In the weeks before the final ceremony the investigators consulted with their local academic contact, Dr. Khafour, at the Cairo Museum. It was suspected that many (but not all) of the members of the Clive Expedition, including Sir Clive, were cultists connected to the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh via the now-defunct London chapter at the Penhew Foundation). Using his pull with the Egyptian and British governments, he had the two members that were suspected to be innocent, the Scotsman, James Gardiner and Londoner Agatha Broadmoor, summoned to the British Embassy in Cairo. There they were informed that their visas had been cancelled and were to leave Egypt in 24 hours. Both were on a steamer back to England before they knew what hit them.
On her departure, Agatha had left one last letter. In it she detailed a "dream corridor" she saw in a dark vision. It looked like a map of the tunnels near the Sphynx leading to a secret throne room deep beneath the Giza plateau. The drunken reject from the Clive Expedition, Jan van Huevelen, had already been deported for theft of priceless Egyptian artefacts, namely the scrolls stolen from Bast's hidden temple. He was upset that his translation would now never be finished. (Neris, when asked, said he had misunderstood the scrolls, called the "Black Rites of Luveh-Keraph", and his translation would have been worthless. And no, you can't have the scrolls as they were now hidden away in a safe place.)
Dr. Khafour believed that the Clive Expedition secretly recovered the mummy of the infamous Queen Nitocris from the smallest Giza Pyramid, the pyramid of Menkaure. Along with it were the Crown and Necklace of Nitocris. These all went missing, "stolen" by unnamed thieves. He believes Nitocris had been the Queen of Nephra-Ka, the "Black Pharaoh", also known as "Nyarlathotep" or "Nyarlat-hotep". This Nyarlathotep belonged to an otherworldly coterie Dr. Khafour called the "Elder Gods", led by the "Daemon Sultan" called "Aza-thoth". They were more ancient and powerful than even the Egyptian pantheon, dedicated only to madness and chaos. He also believed that Nephra-ka, the Black Pharaoh wished to resurrect his queen, Nitocris, using her mummified body, the Crown and Necklace of Nitocris.
One other critically-needed element for this resurrection was the Girdle or jeweled belt of Nitocris. This had not been with the other artefacts, instead kept for safekeeping in the Mosque of ibn Tulun. The investigators had tried transporting it to safety in the Cairo Museum but the forces arrayed against them had pulled out all the stops to intercept and steal it en route.
Now that they had everything they needed to proceed, local cultists belonging to the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh, led by the high priest Omar al-Shakti and/or possibly Sir Clive (if he was part of the London branch of the cult), would at that time conduct a nameless unholy rite in an underground temple located somewhere beneath the Giza complex. Using the Girdle, Necklace and Crown of Nitocris they would bring Nitocris back from the Land of the Dead to the Land of the Living.
Dr. Khafour also related what he know about the legend of the Black Pharaoh Nephren-Ka:
- He was said to possess a huge beast, of which the the Sphynx at Giza is a small, inaccurate representation.
- The voice of Nephren-Ka is said to have been carried throughout the land within a black wind, a wind which destroyed at whim.
- A prophesy implies that the Black Pharaoh will arise "fingers and toes after the Great Good One", a reference many have taken to mean twenty centuries after the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. A new age then begins, destined to end the dominance of mankind upon the Earth and to bring freedom and stark truth to the Black Pharaoh's followers.
- Man-like but inhuman worshipers of the Black Pharaoh's were said to lurk underground in the deserts, occasionally waylaying innocent passerby. Dr. Khafour personally encountered and slew some during his youth, decades ago.
- The Great Sphynx at Giza is said to have had an important function in hideous rituals held by Nitocris during her rule in the Third Dynasty.
Preparations were completed as the days advanced towards the night of the new moon, when the moon God, Khonsu, "hides his face". It was after sundown, the Muslim Call to Prayer long faded from the buildings and streets of the ancient city to the east across the Nile. Before them was the weathered bulk of the Sphynx, looming into the twilight sky were the three massive pyramids of the Giza plateau necropolis complex.
They were at the shallow pit where Agatha's map from her dreams indicated an entrance would appear. The group included Bathony, Chi Yin, Cynthia, Perkins, the Basara Brothers handling the dynamite, with JM, Roger and Karlhienz lugging a Lewis gun and ammunition. JM had two satchels: one filled with Lewis bombs and the other with German Stielhandgranates.
The second party, not too far away, waited in a lorry and motorcycle. This party was for support and included Dr. Weston, Prof. Fulty, Molly fuller and Alexander. If the assault party was able to get to the surface they could use a Very pistol (flare gun) to signal their location for pickup. There was also gear like rope, electric torches, cans of petrol, etc.
Night had now truly fallen and it was past ten. Yet the stone face where the entrance should be located stayed stubbornly blank, solid and unmarked. They now had the option of waiting until later, trying to chisel their way through the rock, blast their way in, or try to find another entrance.