Email for feedback ardethsmistress@hotmail.com

Disclaimers – I own no-one

Rating – PG13

Summery – Something evil descends from on high.

Note: This is also going to have a slashy sequel.

Sutekh Must Live
by Tanith

They had to check the pyramid, it was only one of an estimated 2000 that were in Egypt. Most had been robbed but a lot hadn't and they didn't have to check all of them only a few.

Most of the passageways were impassible but Ardeth told his men to check them anyway. He would check the main one. At the end of this passageway was a large door, whose seal was intact. Above the seal was the Eye of Horus, carved into the stone of the door.

As he was about to leave, he saw something out of the corner of his eye and looking back, the Eye of Horus seemed to be glowing. But that was impossible, it must be light reflecting on it from somewhere.

Looking round, he could see none but the symbol still glowed.

He touched it to see if there was light from anywhere else. As he did, the great door opened, the seal remaining intact. He should have called his men at that moment but he didn't.

Curiosity got the better of him and he went inside. The door shut behind him but he didn't attempt to try and get out before it closed.

His eyes were transfixed on the figure sitting before him.

"Ah, help at last" said a voice "Come here human"

Ardeth was compelled to obey and suddenly felt a pain in his head and he fell to his knees as the figure began to laugh.

Masala and the men finished looking around and went back for Ardeth. But he was no where to be found. They searched everywhere and went outside to see if he was there but his horse, Jet, was still with the others, but there was no sign of their leader.

"Where is he?"

"I have no idea" replied Masala "It's as if he disappeared into thin air"

After a few hours they had to give up, they weren't going to find him and rode back to camp, very worried.

"I will ride to Cairo and engage the help of Rick O'Connell. He will help look for him"

A few day later, Jonathan was the only one at the museum as Rick and Evy were at a dig in Saccara. They wouldn't be back for another two days. One of the workers came into the study and told him that a delivery had arrived and where should they put it.

"We weren't expecting anything, I'll come and see2

Outside was a large crate addressed to him, not the museum and a smaller package. Two strange men waited for him to sign for it.

"There is a note with it" one of them said.

Jonathan opened the note, it said.

`Please place sarcophagus against a north wall. More details to follow'

Strange thought Jonathan, where had it come from and why the north wall. Anyway he got the men to carry it into a room next to the study, where they normally kept stuff before putting it out on display or things that were too badly damaged to show.

It was fairly empty at the moment and he knew where north way so complying with the instructions, had it unpacked and placed there.

Then the men left. It was very big, bigger than normal and he had no idea whose it was.

He opened the smaller package and found a dusty little box inside and taking the lid off saw, nestled in a lump of old tissue, a ring.

Taking it out, he examined it. There was a blue Eye of Horus in the centre, surrounded in red set in gold. It was exquisite and he never saw anything like it before.

Not being able to resist and the fact that Evy wasn't there to stop him, he slipped it on his finger to see how it looked. He loved gold and it normally got him into trouble but he was a sucker for it.

As he put it on, he felt it tighten and then a strange thing happened. A voice spoke to him and turning round he saw that he was still alone but the voice continued and said only one thing.

"Sutekh must live"

He felt strange, sort of dizzy but not dizzy and hot. Then he went to the sarcophagus and looking at it, unclipped the lid, which normally would have been sealed and lifted it off, standing it against the wall. It seemed empty.

Then he went to the side and fiddled with some of the hieroglyphics that adorned the thing. Suddenly the whole of the inside glowed and he stood in front of it, his arms across his chest in the respectful manner that all ancient Egyptians used when they saw someone of importance.

Then the red glow turned into a pattern of lights and one, then two mummies walked out of it.

Not like Imhotep, that they had fought twice over the years but perfect in the sense that they looked like they had just been wrapped up. He bowed to them.

"We are here for Sutekh. We are to serve you and bring about his return"

On the far side of the room were two old coffins that weren't good enough to go on display. Jonathan opened them and removed the contents and put it behind them. Then the two mummies stepped into them and he put the lids back on. He then returned to his room after locking the room up.

*

Rick and Evy had arrived at the pyramid with Masala, it was only a few hours ride from cairo. They had come back to find their friend waiting for them and after he told them what had happened then went straight back with him. Neither of them saw Jonathan nor the sarcophagus that had arrived.

"We'll see him when we get back, he's probably drunk somewhere" said Evy.

They spent hours looking for clues to where Ardeth had gone but found none.

"He was here, searching this part of the pyramid and then he was gone" said Masala.

"Well the door here is sealed so no-one has gone through there" said Rick "And no Evy, we are not going to be the first ones"

She said something under her breath and walked back along the passage. As they left, Masala stopped.

"You know, I could have sworn that there was a large sarcophagus standing against that wall over there before but now it has gone too" he said.

Rick and Evy went to have a look and scanning the floor could see where something had been standing there.

"Well something was here but it's definitely not here now and it hasn't been gone long"

"What the hell is going on here?" asked Masala.

"Well I think we should go back to Cairo and do some investigating there. Find out whose tomb this belonged to for a start" said Evy.

They got back to the museum to find one of the workers dead and another scared out of his wits.

"What's happened here?" yelled Rick.

"A mummy, a mummy killed Bob and scared Maohamid out of his life" said Pete

"A mummy…Oh my God…Imhotep" exclaimed Evy.

"No Miss Evy, it wasn't an old mummy, it was a new one"

"What do you mean a new one?" asked Rick.

"It was bandaged up but it was with new badages, as if it had been done yesterday"

"Where's Jonathan?"

"No-one has seen him since that sarcophagus arrived just before you got back"

They looked at each other and went into the study to try and piece together all the things that had happened. Rick poured himself a much needed whiskey.

"Okay what have we got here" he said

"I am not thinking about it" replied Masala "I dare not"

"We have Ardeth who has disappeared at the pyramid, Jonathan has done the same here after a sarcophagus arrives unexpected. Masala is sure that there was one at the pyramid which has also gone. Bob has been killed by a `new' mummy as Pete put it" said Rick.

Pete came in and said that Bob had been taken to his room at the hotel next door. Rick asked him where the sarcophagus was that had been delivered.

"Jonathan had it put in the room next door but it has been locked ever since"

"I have a spare key" said Evy.

They went to the room and Evy tried the key in the lock but found that the locks had been changed.

"Well we can't knock the door down, it is too valuable and part of the museum. We will have to wait for Jonathan to come back and then he will have some explaining to do"

Suddenly there was a click at the door, it opened and Jonathan came out.

"Ah there you are, now what the hell is going on?" shouted Rick.

"RICK!!!" shouted Evy.

She shouted to him as she saw Jonathan start to fall and before he could do anything, the man had collapsed just outside the door. They ran to him and found that he was alive at least.

"Get him into the study"

Rick and Masala carried him and laid him on the sofa. He started to come round.

"Jonathan, are you alright, what happened?" asked Evy.

"I can't remember, there was a light and I knew I had to get out of there, I'm sorry"

Rick told Evy to stay with him while they went to have a look in the room. They could find nothing out of the ordinary except for the new coffin. It looked harmless and empty. Going back into the room he questioned Jonathan and told him what had been going on.

"I remember the thing coming and putting it in the room. But parts of the last few days are a blank. You say Bob is dead and Ardeth is missing"

"Yes plus a mummy has been seen, that is what killed Bob" said Evy.

They decided to leave it for now there was nothing much they could do at the moment except go through papers and books that could relate to the pyramid. Evy went and had a look at the sarcophagus. She could find no names on the thing itself but on the lid was a name but she couldn't quite make it out.

Jonathan had been taken to the hotel as well. At about midnight they were still looking through the papers and books.

"Well I am going to bed" said Rick "We'll do this tomorrow. Masala is asleep and Pete left ages ago"

"Maybe you're right" said Evy. "Hang on here is something in this book"

"So who is this Sutekh?" asked Masala waking up.

"You know him as Set, he was supposedly killed by Horus God of light,"

"Right, he was Horus's brother" he replied.

"That's right…what's that?"

Just then they heard a noise coming from outside the door. Going to the door and looking out, Evy saw someone going into the room. She went and told Rick as she switched off the light then woke Masala.

"Someone is next door. Come on, let's see who it is"

The quickly went out and crept to the door. Listening for a moment, Rick quietly opened it and peeped in. Jonathan was standing in front of the two old coffins and holding out his hand. A glow came from the ring on his finger as he pointed it. They couldn't quite see them and didn't know that he had taken the lids off.

Suddenly they saw two mummies, newly wrapped as the man had described, walk and stand either side of Jonathan as he stood in front of the new sarcophagus.

"What are they and what is he doing?" asked Masala.

"Shhh…he could hear us" replied Rick.

They didn't want to rush in, after what one of them mummies had done to Bob they wanted to be careful, at least for the moment. Jonathan was bowing to the sarcophagus.

"Ushimdee comtu Ushimdee" he was saying.

As they watched, lights from inside the coffin attract their attention and a figure of a man in a mask comes closer and clearer. Then he steps out of the coffin and walks towards Jonathan. Another mummy comes out behind him.

"Oh noble Lord, your servant welcomes you. We have served you all the years and guarded your tomb" said Jonathan.

"Stand…look at me" said the man.

"No I dare not"

"Look…is this the face of Sutekh"

"I am the servant of Sutekh, please let me live"

"I am the servant of Sutekh, he needs no other"

He places his hands on Jonathans shoulders and the man screams and falls to the floor.

Evy wants to run to Jonathan but Masala clamps a hand over her mouth and holds her. As they watch, the figure changes and becomes someone they know very well.

"Ardeth!!" exclaimed Masala.

"Shhh" says Rick.

He turns to the mummies as he steps over Jonathan and points to the four canopic jars standing in front of the sarcophagus which weren't there before.

"Take the canopic jars, place them at ground level at south, north, east and west outside the museum at the edge of the grounds" he said.

The others outside the door ran to hide as Ardeth and the three mummies leave the museum. They then run in to Jonathan. He is laying on the floor but is not dead only deeply unconscious and nothing they could do would wake him.

"My God what has happened to Ardeth, he looked so strange" said Rick.

"He is in some kind of trance" replied Evy "Must be something to do with this Sutekh"

"But you said he was killed by Horus, how can he have done this?"

"Horus never killed him exactly, that would have made him as bad. Egypt mythology is built and based on the Osirans. Legend has it that Sutekh destroyed his own world of Osiris and left a trail of destruction wherever he went. Horus finally cornered him on earth and he was banished under a pyramid for all eternity. Now he is trying to return" said Evy.

"And how do you know this?" asked Rick.

"That book I found just before we heard the noise out here. I was reading about it. Maybe it will tell us more"

Masala was looking rather pale and was leaning on the door.

"Masala are you alright, come on let's get Jonathan in there"

They took him into the study and then Evy spotted the ring. She managed to get it off his finger. Rick had made Masala drink a whiskey and told him that they would help get Ardeth back if they could.

"This must be what he was using to control the mummies. It had some sort of effect on him just like whatever has happened to Ardeth"

She got the book off the desk and flicked through it. She found out a few things that might help.

"Look it says there is a scroll that tells about Sutekh and how he was banished and how to stop him ever being freed."

"Where is this scroll?"

"It doesn't say. It could be anywhere" she replied.

"Great"

Rick went back into the other room to have a look at the sarcophagus, there must be something that showed him how it worked. Some people would have been scared stiff of what they had seen but after all they had been through, nothing surprised him anymore. He found some dials under a flap on the side of it, he called Evy.

"These must work this thing but I have never seen anything like them before"

"You know I always said that the Egyptians must have come from space because of all the things they knew, well I think this proves it"

Masala looked at her and she explained what she meant. They only had to look at the powers that the ancients had, they had seen this power with Imhotep, the Scorpion King, Anubis and everything that happened at Ahm Shere. Nothing was clear cut when it came to the Egyptians.

Rick decided to push one of the buttons on the panel and the lights started inside the coffin. But he must have pushed the wrong one because suddenly there was a small explosion and he was flung across the floor.

"RICK" shouted Masala.

"I…I'm alright, I think. Damn that thing has some kick"

"Will you be careful, we might have to use that to find Ardeth"

They went back into the study and Masala accidently knocked the book off the table. As he picked it up, he noticed something sticking out of the spine. He picked it up and looked at it.

"Evy, I think this is the scroll. It fell out of the spine of the book when I dropped it"

"Great, let's see"

She spread the scroll out on the desk and they looked at it. It was in ancient Egyptian that only she could read and after a while she looked up at them.

"This is just what we needed. Sutekh is trapped under the pyramid. He is kept there by the Eye of Horus, it acts like a radio wave, if you like. He can only escape this pyramid if the Eye is destroyed. He has been like this for 10,000 years."

"So we stop them from destroying the eye, rescue Ardeth and all will be back to normal" said Rick "No?"

"Where is this Eye of Horus?" asked Masala.

"I knew someone was going to ask that" said Rick.

Evy was busy looking for a book up on the top shelves of the study. She brought down a large atlas. It was very dusty and she sneezed as she opened it. Looking through she found what she was looking for.

"The Eye of Horus is here…" she said pointing to a picture in the book "On Mars"

Before anyone could answer anything Jonathan woke up. They went over to him.

"Take it easy, we thought you would never wake up after that man tried to kill you"

"Evy, I can remember everything. But how?"

"I think when I took the ring off your finger, it released any hold Sutekh had over you. What can you remember, can you tell us anything that would help"

He told her exactly what had happened to him and how, although he wanted to stop, he couldn't. Yet before he couldn't remember a thing.

"How come they have Ardeth?" asked Masala.

"It seems that he went into a pyramid where this Sutekh was and somehow found him in the tomb. Sutekh is using him to do his work, as he used me to help him here. They want to destroy the Eye and then Sutekh can destroy all worlds wherever he goes"

They helped him up and Evy showed him the book and scroll and then the map she had found. He studied it for a while.

"So what were you saying about Mars Evy?"

"The Eye of Horus is on Mars. Somehow he has to destroy it and then he will be free to go wherever he wants. We have to stop him"

"Okay, one, how are we going to stop him. Two, how is he going to get to Mars of all places and three, will we be able to save Ardeth?"

"I don't know" she said "To any of those questions"

They heard the door go in the entrance hall to the museum and looking round the door saw one of the mummies coming back. They shut the door as quietly as they could but suddenly it was thrown back as the mummy came into the room.

"Destroy them" said a voice.

Ardeth was behind it with the other mummies and they tried to kill all in the room. The only way out was through the window and picking up a chair, Rick smashed the glass and wooden frame. Grabbing Evy he lifted her through and then he and the others followed as quickly as they could. The mummies had to go back out the door to try and follow them, with Ardeth behind them.

The friends ran across the courtyard at the back of the museum and went to run out of the gate at the end of the small drive that led up to it. Masala was in front and suddenly stopped dead and was flung to the ground, stunned.

"What the hell, there is nothing there" said Rick.

"Rick, it is a force field, they used one to stop anyone coming into the room" said Jonathan.

"Force field, this is getting into the realms of fantasy" retorted Rick. "Look there is nothing there"

He got his rifle which he had managed to grab as he went out of the window and threw it where Masala had fell expecting it to go sailing through the air. It did, after hitting a wall of nothing and richoting back at the group of friends.

"Will you be careful, I told you it was a force field" said Jonathan.

Rick walked forward and reached out with his hand and suddenly felt a wall but it looked like nothing was there. They followed it around and found that it seemed to circle the museum.

"So that is what they were doing. No-one can get in or out, we're trapped here" he said.

Ardeth had taken two of the mummies into the room next to the study while the other two followed Rick. They saw them walking towards them as they wondered where they were going to go to be safe.

"Over here, the little lodge" said Evy.

They ran in and locked the door. The mummies burst in and knocked Masala across the room and Jonathan, then grabbed Rick by the throat.

"Evy the ring, it will stop them" shouted Jonathan. "Hold it out and tell them to stop"

She pulled the ring out of her pocket and held it up.

"STOP" she said.

The mummies stopped where they were and didn't move. Jonathan told her what else to say.

"Return to control" she said.

They turned and walked out of the lodge and back to the museum. The others picked themselves up and locked the door as best they could.

"They won't be back, Ardeth will assume that we are dead, that is why they have gone back" said Jonathan.

"Look it is nearly 3.30 in the morning, I suggest we take it in turns to get some sleep, they is not much we can do in the dark" said Masala.

The others agreed and Rick took the first watch, just in case there was any trouble. He began to think of how they could get into so much trouble, it had been following them around for over ten years. First mummies of 3000 years old and then a giant scorpion and now, things from Mars. It couldn't get any worse, he hoped.

It was light by 6 am and with the others still asleep, Jonathan went outside the lodge. Noises had made him curious as to what was going on.

Going round the side of the building, he could see the museum across the courtyard. In the middle was what looked like a huge metal cylinder. Ardeth was standing beside it and the three mummies were attaching bits and putting things inside it.

"Rick, Evy, you have to see this"

"What…Jonathan what is it?" asked Evy.

He pulled them up and got them to follow him outside to look at what was going on.

"What on earth is it?"

"I hate to think?" said Evy.

"It looks like a rocket" said Jonathan.

"Oh my God, this must be what they are going to use to get to Mars to destroy that Eye" replied Rick.

"That thing can fly?" asked Masala.

"Unfortunately I think it can or will when they have finished it"

Going back to the lodge, they had to try and think of a way to destroy it and stop sutekh's return.

"I'll be back in a while" said Rick "Stay here"

Before Evy could stop him, he had taken the rifle and disappeared out of the door.

In an outhouse attached to the museum where explosives were kept. Getting a bag, he put as much stuff in it as he could, dynamite, detonators, wire etc. then he made his way back to the lodge.

"Right we have to build a big enough devise that will blow that thing and the mummies sky high" he said.

"But Ardeth, he is with them"

"Then we get him away from them first, create a diversion while me and Masala set the dynamite"

"Will it work?" asked Evy.

"It had better. Then we will deal with the sarcophagus"

"Hurry up" said Ardeth "We have to get this rocket finished"

The mummies obeyed and he went back inside the museum. Sutekh was to give him the co-ordinates to put into the rocket, then it would find its target.

"Are the humans destroyed?" he asked.

"I don't think so, I saw one of them but they will be taken care of as soon as the rocket goes"

"Good, nothing must stop my return"

Rick saw Ardeth leave and he grabbed Masala.

"That will have to do, it's now or never, come on"

They took the thing they had made and walked round the back of the rocket taking care not to let the mummies see them. Setting the dynamite against the side, Rick put in the detonators and then the wire.

"Hurry up, Ardeth could be back in a minute" said Masala.

"Right that's it, let's go"

He ran the wire with them to the wall where the others were waiting. Then twisting the wire like he had on many a dig, he attached them to a plunger. Looking at the others briefly, he pushed it down.There was a very large explosion and they were covered in bits of metal and dirt. When they looked round the wall, they saw the rocket was just a pile of scrap metal, with the mummies in bits all around it.

"Brilliant job" said Jonathan "Now what?"

"We go and do the same, more or less to that sarcophagus. Hopefully that will make Sutekh release Ardeth from whatever trance he has him in" said Rick.

"Let's hope he will be okay" said Masala.

Inside the museum, Ardeth and Sutekh heard the explosion and guessed what it was. Ardeth made sure by going to the window in the hall and looking out. The rocket was no more.

"They have destroyed the rocket master. What do you want me to do"

"Interference, always interference. They will all suffer for this. Destroy them all…no wait…there may be another way. Bring the one who caused this to me"

"But they will not come that easily and it looks like the mummies have been destroyed as well" said Ardeth.

"They will come to me…they will want to destroy this sarcophagus. Let them into the room and then come in and lock the door. After that, leave it too me" he said.

Rick and the others crept into the museum after making sure that the mummies were destroyed with the rocket. Then keeping an eye out of Ardeth, they made their way to the room where the sarcophagus was. Finding no-one in the room, they went in.

"Now let's destroy this thing. I have two sticks of dynamite left, if I light them and throw them into the thing as I push those dials, then it should blow the thing up and take Sutekh with it…I hope"

"Then hope is all you have left" said Ardeth from behind them.

The others went to grab him but suddenly two mummies walked in from behind him and they backed off.

"You see Sutekh is powerful already and sent two more mummies to help me. You have caused a minor problem for him but it will soon be resolved. You Rick, will help him destroy the Eye of Horus on Mars"

"You are joking, I will never help him. I will destroy him and…and you if I have to" he said.

One of the mummies stepped forward and the other grabbed Evy, who screamed as it held her tight.

"Let her go" shouted Rick and Jonathan more or less together.

"You will help us?" asked Ardeth.

"No, never"

With that Ardeth told the mummy to kill her. Just as it positioned her so that it could break her neck, Rick shouted at them.

"Okay…okay, I'll help you, let her go"

"Good" said Sutekh "Now on the side of this sarcophagus is a panel, you will try and program these co-ordinates into it. Then you will walk into it and destroy the Eye of Horus"

"Rick…NO!" shouted Evy.

Ardeth hit her hard and she collapsed into the arms of the mummy.

"You bastard" shouted Rick.

He was going to lunge for the man but Masala stopped him.

"Rick wait, he is being used by Sutekh, remember that"

"Believe me when I say that he will kill her if you don't do this" said Sutekh.

"You will let her go?"

"I might, we shall see. Now these are the numbers…22-41-63-18-26-35. Ardeth and the other two will go with you. The mummies will look after Evy. Security you might say"

Rick pushed the buttons with the numbers, hoping it would work and yet also hoping that he could find a way of destroying Sutekh at the same time as the Eye.

The lights began in the sarcophagus and reluctantly Rick and the others walked into it to the strains of Sutekh laughing. They emerged inside a sort of cave with a large pattern on the wall.

"It is a test, you must get it right to proceed…Do it" said the voice of Sutekh.

Rick looked at it and saw that was a maze. He had been good at these as a child and found the start and the end. He had to do this for Evy.

"I can't do these" said Jonathan.

"I hope I can"

He carefully traced around the maze with his fingers and suddenly the whole panel slid back, revealing another room. On the wall was another puzzle, this time of lines and circles.

"Damn, what do I do with this?" said Rick.

"I think you match these up with the ones on here" said Masala "I think there will be one over, one that doesn't match"

It took Rick a while to work it out but he finally found the odd one and pushed it. Another Room. This went on for about eight rooms and finally they came to a large room with the Eye of Horus, on a tall plinth.

"Destroy it…NOW…" shouted Sutekh "Then in an hour I will be free and can roam the universe again. Oh what sweet revenge I can get for this…DESTROY IT!!!"

"Rick you can't do this" said Masala.

"I have to, he has Evy and anyway we have an hour to think of something" he replied.

He climbed the steps to where the Eye sat and took it down. Then turning, he threw it at the wall. It smashed into a thousand pieces. At that moment, he grip Sutekh had on Ardeth was gone and the man collapsed to the ground.

Jonathan and Masala ran to him, thinking he was dead but he was still breathing. They tried to bring him round but he was out cold.

"Come on, let's get Evy and destroy this thing" said Rick "Can you manage him, is he alright?"

"He will be I hope" said Jonathan. "Go on run"

They ran through the rooms and back the way they had come and into the museum. Jumping out, Rick ran round to the side of the sarcophagus and fiddled with the controls. He had thought of something as they ran back and hoped it would work. Evy was awake and sitting on the floor by the window.

"Evy, use the ring now" he shouted.

Evy took the ring out of her pocket and before the mummies could stop her, shouted at them to stop.

"What are you doing…Ardeth stop them" shouted Sutekh.

"He is not under your influence any more, you can't control him, we are going to stop you now"

Rick found a dial that showed what he realized had to be the date. Turning it, he discovered that the date moved forward or backward. He turned it and dialed up a date about 20,000 years in the future, then turned the machine on.

Sutekh wouldn't know about this until he tried to come through the sarcophagus in about 45 minutes time. All they had to do was wait and as long as Evy had the ring, the mummies were helpless. Rick grabbed Evy and hugged her tight.

"What about Ardeth, is he alright?" she asked.

"I think he will be…Jonathan is he coming round yet?"

"Yes…think he is…take it easy Ardeth, you'll be alright"

Ardeth opened his eyes slowly and looked around, he wondered where he was. The last thing he remembered was going into that tomb in the pyramid and now he was in the museum with Rick and the others.

"What happened?" he asked trying to sit up.

"It is okay, I will explain while we wait"

Between the two of them, they explained to Ardeth all that had happened and they were doing now.

"MARS…you are telling me that we were on mars?" he asked.

"Yes…I told you that you shouldn't have asked" said Jonathan.

Jonathan helped him up and steadied him. He went over to Evy and apologized for hitting her.

"That is okay Ardeth, it wasn't really you doing it. But you pack a hard punch" she said holding her face where a bruise was already appearing.

The man felt giddy and had to sit down, whatever Sutekh had done to him was still having an effect. Jonathan went and sat with him and gave him a drink of water.

The hour was nearly up and the lights started to work in the sarcophagus and the figure of a man in an Anubis mask started to appear. Then Sutekh discovered what Rick had done.

"What have you done…NNNOOOOO…I can't get through. After all these centuries you have tricked me" he shouted.

"I have sent you thousands of years into the future, you will never be able to return, never be able to destroy all the worlds that you intended to" said Rick.

"Aaaahhhhhhh" yelled Sutekh as his figure started to fade and then was gone.

"It that it" said Evy "Is he really gone?"

"I hope so" replied Rick "Now to destroy this sarcophagus once and for all"

"What about those canopic jars outside" said Masala "Will they still be working?"

"How about you go and see" replied Rick "Jonathan give me a hand"

Between them they carried the sarcophagus outside and set light to it. That was one thing they didn't want anywhere near the museum, no matter who it belonged to.

Evy stayed with Ardeth who was still feeling the effects of Sutekh's grip and drank the glass of whiskey that she poured him, even though he didn't normally drink anything stronger than Egyptian wine. Gradually all his senses returned to him and he could think better.

"So this Sutekh is gone?" he asked.

"Yes, I hope so" replied Evy "We were so worried about you when you disappeared and then when you appeared from that thing, we knew we had problems."

"And Jonathan, is he okay now?"

Jonathan said he was, as he entered the room with Rick and Masala. The canopic jars must have turned themselves off when Sutekh was sent into the future. All they did was pick them up and stand them on the desk, Evy would see to them the next day.

Rick poured them all a drink and they congratulated themselves on a job well done. Then he got hold of Jonathan.

"If you ever bring anything else into this museum without asking us first, I will personally send you to where Sutekh is, you can keep him company and as for you Ardeth…PLEASE don't go into any more tombs, leave that to the idiots…US"

They all laughed and we glad that this time everything had turned out better than it could have done.

END