As the dishes were being taken away and dessert contemplated, to everyone's surprise, Brother Paul O'Leary walked into the restaurant at Shepheard's and sat down next to the group. "I hope I'm not intruding, but Lya - Sarah - asked me to stop by."  Lya introduced him to Oswald and Sydney.

Rupert and Alisa were immediately suspicious about Brother Paul and his motives.  Alisa asked where he had been all this time.  "I haven't seen you since Athens."

"I've been staying at the Catholic school in Cairo", he replied.  "I've received permission from my superiors to write a book about dark cults and their relation to Catholicism down through the ages.  I think that it might be worthwhile to pool our investigative efforts."

"And who might these superiors of yours be?", interjected Rupert.

"The Bishop of Los Angeles, among others," replied Brother Paul somewhat cryptically.

Nell thought Brother Paul's presence would be an excellent idea, as he tended to exert a calming influence on Lya.  Nell asked if Brother Paul knew that Lya intended to go the opera tomorrow night in search of Edward Gavigan.  Lya strongly denied any intention of confronting Gavigan but was only interested in knowing whom he associated with.  Rupert pointed out (unhelpfully) that the firing squad scene in Act III of Tosca provided an excellent cover for a murder.  Brother Paul insisted that Lya give the opera tickets she had purchased to Nell and Alisa, reasoning that they could learn who was with Gavigan without risking a confrontation.

Brother Paul urged Rupert not to attempt to learn any of the ritual magic in  Dark Cults of Africa.  Rupert said that he had already learned "Cast Out Devils" and was working on "Undead Servants" - just in case they needed help with their baggage in Kenya.

Lya showed the group her business card and said that she was having a brass plate made that replicated the sigils, "like the one Jack Brady had".  She sketched out a set of sigils on a cocktail napkin for Alisa, Nell, and Rupert to have made into plates for protection against the occult (Brother Paul declined).

Sydney suggested that it was time for the group to visit some of the archeological sites associated with the Carlyle Expedition and Nephren-Ka.  She volunteered to arrange a trip to the Collapsed, Bent, and Red Pyramids for Friday and Saturday.

Rupert, Nell, Alisa, Lya, and Brother Paul agreed to meet the next morning at Fishawi's Cafe, for the purpose of talking with Van Heuvelen and learning more about the scrolls he had found.

While Oswald and Sydney to a taxi to Omar Shakti's office for an interview, the others gathered at Fishawi's Cafe.  There they met Hassan, who took them to the Street of Brass Workers.  Lya ordered three more brass plates from the artisan working on her plate, while Nell purchased a heavy brass candlestick.  Rupert purchased a serving tray, brazier, coffee urn, and a pair of oil lamps (which he had delivered to the hotel).  Alisa purchased gifts for her boss and secretary back in Boston, as well as a jeweled dagger for herself.

Hassan then hired a porter to carry the tray, brazier, and coffee urn, as the group then visited a food market, where Brother Paul purchased bread and dates.  Rupert filled the urn with fresh, hot coffee.  Hassan then took them to the Street of Herbalists, where Rupert purchased catnip and frankincense.  Nell and Alisa then took a taxi back to the hotel, where they spent the rest of the morning and afternoon at the spa (in preparation for the Cairo Opera that evening).

Rupert, Lya, and Brother Paul then followed Hassan and the porter through a maze of streets and alleyways to the Street of Moths.  They noticed the swarm of cats on the street and rickety stairs leading to Van Heuvelen's rooftop hovel.  Brother Paul scattered some of the bread, which was ignored by the cats but did attract some birds (also ignored by the cats).

Rupert's plan was to feed Van Heuvelen a good breakfast and sober him up with coffee, in hopes of getting information out of him.  Knocking at the door of his shack, he was surprised to hear Van Heuvelen call out, "Go away!  My answer is still the same."

Rupert explained that he and his companions were friends of Oswald van Driesen and had brought breakfast.  Van Heuvelen invited them in and explained that a strange woman claiming to be a priestess of Bast had been harassing him.  She had said that he would suffer the "vengeance of Bast" if he did not return the scrolls he found to the temple.  Van Heuvelen thought that the woman was a lunatic who fed all the stray cats in the neighborhood.

After finishing breakfast, Van Heuvelen asked if either Rupert or Brother Paul had any brandy for the coffee.  Brother Paul urged a life of sobriety on Van Heuvelen.

Meanwhile, Lya had remained outside the shack.  She tried to make friends with the cats that seemed to be keeping watch on Van Heuvelen.  They ignored her until she showed one of them the papyrus given her in dream-Szeged.  The cat started purring, then indicated that Lya should follow (which she did).

Rupert showed Van Heuvelen the scroll case given to Lya in dream-Szeged and the translation of the scroll (Lya had kept the original papyrus).   Van Heuvelen was astonished at what had been written on the scroll, as it corresponded exactly to what he had just translated from the 12th dynasty scroll found in the Temple of Bast.  Van Heuvelen showed Rupert the other scrolls he had translated: a biography of the Dark Pharaoh, and a chronology of High Priests of Bast.  Nine scrolls remained to be translated.

Looking out the door, Brother Paul noticed that Lya was gone.  He and Rupert guessed that Lya had tried to find the temple of Bast and they persuaded Van Heuvelen to take them there.  Leaving the hovel, Rupert scattered some catnip in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the cats from following them.

Van Heuvelen took them through a maze of alleyways, markets, and buildings.  Along the way they met Lya coming from the other direction, with a strange look on her face.  Brother Paul took her back to the hovel, while Rupert and Hassan continued with Van Heuvelen.  Van Heuvelen wanted to stop at a wineshop but Rupert insisted on continuing.

The two climbed up a ladder to a rooftop, then crossed to the other side and climbed down a ladder into a blind, interior courtyard.  The descent continued beneath the surface for quite a ways, until it ended in a large, underground stone chamber.

The room was about 40 feet across, with a domed ceiling.  The walls contained numerous niches and perches.  Against the wall opposite the entrance was a seven foot tall statue of a cat headed woman seated on a throne.  At the statue's feet a small brazier burned, giving off a dim light.

Van Heuvelen showed Rupert a secret compartment in the statue where he found the scrolls.  Suddenly a large shape bounded out of the darkness, clawed Van Heuvelen in the face and sprang away.  Terrified, Hassan (who had remained on the ladder) drew his pistol and began firing wildly into the darkness.   Rupert took cover but Van Heuvelen (already bleeding from the attack) was shot and wounded again.

Rupert took the gun from Hassan and then determined that Van Heuvelen was dead.  He and Hassan then returned to the hovel, where they found Lya and Brother Paul.  Lya explained that she had followed a cat to the temple of Bast.  There she had met the High Priestess who told her to return the scrolls and a ceremonial dagger to the temple.  The theft of these items had been arranged by the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh, of which Van Heuvelen was an unwitting tool.  At a later date the Priestess of Bast would give them more instructions.  Bast and Isis were enemies of Nephren-Ka.

Brother Paul seemed alarmed at Lya's apparent delusion that she had met a priestess of a pagan god and urged her to collect her thoughts.

The group then searched the hovel for the scrolls.  Lya opened the door and let in several cats to help in the search.  Rupert and Brother Paul literally stepped on a broken floorboard and found the scrolls, a dagger, and the partially completed translations.

Lya was adamant that the translations be burned, lest the sacred knowledge fall into the hands of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh.  The others agreed reluctantly, after carefully reading the translations and committing them to memory.  Rupert made a rubbing of the hieroglyphics on the dagger.

The group then returned to the temple of Bast, where Van Heuvelen's body still lay.  Lya put the scrolls and dagger back in the secret compartment, while Rupert put catnip in the brazier.  The herd of cats which had followed them from the hovel began climbing into the niches and perches of the room and appeared content.

Brother Paul and Hassan then purchased a large basket and rope, which they and Rupert used to haul Van Heuvelen's body out of the temple.  After the body had been removed, Lya returned to the temple by herself for a few minutes before rejoining the others.   Hassan hired a donkey, and the group took the body to the Catholic hospital.  Brother Paul explained that they had found this unfortunate European in distress and brought him here for decent burial.  Rupert and Lya then returned to Shepheard's Hotel, while Hassan went to buy more bullets.

That evening, Nell and Alisa went to the Cairo Opera for a performance of Tosca.  At the second intermission, Nell noticed Edward Gavigan and two other men in conversation.  One of the men was an older Egyptian holding a large white cat.  The other man was Tewfik al-Sayed!  Nell quickly pointed them out to Alisa, who denied that the third man was Tewfik.  On second glance Nell agreed, but she had been so sure....  The two quickly moved away from Gavigan and friends and returned to their seats.

Late that evening, the group reconvened in Alisa's room to discuss the days events.  Nothing had been heard from Oswald or Syndey since their interview with Omar Shakti.  Lya seemed concerned about the man with the cat - could he be a secret ally of Bast?  The phone rang, which Nell answered.  It was Oswald, who said that Sydney had made the arrangements for an overnight excursion to Dhashur and that they should meet for breakfast at Shepheard's in the morning.

In the early morning Lya visited the brass worker and was disappointed to learn that her plate was not yet ready.

The group met for breakfast at Shepheard's.  Oswald said that he had met Omar Shakti yesterday and discussed the import of Egyptian-themed textiles into the U.S.  Shakti agreed that quotations from the Book of the Dead would lend a touch of mystery to the product.  Oswald also said that throughout the interview Shakti had been holding a large white cat named Hotep.  Nell and Alisa confirmed that Shakti must have been the second man at the Opera last night.  Oswald thought the third man had been Achmed, valet to Gavigan.

Examining the rubbing made by Rupert, Sydney translated the hieroglyphs on the dagger as "the death of Nitocris".

Lya hinted that the "priestess of Bast" had a task for them to accomplish in several weeks.  "I must return to the temple for further instructions on the night before the night before the night before the New Moon."  Oswald looked up the date in his almanac - April 16.  Alisa noted that this would give them time for a nice excursion to Luxor and Aswan.  Brother Paul suggested that Lya spend more time in prayer and meditation.

Before leaving the hotel, Lya put on her native garb, deciding to masquerade as Miss Blankstone's servant.  The group then took a taxi to the railway station, where they boarded the Cairo-Luxor express.  Everyone except  Lya rode in 1st class (as a servant, Lya was relegated to the 2nd class coach).

The journey to El Wasta took about two hours.  El Wasta was a moderate sized town on the west bank of the Nile, situated in a grove of palm trees.  It was a district capital and the junction for the Faiyum railway.

While the others shopped in the bazaar, Sydney and Lya searched for Nyiti and her son Unba (they were the two kind-hearted Egyptians who had cared for  Warren Besart during his madness).  Eventually they found Unba and learned that Nyiti had died two years ago.  He told them that his mother had been "wise in the old ways" and had told him to keep an object "for those who will come".  He showed them a basket in the corner of his hut and said that if they could pick up the object they could take it.  Lya reached into the rush basket (noting a hieroglyph painted on the outside) and picked up a 7x9 inch slab of white stone, several inches thick.  Upon the stone was carved a glyph which Lya recognized from her occult studies as the "Eye of Light and Darkness" (the stone had been broken into one or more pieces and the glyph was not complete). Sydney examined the stone and noted that it was very old and had chisel marks.

Unba told them that, at his mother's urging, he had worked as a digger for the Carlyle Expedition.  After the disappearance of the principals into the Bent Pyramid and the abandonment of work by the diggers, Nyiti had told him to look around the excavation site for an object which she described.  What he found was the broken stone in the basket.  Nyiti had been disappointed that the complete stone had not been found and had told him that "some ward" could not be repaired until the glyph was made whole.  That was all he knew about the matter.

After stepping outside, Sydney noticed that the stone was actually pinkish in color.  Perhaps it was once part of the Red Pyramid?  Lya said that the Eye of Light and Darkness was a powerful glyph that, when set in place with the proper spells, could ward against malevolent outside entities.  Perhaps this ward had once guarded against the Dark Pharaoh?  And who had Nyiti really been?

Returning to the group, an excursion to the Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum was arranged.  After a bone-jarring hour-long donkey ride, the village of Meidum was reached, where afternoon tea was served.  The Collapsed Pyramid stood nearby - a amssive core of masonry surraounded by mounds of debris.  A small mortuary temple had also been excavated.

Nell took photographs and made sketches of the pyramid and surrounding territory.  No sign of the massacre described by Warren Besart was evident.

The interior of the pyramid -was disappointing - a small, empty chamber.

After returning to El Wasta (another bone-jarring donkey ride), the group took the train north to Saqqara.  In the late afternoon they visited the ruins of the  Monastery of St. Jeremiah (founded c. 450, destroyed 960, included two churches, a refectory, bakery, oil-press, and wine-press).  Upon learning that the trip to the  Bent Pyramid on the next day would require another donkey ride, Alisa purchased pillows and blankets for the group.

The group spent the night at the Hotel Memphis, near Saqqara.
 

Early the next morning the group left the hotel and travelled to the Bent Pyramid (2 1/2 hour ride by donkey).  Rupert insisted that the guide and donkey handlers wait a short distance from the pyramid while they explored it.  Nell took photos and sketched the surrounding area.

The Bent Pyramid had two entrances: north and west.  The north entrance led to an empty, bare chamber described in the guidebook as "a royal burial chamber in which no mummy or furnishings had been found".  The west entrance led to a similar chamber described as a false burial chamber.  While examining a large alabaster column at the east end of the room, Rupert discovered a secret door, behind which was a broad flight of stairs.  After some debate, it was decided to explore the secret room(s), with Oswald remaining behind in the false burial chamber. The deciding factor in the debate was the desire not to have to return here via donkey again!

Nell and Sydney led the way with flashlights, followed by Rupert, Lya, Alisa, and Brother Paul.  After twenty steps the stairs became a ramp leading upward.  On the walls were paintings showing a procession of sphinxes, the colors as fresh as when painted.  The expression on the sphinxes was angry and defiant.

The ramp ended in a blank wall, with two rooms on either side.  The room to the right contained a large stone sarcophagus.  The wall paintings showed a Pharaoh with regal, cold, and cruel features that seemed to radiate malevolence.  He wore not the red and white crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, but the Triple Crown of a god.  In his hands, the Pharaoh held a Shining Trapezohedron.  The rendering was extremely life-like and completely atypical of the Old Kingdom.  Lya thought that the eyes of the Pharaoh followed her throughout the room.  Alisa made it a point not to look at the picture (remembering her encounter with Miles Shipley)!  Sydney translated the cartouche as "Nephren-Ka".  Nell decided to wait in the corridor in case Oswald was in trouble.

The sarcophagus appeared unopened but it was decided not to open it.  None of the inscriptions in the tomb made reference to the traditional gods of Egypt, but instead glorified Nephren-Ka.  Syndey thought it strange that there were no canopic jars in the tomb.  Rupert noticed that the room was asymmetrical, with no right angles.

Another wall painting showed the Pharaoh receiving a Broken Ankh from Above, while another wall showed the servants of Pharaoh.  Upon closer examination, the face of the Grand Vizier appeared to be that of Sir Aubrey Penhew!  That spooked everyone and it was decided to examine the second room (Nell again waiting in reserve).

The second room was a throne room, also asymmetrical and lacking right angles.  Against the far wall was a throne carved of black obsidian and encrusted with gems.  To the right of the throne were lengthy inscriptions, partly in Egyptian hieroglyphics and the rest in some bizarre runes.  Sydney made a partial translation as foretelling the birth of the child of the Messenger of the Gods within the Mountain of the Black Wind.

To the left of the throne were two bas-reliefs.  The larger one appeared to be a star chart showing hundreds of stars, each represented by a small ruby, diamond, or emerald.  The smaller relief showed nine concentric circles about a large yellow gem, with a gem along the circumference of each circle.  Rupert thought that it might be a depiction of the solar system, but what did the ninth circle represent?  Sydney made a quick sketch of both reliefs..

On the wall to the right of the throne was a distorted map showing Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and the western Pacific.  Mountains, rivers, and continental outlines were recognizable.  An elongated triangle was formed by three rubies marking points in the East China Sea, western Australia, and central Kenya.  An inlaid band of ebony marked an arc across the Indian Ocean.  Arcane symbols bordered the map.  Rupert made a sketch of the map.

While examining the throne, Lya noticed three five-foot high pillars topped with gems on either side.  Suddenly, she recalled reading the diary of Montgomery Corruption two months ago at Erica Carlisle's New York estate.  This must be the place he described!  Unable to control herself, she began to walk toward the pillars, as if in a trance.

Alertly, Rupert noticed Lya's strange behavior and grappled her to the ground, bruising her jaw.  But it seemed that she had set something in motion, because the gems atop the pillars burst into flame.  Strange, dissonant music began to play, and the shadows around the throne began to coalesce into a man-like form.  Alisa ran for the door, but it had vanished!

Standing in front of the throne was a man with jet-black skin of no specific race.  He had no hair or eyebrows and was wearing the robes of a Pharaoh.  He laughed and sneeringly informed them that their efforts were in vain.  "You are foolish to continue your efforts.  The Gods Whom you struggle against are too powerful to be defeated.  Meekly and gratefully return home to await the inevitable."

"Look you at the fate of those who came before you."  He waved his hand, and images formed of the Carlyle Expedition camp in Kenya.  Bearers came and went; Roger Carlyle was seen talking with Sir Aubrey Penhew and Dr. Huston; Hypatia Masters was seen setting up her camera; Jack Brady was seen drinking coffee with the Chief Guide.  All was peaceful, until terrible screams were heard, and scores of abominations descended from the skies, while out of the earth lurched ghouls, formless spawn, and other frightful beings.  The carnage was unspeakable.  No one survived.

"Even the brave know their lot. All doors are closed to you, all your dreams are doomed, all your struggles futile."

With another wave of his hand, the hemispheric map vanished and was replaced by an archway, beyond which shimmered a vision of ancient Egypt.  Artisans could be seen working on a pyramid.  Boats could be seen on the Nile in the distance.

"I offer an escape from the Doom Which is to Come.  Return to the Land of Egypt and find refuge in the service of Pharaoh."

No one moved, although Sydney seemed tempted.  Brother Paul began praying aloud.  Alisa rejected the offer, saying she wasn't about to step into any painting.

At that the man laughed derisively and disappeared, along with the image of ancient Egypt.  The pillars were extinguished and the room was as before.

The group ran out of the throne room, down the ramp and the stairs, back to the false burial chamber.  There they found Nell and Oswald, drinking from a flask of whiskey.  After passing around the flask, the group exited the Bent Pyramid for the welcome fresh air of the outside.  After a few minutes to gather their composure, the group located their guide and continued on to the Red Pyramid (another 1 hour donkey ride).

At the  Red Pyramid  no one was interested in going inside.  Instead Sydney, Lya, Nell, Alisa, and Rupert decided to climb to the top (pushed/pulled by guides in a quick ascent).  Upon reaching the top, Lya was initially disconcerted to find the capstone in place.  Where had the Eye of Light and Darkness been?  She then reasoned that the stone with the Eye had been set in place using magic and had perhaps been invisible.  More research was needed.  Nell took photos from the top of the Red Pyramid and sketched the surrounding terrain.

 The group then returned to the hotel at Saqqara (another 2 hour donkey ride).  No one seemed interested in dinner.  Sydney said that the whole thing must have been some kind of hallucination caused by foul air in the pyramid.  "Those paintings must have been done by Penhew and his friends, to scare off tourists.  It's obvious - look how fresh they were.  Sneferu would never have buried his enemy Nephren-Ka in a chamber with paintings glorifying him.  Penhew must have created those rooms so he could claim to have discovered the tomb of the Dark Pharaoh!"  She thought the sences of ancient Egpyt must have been produced by a film projector.

Lya thought that the experience had been real.  "It's just like I read in that diary!  We really spoke with the Dark Pharaoh!  I've got to find the Priestess of Bast and tell her what happened!"

Rupert and Brother Paul strongly urged Lya not to go back to the hidden Temple of Bast until she had had time to rest.

Nell thought they should discuss the day's events with Dr. Kafour at the Egyptian Museum.

Alisa commented that the two investigators she had hired would be arriving from London on Monday.

That night, everyone (except Nell) had strange dreams