The Eye of the Serpent

by Philip Caveney

  Ethan was nodding, but he still seemed to be sleepwalking. ‘Those bones on the floor . . . Doc Hopper. What happened to him?’

  They hurried through the antechamber and up the steps to the fresh air.

  ‘Sonchis happened,’ said Alec. ‘He’s back. I don’t understand how, but he’s back. Come on!’ He started to run towards the campsite, and after a few moments’ hesitation Ethan hurried after him.

  ‘We’ll have to take something to burn them,’ said Alec. ‘It seems to work.’

  ‘Burn them?’

  ‘The other mummies. We’ll take some petrol from the fuel supply.’

  ‘Uh . . . but wait, we don’t even know where they were headed.’

  ‘Yes we do,’ said Alec, pausing to look at the American. ‘Isn’t it obvious? They’re going to the Gates of Apophis.’

  He moved on and Ethan stood for a moment, staring after him. ‘My God, Alec, are you saying that . . .?’

  ‘Yes. I think Sonchis has gone to do what he always planned to do. He’s gone to awaken the great serpent.’

  The dawn was breaking as Sonchis and his followers approached the cliffs. This at least had not changed: it was exactly as he remembered it, a huge limestone outcrop rising sheer from the sand dunes. Set in its very centre, at the top of a steep hill of broken shale, was the large semicircular opening of a cave mouth. He glanced back at his companions and pointed a finger at one of them.

  ‘You stay here and stand guard,’ he said, speaking in his own tongue. ‘Anybody tries to get into the cave, kill them. You two, come with me.’ As they followed, the woman draped across one mummy’s shoulder moaned and shifted a little. Sonchis reached out a hand to stroke her hair. ‘Patience, my dear,’ he said. ‘You will soon be keeping your appointment with destiny.’

  He turned away and began to climb the steep escarpment that led up to the mouth of the cave.

  Back at the crash site, there was total confusion. Coates was tending to Biff Corcoran, who was still unconscious. Charlie had actually put down her camera and was trying to help, holding a cloth against a deep cut on the reporter’s face. Mickey was still tinkering under the bonnet of the remaining Crossley and Archie was wandering about as though he didn’t have the first idea what was going on. The Arab workers had almost put out the blaze and all that remained of Mohammed’s Model T was a burned-out, smoking wreck.

  Coates looked up hopefully as Alec and Ethan approached. ‘Where’s Doc Hopper?’ he asked.

  Ethan shook his head. ‘He didn’t make it,’ he said.

  Coates looked confused. ‘What are you talking about?’ he snapped. ‘This isn’t a Tom Mix Western drama we’re in. What do you mean, he didn’t make it?’

  ‘I mean he’s dead. Hassan too. Killed by . . .’ Ethan looked distinctly uncomfortable. ‘Killed my mummies,’ he said.

  ‘Killed by—?’ Coates looked up at the American. ‘Have you gone quite mad?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m beginning to wonder,’ he admitted.

  ‘Ethan, there’s no time for this,’ Alec told him. ‘We have to get after Madeleine. You go and fetch your gun, I’ll find the petrol!’

  ‘Er . . . right.’ Ethan headed for his own tent.

  ‘Guns? Petrol? Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?’ roared Coates. ‘Alec, what are you doing over there?’

  Alec had lifted the tarpaulin that covered the fuel supply. He grabbed an empty petrol can and began to fill it from the main fuel tank. ‘It’s for burning mummies,’ he explained. ‘We just set fire to one in the tomb. It went up like a bomb!’

  ‘You . . . set fire to a priceless relic?’ roared Coates. ‘Why would you do a thing like that?’

  ‘Because it was alive. Well, not exactly alive . . . but coming after us anyway. And some of the other mummies have kidnapped Madeleine and taken her in Ethan’s Crossley, so we need to go after them.’

  ‘You may as well forget that,’ said Mickey, stepping away from the Crossley and wiping his oily hands on a rag. ‘I can’t fix it, Alec, they’ve done too much damage.’

  Ethan emerged from his tent, strapping on his holster. ‘What are you saying?’ he asked.

  ‘I need to buy new parts. It’ll take me days to get it running again.’

  Ethan said something colourful under his breath. He looked at Alec. ‘That’s it then,’ he said flatly. ‘There’s nothing we can do.’ He pointed across the road to the still smouldering remains of Mohammed’s Ford. ‘That was the only other vehicle for miles and it’s in no condition to go anywhere.’

  ‘Don’t remind me!’ wailed Mohammed.

  Alec slammed down the petrol can. ‘But we have to go after her. They are going to sacrifice her, Ethan, I’m sure of it.’

  ‘Alec, there’s no way. They’ve already got a huge start on us and we can hardly walk all the way to the Gates of Apophis. We’d die of thirst before we even got anywhere near the place.’

  Alec paced around for a moment, racking his brains. There had to be some way, he told himself. There just had to be! He couldn’t leave Madeleine to whatever fate Sonchis had in store for her. She was his friend – she had hugged him. Then it came to him in a flash of inspiration and he turned back to Ethan.

  ‘The biplane!’ he yelled.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Madeleine’s plane. It’s only a short distance from here. You remember – we passed it on the road.’

  ‘A plane? Alec, I don’t know . . .’

  ‘Didn’t you tell me you flew planes in the war?’

  ‘Uh . . . yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can fly her plane.’

  ‘Well, why not? They’re all pretty much the same, aren’t they?’

  ‘Umm . . . well . . . I guess so . . .’

  ‘Come on then!’ Alec snatched up the petrol and turned to leave.

  ‘Hold on!’ roared Coates. ‘If you think for one moment, Master Alec, that I’m going to let you go up in an aeroplane with . . . that man’– he pointed an incriminating finger at Ethan – ‘you are very much mistaken.’

  ‘It’s not up to you,’ said Alec defiantly. ‘Madeleine’s in trouble and we have to help her. Besides, I’m only taking Ethan to the plane . . . I didn’t say I was going to go up in it, did I?’

  Coates frowned. ‘And who will accompany you back?’ he asked. ‘There are dangerous animals out there – hyenas and Lord knows what else.’

  ‘Mickey can come with us,’ said Alec. ‘You’ll come, won’t you, Mickey?

  Mickey nodded, looking baffled.

  ‘That’s settled then. Now let’s go, we’re wasting time!’ Alec picked up the petrol can and started along the road. Ethan and Mickey exchanged looks and then hurried after him. Coates stared dismally at their retreating figures, wondering what Alec’s father would say if he knew about this latest turn of events. Then somebody tapped him on the shoulder.

  ‘Did they say somebody has been kidnapped by mummies?’ whispered Charlie, her face very pale in the dawn light.

  Coates looked at her. ‘I do believe they did,’ he said.

  Charlie looked down at Biff and shook her head. ‘Would you believe it?’ she said. ‘He finally gets the story he’s been dreaming of and he ain’t even conscious!’

  Sonchis stepped into the cave. The first light of dawn was beginning to illuminate the interior. He stopped for a moment to stare up at the high vaulted roof, where hundreds of large, leathery bats clustered like strange fruit. He knew that they had travelled far to be here and that they were now starving to death, denied the food that they needed to survive, but it mattered little. They had come to do his bidding and would obey him until they had drawn their last breath.

  He walked across to the place where the stone floor ended in a sheer drop. He looked over the edge, straining his eyes to peer down into the void, but it was dark as the blackest night down there, and who knew how deep?

  He remembered the first time he had come here as a child – how he had stood at the edge of the chasm and gazed down into the
darkness: he’d known, even then, that Apophis slept down there in the bowels of the earth, and that one day he, Sonchis, would be the one to call him back to the surface. He had been anticipating this moment ever since. Now there were a few necessary rituals to perform and everything could begin. The first step was the initial sacrifice. He turned to the mummy carrying Madeleine.

  ‘Set the woman down,’ he said. The creature obeyed him and Madeleine groaned and rolled onto her side. Her eyes opened and she looked up at Sonchis. It took her a few moments to realize where she was.

  ‘Why have you bought me here?’ she whispered, and he saw fear in her pretty blue eyes.

  ‘You are going to help me achieve my ambition,’ he said. ‘Here is the lair of Apophis. Now, there are rituals to observe, spells to cast and finally a sacrifice to be made.’ He saw her expression turn to one of terror and he waved a hand at her. ‘Oh, don’t worry, it’s not your turn yet. No, first we offer our initial sacrifice.’

  He beckoned to the nearest of his disciples. The creature shambled forward and stood looking calmly at its master.

  Sonchis smiled. ‘This man was once my friend,’ he said. ‘We spent many long hours talking together, advising each other. But of course, now, wasted and wizened as he is, I cannot even tell which particular friend he might be. I suspect that he is a man called Selim, once my closest and most trusted ally . . . but of course, I cannot be certain. It is of no consequence.’ He reached out a hand and placed it on the mummy’s shoulder. ‘Goodbye, my loyal servant,’ he said. And with one swift movement, he threw him over the edge of the crevasse.

  Madeleine gasped in horror as the flailing bandaged figure fell silently down into darkness. She waited for the sound of a thud but it did not come for a very long time; when it finally did, it was barely audible.

  Sonchis turned away from the edge with a smile of satisfaction.

  ‘Now,’ he said. ‘Let us prepare.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Flying Blind

  BY THE TIME they reached the biplane, they were sweating and gasping for breath after a frantic half-mile dash along the road. Wasting no more time, Ethan clambered up into the pilot’s seat and Alec, still lugging the petrol can, climbed into the passenger cockpit in front of him. He stowed the canister by his feet and put on the goggles and leather helmet he found hanging on a hook beside him.

  ‘Alec, what the hell do you think you’re doing?’ snapped Ethan. ‘You promised Coates you wouldn’t go up with me.’

  Alec glanced back over his shoulder. ‘I’m not letting you go on your own,’ he said. ‘You’ll need all the help you can get.’

  Ethan looked down at Mickey. ‘Maybe you should come instead?’ he suggested.

  Mickey’s face turned pale and he shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Wade, I’m terrified of heights. I wouldn’t go up in one of those things for a hundred pounds.’

  Ethan scowled. ‘Great,’ he said. ‘I don’t know about this, Alec. This plane is totally new to me. Supposing something happens to you?’

  ‘Never mind about that. We’ve got to think about Madeleine. If Sonchis is planning to summon Apophis, I feel sure that part of that ceremony will be a human sacrifice.’

  Ethan stared at him. ‘You really think so?’ he said.

  Alec held his gaze.

  Ethan considered for a moment, then nodded. ‘Then I guess we have no choice,’ he said. ‘OK, belt yourself in.’ He put on his own goggles and helmet and started fiddling with the unfamiliar controls. ‘It’s all in French,’ he complained. ‘I think this is the magneto’ – he threw a switch – ‘and this looks like it should be the fuel pump . . .’ He turned a tap on briefly and then switched it off again. Then he looked down at Mickey. ‘Now, we need to prime the engine,’ he shouted. ‘Grab the propeller and turn it once.’

  Mickey ran round to the front of the plane and did as he was asked. ‘Now what?’ he asked.

  Ethan flicked another switch. ‘Contact!’ he said. ‘OK, Mickey, I want you to grab that propeller and spin it as hard as you can, anticlockwise. And make sure you jump out of the way of it.’

  Mickey nodded. He reached up, grabbed the propeller and gave it a try. It turned a couple of times, spluttered, threw out a puff of smoke, then stopped.

  ‘I need to re-prime it,’ shouted Ethan. He flicked more switches, opened the fuel valve again, then shouted, ‘Contact!’ Mickey tried a second time. This time the propeller actually spun a few times before coming to a halt and spilling out a bigger cloud of smoke.

  Mickey looked up at Ethan and spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. ‘It’s not working, Mr Wade!’

  ‘No, trust me, we’re getting there,’ yelled Ethan. Again, the maddening fiddling with the controls, then: ‘Try it again, Mickey – hard as you can!’

  Mickey took hold of the propeller and spun it with all his strength. The engine nearly caught but died again after a few seconds.

  Ethan said something very colourful and slammed his fist against the plane’s dashboard. ‘OK, this time!’ he bellowed. He set the controls and yelled, ‘Contact!’ Mickey spun the propeller: it belched out a big cloud of black smoke and then started spinning in earnest. Ethan opened the fuel pump and revved the engine to a thunderous roar. He lifted a thumb to Mickey.

  ‘Chocks away!’ he yelled.

  Mickey looked up at him, not understanding.

  ‘The chocks!’ yelled Ethan. ‘The wooden blocks in front of the wheels!’

  Mickey scrambled to pull them aside and the plane immediately began to move towards the road.

  Ethan leaned out of the cockpit. ‘We’re heading for the Gates of Apophis,’ he yelled. ‘The cave system due west of here. You know where that is?’

  Mickey nodded.

  ‘Get help to us. As soon as you can – I don’t care how you do it, but send help. We may need it.’

  Mickey gave Ethan the thumbs-up, then lifted a hand to wave.

  ‘What do we do for a runway?’ shouted Alec over the roar of the plane’s rotary engine.

  ‘We’re already on it,’ Ethan bellowed back at him. He aimed the snout of the biplane at the horizon, opened the throttle and they accelerated along the bumpy dirt road, while he struggled to master the unfamiliar controls. In moments, the plane was moving at an alarming speed but showed no sign of leaving the ground.

  ‘We’re not going up!’ yelled Alec.

  ‘Yeah, I’m working on it!’ Ethan was hunched down, trying to work out how to deploy the flaps.

  Then Alec saw something on the road ahead of them. At first it was just a series of shimmering images in the rising heat of morning, but as the plane drew nearer, the shapes became more distinct and Alec saw to his horror that an Arab drover was leading a small herd of camels along the road towards them.

  ‘Ethan!’ he cried. ‘Ethan, ahead of us!’

  But Ethan was intent on the controls, trying to work out how to lift the Caudron from the ground.

  Alec could only sit and stare at the potential disaster awaiting them. They were closing on the camels at incredible speed.

  ‘ETHAN!’ he screamed, and this time the American looked up. He said something, but whatever it was, it was lost in the rush of wind around them. Alec could now clearly see the look of terror on the drover’s face as he saw what was approaching him along the road.

  ‘Get out of the way!’ roared Alec, gesturing frantically, but the man just stood there, frozen to the spot, his eyes huge in his sunburned face, his mouth hanging open. Behind him, the camels seemed to be mimicking his expression.

  Ethan slammed down the wing flaps and the plane finally began to rise from the ground, but the camels were looming up fast. Alec wanted to close his eyes but he could only stare, his heart pounding in his chest, as the plane rose gradually higher . . . higher . . .

  At the last moment the drover ducked and the wheels narrowly missed the heads of a couple of his prized camels; and as the plane skimmed over them, Alec was aware of the terrified crea
tures veering off the road in all directions and stampeding into the desert. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw that the drover had turned and was waving his fist at the departing plane.

  ‘What an idiot!’ shouted Ethan. ‘Who brings a herd of camels down a main highway?’

  Alec shook his head. He considered saying, That chap down there, but decided against it. For one thing it was difficult to talk with the wind pounding into his face, snatching his breath away; and for another, he was all too aware that Ethan needed to concentrate on what he was doing. How, for instance, were they going to change direction? No sooner had this occurred to him than the plane banked suddenly and, making a wide sweep to the left, headed out across the desert.

  Alec looked down and was shocked to see how high they were already: the great dunes below them looked like the surface of a child’s sandpit beneath the rapidly lightening sky. He felt a strange mingling of emotions within him. A sense of exhilaration, because he had never flown before and had always wanted to; apprehension, because he liked Madeleine immensely and was aware that she was in great danger; and, most of all, the feeling that he was asleep and all this was some fantastic dream, prompted by the things that had happened to him over the past few days.

  And then another thought occurred to him. The Gates of Apophis were out in the middle of the desert. Putting the biplane down on the bumpy surface of a road would be hard enough, but the cliffs where the cave was located would be surrounded by sand dunes. How were they ever going to land?

  Sonchis was kneeling at the edge of the great chasm. He had just begun speaking the words of reawakening when he felt something stirring down in the bowels of the earth; something huge and incredibly powerful. But another sensation had interrupted his thought processes: something was coming.

  He stood up and walked back to the cave entrance, staring out across the desert at the early morning skies. Yes, something was wrong. He concentrated, closed his eyes and saw a strange, bird-like machine speeding towards him, closing the distance much faster than the automobile had done. The parts of him that were the spirits of the recently departed gave him the machine’s name – an aeroplane. It wouldn’t take long to reach him.