Imhotep's Key Chapter 10
By Joseph Black
Disclaimer: Red Storm and Tom Clancy own Rainbow and Characters. Joss Whedon owns Buffy and Characters. The Mummy and characters belongs to Universal. If you recognize any of the other characters they belongs to their respective owner. Anyone else belongs to me. I make no profit off of the following except to have a little fun.
Spoilers: Buffy to present. Rainbow to Bear and the Dragon. The Mummy both films.
Authors note 1: I am adjusting the Buffy time line slightly, this story line starts just after "Never Leave Me", moving things back about a month.
Authors note 2: I can't seem to get Fanfic to accept my special formatting. So anytime you see this '{} anything inside is in a foreign language. And if you see this [] it's some ones thoughts.
Authors note 3: This is a continuation of the story started in 'Rainbow Over Sunnydale'. It would be helpful to read that fic first.
Notes to Reviewers
ReflectedWord: Thank you. I'm happy that you enjoy my stories. I am planning on doing the ceremony. Haven't totally worked out what I'm going to do with it.
Paladin Steelbreaker: Thanks, that is what I was looking for. I wasn't able to find it, so I had to use a Latin translator to come up with it. Thanks!
Dorothy4: Anck-su-namun always struck me as someone who was supremely confident in herself and Imhotep.
raven: Thanks for both the review and the correction.
John: Thanks. Ah, but are they TOS redshirts, or Next Gen redshirts?
Joe: Thanks for the review and comments. And I think you raised some good points. In my defense though I'm not going to make it so that guns are a panacea for the Rainbow guys so they can go and kill vamps. We know that guns damage Whedon vamps. Darla shot Angel way back in season one and he was down for a couple of minutes from the damage, likewise he has been shot a couple of times in his own show and was slowed down but not stopped. The lower power handguns like the 9 and 10mm that I had Agent Conners and WO Price using have little or no effect on vampires. In order to take down vamps I have been using the higher energy guns, either the Desert Eagle .50 cal, or a 12 gauge slug, either of which is capable of removing, or completely shattering, a head. I have also been selective as to who has the skill to hit the relatively small area on a body that a vampire would be vulnerable to a high powered bullet. Clancy has portrayed Falcone as one of the best pistol shots in the world. The one piece of dramatic license I took was with Ding in the last chapter. I'll probably go back and change it from Ding shooting the vampire in the nose to him shooting it in the teeth. This would not only put the bullet exiting at the base of the skull severing the spinal column, it would be more Clancyesque.
greendragon: Oops, I always get those two confused.
JA Baker: Thanks, sorry to hear of computer woes. When you got your new computer did you transfer your old hard drive into it? If you did you probably have a virus. Try booting your computer in safe mode and then running your anti-virus stuff.
I'm planning some fun stuff for Holtzman. The Rainbow guys have some adjusting to do, but Buffy is going to learn some stuff from them too.
Harry: Faith is coming, promise.
war90: It always annoyed me that the only bad guy on television that seemed to figure out that it's a good idea to send out lots of minions to beat on the good guys were the bad guys on Power Rangers. Thanks for the review.
Thanks to all that reviewed. Constructive criticisms always welcomed. Flames cheerfully ignored.
610 S. Hoover St.
Los Angeles CA
29Oct2002
0750 hrs.
Hank Summers got out of the elevator, turned left and headed down the corridor to the door of Morgan, Morgan, and Lawson, his lawyers. He was dressed in a tan sport coat, maroon button down shirt, and gray slacks. Going through the door he found Megan, the partners fortyish, brunette secretary, behind the reception desk.
"Mr. Summers," she said pleasantly. "Mr. Lawson is ready for you so you can go right in."
Hank thanked the receptionist and walked past her. Knocking briefly on the door he walked in even before the, "Come," came from inside.
Tom Lawson had been a classmate at UCLA. While Hank had been studying computers Tom had been pre-law. While never quite friends they had developed a professional relationship where Hank handled Tom's computer woes and Tom helped Hank out with legal stuff. Tom was Hank's age, though he looked older; he had bags under his eyes, his once black hair was thinning and was shot with gray. His gray suit though was Armani and none of the furniture in his office was pressboard. That and the piles of files that crammed the office indicated how successful he had been since passing the bar.
Tom stood up and offered his hand, "Hank, how are you doing?"
Hank shook it and smiled ruefully, "I think you're going to tell me," he replied.
"Okay then," he said as he waved Hank to a seat, "I talked to DYS yesterday and I got the problem straightened out. As long as the extra money starts showing up in your payments in the next month you don't have a problem."
Hank let out a loud sigh, "So I didn't need to come after all," thinking about the problems that could have avoided. Sheila had called while he was laying over in Atlanta and informed him that she was with Enrique now. The only Enrique they knew was an eighty-year old letch that occasionally used Tucker contracting. Sheila had met him at a company function the year before. He did have about twenty times the money that Hank did so he supposed that would make up for the sex. He had stared at his phone for about ten minutes after the call and tried to work up a head of anger against either of them. In the end though he had to admit that all he felt was relief. That same feeling came again, there was no regret at all; well not as far as Shelia went anyway.
Tom shook his head, "Not exactly. They changed the rules earlier in the year. If a parent is delinquent with support payments before DYS will put the new payments through they need to see a quit claim signed by the receiving parties."
Hank cocked his head and asked, "Why the hell did they do that?"
"They had a case where the dad was being a jerk and fought tooth and nail against the adjustment. He finally agreed to it right before it went to court. DYS signed off on it. The mother in the case wanted it to go to court and was royally pissed. She had contacts in Sacramento, it was an election year so they wanted a check mark in the anti-deadbeat dads box so they got it through and the governor signed it.
"Now if you want I can run up there today and see if she'll sign it. But if you want my suggestion, rather than paying me a couple thousand dollars for being on the road for three hours why don't you go up yourself and see if she'll sign it for you?"
"I doubt she'd be happy to see me Tom," was Hank's quiet reply.
'Happier than she would be to see me," Tom told him. "Heck you came all the way from Spain to get this done."
Hank snorted, "Yeah, after I couldn't even be bothered to return a phone call when Joyce died."
Tom shrugged, "You dig your own holes Hank. I mean what's the worst she can do? Take a swing at you?" Tom watched Hank struggle with the problem, finally he asked, "Should I get ready to go?"
Hank shook his head, "You're right, I should be the one to go, but it will have to be tomorrow, I have some stuff I need to do first."
Tom smiled and pulled a form out of a manila envelope, "This is it, she needs to sign where the red arrows are," pointing them out to Hank.
Hank nodded that he understood and put the form back into the envelope. Standing up he held out his hand and said, "Thanks Tom."
Tom took the proffered hand and gave it a shake, "It's what I get paid for. Do yourself a favor and don't get into this kind of mess again."
Hank said as he was leaving, "Somehow I don't think it will come up again."
University of North Carolina
Raleigh NC
29Oct2004
1125 hrs
General Marion Diggs smiled at the secretary as he came through the door into the office.
The secretary returned the smile and asked, "General Diggs?" Mary nodded.
She pushed the call button on her desk ands said, "Dr. Eddington? General Diggs is here."
"Send him in!" Came the response.
She smiled and waved him through the door. Diggs went in and found Colonel Nick Eddington, NCNG (ret.) Coming around his desk. "Mary!" he said happily as they met in the middle of the office. After shaking hands he pointed at the chair in front of his desk and ordered. "Sit!" Smiling Diggs did so.
Once he had reclaimed his seat behind his desk Eddington smiled and said, "That was some fine work you and your boys did in Russia earlier this year."
Diggs just shook his head, "Thanks, but it was the Russians that did the hard work. We just shut the back door on the Chinese."
Eddington waved it off, "Oh come on Diggs. That deployment from Germany to the other side of Asia was something Patton would have been proud of."
Diggs nodded, "If the Russians didn't have lakes of fuel out there though we wouldn't have been able to do much though. But one thing you can say about the old Soviets, they weren't going to be caught napping like they were in '41"
Eddington offered coffee and while he and Diggs enjoyed a cup they caught up on people they had known when they had been deployed to the Gulf for the Biowar. When they finished Eddington asked, "Okay, what brings you down here?"
Diggs smiled, "I'm here to offer you a job Nick. There might be a promotion in it for you if you agree."
Eddington nodded as if that's what he thought was going on, "Lets talk about this over lunch. My Sarah is getting it ready at home so just let me let my secretary know that I won't be around this afternoon then you can follow me home. Diggs was agreeable, so ten minutes later he was following Eddington home in his rental. Eddington lived in the Kingsmill Village section of Raleigh. It was a pleasant two-bedroom home with a large front yard and an attached two-car garage. Diggs pulled in behind the former Colonel and climbed out.
"Nice place," he complimented the other man, who thanked him.
Eddington opened the front door and waved Diggs in, "Honey! We're home!" He called.
"I'm on the back deck," was the reply.
Eddington lead the way through the house past a large modern kitchen and out onto the deck. Sarah Eddington was shorter than her six-foot husband, but not by much. She was wearing a peach colored sundress with a white wide brim hat. She was just putting out a pitcher of ice tea on the table. "You boys just have a seat and I'll get lunch," as she headed back inside. Diggs offered to help, but Sarah just pointed at the chair and said, "You're the guest, I'm the hostess, SIT!" She finished with a mock ferocity.
Diggs and Eddington took their ordered seats and poured themselves some ice tea. Sarah came back out with a tray of chicken salad sandwiches and a bowl of oranges. She put the bowl between them. "Okay, chips are on the table, so help yourselves. Call if you need anything."
"You're not joining us?" Diggs asked.
"I doubt you came down here on a social visit General Diggs. I'll let you get on with business, if there is anything I need to know then Nick will fill me in. I'll be happy to sit in when you're done." Then taking the tray with her she went back into the house.
Diggs looked at his friend, "I like your wife."
"Yeah, I don't know what I would do without her," the two men grabbed a sandwich and some chips and munched on their lunch. While Diggs was chewing he made a mental note to see if he could get the recipe out of Nick. About half way through the first sandwich he said to his lunch mate, " So, I have a job to offer you."
Nick nodded, "When you called I figured you might, can't see where though."
"I'm putting a team together. The cover is that we are looking at methods to beat IVIS. With you being one of the commanders that have actually used it in the field you'd be a logical person to tap for it."
Eddington nodded, "Useful cover. After the Gulf and China other people have to be looking to copy it. We should be looking at counters. But if that's the cover, what's the job?"
Diggs had been dreading this, how do you explain this and not come off sounding like a complete loon? "Well there is a potential problem in this little town just south of Edwards Air Force Base. We don't know if anything is going to come out of this, but if it does then we'll be the first line of defense. I know you're good handling pressure that comes out of nowhere so I want you on my team."
Nick had started when Diggs had told him where the problem was. "Would that town be called Sunnydale?" When Diggs nodded he said, "Please tell me someone doesn't want to open the Hellmouth."
1600
Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington DC
29OCT2002
1320hrs
Pat Martin the Attorney General of the United States was shown into the Oval Office.
"Hey Pat," President Ryan greeted him from behind his desk.
"Jack," the AG returned.
Sitting down he popped his briefcase open and pulled two objects out of it. The larger was a leather portfolio similar to what important documents were stored in. The other was a medium size leather notebook; the kind people used as personal journals. "I discovered Buffy's legal status in the US," he began. "I found these on my desk when I came in yesterday. I had them authenticated and they seem to be genuine." He handed both items over to Ryan.
Since the notebook was on top he opened it carefully. You didn't have to be an expert to tell that both items were fairly old. Reading the title on the inside page he glanced up at his AG and asked, "Are you sure these are legit?"
Pat nodded, "I showed a photo copy of some of the writing to an expert over at the Smithsonian, he confirms that it's his handwriting.
"The Watchers Journal of Benjamin Franklin?" Jack asked incredulous.
"The Franklins were part of the Watchers council. They were dispatched to the US to monitor demonic activity in the Colonies. The Council at the time was concerned that some demons were emigrating to the New World figuring it wouldn't be covered as close."
"How much influence did the Council have in the Revolution then?" Jack asked.
"Not a lot," Martin replied. "Reading between the lines they were a little ticked that Franklin was moonlighting as one of the founding fathers. A lot of the things that he did were Council related though, including the newspaper and the Post Office."
"The Post Office?" Ryan asked.
Martin smiled, "He figured that it would be a good way to send information. Letters could be sent to a dead drop and seem perfectly legit. He'd keep an eye out for the dead drops and strip them as they came through. He figured that they would be buried in the general flow."
Ryan shook his head. Picking up the portfolio he carefully opened it, "What's this."
"A license to kill," Martin said flatly.
"A what?" Ryan asked, looking up from reading the document.
"A couple of months before his death he went to George Washington and convinced him to issue what today we'd call an Executive Order. It basically gives the Slayer, the Council, and their agents permission to do what they need to do to keep the world safe. As far as I can tell it has never been rescinded so anything Buffy's done in pursuit of her duty as Slayer is perfectly legal."
"Any idea who dropped them off?" Ryan asked as he read the order.
"Franklin." Martin said, the first hint of a smile touching his lips.
"Care to explain that?" Ryan said, eyeing his AG, it wasn't a request.
"Before he died Franklin cast a spell so that if anyone in the government needed the information, the journal and order would find their way to them. The actual carrier was a janitor; he seemed to have no awareness that he had them in his possession. The only reason I know it was him was a surveillance camera on the floor caught him coming out of the elevator with the book and portfolio under his arm. The security guard looked him over and checked his cart but never looked at the books once. When he left he didn't have them.
"Franklin explained it, it's part of the spell. If the documents are needed they will attract a person going the right way, people will unknowingly pass them along in a chain till they get to the person who needs the information. He also suggests that when we are done with them that we misfile them. They are enchanted so that if you don't need to know the information a person will just skip over them."
"Damn," Ryan breathed, "Do you know how long the CIA has looked for a SEP field?"
"A SEP field? I don't think I've come across that one," The AG said.
"Somebody Else's Problem Field," Ryan explained closing the folder. "Kind of a spies dream ability, no one pays any attention to you because…'
"Your somebody else's problem." Martin smiled. "I could see where either Clark or Pat O'Day might want something like that."
Turning serious he continued, "Jack I can't pretend that I approve of that," he said nodding at the folder. But I also realize that we are effectively at war with these things. I do have a suggestion that we can try out."
"I won't put peoples lives in danger Pat. These things seem to think we are a food source. As long as they do then I'm going to give them as big a case of indigestion that I can."
"I agree completely, I'm not saying that we shouldn't defend ourselves, but what I was thinking is that when the situation presents itself we could…"
Jack Ryan listen to what his AG was suggesting, and the plan did have some merit, "Okay, I'll pass it on to John, and when he gets the chance he can try to implement it."
Sunnydale High School
2450 Oak St.
Sunnydale CA
29Oct2002
1330hrs
"So Amanda, you understand that violence is not the answer to all problems, right?" Buffy asked the sullen teenager on the other side of the desk.
"But he so had it coming!" She protested.
"Maybe he did, but you're not supposed to punch people." Buffy insisted, really feeling like a hypocrite.
"Okay," Amanda agreed, "I promise not to hit Bob Jones anymore."
Buffy smiled, "Good! You can head back to class."
She watched the longhaired teen head out of the office. Buffy slumped, she felt so inadequate to this job. Plus who was she to tell other people that it was wrong to hit? Stacy, the office receptionist stuck her head into Buffy's cubical and said, "You have a visitor."
Buffy glanced at the clock on her desk, "[He's a half hour early]," she thought.
"Send him back," she told Stacy.
"Okay, but it's she, not a he."
Buffy frowned checking her appointment book thinking that she didn't have anyone scheduled when Dr. Sandra Sanchez knocked on the edge of her cubicle. "Hi!" She said. "Sorry for showing up at work, but I wanted to offer my help."
Buffy smiled, "Great, Principal Wood is always looking for parents that want to get involved."
Sandra shook her head, "No, I meant helping you with what you do."
Buffy glanced around quickly to make sure no one else was in earshot. Motioning Sandra to the chair that Amanda had just vacated she invited her to sit. Once she had sat down Buffy took her seat and said frowning, "I don't think you really want to do that Doctor. You have two kids at home who have already lost one parent. I can't be part of their losing the other."
Sandra leaned forward, "Buffy we live in Sunnydale, from the little I've been able to find out, ignoring what's going on isn't going to protect us from what's out there. And don't lie; you could use a medical person. Saturday you were involved in two fights that I know of and we treated a couple of UC Sunnydale football players last night who I overheard talking to each other, and unless there is another blonde superhero in town I figure you must be the person who figured prominently in their talk about what happened. If nothing else I could make sure you can get your hands antibiotics."
Buffy dodged, "I don't really get infections."
"Buffy I'm not talking about going out on the front lines. I don't have any skills so I would just be in the way. What I am talking about is being there if either you or one of your people get hurt, or if you need someplace to dodge into."
Buffy was considering this when Robin Wood stuck his head into the cubicle. "Hey Buffy, Dr. Sanchez, how are you doing?" Robin was wearing a blue tailored suit with a black shirt and silver tie.
Buffy stammered for a second and then said, "Dr. Sanchez is here because she wants to help." She ignored the look that Sandra gave her; Robin was at the wrong angle to see it.
"Great!" Robin said, "I'm always glad when parents want to get involved with school activities."
Sandra turned so she could look at the principal, "My kids are important to me Principal Wood. Anything I can do to help I'd be happy too."
"Great, got a little time? We're going to be having a big event in December and we are still looking for parents to be on the board for it."
"Is that the student exchange program Thomas mentioned?" Sandra asked.
Robin nodded excitedly, "It's a little more than that. The idea is that we are going to bring students over from other countries and show them not only our academic system, but also something of our culture by showing them what one of our big holidays is like. Then over the next year students who participated will go to the host countries during some of their big holidays to see how they celebrate. The climax is going to be a dinner where we will hand out awards for the exchange period, and for the academic period up to that point. The idea is to get the parents in for the dinner, then insure they talk to their kid's teachers. We're hoping that the food and awards will pull more parents in than the normal parent/teacher night with students handling the refreshments."
Buffy grimaced, "Trust me, not a good idea."
Robin smiled, "Yours was less than successful I take it?"
Buffy thought of the Spike attack that night, certainly added to the excitement factor, but not wanting to explain she said instead, "Yeah, I didn't realize you had to add sugar to fresh squeezed lemonade." Both of the others winced.
Getting back on topic, "Sounds interesting," Sandra conceded. "It also sounds expensive."
"We found corporate sponsorship." Robin explained. "The Nakatomi Corporation is footing about 90% of the bill, state grants are handling the rest. We have a meeting with Holly McClane, Nakatomi's rep next Tuesday. Since it's Election Day we can get together during the day. Would you be interested in coming? They're always impressed if we can get some parents on board."
"What time?"
"Two o'clock at Estello's?"
Sandra nodded, "I'd be happy to be on the board. It's a little early for me, but I'll be there."
"Great, why don't we talk some things over in my office." Robin said as he held out his hand for the Doc.
As Sandra was being led away she turned and said, "Thanks for your time Buffy. And I meant what I said."
Buffy had a fake smile on her face as Robin led Sandra to his office. Buffy let her head fall on her desk.