Ma‘at

Chapter 7 - Back to the Future
By Itinerant

Synopsis: She's Baaaaack! But how does Dani convince her team she was Dan?

And who're those guys in the weird car?

"This is fan fiction for the Whateley Academy series. It may or may not match the timeline, characters, and continuity, but since it's fan fiction, who cares? To see the canon Whateley Stories, check out Sapphire's Place (http://www.sapphireplace.com/stories/whateley.html), Whateley Academy (http://www.crystalhall.org), or the Big Closet (http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/taxonomy/term/117)."

Author's Note: Thanks to Amelia R for her help early on, and to John in Wauwatosa, and Scott Ramsey for helping out in catching errors, omissions, and the like. Remaining errors are entirely mine.

The character, 'The Preacher,' is mine from the story "Seth".

**********
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Southbound road from Cairo to Inbw-hdj (Memphis)

Brilliant, all-encompassing white turned to the dark red of sunlight on closed eyelids; a raucous noise was blaring in her ears as her vision began to clear. She could feel a softly padded seat under her -- she was sitting down, it seemed -- and felt something across her hips like a belt. As she grew more aware of her surroundings, she could tell she was leaning forward, and her forehead was pressed against something round, smooth, and hard.

~Where...?~

Her eyes fluttered open as she sat back. As she did so, the blaring noise stopped. It took her a moment to realize that it had been her car's horn; now, despite a noisy engine, she could hear her CD player as it played Willie Nelson's 'On The Road Again.'

Twenty years had passed for her as she'd traveled through time, but it had been only instants here in her present.

~I'm back! I'm HOME!~

Joy flared at her return to her own time and place, but it was tempered by her grief at having left Hypatia to her gruesome fate. However necessary, it had been agonizing to keep her silence.

~I know she forgives me,~ Dani thought, sadly, ~but it doesn't help much.~

~You know, too, that it would have been far worse had we changed your history; even Hypatia agrees that we could do nothing other than stand aside,~ Ma'at mental voice reminded her.

Dani frowned a bit. ~Agrees? Present tense?~ She felt her patroness nod.

~Present tense. You don't think she ceased to exist because she died, do you? Her heart barely stirred the balance, and Anubis allowed her to journey to Aaru where she dwells with the eternally living. She, and others, are waiting patiently for you to join them.~

~That doesn't help my guilty feelings at the moment.~

~I know, dear one, but you will come to terms with it in time. For now, you have things to do.~

~Yes, ma'am,~ Dani sighed.

She shifted her car into park, stopped the engine, and fumbled for a moment with her seat belt release. She took a moment to look around outside her vehicle to see if she'd attracted any attention. She noticed that her feet were well back from the pedals.

~I need to remember I lost a few inches in height.~ She giggled. ~It's like the first time my dad let me drive, trying to reach the truck's clutch pedal. I should be thankful for an automatic transmission; the poor tree would have my car trying to drive through it, otherwise.~

No one seemed to be around, and she climbed out to inspect her car after its barely controlled stop. If it had been damaged, it would be better to call for help than be stuck in an even more inhospitable location with an inoperable car. She closed the door behind her, and took her first deep breath.

~Oh, yuck! What's that *smell?*~

She coughed as an oily, acrid, smoky odor filled her nostrils; she looked around and noticed a yellow-gray haze filtered the sunlight.

~Smog? Ewww, I had forgotten about that. They may have better sanitation, but this is hardly a perfect age.~

She shook her head and turned to her task, carefully checking the front end for damage. Dani also took a moment to pop the hood to ensure her vehicle's cooling system hadn't been damaged; a leak could strand her in the middle of an area even more hazardous for a woman than ancient Egypt. Dan had apparently managed to slow the beast down enough that the tree bark didn't even have a dent, much less the bumper. The engine seemed to be intact and safe enough to use for what remained of her drive.

~Good! At least that won't be a concern. Now all I need to do is get to the dig and try to convince Dom, Gunther, and the rest of the kids that I'm me.~ She sighed briefly at the hassles ahead before reminding herself, ~It beats being dead. The last twenty years or so have been a gift, even if I were to die right now. There are so many people I'll miss from my travels, though.~

The trunk was next on her list, as long habit drove Dani to check her gear. There was little that should have been vulnerable to her abrupt stop, but she saw little point in taking chances.

She took a moment, now that she'd verified she had a working car, to examine her clothing, too. As before, Ma'at had made appropriate adjustments; she was dressed in a durable, modern, feminine outfit similar to the one Dan had worn for so many years. She could even feel the unfamiliar sensation of a modern bra. A quick survey of the trunk's contents showed everything was intact, though there had been some adjustments to its inventory.

~Meri-Ma'at,~ came a familiar, comforting voice, ~did you think I had forgotten that? I even included some extras that you'll need now for living as a woman in your modern world. ~

Dani smiled. ~I was just checking to make sure nothing had broken. I hadn't even considered the prospect of you forgetting anything. I've learned that, if nothing else, over the last few years. Thank you, Mother.~

~You're welcome, daughter, but you have company arriving behind you.~

The archaeologist closed the trunk and turned around as an odd-looking silver car -- a De Lorean, if she recalled correctly -- rolled up behind her. A chunk of ice slid off its hood as it stopped. The gull-wing doors opened and two men, one young and brown-haired, the other tall, thin, and white-haired, got out. The taller of the two appeared to have a haircut Einstein would have found embarrassing -- which was cosmically frightening.

"Hi!" the younger man began. "Do you need help?"

She quirked an eyebrow at the two. There was something oddly familiar about them. "No, thank you. I'm fine. I just needed to check my car before I get going again."

"Wonderful, could you tell us where we are?" the older man inquired. "We seem to be a bit lost." He ignored his companion's glare.

"You're about ten miles north of the site of ancient Memphis."

"In Egypt?"

She blinked at them, confused by the question. "Yes."

"Could you," the younger spoke up again, "tell us what the date is?"

"It's March eighteenth, two thousand seven." ~What an odd question....~

"Thank you, young lady, you've been *most* helpful," the older man said. He nodded in satisfaction as he turned back to the car. "Come on! Supper's waiting."

"I told you that the waveform at the...." The young man's voice was cut off as he clambered into the De Lorean.

"I know, and I have an adjustment that should get us back to our time line ..."

The car doors came down and cut off the rest of his remark. She watched as the two did something inside, then the car turned around and headed back north, accelerating rapidly. She heard a strange sound shortly after it had rounded a bluff.

~Weird,~ she thought, as she climbed back into her vehicle and restarted its engine. ~I'd best get going, though. I have another twenty minutes or so to the site, and I'm running very late. The kids will be concerned.~

*****

"Do you think he's okay, Dom?" Gunther Schuller -- Doctor Schuller to those who didn't know him, and a linguistic expert second only to Dan O'Neill himself -- looked north from the site. Dan, his doctoral advisor almost thirty years ago, had been due to arrive on the site almost a half-hour ago. His punctuality was legend among his students.

Dominic Monaghan, his slightly older co-worker and site lead, nodded his head. "I'm sure he's fine, Gunther. He's as tough as old leather, and has been up and down this road more than the two of us put together." He paused. "Look! There's his car! He must have gotten stuck in traffic leaving Cairo or something."

Their relief was short lived as the vehicle pulled up and parked in Dan's place. The driver, whoever she was, wasn't Dan. As she got out, they could see she was slightly above average in height, a little over five and a half feet tall, and had an ancient Egyptian's unmistakable look. Her long, black hair was tousled by a slight breeze as she turned toward them.

*****

Dani pulled up into Dan's normal parking spot, and she watched as Dom's face turned from relieved, to concerned, to angry. He began moving toward the car as she stepped out and walked around her vehicle.

~He doesn't recognize me, which is no surprise. I just hope I don't have problems getting him to listen long enough to explain.~

Dom strode toward her as he demanded, "Who are you, and what are you doing with that car? It belongs to Doctor O'Neill!" He came to a halt as she held up a hand.

Dani sighed internally; Dom had a temper that was legendary, and she'd expected this reaction. He'd be even more resistant to reason, if she wasn't very careful. "Calm down, Dominic; I need to talk to you, as site lead, and Gunther privately. It'll take a while to explain, but I was Dan O'Neill; for obvious reasons I call myself Danielle O'Neill, now."

"Of course you are!" Dominic sneered at the idea. "Try another line, whoever you are. I'm not buying that one."

"Will you at least give me a chance to explain and prove what I say? If we head into the office I'll explain what's happened to me, even though I know it will be hard to believe."

Dominic spun around and stormed off toward the dig's office hut as he snarled, "You want a chance? Fine! Come with me, but you'd better make it good. I've known Dan for more years than you've been alive."

He gestured at her to follow. Dani followed along, noting with a smile as Gunther brought up the rear.

~They don't believe me, yet, and they're probably going to keep me here if I can't prove who I am.~

*****

She stepped into their office, and hesitated for a moment. It had been only a couple a days since Dan had left, but she had been gone so much longer that it was a shock. An all too familiar quartet of desks, plots and photos hung on cork boards, and a coffee pot sat gurgling as usual on a tabletop.

Dominic walked quickly to his desk, pausing only to drag a guest chair from the side table. He took his seat, pointedly moving his desk phone directly in front of himself and folding his forearms.

Gunther pulled his desk chair to one side of Dom's desk, near a stuffed camel he'd given Dom as a Christmas gift and placing himself between Dani and the door. Both men were puzzled as Dani observed their seating arrangements and smiled.

~Let's start by giving the boys something to think about.~

The two men were puzzled when, as soon as she entered the office, Dani walked directly to the coffee pot and deliberately went through the same routine Dan had always followed. Coffee didn't smell quite as appealing as she remembered -- a disappointment considering how long she'd done without -- but she'd tolerate it as part of the staging she needed at the moment. She hesitated for a moment -- it had been twenty years, after all -- as she recalled each man's preferences, and decided to underline her identity by fixing them each a cup of coffee, then one for herself, prepared just as Dan had done for as long as they'd worked together in the field.

The look of shock on their faces was worth it. "Yes, gentlemen, I know just how you like your coffee. We've been together in the field on and off for the last thirty years, and I do recall little things like that."

Dom sat back in his chair with a bewildered, annoyed look on his face; Gunther, too, looked puzzled. "Okay, so you claim to be Dan O'Neill," Gunther began. "What happened that you look...." He waved a hand in Dani's direction. "I know mutants go through odd changes, but I've never heard of anyone changing so late in life."

The avatar inhaled to begin her tale, but was interrupted by the office door opening.

"Dom? I saw Dan's car here, and wondered if he was in here with you?" A short, sun-bleached strawberry-blonde woman had bounced in. She had an attractively rounded figure -- not heavy, and definitely not anorexic. She stopped as she saw a stranger in Dan's chair.

"Who's that?"

"Abby, you're here at a good time," Gunther said. "She drove up in Dan's car, and claims she *is*, or was, Dan O'Neill."

Dani nodded at the newcomer. "Hey Norm. Sorry for the surprise, but I've had a bit of a makeover since you saw me last. Call me Dani." She snickered as all three heads swiveled in her direction.

Abigail DuMont -- Abby to her friends -- was thirty-five, the third and youngest member of Dan's best field team. She was also a Mel Brooks movie fanatic, and had picked up her nickname, 'Abby Normal' -- Norm for short -- from "Young Frankenstein". Being a Boston native had just sealed the deal, as her colleagues were fans of “Cheers” as well.

"Dan??" Abby joined the other two in their state of confusion. All three were startled by a complete stranger's use of Abby's nickname -- one only a very few people knew.

Dani leaned back in her chair. "I'm really glad Abby's here. You three have been my core team for the last ten years, and getting your questions covered at the beginning will be easier."

She launched into an explanation of the events of the morning, from the drive south from Cairo through Dan's heart attack just outside the small village. The young-looking woman shuddered at her memory of crushing chest pain.

"It was horrible, and the last thing I recall was jamming my foot on my brake pedal."

"So what happened next, and how did you end up looking like an undergraduate coed?"

"Dom, when I woke up, I looked like this." Dani waved at her body. "I'm not a mutant, or at least I wasn't. When I had my heart attack, I was chosen by an ancient Egyptian goddess, Ma'at, as her avatar. She changed me so I looked like an Egyptian. She wanted to make sure I'd be accepted where she took me."

Dominic frowned. "I thought you seemed familiar. You look like the figures of Ma'at in the tombs, other than the crown and feather."

"The next part will be more incredible than the rest, but I should have proof of my claims." She took a deep breath and continued. "When I woke up, I found I was still in Egypt, but five thousand years in the past."

"Oh, come ON! You can't expect us to believe that! There are examples of mutants changing their appearance, but time travel?"

She shrugged. "It's not as if I was moving myself in time. Dom, you just uncovered the last corner of a large room, right? That's where things stood when I left Thursday, anyway."

He looked skeptical, but nodded.

"That was the throne room. The rest of the palace had a fairly simple layout." She stepped up to a white board on their office wall, and went on to sketch out and explain the palace's layout, including storerooms, baths, servants quarters, and royal apartments. "Whether or not you choose to believe what I say, I left a little gift for you here," she drew a small rectangle in red, "under that last corner of the throne room wall. There's a couple of tablets hidden there that will prove what I have said. In the interim ..."

There was a glint in Dani's eye as she continued. "I have another idea or two to prove I am who I claim, but I think Dom would prefer it be in private. If you could put in a call to the Supreme Council of Antiquities -- I think Doctor Hawass is still covering our operations -- and get their representative here, I'll see if I can't convince you while your team works on uncovering the cache I left."

The four left the office a few minutes later to gather and instruct the dig teams in just what part of the site they wanted uncovered, and that care was to be taken as the floor tiles were lifted. If Dani's information about where the tablets were buried was correct, Dom, Gunther, and Abby decided, it would take about three days to pull up the floor without disturbing any evidence. The SCA representative assigned to their site had been called to temporarily monitor another dig at Thebes, but he agreed to be available when they expected to reach Dani's tablet's hiding place.

*****

~Oh, Mother....~

It was all gone to dust and ruin, just as she'd known it would be. It was still hard to walk here where ghosts of long-dead friends haunted her. She wiped tears from her eyes as the four made their way toward the area where the throne room stood.

Abby caught the motion, and felt a surge of sympathy for the distressed woman -- whether or not she was Dan, she was obviously upset. The men, too, noticed Dani's reaction, though they were more puzzled than sympathetic.

"Dom? Gunther?" The avatar pointed to the most recently exposed corner, then turned to point a few feet away. "That area was a non-load-bearing part of the wall. Several pavers were pulled up, and the wall was undercut a little to make room. Here's where your teams need to dig to get at the hiding place." She scuffed boundaries in the sand and dirt that covered the floor.

She looked around a little and found her arms wrapped around her middle, hugging herself, as she recalled the beauty of the ancient palace.

"It was so beautiful," she almost whispered. "You should have seen the colors. There were pillars along here," she pointed along a stretch of the floor, "and the wall behind them was brilliant with colored engravings that told stories of the earlier kings who united Upper and Lower Egypt. A raised platform was over there, and Pharaoh's throne was on it."

Dominic glanced her way, still visibly skeptical; his expression moderated a little as he saw her wipe another tear away. "I still find it hard to believe. Even with the mutants around, I never heard of a story like yours."

"I know," she said. "I'd never heard of such a thing either, but...." She paused and gave him a smile edged with grief. "Until now all the digging, all the artifacts were abstract. Now I've spent time walking these hallways with the people who *lived* in them and lived here myself for a time. They became my friends, people I grew to love, and one who grew to be a sister to me; seeing this just reminds me that I'll never see them again."

She turned and walked back to the office, wiping her eyes as she fought to stifle the sobs that surged up from within, leaving them staring after her.

Dom, Gunther, and Abby stared after her, shocked by her reaction. Dan had been as calm as they came, despite an occasional flare of his Irish temper. This woman claimed to be Dan -- her knowledge of each of them and her speech patterns were strong points in her favor -- but her emotional outburst was a radical departure from the person she claimed to be.

"That can't be Dan," Gunther said. "He'd never react that way."

Abby rounded on her male companions. "She didn't say she was Dan *now*; she said she was Dan before she was changed. In case you hadn't noticed, women's emotional reactions are just a little different from men's." Both men shrank from her almost visible anger. "The way she's reacting is good evidence that she's being truthful."

She stormed off after Dani, fuming.

"Men!"

*****

As the four archaeologists finally reconvened in the office, Dani turned to her site lead; she'd managed to bury her pain again by the time everyone arrived and was sipping on a cold glass of water. "Dom, are you completely certain you want Norm here? She never heard the story that I plan to tell."

The man shrugged. "I'm still not completely convinced you are who you claim to be."

"It's your call; don't say I didn't warn you, though."

The black haired woman shifted gracefully in her chair and took a sip of water. "This took place a little over thirty years ago, and about five years before I relinquished my professorship for an emeritus position. Dom, Gunther, and I were digging just about where the tents are being set up."

A smirk appeared on Gunther's face as Dominic began to look uncertain.

"We had just uncovered the gate approaches to the palace, and Dom was the first to find an outer edge of the palace's foundation. We were in a good mood, to put it mildly, and ..."

"Okay! Okay! You don't have to tell the rest of the story! I believe you, Dan ... errr Dani,” Dom waved his hands in an urgent, but futile, effort to stop what he suddenly realized was coming.

Abby looked fascinated and grinned. "Oh, but Dom, I haven't heard this story before! It would be a *shame* to only hear part of it." She leaned forward, anticipating more of whatever it was that was embarrassing her friend.

Dom hid his face in his hands and groaned as Gunther snickered.

Dani found she was giggling quietly as she resumed the tale. "We decided to have a party with the dig team after the non-Americans left that night. The amount of beer -- good European beer, mind you," she raised a finger in emphasis, "-- we consumed was amazing. It took a while for Dom to find a camel, but the sight of him perched atop the beast, nearly undressed from the heat despite the hour, was quite something. Camel surfing was going to be the next big fad, and he was determined to be in the lead. That's why Gunther gave him that camel, by the way."

There was another groan from Dominic, who had his head on his desk. Gunther was laughing in his chair, while Abby was gasping for breath and wiping tears away from her eyes.

“Please tell me someone got pictures of that!” Abby pleaded.

Dani had a wide smile, as she recalled the incident ... and the evidence of it she'd stashed away... "Does anyone else need more proof?" ~I'm hoping my fingerprints are the same. That will help, too.~ She felt agreement from her constant companion. "I believe my fingerprints, though smaller, will still match, but I'm willing to delve into more stories ...."

The two men quieted, waving their hands. "No," Gunther finally replied, "I believe you Dan-i."

Dom looked up, still pink from embarrassment under his tan, and raised his hands over his head. "I surrender; we both know there are worse stories you could tell."

"Too true, Dom. I won't say anything more -- for now." She hesitated, then she blushed faintly. "No! I have one more embarrassing story, though this one is on me.

"You all remember about back in 1990 when our department bought that Mac II for producing papers with embedded graphics? I think Norm was a freshman undergrad at that time." The trio nodded. "I wasn't exactly a Mac fan, or a technophile of any sort, and mostly left the machine to you youngsters. I wanted to learn enough to make use of it, and Gunther was kind enough to help get me started. What I didn't know was that he'd conspired with Dom to ... customize the machine with some special sounds, just for me."

Norm gave Dani a puzzled look as the two men sniggered.

Dani continued, "Those two replaced the error sound files with a clip from a movie, 'The Life of Brian': 'Look! You've got it all wrong!'" She glared at them, or tried to. "All afternoon I'd hit a button and hear that ... sound. It drove me nuts, and I *like* Monty Python!" She glared at Abby in disgust. "Abby, you could at least be a little sympathetic."

Abby was trying desperately to keep her giggles from breaking out into full laughter. Dom and Gunther weren't even making the attempt as they roared their amusement.

Dani bit her lip to keep from joining them in their hilarity. She decided, though, that she could provide a final piece of evidence and gain a bit of revenge, too.

"Just in case there are any residual doubts, I have one more way to show I am who I say I am." Her evil grin sent uneasy quivers through the others in the room. "Let me sing for you," she said softly.

Their smirking faces turned pale as she started into her favorite travel tune. It took only a few bars of "On the Road Again" for an abject surrender by Gunther, Dom, and Abby. Their discomfort turned quickly to laughter, fed by relief and reassurance that an old friend had truly returned, miraculously reborn.

Gunther muttered quietly, "It has to be him. Dear God, there *can't* be two people who sing that badly out there!"

"Anyway, *children*," a smug, snickering Dani continued, "I would appreciate your helping me get in touch with the American Embassy. For now, I think I can be treated like any mutant who changes while overseas. Are you willing to do that for me?"

Dom, still fighting his chuckles, replied. "If you promise not to sing anymore, I'll contact the embassy and see if someone can schedule an appointment for you with the MCO office. I'll assume you'll stay in your normal quarters, so if there are questions we'll know where to find you."

"I really appreciate that, Dom. I know this is a 'Twilight Zone ®' moment, but I need to prove who I was. If you'll excuse me, I'd like to go unload my car and unpack a bit." She gave Dominic an ambiguous look -- a strange mixture of sadness and joy. "I was away from home for a long time, from my perspective, and it's very, very good to be back."

She stood and returned her chair to the table. At the door, she turned toward Norm.

"Abby, do you have a few minutes? I'd like to talk with you a bit, if I may?"

Abby glanced at Dom, who nodded quickly. She joined Dani as they left for Dan's quarters.

"What's up, Dani?" Abby glanced at the apparently young woman striding along beside her and tried to reconcile that image with memories of a tall, lean man who'd taught her so much about her chosen field.

Dani's expression was so woebegone that Abby almost laughed.

"Norm, I know it's been only a couple of days for you, but I've been like this," she swept a hand over herself, "for twenty years traveling to places I'd never dreamed of seeing. I'm comfortable with my body, but now I'm utterly lost. I have no idea how to deal with all the," she waved her hands, "*stuff* involved in being a woman in this modern world -- makeup, fashion, and all the rest. Help??"

Abby giggled at Dani's distress, but took pity on her.

"Okay, Dani. I guess I can cut you some slack since you're one of the girls, now. I'm going to ask for compensation, and an answer to a question, though."

The black-haired avatar frowned a little as she asked, "What do you have in mind?"

"Relax, girl. All I want is some stories. Tell me about your time here. What did you do? Who did you meet? That sort of thing. I'm also wondering how you could have been traveling for twenty years, and only look like a twenty year old?"

"*That* I can and will do. Ma'at said I wouldn't start aging until I was back in the here-and-now. You know, of course, that the boys will be jealous of your inside info."

Abby tossed her head in dismissal. "They're guys, quite aside from being a couple of old farts. They deserve to be taken down a peg or two every so often."

"Hey there! I'm not as much of a kid as I appear to be I'm a very spry one hundred seventeen!"

"Okay, fine. You're officially a young fart...."

The two grabbed Dani's gear out of her car as she sputtered in outrage, and soon were unpacking in Dan's old quarters. Abby stopped when she opened a toiletry case. She reached in and pulled out a tampon.

"Umm, Dani? Did you have any ... errr ... odd habits before you were changed?"

Dani glanced over, saw what Abby had, and blushed as she giggled.

"Ahhh, no. That's something new." She walked over and grinned. "Every time she took me to a new place, Ma'at made sure I had everything I needed. Even my clothing fits the new me."

Dani twirled around to show off her outfit.

"See? It's a perfect fit, and nothing Dan would have had around. Same thing with what you're holding."

Abby tilted her head in question. "How was it she chose you, and why make you into her twin?"

Dani sat down on her bed as she considered her answer. "I asked her those same questions, believe it or not. She said that she chose me because I love this part of the world and its people so much. You know I was born around here, and that I've spent all my life studying it."

Abby nodded.

"She wanted someone who would fit in easily, I think, and who knew their language." Dani struggled not to look too smug. "I was very pleased to find that I was able to converse with them fairly easily. As to your question about why she made me her twin ... I guess it was intended as an act of kindness on Ma'at's part." Abby looked even more puzzled, and Dani looked very uncomfortable as she continued.

"When I asked about why she made me into her twin, she gave me a glimpse of what I would have looked like in a perfect world. I was always a transsexual, Abby -- a woman's soul in a man's body from birth. Ma'at said I was fortunate to have been able to live without all the emotional and mental pain most people in that situation face, but from the moment I woke looking like this, it was as if I had a suit of clothing that fit for the first time in my life. She made me into her twin so that I'd fit into Egyptian society, instead of the red-haired Irish lass I should have been, but, for the first time in my life, things were right that I had never before realized were wrong.."

Abby dropped into a chair. "Are you sure she told you the truth?"

Dani's eye flickered with an instant of irritation, but she kept her immediate reaction out of her voice. ~Abby doesn't know Ma'at, not the way I do.~

"You can't imagine the relief I felt when I woke up this way, Abby. I can't imagine what it's like for someone who has a worse mismatch, but I have no doubt this is very close to who I really should be.

"Ma'at was and is the Egyptian Goddess of truth, justice, and order. For twenty years, she's been a part of my life in ways that I can't begin to explain; I can just sense her, even now, in the back of my mind.

"She's let me live my life, but has demanded that I live up to her standards as best I can. So, yes, Abby, I'm utterly certain that she's been open, honest, and truthful with me...," the avatar's eyes grew dark with recent pain, "... even when it would have been easier not to."

Abby started to respond, but Dani continued, shaking her head ruefully. "You should have heard her chew me out. Years ago, when I was working on my first doctorate, a young woman tried and failed to get Dan to pay attention to something other than school. Ma'at all but told me I wasn't to let my work, or service to her, take the place of having a real life."

Abby nodded. "You know that we wondered at times why you never seemed to talk about family. I'm more than willing to help out with that; in fact, I think there are some cute guys around your apparent age ..."

"Abby!!" Dani squealed.

*****

That evening, after a full day of work, the four had gathered for supper and a discussion of the artifacts they'd uncovered. It was standard procedure and a comfortable routine until Dani announced she needed to finish preparations for Abby's first class in Modern Makeup 101. The guys, on hearing about the ladies' plans, had begged off, and Gunther made a comment about Dani having gone completely over to 'The Dark Side.'

"Not 'The Dark Side,' 'The Pink Side,' Gunther," Dani retorted as the two men left, trying to retain shreds of their dignity -- a task made nearly impossible by feminine snickers coming from behind them.

The two women lounged outside their quarters as Dani made her first payment for her lessons. "I didn't have any idea what was going on, at first. My car was gone, and so was the roadway, then I noticed I'd had a major makeover. I thought I recognized the terrain, so I decided to head for the dig...."

She told her companion of that first day with its long walk and sudden encounter with Snefru's party at the village. Abby gasped as she heard about Dani's capture and examination and asked, "Did they hurt you or rape you?"

Dani shuddered. "No. They stripped my clothing off and ... made sure I was 'unspoiled'. It was humiliating, but they were careful not to damage the goods. I suppose I should be grateful for small favors."

Stars glimmered faintly through the smoggy haze, and Dani looked up, shaking her head sadly. “You wouldn't believe how many stars I could see then and there with all this pollution gone.” She finished describing her approach to ancient Memphis and seeing its glorious white walls shining, followed by her imprisonment in a thoroughly miserable dungeon.

"I had no idea what was going on. I was tired, hungry, and thirsty. But...," she smiled, stretched and yawned, "it's been a long day for me. Tomorrow we'll see if we can find more time for tales, but I have some shopping I want to do. I need the ingredients to make something special I want to share with you all."

The avatar looked west, and frowned at the rapidly darkening horizon.

Abby looked oddly at Dani's expression. "What's wrong?"

"I've tried to celebrate Ma'at's evening temple ritual since I learned it, not so much that I'm worshiping her, but I thank her for the day, her care, and for so many people I had a chance to meet. Today was special since she brought me *home*. I feel I'm being ungrateful if I don't take that little bit of time."

~My child, your day has been busy, and you needed to establish your identity with your children. Tomorrow is soon enough.~

Abby looked a question at Dani's sudden smile.

The avatar grinned. "Ma'at said I get a pass today, but tomorrow she expects me to be more diligent." She giggled as an immaterial elbow nudged her ribs.

The blonde blinked, then shook her head. ~Life's just gotten a lot more interesting.~

*****

Dani had managed to chase Abby out of her quarters, and decided to indulge herself as she got ready for bed.

~Twenty years between showers is long enough. A bath would be nice, but I want plenty of time to indulge when I have a chance for that.~

Warm water cascaded over her and elicited a groan of pure pleasure. Twenty years of societies that, at best, managed a shared bath and rudimentary toilet facilities had been tolerable, but not enjoyable. Alexandria had had *hot* baths, but having a real shower, soap, and shampoo was a god-, or goddess-, send.

She patted herself dry then relished the convenience of blow-drying her hair. As she turned toward her bed, she decided that a nightgown was probably wise. She had returned to a society that was far more prudish; she'd best get used to wearing clothing at night again. She slipped between soft cotton sheets and decided that a soft bed, with no worries about lice, bedbugs, fleas, or other vermin that seemed to infest every human habitation for most of the previous five millennia, was an almost sinful indulgence.

*****
Monday, March 19, 2007
Inbw-hdj (Memphis)

"United States Embassy. How may I help you?" A cheery alto voice chirped.

"Good morning. I'm Doctor Monaghan of Brown University's Archaeological Expedition at Memphis. I'd like to speak to a consular officer, please."

"Of course, Doctor. One moment please."

Dominic waited patiently as rejected elevator music filtered through the phone line.

"Ambassador Ricciardone's office. This is Wanda Theisman.. May I help you?"

"Yes, Ms. Theisman. I'm Doctor Monaghan at the Memphis dig. Doctor O'Neill had an incident on his way here, yesterday."

"Is he alright?"

"Well ... yes. It seems he had a late onset mutation, or something. I don't know what procedures exist, but I was hoping you could help."

"How bad was it? Is he in need of medical aid, or ..."

Chuckles erupted as Dom responded, "Um, actually *he* is now a very fetching young *she.*" He sighed, quietly. "It did nothing for his singing ability, or lack of it, though."

"So you're convinced it's the same person?"

"No doubt at all. We've worked as a field team for more than thirty years, and have some interesting tales saved up for teasing each other. She knew them." He shuddered. "And there's no way anyone could possibly imitate his way of butchering a song -- any song."

"If you're sure," there was a pause and faint sounds of keys clicking, "I'll gather the preliminary paperwork and e-mail you a copy of the forms, plus a list of what to expect on our end. It would help if you would come in with him or her...," she paused as she checked a schedule, "next Monday, the twenty-sixth. We'll get everything set up, but he ... she'll have to go through the MCO wringer. Mr. Siberell, Ryan Siberell, is picky -- probably the worlds most perfect bureaucrat ”‘”‘ but he isn't one of the frothing lunatics you get so frequently in their security sections. I'll make sure you get a list of their document demands and process."

"We know we'll have to deal with the MCO, ma'am. If you can e-mail a list of the information you and they will need, we'll try to make sure Dr. O'Neill is ready."

*****

Dom finally looked up from his laptop. "So that's the list, Dani. You have a lot of documentation to scare up, but I know people traveling abroad normally carry the bulk of it."

Dani nodded absently. "True enough. There are a couple of documents missing, but the university has one, and my lawyer has the other. I need to get in touch with her anyway to get the ball rolling on straightening out the rest of the mess this change of mine will cause."

"And I fear anything at the embassy will be a cakewalk compared to the airports and customs," Abby chimed in. "It's bad enough for most folk, but I've heard the MCO can get really obnoxious at times."

Dani shrugged. "It's going to be a part of my life from now on. I just hope it won't be too bad getting home to Providence.

"There's time for that over the next few days and weeks. For now, I'd like to take a little of your time and sketch the city's layout in three thousand BCE." She stepped to their white board again, and started by drawing in the current path of the Nile and existing terrain.

"The Nile's banks were a little different,, flowing along here," she dashed in what she recalled, "and the topography was a little different as well. The hill where they built the city extended a bit further south, and was a bit wider along here." She outlined her changes in a different color. "I think most of the changes are due to erosion, though some might be an accumulation of city waste.

"A big difference from what I had expected was finding a temple for Ma'at. All our research had pointed to her temples coming along at least five hundred years later, but there was one about here," she sketched a rectangle, "that might be buried below where we've excavated. I haven't heard of any plans for that area, yet, but I have information we'll want to capture for reference.

"For obvious reasons, I spent quite a bit of time there. I also learned the temple rituals; those need to be written down, along with the songs they include."

She glanced at their suddenly concerned expressions. "Don't worry, kids. I promise you won't suffer."

*****
Providence, Rhode Island
Brush and Associates Law Offices
Linda Brush's Office

She hadn't expected a call from Egypt.

One or more of the O'Neills had vanished into Egypt's Nile valley, for months on end, since Linda's great-grandfather had been the O'Neill family lawyer. The firm had been left with full responsibility for their state-side legal affairs, while the family of scholars was in the field. It had been critical a century before; now, it was a convenience. Their long association, though, ensured that a call from Doctor O'Neill would receive immediate attention.

"This is Linda Brush. Is that you, Dan?"

"Hello, Linda. It is, and it isn't. I was Dan, but I've had a bit of a makeover since we last spoke."

Linda sat back in her chair as her mind raced. "I hope you understand my being skeptical. Dan's voice is a high tenor; your voice sounds female. I'll need a lot of proof."

"You still have the list of verification phrases I updated before I left, I hope," Dani prompted.

Linda nodded, despite being on the far end of the phone line. "One moment, please." Moments later, she had retrieved Dan's master file and a randomly selected challenge and response was successfully exchanged.

"All right, I'll accept you are who you say you are for the moment. I'll want further proof though, if you have any major adjustments to the estate. Why don't you start by explaining just what's happened to you that you sound so different?"

Dani spent the better part of a half-hour outlining what had happened, and what paperwork she'd need from Linda to get her identity fully established for the MCO.

"I have an appointment with the Embassy, so I need you to have my paperwork sent next-day-air. If you have any doubts about who I am, you can, and should, call the dig yourself and talk to Doctor Monaghan."

"I had planned on starting there, really. Assuming he verifies your story, I'll send everything off this afternoon. You'll need to come home to take care of a lot of details, though, and you'd better plan for an afternoon. I want the whole story on this!"

*****
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Inbw-hdj (Memphis)

She watched as the workmen carefully cleared the last dirt remaining in the sizable pit they'd dug along the wall section.

Dom had set up video and still cameras to record each step of the excavation, and Dani had spent some time guiding the workmen as they cleared the last overburden from the flagstones, pointing out the places where the stones had been originally levered from their resting place. They had pulled the cluster of flat stones up, in a modern echo of the original work, then began careful excavation next to the wall.

It was a relief to see the edge of the engraved tablets revealed. The two tablets had been buried face-down, bedded in a thick layer of sand, to protect the contents from wear. Each was slid carefully out of its place onto a cushioned wood tray then lifted from the work area. A tent had been set up nearby with several tables for the first examinations of recovered artifacts.

The crew had done their work with the care and efficiency they'd shown for months, but they were distracted by the unexpected excavation and the items removed. Doctor Hawass, from the Supreme Council of Antiquities, was hovering around as well. He was an old acquaintance, but had never tolerated any deviations from proper handling of Egypt's unique heritage. He'd arrived early, and had listened patiently -- though with skepticism -- to Dani's tale. He agreed to defer judgment until after he'd seen her proof.

A work team prepared to flip over the first tablet, only to be stopped by Dani. She squinted a bit as she tried to look at those who were backlit by the sun's glare.

"Before they turn the tablet over, is everyone agreed that that site was undisturbed?"

Gunther gave her an irked look. "We only finished clearing that section last week, which you already know. We also established that no one has dug into this area since the First Dynasty."

She smirked at him. "Gunther, I chose that spot to bury them *because* I knew they were undisturbed. I want to make sure that everyone here is convinced that these tablets date back to at least the time period around 3000 BCE."

There were nods from around the perimeter of the tent, last -- and most reluctantly -- from Doctor Hawass. "I'm willing to accept your premise."

Dani nodded to the group. "Okay, now that you're willing to concede the approximate time of origin, it's safe to flip them. I hope some of you are fans of Douglas Adams."

The first stone tablet had a second, cushioned wood frame placed on top, and the pair of frames were picked up, flipped, and replaced on the table. The group was hushed as the top frame was removed. The hush didn't last long.

Hieroglyphics, engraved with skill and care rarely seen in such early efforts, covered its surface. Their usage was strange, though. Gunther, the linguistic expert in the team, frowned as he tried to decipher what he saw; his breath caught as their meaning suddenly became clear, and he looked abruptly at Dani.

"Pharaoh Tout-or-nada?? Zaphod Beeblebrox?!"

Doctor Hawass was less than amused. He glared in fury at Dom and his team. "What sort of absurd joke is this?"

Dominic shook his head as he strove to comprehend a situation rapidly spinning out of control. "Take a look at what's on the other tablet." It was soon turned over. Latin letters, something not developed for more than two thousand years in the tablet's future, were engraved on its surface. Worse yet it held a snippet from a poem not published until 1818 CE -- more than four thousand years after its burial:

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Dani bit her lip, remembering the palace's beauty millennia before. Ignoring, for the moment, the stares of the people around her, she roused herself, and looked around.

"Doctor Hawass, I'm sorry you are offended, but these tablets are my credentials -- the proof that I truly was where, and when, I claim. They were made at my request, and I was there when they were buried. My physical form has changed so much, and the story of what happened to me is so bizarre, that the only way I could think of to prove myself was to put engravings on them that couldn't possibly come from anyone before our time.

"For those who don't get my references, Zaphod Beeblebrox is a character from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide books. Pharaoh Tout-or-nada, on the other hand, is a multi-lingual pun: 'Tout' is French for 'all', 'or' is English, and 'nada' is Spanish for 'nothing'."

She shrugged. "You know that no one had disturbed those tablets for five thousand years. You also know that there's no way anyone from that time would have or could have written what's engraved on them. I deliberately used hieroglyphics on my first tablet as it was easier for Iti's engraver, and their style helps establish my tablet's creation date.

"My second tablet was more of a challenge for the engraver as it deliberately used modern lettering. Between the letters, and the poem, I thought it would suffice.

"So now I look like a young Egyptian woman of the ancient past, and I had the privilege of visiting this place we're only now unearthing. Once I have a chance to get home, I hope to document much of what I experienced. I want to write down what their daily life was like, what I learned about their society, and also give new insights into their religious rites. I don't know that I need to say much more, other than I have some abilities now that I did not have before."

~I don't think I should say much to Doctor Hawass and the workers about being your avatar, My Lady. My being a mutant is one thing; being the living representative of an ancient Egyptian goddess could cause some serious problems. So many in this region don't react well even to other monotheistic beliefs.~

~A wise choice for the moment.~

*****
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Inbw-hdj (Memphis)

It had been a long week. Dani had split her time between establishing new sites for future investigation and pulling together her paperwork for Monday's visit to the embassy. Linda had sent along a comprehensive package that included not only Dan's birth certificate, but also data from his laser eye surgery that provided iris and retinal patterns.

~Not that I expect Dan's old iris patterns to be useful. My eye color changed, so I suspect they were rearranged. It's interesting, though, that something I did to avoid glasses and contacts may turn out to be helpful now.~

She sighed as she checked off yet another item on the MCO list and looked at the next entry.

~Scars?? What the *hell* is that going to do for them? I don't have any scars, and if I did, they almost certainly wouldn't be anything like what Dan had.~

Dani sighed quietly. She was home, there was no doubt at all. Only her modern world had bureaucrats with such a plentiful supply of forms and paper; they seemed to take unholy joy, or perhaps they had investments, in ensuring prodigious consumption of paper products.

~And then they work to subsidize companies that make file cabinets by ensuring it all has to be stored for ready access. It could be worse, I suppose. At least it's easier than marking up clay tablets. Of course, it would be easer to add space to a tablet than it is to write "Providence, Rhode Island 02904-2221" legibly in a three-quarter inch long space for my employer, then again for my home address, then again for my lawyer, ...~

She wanted to get this done right the first time; there was enough to do in the weeks to come, including all the flak she'd take when she started talking about what she'd seen.

~Rudy will be intrigued; Jim Bell will be a perfect ass about the Minoans, I'm sure.~ She winced at the thought. ~He was more than half-right, damn it.~

By day's end, she had several thick folders full of forms and supporting documents: one for the embassy, another for the MCO, a third for her lawyer, Linda, and a fourth for her own records. A fifth, slightly smaller, pile had been prepared for submission to the university.

She stowed them all in a leather satchel that had seen almost as many years as she had. Linda would get her copy after Dani had responses from the embassy and MCO. It would be easy enough to drop it off with a courier service while she was back in Cairo.

*****
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Cairo, Egypt

"Nnnngggggggkk!"

A joint-popping stretch dragged a stifled groan from the lithe, dusky figure on her bed. Dani and her friends had made it into Cairo last night and were taking advantage of a rare day off to sleep in. Dani had wakened a bit later than her norm, finally dragged from sleep by sunbeams reflecting into her face.

~I knew I should have pulled my curtains.~

She flopped onto her back, and lay quietly as traffic noise built outside her window. Today she had an appointment with Abby to expand her wardrobe a bit; Ma'at had shifted Dani's field clothing, but she'd declined to add any outfits for meetings.

~You need to learn how to live your new life, daughter, and Abby will give you a good start. You'll need to have suitable clothing tomorrow, and it's a good opportunity for you to begin those lessons.~

~I don't like shopping for shopping's sake. I'd rather go, get what I need, and leave.~

~Dani,~ Ma'at patiently replied, ~by any reasonable measure, you're a lovely woman. I don't expect you'll ever be a clothes horse or fashion model, but you cannot just walk in, grab a standard size from the rack, and walk out. You will have to try things on to see if they really fit, and if the style looks good on you.~

The young woman sighed. ~I don't have a real choice, do I?~

~There aren't any practical alternatives, no. You'll need to look like a professional tomorrow, and field gear won't suffice for that. You are also *my* representative, so I'd like to think you want to consider that as well.~

Dani rolled out of her bed and padded toward her bathroom. ~That's true, and something I need to keep in mind -- even more now than before.~

*****

“So the boys are vegging out?” Dani asked.

Abby nodded as she led her 'student' toward her favorite shops in the Zamalek neighborhood of Cairo. It had a mind-bending variety of shops, and locally made goods vying with high-end imports for shopper's attention. Locals and tourists strolled along admiring hand-made crafts that would have fetched many times their posted price in Paris, London, or New York.

“Yup! They're glued to the tube watching ESPN on satellite. I think they're planning on catching basketball replays later.” The blonde shrugged. “Opening day is next week, so I don't really care to join them. The BoSox are hosting the Royals next Monday, and I want to listen to it.”

The avatar chuckled. “Norm, you can't expect a repeat of your home team's World Series win. I'll be a hundred -- again -- before they repeat.”

“Oh ye of little faith! We're here, c'mon.” Abby grabbed Dani's arm and drew her into a local shop.

“Hey! I don't need....” Dani's voice faded as her guide pulled her along.

An hour later they were on their way again, burdened with bags holding the clothing they'd worn into the shop. Now, instead of field clothing, they wore cool, locally-made dresses that were more-or-less tolerable by Cairo standards, which meant they were quite modest, by Western standards, for young women.

"This will take a little getting used to," Dani remarked as she picked at her sleeve, "but it's better than what I had to wear when I was first presented to Queen Regent Iti."

"You haven't told me any more about what happened since your first day back, come to think of it," Abby said, glaring mildly. "How about another installment while we shop? Maybe you can start with that necklace of yours; was that another of those things Ma'at decided you needed?"

Her hair swung gently as Dani shook her head. She carefully fingered the delicate feather on its chain. "No, not really. I think Ma'at suggested it to Iti in a dream, but only because Her Majesty wanted to do something special and didn't know what would be appropriate."

"Why would she want to do something for you?"

"That, my dear, would be telling my story out of order. Now, as I recall, I had been tossed into a cell right after being marched into the palace. I got a little food and water, and was too tired to mind the straw I had for bedding.

"The next morning I woke up to a big wooden door opening and a small, young woman who'd been sent to prepare me for presentation to Pharaoh...."

Several hours later, after returning to Dani's apartment, the two women collapsed in a small avalanche of shopping bags.

"I can't believe that guy!" Dani fumed. "'Excuse me, is this seat taken?'" she mimicked in as low a voice as she could manage. "'I noticed you sitting here alone, and wondered if you were a local resident who could help me?' I was about ready to stand up and throttle him!"

Her strawberry-blonde friend giggled at her exasperation.

"You should be flattered, Dani. He was just trying a pick-up line or two."

"I *know* what he was doing! It was so obvious, and so utterly ... tacky! He had a New Jersey accent, and was playing the 'Ugly American' role to a 'T'. He wasn't as bad as Snefru, but I couldn't help flashing back to what he did. I don't hate men, but I'm not comfortable thinking of them *that* way."

Abby smiled a little. "Dear girl, you'd best get used to it, even if it takes time. You're young and pretty, and when you get back stateside you'll be exotic to all the young men, and probably a goodly number of women. They'll swarm you."

"Crap!"

"Dani, get a grip!"

Dani turned a furious glare at Abby for a moment, but quelled her angry riposte and counted mentally to twenty before responding. "Look, Abby, for ninety-seven years I was a man, and didn't have anyone -- man or woman -- hitting on me for the last sixty. I've been like this for twenty years, but because of who I am I was always kept at arm's length. I'm not *used* to this! I don't really know how to respond to someone trying to put a move on me."

"Then learn from your big sister, *girl*! You aren't a man anymore, and you aren't a few thousand years in the past. You're a pretty young woman in a modern world; get used to it, because I have a feeling you're going to be one of those women who'll be considered good-looking even in your old age. They won't quit chasing you until you're dead and buried."

The avatar's eyes closed, and her lips quivered as she struggled with her overwhelming reality. No more hiding. No more standing aloof. No putting off what, in all honesty, she knew she had to do.

Dani took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and turned to Abby.

"No more simple life, I suppose. Okay, Norm, where do I start?"

Abby nodded in approval. "Better! I just so happened to pick up some things I needed just in case you wanted to listen. I don't expect to cover everything, but I'll hit the basics...."

*****
Monday, March 26, 2007
Cairo, Egypt

*smack!*

"Ow!"

"I said leave the bow alone, Dani."

"It feels funny!"

"It's *fine* just as it is. You just need to get used to it. You got used to public bathing, right? It has to be easier to get used to dressing like this than it was to get used to walking around naked with strangers looking on."

"Barely...."

Abby groaned at the pun as Dani turned to face a full-length mirror in her apartment; she had to nod. She was dressed in a smart jacket, blouse, and knee-length skirt and looked every bit a well-dressed professional.

She'd worked at her make-up herself and had passed Norm's inspection. Only the bow at her neck had provoked her student-mentor's intervention. It was time, though, to gather Dom and Gunther and head for the Embassy.

*****
Garden City, Cairo, Egypt
U.S. Embassy
Mutant Commission Office

"May I help you?"

A smallish, thin-faced woman sat at a desk in the lobby. Her gray hair was pulled back into a too-severe bun reminiscent of a stereotypical librarian, and she had a nasal voice that was almost, but not quite, as teeth-grindingly painful as Dani's singing. Her nameplate pronounced her to be Morgana Copps.

"I'm Danielle O'Neill and have an appointment with Mister Siberell, Ms. Copps."

"You need to have your paperwork filled out before your appointment. Do you ..."

Dani extracted the appropriate folder from her satchel and handed it over. "I have duplicates of all those forms, as they're filled out, so if something gets lost we can replace it. It would be a shame to waste your time, and Mister Siberell's, by not having everything ready."

She smiled sweetly at Ms. Copps, who tried to decide whether an insult was implied; she finally concluded the young woman was being helpful and resumed her questioning.

"You have your witnesses with you?"

"Yes. This is Doctor Dominic Monaghan, Doctor Gunther Schuller, and Doctor Abigail DuMont. They have worked with me for many years, and are willing to testify to my identity under oath."

Morgana sniffed. "Ms. O'Neill, if you'd go through the door with the 'Testing' sign, please. You won't need anything and may leave your belongings with your friends."

Dani walked through the doorway, stopping for only a moment to smile and nod at her friends.

"Now that the supposed mutant is on her way," Ms. Copps showed what might have passed for a smile, "which of you wishes to be interviewed first?"

*****

She was shaking just a bit as she finished dressing. Dani had been subjected to the most invasive, meticulous series of examinations and tests she'd ever experienced. They'd poked, prodded, peered, and plucked all over her body as they measured every physical characteristic they had facilities for, including fingerprints, and iris and retinal patterns. They'd even taken tissue and fluid samples from various parts of her body -- including places Dan hadn't had. She made a promise to herself to avoid doctors, unless she found someone who didn't store their instruments in a freezer.

Their testing of her powers was less invasive, but she'd been nervous at the stern faces that supervised the equipment as it whirred and buzzed. They'd had a baffled look by the time they finished, though.

The tests, as involved as they were, took less time than she'd expected, and she was told to report for her interview with Mister Siberell.

*****
Ryan Siberell's Office

Dani slid into one of the chairs located in front of Ryan's desk and looked over her interviewer. He was as average a man as could be imagined, though he'd acquired a deep tan from long exposure to Egypt's sun. Short, brown hair topped a fleshy, rounded face. His watery blue eyes were focused on a flat-panel monitor perched on his desktop such that he could work and see anyone entering his office.

He turned his attention toward the young woman sitting, relaxed, in her chair. He'd had a few mutants in his office during his tenure, but very rarely had one seemed so utterly *normal,* including dark brown eyes that were typical for Egyptians. She seemed a very atypical mutant.

~She could pass for a human with little trouble,~ he mused. ~Or at least she could if she were willing to throw away her old life. Even her eyes seem to be utterly normal.~

Results from her genetic scan had revealed a very odd set of mutant markers. None of them had been present in the DNA sample Dan O'Neill had provided for Brown University's emergency identification repository. ~Utterly unheard of!~

"So ... Doctor? ... O'Neill, you've been tested as far as we are able here in Cairo; we're a regional center for the Arab nations. You seem to be remarkably unremarkable, to be truthful. Why don't we begin with you telling me what you can about how your mutation occurred."

Ryan took notes as she related what she recalled of her drive south, then her heart attack. She quickly sketched out her activities and travels, noting her interviewer's faint frown.

~Time travel, and possible meddling in the course of history. Definitely something to be flagged and reported up the chain. Certainly it's far above my level of responsibility,~ he decided.

"So," Ryan said after Dani finished, "you claim to be an Avatar of this Ma'at, yet you have no energy signature from a bonded spirit."

Dani felt a familiar surge as Ma'at quietly spoke to her. ~Allow me, daughter. He needs proof you cannot provide, but I can.~

His eyes went wide as the young woman began to glow. The light quickly rose to almost a painful intensity and he squinted as a resonant female voice filled his office.

"Understand, young man, that Danielle is not a mutant as you understand the term. She is an avesa avatar, as they are called in Hindu -- she is empowered by me to be my presence in the world. I added your mutant markers to her genome so she will fit within your system."

Ma'at muted her radiance, and Siberell was able to finally see Dani had a solid-seeming head band with a large feather now.

"And you are?"

Her smile was bemused. "I am Ma'at, the Egyptian goddess of truth, justice, and order; I was one of those who brought your world into being."

He shook his head in confusion. "So how does Ms. O'Neill fit into all this?"

"*Doctor* O'Neill", she stressed her avatar's title, "lived much of her life in this area, and I needed someone to ensure my ancient enemy, Set, didn't divert history's path. I chose her for my own, and have brought her home so she can receive the training she needs."

Siberell, still confused at how odd this supposed mutant seemed to be, absently nodded and replied, "Yes, I can see that."

"Remember, Ryan Siberell, that she will answer your questions truthfully. Treat her justly; she is my chosen daughter, my own child as much as Amon, Nun, Heh, or Kau, and I will deal with anyone who tries to mistreat her." She paused and bestowed a small smile on him. "For what it's worth, I approve of you and your dedication to your job. You work to preserve order, as I do. Don't disappoint me."

Dani wobbled in her chair as the glow, crown, and feather faded. She smiled weakly at Siberell. "It's wearing when she comes calling."

Ryan blinked then turned back to his checklist. He worked through the standard list of questions, and dutifully entered all the requisite information into the MCO on-line system; he was very careful to make his entries complete, correct, and ... unbiased.

~I don't think I care to annoy her patroness.~

"Doctor O'Neill, I have all the information I need, now. You'll be sent an information packet that contains a summary of the rules and regulations a mutant must follow. It has brochures and contact information for schools with training facilities for mutants. They're geared toward high school students, as all but an infinitesimal number of mutants experience their change at puberty. Perhaps you can make arrangements with one of them to trade your expertise as a teacher for training; finding qualified instructors can be difficult for those schools.

“It will take about a month for all the processing required for your new passport and other identification, and you will have a new Mutant ID card as well. You won't be allowed to leave this country until your paperwork is complete."

"I understand, Mister Siberell, and thank you for your time."

*****
Monday, April 2, 2007
Inbw-hdj (Memphis)
7:00AM EET (5:00 GMT)

Gunther walked into the office only to find that Dani had not only beaten him in but had run a pot of coffee. He poured himself a cup and joined her at the cork board behind her desk. As usual, Dani had her radio on and tuned to the BBC World Service.

"Thanks for the coffee, Dani. What're you up to?"

She'd pulled out a 1:50K scale topographical map of the area and had tacked it up with north and south reversed.

She glanced his way. "I'm planning a little excursion to check on a couple of places nearby. I need to take a fiber-optic probe in case I find something interesting."

He gave her a suspicious look. "You *know* what you're looking for. This isn't like you, Dani. You've always been willing to trust us with even your wildest ideas in the past; what's different?"

Dani knew what sort of reaction she'd get if she let word get out. The Library of Alexandria was one of the ancient world's great treasures, and a mystery after its contents were lost forever. At least they would have been, except for her intervention. Her knowledge of, and help in creating, ten caches that, if they survived, would provide original copies of texts never seen by modern scholars and others that had been so heavily rewritten over time as to be unrecognizable.

"Gunther, this is something very different. I really don't want to talk about what I'm looking for, yet. If word got out, but nothing's there, even my reputation would be ruined. I expect enough trouble just dealing with looking like a coed.

"Please, trust me on this. If I find what I hope to, I'll bring you all in; we'll organize formal work teams and tackle it as we always have."

He looked disappointed, but nodded. "We've worked together too long for me to say no, Doc. I'll let you be, for now."

"Thank you, Gunther. I know it's hard for you, but...."

She broke off as Dom and Abby, who was grumbling quietly about her home team's first pitch pushing midnight, wandered in.

"Okay, team," Dani said as she stood and moved to her map, "Gunther was asking about my map, earlier. I wanted you all here to explain this once. I was in Egypt three times during my wanderings. During one of those visits, I was asked to locate places where some things could be buried and not bothered. I thought, since I have about a month to wait for my new ID, I could take time to check one or two caches and see if anything made it through. I'm going to do an initial look myself, but I'll call everyone in if I find anything."

Dom cocked his head as he looked at her and thought over her comments. After a few moments, he shook his head. "Nope, sorry Dani. I can't allow you to violate your own safety regs. These first two sites are close by, but you *know* how easy it is to have an accident in some of the wadis around here. Pick any one of us as a buddy, but you aren't going alone."

Dani glared at him and drew a breath to protest, but Gunther cut in. “Dani, you tell everyone the same thing when they start on your digs. Remember when Abby wanted to check out that possible necropolis a few years ago? You've warned us,” he pointed to himself and Dom, “about being safe, and we're men in this male-dominated society. You're not exempt from the rules. I don't care if you are a super-powered mutant; you go out, one of us goes, too.”

"Damn it, kids! I'm an adult, and I was ferreting artifacts out of this valley before your *parents* were born!"

"That was then; this is now. You know the rules, and you'll follow them, just as we do. No buddy, no equipment -- and that includes vehicles." Abby's voice was as unyielding as her companions'.

Her dark brown eyes almost sparked with frustration as she locked eyes with Dominic. "Hard-assed bastard!" she spat.

Dom looked amused. "You better believe it; I learned from the best. He was a hard-assed bastard that practically grew up here; a hard-assed bastard who never lost a team member. I'm not going to break a system that's worked so well and for so long."

Dani tried to hold her glare, but finally dropped her eyes. She knew they were right; she'd had too many close calls back in the '30s with friends to believe otherwise. It was still hard to place them all at such risk.

~Justice demands I follow my own rules,~ she concluded, as memories of co-workers who'd been injured, or nearly so, flooded into her mind. Dan had accepted the incidents and set the rules to prevent a repeat. Dani, as she reviewed her past, was struck by a wave of emotions Dan had suppressed. She fought and lost the battle to contain her emotions; tears flowed freely. ~What's wrong with me? I shouldn't be crying like this, not in front of the kids ....~

Dom stood and walked over to Dani's chair. He knew she was old enough to be his father, but at the moment he could only see her as someone who was in desperate need of comfort. He wrapped the young-looking woman up in his arms and spoke to her softly.

“Dani, we're being hard-nosed because we care. We were very fond of you before, and now we want to make sure you're around for a very long time, okay? Just pick your partner for today.”

The black-haired woman wrapped her arms around him, returning his embrace. Then she drew back and gave them all a wry smile. They'd become her children, and she'd lavished her love on them. She'd known they had cared, but hadn't realized that Dom, Gunther, and Abby had come to return her love so deeply.

~I was so blind: first with Agnes, then with the kids. How dense can one person be?~

“Thanks, kids. I appreciate your concern. It's frustrating, but we'll do it right, and safe. Dom, would you join me?”

"I'd be happy to, Dani. Just let me make sure everyone's work schedule is posted, and then we'll get our gear."

*****
Near Al Jizah

Dani looked up at the bluff, then down again at her map as Dominic looked carefully around at the bluffs. They'd made a couple of stops as she tried to recall exactly where she had told Hypatia a small cave cluster would be. There weren't too many in this area, but it still took time to find a place for their car then climb to where the caves were.

~If this were anywhere else in the world, I'd be sweating like a pig and wringing wet,~ she thought as they settled into a shady nook. Dani took several swigs of water from her canteen as she glanced around. ~At least sweat dries as fast as it appears around here.~

Dom noticed her motion. "It looks like there's a ledge up there," he said, pointing.

She nodded. "I think a trail runs that way from further up this cleft. With luck, we can scoot up the slope then follow the trail to where the caves should be. I'm hoping it'll get close enough to let us drop down to that ledge."

He took another look at her topographical map, then back at the terrain. "I think you're right. We'll have to be careful, though. That rock doesn't look too solid."

She nodded as she took her full ten minute break before moving on, despite being anxious to get going. Dani's young body wasn't feeling fatigue as keenly as Dan's century-old body had, and only Dom's amused glances kept her from cutting her rest short. She'd had to hammer her field teams until they understood that moving in a desert meant being smart every minute. No one working with Dan left for any off-site excursion without plenty of water, and everyone took regular breaks to rest and hydrate.

~And, yet again, I'm reminded of why I made a rule that no one, male or female, goes out alone.~

Dominic held a safety rope as Dani clambered carefully across a narrow spot, just above an old landslide that had dislodged itself from near the bluff's crest. She secured a spring-loaded camming device in a handy crack, hooked a carabiner to the SLCD, then looped their safety line through. She held it until Dom had scooted his way past the narrow point. She found herself on a fairly wide ledge, perhaps ten feet across, in front of what seemed to be an irregular, nearly vertical section of wall that looked like any other random section of bluff -- except for a stylized scroll carved into a flatter area about waist high on its left edge.

~Bingo!~

"Take a look, Dom. That's what I've been hoping to find."

The two unshipped their packs. Dani took out her digital camera, snapping pictures from several angles and distances, as Dom marked their position on a portable GPS receiver. An icon popped up on its map display, and he stowed it away in a pack pocket. He flipped open the main compartment to extract a fiber optic probe that would allow them to examine any sealed areas without making it obvious they had been there.

She worked slowly and carefully to drill a hole just large enough for the combination high-intensity light and multi-spectral pickup to get into the chamber that appeared to be behind the wall. Dom switched on the solid-state video recorder, and Dani gingerly slid the pickup through the hole as he watched the incoming signal on the recorder's built-in screen.

"Almost there, Dani, just another few inches ... Okay, stop there."

Dom frowned as he flipped switches to change the light's intensity. "Push it in another inch or two," he asked. His frown deepened. "Leave the pickup, Dani, and take a look at this. Is it what you expected?"

Her heart dropped as the pickup revealed only dust-laden rocks.

She shook her head. "The cavity looks to be about the right size and shape, and the engraving marks the location, but there should be a fair amount of material in there."

~I wonder if *anything* made it through?~

"Let's pack up and check out the other site," she said, her concern clear in her voice and face.

*****

Dani was standing by the image projected on the wall as she finished her description of what she and Dominic had done and found at each site.

"... so as you can see, the space is entirely empty in the second location, too. I don't know why, or how, but we need to keep this quiet until we can find out if any of the other eight locations have survived with their content intact."

Gunther shook his head in sympathy. "You're probably right; I just wish you were willing to share what you're expecting with us, at least."

"I know," Dani replied, "but, if nothing survived, I'd rather not get your hopes up. I'm looking for something that would be utterly unique, and worth more than its weight in gold. It will take time, but I promise I'll bring you in if I find what I'm looking for.

“Our schedules won't allow for more excursions between now and the end of May, either, so we'll have to plan out how to check the other sites I know about sometime in the next year or so. In the mean time, I suppose I can try to nail down the location of Ma'at's temple, since it's close.”

Abby's eyes lit. "That would be a huge find, all by itself! You're sure?"

"I lived there for about a year," Dani replied, "so I'm quite sure. I just haven't told you about that part of my time here."

The men perked up. "What's this?" Gunther asked. "You've been telling her about your time here, and you haven't told *us*?"

The blonde sniffed in disdain. "You were welcome to listen in, but Dani's been telling me about it during her 'modern woman' lessons. We can't help it if you run off."

*****

Dani had returned to her quarters after their evening meal while her team secured the site for the night. The sun was just dropping below the horizon as Abby trotted by and heard someone softly singing. It was eerily beautiful, but the words were in a language ... ~Ancient Egyptian?~

The young woman stopped and moved toward the music's source, which seemed to be to the west side of Dani's hut. She finally caught sight of Dani standing just inside, eyes closed and arms held wide as if she were a priestess giving a benediction in song.

As the sun finally fell completely below the horizon, Abby watched as Dani fell silent. She was startled when the avatar spoke: "Well, Abby, what do you think?"

"I ... you can sing??"

"Come on in. I'd rather not holler through a window."

Dani was seated on her bed and waved Abby to a chair as she entered. "Abby, the short version of what you heard is that, when I was in Memphis, Ma'at had me stay at her temple. While I was there, it was appropriate for me to take part in the ceremonies, but my singing skills were ... how did Nebka put it? ... 'An affront to man and the gods, and bad enough to chase starving rats from a granary.'"

"Well...." Abby drawled, trying to squelch her giggles.

Dani smirked. "Norm, I'm Ma'at's avatar -- Meri-Ma'at, the Beloved of Ma'at. It would have been wrong for me not to participate, but I couldn't because I can't carry a tune in a bucket."

"So what happened? You clearly *can* sing, now."

"I can only sing her ceremonial songs, Abby. Ma'at changed me just enough to allow me to sing those properly, but left me mostly alone so I could use it to help prove who I am, or was."

"So when I walked by, you were singing one of her temple's ceremonial songs?"

"Uh-huh. Remember my first day back when I told you I try to keep up with her morning and evening rituals? The songs are a big part of the ceremonies; I was just finishing up when you walked by."

"You ARE going to write this all down, right?"

"Words and music, kiddo, as soon as I can work it in."

*****
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Cairo, Egypt

Dani had joined her team for breakfast at 'their' cafe' near the river. It was a popular place for English tourists and encouraged their patronage by playing the BBC through speakers hidden around the outdoor patio.

The 'World Briefing' was more than a little interesting, though. Abby shushed her teammates as a report caught her attention:

"Friday, in Madison, Wisconsin, the popular musician Joan Brown was involved in another rescue. Authorities have not yet released names of those involved, but a young woman leapt overboard from a ferry to escape an apparent kidnapping. Joan, known professionally as Joanie, leapt into dangerously cold water to retrieve the young woman. Both the woman and the attempted kidnappers are recovering in hospital at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.”

Abby sat shaking her head in amused wonder. "That girl blew onto the scene with one rescue last Labor Day, and it seems she's decided to keep in practice."

Dom gave her a strange look. "You never said how it was you got hooked on a pop t- uhhhh pop singer like Joanie, Abby."

She shot a withering glare his way before she finally responded. "I didn't think I'd like her, but she does all kinds of songs from all over the musical map, even oldies." She shrugged and blushed. "Her albums are like having my MP3 player on shuffle all the time."

*****
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Inbw-hdj (Memphis)

~The emitter is heavy,~ she thought as one of the workers dragged the ground-penetrating radar unit along. ~I need to plan efficiently so he doesn't get overheated.~

She was grateful that the work crews had finally settled down after her reappearance. At first, they'd treated her as if she were just another undergraduate intern. It had taken several serious tongue-lashings from Dani and Dominic to convince everyone that this apparent coed was truly Dan O'Neill in a new wrapper.

Efficient or not, she'd made progress in tracking down her objective. She started with a wide-angle, low-resolution scan to figure out how deep the overburden was. Given how deeply buried the palace floor had been, she figured it should be less than ten meters; she'd lost her bet with herself -- she found the correct street pattern fifteen meters down.

Pure memory guided her from there, as she walked along buried streets to where fond memory told her Ma'at's temple entrance should be.

"Let's do one more wide scan, then we can shift to high-res mode to verify what I think is here."

It would take time to reduce the data and document everything, but before year's end she hoped to have a nice little historical hand grenade to drop in someone's lap.

*****
Monday, April 30, 2007
Inbw-hdj (Memphis)

"Dani! Mail call!"

A heavy envelope thumped onto her desktop, bearing a U.S. State Department logo.

Dani zipped the seal, and pulled out a stack of documents, brochures, and smaller envelopes. The cover letter seemed mostly boiler-plate bureaucrat-ese.

~Blah-blah-blah ... hmmm. "Your passport and mutant ID are granted contingent on your receiving acceptable training as defined in the following sections of Title 6, Title 18, Title 22, and Title 42 of the US Code ... Acceptable training facilities are listed alphabetically by region...."~

Dani scanned the list carefully, trying to locate something close to home. ~It looks like this Whateley Academy in New Hampshire is closest. Annnnnnd, yes, they have contact information. I'll give them a call tomorrow.~

She flipped through what remained, which was mostly special travel and customs information for mutants. She took care to read a brochure titled "Security Check-in for Mutants" printed by the MCO.

~Great. Just *ducky.* They basically claim they have authority to do anything, up to a strip search, to assure 'the safety of the flying public.' I don't see an appeal procedure either. They don't seem to have any oversight whatsoever. Lovely! I thought security checkpoints were obnoxious before!~

There was one more envelope, sealed, with the MCO crest embossed on it.

~Your case is still under active review by the MCO due to questions regarding your ... potential DAMAGE TO HUMANITY??~

~Your time traveling, daughter. They fear mutants, and you are a mutant who was in a position to cause untold harm.~

~But ... but ... you made sure that wouldn't happen!~ Dani sputtered.

~Yes, dear, but THEY don't know that; not yet, anyway. I'm not certain it would matter if they did. They're afraid, Dani. You've done something that could have destroyed this world, as I showed you would happen if you intervened in Alexandria. Their world could have ended, and it scares them.~

~I don't know what I can do, though.~

~I'm always close, and they will *not* harm you. They may need a bit of reassurance. If that doesn't work...~

Dani heard a sound like cracking knuckles in her mind and managed a ghost of a smile.

~Now, you have some other things to do and calls to make?~

~True, but I need to wait until this afternoon for Rudy to get into the office.~

*****
3:00PM EET (13:00 GMT, 9:00AM EDT)

"Egyptology Department Administration. How may I help you?"

"Claire? Claire Sokolva? This is Doctor O'Neill. Is Rudy in?"

"Dan?? I'd hear rumors that you'd had something happened, but...."

"Depending on the rumor, Claire, it may be true. I call myself Dani, now; I've changed a bit from last time you saw me.”

“So it seems. Yes, Rudy is in. One moment please.”

“Thanks, Claire. I'll fill everyone in on what happened when I have a chance."

"You'd better! Here's Rudy, Dani."

She heard a click as Claire transferred her call.

"Hello? Dan?"

"Hello, Rudy. It's Dani, now, but it *is* me."

"My word, Dan ... excuse me, Dani. I received a letter from your lawyer, Ms. Brush, that warned us what happened, but...." He had worked with Dan for years as an assistant professor, eventually following in his footsteps to become department head. The voice he heard was at once both familiar in cadence and phrasing, yet was unmistakably female. Rudy found he was unable to finish. The reality of his friend's change was too unsettling.

Dani snickered. "I'm not surprised, Rudy. It's been a wild ride for me, and I've had time to work through some of it. I called mostly to touch base, let you know what has happened on this end, and see if I can't get all the paperwork started for my identity change."

"We've started pulling some of your records with that in mind. We also heard some interesting rumors about something you dug up at the site. The report was about a pair of engraved tablets with unusual content for their time period."

"Ah! Yes, I have some high resolution pictures of them, and I plan to add some personal comments regarding their origin."

"So it's true? You caused them to be made and buried?"

Dani spent quite some time talking about her adventures with Dan's old friend and colleague, though hardly in great detail.

"Before I forget, Dani, National Geographic called. They'd heard of your new situation and wanted to set up an interview and photo shoot as a supplement to the article you wrote for their October issue."

"Did they suggest a time?"

"They just asked that you contact their Washington, DC, office about a week ahead of when you expect free. They'll send their people to wherever they need to be."

"I hope to be back by the middle of this month, but I need to arrange for training as soon as possible. I was also thinking that I'd set up some seminars or discussions with some of our colleagues about what I've observed. We'll have a better chance to talk it over when I'm back home. I hope to fly in on the fifteenth, and drop in on the sixteenth."

"That sounds like a very good idea, actually. I'll pencil in some time on the sixteenth to sit and catch up."

*****
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Inbw-hdj (Memphis)
Site Offices

~Let me see,~ Dani mused. ~I know it was here somewhere ... Ah! Here it is!~ She grinned as she sensed Ma'at's grimace at her avatar's filing system.

She slipped a sheet of paper out of a stack and smiled as she spotted Mrs. Carson's phone number.

"Whateley Academy Administration, Mrs. Carson's office. This is Ms. Hartford. How may I help you, Doctor O'Neill?"

Dani hesitated for a moment, wondering how Ms. Hartford could have known who was on the line. ~Caller ID, perhaps?~ She shook her head to dispel the distraction; Ms. Hartford was waiting.

"Good morning, Ms. Hartford. I'd like to speak to Mrs. Carson, if she's available. Would you put me through, please?"

"One moment, please, and I'll see."

Amelia Hartford's system had been busy (as she had) from the moment she physically answered the phone. It had been programmed to search for additional information about any unknown caller and provide Ms. Hartford, and her boss, if necessary, with both general information and anything that might have provoked a call.

~Hmmm. A new entry in the MCO database as of last month ... avatar of a Class X entity?? Entity CLASSIFIED per section 47, sub clause 17b, potential DAMAGE TO HUMANITY, no further information ... I'd best dig carefully on this one.~

"Mrs. Carson, you have a call from a Doctor O'Neill. Are you available?"

"I am, Ms. Hartford. Put them through, please. I assume you have your system digging for all sorts of fascinating information, as usual?"

"Check your caller information screen, ma'am. You'll find it useful."

Mrs. Carson punched a button to pick up her caller on the speakerphone as she scanned Amelia's information screen.

"This is Mrs. Carson. How may I help such a distinguished scholar, Dr. O'Neill?"

"Mrs. Carson, first, please call me Dani. Dr. O'Neill has always been a bit too formal for my taste. I find myself in need of the sort of specialized training your school provides. I changed recently, and I need to learn how to properly control my new powers.

"I can manage any reasonable costs your school might require; I don't expect a 'quid-pro-quo', but given your student body I might be able to develop some special classes as a part-time instructor, perhaps something like 'The Reality of Mythology'. I'm also fluent in French, German, Italian, Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Ancient Egyptian, so I could fill in as a language instructor. If you have students who're interested, I might also give a short introduction to archeology; even your law enforcement students might find our techniques for preserving evidence useful. I've made presentations like that before.

"I also did some traveling following my transformation, and I'll need a suitable place to document my experiences. I expect I'll also have to make occasional trips as I try to share what I've learned with my colleagues. I should be able to give plenty of notice on that end, though."

Elisabeth hesitated for a few seconds. The list of accolades Dr. Danielle O'Neill had accumulated in his, now her, career were impressive, even with almost a century to work at it. Whateley had also experienced a surge of teenage avatars from several pantheons; an adult with a similar perspective might be very useful to have around.

Sara Waite, despite being older, was a bit too far outside the norm, even for Whateley, to act as a student-mentor. Samantha Everheart wasn't a student, and Joan Brown was ... Joanie. She chose -- far too often -- to project the image of a mad-cap, teenage bimbo blonde despite her true age and intelligence; she didn't always portray the sort of maturity Elizabeth wanted as an example.

"Let me think a bit, Dani. I think we might both benefit from this, but I need to talk to my staff. Do you have an idea when you might be available, and are you, by chance, certified to teach in New Hampshire?"

"I plan to be stateside around the middle of this month. I have a bit of work to do on paperwork, but I could up your way as early as the end of June. I have a teaching certification in Rhode Island, but I can have my lawyer file for a regional credential (http://www.teach-now.org/reciprocity.cfm), if you decide you have a place for me. If I come up your way, though, I'll need a place to live and work that has a good heating system."

"Pardon? Heating system?" Her confusion was clear in her voice.

A quiet giggle came down the phone line. "Mrs. Carson...,"

"Call me Elisabeth, Dani."

"... Elisabeth, then. I've lived most of my life in Egypt's Nile Valley. I'm used to hot weather, not snow and ice. I've dealt with cold from time to time," she shivered as she recalled the Black Sea winter she'd lived through, "but I need a place to work where I can concentrate on writing, not shivering."

"This area is a bit thin on rentals of that sort, but we do have Realtors who could help. There's also someone associated with the school who's rebuilt a farmhouse and barn into her home. She probably would appreciate a good tenant. Before I forget, one other requirement for our students, and faculty with powers, is a code name."

"Oh. I hadn't thought about it, really. Are there any restrictions I need to keep in mind?"

"You need to make sure you don't infringe anyone's copyright. We have students go for weeks trying to come up with a good name."

"I'll make work of that over the next few weeks, then. I'll try to have some ideas by the time I arrive, if we can come to an agreement and you have facilities available for me."

Mrs. Carson smiled, despite the voice-only phone, and continued, "We both have some work to do, then. Let me know if your schedule changes. I'm sure we can find room for you as a student, and I suspect we can make use of your talents. I promise to be in touch within two weeks."

"That will be fine. I have my cell phone, so this number will work well even it's longer than two weeks. I appreciate your time, Elizabeth, and I hope to hear from you, soon."

"You're welcome, Dani. Goodbye."

Amelia Hartford made a note of the time, and ensured her search results -- far more comprehensive than what she'd provided to Mrs. Carson -- were properly archived for future reference.

*****
Friday, May 11th
Saint Louis, Missouri

The Preacher knelt at his altar, eyes closed and hands folded as he communed in prayer with his Lord. A warm, comforting voice echoed in his mind with guidance, filling him with its peace, calm, and wisdom.

~It it time, my son, to bring the child into my flock. My ancient enemy has brought her Jezebel, her treacherous Eve, into the world. You must prepare my young warrior for the battle ahead of him. Have your deacons seek him out, and make sure he is at your meeting tomorrow.~

*****
Sunday, May 13th
Bardshein, Egypt

Time had changed some things, but here, in this ancient land, a market was still a market in all ways that mattered. The sun had barely risen as a myriad of little booths lined the narrow street in this small town on the Nile; they held an eye-watering array of shapes and colors as each vendor sought to draw passers-by into purchasing their goods.

Dani had a very specific shopping list, though -- one that was five thousand years old. She walked slowly along, examining each stall's wares with eye, hand, and nose. Only the freshest and most colorful disappeared into her bag. Iri's stew was special, and she intended to ensure her cooking would do her sister proud.

She was taken aback at one point as she paused at a stall run by a middle-aged woman. Dan had, in the past, bought fresh vegetables from her and chatted for a few moments in Arabic. As Dani, though, the older woman used a distinctly different dialect that took a few moments to process.

~I'd heard there was a woman's dialect in Arabic, but this is the first time I've heard it in real use.~

She filed the information away for future investigation and continued on her way. She had a small problem locating a properly fresh source of bay leaves, but at last, with her list complete, she strode back to her quarters to prepare for the last meal she'd share with her kids for some time.

"What's that smell?"

Abby stuck her nose through Dani's door. She had been lured by odors of cooking meat and vegetables wafting from open windows; Dan had tended to leave them open to allow the warm May winds to circulate. She stepped in and stood quietly behind the avatar, as Dani carefully brought the pot up to temperature and covered it.

"That smell, young lady, is part of your supper for tonight. I have some loaves of bread and a few bottles of local wine as well, but this is the main course."

"Is there a story behind this, too?"

Dani smiled and nodded. "I'll spill the beans on the stew," she said snickering, "when we have our meal. And NO snitching samples!"

*Smack!*

"Ow!"

Abby rubbed her hand where Dani's wooden spoon had impacted as she'd reached for the pot's lid.

Dani smirked a bit, her amusement tempered by bittersweet memories, as she recalled a nearly identical incident that had occurred a mere four thousand years before. ~Archippe was just as much of a snitch.~

*****

Fragrant smells filled the canopied area as Dani set out dishes, silverware, and glasses. A side table held a warmer with a covered pot, but a luscious aroma wormed its way into everyone's nostrils despite its lid.

The avatar had, as best she could, replicated her farewell supper with Iti and Iri. Wine -- a vintage as close as possible to the ancient varieties -- had been opened and was breathing before being poured, and various breads, pastries, and vegetables waited buffet-style.

Dom, Gunther, and Abby walked up to see Dani waiting, hair pulled back and dressed in a modern version of what she'd worn five millennia before. The black-haired woman stood between the entry and table.

"Welcome, my friends. I'll be leaving tonight for Cairo and its airport, so I want to say my goodbyes tonight. I thought it appropriate to give you a flavor -- so to speak -- of the last meal I shared here when Memphis was new.

"No one makes identical wines, but I found one that tastes about the same. My selection of fruits and vegetables is identical; the stew recipe is from Iri, my sister in all but blood.

"Come, sit, and share a meal with me." She held her arms wide in welcome, and stepped back to allow her guests passage.

Dani had deliberately planned each stage of the evening's meal, with each course served as it had been in the palace so long ago. Again, Iri's stew held its own, and all her guests joined in Dani's laughter at the bay leaf incident.

"I think Iri and Semerkhet would have cheerfully strangled me, if it weren't for Iti. They were all dear friends, and I miss them. At least this time I can look forward to seeing you all again. I have a lot of work to do to capture what I saw during my travels, but I hope, and plan, to be out here with you on occasion. We have work to do on Ma'at's temple, and I still have eight locations to check on my other project."

She grimaced as she mentally looked to her future. "I don't mind so much taking classes; I need to learn how to manage my new abilities. I just shudder at the prospect of teaching *teenagers.*"

She shook a menacing fist at the trio as they snickered. "I have ways of dealing with people who enjoy other's misery. Just you wait!"

*****

Dani glanced around her quarters one last time. Cleanup after supper had taken little time with six extra hands, and she'd enjoyed a few extra minutes of quiet conversation before time had come for her to go. She'd hugged the men, much to their discomfort, and Abby, who was much more at ease with Dani's action.

"I'll check in when I get back stateside. I suspect it'll take a month or so to get all the paperwork squared away at the University and my own estate. I'll be heading up to New Hampshire around the end of June or the first part of July to find a place to live, if everything works out as I hope. I suspect I'll be there for three or four years, so I might as well be comfortable."

"Shall we expect to see pictures of you skiing?" Dom asked with an all-too-innocent look.

"I still have pictures of you and that camel, youngster!"

Dom cringed and promised to behave, a little, at least until Dani left. He sounded more sincere after Abby began trying to wheedle access to Dani's picture stash. The black-haired woman giggled, hugged all three again, and slipped into her vehicle.

Darkness had fully fallen over the Nile as she reached the main road. She had reservations at the Intercontinental, and a shuttle would whisk her to her terminal in the morning.

~Time to be on the road again,~ she thought as her CD player spun up another of her country music discs.

Her car shuddered as she rounded a turn. The spring desert wind, called the khamsin, was whistling down a gap in the bluffs. Dani compensated quickly and slowed a bit to allow for the thick dust carried in from the Sahara. She puttered slowly along, then a smile grew on her face as her thoughts coalesced.

~Oh yes! A very appropriate name on several levels, I think. A spring wind from the great desert has arrived.~