Gary Gygax - Dangerous Journeys 3 - Death in Delhi Read Online Free PDF Page A

probably. But in Mesta-fs case, I am happy to assure you that he isn't bitter and doesn't care a fig about losing his official position. He never was cut out to be a courtier or a bureaucrat. He sees his commitment to Egypt as something divine, not secular, as it were. It is an intellectual choice supported by spiritual affinity."
    "But he's stuck in this dreary comer of the kingdom. ..."
    "Not a bit. He's here by choice, and who will notice alchemical smokes and stinks here? In the meantime, he serves as an agent for the Utchatu. That satisfies him emotionally, for he does his part to assure that the seat of the pantheon remains strong and safe Additionally, his payment from the service enables him to continue his expensive experiments and the like."
    Rachelle thought a moment as they walked along casually so as to attract no undue attention. "Then that place was merely a front. . . ." She trailed the last word so as to make what she said something between a statement and a question.
    "You have it. Open a few hours a day, it does a fairly brisk trade, for Mesta-f knows his materia. Believe it or not, he has some things in that jumble of seeming junk that can't be found in Memphis! Only the initiated are aware of this place, though, and the old fellow keeps it that way."
    They were nearing the place where the ships docked, having covered over half the distance as they chatted. Rachelle was no longer angry, and felt that the pat was no insult to her, considering the real Mesta-f. She had always understood the principal why the Yarban had been so forward. Setne had complimented the old fellows sexual prowess, and being a true son of his people at heart, Mesta-f had responded accordingly. She would get even with Setne, of course, for his sneaky little trick on her, but that could wait. Right now there were too many other things to occupy her attention. Seeing what the city looked like was most immediate. The warrior girl had never before been to Mersa Gawasis. From what she could tell, it was only a town without much attraction. "Is there a better quarter?"
    "Hardly. This is a working port, full of factories and workshops with few amenities and but a handful of interesting people—plenty of others with money, a sort of little elite here, but a terribly boorish lot. We must avoid them at all costs—awful social climbers and sycophants, don't you know." He drawled that last and simpered a bit.
    Rachelle understood. That they would be likely to find any such persons in this locale was most unlikely. She commented, ''Quays and wharves? You mean to take ship to . . . where we go?"
    He nodded. "Let's go to that office there—see the sign at the corner of the warehouse? We can find a suitable conveyance without difficulty, I'm sure." As they went along towards the place he had indicated, Inhetep informed her of why he was seeking seaborne passage for them. "The good maharajah covered his risk when he sent his missive and gift—bait— by his magickal courier. Considering the circumstances, he did the proper thing—for him. However, that precludes us taking the same expedient means of journeying to see to the matter he begged us to undertake."
    "You fear we are watched?"
    The wizard-priest shrugged a little. "Well, certainly his courier's passage would have been noted by any able practitioner keeping track of the maharajah's actions regarding the theft. I don't doubt that heka and castings were employed in making off with the crown jewels. It then follows that there are one or more practitioners of considerable skill at work monitoring things stemming from the Peacock Throne. Any such spy couldn't help but be aware of the courier's dweomered departure, the route and general destination indicated by his return—if he wasn't waylaid and the exact information extracted. Not likely, but possible. The danger to us in attempting to travel to Delhi is thus extreme. There will be traps, ambushes, and who knows what else."
    "But isn't it