30/07/2023 – Preparing for the Final Battle (11)
Reflections
During the boat journey, Jeziah looks very embarrassed about confessing his love for Cassandra and avoids eye contact with her. She says that their focus now must be to stop the Brotherhood.
Cassandra is also shaken by seeing Roger Carlisle, though she wonders why Jack Brady was not there. Tiger is keen to go find the tunnels under Giza and take the fight to the Cult. Cassandra is worried there are so many members, but it did seem that a significant number of them were sacrificed, according the vision they had, in order to get their dark god to intervene. The odds may not be as bad as they were.
Splitting Up
When they get to Cairo, Tiger takes money from Jeziah and heads off to hire mercenaries at the British Officers Club. He finds his reputation was damaged due to what happened to the previous two soldiers he hired. Tiger puts emphasis on the fact they will be shooting local natives and manages to hire a soldier called Joe with an American-style Tommy sub-machine gun. He also gets some grenades and a few sticks of dynamite.
The rest of the Investigators return to the hotel. Alex wants to check how Dr Ali Kafour is doing, so he, Zalkador and Mahmoud head off to the Ibn Tulun Mosque, with Alex taking the Sword of Akmallah.
That leaves Cassandra and Jeziah alone. Jeziah heads for the bar and has a double whisky. Cassandra joins him at the bar, but they do not say much to each other. She eventually starts a conversation about how they are going to tackle the assault on the tunnels under the Sphinx.
Rallying the Faithful
One of the surviving ulami greets Alex and hopes his quest against the forces of darkness is going well. They discover the previous Nessim Efti is actually being looked after in the Mosque, so they go to see him. Alex tells him about the attack on the Egyptian Museum and that the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh was behind that too. They need some help to fight this evil.
Nessim Efti resolves to go to the Al-Hussein Mosque and get help. Over their objections, he has the orderlies dress him, bring him a wheel chair and lift him into it. Alex and the others then wheel him to the Mosque, where they very quickly get an audience with the head Imam.
The Imam is reluctant to help because he does not agree that the Sword of Akmallak should be given to an infidel. Nessim Efti then tells him the story of the monster that attacked the old Mosque and it is clear that their need is greater. In fact, it is time for the faithful to fight against evil. Using his extensive study of Islamic history, he is able to persuade the Imam to provide help.
During afternoon prayers, the Imam calls for five Muslim warrior volunteers and armed with swords, to accompany the holder of the Sword of Akmallak on his quest against the evil Brotherhood. One of them can speak broken English, but mainly they rely on Mahmoud to pass on instructions.
Hurried Preparations
They reassemble late in the afternoon at the hotel, Alex with the five Muslims and Tiger with the mercenary Joe. Tiger hands out weapons to everyone. Zalkador turns out to be too weak to wield a shotgun, so just takes a hand gun, as do Jeziah and Cassandra. Jeziah has made sure that the powerful electric torches are packed with spare batteries and arranged to hire a van to transport everyone.
They do not have much more time before it is dark and they need to find the entrance to the underground tunnels, so they have to head off in the van with what they have. Tiger tries to teach the Muslims and the Investigators proper signals during a battle, but with limited success.
Tunnel Entrance
When they arrive at Giza, it is starting to get dark. They quickly search around, using the clues they gained from the vision in the Bent Pyramid. It does not take too long to identify a rise away from the main tourist area, the back of which turns out to be a tunnel.
There are two Egyptians guarding it, looking like they are wielding the knives the Investigators have seen cultists using before. Tiger uses his usual tactic to walk up to them, intending to surprise attack them, but they tell him no entry in broken English. Tiger is not daunted and walks close enough to punch them, but they are expecting trouble and a fight breaks out. The Muslim warriors and Tiger are quickly able to overcome them. One of the cultists is killed, but another is tied up harshly.
The use of guns does attract some attention from tourists, but Tiger shouts thief and is able to avert their suspicions. The Investigators then look down into the dark tunnel and prepare to head down into them.