DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Rocket, v. 1, issue 1, March 1940

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Rocket, v. 1, issue 1, March 1940

Page 18

18

hand and started the tedious job of resealing the tomb. As near as I could, from what little knowledge of Egyptology I did have, I imitated the seal of one of the rulers of the Ramses Dynasty; to reseal the tomb so that, should it be discovered, I might not stand the embarrassment of being accused of thievery. I spent the rest of the day and a goodly portion of the night, recovering the 16 steps in the rock, and returned to camp, dog-tired but confident that the tomb would be found again by someone else, only by sheer accident, as I had. The next morning I resigned my position with the Davis expedition under the pretext that I had made some valuable discoveries regarding the effect of Egyptian climatic conditions on T. B., and desired to continue some research along that line, without other duties to distract me.

"I returned to London and, after putting everything I had into cash, I dashed back to Cairo to obtain permission to carry on my research in the Valley of the Kings in a remote spot where my work would not be disturbed. A little pressure brought to bear from associates in London made the task quite simple, so I immediately set about obtaining the necessary equipment to carry on extensive research. Three months later saw me here with my laboratory set up and ready for me to start on the job of blotting out this menace to civilization."

V

I drew closer to the table, realizing that he was getting near to the explanation of the mystery. The fire which had now burned down to low embers, cast an eerie glow over the room and the sincere light that reflected in the fellow's eyes was so powerful as to break down any guard I might have against another yarn of the pulp variety.

The doctor then continued, "The native who brought you here, did most of the supervision of the work under my guidance. I had befriended him, several years previously, when he had been bitten by one of the large poisonous beetles which infest the valley. I managed to save him after the ashintos, or native doctors, had deserted his case. Since then he has been a voluntary slave to my wishes; highly cultured too, he has had three years in the trade school of Cairo.

"Now we come to the point which you are so anxious to learn more about. A close examination of the papyrus revealed that the germ, which lay dormant in the dust, took several years to return to a living state where reproduction could take place. When they did return, they spread their destruction by consuming all the living blood cells and leaving behind a poisonous secretion which was of such a nature as to destroy every vestige of living tissue. The latter caused a speeding up of disintegration that was all-consuming. Death follows in a very violent form. This disease traveled at such a rate in the early periods that it almost destroyed the predynastic Egyptians, until a man named Osiris came to Egypt from Tah-Amet-Su, known to us as Atlantis. He gave them a cure for the disease, which his superior race had prepared in their magnificent laboratories. The text of this antidote was almost entirely destroyed by the papyrus beetles which inadvertently chose papyrus for food. From these nearly lost records and a few fragments of the Edmond 
Smith Papyrus in the British Museum, I have been able to glean enough knowledge to go about my work on an antidote."

"But," I interrupted, "If this is true, how is it that you are alive today? Surely the disease should have taken effect on you in this great length of time."

Saving...

18 hand and started the tedious job of resealing the tomb. As near as I could, from what little knowledge of Egyptology I did have, I imitated the seal of one of the rulers of the Ramses Dynasty; to reseal the tomb so that, should it be discovered, I might not stand the embarrassment of being accused of thievery. I spent the rest of the day and a goodly portion of the night, recovering the 16 steps in the rock, and returned to camp, dog-tired but confident that the tomb would be found again by someone else, only by sheer accident, as I had. The next morning I resigned my position with the Davis expedition under the pretext that I had made some valuable discoveries regarding the effect of Egyptian climatic conditions on T. B., and desired to continue some research along that line, without other duties to distract me. "I returned to London and, after putting everything I had into cash, I dashed back to Cairo to obtain permission to carry on my research in the Valley of the Kings in a remote spot where my work would not be disturbed. A little pressure brought to bear from associates in London made the task quite simple, so I immediately set about obtaining the necessary equipment to carry on extensive research. Three months later saw me here with my laboratory set up and ready for me to start on the job of blotting out this menace to civilization." V I drew closer to the table, realizing that he was getting near to the explanation of the mystery. The fire which had now burned down to low embers, cast an eerie glow over the room and the sincere light that reflected in the fellow's eyes was so powerful as to break down any guard I might have against another yarn of the pulp variety. The doctor then continued, "The native who brought you here, did most of the supervision of the work under my guidance. I had befriended him, several years previously, when he had been bitten by one of the large poisonous beetles which infest the valley. I managed to save him after the ashintos, or native doctors, had deserted his case. Since then he has been a voluntary slave to my wishes; highly cultured too, he has had three years in the trade school of Cairo. "Now we come to the point which you are so anxious to learn more about. A close examination of the papyrus revealed that the germ, which lay dormant in the dust, took several years to return to a living state where reproduction could take place. When they did return, they spread their destruction by consuming all the living blood cells and leaving behind a poisonous secretion which was of such a nature as to destroy every vestige of living tissue. The latter caused a speeding up of disintegration that was all-consuming. Death follows in a very violent form. This disease traveled at such a rate in the early periods that it almost destroyed the predynastic Egyptians, until a man named Osiris came to Egypt from Tah-Amet-Su, known to us as Atlantis. He gave them a cure for the disease, which his superior race had prepared in their magnificent laboratories. The text of this antidote was almost entirely destroyed by the papyrus beetles which inadvertently chose papyrus for food. From these nearly lost records and a few fragments of the Edmond Smith Papyrus in the British Museum, I have been able to glean enough knowledge to go about my work on an antidote." "But," I interrupted, "If this is true, how is it that you are alive today? Surely the disease should have taken effect on you in this great length of time."