The Egyptian Cat Mystery: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story

by Harold L. Goodwin

  CHAPTER XIII

  The Space Mystery

  There was an air of excitement at the project when the boys arrivedthere the following morning. Everyone was busy on equipment, or studyingSanborn tracings. Winston and Kerama were working a slide rule whileFarid read figures.

  The boys waited until Winston gave a number, which Kerama marked on thepad he carried. Then the scientist looked up and gave the boys a biggrin.

  "Happy New Year both of you! Interesting news this morning. Take a lookat these."

  They were teletype sheets. Rick saw that a machine was now in one cornerof the control room, where technicians had finished installing it duringthe night.

  He and Scotty read the messages. Translated from the cryptic notationsand abbreviations used by the astronomers, it added up to confirmationof the Egyptian findings by both Jodrell Bank and Green Bank. Bothreported that they had also located a source of apparently modulatedhydrogen impulses. Both gave the same co-ordinates in space, in terms ofascension and declination, the way astronomers locate the position ofheavenly bodies. Both stated that the finding was remarkable andrequested all available data from Sahara Wells, and both announced theirintention of concentrating on the object while it was in "view" of theirradio telescopes.

  Rick looked at Winston, his eyes shining. "Boy! We're on to somethingbig. What's the next step?"

  "Next is a precise fix and distance computations by all stations. At thesame time, we want two kinds of recordings. We'll continue makingSanborn tapes, but we also want audio-tape recordings."

  "You want to actually hear this thing?" Scotty asked. This was unusual,since the radio telescopes ordinarily recorded the incoming signals intrace form on Sanborn strips.

  "We don't want to overlook any possibility," Dr. Kerama said. "This iswithout precedent, and we are not sure how to proceed. Dr. Farid has setup an amplifier on the output circuit, in parallel with the normalsystem, and he has brought in a pair of tape recorders we borrowed fromthe government radio station. It may be that listening to this signalwill give us clues that our eyes miss when we examine the tracings."

  Winston added, "That's your job. I intended to keep you here together, ahalf day at a time. But this is too important for such considerations,and we haven't a large enough Egyptian staff to handle everything. SoI'd like to work you in shifts."

  "That's okay," Rick assured him. "When do we start?"

  "The object comes up on our horizon shortly after one. Suppose you startthen. The first shift can work until five, and the second from five toeleven. One of the Egyptian technicians will take over then until welose the source below the horizon again."

  Hakim Farid took the boys to the tape setup he had established andexplained it to them. It was simple enough. The output signal from thereceivers was fed into a regular tape-recording circuit. The tapesthemselves were on huge reels good for about four hours of recording. Itwould only be necessary to watch the volume control and to see that allwas running smoothly. Changing tapes was only a matter of slapping a newreel into place, dropping the tape into the recording head, andthreading it into the empty reel.

  "How will we work it?" Scotty asked, while they rechecked the setup andtried out the tape motors.

  Rick frowned. "It kind of throws a monkey wrench into our plan, doesn'tit?" He and Scotty had worked out a way to recover the Egyptian cat,again with Scotty distracting the guard.

  "One of us will have to get it alone," Scotty said.

  Rick watched the tape run through and searched his mind for a method.There was only one way he could think of that would get the guard out ofthe way. "Looks as if that third kitten is going to have a home," hesaid finally. "I'll wrap it in an old newspaper, then pretend to find itunder something. I'll hand it to the guard. With luck, he'll get soexcited he'll run for his boss, thinking someone has tried to steal amuseum exhibit. Then I'll snaffle kitty off the shelf and hike out."

  Scotty rubbed his chin. "Could work," he said finally. "Unless the guardinsists that you go with him."

  "No speak Arabic," Rick said. "I won't understand. Let's hope the guardspeaks no English."

  "Well, if anything goes wrong, Moustafa will just have to wait. So I'lltake the first shift and you go get puss. That means I'll be waiting forol' Kemel alone tonight at the hotel."

  "Looks that way."

  There seemed to be no solution except to turn the cat over. Bartouki hadapproved, and the cat was his. Much as the boys hated to let go of anunsolved mystery, there wasn't any other way.

  Hassan drove Rick back into town, with the boy sitting in back. He wouldhave preferred to be in the front seat with the dragoman, but the taximeter took up too much room.

  The guide parked directly in front of the museum and asked, "I go withyou?"

  "Not this time, Hassan. I won't be long." If Rick's trick was to work,no translator should be at hand.

  He paid his piastres at the entrance and walked into the huge entrancehall, very conscious of the kitten in his pocket. It was wrapped in aweek-old copy of a newspaper recovered from the debris around the newbarracks.

  When he reached the second floor he acted like a casual museum visitor,taking his time, and working from exhibit to exhibit. But his mind wasnot on the wonders of ancient Egypt. It wasn't much use to think aboutthe cat, either. All the ground had been covered many times. Instead, hespent the time speculating on the meaning of the mysterious signal fromspace. Admittedly, he didn't have much knowledge of astrophysics orradio astronomy. But he had never heard of any natural phenomenon inspace that emitted pulsed signals in random fashion. Some stars pulsed,like the Cepheid variables, but in an orderly way.

  A half hour of speculation led him nowhere so far as the space mysterywas concerned, but it did bring him slowly to the museum area thatinterested him. He nodded politely at the guard, and continued hisexamination of exhibits, moving finally into the little room where thecat was hidden. Soon he was close enough to see that the Egyptian catand its antique friend were still in place. He continued on around theroom until he came to a glassed-in case that held some rare alabasterfigures. Directly before the glass case was a stone jar. It was bigenough to hold the kitten.

  Rick got ready. His coat was unbuttoned. He put a hand in the outsidepocket, ready to swing the coat out so his other hand could remove thekitten from the inside game pocket with one swoop. He watched the guard,using the glass-case front as a mirror.

  The guard bent his head to light a cigarette, and Rick moved. By thetime the cigarette was going well, the kitten was in the jar and Rickwas looking at the figures in the case again. He waited patiently, andtried identifying the figures so he would seem to be genuinelyinterested.

  The figure with the stylized jackal head was Anubis, the god of death.The hawk-headed one must be Horus. The female figure would be Isis. Theone with the solar disc over his head was probably Amon-Re. The rest hecouldn't identify at all. He wondered if one of them was Bubaste, thecat goddess. It would be appropriate.

  He drew back a little, first checking to see if the guard was watching,then he bent down and looked into the jar. He put a hand in and broughtout the newspaper. He turned it over and hefted it. Then he started tounwrap it.

  The guard was at his side in a flash, watching. The reddish form of thecat came into view and the guard snatched it from his hands. Rick turnedto him with a look of bewilderment.

  The guard unwrapped the kitten completely and held it up, then he turnedswiftly and hurried out.

  Rick was across the room in two bounds. He grabbed the Egyptian cat andtucked it into his inner pocket, then he closed his coat withoutbuttoning it and hurried after the guard.

  The guard hadn't gone far. Rick found him with another guard,gesticulating and waving the cat. Apparently the other guard was anofficer, because he had tabs on his shoulder.

  The guard with the cat saw Rick and beckoned to him. He walked over,trying to keep his expression interested but unconcerned.

  The officer spoke English, but not well.
"He say you get this?"

  "I see in big jar. Vase. Stone. In newspaper. Someone leave?" Rick didhis best to make his reply simple enough for understanding. Heapparently succeeded.

  "Think someone try steal. Bad."

  "Very bad," Rick agreed, straight-faced. "Hope you find. Steal frommuseum no good."

  "No good," the officer agreed.

  "Good-by," Rick said. He held his breath waiting for the reaction.

  Both guards gave him a half-salute, the courteous gesture he had seenoften in Cairo. He bowed and walked toward the stairs.

  Not until he was outside did he breathe freely. The cat was a comfortingweight in his pocket as he got into Hassan's car. He wondered what themuseum officials would think about the kitten. A moment's examination byone of the archaeologists would show that it was of concrete, and newconcrete at that. Maybe it would just end up at the _Lost and Found_desk, if they had one.

  "Let's go back to the project, Hassan," he directed. Scotty would wantto know if he had been successful. Then he could go to the Mena Houseand have a late lunch while Scotty recorded signals.

  If only he didn't have to give the Egyptian cat to Moustafa--until themystery was solved. He grinned at his own thought. The cat was no goodto him, was it? His only interest was solving the mystery. Why did somany people want it?

  He forced himself to think logically. It was old ground, but he wentover it again. The cat itself could have no real value. It was plastic,and plastic is cheap. On the other hand, it was valuable as a model, asBartouki had explained, and Moustafa had confirmed again last night.

  Rick wasn't satisfied. A professional thief like Youssef wouldn't beinterested in a model. He would want only objects of high value.

  There was only one possibility, which Rick and Scotty had consideredbefore, that the cat contained something more than the piece of leadBartouki had described. But there was no seam in the cat, no sign thatit was anything but a solid casting. Still, Rick reasoned, if a piece oflead could be cast into it, so could something of greater value.

  He had it! Somewhere in Cairo there must be a company that used X-ray orgamma-ray photography to check large castings. It was a very commonmethod of industrial quality control. Farid or Kerama would know of one,and he could arrange to have the cat X-rayed! It could be doneimmediately.

  Pleased with the idea, he paid attention to his surroundings for thefirst time since leaving the museum. Hassan was just rounding the cornerby Sahara Wells, turning into the new spur that led to the project.

  Ahead, across the road, was a caravan of camels. Rick watched,interested. There were a dozen camels, and Arabs in burnooses. Some ofthe camels seemed to be carrying loads. Like a movie, Rick thought.

  Hassan slowed, tooting his horn. The group on the road paid noattention. They weren't going to get out of the way for any old gasburner, Rick thought. Not these traditional ships of the desert.

  The car closed the gap, and one of the Arabs turned. Rick gasped. Underthe desert headdress a pair of eyes were looking at the car throughsteel-rimmed glasses.

  Youssef!

  And Youssef wanted the cat!