Brothers-in-Arms
Rick O'Connell sighed as he read the newspaper. The news was not good, had in fact not been good ever since the war he had predicted would happen had come. Adolf Hitler was making his presence felt and killing thousands of people in the process. Even England was not unaffected for Hitler had begun dropping bombs and had in the process killed thousands of people. The year was 1941 and it was almost exactly two years since the war had begun. England had joined the war almost at the beginning and Rick was expecting the drafting to begin almost any time now, before that happened however; Rick planned to take himself and his family to Egypt where Ardeth had offered them sanctuary in Hidden City. In fact, the telegraph they had just sent a few days ago had warned his brother that they were on their way for a visit. Rick hadn't dared say anymore then that because of the fact that telegraph messages could be intercepted. Ardeth however, was smart enough to read between the lines and knew that if they came over now then they would probably stay through the duration of the war.
At this particular time it was dangerous to cross by boat for a lot of them were being sunk by German U-boats so it had been decided that they would fly by plane and Rick had gotten an old friend of his to agree to take them.
Rick put the paper down and began going over in his head what he would need to bring with him when going on this trip. His scimitar, the one Ardeth had given him as well as his knives and also his guns with plenty of ammunition for who knew if he would need it? He might and then again he might not, you just never knew.
Evie came into the den where Rick was sitting and Rick asked, "Almost ready to go to Egypt for the duration of the war?"
"Yes," Evie answered. "I will miss this place though. I mean who knows if it will be in one piece when we come back?"
"We don't know, not for sure anyway," Rick told Evie quietly. "But we can always get another house if we must, but we can't come back to life if we are killed, well at least since we lost the Book of the Dead at Ahm Shere anyway and quite frankly London is getting to be a dangerous place in which to live and it will only become more so as long as this war drags on."
"I know," said Evie quietly. "But leaving all these books—some of them irreplaceable—"
"Evie we can't take them all with us and even if we could we don't want anyone to realize that we've gone anywhere except on vacation. From what I understand the army is going to begin drafting soon and just because I'm American will probably not stop them from drafting me, especially since I hold English citizenship so it is better to get out of here before that. Now you know I'm no coward, after all I did belong to the French Foreign Legion and defeated Imhotep twice but that doesn't mean I want to be drafted and possibly get myself killed for somebody's else's war."
"You know if they do began drafting like you suspect they will and they do come to draft you into the army don't you think that they will arrest you the minute you set foot back in England?"
"No," said Rick shaking his head. "They would have to prove I had disappeared, because I had been drafted and gotten orders to report and since we'll be gone before that happens—"
"Hopefully," interrupted Evie.
"In any case, they won't have any leverage so to speak. All they'll be able to discover is that the O'Connells went to Egypt for vacation and they'll probably figure we couldn't get back because of the U-boats sinking a lot of ships."
"Yes, that makes sense," Evie admitted. "But maybe they'll figure we could have returned by plane."
"By the time, that happens there won't be any flights that would be willing to go that far. I mean planes are already being bombed down. I had trouble enough getting an old friend of mine to do this one favor for me and if he didn't owe me big time for not only saving his life but for introducing him to his wife he never would have agreed. And before he agreed I had to assure him that this squared us."
Evie thought about this for a moment then nodded. "I suppose it pays to have friends in the right places."
"Yes, without those friends we would have had had to risk taking a ship and possibly dying."
"So have you transferred our money to the bank in Cairo?" asked Evie.
"As much as I dared," said Rick then fell silent as he and Evie and contemplated all they would be leaving behind, even though they knew they had no choice for England had become a dangerous place to be and they knew it would remain so for the duration of the war.
~~~Rick and Evie~~~
A few days later everything was arranged and Rick had asked an old friend of his to look after the house for them. The Barretts were an older couple with three grown sons and too old to be drafted. They had agreed to live in the house and keep it up. For this service not only would they have a place to live but they would receive a certain amount of money paid out of an account every month by their lawyer Mark Simmons, who was also too old to be drafted.
All three O'Connells and Jonathan gave one last look at their home knowing that they might never see it again.
"Rick, old boy are you sure about this? I mean leaving England for Egypt for the duration of the war?"
Rick looked at his brother-in-law then said, "if you want to risk being drafted you're welcome to stay here."
Jonathan looked at Rick for a moment trying to determine if he was serious then said, "No, that's okay, you're right London is a dangerous place to be right now."
Rick snorted, although privately agreed with Jonathan's statement. "You just don't want to be drafted."
"And neither do you," Jonathan pointed out.
"No, I don't want to be drafted, but I might have joined up on my own if I didn't have other obligations to consider, but those responsibilities are not anything the drafting board would accept. I have obligations not only to my brother but to all Medjai."
"We know dad," said Alex who was almost 13.
"And we think you are doing the right thing," Evie added.
"Thanks, your confidence is appreciated."
All four looked at the house that was there home one last time then almost as one they turned and headed for the airfield where they were meeting their plane.
~~~Rick and Evie~~~
Late the same night that the O'Connells had checked in there was a knock on their hotel room door and Rick knowing instantly who was on the other side since he could feel his brother's presence like a shining beacon opened the door yawning for he had been sleeping and after all it was the middle of the night.
"Ardeth, do you have any idea what time it is?" asked Rick, wiping the sleep from his eyes. However, before Rick could say another word he was caught in a bear hug.
"Hey, I'm happy to see you to. Why don't you come in and tell me why this middle of the night call."
"I'll meet you downstairs in the dining room so we can talk."
Rick nodded and didn't argue when he saw Ardeth's serious and somewhat worried expression, but he did wonder what had caused Ardeth to show up in the middle of the night.
~~~Rick and Evie~~~
A few minutes later, Rick entered the dining room that was open twenty-four hours a day still yawning and joined Ardeth at one of the tables. Ardeth pushed a cup of black coffee in his direction and Rick took it gratefully drinking it almost all down in one gulp. "So what gives?" Rick finally asked after the coffee was gone and the caffeine was running through his system making him feel wide awake and alert.
"There were rumors that the ship you were on had been sunk and that everybody onboard had drowned. I was still at least a day from Cairo when one of the Medjai who had been in town arrived to tell me about the rumors. When I heard that news I tried to reach you through our special connection hoping it wasn't true and that you were close enough for it to work. I touched your mind for just a moment, just long enough to confirm it was indeed you, but the effect considering the distance still between us nearly drained me to exhaustion."
"I see," said Rick thoughtfully now understanding why his brother had greeted him as he had and in the middle of the night. "Well, just so you know we didn't take a boat. I had a friend of mine, who owed me a favor, fly us over. Evie and I figured it would probably be too dangerous to come to Egypt by boat what with the German U-boats sinking ships, even passenger liners and medical transports."
"I am extremely grateful that you are all right and that you had the foresight to not come by boat, for if you had it is possible you would be dead."
"I am sorry that I caused you this surge of grief even though it was unintentional."
"Not your fault, how were you to know about the rumors? And anyway I should have realized that there are always rumors during war and a lot of the time they are nothing but smoke."
"So how did the other Medjai you were with react to the news of our supposed deaths?"
"Very badly," said Ardeth with a smile remembering. "Most of them wanted to come and try to kill the person or persons responsible for your deaths in revenge. I managed to stop them saying that I would know if you were dead, no matter the distance between us and that I had managed to touch your mind briefly by concentrating. That calmed them down a little but we still rushed to get to Cairo as fast as we could to see if it was true."
"Which explains why you showed up at my door in the middle of the night," said Rick.
"Yes, and I apologize for waking you," apologized Ardeth.
"Forget it, I understand," said Rick, who was by this time wired from the caffeine of the several cups of extremely strong coffee he had drunk.
Rick took another sip of coffee then pushed the cup aside for he was going to be awake for the rest of night as it was. "Well, I'm certainly not going to be able to go back to sleep with four cups of caffeine running through my veins so I guess I will go and arrange for horses and supplies."
"No need," said Ardeth. "Everything is already taken care of. I arranged for horses and supplies when I got your telegram. Reading between the lines of course I realized you were telling me that you were here to stay for the duration of the war."
"Yes, we're here to stay. It was getting quite dangerous in London as Hitler has been dropping bombs on the city almost since the beginning. It has gotten to the point that rationing had begun and there was a rumor about drafting and although I'm American I do have English citizenship and that means they could have drafted me. Now you know I'm no coward, as I was a member of the French Foreign League so I'm no stranger to skirmishes or wars and if it wasn't for my obligations to you and the other Medjai I probably would have joined the army on my own."
"Will there be any trouble because you not to mention Jonathan avoided the drafting?"
Rick shook his head and said, "I don't think so, for one thing we left before it was anything more than a rumor. For all the drafting board knows we just came to Egypt like we have done every year and then couldn't get back because of the Germans sinking ships. They'll probably figure we didn't want to risk taking a boat and possibly getting it sunk."
Ardeth nodded deciding that Rick's explanation made sense. "I hope you're right."
"Well, even if they do find we came to Egypt they don't have any jurisdiction here," Rick said.
"But they do in England and if they decide to press charges you could be arrested the minute you set foot on English shores," Ardeth pointed out. "You could literally never be able to go home."
"We realized that could happen, although I'm pretty sure it won't, but if it does then what will be, will be. I've come to realize over the years that you and the other Medjai deserve more of my loyalty then England. Its true London has been my home for the last fifteen years but I grew up in Cairo and I feel more at home here than I ever did in London. Evie though will be upset with me if we have to leave all the books and valuables behind permanently—especially the books." This last was said wryly for both Evie and Alex loved their books and there were quite a few volumes in their library that were irreplaceable as his wife had just recently reminded him.
Ardeth chuckled at that for what Rick had said was true his sister-in-law and nephew loved their books. "Well, I must be going. I need to inform the others I rode with that you are indeed alive and well. We'll meet you just outside of Cairo a couple of hours after dawn."
"All right," said Rick. "That's what three hours from now?"
"More or less," said Ardeth
"I suppose I had better go and pack and wake Evie, Alex and Jonathan."
"Ah, so Jonathan did come with you."
"Yes he wasn't very eager to be drafted, you know how he is."
"Yes, but he always comes through when you really need him and that's all that matters," Ardeth pointed out. "Make sure you warn him though that he'd better behave for after we get there I will not be able to save his life if one of my people take insult at something he does."
"I understand, don't worry he has already been warned," said Rick. "I promised to personally eviscerate him if he causes any trouble and with a very dull knife."
Ardeth smiled at the menace in Rick's tone knowing that he was fonder of his brother-in-law then he cared to admit, but on the other hand, there was nothing wrong with a few threats if it kept Jonathan from getting into trouble and possibly getting himself killed by one of his people for some Medjai had very quick tempers and could kill before they realized what they had done and by then of course, it was too late.
"Very well, I will see you in a few hours," said Ardeth rising from his chair. Rick rose as well and the two men shared one final hug before Ardeth disappeared.
~~~Rick and Evie~~~
Ardeth arrived back at the Medjai campsite and waved to the two sentries as he entered the camp. He immediately noticed all of the Medjai who were not standing sentry were gathered around a campfire talking. All immediately rose to their feet and the anxiety on their faces nearly made Ardeth smile for this just proved that the O'Connells were much loved.
"You can all relax, the rumors have proved false. The O'Connells are alive and well and are going to meet us here a couple of hours after dawn."
The Medjai relaxed at this and Kadin who was one of Rick's best friends out of the Medjai grinned and said, "Well, that famous O'Connell luck strikes again. Rick O'Connell has got to be one of the luckiest men I know, not only did he survive fighting the Creature twice he also survived the Scorpion King and being poisoned." Kadin shook his head in wonder. "Any one of these things would have killed a lesser man."
"He also survived fighting the Tuaregs when the rest of his unit was killed when he was a member of the French Foreign Legion. He then crossed the desert on foot and with no food and very little water," Ardeth said.
"Well, that just proves my point," said Kadin. "Rick has got to be one of the luckiest men I know."
"Or maybe the gods were watching out for him," Ardeth suggested quietly. "Did you ever think it might have been his destiny to survive? That if he hadn't then Imhotep would have taken over the world and the Medjai as a people would no longer exist? And I never would have met him or discovered we were brothers 5000 years ago." Every time Ardeth thought about the possibility of never meeting Rick O'Connell or his family and of what would have happened to the world if he had not made him shudder at the horrible possibilities not to mention his life—if he had lived after Imhotep was raised from the grave—would be all the poorer for not knowing Rick O'Connell or his family.
"And none of us would have met him or his family either," said Kadin his expression sober for once. The thought of never meeting Rick O'Connell or his family was very sobering for he and Rick had become very good friends over the last two years. Normally he was a very cheerful person by nature, but Rick O'Connell had a way of looking at the world that could make him laugh even when he didn't feel like it, which was a very rare event. Also over the last couple of years Rick had taught him more about guns and how to shoot and how to hit your target no matter what. Rick could hit a target dead center at 15 feet and from the back of a fast moving horse. He could also throw knives always hitting whatever it was he intended to hit a target on the practice range and although Kadin had never seen it he was sure Rick could hit a live and moving man if he had to. There was one thing however, that Kadin was better at and that was the scimitar, but then again Kadin, all Medjai really, started training from the time they were ten. Rick, on the other hand, had never even handled a sword until he was in his thirties—and then it had been sporadic at best—so he had not had the years of training that the other Medjai had had, but if he had Kadin had a feeling Rick O'Connell would be just as good at using a sword as he was at anything else—especially weapons of any type.
The lives of all the Medjai would be considerably poorer without Rick O'Connell or his family in it.
~~~Rick and Evie~~~