CHAPTER 19

Hamunaptra

Egypt, 1933

The night was clear and bright. The dark black sky was lit by thousands of stars. A round moon shone brightly. Its yellow light reached until the corners of the hills.

Captain Picard was in Salvia’s tent, with Hazanah watching their every move. They had been discussing about the passageway and the probability of self-destruction of the key. The conversation had not taken long, for it was too stressful for both of them. Now they were just sitting, looking at each other in silence.

"May I come in?" Ardeth’s voice was heard outside the tent.

"Please do." Answered Salvia, "The more the merrier, they said." She added in a cynical voice.

Ardeth came in, obviously didn’t mind her comment and spoke with Hazanah instead. They were speaking in Arabic, and neither Picard nor Salvia understood. But it was clear that he was asking about them, for Hazanah sometimes gazed on them as she spoke.

"We are prisoners indeed, eh Jean-Luc." Salvia spoke softly to Picard. The Captain didn’t respond.

Finally Ardeth nodded and turned his attention to Salvia.

"I came to ask you out. You promise you will tell me about the songwriter. I think you should come out and see the sky tonight. I do not wish to treat any of you like prisoners. I’m sorry if you get that impression. Please do, come out of the tent. The night is too beautiful to miss."

He smiled and offered his hand to Salvia. She looked at him first, then she looked at the hand. Finally she decided to take the offer and the three of them went out of the tent. Ardeth signaled Hazanah to come with them.

The four of them now stood on the same hill where Salvia had stood at the dusk. The night was truly beautiful. Cold wind blew softly and they could see the desert clearly beyond. No one spoke at first, they all seemed to be hypnotized by the beauty of it. Then Ardeth broke the silence.

"The warriors were hypnotized by your song, Princess. They loved it. Your voice was the most beautiful voice we have ever heard…. At least in this place."

Salvia turned to see Ardeth and smiled, for the first time since she arrived. Ardeth and Hazanah were surprised to see her. She looked devilishly beautiful when she wore the expression. She was like a totally different person.

"Please, do not call me Princess. I am nobody’s Princess here. I’m too far from my kingdom. You can call me Salvia."

Ardeth bowed, "And you just call me Ardeth."

Then Salvia’s face changed. It seemed like there was a cloud suddenly covered her beauty. She sighed and said softly.

"Yes… Ardeth…. Ardeth…" Her eyes was fixed on the desert, yet her mind was far away.

Picard touched her shoulder lightly. He knew what she was thinking. Salvia startled and smiled wearily. She turned to look at Ardeth and suddenly dropped herself on the ground, sitting.

The others followed one by one. Now the four of them were sitting on the sand forming a circle. Ardeth brought some woods and lit the fire to warm them up.

"The songwriter." Ardeth broke the silence once again.

Salvia turned to him, smiled and nodded. Hazanah watched the exchange of glances between the two and she was sure she saw a gleam of desire in Ardeth’s eyes.

"His name….. his name is… Ardeth Bay VII." Salvia started.

Ardeth and Hazanah were surprised to hear it.

"He looks a lot like me, doesn’t he. For both of you yelled out my name the first time we met. I wondered how you knew my name." Ardeth said, chuckling and shaking his head in disbelief.

Salvia smiled and nodded, Hazanah could see her fangs flashing in the moonlight. They looked sharp. She shuddered in fear.

"Yes. In fact, if you wipe the tattoos on your face and cut your hair short, then trim your beard and mustache.. you got him. Only he’s much taller and a bit older than you are." Salvia explained.

Ardeth could see that talking about this guy had suddenly changed her attitude. She smiled, and chuckled, and seemed to be new spirited. She must have been in love with this guy, he thought.

"Will you tell me more about him? He’s the last Med-jai, isn’t he?" Ardeth probed further.

"Are you sure you want to know about the future of your race?" Picard asked.

"Yes, Captain."

Salvia shrugged, "Well actually I don’t know much about the history of the Med-jai. I only know what Ardeth….er.. my Ardeth.. told me. And mostly it is the same with the song I sang."

Ardeth moved closer to Salvia, "So, the warriors left this place to go… space traveling? Where did they go?"

Salvia shook her head, "No one knows. Ardeth said that some of them joined Starfleet, some ended up as wanderers, looking for adventures. He said that the curse of the tomb was just a legend. No one had seen evil spirits or armies of anubis for centuries. That was why they left."

Ardeth looked at the fire, he closed his eyes and sighed.

"So, that’s the end of our race." He mumbled.

"What about him? Ardeth Bay VII? Is he a believer? Please tell me about him." He continued and moved even closer to Salvia.

Hazanah could see that both of them were now sitting side by side. Jealousy burned her.

Salvia smiled and shook her head, "I’m sorry. Ardeth Bay VII is not even a warrior."

She looked into Ardeth eyes and began her story.

"He is an artist. He writes songs, paints and makes sculptures. Please don’t misunderstand me. Although he never believes in the legends and curses of the dead, he can read hieroglyphic characters. He learns history of your people, he studies how to use blades. And he is a fine swordsman. But… he never goes into battle. He hates war, and he hates spilling blood, because he loves peace… and art… and beauty."

Salvia stopped talking, her eyes and mind wandered far beyond the time as she imagined Ardeth’s handsome face smiling at her.

"And you are in love with him." Said Ardeth suddenly.

Salvia was surprised by the comment. He looked at Ardeth, then a smile formed on her face.

"Yes I am. I love him dearly…. I wonder if I will ever see him again…" her voice trembled.

"You will, Salvia. You will." Picard said assuring her.

Ardeth took her hand in his, "Will you tell me how you met him?"

"Oh it’s a long story." She said, still looking far ahead in a dreamy look.

"We have a long beautiful night here." Said Ardeth.

Salvia closed her eyes for a second or two and then looked at Ardeth. She realized that he was holding her hand. She withdrew her hand quickly without turning her gaze upon his eyes. It was her Ardeth’s eyes she was looking at. She hardly believed that two different people from different time could resemble one another so closely like twin brothers.

"I met him on Dnunia, my planet. He joined my organization called The Soul Foundation. We deal with refugees, war victims and abused children. He was working as a pilot at that moment, to deliver medical aids to worlds at war. He had not started the work as a pilot though. He had started as a volunteer to do errand jobs. But when I met him, he was a pilot."

Salvia stopped for a moment, as pictures of old times came to her mind.

"One night, I couldn’t put myself to sleep. So I decided to go to the hospital to see the children. I knew there were 73 children arrived in the morning. I had seen them during their arrivals and they were in bad condition. So I took one of my bodyguards and went there. I have never been in the hospital at night before. It was very different when you enter it at nighttime. There was no noise and all was silent."

"What if some of the patients need something. Should there be doctors on the watch?" Hazanah could not help herself from asking.

Salvia half realized the question as her mind was still wandering. She turned her head to Hazanah and asked, "What?"

Captain Picard cleared his throat, "Allow me to explain."

Salvia merely nodded. She didn’t realize that all the time Ardeth’s gaze had been locked on her.

"Well, you see the concept of a hospital in the future is far different than what you have now. We have what we call EMH program. Emergency Medical Hologram. Every patient’s life sign is monitored by a computer. If the computer finds that the life sign is somehow threatened then the EMH program will be automatically activated to assist. Meanwhile, the real doctors will be contacted and they can arrive in seconds. Of course there are real doctors in the hospital, but at nighttime they usually rest or conduct medical researches somewhere else."

Ardeth was amazed by the explanation, "Fascinating. You could save more lives."

"Yes." The Captain confirmed.

Ardeth turned his attention back to Salvia.

"I’m sorry for the interruption. Please continue your story."

Salvia smiled, "No problem, Chief."

"So, I went there with Xenia, my female guard. A doctor greeted us and he accompanied us around. We went to see every child, one by one. Their conditions were much better than before. Still I had not the heart to look at them carefully. I can still remember this one child who lost his arm and when I went to see him that night, the doctors had replaced it with an artificial one. An arm we can replace but parents we cannot. That was my thought at the moment…."

Salvia stopped for a moment, picturing the event in her mind. The others waited patiently for her to continue.

"After we left the room, we heard a soft humming sound from across the hallway. The three of us searched for the source and the more we got closer the clearer it sounded. It was a voice of someone singing."

"So we walked to it and listened. It came from the furthest corner of the room. The light was so dim that we hardly see. There were four beds with four children and they were fast asleep. I stepped inside the room and stood by the doorway, while the others waited outside. We were all enchanted by the song. There I saw him. I saw Ardeth for the first time. He was sitting on the floor by the second bed and he kept his head down so he didn’t know that I was standing there by the doorway."

"… And when the song ended, I cried…. And I have never cried before for crying is a sign of weakness. But that night, I could not help my tears from falling…."

Salvia stopped again, looking at the sky, a smile was on the edges of her lips.

"Do you remember the song?" Ardeth asked.

Without tearing her gaze from the sky, Salvia answered, "Oh yes. He sings it now and then. I know almost all of his songs."

"Will you sing for us?" He asked again softly.

Salvia closed her eyes and began softly singing:

The four figures around the fire sat in silence. All were left to their own thoughts. Picard watched the moon while memories of battles and wars of the past came back to his mind. Hazanah wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. Ardeth had been unconsciously holding Salvia’s hand in his. His eyes locked into hers. Salvia was still looking up at the stars.

Finally sense came back to her and she withdrew her hand from Ardeth’s for the second time tonight.

"It’s a sad song, yet so beautiful." Said Ardeth.

"Yes." Salvia spoke softly.

Memories of old days came to her mind as if pictured on the sky above her.

Salvia awakened from her day dream and continued, "And since that day I met him more often. Somehow he always knew how to find me while I was alone. We talked and laughed and we got along nicely. Later on I found out that all had been for my twin brother’s helps. He has been friends with Ardeth for a long time. In fact, he was the one who recommended Ardeth to be a pilot. He knew that Ardeth had a crush on me, so anytime he knew I was alone he called Ardeth to come by. And that was not hard considering that both of us are…. were linked telepathically."

"So, the three of us are inseparable since then, until now. It was Eryc, my twin brother, who recommended Ardeth to become an assistant to the negotiator of peace. And in three months he became a negotiator. In further one year he became The Negotiator."

Picard nodded, "Yes. I have been in a tough negotiation and he was there as a negotiator for peace. He is the best negotiator there is. Very smart, very diplomatic, yet very charming and everyone fell in love with him in a few minutes after he said hello."

Salvia smiled, "Yes, he has so much to give. So much love in him that it will make you happy just talking to him. He brings more peace in one month than Starfleet can in a year."

Picard chuckled, "Yes, indeed."

Ardeth smiled, "Then, he’s a warrior in his own way. A Med-jai of the future do not have to fight in battle to be the guardian of humanity. From your story, I know that he has done more than I do until today. He’s a true Med-jai, and I’m proud of him. He doesn’t have to be a believer, for the blood of Med-jai is in him."

"So much for tonight. I want to go back to the camp and get some rest." Salvia said grimly. Telling stories about her beloved man didn’t make her feel comfortable. She missed him. She missed him terribly.

CHAPTER 20

Hamunaptra Resort

Earth, Sol Sector

The walls of the tomb of Hamunaptra rose high under the hot sun. In the middle of the four towers of the tomb there was an open area. Unlike other days, hundreds of people were crowded there.

In the middle of the circle arena there was a small table. Monica Bleeth was standing in front of it, holding a golden scepter high with both hands. On the table there were many bowls. Some contained water, some contained blood and some are filled with sand. She was chanting. In front of her was a big black book. She was reading the verses from the page.

Ardeth Bay VII was standing beside her. He was wearing a suite rather similar in style to the Starfleet officers. It was a black jump-suite with ocean blue color from his waist up in a diagonal way. Around him were Starfleet officers in black/red jump-suite and Dnunian soldiers in silvery uniform that covered up their bodies tightly yet looked flexible. The Princes wore something similar to the soldiers, only different color. It was dark purple in color, with silver lining on the shoulders and arms. Unusually, all of them carried swords or blades.

Monica was still chanting and she had been doing it for the last ten minutes. The Dnunians Princes were becoming restless. Sharc leaned to Janoj and whispered in his ears.

"Do you think this will work, brother?"

Janoj whispered back to him. "I don’t know. I’ve never felt this stupid before."

He cocked his head towards Troy who was standing by General Gunn, still whispering to Sharc.

"Troy and Gunn seemed to believe in this bullshit ritual though."

Sharch nodded in agreement, "And the story about The Army of the Lost Souls sounds like a hoax to me. Not to mention the rule of how to kill them."

Janoj raised an eyebrow, "Do you have problem fighting with sword?"

"No, brother. But it is a waste of energy. If we can just wiped the army, if it exists, with a wide range of phaser fire, it would have been more efficient."

"Shut up Sharc." Janoj stopped his younger brother from rambling.

They both turned their attention back to the ritual performed in front of them. Monica turned from page to page. She kept on chanting and making odd gestures with her hands. Finally she stopped chanting and put the golden scepter on the table in front of her. The whispers and soft conversation died down and suddenly silence swept over the place. Only the sound of the wind brushing against the walls of the tomb was heard.

Ardeth Bay VII came forward and stood beside her. He took a long double-edged knife from the table and held it high above his head. Monica brought an empty bowl and put it in front of him. As everybody expected to see Ardeth cut his wrist with the knife, he suddenly took Monica’s arm and slit her wrist. He let the blood trickled down into the bowl.

Once the barbaric ritual was over, he wrapped a white cloth around her arm and took the bowl. Monica held the golden scepter and started chanting again while Ardeth made a circle around the table taking the bowl of blood in his right hand. When he’s done he put the bowl in front of Monica and they both stood in silence.

Once again the arena was silence. And before anyone could say anything, they started to feel the ground beneath them shaking. From a deep under ground there came a distant rumble. Every Starfleet officer and every Dnunian soldier held on their sword tighter, anticipating the coming the Army of the Lost Souls…

Then there was a blinding white light …..

________________________________________________________________________

Hamunaptra

Egypt, 1933

Salvia tossed and turned in her simple bed. She was unable to close her eyes. She was consumed by her rage and hardly able to control her anger. She finally sat up letting a long heavy sigh. She turned to her right side and saw Hazanah was sound asleep. She tiptoed out of the tent and went straight up the hill. Hazanah opened her eyes and quietly followed her out.

Salvia climbed the hill, grumbling words in Dnunian language. When she reached the top she quickly sat down and consulted her tricorder. 10 more hours and she would know for sure if she could get out of this stinking place or she would witness the destruction of the key.

She felt the silence of the night starting to get into her. She missed Eryc badly. She missed feeling him, hearing him in her mind, seeing what he was seeing. She had never been so lonely in her life. Since she had been born, she was used to feel Eryc in her thought. And so was Eryc. Their telepathic link had never been broken before. Not once. She began to think that this was what would be like if one day Eryc died. No other voice, no other existence inside her but her own. It was more than she could bear.

Suddenly she realized that there was one life sign far on her right side showed on her tricorder. She quickly traced it and saw a silhouette of a man in robe. Before she could say anything the silhouette spoke to her.

"Salvia? What are doing up here this time of night?"

"Ardeth?" She asked.

"Yes." He walked towards her.

When he was closer Salvia could see his face.

"It’s two o’clock in the morning. What are you doing here?" He asked again.

"It’s non of your business." She snapped.

"I’m sorry if I make you angry. But it is my business to know what you are up to." He said.

"Yes, of course. It is your business to know." She said sarcastically.

Salvia walked closer to him. Closer and closer until her face almost touched his. Then she hissed the words, "I knew you were watching."

Ardeth took two steps back. His face turned pale.

"I…"

Salvia smiled cynically, watching him still.

"Yes. You and that ungrateful servant. I should kill you both and eat your hearts out." She said slowly.

Ardeth was surprised to see her change of expression. She looked like a devil in the dark. Her eyes glared in anger and her fangs gleamed under the moon light. But most terrifying for him was her words.

"Who? Do you mean Hazanah?" He asked.

Salvia kept quiet. She suddenly made a fast move towards Ardeth. She tackled his legs and brought him down to the sand. Ardeth lied on the ground unable to move for Salvia was on top of him. One hand pinning his chest to keep him on the ground while the other was hung on the air a few inches from his throat. He could see the sharp nails gleaming in the dim light.

She hissed again and said, "No… I can’t kill you. No matter how much you have humiliated me, I cannot kill you. And I cannot kill Hazanah because I don’t know whether one day you’re going to marry her. I cannot kill anyone here, without risking to change the future."

She retracted her nails and let him go and stood, turning her back against him.

Ardeth rose and stood behind her. He walked around to face her.

"From the deepest of my heart, I apologize. I know it is hard for you to forgive me. I will not lie to you by telling I did not watch you in the oasis that night. Because I did. But I did not intend to do it. I was merely following you, afraid that you would go back to the tomb and did something to raise the dead. But you took a wrong turn and I became worried that you lost your way. And I could not look away …."

Salvia looked into his eyes and saw that he was telling the truth.

"Why? You barbarian! Why? Is it your way to insult woman? You did say that men would watch if I took a bath in the oasis. You and your barbarian warriors do this for leisure? Why?"

Ardeth was surprised. He now remembered that he had indeed said that. He sighed and went down on his knees in front of her.

"My mistake. I did say that. It was meant to frighten you only, but…. Well, it’s no use to defend myself. I made a terrible mistake, Princess. You cannot kill me, but you can hit me if you want. Hit me as hard as you want if that makes you feel better.

Salvia laughed softly. But Ardeth could see her fighting her tears from falling.

"Hit you as hard as I want? Can’t you see what I did to your men? Are you blind? I can break you bones easily, human!"

She fell silent, trying to master her anger. Finally she let out a long sigh and spoke softly as if she was speaking to herself. Ardeth saw the tears fell down.

"Why?"

Ardeth felt terrible. He rose and stood in front of her.

"I don’t know why I did that. I guess.... I guess because I’m attracted to you." He whispered.

Salvia looked into his eyes. She stared at them for a few seconds and found out that he was telling the truth.

"Yes.. I suppose so. That will explain the way you held my hand this evening." She nodded to herself.

Ardeth was surprised to see the sudden change of her attitude. Again. He was beginning to think that she had double personalities. Before he could say anything she said:

"Ardeth told me that it’s the way of human to show affections."

"What?" Ardeth was lost.

"To touch. Human always needs to touch to show their affections. You touched me… held my hand to show me that you are interested in me. Only I did not understand it, now I do." She nodded.

"I forgive you, Ardeth Bay. I have no wish to kill you now." She said again, smiling sadly.

"Still I feel bad. " Ardeth answered taking her hand in his and brought it to his lips to kiss.

Salvia looked at him again and now they were standing so close. Ardeth touched her cheek and wiped the track of tears. He felt an electrifying shock through his body when his skin met hers. Salvia closed her eyes. She too suddenly felt a surge of warmth inside her body. Her mind led her to picture that it was her Ardeth touching her. She was hardly able to resist although she too could feel that part of her was telling her that this was not the same man. She was about to draw herself apart from him when suddenly she felt his lips against hers and when his tongue forced its way into her mouth, she gave in.

Salvia had totally forgotten now that she was kissing a different Ardeth Bay. Every move his tongue made inside her mouth, every touch his hand did to her body, every caress, and every sigh he made was all the same as her beloved Ardeth Bay VII. Only when she opened her eyes and looked at the tattooed face that she became aware of what she was doing. But it was too late. She was now consumed with desire. And Dnunian’s desire was difficult to resist.

So she let Ardeth carry her to his tent and laid her down. She let him undress her and kiss all over her body. She was blinded by desire. There was only one thing she wanted at that moment. She wanted him inside her. For a moment she thought she heard a strange noise and smelled a familiar desert odor, but Ardeth was all over her. Before she could say anything she suddenly felt him pushing inside her. And the world around her turned to bright light when she received a wave after wave of pleasure. He kept calling her Kalila. And for the first time, Salvia knew what Kalila meant.

The night was getting older and the wind was getting colder. The desert around them was enveloped in darkness and horrible silence. Only the gushing cold wind of the desert could be heard. But not so inside the chief’s tent. The tent was filled with warmth as the two people made the forbidden love. Sighs and moans of pleasure could be heard faintly from few steps around the tent. Yet no one heard them. No body but one.