The group decided to spend the next week preparing for a confrontation with the Brotherhood of the Dark Pharaoh near the time "when the moon is slimmest".  Lya spent the time in prayer and contemplation and watching the stray cats outside her window.  Brother Paul prayed, did some sightseeing, wrote a report for his superiors, and kept an eye on Lya.

Rupert checked out of his hotel and told the staff he was going to Alexandria.   After paying Hassan 20 piastres and instructing him to stay out of trouble for the next two weeks, Rupert donned native garb and went to the Mosque of Ibn Talun.  There he met Achmed Zehavi (now released from the hospital) and received instruction in the use of the scimitar from Suleiman al-Wahib.

Oswald and Sydney embarked on a tour of Upper Egypt, visiting Luxor, Philae, and Abu Simbel.  Oswald purchased a few interesting antiquities and obtained all the necessary paperwork for export.  Upon returning to Cairo they read the reports from Dr. Derry and the entomologist concerning the "goo" they submitted for analysis.  Other than being biological in origin, nothing else could be determined.

Nell and Alisa also went sightseeing but stayed in Cairo.  They spent each afternoon at the Heliopolis Sporting Club, improving their firearms skill.  Alisa hired a private tutor and learned some Arabic.  Nell read through the journal articles published by Dr. Huston.  They attended performances of Carmen and Rigoletto at the Cairo Opera, and spent several evenings at the Turf Club.   They also picked up their protective amulets from the brassworker and wore them constantly.

As instructed by Alisa, Velu and Jessica investigated the activities of Edward Gavigan and his valet, whom they suspected of being Tewfik in disguise.

Thursday, April 9:

Velu began the day in the plaza east of the Semiramis Hotel, dressed as a native laborer.  He noticed Edward Gavigan leaving the hotel by taxi and followed on his bicycle.  The taxi dropped Gavigan off at a large country house north of Cairo, surrounded by cotton fields and irrigation ditches and about a mile east of the Nile.   A native village and the Cairo-Alexandria rail line were situated about a mile east of the house.  Between the house and village stood a jumble of ancient ruins, perhaps the site of an Egyptian or Ptolemaic temple.

Velu spent the day watching the house.  Just before sunset, he noticed Gavigan and six other men leave the house and walk to the ruins.  He followed at a distance and saw them enter the site.  After waiting a few minutes, Velu crept toward the ruins and found that no one was there!  He continued on to the village and went to the train station.  He sent a telegram to Jessica Wright at the Hotel Ramses:

FASCINATING SITE STOP COME AT EARLIEST CONVENIENCE STOP PARTNER

Velu purchased a blanket and provisions and spent the night in a field.

Meanwhile, back in Cairo, Alisa and Nell returned to Shepheard's from an evening at the Turf Club.  Alisa noticed something amiss in her room and suspected that someone had searched it.  Examining her steamer trunk, she discovered that a ring, scarab, and bracelet had been hidden in the lining.  They appeared to be of ancient origin and quite valuable.  Nell noticed that the window was unlocked.  She suspected that someone intended to frame Alisa on smuggling charges.  They immediately placed the item in one of Alisa's jewelry boxes and had it locked up in the hotel safe until they decided how to proceed.

The next morning, Velu visited the bazaar and made inquiries.  He learned that the house belonged to a wealthy man named Omar Shakti.  According to the locals, Shakti was a very powerful and dangerous man, rumored to be involved in smuggling and other, darker activities.  A man named Tewfik had once worked for Shakti as an "enforcer".  Tewfik had left Cairo many years ago but was rumored to have returned recently.  Velu was warned to steer clear of Shakti and Tewfik if he valued his life.

Velu met Jessica at the train station and the two went to the site of the ruins.  Little remained of the original structure, other than a vague outline of a building.  A pair of headless sphinxes and a broken obelisk (defaced inscription) stood on the west side.  After carefully searching the ruins, they found no trace of subterranean entrance or vault.  They decided to return to Cairo that afternoon.

When Lya returned to her cell after morning mass, she noticed a cat sitting in the window.  The cat leapt into the room, transforming into the Priestess of Bast.  She informed Lya that, with the waning of the moon,  the time for the resurrection of Nitocris was approaching.  A minion of Bast would meet them near the Pyramid of Menkaure and guide them to the entrance of the Labyrinth of Kish.   Lya and her companions must enter the Labyrinth of Kish and prevent the resurrection of Nitocris.   The ceremony of resurrection will begin just after sunset on the evening of April 17 (the night of the dark of the moon).  Either destroy the mummy using the enchanted dagger or disrupt the ceremony, the Priestess told Lya.  Once the deed had been accomplished, Lya and her friends must flee Egypt or face the wrath of the Dark Pharaoh.

After the Priestess/cat left, Lya went to Brother Paul and convinced him that the time for action had arrived.  After packing his missal, chrism, holy water, and flask of brandy, Brother Paul escorted Lya to Shepheard's Hotel.  There they found Alisa and Nell at breakfast.  When Lya began babbling about Bast, mummies, and cultists, Alisa quickly hurried them back to her suite for a private discussion.  She also ordered that a pot of camomile tea be sent up to the suite (to calm Lya).

After hearing Lya's story, the group decided on immediate action - destroy the mummy before the ceremony!  Brother Paul insisted that the Sabbath be respected and that the expedition occur on Saturday.   Nell telephoned Mena House at Giza and reserved rooms for four nights - seven people in two suites and three private rooms.  Time was reserved on the golf course for Monday and Tuesday morning.  Alisa called Jessica Wright at the Hotel Ramses but learned that she was out.  Alisa left her a message instructing her and Velu to call her immediately at either Shepheard's or Mena House.  Nell telephoned Oswald and Sydney and informed them of the trip to Giza.  They offered to visit the Mosque and retrieve Rupert.  Syndey also told them that she had read in the Arabic newspaper that a mass rally of Wafdists was scheduled for the evening of April 17th - perhaps to draw away police?

Lya surprised everyone by dumping her cup of tea on the floor and attempting to read the tea leaves.  She claimed that they indicated that they would soon be embarking on a long journey.

Before leaving the Mosque, Rupert talked with Achmed Zehavi and informed him of their mission.  Rupert gave him the broken ankh he had acquired earlier, as he thought it unwise to carry such an item into the Labyrinth.

That afternoon the group went shopping and prepared for their excursion.  Sydney packed a flashlight, rope, chalk, guns, an ankh, candles, a dagger, pickaxe, and sledgehammer.  Nell packed an oil lamp, guidebook, Arabic phrasebook, paper and pen, matches, camera and film, flashlight, canteen of water, pistol, and parasol.  Rupert packed a compass, canteen of Holy Water, catnip, and the enchanted scimitar.  Lya packed a baseball bat, the capstone from the red Pyramid, herbs, incense, and her notes.  Alisa packed a rifle, two pistols, and a Malayan kris.  Nell and Alisa also visited the hairdresser at Shepheard's.

Alisa sent a telegram back to the firm in Boston informing them that she would be staying at Mena House and visiting Giza for the next few days.

Late that afternoon, the group split up and headed for Giza.  Lya (dressed as native) and Brother Paul took a taxi, Rupert (dressed as native) took the tram, Alisa and Nell (dressed as upper-class American ladies) took a taxi, and Oswald and Sydney took a taxi.

After checking in at Mena House, they met for dinner in the hotel dining room and discussed subjects such as golf, the arrival in Cairo of the Buick  automobile being driven around the world, and the prospects for continued economic growth.  Lya again dumped her tea on the table and began reading the leaves.  She claimed that the leaves told her that there were terrible traps on the golf course.  Lya then lit a stick of incense, causing Nell to sneeze repeatedly.  After Brother Paul took Lya back to her room, the group finished dinner in peace.

The group reconvened in Alisa's suite and made plans for their trip to the Labyrinth the next day.  Alisa told the others about the artifacts that had been hidden in her baggage.  Velu and Jessica arrived and were given instructions by Alisa.

Several hours before dawn, Velu and Jessica left the hotel and scouted the area near the Pyramid of Menkaure.  About an hour before dawn, Brother Paul celebrated a mass in Alisa's suite for those of the Catholic faith and requested the aid of St. Jude (lost causes and things), St. Christopher (travellers), and St. Anthony (lost things).

At 5:30 a.m. the group left the hotel and met Velu and Jessica near the pyramid.  Lya spotted a cat and began following it, with everyone else following her.   The cat led them to a pile of jumbled stones about half a mile from the pyramid, where archeologists speculate that  the workmen on the pyramid had been housed.  Beneath the stones was a crawl space leading to a 5' high cavity.  In a corner of the cavity was a shaft leading downward.  The cat indicated that Lya and the others should descend the shaft, but the cat refused to proceed any further.

Lya tied a rope to a protruding rock and climbed down the shaft, reaching the bottom after about 20'.  While Oswald held the rope, the others descended as well.  Nell, Jessica, Velu and Alisa had difficulties with the descent, with Jessica spraining her ankle (the others had their fall broken by Rupert and Brother Paul).  Oswald remained behind to guard the entrance.

They found themselves standing in a narrow, dusty  passageway that sloped downward.  Lya led the way, baseball bat in one hand and flashlight in the other, followed by Brother Paul, Rupert, Nell, Sydney, Alisa (pistol drawn), Jessica, and Velu.  Nell and Brother Paul mapped, and Rupert made chalk marks at regular intervals.  At one point Lya stumbled over an old, dry human thigh bone.

After travelling for about five minutes Lya spotted a fuzzy light ahead.  It was a patch of luminescent green moss growing at a T intersection with a much larger passage of hewn stone (8' x 8').  The walls of this passage were inscribed with hieroglyphics and and carvings of men, beasts, and hybrid men-beasts.  Sydney recognized the cartouche of Nephren-Ka and inscriptions describing this as the Labyrinth of Kish.

At this point the group split up:  Lya, Brother Paul, and Jessica to travel east (and slightly upwards), Rupert and Velu to travel west (and slightly downwards), and the others to remain at the intersection.  Jessica thought she noticed the walls of the tunnel expanding and contracting (as if breathing).

The east group soon reached a dead end and called the others to join them.  Sydney translated the hieroglyphics on the wall as marking the resting place of Nitocris.  Nell's map indicated that this passage was beneath the Pyramid of Menkaure and perhaps led to the burial chamber recently discovered there.  Nell took a photo of Sydney standing in front of the wall.  Rupert speculated that this passage must have facilitated the recent theft of the sarcophagus.  Velu noticed marks in the corridor indicating that a large object had been dragged for about 20 feet (the marks then stopped).  Alisa commented (sarcastically) that they must have levitated the sarcophagus at that point.  Sydney responded that it must have been carried by bearers.

Sydney continued translating the hieroglyphics and learned that opening the passage to the tomb of Nitocris required an invocation to the Dark Pharaoh.  Brother Paul urged her to read no further lest she inadvertently summon something.

The group then turned around and proceeded westwards and down.  At one point a gust of wind snatched the map from Nell's hand but Velu caught it.  After about 15 minutes of travel they noticed a narrow side corridor to the south.  Listening, Velu thought he heard a faint growling.  The group decided to investigate, with Velu in the lead.

The group proceeded along a narrow, winding rough stone passage.  At one point Jessica spotted a cigarette butt (Johnnie Walker brand).  Looking down another side passage, Velu thought he saw blood dripping from the ceiling.  Brother Paul offered him a swig of brandy.

The group continued to explore a warren of narrow passages, with Nell and Brother Paul mapping.  Eventually they reached a wooden door, of apparent recent installation.  Velu opened the door and found that it led to a black stone passage, with no visible walls.  Stepping though the door, Velu found that the passage was actually a walkway about 30' above the floor of a chamber  Using her flashlight, Nell determined that they were standing in a cavernous hall, the walls of which could not be illuminated.

A black obelisk stood in the center of the walkway about 10 feet from the wooden door.  Sydney was unable to translate the strange runes and glyphs on the obelisk.  Nell photographed Syndey and Velu standing in front of the obelisk.  Brother Paul offered prayers.

Beyond the obelisk, the walkway led to two thrones of a greenish stone.  Nell, Rupert, Velu, and Sydney examined the thrones, taking great care not to touch them.  Sydney recognized the cartouches of Nitocris and Nephren-Ka amid carvings of strange creatures and human minions performing vile and cruel acts..  There appeared to be no way down to the floor of the chamber.  Looking into the distance, Nell spotted a large sarcophagus on a dais.

After photographing the throne, Nell directed her light down to the floor and spotted about ten half-human, half beast abominations moving toward them.  When the creatures began climbing the ebon pillars on which the walkway rested, the group retreated out of the room.

The group backtracked to the most recent intersection and continued exploring the narrow passageways, searching for a route into the cavernous chamber.  After turning a corner, they were surprised to encounter a hawk-headed man-beast who attacked them.  Alisa was wounded by its claws but killed it with a salvo of pistol shots.  Lya could not understand why the creature was hostile, since it resembled an avatar of Horus.  Rupert speculated that such creatures ahd been created by the Dark Gods in blasphemous imitation of the true Gods of Egypt.  Alisa thought it must have been a crazed cultist wearing a hawk mask, and Sydney agreed.  She tried to remove the mask but found it glued to the head, so she began to decapitate the creature until restrained by a horrified Brother Paul.

The passageway continued, steeply descending.  After about a half an hour their passage was blocked by a ten-foot wide pit, the bottom of which could not be seen.  Unable to cross, the group made their way back (trusting to Nell and Brother Paul's mapping skills) to the wide corridor.

Continuing along the wide corridor (or processional, remarked Brother Paul), the group travelled for another half hour.  Velu explored one narrow side corridor that twisted and turned, then led to a vertical shaft, at the top of which Velu saw daylight.  Listening at another side passage, Jessica thought she heard a conversation in Arabic.  Brother Paul placed a chalk mark on this intersection for later investigation.

Eventually, the processional widened into a hall, with loathsome carvings on the walls.  Wide steps of black marble led downward.......