Fiction spectacular, p.34
Fiction Spectacular, page 34
They stood before it. Zaleikka stared once for a long moment at Anubis. Something passed between them. Whatever it was, Barry couldn’t catch it. Then Zaleikka, her eyes catching his for the barest part of a second, turned and stooped before the altar.
Her fingers found a certain carving. Her hand seemed to carress it. There was a faint click.
She rose expectantly.
Nothing happened.
A fleeting frown crossed her face. She ran her fingers again over the stone figure. Again came a click.
Nothing happened.
Silence fell. And then suddenly Barry stiffened. Another sound suddenly grew in his ears. A purring sound—like a motor!
Hassan sprang into life. He jumped back over the tumbled stone and rotted wood and disappeared. Seconds later he was racing back.
“Effendi! The police—a car approaches!”
Barry caught the rapid Arabic and his heart sang. The police! Dalton hadn’t been killed after all! He had followed them—those lights far back on the highway . . .
“Quick—Zaleikka!” Anubis spoke nervously. “Open it!”
Zaleikka tried again. Still nothing happened. She straightened.
“Something has gone wrong with the weights beneath the altar. They release but do not move it!”
Anubis turned savagely to Barry. “You! Push on it—push!”
Barry stepped forward. There had been murder in Anubis’ face. He didn’t dare refuse. He put his shoulder to the huge stone and pushed with all his might. It refused to budge.
Anubis spoke rapidly in Arabic. Then Hassan was beside Barry, his massive shoulders bulging.
Sweat stood out on Barry’s face. His hopes rose. The stone was stuck—the police were coming . . .
There was a grating sound. Barry felt himself moving forward.
Suddenly, as if a spring had been loosened, the altar swung wide.
He stared down at a black well of steps.
CHAPTER XI
Into The Sphinx
FROM outside the Temple came a screeching of brakes. Then the clatter of feet rushing over sand and stone.
Barry was about to yell when he saw Anubis swerve the gun upon him. “Down those steps! Quick!”
He had no choice. Hassan shoved him forward roughly. Zaleikka had already disappeared into the depths with Joan following behind her.
“Barry! Barry!”
Barry heard a voice call out. It was Dalton!
He twisted sharply on the steps. Hassan was following closely behind him. Through his legs he saw men rushing into the temple. It was Anubis who had fired. He stood at the edge of the open altar, carefully aiming his gun.
“Look out men—take cover!” Barry heard Dalton command.
It all happened fast, in the flashing instant he looked through the Arab’s legs and before his own head disappeared beneath the stone opening. He saw Dalton rushing across the temple, aiming his gun. He heard Anubis fire again.
He saw Dalton pitch forward on his face.
Then blackness enveloped him.
He fumbled downward in the darkness. Behind him he felt Hassan close at his heels. Then he heard another clatter of footsteps. Anubis was following.
The darkness was stygian. Barry hesitated. Hassan bumped into him, swore deeply and shoved.
Barry lost his balance. He pitched forward down the steps. He flung his arms over his head to protect himself.
It seemed like it lasted forever. Then suddenly he stopped falling. He lay panting, gathering his senses.
The darkness closed in around him like a sodden blanket. He could hear Hassan and Anubis coming down the steps. A wild idea struck him—if he remained where he was they would fall over him! In the darkness he could take them by surprise.
Sudden light sprang up around him.
It happened so suddenly, so unexpectedly, that he scrambled to his feet.
Hassan reached the bottom of the steps at the same moment. He didn’t stop. He shoved Barry roughly. Behind him, his face an evil mask, Anubis followed, the gun clutched desperately in his hand.
“You dirty devil!” Barry shouted at him. “You killed Dalton!”
Anubis didn’t answer. He motioned to Hassan. The Arab caught Barry’s arm and in a swift movement had a hammer-lock on him. Pain throbbed up his back. Hassan shoved him forward.
Behind them came a shouting of voices. The police had found the opening!
For the first time Barry became aware of his surroundings. Ahead of them, standing close together, were Zaleikka and Joan. Zaleikka was adjusting something on the side of the corridor. It was a small globular projection with a dim radiation swelling from it. All along the corridor, at intervals, similar projections were set in the stone walls. Each of them was emitting an amber light!
The corridor itself was made up of solid blocks of stone. It was five feet wide and over six feet in height, as nearly as he could determine.
Then they had reached Zaleikka.
“The police are following us!” Anubis spoke in rapid Coptic to the Egyptian woman. She nodded, a faint smile crossing her features.
“Follow me, quickly!” she answered.
SHE turned and began to run down the corridor. It seemed endless as far as Barry could see. Hassan was close beside him, holding his arm in the painful grip. He could hear Anubis’ feet pounding close behind them.
A shout rang out.
They kept on running.
There was a deafening blast in the tunnel. Something whizzed by Barry’s head.
Ahead, Zaleikka suddenly stopped. Joan was beside her. Anubis came up breathlessly as another blast echoed.
Stone chipped over his head and he heard a bullet ricochet past him.
Barry knew that sooner or later one of the bullets would find him or the girl. Acting instinctively he dove forward, carrying her to the stone floor.
He was in time to see a group of men hurrying toward them from the altar steps. They were flourishing guns and shouting.
Then Anubis was firing. Before Barry had time to think, to stop him, reverberating blasts echoed from his gun. A man screamed far down the corridor. He fell, tripping another. Others came on.
Zaleikka’s voice suddenly split through the noise.
“Fools! Do you think you can stop me now?”
Barry glanced hurriedly up at her as bullets whined around them.
She was gripping a metal ring in the wall. Savagely she twisted it.
Amidst the gun blasts there came another sound. It started deep and rose in a rumbling roar. And with it Barry saw a section of the ceiling falling downward!
Horror swept over Barry’s face. Were they to be trapped in a cave in? Was this the fate Zaleikka had chosen for—
He waited for the crash of the stone. There was none. It slowed its mad plunge and touched the floor with a faint thump. Then it dawned on Barry that it was a stone door—the corridor was sealed off!
Zaleikka was laughing.
Barry crawled slowly to his feet, lifting the girl gently. He felt suddenly foolish. He had thrown himself to the floor to protect himself and Joan from danger, and Zaleikka had stood in cool defiance. He read as much in her eyes as she stared at him.
Then Anubis had turned. For once his face was drawn in a sickly pallor. A nerve twitched over his left eye. He nodded gratefully to Zaleikka.
“The fools! They will learn soon whom they oppose!”
Zaleikka stared at him for a long moment. “Yes—they will . . .”
From behind the stone block sealing the passage, Barry heard a muffled pounding. The blows of the men on the other side were futile, lifeless, as Barry’s hopes suddenly became. At every turn Anubis had met them, and countered their every move. And now, within the last moment of triumph, Zaleikka had turned the tables. There was nothing to stop Anubis now. Nothing—except, maybe . . .
“We are safe now. They cannot get beyond the stone block.” Zaleikka spoke confidently. “We may proceed with ease.”
SHE turned to lead the way, and stopped. She was staring past Barry. He turned.
Hassan stood against the wall of the far side of the corridor. He was holding his right arm across his body. A thin stream of blood was running down his arm.
Anubis exclaimed: “Hassan—why did you not tell us!”
The Arab glared malevolently at Barry. “It is nothing, Effendi. But for the Randall dog it would have been he. When he pulled the white girl to the ground I was beside him. The bullet should have found him!”
Anubis muttered angrily. He pulled a handkerchief from his coat pocket and held it out to Barry.
“Bind his wound.”
Barry took the handkerchief. He walked over to Hassan. The Arab sneered.
Barry bound the wound. Behind him, Barry heard Anubis talking rapidly to Zaleikka.
“These lights—where did they come from?”
“It is but one of the secrets of ancient Egypt. They are sun lamps using the power of Ammon Ra. They are indestructible and have lasted through the ages, as has the spirit of Egypt.”
Hassan grunted as Barry tightened the knot of the handkerchief. A spasm of pain shot across his face, and with it a look of hate.
Barry ignored him, thinking hard at that moment that if these strange lights were a product of the ancient science of Egypt and had lasted through the centuries, then heaven only knew what awful powers there remained to be revealed yet. And he knew, that unless a miracle intervened, Anubis would have that power. With Zaleikka holding Jona in a hypnotic trance that modern medical science had failed to break, he also knew he was helpless against her. What could he do?
“You will begin to see now, Mister Randall, what the might of Egypt really is!”
Barry was suddenly aware that Anubis was talking to him. He looked at the Egyptian. Glowing triumph shone on his face. Anubis turned and bowed slightly to Zaleikka. “We will proceed.”
Zaleikka let the trace of a smile cross her face. Her lips were parted and Barry could see sparkling white teeth.
ZALEIKKA led the way. They went slowly now, fear of the police gone. Barry could not help but think of poor Dalton, shot down in cold blood back in the temple. He vowed that Anubis would pay for that.
They walked on. Barry was aware of Hassan following closely behind him. The Arab would be only too glad if he tried anything. Barry didn’t. Ahead, Anubis was walking beside Zaleikka, and they were conversing in low tones.
For the first time Barry noted the air in the tunnel. It grew stale and musty as they progressed. The tunnel seemed to be slanting downward with a gentle slope. It ran straight in the murky light of the wall lamps as far as he could see.
Minutes passed.
The tunnel began to curve. It wound around an S curve, and Barry became aware of other, smaller tunnels, branching off to the right and left. Similar lamps illuminated them, but they were few in comparison to the main corridor.
The slope was pronounced now. Barry wondered just where they were going. To the Sphinx, of course, he knew. But why continuously down?
The further they went, the more of a labyrinth it became. Only the fact that the main corridor was larger than the branching off tunnels gave Barry a sense of direction.
Suddenly ahead a bright light shone. It was an identical lamp set in an identical manner in the stone wall of the tunnel, but the light it gave off both dazzled and blinded. It was a miniature sun in the bowels of the earth.
Zaleikka stopped before it. She turned and faced them for a single moment. It was a tense silence that greeted her.
“We are now below the Sphinx,” she announced. “The desert lies heavily over our heads. The secret which Khafre and his Priests planned and safeguarded, is here.”
Barry glanced quickly at Anubis. He stood close beside Zaleikka, the nerve twitching over his eyes.
“But those other tunnels, Zaleikka—where do they lead?” Anubis asked her.
She smiled faintly. “They also were the plan of Khafre. They lead to—nowhere . . .”
Barry tried to understand that brief reply. But his attention was centered on Zaleikka. She had turned, facing the wall.
Her fingers rose to the dazzling light. Her hands were lost in the glare. She remained motionless for long seconds. Then suddenly she dropped her hands and stepped back.
There was a rising buzz of sound.
The dazzling light suddenly vanished.
They were staring at the blank stone wall.
And the wall began to move!
BARRY watched spellbound as a six foot section of the seemingly solid stone slid downward. In seconds time it had dropped even with the floor of the tunnel.
Barry sucked in his breath sharply. He was staring into an immense chamber!
Silently they entered. Only the sound of feet on the stone floor broke the stillness.
It was huge. Its size reminded Barry of a cathedral. The ceiling rose nearly sixty feet overhead, curving in a dome of solid stone. Set in the ceiling were numerous tiny lamps spraying the chamber with an amber floor of light. Its breadth staggered him. The great hall of Field’s Museum was a cubbyhole in comparison. But the object in the center of the chamber put everything else in the background of his mind.
A throne of colossal proportions rose to the center of the domed ceiling. And but for the base it was a smaller, exact duplication of the Sphinx!
Zaleikka glided forward. She alone moved. They watched her advance upon the immense figure. At its base she turned toward them. Her face seemed to halo itself in the amber light.
Close to Barry, Anubis came to life. He broke his gaze away from Zaleikka and stared swiftly around the room. Barry followed his gaze, and instantly knew what Anubis was looking for.
Where was the science and weapons? But for the immense stone figure, the chamber was empty!
Across from them, Zaleikka suddenly laughed. Anubis strode toward her. Barry followed.
“But where—” Anubis began.
“Khafre himself hides the secret,” Zaleikka replied, pointing up toward the statue. The features of King Khafre stared sightlessly down at them, carved into lifeless stone.
Anubis was frowning as Zaleikka continued:
“Such was the wisdom of Khafre and his Priests. For the final safeguard is here. For this purpose was I chosen and trained. Only I can open the vault.”
It dawned on Barry. And from the look on Anubis’ face, it was plain that he saw too. This mammoth figure, deep within the bowels of the Sphinx was the vault itself!
ZALEIKKA turned and faced a set of sloping steps leading up the front of the statue. She took one step, hesitated, and a short cry burst from her lips.
She turned toward them. Barry saw a look of fear cross her face. And the smooth white skin turned a dark gray pallor.
Anubis exclaimed hoarsely. He ran to her, held her upright with one arm, and slipped a tiny silver flask from his coat pocket. He raised it to her lips nervously.
“Drink! Quickly!” he commanded her.
Barry watched spellbound. What had happened? Zaleikka gulped hungrily at the flask. Anubis held it at her mouth for a long moment, then pulled away.
The Egyptian woman staggered. Her hand brushed wearily across her brow. Close beside Barry, Joan Forrest sighed strangely. Barry glanced quickly at her. An expression of agony crossed her beautiful features, and then, just as suddenly was gone.
When he looked back at Zaleikka she was normal again. The pallor had left her face. She was looking at Anubis gratefully.
“I, I felt weak . . .”
Anubis slipped the flask back in his coat pocket. “You will be all right now,” he told her.
She nodded, looking at him strangely. Then she turned and mounted the steps of the statue.
Moments later she was far over their heads. A massive chair had been fashioned from the stone. She reclined herself upon it.
Barry didn’t see her move. She didn’t press any button, move any stones. Her eyes were closed. Almost it seemed as if she had become a part of the stone.
And the statue moved.
Barry stepped back unconsciously. It happened so fast that he wasn’t prepared. The entire front of the stone figure split outward, like a set of swinging doors on silent hinges!
And Barry stared into the vault.
It was a large square room with knee high stone slabs set a few feet apart in orderly fashion. They reminded Barry of picnic tables spread out row upon row. Upon the slabs rested gleaming objects that defied description.
Anubis dove into the room. He ran from one slab to another, touching each object, and Barry could only stand rooted to the entrance.
Zaleikka swept by him, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Hassan standing behind him with Joan Forrest.
Anubis turned eagerly to Zaleikka.
“What are they? These—what can they do?” He pointed to a nearby slab. Row upon row of tiny metal objects lay upon it. As near as Barry could determine, they resembled a small charm box with an opaque lens in the middle and a tiny gold lever on the top. The front of it was covered with hieroglyphic symbols.
Zaleikka picked one of them up. She pointed it at Barry, her eyes fastened intently upon him.
“Were I to move this lever a certain degree, whoever or whatever stood before this lens, would cease to exist. It is the power of the sun, dissolving in an atomic stream once it is released.”
She replaced the weapon on the slab. Barry shuddered. An atomic disintegrator! What chance would modern men—a modern army have against such a weapon? A few men equipped with such a devilish machine could destroy thousands!
Anubis laughed. “I see you are startled Mister Randall. And well you may be! With science like this in my hands I can mold the destiny of the world!”
Barry was too sick to notice. He dimly heard Zaleikka explaining the usage of other of the objects throughout the room. He heard her tell him of anti-gravity devices, of weapons that could create a field of force that no missile could penetrate it, and others.
He did not want to listen. His world was crashing down around him. Against these secrets of a lost age, modern science would be helpless. Anubis had reached his goal.
