CHAPTER SIX

A/n: As you may have guessed, Jaffey is a lot like the villain in Disney's "Aladdin", and Yatilla is like the heroine in that movie; however, any similarities are not intended to plagiarize or infringe upon any works of the mighty Walt.

I am just a huge fan, so there are going to be some similarities.

If Tony and Jeannie are a little OOC, keep in mind that this is still an Alternate Universe, so no one is entirely in canon with the series, but I still wanted to keep the flavor of it. Anyway, on with the story.

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Mahrouf, Jeannie and Yatilla made their way through the back streets of town. "So, why were they chasing you if you were off to see the world?" he asked.

"It is quite the tale," Yatilla told him, walking on ahead. Mahrouf caught up with her.

"And you do not wish to share it?" he asked. "Why not?"

Jeannie took up the rear, studying her new Master. It was obvious that he liked the girl very much, and he wanted to know more about whatever trouble she had walked into. She listened intently to their conversation, waiting for any opportunity to aid them if she could.

"I do not wish to get you, or your wife, in trouble," Yatilla said. She studied each open doorway they walked past intently, looking for a place they could hide in.

"She is not my wife," Mahrouf told the girl. "She is my…".

"Cousin from the East," Jeannie supplied. Mahrouf smiled at his genie, proud that she was able to come up with a good story. He hoped that this lie would not get him into trouble like the last one, however.

"I am Mahrouf, and this is Jeannie," he told Yatilla. "If you do not wish to tell us about your misfortunes, then, that is your misfortune."

Yatilla laughed, her high pitched voice not as musical as Jeannie's, but still a pretty laugh, Mahrouf decided. "What about you?" she asked him. "How did you acquire your own genie?"

"It is also a long tale…" Mahrouf began.

"Are you magic, too?" Yatilla wanted to know. Mahrouf shook his head. He noticed that, unlike most women, she walked in front of him rather than behind. Yatilla was also more spirited rather than demure, but she was way better than his wife, Fatina. Jeannie also walked beside her as he fell behind before speaking.

"No, only my cousin is," he responded, thinking about Fatina and what she was doing in their home so far away. Mahrouf decided that he could worry about her later.

"It was an accident," Jeannie was saying. "I would not marry a djinn, and he turned me into a genie."

Mahrouf's eyes widened with shock. He had thought that Jeannie was always a magic being. He had never dreamed that she had been someone else. He had heard all of his life about the stories and legends concerning genies and djinns. The male genies could be very powerful, and very possessive. It had never occurred to him that he might have to worry that the djinn could encroach upon them. He hoped that there would soon be good fortune for all of them.

"That is terrible," Yatilla was saying sympathetically, but with a hint in her voice that it was not just sympathy she felt. If Mahrouf didn't know any better, he would have sworn that she knew firsthand what Jeannie had gone through.

Questions concerning the girl were starting to flood his mind. Was she running from her intended? If so, why? Was he looking for her now? If there was a betrothed one looking for her, Mahrouf didn't want to think about what her future husband would do if he caught his future bride with another man.

"We must hide ourselves," the man told the two women. "Jeannie, could you…?"

Before he could finish his command, the trio found themselves facing the point of a sword. They started to back up, but then other men with swords surrounded them. Mahrouf noticed that Jeannie was starting to blink, but he shook his head.

"Better not to reveal our advantage," he cautioned softly, adding, "take no action." Jeannie thought that Mahrouf didn't know what he was talking about, but she did as he commanded.

"Ahh, your Highness," the Captain of the Guard greeted, "it is fortunate that we found you."

"Will it be fortunate for you all when I tell my father that you greeted me with the points of several swords?" the girl asked.

"Lower your weapons, Captain," a voice instructed. The man got off of his camel and calmly walked over to the group. The guards did as instructed.

"Jaffey!" Yatilla exclaimed. "I might have known that you had something to do with this!"

Grand Visier Jaffey bowed deeply, saying apologetically, "I am exceedingly sorry, Princess Jalisha. The guards tend to get a little excited. We thought you had been taken by thieves."

The Princess fixed him with a cold stare, saying, "To find any thieves all you need do is look in the mirror."

"Again, my apologies, oh High One," Jaffey said. "I must return you to the Sultan."

Princess Jalisha looked at Mahrouf and Jeannie, asking, "And what about them? They saved my life from some miscreants. They should at least see my father so that he can hear their story."

One of the guards pointed to Mahrouf, accusing, "But this one is a criminal, oh most Exalted Princess."

"Nevertheless, as the Highest Ranking Official, I command that no harm will come to them until my father sees us all," Jalisha said.

Jaffey's eyes betrayed nothing, but inside, he was seething. He had hoped he could deal with the infidel and his light skinned accomplice, but as he saw a crowd gathering to witness the little drama, he decided that perhaps it was best to wait. He had ways of influencing the Sultan, and he would use them once he was in more familiar and guarded territory.

Jaffey bowed again, saying, "Of course, my love. I only seek your happiness in these matters. We will go together and let your father decide. If you will permit me…". The Princess nodded, letting the Grand Visier place her on his camel.

When Mahrouf was placed on the Captain's camel, he thought about the comely maiden.

A Princess! She is a Princess, and it is all too clear that she is to be wed to him! He mentally said, steeling a look at Jaffey's beast as it rode off. Perhaps I should have had Jeannie rescue us!

Mahrouf realized that he could not do that, however. Something just did not seem right about the whole affair; the way the Princess had regarded Jaffey, for one. He also knew that he could not keep running and having Jeannie save him forever. The best defense was to plead his case before the Sultan of this province so that the Mighty Ruler could give him pardon.

As Jeannie was helped onto the Captain's Second-in-Command's camel, Mahrouf prayed that they stood a chance, and that the Sultan would be forgiving. Together, they all took the shortest route back to the palace.

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In the future on Monday morning at 0-1100 hours, Tony sat at ERIC's huge terminal. He typed in the name, Hadji, and received a piece of paper. He lifted the paper in front of his face.

"A name given to a mystic who is usually associated with genies and magical beings from ancient Persia," Tony read aloud. He lowered the small piece of paper.

"Well, that's a big help," he told the computer sarcastically. The computer bleeped back.

Tony let his mind ramble for a moment. Whenever he had wanted Jeannie, she had materialized before him, ready to grant his slightest wish. Although she had been within hearing range, there were equally many times when he was far enough away so that she would not be able to hear him. So, he queried in his mind, how had she known that he wanted her?

The door to the computer room opened, and Roger Healey walked inside. "Tony!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Supposed Doctor Bellows or General Peterson saw you?!"

"It's okay, Rog," Tony assured him. "I asked a friend of mine to program ERIC so that I could use it. Besides, all the higher ups are in a meeting."

"Yeah, well, one of the Generals insisted on seeing ERIC, and they're on their way now," Roger said. "They wanted me to turn ERIC on and find Major Ripkin."

"Great!" Tony said, annoyed. "Look, Roger, you've got to stall them. Tell them there's a bug or a short, or something and you're trying to get a technician on it."

"Tony, I can't…" Roger almost wailed.

"I'll be out of here soon. Just give me ten or fifteen minutes, okay? Besides, you told them you would get Major Ripkin, right? Just tell them you're finding him so that he can program ERIC," Tony said.

Roger nodded, saying, "Okay. I'll think of something." When his best friend left, Tony returned to the problem at hand: solving the riddle of how genies could hear their Masters, or of how any genie might be receptive to someone calling them.

Tony thought for a few moments, then brightened as he punched a question into ERIC's huge mainframe. "Okay, ERIC," he said as he typed, "let's see you earn those big bucks NASA spent on you."

Tony typed in the question, is it probable that genies and other magic beings can mentally tune into a mortal person's frequency?

A tiny piece of paper spit out of ERIC. Tony read it, saying the same thing the paper had on it: "yes."

Specify how such contact can be initiated from the mortal plane, Tony entered in.

Another much longer piece of paper came out of the huge computer. The Major grabbed it from the mechanical behemoth, but before the astronaut could read it, Roger burst into the computer room. He grabbed his best friend's arms, his look one of sheer panic at being caught using the computer.

"Tony! Oh, Tony! Doctor Bellows, General Peterson, and the brass are on their way here with Major Ripkin! I couldn't stall them! This might be a great time to leave!" he advised.

Major Nelson smiled, saying, "I've got what I need, Roj. I'm leaving right now."

Tony switched off the machine, covered the typewriter, and turned off the lights in the room. He and Roger exited, turning the corner in the opposite direction from the meeting room's occupants. He heard Major Ripkin's voice as Ripkin started talking about ERIC and the doors to the computer room swung open to admit the guests.

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When they reached Major Nelson's office, Tony let Roger in first. He had told Roger briefly about what had transpired with ERIC. Roger exclaimed, "Tony! Have you lost your mind? Jeannie's gone! You even told me yesterday that her bottle was missing from your coffee table at home! You said you didn't want to have her controlling your life, and now you have your wish, so why are you so eager to get her back?"

Major Nelson wrapped his mind around that one. Why did he want his genie back? Roger was right. He had wanted her out of his life for so long to escape the craziness, to be able to date and earn money the traditional, old fashioned way, with no surprises. So why were the hours since she'd been gone dragging so much?

The adventures he thought his job as an astronaut could provide took a distant back seat to Jeannie's machinations. Although he'd yelled at her many times and protested about the way she handled things, deep down inside, he appreciated the way she took care of his day-to-day needs. She also knew him better than any female he had tried to have a permanent relationship with.

As for the colorful life he had led after meeting her, he wondered who else could put him within arm's length with some of the greatest figures in history, like Napoleon or Captain Kidd? How else could he get to star in his own real life Western adventure? How would he have actually met William Shakespeare, Sigmund Freud, and Cleopatra?

Even if he had gotten into trouble with Doctor Bellows more times than he could count, his Jeannie had always gotten him out of trouble. He thought about all of the times he had accused her without mentioning all of the times she had helped him and felt extremely guilty that he hadn't even tried to see things from a better perspective.

"Earth to Tony!" Roger called, waving a hand in front of his friend.

"What?" Major Nelson asked. Roger repeated his question.

"Oh, I want her back because…" Tony started saying as his gentler mind supplied, I'm crazy about her and I can't live without her.

"Because without her, there is no magic in my life," he said finally. "I mean the magic that comes from fun."

"You're nuts," Roger commented, but he agreed, "but you're also right."

Both astronauts sat on Tony's green couch, lost in thought for a moment before Roger asked, "So, what's the plan for getting her back?"

Major Nelson pulled out the piece of paper from his pocket and said to his best friend, "We'll use this! ERIC gave me the answer! I just have to analyze the information and come up with an idea."

Roger took the piece of paper from his friend and studied it. After a moment, he muttered, "I don't think it'll work…".