New chap! okay...I have STRONG feeling that some fans may try to kill me in my sleep for this chapter, but hopefully Kope will be on watch and make sure that doesn't happen. Right Kope?

Kope- (is already asleep)

Right, I am doomed:P oh, and guess what I found out?! The name "Zera" does not belong to me! OMG, right?!:P right, the name Zera actually belongs to Disney, because in "The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride", the villain is named "Zira". And AVP doesn't belong to me, like I WOULD be able to own it, and another thing doesn't belong to me, it belongs to my friend Marcus.

Right, a small problem I have when I write my stories is that to show time has passed, people use 3 's (stars) to do so. But when I try to write stars, they don't show up TT so from now on, to show time has passed, I'm going to write in bold, STAR STAR STAR. The idea is from my friend Marcus yet again

And new chaps are gonna be a lot harder to write! I have 3 or 4 goin' on right now, and it's too much to update once a week. So now, if I can, I will update 2 times a month, for every fanfic. PLEASE DO NOT HURT ME. HURT KOPE. HE DOESN'T FEEL AS MUCH PAIN.

Kope- yes I do!D:

RocknKitty-shut up!

Right, now to ze story. Enjoy.

Chapter 7

Earth, May 16, 2052. Approximately seven and a half months after Zera left to go back to Earth.

He sat at his kitchen table, hands in his face, and bills were scattered all over the table. He rubbed his hands through his brown hair, and placed them on the table, looking at all the bills. He sighed, for about the sixteenth time in ten minutes.

'How I going to pay for all these bloody bills?' he thought.

The front door opened and shut, and he heard footsteps taking off shoes and walking into the kitchen.

"Hi Dad!" a voice said as the person entered the room. A young twelve year-old girl walked up to the man and kissed his cheek. She wore jeans and a yellow T-shirt, a backpack slung over her shoulder and a smile on her face.

"Hi honey." The man said kissing the girl's cheek in return. "How was school today? Good?" he asked tired.

"Yeah, it was okay…" the girl said looking at all the bills on the table. "Dad…are you okay…?" she looked at him worried.

"Yeah Susan, it's nothin'." He said giving his daughter a warm hug.

"Dad, I'm not little anymore." She said. "Please tell me Dad."

The man sighed and got off his daughter. "Well, work's been hard lately, but sooner or later someone will need me to do something, I know it." He explained. "But…since I have no work right now, which means no money, so…"

"We have to move again?" Suzy asked.

The man sighed, and looked into his daughter's eyes. Her eyes were teal, like her mother's. He shrugged off the thought. "We might, but I am doing my best. I'm really sorry Susan."

"But Dad, why can't you just try getting another job, instead of just being an archaeologist? Like, like work at Wal-Mart or something!" she asked.

"I can't hun…I already tried…" he sighed again. "Maybe someone will phone. Lots of places know about me, maybe they'll need me…"

As if on queue, the phone ran. The man smiled. "I told you." He said placing a hand on his daughter's head and shaking it. He walked up to the phone on the wall and answered it.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hey Steve! Sorry I'm calling late!" the caller said.

"Huh?" the man asked. "I'm not Steve. My name's Ark."

"Oh…wrong number…" the caller said. He heard them laugh on the other line. "Sorry!"

"No problem." Ark said hanging up the phone. He sighed and walked back to his daughter. "Wrong number."

"Well, maybe you're right Dad." Susan said with a small smile. "Maybe someone will phone. Who knows, maybe tonight someone will come and say they have a job for you!"

Ark smiled and sat back at the table. "You go get your homework done. I'll finish up here and then we'll eat, okay?"

"Kay' Dad." Susan said walking out of the kitchen. She turned her head back at the doorway, and her brown hair turned with her. "What's for supper tonight anyway?"

"Food." Ark said with a smirk.

"You always say that Dad." Susan laughed walking out.

STAR STAR STAR

They ate on the now cleared off kitchen table, eating a stir fry Ark had made.

"So, a month of school left, and then it's summer vacation." Ark said.

"Mmm-hmmm…" Susan said between mouthfuls of food.

"Got any big plans for this summer?"

"Dad, it's not even close to summer yet!"

"Well, anything?" Ark continued.

"Well, when you get a job Dad, I wanna come with you on your expedition." Susan said when her mouth was empty. "That is if you go to study Aztecs, not like last time with Mayans."

"Why so picky?" Ark asked eating another mouthful of food.

"Because in June the teacher said we have to do a project on an ancient civilization, and I plan to do Aztecs."

"Following in my footsteps?" Ark asked with a smile.

Susan shrugged. "You've taught me stuff, and you got me interested in them. And you're already an archeologist too, so that's an added bonus." She gulped down some of her drink. "And you specialize in Aztecs too."

Ark shrugged. "You know I'm not the best archeologist Susan."

"Yeah, but how many kids have a Dad who can read and speak Aztec?" she smiled. "Only one in three thousand."

Ark scoffed, and picked up his dished, taking them to the sink. "Maybe 1 in a hundred."

"Still not a lot do!" Susan said finishing up her meal.

Just as Ark put his dishes away, the door knocked. Ark looked at his daughter, an eyebrow raised.

"I didn't invite anyone over." She shrugged.

Ark shrugged, and walked to the door to his apartment. He peered into the eyehole. He saw what looked like a business man, carrying a small briefcase. Ark sighed. He opened the door and the man straightened.

'Look, I don't want to buy anything." He said.

"Oh, I'm not here to sell anything Ark Rimbelsin." The man said. "I'm here on business."

Ark raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes, I'm here on behalf of Weyland-Yutani. Mind if I come in?"

Ark moved out of the doorway. "Why, yes, of course." They walked to the kitchen, and Susan was just putting away her dishes. She started washing them as Ark and the man walked to the table and sat down.

"So what does Weyland-Yutani want with me?" he asked.

"First, my name is Robert Parchkin." The man said, setting the briefcase on the table. "And Weyland-Yutani would like your help with one of our projects."

"Go on Robert." Ark said getting comfortable in his chair.

"We understand that you are a special archeologist, you specialize mainly in Aztecs." He said.

"I do. I have spent many years studying their religions, writing, and, I think I might be able to speak some of their language from what I have found in past expeditions."

"Yes, you are exactly everything we need for project." Robert smiled.

"What is this project you're talking about?" Ark asked.

"It's very small, but it will be good pay toward you, I promise." Robert said. Ark nodded for him to continue.

"Our scientists have been studying some of the ancient pyramids around the world, from Mexico to Egypt. They think that they have found connections between all the pyramids in the world, but aren't sure."

"So what does this do with me exactly?"

"We want you, with a team of other archeologists, explorers, and so on, to go inside an ancient pyramid." Robert said, leaning into the table. "You won't be doing too much: exploring the pyramid for special chambers, reading and recording the hieroglyphics, that sort of thing. And we want you to come with us, to ancient Aztec pyramids."

Ark's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "What about transportation?" he asked, crossing his arms on his chest.

"Paid for by us."

"And my pay?"

"Thirty thousand dollars."

Ark nodded, doing his best to keep himself from leaping up and dancing around the room. "That sounds good…really good…"

"Dad, what about me?"

Both Ark and Robert turned to Susan, who had stopped washing the dishes to turn to them.

"Can't I come too?" she asked.

"Well I don't know," Ark said, turning back to Robert. "Can she come?"

"Well, I, we, er, weren't expecting a child to come with us." Robert stuttered.

"I'm actually a pre-teen." Susan said matter-of-factly.

Ark smirked, and looked at Robert.

Robert sighed. "I'll call you tomorrow if she can or not."

"WHO-HOO!!!!!!" Susan yelled. "This'll be like the Spring Break we never went to this year Dad!" she immediately took off to her room after, talking to herself about how much fun she was going to have.

Ark laughed, and Robert smiled. "Does your wife want to come too?" he asked. Ark stopped laughing and frowned.

"She…she died when Susan was six…" he said. "It was in a car crash in Toronto, Canada. She was on a business trip…"

There was a small silence. "I'm sorry." Robert said.

Ark shrugged. "It's okay, all in the past, right? Ya gotta' move on." He gave a small smile despite the pain he still had inside.

"Right." Robert said. "I'll call you tomorrow and we'll get final decisions then."

"When will we be leaving for Mexico?" Ark asked, getting up with Robert.

"On the 20th. We'll be starting officially on the 21st." he said, walking to the front door with Ark. "I'll talk to you later. And we really appreciate you willing to do this for us."

"I really appreciate you choosing me!" Ark laughed. He said good-bye to Robert, and shut the door. "YES!" he yelled when he was sure Robert was gone. "SUZY! SUZY, WE'RE GOING OUT FOR ICE CREAM!"