The Masks of Nyarlathotep:
The Diary of Dr Eliza Jamieson
So
the next step was unclear, however one thing was crystal and that was that
Daniel, Edward and I were all supposed to report back to London as our recall
orders had been received. It came abundantly clear that Daniel and Edward had
no intention of following these orders, but I was conflicted. Daniel as team
leader was effectively the commander on the ground so to my mind his orders
were law. On the other hand my father had instilled in me that I should always
follow the orders of the senior commander. After a lot of thought I made the
decision to stay with the group, mainly because I felt close to both Daniel and
Edward and even considered them friends. Which I have to admit I have in very
short supply mainly due to my somewhat caustic nature.
As
it was now decided that everyone was staying we decided to have a brainstorming
session before proceeding. Daniel started off by expressing his intention to
travel to the Dreamlands where he hoped to contact the priests of the
So
let us start off with Daniel, after a swift sojourn to the Dreamlands, Daniel
began his project by requesting a number of items he informed us were needed to
help him create a device that he would allow the channelling of mystical energy
and allow him to banish creatures not of this world. I noticed that while
Daniel was creating the item he was once again attracting feline attention
including the Abyssinian which would likely indicate that Bast
was assisting his actions. In all it took Daniel four days to create the item
which was in the form of a silver ankh and while the creation of the item did
not appear to cause him any mental distress, I noted that he did appear
slightly diminished upon its completion.
My
own plans on the other hand were two-fold, for not only was I attempting to
acquire a complete translation of Mr Zwaiter’s amulet
(I recalled seeing some of the symbols displayed on the amulet in the Testament
that MI13 had sent to me before their dissolution). In hope of identifying the
creature it was intended to ward against and maybe even acquire the activation
trigger (not that I held out much hope for the second of these). As it turned
out I was unable to achieve either of these goals as I was unable to find the
correct passage.
My
second task was to take a refresher course in regard to my skills with a
firearm. Because the remainder of our group had made it clear that they
intended to explore the Dream Steel. For it appeared that while Robert’s
sparkler had not revealed the actual hoped for doorway it had revealed a yet
unidentified mystical element within the stone itself. I had returned my glock to MI13 following the encounter with the illegal
aliens on Silbury Hill so I would require a
replacement weapon. However I should note that this caused conflict with my
medical ethics and to be honest I was unsure if I would be able to shoot a
person, but as it turned out numerous generations of Jamieson family genes
would stand me in good stead and allow me to overcome my reservations.
Apparently
Robert’s sparkler had caused a number of hieroglyphs on the Dream Steel to
start glowing and after a bit of work Ms El Ahmed was able to translate the
words. However she suspected that the words would need to be spoken in Ancient
Egyptian while standing in front of the Dream Steel. The full translation
follows. I noted that the passage lacked correct grammar and punctuation but it
probably makes sense in Ancient Egyptian.
‘The
Majesty the King Eternal who makes the wind of Set at the time of sleep
speaking “look at me see me father I shall give you the Eye of the Lord of all
my limbs are dismembered run to me I come forth and I desire shall be you”.’
At
this stage Ms El Ahmed felt that she should impart some information in regard
to the wind of Set, for she stated that the records revealed that Set had
mystical powers one of which was the creation of a wind of ill omen that would
blow out of the desert which was one of his most destructive gifts. It is also
believed by the Ancient Egyptians that people who invoked this gift were of
evil purpose.
Edward
reported that he felt unsettled while in close proximity to the Dream steel and
believed that the Stone had a power within it, yet as far as he could tell it
was not aligned to either good or evil. I noted this in my diary only for
reference as we do not appear to have a way to guide energy such as this in our
favour.
Meanwhile
Sgt Hussein, Robert and Mr Zwaiter were busy
acquiring weaponry and equipment for our little excursion. They were finally
able to report that they had acquired enough body armour and helmets to equip
all members of the team, but the body armour they acquired was far too big for
me. They were also able to acquire two pairs of light intensifier goggles which
were assigned to Sgt Hussein and Robert as they were the only ones experienced
in their use.
In
fact everything appeared to going smoothly for it appeared Hyena and his
cronies were as of yet unaware of our plans and one of the artefacts required
for the resurrection ritual was still safe and secure in the Ibn Tulun Mosque. However this
was soon to change. For on Friday 17th October there was an article
on the local news reporting a terrorist attack at the Ibn
Tulun Mosque the previous evening.
The
report stated that the attack had taken place around
We
noted that the report stated that two of the scholars who were among the
injured were named Samir Mohammed and Abdul Saleem, both of whom we believed we may have encountered
upon our visit to the mosque. Mind you both Abdul and Mohammed are common names
in
Mr
Zwaiter, Robert and Daniel were chosen for this as
they were the ones who had the language skills and presented the best chance of
acquiring access. However upon their arrival at the hospital they found their
path blocked by a large nurse who refused to allow them access to the injured
men, despite this Mr Zwaiter reported that he was
able to observe Abdul Saleem at the end of the
corridor and was able to identify him as the angry priest. Mr Zwaiter was also able to observe that Abdul had been
injured because his arm was in a sling and while Abdul he did not appear to be
angry he did appear to be arguing with someone who was hidden behind a screen.
After
a few moments Mr Zwaiter was able to use his status
as ambassadorial staff to get past the nurse and gain access. As he approached
Abdul he was also able to see that the person behind the screens was in fact Samir, the man the man who had served as our guide during
our excursion to the Ibn Tulun
Mosque. Robert and Daniel were unable to circumvent the large nurse so we are
reliant upon Mr Zwaiter for all the relevant details
that follow.
It
appeared that Abdul was holding the party line in that he believed that the
attackers were indeed terrorists as reported. However Samir
did not appear to be in with this agreement for he believed the men had an
ulterior motive to whit theft of certain items stored within the Khizanaah. As it appeared that several items had actually
been removed and one of these items was the Girdle of Nitocris.
Abdul
was not convinced by this argument for he reported that the theft from the Khizanaah had been committed by other forces as he described
the thief as being a shadow thing from the desert, a large creature with red
skin that hung loosely on its bones. He also reported that the creature in
question had apparently stepped out of the walls. The creature then inflicted
injury upon several of the guards who included Abdul’s grandson, Kharis, before grabbing the Girdle and exiting the way it
had come.
Kharis had also been taken by the creature and Mr Zwaiter remarked that Abdul softened somewhat when he
stated that if the team were able to rescue his grandson then they would
receive his thanks. Kharis had actually injured the
creature as apparently he had been wielding an artefact that had also been
stored in the Khizanaah, a blade called Al-Adb, which translates as ‘the sharp’, also named the Sword
of the Prophet. Abdul stated that were we able to reacquire this item, then it
could very well save our souls.
From
the description Samir had been able to give us in
regard to the creature Robert suspected that the creature may have been an
illegal alien called a Dimensional Shambler. A
creature described as being of gigantic size with dead eyes and loose red skin.
The illegal alien in question is said to have claws and the ability to access
any item by stepping through dimensions and then pulling the said items back
through to its summoner, which it appears to have
done with both the Girdle and to a lesser extent Abdul’s grandson.
It
was now vital that we find out what was happening under the Big Cat because it
was clear that the forces working against us were now in possession of the
three artefacts required to resurrect Nitocris. With
this in mind we began to make our plans which largely involved us arriving at
Big Cat just after they had finished the clean-up from the light show.
One
final thing we needed that we didn’t have at this stage was a safe haven to
retreat to after the operation and unfortunately MI13 was now defunct. So we
needed to contact the only other person who could give us this to whit Caspar (Mr Green). To this end Daniel presented the card Caspar had handed to him and appeared to be surprised that
not only did I also have a card but that I knew who he was talking about, for
he had seemingly forgotten that it was me and not Barbara who had accompanied
him to
That
to one side however Daniel was able to contact Caspar
and we were informed that once we wished to leave Egypt then all we had to do
was go to the United States Embassy and ask for Mr Green and he would arrange
for us to be got out of the country.
We
then got some rest before we heading out to Big Cat. We arrived at Big Cat at
just after
As
well as the lightning gun, I took my trusty medical kit, a glock
pistol with a spare magazine, a knife, Geoffrey Baxter’s mask, my satellite
phone and a helmet which was to cause me endless problems as the damn thing
refused to stay in place. However I must admit that I felt it a little odd that
considering this was essentially a covert mission I had not been given a silencer
for my pistol, maybe this was due to the fact that I was not expected to get
into a firefight. I assumed of course that Sgt
Hussein and Robert as members of special-forces would have taken silencers on
their weapons but clearly I was to be proven wrong.
As
we approached Big Cat it was obvious that there was no one around and we were
able to approach the Dream Steel without attracting attention. It was now Ms El
Ahmed’s time to shine and she stepped forward and read out the words from the
translation. However when she finished nothing appeared to happen which was
something of an anti-climax.
Ms
El Ahmed then went to her notebook as apparently she must have got something
wrong we then lined up and she started again and once again we were underwhelmed
to find no reaction. At this stage we were all set to give it up and try again
tomorrow morning after she had double checked the translation however Ms El
Ahmed tried for a third time and this time something did happen, (Maybe you
have to say the phrase three times) as the stone turned a pale blue colour and
appeared to be slightly translucent.
Robert
and Sgt Hussein then approached the stone and vanished into it. Daniel was the
next to step forward and he too vanished in the stone, as it then came to my
turn and I had a worrying thought we appeared to be going somewhere and we had
no plans as to how to get back. I remarked upon this but it did not stop the
others from going through and finally I was alone so I took the bit between my
teeth and stepped through to join the others. As I stepped through I felt a
slight pull which was hard to describe, much like an itch you cannot scratch.
Arriving
with the others I found we were in a rough hewn passageway illuminated in a
pale green glow due to someone deploying one of our glow rods. I noticed
looking back that there appeared to no sign of the doorway we had used and
there appeared to be no equivalent of the Dream Steel at this side. We also had
another issue, Ms El Ahmed was the only one with the knowledge to speak the
words that opened the doorway and I asked her if she could recite them into the
recorder on my phone but she appeared reticent to do so which meant it was
essential she be kept safe.
Robert
then declared that he and Sgt Hussein would do some recon while the rest of us
sorted out some sort of order. Robert and Sgt Hussein were gone for about five
minutes and when they returned they were able to report that they had
discovered another tunnel up ahead that appeared to not only be better made but
also had a luminescence about it that would allow us to see our way. When we
check this out we find that the light appears to be emanating from some
blue/green fungus attached to the walls I am unsure if this is a natural fungus
but I took a sample which hopefully could be examined later just to be sure.
So
we began our exploration of the complex, Robert would be taking the lead while
Daniel would take second place, I was chosen to be third in line followed by Mr
Zwaiter and Edward, Ms El Ahmed would then take the
next place leaving Sgt Hussein to take the rear guard position.
I
would like to describe the route we took here but I soon got confused by the
numerous turns and switchbacks. However as it turned out mapping this place
would have been a pointless exercise anyway. However it has to be noted that
there must be an easier way though these passageways, as I am fairly sure that
Hyena and his cronies would not use the route we used.
We
had been walking for approximately ten minutes when we came upon our first
encounter and I also discovered that our military arm had indeed forgotten
about silencers. The encounter was in the shape of three ghouls who had emerged
from a side passageway and attacked the rear of the group. Sgt Hussein was
swiftly able to dispatch these three without much incident. However the sound
of his weapon on automatic was deafening in such a confined space and virtually
announced our presence to anyone within earshot.
My
ears were still ringing from this encounter when we blundered into our second
encounter, which was around the very next corner. This time it was Robert who
was involved and I don’t exactly know what started it off because it was well
underway before I stepped round the corner.
As
I saw it, Robert was on the floor wrestling with what appeared to be an
emaciated child wearing a weird Halloween mask. Daniel meanwhile had moved
around the side and was stood over the group with his baton raised. Thinking
tactically, I chose to not get involved but instead covered down the corridor
in case more denizens were drawn to the encounter.
The
fight as expected was very much one sided and Daniel thankfully was unscathed. However
Robert had suffered a minor scrape to his left elbow, which I quickly dressed
and cleaned. Meanwhile the emaciated creature had breathed its last and was
quickly proven to be something completely different to what I had first
thought, as it appeared that the creature was not a child but was in fact a
full grown adult, nor was the head a mask for it appeared this was natural in
so much as I could find no scarring to indicate this had been done surgically.
I noted that the creature’s head was in the form of a hawk, making the creature
look somewhat akin to the pictograms depicting Horus
who was an Ancient Egyptian god.
Just
for my own piece of mind, I checked to see if the creature had only left hands
and feet but this was not the case. But it is likely that this is a creature of
the mythos and will probably require research if we
want to find out what it really is.
However
I feel the encounter with the illegal alien has disturbed Robert in some way.
It is quite clear that he is not as calm and collected as usual and this is
displayed in our next encounter. This encounter he informs us is with a ghoul
he observed skulking in one of the side passages, Robert draws his pistol and
discharges two shots at the creature and as far as I can tell he misses with
the first shot and only wings the creature with his second, which is rather
unusual knowing how good he is with that pistol. Anyway, one thing is for sure
and that is that the creature got away as we hear a screech swiftly followed by
the sound of footsteps moving away.
After
this encounter Sgt Hussein takes the vanguard while Robert takes the post as
rear guard but as we walk forward he obviously is not checking his footing as
he steps forward and slips falling onto his back with a clatter of equipment.
Fortunately only his pride is damaged.
This
is followed a little later by an experience only I was to suffer for I felt
something strike my left shoulder. Initially I thought it might be Mr Zwaiter attempting to attract my attention, but when I
checked back over my shoulder this was clearly not the case as he was too far
back to reach me. So with this in mind I stepped away from the wall and, after
a cursory check it was clear, nothing was coming out of the wall, which left
only one option and that was the ceiling. So with some trepidation I looked up
only to note that the ceiling was bleeding! Now I know some people would be
concerned by this but I have seen much stranger things than this and after all
blood doesn’t really phase me being as I am in the medical profession. I am
sure some of the slightly more mentally fragile member’s team may have been
affected by this but fortunately I am not one of them.
Shortly
after this we notice that that the walls of the labyrinth are plastered and
when some of the party examine the walls they appear to be disturbed by what is
displayed as they later report that figures depicted are the pictograms of
humans with animal heads inflicting obscene acts upon normal humans. Fortunately
I did not see this as I was busy rearranging my helmet for the umpteenth time.
Ms El Ahmed takes a closer look at the hieroglyphs depicted here and she
remarks that the creatures apparently are called the children of the sphinx and
that the creatures appear to have the heads of several of the gods of the
Egyptian mythos. Mind you it should be noted that
there is not a cat among the heads.
Fortunately
Robert is back to his old self and has swapped places with Sgt Hussein in time
for our next encounter for this involves a head on assault by four huge ghouls.
Robert is able to dispatch two of the creatures before they are in melee range
and I am able to stop one of the remaining two however I note that Daniel
appears to have frozen in fear and that Mr Zwaiter is
also having issues as he does not really take any part in the encounter.
Fortunately Robert is able to deal with the final ghoul in melee but he does
suffer a couple of injuries, one of which will probably require stitching.
Daniel too suffered a minor injury during the encounter. I am able to clean and
patch up the injuries but I feel that both men should have blood tests after
this to check for any infections because who knows what sort of diseases are
carried on the claws of these creatures.
After
this encounter I find it abundantly clear that Daniel, Robert, Edward and Mr Zwaiter are all suffering mental distress and I can only
hope that they can hold it together long enough to get out of this infernal
place. For each of them report that they can sense a wind coming from behind
the group that they describe as being akin to the breath of a large animal
following the group. After checking with Sgt Hussein it is clear that there is
indeed no animal but I have to say this does concern me somewhat.
Mr
Zwaiter is also muttering something about drawing
maps down here as he feels they are useless and to be honest while I
sympathised with this argument at the time. It has to be said that he could not
be more right especially with what we now know of this place.
A
little further along we came upon a section of the passageway were the plaster
has clearly been damaged as there are several holes in the plaster and a number
of the figures are destroyed or damaged. It is in this section that Robert
notices a figure in one of the side passages. Robert reported that he felt that
this person was watching us and that he heard him giggle before vanishing.
Robert also claimed that he could actually recognise the figure in question
because he stated the figure was that of the Dark Man, one of the aspects of
Alpha One.
Shortly
after this we face concerted attack from Hookies.
There are eleven of these in number and as we encounter them they raise their
clubs and shout what I assume to be a battle cry before they begin their
charge. However it should be noted that attacking people with firearms while
dressed in rags and wielding clubs is foolhardy in the extreme, proven by the
fact that many of their number are shot down as they charge. However it must be
noted that these men are all fanatics and they refuse to retreat. Mind you I
did notice one edging away probably in an effort to bring in reinforcements so
I picked him off.
For
the most part we survived the encounter relatively unscathed but I was required
to do a few running repairs to several of the team.
Shortly
after this we observe a side passageway angling up at forty five degrees which
could indicate that this is another way out. However we chose to proceed on
corridor we were on. About a hundred yards further on Ms El Ahmed and Mr Zwaiter call a stop to the group as they claim to be able
to hear voices yet no one else is able to hear anything.
Ms
El Ahmed reports that the voices are speaking in Arabic and that while both
speakers appear to be cultured only one is natural Arabic speaker, this would
likely indicate that the two speakers are Penfold and
Hyena. She further states that they appear to be aware that we are in the
complex, which is no surprise when you consider the number of times we have
discharged firearms down here. One of the voices remarks that they have sent
the Children of the Sphinx to deal with us while the other warns that they
should not be leaving the temple unprotected. To which the other is heard to
state that even were we to find this so-called temple there would be nothing we
could do to stop what is going on, that the rise of Djutemes
is inevitable at this stage.
Apparently
Djutemes means ‘born of Thoth’
but does not actually imply a direct bloodline but is instead a form of
honorific role.
Unfortunately
due to the acoustics we are unable to tell were the voices are coming from.
Then the voices are suddenly cut off as we feel a gust of wind which is
noticeably both warm and dry. It initially blows directly into our faces but
suddenly changes direction and blows directly from behind us.
Deciding
to follow the path, we proceed straight ahead and there are several side
passageways clustered together and few yards further on we are able to see a
shallow flight of stairs. However the path branches just before the foot of the
stairs and we able to see that the main corridor proceeds to the right of the
stairs.
As
the stairs are quite shallow it is unlikely that they are a way out but we
decide to take a detour to see what is up there. As we proceed up the stairs we
are able to see what must be the temple some forty feet below our vantage
point. The temple, if this is what it is, is a huge amphitheatre some five
hundred feet in length with a black marble floor and numerous huge octagonal
pillars spread equidistantly around the chamber each about a hundred feet high
the tops spreading like huge stone trees. Yet in the middle of the floor we are
able to observe a large rectangular hole cut into the floor emitting a dull red
glow and emitting steam. Beyond that was a slightly smaller square hole which
was harder to spot as it was black on black and it was hard to judge what may
reside within this hole.
At
the far end of the chamber there appeared to be a platform which we can only
assume was the altar area and hence was the true heart of the temple as four
large braziers were placed upon this platform while a bridge lead off to the
right from behind the platform. There appeared to be some figures moving around
under the bridge but due to the light and distance we were unable to identify
who they were. We were also able to observe two other figures which are
possibly children of the sphinx moving in what appeared to be a guarding
pattern.
Suddenly
Daniel slips down and appears to be convinced that the entire temple if not the
entire complex is one huge living organism. Noting this I start watching the
pillars and maybe it is just an optical illusion or my mind playing tricks on
me but I could swear that the pillars were moving and that combined with the
wind made me feel like I was in some sort of huge respiratory system.
We
decide that whatever was going on we didn’t really want to have anything to
with this temple but as we were leaving our vantage point we are able to
observe what appears to be a splattering of blood on the platform together with
a splattering of yellow.
Daniel
then reports that Robert also appears to be acting strangely and slightly out
of character and when we look at him it is abundantly clear that Robert, like
Daniel, does not like this temple one bit and that he would rather be anywhere
else than here. It is obvious to me that Robert has a deep and abiding aversion
to the place. Yet it is very likely that this is the place where they summoned
the Dimensional Shambler and where it returned to
after the attack on the mosque, it was also likely that the yellow substance is
in fact the creature’s blood.
So
with this in mind then it is very likely both Kharis
and the Sword of the Prophet are somewhere nearby. Fortunately the creature’s
unusual blood gives us something relatively easy to track. Robert knows a bit
about tracking and takes the lead while the rest of us form up in our standard
order.
We
have been tracking the creature through a few passages when we come upon a pit
some fifteen feet deep yet there is a lip and the trail passes beyond the pit.
We easily circumvent the pit but it should be noted that this will likely slow
our retreat if we get into difficulties.
As
we move on, however, we can clearly hear a dull moaning which causes Daniel to
halt and toss one of his glow sticks out in front, causing some amusement.
However this is only momentary for suddenly we all sense a foul breeze which
makes the bile rise in my throat. Looking around, most of the group look quite
pale but fortunately for the most part we are able to control the gag reflex. Yet
Robert and Edward obviously got the lion’s share as the smell causing them to
violently expunge the contents of their stomachs onto the floor. Which I have
to admit does not help the atmosphere.
Following
the illegal alien’s path we find that the trail leaves the main passageway and
travels down one of the secondary passages. Where we come upon an unusual sight
because we find a black rose growing out of the wall and while a black rose is
not that unusual the size of the thorns certainly is, for each thorn is as long
as my little finger and wickedly barbed. So we take it carefully so as not to
catch ourselves on the barbs.
A
little bit further along I start to hear a noise that is hard to describe. The
noise is best described as a loud hissing like an angry snake or maybe even gas
escaping. I turn my head to remark on this only to find that the remainder of
the group have not heard the noise.
Then
suddenly there is the unmistakable roar of a weapon being fired on full
automatic from just ahead and as I am not ducking shells I assume that it is
Robert who is firing. Despite this however I can also hear a low chanting which
worries me until I realise that it is Daniel who is chanting. Suddenly I
realise that Daniel and Robert must have encountered the illegal alien and he is
attempting to activate his Ankh device and send the illegal back to its own
dimension. Of course I did not see the illegal alien as I was around the corner
when this encounter occurred and I only saw the aftermath.
I
also remember what Daniel had told me when he first showed me the Ankh and that
was that this was that the device that would help him to focus the power of Bast and that no impure energy should be focused through
it. Knowing in my own mind that my energy was pure I assisted his casting by
adding some of my power to the artefact.
Suddenly
there was a bright flash and a large popping sound and at the same time the
sound of auto fire ceases, which indicates to me at least that the creature has
been sent away. Mind you I am wrong in this assumption as the spell had not in
fact sent the creature away but had instead apparently detonated it, as I was
soon to find out.
As
I stepped around the corner the first thing I noticed other than Robert and
Daniel’s backs was a scimitar lying in a small pool of yellow ichor and, judging from the workmanship, I felt that it was
very likely that this was the Sword of the Prophet. So taking great care I put
on a pair of surgical gloves before picking up the sword. I then took great
care to clean all the ichor off the blade and handle.
The blade it must be noted was as sharp as a razor so I took extra care around
the cutting edge so as not to cut myself.
Meanwhile
it was clear that seeing the illegal alien had inflicted major trauma upon
Daniel as he was visibly shaking and muttering incoherently, and the only thing
I was able to understand from mutterings were that ‘she must be rescued’ but it
was unclear who the ‘she’ was he was referencing. One thing was clear however
and that was if we do ever get out of this place then Daniel would need to
return to England to receive psychiatric treatment as he is clearly too
unstable to remain in the field.
Strangely
enough, even though I had not thought about it during the last few minutes it
was clear that there was a way out somewhere up here otherwise we would not be
able to feel the whole place ‘breathing’. Mind you I presently had another
problem because I was able to see that the illegal alien had not so much been
sent back to whence it came but had instead been exploded, smearing the entire
corridor with a foul yellow slime.
There
was no way I was going to walk down that corridor now with my Myxophobia. I know it is only a minor affliction but it’s
like the minor arachnophobe, who can possibly handle
one or two spiders but if there was a corridor full then they feel like I did
then. Finally after a large amount of cajoling they are able to lead me through
but only after I have allowed them to put a bag over my head.
Fortunately
the trail continues beyond this point and we are once again able to track were
the illegal alien has been. Fortunately this did not involve us having to
travel between dimensions but it did involve a number of switchbacks before we
arrive in corridor with masoned bricks and a number of sturdy doors all of
which appear to be locked bizarrely, the first doors we had come across in the
entire complex. Fortunately Robert had his sparkler that allowed him to open
mundane doors such as these. Mind you, as it turned out he only needed to use
the sparkler once as we were soon to acquire the keys from the jailor.
I
had been assigned to the vanguard while Robert worked on the door and I was not
surprised by the sudden appearance of the hookie
prison guard. Mind you, my aim was a little off so maybe I needed to check the
sights on my pistol as I aimed at the central body mass but in the end shot him
in the right foot, detaching the extremity from the man’s leg. However despite
the fact that the man was clearly a fanatical cultist and had likely committed
heinous acts upon numerous people who had been placed in these very cells, my
ethics would not allow me to administer the coup-de-grace ion someone who was technically
no longer a threat.
Mind
you, Daniel appeared to have no regrets to this end as he pushed past me and
proceeded to batter the man’s skull with his baton until it was nothing but a
bloody smear, all the time shouting ‘where is she, what have you done with her?’
I was still unclear as to who the ‘she’ was he was referencing until Edward
informed me that Daniel believed that his daughter was down here, which was
surely impossible for she was back in England and this was clearly a delusion
created when his mind had broken following the defeat of the illegal alien.
However
there was little we could do in regard to Daniel’s situation at this stage but
one thing was we now had the keys to open the cells. In all we found twelve
people imprisoned in this area one of whom was Abdul’s grandson, Kharis, who was in the best condition of all the detainees
however he did have frostbite in his fingers, most likely from being pulled
through the dimensions by the illegal alien. Fortunately it did not appear that
severe and with careful treatment the fingers could most likely be saved.
As
to the other eleven, five of the men appeared to suffering from malnutrition
and displayed evidence of severe beatings but were for the most part mobile
however another two had suffered more serious injury, one of them clearly
displayed a badly infected wound on his thorax, were it appeared he had been
struck with one of the Hookies’ weapons. While the
seventh man had two broken arms which would require immobilisation before we
could get him out. So I gave the man a shot of morphine and set about the task
of making him able to be moved. However, in doing so I discovered that bones in
his arms not so much broken as totally shattered which must have taken
horrendous amounts of force. It was very unlikely this man would ever get the
use of his arms again but there is always the option of prosthetics.
As
to the final four detainees, two of the victims had suffered such severe mental
breakdowns that they were unlikely to ever recover from; they were standing up
but were resistant to any attempts to get them to either move out their cells
or even react to our rescue attempt, even the other eight detainees were unable
to get them to move. The final two however were the worst as they just lay on
the floor in a virtually comatose state. Unfortunately we needed to leave and
it was clear that these four were not able to do so and it would have been
cruel and heartless for us just to leave these poor souls here to suffer at the
hands of the vengeful Hookies.
Robert
was all set to put them out of their misery with a shot through the head but I
felt that was inhumane as these men had suffered enough so I suggested that we
should impart upon them a more peaceful passing so to this end I prepared four
syringes each containing a lethal level of morphine which I then gave to Kharis so that he could give each man a blessing before
they passed on. Unfortunately this used up my last reserves of morphine, but
hopefully we would not need it.
Leaving
the area of the cells we moved past the dead jailer and back the way he had
come and as we did so I noticed that a few of the ex-detainees either kicked or
spat on the corpse. After a short while we came upon a chamber that had a
notable upward incline and as we advanced through the chamber we once again
noted the same warm/dry wind we had experienced before were the wind blew
initially into our faces before swiftly changing direction and blowing against
our backs.
A
little further on from this we came upon a rather narrow passageway that some
of the team had difficulty squeezing through especially with their armour on
but we all made it through safely beyond the narrow passage we came across a
crossing of two paths and we chose the left hand path but as we did so we heard
a voice crying out an order that all the exits needed to be sealed I assume
this was because they had found out that we had rescued the detainees.
Travelling
on I noted that we appeared to climbing, judging from strain I was putting into
my leg muscles, however our escape plan was brought to a halt by a fifteen foot
wide hole in the path and there appeared to be no way to circumvent this pit. After
suggesting and rejecting various ways to get across the pit we finally decided
that it may be for the best if we try and find another way out.
So
we turned around and began to backtrack to the crossroads. However, shortly
after we started back we came upon a steep ramp heading down and even though we
had not been mapping the area one thing was certain and that was that none of
us recalled coming up a slope such as this and this was a single path with no
branches. It was clear to me that the catacombs were not only breathing but
were also shifting, which was incredible when you consider that the pathways
are changing with nary a sound.
With
this knowledge to hand we then headed back to where we had encountered the pit
only to find that the pit was no longer there. Mind you I was still wary and I
prodded the ground just to make sure it wasn’t just a trick. Continuing on from
this strangeness we came upon another growth of the strange black roses with
the large thorns. Again we were able to circumvent the rose and thorns without
incident but soon after this we faced another group of four ghouls. But they
were a mere speed bump as Robert was clearly on his game as he easily
dispatched all four well before they were within melee range.
A
little further on and we find another ramp heading up at forty-five degrees
however as we begin to climb both Robert and Sgt Hussein slip and they both
claim that they felt the ground move beneath their feet I find that a little
strange as no one noticed it. Mind you Robert and Sgt Hussein are of course the
most heavily laden members of the group so maybe the weight shifting on their
gear emphasised the shift in ground beneath their feet.
The
passageway makes yet another u-turn and we appear to be approaching an open
space. Within the space we are able to observe another one of the so-called
Children of the Sphinx. Like the first one we encountered this one has a falcon’s
head but is quite as emaciated. The space is well illuminated yet there does
not appear to be a light source and as we get closer we can see that the
illegal alien is not on its own as it has three companions with the heads of a
bull, lion and ibis.
It
is clear we need to get past these creatures with the minimum of fuss so Robert
and Sgt Hussein take the lead as they literally take the bull by the horns. The
fight is very much one sided and is completed with military precision by our
two Special Forces experts. This actually proves to be the final encounter for
five minutes later we are emerging from one of the graves in a Muslim cemetery
some four hundred yards to the North of Big Cat. I find it strange that they
have probably scanned this area numerous times with ground search radar and the
temple has never been detected despite its huge size which would likely
indicate that just like Alpha One’s throne room, the place exists in another
dimension.
As
we making our way back to the car however Edward reports that he can sense
another chamber approximately a quarter of a mile further to the North and I
wonder if this could be the site of the underground banqueting area Nitocris created to drown all the people in power who were
not under her sway. For it appears that place has never been found and if it
was found that it would be a treasure trove of ancient artefacts.
Once
we got back to Beachhead we dispatched most of the detainees to the local
hospital where hopefully at least some of them can be fixed up and returned to
their normal lives, with the exception of Kharis whom
we returned to the Ibn Tulun
Mosque. Upon our arrival one of the scholars went off to fetch Abdul and I have
to admit that he seemed somewhat surprised to find that we not only were
returning his grandson but that we had recovered the Sword of the Prophet, and
I have to note that for once he was rather pleased.
Back
at the hotel we had a number of decisions to make, the first of which was did
we really want to go back into that labyrinth beneath Big Cat? It was clear
that the answer to that was a resounding ‘no’ because it was very likely that
we would be meeting considerably more resistance than a few fanatics with
clubs. Plus it has to be said that looking for three relatively small items in
a complex of that size would be the equivalent of searching for one particular
needle in a huge stack of needles.
Attempting
to assassinate either Penfold or Hyena was also not
really a choice as it would be like chopping the head off the hydra as it is
likely that someone else would just take charge and we would need to find out
who that is. Our third and final option would have been an attempt to discover
the location of Nitocris’ mummy but this would likely
to be heavily guarded and would be the mission would be the equivalent of
placing our heads in an angry lion’s mouth while someone stamped on its foot.
So
the only decision we needed to make was where do we go from here? It was clear
that both Daniel (Alex) and Edward (Adam) were too mentally fragile to continue
in the field so their only option would be to return to England and to face the
music for not reporting back when ordered. As to Robert (
This
left the team as Ms El Ahmed who to all intents and purposes is a civilian with
no affiliation; Mr Zwaiter who had recently
experienced the true horror of what was occurring and who now clearly had a
decision to make and me, the sole representative of MI13.
If
I did not want to suffer incarceration then my only option appeared to be
sanctuary under the umbrella of Americans and Delta Green in particular. To
save a number of awkward questions I would also be taking many of the mystical
items we had gathered with me to whit Geoffrey Baxter’s Mask and Binoculars,
the hymn book and flute, The whip and sceptre we had recovered from Alpha One’s
throne room, The emerald crystal and lightning gun we had recovered from Silbury Hill and the four testaments we had in our
possession.
Before
we split up however I reminded everyone that if they had suffered any cuts or
blood injuries that they should arrange for a range of blood tests to ensure
they had not picked up any infections. Of course I had arranged for the home
team to have a full range of inoculations before we left
We
then said our farewells and I gave each of our departing heroes a warm hug and
kiss on the cheek before they departed. I also asked Alex if he could find the
time to recover my baby (car) from long stay car park at Heathrow, I also
offered him the opportunity to use my baby while I was away but with the
proviso that he didn’t wreck him. I also offered Alex the opportunity to use my
new home for part of his recovery due to the fact that I had been in the
process of moving when we had first been asked to come to