The Amulet of Power - Mike Resnick [107]
She walked slowly around the altar, studying it, trying to spot the trap.
“Knives?” she mused. “Poison dust?” She grimaced. “I’m approaching it wrong. He wouldn’t know how to rig that. It’s got to be simpler.”
She stared at the ceiling above the altar. “It looks intact. Nothing’s going to fall on me if I pick up the Amulet. And the walls are solid. Nothing’s going to shoot out of them.” She circled the altar again. “It wouldn’t be something like a mamba, or even a Deathstalker scorpion. He’d know they wouldn’t live that long.” She leaned over the Amulet and studied the surface of the altar. “Nothing rough enough to break the skin, and even if there was, how long could a poison retain its potency? He may not have been sophisticated, but he wasn’t stupid. Gordon would never have entrusted the mission to a stupid man.”
She stepped back, still studying the Amulet.
“All right,” she continued. “It’s not the ceiling. It’s not the walls. It’s not the surface of the altar. It can’t be the Amulet itself, because he never touched it. It’s not an animal or an insect. What’s left?”
And then: “Of course! Malcolm, go outside and find me a long branch. Trim the leaves off it and bring it back.”
Oliver left the church.
I knew you would be the one. With your indomitable will and my limitless power, we will be the absolute rulers of the world. I will impart my secrets to you, and all shall tremble before us.
Oliver returned with a stripped branch and handed it to her. She walked over to the altar.
“Stand back, Malcolm,” she said. “I don’t know how far away we have to be. Not very, considering it’s rigged to kill someone who actually grabs the Amulet, but it doesn’t hurt to be on the safe side.”
She held one end of the branch and reached out toward the altar, sliding the other end through the silver chain. She slowly lifted it up—and the instant it was no longer in contact with the altar, sharp spring-loaded spikes jumped out in all four directions.
“Not bad for 1885,” said Lara. She pointed the branch toward the ceiling and let the Amulet slide down to her waiting hand. As her fingers closed around it, she felt a surge of power and energy such as she had never experienced in her life.
“So we’ve finally got it!” said Oliver.
“Yes,” she said, still trying to adjust to the feeling. She held the Amulet up and stared at it. “It’s everything they said it was, Malcolm.”
“I know,” said Oliver. “It seems to be calling out to me.”
“You, too?” she said, surprised.
“It’s like a magnet, drawing me to it,” he said, a strange look in his eyes. “Whoever possesses the Amulet will never have to worry about money again. Or enemies. He can have every woman he desires. The Mahdi knew nothing but the desert . . . but think of what it could do for its owner in Europe or America!”
“That’s why Gordon hid it,” said Lara. “He wasn’t just worried about the Mahdi. He knew its power to corrupt any man or woman.”
“Let me see it for a minute, Lara,” said Oliver, holding out his hand.
She shook her head. “I don’t think that would be very wise.”
“I’m not asking you,” he said. “I’m telling you.”
“And I’m telling you no. It’s affecting you already, Malcolm.”
Suddenly he pulled his Magnum out of his belt. “Don’t make me use this on you, Lara. I want that thing, and I’m going to have it!”
“What’s happened to you?” she said. “I almost don’t recognize you any more!”
“I’ll kill you if I have to!” grated Oliver. “Hand it over!”
“Then you’ll have to kill me.”
If she was counting on his innate decency to overcome the effect the Amulet had on him, she was mistaken. He pointed the gun right at her heart and pulled the trigger—
—and nothing happened.
He frowned and fired twice more. There were two more explosions of sound, and still Lara stood there facing him.
He checked the Magnum, searching for the malfunction.
“It’s not the gun, Malcolm,” she said. “As long as I’m in possession of the Amulet, you can’t kill me.”
Something snapped inside Oliver, and with a roar of rage he launched himself at her.