Egypt on Anur Khufos, part 6

 Mos Isis, as it turned out, was not the kind of Egyptian city they expected. Ben assumed it’d be one of those bustling bazaars he sometimes saw in movies, even though those were more accurately in the Middle East. Instead, the various buildings still shared the heavily geometric style common to old Egyptian buildings, but incredibly smooth, dark and intricate, as if forged by modern technology. Black obelisks lined the walkways. Thep Khufans and other alien beings strutted about their business on foot; Max noticed a spaceship taking off in the background. Overall, this entire area looked just as advanced as the temple; Yet it again made him wonder which came first: Human Egyptians or Thep Khufans?

 Elastamun looked at his amulet again, and saw that the light was concentrated towards the top, down an avenue cutting through the middle of the city.

 The sentry, wearing a black cloth headdress reminiscent of the way Egyptian women cut their hair, turned to the scribe and said, “We saw your ship fleeing the pharaoh’s warriors. Ja’Kaal has told me to admit whoever bears his sign of the Falcon, and that is you.”

 “Indeed I am,” he nodded.

 “I am Ilais (Ih-LAYS), member of the Rigil clan of warriors, and...” the sentry paused when she looked at the suited humans behind him, and readied a long spear, asking in an alert voice, “Who are these beings you brought here?”

 Elastamun reached out his right arm to block the spear, pleading, “They are with me, I come bearing the being of a thousand beings! If you will allow me to bring them some translators, I can prove it.”

 “Very well, the nearest tech stall is down the first street to your right,” Ilais directed by elongating a finger down that way. “But until I see proof on your claim, I am not letting your...guests out of my sight. Understand?”

 “Yes, madam.” The scribe turned to the kids and said, “Stay here, I will be back in a moment.”

 Gwen had a feeling Ben would do the exact opposite in the next few minutes. With that giant spear, and several more in her quiver, however, Ben actually decided to stay put, thinking it better than getting shish-kabobbed.

 Meanwhile, as fast as he could, Elastamun searched the market street for a gadget store, passing others that sold items like food, scrolls, and even artifacts from other worlds. This particular area resonated with him, being very familiar with a similar place on Earth. Having all but forgotten about it, in his cloak, Elastamun just happened to have an Anurrian credit charm next to his wad of Egyptian Pounds, which he used to use before embarking on his research mission, though he had long forgotten how much was on it.

 Finally, wedged between two other shops was a small stall reading “Tech and Wares” in Khufan language, selling electronic parts and gadgets of all shapes and sizes.

 A Transyllian showed up from a door deeper in the building, muscular and having somehow grafted implants into his head that could fit computer chips. “Yes? You want something?” He asked in a raspy, slightly augmented voice.

 “Get me three universal translators, on the double,” Elastamun demanded while placing his credit charm on the counter. The shopkeeper took the little brass disc and tapped it, showing a hologram in Thep Khufan numerals, which explained that he had 596 Anurrian credits left, about an average citizen’s wages. The translators were 150 credits apiece, so that covered it.

 As the shop owner reached under the counter and pulled out three tiny plastic boxes containing the translators, he asked, “Say, you work with the pharaoh? We don’t get rich people like you out here.”

 “I would rather not talk about it, sir,” the scribe grumbled as he took the little cubes.

 “Whatever you say,” the owner shrugged as he scanned the charm, then handed it back to the mummy.

 Elastamun thanked the alien, pocketed everything, and sprinted back towards the city entrance.

-----

 Ben had been growing antsy and wanted to run off, but just as he was about to do so, Elastamun returned. He pulled out the little boxes from his cloak and handed each one to the Tennysons.

 The scribe instructed, “Take these devices out and attach them to the backs of your necks,” gesturing to that spot with his hand.

 “Is the air safe here?” Max asked before reaching for the button on his suit module.

 “Mos Isis’ walls protect us from the desert sand and hot air, and we have shields that block corrodium radiation,” Ilais begrudgingly answered. Elastamun relayed that message with a simple “Yes.”

 Then Ben deactivated his suit and pocketed the module once again, then he opened his box, pushed a little red button on his translator to activate it, and stuck it to the back of his neck. Gwen and Grandpa Max followed suit.

 Ilais reaffirmed herself and demanded, “Now, scribe, show me what you have brought into this city.”

 Eager about that kind of attention, Ben raised his left arm to show the Omnitrix on his wrist. Ilais gasped, then bowed before him, surprising Gwen and Max.

 “Praise Ra! The being has arrived!” She cheered, now in a language the Tennysons could understand. “Forgive my brash judgment, great one!”

 Ben smiled, his heroic ego liking this kind of treatment. “At ease, warrior,” he swiftly commanded her.

 Ilais calmed down and finished, “You may go about the city as you wish. Now, move along.”

 “Thank you for your time, miss,” Grandpa Max nodded.

 As they left, Ilais eyed Ben suspiciously for a moment, but said nothing.

 With that, guided by the amulet, the group of four strolled down the city’s main street, passing obelisks with depictions of the Egyptian Gods, hieroglyphs with religious prayers around them. Everything about this street felt dedicated to the gods, and the district they were entering contained several shrines to them. Several passing aliens were surprised to see these visitors here, but were too busy to stop or ask questions. Max noticed how the people wearing colored cloaks and golden headgear appeared less than those who didn’t have them, suggesting a class divide of some kind, though he couldn't tell what.

 Finally, the road ended in a courtyard with a sphinx in the center, where other roads radiated from it in a spoke-like pattern. This sphinx seemed to have the body of a Vulpimancer, also known by Ben as “Wildmutt”, but bearing a Thep Khufan face, complete with a pharaoh’s headdress. The Tennysons found this imagery bizarre in comparison to the one on Earth.

 Elastamun approached the base of the sphinx, amulet in hand. He found a circular slot set in the gap between its feet, and set the amulet in place. With a blue flash, part of the floor began to drop as the gap ejected the amulet back out. The whole group soon found themselves on an elevator leading several feet below the city, a slab of concrete covering the hole above them. It ended in a smooth stone corridor lit by two lines of tiny green lights in the edges of the ceiling.

 “What is this? Some kind of bomb shelter?” Ben asked.

 “Kind of reminds me of that place under Mount Rushmore,” Gwen remarked.

 Elastamun was reminded of his own home, but this place looked higher-end in comparison, less dug-out.

 The corridor ended at a set of metal sliding doors inlaid with hieroglyphs they couldn’t read. Before Elastamun could say anything, more lights flashed on, and a pair of turret guns deployed from the walls. A computerized voice stated, “Stand by for decontamination and scanning.”

 Instead of bullets, the guns sprayed the group with disinfectant liquid, followed by a grid of laser beams from the same walls, sliding back and forth to gather biometric data on these visitors.

 The computer suddenly started beeping when it finished scanning Ben, warning, “Alert: foreign technology detected. Analyzing.”

 Several seconds passed, then the computer declared, “Scan process complete; you are cleared for entry.” With that, the metal doors slid open with an ominous clunk, revealing a complex room beyond, populated with several Thep Khufans and other aliens decked in colorful golden costumes.

 The one closest to the door, wearing a blue and gold falcon headdress and a blue robe, much like Valensen’s, ushered them in. He greeted them with a bow, “Welcome, friends. Sorry for the security measures, we have been anxious of discovery by the pharaoh these past weeks.”

 “I can imagine,” Elastamun humored him. “And you are?”

 “I am Ja’Kaal, leader of the Golden Guard,” the blue Khufan introduced himself, “We were informed of your arrival an hour ago, it must have been brutal crash-landing like that.”

 “Not to mention being shot at,” Ben complained.

 Ja’Kaal looked at the humans and smiled, then asked, “Please, follow me. My colleagues are eager to see what has put the pharaoh in such a state lately.”

 With that, Ja’Kaal brought the group deeper into the fortress.

 Gwen commented, “A secret organization of mummies? What next?”

 “Reminds me of a cartoon I used to watch, actually,” Ben mentioned. “Mummies Alive or something.”

 And the parallel fit, for when they entered a vehicle bay inside the bunker, three other Thep Khufans decked in equally colored outfits turned towards the Tennysons.

 Ja’Kaal pointed with his hand towards the others and introduced them one by one. “These are my top affiliates. Neferti, my melee operative,” pointing to a female Khufan practicing with a bo staff and wearing a slim red jumpsuit with a mask head reminiscent of a cat, “Raht, my tactician,” pointing to a male wearing a cylindrical Egyptian hat in green and yellow colors, writing something on a scroll, “and Marnor, my weapons specialist,” pointing to a bulky-looking Thep Khufan sporting a helmet with ram’s horns, working on the engine of a nearby vehicle. His right arm had apparently been replaced with a large, metallic prosthetic one.

 “Who is this?” Raht asked in a stiff voice as he looked up from his work.

 “Are those humans?” Marnor inquired.

 “That one in the red robe looks cute,” Neferti chuckled.

 Elastamun looked down at his cloak and chuckled, having never been complimented like that before.

 Raht put down his scroll and stepped towards the visiting group, asking the leader, “Ja’Kaal, I say again, who have you brought into our domain?”

 “Please, my friend, these are our honored guests! They evaded the pharaoh’s forces just to reach the city. And from our scans, you of all people should know that one of these humans bears the Omnitrix.”

 “The Omnitrix?!” The three mummies gasped in unison.

 Ben milked this, much to the chagrin of his grandfather and boredom of his cousin, “Yes, you stand within the presence of Ben Tennyson, hero of a thousand heroes!” he flamboyantly cheered while holding his left arm skyward.

 The four mummies stood before him and bowed at his feet like Ilais did. Ja’Kaal groveled, “The prophecy is true! The being of beings has been sent by Ra to give us the strength to fight the pharaoh’s army and heal our sickness!”

 Marnor added, “We are in your service, great one!”

 Gwen interrupted, “Hey, that’s enough! Ben’s not a god, he’s my cousin.”

 Max scolded his grandson, “Ben, don’t abuse these peoples’ trust. It could get us into trouble.”

 "All right, Grandpa," Ben sighed as he lowered his arm.

 “Who are these two? Your servants?” Raht inquired as he raised his head.

 Both Gwen and Max were annoyed at this, but Elastamun answered, “Please, there is no need for such undue reverence. All three of these humans are of equal importance, as they worked together to defeat Zs’Skayr on Earth. Just because one of them bears the Omnitrix does not mean one is more significant than another.”

 The four Thep Khufans were startled by that story, prompting the group to stop bowing and rise to their feet once more. Ja’Kaal hesitantly asked, “Zs’Skayr is truly gone? We knew that his crushing influence had left us for at least 30 cycles, but were never sure of his whereabouts.”

 Grandpa Max explained, “We stopped him from spraying our planet – Earth – with corrodium that’d block out the sun and mutate all life.”

 “I have visual data to prove it,” Elastamun tapped his pectoral ornament.

 “But now he’s stuck in my watch again,” Ben hesitantly added, pointed to the faceplate.

 “Again? You mean he was in the Omnitrix before?” Neferti asked this concern.

 “Pray you never become his form, it would be no different than how Rehk’Set controls the minds of his slaves,” Ja’Kaal shuddered.

 Marnor changed the subject, “Enough dark subjects! We must celebrate the arrival of our savior with a feast!”

 “Agreed, the timing could not be better,” the leader nodded, then he reached for an intercom and tapped the “Page” switch.

 A gruff voice on the other side answered, “Yes, my lord?”

 “Valdor, please inform the chef to prepare the special feast we’ve planned for this day, our savior has come,” the leader ordered.

 “Yes, master.”

 Ben smiled, knowing that neither he nor his relatives had eaten or drank anything in hours.

 Then Ja’Kaal crossed the large room, and beckoned, “While we wait, why don’t we show you around our base? I think you will like it.”