The Cult of Osiris (29 page)

Nina looked excitedly round at Osir. Have you seen these?

Of course,' he said, going to a large table and picking up a printout from beside a laptop.
'I
had them translated when the zodiac was still in pieces. They're directions - the problem is,
I
don't know the starting point. Nobody does. Which is why I need your insight.

He handed her the translation.
¹
"The second eye of Osiris sees the way to the silver canyon," ' she read. ' "One atur towards Mercury beyond its end is the tomb of the immortal god-king." An atur, that's an Egyptian unit of measurement, right?'

Eleven thousand and twenty-five metres.'

Nina instantly performed the mental arithmetic to convert the figure to imperial measurements: 'Six point eight five miles.' Osir raised an eyebrow. 'Like I said, I'm good at

math. So the pyramid is just under seven miles from the end of the silver canyon in the direction of Mercury, which is . . . one of these planets on the zodiac, I guess.'

Actually, it isn't/ he said. 'The planets on the zodiac are Mars, Venus and Jupiter.' He pointed them out. 'But we used their positions to calculate Mercury's position as well. It would have been . . . here.' He indicated a particular spot to the right of the pyramid.

So, about seven miles east of the end of the canyon. Except,' she continued, nodding at a wall mirror, because the map is mirrored since we're looking at it from above rather than below, it's really seven miles
west.'

Osir was pleased. 'So all we need to do is find the silver canyon.'

Which means first, we need to find the second eye of Osiris. Where's his first eye?'

There are two Osiris figures on the zodiac,' he reminded her. Perhaps they point the way together?

Nina bent low to examine them. Typically for Egyptian art they were in profile, only one eye visible on each, but at the small size of the carvings they were nothing more than dots. She drew an imaginary line between the eyes of the two figures, but it neither ran near the pyramid nor seemed to point to anything in particular.

The Eye of Osiris is also a symbol, isn't it?' she asked.

Osir nodded. A sign of protection. Found in temples, tombs . . . it's supposed to help guide you through the Underworld.

So fairly common, then. That won't narrow things down.' She stared at the zodiac, thinking. Could the "silver canyon'' be a clue? The ancient Egyptians valued silver above gold - were there any silver mines in the pre-dynastic period?

I don't know. You're the historian, not me!'

Point taken. This 11 need more research. We need to check the archaeological databases . . .' She tailed off, realising she was slipping into a state of professional excitement

over the chance to crack the puzzle - and forgetting that doing so would help the very person she was trying to stop.

Are you all right?' Osir asked.

Tin . . -just tired,' she said. It's been a hectic day.

He smiled. My apologies - there's no need to solve this riddle in one night. Besides, the race is tomorrow, and I was hoping you would join me there.'

Sounds cool/ she said, the idea of watching noisy cars screaming past for a couple of hours anything but.

Wonderful. Then before that, perhaps you'd join me for a glass of champagne?'

Ah ... I really ought to go to bed.' Privacy would give her a chance to try to contact Eddie.

Just one glass, please/ Osir insisted. I have a bottle of Veuve Clicquot in the next room -it would be a shame to drink it alone.'

What about all your .. / She almost said bimbos', but settled on 'young lady friends?

My followers?' A jaded shake of the head. 'They are all lovely, but sometimes I prefer more intellectual company. Someone with stories of her own. Like your discovery of Atlantis. He smiled again. 'Just one glass.'

Three glasses later, Nina was kneeling on Osir's bed, her dress spread out around her in a silken circle. So I was stuck on this platform with Excalibur, an' Jack was starting up the generator so he could start up a war . . . when
boom!
Eddie d rigged up a hand grenade as a booby trap. After that, the whole ship started blowing up like something out of a Bond movie. We had to bail out in this sort of jet-glider thing - almost froze to death before we landed on a trawler. Man, that was a bad smell!

Your life has been even more of an adventure than mine,' said Osir, stretched out beside her. 'And fortune is certainly on your side.'

If I were really that lucky, I wouldn't hove gotten shot. Check this out.' She hitched up her skirt to reveal the circular scar of a bullet wound on her right thigh. Osir's eyes widened at the sight of the bare leg just inches from his face.
I
wouldn't have had my life and my career wrecked, either.'

You don't need to worry about that any more, Nina,' he assured her. 'Once we find the Pyramid of Osiris, your life will be . . . anything you want it to be. And very long, too.'

She drained her glass. Do I get a free lifetime supply of Khalid s Longevity Bread?'

You'll get whatever you want.'

Glad to hear it.' She frowned slightly, thinking back to the lab at the Swiss castle. 'Is it safe, though? You said it was genetically modified.'

Osir chuckled. Of course it will be safe. I'll be eating it myself! No, the genetic modifications to the yeast are to make it into exactly what
I
want it to be.

Which is? Or will your brother shout at you if you tell me?

Another mocking laugh. Sometimes it seems that Sebak thinks
he
is in charge of the Temple, not me! No, my brother was being overcautious, as always. The genetic modifications are partly so that we can obtain international copyrights and patents on the new organism -yeast is very easy to cultivate, after all. I don't want everyone being able to bake their own bread of Osiris - they will have to come to the Osirian Temple for it. And also,' his expression became more conniving, giving his handsome features an unexpectedly wolfish look,
I
don't want it to be
too
good at regenerating the body's cells. People buying it once a year is not enough. They need to buy it once a month, or better still once a week.'

Sounds like you're trying to get them hooked.

He shrugged. What is a modest amount of money every week in return for immortality? Better that it goes to the Osirian Temple than on cigarettes or drink or drugs. We give a good deal of money to charitable causes, after all.'

No doubt in countries where the Osirian Temple wanted political favours, Nina thought. 'So that's what you want: to choose who gets to be immortal?

Fitting, don't you think?' said Osir. Osiris decided who received everlasting life. I'm just following in his footsteps. But I think the world will think very highly of the man who brought it immortality.' He finished his drink. 'More champagne?'

Nina regarded her empty glass. 'Oh. That went fast. I shouldn't, really . .

I'll open another bottle.' He took her glass, then slid off the bed.

She lay down and closed her eyes. 'Thank you, Khalid.

My pleasure,' he said, his smirk anticipating another kind of pleasure. He took another bottle from a fridge under a marble-topped bar, then crossed to the bathroom. 'Excuse me one moment.'

He closed the door, then admired himself in the mirror before stripping to his silk boxer shorts and donning a dressing gown, also silk. A quick splash of cologne, then he stepped back into the bedroom.

To his delight, the lights had been turned down low, and an inviting shape waited beneath the expensive sheets. He climbed on the end of the bed, slowly moving up it. T see you've made yourself comfortable.' He gently pulled back the sheets ... to see Eddie Chase grinning back at him.

Pucker up, Romeo,' said Eddie, sticking Diamondback's revolver into his face.

18

194

Osir cringed away as Eddie sat up. How - how did you get in here?' he demanded, outrage and fear battling for supremacy

'Yeah, I was kinda curious myself,' said Nina from the zodiac room, where Eddie had wordlessly signalled her to hide when he crept into the cabin.

Keeping the gun on Osir, Eddie threw back the sheets and stood, his clothing sodden. 'J looked for his boat where you told me at the harbour. Then I swam under the pier to it and grabbed the anchor chain. Just had to hang on until we got here.

Osir blasted a glare of betrayal at Nina. 'Then you
are
still with him! Sebak was right!'

'Duh,' Nina said. 'Like I was really going to join up with the fruitloop religious cultist who tried to have me killed?' She looked to Eddie. 'Okay, now what?'

He gestured for Osir to move to the bathroom. 'First thing, we tie him up and keep him quiet. Then we work out where this pyramid is, and then we bugger off and find it. Sound like a plan?' She nodded. 'All right, lover boy,' Eddie said, advancing on Osir, 'in there.'

The Egyptian's eyes were fixed on Nina. T really did have no desire to see anyone get hurt,' he snarled. 'But now I'm happy to make exceptions.'

'Shut it, arsehole,' said Eddie. He shoved Osir into the bathroom, toiletries clattering to the floor as the stumbling man's elbow swept them from a shelf. 'On your knees, head in the bog like you're about to puke.
Now!'
He pushed the revolver against Osir's head as he knelt at the toilet bowl, then yanked loose his dressing gown's belt. Nina, tie his hands behind the pipe.' He kept the revolver firmly in place as Nina secured the other man's wrists to the waste pipe. 'Then find something to tie his feet with.'

She went back into the cabin, returning with a collection of ties hanging over her arm. 'Pick a colour.'

Eddie twisted one into a ball and pushed it into the protesting Osir's mouth, then secured it with a second. He used a third to fasten his prisoner's ankles together before tying the other end to a pipe beneath the washbasin. 'Now listen, King Tut,' he said, tapping Osir's head with the gun. One sound out of you, and I'll flush you back to your ancestors. Got that?' Mouth filled with the makeshift gag, all Osir could manage was an angry gurgle. 'Good.'

He left the bathroom and locked the cabin door, then joined Nina at the zodiac. So, you found the pyramid?

Not yet,' she admitted.

Well, how long's it going to take?'

No idea.'

Maybe if you'd been working on it instead of getting pissed on Osir's champers . . .' She gave him an irritable look. Don't start, Eddie.'

And while we're at it, what was going on when I came in? You were stretched out on his bed with your skirt hitched up to your knickers!' Concern crossed his face. You're
wearing
knickers, right?

Which part of "don't" and "start" is so hard for you?' Nina snapped. Well, I think part of him was hard for
you

She banged a hand on the Lexan. For God's sake, Eddie! I was stringing him along so I could get a look at this thing - so can you at least shut up and let me work?' She indicated the table. 'There are some notes his people made over there; can you get them for me,
please?'

You'd better not be walking like an Egyptian tomorrow,' he muttered as he collected them.

The notes revealed a great deal about the zodiac: an estimate of the date it was created based on the positions of the planets (she was amused to note that it had been calculated to the month - October, 3567 BC - and intrigued that it indirectly confirmed Macy's theory that the Sphinx predated the construction of Khufu's pyramid), the names of the various

constellations, a chemical analysis of the paints, its dimensions to the millimetre, the type of stone from which it had been carved . . . 'Useless,' she muttered, flicking through more pages.

Eddie had returned to the cabin to keep watch while she read; now he came back in. What?'

These tell me everything about the zodiac - except what I need to know. The hieroglyphs tell you how to reach the Pyramid of Osiris, if you already have certain other facts. Osir's people worked out the position of Mercury, which was one clue - but we don't know the others.'

What're the clues?

A place called the silver canyon, which we have no idea how to find, and the second eye of Osiris. And we don't even know where the first one is, never mind the second.' She walked round the zodiac, hoping it would give her a literal new angle on its secrets. No flashes of insight came to her. What am
I
missing?' she wondered aloud.

If it's Egyptian stuff, Macy might know.' Eddie reached into his tuxedo jacket. Did you see her?'

Yeah, I told her to wait for us.'

Hope she found a hotel - that tinfoil dress won't keep her too warm . . . oh, bollocks.' He had wrapped the passports and his phone in a plastic bag to protect them from the seawater, but the seal hadn't been as secure as he'd hoped. The passports were damp but would be salvageable if given time to dry; the phone, on the other hand, released a sad little dribble of water from its casing. Hope you've still got your phone.'

Yeah, but it's with my things two decks down.
I
don't want to go wandering round the ship unless I have to - especially now we've got its owner tied up in the john. If anyone gets suspicious, this'll be the first place they come.'

Guess you'll have to suss it out without Macy, then.'

Nina fruitlessly re-checked the notes for any clue she had missed, then turned her attention to a shelf of reference books about ancient Egypt, searching the indexes for any mentions of the silver canyon or the eye of Osiris. The former had none; the latter several, but only in the context of Egyptian symbology, nothing tied to a specific real-world location.

I don't get it,' she sighed after some time, returning to the zodiac. Where's it telling us to go? It's got to be connected to the stars somehow - we've got the constellations, the Milky Way, planets - how do they all tie together? I mean, the pyramid's marked right there, complete with directions, so what's the starting point?'