“Those are crocodiles,” said Tina.
Daniel looked at her. “How can you be so sure?”
“The mummies are big on tradition,” said Tina. “And the old-time pharaohs really got off on throwing their enemies to the crocodiles.”
Daniel studied the huge creatures carefully. At least ten feet long, they had dull gray scales, mouths packed full of teeth, and cold, unblinking eyes. Packed tightly together, they filled the tunnel from wall to wall like a living barrier. They hadn’t just arrived, after a wander through the sewers—they’d been carefully placed in position to insure no one got past them. While Daniel was still trying to work out how anyone could have arranged that, one of the crocodiles turned its head to look at Daniel—and then lurched forward, heading straight for him. All the other crocodiles surged after him, their short, stubby legs churning through the dark waters. Daniel thrust a hand into his backpack for the flare pistol.
“No!” Tina said sharply. “Any flames could ignite a pocket of gas and blow up the tunnel.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?” said Daniel, reluctantly taking his hand out of the backpack. “Those things are really picking up speed.”
Tina’s laughter filled the tunnel. “Let them come. I always wanted to fight a dinosaur.”
“You’re weird,” said Daniel.
There wasn’t much room to maneuver in the tunnel, so Daniel and Tina just stood their ground and waited for the crocodiles to come to them. The moment the first of them came within reach, Daniel slammed his fist down hard on top of the crocodile’s head. The skull broke under the impact, and the crocodile’s head was forced down into the water. All Daniel had to do then was hold it there until the beast drowned.
Tina grabbed the next crocodile to arrive, and hauled it up out of the waters. The great jaws snapped at her viciously, but she easily evaded them and slammed the creature against the wall. Brickwork shattered, and the crocodile went limp in her hands. She turned the semiconscious creature around, took a firm hold on its tail, and then used her crocodile as a flail to bludgeon the others to death. Tina whooped loudly, as she brought the dying crocodile hammering down again and again. Blood spattered across the walls and stained the waters. Some of the crocodiles tried to back away, but Tina brought her crocodile slamming down with vicious force until nothing was moving.
One crocodile did manage to get past her and lunged at Daniel, its jaws stretched wide. Daniel grabbed them with both hands, and held the beast back as it strained toward him. Finally he forced the jaws apart until the muscles tore, and then broke the crocodile’s neck.
Daniel and Tina dropped their dead crocodiles and listened carefully, but everything was still and silent. Daniel let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, and allowed himself to relax. The mummies must have thought six oversized reptiles would be enough. And if the intruders had been anyone else, they would have been right. A thought struck Daniel, and he turned to Tina.
“Didn’t the ancient Egyptians worship crocodiles?”
Tina shrugged. “They worshipped pretty much everything at one time or another, often in strange combinations.”
“So we just killed the mummies’ gods?”
“Start as you mean to go on,” Tina said briskly.
It took them a while to clamber over the dead crocodiles and continue on their way, but the access point to the British Museum turned out to be just around the next corner. An ancient trapdoor in the ceiling, it opened easily to Hyde strength and persuasion, and Daniel and Tina quickly pulled themselves up and into the Egyptian Rooms. Which turned out to be unusually dark and gloomy because all the electricity had been turned off. Instead, dozens of candles and oil lamps had been set up all over the place, giving the setting a warm yellow glow like the patina of age. There didn’t seem to be anyone else around.
“I’m guessing this isn’t a power cut,” Daniel said quietly. “Just the mummies making themselves at home.”
“Like this place isn’t creepy enough at night,” said Tina. She glared around at the various Egyptian artifacts, as though daring them to start something.
Daniel took off his gas mask, and the smell from his catsuit hit him like a punch in the face. He all but ripped the suit apart getting out of it, and Tina did the same. They changed into their casual clothes, stuffed the soiled catsuits into their backpacks, and then dropped them through the trapdoor into the sewer—remembering at the very last moment to take out the flare pistols and the flares first, and distribute them in convenient pockets.
They closed the trapdoor quietly, and then Tina consulted the map in her head and pointed the way. They set off through the Egyptian Rooms, moving so quietly they didn’t even disturb the flames on the candles. Ancient artifacts loomed up out of the gloom, dead reminders of a dead world. Stylized faces stared out of the shadows with eyes that never closed, and tall figures of forsaken gods watched sternly from their pedestals as the Hydes padded softly past them.
And then Daniel gestured urgently for Tina to stop, as he spotted the first guard. The mercenary soldier was half hidden in the shadows, standing with his back to a sarcophagus. He had the same body armor and really big gun as the guards outside, but he also had night goggles and kept moving his head in a slow arc, so he could cover everything in his range of vision with a minimum of movement. Daniel and Tina stood very still, concealed in their own shadows. Tina pressed her mouth against Daniel’s ear.
“We have to kill every single mercenary standing guard,” she said quietly. “We can’t risk them sneaking up on us from behind, while we’re busy dealing with the mummies.”
“I didn’t join Edward’s war to kill people,” said Daniel. “I’m only in it for the monsters.”
“Some people are monsters,” Tina said reasonably.
Daniel craned his neck, to check out the shadows around the guard. “Why can’t we just go round him? We know where all the guards are stationed. It’s in the file.”
“Because we would have to be lucky all the time, and they’d only have to be lucky once,” said Tina. “We have to kill all of them, to make sure no one gets a chance to sound the alarm.” She realized her voice was starting to rise, and quickly lowered it again. “This could be our only opportunity to catch the mummies all together in one place, out in the open and vulnerable.”
Daniel shook his head stubbornly. “I won’t kill people just because they’re inconvenient and in the way. Because they’re doing their job.”
“These are mercenary soldiers we’re talking about,” said Tina, with heavy patience. “Their whole job is based around killing people who got in the way of their employers.”
“Soldiers are like policemen,” said Daniel. “Doing a job that needs doing, that no one else wants to.”
“You’re not a policeman anymore,” said Tina. “You’re a Hyde.”
“As long as I remember what it means to be a cop, I’m not just a Hyde,” said Daniel. “I’m still me.” He wished her were as sure of this as he sounded.
Tina looked like she wanted to throw her hands in the air and then grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him, but she forced herself to stay calm and give reason another try.
“These guards aren’t soldiers serving their country,” she said. “They’re here to protect monsters. To make it possible for the monsters to go on destroying lives. We can’t watch our backs and concentrate on taking out the mummies.” And then she stopped, and looked closely at him. “This isn’t about them—it’s about you, isn’t it? What’s the real problem here, Daniel?”
He met her gaze steadily. “I can’t kill people in cold blood. That would make me a monster. Just like Edward.”
Tina shook her head slowly. “How many times do I have to tell you this? You are nothing like Edward.”