CHAPTER VI
Before the Gods
Only one thing could have stopped Desquer’s finger on the trigger—and that thing happened. The monster on the throne spoke. Thick and almost unintelligible, its voice poured out from the inhuman muzzle, as the hands twitched on the arms of the throne.
“Don’t!” the bull-headed creature moaned. “It’s Brady—Brady!”
Sheer amazement petrified Desquer. He lowered his gun at last, shaved scalp shining with sweat. Tony swallowed a lump in his dry throat, glaring at the hybrid on the dais.
Brady? Captain Brady?
“Those devils did this to me,” the thick voice went on. “Surgery, commander—super-surgery. Remember their healing ray? They grafted the flesh and skin of a bull on to my head and speeded up the cellular activity tremendously with their ray. I—I don’t dare move. This head is so heavy it would snap my spine if—if—”
Desquer said in a low voice, “Are we in danger now?” His eyes searched the shadows.
“You’re doomed,” Brady mouthed. “Thotmes told me the hellish plan behind all this. Thotmes is the high priest. He’s one of the very few that know the secret of Alu. He told me—almost everything. It tickled his ego, I think, to gloat over his triumph . . .”
The bull head lolled forward and came back into place again abruptly. Brady said, “Maybe there’s a chance. I don’t know. Your guns . . . Listen! If you can get to the pyramid and blast the machine out of existence—”
“What machine?” Desquer asked.