Kemamonit Returns

by Paul Edwards

  Chapter six

  I described the conversation I had had with Imhotep to Peter.

  "Oh great... a nuclear weapon," he said when I finished.

  "You think that's what it was? I thought you needed plutonium or something for that."

  "Well... I read an article in my science magazine a while ago, apparently NASA is developing a rocket that is using a similar principle, they crush a fuel pellet with a shrinking metal collar, it creates a small fusion explosion."

  I was a bit sceptical, Peter's science magazine was a colorful glossy thing with page after page of articles about useless gadgets. There always seemed to be a picture of a flying car on the front cover whose production was imminent, but I had yet to see one.

  "What about the lack of inertia and gravity?"

  "Again... remember all the news a while ago about the Higgs boson?"

  "Um... ya... it was an atom... or something."

  "A particle, anyway it gives things mass by interacting with something called the Higgs field, like a stone thrown in water, I think that sphere cuts off everything inside it from the Higgs field."

  I thought for a moment.

  "That makes sense, it is impenetrable, it reflects everything, if you hit it with your fist your fist hits you back, it's an exit and an entrance reversed," I said.

  "I can see how that would also be a very useful tool... as a shield or a reflector," Peter said.

  "Or a nuclear bomb," I said.

  I could see that would have to do some research on nuclear fusion.

  "Why doesn't Imhotep just drop Djoser onto a deserted island somewhere, why is spending all this time diverting his attention?" Peter asked.

  "Because things aren't that simple."

  "Why? It's his idea to conquer the world, if you got rid of him the problem would be solved."

  "Well... think about our previous emperor."

  "You mean President."

  "Sure... President... what if he had died and all his nefarious underlings had taken over, what would have happened?"

  "I don't know. Nefarious? I don't think they were that bad."

  "The thing is, a lot of what leadership is, is someone finding the path of least resistance, Djoser would not be thinking about conquest if there was not a lot of support for it, plus he is a strong king, people listen to him, if you control him you control the country."

  "Why does Imhotep care? There has been horrible wars all throughout history,"

  "He probably made the mistake of getting his conscience involved, I'll bet he has numerous friends and relatives that would be harmed. That is the problem being a sorcerer, you suddenly have the ability to make a difference in the world and all the guilt that comes with that. Remember when I told you about Soem and Gemer?"

  "That's why you got involved... guilt?"

  "Yes, because of the city next to them, I had many friends there, and they were a peaceful, tolerant and generous people."

  "Does Imhotep know about what you did?"

  "I wrote extensive notes about what happened and put them in the library, I suspect that is why he is behaving in this way."

  "You tried the deserted island thing?"

  "Something similar... it just made things worse, everything I tried that seemed logical, got the exact opposite reaction I expected, anger instead of fear, violence instead of retreat, near the end it was as if I had smashed open a wasps nest, I ran out of options."

  "So you destroyed the cities."

  "Except their children... it was the only smart thing I did, I was planning to take them, try to use them for blackmail... I couldn't do it... so I started drinking wine instead... bad idea... I ended up transporting all of them to the city I was protecting... then I destroyed the cities."

  "What happened then?"

  "Not surprisingly the people I had protected were not very happy... all those extra mouths to feed... I told them to look after the children or else... I had no friends there after that, but I could sleep at night."

  "I'm starving, if I drink another cup of wine, I'll be half cut," Peter said.

  I scanned the restaurant to make sure no one was looking in our direction then I conjured up two meals that resembled what the other patrons were eating.

  It was beef stew and some large buttered roles, the stew was in wooden bowls, I had also conjured up wooden spoons for us to use.

  "Won't the servers wonder where we got the food?" Peter asked as he dipped his spoon into the bowl.

  "Server's?" I said.

  "Hmm... something to remember for the temporal tourist, only bar service available in the past."

  "Well... if I left you alone for a half an hour, I'm sure you would get some kind of server."

  "Would she cook me a meal?"

  "I don't think so... I've been to a few of your matinee performances."

  Peter laughed.

  After we finished eating we spent the rest of the day wondering around the city. Peter was amazed at how small it was and how easy it was to get lost.

  "These old cities grow like plants, there is no planning, that's why the roads are so screwy," I said to Peter.

  "Ya... guess they don't have to worry about water pipes or sewers, it's amazing though, all the temples and artwork for a town of maybe ten thousand people."

  "Yes.. but I think it would have been better for them to spend all that time and money on sewers, I'm thankful that in the future someone finally figured that out."

  "That's strange too, it would have been so simple for them to do, they already know how to build complicated irrigation ditches, and the river is only a few hundred feet away," Peter said.

  "The leaders of this era made modern gangsters look like truant children, they're basically running a huge protection racket, only it's legal. They are so short-sighted that instead of trying to make things better all they worry about is screwing everyone over. The sad part is they have nothing to blow the cash on so they build endless temples, statues and tombs."

  "No cocaine or Ferrari's."

  "Or sixty inch plasma's, if you talk to them though, they think they're in the lap of luxury."

  We soon came upon Djoser's funerary complex on the edge of the city. We saw hundreds of workers building scaffolds and moving blocks of stone. I could see men working on the second level of the step pyramid, as Imhotep had said the first level was obscured by a large wall.

  "Oh my god, that's impressive," Peter said.

  "Yep, all that for a corpse that was probably burned to power a steam engine in the nineteenth century."

  "Really? They never found Djosers mummy?"

  "Nope, I wonder though if in the end that's better than being a museum exhibit?"

  "I think that being an exhibit would be kinda cool, spend eternity scaring little kids."

  We turned around and then walked back to the palace, Ra was starting his trip down to the horizon.

  Imhotep had sent word to the palace guard to have someone ready to escort us to our temporary quarters. We were led into a large airy room on the second floor, there were huge open windows looking out over the city.

  I looked around the room, it was furnished with a large bed the headboard pressed against one wall, there was also a couch and numerous small tables and cabinets spread around. Someone had put fresh cut flowers in vases in the room corners.

  "Looks comfy, no air conditioning though," Peter said.

  I looked at the rooms walls, I noticed numerous carvings on the walls with small holes in them, they were conveniently located around the room, no doubt to give a spy a panoramic view.

  I stood close to Peter and surreptitiously used my bracelet to activate a spell. The room became silent.

  "What happened?" Peter asked.

  "I stopped time, do not move."

  Peter stood still, I turned around and then dispelled the bed, I summoned another one that looked very similar, except that it was a modern design. I turned and faced my original direction and then ended the time spell. />
  "What was that for?" Peter asked.

  "We are being spied upon and I wanted to replace the bed."

  "Why?"

  "It is probably full of vermin, and the one I replaced it with has an invention of mine, an air conditioned blanket."

  "Oh... so we'll be comfortable after all."

  It was soon dark, Peter and I undressed and climbed into our bed. I felt the blanket cool my hot sticky skin, I felt quite smug in the thought that the most powerful king in the land was currently a few hundred feet away from us, sweating his ass off.