Daniel smiled briefly. “Because you know him so well.”
“Exactly. All right . . . Try this. These guards are professional killers. According to the mission file, which I’m assuming you didn’t finish, they’ve hired out to every trouble spot there is, specializing in protecting the really bad apples. Because that’s where the money is. Every single one of them has innocent blood on their hands; people whose only crime was to live in the wrong place. And now the mercenaries have come here, to protect the mummies, who between them have probably destroyed more lives than all the soldiers put together. Just think of all the victims who’ve suffered at their hands . . . and see if your blood is still cold.”
“It’s not that simple,” said Daniel.
“Sometimes, it really is,” said Tina. “We have to do this, Daniel, if we’re to get to the mummies. You didn’t have any problem disposing of the vampires in the Underground, because you saw what they did to people. Trust me, the mummies are just as bad. It’s still all about addiction, and what it does to people.”
Daniel thought about that for a moment, and then nodded slowly.
“How do you want to do this?”
“Sneak up on them from behind,” Tina said briskly. “Go for a stranglehold or a broken neck, and then lower the body carefully to the floor so it won’t make a noise.”
“How can we get behind this one, when he has his back pressed right up against that sarcophagus?”
“I’ll go out front and distract him.”
“You’ll be making yourself a clear target. Better I do it.”
Tina smiled. “I’m more distracting.”
Daniel couldn’t argue with that. They moved cautiously from one piece of cover to the next until they were close enough, and then Tina stepped out into the light. The guard stepped forward, his gun whipping round to cover her, and Tina smiled and waved happily at him. While the guard was busy deciding what to do about that, Daniel moved in behind him, slipped an arm round his throat, and broke his neck. It was all over very quickly. Daniel lowered the body to the floor, and then quickly let go of it. Tina came over to join him, still smiling cheerfully.
“I thought Hydes didn’t sneak?” said Daniel, to avoid having to say anything else.
“Except for when they do,” said Tina. “But you’re right. It did seem a little unsporting. Never mind! Once we’ve taken care of the mummies, I’m sure we can find some time to go head-to-head with the other guards. Just for the fun of it.”
Daniel shook his head. “You and I have very different ideas about fun.”
“That’s not what you said at my place.”
They moved off through the Egyptian Room and fell silently on the guards, one after the other, like predators in the night. None of the mercenaries even got a chance to put up a fight. Once Daniel and Tina were sure there weren’t any more guards than those detailed in the file, they dumped all the bodies in a convenient storage room.
Daniel was surprised to find he was enjoying himself. The thrill of the hunt, of testing his skills against men who would quite definitely kill him if he failed . . . and it did help that he’d decided he was only killing men who deserved to die. Because of what they’d done, and because of what they served. But when it was all over, he stood in the doorway to the storage room and spent some time staring at the piled-up bodies. Tina came over to join him, but he didn’t look at her.
“Killing shouldn’t be this easy,” he said. “Or so satisfying.”
“You’re entitled to take pride in your work,” said Tina. “You enjoyed killing the crocodiles.”
“That was different.”
“Not really,” said Tina. “A threat is a threat. You think too much, Daniel.”
“And sometimes, you don’t think enough.”
She shrugged. “It gets in the way.”
Daniel shook his head slowly. “This might have been necessary, but it was still wrong to enjoy it.”
“You’re a Hyde now,” said Tina.
And Daniel had no answer to that.
When they finally got to the room where the mummies were holding their annual get-together, they couldn’t even see their targets for all the ancient artifacts that had been brought in from other parts of the Museum. They had to ease their way through a forest of exhibits, using the larger pieces for cover, until they reached an open space surrounded by a circle of standing sarcophagi that immediately reminded Daniel of Stonehenge. Nine small figures were sitting in a semicircle, engulfed in comfortable chairs that were far too big for them. Daniel and Tina crept closer, silent as ghosts among the memories of the past, until they stood watching the mummies from a deep dark shadow between two of the sarcophagi.
“The mummies must have ordered all of this moved here so they could feel at home,” Tina said quietly.
“Why so many sarcophagi?” said Daniel.
“Maybe they’re having a few old friends round.”
“Either that, or it’s a family affair.”
They moved a little closer, pressing right up to the edge of the shadow.
The short and stocky figures were wrapped from head to toe in grubby, discolored bandages. Most wore simple robes, but one had a dressing gown and another a bathrobe. They spoke slowly, in dry, dusty voices, in a language Daniel didn’t recognize. Only their heads moved, turning slowly to follow the conversation as it moved around the circle. There was no hurry in anything they said or did, as though they had all the time in the world.
Daniel put his head next to Tina’s. “Is that ancient Egyptian they’re speaking?”
“How would I know?” Tina murmured. “But what else would they speak among themselves?” She shook her head slowly. “You know their biggest crime? Being so selfish in keeping everything they know to themselves. Think of all the forgotten knowledge they could have shared with the world. All the things they could have told us about the beginnings of human civilization that modern scholars couldn’t even guess at. A society so far removed from ours as to be almost alien. These mummies are time travelers from the distant past, hoarding secrets of unimaginable value—because all they care about is dominating and destroying other people.”
“Maybe all those years trapped in the dark really did drive them mad,” said Daniel. “Or it could be like the old story, about the genie imprisoned in the bottle. At first he swore he’d reward whoever set him free, but after being a prisoner for centuries he swore to destroy whoever released him, for taking so long. It could be that all they want now is revenge on the modern world for having replaced the world they knew.”
“You’re overcomplicating things,” said Tina. “They’re monsters, responsible for generations of death and suffering just so they could profit from it. That’s all that matters.”
“Can’t argue with that,” said Daniel. “I wonder what they’re saying. Memories of a world only they remember . . . or just sad thoughts of how it used to feel, to be human? Do you suppose they can even remember what that was like, after so long?”
And then all nine figures suddenly turned their heads, to look right at the spot where Daniel and Tina were hiding. One of the mummies raised a bandaged hand, and beckoned to them.
“No need to skulk in the shadows. Come out into the light, and join us.”
The voice was flavored with an entirely unfamiliar accent. Daniel looked at Tina, who shrugged, and they stepped out from between the two sarcophagi and moved forward into the open circle, to face the mummies in their comfortable chairs. None of them moved, but their eyes burned brightly in their bandaged faces. Up close, the mummies smelled strongly of spices and other preservatives.
“How did you know we were there?” said Daniel.
“The sewers are still with you,” the mummy said dryly. “How did you evade our guardians?”
“They’re all dead,” said Daniel. “We have no time for hired killers.”