Aftermath

Hitch

Frostbite.

Dietrich's hand is frozen solid, the tips of his fingers turning black. Frostbite in the desert. It's a good thing he's unconscious or he'd be raising hell, I think.

There isn't much we can do but bring his hand back to normal and probably just amputate it. Gangrene is a terrible infection and there's nothing we can do to stop it. I thought we'd just go ahead and take it off before he comes to, but Cheri said no. I don't get why she said no. I think we should just capture him and take him back with us to HQ. It couldn't be good for him to report this to his superiors. I'm worrying about the Kraut who spends so much of his time trying to capture or kill us. Feels weird. But we owe him. His action had saved us, saved all of us from his own men to us to the Arab women and the kid.

The other guy, this Imhotep that Bey and Cheri talked about, burns with fever. Bey thought it was a good idea to let him go. Cheri said no. So we lugged the unconscious guy to the river which is quite shallow where we are and settled him so that he was submerged except for his head.

Bey has his own problems, namely a pretty little blonde Arab girl who is following him around like a puppy.

Cheri

Imhotep, against everything I've heard about him, sacrificed himself to save us. He's burning with fever. Bey would let him die. Probably absolutely right about it. After three thousand years the guy should get his reward/punishment … he should get to rest before he recycles if that's what's in store for him. Instead, he's delirious and babbles about betrayal, pleading with his beloved and becoming incomprehensible. Maybe if he wakes up I can tell him that he's probably wrong about her betraying him.

Ardeth has a problem. The girl and the women of her tribe. They have nowhere to go. He's not dealing with her words and doesn't look like he's going to without some prompting. I'm probably going to do the prompting. Couldn't hurt. I have to admit, I'm curious about the 'I waited' comment.

And I'm still here. The entire henge, camp, swamp folded in on itself and vanished with an almighty whopping popping noise that should have been heard for miles. The storm vanished. All's right with the world and I am still here in the 1940s. This sucks. Not to mention that everything thing I've ever read in speculative fiction indicates that two of a person in the same part of a timeline is apt to make life difficult, if not impossible. I need a way home.

Pvt. Hitchcock said Dietrich has frostbite. I may be able to help with that. Gangrene is deadly.

Ardeth

It is unseemly for a woman to follow a man around. I have decided that the tribes of the Medjai can provide homes for the women made victim by the unholy ones. There are not that many and we are a generous people, for the most part. Still, she follows me with her eyes when she is not actually walking in my shadow.

I do not understand her persistence.

Fadiyah

How do I tell him? How do I tell this magnificent warrior that I am his, that I am destined, that I must stay with him even if only as his slave? I have his name. He is Ardeth Bey, he is leader of the tribes of the Medjai, he is the one who walks my dreams and has done so forever.

What do I do? My people still shun me. I do not blame them. The oddly dressed one, the woman with black hair and green eyes, is busy with the undying one. I do not understand why she is concerned. He will return. He is only reacting to the return of his powers. It will not kill him.

I must speak to the warrior, but it is not right that I approach him, so I follow him hoping he will ask me what I am doing. Then I may answer him. Then I may tell him that I am his, that I will serve him faithfully, that I will serve his wife, his mother, his children, all of his family will I serve for the rest of my life. This is my destiny, to belong to him.

Troy

This is a fix we're in. We had to carry Dietrich and Imhotep back to the vehicles. Lucky the jeeps were where we left them. If anyone had suggested I'd be worried about the German, I'd have told them to take a hike. But I am. His hand's frozen stiff. Hitch and Moffitt agree that it needs to come back to normal temperature slowly, which isn't happening in this heat. Moffitt took me aside and said the best thing to do is to amputate now, but we haven't got the supplies to keep him alive long if we do, so the best thing is to get him moving and back to our HQ or his own for treatment.

Damn.

After all the weirdness, the biggest reaction I have is that I'll miss playing cat and rat with the guy. The Jerries are getting antsy already. We'll have to separate soon or we'll be back to fighting with two sick guys to weigh us down.

Alex

It feels weird. I'm watching everyone and they all seem to have forgotten I'm here. Cheri's keeping an eye on Imhotep, but she's also concerned about Captain Dietrich. Hauptman. Ardeth's disturbed by the girl following him around. I don't get that. Medjai women have more freedom than a lot of other women out here. They speak their minds. They even get to speak in council when they have an issue that needs resolving. I think Fadiyah wants to say something to him, but something is holding her back. I'd ask Cheri, but she's busy.

So far the supernatural factor has kept the Germans and the Americans from going after each other. But that can't last long. Ardeth and I need to get things together so we can get back to the camp.

I noticed Cheri leaving one of the Arab women to keep an eye on Imhotep. I don't want to stop keeping an eye on him, but I'm curious what she's up to.

Dietrich

I awaken and am aware that there is something wrong. My hand is unresponsive, will not move. In the shadows of the tent the flesh looks odd, almost translucent. Frozen, my men tell me. I touch the fingers and it is indeed cold, so cold it burns the pads of my other hand. But it doesn't hurt. I would think that there would be more pain, perhaps where the frozen flesh meets warm. That is also strange, there is a line of demarcation between frozen and normal, as though a ring had been set around my arm and the cold goes no further.

The men set up a tent and a cot so I could be comfortable. Thoughtful. They're still too dazed from what happened to make trouble with the Desert Rats or with the Arabs. Mid-forearm to fingertip, nothing, no feeling at all. This will end my career in the Army. I know it. My men know it. Troy and his men know it. I'm not certain how I feel about this.

Dr. Yuconovich entered the tent while I was considering my alternatives to returning home. Explaining how my arm became frozen is not likely to go over well, especially when I did not recover either the relic I was sent for, or the one I briefly possessed that forced me to close the gate on … I do not know what it closed on, nor, thinking about it, do I wish to know. That way lies a madness even the leaders of my country do not have.

"Hauptmann Dietrich," Cheri addresses me in German, breaking my thoughts. I think I am relieved until her question penetrates my mind. "How badly do you want that arm to heal?"

Her accent is disturbingly faultless. I realize I have never heard her speak my language before. Given what has happened and what I have seen over the last few days, I am instantly wary. "What do you have in mind, fraulein?"

"Nothing too detrimental. Just a little home grown magic," her manner changes, more friendly than it was.

"At what price?"

That gets a smile and a nod, as though she was expecting my question, or hoping for it. "It will hurt," she says simply.

Nice, matter of fact answer that. Pain can be very subjective. Do I want to heal? Do I want back into this war? Yes, I do. I do not want this to defeat me. "I can live with pain."

"Oh, it's not permanent," she assured me brightly. "Just very much there during the process." She showed me the hypodermic in her hand. "Very special potion brewed just for me at some point. I didn't need it. I think it will work on you quite well."

I wasn't expecting her to shove the needle directly into my heart. For a moment, I died. Then the agony started. I heard a voice outside. Someone kept my men out while I gripped her arm so hard I could feel the bones bending under my hold. I bellowed in my pain and then it was gone.

She leaned down and planted a very gentle kiss on my lips before letting go and leaving the tent. I fell asleep. My men tell me it was a miracle. I know better.

Imhotep

I awakened to a starlit sky so deep and bright it took my breath as nothing has in long ages. .

"Hello."

I looked around to the pale face of the woman who is not my beloved. I see strength, as I saw in Evelyn O'Connell, the reincarnation of Nefertiri, daughter of Pharaoh and opposition of my beloved, Anck-Su-Namum. Turning over, I pulled myself out of the river, the Blue Nile ran shallow here. With a gesture, I clothed myself and stood staring into her eyes.

"Who are you?"

"Name's Cheri Yuconovich. I have a Doctorate in Anthropology, archaeology mostly and I'm hoping you hold the answer to solving a problem I have."

"Problem?" She wanted to rule the world, no doubt, using me to get her to her throne. "What is that problem and why should I help you?" I sneered.

"I need to get home."

Home? "You are not forbidden to travel."

"No, but there's a small issue of being here twice. I've lived through this time period and now I've been dragged back to it. Somewhere in Germany, I and my companion are working against the Germans. I really can't afford to run into me … and I don't have a timetable of where I was and what I was doing that would allow me to just muddle through things here. You have magic."

Yes, I have magic. What exactly did she want from me? And where was the Medjai? And O'Connell? I realized she was speaking again. "Time travel?" Was that even possible? Could I go back and …?

"Oh, no. Don't even consider trying to go back and fix things. History is written, not necessarily in stone, but trying to change things is like trying to step on the same piece of flowing water. Not a good idea." She had my full attention and I sensed that she spoke what she knew of as truth. "Look, if Anck-su-namun reincarnated once, she will come again."

"She betrayed me."

"Did she? Or was it Meela that ran from you and sealed her own fate? Anck-su-namun died for you, took her own life as I understand it, because her faith in you was so great she would chance the afterlife forever to be with you instead of being Pharaoh's mistress. For over three thousand years she has waited for you. Trust me, anyone who has that kind of faith in you will not betray you. She's still waiting."

Her words touched my heart. Did I even have a heart? I must, I had not seen Ma'at, had not been judged as I should have been. If she spoke true, then there was still a chance. I was no longer cursed, I had my life, somewhere my beloved …

"Time. I will think on it. I hunger."

"Good, 'cause I think dinner is just about ready." She looked toward the camp where the women rescued were making food together. "Damn, I am gonna have to intervene in that."

I looked to where a small figure followed the Medjai, Ardeth Bey. I felt no anger toward the man which felt odd. Perhaps taking this woman home was the answer to many questions.

Moffitt

Troy and I discussed what to do next. We were far out of range to communicate with our headquarters and it was unlikely that the tale we could tell would be the one we did tell. Ahm Shere did not exist. The Germans found only desert and we saw no reason to do more than monitor them as they scrambled for anything they could find in the sand.

Ardeth Bey and his people would take in the women and the Germans would return to their usual haunts. I was not about to question how Dietrich survived having his hand frozen and then restored. He looked wan and pale when he joined his men for dinner, but nothing was wrong with his hand now. I had seen and touched it when we carried him back to the river.

The man Imhotep had also recovered and was making his presence felt. Bey kept a sharp eye on him while attempting to lose his blonde shadow. I couldn't quite figure out what was going on there. With Troy's consent, I went to find out.

"I do not know why she is following me," Bey admitted, sounding irritated.

"Ask her?"

His shoulders slumped at this and he nodded. "It would be easier if O'Connell was here," he muttered and turned to seek the girl who was standing about three feet away. "Why are you following me?"

A dam burst and she told him. I could only follow a part of it, she spoke so quickly, trying to get her words out before he again turned away from her. Something about destiny and serving him, his people, his slave if nothing more. Bey looked confused at first, then concerned. He asked a couple of questions, shook his head over the answers and then nodded, more to himself than to the girl.

"I do not entirely understand, but I know there is more to the world than what we can only see. We will talk again when you are safely at my home." His dark eyes met hers for a moment, a smile touching his lips. "I do not have a wife. Yet."

They talk about brides glowing.

Tully

Wasn't sure what to make of anything that had happened since we met the woman at Hamunaptra. Looks like the German will make it and the mostly naked guy who is spending most of his time with the woman. We struck camp and everyone went their separate ways, so to speak. We grabbed one of the trucks the Krauts had to transport the women and their animals. It was fun watching Sgt. Moffitt teach the big Arab guy to drive the truck. He learned fast.

The Germans took off, headed back north. We shepherded the Arabs part of the way back to the place they had their big camp when we finally got back in radio range. Something new had come up and we said good-bye to the Arabs. Bey seemed genuinely glad to know us, shaking hands and pledging hospitality should we meet again. He's trying to keep his people out of the war. I can see why. If he fights that kind of nightmare a war isn't something he needs. We wished him luck and took off toward HQ and the new assignment.

I was looking back the way we'd come when I saw a big sand storm pile up a few miles behind us, about where we'd left that Imhotep guy and the woman. I started to yell at the Sarge and then it vanished. I'm gonna be glad to get back to the war.