by BBCi Cult
The two mummies beside Vanessa lumbered forward and positioned the relics on a the low shelf behind the dais on which the sarcophagus rested. Then they swung round and lurched their way back to Vanessa.
As Rassul watched them, Atkins eased his way round the motionless mummy that had attacked him. It was still standing with its arm raised ready to strike. As he passed it, the huge figure seemed to relax, its arm lowered, and it turned to face Vanessa. Atkins joined the Doctor, and Tegan in the middle of the room. 'Sorry, Doctor,' he said.
'So what happens now?' Tegan asked the Doctor. Her voice was trembling. 'Is Vanessa already gone?'
'Not quite. At least, I don't think so.'
Rassul had heard the exchange. 'The presence of the relics and of Nyssa when she wakes will complete the cycle. Nephthys will be reborn, complete and anew. The relics without Nyssa are already enough to possess the clone with the spirit of Nephthys. Her instinct and intuition are keyed to the DNA pattern of the original... host.' He paused before the final word, as if trying to think of an alternative.
'And that's what you're after, isn't it?' The Doctor stepped forward, and stared Rassul straight in the face. 'It's not Nephthys that really interests you. It's the woman she was before Horus forced Nephthys' mind into her body.'
Rassul said nothing. He returned the Doctor's stare impassively.
The Doctor continued: 'And you'll destroy another human being for that. Clone or not, Vanessa is a living human with her own personality.'
'You should use the past tense when you speak of Vanessa,' Rassul said in a low voice.
'Doesn't that mean anything to you?' Tegan shouted at him. 'What about Vanessa and the people who love her?' She stepped forward, but the Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. 'What about her life? What about Norris, didn't he have a right to live? What about her father?'
'Her father -' Rassul stabbed the pistol towards Tegan. Then he stopped mid sentence, stepped back, and regained control of himself. 'Ah yes,' he said. 'I think we can now dispense with the services of her father.' He almost spat the final word with contempt. Then he turned to Vanessa. 'Don't you agree?'
Tegan heard the scuffing footsteps from the other room before she saw Prior shuffle into the main chamber. His eyes were still glassy and unseeing as he approached them. Then he blinked, and immediately they focused and he looked round himself in surprise.
'Vanessa?' He seemed to latch on to the person he knew best. 'Oh thank goodness you're safe.' He went over to her, looking in bewilderment at the mummies standing beside her.
Vanessa reached out, the back of her hand stroking down his cheek. To his neck. Then she gripped him tightly with both hands, squeezing his windpipe, choking off the coughed gasps that might have been words. Prior sank to his knees, smoke rising from his daughter's hands as she throttled him. A sickly sweet smell drifted across the room, and Prior collapsed to the floor. His eyes were glassy and unfocused again.
There was silence for a while. In the doorway, Vanessa stood flanked by the two mummies. Prior's smoking corpse lay in front of them. Rassul stood beside the other mummy, pistol in hand. The Doctor stared open mouthed at Rassul. Atkins and Tegan looked in horrified fascination at Prior's body.
'It's time to make the final moves,' the Doctor said suddenly in a loud voice. Everyone looked at him, including Vanessa.
He shrugged. 'Someone had to say something.'
From behind them came a faint rustling sound, almost like a breeze through the trees in a forest. The Doctor ran to the dais, Tegan close behind. Rassul joined them as they looked down at the bandaged form inside the casket. It was moving slightly, the chest rising and falling, the wrappings on the lower arms creasing and un-creasing as if the hands were clenching into fists. A faint sigh came from beneath the strips of cloth covering the face.
'Oh no,' Tegan said huskily. 'She's waking up.'
Author's Notes: Instalment Nine
Instalment Ten
Ancient Egypt - c5000BC
She was still alive, but Rassul did nothing.
He watched as they dragged the girl's sagging body towards the tomb. He followed, taking his designated place as the last of the relics were carried after her. The ring of Bastet, born on a velvet cushion; the snake statue of Netjerankh; the scarab bracelet; the figure of Anubis, god of the rituals of death. Rassul followed, holding the hourglass before him like the talisman it was. And at his back he could hear the Devourer of the Dead snapping in frustration as she was cheated of her victim.
The girl was still alive as they removed the dress. She could stand alone now, unmoving apart from her eyes. She was still alive as Anubis directed the priests to smear her naked body with bitumen.
She was still alive as they started to smother the bandages round her. And Rassul did nothing.
As the wrappings reached her face she screamed again, head back and mouth wide, as if to remind them she still had her tongue. A single word, screamed in terror, anger and accusation. A single word hurled at Rassul as he stood before her. And did nothing. The next twist of cloth cut off her voice, bit deep into her mouth and gagged her.
She was still alive as the bandages covered her forehead, leaving a thin slot through which Rassul could see her eyes widen. She was watching him, locked on to him. And he could see her pupils dilate, could almost feel her terror.
The opening of the mouth. Her scream had been like a pouring in of energy. His muscles tightened and his whole body tensed. She screamed a single word.
'Father!'
* * *
Chapter Fifteen
They were all standing round the casket now. The Doctor, Tegan and Rassul had been joined by Atkins. As they watched the bandaged figure's movements become gradually more pronounced and emphatic, Vanessa stepped up on to the dais. The mummies grouped behind her, and as she raised her arms high above her head, they mirrored her movements. The chamber seemed to fill with discordant music, perhaps from the organ in the drawing room above, as the wide sleeves of Vanessa's night-gown slipped down to her shoulders, exposing her bronzed arms.
The figure in the casket was struggling to sit up now, the arms still bound to her sides, but working to loosen the wrappings.
'Now it happens,' Rassul said, his voice barely audible above the rising noise of the organ. 'Now she becomes whole. Now the goddess Nephthys lives again.'
'And what good does that do you?' Tegan shouted across the coffin.
'My daughter will live again too. When the mind of Nephthys is complete, so too is the remains of my daughter's. Some part of her, however small, will be restored.' The sweat glistened on his forehead as he raised his arms above the coffin. 'That is worth everything. Nephthys is the instrument of my daughter's rebirth.'
The Doctor shook his head emphatically. 'You think you're using Nephthys,' he shouted. 'But in fact she's using you. She's been using you ever since Horus chose your daughter.' 'No Doctor, you are wrong.'
'Am I? That blind faith that drives you to try to save some vestige of your daughter is how Osiran mental control works, don't you see that?'
'What do you mean?' Atkins asked
'It's not just thecomplete take-over of the mind that the Osirans use. It's the passion for discovering all you can about a mummy in your basement, it's the devotion of a high priest, the impulsive selection of a good round number like a hundred years. It's the love of a daughter.'
Rassul was shaking his head now. 'No, Doctor, you still don't understand.'
As he spoke, two of the mummies stepped on to the dais. They took up positions either side of the casket, forcing Atkins to move aside. They reached into the coffin and took the writhing, bandaged figure, raising it to its feet with a gentleness that belied their massive strength.
'When Nyssa's eyes open from the long sleep, and she sees the goddess, Vanessa and Nyssa will be joined and Nephthys will be whole again.' The triumph was evident in Rassul's voice.
Vanessa reached out, working her slender fingers bet
ween the bandages round the head. 'Let the universe tremble,' she said, her voice blending into the rhythmic swell of music. 'Let the darkness start here.' Then she tore the bandages from the face of the figure standing in the sarcophagus.
Tegan screamed, and the organ music stopped. Tegan stepped back, hands to her mouth, and almost fell down the step. Vanessa froze, her eyes meeting the gaze returned from beneath the torn remains of the bandages. Atkins looked puzzled, and Rassul stood open-mouthed in horror and amazement. The Doctor nodded slowly, his face set in grim satisfaction.
The figure standing in the coffin, held either side by an Osiran mummy, her head now almost free of bandages, was recognizably Nyssa. The grey hair hung in ringlets about her neck, the round face was creased and wrinkled round the bright intelligent eyes. The pale lips were pursed slightly as if in defiance.
When Tegan had seen the Doctor unwrap Nyssa's head in 1896, it had been to reveal the young woman she remembered from the previous day. Now she looked nearer ninety than twenty.
'What is this?' Rassul screamed. His voice echoed round the chamber. 'What has happened?'
He looked to Vanessa for an answer, but she remained frozen in position, staring at Nyssa.
'I think we're a little late,' the Doctor said. His voice was quiet, but everyone turned to him. Even Vanessa swung her head slightly. 'I'm afraid your calculations were slightly off. As you can see, Nyssa has actually been awake for quite some time. Or at least, in a sort of waking sleep. Just enough to continue the ageing process while she dozed.'
'No,' breathed Vanessa, her voice an exhalation of disbelief.
'You know it's true,' the Doctor told her. 'You just scanned her mind, looking for the reasoning, calculating, intelligent part of your own self.'
'It is not there.' Vanessa's voice was low, despondent.
'So, even at the instinctive level on which you're operating you can tell that the rest of the mind of Nephthys no longer exists. It was freed when Nyssa awoke, and you weren't here. Now it's lost forever.'
'How long ago did she wake?' Atkins asked.
'She woke up in 1926.'
'Seventy years,' Atkins murmured.
The Doctor nodded. 'I like good round numbers,' he said.
'Doctor.' Tegan's voice was accusing, shaking with emotion. Her face was set and she was glaring at him.
'I'm sorry, Tegan. If there had been any other way.'
'How could you?' She was in tears now. 'How could you do this to Nyssa, after - after everything?'
The Doctor smiled sadly. 'Rassul knows. He asked if I could sacrifice a friend to save the universe, if I could make that choice.'
Tegan turned away. 'He didn't believe you could,' she said through her sobs. 'And neither did I.'
Rassul too was shaking with anger. 'Doctor, I shall kill you for this.'
The Doctor returned his stare. 'I don't care,' he said levelly. 'The universe is safe now. All you have is a woman who hardly knows who she is and can't make a decision beyond the next instinctive moment. She can respond to circumstances, make impassioned speeches from the heart of the evil goddess she once was, but longer term than that she can never make up her mind.' He grinned suddenly. 'I hope you'll excuse the choice of phrase.'
'She will be whole,' Rassul insisted. 'We shall find a way.'
Vanessa stood watching them, listening to the exchange but taking no part. Her face was impassive.
'Not without going back to 1926, you won't.' The Doctor frowned, as if surprised at his own words, and bit his lip. He turned away, went to comfort Tegan.
Rassul's brow creased in concentration. '1926, of course. Nephthys must be there when your friend wakes. Must have been waiting for her first moments of this waking sleep. Then, her mind will meld and be one.'
He looked across at Vanessa, and she in turn reacted, nodding to the nearest mummy. The mummy let go of Nyssa, who sagged, still held by a second mummy. She had been paying careful attention to what was happening, but said nothing.
The mummy lurched towards the Doctor, grabbing him by the shoulder and spinning him round. Then it pushed him towards Rassul.
'You will take us, Doctor,' Rassul said. 'You will take us back to 1926.' He pointed the gun at the Doctor's head to emphasize the demand.
But the Doctor shook his head. 'Oh no. No I won't. And threatening my friends here will make no difference, either,' he said as Rassul moved the gun to point at Tegan. 'By now you must realize that I value even their lives below the imperative of keeping Nephthys subdued. The past is over and done with, dead and buried in a box. And you can't change it.'
Rassul considered for a moment, then suddenly he smiled and lowered the gun. 'But we can,' he said. 'Thank you for the suggestion, Doctor. We shall use the sarcophagus. It can open a vortex tunnel to 1926 as easily as it transported Nyssa to ancient Egypt.'
The Doctor's jaw dropped, and for a second he was speechless. 'No!' he cried, his arm flung out in appeal to Rassul, an almost theatrical gesture.
But Vanessa was already turning to the mummies. 'Go,' she said, and her voice was like the cracking of hell.
The mummy still holding Nyssa's arm released it, and she fell back into the casket. Atkins and Tegan went to help her out, as two of the mummies turned and lumbered towards the staircase. The third stood beside Vanessa, a silent bodyguard. Rassul moved to join his goddess.
'Where are they going?' Tegan asked the Doctor.
'To fetch the sarcophagus, I imagine. If they bring it here, then Vanessa or Nephthys or whoever she now is can use it to travel back to 1926 and be in this room when Nyssa's consciousness returns.'
'And Nephthys will live again, complete,' Vanessa said, her eyes now alive with menace. 'Where is the sarcophagus?' Atkins asked.
Nyssa sat down on the edge of the dais, and the Doctor rested his hand on her shoulder. It was a strange gesture, comforting yet distant. 'I imagine it's still in the British Museum. It's a bit of a walk, but who's going to argue with those two at four o'clock in the morning?'
It was the quietest time of the night in a city which is never completely silent. Aldwych was deserted, and Drury Lane had already shed its last theatre-goers. The two mummies kept to the darkest shadows as they lumbered across London. The instinctive force of Nephthys which guided them knew intuitively that avoiding confrontation would make for the quickest journey.
Even so, several meetings were unavoidable. A drunk stirred in the gutter as one of the massive figures stepped over him. He stared in fuzzy horror at the shape moving above him, then dragged himself to his feet and fled noisily in the opposite direction.
As they neared the end of Drury Lane, a police patrol car drew alongside. 'Good party?' the driver called at them, but the robots ignored him. The patrol shadowed for a while before receiving a call about a hit and run in Bloomsbury. It wailed off into the night and the mummies continued their ponderous progress towards the north entrance to the British Museum.
Henry Edwards was making his routine tour of the ground floor when he heard the crash. It sounded as if the north door was being smashed open. The penetrating scream of the burglar alarm echoed round the museum. Henry reached for his radio as he ran down the corridor.
What was left of the door was hanging from a bent hinge, swinging slowly in the night breeze. Henry stared at it, fumbling the buttons on the radio. He had it almost to his mouth when a huge shape resolved out of the shadows and stepped towards him.
His first thought was that one of the exhibits from the Egyptian Rooms on the floor above had somehow come to life. But then he realized that it must just be a student prank. He was still thinking of a witty put-down when the huge bandaged hand lifted him by the neck and flung him down the corridor. His head hit the wall with a thud, leaving a sticky trail behind it as his body slid slowly to the floor.
The mummy continued on its way, hardly slowed by the encounter. It followed its fellow to the north staircase, and up to Room 66 which was just at the top of the first flight.
The Osiran sarcophagus stood in the corner of the room. It glowed with an eerie internal light as the service robots approached. They lifted it easily between them, and started on their return journey. They were just leaving by the north door as the first police cars screeched to a strobing blue halt outside the main entrance on the opposite side of the building.
The Doctor, Tegan and Atkins were sitting on the floor. The Doctor was cross-legged, staring at the ground.
Tegan was sitting with her back against the wall and her knees drawn up under her chin. She looked round at the others, avoiding catching Nyssa's attention, and thought back to the last time she had sat in a similar position on the same piece of floor. It had been a hundred years ago and thousands of miles away. But the real shift was in her perspective. Then she had been desperate for Nyssa's long sleep to end. But now that Nyssa had finally awoken, Tegan was depressed and confused.
Nyssa sat close to Tegan, her frail old body seemed shrunken and bereft of energy. She stared at the Doctor, as if for reassurance. Occasionally the Doctor looked up and smiled faintly at her, and Nyssa visibly relaxed a little. But Tegan was unable to decode the communication between them, if there was any. Soon after the mummies had left, Tegan had tried to talk to Nyssa, but she had been unresponsive, answering in monosyllables or nods of the head. 'Are you OK?' Nod. 'How do you feel?' Shrug. 'Do you want to talk about it?' 'No.'
Rassul was pacing nervously up and down beside the raised dais. Vanessa stood motionless, her eyes flicking back and forth as if she were seeing events played out somewhere else. Beside her, the Osiran mummy stood massive and silent. Its upper body swayed slightly as it kept watch over both the group sitting on the floor and Rassul.
Despite their bulk, the mummies moved almost silently. It surprised Tegan when the Doctor suddenly leaped to his feet and dusted himself down. A moment later, the two mummies entered the chamber, carrying the sarcophagus between them. They positioned it on the dais at the head of the casket in which Nyssa had slept, bowed slightly to Vanessa, and stepped back. The third mummy joined them, and together they raised their arms. From the house above the organ roared into strident life and a cacophony of powerful noise swelled through the basement.