"What's the healer's name again?" Alex asked Ardeth, as they walked outside.
"Shamara. It means, 'ready for battle'. It is fitting; Shamara battles greatly to save lives."
They walked back into the tent they had been in previously, to see Safti and the old man animatedly talking.
"We have learned much," Ardeth said to Jake and the others.
"You have?"
Ardeth nodded. "This," he said, gesturing to the old man. "Is Alex O'Connell. The son of a good friend."
The team looked at Alex in surprise.
Cody laughed. "Two Alex's! When we call one, the other will answer too!"
Monica elbowed him.
Ardeth took the amulet out of his pocket. "This amulet that he gave Donovan, is mine," he said, drawing the one he was wearing out of his robes.
"How can you be sure of that?" Monica asked.
"It was passed down through my family," Ardeth told her. "There is no other."
"Oh," she said.
"When I was a child," Alex O'Connell said. "Ardeth…died. I obtained his amulet, and was told that when I reunite it with Ardeth's soul, he would live."
The team just stared, trying to comprehend what they were being told.
"But you gave it to Frank," said Cody.
"Frank has your soul?" Jake said, to Ardeth, in shock.
"That is how it appears," Ardeth said, with a nod.
"It looks like we are all here to prevent his death," Alex O'Connell told them.
"We can't do anything without our weapons," said Jake, wondering if Ardeth would allow them to have them back.
Ardeth seemed to think for a minute, before realizing that he had no choice but to trust them. He nodded at Safti, who left the tent.
"I have a question," said Cody.
Everyone looked at him.
"Why exactly are you like, so important that an impossible thing like time travel actually happened, to give you a longer life? Uh…no disrespect intended, of course," he said, remembering the long sword on Ardeth's sash.
Ardeth smiled, before he answered, obviously thinking him humorous.
Alex and Monica were amazed to see Frank's smile on his face.
"If you are to help save my life," said Ardeth. "Then there is something you must know."
They all watched him, wondering what bizarre thing they would be told now.
"We are members of an ancient society called the Med-jai. We guard various tombs and temples within Egypt, to prevent evil from being unleashed upon the world."
Everyone just stared, skeptical.
"It has happened many times already, but each time we have somehow succeeded in defeating it."
Alex O'Connell nodded. "It's true, every word. My mother accidentally did it once; I did it once…" he said, with a sheepish look.
"This I gotta hear," said Cody.
O'Connell said something to Ardeth in Arabic, and he chuckled.
"Too bad Frank isn't here to translate," Alex said, to Monica.
Ardeth looked at her with surprise. "Donovan knows Arabic?"
"That's what he said," said Jake. "He was able to read some of what is written on the back of the amulet."
Ardeth frowned, and turned the amulets over.
There was nothing there.
"What!" said Cody. "I saw it…we all saw it...Frank read it, for cryin' out loud!"
"There was nothing on it all these years!" said O'Connell. He looked at Ardeth.
"When you gave it to Donovan, and it was reunited with my soul, the words appeared," Ardeth said. "And now that you are here—in the past, before the words emerged—they have gone."
Safti came in then, holding the team's guns.
"What did it say?" Ardeth asked.
"Oh shoot…" Cody replied.
"Something about two men, born of the same soul…" said Jake. "I can't remember the rest."
Ardeth sighed. "None of you can?"
Everyone thought for a minute, before shaking their heads.
"What?" Safti asked, not having heard the conversation.
"Those words were written on the amulet that Donovan brought back with him," said Ardeth. "And now they are not here."
Ardeth and Safti couldn't resist watching the time-travelers with interest as they checked their weapons.
"We have cool guns in the future," said Cody, with a grin, as he stuck his in the holster.
Safti still had Frank's in his hand, and he handed it to Ardeth, so he could look at it.
"What is the caliber?" Ardeth asked, as he studied it.
".45," Jake told him. "They don't need to be cocked before firing, so be careful." He thought it sounded funny, telling the desert warrior to be careful with a weapon.
Ardeth nodded, continuing to study it. He suddenly realized something. "If you people had been from our time, and we found you armed, we would think nothing of it; the desert can be quite dangerous. But you were in a non-violent part of America, and yet you are all armed?"
At the word, 'non-violent', they all made a face.
"You told us everything, so I guess we owe you the same," said Jake.
"Cops?" Alex O'Connell said.
"Justice Department," Jake replied.
O'Connell's eyebrows went up, impressed.
"What?" Ardeth asked, not knowing the meaning of 'cop' or 'justice dept'.
"We are like policemen, but much higher up," said Cody, with a smirk.
"We infiltrate criminal organizations, to bring them down and put the perps in jail," Jake explained.
"Perp?" said Safti.
"The criminal masterminds," said Alex.
"Ah. Then Imhotep was a 'perp'," said Safti.
Alex O'Connell busted out laughing so hard, they thought he would fall to the floor and break his old bones.
"Alex," Ardeth said to him, in concern.
"Who's Imhotep?" Monica asked.
O'Connell shook his head, still laughing. "I'll explain later."
Just then they heard someone shout something in Arabic.
"It is time for the evening meal," Ardeth told them.
"Yay!" said Cody, realizing he was starved. "What's for dinner?"
"Snake and horsemeat," said Safti.
Cody stopped dead. "Eyahhhh!"
Safti smiled. "I am joking."
"Oh," Cody said, relieved. He noticed that Safti didn't tell them what they were really having, however, and he followed him, suspicious.
The team was relieved to see that the meat was beef, and they were surprised at the wonderful taste.
"Wow," said Cody, in between mouthfuls. "They can operate on people, they can prevent evil, and they can cook!"
The rest of the team laughed at him.
"Speaking of operating…" said Jake, as he noticed Shamara quickly coming towards them.
Ardeth saw her coming as well, and caught her eye. She nodded at him, and he stood, quickly following her.
"Frank must be awake," said Jake, about to stand.
"No," said Safti, motioning for him to remain seated. "Ardeth will speak to him alone."
"But—"
"Jake," said Safti. "Ardeth is not merely the head of an army. He is what our people consider their king. That is the way of the Med-jai. He expects to be obeyed, and always is obeyed."
Jake said nothing, but sat again.