TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Story 25
Return to Khum-Waht-Meh!

by

Rodford Edmiston

Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright and Trademarked R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2017 Rodford Edmiston Smith.

At school the next day the trip and its events were still major topics among both staff and students. Many others were also discussing those events, but we'll leave them out of this for now.

As usual, the cafeteria was filled with odors unidentifiable by humans. There were also the scents of the foods meant for the alien students.

"The Utilimat Mark MMMMCMXCIX Subseries 128 should really be a gem of a data source," said Hub, as the gang got together for lunch. "Those units are actually highly valued collector's items. They're small enough to get into tight places but strong enough to move large stone blocks if that turns out to be necessary. They also have a huge amount of memory for data storage."

"That ushabti, or whatever?" said Karen, only partly paying attention to the big rhino-whale guy due to being worried about Freddy.

"Yes. It's an old model, been in use for millions of years. Not made any more because it's so reliable the company went out of business."

"So where is it right now?"

"Our lab. Dr. Sum'Tang wants us to wait for him to be able to help accessing its memory. We should be starting that after classes today."

"How did you wind up with it, anyway?" said Talli, frowning. "You'd think the archeologists would have kept it."

"They wanted to," said Hub, "but didn't have the equipment to interface with it. We do, here. We promised to copy its memories and send them to the archeology institute sponsoring the expedition, then bring the ushabti to them for an exhibit. It should make a good story teller for visitors."

"It does seem to love to talk," said Talli, grinning. "I guess after all those thousands of years alone in that tomb it has a right to feel that way."

"It's just a device," said Ramet, stiffly.

"Maybe," said Talli, her tone teasing.

As the friendly banter progressed, Karen glanced over at Freddy, expecting him to jump in, but he was just staring gloomily at his soup. It wasn't even any sort of alien soup; just generic terrestrial chicken noodle. At least, that's what the placard had claimed. Karen had her doubts.

"Are you feeling unwell?" she asked, gently. She already knew the answer, had known it since the trip back, but Freddy never liked to admit he was sick.

She was about to say more, but Brenda came sauntering into the bustling cafeteria and further conversation was impossible for several seconds. Ever since Brenda had discovered why people were so dismissive of her - and why she always had those headaches - and taken corrective measures she had come to the self-realization she was actually a bombshell. She had begun dressing and acting the part. No glasses; instead she wore custom contacts. Along with a dress as short as she could get away with, high heels, well-applied makeup, the works. Of course, the real change was her voice, which was no longer that annoying, monotone whine. For that she had actually started taking online voice lessons. All this had produced quite a change in just a day.

"Hello, folks," she said, in a smooth, deep, sultry voice as she sat at the table. "How is everyone?"

"We think there's something wrong with Freddy," said Karen, scowling.

"We know what's wrong with Freddy," said Hub, also scowling, but in a very different way. "He must have left part of himself - or herself - behind in that tomb."

"Buh!?" said Brenda, so confused she dropped character. Then skillfully picked it back up. "Well, what does Nurse have to say about it?"

The others looked at each other, all doing the species-appropriate version of metaphorically kicking themselves.

"Yeah," said Karen, standing and grabbing Freddy's elbow. "Let's find out."

He barely protested not getting to finish his meal.

* * *

The nurse ran a scanner over Freddy, frowned, and repeated the action. Muttering - and still frowning, her head feathers twitching in a display of irritation - she went to the supply cabinet and got a different scanner. She turned it on. "You might feel a slight pinching sensation in your frontal lobes."

"Gleimeoihbfoir!" said Freddy, body arching as Nurse made the scan.

When she saw the results it gave her eyes went wide and she turned a delicate shade of puce.

"What?" said Freddy, as he managed to uncross his eyes, a little more alert now, thanks to that stimulation.

"What?!" those waiting outside the door chorused.

"Quiet!" said Nurse, firmly, as she moved quickly to her main computer, ignoring the slight scorched odor which followed her examination. She frowned even more. "This says you are... incomplete."

"Yeah, that's what I've been saying," said Freddy. "I just don't understand how that could happen. I mean, I turned the power off, in the tomb, pulling all of me back into one. I shouldn't have been able to turn back male, either, if a female me was still around. I've tried before."

He didn't say why he'd tried before, but those listening could imagine various salacious reasons.

"You also said that things were rather confused, and you were under the influence of Tsoob. If one of your bodies were somehow rendered mentally or physically unable to reunite with you then that would explain your current situation. The fact that there were so many of you would have reduced the impedance of changing gender afterwards."

"Uhm, well, there was a lot of confusion," Freddy stated, frowning with the effort to remember the exact situation. "Also, there were a lot more than three of me, thanks to the Tsoob. And, yeah, a lot of physical disturbance. It was also really hard to change back."

"I suggest you contact the people at the dig site," said Nurse, emphatically. "Tell them there's someone still in the underground there who needs rescuing. Get permission to go back for her, if you can. The sooner you are reintegrated the better."

"What if... Well, what if something has... happened to her?" said Freddy fidgeting.

"They you wouldn't be in nearly this good a condition."

* * *

"It's no go," said Ramet, sourly, once they were all back in the cafeteria. He'd been working his phone the whole way there, looking increasingly frustrated as they walked. "We even can't talk to them on the phone to get permission. The whole site is locked down. All the workers are being held at the site by the Alien Control Office. No explanation given. The ACO is denying all of that, of course, despite cell phone videos which came out of the initial activity before they started jamming, plus live coverage by several networks since."

"My sources say the same thing," said Talli, scowling. She had also been trying to find out more about the situation during the short trip. "Nothing and no-one gets through. Not even coms. There are even reports of the ACO destroying local cell towers. The families of the staff actually have already filed reports with the local police, since they haven't heard anything from their loved ones and the ACO hasn't notified them those loved ones are being held incommunicado. They say that they hadn't heard a word from those working there since late yesterday! The local police, of course, haven't been told anything by the ACO and are infuriated at this violation of their sovereign authority. It's all over both the Net and the news."

"The worst part is," said Argy Bee, "no-one knows what's behind all this. Though there's sure a lot of speculation."

"It's probably due to the alien tech we found there," muttered Freddy. "Oh, well..."

"I don't understand," said Hrpblple, carefully poking Freddy with a pseudopod. In a strictly platonic manner, of course. "If part of yourself gets lost you just hrpblple it back."

"Yeah," said Jim, "but he's not the same species as you. Would that even work?"

"I can try to teach him," said Hrpblple, with a gelatinous rippling which the others by now knew was its equivalent of a shrug.

"I could swap shop a couple of times and put you in Freddy's body," offered Talli.

"That wouldn't work, 'cause then I'd be trying to pull part of Freddy into me, when I'm not me. I mean he's not him. I mean..."

"I get it, I get it," said Talli waving her hands and sighing.

"I really doubt humans are capable of learning this," said Hub, tiredly. "If only you could do it for him."

"Well, of course I can," said Hrpblple. "How do you think adults show the young ones what to do? Do you want me to?"

"Yes! Please!" said Karen, just ahead of several others.

Hrpblple spread itself out on the cafeteria floor into a large sheet and hummed for several seconds. Students walking by had to be warned to detour around the amorphous organism, thinking it was just spilled food, as usual. Then Hrpblple resumed its usual nearly spherical form and looked at Freddy, obviously puzzled. (At least, obviously to those who knew Hrpblple.)

"Nothing?"

"I... sort of felt something weird going on," said Freddy. "It actually felt like I was... uhm... badly constipated."

"Aha! I forgot you humans are a gendered species. You must be physically the same as the portion we are trying to recall."

"OH!" said Freddy, in sudden revelation. "Yeah, that makes sense."

He frowned in concentration for a moment, then sighed.

"I can't do it."

"Well, take off your Gender Guard and I'll zap you," said Hub, reasonably.

"We need to hurry," said Jim, looking around the rapidly emptying cafeteria with concern. "It's nearly time for next period."

Freddy was quickly femaled and Hrpblple repeated its previous display. Almost immediately, f-Freddy gasped, then cried out. Before anyone could react there was an odd sort of blurring, as if a larger, vaguer version of f-Freddy suddenly formed around her then shrank to her size. There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Why am I wearing two sets of clothing?" said f-Freddy, before fainting.

* * *

Freddy was out for nearly three days, the whole time spent in the nurse's office being constantly monitored. Nurse had even called in a couple of specialists to work in shifts, helping her watch Freddy. Her uncle wanted the boy - uhm, girl, actually - in a proper hospital... until the nurse asked what human hospital had the appropriate monitoring equipment, then casually mentioned how much getting it installed would cost.

Finally, Freddy - unified and again male - was released to go home. The next day at school he was a bit miffed to learn he wasn't even the major topic of gossip. Though he was a topic of gossip.

"There are people saying the reason you got so sick was that you were pregnant," said Talli, with a vicious grin, as they formed up for home room.

"Been there," said Freddy, rolling his eyes, "done that. In simulation, anyway, though it sure felt real. Not gonna do it again if I can help it."

"Well," said Hub, grinning, "now that you're feeling better we need to find out what's going on with that dig. What can you tell us?"

"I'm having a lot of trouble unscrambling what happened to whom," said Freddy, still obviously a bit confused. "Especially when it all happened to me!"

"Such confusion is normal for these situations," said Hrpblple, confidently. "It will fade in a few decades."

"What?!" said the others, in a fair chorus.

"Excuse me; there was a math interpretation problem. A few tenths of a year, not tens of years."

"You did that on purpose," said Ramet, suspiciously.

Hrpblple simply sat there (if you can call that sitting) humming and burbling.

"Anyway," said Freddy, with a sigh, "I remember I was found soon after you folks left. With me. (This is really confusing.) The archeologists were talking about taking me back to the school when what looked like every Alien Control Office aircraft and saucer on the planet landed around their camp. They wouldn't listen to anyone, just yelled orders, only they kept contradicting each other. I actually saw two of them get into a fistfight. Most just got mad at us for not understanding them. Eventually they put us all into their portable jail cells - Black Mariahs? - and just left us there. I was feeling worse and worse. I think I actually passed out for a while."

"That's horrible!" said Karen.

"There's been a lot of news about a major increase in ACO activities all around the world, lately," said Talli, thoughtfully. "Especially at ancient dig sites."

"There's rumors," said Argy Bee, leaning in and speaking in hushed, conspiratorial tones. "That the Angels and the Architects were on Earth, many millennia ago. Having one of their contests. Which is likely not only how that alien tech got into the tomb, but could explain why some humans have powers, rather than just knacks."

"The who did what?" said Karen.

"The Architects of Life," said Talli, with a sour expression, "and the Angels of Mercy. They have very different ideas about how to bring primitive sapients into starfaring society. Sometimes, they both pick the same world, which is very much not good for the locals. Almost Big G not good."

"Eeewww..." said Karen.

"There aren't a lot of either group around any more," said Argy. "They're some of the oldest cultures still in existence, but they've worn out their welcome in pretty much every star system. Even though their tech is superior to that of most cultures, other species have the advantage in numbers. Of course, other species also want the higher tech both factions possess, and major wars have been fought over the scraps they have left laying around."

"Wow," said Freddy, looking concerned. "I hope this won't cause any aliens to come to Earth looking for stuff to loot."

"They've been doing this long enough to have influenced Ancient Egypt?" said Karen.

"Oh, a lot longer than that," said Talli, with a blithe wave of her hand. "They both became starfaring species at nearly the same time, and soon encountered each other. They say they don't fight each other directly because they're too advanced for war - though the real reason is that they realized that each could wipe out the other if they started something - so they agreed that the best way to show the other up was to 'help' pre-technical intelligent species to advance. They started all this something like a million and a half years ago."

"Why isn't this covered in Pan-Galactic History?" said Jim.

"Decent people try to ignore them and their projects," said Argy, looking as if he had tasted something sour, "since they've ruined so many beginning cultures."

"Could any of them still be around on Earth?" said Karen, worried. "I mean, you said they're rare, but could there be any here, still messing with things?"

"Not likely," said Talli. "You'd notice."

"Things could be even worse than they are now," said Argy, ominously. "A lot worse. Especially if they get into one of their competitions."

* * *

The next day the usual gang got together at their usual table for lunch. The whole room was quietly abuzz, and not just about the ACO activities in Egypt.

"I'm telling you, Principal Tolliver has been in his office meeting with Alien Control Officers all morning," said one of the school's human rumor mongers.

"Do you think, maybe, we should go and tell them what happened?" said Karen.

"Absolutely not!" said Ramet, quite firmly.

"Yes," said Hub, more slowly but just as firmly. "Tell them. If you don't, once they figure out who was there, they'll arrest you for being there. Then again for not telling them you were there."

"But we didn't do anything!" protested Freddy.

"We fell through a trap door into an ancient pile of dirty laundry," said Ramet, ticking things off on his fingers. "We did a significant amount of damage to the contents of an ancient tomb. We..."

"None of that was our fault!" said Karen.

"Even if they eventually accept that," said Ramet, "by that time we'll have missed the rest of high school. Probably college, as well."

Freddy sighed and hurried to finish his lunch. He hated to rush a meal, especially since his appetite had only come back within the past couple of days. Still...

* * *

As it turned out, most of the regulars - including all those who had actually fallen into the tomb - went with Freddy. They arrived at the Principal's office, intending to tell the secretary why they were there. However, they were at first too stunned by the volume of sound coming through the closed door - and walls - of the principal's office

"I'm telling you there's no such student registered here!" yelled Tolliver.

"She vanished from our custody!" the ACO officer yelled back.

"What does that have to do with her being registered here?! If she was able to get away from you so easily, why couldn't she have given you a fake name?!"

"She didn't get away from us easily! She must therefore be a master spy!"

"So why are you looking for her here?! All our spies are accounted for!"

"They've been going at it for over an hour," whispered the secretary, quickly, during a lull in the noise.

"I appreciate the principal sticking up for me, but why are we whispering?" said Freddy, also quietly and quickly. "They wouldn't hear anything less than a minor explosion."

"Uhm, the principal doesn't realize you have a female ID," said the secretary, uncomfortably. "Count yourself lucky."

"What did he mean about all our spies?" said Hub, confused. "Why would we have spies?"

"Later," said Freddy, leading the others away from the scene of vocal carnage as the noise resumed.

* * *

"At least we're on record as trying to tell the principal about our involvement," said Freddy, as the group got together again after classes. "The secretary has our names."

"That's what worries me," said Ramet, in a stage mutter. "If the ACO seizes her records they have our names but not our intent."

"Hopefully, we'll be able to straighten things out tomorrow," said Hub, waving as he headed for his saucer in the student parking lot.

Freddy and Karen, as was their custom on nice days such as this, rode their bikes home. The season was starting to turn; they wouldn't have many more opportunities for these lazy trips this year.

"What are you thinking about?" said Karen, after a few minutes.

"Just... still trying to get all of that separate me stuff straight in my head."

"I think you need to talk about it," said Karen, gently. "Especially from the viewpoint of the one you left behind."

"It was... weird," said Freddy, shivering. "I could remember being part of someone else, but it didn't seem real. I could remember being a boy, but that didn't seem real, either."

He gave Karen a wan smile.

"I was definitely glad to be back together, though. Because I knew I was incomplete."

"That had got to be one of the weirder powers," said Karen, shivering, herself.

"You said it."

* * *

The next day the weather was still good enough - and the forecast promised that it would stay good enough - for Freddy and Karen to share a bike ride to school. However, when Freddy rode to where Karen was waiting he looked rather irritated.

"What's wrong?" said Karen, as they peddled away.

"The ACO sent a whole squad to my Uncle's house during the day, yesterday, while he and his floozy wife were both out," said Freddy. "No warrant or anything, and the housekeeper tried to keep them out, but they forced their way in. Then tried to stop her from calling 911. She ran, screaming, with them chasing her. 911 had no idea who was calling or why, but since it was a cordless phone operating through our landline they knew where. They sent the whole SWAT team. There was almost a shootout before orders came down to both groups that they were supposed to be cooperating to stop a terrorist attack against the Earth. So both groups then cheerfully cooperated in tearing the house apart!"

"That's horrible! Were you swatted, or something?"

"They won't say why they did this. They wouldn't apologize for tearing up the house. Though they did confiscate a bunch of stuff, most of it from my uncle's home entertainment system. They claimed it was evidence. They weren't even there when my aunt got back, and the poor housekeeper had to try and explain - keep in mind she's still semi-hysterical - why the house was a disaster area."

"So... I assume this is tied into their visit to the school yesterday."

"Well, yeah. They got my ID from the me whom they grabbed at the dig site. They didn't believe it, since the ID was for a boy, but finally decided to check anyway. With a full-blown raid."

"Did they take any of your stuff?" said Karen. "Is that why you're in such a bad mood?"

"Well, they took some of my stuff, but the reason I'm in such a bad mood - sorry about that, it's not directed at you - is that my uncle blames me for this whole mess and I'm grounded except for school and work until this all goes to court."

"The ACO is is taking your uncle to court? Or you? Or both?!"

"Uh, no," said Freddy. "The ACO is refusing to admit they were even in town yesterday. Despite the house and the school. Even despite the local police posting photos and videos online of them working with the ACO to confiscate dangerous alien technology. My uncle is suing them and the ACO and everyone else he can think of."

"'Dangerous alien technology,'" said Karen, with a snort. "I just hope they don't connect you with the Alien Goods Store. Poor Sooltong would plotz."

"Don't even joke about that," said Freddy, sourly.

As they neared the school, however, they slowed, coasting to a stop.

"What is that?" said Freddy, so distracted he actually put his foot down, instead of just balancing on two wheels to show off as was his usual practice.

"ACO," said Karen, sourly.

Indeed, there were several Alien Control Office vehicles, including a sizable cargo saucer, parked in the service lot behind the school. Students and staff were milling around, watching them, much to the displeasure of the ACO officials.

"Guess there's nothing for it," said Freddy, resuming peddling.

He and Karen locked their bikes in the spaces closest to the front entrance, grabbed their bags and went inside.

* * *

In homeroom there was a notice on the big display at the front of the room that all students and staff were to proceed immediately to the gymnasium for a special function.

Freddy and Karen looked at each other, shrugged, and joined the throng heading that way.

Every person who was on the school grounds was crowded into the gym. A few of the upper staff were seated on the stage, but the rest were all sitting on the bleachers.

There, in the middle of the floor had been placed a large, complex and rather sinister looking machine. If the evil drive sphere from the movie Event Horizon had a love affair with Frankenstein's lab the mutated result would look about half as menacing as what the ACO had dragged across the floor of the gym. Damaging the finish severely in the process, by the way.

"Deja vu all over again," muttered Freddy, recalling many previous adventures and misadventures which had involved this large chamber. "I wonder how long this will take?"

Not long, actually. Only seconds later several people in ACO uniforms marched onto the stage. A scrawny looking man in the uniform of an Alien Control Office official officer strode onto the stage at the front of the gym and grabbed the mic stand.

"I am Leonard Scoville!" the man shouted. Freddy immediately recognized that voice from the principal's office the day before. "We of the ACO are investigating a theft of alien technology by parties from this school! To facilitate this investigation we will now activate this device - newly acquired by the ACO on my authority for just such situations - which will temporarily neutralize all alien technology with a five-block radius! Activate!"

Several people - students, school staff and even some of his own staff - tried to stop him but the woman at the machine switched it on before they could make themselves heard.

Fortunately, none of the students currently at the school required alien technology to sustain their lives. However, many students, school staff and all the members of the ACO who were present depended on alien technology to sustain their clothes.

There were cries of outrage, screams, and not a few nosebleeds as clothing began dropping. Some of each came from members of every gender present. Many secrets were revealed that day, including that some students - and a few teachers - were wearing holographic clothing over otherwise naked bodies.

A few of those in attendance were revealed to be using holographic disguises. All of them members of the Alien Control Office.

Chaos reigned, as several hundred sapients frantically grabbed for falling clothing. Since some of those doing the grabbing were actually naked, they were grabbing for clothing falling off someone else, which led to a few fights.

For the first time in many months Freddy lost control of his gender change power and flipped female without wanting to. Fortunately, Freddy was otherwise with the majority of those present, and was wearing Earth-normal clothing.

While some helped those affected - with varying degrees of cool as well as vested self-interest - many simply sat, stunned. Some of those had stupid grins on their faces, as the blood trickled down from their noses (or species equivalent orifice) from the unexpected display of human and alien fettle. All of which proved that this school did, indeed, possess some of the finest student bodies in the galaxy. Many of the teachers were also revealed to be quite, uhm, fit.

* * *

Those left with non-functional clothing in all or part were evacuated to the appropriate locker rooms. About the only teacher affected by clothing loss who wasn't actually affected by a sudden attack of modesty was Miss Furrpect, who never had understood what all the obsession with cloth coverings was about, anyway. Nearly an hour was needed to either find substitute clothing or for the abnotech effect to wear off. Finally, though, the assembly was reassembled. Mr. (Or was it Officer?) Scoville was in an even worse mood than before. This wasn't helped by many of his men and women and others somehow winding up with the wrong uniforms when they finally got redressed. In fact, many of their uniforms went missing, and later appeared for sale online. Those officers were forced to dress - all or in part - in some of the clothes the school had learned to keep on hand for just such emergencies.

"Well, they're going to be in a lot of trouble," said Freddy, who had managed to switch genders back in the interim, "for strip searching a bunch of underage kids in a public forum."

That brought a few snickers. Which quickly died as Scoville resumed his stranglehold on the mic stand.

"There will be no prisoners!" Scoville screamed. "You will all pay for this..."

His phone rang. Loudly. With a very distinctive ringtone, which sounded quite serious and authoritarian. This evaluation being supported by the reactions not only of Scoville but all the other ACO personnel present.

"Hello?" said Scoville, who in a sudden about-face of mood now sounded actually timid. "Well, yes, but it wasn't..."

Several seconds passed. Though what was said over the phone was not discernible, the volume at which it was said meant that all in the otherwise silent gym could hear the tiny, tinny voice on the other end. Whoever - or whatever - was the source of that sound was not happy.

"Yes, I understand," said Scoville, coming to attention. "Yes. I will handle it. As my last official act. I understand."

He put the phone away, closed his eyes and simply stood still for a long moment. Then sighed and resumed.

"I have been informed that..." He shuddered, tears appearing in his eyes. "Uhm, if whoever took the information cache from the Tomb of Khum-Waht-Meh will simply return it all charges will be dropped."

"What charges?" said someone in the assembly.

"Someone," said Scoville, heat returning, "took a valuable data cache from that tomb! It is secure information which needs to be under the control of the ACO!"

"We didn't take it," said Hub, confused. "The archeologists told us to bring it back here so we could download its memory. It's their property; we have it with their permission."

"All alien technology is under the control of the ACO!" Scoville screamed, now back in full cry. "You have to have our permission to do things like that!"

"Nobody told us," said Hub, startled. "That also contradicts the UN's agreement with..."

"I don't care what it contradicts! If you have that device you will turn it over to us immediately! It contains data which must be kept secure!"

"We finished downloading all that data two days ago and uploaded it to the archeological institution in charge of the dig," said Hub, irritated. "It's available for free download to anyone who logs in. We'll even give you a copy while you're here. If you ask politely."

"You can't do that!" shouted Scoville, face even redder.

"We already did it," said Hub, shrugging like a minor avalanche. "We still have the ushabti, but we've agreed to take it to the institute this evening."

"Operations are such illegal not," said Dr. Sum'Tang, with certainty.

"Who cares if it's against the law?!" screamed Scoville, shrilly. "You can't just... share that information!!!!"

"It's guaranteed both under the Constitution of this nation and the UN Charter for the Free Exchange of Information, as well as the agreement between Earth and the rest of the universe," said Ramet, boldly.

Freddy tried to recall if he was right, or determine if he was bluffing, but was interrupted by the events on stage.

Scoville tried repeatedly to express his outrage, and finally just let out a scream which not only blew the microphone but sent flames spewing from the PA system's amplifier and speakers. He had to be helped from the stage - still gripping the mic stand - by his aides.

* * *

"If he had just bothered to ask," said Hub, irately, "he would have learned that the Angels and the Architects left here over half a million years ago. They called their work here a draw, realizing that hundreds of thousands of years would be needed for either of their plans to reach fruition."

"In other words," said Talli, dryly, "about now."

"Yes. The data included backup copies of files with the locations of all the deposits of tech they left behind. We even found out how the ushabti came to be in possession of that lost Pharaoh. From what I'm seeing in the recordings it made, at least when they were working here their competitions were more friendly contests than hostile activities."

"Let me guess," said Ramet. "Khum-Waht-Meh found one of those caches, used the tech to make himself king, and after he died was buried with it and deliberately forgotten."

"Uhm, not exactly but close enough." Hub laughed like an amused concrete mixer. "He'd figured out how to impress himself on some of the equipment, and reburied the rest. Since it would only obey him, it was all buried with him."

End Story Twenty-Five

Okay, okay, we didn't actually return to the tomb. It's artistic license! :-)