Drake's
words echoed in O'Connell's head, 'Hang me!' At first this
seemed unreasonable,
even to Rick, after all it was only drunken
fight. However,
if the Legion was involved then hanging him would
save them
the cost of a Court Martial.
Rick turned
his back on the other prisoner and stepped towards the
window, if
you could really call it that. It was nothing more than a
ten inch barred
square, too high to see out of it clearly and open to
whatever filth
fell through it.
It was obvious
to him that Drake had spent much of his life on the
streets where
he'd mastered his specific type of survival. Like
himself, it
appeared he had grown up alone, but Rick took some solace
in the fact
that his own path didn't require him to live in the
shadows. At
least he had made some attempt at a career with the
Legion. He
shook his head at the irony, little good that did him now!
Rick stretched
out on the stone slab that served as a bed and stared
at the ceiling.
This Drake guy might be helpful if he could get on
the right
side of him. Someone like Drake always wanted for
something,
why else would he be boasting about his prison connections?
He spoke out
to Drake, not bothering to raise his head and look at
him. "Hang
me!" he chuckled "Well, I guess it's not out of the
question,
but nobody's seen fit to tell me yet." There was silence
between the
two men, then Rick spoke again "You seem to know your way
around here.
Who's the easiest to bribe?"
*
Evy crossed
her arms and pouted a little as they entered the Museum.
Okay, so she's
made a mess. So she'd run away. So Jonathan wasn't
fast enough
to Bey's liking. He didn't have to be so mean about it.
She looked
up at the man as they walked down a hall towards the
office and
stuck her tongue out behind his back.
Ignoring him
for the moment, she turned her attention to Jonathan,
who calmly
walked, his expression only slightly annoyed. He then
looked back
and winked, pretending to kick out at Dr. Bey's behind.
Evy covered
her lips in hidden mirth when Jonathan accidently kicked
the Curator.
Dr. Bey was going to be angry for the rest of the day,
no doubt.
*
Drake leaned
back thoughtfully against the wall. "Easiest to bribe,"
he repeated,
amusement in his eyes. "See that depends on what you're
trying to
get."
Drake stood
up, looming tall as he headed for the bars. With dark
eyes he glanced
out to be sure the guards weren't near. "A guard
comes in around
midnight by the name of Omar. Big guy, fierce eyes.
You can ask
him for just about anything, smokes, little beer. He
might even
deliver a message for you if it ain't far. You just tell
him that the
dragon's watching out for you." He smirked at the
stranger's
expression and looked down the hall. "Just trust me."
*
Dr Bey was
a well respected gentleman amongst his peers and he was
considered
a gracious and interesting dinner guest within his circle
of society.
Jonathan Carnahan
would prove to be his nemesis! Of this he was
certain.
Ignoring the
antics of this buffoon, Dr.Bey unlocked the door to his
office and
pushed it open. With suppressed anger, he motioned for
the siblings
to enter, closing the door behind himself once the
embarrassed
pair followed his request.
"Please, do
make yourselves comfortable" Dr. Bey pushed a velvet
cushioned
chair behind Evelyn, almost causing her to sit
automatically,
while using his eyes to direct Jonathan to the seat
beside his
sister. He then took his own seat, quietly relishing the
saftey of
the desk between himself and the Carnahan's.
"Now Mr Carnahan."
The stymie pitch of the doctor's voice clearly
expressed
his reluctance to dwell on the other man's tomfoolery "I
believe you
wished to show me an item of interest?"
*
Evy looked
at Jonathan who was still fiddling in his pockets,
muttering
about having to search through all the junk he
kept. "Jonathan,
perhaps we should show Dr. Bey some other time..."
she suggested
slowly, peering at the growing irritation of her
employer.
*
"Well, er I
rather thought..." Jonathan gave Bey a dignified down the
nose look
and paused portentiously.
"I rather
thought that THIS might be of some interest to you."
He pulled his
left hand forth from his pocket and held up a queer
gilded object,
solid and a little over an inch thick. With the elan
of a master
magician and a graceful economy of gesture that was the
result of
much pocket picking practice Jonathan dropped the object
into his palm
and held it, with a proud grin toward his sister.
"Not bad,
what?"
*
Dr. Bey leaned
over his desk to obtain a better view of the object
which Jonathan
Carnahan brandished somewhat flippantly. His mind was
racing 'So,
it was true. Exactly as the letter had forwarned'. The
good doctor
wasn't sure where to lay his anger...with this meddlesome
Englishman
or at the feet of those trusted to protect Hamunaptra and
it's secrets.
No matter who
was to blame, the fact remained that he now sat in his
tidy office
looking into the face of a self-satisfied man who was
holding the
means to the first step of the creature's release. There
seemed no
point dwelling upon the mistakes which lead to this, the
job now was
to take possession of the key. Not such a difficult
task, but
something was amiss. A link was missing. It was obvious
that Mr.Carnahan
had not made the trek to Hamunaptra, and the key was
not found
in Thebes, so where was the person who had found it? This
missing link
presented a great danger in the doctor's mind.
"Quite an impressive
discovery, Mr.Carnahan. It will be a delightful
asset to the
museum." Dr.Bey's compliments filled Jonathan with a
long awaited
sense of accomplishment. "However, I don't believe the
markings directly
relate the object to Thebes. Tell me again, how
you happened
upon it?"
*
"The dragon?!"
Rick couldn't hide his amusement at Drake's penchant
for the theatrical.
"Why not the snake, or even the fox maybe?" He
laughed aloud,
mocking his inmate.
However, he
considered this Omar guy could be worth a shot, but
knowing his
luck he'd get caught with the beer and would hang for
sure. And
who was he going to send a message to? Winston? Izzy
would be long
gone. No, what he needed was a open door.
"How careless
IS this Omar? Has he ever been known to drop his keys?"
*
Evy's eyes
watched with interest the box thather brother held up and
showed off.
It looked like a genuinely good find to be sure, but she
watched Dr.
Bey's reaction for any hint of the possible worth of this
trinket. Her
employer eyed the object with an unreadable gaze and
questioned
Jonathan about where he'd acquired it.
However, before
Jonathan could reply, Evy deftly swiped it from his
not so careful
grasp and started looking at it herself. "Hmm," she
hummed to
herself. "What is it?"
Before anyone
could say a word the little contraption jumped in her
hands, opening
from the bottom. A piece of paper fell onto her skirt.
*
Drake rolled
his eyes at the stranger. "Dragon because my name is
Drake, worm."
Drake smirked at the lost chance to make the new guy
look foolish.
Shrugging it off, he continued. "Omar don't drop his
keys for no
man. He won't even drop them for me if you get my
drift. I suppose
you might by chance grab them from his belt as he
walks by,
but it's your fingers if you don't succeed. They like the
punishment
to fit the crime around here." He chuckled then. "Might
be a better
punishment than if you tried to make free with one of the
guards, eh?"
The stranger
smirked at Drake's tasteless humor and looked upwards
momentarily.
Before either man could say more a big man came between
their cells,
his body turned towards the dark assassin. "You makin'
nice with
your new little friend?" he asked in a honey voice.
Drake smiled
back, mirroring the same tone the guard put
off. "Always
do."
