CHAPTER TWELVE

The Radio Call

Inside the lorry, the driver looked quickly through the pieces of paper beside the radio. He found notes made by Keesing. They were notes for his calls to Greer in Cairo.

'It won't take long now,' he explained to Farrow. 'I'm going to call Greer in Cairo. When Greer replies, I'll cut off the power. He'll think that Keesing is trying to get through to him. He'll go on trying to speak to us. We'll pretend that we're trying to speak to him. That will keep him busy.'

The driver tuned in the radio and gave the call sign. A few moments later, Greer replied. The driver immediately cut off the power and counted twenty. Then he switched the power on again and repeated the call sign.

Back in Cairo, Greer answered the call sign three times. But all he got back in reply was the call sign.

There's something wrong with their radio, he thought. I'll have to keep on trying.

By now Leila was inside the house. She followed Fatima's instructions and made her way to the man's bedroom. She stood outside the door and listened. She heard the man using a radio transmitter.

He's busy with a radio in there, she thought. That gives me time to find the woman.

She again followed Fatima's instructions and went to the locked door of the woman's bedroom. She stood listening, but there was no sound. She tapped the door lightly with her fingers and waited. There was no reply. She tapped the door again, this time a little louder. She heard the noise of someone moving.

'Who is it? What do you want?' said a voice on the other side of the locked door.

'I thought I heard someone crying,' said Leila. 'Are you all right?'

'Who are you?'

'I'm the servant,' replied Leila. 'Are you all right?'

'Can you take a message for me?' asked the voice.

'A message for your husband?' said Leila.

'No - no - that man's not my husband,' said the voice. 'Don't tell him you've spoken to me . . .'

'Who are you?' Leila asked quietly.

'My name is Farrow - Christine Farrow. Can you take a message to the police?'

'It's all right, Mrs Farrow,' said Leila. 'I am a police officer. Stay where you are. We'll soon have you out of there.'

'Take care,' whispered Christine Farrow. 'The man's very dangerous and he's got a gun.'

'We'll take care,' answered Leila. 'You wait there quietly.

Leila went back towards the front door. Suddenly she heard the door of the man's bedroom opening. It was Greer coming out of his bedroom. He had remembered that the servant was still in the house.

Greer stood outside his bedroom door and turned to lock it behind him. Just as he was turning the key, he heard the call sign again. He stood with the key in his hand.

'OK - OK, I'm coming,' he said and opened the door again and went back to the radio.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Salahadin 's Bluff

Half-way up the gully, Salahadin stood waiting in the moon-light. Musa and the policemen were hidden behind rocks.

At last Salahadin heard the noise he was waiting for. Strengel and his men were carrying the mummy out of the tomb. He waited patiently until Strengel came round the rock. Strengel did not notice him. He had his back towards Salahadin and was giving instructions to his men.

'Carefully now - go carefully,' said Strengel to the men above him.

A few moments later, Strengel turned round to look for a path down the gully. He saw Salahadin standing below him.

'Salahadin El Nur,' said Strengel. 'I didn't expect you so soon. Have you come here to help us?'

'I've come to help you put the mummy back in the tomb,' replied Salahadin quietly.

'I'm taking the mummy away with me,' said Strengel. 'And you won't be able to stop me.'

'I've got my men all round you,' said Salahadin. 'And they've got orders to shoot.'

'Order them to shoot if you want,' said Strengel. 'But think what will happen before you give the order. Remember you haven't got protective suits. I was the one clever enough to think of suits to protect us from the germs. Without these suits, you cannot come near the mummy. If you shoot us, we'll drop the mummy. It will break open if it falls and the germs will spread everywhere.'

Salahadin stood looking up at Strengel. For a few seconds, there was a strange silence in the moonlit gully.

'I've told my men to shoot you in the legs,' said Salahadin. 'A space suit with holes in it will not protect you.'

'And my orders to my men are to drop the mummy if I am shot,' replied Strengel. 'We are coming down now.'

Strengel's men began to move. Strengel's men carefully lowered the mummy down over the large rock. Strengel came nearer to Salahadin.

'You'd better move,' advised Strengel.

Salahadin waited until Strengel was a few metres away. Then he raised his revolver.

'Stop where you are,' he said to Strengel. 'Stop or I shoot.'

'Shoot me and you'll die - and your policemen with you,' replied Strengel.

'You're all going to die anyway,' shouted Salahadin loudly. He wanted Strengel's men to hear him. 'Didn't Farrow tell you about the acid?'

Strengel stood still and his men stopped moving.

'What acid?' asked Strengel.

'There's a strong acid on the walls of the tomb and on the mummy,' replied Salahadin. 'The acid is slowly burning through your suits and through your gloves. When it has burnt through, the germs of the disease will follow it. Then you will all die like De Fries and Keesing.'

Strengel's men looked at one another carefully. Then they lowered the mummy down onto the ground below the rock. They looked at their gloves and at their space suits.

'He's bluffing,' shouted Strengel, turning back to face them. 'It isn't true. There isn't any acid that can last for thousands of years. It's a bluff.'

But his men did not move. They were not sure if Salahadin was speaking the truth.

'You'll soon feel the acid burning your hands,' Salahadin shouted up at them. 'Then it will be too late. The germs will be inside your suits.'

Suddenly one of Strengel's men began to tear off the gloves of his suit. He believed what Salahadin was saying. The sweat caused by the rubber gloves was making his hands itch.

'I can feel my hands burning!' he shouted. 'I'm getting out of this suit before the germs kill me.'

'You fool,' shouted Strengel. 'You're sure to die now. Your suit is covered with germs.'

Strengel was right. As the man was pulling the suit off from his legs, he gave a loud scream. He rolled forward and fell down the gully, turning and twisting. Salahadin jumped to one side. The man rolled past him and lay twisting in pain beside the dead body of Keesing.

Strengel suddenly ran towards Salahadin. He wanted to touch Salahadin with the outside of his suit. Salahadin would die too. But Strengel could not move quickly because of the suit. Salahadin shot Strengel in the leg. Immediately the germs got into his blood and in a few seconds he was dead.

Salahadin shouted to Musa and the policemen.

'Come out now,' he said. 'Watch these men.'

Then he looked up and spoke to Strengel's men.

'The acid will take some time to burn through,' he told them. 'Before it does, you have time to carry the mummy back into the tomb. Then we'll help you to take those suits off carefully.'

Strengel's men did not know what to do. The man lying beside Keesing gave a loud scream and died.

'You haven't got much time,' Salahadin shouted. 'Get that mummy back into the tomb quickly. It's your only hope of staying alive.'

The men carefully lifted up the mummy and began to move it back into the tomb. Inspector Musa climbed down towards them.

'Keep back - keep away from them, Musa,' shouted Salahadin.