Free Mysterious Cairo by Edited By Ed Stark, Dell Harris Page B

Sutenhotep, slapping at the flames which had found purchase on the sleeve of his black suit. He stood up slowly, seeming to ignore the slugs which had taken up residence in his chest. "If you want to live again, kill Angus Cage!"
    Sutenhotep hesitated, then advanced upon Cage. Cage kept the circle of bell jars between himself and Sutenhotep, trying to decide if his Browning would do anything to the mummy. He glanced at the curtain quickly, seeing Payne rush out of the chamber, trailing sparks of bright red fire. But it wasn't Payne, not the Payne that Cage had come to know. It was more a shadow-thing of shifting shapes and flowing forms. It was, he knew, the real Quentin Payne.
    "You have taught me well, Angus Cage," Sutenhotep said with some degree of effort. It sounded as if his vocal chords hadn't been used in a thousand years. Make that three thousand, Cage corrected. "I am sorry that we have come to this, but I want to live!"
    Cage toppled another pedestal. Its jar shattered in a symphony of breaking glass. "One Mobius is enough for any world to deal with, Sutenhotep," Cage said. He pushed over another jar. "You belong to a different time."
    "I belong here!" Sutenhotep shouted, grabbing Cage with his strong arms. "Who are you to deny me a chance to live?" He swung Cage into the wall, knocking the air from him and shattering his left shoulder in an explosion of bone and blood. Cage screamed, but managed to fire a shot into Sutenhotep's chest.
    The bullet startled the ancient man, causing him to throw Cage away from him. Cage sailed across the chamber, knocking over three more bell jars before he crashed into the far wall. He barely had time to realize that his pistol had fallen from his hand when the sharp pain in his shoulder spread throughout his body and almost knocked him out. He held on to consciousness with an extreme effort of will, for he saw that Sutenhotep was coming toward him to finish the job he started.
    "Why are these things always so damn strong?" Cage wondered as he struggled to sit up. It was hard to gain his balance with only one good arm, and he slipped before he got his feet underneath him. From Cage's angle on the ground, Sutenhotep looked even bigger than he remembered. And he looked very, very angry. "At least I still have my hat," he mused as the ancient man drew closer. That's when Cage noticed his own shadow. It was dancing along the wall, flickering in a blaze of candle light. He turned his head, ignoring the pain it awakened in his shoulder, and looked for the tall, fat black candle he knew had to be nearby.
    "Time to die, Angus Cage," Sutenhotep said as he reached for Cage with long, regal fingers.
    "I couldn't agree more," Cage replied. He found the thick candle and grabbed hold of its fat base. With speed born of long years of practice and a moment of desperation, he shoved the candle's flame into the ancient wrappings that still covered the lower part of Sutenhotep's body.
    The hungry flame danced over the dry wrappings, setting them on fire. Sutenhotep squealed. It was the same squeal that the shadows outside the shop made. Mobius, Cage knew, might laugh maniacally, but he would never squeal. The fire spread quickly, engulfing Sutenhotep in a cloak of burning light. He squealed again, then raced for the shimmering curtain. In his rush to extinguish the flames, Sutenhotep didn't care that he shattered the remaining bell jars, leaving gray smoke and broken glass in his wake.
    The black curtain refused to part for Sutenhotep, so the flaming man ran into it. The curtain squealed as the fire leaped for it, adding its unnatural voice to the song of pain and fear which Sutenhotep sang. It finally pulled back, leaving the portal to the front of the shop wide open. Sutenhotep plunged through, still burning, still squealing.
    Cage listened for a moment, catching his breath. From the other room he heard more squeals of fear and pain. With a herculean effort, he rose from the floor. He could see