THE X-FILES "AROUND THE WORLD IN TWELVE MONTHS" Part Seven "An Evening in Egypt" By Alien Girl agentmulder@antisocial.com Rating: PG Classification: Adventure, Mulder/Scully Engaged Spoilers: none DISCLAIMER THAT APPLIES TO PART ONE APPLIES TO THIS PART AND A CAMEL'S BUTT. Song Disclaimer: Alllllllllrighty then!! (Sorry, no more Lion King songs...) This part's song is "500 Miles", which is a definite classic, by The Proclaimers. If you haven't heard it, I suggest you do...it's a great song! Also, the song "A Horse With No Name" is used briefly...I forgot who sung it, just know I don't own it. Or you could just combine the two songs and make it "A Horse With No Name that Walked 500 Miles"...or something... Summary: The group encounters a legend behind a cursed Pharoh's tomb out in Egypt...although first Mulder has to find a way to get Scully out of a *very* bad predictament. Author's Notes: Woo-hee! Here comes the next part...once again, Ich sprechen kein Egyptian, so I can't do that lovely translation stuff that I was so proud of from Paris. Just deal with it! I know you Scullyists are going to be somewhat upset with me after reading this...but I seriously had no idea what to do with Egypt until this came up, and I think it's a very interesting storyline that no one's ever done before. I almost completely forgot about the main plot! So I hope you enjoy this next thing...I know I will!!! :):):) On with the show!!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------***************"AROUND THE WORLD IN TWELVE MONTHS"**************** ......................"An Evening in Egypt"....................... ***************************By Alien Girl************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------ "500 Miles" The Proclaimers When I wake up, yeah, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you When I go out, yeah, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you If I get drunk, yeah, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you And if I haver, yeah, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's haverin' to you (Chorus) But I would walk 500 miles And I would walk 500 more Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles To fall down at your door When I'm working, yes, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you And when the money comes in for the work I'll do I'll pass almost every penny on to you When I come home, yeah, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you And if I grow old, well, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's growin' old with you. (Chorus) When I'm lonely, yes, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's lonely without you When I'm dreamin', yes I know I'm gonna dream I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you (Chorus 2X) -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ 3:00 P.M. Friday, January 28th, 2000 Nile River, Cairo, Egypt The hot sun beating down on the dry earth below it made it seem more like August than January. But most of the people at Cairo's seaport were oblivious to the always-burning globe hovering in the heavens. As always the "seaport", which was actually a large docking area off the coast of the Nile River, was bustling with activity. There were goods to be traded, products to be sold, shipments to be launched. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the arrival of 'The Believer'. There was a big rush of people to see which ones could get there first to help unload the infamous houseboat on it's world tour. Mulder, Scully and the rest of the group stood aside as several dockmen eagerly helped to unload their things so that they could be transported to their hotel. The party of nine gazed around with wonderment at the sights, sounds and smells that Egypt's capital city presented to them. As of present they were close enough to the main city to get to most of the facilities that they would need, but far enough away so as they could experience the more exotic Cairo rather than the industrious one. "*Very* interesting," Troi said, analyzing the local color. "So where are the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx and all that?" Mulder grinned and ruffled the teens hair. "Out somewhere in the desert. Don't worry, we'll see them later on." "All *I* want to see right now is a big pitcher of water and an air conditioner...I didn't think 'February' and 'heat wave' could exist in the same place as the same time!" Scully said, wiping sweat from her brow. "Come on, I think it's only fair that we help these people with our things," Maggie said, leading them down the gangplank. As they were helping to unload supplies, Mulder caught hold of one of the dockmen. "Do you speak English?" "Yes, sir." Mulder's voice became secretive. "What do you know about this supposed curse and a lost Pharoh's tomb?" "Not much, sir. Only what I've heard from other people." "Tell me." "Well, recently, a wise man who knows of ancient things claims that the spirit of a long-dead Pharoh has been angered. Robbers have invaded his tomb and stolen some things from his treasury. He has imposed a curse on the robbers...and now, many people are dying from strange things. Doctors are even getting sick, and do not know how to cure the sickness. The wise man says these deaths are just the beginning: if anyone invades the Pharoh's treasury again, the deaths will increase tenfold. This is just what I have heard spoken around...I have never really experienced anything myself." "Thanks," Mulder nodded to him. Scully gave Mulder her Oh-no-don't-you-start-off-like-that-again look. "Mulder...*what* exactly were you talking about?" "Oh, nothing...I was just wondering if my assumptions were true." "Assumptions?" "I've heard from various other places stories about a 'curse' being brought upon the good citizens of South Nile...because three robbers from that town had invaded an ancient Egyptian Pharoh's tomb. I was just wondering if I wasn't the only one who had heard rumors." "I think you're hearing more than rumors, Mulder...it is true that there are many tombs with mummies, perhaps Pharohs, that have not been found yet, and it is true that robbers sometimes steal from those tombs. But curses just don't exist! It would be impossible for a long-dead king to invoke horrible luck or death upon a various individual. The most likely causes of these 'curses' are that the robbers carried out a contagious disease sealed in the tomb and infected people with it when they returned to the city!" That *may* be true...except that the robbers never returned from the tomb. They were buried alive when the entrance caved in on top of them." Scully moaned and helped to put a bag full of their blankets into the transport jeep. Mulder could hypothesize and talk off all that he wanted...just as long as he didn't try and start an expedition to find the lost tomb himself. However, Mulder was about to experience something far worse than a mummie's curse...for as he was struggling to lift a heavy box full of Samantha's things, he just happened to accidentally step on the foot of a camel standing nearby. Mulder spun around fast as he heard the tall, hairy creature grunt in a rage. The misshapen beast of burden glared at Mulder with it's wide-set, dullish eyes...and SPAT. "UGGAAAHH!!!!" Mulder leaped away, face scrunched up in utter disgust, as a huge, slimy, odorous glop of camel saliva dripped like syrup down his face. The camel gave Mulder something like a smirk and walked off. Scully was laughing hysterically, even as she looked for something to help clean his face off. "I'M CURSED!!!" He wailed aloud to all those within hearing range. Scully produced a rag from one of their bags and began to vigorously wipe off the slime from his face and hair. "Well Mulder..." Scully giggled as she rubbed behind his ears. "I guess you should've watched where you were going!" "That's the last time I come to *you* for sympathy!" 1:23 P.M. Tuesday, February 2nd, 2000 Old Cairo, Egypt "And now for something *completely* different..." Troi said in amazement. Old Cairo certainly was different from it's modern counterpart. Mulder, Scully, Troi, Samantha, Byers and Langley had decided to take a break from the modernized Egyptian city and go shopping and exploring throughout the more ancient passages of Egypt's capital. The change was obvious: instead of tall skyscrapers and paved roads and crowds of cars and people in business suits, there were small brick and wood buildings, dirt robes, and people dressed in loose robes and turbans, much the same way they had been for thousands of years. Camels, horses and mules were the main mode of transportation. The old city was filled with all kinds of foreign sensories...the hoarse shouts of merchants in Egyptian, the sound of unique instruments like drums and flutes being played in a mezmorizing tune, the sweet, musky, pleasant smell of dates and melons...and the not-so-pleasant odor of camels. "Stick close together," Scully had warned. "It's all too easy to get lost in chaos like this." But it was an exciting chaos, and at least a friendly one. They had already done a little bit of shopping, where there seemed to be an overwhelming supply of gold, jasmine and jade jewelry. Troi had to keep herself from buying half the things she thought looked nice just to save money for their meals later on. "So when do we get to see a snake charmer?" Troi said, excited eyes searching the crowd. "Sooner of later, I guess," Scully said. "But you know, they don't actually put spells on the cobra to make them dance...the cobra is just following the movements of the flute." "Always the skeptic..." Mulder joked. "Well, it's true! Anyone can charm a snake!" "Alright then, Scully...first snake charmer we come to, you ge to try it out!" "I don't think so, Mulder," Scully responded as she dodged a woman expertly carrying a large basket on her head. "Why not? You said *anyone* can do it..." "You *don't* want to hear me play the flute!" "I'm just surprised no one had recognized us yet," Langley said from somewhere up ahead. "This is a pretty old section of the city, and not everyone has access to TV or radio or anything. There's probably a lot of people on this planet who didn't even know that there was going to be an alien invasion at all." "Hey, look at that!" Frohike suddenly said, pointing to some street performers barely visible through the crowd. They couldn't tell what was going on, but apparently one of the people was a fire-swallower. Frohike motioned for them to follow, and they tried to create a path through the hot, always-moving crowds. Scully was in the rear, and struggling to catch up as she followed Mulder's back right in front of her. Suddenly, a hand shot out from behind a wall, pressing a wet cloth against her mouth. Scully tried to yell out as she felt another hand grasp her neck and pull her back, holding her down. She attempted to struggle free of the tight grip, but suddenly found her muscles unable to move. The cloth against her mouth smelled like sweet flowers, and the scent was inhaled into her lungs. The smell was very relaxing, dangerously calming. The world slowly became blanketed in darkness as she fell into a deep, senseless sleep. Only 10 seconds later, Mulder turned around to see if Scully was still close behind him. But she was gone. "Scully?" No answer. "Hey, guys, wait a minute," He called for the other people to stop. "I think Scully got left behind." Mulder's eyes searched the packed crowd intensely, searching for the familiar shock of red hair and green top that Scully had been wearing. He saw no one but dark-haired, dark-skinned Egyptians, and no clothing besides robes and turbans. (She must've really gotten lost...) He began to double back, pushing people aside as courteously as possible as he looked all around for her...but there was absolutely *no* one who looked like her. He began to get that same anxious feeling that he had gotten in Paris. "Do you see her anywhere?" He asked his friends. "No...wasn't she behind you just a minute ago?" "Yes, she was right behind me the entire time. I only turned my back on her for a minute or so!" "Did she sneak off to go shopping again, perhaps?" Samantha said teasingly. "I...hope so...." They were silent as the simple concern for the situation deepened into a disturbing anxiety. There were the merchants, the workers, the little kids, the women, the men, the camels and the dogs...but Dana Scully had completely disappeared into thin air. "Hey Mulder..." Langley said slowly, motioning a few feet away. "Wasn't that Scully's?" Mulder saw it. It was the khaki duffle bag that Scully had been carrying, the one that had all of the things she had bought. All of the items she had purchased were still inside. Mulder picked up the bag and stared at it carefully, eyebrows furrowed. He looked up, and found himself staring into a small back alley. The alley was completely empty. "Scully!" Once again, no answer. "SCULLY!!" He backed away from the alley, suddenly becoming cold with fright. The would-be humor vanished completely from the group as they watched Mulder in silence. "SCULLY, ANSWER ME!!" He ran into the crowd, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, clutching the duffle bag in a tight fist. Something was not right...he could feel it. Even after Scully, Samantha and Troi had been missing for several hours he hadn't felt the way he did now. Scully couldn't have just disappeared without a reason... "SCULLY!" "Fox," Samantha came up to him. "Don't get too excited! I'm sure we'll find her..." "No, something's wrong...something's happened to her. She was right behind me...and then she was gone..." His face suddenly set. "We're going to find her right away. Even if I am wrong, I can't let this hang over me. We're going back to our hotel to get the others...then we're calling the police, getting a search party together, anything." He doubled back, going against the flow of the crowd, teeth gritting. "Fox, wait! I think you're rushing into this...can't we just look around a little more before you start getting all of Cairo to search for her?!" Samantha exclaimed. "Yeah, Mulder, I think you should settle down a little bit," Byers agreed. "This hasn't been the *first* time that Scully's gone missing, you know..." "Well, it'd better be the *last*." "Just settle down a little bit, Fox. Let's ask a few people if they saw her." Mulder nodded, trying to calm himself down...but without much success. Scully going missing was not something that Mulder took lightly. Any number of things could've happened to her... Samantha walked up to a small man with peeling skin and a dirty turban closing up a small pickup truck with tarp over the top. "Excuse me...speak English?" The man gave one nod. "Have you seen a small woman? Red, short hair and blue eyes?" The man swallowed and shook his head vigorously. "No, no...haven't seen her, no." Samantha groaned and continued to ask other people nearby. Troi, Byers and Langley also did the same thing...but Mulder just stood there, in the middle of that hot, sweaty crowd, feeling very lost and alone. (Anything could've happened to her...something isn't right...I should've kept a closer watch on her, I should've insisted that she walk in front of me...I could've prevented this. And if...WHEN...we finally find her, what will she think of me? Some fiancee` I'm turning out to be...) In 20 minutes the other four people returned to where they had left Mulder standing. "We asked all around to everyone that spoke English...no one has seen her." "I don't believe this!" Mulder said, putting his hands to his forehead. "She's....just......" "Fox...." Samantha put a hand on her brother's shoulder. Mulder straightened himself quickly. "That's enough of this. We're going back to the hotel and we're getting the others. Then we're going straight to the Cairo police. I'm not going to take any chances with this." Mulder marched off into the crowd, no longer trying to search for Scully, just looking straight ahead. The others echanged fearful glances and then followed him. 7:11 P.M. Tuesday, February 2nd, 2000 Somewhere in Old Cairo Scully's nose was filled with dust. She sneezed out the dust and suddenly fell into a coughing fit. The back of her skull pounded dully, so much that the last thing she wanted to so was return to consciousness. But her will overpowered her protesting body, and she forced her eyes open. The only thing that met her unsatisfactory vision was sand. Her limbs felt weak and unable to obey her. She could hear voices; slurred and unrecognizable, and felt the shuffling of feet on the earth. She could also smell the distinct odor of camel. The smell made her gag, and she coughed again. She heard someone speak in Egyptian, it seemed as if they were talking to her. She sat up, and her head spun with an intense dizziness that she chose to ignore. She gazed around dizzily, and her vision came to rest on a young Egyptian woman. As Scully stared closer, she realized that she wasn't pure Egyptian, but her skin was a lighter tone than usual, and her eyes were a deep blue-gray. She was sitting on a box, puffing slowly on a cigarette. They were surrounded on all sides by a gang of camels and a one wall of some unknown building. There were a few more people in the enclosed area, mostly Egyptian women. Scully did not recognize any of them. The blue-eyed woman next to her spoke again, her words coming out in a string of sounds that didn't make any sense. Scully shook her head dazzedly. "English," she mumbled, pointing to herself in hopes of establishing communication. "You American?" The woman asked. "Yes!" Scully said, relieved. "You know English?" "My mother was British," She replied; as was evident by her slight British accent. "Name's Jasmine Sarmmunt." "Where am I?" Scully said, her voice edged with fear. The woman, Jasmine, let out something between a laugh and a grumble. Then she sighed and took another blow on her cigarette. "You'll find out soon enough." This only heightened Scully's anxiety. "No...you don't understand! I have to get out of here, I have to find Mulder..." "Look, you're not going anywhere...none of us are." Scully gazed around helplessly at the other people. Most of them were women, and almost all of them were Egyptian or Arabic. Many were sleeping. Some were sitting silently, staring blankly at the barracade of camels. A few of them were crying quietly to themselves. "What do you mean?" Jasmine laugh-grumbled again. She looked Scully up and down, observing her carefully. "No wonder they grabbed you...everyone's gonna want you, you know." Scully stared at Jasmine, completely stupefied. "My mother was a slave. My father was native Egyptian. Let's just say I was born for the job." Scully stuttered on her surprise. "You're a *slave*?" Another laugh-grumble. "We all are. Can't tell with everyone because it's feeding break and they've removed the harnesses. But they'll be back on in a few minutes." Scully's thoughts collided with one another as her train of thought barreled down the track. She knew that Egypt and other Arabian countries were known to conduct secret slave trades...gangs of dealers who snatched women off the streets and auctioned them off to the highest bidder. Although it was supposed to be forbidden in any nation to have slavery, little had been done to halt the hundreds of slave trades going on in the middle east, and it was still unfortunately a common practice. But Scully would *never* have believed that *she* could be passed off as a slave herself! And she voiced her opinions: "No! I'm not accepting that!" She got to her feet quickly. "I never have been anyone's slave, and I never will be!" Jasmine looked at her quizzically. "What do you think you're doing?" "I'm getting out of here *now*." "There's nowhere to go. You can't escape." "We'll see about that..." Scully exclaimed, marching towards the camel barracade. "You see those men over there?" Jasmine said suddenly, pointing beyond the camels. Scully saw a large, stocky Egyptian was a whip in one hand, a rifle in the other, and a scowl on his face. There were more almost exactly like him completely encircling the the huddle of captives. "They're the guards. If anyone tries to escape they will be killed on the spot. So don't try anything foolish. I've seen what happens to those who do." Scully backed away from the camels and the guards wearily. This couldn't be happening to her...one minute she had been walking right behind Mulder to see a group of performers, and the next she was in this strange place and being called a slave! Just at that moment, two of the camels were tugged aside to let some people through. Five of them were guards with whips and rifles. One man looked like something out of a movie, with several teeth missing, a dirty turban wrapped around his skull, and a limp in his walk. The *last* man looked completely different...he was dressed in fine clothes, his walk was swift and sure, and his expression was like that of a vulture watching an animal gasp out its last breath. He stared directly at Scully with a sinister, brooding smile. "That's Tsadyrr," She heard Jasmine whisper quietly from behind. "He's the head of the trade project." Scully avoided the man's vulture eyes as he glanced her up and down. The man, Tsadyrr, chuckled to himself with a snakelike hiss. "Did I not do well in chosing a pretty one, Sir Tsadyrr?" The smaller man said in Egyptian, his tone laced with appeasement. "You did," Tsadyrr responded in English. "Very pretty." He studied Scully for a moment, while she did her best to look completely unattractive. She was certain that if this man wanted her, it was *not* to do work. "I will keep this one," Tsadyrr said conclusively, as if he were trying to decide on a new armchair. "She pleases me. And only I am worthy of the most beautiful ones." "She will sell for much on the market in Riogia..." "No," Tsadyrr snarled back, irritated. "*I* want her. Unless I say, no one buys her." "*No one* is going to *own* me," Scully exclaimed in retailation. "None of you have any right to be doing any of this!" Tsadyrr appeared amused. "On the contrary, woman. You are my property, and I will do with you as I please." Scully felt her face growing hot, and her hands curled into fists. "My name is Dana! Dana Scully...SPECIAL AGENT DANA SCULLY!!!" From the FBI! I saved the world from alien invasion! You would all be mindless drones if it wasn't for me!!" She cried. Although she knew it was foolish, she shouted out her best identity defense. Tsadyrr was apparently uninterested in this fact...and seemed only concerned with making his new slave bear the burden of acceptance. "Dana...such an exotic name. And such an exotic female to match the title should certainly not be put to waste." He reached out a hand eagerly towards Scully's red hair. "You keep your HANDS OFF ME." Tsadyrr snickered. "She is firey, too! I like that in a slave..." He gave a lustful glance at Scully's form. "Also make them more enjoyable in bad." Scully snapped. Everything else inside her told her to keep still, not be an idiot, not let that bastard get to her. But there was no holding her back. She let out something like a growl and POUNCED. In one swift movement she knocked the huge man flat to the sand. Before Tsadyrr had time to realize what hit him, he felt something rock-solid collide with his jaw. It was Scully's left fist. She was punching the slavemaster with strength she didn't even know she had, her fist pounding into his face over and over, POW POW POW POW. She held him by the throat with one hand and punched him with the other, all the while sitting on his chest to prevent him from moving. Blood spurted from his nose and mouth as she delivered blow after blow after blow. Tsadyrr was screaming and cursing in Egyptian all at once whenever Scully's fist was not in his mouth. Suddenly, she was jerked backwards, choking for breath as something sharp and metal bit into her neck. Struggling to remove the thing choking her, she suddenly heard a sound like a firecracker and felt a stinging, intense pain across her back. She screamed and fell limp from the pain. Immediately the rest of the men were upon her. Her hands became useless as one of them tied a thick, heavy chain around her wrists. She attempted to struggle, but then submissed with a cry as she felt the screaming pain of the whip on her back again. One of the guards secured the metal chain encircling her neck, creating a crude leash and collar. Scully was dragged upwards by the choking metal chain, and the leash was secured to the doorpost of the nearby building. Dazzedly she strained against the loathsome collar and tried to reach the chain with her hands. But the chain handcuffs on her wrists made her hands useless. The guards backed away as Tsadyrr approached. He angrily wiped the sand and blood from his disarranged face, staring with hatred at his would-be slave. Scully lay in the sand, too hurt from the whip blows to get up, trying to hold back tears from humiliation of the dehumanizing leash and collar that she bore. Tsadyrr glared at Scully, keeping his guards close by. "This is your last chance, slave," He said, hissing through his missing teeth. "Will you accept me as your master or not?" Scully spat. The slavemaster stared with horror at the pool of spit on his shoes. *No* one, *especially* a slave, spat at Tsadyrr without punishment. Tsadyrr growled out something in Egyptian. Instantly, all the guards brought out their rifles...and pointed them directly at Scully. Scully curled up into a ball, covering her head with her hands as best as she could, as if trying to protect herself from the bullets that were certain to burst through her skull at any second. She was trembling, tears streaming down her dust-coated cheeks, wishing for all the world that she could at least speak to Mulder before...they......... "Wait." Scully held her breath, as she realized that the guards hadn't fired yet. They stared with slight confusion at their leader, awaiting their orders. Tsadyrr was staring very carefully at Scully, tenderly rubbing his swollen jaw. There was something in his expression that frightened Scully... "She is worth more to me alive than dead," He said decisively. "We shall sell her in Riogia. Let her be some other fool's slave while I make a profit." Scully choked back a sob. The small, ugly man in the turban stared with wide eyes at Tsadyrr. "But...sir..." He cast an uneasy glance at the pool of spit staining Tsadyrr's good shoes. The slavemaster grunted, remembering his injury and insult. "I said that she would live...I did not say that she would go without punishment." He nodded to one of the guards. Scully looked from Tsadyrr to the guard, her eyes suddenly growing wide with terror, and then instinctively curled herself up as tightly as possible...... The kick came hard in her ribcage, knocking the wind out of her. She rolled over in the dirt, trying to avoid the guard's feet, but the chains kept her from going anywhere. The burly Egyptian straightened his length of cord and brought it behind his head-- WHI-CRACK! Scully cried out as a red-hot pain tore across her back, ripping through her layers of clothing effortlessly. She could feel blood running down her spine. She tried to cry out again, but the whip cut her voice short. She tried to make herself as small as possible, but there was no way to avoid the whip lashes that came down again and again and again. 7:13 A.M. Wednesday, February 3rd, 2000 Cairo, Egypt "I don't believe this!!" Mulder kicked the dirt with blind and undirected anger, fear and frustration oozing out of his every pore. He cursed quietly under his breath...nothing was going the way it needed to. The Cairo police had been anything but helpful. The fact was that the police didn't have time to send out a search party for Scully. "People disappear in Cairo every day," they said. And unless they could produce some kind of evidence or witness, there was nothing they could do but hope that she showed up soon. Mulder's stomach hurt. It was as if someone was tying the lining of his stomach walls into tight knots. He felt sick...sick with fear. (What if we never find her?) He pushed the frightening thought away almost the moment it popped into his head. (No...we *are* going to find her. Even if I have to spend the rest of my life searching I'll find her.) "We're right back where we started," Samantha said with a groan as they stopped to rest by a fountain. "All we can do is ask people if they've seen her." "We can't put up any 'missing' posters?" Troi suggested. "You heard what that guy said...people disappear in Cairo every day. No one would care that she's gone, too." Mulder said, his voice dull and bitter. "No police, no search party, no investigation...nothing." "We'll make our own search party! We don't need the police! You're a former FBI Agent, Mulder...you head our investigation!" Mulder looked up at the rest of the group. Everyone was there, and were all looking at him expectantly. He saw a pain in the eyes of Maggie Scully that seemed to reflect his own. "Okay...the first thing we need to do...is go back to the scene of the crime." Half an hour later, they were right back in old Cairo, doing what they had started doing in the first place: asking complete strangers if they had perhaps seen Scully. "Do you speak English?" "Have you seen a woman..." "...short, wearing a green top..." "...short, red hair..." "...blue eyes..." "...looks like a goddess?" "Frohike!" "What! She does!" "So have you seen her recently?" "Are you *sure* you know English?" "Could you get your sheep to stop licking my knees?" The group of eight spread out all throughout the surrounding area, asking the same questions. They recieved pretty much the same answers back: "No." "Haven't seen her." "Sorry, no." "Was she carrying a bag full of chicken legs? Because if she was then find her, I want them back." "Nope." "Scully who?" "I'd tell you if I knew..." "Would you like to buy some dates?" "Are you insulting my sheep?! ARE YOU INSULTING MY SHEEP?!?!?" After what seemed like hours of asking around with no success, Samantha came across an old woman who was folding clothes outdoors... "Excuse me...do you speak English?" "That I do, marm. What may I help ye with?" Samantha launched into her almost mechanical explanation. "I'm looking for a woman...she's very short, she has blue eyes and short red hair, and she was wearing a green top. Have you seen her?" The old woman thought for a minute. "Now if I recall...I think I have seen your missus somewhere. I think the hair's what caught me eye...unusual to see foreigners in th' trade." "The 'trade'?" "Slave trade, missus. My own daughter almost got kidnapped but 'er older brother caught eye of the scurvy rat and beat him senseless. Knocked out 'alf his teeth, he did." Samantha's jaw worked up and down as if trying to remind her vocal cords how to make words. "*Slave* trade?!" "Aye, missus. Don't know if they 'ave it where ye come from, but people believe in it here. Mind ye...you'll 'ave a heap o' trouble if ye want to get 'er back. Don't count on it happenin' easily." "Which way did they go? Do you know?" "Ye got a number of choices...they went to Papyriam, Riogia, or Kalma Moor. I've 'eard they have slave auctions there. Your best bet is Riogia, it's the closest to here, and slavedealers don't like to travel too far. But if she's gone by the time you reach the city, there's no going on...then she could be anywhere in the Middle East or even beyond that. Could change masters in a matter o' days. I've seen it 'appen, missus." "Thank you for your time..." Samantha stuttered. "I...have to go now!" "Good luck to ye, missus!" Samantha was pacing around the fountain in the middle of the square where they had agreed to meet in an hour's time. The hour was almost over, and Samantha was getting antsy. She knew that not a single moment could be wasted if what the old woman had said was true...and she knew that Mulder would be in an uproar the moment she said "slave trade". In time, each of the others began to make their way to the fountain...each one with low spirits because they had received no news about Scully whatsoever. Only Langley was in low spirits because someone had said that his hair looked like a dead pekingese stapled to his skull. Mulder was the last to arrive, muttering cruses and sweating like mad from the heat. "Guys, we have to move *fast*," Samantha said the moment her brother arrived. "I think I know where Scully may be headed...but if we don't get there before she does then it's practically a lost cause. She's either going to Riogia, Papyriam or Kalma Moor. But it'd be best if we left for Riogia..." "Wait, what do you mean?" Maggie interrupted, face taunt. "Why would she be going to any of those places?" Samantha took a deep breath. "I think...I think she may be traveling with slave traders." Mulder's voice died in a soundless cry. "*Slave trade*? But that's completely illegal!" Troi protested, unable to accept Sam's testimony. "Not in this country it's not..." Frohike said in a low, unnverving voice. "But what if she's being taken to one of those other two cities you mentioned?" "We'll just have to take that chance." "Slave trade......" Mulder said quietly. It was the first thing he had said since they had regrouped. "Well then we have to get going right away," Byers said. "We need to get maps and figure out where Riogia is, we need to obtain transportation and supplies if the journey will take time to get there..." "I have a map," Tina said, pulling a folded and tattered map out of her handbag. Unfolded, the map showed all of Cairo and most of the surrounding cities. Among them included South Nile, Papyriam, Kalma Moor and Riogia. South Nile was in fact the closest to Cairo (and the strange thing was that the city wasn't anywhere near the Nile...) and then Riogia. Even though it was the "closest", it was still 170 miles away. "Good, it's only about a day's drive away," Mulder said as he estimated the distance. "There's just one problem..." Langley pointed out. "I don't see any roads going from Cairo to Riogia, do you?" Mulder cursed again, the map crinkling within his tight grip. "So if there's no road...how on earth are we supposed to get there?!" The agitated grunt of a camel from somewhere nearby answered Mulder's question. "Oh, no....." "Anyone know a good camel rental place in town?" Troi shrugged. "But we can't take camels!! It'd take us four or five days to get there instead of just one, and we'll get there too late! Not to mention that camels don't have *air conditioners*!" "Well, if there's no roads to Riogia, then that means the slavetraders would have to use camels or horses, too. And they'll probably have a lot more slaves they have to bring with them, which is slow going. If they haven't left already, there's a good chance that we'll get to Riogia before they do." "*If* they haven't left already..." "Well if that's the case, we need to leave right now," Mulder determined. "We have our entire budget for Egypt with us now...we'll borrow some camels, some horses maybe, some food and a *lot* of water and some tents and we'll get a caravan out to that town as quickly as possible." "You have our entire budget for Egypt *with* you?! That's over 50,000 shekels! We're in *Egypt*! What if you had been pickpocketed?!" "I...never mind. Let's just go and find the stores and we need to get stuff from..." Mulder bit his lip as the party of eight started off to the nearest food market. (Camels, tents, food...there's no telling what's going to happen. We're going our into this wilderness with no guide and no idea how to handle things...we're just going off blind faith. But for Scully, blind faith is as good as detailed instructions to a few blocks away. Anything we can use to find her I'll use. And when I find her...I'll make those slavedealers wish they'd never been born! I just hope that she's alright...) 11:21 P.M. Saturday, January 6th, 2000 Somewhere in the Eastern Desert Scully was downright miserable. She lay on a few empty burlap sacks, the most comfortable thing she had felt all day. It was late into the night, but even after all the work she had done she still could not sleep. All of the other slaves had grown used to the routine and were fast asleep to gather up energy for the next day. Scully wasn't sure if she had walked so far in her life. The slave caravan had left Cairo the morning after she had been taken, and they were *walking* the entire 170 miles to Riogia. Actually, the slavemasters and the guards got to ride on horses and camels with fancy, shaded seats, almost like the kind on elephants. It was the *slaves* who were made to walk. The ground was hard, sandy and rough on the feet. Her feet ached from the marching...she had practically worn holes through the soles of her sandals. The sun was the worst thing of all. There was no breeze, no water, no shade, and no way to escape the constant, scorching heat that pounded down on the exposed slaves. Slaves often collapsed from heat exhaustion and dehydration...but were quickly revived and marching again with one or two whip lashes from the guards. At least at night there was no sun to burn Scully's delicate skin to a dark brown crisp. Scully cringed as she felt her stomach complain again. The slaves got three meals a day...and they all consisted of half a piece of some strange pita-like bread, a small piece of *very* salty and *very* old meat, and a bowl of bitter-tasting water in which she could practically pick out various disease-carrying organisms. Even though the food was old and made her sick to her stomach, she ate every bit of it just to get enough energy to get through the day's marching. Her mouth watered thinking about those fancy meals of lobster, pasta and wine in Venice and Paris... She tried to turn over on the burlap bags, being careful not to lay on her back. Her back was what hurt the most. She was not sure how many times that guard whipped her for assaulting Tsadyrr, but it definitely wasn't a small number. The punishment for anything was whip lashes: not marching fast enough, talking to the other slaves while marching, talking back to the guards...all of which Scully had done at least once. But the absolute worst thing of all was the chains. She hated them with a passion, straining against them all the time even though she knew it was hopeless. In fact, her chains were unique...all of the other slaves only had their wrists tied with a rope or chains. Scully was the only one with a leash and collar. After Scully's demonstration of her remarkable strength on Tsadyrr, the slavemaster had ordered that the collar be kept on her at all times, and that it always be attached to something. Usually when marching she was tied up to a buckle on one of the mules that carried supplies, which meant that she had to walk at the same pace as the mule. Otherwise she was led around by one of the guards. At night she was secured to one of the tent posts, but still made to sleep outside. Being led around by a guard was the worst...they pulled on the leash so that she choked, they made her get on the ground and then get up over and over again...once they even forced her into a tiny cage that was meant for goats and called her a goat until Tsadyrr came and broke them up. But in reality, the guards were *very* frightened of her. There had been an incident two days ago when Scully had been chained up to a post somewhere and was sleeping...when one of the guards had begun to sneak up on her from behind. It was obvious that his intent was to satisfy some raging hormones. Scully had woken up just before he got to her, but the guard kept coming, thinking that a small woman chained up was his for the taking. Scully changed his mind with her first kick. The helpless guard tried to get away before it was too late, but Scully beat the huge man senseless even with her hands tied. Tsadyrr had bawled out the guard furiously for even thinking about doing it with his most valuable slave. But that still didn't prevent the five whip lashes that Scully recieved for knocking out the guard. After this incident her reputation became firmly planted as that superhuman exotic woman who could take down the strongest men with her hands tied. Word spread quickly through the guard ranks. "Don't try anything with her...if Tsadyrr doesn't kill you, she will!" But as Scully lay there on the burlap bags outside in the desert wind, she did not care for her imfamous reputation. She was dirty, sweaty, hungry, thirsty, tired, and she ached all over. But most of all...she was lonely. She missed Mulder more than anything else. (I wonder if I'll ever see him again...) Scully squeezed back tears. She almost wished that Tsadyrr's guards had killed her that first day...for she knew what was waiting for her at the end of this long journey through the desert. There would be an auction, and then she would be sold...(like an animal.) Then after that...the rest of her life would be spent laboring for someone else's needs, still wearing the degrading leash and collar...or laboring for someone else's needs that didn't involve work. She decided that she even preferred death to a life in slavery. But what about Mulder? He would never figure out where she was...*she* didn't even know where she was. She only knew that she wished for all the world that Mulder was there with her...and hoped that he had not completely given up hope for her. (Just as long as he's out there...I still have a chance.) "Psst! Dana!" Scully lifted her head from the ground, trying to figure out who was calling her. "Dana...it's me." Scully recognized the familiar Egyptian face. "Jasmine!" Scully was extraordinarily thankful for Jasmine...she was the only person in the slave group besides the guards that spoke English. Scully had not seen Jasmine much since when they had first met, but she still felt very relieved and not quite as lonely, despite Jasmine's cynical and bitter attitude. "How are you feeling?" Jasmine asked quietly. "Horrible," She groaned, wincing as the pain in her back acted up again. "I've never felt this...*inhuman* before, and I'm so hungry I can't stand it..." Jasmine suddenly became very secretive, making sure that no one else could hear. "Dana...I've found a way out." "What?" Scully exclaimed. "Shhhh..." Jasmine shushed her excitedly. "There's been rumors circulating through the slaves...on how you beat Tsadyrr to the ground, and now recently with that guard. I must say...you're a bit of an inspiration to the other slaves. Some are starting to get more bold, there's been more talking back to the guards. And rumors of...escape." Scully's throat constricted at the sound of the word. Escape meant freedom. Freedom meant...Mulder. "Escape? You know how to escape?" Jasmine grinned from ear to ear. "I did. I've been watching the guards and the way they remove and put on the chains. There's a certain way that they twist them that gives you room to turn your wrists but no room to move them. Basically, all you have to do is cross your wrists and turn them upwards..." Jasmine demonstrated this with her hands. Almost instantly, one line of chain fell loose from one hand. "...And you're free! It's amazing that no one has ever tried it before...perhaps it's because no one has ever thought it was possible." Scully's heart leapt like a kangaroo. "You...you can get out! You have to help me get out of here, Jasmine..." Scully desperately pulled on the leash. Jasmine fumbled around to where the leash was connected to the collar, but they were latched together. She went to where the leash was tied up to the tent post...but the leash was *padlocked* to the post. "I can't get you free," She shook her head. "I don't have a key...I'm sorry...two people escaping would be more noticeable than one, anyway." "No, please! You can't leave me here...you have to take me with you! I have to find Mulder..." Scully pleaded, pulling with all her might on the devilish chains that held her captive. "You can't leave me here..." There was a shout from within the tent, and the sound of someone getting to their feet. Jasmine stood up. "I have to go...I'm sorry. I can't help you." "Please, Jasmine!" Scully persisted with begging eyes. "Please!" Jasmine began to walk away. "I'll find help...I'll get help for you! I promise!" "Jasmine!" The former slave shook her head and ran. Scully cried out one last time, knowing that it was no use. She heard the sound of a horse neighing and then hooves galloping. Then came shouts and oaths in Egyptian, and then half a dozen rifle blasts echoed into the dry night air. The other slaves were instantly awakened. Tsadyrr stormed out of the tent in only his underclothes (which wasn't a pretty sight) shouting curses at the top of his lungs. He took one look at Scully and gave her a swift kick in the gut. "Dog-slave! What happened out here?!" Scully didn't even try to answer as she struggled to recover from the blow to her stomach. After a moment she managed to croak out, "I'm...not.....a dog." Tsadyrr took the leash and shook it furiously. "What do you think THIS is? Do *people* wear these?!?!!" He roared, and marched off after his guards. Scully lay very still on the ground, trying to hold back tears and sobs as her last chance for freedom rode off into the desert. 12:34 P.M. Monday, January 8th, 2000 Somewhere else in the Eastern Desert "Langley..you're such an IDIOT!!!" The sun was the hottest in the middle of the day, and at the moment every person in the caravan was well aware of this fact. The caravan consisted of five camels and three horses, with an addition of three mules to carry supplies. Each person got their own camel or horse and a shaded seat that was fitted onto each animal. There was plenty of water and hand-fans to make sure that no one stayed dry too long. The caravan had been on the trail for almost four days, and so far all of the trip had been desert. There was no road and no dirt trial to Riogia...they had just been following the map with its very vague directions. The billowing heat and stinging sand had become very intimidating at some points...but Mulder almost never allowed for them to have any breaks. He pressed them onwards through the endless sand and dust, completely ignoring the heat and sandstorms that hit at them from all sides. His determination was so great that even the camels and horses were starting to get resentful of him...then again, Mulder wasn't exactly on good terms with camels, either. There was just one slight problem, though... "You *burned* the map, Langley?!!" Langley tried to duck behind his camel's hump. "I honestly didn't mean to! We needed some things for the fire and there were some old expired travel papers or something, and I guess I accidentally stuck the map in there with them...hey! Stop glaring at me like that!" Mulder shook his head in frustration and turned away. On the horizon he could see a flickering, glistening wet pool that he knew was a mirage. The mirage made his eyes water...or something else did. (Scully's out here somewhere...somewhere close...but I don't know where!) He thought bitterly. (And now I may never find her...if we reach the city too late, or even if we're going to the *wrong* city...she may be...) Mulder didn't want to finish the thought. He felt himself shiver despite the blinding heat. (There's no telling what they might do to her...) Mulder shook himself out of his frozen trance fiercely and clucked at his camel to keep moving. "Come on...we've still got to keep pressing on." "Fox, be reasonable!" Mulder's mother exclaimed from behind in the caravan. "We don't even know which direction to go!" "It's at least better that we *go* somewhere instead of just standing around here acting helpless!" "Fox...." "Scully doesn't have time for us to stand here arguing," He shot back. "*I* don't have time for us to stand here arguing!" The caravan was silent. Mulder's shoulders slumped. His camel shuffled the ground with its hooves. KA-TROP KA-TROP KA-TROP KA-TROP..... "Did one of the mules run off again?" Mulder started. "No, they're all right here..." KA-TROP KA-TROP KA-TROP KA-TROP..... "Then where's that galloping coming from?" "Over there!" Frohike pointed. On their right, galloping across the desert and kicking the sand and dust into the air, was a lone rider on a horse. Samantha reached for her binoculars. "It's a woman..." "Is it Scully?" "No...she's Egyptian." Mulder's heart sank again. He halted the caravan to allow the horse rider to catch up to them...it was the first time they had met anyone else on the way to Riogia. The distance between them was long, and it took another good 15 minutes for the rider to catch up to the caravan. The woman was indeed Egyptian, except she was slightly paler and she had blue eyes. She had one pierced ear and she wore a white robe-like garment with a rope tied around her waist and old sandals. The horse appeared *very* tired and was foaming at the mouth. The instant she stopped in front of Mulder's camel she began to jabber off a string of words in Egyptian. "We don't speak Egyptian," Mulder said tiredly. "You speak English?" "Yes." "I need water." The woman dismounted. "I need water for my horse and myself. I've been in the desert riding since last night and I haven't had anything..." Maggie immediately got down from her steed and offered the young woman and her horse some water. The woman spent several minutes gulping down water before she finally spoke again. "Many thanks to you, friends. Now could you tell me how far away is the closest town oe village?" "We don't know where the closest town is, but Cairo is about three day's journey back that way." "I'm aware of that. Fine, I'll ride to Cairo. But I'll be in need of more water and food..." Mulder was not sure how much of their own rations he was willing to give up to this stranger. "If you could tell us how to get to Riogia, you could come with us..." The woman shook her head vigorously. "No. The last place that I'm going is Riogia." She shuddered inwardly. "Why are you going there?" "I'm looking for...someone. I think she may have been captured by slave traders..." Mulder said depressingly. The Egyptian's eyes widened. "Do you mean a Ms. Scully?" Mulder's heart leaped so quickly that his camel nearly felt it. "You've seen her?" The woman nodded. "Met her. But mind you...that temper of hers has gotten her into a lot of trouble." Mulder wasn't listening. "Which way is it to Riogia?" "Do you have a map?" "Noooo...." "All I know is that the slavemasters talk of going Northeast, so I'm fairly certain that Riogia is somewhere Northeast of where we are now." "But without a map we *still* don't know which way is Northeast!" Troi complained. Mulder was silent for a moment, apparently deep in thought. Then he suddenly turned around and dug into his backpack...and produced the infamous compass that Scully had given for Christmas. He smiled for the first time in days. "What's your name?" "Jasmine. Jasmine Sarmmunt." "You have no idea how much this means to me, Jasmine. I'll make sure you get all the food, water and supplies you need to get back to civilization." "Just as long as I can get away from those slavemasters I'm content," she said. A little while later, the former slave was loaded up with three day's worth of food and water for herself and the horse, as well as some blankets and things that could be used to make a small tent cover. The camels of Mulder's caravan were eager to get moving so they could escape the sun. Jasmine gave one last farewell to the group before she departed. "Thank you for all your generosity. I hope you find Dana...she's one woman worth going halfway around the world for." "Trust me, I know that," Mulder grinned back. "I'll be seeing you!" Jasmine called. The horse reared up in anticipation, and then galloped away to become one with the horizon line. Mulder felt himself become energized with a newfound strength. He motioned for the others to mount their steeds. "Let's go...it's only a day's more traveling and then we're there." Mulder turned his camel to the Northwest, holding his compass in one hand. Although he was once again spirited enough to finish the journey, he knew that there was still a chance that their journey across the desert could have been in vain. (All we can do now is keep going.) 8:52 A.M. Wednesday, January 10th, 2000 Riogia, Egypt Riogia looked just the same as any other small town in Egypt...square buildings made out of brick or mud, children playing in the streets, people dressed in turbans and robes, camels, horses, and produce markets selling dates and melons. But hidden somewhere within the noisy throng was Scully. The moment they had entered the city, Mulder had gotten off his camel and began searching, despite the protests from the others that they should at least get themselves settled first. Mulder was unwilling to waste any time whatsoever. "We'll split into two groups. Sam, Troi and Byers come with me. The rest of you, take the animals and find a safe place where you can tie them up and store our supplies, and then also start searching. We'll meet back here in an hour exactly." The others stared solemnly at each other and left to carry out his instructions. Mulder bit his lip, not even feeling the pain of teeth biting into his flesh. He was hot, and sweat dripped down his forehead. The bustling streets of Riogia were like some sinister maze of which there was no exit. His eyes shifted across the crowd, searching for a familiar face, the revognizable flash of red. "Fox, slow down!" He heard Samantha's voice call from behind him in a breathless tone. She glanced disapprovingly at her older brother. "We're *never* gonna find her if you don't stop running around like a panicked camel." "No," Mulder argued. "We can't waste a single moment. She may already be gone again..." Byers and Troi caught up with the two, breathing hard. "No sign of her," Byers sighed. Mulder grimaced in silent fury. "She must be here somewhere...somewhere close....." For a moment, the group was silent. All around them the chaotic noises of the Egyptian town prevailed, with shouts, yells, exclamations, hammering, camels bellowing, dogs barking... "Come, all of you, and observe our latest attraction on the market!" Troi was surprised. "That was English?" "Sounds like an auction." Mulder nodded. "Maybe someone there has seen Scully...if they speak English." "A rare opportunity you don't want to pass off...a truly exotic product!" The voice came again. Mulder tried to determine where the voice was coming from. He caught sight of a large, crowded alley where several more people were heading. "I encourage you all to come and take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" "Over there!" Mulder said, pointing to the crowded alley. The other three searchers followed him into the sea of packed people. It was indeed an auction. A large platform and tent had been set up at the very back of the alley, with a sign in Egyptian over the platform. A large, wealthy-looking man was standing on the platform, apparently the salesman of whatever they were selling. When he spoke, he spoke first in Egyptian, then repeated his words in English. "Such a prize as I will show you is worthy only of the highest bids...but it is worth every cent, I assure you!" "What's going on?" Troi questioned, trying to see through the crowds of smelly people. "With hair like the sun's fire...eyes like the Nile...and a spirit like the viscious tiger!" The auctioner motioned towards the edge of the platform as three people came up. Mulder's heart stopped dead in his chest. One of the people was Scully. Her wrists were bound together with lines of chain...and a horrid chain collar circled her neck. She was pulled up to the front of the platform by a large guard holding the chain leash. The other guard carried a rifle and a whip. She was wearing some white robe-like garment, and looked sour enough to make grapes jealous. Mulder could not find his voice. He felt like he was choking he was so shocked. *Scully* was the thing being auctioned! But when he did find his voice, it came out loud and clear: "SCULLY!!!" Scully looked up, her eyes wide, and instantly recognized the face at the back of the crowd. "MULDER!!!" WHI-CRACK! Mulder let out a shout of dismay as Scully stumbled forward, her face scrunched in pain. His entire body seemed to shatter inside as he heard the sound of the guard's whip striking her back. The auctioner gave a forceful tug on the leash, causing Scully to fall to her knees. "As you can see, she is rather rebellious." "Mulder!" He heard Byers shout from behind, as if it were the only way he could respond to what they had just witnessed. Mulder exploded. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Mulder roared to the auctioner on the podium. "STOP IT NOW, LET HER GO!" The auctioner (who happened to be Tsadyrr) stared in surprise at Mulder. "Hold your tongue until the bidding begins...if you want her." "NOBODY'S BUYING ANYBODY!" He exclaimed with pure hatred at the men holding her captive. "I'M COMING UP THERE TO GET HER...SO LET HER GO!!!" Tsadyrr snarled at Mulder. "This is not a free-for-all. I'm only selling to those willing to pay." "SHE IS *NOT* A SLAVE! SHE IS DANA SCULLY, SPECIAL AGENT OF THE FBI! AND YOU'RE ALL GOING TO BE *SLAUGHTERED* BY THE U.S. FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!" Byers instantly realized a problem...no one in the crowd of buyers spoke English; no one would know who she was or what was going on. To them, she was just another slave to be bought and sold and used. "Maybe in your country she is, but right here and right now she is my slave and my merchandise. I don't have time for nondealers." Mulder's impulse to shout violently instead came out in a burst of motion. He flung himself into the startled crowds, oblivious to the cried of Troi, Samantha and Byers behind him. The absolute hatred of seeing that beast drag her along on a leash and whip her like an animal filled him with an electric energy to murder those hurting her. The crowd went up in a chorus of shouts and cries in shock and anger. Mulder almost immediately halted as several huge men surrounded him with loaded rifles and forced him back. The rifle-bearing guards threatened him with their firearms until he returned to the back of the crowd. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" "Perhaps I haven't made myself clear...this is a *valuable* slave, *therefore*, she is *only* for sale!" "But you..." Tsadyrr snarled. "I will NOT repeat myself again. She is *only* for sale. If I hear one more protest from you, she will not be for sale at all..." He gave the chain a forceful pull, closing her windpipe. He continued to pull, making the collar tighter, as she choked helplessly for breath. Then he suddenly let the chain go slack, and Scully coughed desperately. Several of the crowd members looked with anger at Mulder...they weren't about to let some outsider ruin their chance of owning the most rare and beautiful slave in Egypt. Scully stared helplessly at Mulder, tears brimming her eyes, as she silently begged him to stop. If she spoke again, the whip would come down twice as hard. Mulder stared back, equally helpless, his insides churning at seeing Scully lying defenseless in chains. He realized there was only one way to get back Scully now..... "The auction will continue," Tsadyrr said calmly, pulling Scully to her feet. "This exotic treasure is my personal gift to whoever is willing to pay my price. She looks small in stature, but she has the strength of many slaves together. But be warned...she is as firery as her hair, and only those strong enough to sustain her temper and break her spirit should consider bidding." He demonstrated this fact by giving another tug on the leash, causing her to snarl in anger. "A wild horse with unmatched strength and beauty...a perfect slave for labor or recreation." Scully squirmed against the chains. "Mulder...what are we going to do?" Troi asked fearfully. "Whatever he have to," He answered. "Of course, she is worth much more than a normal slave...who would like to start the bidding at 5000 shekels?" A dozen hands went up all at once. Tsadyrr grinned with pleasure. "Yes, I can see we have some intelligent beings here. Do I hear more than 5000?" Mulder raised his hand. "6000 shekels." "Now you're going about it right," Tsadyrr smiled. "I have 6000 shekels. Do I hear 7000 shekels?" Scully instantly realized what Mulder was doing...he was going to try and buy her. Her expression filled with hope at the possibility of salvation. One man several paces away from Mulder raised his hand. He was dressed in much finer clothing than most of the bidders, with a jewel-studded turban and a well-combed beard. Mulder could not help but notice the lust in the man's eyes as he stared at Scully. "10,000 shekels." Now the auction was really getting going, and Tsadyrr knew it. "I have 10,000 shekels! Do I hear 15,000?" Five people including Mulder raised their hands. "I have 15,000 shekels, do I hear 20,000?" The rich, lustful man raised his hand. "I have 20,000 shekels, do I hear 25,000?" Mulder and one other person raised their hands. "I have 25,000 shekels, do I hear 30,000?" The other man raised his hand. "I have 30,000 shekels, do I hear 35,000?" This time only Mulder raised his hand. A murmur began to circulate through the crowd...the people of Riogia were not very wealthy, and 30,000 shekels was considered the maximum for most slaves. No one was willing to pay 30,000 shekels for one slave, no matter how beautiful she was. Before Tsadyrr could speak, the other man raised his hand. "40,000 shekels." An excited roar circulated through the crowd. It was a match between Mulder and the rich man...and a fierce one at that. "Mulder...we only have 50,000 shekels with all of us!" Byers reminded him. "That's all of our money we have for the rest of Egypt!" "I'm gonna get her," Mulder replied. "No matter what." "Do I hear more? "40,100 shekels!" "40,200 shekels!" "40,300!!!" "40,400!!!" "40,500!!!" "40,600!!!" "40,700!!!" "41,000!!!" The man exclaimed. The crowd was in an uproar. Tsadyrr was practically dancing with glee, lifting Scully's head with the leash as he yelled, "I HAVE 41,000 SHEKELS! DO I HEAR MORE?" Mulder grimaced, and raised his hand. "42,000 shekels!" He shouted. "43,000!!!" The other man shouted back. "44,000!!!" "45,000!!!" "46,000!!!" "47,000!!!" "48,000!!!" Scully gasped as the prices for her skyrocketed in a matter of seconds. The crowd fell into a hushed silence as they realized that the rich man had not answered immediately. "I HAVE 48,000 SHEKELS, DO I HEAR 49,000 SHEKELS?" No answer. "DO I HEAR 49,000 SHEKELS?" Still no answer. Scully held her breath. "GOING ONCE..." Then he raised his hand. "49,000 shekels." Mulder cursed. He could feel the pressure frm Byers, Troi and Samantha behind him and the pleading silence of Scully before him. "I HAVE 49,000 SHEKELS, DO I HEAR 50,000 SHEKELS?" Mulder couldn't answer. The crowd was silent. "50,000 SHEKELS?" Their total budget for Egypt was 50,000 shekels... "GOING ONCE..." (Please, Mulder, please...) "GOING TWICE..." "NO!!" Mulder's voice rang out. "50,000! I SAY 50,000 SHEKELS!!!" The crowd roared. "50,000 SHEKELS! I HAVE 50,000 SHEKELS FOR THIS RARE SLAVE! DO I HEAR MORE?" The lustful man's gaze bore into Scully, and it suddenly became clear that he was nearly as desperate to get her as Mulder was. She could feel the chain around her neck. "DO I HEAR 51,000 SHEKELS??" Mulder tried to drown out the crowd, concentrating only on Scully on the platform. "GOING ONCE..." The man stared at her... "GOING TWICE..." Mulder stared at her... "*SOLD*!!! SOLD TO THE DARK-HAIRED AMERICAN FOR 50,000 SHEKELS!!!" Mulder let out a heavy gasp of relief. Byers and Samantha had already fished out the 50,000 shekels, with Samantha shaking her head in utter amazement. Tsadyrr shook Scully's leash with excitement, shouting over and over again, "SOLD!!! SOLD!!! SOLD!!!" As soon as Mulder got the money, he burst through the crowds like a train, running desperately towards the platform. The men parted and looked at him with expressions of mixed jealousy and awe. Mulder reached the platform and bounded up the stairs in two jumps. Tsadyrr, Scully and the guards were waiting. He was breathless, senseless, and seemingly unaware that he had just paid 50,000 shekels for Scully's freedom. "Congratulations, sir!" Tsadyrr said to Mulder. "You made the right decision...she will serve you well." Mulder did not take his eyes off Scully and handed the 50,000 shekels in notes to the slavedealer without a second thought. "Take off the chains," He commanded. Tsadyrr laughed and handed the chain leash to Mulder. "Keep the collar on...trust me, you're going to need it." "Take them off." "You've bought a very exotic slave, it wouldn't be too wise to be too carefree..." "I said TAKE THEM OFF." Mulder growled through his teeth, his eyes boring into Tsadyrr with hatred. Tsadyrr was convinced. He stepped as far away from Scully as possible and untied her wrists, remaining weary of her fists. Then he reached up and unlatched the chain collar on her neck. Practically the moment the metal chain was lifted from her skin she ran forward and embraced Mulder. He hugged her back, tears of thankfulness springing to his eyes. She kissed him hard in the mouth, full and passionate and completely visible to all the startled people at the auction. Tsadyrr stared at Mulder as if he were some sort of magician that had just performed an impossible feat. This woman who had rejected and fought and cursed every man who came near her had just flung herself into the arms of her first master. As they continued to kiss, the 50,000 shekels in his hand felt heavy and worthless. A wave of jealousy and self-contempt overtook him as he realized that the only place he would ever get a bit of Scully's saliva was on his shoes. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally pulled away from each other. The entire mob was so quiet you could hear sand move on the wind. Mulder turned to face Tsadyrr. The expression on his face bore into the slavemaster's eyes...and suddenly filled Tsadyrr with a cold, deadly fear. The look in Mulder's eyes was murderous and filled with hatred, and it pierced Tsadyrr until he felt horrible about who he was and what he had done. Mulder glanced down at the notes in his hand. "You had better spend that money quickly...because I promise you you won't have much longer to do so." All Tsadyrr could do was nod nervously. Mulder and Scully gave him one last look before descending off the platform, with Scully leaning wearily against Mulder. The crowd parted respectfully as they passed through, arm in arm, as if they were royalty that could not be disturbed in the slightest manner. They reached the back of the crowd where Samantha, Byers and Troi were waiting. It was only after they had completely left the alley that the noise for the next auction started up again. Mulder halted Scully and held her by the shoulders. "Scully!..." "I'm fine, Mulder," Scully said shakily. "I'm fine...." Mulder put his arms around her, holding her very tightly so that she almost couldn't breathe. A sound came out of him like a whimper or a sob, trying hard to keep himself from crying in front of the others. He could tell that Scully was shaking, almost violently. Mulder pulled away slightly so that he could get a good look at her. her hair was messy and oily from days without a shower, her delicate white skin had been burnt red and brown by the desert sun, and the white robe clung pitifully to her thin, undernourished body. She was covered in dirt and bruises, her back was hunched over, and she smelled like wet rags and camel's breath. Mulder was certain he had never seen anything more beautiful in his entier life. "Scully, I...." "Sorry Mulder," Scully managed a grin. "I know I'm not supposed to be the one who's the ditcher..." "I-I just can't believe it's you," Mulder stuttered. "I thought I might never see you again..." "Dana! You're alright!" Troi exclaimed, and excitedly embraced Scully and squeezed her. "OWWW!" Scully yelped. "Sorry...I'm really sore right now." "Are you alright? I mean, physically?" Samantha asked. "My stomach's been so loud I think there's a lion living inside," She said. "And my back hurts so much I can barely describe it...." Mulder remembered the guard whipping Scully at the auction. Anxious, he walked behind Scully and pulled down the robe so that it revealed half of her back. Mulder suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He struggled to keep himself from vomiting. All across Scully's back were long, red whelts that were the signs of whip lashes. He didn't even want to count how many he saw on just her upper back. The older lashes had turned a dull purple bruise color, but the newest ones were still red with dried blood. "They whipped you?" He said in a low voice. "Yes." "A lot?" "Yes. They just liked to pick on me, I guess." Mulder covered up Scully's back, not wanting to see anymore. He cast one last hateful glance at the auction before turning back to her. "We need to get you to a doctor, Scully." "Mulder, I *am* a doctor." "Then you know better than me how much you need one! Come on...let's go find the others and then we can get you to a hospital of something..." Almost automatically they turned and began to walk back to the place where they had split at the entrance to the city. Mulder stayed very close to Scully, squeezing his fingers around her hand. Scully squeezed his hand back...no other communication was needed. 12:13 A.M. Wednesday, January 10th, 2000 Riogia, Egypt Scully winced, gritting her teeth to hold back the pain. She relaxed somewhat as a sweet-smelling rag soon followed the splash of cold liquid on her back. "That hurt," She said mildly. "It's herbs, aloe and water from the Dead Sea," the 'doctor' replied. "It will sting for awhile...but the salt will heal it quicker." Scully forced herself to ignore the pain as the salt seeped into the two dozen red whelts that cris-crossed her back. Mulder had counted 23 on her altogether. She figured that to be it when she counted up the number she knew she had received with the number from when she was first captured...she had never know for sure because she had lost consciousness before the guard was done. The entire group had met up at the entrance to the city. There had been reunions, exclamations and reliefs all around when Mulder's group had returned with Scully...but not quite as much enthusiasm when they found out the *price* that they had paid to get her back. They had been unable to locate a hospital close by in Riogia...but they *had* found an old Arabic woman in a hut who claimed to be able to heal wounds as well as any doctor. They had to translate with her using a dictionary because she spoke no English. Scully had not been too thrilled at first, since the woman seemed to think that herbs were a better remedy than medicines. But a big meal, a hot bath and a cold shower had changed her mind. She was feeling better already...the woman even gave her a homemade lotion she had created that helped heal her burnt skin without creating any pain. Right now she was rubbing in some powder to compensate for the harsh salt water, while Scully covered up her front with the white robe as best as she could. The hut was small so there wasn't much sitting room for the other eight people. "I know just what to do for these things," the woman said in Egyptian. "Most free slaves or even masters who want to improve the health of their slaves come to me. The best thing is plenty of nourishment and water, and as little stress on the body as possible. The most difficult thing to heal is the emotional damage...luckily your Dana was only in the trade for about a week. She will recover much faster than most." "Well, Mulder..." Byers grinned. "With being under those conditions for a week, I'd say she looks pretty good!" Mulder sighed. "I think she looks pretty good all the time." Scully couldn't help but smile. "Well Fox...I must say you did a pretty good job in getting her back again, and what you did was probably the best thing you could've done. But *now* we have a new problem as far as our money goes. "How much do we have left?" Scully asked. Mulder gave her a lopsided grin. "None. I spent our entire budget for Egypt on you." "You spent *all* *our* *money*?!" "I thought it was a small price to pay," He said evenly. "I have an idea!" Troi suddenly jumped up. "I can e-mail Skinner from my laptop! I'm sure he'll be able to send us money to last until India." "That's a good idea! Then we won't even have to travel anywhere..." "There's just one problem," Troi interrupted. "My laptop is back in Cairo." "Well...forget *that* then...." "We can just travel back to Cairo the way we came...one of us can double-buckle on a camel or something." Langley and Frohike exchanged uneasy glances and looked at Mulder. "What?" Mulder asked. "You tell him." "No, *you* tell him." "I am *not* going to tell him." "Come on...everyone blames me for everything, anyway!" "Ohh...alright." Mulder grew suspicious. "What is it?..." Frohike grunted. "We encountered a bit of a struggle concerning our pack animals. A big gang of men was trying to steal our camels and horses and mules. There was a big gang of them...maybe 20 or so." "We only managed to save one camel and one horse," Langley concluded. The group was silent. Mulder shook his head in defeat. "*Just* when you thought things couldn't get any worse..." Troi moaned quietly. "No money and no transportation," Mulder said, thinking over their problems. "What about our supplies? Did they take those, too?" "No, we still have all our things." "Well then, we only have one option left," Mulder sighed. "We'll have to *walk* back to Cairo." "WALK?" Scully yelped suddenly. "Everyone will walk except for Scully. She will ride the horse," Mulder confirmed. No one really wanted to contradict his decision. Scully sighed, relieved...she was not about to walk back all the way *to* Cairo when she had just walked *from* Cairo. "It's going to take us almost twice as long to get from Riogia to Cairo as it was to get here...are you sure we have that much food and water for that kind of journey?" "If we ration ourselves enough we should. We don't have any money to buy more food." Scully put back on the white robe...her old clothes had been taken away by the slavedealers, and she didn't have any other outfits. "Well...I guess we should leave as soon as possible." Mulder was still concerned. "Are you sure you don't want to have more time to rest, Scully? You're still not really recovered..." "I'm feeling much better!" She protested. "I'm not completely *helpless* just because I spent the last week marching through the desert with little food or water!" (That's Scully for you,) Mulder thought with a sigh. 9:15 A.M. Saturday, January 13th, 2000 Somewhere in the Eastern Desert "Oh, I've been through the desert on a horse with no name, it felt good to be out of the rain...." "Samantha..." "In the desert you can remember your name cause--" "Samantha! You've been singing that song for the past three hours! Can't you sing something else?!" The desert became silent again. The group of nine was the only living thing apparent in the wilderness of nothingness, trudging slowly through the sand and dust at a tiring pace. Although they were all slightly jealous of the fact that Scully got to ride horseback, they knew it was only fair to her after all she'd been through. She even offered to get off the horse and walk for awhile, but Mulder had refused to let her do so. They had been in the desert for three days so far, but there was still much more distance to cover. Samantha pondered over what song to sing next as they walked along...it just didn't seem right that they walk all the way through this blinding heat without *some* form of enjoyment, especially after Scully's long and joyless week. Seeing Mulder march relentlessly through the sand, leading along Scully's horse, a song came to mind..... "When I wake up, yeah I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you When I go out, yeah, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you If I get drunk, yeah, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you And if I haver, yeah, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's haverin' to you. But I would walk 500 miles And I would walk 500 more Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles To fall down at your door!" Samantha's voice rang out into the echoless desert, bold and enthusiastic and *very* out of place in the silent world of sand. "When I'm working, yes, I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you And when the money comes in for the work I'll do I'll pass almost every penny on to you." Samantha's singing was contagious. First Troi, then Byers, then Langley, then Mulder and Scully and the rest seemed to follow into her singing: "But I would walk 500 miles And I would walk 500 more Just to be the man who walked 1,000 miles To fall down at your door!" The volume increased as they fell into the fun part of the chorus: "De-de-del-lah-dah! De-de-del-lah-dah! De-de-del-lah-dah! De-de-del-lah-dah! De-dedel-lah-dedel-lah-dedel-lah-dah! De-de-del-lah-dah! De-de-del-lah-dah! De-de-del-lah-dah! De-de-del-lah-dah! De-dedel-lah-dedel-lah-dedel-lah-dah!" They went through the entire song like that, singing absurdly at the top of their lungs just because they were there and they had nothing else to do. Even the horse and camel seemed to trot along to the tune of the song as they lyrics sounded off into the nothingness. They finished the song after several more verses with a final emphasis on the last word. Troi laughed with pure enjoyment. "Man! We should do that more off-FFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!" The entire caravan instantly halted in it's tracks as the earth suddenly swallowed Troi whole. "TROI!" Scully immediately dismounted her horse and ran to the edge of the gaping hole in the ground. Sand sifted down into the small hole with seemingly no bottom. Scully could not see anything. "TROI! WHERE ARE YOU?" A rasping cough answered from about ten feet below, "I'm....*cough*...down here." The rest of the group gathered around the hole once they determined it wouldn't collapse under them as well. "Are you alright?" Maggie called. "I-AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH!!!!" Troi leaped away in surprise as a dusty, grinning skull greeted her blurry vision. She turned around, and there was *another* skeleton! In fact, she was surrounded by three of them!" "TROI!" "T-there's some dead people down here!" She called up in a shaky voice. Mulder and Scully exchanged glances. "Hang on, Troi. We're going to get a rope and get you out of there..." "Hey. There's something else down here too...." "What is it?" "It looks like a door." Mulder suddenly became very interested. "Stay there, I'm coming down there, too." Scully shot Mulder a look. "Mulder, you're not honestly thinking..." "Why would three dead people and a door be 10 feet below the ground in the middle of the desert? It doesn't make any sense! I just want to get a look at it for myself..." Soon they had a rope stretched down to the floor of the hole. Heart pounding excitedly, Mulder took the rope in both hands and descended carefully into the black pit. He landed next to Troi, who was dusting herself off and being careful to avoid the foreboding corpses. "It's right over here," She said, pointing to one wall of the pit. Mulder looked very carefully at the door... "Scully! Come on, you *have* to take a look at this!" Scully sighed. There would be no getting out of *this* one. Very slowly and very carefully, she climbed down the rope and into the small hole where Mulder and Troi were waiting. She landed hard on her feet, bringing the aching in her feet back to her attention. "What are you talking about?" Mulder pointed to where one wall of the hole was smoother than the rest. Etched into the smooth surface were patterned chisel marks that seemed to form recognizable pictures...heiroglyphics. Scully's eyes widened. "Can we get some light down here? We should probably take a better look at this..." Troi managed to climb back up the rope and get a torch lit, and then climb back down. There was only enough room in the chasm for three people to stand. Mulder held the torch up to the door. The carvings certainly were Egyptian heirogyphics, the paint still visible in the skillfully-chiseled cracks. "Does anyone know how to read heiroglyphics?" Mulder asked aloud. "All I know are the basic ones," Troi shrugged. "They're just pictures. An arm is 'arm', a symbol of water is 'water', a bird is 'bird'. But I can't read anything." Mulder carefully ran his fingers over the worn, dusty surface. "I wonder what it means...." "I wonder what's inside!" Troi exclaimed. Scully instantly knew that now it was hopeless...one way or another, something bad was going to come out of this. "Could we open the door?" Mulder pushed against the door. It wouldn't budge. He tried to move it to one side like a sliding door. It still wouldn't move. He tried pulling on it, pressing in certain corners, tracing the heiroglyphics, pulling and pushing at the same time and even throwing his entire body weight against it. All his efforts gave no results. Mulder rubbed his aching shoulders from throwing them against the stone. "So much for *that*," He complained, giving the door a hefty kick near the bottom. And, almost instantly, the door opened. There was something like a deep rumble and groaning, and then sand sifted everywhere, raining down in their hair. Slowly yet surely, the door lifted upwards and inwards, like a lever. And they were left staring into the dark entryway beyond. Mulder turned back to Scully, a grin spread all over his face. "Spooky!" Scully's jaw worked. "Mulder...I think we should think about this before just walking on in..." "What? Are you *afraid*, Scully?" "Of course not! There's a difference between being afraid and being *smart*!" Mulder took one cautious step into the entryway. He shined the torch ahead of him, but could not see anything except an empty hallway. "Whatever this thing is, it goes back aways. It may be much larger than we think." "Hey! What's going on down there!" Samantha called from ten feet above. "I think we're going to go inside...wait for us!" "Not in *this* lifetime," Frohike mumbled, grabbing up the rope in both hands to follow them down. Mulder took a few more steps into the hall. He held the torch close to the wall, and could see *more* heiroglyphics...along with many other Egyptian pictures. Images of men, pharohs, animals, gods and slaves were carved carefully into all the surrounding walls. He wasn't sure what they represented, but they definitely looked significant... Scully and Troi carefully came in behind him. The hallway smelled of ancient, chipping plaster on stone and strange dust that was thousands of years old. Samantha, Frohike and Byers soon dropped in behind them...Langley decided to stay topside with Maggie and Tina "How long does this passage go on?" Troi whispered. Her words echoed again and again and again so that it appeared she was shouting. Mulder raised his hand for silence. The passage ended in another door. Only this one had already been broken through...a gaping hole desecrated the face of the skillfully-carved stone slab. Footprints were still present in the dust. Mulder's eyes widened, and his lips pressed into an irreversable grin. "I think.....we've found it." "Uhhhhhh.........what?" "The lost Pharoh's tomb! The one with the supposed curse! Those three corpses back there must've been the three robbers that died in the cave-in!" Troi swallowed nervously. "If that's the case...shouldn't we *avoid* bringing a curse on ourselves and get out of here before we end up like *those* three?" "Listen, there is *no* curse..." Scully argued, "but I still think it's best that we get out of here. I mean, those three men obviously died of *something*, and it could very well happen to us, too." "But aren't you just the *least* bit curious?" Mulder persisted. "Maybe...but I'm *more* interested in making sure that we get back to civilization in one piece!" Mulder would not take no for an answer. Being careful of where he stepped, he made his way through the blast hole in the door. Scully and Troi exchanged weary glances, then shrugged and followed him. The other three were not far behind. The room beyond held an indescribable amount of goods...sealed clay jars carved with animal heads, chairs and tables, utensils, musical instruments, statues, weapons and other belongings...all made out of gold, silver, bronze and other precious metals studded with stones colored red and green and blue and purple. The metallic objects glittered in the dim light of the torch, making them seem eerie and foreboding. No one spoke for the longest time. "If there were robbers here...why didn't they take all these things?" Troi whispered, breaking the silence. "They probably couldn't carry it all. There are quite a few things that are missing." Scully nodded, completely dumbstruck by the vast horde of treasures surrounding them. In a daze, she reached out to touch the golden head of a leopard-shaped table... Mulder quickly grabbed her hand. "Don't touch anything! There's no telling what might happen if we do." "Mulder, there is *no* curse..." "There could be booby traps. That definitely doesn't call for a curse." "I think somebody's been watching too many Indiana Jones movies." "Does the Young Indiana Jones series count?" Scully smiled sarcastically at him. "Come on! Let's see what else is in this tomb...there's another door back here!" Mulder brought up the torch to where Troi was pointing. It was indeed another door, only this one was not open. It was carved with more elaborate heiroglyphics and pictures, mostly of Anubis and other other symbols of the afterlife. "Okay...so how do we get in there?" Scully stepped up to the door carefully and ran her fingers over the stone surface. When she took her hand away, she noticed a yellowish-white powder covering her fingers. "Smells like sulphur," She commented. "Scully..." Mulder pointed to where she had touched the door. A long crack ran through the wall as if Scully had hit it with a sledgehammer. After hesitating for a moment, Mulder gave the solid door a tough shove. Almost instantly, the entire door crumbled into a fine powdered dust. "Oh my..." Scully's statement was cut short by her surprise. For a moment, they stood there, not sure of what to do. Then Mulder grasped the torch tightly and led them inside. Even in the torchlight the room seemed to be very dark. There was nothing in this room...except for the large box-like structure right in the center. "I think this is it," Mulder whispered. The thing in the center of the room was a tomb. It was in the shape of a person, and was made of stone and clay and painted with images and jewels...with the face of the tomb painted with the likeness of the king that lay within. Mulder wasn't sure what it was...the prevailing darkness, the slight sulphorous smell, or the choking dust that thrived everywhere. But whatever it was, it made him afraid, almost unconsciously ashamed that they had dared to disturb the rest of this long-dead Pharoh. It seemed that the others felt the same way. "I think...we should leave now," Scully whispered nervously. "There's nothing in here....." "Except for th-those!" Troi stuttered in fear. They saw that the Pharoh wasn't the only one who had chosen this dark room as his resting place...many other pitiful, rotting skeletons lined the edges of the room. "I *really* think we should leave now..." Scully repeated. For the first time, Mulder agreed. "Yeah...I think you're right." SCHUNK. The tomb suddenly became darker than usual. The three turned around fast...and discovered that where the open doorway had been a moment ago was now a solid wall! "Hey!" Mulder cried out, running to the door with the torch. "What happened?!" "Fox! Dana! Troi! Are you in there?" Samantha called from the hallway outside. "Get us out of here!" Mulder cried, banging hard on the wall. The heavy stone didn't budge. Troi and Scully began to draw in close to Mulder and the light of his torch, both of them suddenly feeling very claustriphobic. Samantha and the two Lone Gunmen pounded on the door from the outside...how the door had reappeared after crumbling to dust was the first thing they couldn't figure out. "How are we supposed to open the door?" "What's that sound?" Troi suddenly cried. From deep within the earth, vibrating throughout the walls and ceiling around them, was something sounding like a rough grumble, like stone scraping against stone. But the walls weren't moving inward, as would be expected. But then, something strange sifted in through the hairline cracks in the tomb.... Scully sniffed the air. "Something's not right...." "Of *course* something's not right!" Mulder cried, pounding furiously on the stubborn door. "That smell..." Scully sniffed again. "I recognize it. It's sulphur and..." Mulder decided that banging on the door wasn't going to do anything. He held his torch up to the heiroglyphics to see if they provided any clues, even though he couldn't read them. "It sulphur dioxide!!" Scully cried suddenly. "It's poison! We have to get OUT of here NOW!" Scully's words proved to be true...seeping in through the cracks from some unknown source was a thick, foul-smelling gas, slowly filling up the small amount of airspace and contaminating their precious oxygen with deadly poison. Now they were all *really* scared. "Try anything!" Samantha urged. "Push it, pull it, slide it, anything! I think the entryway might collapse again!" "Mulder!!" Scully shook his shoulder roughly. "I don't think we have time for you to teach yourself another language!" "There might be something written here that can help us!" He countered. Scully and Troi pulled their shirts over their noses as the sickening smell threatened to invade their lungs. They could tell that it was getting stronger and stronger every second. "Mulder, there's no time!!" Scully cried in a muffled voice. Mulder ignored them, concentrating only on what was pictured on the door, trying to decode something without a key. There were pictures...a Pharoh pointing a finger at several heiroglyphics, both a master and a slave bowing before him, a picture of a rotting skeleton surrounded by snakes and demons...and the strangest of all, a diagram of a bird swimming in water and a fish flying in the air! Mulder's genius self suddenly put the pieces together as he went over the carvings again. "Don't breathe!!" "We *won't* be in a few seconds!" Scully exclaimed. Troi coughed loudly. "Just don't breathe! Hold your breath! The more we breathe, the faster the gas will come in!" The two trusted Mulder and trapped their breath in their lungs. The sound of hissing and stench of sulphur continued to grow stronger. The seconds ticked by...5...10...15...20...Scully could practically feel her face turning purple. Mulder wasn't even trying to open the door anymore, and just stood there holding his breath tightly. Then, slowly, the hissing died down into nothing. The smell was still present, but they could tell that it was not continuously getting stronger. Scully and Troi looked to Mulder for further directions...he just continued to not breathe. Samantha hit the stone wall again. This time, it instantly crumbled into powder. The three leaped through the doorway and back into the treasure chamber. Mulder coughed and breathed again. "Come on!" He shouted hoarsely. "We have to get out of here!" Without a second thought they all ran. They charged through the treasury with its solid gold plates and goblets and jewel-studded daggers. The entire world seemed to be collapsing in on top of them as they ran doggedly towards the strong beam of sunlight and rope at the very end of the long hallway. Chunks of rock peltered them from the ceiling above. Then they noticed that the *door* they had come through was beginning to close again! "HURRY!!!" They reached the door and ducked beneath it one by one as stone scraped against stone. Troi was the last one, and managed to squeeze beneath just before the stone closed the entryway forever. The crowded six looked up. They were now packed tightly in the narrow pit, staring up at the other three above. The walls still rumbled and rained sand and rocks down on them. One by one they climbed back up the rope with the other three carefully hauling them up. In a matter of minutes only Mulder and Scully were left standing in the pit. "Come on! I'll go up last!" Mulder shouted over the rumble. "No, *you're* going first!" "Ugh...don't start *that* again!" Scully hesitated, then took hold of the rope. As quickly as she could, she climbed hand over hand up the shaking rope. The walls of the pit began to crumble and collapse on top of themselves. As soon as Scully was safely up, Mulder also climbed out of the sandy deathtrap. The moment his knees touched the ground, the earth belched and then collapsed over the pit. For a moment they all just stood there, staring at the smoke rising from the cracks in the earth. "Well...." Mulder coughed in a choking voice. "That's *one* way to burgular-proof your house..." Scully coughed in response. "Mulder....how did you know that we had to hold our breath in order to get out?" Mulder shook his head. "I guessed. I just went off my interpretation of the heiroglyphics. I think that the poison release is triggered by the oxygen intake and carbon dioxide output when a person who is breathing enters the room. And then the entrance collapse is also triggered by the release of the gas." "That *would* explain a few things..." Troi sighed, wiping dust off her face. "What about that door?" Frohike said in a confused manner. "How did it...." "I don't know." Scully stood up, feeling dirty and sore. "Maybe it was cursed," She sighed sarcastically. Mulder grinned from ear to ear. Then he turned his attention back to the desert and the journey that was left until they reached home. 10:41 A.M. Thursday, January 18th, 2000 FBI Headquarters Washington D.C. Section General Walter Skinner sat in the cool of his air-conditioned office, feeling somewhat bored for the third time that day. The office had been relatively quiet...Jacob Grant had stopped by to say hello, but that was all. Skinner took another sip of his cappuchino and decided to check his e-mail yet again, simply because there was nothing else to do. To his surprise, he found that he had gotten a new message, from someone named "Troijan-Horse".... Dear Skinner, Alyssa, Gerret, Jacob and everyone else back home, Greetings from Cairo! We are sorry that you have not received any letters from us since Cape Town...we have been occupied beyond explanation! But I shall tell you all about it... First off, you are probably wondering how this is coming to you via e-mail. Well, a laptop was Troi's big Christmas present, and we decided to take advantage of it. We celebrated the holidays in Paris...and Scully also received a mischevious pomeranean puppy named Moby. I'm sure that you've heard about the incident with the riot in Paris...believe me, we got front-row seats! I'll get into the cause of the riot later... But I must tell you the most important news of all! Scully and I are engagaed! :) It was somewhat a frightening experience for me...I proposed to her a few days before New Years, and she accepted! We decided to save the big date until we return to the U.S...I am counting the days until then! I've really felt good about this entire thing, and I am certain that Scully feels the same way. I was going to write you earlier about it because I was so excited, but there just wasn't any time. After Paris we spent approximately two weeks in Venice, Italy...it was a *beautiful* city. We did encounter some problems concerning a bone-sucking sea creature...not that that's anything new. ;) The most interesting turn of events was when the Lone Gunmen joined up with our cruise! I don't know how much they told you before they left, or if they even said they were leaving at all. They began to follow us via private plane after the storm in the South Atlantic blew us off course. When they were flying over Paris their plane crashed into the Eifel Tower, which in turn started that horrible riot. They found transportation to Italy and met up with us in Venice. After some talk and consideration, we decided to allow them to spend the rest of the cruise with us on 'The Believer'. So if you were having any fears about their whereabouts, just know they're with us now. After a period there we traveled to Cairo, Egypt, which is where we are now. Our stay here had barely begun before Scully suddenly disappeared. I must admit, the period of time during which she was missing was *not* a pleasant experience for me or her. I won't get into the grisly details. We picked up some tips from a witness and traveled to the nearby town of Riogia via camels since there were no roads to the town. Upon reaching Riogia I found Scully being presented as merchandise at a slave auction. I was able to buy her for 50,000 shekels. Included with this letter is a list Scully has provided for me with the names of many of the people involved in the slave caravan in which she was being held captive, as well as a list of the mistreatments she received during that time. I expect immediate and harsh punishments for these people...please ask Jacob to get on it ASAP. After purchasing Scully and treating her, we had to walk back to Cairo because of thievery concerning our transportation. We encountered an incident with the tomb of an Egyptian Pharoh, but managed to get away safely. We have only just recently returned to Cairo. Our only problem was that the price for Scully was extraordinarily high; in fact it was all our budget. Which brings me to the point of this letter. Please send more money. Sincerely yours, Fox Mulder Skinner shook his head in utter amazement, rolling his eyes skywards. (Only *they* could ever write me a letter like this.) 3:57 P.M. Friday, January 26th, 2000 Cairo, Egypt Scully stretched out on the lounge chair luxuriously, feeling the cool breeze from the fan blow her hair about. She had almost completely forgotten about the scars on her back since they had returned to Cairo and since Skinner had sent them a 60,000 dollar check in the mail. For the first time in two weeks, she got to wear comfortable clothes, take showers, eat large meals, and sleep in her own bed. It was pure heaven. "Don't get too comfortable," Mulder said from the lounge chair next to hers. "Your mother says we're going to be leaving in about half an hour." "I'm ready to go," Scully smiled. "It's going to be nice to be back out on the open sea...I can't wait." "We're supposed to go to India next," Mulder smiled back. "It's going to be just as hot there as it is here..." "Well, at least India is jungle instead of desert! And at least there aren't any Pharoh's tombs that try to poison us." Mulder stared thoughtfully at the crisp blue sky above. "I still wonder if anyone will ever be able to actually explore that tomb without being killed...and who exactly is the Pharoh who's in that tomb." "Obviously not the nicest one with all these curses and poisons he's throwing at everybody." Mulder smiled at Scully. She had once again regained her normal color instead of looking pale and burnt, she had regained all the weight she had lost, and she looked just as relaxed and comfortable as ever. A whole year in the slave trade couldn't change her. Mulder reached over to get another sip of his lemonade...only to realize that it was empty. He frowned in resentment, not wanting to get up from his comfortable position and walk all the way below deck to get some lemonade. He glanced over at Scully. An idea came to mind...after all, he *had* paid 50,000 shekels for her. So technically, he owned her now. Theoretically, she was his slave and he was her master... "Slave," He said importantly, holding out his empty glass, "would you go and get me some more lemonade?" Scully turned to face him, her expression deadpan, with one eyebrow raised, as if to say..."Are you speaking to *me"?" "I'm waiting....." Without a single word, Scully got up from the lounge chair, straightened herself out, and walked away. He could hear the steps creaking as she walked below the deck. Mulder suddenly became worried. Had she taken it too seriously? Or was she actually obeying him? In a few minutes, she returned...carrying a large pitcher of lemonade! Mulder was obviously surprised...he didn't think that Scully would actually carry out his command. Perhaps a week as a slave had influenced her more than he thought. She was even smiling as she walked towards him. Mulder looked up, suddenly feeling very nervous as she brought the pitcher of lemonade up to him and-- SPLOOOOSCH!!! --Dumped the entire pitcher over his head. Mulder spit out a mouthful of lemonade as Scully returned to her lounge chair and closed her eyes with content, smiling to herself. Mulder wiped off his face, his entire shirt soaked and sugary liquid running through his hair. He sputtered and then looked at Scully with a surprised and slightly pained expression. "I deserved that, didn't I?" "Yes, you did." ------------------------------------------------------------------ THE END OF PART SEVEN ------------------------------------------------------------------ Author's Notes: Hehehee!!! Good ending? Well...YOU MUST TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!! I liked this one for some reason...it was certainly the longest one so far! But at least I finished it quicket than the last one. Be warned...the next part's rather tense! It's definitely going to twist the plot into oblivion, and it may leave you somewhat deranged!!! But don't worry...I'm positive it'll be the best one yet! :) Hey, kids...do you know what time it is? IT'S FEEDBACK TIME!!!!! :):):):):):):):) Any and all comments and complaints are accepted!!! Thank y'all!!!! ;)