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                Lanana,

that is to say, Ubaste, was snickering to herself. Unluckily for her, some of

her mirth was escaping her lips in little snippets of laughter. She had just

seen the most powerful being she knew betrayed by his biased preconceptions.

The former human whirled and glared.

                "It's

not funny! I can't take her to bed. Besides her age..." He turned to the slip of

a girl standing there.

                "How

old are you my dear?"

She stood her full height,

accentuating the small breasts under her gauzy kalasiris (dress). "I have surpassed my

thirteenth flood!"

The ocelot was confused. "Flood?

What does flooding have to do with age?"

Jon-Tom remembered some of his

ancient history. "This land is dependant largely on a single river, called the

Nile. It starts south of here in a lake and makes it way north over four

thousand miles until it hits the sea just north of here. Once a year it floods

the low lying lands, covering them with silt and enriching the soil. It's an

annual event that they use to help them tell time. Therefore, she is over

thirteen years old, depending on when she was born."

The girl looked at him in awe. "The

great Nile starts in a lake? How far away is four thousand miles?"

"A long ways by boat, and even

longer on foot."

"You are my husband now. As your

queen can a wife ask you to take me there?"

He about choked. She was quick to

assimilate to the conditions of her predicament. "I might be able to. It

depended on whether or not I'll have to power to make it there and back."

The girl led him out of the room

and away from the guests. Lanana watched them with a smile on her face. She

knew quite well he was capable of handling this situation. The only question

was; how was he going to do it?

There were plenty of guards along

the hallway, and they bowed in deference to both figures as they passed down

the corridor. The former human was still in amazement at how readily they had

taken to his presence. The girl stopped in front of one room and motioned for

the guard to leave. He was obviously hesitant to leave his post.

"Princess, I must not leave under

the penalty of death!"

She looked at him and then to the

tall jackal creature standing next to her. "You can die later by my father's

hand, or now by my husband Anubis' hand. Take your pick." He decided wisely to

live a few moments longer and departed.

"That wasn't very nice! What makes

you think I would kill him?"

"I didn't, my lord, but he didn't

know that. I wish for us to be alone for a few private moments."

She pulled open the door, and he

pulled it shut behind them. "My great lord, allow me to thank you for choosing

me as the most beautiful thing in the palace. Your kindness shall not go

unrewarded."

"Uh, Hesmetep, I don't think it

would be proper for me to bed you. I can list you all kinds of reasons."

She bowed. "My Lord Jon-Tom is too

kind. I also might list a few reasons."

He was just beginning to think that

this was going to work out better than he had hoped when it struck him. "What

did you call me?"

She smiled. "Your common name of

course, but then Jonathon Thomas Meriwether is a bit cumbersome, don't you

think?"

He hit the floor. No, I mean he hit

the floor with a thud. "How the hell do you know who I am?"

She wrinkled up her nose. "A good

question and one that has an excellent answer. However, I am not presently at

liberty to divulge that little piece of information. Needless to say that your

coming was foretold."

She pulled out a papyrus scroll.

Jon-Tom had seen old scraps of it in museums, but seeing it fresh and supple

made him curious. She spread it out. It was covered with the usual, brightly

colored hieroglyphics, something he had no foreknowledge of. Despite this, his

acquired knowledge of their language made reading it second nature.

"To the land of Egypt shall come

Three Gods. One of the daughters of the kingdom will sit at the right hand of

the jackal. The other two shall bow in homage to her. In the end, all will sit

above the sands to await the coming of the Great Mother."

"Where did you get this?"

The girl smiled. "It was given to

me by an old woman, a soothsayer they say. She made her way here to deliver it

to me personally. When father told her to hand it to him, she refused. No one

refuses father, but this woman did. She said something in his ear and he backed

away in fear. My father is frightened of nothing. To this day even he does not

know what is on this scroll."

 "When did this happen?"

"Many, many weekss ago. She said

very little to me. She told me who you were and said that I would come to no

harm from you, and that I would get my reward in the end."

He was shaking his head. Whoever

this soothsayer was, he wanted to meet her. Even on his adopted world,

predicting the future was close to impossible. He had seen it done and it was

not very accurate to say the least.

"Whoever she was, she's correct.

You have nothing to fear from me. My appearance may be strange, but..."

"My lord, you appearance is a

wonder! Are you not just as the artisans depict you?"

"Uh, yes, I suppose so. But I could

try being human for you."

"And give up the obvious sign that

I have married above a station even a king could not hope to achieve? Never!

Besides, her appearance was as remarkable as is yours, my lord. She was a cow

in her features, and as gentle as a child in her manner."    

"A cow? That hardly sounds

familiar. Did she have a name, this strange woman?"

"Yes my lord. We all know her name,

if it were really she. It was our goddess Hathor."

Hathor, Jon-Tom barely recalled,

was an ancient Egyptian goddess. Like the rest of the gods, he had assumed she

was merely a myth. Now, not so much. If she knew about him and the others, then

she herself must be extraordinary. He had no idea he was going to end up here

at the start of the day. Now he was suddenly across the galaxy again.

"Hathor? That doesn't make any

sense."

"Does my lord not know his sister

goddess?"

He had to lie. "Yes, I suppose I

do. But still, she should not have known we were coming. And how did she know

you and I would get connected? I knew nothing of you until just a short while

ago?"

"You, a god, ask me? I do not know

these things. I am just a simple believer."

That had him stumped. He would

think on it later however. "Hesmetep, I am uncertain how to proceed from here.

It would seem that my being here is predestined. I am not so sure, however,

that you should bind yourself to me. I already have a lot of commitments."

"As a God should! I am only one

small particle of sand in the great desert that is your life!"

She sounded awfully sure of

herself. He knew she was from a different culture and time than he was but it

bothered him that she should so readily jump at her possible fate. If he had to

leave, what would happen to her?

"You are no mere grain of sand. You

are a lovely jewel reflecting the sun back towards the heavens!"

She blushed and looked away. "I'm

glad my lord thinks so! What form of jewel am I in his eyes?"

He twisted up his mouth as he

thought. "You are the most brilliant of rubies!"

She turned back with a sly smile.

"Indeed. Then shall my lord make the red run bright?"

He was confused right up until she

took his hand and placed it on her crotch. He pulled back just a little. While

he now knew what she meant, he was thinking that she shouldn't know what she

meant. But age was not maturity, especially not at a time as alien to him as

this.

"We're not married yet," He said deadpan.

She just smiled. "Like my lord would

allow a formality to stop him? You are mine and I am yours. What can the world

say about that?"

He gave up. His luck with females

was still running above par. What was one more wife going to do to the timeline?"

"Alright. If this is what you want.

But understand me well when I tell you that you may not be able to go with me

when I leave." Then he stopped. "If I leave."

"You may stay?"

"I may not be able to go."

She hopped up and down and then

composed herself. "You could rule over the world, you know that don't you?

Father is king of Egypt, but you could rule over the entire world!"

She had no idea what that encompassed,

so he ignored her idea. "My little lady, I have no desire to rule. You're

father is perfectly fine where he sits. Besides, there is much more to the

world than you can know."

"Can you show me?"

He groaned. "I don't know. That

would take a lot of energy that I may no longer have at my disposal. The last

time I was thrown into this world it was under less than ideal conditions. This

time is about pretty much the same thing. Last time my powers faded to nearly

nothing." He didn't bother telling her any more.

"But surely my lord has the power

of the universe at his disposal!"

"The universe? No, I'm afraid not.

My power seems to be tied to the world from which I just left. Yet..." He was

thinking of when he first met Sybeele. His power had remained, though in that

case it had been a slip up in Eve's power that had landed him back on earth. There

had to be something in her power that had allowed him to retain his.

He thought hard, knowing he had to

have an answer in that brain of his. If he was to keep his magic strong while

on Earth, he needed a way of recharging it. He knew that you never got

something for nothing. Making magic meant expending some sort of energy...

Energy!

He picked her up and twirled her in

the air. "I could kiss you!" As it was, her light cotton dress had whirled with

her, lifting up and exposing her midsection. Underwear hadn't been invented

yet, so he got a full view. He felt a small thrill in his nether region.

"My lord may have more than that if

he wishes. But what have I said to give you so much joy?"

"I don't need the power of the

universe Hesmetep, just the power of the sun."

"You mean your fellow god Ra?"

"Uh, sure. It's not really that

easy, but for the sake of keeping things straight, we'll go with that. All I

need is Ra's power and I think I might be able to stabilize my presence here."

"Will Ra allow you to take his

power?" Her eyes were wide in wonder.

"I wouldn't be taking it, just

using it."

"My lord, I do not presume to understand."

He held up his golden staff. "I

have everything I need right here.