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As the mummy came into view, Truman screamed a blood-curling scream, leaving both of the Doctor's companions incapacitated with fear. Thinking on his feet, the Doctor pulled his companions towards the door and pushed them out, raising his sonic behind him to close the opening before the mummy could follow. Windsor and Truman sat on the ground as the Doctor looked up into the sky to see the sun reappear again.
"The dead should stay dead!" Windsor cried out, his body in a fetal position as he rocked back and forth in the desert sand. Truman sat beside him with his eyes wide with fear, catching his breath as his friend babbled next to him.
"Are you both afraid of a reanimated corpse? Really?" complained the Doctor.
"Nonsense!" Truman defended. "Didn't you see that tarantula on its shoulder? Absolutely terrifying Doctor! Biggest I've ever seen!"
"THE DEAD SHOULD STAY DEAD!" Windsor yelled.
"Yeah, we got that, Duke," the Doctor said. "The sun disappears, corpses come to life. The sun reappears, the corpses settle again. Why is this happening?" He was already walking back into the city, with Truman scrambling to his feet to follow and Windsor willing himself to move.
"That doesn't really make sense, Doctor," Truman wheezed behind him. "In the mummification process the brains are removed so that the Ka, the vital essence that distinguishes living from dead can leave the body while the Ba, your spiritual essence, stays. It seems like they have sentience but no individual identity."
"So Truman, your proposing these 'mummies' are getting their Kas and Bas mixed up?" the Doctor asked.
"Wha?" questioned Windsor, who had caught up with them.
"The Ka is staying and the Ba is leaving," Truman impatiently replied.
"What's the Ka and the Ba?"
"Ka's life, Ba's identity."
"Ka's staying."
"Yes."
"Ba's leaving."
"Correct."
"Ka's here, Ba's gone."
"Yah."
"Ah."
"Got it?"
"Not in the slightest," Windsor admitted. Truman decided to leave him in the dark. It really wasn't worth the effort.
"What I am wondering," the Doctor began, "is why it's happening here and now. Obviously something is triggering this. Truman, can you think of anything that may be happening? Any Egyptian myths floating around in your head?" Truman thought for a moment, and then responded.
"Well, there is this theory involving the placement of the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx."
"What does the theory say?"
"Well according to some researchers, the alignment of the three pyramids of Giza correlates to the three stars in Orion's belt. These stars have often been associated with the god Osiris, the god of rebirth and the afterlife. There's also a connected theory involving the Sphinx, pyramids and the Nile lining up with the Leo constellation, the Orion belt and the Milky Way Galaxy." Windsor looked at him in disbelief.
"Useless knowledge," he scoffed.
"No knowledge is ever useless," preached the Doctor. "Although it is a bit odd you know all that off the top of your head."
"I studied Egyptology in school. I wanted to do something in that field, but… things got in the way," Truman admitted as he looked longingly at the ground.
"Nevertheless, we have a theory!" the Doctor shouted. "What I propose is that we investigate the other pyramids, see if we have any other mummy sightings, and perhaps confront the pharaoh if we feel up to it." Windsor visibly shuddered at the mention, earning him a chastising look from the Doctor. "If it helps, Duke of Windsor, you have more brains than they do."
"That's not saying much," Truman muttered. Windsor punched him hard on the arm, causing it to bruise immediately.
"And what good are you against them? What are you going to do, bore them to death with Egyptology?" Windsor chided.
"Oi, enough bickering you two!" the Doctor said. "I can drop you off at home if you don't stop." They both mumbled apologies, causing the Doctor to beam again. "Now then, shall we to the 7th Wonder of the Ancient World?"
The trio began to walk towards the pyramids, the Doctor talking with Truman.
"I've dealt with spiders in the past," he confided. "Well, they were more spider-alien hybrid recently. The Racnoss they were called. My old mate Donna and I took them out. It was our first adventure together." His eyes grew sad at the mention of his former companion. "Boy was she a firecracker. Never wanted to get on her bad side. She was the most important woman in the entire universe."
"I have a cousin named Donna!" Windsor interrupted, wanting to be included in on the conversation. "She's a real mean one too. Poor girl though. Her first wedding she up and disappeared, and then when she came back Santas attacked her reception! Plus there was this loon of a man who came all of a sudden and then left with her!" The Doctor turned suddenly to Windsor.
"Was her name Donna Noble?"
"Yeah, that's the one!" Windsor said. "Wait, that man at the reception, was that you? But it can't be! You don't look anything alike!"
"That's a long story," the Doctor said, and Truman hoped he would elaborate, but did not receive his wish. He found it odd that although the two flatmates had revealed so much about themselves the Doctor said very little in regards to himself. Sure, he hinted at past adventures and sights he's seen, but it was all so impersonal, as if they happened to another person entirely. He has had partners, companions he called them, in the past, but he doesn't ever say what happened to them.
"Well at least we know one of your companions turned out alright," Windsor said, patting the Doctor on his back. Truman noticed the look on the Doctor's face and wondered whether she did turn out ok after all. He decided to change the subject.
"Since when have you been afraid of reanimated corpses, Windsor? You used to watch the classic horror movies with me all the time."
"I've been having… dreams ever since I killed my first patient," Windsor said, his gaze fixed in front of him in a trance. "I dream the ones I failed to save come to life and take their vengeance out on me. I barely sleep anymore, they've gotten so bad. Since starting with the Doctor though there's another man in my dreams leading them that I don't know. It's all very strange." He began tapping on his leg, and Truman gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
The Doctor put a hand up to stop the two. They halted and looked around for a sign of what the Doctor was ordering them to stop for. All they saw was the pyramids in front of them a distance away.
"What's wrong, Doctor?" Truman asked.
"The pyramids," the Doctor stated plainly, as if the answer was as clear as day.
"Yes, they're right in front of us," Windsor said slowly, as if the Doctor was mentally impaired.
"Exactly. Notice anything funny about where they are?" He looked at the two companions, who shook their heads. Sighing, he turned the two around.
The Sphinx lingered a few feet behind them.
"But that's impossible. We've been walking for a half hour at least," reasoned Windsor.
"I think we've been infected with something," the Doctor said, grabbing at an invisible force in front of his eyes. He motioned for the duo to do the same. Truman reached for his eyes, and felt a strange fabric in front of them. He tore it off…
And saw they were still in the Sphinx, surrounded by mummies on all sides.