"So they won't be doing the whole slavery thing like with Noah?" Samson asked as the plane carrying Animalia Ambassadoria slowly circled around the airfield on the northern end of the Egyptian colony at New Zerzura.
"No... and the Biblical story is with Moses, Noah was the one eaten by a whale," Abby corrected.
"And most countries have outlawed slavery, unless it's to be used as punishment for a crime," Sophie spoke as she looked out a window to see on how much of the colony was built to resemble Ancient Egyptian structures and designs, "and those places where slavery does still exist... to my knowledge is more case that the system is still illegal, but the government in question for some reason is unable to stop it."
"Well, that'll be good," Samson answered with a sigh of relief.
"What I don't get is why we gotta wear all this... it's already hot and we haven't even gotten off the airplane!" Malice declared from across the aisle.
Samson looked over to Malice who was seated on the other side of the aisle. All of them were a bit more conservatively dressed in that they had on pants, a tee-shirt that covered everything and wasn't covered in anything obscene. A lot of this was in relation to what they'd gone over in their preparatory meetings before the colony tour. And for Egypt, this was a big thing, as while Egypt did play heavily to the tourist trade, particularly with those who came to see the pyramids, the sphinx, and the assorted museums that played to Ancient Egyptian history, it was still a predominantly Muslim country and one where religious groups had some degree of influence. Egypt was better than most others, but that didn't mean they were going to allow things that would go against their culture.
And that meant that some things weren't going to be allowed, even for tourists. It'd mean no clothing that could be described as sexually provocative and even firmer restrictions with regard to other things those in Animalia or in some of the other colonies tended to take for granted. It was that sort of thing that Malice was likely complaining on, which Samson could see. The Siberian Husky was a dog breed that had been developed to deal with extreme cold temperatures, not the extreme dry heat that a place like Egypt would have. At home, in the summer months, it'd mean bikinis and visits to the pool, but that wouldn't be available here. And as Samson looked to Malice, he noted that she, Sarah, and Simon were all panting a bit. Malice's complaint was probably more on the temperature than anything else.
"I know it's hot," Abby commented, "I feel it too... but we have to remember that many of the agreements that Horizon and Animalia have made with regard to these colonies is that LOCAL laws be followed and that Animalia cannot dictate to Egypt what is and is not allowed. Which means if they want to make sure that we're appropriately covered, then that's fine. It's why the clothing we packed is lightweight and doesn't hold much heat."
"And hopefully they'll have air conditioning," Roland commented.
"Hopefully good air conditioning," Simon panted.
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Coming down the stairs, the group found the area around the airfield to be rather Spartan in its decoration, which actually contrasted heavily with the city area of New Zerzura that they'd seen while the plane came in for a landing. There was plenty of staff on hand that was rushing about to unload bags from the plane and were taking them toward the main airport area, which wasn't too far away. They also found Melbourne and a very well tanned man in a tan military uniform. Roland was able to see and note the Egyptian flag on the soldier's shoulders.
"Hello and welcome to New Zerzura," Melbourne came forward, "It's actually pretty good to be seeing all of you again..." Melbourne paused as he looked to Sophie, Roland, JC, and Pauline, "though..."
"Roland and I have changed a lot since we last met," Sophie said in a small voice, her eyes looking nervously to the Egyptian soldier, "With Project Mesozoic now open to the public, we became Pterodactyls."
Melbourne slowly nodded and looked over to JC and Pauline as Sophie then turned with further introductions.
"And these are JC and Pauline," Sophie introduced them, "they are new to our group... JC was my pet parrot and Pauline was donated to Horizon and Animalia to be part of the project that would see if a bird could be uplifted into a Dinotopian. They became Microraptors."
"But wasn't the predecessor to birds the Pterodactyl?" the soldier asked curiously.
"No, birds evolved from Theropod dinosaurs, Pterosaurs like Pterodactylus have an entirely different evolutionary line," Sophie answered, "even if they could fly."
Melbourne nodded and then introduced the soldier. It turned that he was a part of the Egyptian Army, but much of his responsibilities was presently more with regard to protecting the site and its historical artifacts from theft while the historians and archeological teams that Melbourne had been working with catalogued and looked for ways to preserve the items there. Much of his presence was more due to the issues that the army had had with regard to the Arab Spring and the Muslim Brotherhood government that formed after it, and seemed more concerned with preventing the sort of mass looting that had happened in Baghdad following the defeat of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003.
"My men are also here to provide appropriate screening to make sure that no one comes here with terrorism in mind and does damage to important historical sites," the officer finished.
"Hopefully as things move forward, the Egyptian army and national police forces can help train the Guards of Anubis that have been organized here as well," Melbourne commented, "and thus turn over authority to the colony."
"Well, that sounds good," Travis commented the group then followed Melbourne and the Egyptian colonel inside, "can you say on what you're doing for the refugees?"
"For the most part, the Egyptian government has been willing to pay their wages in helping the historians and archeologists uncover the ancient site and will hopefully provide labor for work on the other side of the Nile as well," the colonel answered, "their own markets, fishing in the river, weaving, localized small scale farming will be tolerated as well."
"On this side...?" Malice wondered, "So... this town was big enough to span the river?"
"More that the people lived here on the east bank of the river," Melbourne answered, "and as per ancient Egyptian custom, the dead would be buried on the west bank. And while the original city may have been an escape for the Ancient Egyptians from the northern invaders... the historians we have here are fairly sure that they would have still followed their traditional customs. In this, there is likely a site on the opposite side of the Nile where they buried their dead."
"Must be hard work," Roger commented.
"It will be," Melbourne commented, "especially since if they're buried underground, like in the Valley of the Kings, it is possible that some of these entrances have been flooded when the Aswan Dam was built. Known monuments were moved... but until recently, this site was unknown. And a lot of that sort of thing will be something of a mystery that I can't fully help with... though we did find a lot here that is of much importance."
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Things then progressed in a sort of stop and go sort of pattern. The first stop was stop by the hotel where they would be staying and with Animalia Ambassadoria doing a few bits of filming to introduce the colonel to their viewers as the man working to protect Animalia's new colony as they went. From there they set about a general tour of the city of New Zerzura. Like Maelewano, it was set up as a place for refugees fleeing violence elsewhere as place to live and start new lives.
The big thing that differed New Zerzura was that most of the people that had come in were fleeing the recent battles that had raged between Muslim groups in the Middle East and North Africa. This meant that most of the people that had come to New Zerzura were Muslims and that public buildings were also made to suit that. When combined with the architecture that was playing to Ancient Egypt, it made for some interesting architectural designs, which made for one of the most colorful mosques in the Muslim world. There were also market spaces for food and goods, along with a small lab and medical center for Horizon to operate near the colony administrative area, which facilities to help many of the people who'd come there to apply for and gain Egyptian citizenship, should they wish, though the colonel also explained that this would include knowledge of both Arabic and Egypt's local dialect.
They also did make a couple of stops where they'd met with some children who were watching the World Cup soccer matches at a coffee shop. From what the colonel translated for them, they were thankful for a safe place to stay and thought the city looked bright and looked forward to school when the school year started. In a way it seemed rather hopeful.
"Your government's done a lot for people fleeing conflicts, famines, and other disasters," JC commented to the Egyptian colonel as they looked at what was to be a school.
"The people that have come here are all of the faith, or at least of faiths that worship same God, just in different ways," the colonel answered, "and despite what some people may think on Africa... or of Islam... we are not all animals... errrr… we are not monsters. There are many in Egypt who have had a great deal of education and have at least a working understanding of English along with our own languages. The terrorists in ISIS are not true Muslims and the victims of their violence should not be punished for someone else's action. They want us to fear them and back away. Egypt will not be afraid."
"And they've been quite tolerant and respectful with Animalians," Melbourne commented, "some of it is with security measures for the archeology sites and so on... Though I'd like to guess it's a legacy of ancient Egyptian culture, as many Ancient Egyptian deities are often depicted as having the head of an animal and the body of a human."
Melbourne gave a small smirk that Simon caught, though the colonel waived that off. They continued onto to the archeological site. There were a lot of white canvas tarps that were set up as wind breaks, which was likely to keep sand from being blown in, which had likely been a big part of what had buried the original city in the first place. That once the Egyptians drove the northern invaders out, they returned to the areas that were their traditional seats of power and the refugee city was "abandoned."
"So... how much sand and dirt did you have to move?" Jessica asked to Melbourne as she looked at the area that was where the ancient city was, and noted that there were hard plastic markers that reminded her of things in the National Parks and historical sites in America where an outdoor sign was placed. She noted that the words on the sign were written in both English and Arabic.
"Not as much as one would think," Melbourne said with a chuckle, "there was a lot that was moved... but not as much as what might be guessed at given that the city was buried. The big thing was in being careful so as to avoid damaging any small artifacts and items that might have been left behind. A good many people who came here as the colony was physically built got a crash course in archeology... but I think it worked out rather well."
"And the site will eventually be cleared as a museum," the colonel added with pride, "just like the recent openings for the artifacts in relation to King Tut. Which would further allow Egypt to share its proud history with the world."
"And possibly show an ability for humans and Animalians to get along," Jessica commented.