Stonewall Against the Rat Men by Joseph Browning

Author:Joseph Browning [Browning, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Expeditious Retreat Press
Published: 2019-01-13T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Out of Egypt

While the rest of us stopped cold after I put down the hollow mummy, Morien moved into action. She strode to the pile of wrappings, one hand above it, the other over her jade pendent, and broke the silence. Although I didn’t understand her words, the tone was resolute, lacking the fevered tenor of combat. A single bright light rose from the linen and settled on her outstretched palm. The sorcerer closed her hand and transferred the glimmer to her pendent; it fused into the deep green gem and was no more.

Within seconds, the “standing in an earthquake” sensation returned, and the walls and floor shimmered. The sandstone blocks covered in Egyptian art and hieroglyphics faded, revealing the cold metal and concrete of the fourth subterranean level of the Skybald Agri-Robotics Manufactory.

Normally this sort of thing would grab my attention, but I had people down who needed care.

“Brum, pull Grendel out of your cloud! Zylo, check on him to make sure he’s still breathing!” I ordered as I scrambled to Diana. I rolled her over, dripping blood on her backpack in the process. She was breathing, but her eyes were closed. I pried them open and swept my flashlight a few times; her pupils were responsive.

“Diana,” I said forcefully, “can you hear me?” Her eyes opened spontaneously but moved without purpose. I placed two fingers into her open right hand. “I need you to squeeze my fingers if you can hear me.” She closed her eyes, wincing in pain. I felt a small contraction against my index and middle fingers.

That a girl. Two out of three, let’s go for a full house. “Good, you’re doing great, Diana. Now I need you to try to talk. Do you remember where we are and what we were doing?” She moved her lips a little but she didn’t answer.

“Say anything, Diana.” I lowered my head closer to her mouth.

“Stupid spirit mummies,” she weakly uttered. She tenuously sat up, and I gave her some water. Luckily, she had only been knocked out; it could have been a lot worse with the force of the impact. I needed to watch for signs of concussion on the trip back, but she’d pull through for the time being.

Leaving her to rest, I moved on to Grendel. He was in worse shape. He was unconscious and wasn’t moving or responding to Zylo or Umma’s voice. He was still breathing, albeit with some effort and a harsh wheeze. He had several burns on his arms, hands, and face from the hollow mummy extinguishing the fire with him; thankfully his armor covered the bulk of his body’s surface.

I had Zylo and Umma help me remove his backpack and I dug through the massive bag looking for any appropriate medical supplies. There were none.

Thinking quickly, I pulled the silver egg out of my backpack and fired it up.

“Activate command mode. Do a complete scan of this level. If you encounter any containers with a cross symbol on them, immediately return.

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