The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor by Max Allan Collins

Author:Max Allan Collins [Collins, Max Allan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 0425223132
Publisher: Berkley Books
Published: 2008-07-13T07:00:00+00:00

6

Plane Crazy

When the cab pulled up to the curb in front of the posh nitery known as Imhotep’s, the distinctive neon sign was off and the uniformed doormen were nowhere to be seen. One by one, the members of the bedraggled O’Connell party emerged from the cab, their fancy evening wear ripped and filthy and scorched, their faces smudged and bruised, their hair a mess. Among them was Lin, whose cat-burglar-black attire was also shredded and soiled, in particular the coat she wore over her black top and pants, though perhaps she looked the least worse for wear.

Rick O’Connell exited last, moving slowly and wincing from the pain that bouncing on that bronze bucking bronco had caused the family jewels, which were no Eye of Shangri-la but were priceless to him. Jonathan was weaving as if drunk, though he was very much sober, having survived concussions, explosions and more. The cabbie leaned to look out the passenger window and scowl as he barked at Jonathan in Mandarin.

Jonathan, closing his eyes as if hungover, said, “Uh, Rick, my boy—the taxi fare, if you please.”

O’Connell, whose tuxedo was a shredded memory, said, “Do I look like a man with a wallet?”

Sighing in a weight-of-the-world manner, Jonathan dug into his pants pocket—fortunately his funds had not been in either back pocket, which had been burned away with the seat of trousers—and produced some colorful bills. Several of these he tossed in the window, got another scowl for his trouble, and the vehicle tore away.

“I don’t mean to a stickler for detail,” Jonathan said, with an eyebrow arched, “but how exactly does one—even if one happens to be a reanimated, two-thousand-year-old, terra-cotta Emperor—bring bronze horses to life?”

Glumly, Alex said, “He has mastery of the elements—earth, metal, wood, water and fire.”

Frowning, O’Connell said, “That explains it.”

Jonathan, both eyebrows up, said, “Oh, yes, that explains it quite nicely. After all, what a crashing bore a mummy would be without supernatural powers.”

O’Connell, doing his best to be patient with his brother-in-law, asked gently, “Jonathan, could we go inside? Some of us may have worked up a thirst.”

“Well, you know it is after hours,” Jonathan said archly, and then he fiddled in his other pants pocket for his keys and found them and went over and opened the door.

Evelyn, taking charge, gestured as she said, “Come on, everybody—inside!”

“Yes,” Jonathan said, “please. Drinks are half price.”

The proprietor of Imhotep’s flipped on the lights and the room, with chairs on top of tables, looked somehow both bigger and smaller, empty of customers and employees, the mock-Egyptian decor exposed for the Hollywood-style sham it was. Jonathan ambled over and turned the lights on at the bar and got behind there to provide service. Shortly, every one was grouped loosely at and near the bar.

Evelyn had a hand on her son’s shoulder. “Sweetheart—are you all right?”

Alex frowned at her, though he did not remove her hand. “If you two hadn’t blown my position, I would have killed the bloody Emperor.”

“We were only trying to help, dear.

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