The Mummy Returns by Max Allan Collins

Author:Max Allan Collins
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-03-25T05:39:05.424000+00:00

Desert Travelers

Over the eons, the wind and sand conspired to erase from the face of the Sahara any trace of men, covering the tracks of both pharaohs and British conquerors, consuming faithful and infidel alike, whether worshipers of the sun or the flocks of various prophets. Here a ceaseless procession of men had thirsted to their deaths, leaving their skeletons and those of their camels for bleaching by the unyielding sun under the cheerfully blue sky, the wind grinding those bones to dust to join the orange-yellow sand in the dry endless desert-Only the night itself was more vast man the Sahara. The setting sun—the great god Ammon-Ra , in the form of a flaming crimson orb—boldly painted the barren landscape with streaks of red and purple, an impressionist masterpiece soon swallowed up by the haze of dusk. Before long, the desert floor turned a glistening black, and the sky came alive with countless stars—Sirius, Cassiopeia's Chair, Vega and various planets shining alarmingly near . A full moon dominated this glittering array, its glowing fingers touching dunes with ivory highlights.

Across that impossibly large moon glided the ungainly motorized contraption that was Izzy ' s blimp, a lumbering fishing trawler somehow navigating the starry night sky.

On the deck of the boat, in the blimp ' s shadow , sat Jonathan Carnahan and his unlikely friend, Ardeth Bay, chieftain of the Med-jai. Jonathan—having ascertained that Captain Izzy was on the other side of this flying nightmare—was fishing ... inside the open porthole of the captain's cabin. The golden Scepter of Osiris was on a table, inviting Jonathan's larceny.

"Your sister ' s husband," Ardeth Bay was saying, "is reluctant to embrace his destiny."

"Really," Jonathan said, not terribly interested, arm down the porthole, scrounging around inside.

Ardeth Bay—his falcon perched contentedly on his left forearm—nodded. "And yet O'Connell flies like Horus toward his destiny."

"How very fascinating." Jonathan, grunting, had his fingers on the scepter now—its smooth surface taunting him, denying him purchase. "But where does the golden pyramid come in?"

"It is written that no man since the time of the Scorpion King himself has ever laid eyes upon the golden pyramid, and returned to tell the tale."

"Well, if no one returned to tell the bloody tale, who told you?"

Ardeth Bay was lovingly petting the falcon, which all but purred at the attention. "It is written—"

" Whe r e is it written? Who is doing all this writing? It ' s all bloody nonsense, if you ask me, and I ' m sure you won ' t.

. .. Ah! There! Got it!"

And Jonathan withdrew from the porthole the golden scepter , moonlight glancing off its shiny surface.

"Not bad, eh?" Jonathan said, displaying his prize catch to the Med-jai.

Ardeth Bay regarded the artifact with narrowed eyes. "If that curator fellow reacted to the sight of the scepter in the manner you reported ..."

"He did."

"... then this must be an important object , perhaps with significance beyond its monetary worth. I would, my friend, keep it close to your.

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