Pharaoh Khufu is building the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only Seventh Wonder of the World still standing. They experience firsthand with amazement that advanced culture and unlock the secret of how the Great Pyramid was built, a topic hotly contested by Egyptologists. Standing close by is the magnificent Sphinx, the largest monolith ever built. But it does not appear as they expect. Other surprises await them. Ben goes astray again, as he did in The Lost World, and a terrible fate awaits one of them, which threatens to cut short the ancient Egyptian adventure. Chris is a long-term resident of Kenya. An accountant by profession he has expressed his creative talents through water colour painting, poetry and novel writing. He has also operated tourist hotels, worked with destitute children and helped train teachers to promote human values. Widowed in 2013 he has married again. He has three grownup children and four teenage grandchildren. He shares his time between Lamu and Nairobi.