Chapter 7
Ghosts
of the Past
Two
men were dead at the top of the stairs. Rick barely saw them. He had eyes only
for the place on the sand where his life had ended.
Sometimes
he relived it all in his dreams, nights when he would wake shaking, gasping for
breath, drenched in sweat. In these dreams he saw the two women staring at each
other, the knife between them. Over and over he saw Evy fall to her knees, and
heard himself scream.
Always
in his dreams she cried that single tear. Take
care of Alex…I love you. And always she died, despite his desperate terror,
in the face of his anguished sobs. He knelt over her, his tears wetting her
skin, and she did not hold him or tell him things would be all right. She just
lay there, unmoving and still, her beautiful eyes closed.
He
gave thanks every day that she was there, that she was alive and that she was
his. He had lost her then and it was a miracle that she was here beside him
today; every morning he woke and remembered this, and was filled with a simple
joy and gratitude.
"Rick."
She knew what he was thinking. Her hand squeezed his fiercely, reminding him
that she was there, that she had not left him.
He
was walking slowly now. The pain from his arm was beginning to interfere with
his thinking, and it was growing harder and harder to ignore the hurt. Together
they mounted the steps of the pyramid. There were footsteps in the sand, two
sets. Rick let go of Evy's hand and drew his gun.
"Rick."
She sounded very solemn, and he turned to her. "Rick, what happens when the
pyramid collapses this time?"
He
just stared at her. He had no answer to this. There would be no last-minute
rescue by Izzy, nobody to come and save them. When the oasis was destroyed,
they would die along with everything else.
Evelyn
knew it, too. She lifted her chin bravely. "At least Alex isn't here," she
said, and tears glistened in her eyes.
Rick
had to look away. Holding his gun awkwardly in his left hand, he followed the
Med-jai down the stairs, into the temple.
****
Once,
he had had a conversation that went like this:
And at the top of the golden pyramid, there was a huge diamond.
Huge? How huge?
The
diamond in his imagination had been of an unspecified size, just big enough to
lure him to it. But in reality, it was perhaps two feet across, girded in gold.
On all the four corners were golden asp heads, and their eyes were sapphire and
emerald and ruby and topaz. It had fit so well in his arms, and he remembered
cradling it close on the dirigible ride back to Cairo, sometimes laughing over
it.
So huge that it would reflect the sun, winking at distant travelers, beckoning them to their deaths.
Jonathan
didn't know about that, nor did he care. All he knew was that the diamond had
brought more misery into his life than any other single thing. When Evy had
been taken to Hamunaptra by Imhotep, he had not felt this terrified. When Alex
had been kidnapped, he had not felt this depressed. But the diamond, the cursed
diamond of Ahm Shere, had managed to do it all.
He
could see it now, sitting on an altar in the far corner of the room. Golden
chalices and bowls and plates sat on the shelves, and some of these were
knocked aside, as though a great wind had buffeted them. The diamond caught the
firelight and shone a beautiful amber color. Beside it lay the Book of Amun-Ra,
its golden pages appearing on fire in the flickering light.
Jonathan
stared at it and hated it more than he had ever hated anything in his life.
In
the room ahead, Imhotep began to suck the life of three of the cult members. Unable
to look, Jonathan ducked back into the hall, his eyes squeezed shut. The sounds
were bad enough, but there was no way he could bring himself to look at that
horror.
And
then Imhotep spoke. "Med-jai!"
Jonathan's
eyes flew open. "Med-jai," he whispered. He glanced to his right, saw Ardeth
was gone, and groaned loudly. "Oh, no."
He
turned and peered around the entry, appalled to see Ardeth walking boldly into
the chamber as though he had every right to be there. "Oh, no."
Ardeth
began to speak in Ancient Egyptian. Shocked, Jonathan watched as Imhotep almost
smiled. The mummy made a reply, and Ardeth said something back. He threw his
rifle to the side and was now armed with only his sword. He began walking
toward Khalid Hassan.
Horrified,
Jonathan clung to the doorframe, too astonished to react. What on earth was he
supposed to do now? With all those men in there, he'd be cut down the moment he
set foot in the room. There was no possible way he could retrieve the Book of
Amun-Ra.
In
the chamber, Khalid Hassan raised his pistol.
Ardeth
did not break his stride. He simply kept coming.
Imhotep
barked a command, and Khalid's eyes rolled toward the Creature he had just
raised, the Lord he had sworn to obey. The blood drained from his face.
With
just enough command of the language to grasp a rudimentary understanding,
Jonathan could almost feel sorry for Hassan. Imhotep had just ordered him to
fight fairly, and the small smile on the High Priest's face showed that he was
looking forward to the entertainment the duel would provide.
Ardeth
let loose a wild yell and charged. Khalid Hassan thrust his gun into his belt
and pulled his sword, meeting that fierce attack. Their swords crashed together
and Khalid was driven back under Ardeth's fury.
In
an agony of helplessness, Jonathan watched.
****
The
memories were close now. Here was where the curator had laughed at him,
exultant. You are too late, O'Connell!
He had watched, half-horrified and half-glad, as the man staggered away, his
right arm eaten to the bone. It shamed him now to think how he had savagely
enjoyed the man's pain, but at the time, torn apart by his grief over Evy's
death, he had only thought it a good thing.
Here
was the passageway he had walked down, hearing the gong resound as Imhotep summoned
the Scorpion King.
And
there, at the end of the hall, stood Jonathan.
"Jonathan!"
Evy's glad cry echoed through the stone passageway.
Jonathan
whirled around, his face white and his eyes full of dark horror.
In
the chamber beyond, Imhotep stood tall, fully formed and whole. He wore a black
loincloth and a black cloak, and the firelight made his skin a warm gold. A
smile played at the corners of his mouth. The sounds of swordplay rang out into
the hall, but Rick could not see the combatants.
The
members of the cult stood still, their eyes on something to the left. Each of
them had weapons drawn, but nobody moved.
"Hurry!"
Jonathan shouted.
And
as one, the Med-jai charged.
****
The
cult members were willing to stand back and allow their leader to battle alone,
but they were not fools. When the Med-jai entered the chamber, they fought
back. A vicious firefight ensued.
Rick
stared at Imhotep and knew he could not defeat the mummy this time. He threw
himself against the wall of the passageway, trying to avoid the deadly spray of
gunfire from within the chamber.
Inside,
Imhotep was smiling.
****
"Rick!"
He pulled at his brother-in-law's sleeve, eliciting a pained cry from Rick.
"You have to stop him! I need to go in there!"
"What?"
Rick sounded incredulous.
"I
need to get the Book!" he shouted. "It's the only way to kill him!"
"No,"
Evy said calmly. She came up to stand beside him. "I don't need the Book." Her
dark eyes were fixed on Imhotep. "Kadeesh mal, kadeesh mal," she began.
She
remembered! Jonathan felt a wild cheer rise in his throat. Grinning widely, he
turned toward Rick.
And
came face to face with Anck-su-namun.
****
Khalid
Hassan was a skilled fighter, and within moments Ardeth knew he had met his
match.
He
knew when the Med-jai poured into the room, and the slaughter began, but he had
nothing to spare for them. He had given everything he had to his people for all
his life, but this day was for him. Jonathan had called it selfish, and perhaps
it was, but no force on earth could have stopped him then.
Khalid
fell back before the fury of his attack, and only a minute after the duel had
begun, they were backed into the corner, fighting for their lives.
****
"Evy!"
The cry left his mouth before he could take it back, and immediately he cursed
himself.
If
he had stayed silent -- if he had let her finish the incantation -- what might
have happened?
He
would never know.
Evy
spun around, her eyes wide.
Anck-su-namun
held the golden sais she had wielded three years ago, and Jonathan felt a
phantom pain sear his chest at the sight. Her brown eyes were fixed on his
sister, full of murderous hatred. She said something in Ancient Egyptian and
swung with both hands.
Instinctively
Jonathan leapt back…
…and
found himself in the chamber with Imhotep.
********