Mysterious Cairo by Edited By Ed Stark, Dell Harris Read Free Book Online Page B

and go check on Sutenhotep for me."
    Clemeta rose from the table, which was set in a corner of the shop's main room, and walked toward the shimmering black curtain. She moved with grace and confidence, her head held high. The curtain parted as she approached, offering her admittance to the chamber beyond. When she stepped through the opening, the curtain fell back into place.
    Angus Cage watched her every move, memorizing the way her curves swayed when she walked. As she passed through the open curtain, he rose to follow her. Payne stopped him with a gentle touch of his hand.
    "Please, Mr. Cage," Payne said sternly, "I sent her away so that we could talk freely. We really must talk, you understand."
    "No, Mr. Payne, I don't understand," Cage admitted, raising his voice in anger. "What is it you want from me?"
    "I need your help," Payne replied evenly, ignoring Cage's outburst. "They need your help," he added, nodding to the chamber beyond the curtain.
    "They? And who are they? Do you really expect me to believe those two people are three thousand years old?"
    Payne's eyes narrowed to angry slits, and his voice took on a menace that Cage had not heard before. "I do not expect anything of you, Cage," Payne declared. The pretense of courtesy was gone now, and in his anger the small man dropped such formalities as titles before names. "No matter what you choose to believe, I tell you that that woman is Clemeta — not the Clemeta you knew a year ago, and not the Clemeta that Mobius knew three millennia past, but she is Clemeta just the same. She is Earth's Clemeta, a concubine in Amat-Ra's harem who had the ill fortune to become involved with a young man named Sutenhotep."
    "Sutenhotep?" Cage laughed. "Mobius often claimed he was a Pharaoh from ancient Egypt but none of us ever believed him."
    "You should not laugh at such a notion, Cage. The man you know as Mobius was Sutenhotep. The form in my back room is also Sutenhotep, but the Sutenhotep of Earth, not Terra. This bastard son never sought the power of the throne of Egypt, never led armies against his father. Perhaps he would have, had Earth's Amat-Ra ruled longer and had he not fallen in love with his father's favorite concubine, but we will never know."
    Cage stared hard at the small man, looking for signs of a joke. He saw none. Quentin Payne was serious. Deathly serious. "What does this have to do with me?" he asked at length.
    Quentin Payne relaxed, offering Cage his winning smile. The anger, the utter fury — had it been there at all — was gone now. "Let us say that I represent certain interests from New Majestic which would like to see Mobius ... deposed. I believe you have similar interests, do you not? Of course you do. With your help, my Suten-hotep will take Mobius' place as leader of this modern Nile Empire. Thus, your interests and the interests of my... employer... would both be served."
    Something about this offer reminded Cage of a well-concealed bear trap. No matter how much honey you piled on top of it, it still hurt like hell if you stuck your hand in to taste. But too much drink, too little sleep, and the strange air that hung in the shop's interior made the thought insubstantial. It was there one moment, sending off danger signals as loud as thunder. Then it was gone, swirling away on a stale breeze.
    "Before you say a word, Mr. Cage," Payne added, "allow me to explain the terms. For the assistance you provide, you will receive room and board, as well as the companionship of the lovely Clemeta. She is not your Clemeta, but her form is pleasing, is it not? She bears more than a passing resemblance to the woman who haunts your thoughts, I do believe. And, of course, the drinks are free. Now, what do you say? Do we have a done deal?"
    Cage licked his lips, wishing he had a drink right now. "So, all I have to do ...?"
    ". is talk to Sutenhotep," Payne finished. "Tell him everything you know about Mobius. You are an expert, after all. No one has made a study