Gary Gygax - Dangerous Journeys 2 - Samarkand Solution (10 page)

They were near the governor's palace now. Inhetep felt that his mention of Innu would put the chief inspector onto the scent of the Khazars. It just might or might not have some application to this case, but it would keep Tuhorus busy for some time. The magister had no intention of allowing the policeman to meddle in the matter of Yakeem. The assassin's role in this affair was uncertain, but Inhetep was sure that if there was a connection the matter was one of national significance. The local authorities might or might not need to be informed. Perhaps Pharaoh would be the one to decide that after the priest-wizard had uncovered the truth and made his report. "Well, perhaps you are right, Chief Inspector. The Metropolitan Prefecture requires one sort of policeman, the Utchatu another—although they would be happy to have many such as you there, I assure you."

Inhetep referred to the state's secret police arm, the Utchatu, of course. Tuhorus had met a few of its agents in the course of his years of detective work. He hadn't liked any of them. Inhetep could be an exception, but that remained to be seen. For now, Tuhorus was content to place the ur-kheri-heb slightly above the others in terms of humanity and ability, for he was certainly less condescending and more clever than the dozen or so others of his sort the policeman had encountered previously. "Tell them we can use their talents here," quipped Tuhorus. "And speaking of stolid effort, I think we must seal the whole of the wing used by the dead governor and search it inch by inch."

"They must be readying for that now, Tuhorus. From the look of it, I'd say that every light in the whole palace is ablaze."

One look at the sky ahead was sufficient for Tuhorus to observe what the magister meant. There was a sudden brightness which limned the row of buildings between them and the governor's compound. Then a clangor sounded. "Not lights, fire!" As he shouted, the policeman broke into a run, and in seconds the two rounded the corner of the street to where the plaza surrounded the group of buildings which was the heart of the sepat and city of On. "By the gods, Inhetep, the place is an inferno!"

It was certainly not a fire which would be put out easily or quickly. Inhetep saw that the palace was the center of the conflagration. Men were now pouring into the plaza, coming to assist with the fight against the consuming flames. "So much for our search, Inspector," he shouted to Tuhorus over the growing din of fire and voices and alarms. "I can assist here, but you'll be of little use. Assemble a squad of your men and get over to the Temple of Set!"

"All right, but should I protect Chemres or arrest him?"

"Both. I think that he must know who did this, and because of that, he's likely the next target for removal."

Tuhorus watched for the space of several heartbeats as the long-legged ur-kheri-heb dashed toward the gates of the palace. His mag-ickal prowess might be of the highest sort, but the police official thought more than priestcraeft and wizardry would be needed to save anything within the walls of that square. Perhaps an incandescent salamander from the elemental Plane of Fire had been conjured into the governor's palace to set it blazing so ferociously, and Inhetep could without difficulty send such an elemental being away. Even so, the damage was done. No heka would do much to extinguish the flames now. That would require an inundation of the Nylle itself! "Right," he said sharply to himself. There was nothing for him to do here, and Inhetep's thoughts regarding the high priest were on the mark ... or very near it, anyway. Tuhorus wasn't quite so certain as the ur-kheri-heb seemed to be about Matiseth Chemres' involvement in the arson of the palace. Perhaps Inhetep underestimated the ambition and ability of the high priest. His intellect too, for that matter, because the former captain and detective of the secret police, hadn't mentioned the possibility of Matiseth having noticed discovery of the incriminating works. Could it be that the high priest had set this fire? If so, Tuhorus knew that he'd find nothing in Chemres' library when he got there. But I'll never get there standing here playing "what ifs." Time to move! he thought to himself.

Several watchmen of the prefecture patrol were nearby. "You! You as well!" Tuhorus shouted as he grabbed first one then another of them. "Chief Inspector Tuhorus, acting deputy prefect. Never mind the trouble here. Come with me now," he commanded. Both of the policemen obeyed, and the three set off at a trot, Tuhorus leading. A few streets distant, he directed one to the prefecture building, instructing the fellow to round up a half-dozen other patrolmen and bring them immediately to the Temple of Set. Then he and the remaining patrolman hurried on.

"What's the trouble, Deputy Prefect?" the fellow panted as he ran alongside. Tuhorus, despite advancing years, was athletic and an able runner.

"You have a right to ask," the chief inspector replied. "This might be a very dangerous situation we're heading into—I'm not sure. We're going to place Hem-neter-tepi Matiseth Chemres under protective custody and house arrest for suspicion of complicity in the matter of the fire now raging at the palace."

"You're having me on!"

"Do I look like a man who would jest about such a matter, patrolman?"

"No, sir!" The one look he got from Tuhorus convinced him that this wasn't some fanciful prank. "But how can the two of us arrest the Great Seer of Set? Why, he could invoke heka to blast us—"

Tuhorus cut him off. "Have your sword ready at all times—that's the rule in such cases. Don't be overly concerned though, patrolman. I didn't survive all these years because I avoided those able to wield magick."

"Right, sir," the fellow panted, trying to look self-confident. He felt highly nervous despite his superior's reassurance, and as they neared the dark temple he grasped his weapon's hilt for comfort. What made this Tuhorus fellow so confident? He wasn't some sort of spellbinder himself, was he? As he considered that, the patrolman shot a surreptitious glance at his companion, trying to assess Tuhorus' potential, wondering if he could recall hearing anything about him which would give a clue as to his abilities. He forgot all that as they came to their destination.

The entrance to the temple was dark and barred by a grill. Considering the hour, that was no surprise. The young policeman jerked his short blade free of its scabbard as Tuhorus yanked heavily on the bell chain calling, "Entry! This is the Prefecture!" In about a minute, a bleary-eyed servant came into view, a feebly flickering oil lamp held before him, shuffling with hesitant steps towards the barred portal.

"Who's that?" he asked, his voice between fear and irritation.

"Come on, you! Open this gate in the name of the Metropolitan Prefecture!" the patrolman cried, using his best tone of authority.

Tuhorus repressed a smile. The servant was probably a failed cleric, one who had aspired toward becoming an attendant "father" and proved so unable that now he had night porter duty. When he heard the young policeman's order, the now-awake fellow stayed well back from the bars, demanding to see some identification from the two late-night visitors requiring admittance. Without answering in words, Tuhorus produced a flat case of copper and bronze. It opened to reveal the cartouche of On's prefecture on one side, his own name and rank in hieroglyphic engraving on the other. He thrust the open case through the gate's bars. "Chief Inspector Tuhorus serving as deputy prefect,
uab-hem.
Quickly now, man. Let us in!"

"No uab of any sort," the servant said, referring to what Tuhorus had called him, uab-hem, as he worked the mechanism which unlocked the grill. He was flattered by Tuhorus' calling him a "pure servant" as if he were a novice priest, however, so the fellow worked as rapidly as he could and then guided them into the temple's main ante-chamber. "Police or no, sirs, you must wait here while I fetch one of the Pure to handle whatever you wish."

"Hurry up then," the inspector said, "for our business is with Great Seer Matiseth Chemres and will brook no delay!" The porter almost ran as he exited along a side passage, seeking one of the numerous lesser clerics of the place. Such a major temple as Set's own in the city would have a score of ecclesiastical officials serving under the high priest, as well as a dozen or more priestesses doing likewise. Guards and lay servants would triple that number, so in total perhaps a hundred and a half people dwelled in the complex. The night porter would have no difficulty locating a priest, for one or more were on duty at all times, even near the last hours of the night.

Whatever the man did made a stir there. Soon a handful of clerics came hurrying to see what the prefecture's agents were doing in Set's house, and lights and voices indicated that the whole populace was being roused. "Has this to do with the fire?" queried the uab priest arriving in the fore. "We have seen the great redness to the south. Is the whole of On ablaze?"

"No, but that's another matter, priest," Tuhorus said without reproach. "We are here to see the hem-neter-tepi, Matiseth Chemres. Allow no one else to enter or leave—I am a deputy prefect and use the authority of the city of On in this regard. See to that, and have another take us to the chambers of your high priest at once."

The fellow bowed slightly. "I will speak with my superior." He had only to turn and walk a couple of steps to do so. A red-robed "prophet" of Set was just entering the room. The latter ecclesiastic then led the two policemen to the high priest's wing as the uab priest went off to see to the closing of the temple as he had been ordered. "This is most irregular, Deputy Prefect," the senior priest remarked. "We will have to record this in detail and submit the account to the Ur-maa of Set as well as to Pharaoh."

"Send it to the whole of Egypt, if you think fit," Tuhorus snapped, not liking the inference that his actions might be subject to some disciplinary action by the combined chief priests of Set or that the king himself might object. "Do so after getting us to Matiseth Chemres, though. Where are you taking us?"

"Directly to the Great Seer's wing, Deputy Inspector. This is a large temple, you know."

"I do now," the inspector muttered, but just then they arrived at a partially open door. The priest leading them seemed disturbed. "What's the matter?" inquired Tuhorus.

"The hem-neter-tepi's door is always kept closed and secured," the man responded. "Something is amiss!"

Tuhorus brushed past the cleric and stepped into the dimly lit room beyond. The young patrolman was at his back. Both saw the body of the high priest of Set sprawled on the floor. The sight was ghastly. Matiseth Chemres had been killed by the same agency which had slain Ram-f-amsu not two days before.

A HIDDEN PLACE

The whole of the government compound was in turmoil as several hundred staff and the soldiers serving the palace ran here and there trying desperately to put out adjacent Mazes. The palace, with its wings, was now burning so fiercely that most attention was being paid to nearby structures, record buildings, administration bureaus, and housing which made up the whole of the sepat's central place of government. Streams of water were being poured into the conflagration, of course, and soon fire fighters from the city proper would come to assist. Mains were open and pools in the garden were being pumped out to send jets of water to combat the spreading flames, but even in this area the supply was insufficient to extinguish such a blaze. Inhetep knew that somewhere there was a perfect replica of the whole complex in miniature. Soon now a strong enough dweomercrafter would set it alight then clap a metal cover over the whole. That lid would be airtight, and the little fire would snuff itself out. If the whole were done properly, then this great fire would likewise he smothered—as might be those near to the buildings as the air around them became an oxygenless near-vacuum.

Inhetep entered the burning palace at a run, ignoring shouts of warning. Had he been a servant of Ra, for instance, he might have had protection from such scorching heat. Thoth, however, being of Balance, not solar nature, endowed him with no such luxury in regards to his priestcraeft. Yet the magister was unconcerned for the moment, for castings of moisture and dealing with heat and fire were readily available to him, since his specialty in dweomercreeft was of the elemental school. At a single utterance, a near-freezing mist formed around him, hissing to steam, at its edges, but swirling and cool and regenerating at the core where he moved. Thus protected, Inhetep made his way quickly to the private apartments which had been Ram-f-amsu's.

There was no hope of recovering direct evidence, but the ur-kheri-heb sought for information nonetheless. The means of the arson might be as revealing as the information which the flames had consumed. From the outside, it had been clear that the fire had originated in the governor's sector of the big building. Inhetep hoped that it was not so eaten by the flames as to be unreachable, or so ready to collapse that it became his funeral pyre. Although the structure was stone, much inside was inflammable, of course. Beams, flooring, paneling, roof, and ail the furniture and furnishings—even the plaster and paint on the walls. The heat was now too intense for a mere mist, so the wizard-priest spoke another series of syllables, this time a combination of heka. A shimmering hemisphere sprang up around him, and that shell drew the mists to itself and absorbed them. Shielded now by a curtain of chill water energies which both held in air and cold and kept the radiant power of the fire out, Setne stepped further into the inferno which had been the prince's personal domain.

A gigantic mass of living flames shifted, hot-violet spots fixing themselves upon the magister as if they were eyes. In fact they
were
eyes, and red-orange fires parted and a mouth spoke. "You come to your death, fool! Run away, little man, or I shall sear your flesh and boil your blood ere I consume you!"