"But how did thou know'st we wouldst be here?" Marcel asked as the five climbed into the car. Major Havoc took the driver seat, Corey sat next to him, while the other three took the back seat.
Major Havoc started the car and gunned the engine, throwing up a plume of sand, soil, and grit as the roadster roared off. "I was supposed to meet you four at a runway close by. I saw the ack-ack bursts and the plane going down, so I deduced that the plane was yours."
Introductions were made all around, and the four briefed Havoc on the ham radio message. "Hmmm. Yeah, Mobius is a real nut case, but he's a brilliant nut case. No doubt he's got something big up his cowl. Y'know something? It just occurred to me. If I saw where you landed, others may have, too."
"What sort of 'others'," Daremo asked warily.
The rear window sprouted a bullet hole, and the rear view mirror shattered, raining small bits of glass on Corey.
"Goddam!" she screamed as she lowered her head. At her feet she noticed a leather valise.
"Like shocktroopers," Havoc replied calmly. "I hate those guys."
Marcel looked out the rear window and saw two trucks filled with bare-chested soldiers wielding sub-machineguns. More bullets slammed into the heavy roadster's body, sending up sparks and bits of metal.
"Kinda thought you folks wouldn't have the right weapons for this realm," Havoc said as he gestured at the valise. "I brought some weapons for you to use. Miss Jones, if you would do the honors?"
Corey pulled out two Thompson submachineguns and two .45 automatics. Daremo and Marcel took the "tommy-guns," but Kayla refused to have anything to do with them. "I do not use wheelocks," she murmured as she strung her bow and placed some arrows on the seat next to her. Corey helped herself to a .45 pistol.
The Storm Knights returned fire as Havoc drove evasively. Several minutes passed, and the Nile shocktroopers were still hot on their tail and closing distance.
"This is getting us nowhere," Havoc snapped. "Time for some decisive action. Here. Take the wheel." Without seeing if Corey had done so, Havoc opened his door, grabbed hold of the frame, and did an acrobatic flip onto the roof of the roadster.
"Jeez! Are you crazy!?!?" Corey screamed as she slid into the driver's seat and took the wheel. One wheel left the road, but she yanked the car back on track.
Daremo craned his neck out the window, and saw Havoc, both feet planted firmly on the roadster's roof, his black cape swirling about him, blazing away at the first truck with his twin .45s. What could be seen of Havoc's face showed a cool grim confidence. Daremo looked at the first truck and saw it hit by Havoc's slugs. The truck careened off the road, flipped over several times, and exploded.
"Now that's the way to do it!" Havoc shouted down at the foursome. Unfortunately, his words distracted Corey, who, not looking where she was driving, steered the car into a large pothole. The car shook violently, lost its muffler, and sent Havoc sliding down the rear of the vehicle. At the last second, Havoc grabbed hold of the rear window frame and held on for dear life, as sharp bits of the shattered rear windshield cut through his gloves and made his hands bleed.
The driver of the second truck of shocktroopers, seeing Havoc's predicament, floored the accelerator in order to catch up to the roadster and crush the hero between the two vehicles. The driver's comrades set up a hail of withering automatic fire, in an effort to keep Havoc's friends from coming to his aid.
"I think I understand this land a little better," Kayla announced to Daremo and Marcel as all three ducked for cover from the hail of bullets. "One succeeds at things if one does them in a manner worthy to be sung of by the bards. Shooting those noisy wheelocks is not enough. You have to do this!" Kayla sprung out the window, snarling like a tigress, and landed on the hood of the shocktrooper's truck, the latter's bumper just touching Havoc's shoes.
"Now she's got it!" Corey yelled. She cursed silently as she struggled to keep the roaring vehicle on the road.
Seeing a pretty woman clad in a short leather outfit come leaping out of a car's rear window is enough to give pause to the most experienced shocktrooper, and Kayla used the lag time well. Pulling out a fistful of metal filings, the barbarian made a series of gestures and spoke words of arcane power. Upon saying the final word, she threw the filings into the air. The metal changed and grew into the shape of steel shrapnel, and flew at a very high velocity through the windshield and into the front cab of the truck.
Without seeing how well her spell worked, Kayla turned around and leaped back into the car, grabbing Havoc by the scruff of the neck as she passed over him, and dragging him inside to safety. The shocktrooper truck, its remaining windows now obscured by a large amount of red liquid, swerved violently off the road, throwing the other shocktroopers out, and exploded in a massive yellow fire burst.
"Don't slow down! There may be more of them! Maintain speed!" Havoc barked at Corey as he crawled into the front seat.
"Were the two of you nuts!?" Corey snapped. "What were you trying to prove up there?"
"It is the way we do things around here," Havoc replied, reloading his guns. "Risks, coincidences and drama are the marks of my land." He laughed and indicated his clothing, "especially coincidences." Apparently, it was a "private joke," for no one else laughed. He turned to a grinning Kayla. "Good job back there. What took you so long?"
"I think I am going to like this place," Daremo observed.
A few minutes later, the road became a boulevard that ran through central Cairo. "Okay, you can slow down now," Havoc said. "We're in Cairo." He noticed that the telephone poles were still going by quickly, and he turned to Corey. "I said you can slow down now."
Corey's face was white with fear. "I'm trying! I'm trying! The stupid brake doesn't work and the accelerator is stuck!"
"One of those shots must have severed the brake line," Daremo offered.
"Release thy foot from the accelerator," Marcel suggested.
Corey shook her head frantically. "I tried that! The blasted thing won't move up, only further down!"
"I do not like these metal machines!" Kayla spat. "Every time I get into one, people throw fiery iron at it, or it falls out of the sky, or it cannot be stopped! Pfagh! Give me a griffin any day!"
Pedestrians and merchants scattered for safety as the roadster, going a healthy ninety, roared down Sebek Boulevard.
"If she tries to make a turn, the car will most certainly flip over, and perhaps even explode," Daremo observed. "Things in this realm seem to love to explode."
"Maybe if I can just ride this boulevard right through Cairo, we can ditch into a sand dune," Corey suggested, her knuckles getting white as she gripped the steering wheel for dear life. "The road looks pretty straight, and barring any further problems ."
"Not a chance," Havoc said, "there's —"
On the road ahead, a railroad crossing gate lowered and red lights flashed, warning of an oncoming train.
"Oh, crap, just what we needed!" Corey groaned.
"Speed up," Havoc ordered.
Corey did a double take. "What!?"
"You heard me, speed up. If we can't stop at the crossing, maybe we can beat the train to it."
Gritting her teeth, Corey floored the accelerator. Kayla, unaccustomed to cars, was thrown back into her seat, where she cursed technology yet again.
The roadster's front tires hit the road part of the crossing just as a large steam engine began puffing its way onto the crossing tracks. Corey looked to her left and saw that the locomotive's "face" took up the whole view from her window.
The rear wheels of the roadster cleared the last rail just as the engine passed by. Unfortunately, the engine struck the protruding trunk of the car, causing the vehicle fishtail wildly. Everyone in the car except for Havoc screamed as the car spun around several times, finally coming to a halt in a large pile of trash put out on the curb from an eating establishment.
"Well done," Havoc announced, as he brushed himself off and leaped out of the car with a flourish. "Everyone out,
we have some clues and leads to hunt down. Besides, the local authorities will be here to investigate this accident soon enough." He stopped talking as he noticed that no one was following him. "Well? Come on!" he snapped.
Corey shot him an icy look of disbelief. "Well excuse us! Some of us are trying to catch our breath! We almost got killed back there!"
"The key word is 'almost,'" Havoc muttered as he began walking. "Fact is, you didn't die. But cheer up. We've only just started."
"But what about your vehicle?" Daremo asked as he left the car and helped Kayla out.
"It's not my car," Havoc shrugged as he began walking down an alleyway.
"Whose is it?" asked Corey, certain that she would not like the answer.
Havoc made a dismissing gesture. "Some local gangsters were going to use it for a heist. This way I was able to put a temporary stop to their plans, and get myself the transportation I needed."
The fivesome trotted through the garbage strewn alley. At its other end, a young Arab boy, clad only in baggy pants and a baseball cap, was soliciting shoe shines. The boy stopped when he saw Major Havoc and his group.
"Heya, Mister Havoc! How's tricks?" the boy asked as he gave Havoc a wink.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is 'Swifty Abdul,' the best shoeshine boy in Cairo." Major Havoc put his left shoe on the box — the foot that almost got run over by the shocktrooper truck — and Abdul got to work. "So, Swifty, what's the dope?"
"Word on the street is dat Big Boy Bedouinsky is gonna make a hit against a rival gang's watering hole. No other details."
"What about Mobius and his goons?" Havoc pressed.
"Naaah. Mobius ain't doin' nothin' big in Cairo dese days!"
After a bit more small talk, Havoc paid Abdul and led the group out the alley and onto another major boulevard. The buildings were a curious mix of Art Deco, Arabic, and late 1930's western and European architecture. The sidewalks were teeming with people, many in dapper black pin-striped suits, or white suits and red fezes. Robed Arabs mixed freely with khaki-clad professors and archaeologists. Occasionally, an edeinos, dwarf, or cyberknight could be seen. Normal street cars, at least by Corey's standards, competed with roadsters for the right of way. Newsboys on the street corners hawked their papers.
"Our next stop for information is a fellow named Benny the Rat," Havoc explained. "A word of warning: he's repulsive."
Daremo increased his pace until he was beside Havoc. "Major, are you one of the Mystery Men?" the ninja asked quietly. Havoc nodded. "Well, isn't Mobius after any Mystery Men that he can find? Aren't you being a little too conspicuous?"
"Nope. My clothing is not too far removed from the average Cairene, and as far as Mobius is concerned, he is rather cocky and arrogant. As for the small fry ... well, my costume isn't similar to the Whisper's for nothing."
Meeting a blank stare, Havoc continued, "Mobius thinks that as long as Storm Knights congregate in Cairo, for instance, he knows where they are and can have them watched. So, much of 'greater' Cairo is actually very tolerant of cross-cosmers, as long as they don't stir up trouble. Just don't stray into the wrong areas." Havoc stopped in front of a tattoo parlor. "This is Benny's place."
Kayla's nostrils flared in disgust at the smells of sweat, tobacco and incense in the dark little shop. She was even more disgusted when she saw the short, fat man in a rumpled white suit, a red fez perched on his greased-back black hair. His breathing was loud and raspy, and he leered at the barbarian, something Kayla found annoying.
"Good day, Major Havoc," Benny said in a wheezy whine. "Have you and your friends come for a tattoo?" He stared even more at Kayla, which only made her angrier.
"You know very well why I'm here, Benny. What's Mobius up to these days? And don't try to con me!"
The little man's rat-like eyes darted back and forth. "Mobius is working on something. It involves sphinxes. It will help him increase his power. Oh, yes! Also, the Scarlet Asp is back in town!" His leer never wavered from Kayla. Her patience dissolved faster.
Havoc stiffened at the last sentence. "Okay, Benny. Thanks. Let's go, folks." Daremo noticed Havoc's body language, but said nothing.
"Perhaps next time, you can introduce me to your friends so that we may become . better acquainted," Benny wheezed, his eyes never leaving Kayla.
The barbarian's patience was exhausted. In one fluid motion, she darted over to Benny, grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket, and raised him several feet off the floor. "Now listen to me, you little toad," she growled. "I know that look you have been giving me. It is the look of a coyote as it is about to attack a rabbit. But this rabbit has claws, and a very, very sharp sword. If I catch you giving that look to me or any other woman, I shall take that sword and gut you!" She dropped the sweating Benny, spun on her heel, and left the shop.
"Major, no disrespect intended, but you should restrain your friends a bit more," Benny wheezed, getting up and brushing himself off.
"She's not my friend. I can't control her behavior. We only met an hour ago," Havoc replied as he, too, spun around, and, with a flourish of his cloak, left the store, followed by Corey, Marcel, and Daremo.
"You gotta write down what you said to that cut-rate Peter Lorre impersonator," Corey whispered to Kayla. "I'll use it at the next dance club I go to in New York ... if it ever returns to normal."
Kayla shrugged, a look of puzzlement on her face. "I did not understand most of what you said, but I shall do as you ask."
"Is anyone hungry? Another of my leads is a waitress at this great diner," Havoc offered.
Kayla remembered a couple of Core Earth foods she had grown to love. "Do they have hum-boogas and kah-fee?" she asked hopefully.
"Hamburgers and coffee? The best in Cairo," Havoc announced. "C'mon."
The Doctor's Diner was a gleaming, stainless steel structure with formica counters, padded booths, and glass cases displaying pies. Hard-hat construction workers ate next to Egyptian engineers, laborers, and mathematicians. The Knights selected a booth, and within minutes were feeding, though Daremo was rather disappointed that they did not have sushi, and had to settle for tuna salad instead. Kayla, on the other hand, was in Heaven.
Eventually, the waitress who had served them sauntered up to the table, chewing gum loudly. "So, Mayj, anything else I can get ya?"
Havoc leaned closer to the heavily made-up, bleach-blonde woman. "Yeah, Roz, what's the chatter about lately? Any special projects?"
"Well, a lotta the guys have been working on something out at Geezer."
"Giza," Corey corrected her.
"T'anks, sweetie," Roz replied, insincerely. "Anyways, it has sumtin' ta do wit' da Stinks, Finks, or sumtin'."
Corey gritted her teeth and winced. "That's Sphinx," she muttered.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatevah!" Roz snarled, then lowered her voice and whispered to Havoc. "Hey, Mayj, about dat leather clad goil sittin' witcha. What's her story? She's packed away five burgers wit' all da fixins!"
"Tapeworm," Havoc deadpanned. After Roz left, Havoc rose. "Come on, folks. Time for the last stop. Club Ptah. Brace yourselves. You're in for a treat."
The party left the diner, unaware of the two men in Fedora hats and pin-striped suits who began tailing them.
Club Ptah was a short walk from the diner, the building's gaudy Egyptian facade making it stand out from the rest of the block. The five Knights walked in, their eyes slowly adjusting to the dim interior lighting. A haze of smoke hung in the air, as a jukebox blared the swing tunes of Terra's most popular musicians, Benny Bigtone and Glenn Riteman. Ceiling fans twirled lazily, keeping the air circulated.
Upon Daremo's recommendation, the Knights chose a table in the far corner, facing the front door. Once seated, Corey surveyed her surroundings. A pack of six Ayslish dwarves sat at the bar drinking heavily and talking loudly, obviously inconveniencing the nearby pair of off-duty shock troopers, and quartet of Victorian soldiers. A cyberpriest sat at a table, flanked by a pair of dour Hospitallers. An Orrorshan gypsy wo
man of great beauty was giving tarot readings at her table. Two edeinos sat on the floor, pouring their drinks on their skin and reveling in the sensation, while a stalenger was making a pass at a ceiling fan. A middle-aged Oriental man in a fine suit and sunglasses sat at a corner table, a small bottle of sake at easy reach. A group of six men and women, dressed in normal twentieth century garb and all wearing sunglasses, sat staring at Corey and her group.
"Spartans," Corey muttered in contempt, looking at the latter customers.
"By the way, the Japanese gentleman probably has two bodyguards we cannot see," Daremo advised. "Probably ninja in the shadows."
"Do not start trouble," the Major whispered, "Club Ptah is one of the few good clubs cross-cosmers are allowed into. Do not bring old conflicts inside."
A man in a fire engine red bodysuit ambled over to the Knights' table. His face was obscured by a helmet with a two foot high point, which resembled the nosecone of a missile.
"Oh, no ." Havoc moaned.
"Hey, Major Havoc! Long time no see, pal!" the stranger gushed as he pumped Havoc's hand.
"Yeah. Everyone, this is the hero Destructo Don . Don, this is . everyone," Havoc muttered his halfhearted introductions.
"Nice to meet you all! Hey, Major, did you know that the Scarlet Asp is in town?"
Havoc's attention perked up. "Oh really? Where?"
"East of Cairo," Destructo Don replied, obviously delighted to be helping Havoc. "City of the Dead. She's been hanging out at a newly built Temple of Wadjet. Well, gotta run! I'm due to join Particle Man and Universe Man in their hunt for Chesspiece Face and Triangle Man! Keep 'em flying, everyone!" Don turned, and with a skip in his step, returned to his table.
Corey stared at the man until he was lost in the crowd. "Major, who the heck was that?"
"A would-be Mystery Man named Destructo Don. He means well, but he is a bit . er . unpolished. Still, he wanted to help, so he emigrated with us from Terra."
"What are his powers?" Daremo asked, intrigued.
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