“Are we talking armed guards?” said Daniel.
Edward smiled. “The mummies have surrounded themselves with a small army of heavily-armed mercenary soldiers, inside the Museum and out. Is that going to be a problem?”
“You expect the two of us to take on a whole army?” said Daniel. “Are you kidding?”
Tina glared at him. “We can do this; we’re Hydes.”
“Do this right, and the army won’t even know you’re there,” Edward said calmly. “Your mission file includes a floor map of the Egyptian Rooms, along with the exact locations for every man standing guard. All you have to do is sneak up on them, and enjoy yourselves.”
Daniel sat back in his chair, and thought hard. Was this really any more dangerous than taking on a whole Clan of Frankensteins and their creations, or a gathering of vampires and their victims? At least this time they wouldn’t have a bomb hanging over their heads . . .
“Why the Egyptian Rooms?” he said. “Because the artifacts remind the mummies of home?”
“Presumably,” said Edward. “After all, there’s nothing left of the world they were born into. A whole civilization, gone back into the sand.”
“What do they even have to live for?” said Daniel. “What keeps them going, in a world that probably makes no sense at all to their antique minds?”
“They go on because they’re afraid of dying,” said Edward. “That’s what led to them becoming mummies.”
“They wanted to be mummies?” said Tina.
“Hardly,” said Edward. “Remember, they were scientists of a sort, uninterested in anything but the creation of drugs that would let them live forever. However, the priests of ancient Egypt saw what they were doing as blasphemy, and had the nine men mummified alive and entombed. But, of course, they couldn’t die, after the drugs they’d already taken. And so they waited out the passing of centuries, locked away in the dark, until their tombs were rediscovered and broken into.”
“It’s a wonder they didn’t go mad,” said Tina.
“Who’s to say they didn’t?” said Edward. He leaned back in his chair, smiling easily. “Think of all those brave scholars and adventurers, trekking into the depths of Egypt, searching out forgotten tombs with nothing to guide them but scraps of maps and hints of history. Now, imagine them breaking down the door of some newly rediscovered tomb, intent on treasure and the thrill of discovery—only to find something in there waiting for them. The bandage-wrapped hand that shoots out of the darkness, to crush a throat or crack a skull. And then . . . the first faltering steps out of the dark and into the light, as something from the distant past emerges into the modern world . . . ”
“You’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this,” said Daniel.
“Know thy enemy,” said Edward.
“What do these mummies look like?” said Daniel. “Are we talking about the bandage jobs from the old horror films? Stumbling along with one outstretched hand, in pursuit of tana leaves or some reincarnated long-lost love?”
“I always thought those movies were very romantic,” said Tina, just a bit unexpectedly.
“No one knows what the mummies look like,” said Edward. “They keep themselves strictly to themselves. Hardly surprising . . . who else is there, that they could have anything in common with? The world they knew has been dust and less than dust for millennia. The annual gathering is the only time they emerge from behind their usual layers of protection, to meet in person.”
“Why would they risk that?” said Tina.
“Nostalgia?” said Edward. “A chance to say I can remember when it was all sand around here . . . or simply because all the other monster Clans hold gatherings, and the mummies didn’t want to feel left out. Or perhaps it’s just vanity, proclaiming Here we are! Still alive, after all these years. Look on our achievements and despair!”
“Who’s your inside man?” said Tina.
“I had great difficulty finding one,” said Edward. “That’s one of the reasons it’s taken me so long to arrange the complete destruction of the monster Clans. I couldn’t risk making a move until I was sure I could bring them all down. Because if even one survived, it would take control of all the territories . . . And of course I couldn’t buy the loyalty of anyone in the mummies’ inner circle, because they already had more money than they knew what to do with.”
“I’m guessing you have other methods for suborning people,” said Daniel. “Blackmail, or intimidation?”
“How well you know me,” said Edward. “But, much as it pains me to admit it, everyone turned out to be far more scared of the mummies than they were of me. Which gives you some idea of how vicious those monsters can be. Of all the Clans, the mummies have always made the most use of the werewolves, to dispose of outside threats, and the ghouls, to dispose of all the bodies that accumulate in their wake.”
“Hold it,” said Daniel. “You told us that the werewolves act as muscle for all the Clans . . . but Tina and I haven’t spotted anything hairy and dangerous so far.”
“I’ve been wondering about that,” said Edward. “In the past the wolves provided security for all the gatherings, but this year the entire werewolf clan has been conspicuous by its absence. It’s as though they’ve disappeared into the deepest part of the underworld.”
“Why would they do that?” said Tina.
Edward shrugged. “The last reports I saw mentioned something about an internal power struggle in their clan. It’s a dog-eat-dog world in the werewolf clan. I’ve got people out watching for them, should they decide to reappear. For now, be grateful that the werewolves aren’t part of the problem. Silver bullets are expensive.”
“Can we get back to your inside man?” said Daniel.
“Of course. Professor Albert Pinder was a part of the British Museum academic staff, specializing in the more obscure areas of ancient Egyptology. Perfectly happy to potter around in his little ivory tower and do the odd job of authentification for the mummies—until he discovered exactly what it is the mummies do for a living. Spitting mad at the thought of his precious Museum being under the control of a criminal organization, he reached out to me.”
“How would an academic like Professor Pinder even know someone like you existed?” said Daniel.
“He didn’t,” said Edward. “But I have people everywhere. When they heard he was looking for someone brave enough to stand up to the Clan of Mummies, the professor was carefully pointed in my direction. I’m told my existence came as something of a shock. Apparently living mummies from the dawn of civilization was one thing, but a ‘fictional character’ come to life was quite another. Perhaps that’s why he insisted on meeting me in person. I like to think I wasn’t a disappointment . . . I promised him the complete destruction of the mummies, in return for their exact location and a means of entering the Museum unobserved. Luckily for us, the professor knew a lot about the history of the British Museum, and was able to provide an entirely unexpected means of entry.”
“You keep talking about him in the past tense,” said Tina. “He’s dead, isn’t he? Did the mummies get to him?”
“Something like that,” said Edward.
Daniel sat up straight, as the penny dropped. “You killed him! That’s why you had to go and meet him in person!”
“He lost his nerve,” Edward said calmly. “He was ready to betray us to the mummies. I couldn’t allow that. They would have set an ambush and killed both of you. So I did what I had to. He died very quickly, if that matters.”
“Tell us about the secret way in,” said Tina.
“The Museum will be surrounded by mercenary soldiers, so all the usual entrances are closed to us,” said Edward. “Even Miss Montague couldn’t provide you with enough weapons to get past that level of security.”