Continuation to Timeline
Chris Hughes and Kate Erickson were sitting at a corner table in the steakhouse. They were discussing a few of the applicants for the new time travel program. "Ephram looks like a pretty good student. He's an archeology major and he specializes in Ancient Egypt," said Kate. "Apparently he's as obsessed as Merik was." After not hearing a reply, she looked up and noticed Chris madly scribbling things down on the napkin. It looked like numbers.
"What are you writing?"
"Just figuring out when we'll have to leave to Arizona. Personally, I'd rather stay in West Virginia with you. Arizona is so hot," explained Chris.
"Uh huh. We don't really have a choice. Besides, it might be fun. We'll get to see the professor again," said Kate. "Beth might be a possible candidate."
"Sure"
"It's getting late, maybe I should leave," said Kate, a little put off by Chris's poor listening skills.
Sam heard the phone ringing from the kitchen. It was 7 am and he was no where near ready to start the day.
"Sam, I've got some good news," said a faint voice that sounded like Professor Johnston, on the answering machine. At hearing this, Sam sprung out of bed and ran for the phone.
"Professor!" panted Sam, once he reached the phone.
"I'm still here. I figured that since it was so early, you would take a little longer to gather the strength to answer the phone. You're just like me, not wanting to get up in the morning, in fact, that reminds me of something that happened to me back when I was still a student in college…
"Sorry to interrupt, but your killing me!"
"Ok, ok, you've been accepted to the time travel program. You need to come to Arizona by next Wednesday."
Doing the math in his head he realized that he had 4 days to get there. Seeing as he lived in Maine, and was too broke to buy a plane ticket, he had to leave today.
Apparently the math took a little longer than he had expected, and he was jerked back to reality when the Professor was calling his name.
"Sorry, I was just calculating when I would need to leave," explained Sam.
"Sam, I have to go call the others."
"Ok, bye."
And with a click, Sam was left alone with his shock.
Ring. Ring.
'Who would call me this early?' wondered Vanessa. She was answered by the Professor's voice after she picked up the phone. "Vanessa, I've got some good news. You've been accepted into the new time travel program. You'll need to get to Arizona by next Wednesday."
"Ok. I'll be there."
Vanessa lived in New Mexico, so she still had 3 more days, and since she worked two jobs, she could just fly over. She needed to call her friends. She had not even expected to get that phone call. Statistically, she had a 1 in 100 chance of being accepted.
"The line is busy," is the response the professor kept getting when he dialed Ephram's number.
Eventually the beep that means someone's trying to call you, got on Ephram's nerves.
"Hello?" said an annoyed Ephram.
Ephram, its Professor Johnston. I've got some good news.
"Let me guess. You just saved a load of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico, but I've been denied the spot on the program."
"Actually, no. You have been accepted, and I wish I was saving money on my car insurance. Ephram, are you there?"
It was obvious that Ephram had already hung up, maybe unintentionally.
"Hey, what's your name?" asked Vanessa, trying to get to know the guys who would be joining her back to ancient Egypt.
"Sam, what's yours?"
"Vanessa. Are you excited?"
"Yeah."
"I hear that Professor Johnston is a really cool guy," said Vanessa.
"Yeah, do you know who the third guy is gonna be?"
"That would be me," said Ephram, standing behind them.
"Oh, nice to meet you," said Vanessa.
"Yeah, you too," answered Ephram.
'He's kind of mysterious. I wonder if I trust him,' thought Vanessa.
"Ok guys, are you ready to go?"
All three of them, in unison, said yes (a pretty unsure yes, but still a yes). At that, they all loaded up their stuff and got on the raised octagonal platform. Remembering the predicament the team on the other side was in after the lab explosion, they were a little nervous.
"See you on the other side!" said Ephram.
Once they were done with the transference, everyone but the Professor was a little shaken up.
"It's hotter than I'd expected. Of course, what do you expect in Egypt? Even back at the time Pharaoh Nefertiti ruled it was still hot," stated Sam.
Before they even had a chance to settle down for a while, they heard people shouting in a language that must have been ancient Egyptian. To avoid being seen, they hurried to behind a sandbank on the side of the road. They heard someone scream, probably a girl, and a man yell something. To their surprise, Ephram turned to the Professor and translated exactly what they had said, or at least to the knowledge of his time.
"Loosely translated, she is pleading for her life. It sounds like she stole something from the market," explained Ephram.
"Wow, how do you know that?" inquired an amazed Sam.
"I had no absolutely no life when I was growing up in Oregon, so I took classes like art, and math lab."
"How did that help you become bilingual?" asked Vanessa.
"I actually should have been taking geometry, so I had loads of free time.
"Oh," replied Sam, a little intimidated.
"Guys, can we be a little quieter?" said the Professor.
"Sorry."
Once they looked back at the girl, she was lying on the ground. Ephram and Sam, being the gentlemen that they are, got permission, and ran to help her.
She wasn't unconscious, and didn't even look all that hurt. After Ephram had had a discussion, which everyone was completely tuned out of, he relayed that she had only pretended to be out cold. She must've asked if she could stay with them because pretty soon she was completely at home in the camp that Sam had set up.
Kiya, the girl's name, is a peasant from Nebet.
"We must be near Nebet then," thought Ephram. He had studied Egyptology in high school and so far in college, so he pretty much knew where everything was located. There is now a silent agreement that makes Ephram in charge of the expedition. "We should probably head out if we're gonna get enough information by the deadline."
Vanessa looked at the counter she had been asked to ware around their wrist. It read:
(8 hours, 17 minutes, & 09 seconds)
"Ephram, ask the girl if she can lead us to Nebet," said the Professor.
"The girl has a name, its Kiya. Ok, I'll ask," answered Ephram.
After conversing with Kiya for what Vanessa thought a little longer than one simple question would or should take, he answered, "Kiya says she'll guide us, if she can stay with us for protection from Takany, one of Nefertiti's guards, who is out to kill her," translated Ephram.
The Professor granted this and in no less than 15 minutes, they were on their way. Ephram was deep in conversation with Kiya. Vanessa and Sam were discussing something with the Prof.
"Ephram, ask Kiya how much longer until we get there," said the Professor.
"Ok," returned Ephram. After conversing for a couple seconds, he explained, "A little more than an hours walk by our time."
Once they had arrived, she gave them a sort of guided tour, which Ephram had to translate, a little slower than she was talking. A couple minutes in, he was completely lost.
Vanessa checked the counter and it read:
Five hours and counting," said Vanessa.
"Than we'd better get a move on," concluded the Professor. "We still have to get more valuable information. We should ask Kiya some questions about life in ancient Egypt."
"Yeah, let's head back to the camp," said Ephram. Just as he turned around he felt a sharp pain across the right side of his face. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground. He was completely confused, and didn't know where the others were. He tried to get up, but was immediately forced back onto his stomach by continuous impacts into his side. They felt like kicks. After about a minute of that, another sharp pain through his head brought total and complete darkness.
Vanessa woke with a start to the moaning from Ephram. 'He's hurt bad,' she thought. She got up and walked over to him, careful not to tread on the unconscious forms of the Professor and Sam.
When she reached him, she saw the full extent of his injuries. She didn't see any blood, but then she saw the dark puddles he lay his head in.
Ephram must have sensed her looking at him because he woke up, only to feel more pain than he had before. He drew a sharp breath, and then said, "How long have I been out?"
At the sound of voices, Sam woke up and he too walked over to where Ephram was lying. Sam wasn't as careful where he stepped as Vanessa had been, so he accidentally kicked the professor. The professor joined the rest of them in the corner, where he knelt down next to Ephram.
Apparently in the scuttle, he had acquired bruises on his arms, back, and a few bleeding gashes on the side of his head. The professor and Sam helped him sit up against the wall. They used some clothe to wipe the blood off his head.
Once they had a clear look at the wounds, they were relieved to find that the gashes weren't as deep as they had thought. In no less than thirty minutes, an onlooker would have never known that Ephram had recently (very recently) recovered from a wound that could have easily taken his life. He and the professor were discussing what they should do to get out of the predicament they had found themselves in.
Ephram mad the effort to stand up, and with a little help from Sam, was up walking around the small room they were locked in.
They heard a noise coming from a crack in the wall. It was kiya! She said something to Ephram, and he relayed: "Kiya can get us out of here," his voice a little shaky. "All we have to do is push out a certain limestone block and crawl out. It's the only way."
"Which one?" inquired Professor Johnston?
"The one on the left; far left," answered Ephram. As he was saying that, Sam went over to the block and through his weight against it. It came out a little easier than he had expected, so the next thing he knew, he was sprawled on the ground. He was in what seemed to be a deserted hallway.
One by one, they all crawled through. Looking from left to right cautiously, they herded to the center of the hall. There kiya greeted them. Ephram asked her which way to go, and she said to go left.
As they were walking, Kiya explained what had happened after they had all lost consciousness. Apparently, Nefertiti wanted to see the strange newcomers for herself, but the guards enjoyed physical combat, so the used force. Kiya had escaped while the guards were attacking us.
After what seemed like hours, they arrived at a door leading out into a huge chamber. It was the farthest thing from deserted. There were probably 100 men, standing around, and maybe 70 women, faces covered, sitting on the ground. Ephram asked how to get out of here, and she pointed through to the other side of the chamber.
"That could be a problem," said Vanessa, guessing the answer.
"Maybe not," said the professor. "If we're really quiet and don't draw attention to ourselves, we can pull it off.
"Since that's our only chance, why not?" asked Sam, a little sarcastically.
After a couple of minutes of putting it off, they headed in. The plan was working better than they had expected. They were a couple more steps from reaching the door way when the felt someone following them .With glances and nods all around, the broke into a dead sprint.
As they were running, Vanessa turned around and saw to her relief that the man pursuing them had given up and was walking back to temple. She decided that the farther they went, the better, but just as she was about to slow down a bit, Ephram collapsed, probably due to exertion; too much, too soon. He was breathing really fast and unevenly. They had all stopped and were lying of the ground, panting.
Sam was the first to recover use of speech, and asked "how's Ephram?"
Vanessa answered; "I think he's o.k." she crawled over to him and turned him onto his back. He immediately opened his eyes and sat up, like nothing ever happened.
She looked at her counter:
1: 27: 39
She thought of the lab explosion, and her subconscious mind immediately began going over the worst case scenarios. She was jerked back to reality by the voices of Sam and Professor Johnston, arguing over whether or not to head back to 2005.
Ephram's breath was slowing down, back to normal. "Do you think he'll be able to last another hour?" she asked the professor.
"Yeah, I can," Ephram answered for the professor.
She noticed he had sweat dripping of his head. It was hot, but she felt his forehead and it was cold. Worried, she took off the bandages, and it was clear that the wounds had become infected.
"Professor, I need your help. The professor came over and touched Ephram's head. When he felt how cold he was, he grabbed a back pack and place Ephram's head on it. Then he asked Vanessa to get the first aid kit.
She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small bag. Then she handed it to the professor. He reached in and got a tube of some kind of ointment, of anti-biotic, squeezed a liberal amount onto his hand, and rubbed it onto Ephram's wounds. It must've been unpleasant because he winced and squirmed a little bit.
"It won't heal the wound, but it will hold off the infection for about an hour," said the professor.
Vanessa looked at the counter and it read:
1:13:19
That meant, if he was correct in his approximation, Ephram would have 13 minutes to do his best to stay conscious.
Vanessa," said Ephram, "Where's kiya?
She looked around and saw her lying on the ground face down. Cautiously, she prodded her, and to Vanessa's relief, she was only suffering from dehydration. If they didn't get both of them the proper medical attention, they could very well die. She crawled over to Ephram and lifted his head up so she could give him a sip of water. She did the same for Kiya. Kiya woke up and recovered quite quickly, enough to walk over to Ephram.
Ephram opened his eyes and they stared into each others eyes. Finally, he said something to her, in her own tongue. No one but them had any idea what he said, but it seemed to be funny because Kiya laughed. Kiya had said something to him that made him laugh. Vanessa knew that Ephram would be alright.
Vanessa looked at her counter; which read:
00: 23: 07
and then walked over to where Professor Johnston and Sam were in deep conversation. She relayed the time to them and sat down next to them. They were discussing what they were going to tell everyone when they got back. They hadn't even gotten enough information.
"Wait, what are we going to do about Kiya?" she asked the professor.
"She can't stay here, since we've pretty much condemned her to either life in hiding, or almost certain death, she'll have to come back with us," answered the professor.
"How will she react to being in a land where no one speaks her language?" asked Sam.
"Ephram will have to teach her when he recovers," answered Vanessa.
"Speaking of Ephram, is he o.k.?" the professor asked Vanessa.
"He's fine for now, answered Vanessa, looking at him and Kiya, laughing. Ephram was sitting up. She though of making him lay back down, to save his strength, but just didn't have the heart.
"Hey guy's, get over here!" called Ephram.
They all ran over to him.
"I taught Kiya to speak some English," he explained to them. "Go ahead," he said to her in Egyptian.
"Hi…my name…is…Kiya," she said in broken English.
"Wow, that's great. Can she say your burning up!" said Vanessa after feeling Ephram's forehead. She saw him sway, as if to regain balance.
"Professor, help me get Ephram into the shade," called Vanessa when Ephram collapsed into her arms. Some thing was wrong with him. The professor picked him up and carried him to the small amount of shade provided by a large, lone boulder.
The professor walked over to Sam and Vanessa. He asked her how much time they had left, and was relieved when she said:
"Only 5 more minutes. Best get everyone briefed on how to use the ceramic chip that summoned the time machine. I'll get Ephram ready," said Vanessa, smiling for the first time in a while.
Once everyone had been briefed, they walked a ways from the rock and were eagerly waiting for Vanessa to say 'now'.
"How much longer?" asked Sam, for about the tenth time. "Is it time yet?"
"actually, yes. Three, two, one." And with that, their adventure was over.
Epilogue
The next couple hours were kind of a blur to all of them. Ephram was admitted to a local hospital, and they finally got to talk to their families, though they couldn't tell them about their adventure.
Once Ephram was stable enough to have visitors, Vanessa and Sam came to visit. They found that Kiya had never left his side since they got back. He had been teaching her English, and she would tell stories about life in Ancient Egypt.
"So, when do you get out of here?" asked Sam.
"Actually, how's today sound?" inquired a voice from the doorway. It was Ephram's doctor.
"Sounds good. You mean like now?" asked Ephram, when the doctor started filling out release forms.
They had been through so much, but now it was over. now they could go back to living the life that they had so long taken for granted; a life in 2005!