*

The morning sun was bright and seemed to greet Rick and Jonathan as they stepped off the boat and onto the sands of Giza Port.  Licking his lips, O'Connell looked around the city.  Jonathan stepped up behind him.  "Well, here we are," the Englishman sighed.  He sounded apprehensive.

"Yep," Rick agreed simply, shouldering his bag and heading off in no particular direction.  "You know it's kinda nice here when there isn't a hundred zombified townsfolk at your heels."

Jonathan grunted and followed his friend.  "You said it.  You know, Evy could be in any number of the inns around here."

The ex-Legionairre nodded as they continued on, perhaps unconsciously towards an inn Rick knew of.  "They also could be gone from Cairo too.  We'll just have to ask around.  Someone's bound to have seen her and that other girl you mentione--if she came."

"I'm pretty sure she joined Evy," Jonathan said.

Rick turned his head and looked at Evy's brother thoughtfully.  "Why is that?"

Jonathan grinned.  "I called the hotel she was staying at.  Evy'd visited her there a few times, so I remembered the name.  They said she checked out the same day you arrived."

"Good thinking," Rick replied, his blue eyes fixed once more out across the city.  The walk wasn't a long one and they came upon a small hotel Rick had once stayed in.  "Let's take a look," he suggested, opening the door and entering.

A tall woman was sitting at the front desk.  Her face was stern and bordered on irritation.  Waving a fan in front of her face, she eyed the two strangers.  "Is there something you need?" she asked in none too polite a tone.

Rick put on a winning smile and plopped his bag onto the counter without missing a beat.  "We're looking for a friend of ours.  Perhaps a pretty thing like you wouldn't mind helping me a little?"

Jonathan turned away and began to examine a nearby painting on the wall, groaning, "Oh, good Lord."

Her face totally devoid of amusement, the woman stopped fanning herself and said, "How much would you pay for your information?  I'm sure a handsome thing like you wouldn't mind paying for the help he wants."

Taking a breath, Rick regarded her.  "You get right to the point, don't you?"  He exhaled and leaned against the desk.  "For starters me and my friend here'll stay right here instead of giving our business to someone else.  My name's O'Connell and he's Carnahan."  Rick pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

"Two separate rooms," she murmured, gazing at O'Connell speculatively, then examined Jonathan.  "Who are you looking for?  I'll see what I can do and we'll settle up later on how much more you'll have to pay."

Jonathan smirked from the other side of the room when Rick motioned him over.  The American stayed smooth and easy with the shrewd and snide woman.  "We're looking for an Evelyn Carnahan.  She's got dark brown hair and eyes, light skin and speaks with a British accent.  She might be with a friend."  He motioned to Carnahan.  "Jonathan, tell her about the other girl."

Looking the lady over appreciatively, Jonathan went on.  "Meela...Meela something.  She never told me her last name.  She's pretty thing, dark hair and eyes, tanned skin.  Very quiet and mysterious type.  Long, lovely legs too."  That last won him a sharp nudge from O'Connell.

The woman inhaled softly and seemed to consider.  Turning, she grabbed two sets of keys and handed each man his own.  "Up the stairs twice and all the way to the end of the hall.  Your friends didn't stay here, but if you give me a day I might be able to locate them."

"Thanks," Rick replied, taking his bag and grinning.  He walked backwards a little as he and Jonathan headed for their rooms.  "Tell Drake that Rick said hello."

At that her eyes widened and as they disappeared up the stairs Jonathan asked, "What was that all about?  Who's Drake?"

O'Connell kept walking, intent on getting rid of his bag.  "I could tell almost right off the bat that she works for Drake, a local cutthroat.  He was trying to organize himself a band of thieves, assassins and whores last time we were here.  Takes himself and crime pretty seriously.  That girl out there acted pretty knowledgeable about the city, if you noticed.  Like she wasn't too concerned about getting the information we need, just the payment."

"Okay," Jonathan went along, "but how do you know that she works for this Drake?  Maybe she just knows the city."

Rick shook his head, coming to a door that matched the number on his keys.  He opened it and pointed Jonathan to his.  "She was wearing a sapphire ring on her right, middle finger.  She works for him all right."

Carnahan opened his door and began stepping in.  "So, what do we do now?"

"Let's get settled then go out for a bit and see if we can't just find Evy ourselves."  Rick entered his room and put his bag on a chair near the door, then peeked back out at Jonathan.  "If you have anything valuable I suggest you bring it with you.  I'm not too sure how much protection I'll get by knowing Drake's name, but I'm sure there's a few reasons he's got his people working here."

Jonathan seemed a bit taken aback by that, muttering, "The people you know," as he closed the door to his room.

Rick shrugged and grabbed his pack, rummaging through it for his guns.  It never hurt to be prepared.

*

Meela looked out across the desert as she and Evy rode in silence.  They had left Cairo a day ago and were now heading towards this temple that her companion was interested in.  She wasn't sure how they were going to find it--Evy had only a vague idea of where the site was located, but for some reason this seemingly foolish trip didn't worry Meela in the least.  Somehow they would find it she knew.

Though she had never been out here, the surrounding hot desert seemed very familiar.  She seemed to instinctively know where they were going and that they were on the right trail.  "Evy," she said suddenly.  "Do you believe in anything that one might say was strange?"  She smiled at her own wording and shrugged at Evy's slightly confused look.  "Do you think there are things out in the world that haven't been explained yet?"

Evelyn seemed a little bothered by her question.  Looking down at her horse's mane and petting absently, she replied carefully, "I believe in God and I do believe that strange things happen.  Why do you ask?"

Meela turned her attention back to the desert, ever searching for her answers.  "Just a passing curiosity.  I've lived all of my life in Jordan and yet everything calls me back here.  I feel as if I know this path somehow."

The other woman reached out and pet Meela's shoulder with a smile.  "I know the feeling.  I grew up in London with my brother for much of my life.  Our parents died when we were very small, but I still remember how beautiful my mother looked.  She was Egyptian.  I've always felt Egypt was my home."

"Egypt is a magical place," Meela commented in reply.  She could see why Evy would call this place home, but wasn't so sure that was the case for her.  While Meela had never known her mother and couldn't say whether or not she was from this strange and beautiful land, she didn't feel that was the reason for her connection to Egypt.  It was was something else, something a little more tangible maybe.  "Do you believe in reincarnation?"

Evy blinked and studied her a moment.  "I've never given it much thought honestly.  Is that what you think may have happened to you?  That you were an Egyptian in some past life?"

With a soft exhale Meela looked at Evy with a smile in her brown eyes.  "Would that be so unbelievable?"

Evy smiled back and shrugged.  She seemed strangely open to this sort of thing, Meela thought.  Something she would not have expected.  "I might have said yes a year ago, but sometimes people change."

Meela saw no need to add to that and kept her eyes on the sands before them.  A momentary flash of caution passed through her as she realized they were being watched.  Just on the very edges of her perception she could see a small band of dark warriors, but when she turned her head they seemed to vanish.

She was wary about bringing this up to her friend.  To stop and turn back now was out of the question.  Evelyn might wish to do just that if she knew of it.  They were going to have to be very careful out here in the desert alone.

Ancksunamun would have had no trouble with defending herself.  The woman she was in her dreams was a skilled combatant, trained by a dark Med-Jai.  Meela thought back on some of the practice sessions she had experienced.  She had never tried to duplicate the moves in her dream and wasn't sure she could, but it felt just within reach.  The knowledge was there, somewhere.

This strange young woman that she seemed to be was nothing like she'd ever met before, though Meela supposed she could see the similarities between them.  Ancksunamun was rash and filled with anger and contempt.  These are things Meela had felt in her life, but never to such a degree.  The young concubine was very willful and outspoken, whereas Meela was always meek and stayed concealed in the shadows of her solitude.

Meela envied Ancksunamun for her ability to wrap people around her finger and manipulate then.  This was something she wished for herself, something she had never been able to do.  Ancksunamun was given much attention and could get away with things.  When Meela wasn't being paraded before her father's colleagues, she was in her room or off on her own, barely noticed.  When she did something wrong it was left to the maids to punish her and they were never merciful.  Yet despite all this Meela genuinely loved her father and it did hurt, leaving him.  But if she could connect with something from her distant past and become someone else, someone better than she was now, it would be worth it in the end.

She did have some similarities with her dream self, however.  Despite the attention and importance of Ancksunamun, she was a lonely girl.  She felt distinctly different than everyone around her and she was.  Everyone within the palace had treated her differently.  The guards looked at her body with lust in their hearts, but could never touch her lest Pharaoh find out.  The maids were distant as if she weren't just as much of a person as they.  Even the other concubines were resented towards her glorified position.  They hated her for being prized, however unwilling she was.

But there was one in whom Ancksunamun could find kinship.  In the second year of Ancksunamun's life as Seti's concubine, on a dark night a woman came unannounced to the palace.  There was no official greeting, no guards questioned her when she bid entry.  She seemed to have a thrall with everyone she passed.  Everyone but Ancksunamun.

The young concubine had followed from a safe distance, watching as the woman simply entered and walked through the halls of the great palace of her own accord, as if she were expected.  No one paid any attention to her except Ancksunamun.

Suddenly the woman stopped as they entered a dark chamber together.  They were alone and Ancksunamun had poised for a fight.  "Child, if you think you can overcome me, by all means try," came the ominous challenge.  The woman had turned then, her dark eyes as hard as granite and coolly regarding.  "Come and test your skill, Ancksunamun."

The fight would ultimately be her opponents, she knew.  There was no bluff in her eyes and so the concubine stepped from the darkness, holding her head high.  "You know me."

With a strangely chilling smile, the older of the two inclined her head slightly.  "Your life has been directed, child.  Your calling waits for a destiny which I have helped create.  I am Asenath and you are my servant."

The rest of that night Ancksunamun was left undisturbed and seemed almost nonexistent as she listened to all this Asenath would have to say.  It had been a life changing night for the young and angry concubine.  A night that filled her with purpose and a kind of freedom.  A night filled with darkness.

Meela shuddered back from those memories and brought her thoughts to the here and now.  She wasn't sure what to think about the turn Ancksunamun had taken that night.  She wasn't even certain if she would have made the same decision as her dream self, but that would never be placed upon her, thankfully.  Those nights, if they even were real, happened 3,000 years ago.

Out of the corner of her eye, Meela saw Evy watching her.  "You looked pretty deep in thought," the Englishwoman observed with a little smile.

"Yes," Meela replied, looking to her companion.  "I have much on my mind.  Do you think it will be long before we near to your temple?"

Evelyn furrowed her brows and thought about it.  "Shouldn't be more than a day, two at most, I should think.  It's north of..." she paused suddenly and swallowed, "here and we'll come upon a large rock formation or valley of some sort.  According to the man I was listening to, the entrance to the temple is located somewhere in the rocks."

"The rocks," Meela murmured, looking out across the sand before them.  It was getting dark and she couldn't see very far in the distance that stretched out before them.  Shaking her head softly, she peered back and Evy and took in the woman's expression as she gazed at the desert.  She seemed troubled.  Perhaps she too could feel it.  Something was calling out.  Something wanted to be found.

*

Jonathan took a sip of his beer, then placed it on the small table beside the chair he was lounging in.  O'Connell seemed quite comfortable where he was--sitting on a pillowed chair, his feet propped up on the table before him and arms folded on his stomach.  He seemed perfectly at ease despite the suspicious glare being shot at him from a tall and imposing fellow at the door.

The guard was Mahmud; a large man with very, very big muscles.  He spared no trust to O'Connell it seemed, and was rather annoyed at having to keep an eye on them.  His sapphire ring glinted in the lamp light.  Nearby sat Samira, the clerk they had encountered at the small hotel.  After a day of fruitless searching they had come back to her amused gaze.  As she had guessed, they had found neither Evy nor her companion, nor any word of sight of them.

She asked them politely how their day was, concealing her smile when they answered.  Then she got down to the business at hand.  Drake wanted to meet with Rick again.  Now they waited for this illustrious crime lord to enter.  They didn't wait too long.

Just when Jonathan was about to get up, the door opened and in came a tall man with very dark skin.  He was even bigger than Mahmud, but his expression was quite different.  His white teeth gleamed in broad contrast with his skin as he neared.  "Ricky O'Connell," he mused, taking in Rick as if they were old friends.  "I ought to have you killed for running out on me a year ago."

"Ricky?" Jonathan chuckled.  "By God, I like it."

O'Connell frowned and looked heavenward.  "Good to see you too, Drake.  How's business?"

The large assassin sat down by Rick and motioned Samira to get him a beer.  "Business is going very well, Ricky.  Very well.  I've gotten most of the criminals of Cairo under my care and the unlicensed are hunted and forced to either join, leave town or I turn them over to the local authorities."

Rick grinned and shook his head, taking a drink from his mug.  "Interesting term.  'Unlicensed'.  I kind of like that."

Drake cocked his head and looked at Rick speculatively.  Leaning back in his chair and taking a large mug of frothy drink from Samira, he asked, "What happened to you after you got thrown in jail?  Last I got was a note a year ago telling me you had something you wanted old Saied to look at and had some information I might be interested in?"

Jonathan watched Rick cough uncomfortably and cover it as quickly as he had acted.  With a soft smile, he sighed.  "Police caught up with me.  I was about to be hanged when the nice lady you're helping me look for saved my neck.  After that we went to London for a while and then I left to America.  When I got back to London a few days ago she'd come here.  I came to see what she's up to."

"And you?" Drake asked Jonathan, his black eyes mild and searching.  "I'm told you share the woman's last name."

Jonathan nodded quickly, taking his beer in hand and playing along with the forced ease in the atmosphere.  "Yeah.  She's my sister.  Pesky little thing has a habit of slipping away inconveniently."

The large black man grinned and nodded absently.  He turned his attention back to Rick then.  "All right, Ricky.  I like you too much to kill you for leaving after you got out of jail."

"Thanks," Rick replied dryly.

Drake looked at his old friend with mischief in his eyes.  "Tell you what.  I'll help you find this girl and her friend, all right.  In fact I already have men on it.  We can settle up on the price later."

O'Connell shook his head quite vehemently and raised his hands.  "No way, Drake.  I know you.  You'll do the job and make sure I pay some enormous fee.  The job'll be done, though, so I'll either have to pay or risk my life."

"I've missed you," Drake laughed, drinking his beer and shaking his head.  He put the mug down and leaned forward on his knees.  "Okay.  I'll make you a deal, then.  I like to know what I'm dealing with before settling on prices.  When my men find her, they'll tell me and then we'll decide on a price.  I won't cheat you, Ricky.  I give you my word."

Jonathan took that opportunity to risk the man's anger by saying, "I don't mean to be offensive, but is the word of a thief all that trustworthy?"  He looked at Drake slyly.

Drake didn't take offense, thankfully.  Instead he merely nodded thoughtfully.  "I suppose to the average person on the street that does sound a little questionable."  His amused eyes waited for Rick to add his own thoughts.

The American smiled and emptied his beer glass.  Setting it down, he blinked and watched Drake a moment.  "We've got to just trust him, Jonathan.  There's really no way he can prove his word is true other than following through with his promise.  I think he'll be reasonable."

Jonathan swallowed another drink and shrugged.  "If you say so, O'Connell."

The crime lord grinned broadly and stood up.  "I always keep my word," he assured them.  "I'll even let you stay at my inn free of charge.  Samira, their rooms are not to be touched." Then without another word, Drake left them.

Carnahan grunted and stood up as Mahmud held the door open, a meaningful look in his eyes.  He joined Rick out the door and into the night air of Cairo.  "Well, fancy that.  A virtual king of thieves.  You really think he'll keep his word?"  The wind breezed by softly and Jonathan looked at his friend.

"Yeah," Rick answered, his eyes straight ahead.  "He's a scoundrel, but I don't think he'd scam me.  He and I were good friends a while back.  My friend Izzy and I worked for him for a time.  He'll help us find her."

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Jonathan nodded to himself and idly wondered where his sister was.  It kind of bothered him that they hadn't found her today, but of course if she had found some temple she could be anywhere in Egypt.  "You think he'll be able to find her?"

Rick nodded and looked to Jonathan.  "I'm pretty sure he'll at least have an idea of where we can find her.  He's pretty resourceful."

Evy's brother chuckled suddenly.  "He seems like a very interesting man, Ricky."

O'Connell shuddered and held up a forestalling hand.  "Don't do that."

*

Destroy him.  Anck-su-namun closed her eyes.

Kill everything he is.  Lips pressed over hers, gently seeking.

He is your enemy.  She leaned her head back against the wall as he pressed her to it.  Meela swallowed as his lips traveled her over.

Your task lies before you.  Dark eyes looked into hers.

Murder everything he stands for.  She would obey.