The Anubis Plague полностью

The door closed and the lock reengaged with a soft click. Zahra knelt outside her office and peered down the dark hallway. The only illumination was up ahead in the form of a single red emergency light. She stalked forward, staying low. The corridor ended at a set of plain, off-white double doors. These led out into the main hallway of the Lower Floor, where a handful of the administrative areas were stationed as well as the Clore Centre for Education, including a series of lecture halls and classrooms. She gripped one of the two door handles and slowly tried it, twisting it until the partition opened just enough to peek out. Zahra saw nothing of note through the inch-wide gap. The area was deserted, as expected at this time of night.

Good, she thought. She took a deep breath and opened it more, sliding through. Zahra helped the door close without a sound and headed right. She would have normally used the elevator to move between floors, but not now. First off, there was no power to call the lift. Secondly, if she used it, and there were, in fact, people trying to break into the museum and harm her and whoever else was there, the elevator car would have been the perfect place for an ambush.

She continued forward and looked up. To either side of the elevator was a long, rectangular gap in the floor above. They each gave way to a beautiful glass roof high overhead that had been designed by Foster and Partners. The two-acre space situated below it was the single largest covered public square in all of Europe, the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court.

Even though Zahra had walked beneath the ceiling hundreds of times, she was still marveled by its majesty. Some days, she would just stare at the pattern of triangles and watch them gleam in the sunlight. She often found Bernie there as well, also staring in reverence.

Zahra silently ascended the right-hand stairs up to the Great Court without conflict. She hurried across a fifteen-foot expanse that, under the current circumstances, felt as wide as the Grand Canyon. Keeping her head down, she took cover behind the black siltstone Obelisk of Nectanebo II, the last native king of Egypt. The five-and-a-half-foot tall relic stood atop a thick pedestal in the southwest corner of the Great Court. She poked her head out and confirmed that she was still alone. Luckily, for her and Grant, the museum didn’t publicly post the locations of the offices anywhere. The network of corridors and workspaces were veiled behind simple, unassuming doors.

Directly to the north of her position was the Lion of Knidos. She hated the animal’s eyes.

Or lack thereof.

Zahra found herself constantly glancing back to its face, half-expecting it to morph into another expression. Rage? Maybe hunger? She imagined the scene as if it were something out of Jason and the Argonauts or Clash of the Titans. She would have loved to have seen what Ray Harryhausen would have done with the stone beast. It honestly gave her the willies, but it intrigued her too.

Staying low, she bolted straight for the creature. Once there, she pivoted and pointed herself at the nearby information desk. She swiftly moved away but slipped and spilled to the hard floor. Her fall was like a shotgun blast inside the still auditorium-sized room. Caught out in the open, Zahra panicked and backward crab-walked, returning to the concealment the bulky lion gave. She sat and caught her breath, and luckily, heard nothing. It seemed that no one had heard her.

With her back against the heavy base, Zahra reached her left hand out and placed it on the floor, using it to brace herself as she stole a quick look around the statue. When she did, she felt something odd — something wet. Zahra slowly lowered her eyes to the floor and spotted the fluid. Its presence instantly filled her with dread. Even in the low light, Zahra knew what the dark, viscous substance was.

Blood.

Someone was hurt, or worse.

“Shit,” she mouthed, lifting her wet fingertips.

Zahra smeared the blood across the floor before wiping some off on her jeans. She got onto her hands and knees and, once more, glanced around the base of the lion, careful not to touch it again. In that second of exposure, she spotted a streak that continued around to the other side of the animal.

Dammit, she thought, biting her lower lip.

Death didn’t bother Zahra. But in this case, she was confident that she’d recognize the body. The only people here, besides her and Grant, were Bernie and his crew of guards, Josh and Drew.

And one of them was in serious trouble.