The Connection
Missing Scene for the Third Season episode "The Mummy"

It had been a tricky maneuver, approaching the New York coast without being noticed, but they had done it. Now the Seaview was off Manhattan Island at periscope depth.

Chief Sharkey had prepared the flying sub just in time for Crane's and Nelson's departure. Sharkey's curiosity was piqued by the Captain's and the Admiral's attire, that of civilian business men, but he made no comment as they descended the spiral staircase to the Control Room. As Morton took his final orders from the Admiral, Crane exited the Control Room through the front hatch to enter the awaiting flying sub below. Morton wondered what they might be doing that would require such secrecy and necessitate such close proximity to New York City. His training and his pragmatic nature did not allow him to speculate but rather caused him to be ready for any change in orders that either the Captain or the Admiral might call in at a moment's notice.

Crane took the co-pilot's seat, knowing that the Admiral would want to pilot the craft himself. A cautious man, he reconfirmed the craft's readiness for departure despite the Chief's having checked the craft. At seeing Crane sitting in the co-pilot's seat, the Admiral paused on the ladder as he entered the flying sub and smiled, "You know me so well, don't you son," he thought to himself. He chuckled as he continued down the ladder and made his way to his seat.

As Nelson strapped himself into the pilot's seat, Crane turned toward him and asked, "Underwater all the way in?"

"All the way to the pier." the Admiral replied, "We can't afford to attract any attention".

After Morton's countdown, they worked as one to launch the craft from the Seaview.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rather than surfacing and flying off as was usual with the yellow vehicle, they piloted the vessel underwater to an obscure pier not far from Seaview and surfaced below a canopy that had been erected to hide the craft during their brief visit. Upon surfacing, Crane and Nelson secured the craft from intruders even as personnel from the Nelson Institute tied the vessel to the pier beneath the covering. Crane and Nelson disembarked and proceeded to an awaiting rental truck. Their timing was perfect and all the necessary preparations had been made for their undertaking.

As Crane moved toward the rental truck and opened the driver's side door, Nelson surveyed the yellow vessel's berth and the waiting deck hands. He nodded to the Chief of the squad and then turned to walk toward the now idling rental truck, Crane having already climbed into the truck and started the engine. As he opened the passenger side door and climbed into the truck, Nelson glanced at Crane who, seatbelt on, was reviewing the street map. Crane put down the map and waited for the Admiral to adjust and fasten the seatbelt. Once the Admiral had fastened the buckle in place, Crane released the brake, checked the street around him and proceeded on their chosen course to their destination, the American Museum of Natural History.

Their planning had paid off in that traffic was light and their jaunt to the museum was quick and without incident. Crane drove past Central Park West entrance of the building with its towering white columns and bronze statue of President Theodore Roosevelt on horseback and turned down a side street that allowed them access to an obscure side entrance. Crane expertly backed the truck up to the loading entrance and stopped the truck. The men exited the truck and walked to the unlocked service entrance and down the corridor to the security office.

Upon their entrance, a portly, balding man in a dark brown suit approached them, "Mr. Nelson and Mr. Crane?" he inquired.

Taking in the man's neat appearance, Nelson nodded and inquired in reply, "Dr. Rowling?"

The man nodded as well, removing his glasses, and motioned for them to follow him, "This way gentlemen."

Without further exchange, Crane and Nelson followed the man out of the room and down several intersecting corridors. After walking for a couple minutes, they stopped before an unmarked door and Rowling turned to the men stating, "The shipment is in here, ready, and waiting for you."

Addressing Nelson, Crane stated, "Sir, I can wait here and survey the cargo while you sign the necessary forms for release and transfer, if you would like."

"That would be fine, Lee." Nelson replied.

At that, Crane opened the door and entered the room while Nelson and Rowling proceeded down the hallway out of sight as the door closed. Crane slowly surveyed the room, noting the variety of types of objects on the numerous tables and shelves around the room. He thought back to the copious trips to museums that he had made in his youth, experiencing the same thrill then as he had so many years before. Noting the large sarcophagus by the far back wall for the opposite corner of the room, he walked toward it, still taking in the various artifacts on the benches and ledges as he walked past them. Approaching the ancient coffin strapped on a large dolly ready for transport to the awaiting truck, he noted that it was covered in gold, had two large hinges on each side of the two top-opening doors as well as two door-knocker type handles, one on each door, almost halfway from the foot of the sarcophagus. Crane noted that there were almost no markings on the body of the casket, something very unusual for a sarcophagus of its supposed age. As he neared, the face at the head of the coffin made him pause for how long he did not know. He would have continued to stand there, transfixed, if not for the entry of a tall, dark-haired woman.

The woman, professionally dressed, called to him, "Mr. Crane?" Upon seeing Crane standing there unmoving, about fifteen feet from the sarcophagus, she called to him again and then, still not receiving a reply, approached him. When he still did not move or acknowledge her presence, she placed her hand on his arm. As if awakening from a dream, he blinked slowly and then seemed to come to himself and take in her presence.

"Are you all right, Mr. Crane?" she inquired, concern in her voice. She could not help but feel that the man looked resplendent in his dark blue suit. She wished that she could meet this man some time again in the future when there might be time for more than a brief interchange.

"I must have been lost in thought. Please forgive me," he said.

"That is quite all right. A museum is supposed to provide food for thought," she quipped.

Crane smiled, noting her quick wit and how at ease he felt in her presence. She was almost as tall as him and she had a self-assured manner of one who knew who she was and where she was going in life. She was pleasantly appealing to him with dark-brown eyes that showed intelligence. Never having liked the superficial type, he hoped that he would be able to return in the future to meet this woman gain.

She met and held his hazel eyes before she continued, "Dr. Rowling asked me to tell you that Mr. Nelson would join you in several minutes – there are a lot of papers to sign and Mr. Nelson wanted to read and to have copies of all the papers before he left."

Crane smiled and laughed, "I thought that something like that might happen. Thanks for letting me know."

She smiled, paused, and turned to leave.

Crane, not wanting her to leave, motioned toward the sarcophagus and asked her about its history. As a curator at the museum, she was delighted to not only share her knowledge but also spend more time with this intriguing man. They spoke for several minutes before she stopped and glanced at her wristwatch. "I'm so sorry but I have to go. I have to give a tour to our new interns in five minutes and it would not do for me to be late."

"I understand the importance of maintaining a tight ship," Crane quipped. "Maybe I will come take one of your tours in the near future." He anxiously awaited her reply, hoping that it would be favorable.

"I would be delighted if you would let me give you a personal guided tour," she said, her eyes shining with delight.

"I would like that a great deal, Dr. …," he paused, waiting for her to fill in her name.

"Sierra Brooks", she smiled and replied, "and please, no comments about the nature and my name. My parents were flower children with a mean sense of humor."

"I like your name, Dr. Brooks," he said with a smile. "And, please call me Lee." He gave her a disarming, charming smile.

Instantly, she was again at ease. She definitely wanted to get to know this man. "And I prefer Sierra, Lee." At that, she moved to a nearby desk, opened a drawer and took out a business card. Turning it over, she wrote a phone number on the back of the card and handed it to Crane. "My cell phone number – please call me when you get back to New York."

As he took the card from her, their fingers touched momentarily. "I will do that," he said. "And you can give me that tour of the museum and join me for dinner afterward," he said with a smile.

"It's a date," she replied with a smile.

She held his gaze for a moment longer and then moved toward the door, calling over her shoulder, "Now, I really must hurry but it was wonderful to meet you, Lee, and I look forward to seeing you again soon." And with that she dashed out of the room, the door closing behind her.

Crane continued to smile as he put the card in the front inside pocket of his suit jacket, delighted at having met this captivating woman.

Again alone in the room, he turned toward the sarcophagus and pondered the information that Sierra had provided about the ancient coffin and the mummy within. For a second time, he became seemingly lost in thought, this time unknowingly walking toward the olden casket. He came to stop within one foot of the head of the sarcophagus and, as if hypnotized, his left hand slowly moved toward the handle on the top door before him. As he touched the handle, his head swam as he was overcome by an onslaught of lightheadedness. Off balance, he put out his right hand to catch himself only to pull it back quickly as his palm encountered the points of a mace held in the grasp of a mannequin dressed in an ancient suit of armor. The sting of the sharp points of the mace against his palm brought him back to his surroundings and he stumbled as he regained his balance. Becoming aware of his surroundings, he found himself blinking and shaking his head as if awakening from a dream. He was startled to note that he was now standing within one foot of the coffin when moments before he had stood fifteen feet away.

His head clearing, he backed away, concerned by this second lapse. Taking a deep breath, he loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top button of this shirt. Stunned, he slowly wiped his right hand across his forehead and through his hair as he continued to back away from the sarcophagus.

"What's going on?" he said to himself, shaking his head once again.

Just then, Nelson opened the door and entered the room, a manila envelope in his hand. "All set to go Lee?" he inquired.

Crane met his eyes and gave a relieved reply, "Very ready, sir."

Without further delay, they proceeded to work together to move the sarcophagus to the truck. It did not take long to load the cargo on the truck, secure the dolly within the truck, and to drive back to the pier, the traffic, again, not impeding their course.

Without the covering and the help from the men that had been flown in from the Nelson Institute, the sarcophagus being moved into the unusual yellow sea craft would have drawn a crowd of onlookers. They were glad of the help from the deck hands as they moved the sarcophagus into the flying sub. The sarcophagus was heavy and unwieldy, and Crane and Nelson knew that they could not have managed it on their own.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The sarcophagus in place in the flying sub, Crane and Nelson proceeded to tie their cargo in place for the trip back to Seaview even as the deck hands secured the loading hatch and untied the vessel for departure.

"Do you think anyone saw us bringing it aboard?" Crane inquired.

"You better", Nelson paused and chuckled as he tightened the rope. "You better pray that they didn't." replied Nelson.

One of the curator's at the museum said that the body in there is over three thousand years old". Crane stated.

"Yeah, that's … that's right." Nelson paused, pulling further on the end of the rope that he was using to tie down their cargo. "Here, secure this, will you?," he said, passing the end of the rope to Crane without looking up.

Taking the end of the rope, Crane proceeded to carry on tying down the ancient coffin. Pulling hard on the rope as he persisted to secure the huge casket, he was overcome by a wave of dizziness. In an effort to regain his composure, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, leaning heavily against the sarcophagus with both hands to steady himself.

"What's the matter?" Nelson asked, his concern for the younger man evident in his voice.

While he slowly rubbed the fingers of his right hand across his forehead as if to wipe away the fuzziness that he felt, Crane took a deep breath, his vision clearing somewhat. "Nothing," Crane answered, taking another deep breath and shaking his head. "I'm fine." he continued as he straightening slowly and looked at Nelson.

"I'll … I'll do this. I'll do this." Nelson said, taking the end of the rope from Crane and continuing to secure the casket. "You," he paused taking in Crane's sudden paleness, "uh better strap yourself in. We've got to get back to Seaview."

Crane nodded and slowly moved away from the olden casket toward the front of the vessel. Nelson watched the younger man as he slowly walked toward the copilot's seat. Crane paused, turning to look at the Admiral, his hand on the left armrest of the chair. He could not understand the sudden dizziness that he felt. He shook his head as if to clear it as he sat down and began to strap himself into his seat. The strangeness that he felt was just like that which he had experienced just before the Admiral had returned to the storage room at the museum.

The Admiral, having secured the sarcophagus for their return to Seaview, quickly walked to the pilot's seat, his eyes on Crane as the younger man prepared the vessel for their return to Seaview. With Crane's seeming return to normal, Nelson began to strap himself into his seat.

Behind them and out of view, the top rope holding the sarcophagus closed almost silently snapped as the coffin slowly opened enough for a hand to emerge and hold the edge of the left-hand door open approximately eight inches. There was no sound, and neither man noticed the appearance of the appendage or the slow soundless closing of the door.

However, as this occurred, Crane experience an onslaught of the earlier dizziness. His head swam and even as he fought to defeat the lightheadedness and regain his composure, he was overcome. As he lost consciousness, his body became limp, held in place only by the seat straps.

The connection had been made.

Note: All interchanges between the Crane and Nelson on the flying sub are direct quotes from the episode "The Mummy".