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won’t have the power to cloud men’s minds, but they’ll certainly have the power to influence them for good.”
    “I don’t know,” she said dubiously.
    “What’s the problem?”
    “If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then almost-absolute power corrupts
almost
absolutely.”
    “Let’s assume whoever we find will be able to resist the corruption.”
    “Gordon was a devout man, and he knew better,” Lara pointed out. “How do you destroy the thing, anyway?”
    “Destroy the Amulet of Mareish?” he repeated, shocked at the thought. “I’ve spent half my life looking for it!”
    “If it’s half what you say it is, it’d be better if no one ever found it—but since I don’t seem to be able to walk away without getting shot at anyway, I’d like to know how to rid the world of it once I find it.”
    “I won’t even consider it,” said Mason. “We’ll simply give it to the best person we can find.”
    “What if we can’t find someone we trust?”
    “That’s a very cynical thing to suggest,” remarked Mason. “Surely you’ve met trustworthy people before.”
    “Not many.”
    “Then we’ll keep it under lock and key until the day we
can
find one.”
    “I’ve spent my whole life taking things that were under lock and key—and worse,” said Lara.
    “Let’s worry about that when we come to it,” said Mason. “The main thing is that by the mere act of openly searching for the Amulet in the Sudan, we’ll put an end to most of these crazed attacks. Besides,” he added, “as an archaeologist, I think it’s the most exciting challenge of my career.” He stared at her for a moment. “Do we have a deal?”
    “I think you’re risking your life rather foolishly,” she said. “But if you want to come to the Sudan, I can’t stop you.”
    “Then we’re partners,” said Mason.

8

    “There it is!” said Mason as the
Amenhotep
finally appeared out of the darkness. He stood up in the stern of the motorboat and waved his arms.
    “I’ve been thinking,” said Lara. “Why should they stop for us? After all, you’ve already paid the captain for our passage all the way to the Sudan.”
    “I paid him half,” replied Mason. “He gets the other half when we reach our destination.” He shot her a disarming smile. “I may not know hugger-mugger, but I know how to bargain in the Third World!”
    The
Amenhotep
slowed down as it approached them, and the captain leaned over the side.
    “I thought you were still on the boat,” he said.
    “My wife was waiting for me at Aswan,” lied Mason smoothly. “I decided it was best to avoid her.”
    The captain uttered a knowing chuckle. “Just a moment, and we’ll lower a rope ladder for you.” A crew member came up and whispered something to him, and he leaned over the side again. “I have just been informed that one of our lifeboats is missing. Would you happen to know anything about it?”
    “You don’t need it,” said Lara. “Ever since they built the High Dam, the Nile’s only five or six feet deep in most places. If your ship springs a leak or capsizes, the passengers can walk to shore.”
    “That isn’t the point,” said the captain. “It is ours, and we want it back.”
    “I don’t have it any longer,” said Mason. “How would you like to have this boat as a replacement?”
    The captain’s eyes narrowed greedily as he computed how much he could sell it for. “Is the motor included?”
    “Certainly,” said Mason. “What would I do with a motor and no boat?”
    “It’s a deal,” said the captain. He turned to the crewman. “Lower the ladder.”
    A minute later Lara and Mason were on deck, and a minute after that the
Amenhotep
was once again heading upstream, towing the motorboat behind it.
    “Four o’clock,” announced Mason, looking at his watch when the two of them were alone again. “It’s been a long night. I think I’m going to bed.”
    “I slept before we went to Elephantine Island,” replied Lara.