The Nyctalope Steps In

by Jean de La Hire

  “Thanks to the old Stygian scrolls you gave me, I was able to discover where the stone was hidden. It was hard, but I found the entrance to the Black Pyramid. It was protected by many traps, as if those who had buried it there feared that someone might someday remove it. It had been hidden there for tens of centuries! This is probably what allowed me to succeed, for few things can withstand the passage of time and most of the traps had rotted away or disintegrated into dust. Finally, I reached the center of the pyramid. The Egg was on an altar. Behind it there was a solemn warning making a final attempt to warn any tomb robber, threatening appalling devastation, the fall of kingdoms, the sinking of continents, and above all, warning that it should never be exposed to the light of the Moon! Well, we have been warned! I think I can control its frightful power and turn it against the accursed Pharaoh.”

  “And now, we will be able to restore the worship of the true gods! Thanks to the treasure of the Temple of Amon your reward will be without compare!”

  “The important thing is for me to keep the Egg and, with your help, to find the information necessary to use it to its fullest potential in the archives of the Temple of Aton.”

  “Upon the Pharaoh’s death, you will have access to all the documents you want.”

  “Very well. Then I shall strike during the next official ceremony.”

  “It will not be hard to get close to the throne. We have many secret supporters, even amongst the Pharaoh’s relatives. Since he separated from Queen Nefertiti, his power has weakened. His only allies are Smenkhkare, his son-in-law, and Tutankhaton, his only son who is but nine.”

  “Not true! Don’t forget Merira, the High Priest of Aton! He will try to stop us—if he can!”

  “I do not forget him, but could he know that we’re about to strike?”

  The next day, Merira stood before the sacred altar, facing the rising sun, chanting a prayer to the divine star, the first-rays of which were bathing the temple in golden light. With a sweeping gesture, he poured a powder on the red hot coals that burned in a gold tripod. A dark cloud immediately filled the air. Under the rays of the sun, the cloud began to change colors and offer fleeting glimpses of scenes and images: a large, milky stone hidden inside a temple, a young woman grabbing it and, later, meeting someone in a forbidden temple of Amon, then the ceremony of the Rising Sun in the presence of the Pharaoh... Suddenly, a great flame lit up the cloud, which vanished. The vision was over. Resplendent in the light of the Sun, Merira stood tall, deeply puzzled. The large statue of Aton then began to glow. The gold disk that crowned its face shone with an eerie gleam. The god himself appeared to react to the strange prophecy.

  A few days later, just before sunrise, the temple was still in darkness, but already the light of dawn eclipsed that of the stars and the Moon. The amphitheater outside was filled with dignitaries in full ceremonial dress, standing respectfully between the massive columns. Around the temple entrance, a crowd had gathered. On a dais, separated from the worshippers by a line of soldiers, the High Priest Merira stood, his arms raised, his eyes fixed upon the horizon, waiting. Behind him, his face drawn and tired, was the Pharaoh Akhenaton, the instigator of the mystical cult of Aton. For many long months, he had been plagued by an unknown disease. Perhaps today, he would welcome the god—and the cure for his condition. His young wife and his son, Tutankhaton, stood at his side. Slightly below, a young priest of Aton was scrutinizing the crowd with his unusually piercing eyes. He stared into each and every man, despite the ambient darkness.

  Lost at the back of the crowd, her face hidden behind a veil that showed only her eyes, Hecate moved unobtrusively towards the dais, hiding a shiny object in the palm of her hand.

  Suddenly, a murmur rippled through the assembly; the sun had just appeared in the East. The High Priest began a long incantation. Quickly, the light began to fill the temple. But the Moon was still very close to the position of the star, and had not yet faded completely...

  Taking advantage of the general distraction, Hecate quietly took out the Egg of Set. The sun, rising majestically in the middle of the sky, was drawing every eye in its direction. Every eye? No, for the young priest was continuing his careful monitoring of the crowd and had just noticed the young woman’s strange behavior. Immediately, he beckoned to the Captain of the Guard, who seemed to expect his signal, and gestured to indicate that they should apprehend her. In turn, the officer made a sign to his men and they plunged into the crowd, trying to surround their prey.

  At that moment, a ray of light coming from the stone on the Sun bounced to its sister on the Moon and rushed towards the third stone on Earth. As it made contact, the Egg of Set seemed to catch fire and emitted a powerful ray of light that shone on the backs of the dignitaries standing in front of the young woman. Instantly, their clothes were set ablaze amidst their cries of surprise, then pain. Their very skin began to darken, crackle and char. Within seconds, several people were burned to death, utterly consumed, and the fire began to spread.

  The crowd shouted in panic, “Aton, have mercy!” “Fire!” “Help!” Struck by a beam of light, one of the temple columns collapsed noisily, killing more people.

  The soldiers tried to approach Hecate, or get between her and the Pharaoh in order to shield him with their bodies. The young priest also tried to intervene, but, like the guards, he was blocked by the panicked crowd rushing forward to escape the devastation.

  Making a sweeping, circular motion, Hecate swept away most of the guards. The survivors gazed in horror with eyes full of resignation. How could they escape the wrath of Aton?

  A smile on her lips, Hecate now raised her hand in order to burn away the last remaining obstacles between her and the accursed Akhenaton. The last guard collapsed, burned to a cinder. She screamed in excitement:

  “Die, Pharaoh, die!”

  She leveled the Egg of Set at the monarch, but suddenly, the ray disappeared!5

  During these dramatic events, unnoticed by anyone, another singular spectacle had unfolded in the sky. Gradually, a portion of the sun had disappeared! First, it was only a small crescent at the place where the moon had faded; then, that crescent grew slowly until it filled the entire orb. Soon, night again fell on the Temple!

  Anyone who might have watched the faces of the main characters in this drama would certainly have been surprised. The Pharaoh’s face was illuminated by mystical ecstasy; his god, after threatening to kill him, had then saved him! The High Priest Merira thanked the god for having answered his prayers. As for Hecate, her eyes were wide open under the effect of a profound surprise, which, gradually, gave way to terror.

  The young priest whose eyes were so piercing did not seem bothered at all by the darkness. Stepping over the many corpses barring his way, he boldly marched towards the woman. Then, and only then, could he have been identified as the one whom Merira has named the “Eyes of Aton,” upon whom the god had conferred the power to walk through the darkness as if it were full daylight in order to defend the values of justice held dear by the Solar God!

  The Eyes of Aton, hidden by the darkness, but not hampered by it, reached Hecate and forced her hand open, causing her to release the stone before she could even attempt to fight. Immediately, he took off his cloak and wrapped the stone in it. It was too dangerous to remain out a minute longer. Meanwhile, the sorceress retreated cautiously and tried to flee under cover of darkness. But she could not escape the Eyes of Aton!

  At that moment, light began to return and the darkness again faded. The Sun was back! Realizing that she was about to be captured, Hecate plunged her hand under her dressed to grab a powerful magical talisman that she had taken with her. But before she could use it, Merira, who had assessed the situation, pointed his finger at her and said in a loud voice:

  “By Horus, stay!”

  Instantly, the sorceress froze.

  The High Priest repeated: “By Horus, stay!” three times. Hecate fell to her knees. The High Priest with his imperious air then proclaimed:

/>   “Let your name be no more!” and pointed towards the desert.

  The sorceress got up and, with a haunted look, began to walk unsteadily towards the empty expanse of dunes. After a few minutes, she disappeared over the horizon.

  Merira then cast a glance around. He saw many charred bodies, the Pharaoh dazed on the dais, the Queen and her son trembled in a corner… He looked up and exclaimed:

  “O mighty Aton! Through your divine intervention, we have won the day! However, our Lord is still weak and the future of thy worship is not assured. I will do my best to preserve his health, but this infernal stone must not again fall into the wrong hands. With your blessing, I will entrust it to the Eyes of Aton who will guard it and use it only for the triumph of Good. And after him, his descendants will do the same, for what happened today can never be allowed to happen again.”

  1642, The South of France near Banyuls.

  The coach was traveling at a gallop through the night. Inside were a richly dressed man and woman. From time to time, the man looked out of the window to check that they were not followed. Finally, he turned to his companion and said:

  “It seems we’ve managed to escape!”

  “What’s more important is that we’re close to our destination,” she replied.

  “What fancy caused you to seduce that Marquis? Yes, it kept him busy, at least for a while, but it didn’t prevent the failure of Cinq-Mars’ conspiracy, nor his execution.”

  She looked up at him, frowning in anger:

  “He was a dangerous man who had to be watched! He killed two of our own in Paris and, somehow, even destroyed our submarine! A mere human! Unthinkable! But don’t think I took any pleasure in seducing him! Even though we failed, he had to be kept in check.”

  “You may well be right,” replied her companion, sighing. “Still, he seemed to be besotted with you. I fear he guessed your true nature and now will want revenge!”

  “Come on,” she said, smiling. “We’re almost at our spaceship. After that, he can no longer harm us.”

  She ruffled her hair with her delicate hand, the pinky of which was oddly stiff.

  Soon, the coach left the main road to enter a narrow path and, a few minutes later, arrived in a clearing, at the center which was a craft that would someday be described as a “flying saucer.”

  Several men dressed in silver jumpsuits approached the coach, brandishing shiny metal tubes that projected beams of light. Soon, they recognized the two new arrivals.

  “At last!” said one of the men. “We were beginning to worry! We must hurry. It will soon be dawn.”

  During this conversation, a man, entirely dressed in black, jumped from beneath the rear of the coach where he had been hiding. He did not seem bothered in any way by the surrounding darkness. He was Henri-Jean de Sainte-Claire, lieutenant in the Guards of Cardinal de Richelieu. After a duel with the famous poet and swordsman Cyrano de Bergerac, he had acquired the mysterious power to see in the dark.

  For several days, he had been discreetly following the couple while they ran. He had discovered that she, whom he thought was the love of his life was, in reality, one of these mysterious Invaders who had been behind Cinq-Mars’ nefarious plot. The creatures looked like men, but sported a stiff pinky and disappeared with a red glare when they were killed. Sainte-Claire had discovered their existence by chance during a mission and, since then, sought only to thwart and destroy them whenever possible...

  Now, it seemed that he had finally found their “metal fortress.” At dawn, he would destroy it, using an ancient family relic that was supposed to be unspeakably powerful.

  As the night began to fade and the sky grew lighter, the men in the silver jumpsuits finished stowing inside their metal crafts various objects, the nature of which he could not fathom. Meanwhile, the two travelers changed into jumpsuits as well. Afterward, they all went inside the ship. A metal door closed behind them and became indistinguishable from the surface of the craft. After a few moments, a strange noise sounded and the metal ship suddenly lit up with a bright light.

  Sainte-Claire pulled a milky stone out of a bag just as the sun appeared on the horizon. Meanwhile, in the clearing, the metal ship suddenly rose from the ground and began to move away at great speed.

  Suddenly, a ray of light came from the Sun, bounced to the Moon, and then to the stone Sainte-Claire held firmly, before hitting the spacecraft.

  Within seconds, the saucer became red-hot, then white, then began to melt, before finally exploding. The force was so strong that it knocked Sainte-Claire off his feet. He inadvertently let go of the stone which whirled around through the air, its deadly beam burning and wreaking havoc on the surrounding hills, destroying everything in its path.

  Eventually, the stone rolled on the grass and again became inert. The Marquis hesitantly took it. It was cold, almost icy, to the touch. He buried it back inside the pouch, looking at the devastation all around him. His face was white as a sheet. He stood there for a long time absolutely still, trying to recover his composure.

  Then, finally, he muttered: “This… thing is too dangerous. In the wrong hands, it could destroy the world. One way or another, I’ve got to end that threat!”

  1657, A forest near Paris.

  It was almost midnight when Henri-Jean de Sainte-Claire arrived in the clearing. The full Moon lit the scene with a pleasant silvery light. He opened his bag and pulled out a strange leather harness to which were attached numerous small bottles containing a clear liquid. He put it on, thinking:

  I have duplicated the harness described by that dreamer, Cyrano. I hope he really journeyed to the Moon and that it wasn’t another of his poetic flights of fancy. I had enough trouble getting the dew and also that strange metal powder which he didn’t mention in his book, but which was clearly described in his notes. I must hope it will be enough to take me to the Moon where I have business to conduct.

  No sooner had Sainte-Claire donned the harness that he felt lighter and his feet began to leave the ground. It works! He thought. Incredible! Sacré Savinien!

  Beneath his feet, the Earth was now moving away increasingly faster. Above him, the lunar circle became bigger and bigger. He flew, as he had planned, towards the Moon. Soon, he began to distinguish the details of the lunar surface. Up close, it looked like an Eden. Lush vegetation covering a wonderful land, populated by animals living in peace and freedom, herbivore alongside carnivore without fear or risk of being eaten. Henri-Jean could not believe it! Once again, Cyrano’s account had been correct.

  In the midst of that Eden stood a tall tree, and upon it, a fruit-shaped gem shone like a thousand candles. Henri-Jean landed near the tree, extended his hand and plucked the fruit. No sooner had he touched the gem that the landscape around him changed abruptly. The Moon was now a barren surface, empty and desolate. He could not help thinking: And all this from just having tried to pick a fruit in this garden...

  In reality, the second Ioun stone was creating illusions reflecting the thoughts of the untrained minds that approached it. It was that power that had deceived Cyrano as well as Sainte-Claire.

  Protected from the lack of atmosphere by the stone, Henri-Jean took the second stone to the Dark Side of the Moon. There, he knew, the three sisters could no longer be in alignment, since the Moon always shows the same side to the Earth.

  While Sainte-Claire returned to Earth using the power of the Earth stone, he thought he had eliminated the threat of the “Three Sisters” forever. But was it really the case?

  February 2, 1958. Morocco.

  The desert stretched out of sight. The heat was oppressive. Apart from a great, big rock, there was nothing but sand and rubble. On the left, a long dune shimmered in the air because of the glare of the sun.

  Suddenly, a black spot appeared at the top of the dune, and slowly grew larger until it was possible to distinguish that it was a man riding a camel. He was dressed in Western-style clothes, with riding breeches and a leather jacket belted at the waist. He wore a t
urban on his head and a Browning revolver on his belt. He had the look of a warrior about him. A bag hung on the saddle of his mount.

  Viewed more closely, as he alighted at the rock, he was not very tall, but had an athletic build. He looked around attentively. Any observer would have had trouble concealing their surprise at his singular gaze; his eyes were like those of a nocturnal bird, large and yellow in color.

  He stopped near the rock. He put his hand in a small cavity inside it, seemingly looking for something. He must have found it, because suddenly, he pushed hard and, with a great creaking sound, a large double door, more than five feet high, opened in the desert floor. Beneath was a vast dark cavern.

  The man stepped inside, going down a flight of wooden steps, staring at a place that he had obviously not seen for many years. The cavern was cool and he took off his turban. It was then possible to identify the visitor as Leo Saint-Clair, a.k.a. The Nyctalope. He barely looked a day older than forty, even though his exploits had been chronicled for over sixty years.

  With his powers, he did not need any light, artificial or otherwise, to examine the contents of the secret cave, even though it was pitch dark. It had once been a secret military base of the French Colonial Empire, long abandoned and forgotten. In addition to the type of equipment one logically expected to find in such a place, such as military bunks, tables, metal cabinets, gun racks, wireless facilities, and piles of cash and fake passports, Leo recognized a number of strange machines. On the left was the prototype of the Flying Machine Gun invented by his friend, Captain Cazal, which could have won the war for France if only.... On the right was a Martian tripod, partially disassembled, and behind it, a crate of radium-powered weapons from Helium. In the middle of the cave was a metallic rocket-shaped craft which still seemed in good condition. It was the OLB -1, the ship designed by Professor Olbans, with which he had explored the vagabond planet, Rhea….