The Cult of Osiris

  He had to get to the harbour before they caught him.

  The other cars almost blocked his view of the road ahead, but he could see enough to tell that he was coming to the bottom of the hill. Which, he remembered from past races on TV, was the location of the first turn after the start.

  A sharp turn.

  Oh, shit,' he gasped. Even in first gear, he was doing close to fifty miles an hour as he zigzagged through the traffic towards the Saint Devote corner. And the corner itself was busy, a complex intersection in its everyday guise.

  He saw what he hoped was a clear line, aimed for it. . .

  With a whapf of escaping high-pressure nitrogen, the damaged front tyre sloughed off the wheel rim.

  The car spun out, sliding almost sideways before the back wheel bashed against a Ferrari, sending Eddie's vehicle into a mad pirouette through the junction. The world was a blur - but he could make out a crash barrier getting closer with each revolution.

  He braced himself—

  The car crashed sidelong into the barrier, impact-absorbing sections of bodywork crushing flat. Still spinning, scattering debris, it bounced back out into the junction. Cars swerved to avoid the whirling wreck. A large van skidded, heading straight for Eddie's car . . .

  Both vehicles stopped at the same time - with the racing car's nose wedged under the van's front bumper.

  Groaning, Eddie sat up. His shoulder felt as though it had taken a hit with a baseball bat where he had been flung against the cockpit's edge. But the car's safety features had done theirjob: he would be able to walk away from the crash.

  Or stagger, at least. Head spinning, he clambered out and got his bearings. The long arc of the start/finish stretch led away to the south. Towards the harbour.

  C'est James Bond!' someone called. Eddie realised he had already attracted a crowd -considering that a man in a tuxedo had just wrecked a racing car in the middle of Monaco, that was hardly surprising.

  The Ferrari's driver stared in horror at the huge dent in its side. Send the bill to Team Osiris!' Eddie called before jogging to the nearest gap in the barriers. He pushed through the gawkers, disappearing into the crowd as the first police car arrived.

  He crashed it?' Osir said, appalled. Shaban had just phoned him with a report. Did you find him?' The reply was negative. 'Then did the police catch him, at least?' An identical response. Well, that's marvellous]'

  Nina had to fight to conceal her jubilation. That man destroys everything he touches,' she sneered instead. Relationships, lives . . . racecars . . .'

  I can see why you want to be rid of him,' he muttered, before turning his attention back to the phone. I'm going back to the Solar Barque. Yes, with Dr Wilde. No, I - Sebak, I do not want to hear this again. Get as many people as you can. The police will be looking for him as well, so monitor their radios. I want him found.' He listened to Shaban. Only if absolutely necessary - I don't want any more trouble with the authorities, not tonight. Capture him and take him to the yacht.'

  You're not going to kill him?' Nina asked as he ended the call.

  Osir gestured at the wreckage of the party. This will be hard enough to explain. The last thing I need is to turn on the TV and see a news bulletin about Sebak being arrested for your husband's murder!'

  So what are you going to do with Eddie when you find him?

  The Mediterranean is very big, and very deep.'

  Ah . . . great. That'll save me having to pay for a divorce lawyer.'

  Osir laughed coldly. 'Well, I think the party is over. I don't know if the zodiac will be ready yet, but we may as well find out. Give me a few minutes to say my goodbyes.'

  He moved to speak to a group of people nearby, as full of bonhomie as if a switch had been flipped. Nina took the opportunity to go to the doorway. She saw Macy amongst the onlookers and waved her closer.

  Where's Eddie?' Macy asked. Is he okay?'

  For now - he got away. In a racecar.'

  Macy smiled. You know, your husband's a pretty awesome guy.

  Yeah, I like to think so.' She looked back into the courtyard. Osir was still engaged in conversation. 'Look, this might sound weird, but this is probably the safest place for you to be. Shaban and his buddy are out looking for Eddie, and Osir's about to take me back to the yacht to see the zodiac.

  That's great, but what am I supposed to do when this place closes? I won't be able to get a hotel room even if there are any left - Eddie's got my passport!'

  That's not exactly my biggest worry right now, Macy.' Another glance back; Osir was looking for her. 'You'll figure something out. I've got to go, though. If Eddie or I can't get in touch with you, there's a hotel across the square - wait in the lobby, and we'll find you.'

  Macy was unhappy with the situation, but nodded. 'Good luck, Dr Wilde. Stay safe/

  You too/ Nina backed into the courtyard and went to Osir. Are you ready to go?'

  The car is coming to take us back to the harbour.' He put on a smile for the benefit of his other companions. 'It will have to take the long way round - it seems there has been a traffic incident at Saint Devote!' The joke raised some gallows laughter.

  Taking Nina by the arm, he went back into the casino. As the attendants backed away to let them through, Macy slipped into the courtyard, moving hurriedly away from the doors before the casino staff spotted her. The party was winding down now that its main attraction had disappeared in a cloud of tyre smoke.

  Macy spotted another attraction, though: a handsome blond man in racing overalls, talking agitatedly to a couple of older guys. Guessing he was the driver, she trotted over. 'What happened?

  Virtanen gave her a brief glance - then did a double-take as he registered that she was a young and beautiful woman who wasn't surgically attached to the arm of a middle-aged team sponsor. 'It was terrible,' he said mournfully. I was carjacked - a man with a gun! I tried to stop him, but he got away.' His companions rolled their eyes, but said nothing to contradict the star of the team.

  My God! Are you okay?

  Just a few bruises. I'll still be able to race tomorrow, for sure. But I think I'll go back to my hotel now. Unless,' a suggestive grin, you would like to share a drink with me first?'

  Macy gave him a perfect smile. I think I would.'

  17

  187

  In the dark, Monaco's waterfront looked like an extension of the city itself, ranks of expensive y achts lined up like gleaming buildings along the jetties.

  Nina looked round anxiously as Osir brought her to the Solar Barque's distinctively painted tender. She had hoped to spy Eddie nearby, waiting for the tender to depart so he could follow it to its mother ship. But there was no familiar stocky figure amongst the people boarding the floating palaces, nobody surreptitiously observing them from a neighbouring pier.

  Had the police caught him? Or worse, Shaban?

  She dismissed the latter as soon as the awful thought came to her. If Shaban had found Eddie, Osir would have been told. But his absence was still a worry - not least because without him, she would have to improvise her own escape from Osir 's yacht. With the Solar Barque being over half a mile offshore, swimming was not her preferred option.

  They boarded the tender and Osir gave an order to its pilot. With a diesel rumble, the boat set off. Even though the evening was warm, the breeze over the open vessel was cold. Nina rubbed her bare

  arms.

  'Here,' said Osir. He took off his jacket and draped it over her.

  'Thank you,' she said automatically, keeping to herself that her chill was not solely down to the wind

  They passed more opulent yachts and made their way between the quays marking the boundary of the inner harbour of Port Hercule. The outer harbour 's breakwaters extended ahead, the darkness of the Mediterranean visible beyond them. The tender drifted off course from the exit, the pilot having to adjust for what seemed to be a stronger than expected current, but they soon cleared the long concrete barriers and entered the open sea.

  Swimmi
ng was now an even less appealing idea, Nina decided. Past the breakwaters, the ocean was choppy, the tender bouncing through the waves with great smacks of spray. An anchor chain

  rattled against the hull with each impact. She looked back to shore. Monaco was aglow against the surrounding hills. It was a spectacular sight . . . but her worries made it impossible for her to appreciate it.

  There were numerous other vessels moored offshore, but the Solar Barque stood out as large even by the standards of megayachts. The tender pulled up to its stern, where a mooring platform, big enough also to accommodate a pair of smaller speedboats and several jet skis, had been lowered to water level. A crewman tied up the boat, then Osir took Nina by the hand to help her on to the deck.

  I'd like to thank you for your company,' he said. 'Even though things didn't go quite as I planned.'

  My pleasure,' Nina replied. And, ah ... I apologise for my husband. I just wish I'd been able to persuade him to see things my way. It would have made things a lot less . . . well, expensive.'

  You don't have to take the blame for his actions,' he assured her. And as for the money, none of it will matter when we discover the Pyramid of Osiris.'

  In that case,' said Nina, we'd better go see the zodiac, hadn't we?'

  They entered the yacht and went to one of the upper decks. Osir led her to a door. Please, wait in my cabin,' he said. 'I will see if the zodiac is ready/

  The cabin turned out to be larger than her entire apartment, the adjoining bathroom and walk-in closets making it even bigger. It also boasted a mirrored ceiling above the enormous bed. The decor was every bit as playboyesque as his Swiss home, missing only a tigerskin rug to complete the picture. This is - stylish,' she managed.

  Osir smiled as he went to another door at the room's far end. 'Make yourself comfortable. I will just be a minute.'

  She perched on the end of the bed, kicking off her heels and fidgeting with the long dress as she waited. Before long Osir returned, his smile even wider. He pulled a catch above the door, folding panels back to reveal another large room beyond. 'It is ready.'

  Nina crossed the room. She looked past Osir . . . To see, for the first time, the fully assembled zodiac.

  Whoever he had employed to restore it, she had to admit they had done an absolutely exquisite job. The six-foot-diameter disc rested on a low circular stand beneath a thick protective layer of transparent bulletproof Lexan. It wasn't until she stepped right up to it that she could see any trace of the cuts made to remove it from the Hall of Records.

  Seen in its entirety, the zodiac was spectacular. Smaller than the one in the Louvre, it made up for it with its vibrant colours. Sealed within the Sphinx, protected from the elements, the paint picking out each constellation from the dark background had remained almost intact. A thick, weaving line of pale blue bisected the sky - the Milky Way, she assumed.

  There were other markings: the red dot she had seen in Macy's photo, almost certainly Mars, and circles representing other planets. But her attention immediately went to the yellow triangle near the small figure of Osiris.

  A pyramid. Osiris s pyramid.

  She leaned closer. There was something barely discernible painted beside it, very small characters. Hieroglyphs.

  Nina looked excitedly round at Osir. Have you seen these?

  Of course,' he said, going to a large table and picking up a printout from beside a laptop. 'I had them translated when the zodiac was still in pieces. They're directions - the problem is, I don't know the starting point. Nobody does. Which is why I need your insight.

  He handed her the translation. 1 "The second eye of Osiris sees the way to the silver canyon," ' she read. ' "One atur towards Mercury beyond its end is the tomb of the immortal god-king." An atur, that's an Egyptian unit of measurement, right?'

  Eleven thousand and twenty-five metres.'

  Nina instantly performed the mental arithmetic to convert the figure to imperial measurements: 'Six point eight five miles.' Osir raised an eyebrow. 'Like I said, I'm good at

  math. So the pyramid is just under seven miles from the end of the silver canyon in the direction of Mercury, which is . . . one of these planets on the zodiac, I guess.'

  Actually, it isn't/ he said. 'The planets on the zodiac are Mars, Venus and Jupiter.' He pointed them out. 'But we used their positions to calculate Mercury's position as well. It would have been . . . here.' He indicated a particular spot to the right of the pyramid.

  So, about seven miles east of the end of the canyon. Except,' she continued, nodding at a wall mirror, because the map is mirrored since we're looking at it from above rather than below, it's really seven miles west.'

  Osir was pleased. 'So all we need to do is find the silver canyon.'

  Which means first, we need to find the second eye of Osiris. Where's his first eye?'

  There are two Osiris figures on the zodiac,' he reminded her. Perhaps they point the way together?

  Nina bent low to examine them. Typically for Egyptian art they were in profile, only one eye visible on each, but at the small size of the carvings they were nothing more than dots. She drew an imaginary line between the eyes of the two figures, but it neither ran near the pyramid nor seemed to point to anything in particular.

  The Eye of Osiris is also a symbol, isn't it?' she asked.

  Osir nodded. A sign of protection. Found in temples, tombs . . . it's supposed to help guide you through the Underworld.

  So fairly common, then. That won't narrow things down.' She stared at the zodiac, thinking. Could the "silver canyon'' be a clue? The ancient Egyptians valued silver above gold - were there any silver mines in the pre-dynastic period?

  I don't know. You're the historian, not me!'

  Point taken. This 11 need more research. We need to check the archaeological databases . . .' She tailed off, realising she was slipping into a state of professional excitement

  over the chance to crack the puzzle - and forgetting that doing so would help the very person she was trying to stop.

  Are you all right?' Osir asked.

  Tin . . -just tired,' she said. It's been a hectic day.

  He smiled. My apologies - there's no need to solve this riddle in one night. Besides, the race is tomorrow, and I was hoping you would join me there.'

  Sounds cool/ she said, the idea of watching noisy cars screaming past for a couple of hours anything but.

  Wonderful. Then before that, perhaps you'd join me for a glass of champagne?'

  Ah ... I really ought to go to bed.' Privacy would give her a chance to try to contact Eddie.

  Just one glass, please/ Osir insisted. I have a bottle of Veuve Clicquot in the next room -it would be a shame to drink it alone.'

  What about all your .. / She almost said bimbos', but settled on 'young lady friends?

  My followers?' A jaded shake of the head. 'They are all lovely, but sometimes I prefer more intellectual company. Someone with stories of her own. Like your discovery of Atlantis. He smiled again. 'Just one glass.'

  Three glasses later, Nina was kneeling on Osir's bed, her dress spread out around her in a silken circle. So I was stuck on this platform with Excalibur, an' Jack was starting up the generator so he could start up a war . . . when boom! Eddie d rigged up a hand grenade as a booby trap. After that, the whole ship started blowing up like something out of a Bond movie. We had to bail out in this sort of jet-glider thing - almost froze to death before we landed on a trawler. Man, that was a bad smell!

  Your life has been even more of an adventure than mine,' said Osir, stretched out beside her. 'And fortune is certainly on your side.'

  If I were really that lucky, I wouldn't hove gotten shot. Check this out.' She hitched up her skirt to reveal the circular scar of a bullet wound on her right thigh. Osir's eyes widened at the sight of the bare leg just inches from his face. I wouldn't have had my life and my career wrecked, either.'

  You don't need to worry about that any more, Nina,' he assured her. 'Once we find the Pyr
amid of Osiris, your life will be . . . anything you want it to be. And very long, too.'

  She drained her glass. Do I get a free lifetime supply of Khalid s Longevity Bread?'

  You'll get whatever you want.'

  Glad to hear it.' She frowned slightly, thinking back to the lab at the Swiss castle. 'Is it safe, though? You said it was genetically modified.'

  Osir chuckled. Of course it will be safe. I'll be eating it myself! No, the genetic modifications to the yeast are to make it into exactly what I want it to be.

  Which is? Or will your brother shout at you if you tell me?

  Another mocking laugh. Sometimes it seems that Sebak thinks he is in charge of the Temple, not me! No, my brother was being overcautious, as always. The genetic modifications are partly so that we can obtain international copyrights and patents on the new organism -yeast is very easy to cultivate, after all. I don't want everyone being able to bake their own bread of Osiris - they will have to come to the Osirian Temple for it. And also,' his expression became more conniving, giving his handsome features an unexpectedly wolfish look, I don't want it to be too good at regenerating the body's cells. People buying it once a year is not enough. They need to buy it once a month, or better still once a week.'

  Sounds like you're trying to get them hooked.

  He shrugged. What is a modest amount of money every week in return for immortality? Better that it goes to the Osirian Temple than on cigarettes or drink or drugs. We give a good deal of money to charitable causes, after all.'

  No doubt in countries where the Osirian Temple wanted political favours, Nina thought. 'So that's what you want: to choose who gets to be immortal?

  Fitting, don't you think?' said Osir. Osiris decided who received everlasting life. I'm just following in his footsteps. But I think the world will think very highly of the man who brought it immortality.' He finished his drink. 'More champagne?'

  Nina regarded her empty glass. 'Oh. That went fast. I shouldn't, really . .

  I'll open another bottle.' He took her glass, then slid off the bed.