Chapter 17
The Medjai waited in darkness, their horses secured a good half-mile back. Hamunaptra was surrounded, and this time, Ardeth had no intention of attacking boldly and in the open. This time, he and his warriors would sneak in and kill each and every man where they stood-unawares. The woman, Rose, she had asked they not kill her brother, but Ardeth could not do as she wished. He would risk no more warriors, for five were already dead. It would be easiest and quickest to kill every man.
**** "Are you really from the future?" the boy asked for the tenth time and Rose stood from the ground where'd she'd sat since the warriors had left for a return trip to Hamunaptra and began to pace.
"Yes, Hammad. I'm from the future where people communicate via email and drive ninety miles an hour on the freeway at rush-hour," she answered him, anxious over what the Medjai planned to do at Hamunaptra. She prayed they killed Victor, but spared her brother. If Tony died in this invasion, she'd only have herself to blame. It was her fault for running away five years ago that Tony was even involved in this. He had always hung in the background, trying not to interfere with Victor's and hers relationship or with father's work. He had always kept to himself. Now, he was thrust in the middle of some bizarre adventure that she herself was still disbelieving.
"Email?" the boy asked with much confusion.
"Look, after this entire nightmare is over, I'll tell you anything you want to know about the future. But right now, we have to see what Ardeth is doing," Rose insisted, starting towards the boy's horse.
"No!" Hammad cried. "You cannot defy our chief!"
"Who, Ardeth? Why not?" Rose asked.
Hammad's face showed pure terror.
"Ardeth Bay would be very angry with us if we disobeyed his orders," Hammad said.
"And you disobeyed his orders earlier and all he did was frown at you," Rose insisted. She swung onto the back of Hammad's dark horse. "Coming?"
When Hammad continued to hesitate, Rose asked, "What? Are you chicken?" She had to get Hammad to agree because she had no idea how to get back to Hamunaptra.
"Chicken?" the boy asked, perplexed.
"It means you're a coward," Rose clarified.
At the thought of this woman questioning his bravery, the young warrior puffed out his chest and declared, "I am no coward. And, I will ride in the front, lady. It is my horse after all."
Rose chuckled and slid back, allowing the boy to mount the horse in front of her.
"By all means," she drawled, and together they rode the few miles back to the darkened City of the Dead.
****
The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood up and a chill raced down his spine. Someone or something was out there in the dark. It or they were very near, maybe even already in the city and Tony dropped his gear and began looking in all directions. All he saw was his own group, fallen relics and darkness. Then, he saw it. The Egyptian mercenary's body fell with a thud not twenty feet away, his throat slit, blood spilling from the wound. And behind him stood a Medjai warrior, his scimitar dripping with the blood of his kill.
Slowly, as if fearing nothing, the warrior moved closer. Tony stood still, possessing no weapon and not planning on using one if he had possessed one to begin with. He had nothing to fear from these men, they were his sister's friends and he trusted in their skill to stop Oscar and Victor more than he trusted in his own ability.
****
One man was dead and Ardeth was certain his men were moving in on the rest that were scattered around Hamunaptra, gathering their supplies and oblivious to what fate was coming. Another man stood nearby and as Ardeth approached him the man made no move to escape. He also made no move for a weapon and Ardeth wondered why. When Ardeth was close enough to see the man's eyes, he was struck with two realizations. First, this man showed no fear and second, his piercing blue eyes were the same as the woman's they'd rescued. Perhaps he was her brother, the one he had said he could not guarantee his safety. Then again, he could be merely one of the members of the group the Mejdai had to defeat.
With that thought forcing him to act, Ardeth raised his scimitar, ready to attack. The man continued to stand there and Ardeth was certain it would be an easy kill.
****
The Medjai's face was covered by a black veil, but Tony knew those eyes- eyes that he was shocked to see since they were supposed to have traveled back in time a good 70 years. They were the same one's that had looked upon him with trust when he had pretended to shoot Ali, but they weren't supposed to be for that man had existed back in 2001 and not in 1930. But Tony could not explain what he was seeing, so it was obvious the Fortress of Aten had not worked and Tony was relived for this was his sister's fiancé, Ali, who was standing before him and Tony had nothing to fear.
"Ali," Tony said in an urgent whisper. "Its me, Rose's brother, Tony."
The man hesitated and he looked back with confusion in his eyes.
"You have to help me stop these guys. They're completely insane," Tony continued, ignoring the man's strange stare and hoping he'd listen before that blood-tipped sword came down on top of him.
"I have to kill you, yes, but I do not have to help you do anything," the warrior answered in a low growl that frightened Tony more than he'd ever been frightened in his life. That sword was still poised to strike and Tony was certain this man was not Ali after all. If that was the case, then it meant the Fortress of Aten had indeed worked and they were facing the Medjai of the 1930's and therefore this warrior who resembled Ali so much had no idea who Tony was.
****
Thank goodness she had defied Ardeth's orders and come back to Hamunaptra, for her brother was a second away from meeting with a scimitar. Tony was standing completely still, looking totally at ease and obviously had no idea he was in trouble. Ardeth Bay was a stubborn, headstrong man, much like his grandson, but amplified by ten. And he obviously was dead set on killing everyone in the ruined city, her brother included.
"Ardeth, no!" Rose shouted as Hammad ran the horse they were riding straight for the two men.
Ardeth halted his movements toward Tony and looked back over his shoulder at the horse bearing down upon him. Rose could see the furious look in his dark eyes.
"Don't hurt my brother," Rose demanded as Hammad pulled the horse up right next to the warrior.
Ardeth lowered his sword and opened his mouth to speak when a sinister voice announced from behind, "Not so fast, Medjai."
It was Victor and he had an automatic rifle in his hands, trained at Ardeth's back.
"You've taken my Rosa away three times now. I'm not about to let you get away with it again," Victor said.
As Rose's eyes settled on the gun in Victor's hands she was met with a startling realization. If anything happened to Ardeth, history would be changed and Ali would not be waiting for her in 2001.
"No, Victor," Rose said in a firm voice as she pulled the handgun she'd taken from him earlier and aimed it at him.
Apparently startled by her bold move, Victor failed to use his own weapon for protection. Instead, he turned and ducked out of the way, just as Rose pulled back on the trigger and the bullet only grazed his arm.
But it was enough of a deterrent for Ardeth to move out of the line of fire. He said nothing to her, only glowered at her furiously and then turned and kicked the rifle out of Victor's hands. He raised his scimitar, ready to strike Victor, when a burst of gunfire erupted around them.
Turning from Victor, Ardeth yanked Rose and Hammad off the horse and dragged them to the safety of a fallen pillar. Another Medjai joined them, and Rose saw a few more robed warriors duck behind other structures for cover.
The rapid succession of automatic gunfire continued for another minute or two and all the Medjai maintained their cover. Then, suddenly it stopped and the muffled sounds of horse hooves in the sand reached her ears. She quickly understood what that meant-Victor and the rest of the men were escaping.
****
As soon as Ardeth sensed it was safe, he was on his feet and racing toward the one Medjai horse within Hamunaptra. Hammad's horse was older and not nearly as fast as Ardeth's young stallion, but right now, the other horses were a good half-mile run in the dunes and he hadn't the time to fetch them. The dangerous men from the future were escaping and if that blasted woman hadn't interfered, those men would have been dead by now. Her appearance, however, had confused his concentration and now five of the men he had to stop were loose in the desert.
****
Rose instinctively ran after Ardeth. Wherever he went, she would go. She had to keep her eye on him now, for his safety was paramount to her future with Ali.
He grabbed Hammad's bay horse and began to mount when he halted long enough to pick up a discarded rifle from the ground. It was the automatic rifle Victor had dropped and Ardeth's pause gave Rose just enough time to reach him as he placed his foot in the stirrup.
"Hold on," she demanded. "I'm coming too."
"Stay," he ordered as he mounted, but she was already swinging herself onto the horse behind him. "You will only slow me down."
"You're slowing yourself down by arguing with me, Ardeth," Rose insisted. "Now go."
He said nothing more and kicked the horse into a gallop. Rose grabbed a hold of his waist and buried her face in his robes to lessen the sting of the night wind as they raced the Arabian at high speed across the sand. With her eyes closed and her mind devoid of thought, Rose was certain she was riding behind Ali. Every physical characteristic of this man reminded her of Ali. He looked like him, sounded like him and felt like him. The only hint that proved he was not Ali was his cold stare and his harsh words.
His words, however, were not so harsh, only anxious as he slowed his mount atop a dune and announced, "They are at he Fortress of Aten."
"Why would they go there?" Rose questioned, but knowing it meant they were more than likely trying to catapult into a safer time.
"They are trying to escape us for good," Ardeth said urging the horse down the dune at a walk, its breathing labored from the exertion. "But they could not have been here long. They will not have time to set a new course. The fortress is complicated. They will only have time to reinsert the staff and go back to the exact time they came from give or take a few hours."
It was relatively good news, Rose thought, except the fact that if Victor and his group went back to 2001 with the Staff of the Sun, she'd be left behind in 1930.
"Ardeth, we have to stop them. Otherwise, I'll be stuck here with you," Rose said.
At that, Ardeth kicked the horse into a gallop and they entered a deep and narrow ravine, closing in on the Fortress of Aten.
****
"There's no time for that, Oscar," Victor argued as they stood on the stone platform inside the Fortress of Aten. "Just put that damned staff in the hole and lets get the hell out of here."
He was holding his arm, it was bleeding profusely from the bullet Rosa had shot at him. Damned woman! If it weren't so urgent for them to hightail it out of 1930 and get away from the very persistent Medjai of that era, he would have gone back and shot her dead himself. But leaving her in the year 1930 was almost punishment enough.
There were only five of them left. Victor, Tony, Jean Danton, Jeffreys and of course Oscar Mann. Five wasn't enough to fight off the constant attacks from the Mejai and they had to get back to the year 2001, regroup and try again. Oscar, however, was intent on trying to find another time period to catapult to, but that took a good hour to rearrange all the stone tablets and pulleys and wooden pegs. Besides, all the instructions were written in hieroglyphics and only Jean could decipher them. And though the man was sneaky and conniving, he did not have the nerve to do it now. He was shaking and cowardly after the fire fights in Hamunaptra and so Oscar was certain he could figure it out for himself.
"It will not take me long," Oscar declared. "Besides, the Medjai were without horses. How could they get here so quickly?"
Victor jumped down off the stone "stage" as, he called it, and took the steps up to Oscar where he stood in front of an immense "control panel." It was as ancient as a control panel could be and the process was complicated. Certain pegs had to go in specific holes in the stone wall and then various pulleys attached to giant slabs of stone had to be raised or lowered according to the instructions written on the wall. Once all that was arranged, the final piece of the puzzle was the staff. It went in the hole in the floor just in the middle of the "stage" and created a strange warp that somehow allowed one to travel through time. If Oscar didn't finish, however, they would be traveling nowhere.
"Look, Oscar, just stick the damned staff in the hole. Jean says that if we do that, it will automatically take us back to the exact point from which we came. We don't have time for you to fool around with this," Victor explained reasonably.
Turning and looking upon Victor with a vicious scowl, Oscar spat, "We must make time. We must plan this just right. The world, Victor, is ours for the taking. We can't stop now."
Victor saw the insanity that had entered Oscar's cold blue eyes and he stepped away from the man and said, "You're one hell of a crazy fool." He began to walk back to the platform to join the others that were standing patiently by, holding the horses they might need wherever it was they ended up, when two figures entered the fortress and changed their plans.
****
The Fortress of Aten was indeed an amazing sight. It was tucked away so deeply and so inconspicuously, that Rose wondered how anyone could find it. The outside of the fortress was a columned façade carved right into a cliff face. It was a grand sight and Rose paused a moment to look up at it.
"We must hurry," Ardeth said to her and Rose pulled her eyes from the sight before her and followed him up the steps.
There were only five steps that led to a small opening. It was no wonder Victor and his friends had only brought horses back with them. The fortress's entrance was not nearly large enough for vehicles or machinery. Horses, however, could fit through the entrance easily.
The inside of the fortress was just as grand. There were large statues and hieroglyphics carved on the wall. Torches all around the walls were lit and the inside glowed with a soft golden light.
Rose could hear voices as they entered, but because of the statues and columns at the entranceway, she and Ardeth could neither see or be seen.
Ardeth motioned for Rose to follow him. They moved to the far wall, hidden behind a giant statue of what Rose assumed was a pharaoh-perhaps the pharaoh who had built this place. Ardeth held the automatic rifle in his hand that he had found on the ground and asked quietly, "How does this work?"
"What? You've never shot a gun before?" she questioned him.
He glared at her, something he was doing way too often, and replied, "I have shot a gun before. I have not shot a gun like this before."
As quietly as possible, Rose released the magazine, checked for bullets, and reinserted it. Then, she switched the rifle off "automatic" and placed it on the "semi-automatic" setting.
"It's on semi-automatic," Rose whispered to him. She paused as she noticed he was leaning distractingly close to her. Her instinct was to reach out, wrap her hand in his hair and kiss him. But though he looked like Ali, he wasn't, and she had to remind herself of that.
"It'll fire only one bullet at a time," she explained. "I don't think there's many bullets left in the magazine, so be careful. And don't switch it to automatic." She pointed to the setting switch. "If you do that, you'll blow all your bullets in one shot."
"I have handled a Thompson before," he declared to her, "I can surely handle this on automatic."
"I'm sure you can, but let's just play it safe with the ammo."
He nodded, took the gun and then asked, "Do you still have your gun?"
"Yes."
"Good, we'll stay behind cover and shoot as many as we can," Ardeth explained.
"Not my brother," Rose argued.
Ardeth frowned at her again, then apparently seeing how determined she was to save Tony's life, he relented and nodded in agreement.
"All right," Rose said. They began to move away from the wall, when Rose halted him with a hand to his arm. "One more thing, Ardeth. Don't get yourself killed. If anything happens to you, I'll lose my Ali." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him furiously. Then she placed a quick kiss on his cheek and said, "I'm ready."
Ardeth, surprisingly, hesitated and it took him a moment to follow her. However, as soon as he was by her side, they sneaked around the columns, ducked behind two small statues of animals and raised their guns.
Their first shots were surprises to everyone in the group except Victor. It seemed to Rose that he had expected them. He was already behind cover by the time the firing started. Horses scattered, people were diving wildly as the bullets flew in both directions. Everyone from Victor's group was now covered except one man. Oscar Mann was standing upon a ledge that ran the length of a wall and merely raised his weapon and began firing back at Rose and Ardeth. He moved boldly forward, apparently not fearing the deadly bullets that were being shot his way. And for a moment, it appeared as if his plan would work. He seemed invincible as nothing hit him and he continued to walk forward, his gun blazing and his blue eyes gleaming sinisterly.
Rose raised her gun to fire a round at him when nothing happened. The trigger wouldn't pull, her gun had jammed.
"Damn it!" Rose muttered and ducked back behind the statue.
"What is it?" Ardeth questioned as he too ducked down, looking over his rifle.
"Gun jammed," Rose answered as she tried to pull back on the slide to clear the jammed round. Then she looked at Ardeth and saw he wasn't shooting either. "What's wrong with you?"
"I think I am out of bullets," he confessed as he continued to stare at the rifle.
"Great! Just great!" Rose muttered as she continued to pull on the slide, hoping to dislodge the jammed bullet before that evil man made it to them.
Ardeth began to reach for her gun, obviously to assist her with the jam, when suddenly Oscar Mann's voice interjected from nearby, "I'm coming for you Medjai. You killed all my friends and I'm going to make certain you die too. And once you're dead, the world is mine."
Ardeth handed the gun back to Rose and silently drew his scimitar. She knew she threw him a concerned look, for he shook his head at her as if to tell her not to worry and began to crawl toward the next statue. He was going to face Oscar, and Rose pulled on the slide of her gun more urgently, hoping to dislodge the jam before Ardeth had to do that.
****
It all happened quicker than Tony could process. Rose and her Medjai friend began shooting and everyone in Tony's group, minus himself and Jean Danton, fired back. Then Oscar Mann was bravely walking toward Rose and the Medjai and all firing stopped. Tony pulled a handgun out of the waist of his pants and began to aim for Oscar Mann. He wasn't about to allow the man to harm his sister. Rose had saved him tonight and he was going to save her.
Tony, however, didn't have to shoot for the Medjai bravely sprung from behind a statue and attacked on Oscar's flank. Surprised and caught off guard, Oscar was unable to shift his weapon around for a counter-attack and the sharp blade of the Medjai's sword was stuck in his side before anyone could register what had happened.
Oscar let out a loud hissing of breath and the Medjai smiled almost triumphantly at his fallen prey. He then swung his gaze toward the platform where everyone else was hiding and started to boldly move toward them.
"To hell with this," Victor mumbled from a nearby hiding spot. "I'm not waiting around for him to try and kill the rest of us."
Quickly, Victor dashed to the ledge in front of the fortress control panel and snatched the Staff of the Sun that was lying there. He then returned to the stone platform and said, "Everyone aboard!"
Jefffreys, Jean and Tony emerged from their cover and gathered on the platform. With a smile of triumph down to the Medjai, Victor plugged the staff into the hole in the platform and that horrible pressure filled the room like it had the first time they'd used the Fortress of Aten. For Tony, it felt like he was diving down deep in the ocean and the pressure was pushing on his eardrums and squeezing his lungs like a vice. But the pressure only lasted until the bright light appeared in front of them and one by one they dashed through the opening in time until Victor, the last one, grabbed the Staff of the Sun and jumped through the opening just before it closed.
****
"No!" Rose screamed. Her cry echoed through the now empty chamber. "No!"
She ran toward the stone platform the men had been on, bounded up the few stairs and past Ardeth. When she again realized they were gone along with the Staff of the Sun and her only way back home, she dropped to her knees and sobbed.
Suddenly Ardeth's voice was very near her and he said, "Do not worry. They only escaped back to the time they left from. The Medjai of that era should be able to deal with them. See," he said and Rose couldn't see his gesture toward the large wall with the ledge that served as the control panel for the fortress, "they were unable to finish plotting their next destination. That means the fortress took them back to their original time."
Rose continued to cry and realized Ardeth had no clue as to why she was upset. Wiping at her face and quieting her sobs, Rose explained, "I'm not upset about them. Heck, I could care less where Victor goes next. I'm upset, Ardeth, because I'm stuck here in 1930 and have no way to get back to Ali. What am I supposed to do?"
She stood and faced him. He seemed at a loss for words.
"I suppose you will have to remain here," he finally answered after a long silence.
Rose began sobbing again and shook her head. She reached out and grabbed fistfuls of his robe in her hand and rested her forehead against his chest for comfort, though he offered none in return.
"I can't stay here, damn it! I have to get back to 2001. I have to get back to your grandson. I love him. Don't you see that? I have to get back to him," Rose insisted weakly as she heard the voices of Ardeth's warriors calling to him as they entered the fortress.
Ardeth called back to them in their native language and Rose heard the footsteps of their approach. Ardeth pried her hands from his robe and then placed his hands on her shoulders. With a firm voice he said, "You will survive in my time, Rose. It will not be so bad. You will see. Our people will take you in."
It was the kindest thing he had said to her, but it gave her little comfort.
"But can't you use this thing to send me back home?" Rose asked, finding a new spark of hope. "Doesn't the Staff of the Sun exist in this time period and you can get it and send me back?"
Ardeth looked at her regretfully and his hands tightened upon her shoulders. "It does exist, but we do not know where exactly it is."
Her last hope was dashed and she felt tears escaping once again as she fell forward and despite Ardeth's hesitancy to touch her, she hugged him fiercely and cried.
****
The Medjai waited in darkness, their horses secured a good half-mile back. Hamunaptra was surrounded, and this time, Ardeth had no intention of attacking boldly and in the open. This time, he and his warriors would sneak in and kill each and every man where they stood-unawares. The woman, Rose, she had asked they not kill her brother, but Ardeth could not do as she wished. He would risk no more warriors, for five were already dead. It would be easiest and quickest to kill every man.
**** "Are you really from the future?" the boy asked for the tenth time and Rose stood from the ground where'd she'd sat since the warriors had left for a return trip to Hamunaptra and began to pace.
"Yes, Hammad. I'm from the future where people communicate via email and drive ninety miles an hour on the freeway at rush-hour," she answered him, anxious over what the Medjai planned to do at Hamunaptra. She prayed they killed Victor, but spared her brother. If Tony died in this invasion, she'd only have herself to blame. It was her fault for running away five years ago that Tony was even involved in this. He had always hung in the background, trying not to interfere with Victor's and hers relationship or with father's work. He had always kept to himself. Now, he was thrust in the middle of some bizarre adventure that she herself was still disbelieving.
"Email?" the boy asked with much confusion.
"Look, after this entire nightmare is over, I'll tell you anything you want to know about the future. But right now, we have to see what Ardeth is doing," Rose insisted, starting towards the boy's horse.
"No!" Hammad cried. "You cannot defy our chief!"
"Who, Ardeth? Why not?" Rose asked.
Hammad's face showed pure terror.
"Ardeth Bay would be very angry with us if we disobeyed his orders," Hammad said.
"And you disobeyed his orders earlier and all he did was frown at you," Rose insisted. She swung onto the back of Hammad's dark horse. "Coming?"
When Hammad continued to hesitate, Rose asked, "What? Are you chicken?" She had to get Hammad to agree because she had no idea how to get back to Hamunaptra.
"Chicken?" the boy asked, perplexed.
"It means you're a coward," Rose clarified.
At the thought of this woman questioning his bravery, the young warrior puffed out his chest and declared, "I am no coward. And, I will ride in the front, lady. It is my horse after all."
Rose chuckled and slid back, allowing the boy to mount the horse in front of her.
"By all means," she drawled, and together they rode the few miles back to the darkened City of the Dead.
****
The fine hairs on the back of his neck stood up and a chill raced down his spine. Someone or something was out there in the dark. It or they were very near, maybe even already in the city and Tony dropped his gear and began looking in all directions. All he saw was his own group, fallen relics and darkness. Then, he saw it. The Egyptian mercenary's body fell with a thud not twenty feet away, his throat slit, blood spilling from the wound. And behind him stood a Medjai warrior, his scimitar dripping with the blood of his kill.
Slowly, as if fearing nothing, the warrior moved closer. Tony stood still, possessing no weapon and not planning on using one if he had possessed one to begin with. He had nothing to fear from these men, they were his sister's friends and he trusted in their skill to stop Oscar and Victor more than he trusted in his own ability.
****
One man was dead and Ardeth was certain his men were moving in on the rest that were scattered around Hamunaptra, gathering their supplies and oblivious to what fate was coming. Another man stood nearby and as Ardeth approached him the man made no move to escape. He also made no move for a weapon and Ardeth wondered why. When Ardeth was close enough to see the man's eyes, he was struck with two realizations. First, this man showed no fear and second, his piercing blue eyes were the same as the woman's they'd rescued. Perhaps he was her brother, the one he had said he could not guarantee his safety. Then again, he could be merely one of the members of the group the Mejdai had to defeat.
With that thought forcing him to act, Ardeth raised his scimitar, ready to attack. The man continued to stand there and Ardeth was certain it would be an easy kill.
****
The Medjai's face was covered by a black veil, but Tony knew those eyes- eyes that he was shocked to see since they were supposed to have traveled back in time a good 70 years. They were the same one's that had looked upon him with trust when he had pretended to shoot Ali, but they weren't supposed to be for that man had existed back in 2001 and not in 1930. But Tony could not explain what he was seeing, so it was obvious the Fortress of Aten had not worked and Tony was relived for this was his sister's fiancé, Ali, who was standing before him and Tony had nothing to fear.
"Ali," Tony said in an urgent whisper. "Its me, Rose's brother, Tony."
The man hesitated and he looked back with confusion in his eyes.
"You have to help me stop these guys. They're completely insane," Tony continued, ignoring the man's strange stare and hoping he'd listen before that blood-tipped sword came down on top of him.
"I have to kill you, yes, but I do not have to help you do anything," the warrior answered in a low growl that frightened Tony more than he'd ever been frightened in his life. That sword was still poised to strike and Tony was certain this man was not Ali after all. If that was the case, then it meant the Fortress of Aten had indeed worked and they were facing the Medjai of the 1930's and therefore this warrior who resembled Ali so much had no idea who Tony was.
****
Thank goodness she had defied Ardeth's orders and come back to Hamunaptra, for her brother was a second away from meeting with a scimitar. Tony was standing completely still, looking totally at ease and obviously had no idea he was in trouble. Ardeth Bay was a stubborn, headstrong man, much like his grandson, but amplified by ten. And he obviously was dead set on killing everyone in the ruined city, her brother included.
"Ardeth, no!" Rose shouted as Hammad ran the horse they were riding straight for the two men.
Ardeth halted his movements toward Tony and looked back over his shoulder at the horse bearing down upon him. Rose could see the furious look in his dark eyes.
"Don't hurt my brother," Rose demanded as Hammad pulled the horse up right next to the warrior.
Ardeth lowered his sword and opened his mouth to speak when a sinister voice announced from behind, "Not so fast, Medjai."
It was Victor and he had an automatic rifle in his hands, trained at Ardeth's back.
"You've taken my Rosa away three times now. I'm not about to let you get away with it again," Victor said.
As Rose's eyes settled on the gun in Victor's hands she was met with a startling realization. If anything happened to Ardeth, history would be changed and Ali would not be waiting for her in 2001.
"No, Victor," Rose said in a firm voice as she pulled the handgun she'd taken from him earlier and aimed it at him.
Apparently startled by her bold move, Victor failed to use his own weapon for protection. Instead, he turned and ducked out of the way, just as Rose pulled back on the trigger and the bullet only grazed his arm.
But it was enough of a deterrent for Ardeth to move out of the line of fire. He said nothing to her, only glowered at her furiously and then turned and kicked the rifle out of Victor's hands. He raised his scimitar, ready to strike Victor, when a burst of gunfire erupted around them.
Turning from Victor, Ardeth yanked Rose and Hammad off the horse and dragged them to the safety of a fallen pillar. Another Medjai joined them, and Rose saw a few more robed warriors duck behind other structures for cover.
The rapid succession of automatic gunfire continued for another minute or two and all the Medjai maintained their cover. Then, suddenly it stopped and the muffled sounds of horse hooves in the sand reached her ears. She quickly understood what that meant-Victor and the rest of the men were escaping.
****
As soon as Ardeth sensed it was safe, he was on his feet and racing toward the one Medjai horse within Hamunaptra. Hammad's horse was older and not nearly as fast as Ardeth's young stallion, but right now, the other horses were a good half-mile run in the dunes and he hadn't the time to fetch them. The dangerous men from the future were escaping and if that blasted woman hadn't interfered, those men would have been dead by now. Her appearance, however, had confused his concentration and now five of the men he had to stop were loose in the desert.
****
Rose instinctively ran after Ardeth. Wherever he went, she would go. She had to keep her eye on him now, for his safety was paramount to her future with Ali.
He grabbed Hammad's bay horse and began to mount when he halted long enough to pick up a discarded rifle from the ground. It was the automatic rifle Victor had dropped and Ardeth's pause gave Rose just enough time to reach him as he placed his foot in the stirrup.
"Hold on," she demanded. "I'm coming too."
"Stay," he ordered as he mounted, but she was already swinging herself onto the horse behind him. "You will only slow me down."
"You're slowing yourself down by arguing with me, Ardeth," Rose insisted. "Now go."
He said nothing more and kicked the horse into a gallop. Rose grabbed a hold of his waist and buried her face in his robes to lessen the sting of the night wind as they raced the Arabian at high speed across the sand. With her eyes closed and her mind devoid of thought, Rose was certain she was riding behind Ali. Every physical characteristic of this man reminded her of Ali. He looked like him, sounded like him and felt like him. The only hint that proved he was not Ali was his cold stare and his harsh words.
His words, however, were not so harsh, only anxious as he slowed his mount atop a dune and announced, "They are at he Fortress of Aten."
"Why would they go there?" Rose questioned, but knowing it meant they were more than likely trying to catapult into a safer time.
"They are trying to escape us for good," Ardeth said urging the horse down the dune at a walk, its breathing labored from the exertion. "But they could not have been here long. They will not have time to set a new course. The fortress is complicated. They will only have time to reinsert the staff and go back to the exact time they came from give or take a few hours."
It was relatively good news, Rose thought, except the fact that if Victor and his group went back to 2001 with the Staff of the Sun, she'd be left behind in 1930.
"Ardeth, we have to stop them. Otherwise, I'll be stuck here with you," Rose said.
At that, Ardeth kicked the horse into a gallop and they entered a deep and narrow ravine, closing in on the Fortress of Aten.
****
"There's no time for that, Oscar," Victor argued as they stood on the stone platform inside the Fortress of Aten. "Just put that damned staff in the hole and lets get the hell out of here."
He was holding his arm, it was bleeding profusely from the bullet Rosa had shot at him. Damned woman! If it weren't so urgent for them to hightail it out of 1930 and get away from the very persistent Medjai of that era, he would have gone back and shot her dead himself. But leaving her in the year 1930 was almost punishment enough.
There were only five of them left. Victor, Tony, Jean Danton, Jeffreys and of course Oscar Mann. Five wasn't enough to fight off the constant attacks from the Mejai and they had to get back to the year 2001, regroup and try again. Oscar, however, was intent on trying to find another time period to catapult to, but that took a good hour to rearrange all the stone tablets and pulleys and wooden pegs. Besides, all the instructions were written in hieroglyphics and only Jean could decipher them. And though the man was sneaky and conniving, he did not have the nerve to do it now. He was shaking and cowardly after the fire fights in Hamunaptra and so Oscar was certain he could figure it out for himself.
"It will not take me long," Oscar declared. "Besides, the Medjai were without horses. How could they get here so quickly?"
Victor jumped down off the stone "stage" as, he called it, and took the steps up to Oscar where he stood in front of an immense "control panel." It was as ancient as a control panel could be and the process was complicated. Certain pegs had to go in specific holes in the stone wall and then various pulleys attached to giant slabs of stone had to be raised or lowered according to the instructions written on the wall. Once all that was arranged, the final piece of the puzzle was the staff. It went in the hole in the floor just in the middle of the "stage" and created a strange warp that somehow allowed one to travel through time. If Oscar didn't finish, however, they would be traveling nowhere.
"Look, Oscar, just stick the damned staff in the hole. Jean says that if we do that, it will automatically take us back to the exact point from which we came. We don't have time for you to fool around with this," Victor explained reasonably.
Turning and looking upon Victor with a vicious scowl, Oscar spat, "We must make time. We must plan this just right. The world, Victor, is ours for the taking. We can't stop now."
Victor saw the insanity that had entered Oscar's cold blue eyes and he stepped away from the man and said, "You're one hell of a crazy fool." He began to walk back to the platform to join the others that were standing patiently by, holding the horses they might need wherever it was they ended up, when two figures entered the fortress and changed their plans.
****
The Fortress of Aten was indeed an amazing sight. It was tucked away so deeply and so inconspicuously, that Rose wondered how anyone could find it. The outside of the fortress was a columned façade carved right into a cliff face. It was a grand sight and Rose paused a moment to look up at it.
"We must hurry," Ardeth said to her and Rose pulled her eyes from the sight before her and followed him up the steps.
There were only five steps that led to a small opening. It was no wonder Victor and his friends had only brought horses back with them. The fortress's entrance was not nearly large enough for vehicles or machinery. Horses, however, could fit through the entrance easily.
The inside of the fortress was just as grand. There were large statues and hieroglyphics carved on the wall. Torches all around the walls were lit and the inside glowed with a soft golden light.
Rose could hear voices as they entered, but because of the statues and columns at the entranceway, she and Ardeth could neither see or be seen.
Ardeth motioned for Rose to follow him. They moved to the far wall, hidden behind a giant statue of what Rose assumed was a pharaoh-perhaps the pharaoh who had built this place. Ardeth held the automatic rifle in his hand that he had found on the ground and asked quietly, "How does this work?"
"What? You've never shot a gun before?" she questioned him.
He glared at her, something he was doing way too often, and replied, "I have shot a gun before. I have not shot a gun like this before."
As quietly as possible, Rose released the magazine, checked for bullets, and reinserted it. Then, she switched the rifle off "automatic" and placed it on the "semi-automatic" setting.
"It's on semi-automatic," Rose whispered to him. She paused as she noticed he was leaning distractingly close to her. Her instinct was to reach out, wrap her hand in his hair and kiss him. But though he looked like Ali, he wasn't, and she had to remind herself of that.
"It'll fire only one bullet at a time," she explained. "I don't think there's many bullets left in the magazine, so be careful. And don't switch it to automatic." She pointed to the setting switch. "If you do that, you'll blow all your bullets in one shot."
"I have handled a Thompson before," he declared to her, "I can surely handle this on automatic."
"I'm sure you can, but let's just play it safe with the ammo."
He nodded, took the gun and then asked, "Do you still have your gun?"
"Yes."
"Good, we'll stay behind cover and shoot as many as we can," Ardeth explained.
"Not my brother," Rose argued.
Ardeth frowned at her again, then apparently seeing how determined she was to save Tony's life, he relented and nodded in agreement.
"All right," Rose said. They began to move away from the wall, when Rose halted him with a hand to his arm. "One more thing, Ardeth. Don't get yourself killed. If anything happens to you, I'll lose my Ali." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him furiously. Then she placed a quick kiss on his cheek and said, "I'm ready."
Ardeth, surprisingly, hesitated and it took him a moment to follow her. However, as soon as he was by her side, they sneaked around the columns, ducked behind two small statues of animals and raised their guns.
Their first shots were surprises to everyone in the group except Victor. It seemed to Rose that he had expected them. He was already behind cover by the time the firing started. Horses scattered, people were diving wildly as the bullets flew in both directions. Everyone from Victor's group was now covered except one man. Oscar Mann was standing upon a ledge that ran the length of a wall and merely raised his weapon and began firing back at Rose and Ardeth. He moved boldly forward, apparently not fearing the deadly bullets that were being shot his way. And for a moment, it appeared as if his plan would work. He seemed invincible as nothing hit him and he continued to walk forward, his gun blazing and his blue eyes gleaming sinisterly.
Rose raised her gun to fire a round at him when nothing happened. The trigger wouldn't pull, her gun had jammed.
"Damn it!" Rose muttered and ducked back behind the statue.
"What is it?" Ardeth questioned as he too ducked down, looking over his rifle.
"Gun jammed," Rose answered as she tried to pull back on the slide to clear the jammed round. Then she looked at Ardeth and saw he wasn't shooting either. "What's wrong with you?"
"I think I am out of bullets," he confessed as he continued to stare at the rifle.
"Great! Just great!" Rose muttered as she continued to pull on the slide, hoping to dislodge the jammed bullet before that evil man made it to them.
Ardeth began to reach for her gun, obviously to assist her with the jam, when suddenly Oscar Mann's voice interjected from nearby, "I'm coming for you Medjai. You killed all my friends and I'm going to make certain you die too. And once you're dead, the world is mine."
Ardeth handed the gun back to Rose and silently drew his scimitar. She knew she threw him a concerned look, for he shook his head at her as if to tell her not to worry and began to crawl toward the next statue. He was going to face Oscar, and Rose pulled on the slide of her gun more urgently, hoping to dislodge the jam before Ardeth had to do that.
****
It all happened quicker than Tony could process. Rose and her Medjai friend began shooting and everyone in Tony's group, minus himself and Jean Danton, fired back. Then Oscar Mann was bravely walking toward Rose and the Medjai and all firing stopped. Tony pulled a handgun out of the waist of his pants and began to aim for Oscar Mann. He wasn't about to allow the man to harm his sister. Rose had saved him tonight and he was going to save her.
Tony, however, didn't have to shoot for the Medjai bravely sprung from behind a statue and attacked on Oscar's flank. Surprised and caught off guard, Oscar was unable to shift his weapon around for a counter-attack and the sharp blade of the Medjai's sword was stuck in his side before anyone could register what had happened.
Oscar let out a loud hissing of breath and the Medjai smiled almost triumphantly at his fallen prey. He then swung his gaze toward the platform where everyone else was hiding and started to boldly move toward them.
"To hell with this," Victor mumbled from a nearby hiding spot. "I'm not waiting around for him to try and kill the rest of us."
Quickly, Victor dashed to the ledge in front of the fortress control panel and snatched the Staff of the Sun that was lying there. He then returned to the stone platform and said, "Everyone aboard!"
Jefffreys, Jean and Tony emerged from their cover and gathered on the platform. With a smile of triumph down to the Medjai, Victor plugged the staff into the hole in the platform and that horrible pressure filled the room like it had the first time they'd used the Fortress of Aten. For Tony, it felt like he was diving down deep in the ocean and the pressure was pushing on his eardrums and squeezing his lungs like a vice. But the pressure only lasted until the bright light appeared in front of them and one by one they dashed through the opening in time until Victor, the last one, grabbed the Staff of the Sun and jumped through the opening just before it closed.
****
"No!" Rose screamed. Her cry echoed through the now empty chamber. "No!"
She ran toward the stone platform the men had been on, bounded up the few stairs and past Ardeth. When she again realized they were gone along with the Staff of the Sun and her only way back home, she dropped to her knees and sobbed.
Suddenly Ardeth's voice was very near her and he said, "Do not worry. They only escaped back to the time they left from. The Medjai of that era should be able to deal with them. See," he said and Rose couldn't see his gesture toward the large wall with the ledge that served as the control panel for the fortress, "they were unable to finish plotting their next destination. That means the fortress took them back to their original time."
Rose continued to cry and realized Ardeth had no clue as to why she was upset. Wiping at her face and quieting her sobs, Rose explained, "I'm not upset about them. Heck, I could care less where Victor goes next. I'm upset, Ardeth, because I'm stuck here in 1930 and have no way to get back to Ali. What am I supposed to do?"
She stood and faced him. He seemed at a loss for words.
"I suppose you will have to remain here," he finally answered after a long silence.
Rose began sobbing again and shook her head. She reached out and grabbed fistfuls of his robe in her hand and rested her forehead against his chest for comfort, though he offered none in return.
"I can't stay here, damn it! I have to get back to 2001. I have to get back to your grandson. I love him. Don't you see that? I have to get back to him," Rose insisted weakly as she heard the voices of Ardeth's warriors calling to him as they entered the fortress.
Ardeth called back to them in their native language and Rose heard the footsteps of their approach. Ardeth pried her hands from his robe and then placed his hands on her shoulders. With a firm voice he said, "You will survive in my time, Rose. It will not be so bad. You will see. Our people will take you in."
It was the kindest thing he had said to her, but it gave her little comfort.
"But can't you use this thing to send me back home?" Rose asked, finding a new spark of hope. "Doesn't the Staff of the Sun exist in this time period and you can get it and send me back?"
Ardeth looked at her regretfully and his hands tightened upon her shoulders. "It does exist, but we do not know where exactly it is."
Her last hope was dashed and she felt tears escaping once again as she fell forward and despite Ardeth's hesitancy to touch her, she hugged him fiercely and cried.
****