Chapter Six

Tally's eyes fluttered open and she stretched out as well as she could for spending the day asleep against a pipe in a basement. Joshua had returned, sort of, and she found him leaning against a wall, a gun in one hand and the traces of a smirk on his shadowed face. Ignoring anything he might have said, she turned her attention to McPhee, who lay his head on the back of the chair, slouching, finally conceeding his defeat. "Oh, tell me we're getting out of here," he whispered.

"There's gotta be a way," Tally replied. "I used to date this guy. Let's see what I come up with."

"You used to date him?"

"Then I broke up with him."

"I see why."

Joshua stood to his full height and walked into the chamber slowly, letting his steps echo against the wall as they drew closer. Finally, he stood two feet from Tally, facing her. "You gonna let me out?" Tally said coldly.

"Oh, why would I do that, when you're going to release him?"

"There's people that know he's down here, and soon they'll figure out that I'm down here."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. You know how stupid people can be."

"People can also be very smart. That's how we ended up here, in a museum."

"In a dusty old museum with little wax figures and a skeleton that insists on fetch."

"How do you know that?"

"Don't think I don't know what's here. It's that tablet of Ahkmenrah, isn't it?"

"Oh, God, you're a weirdo."

"Oh, I'm the weirdo, huh? You're the one that thinks we aren't a couple anymore."

"We're not together. You keep thinking we still have a shot, and I'll bet you even planned a wedding for us."

"Sorry to disappoint, Talia, but I know better. How do you feel about Monte Carlo?"

"Ignoring your blatant misuse of my name, what do you want with us? Revenge?"

"You could call it revenge. You two are the most deluded I've met regarding me."

"And you're the most egotistical ex-boyfriend I've ever had the extreme displeasure to know."

Joshua covered the remaining distance and glared down at Tally. "Egotistical?"

"Yeah." Tally changed the tone of her voice and began to stand up. "You're also incredibly stupid." She took out both of his knees, bringing him to the ground. She kicked him in the chin and hissed, "Give me the key."

"Make me, you stupid bitch."

Tally kicked Joshua again, this time in the chest. "Give me the key or it's your balls."

"Okay, okay, it's right here." Joshua fished the key out of his pocket and held it above his head.

"How come I don't trust you to give it to me?"

"You don't?"

"Untie McPhee first, and then give the key to him, and I'll watch."

"Excuse me?"

"Untie McPhee, give him the key, and I'll watch."

Joshua kept his eyes on Tally as he walked over to where McPhee sat, untied him, and helped the curator to his feet. He handed the curator the key and stepped back, with his hands up in surrender. "You have what you want now."

"Now what?"

"You listen to me, because that tablet isn't going to see this museum ever again." Joshua turned and ran before Tally could protest.

Ahkmenrah just got out of his sarcophagus and walked off being a mummy for twelve hours when a strange man burst into the Egyptian wing, followed closely by the two guards and Kahmunrah. Ahkmenrah managed to trip the man before he could get far and handed the man over to the guards, illiciting a dirty look from Kahmunrah. "Don't go there," he whispered. The guards restrained the crazy man while Kahmunrah looked from him to his brother.

"What's going on?"

"You think I have all the answers?"

"Why shouldn't you?"

"Remember what I said about pharaohs being human? This is one of those moments."

"Oh, surely you must have some kind of plan, especially for dealing with him." Kahmunrah jerked his head toward the man in the hall.

"I wish I could just say 'interrogate him,' but I'm afraid it's not that easy."

"So what do we do?"

"We wait, and we watch him."

McPhee and Tally walked into the lobby, which Tally was surprised to find was empty. "They know something's going to happen," Tally whispered. "That's why they're not here."

"How do you know that?"

"I know these exhibits almost as well as Larry does."

"How?"

"Remember that tablet we were talking about in the basement? It's got certain...properties...unique to it."

"Properties, you said?"

"Yeah. I'll explain the sunset after this mess is over."

"Excuse me?"

"I can't explain it, but I can show you easy."

"Oh, good, you can show me." McPhee walked into the lobby, shaking some. Tally scanned the lobby again, more carefully. Only then was she sure the lobby was completely empty, and she knew something was seriously wrong.

Jedediah and Octavius led the miniatures into the Egyptian wing, where Kahmunrah hovered over a twenty-something, holding his sword to the man's neck. Octavius gestured to his archers and the Mayans, who readied their arrows and took aim. Kahmunrah glanced at them, but he said nothing. The archers fired on the man lying in the hall, who ripped out whatever small arrows he couldn't dodge. A battle cry escaped Jed's lips, and the miniatuers charged as if they were a swarm.

The man struggled to fight them off, but he also had the guards' giant spears and Kahmunrah's sword to avoid, as well. Eventually, his struggles proved fruitful and he ran out of the Egyptian wing, tripping over blockades of miniatures as he went.