"QUEEN OF ATLANTIS" "The Tanezrouft, or Desert Country." ""The camel that gets lost in it becomes feral or dies."" "A raiding party, commanded by Captain Aymard, left Timbuktu in the direction of Timissao." "The scouts on the flanks." "Captain Aymard (Mr. Genica)" "Information about the changes our influence has brought to the attitude of the Tuareg." "Captain Aymard will investigate the Morhange/Saint-Avit mission, last heard from at latitude 26 degrees north..." "WAR OFFICE" " GEOGRAPHIC DIVISION DELIVER BY HORSEMAN" "Lieutenant Saint-Avit 1st Regiment of Spahis" " Ouargla" ""Your companion, Captain Morhange?"" ""It's number 54!" "Hide the hammer, the silver hammer!"" "The wounded man is brought to the nearest post, while the column continues its mission." "The officers' club at Timbuktu." ""Apparently Saint-Avit is gravely wounded, but there is no trace of Morhange."" "The infirmary" ""Ask the Major to see me as soon as he has examined the wounded man."" ""As for Morhange, I think there is little hope of ever finding him."" ""I am particularly touched, as Morhange was one of my best friends."" ""He had a generous soul, and so enthusiastic..."" ""After a time of mourning..."" ""...he requested and obtained a three-year leave from duty."" ""At the monastery to which he had come..."" ""...he was attached to the team working on the famous Atlas of Christianity."" ""After those years of oblation..." ""To test the solidity of his commitment," ""the Abbot asked him to re-enlist in the Army."" ""Morhange accepted a mission at Ahaggar," ""which he considered his final test before returning to the cloister" ""to forget the things for which he was not made."" ""He had the soul of an apostle, and his destiny was to die an apostle."" "Delirium" ""It was dark when I struck!" ""He doesn't know it was me." "He doesn't know!"" "Confidential report." "Captain Aymard's return." ""...and in this vast region, there is not a clue" ""to explain the mysterious end of Captain Morhange."" ""Now what?"" "Officially, they pretended to remain silent about this troubling disappearance." ""They say he spoke such strange phrases in his delirium..."" ""But why would he have killed his companion?"" "Lieutenant Ferrières (Mr. Lorsay)" ""I am a friend of Lieutenant Saint-Avit." "We were in the same graduating class."" ""I maintain that he is incapable of committing a disloyal act," ""much less an abominable crime."" "Lieutenant Saint-Avit's official report." "And on the 27th, Captain Morhange was felled by sunstroke and was buried with my help in the banks of the Oued Tarhit." ""Gentlemen, you see as well as I do the ambiguities that remain in this affair."" ""But since they are impossible to verify," ""I judge it best to hush up what would only be a useless scandal."" "From the first days of his rehabilitation," "Saint-Avit sensed from the coldness of his comrades their horrible suspicions." "HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED" "ONE YEAR OF CONVALESCENCE BY THE HIGH COMMAND." "The soil of Africa, which he thought he was leaving forever, slowly fades away." "But after a while the nostalgia of magical horizons," "...the mysterious attraction of wide open spaces," "...and always this "memory"." "A memory stronger than the will to forget." "Three months later." "The Post of Hassi-Inifel at the extreme south of the Sahara." "Lieutenant Ferrières, interim Commander of the Post." "...this monotonous life of the sedentary posts." "How I envy the adventurous life of those who can immerse themselves in the alluring mystery of this desert which lies before me." "By the decision made on 1 May 1914," "Lieutenant André de Saint-Avit, unattached, is assigned to the 3rd Spahis and appointed Commander of the Post of Hassi-Inifel." ""Lieutenant Saint-Avit, Commander of the Post." ""Do they think that we are a dump?"" ""Staff Sergeant, Lieutenant Saint-Avit is my classmate."" "A month later." "At sunset." ""The trail to the south, on which we left two years ago!" ""The trail that goes to Temassinin, Eguéré and Ahaggar!"" ""...and which I will soon take again."" "Dear friend, your projected expedition in the Zassili of the Tuareg has been agreed upon and I think you will receive your commission within a few weeks..." ""And this time, I am going alone."" "Every day, Saint-Avit left the post for long rides in the desert." "He sought the expanse, impatient to go forth into it." "And often night caught up with him on his way back." "That evening." ""Your decision to go alone is irrevocable?"" ""The night is heavy."" ""Yes, it's as heavy, you see, as the one on which I killed Captain Morhange."" "And that night, Lieutenant Saint-Avit told the story:" ""...and when you know where I am going," ""you will tell me if you still wish to come with me."" ""I saw Captain Morhange for the first time in Ouargla."" ""We were supposed to ride together to Sik-Sahla," ""where our routes would diverge."" ""My faithful guide Bou-Djema, who knows all the trails of the Sahara."" ""One of the only survivors of the massacre of the Massard mission" ""at the well of Gamara."" ""Having left Ouargla on August 3..."" ""Right away, we established a very deep friendship."" "After the difficult crossing of the great dunes..." ""On the 27th we arrived at the well of Gamara, that sinister memory."" "And Bou-Djema told us of the horrible tragedy that he had witnessed two years before." ""Lieutenant Massard had left the convoy with his adjutant" ""to reconnoiter the wells."" "Lieutenant Massard." "(Mr. André Roanne)" ""A Targui from Ahaggar, Cegheir-ben-Cheikh," ""was holding the adjutant's bridle."" ""Firing, the adjutant shot off two fingers of the Targui, but..."" ""The convoy, deprived of its white leaders, gave little resistance..."" ""..." "Lieutenant Massard's body was never found."" ""As we were reaching the desolate region of the Tifedest Mountains..."" "There were warnings of an imminent sandstorm." "Shelter." ""It's a Greek inscription, using the Tifinar alphabet."" ""But never has a Greek inscription been discovered at such a low latitude!"" "A cry for help in the distance." ""It's a Targui from Ahaggar."" ""Could it be that I have attained the goal of my mission?"" ""Raiders from the from the Awellimiden, sons of bitches," ""assaulted me and stole my camel."" ""Eg-Anteouen is my name." "You saved me." "May the Prophet remember it."" ""You know what that is?"" ""Answer the Captain!"" "The following morning." ""I have changed my itinerary slightly," ""so we will go our separate ways earlier."" ""This man has told me that similar inscriptions are in several caves" ""of the western Ahaggar."" ""I shall come with you."" ""You seem to have no idea of what the Ahaggar is," ""nor of the encounters one can have there."" ""Where is the spot to which you proposed to bring the Captain?"" ""I have not offered to take him there, has asked me to."" ""We are going to go south through the Ahaggar."" ""Eg-Anteouen will take us there."" ""Not here." "Tonight, when we have stopped and he has turned towards the east to pray," ""call me and I will tell you."" "Towards the mysterious Ahaggar." "The resting point." "Blad-el-Khouf!" "The land of fear!" "At dusk." ""Bou-Djema!" "Come to my camel," ""there is something I must get in the saddlebags."" ""Afahlehle, the terrible Saharan plant that does not forgive."" "Bou-Djema died during the night without regaining consciousness." "At daybreak." "In the heart of the Ahaggar." "In the evening, they must leave their mounts at the foot of the rocky wall..." ""When will we arrive at the cave with the inscriptions?"" ""We are there."" ""Wait, let me light some dry branches so we can see."" "They were taken with a strange intoxication." ""Those signs are recent." "They were traced with ochre." "It's a mystery!"" ""It's hemp!" "Hashish!"" ""Cegheir-ben-Cheikh!" "Lieutenant Massard's assassin!"" "Waking up in the Ahaggar." ""How long have I slept?"" ""Is this a deaf-mute?"" "Morhange was woken by a servant who was also completely silent." "After having passed through the hands of bathers and masseurs, Saint-Avit..." ""They didn't even forget my red ribbon!"" "Loud voices that seemed to come from the floor above them." ""Speak, or I will wring your neck!"" ""It's Lieutenant Massard." ""He won't last much longer." "For six days, he has refused to take any food."" ""Massard?" "Who left El-Biodh two years ago?" "And disappeared at the well of Gamara?"" ""Massard!" "Do you remember Morhange?" "Your old friend Morhange?"" ""Did he go right or left?"" ""Open up!"" ""Go tell your mistress that I want to see her!" ""To see her through this door, even if only for a moment."" "Lost in the maze." ""Forget Antinea, as Antinea has forgotten you." "That is her answer."" "After a thousand detours, he is back where he started." "Saint-Avit, for his part, was beginning to lose patience." ""Where is my friend?"" ""Very amusing, I agree." ""But what I have found here this morning is much less so."" "The palace archivist." "(Mr. Franchesci)" ""I want to know where we are, if we are free, and what hidden power detains us?"" ""Although he has reasons to be agitated," ""you must forgive my friend for distracting from his work" ""a man of eminent scholarship..."" ""You are here at the center of what long ago was the Isle of Atlantis..."" ""In the catastrophe that engulfed Atlantis 9,000 years ago," ""the center of the island was not flooded."" ""After the Saharan sea dried up, this marvelous oasis" ""was isolated from the rest of the world by its band of impenetrable mountains."" ""And this book of Plato, the only complete remaining copy of Critias in the world," ""established this part of the island as part of the Ahaggar of today."" ""In this mountain, Neptune locked up his beloved Clito," ""the ancestress of Antinea!"" ""Antinea!" "The Queen of the Ahaggar," ""under the authority of whom you have come forever!"" ""As far as I'm concerned, this isn't the time for historical discussions!"" ""I'd like to know what this lady Antinea wants from us," ""and what kind of relationship she has with the government of Algeria!"" ""You will find out!"" "The red marble room." ""Those are the husbands of Antinea."" ""Following a procedure unique to the Ahaggar," ""their mortal remains were plunged in a galvano-plastic bath" ""that turned them into those gold statues."" ""How come he is here?" "What did he die of?"" ""Like all the others and those of tomorrow:" "He died of love."" ""When they have ceased to please, some commit suicide, others go mad," ""others die sweetly in the ecstasy of opium..."" ""And all of them accepted it?" "All of them gave up?"" ""Only one tried to escape and succeeded."" ""But two years later, dying of thirst, he came back." ""He wandered, searching for the entrance to the mountain," ""and returned to submit to Antinea's law."" ""As soon as you have seen her, family, homeland, honor," ""you will renounce everything for her!"" ""Everything?"" ""Quiet, Hiram-Roi."" ""You speak French well."" ""Cleopatra spoke to Syrians, Hebrews and Medes in their own tongue..."" ""And your friend the Captain, does he look like you?"" ""This is Tanit-Zerga, my private secretary."" ""Tanit-Zerga, show him to his quarters."" ""Thank you, Tanit-Zerga." "I prefer to rest a bit." "I am not hungry."" ""You remember my name!"" ""Tanit-Zerga means 'small spring'."" ""My room is above yours." "If you need anything, just knock."" "Morhange is then brought to the door of the leopard enclosure." ""You will give 20 gold pieces to Cegheir-ben-Cheikh."" "That night." ""I am immensely sorry to have dragged you into this adventure."" ""What are you planning to do?"" ""Nothing's keeping me from being catalogued in the marble room" ""with number 27, or 28 if she pays attention to you first."" ""Antinea pays attention to rank."" "The inner sanctum" ""You are feverish." "I will prepare a tea for you from my country."" ""When Antinea has one of us in her power, does she lock him up with her?"" ""If you don't see him, it's because he prefers to stay next to her."" "Condemned to live in the Queen's entourage," "Morhange locked himself in his dream and did not even seem to notice her august presence." "Who is this man from the West, capable of staying true to a memory or an idea?" "Wounded, her majesty ignored, her beauty powerless for the first time," "Antinea sensed a new sentiment growing in her." "Every day, she came to cheer the solitary prisoner with her birdlike song." "And among the stories that Tanit told most often, the one she found most beautiful was the story of her life." ""If I am but a slave here, in the past," ""in Gao, the old capital of Songhai, where I was born, my house was the tallest."" ""My father, descendant of the last kings of Mandingues," ""was chief of the village."" ""One day, a sorcerer who came from the east" ""was dancing the boussadilla in the plaza..."" ""He saw clearly that I was the daughter of a prince," ""because of my rose tourmaline necklace."" ""Some days can be bad for you, but no matter what," ""one distant day you will see Gao shining."" ""But the splendid Gao of the past, with the mosque with five cupolas..." ""Then, the time of deliverance and royalty will have arrived for you."" ""But one night, most of the men were gone to the market in Tazkel..."" ""That night was Gao's last."" ""Surrounded by the Tuareg raiders, the sleeping village of Awellimiden..."" ""Then, there were cries, which once heard could never be forgotten."" "The raid." ""Thus we marched for a day and a night..."" ""..." "Then, the women began to fall..."" ""Mother!"" ""At the well of Asiou, I was sold to a band of Tuareg" ""and given to Antinea, who was always good to me."" ""I only want permission to see my friend again."" ""You are asking me the only thing I cannot give you."" "That evening, there was no wind to refresh the heavy atmosphere." "And the night was going to be stormy and heavy." "An astounding event." ""Two Spanish explorers have been sighted to the west in Adrar Ahnet."" ""And Cegheir-ben-Cheikh, who was preparing to meet them," ""was ordered to do nothing!"" "Now it was impossible to doubt." "For the first time, Antinea was in love." ""Go and see what the Captain is doing."" ""No, he didn't say anything." "He's reading."" ""They chased him out, he was making too much noise while playing."" ""Come on, Hiram-Roi, let's go."" ""Leave him." "For once, he could sleep here."" ""Hiram-Roi!" "Here!"" "Guided by the little beast Saint-Avit arrives before the Queen's antechamber." "Taking advantage of the disarray caused by Hiram's interruption among the guards, Saint-Avit slips in unseen." ""Leave him, since he is there."" ""Go get the Captain."" ""Have you thought about it?"" ""During your captivity, you have manifested but one desire," ""and you know which one!"" ""I asked you to see my friend again before I die."" ""For the last time, remember that you breathe only as long as I love you..."" ""I will make you die in torture that you cannot even imagine!"" ""I am your prisoner."" ""I will kill your friend before your eyes!"" ""My friend does not fear death."" ""I will do anything you ask."" ""In the shadow, you could not see who struck you?" ""However, you know him well."" ""Didn't you ask to see your friend again before dying?"" ""Lord, forgive him, as..."" "On the terrace of Hassi-Inifel in that stifling, heavy night," "Saint-Avit continued his tale And Lieutenant Ferrières was taken by the same contagious rapture" ""as his brother-in-arms." ""When I awoke the sun was already low..."" ""The mail from Paris."" ""And when you woke up?"" ""I tried to remember."" ""But after a certain point, there was a hole in my memory."" "That day, camel riders coming from the north were making a delivery on Antinea's portico." ""Suddenly I saw the light..."" ""...and I came face to face with the horrible reality!"" ""Mistress, here are the embalmers."" ""Give him a burial following the law of his God."" ""You are just in time." "The magazines just came in."" ""A little information, if you please."" ""I neglected to ask Mr. Morhange the date and place of his birth."" ""Let me pass, your mistress has called for me."" ""I was expecting you..."" ""Antinea, I am going to kill you!"" ""Should I bring you the silver hammer?" "You handle that one better..."" ""It was dark, wasn't it, in the room where he was?"" ""So he could not have known it was me holding the hammer?"" ""If he had not known it was you," ""the affair would not have had any importance for me."" "Saint-Avit's room now had a guard..." "And even Tanit-Zerga could not come close to the prisoner..." "In the oasis, in the mystery and the refreshing shadow of the date palms." "That evening." ""I think they broke my shoulder."" ""Ah!" "Tanit, I would try anything so as not to live in this hell!"" ""Me, too, since I have been here, I have wanted to leave."" ""I have never dared to talk about it with the others." ""All of them only thought about her." "But you tried to kill her..."" ""But how?" "How can we escape from here?"" ""I want to see Gao again, the blue gum trees, the green water!"" ""If you back out now, I will leave by myself."" ""When you arrive at the bottom, open this box which contains fireflies." ""Then I will know that I can come down."" ""You are tired, Lieutenant." "Let me do it." "I will hold the rope."" ""The little lady is careless." ""In three days, all three of you would have died en route."" ""I have marked the wells." "Try not to leave the trail."" ""By any other route, you will be captured tomorrow and killed."" "At the perimeter breach." ""The Prophet allows the righteous, once in his lifetime," ""to let compassion take precedence over duty." "And remember that you saved my life."" ""Don't thank me, you are mistaken if you think" ""that you will see your world again with the same eyes as when you left it."" ""One day, like Lieutenant Ghiberti, you will again walk" ""through the same corridor through which you have just passed."" ""Thank you Cegheir-ben-Cheikh, and goodbye."" ""Goodbye, Lieutenant Saint-Avit."" "The evening of the fifth day." "The tethered camel was calmly grazing." ""The day after tomorrow, we will be in sight of Oued-Telemsi." ""There we won't have to worry about water anymore."" ""You will come with me to Gao." "You will see the trees in bloom."" "They felt their lives were also departing with the animal's last breath." "They had only one measure of water left, and 60 kilometers still separated them from the next well, known as "The Three Palms."" "At dawn, on the seventh day, the horrible torture of thirst had begun..." ""Take heart, Tanit." "Here is the well."" "Empty!" "Under the spare shadow of a rock, the fugitives, plunged into a feverish daze, waited for the sun to go below the horizon." ""Get up." "Let's go, Gao is there, very close." "I can feel it!"" "Head uncovered, disregarding the fearsome sun..." ""Gao!" "There is Gao!"" ""Cover your head, Tanit-Zerga..." "Cover your head!"" ""Come." "Here are the cupolas, the towers, the palms..."" ""Then, the time of deliverance and royalty will have arrived for you."" "At daybreak, the tomb was covered." ""...and I went on towards the south, at random..."" "And when, on the terrace of Hassi-Inifel, Saint-Avit arrived at this point in his tale, the night was almost over." ""And I was found dying of thirst by a patrol commanded by Captain Aymard."" ""You know the rest."" ""And..." "SHE?"" ""In three years I have learned nothing more of her." ""But I see her, I speak to her."" "I will throw myself at her feet and tell her:" "Forgive me." "I could rebel against your law, but now I understand, and like Lieutenant Ghiberti, I return!" ""We must hurry!"" ""A native encountered by the sentry close to the post," ""asks to talk with the Commander."" ""It's a Targui."" ""Peace be with you, Lieutenant Saint-Avit."" ""Peace be with you, Cegheir-ben-Cheikh."" ""You can speak." "The Lieutenant will come with us."" "And one evening, on the trail to the South, they were seen, moving away on their way to their destiny intoxicated with the sacred attraction of mystery in a state of ecstasy that the certainty of not coming back" "made sharper and greater." "THE END"