RGL e-Book Cover©
Roy Glashan's Library
Non sibi sed omnibus
Go to Home Page
This work is out of copyright in countries with a copyright
period of 70 years or less, after the year of the author's death.
If it is under copyright in your country of residence,
do not download or redistribute this file.
Original content added by RGL (e.g., introductions, notes,
RGL covers) is proprietary and protected by copyright.
RGL e-Book Cover©
Amazing Stories, August 1943, with "The The Spirit of Egypt"
This was no nightmare born of drink.
This was the Sphinx of Egypt come to life again!
OBERLEUTNANT Karl Muel1er turned in his seat and faced the row of soldiers behind him in the glider. The Oberleutnant was grim and unsmiling.
"We are over Cairo at ten thousand feet," he snapped. "Before the moment comes, it is necessary for you all to understand the plan. Are there questions?"
Not one of the thirty Nazis spoke. The night was cloudy and only a faint suggestion of moonlight reflected through the windows on the pale faces of the group.
"The Kommandant issued full instructions before we were released from our tow plane," Mueller went on. "The British have a large oil installation near here. My map shows the exact location. You have been equipped with incendiary bombs that will explode when the pins are removed. At my command you will jump with black parachutes and gather in a single group below. We will make the attack as soon as I reach the ground. That is clear?"
A low murmur of assent came. After that, only the faint hiss of the wind sounded against the sides of the motorless bird. There was occasional clearing of throats, as though the men were suppressing words that should not be spoken.
"You understand that we will land in the center of the enemy stronghold? That our one task is to destroy that fuel and hold the enemy here without replacements as long as possible?"
The questions demanded no answer.
The glider pilot leaned forward and whispered to the Oberleutnant. Karl Mueller nodded and stood up. Without a word, the men did likewise.
"We are on an important mission." Mueller's lips were bloodless. They pressed into a hard, straight line between each sentence. "Our method of escape is already gone. Prepare to jump."
The men shuffled forward toward the emergency door. Their right hands clutched tightly at the chute-rings. They looked like poorly stuffed dummies, shuffling toward the empty sky with no feeling, no emotion. The first man reached the door. Karl Mueller pushed it open. There was yet a moment to spare. The Oberleutnant stiffened, his heels clicking smartly, arm raised in a salute.
"Heil Hitler."
The men seemed startled, as though rudely awakened from a dream. They went through the same motion mechanically and without enthusiasm.
"Heil Hitler."
There was something pitiful about the returned salute.
The first man was facing the open door. Here was endless void, waiting to snatch at him with cold, cruel fingers. Perhaps, he thought dully, the chute would not open. Did it make any great difference?
The pilot was watching his instruments closely.
"Now—Herr Oberleutnant." He spoke sharply.
"Eins!" Mueller shouted and gave the first man a push that sent him spinning into the darkness.
"Zwei!" The second moved forward swiftly and went head-first into the air. They came up fast now, suddenly eager to have it over with.
"Drei!"
Thirty men jumping or being pushed into the thin, cold air above the desert. Oberleutnant Mueller was last. He faced the night sky without looking back, and felt the wind tear at his face as he hurtled downward. He sighed with relief as the jerking, swaying motions told him the black chute was open over his head. Mueller was trying hard to retain faith in his Fatherland. It wasn't easy to face death with a smile, now that he was alone above the desert. The suicide assignment had sounded noble when they stood before the Kommandant and received the cold handclasps of their superior officer.
The ground came up swiftly. Karl Mueller flexed his knees, ready to hit the ground and roll over and over to break the force of the fall. The others were already down and waiting for him somewhere close by.
CORPORAL Johnny Perkins was tight. He was so tight that the ride to the pyramids had been like a good mixing in a cocktail shaker. Johnny had been sent with a small detachment of Yanks, stationed here to help the British guard their precious oil tanks. Tonight he was on leave, and no one, not even the general himself, could forbid Johnny the pleasure of getting drunk.
That was just the point. Johnny had more than he wanted. He had picked up an old Ford in Cairo and set out to see the pyramids by moonlight. By the time he reached them, he had taken care of one pint and started another. He sat for a long time watching the great rock piles. After a while he thought the clouds were standing still and the pyramids were falling on him.
That was plenty for Johnny Perkins. Besides, he was lonely and a little sick. He tossed the empty bottle away, staggered to the Ford and got moving.
Out on the main road, moving slowly toward Cairo, Johnny made the mistake of looking back. He remembered the Sphinx, a gigantic lion sort of thing with a woman's head. Something was spinning madly around inside Johnny's head. He saw the Sphinx stand up slowly and stretch like a cat that has been sitting a long time by the fire. Johnny turned away quickly, blinked and focused his eyes on the road. His foot went to the floor-board and the Ford plunged ahead with renewed vigor.
This was worse than pink elephants. Much worse.
Johnny tried not to, but he had to take another look.
"Judas."
The Sphinx was pacing back and forth. Its eyes glittered in the darkness like two headlights.
What the hell did they put in Egyptian whiskey?
The Sphinx was shaking its great head impatiently. Its tail swished behind it as the beast walked stealthily away behind the great pyramid into the desert. The earth was trembling under its tread.
Johnny didn't dare look again. He rode into Cairo with the Ford wide open, and the engine red hot. Under a cold shower at the hotel, Johnny Perkins swore he'd never take another drink from a bottle that did not carry an American label.
OBERLEUTNANT Karl Mueller never accomplished his mission. True enough, his squad wasn't troubled by British sentries. A sand storm hid them as they approached the high fence. Their wire cutters and explosives were prepared.
They were found by the British patrol early the following morning. All thirty Germans were crushed deep into the sand. It was difficult to determine what they were, their uniforms were so badly impregnated with sand and blood. But the identification tags could be read.
The steel fence was broken and flattened into the ground for a hundred feet in either direction. The British general rather lamely blamed this on the sand storm, even though he knew the story wasn't a likely one.
JOHNNY PERKINS read the account in the Cairo paper. Sober as a lord, Johnny still remembered the Sphinx clearly. He wanted to take his story to the British general, but he knew that Headquarters would not take kindly to such an experience.
Johnny remembered something else that made sense. The oil tanks were located close to the pyramids. Close enough to blow parts of the Sphinx to kingdom-come, if not destroy it completely.
In the afternoon he took the Ford for another pilgrimage into the desert. This time he was cold sober. He circled the great lion with the woman's head, trying to imagine it on the prowl. In the daylight it sure sounded screwy, but then, the old girl had been sitting here for a good many centuries. She had been pretty active once, destroying everything in sight according to legend. Maybe she had a yen for more action.
What else could explain those mangled, crushed bodies? The fence, plowed under by the weight of a gigantic stone paw?
Roy Glashan's Library
Non sibi sed omnibus
Go to Home Page
This work is out of copyright in countries with a copyright
period of 70 years or less, after the year of the author's death.
If it is under copyright in your country of residence,
do not download or redistribute this file.
Original content added by RGL (e.g., introductions, notes,
RGL covers) is proprietary and protected by copyright.