Brilliant Minds: The Wainwrights of Sunset Valley

[mpart]

Poor Patrick. Maria has always been...Maria. She's a complex character and sometimes I love her, sometimes not so much. You write her fantastically though.
Orion isn't having such an easy time either.  I feel like there's some foreshadowing there with future problems to come up? It's not that I don't love Tara, but that is definitely not an easy secret to keep.
I really liked this chapter. I feel like it expanded on different sides of the characters. We got to see things from Maria's perspective even  if I don't agree with hers, she's sympathetic.

[Cheezey]

Poor Patrick. Maria has always been...Maria. She's a complex character and sometimes I love her, sometimes not so much. You write her fantastically though.
Orion isn't having such an easy time either.  I feel like there's some foreshadowing there with future problems to come up? It's not that I don't love Tara, but that is definitely not an easy secret to keep.
I really liked this chapter. I feel like it expanded on different sides of the characters. We got to see things from Maria's perspective even  if I don't agree with hers, she's sympathetic.

Thank you! Maria's insecurities definitely bring out the worst in her, that's for sure!

This chapter follows up with Orion, so that's all I'll say for now.


Author's Note: Sorry for the lapse between updates! Life got busy on me for a while. This is a long one, though, so it's split into two posts.

Chapter 97

When Patrick woke up the next morning, it was late enough that Maria was already at work.  He supposed it was just as well.  Trying to talk things out during a morning rush, and before he had coffee, probably wasn’t ideal anyway.  He shuffled downstairs, where his father was pouring what was probably his fourth cup by that hour, since it was his day off.  Boyd had been told for years to ease up on the caffeine since it made his anxiety worse, but he’d been drinking at least half a pot a day since he was seventeen.  He joked that at this point his blood was half caffeine anyway and he wasn’t going to change at his age.

“Good morning,” he greeted Patrick.  “You look like you could use some of this yourself.”

“Please.”

He eyed Patrick with concern as he pulled a mug from the cupboard and put a pod in the machine.  “Red Rocket, cream, no sugar?  Or do you want something milder?”  Like Susan, he’d also noticed how Patrick hit the bar after his fight with Maria last night, and he wondered if his grimace was just from his mood or accented by a hangover.

“That’s fine.  Thanks.”

“How are you doing this morning?  You look a little…”

“Worn out?  Stressed?  Yeah.”

He made his coffee and handed it to him.  “Sorry to hear that.  Fighting with your other half is always rough.”

“Heh.  I didn’t think you and Mom ever had fights like that.  But then, you’re both more mature than a grade-schooler not getting her way.”  Patrick sipped at his coffee and headed to the table, and Boyd followed and joined him.



“Oh, we had our moments.  Remember, you didn’t come along until we’d been together for twenty-some years.  That’s a lot of time to adjust to a life together.”  He set his cup down.  “Every couple has their issues from time to time, especially early on.  Sorry you and Maria didn’t work things out last night, though.  Your mom and I hoped maybe you two would talk once you cooled off.”

“She was in bed when I went up.  Guess I stayed up too late sculpting.”  He sipped his coffee.  “I left a mess in there, too.  Sorry.  I’ll get it later.”

Boyd waved it off.  “Plumboptimus cleaned up around the station.  That was a nice snarling wolf head you made, by the way.”

“I was inspired.”  Patrick smiled for a moment before his glum mood resumed.  “At least that one didn’t bite my head off.  How was she this morning, anyway?”

“I only saw her for a minute.  She didn’t say much to any of us other than good morning.  Just took her coffee and a yogurt out of the fridge and left.  But she didn’t seem any happier than you are, for what that’s worth.”

“Great.  At least we’re both miserable and resentful, then.”  Patrick sighed.  “I just don’t get why.  Why she’d say those horrible things, why she’d blame me.  Why she’d think I didn’t want her to get it as much as she did.”

“I doubt she does deep down.  Not everyone’s logical about things when they’re hurt, and sometimes they lash out and spout whatever angry thoughts bubble up.  Fair, valid, or not.”

“But it’s me, Dad.  I’ve always been there for her.  How could she even think that stuff, let alone say it?  Even if she was upset?  I get mad all the time, but I don’t blame her or accuse her of plum I know she’d never do.”  He set his cup down.  “You and Mom don’t do that, either, the times I heard you argue about something.  Even freaking Cycl0n3 doesn’t do that to Blair, and we know what a llama he can be.”



Boyd chortled.  “Yes, but keep in mind that the Cycl0n3 you know best is the, shall we dare say, mature and Blair-ified Cycl0n3.  While he’s always been a rather colorful personality, trust me that being with your sister toned him down considerably over the years.  That and the constant humbling from Chris and Travis and the rest of you kids dishing his sarcasm right back at him when he has it coming.  You’re all smart llamas, and I say that as a compliment.”  He continued on a more serious note.  “And while I don’t know what all might’ve gone on in their private life, I can say with some certainty it wasn’t always smooth sailing for them, either, especially at your age.  Just like it wasn’t for me and your mother.”



“Really?  That’s so hard to picture.  You and Mom always seem in sync, except for minor stupid stuff.  Sure, she gets on your case once in a while for table manners or leaving messes around, but even that, Plum just cleans up, or before him, the maid, or even she just grumbles oh whatever, that’s just how he is and does it herself or nags you into it.  And maybe you roll your eyes and make a comment when she gives you plum for petty stuff like that, or when she makes you dress up fancy for something you don’t want to bother with, but it’s never a serious deal.  I can’t even remember the last time you guys had a major fight.  And whenever you do argue, you’re over it in, what, ten or fifteen minutes before one of you goes to the other to say sorry for being a llama or whatever?  Have you ever actually gone to bed mad at each other or not speaking?  Or fought like me and Maria did last night, or go days without talking like we did that time at Sims U?”  His voice wavered with emotion.  “It really sucks, Dad.  It sucks, and it hurts.”



“I’m sure it does,” Boyd said sympathetically.   “And while your mom and I haven’t had a serious argument in a long time, we had a few.  There was one in particular that was a real doozy.  Worst we had.”  He swirled his coffee as he recounted the memory.  “We’d been married less than a year.  Your mom lost her brother only months before and Blair was still newborn, about five weeks old.  We were living with my parents out of necessity.  We were broke, just out of high school, working whatever hours we could at the lab, and taking care of Blair when we weren’t.  Your grandparents helped, they helped a lot, but it wasn’t without emotional strings.  They loved us, don’t get me wrong, but they, especially my mother, also never missed a chance to point out how much we complicated our lives having Blair so young.”

He sighed.  “Your grandmother was a stern woman.  Very pragmatic and perfectionistic.  Her expectations were always high and clear, and one of them was that as long as we were under her roof, things would be done her way.  It was a small house, too, and tensions ran high, especially when she and your mom didn’t agree on how to take care of Blair.  We were both exhausted between work and taking turns with the baby at night, so you can imagine how well it went over every time my mom made some little remark or criticism.”

“They got into it a lot, huh?”

“Not shouting matches, but tense disagreements and arguments.  Almost daily, it seemed for a while.  And after, I’d hear it from both sides.  She’d complain to me about Mom and sometimes Dad, too, because he also had his moments, and I’d say, what do you expect me to do about it?  They’re not going to listen to me, either, and they’ve always been like that.  They’re not going to change.  Let’s just keep saving so we can get our own place.  And then Mom would corner me later and say, ‘Oh you should talk to Susan, because you two should be doing such and such, but she gets offended whenever I talk to her.  I love her, but she can be so unreasonable.’  Over and over again.  Constantly.  I bit my tongue a lot.  Played peacemaker, and it got old.  Real old.  And then one day, I made the woeful mistake of agreeing with my mother because I thought she was right.”



Boyd frowned at the memory.  “I don’t even remember what it was about anymore, other than it was something stupid and minor that didn’t matter at all in the grand scheme of things.  But your mother was on her last nerve, tired, and stressed, too, and she just tore into me.  Blasted me with a list of everything I’d apparently done to annoy her since we first started dating and said some awful, hateful things that caught me totally off guard.  All because I said my mother was right about something and she was wrong.  I should’ve stepped back, taken a deep breath, and been mature.  I should’ve realized she was just angry and upset, but I was worn out and stressed, too, and hurt.  Oh, I was so hurt.  I felt betrayed, and mad, and I didn’t have it in me to take the high road.”



“So I fired back an equally hateful tirade pointing out all her flaws and mistakes, laced with some profanity for spice, and then it was on.  Back and forth.  Harsher and nastier.  Low, awful, terrible things said on both sides.  Then, I just walked out.  I was done.  I still remember, it was a stormy night, and I stood there on the porch in the rain, staring at the car and wanting to be anywhere but there.  Thinking miserably that my parents were right after all, we were young and foolish to think it could ever work.”

“What stopped you from leaving?  Blair?”

“Not the way you’re thinking.  I never would’ve walked out of her life, whatever happened between me and your mom.  No.  Upset as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.  The more I thought about ending it, filing for divorce, making custody arrangements, signing papers to make it official, the more my anger cooled.  I realized how much I really loved her, and I didn’t want to throw it all away over a fight.  Even if it was a bad one, and even if I was right.”  He smiled ruefully.  “Because, yes, my ego wouldn’t let that go.  So I went back inside.  Dad was holding Blair, because our hollering woke her up, and he just said he’d put her to bed and let me be.  Your mom was in our room.  I didn’t go in there, though.  I crashed on the couch, angry and hurt.”

“How long were you two mad at each other?”



“A couple days.  We went to work, but we didn’t work in the same lab, so it was easy to avoid each other.  We passed in the halls a couple times, but we wouldn’t look at each other.  We drove in separate cars.  She took ours and Mom drove me in—not really helping my case against her ‘Mama’s Boy’ accusation, for the record,” he said wryly.  “When she came home, she just asked my parents about Blair, played with her, and ate dinner in our room at the computer.  I had pizza in the living room and watched TV with Blair without speaking to her.  I fell asleep there and only changed my clothes when she was in the shower.  I was miserable the whole time, but I wasn’t going to swallow my pride and talk to her.  Not until she apologized.  Because I was right and she was the one who was wrong, and that sure was the most important thing.”

Patrick raised an eyebrow.  “I get where you’re going with this.  You think I should go appease Maria even though she was the one who had an epic plum-fit out of nowhere and chewed me out and insulted me for no good reason.”

“What I think is that your happiness is more important than wounded pride or ego.”



“Maybe, but I shouldn’t always have to be the one who’s got to go and kiss her plumbob to smooth things over, you know?  That time we fought about the fraternity, she blew up at me and stopped talking to me for days.  I ended up renting a house just to put an end to it!  I can compromise or say sorry if I screw up, but I don’t want to be her freaking doormat or dumping ground, either.”

“I’m not saying you should be.”

“So, how did your fight with Mom end?  Obviously, you worked it out, or we wouldn’t be here.”



“Shortly before what would’ve been my third night on that couch, after Blair was down for the night, I was so keyed up that I just couldn’t take it anymore.  I went to our room.  I didn’t even know what I was going to say, just that I had to say something because I couldn’t stand the silence.  But when I went in, she wasn’t just messing around on the computer or reading like I expected.  She was sitting at the desk, crying to herself.  She looked up at me with this pitiful, miserable expression, and I realized she felt exactly how I did.  That we were both just dragging things out to the point of ridiculousness.  And before I knew it, it just came out.  ‘I’m sorry.’  Because I was.  Maybe not for agreeing with Mom, but for my part in all the plum afterward.  I didn’t really want to hurt her like that.  Deep down, I just wanted her to know how badly she hurt me.  And it was the same for her.  She was sorry, too.  She came over crying and said she never meant the things she said, but she was afraid I really meant what I said in the heat of anger.  And that was all it took for us to get over it and move on.”



“Well, for all our sakes here, especially my own existence, I’m glad you did.”  Patrick smiled a bit through his somber mood.  “I never would’ve pictured you and Mom fighting like that.  You’ve always seemed so… together.  Unified.  Always agreeing on just about everything that matters.”

“We do, most of the time.  We did a lot then, too.  Not unlike you and Maria.  Some might say you’re two peas in a pod, with all you have in common.  It doesn’t make you immune to rough patches.  Who knows?  Maybe when you’re my age, one of your kids will be sitting here saying ‘What?  You and Mom always get along so well!’  Then you can tell your story and its happy ending.”

“That’s pretty optimistic from someone who usually sees doom around every corner.”

“I know how much you love her, and you’ve never given up on anything you feel that strongly about.  Even if you do have a temper that makes me glad we built these walls strong enough to resist your angry sucker punches.”

“Yeah.  The sheetrock at that dorm was cheap as plum,” Patrick replied with a rueful snicker.

“Not to fix it wasn’t.  Just out of curiosity, did you ever get your security deposit back on that house you rented?”

“Some of it, but there were a few dings.  Though that wasn’t all from me getting mad.  We had a couple of parties that had some, uh, unfortunate mishaps.  Turns out cheap wood flooring doesn’t hold up to puke too well when it sits on it too long because you never knew someone hurled behind the couch until you started smelling it.  Never did find out which of my llama friends did that.”  He stood up.  “Anyway, thanks.  I’ll try and talk to her later.  Hopefully she’ll be over her snit enough to be reasonable by then.”



It was then that Susan joined them.  “Oh, good morning, Patrick.”  She glanced at the clock to confirm it was still morning before continuing.  “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.  Just, you know, weathering the drama.”

“I didn’t think you got a chance to talk to her yet.  She was quiet this morning and didn’t say much.”

“Yeah, Dad said.  I’m going to try and hash things out with her after work.  Wish me luck.  I’ll probably need it.  I’m sure she still expects me to fall at her feet and apologize.”  He rolled his eyes.  “But I’ll try and keep a cool head.”

“That’s the spirit.  Good luck, sweetie.”

“Thanks.  See you later.  Going to go get dressed.”  He headed upstairs.



“He seems better than last night.  Did you talk to him?”

“A bit.  I think having someone to vent to helped.  I hope so, anyway.”  Boyd frowned anxiously.  “It got my mind off the other stuff.”

“Orion telling Tara, you mean.”

His worried expression deepened.  “I know we can’t stop him or change his mind, but…”

“I know.”  Boyd had been up half the night worrying about every possibility that could go wrong, and while Susan didn’t think it’d be as catastrophic as he imagined, she couldn’t objectively say it was impossible, either, which didn’t help in reassuring him.  “Just try not to dwell on it.  It’s out of our hands now, and there’s nothing we can do until we see how the chips fall.”

“Might as well ask the sun not to set tonight,” he replied with a sigh.

“Be that as it may, the sun still won’t set until tonight, so there’s no need to dwell on whether you’ll get to see a sunset or a snowstorm until then.”  She took his hand.  “Come on.  Let’s get your mind off this.  We’ll go work on Blair’s plumbot.”

“I thought you wanted to go over the financial records that accounting sent over for our rubber stamp today?”

“You always tell me not to work on our days off anyway.  It can wait.  It’s not even Snowflake Day yet, and those numbers aren’t due in until after the holiday.”



“All right.  It’s not like I want to sit here thinking about what’ll happen if Tara freaks out and runs off terrified telling everyone our son’s an alien…”

“Then don’t.  Think about how happy and excited Blair will be when her shiny new plumbot walks into her house, and how much Cycl0n3 and the grandkids will like it.”  She smooched him.  “Now let’s go to the basement and get started.”

“Yes, dear.”  Boyd followed her downstairs, feeling somewhat better, and thankful that no matter what, he could count on Susan to be there for him.

[Cheezey]

Orion clung to the fervent hope that Tara would always be there for him no matter what, too.  Even after she knew everything, and even after he kept it from her with half-truths and cover-ups for so long.  When she came over after her after-school club let out, they went straight to Orion’s room to talk.  She’d remained aloof all day at school, so he was eager to make things right between them again.

“You promised you’d tell me what’s going on with you,” Tara said after he shut the door.  “Everything.  So, start talking.”



Although he’d gone over what he’d say a million times since yesterday, now that the time had come, Orion was nervous.  “Okay.  I—wow, where to start?  I guess with my condition?  You want to know the whole deal.”

“Yes.  And anything else you haven’t told me.  I don’t want any more secrets between us.”

“All right.  But first, promise me, and I mean swear to me, that no matter what you think or how you feel about what I’m about to say, that you won’t tell anyone what I tell you.  Not a single soul.  Just like you had me promise about Wilbur.  It’s that serious, if not more.”

Tara bit her lip, clearly anxious, but agreed.  “I won’t.  I promise.”  How bad is whatever it is?!

Orion sensed that and tried not to let it get to him.  “My condition, you know how I told you it’s not in any books and my parents are studying it?  That’s because, well… remember how you tried looking it up on the internet?”

“And I got a lot of weird posts about aliens?  Yeah.”

“Your results weren’t that weird.”  He met her eyes.  “They were actually spot on, to the point that it kind of weirded me out.  That’s my condition.  I’m an alien.”



Tara was taken aback.  “What?”

“I’m an alien, Tara,” Orion confessed.  “Technically, half-alien.  A hybrid.  My condition’s not in any human medical books because I’m not fully human.”

She gaped back at him, dumbfounded.  “An alien hybrid?  What?!”

He could feel her shock and disbelief, rising with an unsettling sense of paranoia, so he explained further.  “Half of my genetics come from aliens from a planet called Sixam.  That’s why I’m green and why my eyes and ears and voice are weird, and why I have my powers.  They can read minds, move things telekinetically, and even heal and hurt people with them if they’re strong and disciplined enough.  That’s what I did to you at prom, the mental hug thing.”

Unfortunately, it struck her as too unbelievable, and she got even more upset.  “That’s not funny!  Did you seriously have me come here just to mess with me and make some crazy joke—?”

“I’m not joking!”  Orion was overwhelmed by the emotion pouring out of her, and her growing wariness of him.  “It’s real and it’s the truth!  I’d never joke or make up something that crazy, especially not to you!”



“Crazy is one word for it!” Tara almost shrieked, clearly freaked out.  “How… how am I supposed to believe something like that?  Aliens aren’t—I mean, they don’t—you can’t be!  I’ve known you since kindergarten!  You were just a kid like the rest of us!”

“Because I’m not that different!  But we do exist, the aliens from Sixam and people like me.  We are people.  I’m half human.”  He looked at her imploringly.  “I’m not making this up.  I swear on everything that means anything to me!  They created me in a genetic experiment.  The people of Sixam do that with humans.  They take one of their people’s genes and a human’s to create a hybrid with ‘enhanced genes’ that’re supposedly beneficial to pass down on both sides.  Some of us they take back to Sixam and some of us they leave here like me to be raised as humans by their human parent.  That’s why it’s all a secret, why I can’t tell anyone!  Nobody except a few people like top-secret scientists and government and military officials even know Sixam or its people exist, or that people like me exist.  There’s only a few of us, and that’s all over the world.  The aliens usually wipe people’s memories when they encounter them or experiment on them, or they implant false ones so nobody suspects and they don’t know what really happened.  Usually the parent who has a hybrid like me.”

Tara had no idea what to say to any of that and just stared back at Orion, shocked, with tears in her eyes.  “That’s just insane!  It can’t be real.  If you’re not lying to me or playing some sick joke… are you crazy, then?”

“I’m not.  I swear, I’m not.”  He tried not to let her paranoid doubt get to him.  “You’ve seen my powers, Tara.  You know that’s real.  I wouldn’t make this up.  I wouldn’t do that to you.  I’d never hurt you like that.”



Trembling, Tara tried to make sense of what Orion was telling her.  “So if this is real, your condition is really that you’re this alien hybrid and not some weird medical thing… how?  Okay, your parents are rich scientists that own a lab, but, what, you’re saying some alien shacked up with your birth mom and had you, and that’s why they adopted you?  Because they’re scientists that know the real deal or something?”

“Not exactly.  Technically, only one of them adopted me.  The papers say they both did, but the truth is my biological mom is the one who’s the alien.  My father is really, genetically, my father.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  “Whoa.  Hold up.  You’re saying your dad—your nerdy old mad scientist dad—boinked an alien to get you in an experiment?!”

“No!  No, they abducted him and experimented on him to get his DNA, then engineered me and impregnated him with me.”  That sounded even weirder, though, and Orion realized how it ridiculous it must seem to her, hearing it for the first time.  “That’s how they do it.  They take men and use artificial wombs, because women can get pregnant and that messes with their experiments.  Eni Jish Xip, my alien birth mother, told us all of it.  She kind of bucked protocol and kept in touch with them.  Believe me, I get how weird it sounds!  When my parents explained it to me when I was old enough to understand, it was hard for me to process, too, even growing up knowing I was different.”  From there, Orion explained the rest of his situation in full detail, from beginning to end.

“That’s… that’s just crazy,” Tara muttered, stunned, shaken, and numb.



“I know, but I swear to you it’s all true.  I can only imagine what you must be thinking…”

“Oh, I don’t think so.”  Tara’s voice was barely a whisper, and Orion swallowed a feeling of dread.

No, I can’t, because you’re not even past the shock yet, at least not that I can sense.  He was worried about how she’d feel once she did.  He knew that when he told her, she’d be upset and probably freak out some, but he hadn’t anticipated this.  There was such a maelstrom of confusion, paranoia, distrust, desperation, love, and fear radiating from her that he knew she was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.  And it’s all my fault.  That made it even worse.

“I’ll prove it to you,” he said gently, hoping to reassure her.  “I’ll show you something only someone from Sixam or with their blood could do.”  He picked up the space rock on his end table.  “Aliens and hybrids like me don’t need to sleep.  Remember how I told you I don’t, and you worried?  That’s why.  That’s also why it’s normal and you don’t have to worry about me having any sleep-deprivation problems.  But we do need to recharge our mental energy, which we can do through meditation, or by absorbing energy from these.  Like this.”  He tossed the rock into the air and used his abilities to draw from it, causing it to spin and shake, and shrink as he consumed its essence as energy into his body.

Tara watched, shocked and fascinated and terrified.  “Oh, my Watcher.  It’s real.  It’s true.  It’s really true…”  Her heart pounded as the rock disappeared right in front of her eyes.

Orion felt her fear, and her being afraid of him was the last thing he wanted.  “It is, but please, don’t be scared.  I’m still the same person I’ve always been, Tara.  I love you.”  He took her hand.  “My powers might be weird, but I’d never hurt you or anyone else with them, just like I never have before.  Don’t be afraid.”

She didn’t say anything and just stared at him with a deer-in-the-headlights look, but she didn’t pull away, either.

“Come on.  I’ll show you my ship.”

“You have a ship?”  She sounded almost as curious as she was terrified, and Orion took that as a hopeful sign.

“Eni Jish Xip gave it to me for my birthday.  Alien mom making up for being the absentee parent, I guess,” he said, trying to lighten the mood a little.  “Get your coat.  It’s up on the roof.”



Tara narrowed her eyes a bit as she put it on, remembering a time a couple months back when there was a storm coming and she suggested they go up to the rooftop deck to watch it roll in over the ocean.  Orion had said they couldn’t because the flooring needed repaired.  “I thought the floor was bad up there.  Did they fix it, or was that just a lie you told me to keep me away from it?”

Orion nodded guiltily.  The truth was that there was a little bit of water damage by one leaky panel inside, so it wasn’t technically false, but for all intents and purposes, she was right.  He’d used it as a cover and excuse.  “I’m sorry.  I hated having to cover up stuff like that.  To lie to you at all.”

“You promised you never would,” she said softly as she climbed the ladder, and Orion felt as low as dirt as he followed.

“I know.  I’m sorry.”

When they got up there, Orion pulled the tarp covering the Galaxa off so she could see it.

“Wow.  That’s… that’s incredible!”  She put her hand on it and peered inside at the high-tech control panel.  “This is a real spaceship?”

“Yeah.”  He smiled.  “Pretty cool, huh?  There were so many times I wished I could show it to you and take you for a ride in it.  I could, now that you know.”

“Go into space?” she asked, incredulous.

“Well, I’ve never done that.  It’s got a locking control on it that’s got to be taken off to go outside Earth’s atmosphere.  Even with that off, it’s not really meant for long voyages from what they said.  The equivalent of like a little commuter car here on Earth, I guess.  And my parents agree with Eni Jish Xip on not unlocking the deep space functions yet, because it’s too dangerous for an untrained astronaut.”

The flatness returned to her voice.  “Heh.  That’s not much of a surprise, considering they thought you telling me the truth about yourself was dangerous.”

“Yeah.  I’m sorry.”  Orion knew he was saying that a lot, but it was all he could say.

She touched the side of the Galaxa, then abruptly turned toward the door.  “I believe you.  It’s cold.  Let’s go back in.”



He followed her back to his room in awkward silence.  What he could sense of her thoughts were less agitated and panicked now, but still very troubled and muddied, and it was obvious her trust in him had been shaken to the core.  After they took their coats off, he put his hands on her shoulders.  “I know this is really weird and hard and a lot to deal with.  I’m sorry.  I really am.  I wish I could’ve told you before now.  I wanted to.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I couldn’t.  Because—”

“Because you gave your word.  I know.”  She took a steadying breath as she continued.  “I get that.  I respect it, even.  But it still doesn’t change that you lied to me.  A lot.”

“I never wanted to, and I told you as much as I could.  I promise I did.  I’ve been trying to convince them it was okay to tell you for a long time.”

“But the thing is, you still didn’t.  And I know you promised them, and I know that’s important to you.  But how am I supposed to feel about all this?  Not even just the alien stuff, which I’m not going to lie is really out there and… plum, don’t think it’s not going to keep me up at night wondering whether they’re going to abduct me or my family or something!”

“They won’t,” Orion promised.  “I won’t let that happen.  I’ll make sure it doesn’t.”

“How?  You said they took Maria, didn’t they?  They took your dad to make you.  How do you know for sure they never took you, or your mom or your brother or your sisters, if their memory wipe worked?  I’ve had weird dreams, and now I’m wondering if that nightmare I had where someone was in my room spying on me was just a dream, or that one where I was floating in light in the cold rain was just another nightmare?  Or were weirdo alien people stalking me and doing things to me and then erasing my memory, so I’d just think it’s a dream?  I don’t know!  But I’ll worry about it now!  This is going to keep me up nights.  I’m not going to lie to you and say it won’t.  That’s not exactly your fault, and I’m not mad at you for it, but…”  She threw up her hands.  “The worst part is I feel like you can’t help me, and I can’t even go to you anymore.  I love you and I wish I could, but… but I’m sorry, I don’t trust you.  How can I?  You’ve been lying to me this whole time, not just about little things, but the major part of who and what you really are!  For the Watcher’s sake, Orion, when were you going to tell me?  I thought we were serious, like we loved each other so much we might get married and have kids someday serious!  Would you have waited until we were married to say something?!”

Orion thought guiltily that was exactly what his parents wanted, but he never would’ve pushed it that long.  “No, of course not.  I wanted you to know before that.”

“It took me threatening to break up with you to tell me now.  You didn’t tell me when I told you about Wilbur.  When you promised never to lie to me.”  She turned away.

I almost did, but no, I had to keep my stupid word.  Being honorable seemed a lot more admirable and less stupid in stories than in practice, he thought glumly.  “I’m sorry.  I swear there’s nothing else, though.  No more secrets.  You know it all now.  I’ll never lie to you again!  Ever!  I promise!”



Tara’s lip quivered and she picked up her jacket.  “I wish I could believe you.”

“You can.  I love you and that’s always been the truth.  I never once lied to you about how I feel or what you mean to me.  I love you so much, you’ve got to believe that!  Please!”

“I want to.  But you’ve lied so well about other things… I’m not sure I can.”  She choked up, unable to look at him, afraid she just might.  “I’m sorry.”  She started for the door.

“No!  No, Tara, please!  Don’t go!”

She paused in the doorway.  “I won’t tell anyone your secret, Orion.  I promised you I wouldn’t, and I’d never want anything bad to happen to you.  Because I do still love you.  But I can’t be with you anymore.  I can’t be with someone I don’t trust.  I just… I can’t.”

It hit him harder than the sharpest kick he’d ever taken in martial arts.  “No… please, Tara.  I know I screwed up, but we can work it out!  We can!  Whatever it takes, whatever you want me to do to make it up to you…”

“I don’t know what you could do at this point.  I’m sorry.”

Hot tears sprang to his eyes behind his sunglasses.  “Don’t go.”

“I can’t stay,” she replied just as miserably.  “I wish I could, but I can’t.  I’m sorry.  Goodbye, Orion.”



And with that, she was gone.  Orion slumped to the floor, devastated and crushed.  He’d expected her to struggle with the truth and be upset, and a part of him had feared exactly what just happened.  But deep in his heart, he never really believed it would come to that.  Love’s supposed to conquer all, isn’t that what those stupid romance stories say? And he’d had it!  Him, the half-alien weirdo who, as Buddy used to sneer so rudely, would probably never get a date.

All because I didn’t tell her soon enough! Maybe if he’d told her that night she told him about Wilbur being a Golden Llama, she would still be here now.  Maybe it would’ve been worth the trouble he’d have been in, and his parents’ disappointment, and maybe he didn’t need to be such a plum goody-goody.  Patrick and Iris and his parents seemed to get on just fine with their rationalizations and justifications when it suited them, and they looked themselves in the mirror with no problem.  They weren’t bad people, even if they weren’t so freaking honorable.  Blair, sure, she was honorable, and look where that got her.  Half the town hated her guts back when she turned in the Golden Llama.

But if you’d told Tara and broke your word to them, how could she have trusted you to keep yours to her anyway?  His stupid conscience still whispered to him.  “So I lose no matter freaking what.  What a bunch of plum.”  It wasn’t fair.  None of it!

Iris could string along Lane and Lester for weeks, and while he didn’t envy how she was humiliated at prom, she still came out of it with one of them on her arm and all but one friend and one boyfriend back.

Patrick and Maria could have ridiculous fights and carry on and scream at each other like overgrown children, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time before one of them would pull their head out of their plumbob and they’d be back to normal, for them anyway.

And his parents?  Well, as long he was safe, what else mattered to them?  Not that he was alone and miserable, obviously!  Why would they even think of that?  They never were, because they’d been glued at the freaking hip for the last million years!

Orion stood, resentful and angry, his eyes on the ladder to the roof.

I should leave.  Just get in the Galaxa and go.

No.  That was stupid.  Where would he go?  Tara didn’t want to see him.  He couldn’t go to her anymore.

To Blair’s?  Like she wouldn’t call their parents and tell them two seconds later where he was.

To crash at Tad’s place?  Sure, now that he and Chris were married and he knew, he’d probably offer their couch even with Chris away at University.  But he’d still have to explain to Esmeralda, Caleb, and Tad’s mom why there was a spaceship in the driveway.  Wouldn’t that tick off Mom and Dad?  Not that half the Wolff family doesn’t already know anyway.  What’s adding a few more to the list?

And then he decided exactly what he was going to do.  Orion put on his coat, but he didn’t go up to the roof.  Instead he stormed downstairs and out the front door, slamming it behind him.  He didn’t go to his motorcycle—it was in the garage anyway—but across the street, through the snow, into the park.



Maybe he wouldn’t put a spaceship somewhere he’d have to explain—after all, he had to keep his word to them—but that didn’t mean they had to have it easy.  Not when he couldn’t.  Not when he’d lost the girl he loved more than anything.  Not when he hurt so badly that it felt like his heart was ripped to shreds, leaving only a miserable, lonely void behind.  Orion closed his eyes and opened himself to sense the vibrations in the earth, beneath the snow and dirt.

There.  There it was.  He looked to the sky, sensing an alignment.  Stronger now.  He stepped forward and to the left a few degrees.  Stronger.

He straightened, drawing on the raw energy of his anger.  Perfect.

Orion placed his hands on his temples and concentrated.  It was a big one.  Probably about the size of the one in Shang Simla, if not bigger.

He grimaced as the energy began to pulse, coming out of him as fast as he could generate it.  It felt good.  Powerful.  Intense.

And with a scream of rage, he let go.  He looked skyward and saw the sky blackening through the evening clouds and falling snow as his prize hurtled home.



It came plummeting down at frightening speed and crashed in a loud fiery blast right beside the pond on Summer Hill Court.  “Have fun explaining that,” Orion said snidely, and strolled back to the house without a care as to who might or might not have seen a thing.

[Cheezey]

Chapter 98

Just before the meteor crashed down into the park on Summer Hill Court, Malcolm Landgraab stopped by his window after answering a message on his phone.  He put it back in his pocket and looked out at the snow.  There was at least a squall every day lately, it seemed, but that was typical of winter in Sunset Valley.  He noticed someone standing in the park, staring at the sky.  He thought it was a little cold and raw to be out for the fun of it, but to each their own, he supposed.

Malcolm was heading downstairs to see what the dinner options were with their butler away on vacation for the upcoming Snowflake Day when he heard a strange rumble and whistling noise.  It was followed by a shout of “HOLY PLUM ON A STICK!” from his teenage sister-in-law, Corina.

Normally, he’d have raised an eyebrow at her vulgar language, but with what sounded like an explosion outside, he could hardly blame her.  They grabbed their jackets and rushed out to see what happened.



Corina and Malcolm were the only ones home at the Landgraab estate when the meteor fell.  Malcolm’s wife Bebe was on shift at the hospital, and both his sister Bianca and her fiancé Tom Sekemoto were also at work.  Corina moved in with them after her father died.  Although her brother Jamaal also offered to take her in, he had a small house, was in the military and worked long hours, and shared custody with his toddler son Darren.  The Landgraab mansion was spacious, Bebe and Malcolm had no children of their own, and Bianca and Tom were just a few years older than Corina anyway.  Malcolm liked Corina, although she was rough around the edges at times.  “What the plum?!  Was that a freaking meteor?”  She and the rest of her family were far from the type of etiquette snob his mother had been, and he could almost feel Nancy’s ghost tutting disapproval whenever Corina let loose with a volley of colorful language in the Landgraab family home.

“I think so.”  Malcolm stared at the smoking pile, both amazed and a bit unnerved.  “Don’t get too close.  Why didn’t anyone warn us?  I thought scientists and meteorologists kept on top of things like this?”

“Yeah, you’d think a meteor-ologist would keep tabs on that with it being right in their name.”

“Someone could’ve been killed!  What if it hit our house, or someone else’s?  Or that guy in the park?”  Malcolm remembered seeing someone standing there just before the meteor hit, and he looked around anxiously for a sign he survived.  “I hope he’s all right!  Wait, is that him?”  There was someone in the same jacket walking toward the Wainwright mansion.  “My Watcher!  Was it one of the Wainwright kids?”

Corina followed Malcom’s gaze.  “Oh, plum!  Yeah, that’s Orion.  Was he over there when it fell?”

“Orion, he’s not the plantsim, but the other… green one, right?”  Malcolm didn’t know the Wainwrights well, but he had no issues with them.  They were a little odd, but the times they’d interacted had always been pleasant.  “I saw him out there when I was upstairs.  Just before the meteor.  Standing there, right where it fell, staring at the sky.  Lucky for him he got far enough away in time.”  Did he see it before we did?  But why wasn’t he running?  Shouldn’t that have scared the plum out of him?



“Wow!  Glad he wasn’t waffled!”  Corina pulled out her phone and texted Orion asking if he was all right.  They weren’t close friends, but sometimes they chatted.  “Though what a day to be out.”  She shivered in the cold air.

“That’s what I thought when I saw someone out there.”

“Maybe it’s one of his weird martial arts things.  He does that stuff.  Meditates and plum like that.  Maybe he gets a boost from nature or something, even when it’s a bazillion below.”

Malcolm dialed emergency services to get officials to the scene, pronto.  “Well, the Wainwrights do have a bit of a reputation for eccentricity.”

“His mad scientist parents will probably be out to study it any minute now if they’re home,” she joked good-naturedly.  As if on cue, Boyd and Susan emerged, with Plumboptimus peeking out behind them and what looked like the other Wainwrights—Patrick, Maria, and Iris—peering out various windows.

“And there they are.”  Malcolm relayed the situation to the dispatcher that answered his call, and afterward, recorded a video of the smoking chunk of rock.  As mayor, he had questions to ask and calls to make about why no one knew or warned him this was about to happen across the street from his house…



Boyd and Susan rushed out, but they stopped when they saw Orion strolling back to the house, unfazed.  “Orion, did you…?”

“Yes.”  Orion glared at his father.

“Why?!  Are you all right?  What made you—?”

“Orion, what happened?” asked Susan.

“No, I’m not all right!  I’m about as all right as that smoking ruin!  Tara dumped me.  I told her, and it all blew up to plum like that over there!  Not because she couldn’t deal with the truth, but because I didn’t tell her before now, and now she doesn’t trust me.  She thinks I’m a liar, because I am, because you made me lie to her!  Because you wouldn’t believe me when I said we could trust her.  I lost the only girl who ever loved me and it’s all your fault!”

They exchanged a regretful look.  “Orion, I—I’m sorry,” Boyd said, followed by Susan.

“I’m sorry.”



“Save it!  I don’t want to hear it.  Sorry’s not good enough.  Sorry won’t make Tara trust me again.  Sorry won’t fix things and bring her back to me any more than it’ll put that rock back in the sky.  But don’t worry.  Our precious secret is safe.  She promised not to tell anyone, even as she dumped me for lying to her about it.  So you can sleep easy, since that’s all you care about anyway.”

“Orion…”

“Just don’t.”



He stormed past her and Boyd, and when he passed by him, Plumboptimus scanned him inquisitively.  He couldn’t comprehend all the nuances of organic emotion, but he could tell Orion was distressed, and wanted to help.  “Can I be of assistance?”

“No.”  Orion went inside and slammed the door behind him.



Both Susan and Boyd felt terrible for him, but they were also worried about what just happened.  “I can’t believe he brought a meteor down right here in the park!” Boyd exclaimed as they trudged through the snow to the crash site.

“Look at the size of it!  And did you see how well he was still walking?  He told us it almost knocked him out the last time he did it.”

“Adrenaline’s a hell of a drug.”  Boyd glanced back anxiously toward the house, where Plumboptimus was now helping by shoveling snow off the walkway.  “He’ll probably crash when he calms down.  I’m just glad he wasn’t upset enough to drop it on the house.”

“And he had enough control of it to keep from hurting himself or anyone else.  I know he’s upset, but I never imagined… I mean, he loves her, we knew that, but…”

Boyd took a deep breath to calm his nerves, but it didn’t help much.  “To say this is disconcerting would be an extreme understatement.  What the plum was he thinking?”

“Thank the Watcher he doesn’t have Patrick’s temper.  And that he had the forethought to come out here to drop it!  Could you imagine?”

“I’d rather not.”  Boyd tried not to let that add to his stress as he knelt in the snow by the rock to get a better look at it.  “Angrite, I think.”

“That’s disturbingly appropriate.”

“Yeah.  Nice specimen, but I wish this wasn’t how we came by it.”  He stood up, more anxious and upset by the second.  “I hope he’ll be all right.  Physically, from doing this, and… Did we really call it that badly?  Not letting him tell her?  I just worried… I was so afraid of it getting out, and the wrong people finding out, and something happening to him.  You know how teenagers can be so impulsive, and romances don’t always last, but I never wanted him to lose her over it.  Gah.  I feel like a steaming heap of llama turds.”  He looked at the meteor, shaking.  “With this steaming mess to deal with on top of it.”



“We made the best decision we could, Boyd.  I’m sorry he lost her, too, but the truth is that teenagers are often immature and petty.  Plenty of adults are.  Trusting a secret of this magnitude to withstand a typical high school romance gone bad was just too risky.  Orion will to have to be careful about who he trusts his whole life.  Not just now.”  She sighed.  “Maybe we did make him wait too long, and maybe we should’ve trusted his judgment after they’d been together beyond a certain point, but it’s not like we did it to be cruel.”  She looked from Boyd to the meteor.  “Though clearly that’s not how he feels.”

“Obviously not.  Maybe Tara will come around.  If she cares enough to keep his secret, and I hope to the Watcher he’s right about that, maybe she’ll eventually be able to accept why he had to.”

“Maybe.  Hopefully.  But if not, in time, he’ll move on.  He won’t feel like this forever, even if it feels that way to him now.”



The sound of sirens in the background signaled the approach of emergency services, and as they looked over, Boyd’s stomach tied in knots.  “Oh boy.  And here come the questions and investigation already.  That was quick, even for SVPD and EMS.”

Susan gestured to their neighbor, still out on the sidewalk on his phone.  “Malcolm Landgraab over there probably called.  When you’re both rich and the mayor, things get done for you fast.”

“We haven’t even figured out what we’re going to say yet!  Do you think they’ll suspect anything weird?”

“They might, but I doubt it’ll be anything to do with Orion.  They’ll probably wonder if we’re doing some kind of astronomical experiments on our property rather than at the lab.  I would, in their position, knowing who we are and seeing something like this.”

“Giving them an excuse to fine the hell out of us so the town doesn’t have to foot the bill,” Boyd said cynically.  “Typical government.”



“Mmm-hmm.  So, I say we act surprised and pre-emptively offer to help figure out what happened.  We tell any officials that ask that our equipment at the lab was tied up in other research, so we weren’t looking for anything like this, but we’d be happy to review any data collected tonight for information that might be useful in predicting another event like this.  As for us?  We were just at home relaxing when that rogue meteor showed up out of nowhere, and we’d love to know what happened and why no one noticed it was coming, either.”  She put a hand on his shoulder.  “Relax, Boyd.  We’ve got this.”

“I hope you’re right.”  He took another deep breath to try and calm down.  The bite of the cold air helped, and he could think a little more clearly now.  “Maybe Maria could take some pictures and cover it as a local phenomenon for her blog.  It’d get her good traffic, and her write-up could back us up and divert attention away from Orion.”

“Good idea.  I’m sure she’ll be glad to help us put a positive spin on things.  I’ll also give Tamara Donner a call tomorrow.  She’s retired, but still does some political fundraising and volunteer work at City Hall.  Never wanted to give up the perks of schmoozing with the well-connected, I think.  Anyway, she’s always up for a fancy lunch out with a wealthy donor who’s funded programs in the past.  I can fill her in on the meteor story and our lab’s insight as part of casual conversation.  It’ll get back to them.”

“Sounds good.  Oh, and speaking of one of Blair’s friends…” Boyd took his phone out of his pocket.  “Check yours.  Blair and Cycl0n3 are lighting mine up.  Probably yours, too.  They want to know if we’re okay.”

The first police car pulled up, and an officer headed toward them with Malcolm Landgraab right on his heels.  They were half-surprised it wasn’t Blair herself or someone who knew them well like Arlo Bunch on the scene, even if both had long since been promoted past doing patrols as a regular thing.  “You go ahead and call them, and I’ll field the questions.”

“All right.  Thanks, honey.  My nerves are shot, so I’d much rather talk to Blair than them anyway.”



Patrick, Maria, and Iris were all in the front hall when Orion came back in.  They didn’t need to ask what happened; the smoking meteor outside was self-explanatory, and his angry shouting at Boyd and Susan was loud enough that they overheard it all.

“I’m so sorry,” Iris sympathized, and Patrick nodded with her.

“Yeah.  That really sucks.”

“It does.  I’m sorry, Orion.  I know how much you love her,” added Maria.

“Yeah.  Thanks,” he said flatly.

Patrick eyed him with concern.  “You okay?  Physically, I mean?  Back in Shang Simla, you said doing that took a lot out of you.”

“I’m fine.  Just kind of tired.  I’m older and stronger than I was then.”  That was partly true, but like Boyd had said, his emotional state and adrenaline also factored in.  Now that they were winding down, Orion was starting to feel drained both physically and mentally.



“I’m going upstairs.”  He planned to take a long shower and meditate.  For the first time in a long time, he wished he could sleep like he used to as a child, before his alien physiology made it all but impossible short of serious illness or injury.  Nodding off into oblivion for a few hours would be a welcome break from how much losing Tara hurt.  But even if I could, I’d probably just dream about her anyway.  At least meditating I can control.

Iris followed him to the stairs.  “You know, if you want to talk…”

“No.  I want to be alone.”

“All right, but let us know if you need anything, okay?” offered Patrick.

“Yeah.  Tell Buddy I’m not in the mood for any of his plum and to leave me the hell alone, if he doesn’t hear me now.”  Orion disappeared up the stairs.



Maria glanced around.  “Is he even here?”

“I’d guess he’s outside with Patches trying to get a good look at the meteor,” Iris said, and Buddy scoffed from over by a window on the far side of the room.

“Screw that!  It’s cold out there.  Patchy might like freezing her fabric off, but I’ll stay in here where it’s warm, thank you very much.  I can gawk at Alien Boy’s rock when the geezers haul it in.”

“He’s here, and he heard,” Patrick said.  “He’ll leave Orion alone.  He’s not that big of a llama.  Right, Buddy?”

“No, I won’t kick Alien Boy when he’s already down.  Who wants to watch him dial up the angst even more?  Watching you and Maria do it’s bad enough.”

Meanwhile, Iris looked up the stairs.  “I hope he’ll be okay.  He loves Tara so much.  Do you think she might change her mind and make up with him?”

Patrick shrugged.  “Hard to say.  It’s a lot to deal with, and not to be mean, but you know how she’s high strung.  The alien stuff alone is going to be pretty freaking weird for someone not used to it, and if she’s got trust issues on top of it…”

“But she loves him, so that’s got to count for something,” said Maria.



Patrick turned toward her sharply.  “Does it?”

“Patrick…”

“No, really.  Tell me.  What does love count for?”  He’d intended to broach talking to her on a better note, and without an audience, but Orion had literally dropped a meteor on that plan.  He couldn’t let that bit of hypocrisy from her slide.

She sighed dramatically.  “It counts for a lot, of course!”

“Really?  Sure didn’t seem like it counted much last night.”  A hurt and bitter note seeped into his voice, and Maria bit her lip, frustrated.  While she didn’t appreciate his tone, after a night to sleep on things and a day to dwell on them, she did regret some of the hurtful things she said.  Especially after seeing how devastated Orion was by losing Tara, it drove home just how much she loved Patrick.  She couldn’t bear the thought of ever losing what they had for good.  Gretchen was the one that deserved her anger—and Patrick’s bandmates that picked her over her, of course—but not him.



“Look, I… I shouldn’t have blamed you for the audition.  I know you did what you could for me.  I shouldn’t have said that.  I’m sorry.  I know you wouldn’t—”

“Sabotage you?  Set you up to fail?  Pick someone else?  All those things you said last night?”

She closed her eyes, trying not to cry.  “Yes, all right?”  She sniffled despite her efforts.  “I’m sorry.  I know you love me and wouldn’t do that.  I was just upset and mad and…”

“And took it out on me.”  It was a statement, but less angry than before.

“Yes,” she said with a sob.  “I’m sorry, okay?  I really am!  It was awful and mean and terrible and I’m sorry.  How many times do you want me to say it?”

Iris quietly lingered near the stairs, feeling awkward for being there listening to their private conversation, but also guilty for not leaving because she wanted to see how it went.  Buddy, on the other hand, had no such shame, and snorted from over at the window, unimpressed.  “Wow, Princess, don’t humble yourself too much there.”



It was enough for Patrick, though.  He wanted things right between them again just as much as she did, and he’d take a sincere apology even if it was a little sullen and pouty.  “Just this is fine.  You know I’d do just about anything for you, so you saying that…”

“It hurt.  I know.  I’m sorry.”

“Me too.  For the cheap shots when I was mad and…”

“And punching the walls in my honor?”  She gave him a half-smile and took his hand.  “You didn’t hurt yourself, did you?”

“Stung a little, but the juice numbed it.  They were fine by the time I made my angry wolf head.”

“I saw that this morning when I grabbed my laptop.  I’m not going to lie, I was a little miffed and insulted, but…. well, it did turn out nice.”

“Thanks.”  He smiled back at her, and then noticed that both Buddy and Iris were still there.  Iris straightened and excused herself to get her coat, but Buddy stayed put.  Patrick was about to suggest they go upstairs to talk, but then his father came in.



“Ah, Maria!  There you are.”  When she and Patrick turned around, Boyd only then realized through his meteor-induced panic that they seemed to be on talking terms again.  He was glad, and wished he hadn’t had to bother them, but with the authorities there, time was of the essence.  “Sorry to interrupt, but we’re getting more and more of a crowd, and Susan and I thought you’d want to get some exclusive pictures of the crash site and meteor for your blog before it gets any more hectic out there.  And that you guys might want to get a look at it up close, too.”  He gave Patrick an apologetic look.  “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“Yeah, thanks.  I would like to see it and get pictures.  It’ll make an awesome write-up.”  She glanced at Patrick.  “We’ll talk after?”

“Sure.  Go and get some good ones.  I’ll go get my phone off the charger and join you.  I want pictures of this thing, too.”

“See you out there.”  She kissed his cheek, then grabbed her coat and headed outside.



“Looks like you two smoothed things over?”

Patrick brightened.  “Yeah.”

“Good.  Glad to hear it.  It’s nice to have some good news after all this.”  An anxious look returned to his face.  “How was Orion when he came in?  Is he all right?  Aside from the Tara part.  I know your mom and I are the last people he wants to see right now, but I’m worried about him.”

“I’d give him his space.  He’s pretty upset, but I don’t think he’s hurt from the meteor or anything.  He said he was fine, just tired and wants to be left alone.  He’s upstairs.”  He glanced at the crash site.  “Man.  He doesn’t lose it often, but when he does?  Wow.”

Boyd wrung his gloved hands.  “A big smoking wow practically on the front lawn.”

“You’ve got to give him points for style.”

“I’d like to give him a grounding into next year for being so reckless, but I’m too busy worrying about whether everyone’s buying your mother’s spin control and being glad he didn’t kill himself or anyone else!  I can’t believe he did this!”

“I know, but remember, he just lost his girlfriend in a real llama load situation where he tried to do the right thing and it bit him in the plumbob.  Can you honestly say you wouldn’t want to rage-drop a meteor if you were him?”

“Would I think about it?  Sure.  Be tempted?  Probably.  Actually follow through?  I’d like to think not.”

Patrick raised an eyebrow.  “Really?  You sure?  As much as you love Mom?  Especially at his age, when none of us are exactly the most mature?  I admit I would.”

“Oh, believe me, I know you would.  And I’ll honestly say I’m glad I was never put to that test.  Your mom and I aren’t unsympathetic, Patrick.  We know he’s hurt.  That’s why we’ll probably just lecture the hell out of him until he gets how incredibly dangerous and foolish that was.  And maybe lock down the Galaxa and his motorcycle for a week or two, to drive the point home, if he gives back too much attitude.”



“Wow.  I didn’t expect you to be that lenient.  I remember how the thunder came down on me that time the cops brought me home.  Orion’s meteor brings them swarming, and he just gets a lecture and maybe no spaceship or bike for a while?  Maybe Blair’s right.  You are going easier on the kids the older you get,” Patrick teased.

“You and Chris were drinking underage at a party you lied to us about going to, that Tad and Maria threw while their mom was out of town, that was busted up by the cops.  You deserved that grounding, and you know it.  I’m pretty sure you’d do the same if your kids ever pull a stunt like that someday.”

“Never said I wouldn’t, but that’s moot since I don’t have any yet.  Just a little brother with some breakup and alien issues to work through and a little sister that… well, I won’t rat her out on anything.”

“Uh-huh.  Lucky them that their big brother watches out for them and keeps their secrets,” Boyd said wryly.

“I do.  I always have.  You know, it’s funny, Orion once told me I sounded a lot like you when I tried to talk him out of, well, that’s not important.  It was a long time ago and nothing bad happened anyway, but you get what I mean, right?”

“Yes, and I’ll try not to wonder what he did that you’re not telling me luckily turned out fine, since there’s still a meteor out there to deal with right now.  So, go get your coat and phone and let’s go.”



While Boyd and Patrick talked inside, Maria joined Iris at the crash site.  Susan convinced the authorities that in her expert scientific opinion it would be wise to keep everyone from getting too close until they did some preliminary evaluation, so the responders and gawkers gathered closer to the Landgraabs’ property.  Iris and Maria were allowed in since Susan vouched that they knew proper safety procedures.

Iris was impressed.  “Wow!  I think this might be bigger than the Shang Simla rock.  But that was a long time ago, so I’m not sure.  I’ll have to ask Mom.”  Susan was busy discussing the situation with one of the police officers and Malcolm Landgraab.

Maria stared at the meteor, awed.  “I never saw that one, so I don’t know.”

“They had it shipped to the lab, so it might still be there.  I don’t think they could fit it in the basement or get it down the stairs without tearing the floor out.  Unless Orion absorbed it, but one this size would probably have him bouncing off the walls with energy for a week.”

“Sometimes it’s easy to forget how alien he is,” Maria mused as she started taking pictures.  “His powers, I mean.  I’m so used to just thinking of him as Patrick’s little brother and just being himself, with his martial arts or doing chemistry or robot stuff with your parents, or talking about Tara…”  She paused.  “Poor Orion.  I can’t imagine how alone he must feel.”

“Yeah.  I’m not shocked she freaked out a little, because who wouldn’t and you know how she is, but I really hoped she’d understand once he told her everything and why.  It’s not like he had much of a choice about what he had to tell her.  I thought she’d be more like you were about it when Patrick told you.”

“I was already freaked out from being abducted, so compared to that, the cover stories were just a minor thing he had a good reason for.  And honestly, there are much worse things the person you love can lie to you about.  I grew up watching Dad be a walking example of a ton of them, to Mom and his girlfriends after.  Patrick never lied to me about anything that mattered about us.”  She took another picture.  “But I also wasn’t the one dating Orion.  Tara was, so it might be harder for her to get over.”

“You said inside you thought love counted for a lot, though.”

“It does, but sometimes it’s still hard and things get weird.”  Maria couldn’t help but think of her mother and Stiles.  “Here’s hoping it works out.”

“And if it doesn’t, Tara’s not the only girl in the world,” Iris said optimistically.  “There’s someone out there who’ll make him happy, that can deal with the alien stuff.  If even grumpy little nerdy Travis can find someone…”



“Travis?  Is he coming over?”  Susan overheard her grandson’s name and looked around as she joined them.

“No.  We were just talking, but I’m sure he’d love to see the meteor,” Iris replied.  “He’s probably sad he didn’t get to watch it crash.”

“Well, I’m freezing my rear end off out here, so I’ll be glad to get everyone cleared out and this cleaned up as soon as possible, especially now that the crowd control’s taken care of.”  She sighed, and frowned as Corina’s dog, Captain, wandered through the snow toward them.  “At least that one won’t ask annoying questions, but one of us should send him back over before someone comes to retrieve him.  Are you two about done with your pictures?  Your father and Patrick are taking their time, but I want everyone out of here sooner rather than later for obvious reasons.”



“I’ve got all the pictures I need.  Thanks.  I’ll write it up and post as soon as I can tomorrow.  That way I can include some follow-up with what happens once it’s removed, stuff like that.  Are you keeping it?”

“Absolutely.  Mayor Landgraab said if we’re willing to pay for hauling it away, it’s ours.  He’d rather not have to add more than a little park landscaping into next year’s tax budget.  Well worth that expense as far as I’m concerned.  They’ll rope it off tonight and keep an officer up here to keep the looky-loos away, and it’ll go to the lab tomorrow.”

“Glad we got a chance to see it at ground zero, then.”  Iris noticed Patches waiting to talk to her across the road at the property line.  “I’ll take Captain back to the Landgraabs and let you two finish up.”  She’d catch Patches up on everything afterward.



Iris left with the dog, and Susan spoke quietly to Maria.  “The official story is that this was a natural phenomenon.  The sizable angrite meteor that fell during tonight’s snowstorm was a surprise to both the local weather bureau and military—yes, the cops said that the local base weighed in officially a little while ago—and Wainwright Innovations volunteered to study the incident after the rock impacted across the street from the owners’ house.  We’re analyzing the astronomical data collected in our lab tonight in ongoing experiments to see if there were any anomalies or patterns that might’ve indicated something like this would happen.  No conclusions have been made yet, of course, but details will be forthcoming once they’re available.”

“Sounds good to me.  I’ll show you the final draft before it goes live.  I don’t want to post anything that might inadvertently complicate things for the family or Orion.”

“Thank you.  I appreciate that, and I look forward to reading it.  I always enjoy the science and nature themed articles anyway.”  She smiled.  “Especially when my name’s in them.”

“I’m sure. I’ll do my best.  You and Boyd will be the picture of curious scientific philanthropists investigating this fascinating astronomical event.”

“Oooh.  I like that.  Very nice.”



Reports of the meteor spread across town quickly.  Many saw the flaming streak as it fell from the sky, and most within a certain distance heard the blast.  Tara and her family lived on the other side of town, but they heard the distant impact rumble.  Justine called a non-retired friend at the SVPD right away to find out what happened, and as soon as she got off the phone with them, she told Marty and Tara.  She knew Tara and Orion just broke up because Tara came home in tears and said that was why, but she also knew she’d still want to know the meteor hit right next to Orion’s house.

Immediately, Tara picked up her phone and texted him.  I heard about the meteor!  Are you ok?  Is your family ok?

She paused as she typed a second line, thinking about what he told her about his alien abilities and how he’d summoned a meteor in Shang Simla.  Was it you?

She erased it before sending.

Then she wrote it again, but started erasing it once more, until she changed her mind and finished it yet again.

That time she sent it before she could stop herself, but she stared out the window anxiously wondering if she should’ve while she waited for an answer.



Orion was in his room, meditating miserably on the bed, when his phone beeped.  He got up and picked it up off the end table.  When he saw Tara’s name and her message, his heart surged hopefully.  She still cares enough to worry about me. Then he saw her follow-up and didn’t know what to think.

We’re all fine, he wrote back.  It came down across the road in the park and just hit the snow.  Then he answered her second question with a short but simple, Yes.  He wondered if that would make her even more wary of him, but he wasn’t going to lie to her again.  Not when he promised he wouldn’t, even if she had broken up with him.

There was a long pause, and Orion watched the screen indicate she was typing, then not, then typing, then not, and then typing again, over and over.  It felt like an eternity before her response came through, and he wondered if this was what it was like for her all the time, wondering and worrying what someone was thinking or going to say.  It sucked, and he wished his alien empathic abilities worked over text.

Glad you’re ok.

“It took that long to say that?”  He was glad she obviously did care, but what did it mean?  Was she changing her mind and maybe now open to working things out?  Or was he just fooling himself, and it was only “glad you weren’t splattered because even though we broke up, I still care if you live or die?”  He fervently hoped it was the first.

Thanks, Orion typed back.  I miss you.

That inspired a long wait with what seemed to be mostly typing with fewer pauses.  Whether that was because it was long, or just a lot of Tara typing back and forth and backspacing with no break, he couldn’t tell.  Then it finally came through.

I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea.  I was worried when I heard about the meteor. I’m glad you’re ok especially since you said you did it but that doesn’t mean anything changed. Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you think that if I did. BTW I hope you didn’t do that because you were mad at me but I guess I can’t blame you if you are. Sorry. I’ll leave you alone now.  Bye.

“What?  No!  It’s not you I was mad at, I… ugh!”  Orion groaned and threw his phone on the bed, and then flopped down beside it.  For once, he felt every bit as frustrated, hurt, lost, and confused as Tara.

[Cheezey]

Author's Note: This is another long chapter and image-heavy, so I broke it into two parts.

Chapter 99

Just before Snowflake Day, the Wainwrights got a welcome vacation from their problems at home, not to mention the cold, with a trip to Egypt.  The undercover mission Blair told them about on her birthday was now underway, so as soon as Blair let them know, Boyd and Susan set up their specimen acquisition trip that she would just happen to tag along on as her cover.  The family was off to Al Simhara in a matter of days.

Everyone was able to go but Chris, who was busy with final exams in his last semester at Sims U.  Travis, Orion, and Iris were all excused from school, since it was close to the Snowflake Day break and they all had high grades anyway.  Patrick and Maria were also able to arrange time off work to join them.  Holly wanted Gretchen to get more familiar with the stage equipment that Patrick and Wilbur were already well experienced with anyway, and Maria’s position was flexible in hours.  The meteor story gave her blog a big traffic spike, and River told her to enjoy the time in Egypt and if she was so inclined, another travel interest post would make a great topic when she got back.  Plumboptimus stayed home to mind the mansion, care for their plants, and guard their secrets while the rest of them flew to Al Simhara.



The undercover-friendly accommodations Blair’s superiors made for them were significantly less posh than expected, however.  While Blair warned them that Al Simhara was known for its history and not its five-star hotels, none of them expected an outdoor camp in the desert with only public bathrooms, a barely functional kitchen, and their choice of cheap tents and sleeping bags.

“Oh, it won’t be that bad, really.”  Blair tried to be optimistic, but the looks on their faces made it clear it would be a hard sell.  “I know it’s roughing it, but this is where the dedicated archaeologists and collectors stay around here.  We had to position you in the thick of things to be authentic.  Try and think of it like a desert camping trip.”



“I hate camping,” Susan groused.  Of all of them, she was the most displeased, although Maria came a close second.  Boyd, Cycl0n3, and Travis weren’t far behind, while Patrick was merely unimpressed.  He agreed that the lack of amenities sucked, but the desert was beautiful, unique, and inspiring to him as an artist, and he thought the tent would be cozy with Maria snuggled beside him at night.  Iris was so happy to have intense warm sun again that she could overlook the cheap tent and public bathroom, and Orion didn’t mind.  He didn’t sleep anyway, so the hard sand wasn’t going to bother his back like both Boyd and Cycl0n3 lamented to each other.  He got a kick out of feeling like some adventurous explorer in a place full of historic pyramids and tombs.

Susan continued to rant.  “There’s a reason I haven’t gone camping since you were a kid and begged us to take you to Granite Falls.”

“Aw, Mom, that was a fun trip.”

“For you.  You were ten and thought it was a grand adventure, so I put up with it for your sake.  But my idea of a good time wasn’t sleeping in a tent with no wi-fi and canned food, hot dogs, and trail mix while we tried to avoid bears, bugs, and those horrid public bathrooms and cold showers.  Not to mention the raging case of poison fireleaf I got, and your father nearly setting himself on fire!”

“Hey!  I wasn’t the only one caught by that backdraft,” Boyd protested, although he wished he hadn’t been reminded of the long-forgotten bear run-ins.

“Well, I can’t speak for the bugs, crappy beds, or painful lack of wi-fi, but I’m pretty sure we won’t run into any bears here in Al Simhara, at least,” Cycl0n3 remarked.



“No, but maybe we’ll get to see a mummy if we’re lucky.  Wouldn’t that be cool?”  Travis brightened as he enthused about the supernatural lore of the area.

“Not if you get cursed.”  Iris turned to her parents.  “Didn’t you guys study someone who died of that?”

“Yes.  Sort of.  We had blood samples sent from a victim here in Al Simhara, but unfortunately, they degraded too much to get enough conclusive data out of them by the time they reached us.  But if anyone’s unlucky enough to get cursed while we’re here, maybe we’ll get another shot at it,” Boyd said, then frowned sternly.  “None of you better, though.  That curse is deadly and dangerous and nothing to fool around with.  I better not hear about any of you doing anything stupid or reckless that could get you killed.”  He looked at each of the younger generation, including Blair, but lingered last and longest on Orion.  “You got me?”



“Yeah.  Sure, Dad.  No problem.”  Orion intended to do some exploring on his own while everyone else slept, but there was no need to share that.  He hadn’t technically lied.  He would carefully calculate any risks he might take and not make any he deemed foolish.  Whether his parents agreed with that assessment wasn’t his problem.

He was no longer actively mad at them, even though their overprotective paranoia cost him Tara, but he wasn’t going to let them hold him back anymore, either.  Though they’d droned on endlessly about how dangerous, reckless, and foolish his meteor stunt had been, and he promised not to do it again—which he wouldn’t, since he made his point fine the first time—that didn’t mean he was going to live in some bubble because something bad might happen.  All that would ever get him was a lifetime of frayed nerves, as his father and Tara both proved, and a heap of loneliness.  His parents might have each other, but Tara’s fears made her too afraid to give him another chance, even though he’d never hurt her like that again.  He couldn’t blame her for not trusting him, but it still hurt.  It hurt every time he made eye contact with her only for her to look away, and every time he thought he’d see her, but didn’t, because she was avoiding him.  It hurt most of all when he picked up on her thoughts in one of their now occasional and brief encounters, though, because he knew it wasn’t because she hated him or didn’t care.  It was that she did and just couldn’t deal with it, or with being around him.  If she felt about him like she did Tom after he cheated on her with Bianca, Orion could’ve let it go and moved on.  Knowing Tara still loved him on some level made that impossible when he still loved her, too.

But Orion was determined not to let thoughts of Tara ruin his vacation.  All of that was thousands of miles away back in Sunset Valley, and he was in Al Simhara to have fun and see cool stuff.  That was exactly what he’d do, regardless of what his parents thought.



Cycl0n3 turned to Blair.  “So, fearless leader, now that we’re settled into this Simdiana Jones reject camp, what’s first on the agenda?”

“Finding somewhere we can buy an air mattress or a tent with air conditioning, maybe?” Maria quipped, while Susan scoffed.

“You’ve got high hopes for a place that sells shower-in-a-can as a viable alternative to their public bathroom.”  She made a face.  “Though I haven’t seen what it’s like inside yet.  It might be.”

Maria was horrified at that thought.  “Ew.  I hope there are no scarabs in there.”

“Ha.  Bet the roach motel for the scarabs is at least three stars higher than this place,” Patrick said, while Boyd looked for an upside.

“I want to collect some scarab beetles while we’re here, but, uh, hopefully not while I’m in the bathroom or in my sleeping bag.”

Cycl0n3 snickered.  “What, Space, you don’t think Susan will appreciate ‘Is that a scarab beetle or am I just happy to see you’ as a good pick up line?”

Boyd rolled his eyes and Susan glared at Cycl0n3, while Travis made a face at the unwanted mental image of his grandparents in that context.  “Yeah, so, how about we go somewhere cool and interesting and fun, like the opposite of here?  The Great Sphinx, a pyramid, Abu Simbel or the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut…?”

“I have to check in with my contact at the market, so, being that you’re all so underwhelmed, let’s go there first,” Blair suggested.  “You can pick up whatever you need to make things a little more bearable, and maybe some cool souvenirs.  There’s also authentic local food that doesn’t come from a box or can.”

“Heh.  Do they sell resort-in-a-can, too?” Susan asked dryly.

“Oh, Mom.”

“Don’t worry, Blair.  We’ll manage.  We’ve just gotten used to our luxury and upscale living, that’s all.”  Boyd took Susan’s hand and squeezed it.  “Come on, honey.  If nothing else, the market’s got to have some upgrades.  A nicer tent than industrial canvas, and maybe something to bug and snake-proof them.”  He wished he hadn’t thought about the possibility of venomous desert asps slithering in while they slept.  That was worse than scarabs.



Blair was right that there were lots of interesting things at the market.  They split up to look around, and Patrick and Maria followed Boyd into the general goods shop.  “So, what’s the comfiest tent we can get?” Maria asked the shopkeeper, Mahmud Taymur.

“The most comfortable?  That would be the Sultan’s Tabernacle.  We have a very limited stock of them, though.”

“How many and how much?” asked Boyd.  “Money’s not a problem, but my wife’s displeasure with what’s over at the base camp is.”

He chuckled and smiled at Maria.  “Ah.  I understand why a distinguished gentleman like you wouldn’t want to displease such a lovely young wife.”

Maria was simultaneously weirded out by the mistake and flattered by the compliment, while Boyd held up a hand when he realized how he’d been misinterpreted.  “Oh, no.  No, no, no.  She’s my daughter-in-law.  My wife’s over in the bookstore.”

Patrick put an arm around Maria’s waist and smooched her on the cheek.  “She’s my wife, but you’re right that she’s gorgeous.”

“Oh, you sweetie,” she flirted back, while Boyd got back to business.

“But my wife is every bit as discriminating, with the experience of our years added to it, so I’d like to see one of those tabernacles.”

“My apologies for the misunderstanding.  We only have one in stock, but it can fit four and still be comfortable.  I assume you have the preferred currency?”

“Preferred currency?  You mean cash?  You don’t take plastic?”

Mahmud cleared his throat.  “No.  I mean what I pay my supplier in.  Ancient coins.  The currency of the elite among the explorers and archaeologists.  The tabernacle is a special-order item and doesn’t sell for cash or traditional tender.”

Patrick raised an eyebrow.  “Are you saying it’s black market?”

“Alternate market.  Not illegal, I assure you.  But if all you’ve got is cash or credit, then the best I can offer is the Colesim model.”  He directed them to the display.  “Not a tabernacle, but still quite comfortable and far more spacious than what’s over at base camp.”

They reviewed the specs, and it was an upgrade, but Maria wasn’t ready to give up on having the best tent yet.  “Just out of curiosity, where can you get the alternate currency, the ancient coins?  From an explorer?”

Mahmud scoffed.  “Only if you want to be fleeced.  You’re better off scrounging them up yourselves on your expeditions.  They turn up in dig sites and corners and cracks, behind this rock or that.  Poke around long enough, and you’ll come upon at least a few.  But make sure you keep a tight grip on them, and don’t let other explorers sweet talk you out of them or lighten your pockets.  To right traders, they’re worth a lot.  But the tabernacle would cost you a satchel of them.  I recommend this durable, reliable, Colesim.  It’s the best cash will buy.”

“Colesims it is, then,” Boyd decided.  “We’ll take four.”  That was one for him and Susan, one for Patrick and Maria, one for Blair and Cycl0n3, and one for the teenagers to share.



Patrick picked up an incense holder and a snake charming basket.  “These are cool.  I’ll get them.”  He also grabbed the high-end professional camera Maria was debating purchasing and put it on the counter.  “And this.  The pro blogger should have a new pro camera if she wants it.”

“Oh, thank you!  You’re too good to me.”  Maria sniffed the incense, but side-eyed the snake basket.  “Snake charming?  Are you sure about that?”

“The training snake is harmless, if that’s your concern,” Mahmud assured them.  “No venom, its bite will just sting if it strikes, but they only do that if frightened.  They’re very tame and easy to care for.  Everything you need is in the basket.  Also good for pest control if you have any rodent problems.”

“I saw a video where this guy trained one to slither into people’s pants!” Patrick enthused with a grin.  “Tell me you wouldn’t like to see me try that on Cycl0n3?”  He looked from his father to Maria.  “Or Chris or Tad?”

Maria smirked, while Boyd just shook his head, half-amused.  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, but leave your nephews and siblings out of it.  Your brothers-in-law…”

“I should tell you to leave Tad alone, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t laugh,” Maria admitted.

“And as funny as seeing Cycl0n3 pants-snaked might be, I discourage it, if for no other reason than you know he would get even at some point.”

“Ah, but that’s the thing.  I still owe him one for that Bandy McBandface stunt.”  Although his band hadn’t been stuck with the troll name, and was now officially called Red Rooster Crisis, the entry that fairly won, Patrick was still a little salty about the poll hacking.

“All right.  Good luck with your new musical endeavor, then.”  Boyd turned to Mahmud.  “I think we’re ready to check out.”  He noticed some energy bars on the counter that looked better than the free fare at base camp, so he grabbed two boxes.  “Add these, too, please.”

“Certainly, sir.  Thank you and enjoy your stay in Al Simhara.”



While Boyd, Patrick, and Maria shopped at the general store, Susan and Travis browsed the shelves of the book shop.  It was nice and cool in there, which both considered a bonus, and Susan found several books she was interested in off the bat.  Two were cookbooks featuring recipes for popular Al Simharan favorites, and one was a historical book.  “You might like this one, Travis.  From Dead to Mummy: The History of Healing.  You said you wanted to learn more of the lore.”

“Thanks.  I’ll check it out in a minute.”  A different title caught his eye.  “You and Grandpa might want this.  It’s how to catch mummy fish.  They’d look super cool in your tank, though I don’t know if they could live in the pond at the lab.  Probably too cold back home.”  He traded it to her for the book she found for him.

“Much too cold, I’m sure.  The pond is frozen solid right now.”  She thumbed through it, then added it to her basket.  “Good find.  That’s one of the specimens we want to get.”

“No problem.  Man, it’d be so cool to see a mummy.  A live, well, not live, since they’re dead, but you know, animated one.  Though your average dead-dead mummified mummy is also neat.  I know they have some on the tomb tours.  I can’t wait to see the cool sarcophagi and relics and… think we might find any soulpeace?  It’s supposed to have healing powers.”

“If we find any soulpeace or tiberium, we’ll be very lucky.  They’re both rare and worth a small fortune, so research samples are hard to come by.”

“Maybe we’ll also find some relics that have the powers of the ancient gods imbued in them.  That’d be awesome!”

“It would,” Susan agreed, although she was skeptical of such claims without testing to prove them valid.  “On that note, want to see if Iris and Orion found anything interesting at the relic shop?”

“Sure.  I’m going to get these, too.”  He added two more books to his pile, Do I Exist? and That’s a Wrap!: The True Life Story of the First Mummy Film Director, and joined her at the counter.



The relic shop did have interesting stuff, but nothing Orion or Iris wanted to buy right then and there.  She enjoyed the collection of fossilized ancient fruit on one of the displays, however.  “Neat.  Pomegranates from ages ago.  I wonder if we’ll find stuff like this when we go to the dig sites?”

“We might.  I’m going to wait and see what we can find before I get anything, though.”

“Me too.  It’ll be more fun finding it ourselves, anyway.  I don’t mind digging in the dirt.  Or sand, whatever.”  Iris drew her toe in it.  “But I need to stock up on water bottles before I go out exploring.  I’m drying up so fast out here in this desert heat, even though the hot sun feels amazing.”  She sighed happily as she basked in it.  “It feels like it’ll be an eternity before spring comes back home, let alone summer.”



In a corner of the marketplace courtyard, Blair found her undercover connection, Fikry Ameen.  “The llama grazes in the wind at midnight.”  She spoke the code phrase casually and quietly, almost like an afterthought.

“Because that’s when the crocodiles sleep,” he replied, reciting the other half of the code.  “Nice to meet you face to face, Agent Sw0rd.  I must say, you’re not what I expected.”

“They didn’t tell you I was a little old lady tourist, huh?”

He chuckled.  “I know better than to underestimate little old ladies.  I’m married to one.  Truthfully, I don’t know what I expected, but you weren’t it.  I mean that as a compliment.”

“And I take it as one.  Though I have to say that certain members of my family don’t have any for the base camp,” she told him wryly.  “I warned Mom it wouldn’t be a resort, but to say she was underwhelmed would be a big understatement.  But they’ll get over it.”

“Ha!  So, the rich Sim Nation scientists here to get rocks, bugs, and relics can’t take a little sand in their shoes, huh?”

“Mom would say the rich part should buy enough comfort to balance out the work part, but some sun, walking, and fresh air will be good for them, anyway.  My husband’s also a hard sell, but he’ll have fun despite his grumbling.  I wish I had more time to spend with them, but darned if Mom and Dad don’t have me running all these errands for them.”

Fikry pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her.  “Speaking of which, here you go.  Your itinerary.  All places your ‘parents’ would find most helpful in sample acquisition, as they requested via my superiors.”



She pocketed the documents.  “All right, then.  I’ll review it when I get back to my tent and get right on it.”

“Wonderful.  I’m sure you’ll find plenty of interesting things along the way, and perhaps a few individuals that’ll lead you to more valuable finds.”

“Undoubtedly.  Thanks for your help.  I’ll be in touch.”

“Before you go, take these.”  Fikry covertly slipped her a small bag of ancient coins.  “Alternate currency.  Useful for loosening lips and making equitable trades.  I’m sure you’ll come across some more in your sample collecting exploits, but it never hurts to have them on hand.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“If anybody asks, you just bought some of this from me for a few of those coins.  I discounted you because you were just so friendly for a tourist.”  He handed her three pemmican bars and spoke a little louder, as if he was just a merchant completing a transaction.  “It’s important to keep your strength up out there in the brutal heat of the desert.”

She made a show of handing him back three coins.  “Thank you very much, kind sir,” she said in a louder voice.  “I appreciate all your help.  You have a nice day!”

“You too.  Safe travels.”



While Blair and Fikry spoke, Cycl0n3 decided to try the local eatery.  Boyd spotted him on his way out of the general store and sat with him while Patrick and Maria went to the bookstore.  “Second lunch?”

“The airplane food sucked, and the stuff back at base camp made that look good.”

“I’d join you if my stomach wasn’t still off.  Flying always does that to me.  If you want some energy bars for later, they sell them at the general store.  Speaking of which, we picked up better tents.  There’s one for you and Blair, and Travis, if he’d rather bunk with you than Orion and Iris.”

“That’ll depend on whether they get on his nerves more than we do.  Though with everything she’s doing, I’ll probably have it to myself a lot anyway.”

“I hope she doesn’t get into anything too dangerous.”  Boyd frowned as he glanced over at her chatting with the man he assumed was her contact.  “I worry about her.”

“Me too, though probably not quite as much as you, you paranoid old coot.  But I’m sure she’ll be fine.  She’s tougher than both of us.”

“At the risk of insulting us both, I’m not sure that’s saying much, but I hope you’re right.”  He looked at Cycl0n3’s plate.  “That smells good.  What is it?”

“Their daily special.”  He pointed to the sign, and Boyd raised an eyebrow.  It wasn’t traditional Al Simharan fare, but it was a spicy exotic dish.

“You’re brave.  You know that’s usually pretty hot, right?”

Cycl0n3 dug in his fork to try it.  “I’m not worried about that.  I had it once at a buffet back home.”

“A local market in another country might not be as… toned down as something from a Sim Nation chain restaurant,” Boyd warned.

“Bah.  I’ll be fine.  I add hot sauce to lots of things, and besides, with all the flame wars I’ve been in over the years, I’m practically fireproof,” Cycl0n3 boasted.

Boyd was dubious, but let it go.  “All right.  Enjoy.”



Cycl0n3 took a bite.  It was hotter than he anticipated, but he could handle it, so he kept going.  It tasted good, even through the heat.

“How is it?”

“Good.”  Cycl0n3 blinked as the true heat of the dish began to kick in, and Boyd noticed him struggling not to show his discomfort.

“Not too spicy?”

“No.”  He’d almost cleaned his plate by that point, but it seemed like it got hotter and hotter with each passing second.

“You sure?”

He didn’t want to admit Boyd was right, but when he tried to deny it again, it came out in a noise that was somewhere between a cough, gag, and a yelp as the heat of the dish finally overwhelmed him.  “I—no—mayb—AUGH!”

Boyd took pity on him and got him a drink to take the edge off, while Susan spotted them across the courtyard and came over.  “Cycl0n3, are you all right?”

“The… the food flamed me…” he gasped out as Boyd handed him the drink.  He gulped it down.



“He tried the special.”  Boyd gestured to the sign as he sat back down to check something on his tablet.

“Oh, dear.  You didn’t warn him?”

“I tried.”

“I’m sorry, Cycl0n3,” Susan sympathized.  “I’d say the worst is over, but…”

“You might want to grab some soft TP from the general store before you leave,” Boyd finished.

Cycl0n3 groaned and stood.  “Ugh!  They probably do have sand-paper in those crap-tastic bathrooms, huh?”  He took their advice and headed over while Boyd and Susan watched him leave.

“Poor Cycl0n3.  Even his food ends up tearing him a new one,” Susan remarked.

“And because of the same source—his big mouth.  Think we should get him another drink for the road?”

“Probably.”



Blair caught up with Cycl0n3 shortly afterward.  He already felt a little better, but decided he’d stick to trying traditional things like falafel and shawarma for the rest of the trip.  “Aw!  I’m sorry a chef special flamed you.  Do they sell any medicine here?”

“I grabbed some antacids at the general store.  I’m glad your parents got us a better tent.  I really don’t want to rough it after that rough meal.”

“But now you can say you survived an Al Simhara fire trap,” she teased.

“Hah.  I just hope you don’t run into any real ones on your exploits.  Speaking of which, how long until you take off?  Do I get a night of vacation with you before you vanish for all hours on your mission?”

“My mission to get ultra-rare things for Mom and Dad, you mean?”  She said it loud enough that anyone listening would think they were just joking around.  “I’m going to look over my plans tonight and leave first thing in the morning.  Probably before dawn.”

“We better not keep you up too late, then.  How long do you think it’ll take to set up the swanky new tents?  I never did this camping thing before, but you did.”

“Only once, as a kid.  Maybe we shouldn’t have left taking the boys on camping trips to the troop leaders back when they were in sim scouts.  We ought to get back to camp soon, though.  I’m sure it’ll be easier before dark.”  She spotted Iris communing with a flowering tree.  “There’s one straggler.  Let’s round up the others and see who’s ready to go.”



“Sure.”  He pulled her close.  “But first, promise me you’ll spend at least one hot night adventuring with me in the tent before you go off on your own?”

She giggled flirtatiously.  “Tempting, but are you sure your poor old knees can take that on this hard desert ground, even through an air mattress?”

“Hey, I’m tough.  I already survived a fire trap, didn’t I?  Besides, you can always be on top.”  He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Oh, really, Mr. Complainy-Pants who went on at length about how sleeping in a tent would ruin his back?”

“My complainy-pants won’t be on if I have my way.”

That made her laugh.  “You know those tents aren’t soundproof, right?”

“You think I didn’t learn a thing or two about stealth in my years as a P.I.?”

“Well, then.”  She smooched him and smiled.  “We’ll see.”

[Cheezey]

By the time everyone got back to base camp and finished setting up their tents, it was evening.  “This isn’t bad at all,” Boyd remarked as he ducked into his now ready Colesim.  “Pretty nice for what it is, and completely snake and bug-proof.”

Susan was already inside, arranging her things.  She agreed that for camping, it would do, but much like Maria, she was disappointed they couldn’t have the highest end tent available.  “You’d think as rich as we are, we could buy our way to that tabernacle.  I can’t believe they won’t take cash.”

“Yeah, but even if we found someone to sell us the coins at some inflated price, there’s no guarantee we could even get enough to get a tent before we leave.  Certainly not before tonight.”

“I know, but I don’t have to like it.”

Maria overheard and agreed.  “I’ve got to side with her on that one.”

“If you really want it, I can try and find out how much it’d be to get the coins, even if it is a rip off,” Patrick offered.

“That’s sweet, but no.  We’ve already got this, and it’ll do.  But I love you for saying you would.”  She circled her arms around him, and he smiled at her.

“The moon’s just starting to rise and it’s full tonight.  Want to watch the stars?  Out here in the desert, it should be beautiful, especially against the pyramids.”

“I’d love to.”



While Patrick and Maria stargazed, the rest of the family unwound for the night.  Blair excused herself to her tent to review her agenda so she could spend time alone with Cycl0n3 later, and the rest of them gathered around a campfire.  Boyd, Cycl0n3, and Orion roasted snacks while Travis read one of his new books and Susan looked up the directions to where they planned to go the next day.  Iris just watched the fire.

“Careful.  Don’t get too close.”

“I’m behind you, Dad.  I’m fine.”

“Yeah, but you know, I worry.”

“I know,” she replied with good-natured sarcasm, while Orion muttered under his breath with a little more snark.

“Don’t we all.”

“So, it looks like it’ll take us the better part of an hour to get to the Sphinx, and from there the pyramids are another short trip.  There are open dig sites near both,” Susan said, and Travis looked up, interested.

“Are there any tours?”

“Nothing official listed, but we might be able to get a peek inside if we play our cards right.”

Cycl0n3 chuckled.  “A few simoleons to get security to look the other way, huh?”

“I’m not dignifying that with an answer.”

“That wasn’t a ‘no,’ Susan.”

“We’re not out to get ourselves arrested, but if we can convince someone with the legitimate authority to grant us access… lucky us,” Boyd clarified, and took a nibble of his fire-roasted snack.

“Hey, I’m not judging.  Money talks, and besides, the once-in-a-lifetime experience getting to see this stuff makes it worth it.  Especially for the kids, right?”

“I’m cool with it, but I don’t think anyone’s buying that noble llama load from you.  Mom, maybe,” quipped Travis.  “You want to see the ancient wonders, treasures, and mummies as much as the rest of us.”

“You wound me, my little occult fanboy.  Speaking of which, no trying to slip a cursed relic or mummy home in your suitcase.”

“Nah.  Who needs an ancient dead body when you’re already ancient with no life?”

“And who needs you doubling down on the smart llama remarks?  You’ve already earned enough edgy teenager cred for today,” Cycl0n3 retorted while Boyd and Susan smirked, Iris snickered, and Orion grinned.

“It was funny, though.”

“Your help’s not required, either, Chief Engineer.”

“Oh, but that’s how Orion’s always been,” Iris chimed in cheekily.  “Mr. Helpful.”

“Uh-huh.  You see what I take from these kids?  No respect, I tell you.  No respect.”

Susan looked up from her tablet.  “Oh, I think you get about what you’re due, but kids, let’s tone it down.”

“He was already flamed once today,” added Boyd.  “No need to add insults to injury.”

“Thanks a lot, Gramps and Granny.  Now I see where they get it from.  Love you both, too.”



Patrick and Maria enjoyed their romantic stargazing as much as Boyd, Susan, Cycl0n3, and the teenagers enjoyed their banter by the fire.  Patrick took a picture on his phone of the night sky with the moon over the pyramids, then settled back into the sand beside Maria.  “I’d love to paint that, but the reference picture doesn’t do it justice and I’m not sure I could really capture the beauty of it.”

“It’d make a gorgeous painting, but it’d be hard to top seeing it like this, that’s for sure.”  She could hardly take her eyes off the moon, now fully risen and casting a soft and beautiful glow over everything.

It even seemed to reflect in her eyes, Patrick thought as he looked over at her.  “Do you want to get your new camera?  It should get a better panoramic shot.  You could use the picture in your blog.”

“I could, but then I’d have to get up and leave this pretty sky and you.  I’ll just nab your picture and credit you.  Besides, I don’t want to think about work.”

“What do you want to think about?”

“You and me.  Us.  Stuff.”   She interlaced her fingers with his, and he squeezed them.

“Stuff, huh?  You mean like, family stuff?”  They had been talking more about having children lately, especially after making up from their argument.  Maria would never be thrilled that Gretchen won the spot in his band, but now that it was a done deal, there was no reason to put off starting their family.  They both wanted kids sooner rather than later, and their family, especially Morgana, were dropping hints and commenting about when they might more frequently.  Only Thornton hadn’t mentioned it at all, but that was no surprise.  Maria and her father weren’t that close, and Thornton was never particularly fond of children in general.

“Yeah.  When do you want to start trying?”

“Whenever you’re ready.  I’m cool with being a dad.  With all the practice I had keeping an eye on those two cheeky llamas over there, I think I can handle it.”

She stroked his cheek.  “You’ll be a good dad.  Better than mine ever was.  I hope I’ll be a good mom.”

“Eh, Thornton’s… Thornton, but I think your mom set a pretty good example.  You and Tad are great, and he’s a good father to Esme and practically a second one to Caleb.  You’ll do just fine.”

“Mom and your parents will probably spoil the heck out of our baby when we have it.  Tad and Blair, too, I bet.”

“I’m sure.”

Maria squeezed Patrick’s hand again and leaned against him.  “And I’m ready, if you are.  I love you, baby.”

He mirrored her smile.  “Couldn’t imagine anything better to bring home from Egypt.  I love you, too.”  He kissed her.  “Want to head over to our tent?”

“I’d love to.”



The Colesim turned out to be every bit as comfortable and durable as advertised.  Patrick and Maria had a delightful romantic interlude, and never came back out before everyone else called it a night and retired to their tents.



Since he didn’t sleep, Orion didn’t bother to go to the tent he shared with Iris and Travis.  Instead, he mediated by the fire pit until the flames dwindled to nothing, then took a walk around.  There was a curious building just past the bathrooms, and he wondered what was inside.  There were no signs and a chain link fence around the door, but the gate wasn’t locked.

“Orion?”  Iris’ voice behind him caught him off guard.

“Oh, hi.  I didn’t know you were still up.”

“I couldn’t sleep.  Travis put in headphones and read until he dozed off, but I forgot mine and couldn’t not hear Patrick and Maria getting it on next door.”  She rolled her eyes.  “It’s like they forgot the tents aren’t walls.”

“You could’ve borrowed mine,” he said, amused.  “I wouldn’t mind or blame you.”

“I would’ve, but you didn’t leave them out and I didn’t want to be rude and dig through your luggage.  I tried to ignore it as long as I could, but I just couldn’t take it anymore.  I gave up and noped out at,” she did an animated imitation of their older brother, “‘Oooh, you’re a real animal tonight, baby.’”

Orion laughed.  “I’d have told them to keep it down.  Nobody wants to hear that, and at least everyone else that’s fooling around is trying to keep it quiet.”  He made a face.  “Yeah, sometimes it really sucks when I can’t filter out what I pick up on.”

“Now I know why you’re all the way out here.  So, what’s that place?”



“I don’t know.  Want to find out?  The gate’s not locked.”

“Is the door?”

“I don’t know.  Let’s see.”

“Uh, wouldn’t that be breaking and entering?”

“Not if we don’t bust any locks.”

Iris raised an eyebrow but followed him over to the fence anyway.  “All right.  I’ll give you that, but I’m sure it’s at least trespassing.”

That didn’t faze him, either.  “I don’t see any ‘keep out’ signs.  Do you?”

“No, but… I still don’t think this is really part of the camp.”

“There’s nothing saying it’s not.”

“And you’re rationalizing the plum out of this,” she pointed out, although she didn’t stop him.  “What if we get in trouble?”

“That’s what Patrick said when he followed me into the basement catacomb in Shang Simla, but we never did.  We saw a lot of cool stuff.”



Orion and Patrick recounting the tale of their adventure in the secret basement at the Halls of the Lost Army was one of Iris’ fond memories from that trip.  It had been late, after their parents went to bed, while the four of them stayed up chatting before going to bed themselves.  “I remember.  It sounded so cool and I was jealous.  So was Chris.  We could’ve gone with you, but he followed me trying to find stuff down by the river, and we both missed out.  If we’d known you were going to do something like that, we’d have tagged along.”



“Well, now you’ve got another chance for an adventure.  Come on.  Let’s check this place out.”

“I can’t believe you’re actually doing this.  You’re usually such a goody-goody,” she giggled.

“It’s not like I don’t go exploring at home or haven’t done it before.  Ask Patrick sometime about when he found out I can pick locks with my powers, when we discovered the secret basement lab.”  He paused, and added, “And I’m not a goody-goody.”

Iris scoffed.  “Maybe not on the level of Saint Blair, but please.  As for the lab thing, that was eons ago.  I was still in nursery school and wouldn’t have even known if you guys hadn’t told me.  You also said Mom and Dad were steamed about it.”

“They got over it.”

“And you think they’ll get over this?”

“I think they won’t find out about it,” he said with a smirk.  “I’m not going to tell them.  Are you?”

“Of course not.  Now try the door.”



The door was also unlocked.  Orion was excited, but Iris was also relieved and nervous.  She had a feeling he might’ve tried a little telekinetic lock-picking if it had been, and that was harder to rationalize away as not really trespassing or breaking in.

“Awesome!  Let’s see what’s inside.”

“Now watch, it’ll just be some tool shed or something.”

“If it is, then I definitely don’t think anyone will care we were here.”  He stepped in and found the switch that turned the lights on.  “But nope.  Definitely not a shed.”

Iris came up behind him and peered over his shoulder to see what was inside.  “No,” she agreed.  “I think it’s an archaeology site.”



Back at camp, Orion and Iris weren’t the only ones awake.  After their lovemaking, Patrick and Maria snuggled up together on the air mattress, but only Patrick fell asleep.  Maria dozed a bit, but soon woke back up, restless and yearning.  For what, she was not sure, and would later not even remember.  But the feeling was there, and it was strong.

Outside, some voice, some thought, whispered and urged.

She came out of the tent.  No one was there to see it—Orion and Iris were inside the unmarked building behind the camp by then—but her eyes were brightly aglow, emphasized by the light of the full moon.

Her gaze turned upward.

So beautiful…

She took a few steps, entranced by it.  Captivated.

Come.  It seemed to call to her.  Come out.

Maria walked through the camp, eyes fixed on the moon, barefoot in the t-shirt and sweats she’d put on to sleep in.  The sand and rocks were harsh on her feet, but she never felt it.

Come out.  It was like the moon was speaking to her.  Come out!

Her pace quickened as she started down the footpath out of camp.

Come out to me, it called.  Come out to me and be free!



And with her heart pounding, blood pumping, and adrenaline racing, Maria ran out into the wild desert to answer.

[Magpie2012]

The bonus of going AWOL: I come back to dozens of chapters in all my favourite stories

The downside: I'm caught up and now have to wait for more chapters lol

Patria/Marick is an explosive ship! That's one combo that has the potential to end in a murder-suicide

Poor Orion... I can understand where Tara is coming from, but, really!!! He promised his folks, before he even got together with her, that he wouldn't tell ANYONE! Way to make this all about you, Tara!

Iris WTF girl?!? Definitely saw that ending badly, so no surprise there lol

Tadris eloping in Lucky Palms was perfect for them! Cheers to many wonderfully lucky years ahead!

I wonder whether Susan and Boyd will get back to Oasis Landing. Emit seems to be cutting it rather fine... Unless something they did poofed him out of existence??? Wasn't he a Wainwright descendant...

I love how Travis, the loner, the geeky nerd, is actually the one navigating romantic waters much smoother than the other, more "popular" kids lol 10 points to the Nerds!

And what to say about Cyclair??? They are still my favourite ship in this whole show! I'm going to bawl like a baby when the oldies (and the REALLY oldies... I'm looking at you Susoyd/Boysan... WIP lol) start to pass...

Sent from my SM-A605FN using Tapatalk

[Cheezey]

The bonus of going AWOL: I come back to dozens of chapters in all my favourite stories

The downside: I'm caught up and now have to wait for more chapters lol

Patria/Marick is an explosive ship! That's one combo that has the potential to end in a murder-suicide

  Hot-headed and diva don't play well together when they clash, that's for sure!

Poor Orion... I can understand where Tara is coming from, but, really!!! He promised his folks, before he even got together with her, that he wouldn't tell ANYONE! Way to make this all about you, Tara!

Iris WTF girl?!? Definitely saw that ending badly, so no surprise there lol

Those flirty sims just can't seem to stop getting themselves in trouble! It does make Iris fun to write, though.  Same with Tara and her unfortunate trio of socially awkward/inappropriate/neurotic traits. I'm not sure Orion would agree with me, though!

Tadris eloping in Lucky Palms was perfect for them! Cheers to many wonderfully lucky years ahead!

The game married them off very quickly. Tad's family-oriented trait seems to be pretty dominant in story progression.

I wonder whether Susan and Boyd will get back to Oasis Landing. Emit seems to be cutting it rather fine... Unless something they did poofed him out of existence??? Wasn't he a Wainwright descendant...

Emit would say he does everything just on time, but I'm sure it doesn't feel that way to them! Boyd and Susan are getting pretty old, but they're not all the way at the end of elder just yet.  He will turn up again, but not for a little while yet.

I love how Travis, the loner, the geeky nerd, is actually the one navigating romantic waters much smoother than the other, more "popular" kids lol 10 points to the Nerds!

He was lucky and found the right nerd to pair with! Though that could probably be said of his parents and grandparents as well.

And what to say about Cyclair??? They are still my favourite ship in this whole show! I'm going to bawl like a baby when the oldies (and the REALLY oldies... I'm looking at you Susoyd/Boysan... WIP lol) start to pass...

Like I said, Boyd and Susan aren't ready to kick off all that soon yet. I will cry when they go, too. I haven't played far enough to see who's going first yet, but I'm bracing myself for it, however Grim decides!

And I'm glad you're still enjoying old Blair and Cycl0n3, and the rest of the story! Thanks so much for reading and commenting!

Chapter 100

When Orion and Iris went inside the small building behind the Al Simhara base camp, they found themselves in a rough stone room containing relics, tools, and what looked like a crude station for taking notes.  There wasn’t a lot in there, but there were stairs in the back leading down.

“So if this is an archaeology site, did they build this place on top of some ancient tomb?”  Iris looked at a pot that someone had attempted to start reconstructing.

“Maybe.  They might’ve built this over or around the original site to protect it and use it as a sorting or work room.  But since it’s not locked and right next to the camp, it’s probably fine for people like us who’re staying there to go in.”

“Probably… but I’d still rather not explain it to security, or Mom and Dad.”  She made a face.  “Who wants to hear that lecture?”

“Not me.  I heard enough about the meteor to last at least until I’m Patrick’s age.”  Orion started down the stairs, and Iris snickered as she followed.

“I bet.  It seemed like they went on to you for hours.  Must’ve felt even longer actually getting it.  Your meteor was impressive, though.  I’m glad you actually are a goody-goody, otherwise I’d be worried about getting on your bad side,” she teased before they both froze upon seeing what was at the bottom of the stairs.



“Holy llama!  Is that a skeleton?!”

They went over to check it out.  “Yeah.”  Although neither had ever seen a sim’s remains up close before, they weren’t fazed.  All the Wainwright children were used to the grittier side of biology growing up with Boyd and Susan and their science and experiments.  “Travis will be sorry he missed this.  Think he’d say this guy has less of a life than Cycl0n3?”

“I don’t know.  That’s a tough call,” Iris replied with a grin.  “I’m tempted to go back and get him, but he’s even grouchier when you wake him up.”

“We can show him later if he wants to see it.  This guy’s obviously been here a while, so I doubt he’s going anywhere.”

Iris gestured to the wide door that led to the next room.  “Want to see what’s in there?”

“Hell yeah!”



Through the arch was a larger room with a grand door on the opposite side and a path to it inlaid in the floor tile.  There was a chest with ornate carvings on it in the center of the room, and a stone table and chair in the corner.  “Weird.  Like an underground foyer or something.  I wonder what’s in the chest?” Orion mused as he opened it.  Inside were two relics, a small bronze cup and what looked like a fossilized apple, and a piece of alabaster cut in the shape of a plumbob.  “Huh.  The plumbob symbolizes life in a lot of an ancient cultures.  I wonder if this was some kind of offering box.”

“Better not take anything, then.  You don’t want to bring the old ‘deadly dangerous’ curse down on you,” Iris warned jokingly.

“That can only be cast by a mummy, or were you not listening when Travis went on about it at the market earlier?”

“Guilty.  Sorry, not that the legends and stuff aren’t interesting, but when he gets into fanboy mode, and there’s a cute guy by the fountain checking me out…”  She paused as she spotted some golden coins on the floor and picked them up.  “Hey, do you think these are those ancient coins you need to get the fancy tent and rare stuff?”

“I don’t know, but they look pretty rare themselves, if you ask me.  I’d keep them.”

“Not like they were in a chest or anything,” she agreed as she pocketed them.  “They did say you could find them at sites like this.”

“If nothing else, they’re cool souvenirs.”  Orion smirked as he headed for the door.  “Though that’s funny you tuned out Travis mid-geek ramble to pick up guys here in Egypt.”



That door led to another hallway chamber, but the door beyond was locked by some hidden mechanism.  “Hey, cool!  I think this is another one of those puzzle rooms like in the catacombs in China.  Help me figure this out.”

“Sure.  But I don’t see what’s so funny about me checking out the hot guys looking at me,” Iris replied on a haughty note.  “This statue’s kind of in a weird spot.  See how it’s crooked?  I wonder if it has something on it, like a switch?”

Orion examined it with her, and then noticed an odd tile that had markings in a border like subtle markings on its base.  The tile it was askew over had different markings, and that was curious.  “Look at that.  Doesn’t it seem like this should be on that?  The base is almost the same size as that tile, and look at the carving pattern down here.”

Iris nodded.  “I see what you mean.  That tile looks, I don’t know, looser than the others, too.”

“Floor switch.  I bet if we move this over there…”  Orion pushed the statue, and while it was heavy, it was not too heavy or awkward to move if he was careful.  “Yeah.  I’m going to try that.  I think that’s what this is.”  He started pushing.  “As for why you checking out guys at the market was funny, it’s because Travis bored you so much that you needed a distraction, and you jumped to that instead of looking for a souvenir or postcard for poor Lester back home.”



When the statue slid onto the other tile, there was a clicking sound, but the door remained locked.  Curiously, though, the now-exposed tile beneath where the statue had been was now more obviously different than the others around it.  “Meeting guys here doesn’t mean I can’t still send Lester a postcard, you know.”  They examined the new tile.  “That’s the only statue in here.  Do you think they took whatever went on this one?  Or that it might’ve been broken or destroyed?”

“I don’t know.  But maybe we can try to trip it some other way.”  Orion knelt beside it and pushed down.  “There’s some give.  We should be able to make it work.  Try standing on it, while I try the door.”

Iris stepped onto the tile, and there was a groaning noise, but nothing else happened.  The door stayed locked.  “Hmm.”  She shifted, trying to trigger it, and it almost worked, but not quite.  “Anyway, Lester is fine.  It’s not like he’ll wither away and die without me over vacation.  We even chatted over messenger when I was in the tent.”

“Bet you didn’t mention your potential friends in the market, though,” Orion teased.

“Bet what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, much like Mom and Dad with us and this.  Besides, it’s not like we’re married or anything.  What’s wrong with meeting someone while I’m here and having some vacation fun with him, if we like each other?  It’s not like it’d turn into anything beyond that anyway.  Just a good time, a foreign fling, over when vacation is.”  The floor switch still wouldn’t budge, despite her leaning and twisting in all directions on it.  Frustrated, she hopped up and down.  “Come on, you stupid piece of—”

That did it, and there was a loud click followed by the sound of gears moving inside the locked door.  They exchanged proud looks, and Orion gave her a thumbs-up.  “You got it!”



“When you’re good, you’re good,” Iris replied with a victorious grin.  “And you know, you might want to chat up a local girl or two while you’re here.  Maybe you’ll meet someone you like.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?  A lighthearted desert romance might be just the thing to get you out of your funk.”

“A lighthearted fling that’s over as soon as vacation ends?  On the off chance I meet someone I like that also likes and accepts me, only to have a little time together before I never see her again?  No thanks.  Losing Tara hurt enough.”  He went through the now-open door, which revealed a hall leading to another room.

“It wouldn’t hurt the same because you’d know it’s not forever,” Iris pointed out as they walked down the hall together.  “You could even keep being friends long distance after.  They have SimBook and Plumchat and Simstagram here too, you know.  And maybe being with someone else, even for a little while, would get your mind off Tara.”

Orion sighed. “I know you’re trying to help, but I’m not like you.  It wouldn’t get my mind off of her.  It’d just remind me of what I used to have and don’t anymore.  It wouldn’t be fair to the girl, either.”

“She’d know going in what it was, too, so how’s that unfair?”

“Even so, what would be the point?”

“The point would be that you’d realize there are lots of other girls in the world besides Tara, and one of them might make you happy if you give her a chance.  And if you can meet one here, you can meet one back home, too.  So why not at least try?  Just talk to someone?”



Orion was glad they were at the next room; it saved him having to answer and he’d just as soon have that conversation over.  The chamber they found themselves in was the most interesting yet.  It looked like it had barely been touched in years, and he wondered if he and Iris were the first to figure out the floor switch puzzle mechanism to proceed that far.  At the head of the room was a prominently placed stone chest, similar to the one in the outer chamber, only larger and more ornately carved.  Two ancient swords hung above it.  “Wow!  I wonder what this place was?”

“I don’t know.  Some kind of temple, maybe?  It doesn’t look like a tomb.”  Iris peeked in the chest.  “Hey, more coins.”  She handed Orion some and pocketed the rest.  “There’s a scroll, too, but I think we should leave that.”

“I don’t think it’s a tomb, either.  There’s no sarcophagus or canopic jars,” Orion mused while Iris looked at the scroll.  It had some glyphs from an ancient language, but she couldn’t read it, so she put it back carefully so as not to damage it.

“There was the skeleton by the stairs, but maybe he was someone who got trapped down here later or something.”

“I don’t know, but,” Orion frowned as something caught his eye.  “Hey, come here.  Does this wall look weird to you?”

Iris joined him and looked it over.  “Yeah.  Like they put random seams in it.  Do you think those are old cracks they fixed or…?”

He finished her thought.  “A secret passage?”

“That would be so cool!”

Orion focused, using his abilities to try and sense beyond the wall.  “It’s hollow from here to about there.  Right along the odd cracks.”

Iris grinned.  “We were right!  Let’s try and get it open.  Do we push it, or is there a switch?”

“Let’s try pushing first.”  Orion leaned against the wall at what he guessed was the right spot and felt a little give.  “It’s moving.”

“Awesome!”



After some effort, Orion was able to push the hidden stone door a few inches, then its ancient mechanism kicked in and opened it the rest of the way.  They discovered a small chamber containing another stone chest and several pieces of ancient pottery that looked a breath away from crumbling to dust.

“Wow.  It must’ve been eons since anyone was in here.”

“I think so.”  Orion carefully brushed the dust off the chest and opened it.  “But how cool is it to be the first ones to see it?”

“What is in there?”  She peered in over his shoulder as he lifted the lid, and they were both excited to see an ornate marble and gold bust in the likeness of some long-dead pharaoh or priest.  “Whoa!  That’s cool.  I wonder who he was.”

“I don’t know, but let’s take it with us.  Mom and Dad will probably want to check it out.”

Iris snickered.  “And where exactly are you going to say you found it?”

“Here, of course.  Once I make sure we are actually allowed here like I’m pretty sure we are…”

She raised an eyebrow.  “And if turns out we’re not and we technically stole it?”

“I take pictures of it as a memento, then quietly slip it back in here tomorrow night before anyone realizes it’s gone.”

“And you say you’re not a goody-goody.”  She patted him on the back.  “You know how many people would just keep it anyway?”

“You saying you would?”

“I’m saying I’m glad that temptation is on you,” she replied slyly while Orion closed the chest.  “I’ve got enough of my own with the cute Al Simhara guys, after all.”



Finding that secret chamber and treasure was the last big thrill of their exploration.  The other door in the room only led to a stairwell that went to a different door in the room just outside the one at the bottom of the stairs.  They realized they saw that door the first time they were in there, but they mistook it for a carved wall panel since the other door was more obvious and prominent.  It was a handy shortcut for getting back out, though.

Iris checked the time on her phone and yawned.  Orion didn’t need sleep, but she hadn’t gotten any, and it was nearly dawn.  “Oh, I’m going to be so sorry in a few hours.  I’m not sure even the desert sun can save me.”

“Want a boost?  I’m pretty good on energy at the moment.”

“That’d be great, if you can spare it.”

“Sure.”  Orion focused and gave her a small bio-boost.  It drained him a little, but not more than breakfast and a twenty-minute meditation would fix, and it perked her back up.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.  But we should get back before everyone else gets up.  The easiest questions to avoid are the ones that never get asked.”

“Spoken like a real expert,” Iris said cheekily.  “Let’s go.”



Camp was quiet when they got back.  Travis was fast asleep and slept through them returning to the tent.  Iris decided to nap until everyone else got up, while Orion stashed the relic and coins they collected into one of his bags.  Afterward, he went back out to the picnic area and meditated.  The surrounding desert was peaceful and relaxing…

Until Patrick came out of his tent half an hour later, calling for Maria.  Orion snapped to alertness as his brother crossed the camp, looking around with increasing alarm.  “Maria?  Where are you?”

“Patrick?”

“Have you seen Maria?  She’s not in the tent.  Do you know if she’s in the bathroom or shower?”  He cast a worried look in that direction, and Orion couldn’t help but notice how much it made him resemble their father.

“Nobody’s been up or out that I saw.”  Orion tried to see if he could pick up on some telepathic sense of her, while Patrick ran to the bathroom.  The door was ajar, and it was obviously empty, and he came back even more agitated.

“She’s not there.”

“Maybe she just went for a walk or something.”

Patrick gave him a dubious look.  “Without her phone?  Without her shoes?  They’re all still in the tent.  I know, because she had me carry the heavy as plum bag that had all five way unnecessary pairs in them.  She’s not the pre-dawn fitness jog type anyway.”  He looked around again.  “Where the hell could she be?  Did the freaking aliens grab her again?”

Orion felt sick at that thought.  “No.  No, they promised they wouldn’t,” he said, but he couldn’t help but remember meeting the alien in Shang Simla who clued him in that different Sixam crews working in different regions of Earth didn’t always communicate.  Still, he hadn’t seen any weird activity, and that would’ve jolted him out of meditation just like Patrick waking up did.  Orion had far more awareness around him while meditating than full humans did while asleep.



Boyd and Susan were about slept out, and between that and the rough accommodations making it hard to sleep deeply, they heard the commotion and came out.  “Is everything okay?”

“Maria’s missing.  She’s not anywhere in camp,” Patrick answered his mother, while she and Boyd exchanged alarmed looks.

“He was asking me if I saw her, but I haven’t,” Orion added.

“Have you been out here all night?” Boyd asked Orion before turning to Patrick.  “When did you last see her?”

“I was here most of it, but I did go for a walk.  I didn’t see her, though.”

“I haven’t seen her since we went to sleep!  Hours ago.”  Patrick looked at Orion.  “Can you sense her at all?  Anything?”

“I’ll try.”  Orion closed his eyes and focused again, concentrating as hard as he could, while Boyd and Susan looked around the perimeter of the camp and Patrick paced in the sand.

“I swear, if anyone hurt her, I’ll—”



That turned out to be unnecessary.  Just as Orion sensed a hint of someone disoriented and confused that wasn’t Patrick or his parents, Boyd called out.  “Hey, is that her?  I don’t have my glasses…”

They all looked over and sure enough, there was Maria, walking dazedly back into camp, barefoot in her sleeping clothes.



“Baby!  Oh, my Watcher!  There you are!”  Patrick ran over and hugged her tightly.  “Are you okay?  Where have you been?  I woke up and couldn’t find you, and I was so worried.”

“I… I don’t know.”

He eyed her with concern.  “You don’t know?  You mean you don’t remember?  Oh, plum, if those llama aliens took you again—”

“No.  They didn’t.”  Maria tried to clear her head and gather her thoughts.  “I’m not really sure what happened, and I don’t remember it all, but it wasn’t like that.  I wasn’t… nobody abducted me.”



“Then what happened?  Where’d you go?”  He looked at her feet.  “You don’t even have shoes on.  Your feet are all scratched to plum.”

She winced and looked down.  “Yeah.  They’re pretty sore.”

“Maria, are you all right?”  Susan, Boyd, and Orion were also worried.  Although she looked fine other than her sore feet, she still seemed rather out of it.

“You should be careful going out in the wild barefoot,” Boyd added.  “There are all sorts of things you don’t want to step on or bite you, even out here where it should be hot and dry enough that nothing would want to live.”



“I just took a walk.  I… it was weird.  I couldn’t sleep, so I went out get some air.  It felt stale in the tent.  And I stared up at the moon and, I don’t know.  Just started walking, I guess.  Somehow, I… I ended up way out there.  I hardly even remember going or why I went.  I just did.”  It was clear she was just as confused by it as they were.  “I mean, unlike the time with the aliens, where I didn’t remember anything and it was just blank, this time I—I remember walking around.  All over.  Kind of running sometimes.  I don’t even know what I was running after.  But I went and just… went.  I don’t know why.”  Her voice became shaky as she realized just how out of it she must’ve been, and it frightened her.  “Then I just came back, and… here I am.”  She frowned anxiously.  “That really sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”



Susan tried to reassure her.  “It sounds like you might’ve had an anxiety dream in a half-asleep state, and you sleepwalked as part of it.”

“Or maybe Sixam’s memory replacement tech has gotten better, and whoever’s out here doesn’t care what Eni Jish Xip promises us,” Boyd muttered under his breath, but Susan elbowed him.  Maria didn’t need to hear that, even if it was possible.

“Try not to worry about it, sweetie.  Anyone could have a bad night’s sleep in these cave sim accommodations.  Let’s get some salve on your feet and get you cleaned up and have some breakfast.  You’re going to want comfortable socks and shoes.”

“Also make sure you didn’t get bitten or stung by anything,” Boyd added.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Maria,” Orion said.  “I’ll go make us all some coffee.”



Patrick squeezed Maria’s hand.  “I’m just glad you’re all right.  I love you.  I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to you.”

“I’m fine.  It’s probably like your mom said, a stress dream and sleepwalking.”  She wanted to believe that, but something about it nagged at her, especially as parts of the dream came back to her.  Running.  Crazed.  Screaming.  How stressed was she?  How out of control?  She kept that to herself, though, and tried not to think about it.  It was just a dream.  Let it go.

“Maybe you should wear slippers to bed in case this happens again, and I sleep through it and can’t wake you up in time.”  He traced a finger down her cheek affectionately.  “Hate that you hurt your feet, even if I’m glad nothing worse happened.”

The others started to wake up, and Iris came out of the tent to see what was going on.  Boyd told her the quick version, then paused as something occurred to him.  “Oh, Maria!  If any of those scratches start to look too red or throb, let us know.  I forgot, there’s a poisonous plant in this area, kind of rare, but if you get cut by it and it infects you, it can get real bad if you don’t treat it!  I’d hate to see you lose a toe…”

“Dad!” Iris exclaimed, while Patrick groaned.

“We’ll check her feet.  She’ll be fine.”

“Okay.  Sorry.  I didn’t mean to scare you.  I just worry…”

Iris gently nudged him toward the picnic area.  “Come on, Dad.  Let’s get you some coffee and not scare poor Maria to death over doom shrubs.”

“I’ll keep an eye on it, Boyd,” Maria promised, while Patrick smooched her on the cheek.

“He does mean well, even when he’s a pain in the plumbob.”

“I know.  I appreciate it.”

“Come on.  Let’s get dressed.  I’ll give your feet a good rubdown while we bandage them.”

“Well, I certainly can’t say no to that,” Maria replied sweetly, and went with him to the tent.



Once everyone was up, ate, and got dressed, they went out to their first site.  Blair left for her mission shortly after Maria returned to camp, but she was the only one who had to miss out on the trip to see the Great Sphinx.  It was impressive enough from a distance, but up close, the ancient monument was even more awe-inspiring.

“No wonder this is considered one of the wonders of the world,” Susan murmured as they approached.  “Pictures don’t do it justice.”

“Imagine what it took to build this.  The skill to design and direct laborers to build it…” Patrick remarked.

“Not to mention build it to last so long, to withstand the ravages of time,” said Boyd.  “What an architectural feat!”

Cycl0n3 took a picture.  “Yeah.  Here we are at an ancient monument of a giant mythical hybrid cat, and Chris couldn’t be here to see it.”  He messaged his photo to him and Blair both with the message “The Great Sphinx: Even bigger than Diddy’s ego and butt.  Also decidedly more dignified.”



Chris responded with a laughing gif and message informing him that Diddy was highly insulted and would now expect him to bring back a cat toy or snack worthy of the Sphinx itself as an apology, but that the picture was cool, and he wished he could’ve been there too.

As Cycl0n3 narrated Chris’ response to the rest of them, Travis ran his hand over the glyphs on the heavy stone door to the interior.  “I’d love to go inside and see what’s in there.  I can’t believe they’re not doing tours today.”

“Yeah, and no one’s even around to slip a few ancient coins to so we could get in anyway,” Iris said, also disappointed.

“Mom’s taught you well, huh?” Cycl0n3 joked.

“Very funny,” Susan said, and turned to Iris with a raised eyebrow.  “Though I’m curious as to where you might’ve come by such, considering this is our first site and your father and I don’t even have any yet.”

Patrick looked from Iris to Orion, amused.  “Oh, I’ve got a guess.”

“As do I,” Boyd remarked, also looking at Orion.

He shrugged, not denying anything.  “I told you I went for a walk last night.  I found some.”

“Uh-huh.”

“He gave me a couple, because that’s what nice big brothers do,” Iris said, then cast a wry look at Patrick.  “Take notes.”

“Hah.  I never said I was the nice one.  I’m the cool one.  Besides, my dear wife gets first dibs on shiny things I might find.  It’s somewhere in the rules.”

“And you need to know those when you’re married, or you’re in for it, believe me!” Cycl0n3 quipped before adding, “Right, Boyd?  You’ve got almost as many years experience at that as this monument is old.”

Before Boyd or Susan could respond, Travis chimed in.  “Well, Patrick, I’ll agree you’re the cool uncle, since he didn’t share with me.”  He turned to Orion with a gleam in his eyes and leaned on the stone door.  “Though a change in my opinion could be bought.”

“You truly are your father’s son,” Patrick retorted.



Travis was about to make a witty comeback when he leaned just a tad too heavily on the right spot on the ancient door, and it slid open.  “Holy llama on a plum stick!  Did I just do that?”

“Yes, and with language that’d make Saint Blair blush,” Iris joked.

“Way to go, Travis!” Maria cheered.  “And don’t worry.  We won’t tell her.”

“Not that she hasn’t heard worse,” said Cycl0n3.

“Probably from you,” Patrick said dryly, and Cycl0n3 snorted.

“You should talk, Captain Potty Mouth—which she does actually call you, by the way.  You work in profanity almost as well as you do in sheet music and oils.”

Susan cleared her throat.  “Well, it wasn’t part of the plan, but being that the door just happened to open… how about we step inside and take a little look around?”

“Absolutely!” Boyd agreed.  “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find some of those shiny ancient coins that appear on unexpected walks ourselves.”

Travis admired the glyphs on the walls and ceiling inside the arch as he led the way in.  The air inside was stale with a whiff of smoke, and hotter than one might expect, even for a stone monument in the middle of the desert.  “I can’t believe I got us into the Great Sphinx.  This is awesome…”

“Just be careful,” Boyd warned, only a step behind his grandson.  “Remember, we don’t have a tour guide familiar with the layout, and a lot of these monuments were sacred tombs full of—”



“—TRAPS!”  Boyd’s voice rose sharply and devolved into an unintelligible scream of panic when they walked into the entry chamber, and flames erupted from the floor in front of and beside them.



The heat was intense and almost choking, and everyone jumped back to the safe cluster of tiles they came in on, startled.

Boyd kept screaming.  “Oh, my Watcher!  Fire!  FIRE!  Oh, my Watcher, GET OUT!”

Iris instinctively leapt back toward the door.  The fiery heat made her plantsim skin itch with an innate sense of danger almost as raw and urgent as her father’s freak-out.

Maria was right beside her.  “Yeah, no, I don’t think we were supposed to be here,” she squealed, terrified, while Patrick backed up alongside her as well.

Orion stared at the fire traps, startled, but not afraid, while Susan grabbed Boyd’s arm.  “There aren’t any samples we need this badly.  Come on.  The ancient gods have spoken and told us to get the hell out.  We’re complying.”

Still hyper-ventilating, Boyd staggered back with Susan’s guidance while Cycl0n3 grabbed Travis, who was frozen in place gaping at the fire-lit chamber in a mixture of awe and terror.  “You heard her.  Let’s get the plum out of here!  My food mishap is the worst fire trap any of us should get hit with.”



That snapped him out of shock and into angry disappointment.  “This sucks!  A once in a lifetime chance to explore the Great Freaking Sphinx after I get the door open, literally down in flames! All because some ancient llama more paranoid than Grandpa had to rig it with fire to keep people out thousands of years after he’s dead anyway!  What a load of plum!”

“Not going to argue, but move it anyway!” Cycl0n3 ordered, more sharply that time. He looked over at Orion, who was closer than anyone else to the sprung traps.  “You too, Chief Engineer!  Get away from there!  Alien powers won’t keep you from getting barbecued.”

Iris winced.  “Come on, guys!  I can’t take this heat much longer.  I’ve got to get out.”

“Go!  Don’t wait!  We’re all going.”  Boyd was shaking as Susan put an arm around him to help him walk.

“Everyone!  Now!”

Iris ran out with the others following behind.  Before leaving, Travis took one last look around the flaming chamber, at the ancient walls and statues he could make out through the wall of fire, only able to imagine what might be beyond.  He muttered a final string of profanity under his breath as he followed his family out.  “It just freaking figures!  Something cool happens, and the universe takes a flaming dump on it.  Story of my freaking life.”


Author’s Note: Wow, this story is up to 100 chapters! For all of you that are still reading, thank you so much for following! I hope you enjoy it for the many more that are still to come.

[karlissa]

Wow 100 chapters, congratulations on writing that many amazing chapters.
I wonder if Patrick will be able to guess what's going on with Maria.

[Cheezey]

Wow 100 chapters, congratulations on writing that many amazing chapters.
I wonder if Patrick will be able to guess what's going on with Maria.

Thank you!

As for Patrick figuring it out, if he doesn't, sooner or later it will be too obvious to miss.


Author's Note: This is another long, image-heavy chapter, so I had to split it into two posts. Egypt is just so much fun!

Chapter 101

After their misadventure at the Great Sphinx and picking up a few geological samples around the perimeter of it, the Wainwright clan moved on to the other site on their agenda that day.  There were several pyramids in Al Simhara, but the great trio was the most famous and impressive site featuring them.  Although the largest one, the Great Pyramid, was the most popular for tours and had still yet to be fully explored and excavated, the one they had the permit to collect samples in and explore was the smaller Pyramid of the Wind.

“At least they’re expecting us, so hopefully there won’t be any ancient blowtorches at the door this time,” Patrick said as they arrived.

“Don’t even joke about that.  My nerves can’t take that again,” Boyd said with a shudder.



Orion raced up to the stone entrance.  “I want to see if I can open the door this time.  Let’s see if it worked the same as the Sphinx.”

“Shouldn’t that be Travis blundering into it, then?”

Travis was still bitter about the fire traps thwarting their chance to poke around in the Great Sphinx, and he didn’t appreciate his father’s remark.  “Shut up, Dad.”

Boyd tried not to be nervous as Orion triggered the door.  “Be careful, please.”

“I’m fine.  Like Patrick said, they know we’re going here today.  It’d be pretty rude of them to leave the ancient burglar alarm on.”

Cycl0n3 shrugged.  “It’s pretty rude to incinerate intruders, too, but that didn’t stop the ancient Al Simharans.  Not that I can blame them.  I’ve wanted to do similar to those annoying robo-callers and telemarketers.”



The door slid open, revealing a grand archway with decorated columns leading to a chamber inside.  “This is so cool!  We’re actually going into a pyramid.”  Orion led the way in while the others followed.  Maria was the last in, since she took a few extra pictures for her blog first.  She never got any of what they saw inside the Sphinx, but she supposed it was for the best that the fire traps distracted her into forgetting.  Posting photographic proof that they’d sort of maybe might have technically broken in wasn’t the wisest idea.



There were different arches leading to different chambers in the entry area, and Travis went through one while Orion and Iris went through another.  “Be careful in there!” Boyd warned with a note of exasperation.  He understood that the teenagers were excited, and he couldn’t blame them for wanting to explore, but hadn’t they learned anything from the Sphinx?

“I am, Grandpa!  Don’t worry.”

“Boyd, look.”  Susan waved him over to a chest she opened.  “I found us a bit of treasure.”

“Oh?  What’s in there?”

She held up some ancient coins.  “If these are what I think they are, a down payment on a better tent.  Or something else we might want before we leave.”

“Great!  And what’s this?”  He picked up a golden saucer with some ornate glyphs on it while Susan pocketed the coins.  “A relic?  Nice.  I wonder if it’s something ceremonial?”

“Let’s grab it.  I’m sure one of the archaeologists can identify it for us.”



“This room’s got a bunch of cool stuff in it,” Iris called out.  “Look at that sphinx statue over there!”

“Let’s go check it out,” said Orion.

Boyd started to mutter about staying together, and Patrick turned away from the carvings he was admiring to follow Orion and Iris.  “I’ll keep an eye on them, Dad.  You and Mom catch up when you finish your tomb raiding.”

“Sample collecting,” Susan corrected him, and he laughed.

“Sure.”

Maria followed Patrick into the adjoining chamber.  “This is so cool.  I can’t wait to write up our pyramid adventure!”



“Wow.  That sphinx is gorgeous.”  Maria and Patrick couldn’t help but admire the skill in the artwork, while Iris was just dazzled.

“That’s all gold, isn’t it?  Cool!”

“Yeah.”  Orion noticed a cave-in in the corner that had a pickaxe next to it.  “Hey, look.  I think I know why this is closed to everyone but the archaeologists and sample collectors.  Looks like they had a mishap over here.”

Patrick eyed it curiously.  “Partial wall collapse?  Maybe an earthquake?”

“I don’t know, but there’s another room on the other side.  Looks like they’ve been working to clear it,” Iris noted.

Orion picked up the pickaxe.  “Come on!  Let’s clear enough to crawl through and find out.”

Patrick and Maria exchanged looks.  Not only did that strike them as risky if something went wrong, but neither particularly relished the idea of climbing through an unstable rock pile or the prospect of getting grimy and sweaty hacking at rocks.  “Whoa!  Do you know if that’s even stable?  Don’t go getting yourself crushed.”

“It’s fine, Dad,” Orion replied with cheeky sarcasm.  “The walls around are all still sound.”

“Joke all you want, but I’m the one that’s going to hear it from him and Mom if you get hurt.”

Orion paused and focused on the rubble with his telekinetic abilities.  “It won’t fall on us.  It’s just debris that needs clearing.  Everything around it’s fine.  I think it was a separate thing that collapsed here.  Not part of the wall or floor.  So grab some rocks and help me move it already.”

Iris came over and started moving some of the loose stuff so he could work, while Patrick just shook his head.  “Nah, I’ll leave the manual labor to you.  You have fun with that.”

“Wuss.  I forgot, some of these rocks are heavier than a guitar or a keg.  Maybe I should take care of it.”

“Oh, shut up, you llama.”  Patrick made a sarcastic face back at him while Iris giggled, but he did move a few rocks anyway.



Susan, Boyd, Travis, and Cycl0n3 explored the other chamber off the entry room.  It didn’t have any grand statues or rubble piles, but it did have some low walls that once must’ve been used to divide or showcase something, and there were more carvings and glyphs in the columns.  “Looks like quite a bit’s been cleared out of here,” Susan mused.  “I wonder what it was.”

“Figures.  Someone beat us to the cool stuff.”  Travis sighed.

“Eh, I’m sure there are still a few secrets in here.  We just have to take a closer look.”  Boyd noticed a hole in the floor that at first might be mistaken for a drain, except that it had a raised ridge around it.  Curious, he knelt to examine it.

“What is that?” asked Susan.

“I don’t know.”  Boyd shined a flashlight inside it.  “There’s some kind of a switch in there.  Interesting.”

Susan watched as he reached in.  “And you’re going to flip it, aren’t you?”

“I’m studying the mechanism.”

Travis eyed him dubiously.  “What happened to all your freaking out about the traps?  Aren’t you worried it’s going to unleash some horrific doom on us?”

“Notice I said I’ll do it, not you.”  He closed his fingers around the switch and applied a bit of pressure.  It was old and obviously hadn’t been used in a very long time, but it appeared to be functional.

“Grandpa’s an expert, you see.  While he’d advise you against it, for him, this is a calculated risk, undertaken with care and precision.  For science.  Surely not a case of do as I say and not as I do.”

Boyd chose to let Susan’s ribbing pass without remark.  “I think I’ve got it.  Yup.”  The switch clicked into place, and they heard a creaking noise beneath the floor and to their left.  Boyd felt a cooler rush of air from a long-sealed spot behind the lever…



…that wasn’t just air.  He yanked his hand back as soon as he felt the crawling sensation and shrieked and flailed when his hand came out covered in newly freed bugs.  “Aaaaeeeaaack!  Off!  Off!”

Susan was startled at first, but once she saw he was fine, especially after his rather amusing dance to get all the bugs off, she struggled not to laugh.  “And this, kids, is why we wear gloves when we stick our hands into random ports in ancient tombs.  You didn’t get bit, did you?”

“I’m fine,” he grumbled, embarrassed.  “Just caught me off guard.”

“Well, you wanted to collect some insects while you were here,” Cycl0n3 joked.  “Not a bad start.  Too bad you let them get away.”

Travis watched the bugs scurry away with a grossed-out expression.  “Ick.  I’m definitely checking out any crevices in here flashlight first.”

“Yes, I’d recommend that.”  Boyd cleared his throat.  “Sometimes we veteran scientists get a little… complacent about proper safety procedure.  But that doesn’t mean you should.”

“In other words, be careful, and he’d rather you don’t share the details of that little mishap with the others, especially Orion, because they have enough trouble listening as it is,” added Susan.

“If you don’t mind,” Boyd agreed a bit sheepishly.  “But look!  I found a hidden staircase.”  He pointed to where the floor just finished sliding aside to reveal a stairwell leading downward.



Although Orion and Iris were preoccupied moving rocks and Maria was busy taking close-up pictures of the gold sphinx statue, Patrick overheard the yelp from the adjoining chamber and realized the others were closer than he thought.  “Hey!  Everyone okay in there?”

Cycl0n3 heard him and stepped through the arch.  “Yeah.  Something kind of ‘bugged’ your Dad, but he’s fine.”

“What, did he disturb a scarab nest or something?”

“Let’s just say it was a little exploratory probing gone wrong.”  Normally he’d have eagerly dished the details, but he respected and agreed with Boyd and Susan’s request to not encourage the kids to be reckless.  “You guys be careful in there.”  He heard the commotion by the rock pile and peeked over.  “What did you find?”

“That rock pile’s blocking a doorway, and Orion wants to know what’s behind it.  But it’s stable and safe.  We checked.”

Cycl0n3 smirked.  “Not helping, though, I see.  And here I thought you wanted a front man stage career.  Looks to me like you’re more cut out for a management job.”

“Ha.  Someone’s got to keep an eye on them so they don’t hurt themselves.”

“Sounds like typical llama load management talk to me!  Not that I blame you.  I’d delegate away the rock-chopping, too.”  He overheard Boyd and Susan getting ready to go down the previously hidden staircase.  “Well, my team’s moving on.  You keep an eye on your kids, and I’ll keep an eye on the old ones in here.”

“Sure.  Though I’m not sure Travis would appreciate being lumped in with you guys on Sim Security.”

“Like he’s not a grumpy old man deep down in his soul anyway.”

“Okay, I can’t really argue that.”

“Later, Captain!  Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“That’s not much of a restriction.”

“In that case… don’t do anything Blair wouldn’t do.”

“Well, plum.  Now I can’t even swear.”  Patrick made a face.  “Since when did I become the responsible one?”

“Ah, growing up.  Sorry.  It happens to the best of us,” Cycl0n3 replied with a grin.  “See you later.”



Boyd and Susan had already gone down the stairs when Cycl0n3 got there, and Travis had just come back up.  “They found some pedestals with some relics on them.  Not much else down there, though, other than another a couple of those torch statues that lit up when they came down.  It’s a small chamber.  Grandma said she thought it might’ve once been an altar or something like that where they presented offerings.”

“Cool.  Where are you going?”

“To see what Patrick and them found.  That’s where you were, right?  What was in there?”

“A gold sphinx statue, more carvings, and Orion and Iris are clearing a rock pile that fell in front of a door to see where it goes.”  He smirked.  “You’ve got a young back.  They could probably use your help.”

He scoffed.  “Don’t they have four people already?  It’s probably done by now.”

It was Cycl0n3’s turn to scoff.  “Patrick’s playing middle manager and just as lazy as you are, and you don’t seriously think Maria risked breaking a nail lifting more than two pebbles, do you?”

“Letting them do the hard work if they want to isn’t lazy, it’s smart.  I’d do the same thing, and so would you.”

“I didn’t say he was stupid, son.  Now go find out if they found anything cool.”  He paused, then added, “And if it’s a sarcophagus, leave it shut.  I don’t want you kids cursed and you really don’t want to hear the lecture you’ll get if you narrowly avoid it.  From me, your mom, your grandma, and especially your grandpa, who’ll repeat it about forty more times than the rest of us combined.  I don’t want to hear that, either, so consider yourself disclaimed and warned.  Got it?”



“Yeah, Dad,” he agreed with a slight eye roll, and ran off to join them while Cycl0n3 went down the stairs.  The chamber was just like Travis described, and Cycl0n3 had to admit it felt cool to be standing in a hidden room inside a pyramid.  “Nice work, Space.  Your close encounter with the bugs paid off.  What’s on the pedestals?”

Boyd showed him a stone talisman carved in the shape of a crescent moon.  “Check this out.  I’m pretty sure it’s a keystone of some sort, but there doesn’t seem to be anything in here that it goes to.  It might’ve been something upstairs that was removed at some point.  Still cool, though.”

“And this is a hand-carved turquoise star.”  Susan held up the relic.  “I don’t know how valuable it is, but it’s lovely regardless.”

“Cool!  You’re not off to a bad start, huh?  A few samples, discovering a secret room in an ancient pyramid, a couple of treasures to pocket… you do get to keep those, right?”

“We have a permit to keep the biological and geological samples, and relics of a certain value or less, yes,” Susan explained.  “Relics from a site like this have to be cleared through the archaeologists first, but unless they’ve got more historical significance than we realize, yes, most likely, these are ours.”

“We’ve got a little more leeway at the dig sites, but these pyramids are historic sites, so…”

Cycl0n3 nodded.  “I got you.”



“Where’s Travis?  Did he go off with the others?” asked Susan.

“Yup.  Guess us old geezers were cramping his style.”

“Ah.  Can’t really blame him.  We do move a bit slower,” said Boyd.  “I hope they’re staying out of trouble, though, and being careful.  And they don’t run into any traps…”

“Patrick said he’d keep an eye on them, honey.  They’ll be fine.”

“I know, I just…”

Susan patted him on the shoulder.  “Relax.  Think of it as him getting in a little more training for parenthood before our next grandbaby.”

Cycl0n3 raised an eyebrow.  “Grandbaby?  He and Maria have a kid on the way?”

“Not that they’ve told us, but at the breakfast bar this morning we overheard Maria telling Patrick she ordered prenatal vitamins and some health smoothie mix her mother recommended that should be there when they get home.  So they either suspect she’s pregnant, are trying, or they’re planning to start soon.”



“Hey, congrats!  That’s great!  Now it’ll be my chance to be the ‘cool uncle,’ and get their kid some toys that’ll drive you all nuts.”

Boyd chuckled.  “The chance of you being the cool anything is heavily debatable, but since I’m pretty far down that spectrum myself, I won’t throw stones.  That said, I hope Blair’s old Dr. Fart keychain finally gave up the ghost and can’t be passed on as a family heirloom.”

“Oh, that freaking thing,” Cycl0n3 groaned.  “I’ll admit it was funny in that I-feel-twelve kind of way and I get why Blair kept it as a novelty, but oh, plum on a stick, she gave that to Chris when he was eight.  EIGHT.  Do you know how many obnoxious farting sound effects I had to endure?”

Both Boyd and Susan couldn’t help but laugh.  “I feel your pain.  We got it for her at ten… and regretted it.”

“Susan wished we could ‘accidentally’ back the car over it, but Blair loved it so much neither of us had the heart.  So, that thing’s still around and it works?”

“Yup.  It will never die.  Some evil twisted llama of a toy inventor made that thing near indestructible.  Chris eventually outgrew it, but never threw it out, and one day Travis found it in his old toys, and it came back to haunt me all over again.  Thankfully he finally outgrew it.”

“Does he still have it?” asked Susan.

“Nope.”  Cycl0n3 chuckled.  “I got that thing the plum out of my house.”

“What did you do with it?  Throw it out?”

“Of course not.  I did what any dad who wouldn’t throw out something that once meant so much to his wife and kids would do.  I gave it to Esme so she and Caleb could play with it.  Now Chris can enjoy it all over again, just like I did when he was eight.”

Boyd snickered while Susan smirked.  “And did he?”

“I think the text I got from Tad the next day saying, ‘Thank you SOOOOOO much for giving Esme the Dr. Fart’ followed by the poop emoji said it all.”



By the time Travis caught up to the others, Orion and Iris had the rock pile cleared enough to get through.  On the other side of the previously blocked arch was a small hall with a stone stairwell leading down.  “Nice job, Orion.  Maybe you found us a treasure chamber,” Maria remarked, admiring the glyphs on the walls.

“And if not, you got a good workout chopping those rocks.  Getting big muscles to impress the girls with,” Iris teased.

“They’d probably be more impressed with the treasure,” Travis said dryly.  “I know I would be.”

“Never would’ve pegged you for a gold-digger, being you’re already a trust fund grandson of ridiculously rich scientists,” Patrick remarked.

“Please, if I was a gold-digger, I wouldn’t be going out with Starla.  I’d be after one of the rich girls.  What I meant was that rare treasure, especially a relic that might have ancient mystical powers, would be a lot cooler and more impressive than some lunkhead who spends all day in a gym eating protein bars and pumping iron to look good in a speedo.”

Orion snorted as he started down the stairs.  “Today I learned I’m a speedo-wearing lunkhead that eats protein bars.”

“You know I didn’t mean you.  You’re not a gym bro.  Iris is the one who talked about going for muscle men anyway.  Not that Lester’s much of one.  He hates gym as much as I do.”

“He still knocked your plumbob down with a snowball, so you’ve got less room to talk,” Iris retorted.  “All I said was muscles are attractive.  Not that it was the be-all and end-all.  Heck, Lane’s got more of a dad bod than any of our dads, and I dated him.  Stop making it out like I’m shallow.”

“We know you’re not shallow, Iris,” Maria assured her, while Travis sighed as he followed them down the stairwell.

“I didn’t say that, either.  You’re not shallow.  Of questionable taste when it comes to Lester the Hipster, sure, but I know you actually like him.  Why is beyond me, but I know you do.”



The chamber they found was a small basement that looked like it was originally for storage.  There were carvings on the back wall and some broken columns, but the only other thing of note in there was a row of chests along the wall at the foot of the stairs.  The back of the chamber was empty.  “I wonder if something used to be back here but was taken out at some point,” mused Patrick.  “The space seems kind of wasted.”

“I don’t know.  We have no idea how long ago those rocks blocked the exit.  Maybe they took stuff out before the cave-in?” Maria wondered.

“They could’ve.”  Patrick caught a glint of gold by his feet.  “Hey, coins!  Sweet!”  He scooped them up and pocketed them.  “Guess I’ve still got my scouting eye even after not using it for a while.”

“Don’t tell Mom and Dad that, or they’ll send you out fishing and bug hunting and rock collecting,” Orion joked.

“I wouldn’t mind doing some of that while I’m here.  I like finding cool things.  I want to try looking at one of the dig sites.  Maybe I’ll even find something Maria likes.”

“That’s sweet of you, but please don’t give me any bugs.”

“Nah.  I was thinking more like pretty gold trinkets or precious stones for my precious,” he flirted playfully, while she giggled back and Travis rolled his eyes.

“So precious I could puke,” he muttered, much to the amusement of both Orion and Iris.



Orion stood in front of the chests.  “I know I’m not the only one wondering what’s in these.  Who wants to open one with me?”

“I’ll take one!” Iris volunteered, approaching the one closest to her while Travis did the same.

“I’m game.”

“Go for it, guys.  Good luck.  Oh, and watch out for scarabs,” Patrick said with a grin, and Travis snickered.

“Like Grandpa found out the hard way, you mean?”

Maria pulled out her camera.  “Let me get a picture of you guys opening these.  It’ll make a great dramatic shot.”  They waited until she gave the go-ahead, and then opened their chests.

Each of them found something neat.  Iris found an old platter with a picture of a cat etched into it in gold.  “Oh, wow!  Chris would love this.”

Orion found more coins and two bars of copper.  “Looks like I found the money cache.  What did you find, Travis?”

“Gems.”  He held up an alabaster carved in a sun shape, a smoky quartz carved in the shape of a heart, and a pear-cut emerald.

Maria photographed the loot while Patrick gave them a thumbs-up.  “Awesome!  Mom and Dad will definitely want to see those.  Bring them up with you.”

[Cheezey]

Elsewhere in the pyramid, Boyd, Susan, and Cycl0n3 left the secret basement they found and continued exploring.  They found another golden sphinx statue similar to the one the younger crew found.  “Gorgeous.  Imagine how this will look once the restoration crew cleans it up for display.”

“I’m guessing that’s one of the valuables that’s too valuable to keep.  Too bad.  It’d make one hell of an impressive lawn ornament,” Cycl0n3 remarked.

“That it would, although I wouldn’t want to try moving it anyway.”  Boyd’s back ached just at the thought.

Cycl0n3 noticed a hole in the wall that had a carved ridge around it.  “Hey, what’s this?  Isn’t that like the one you found on the floor in the other room?”

“Yes, it’s similar,” Boyd replied while Cycl0n3 shined a light in.

“No bugs.  Heh.  No switch in there, but there is something.  Kind of lumpy looking and brown, like burlap or canvas.”

“Make sure that’s not a snake before you go poking in there,” Susan warned, while Boyd shuddered at the thought.  In comparison to waking and being bitten by a deadly asp, the creepy-crawlies he encountered earlier weren’t nearly as bad.

Cycl0n3 shined the light in deeper and blew into the hole to see if anything reacted.  It rustled like fabric as opposed to an animal.  “No.  It’s not a snake or bug.  I’m going to see what it is.”  He reached in gingerly…



…and pulled out a small burlap satchel containing some ancient coins.  “Loot!  Sweet!”  He grinned.  “Rolled pretty well on that one, huh?”

“Looks like.  Congrats.  Now you’ve got some souvenirs of your own.”

“Maybe I can buy something cool with them off one of those shady brokers in the market.”

“If they’re too shady, you know Blair will probably frown on that.”

“Hence why I’ll broker such deals while she’s out working.  Besides, you wouldn’t rat me out, would you?”

“Depends on how well you behave.”

Cycl0n3 did an imitation of Darth Vader.  “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”



After they finished in the basement in the hall behind the rock pile, the teenagers, Patrick, and Maria explored the rest of the larger chamber and found another stairwell in the corner.  It felt steeper and darker, and as they descended, they wondered what they would discover.  It turned out to be something one might expect to find in an ancient tomb—a burial chamber.  Two statues lit up with flame as they approached, illuminating the area and revealing a large stone sarcophagus off to the right.  There was also a pile of rocks with a skeleton half-buried under them sticking out.

“Yikes.  Looks like his last day was a bad one,” Orion mused as they surveyed the scene, while Patrick noticed some more coins on the floor and picked them up.

Travis was excited.  “A sarcophagus!  This is so cool!  Think there’s a mummy in it?”

Iris gave him a dubious look and side-eyed the sarcophagus itself.  “You aren’t seriously thinking of opening it and finding out?”

The eerily gleeful smile on his face indicated that he in fact was, and Maria shook her head.  “Okay.  I’m all for exploring and discovering cool things, especially since I’m getting so many awesome pictures for my blog, but… you did hear what your grandparents said about that curse, right?”

“Seriously,” Patrick agreed.  “And not to be overly superstitious, but for someone who’s seen a metric plum-ton of monster movies, you should know that desecrating or disrespecting the resting places of the dead almost never turns out well and is generally a bad idea.”



“But is it really disrespecting him if we just pop it open for a peek?  We can even say, ‘Hey, you’re cool, and we’ve really enjoyed our tour of your final resting place.  Nice place you’ve got here!’  Cover our plumbobs.”

Patrick pointed to the skeleton.  “Did it occur to you that maybe that poor sucker did that, and that’s why he’s here with a foot of rubble over his skull?”

“There could be a million reasons that happened, though,” Orion pointed out.  “Maybe he was here when that quake or whatever happened that caused the rock pile upstairs.  Just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Iris looked at the skeleton.  “I do feel kind of bad for whoever that was.  The body in the sarcophagus got laid to rest, but this poor soul was just… laid out and left to rot.”

“I know what you mean,” Maria agreed.  “It feels like someone should put their bones in a resting position and say a prayer to the Watcher or something for them.  This being a tomb and all.”

“Well, if you want to hack away at another rock pile and lay him to rest, go for it,” Travis said with a shrug.  “Orion’s still got the pickaxe.”

“Yeah.  Here you go, if you want it.”  He handed it to her.

“Okay, sure.  I’ll do a good deed for the departed.  I was a Sim Scout, after all.”

“And here I’d heard your good girl Sim Scout days were long over,” Travis quipped.

Iris paused, pickaxe in the air.  “Just because I’m a plantsim doesn’t mean I won’t plant this somewhere the sun doesn’t shine if you don’t shut up.”

“Whoa!  I take it back.  Bad joke.  Sorry.”



“Nice work,” Travis said when Iris finished clearing the rocks enough to free the skeleton.  “Keep this up and you’ll be in better shape than,” he paused, and decided against ribbing her about Lester again.  Unlike his father, he did know when to quit.  “You’ll be as buff as Orion, I mean.”

“Thanks.”  They moved the remains around as gently as possible to what looked like a sleeping position, and she generated some floral petals to place around the bones in memoriam.  “Rest well, poor soul.  Hope this is better.”

Travis noticed some pieces at the bottom of the rubble pile that looked different from the rest.  “Hey, what’s that?”

“I don’t know.”  Iris knelt beside them and picked them up.  “They look like part of something else.  Weird.  We’ll keep them and ask Mom and Dad.”



While Iris was clearing rocks around the skeleton, Orion had been examining the sarcophagus.  His alien senses hadn’t picked up on anything alive or dangerous in it, and much like Travis, he wondered what a mummy looked like up close.  “Okay.  I know Travis and I aren’t the only ones curious about what might be in here, right?”

Patrick gave him a sharp look.  “I know I’m not the only one who heard Dad go on about the curse at camp.”

“I think it’s really a bad idea!” Maria exclaimed.  Something about the sarcophagus unsettled her.  She would have said that the whole room smelled like death to her, except that she wasn’t sure that was what death actually smelled like.  She’d never experienced it up close before, other than the skeleton at their feet, and it did sound rather cliché.  She also knew that at least one of them would have made a crack saying just that if she did say it, especially since they were in a tomb.  So instead, she just said, “We don’t even have weapons or anything, if something jumps out.”

“Well, we have the pickaxe,” Iris pointed out.

“Orion knows martial arts and has alien powers.  You think he can’t whoop a mummy’s plumbob?” Travis argued, and Patrick groaned.

“Oh, freaking hell, how many times do I have to say this?  Opening. Sarcophagus. Dumb. Idea.  How many stupid teenagers died in horror movies doing less?”

“Yeah, but we’re smart teenagers,” Orion replied with a grin.  “Three of us anyway.  You two are smart… not-so-olds.  Though if you keep going on like Dad…”

Patrick let out an exasperated breath.  “You know what?  Fine.  Open the freaking sarcophagus.  Unleash some demonic horror mummy.  But if you get cursed—”

“—Don’t come crying to you?”  Orion laughed, and both Iris and Travis laughed with him.

“Sorry,” Iris giggled, “but that totally is a dad statement.”

“Whatever.  Llamas.  Just be careful.”

“Please,” echoed Maria.

“Don’t worry.  Even if there is a mummy inside, I doubt it’s alive, much as that’d thrill Travis.  I’m pretty sure I’d be able to sense a consciousness if there was one there.  I don’t.”



“Well, I guess if he’s using the alien telepathy cheat, we have nothing to worry about, right?”

“I guess.”  Maria moved a little closer to Patrick, trying to ignore the way the hair on the back of her neck prickled when she looked at it with Orion right next to it.  “You’ll protect me if a big, bad mummy comes out, right?”

“Of course.  Though I don’t know what we could possibly have to fear with the brave Sim Fu Alien and his sidekick the Pickaxe Princess on the front lines.”  He squeezed her hand playfully.

“Hey!  What about me?”

Orion snickered.  “No offense, Travis, but if a monster gets through me, you probably ought to go hide behind one of them.”



He approached the sarcophagus.  “Okay.  Here goes.”  He frowned.  “Heavier than it looks.”

“Hopefully not because it’s holding an evil mummy in…” murmured Maria.

Travis was almost giddy.  “Am I terrible that I hope it is?”

“Only if you root for it and not Orion if one pops out,” retorted Iris.

Patrick took a few steps closer as Orion got it open.  “What do you see?”

“Nothing yet.”  He shoved harder.  “This thing weighs a ton.  But I’m getting it… there!”



The stone lid creaked open, and Orion got a glimpse of the interior.  The sarcophagus, not surprisingly, contained a mummy, laid to rest with clothing and linen that were still surprisingly intact considering the centuries that had passed since the burial.  What did surprise Orion, however, was that it moved.

At first he thought it was a bug, or a trick of the light.  But then he saw it.  Its arm shifted, then its leg.  Then he felt a surge of something in his consciousness, a sense of something awakening.  And it was not happy about it.

“Oh, plum!”

He leapt back, startled, and the stone lid slammed shut, knocking him off balance.  They all stared back at him, startled themselves, but Patrick was the one who spoke.  “Orion?”

“I… uh… something moved in there.”

“A bug?  Tell me it was a bug,” said Iris.

Orion shook his head.

Maria and Iris gasped, Travis’ eyes went wide as saucers, and Patrick let out a string of profanity that could’ve woken the dead if Orion hadn’t already done so, as the sarcophagus started to shake.  The stone lid slid open and a mummy staggered out, blocking the exit.



“We can’t get out!” Maria panicked, while Iris backed against the wall, almost tripping over the skeleton she’d laid to rest earlier.

Travis was both frightened and amazed.  It was by far the coolest thing he’d ever seen, yet terrifying knowing it was dangerous and Orion could be seriously hurt, or even killed, if it cursed him.  “Stay… stay still, Orion.  Maybe it won’t attack if you don’t move.”

Un-freaking-likely, Patrick thought, cursing their luck and hoping in the name of everything holy that they were going to make it out of there unscathed.

He was right, and Orion knew it as well.  The hostility radiating off the mummy was so powerful that he was pretty sure the others could feel it even without benefit of powers like his.  “No.”  The evil glow in its eyes as they met his made its intent clear.  He steeled himself for the inevitable…



…which happened a moment later.  The mummy lunged at him, and it was on.  Orion relied on his instincts and his martial arts training, since it all happened too fast for him to focus enough to bio-drain his adversary.  He was nowhere near as well practiced at that as martial arts anyway, and that he had learned defensive maneuvers in.  It was not an easy fight.  The mummy was slower in some ways than a human opponent, but it had an unnaturally long reach and didn’t fight with the same moves he was used to countering.  It couldn’t get hold of him or pin him long enough to do him damage, though, and Orion realized partway through the fight that he had a real shot at subduing it enough for them to get away.

Patrick was almost sick watching the fight.  It wasn’t that he didn’t think Orion was good—he knew he was—but he’d never fought anything undead and certainly not with such deadly consequences on the line.  “Kick that thing’s plumbob, Orion!” he yelled, shoving Maria behind him and lunging for the pickaxe.  He didn’t want to jump in and risk hitting Orion, but he’d never let that thing get near Maria, Iris, or Travis.

At first, Maria was terrified, but as Orion held his own, she relaxed a bit.  She saw him land a kick below the belt, making the mummy howl in pain and supernatural rage.  Whether he’d made that dishonorable shot on purpose or it was a happy accident, she wasn’t sure, but she was glad he did.  “Oh, my Watcher!  Yes!  You nailed him in the crotch!  Take that, mummy!”

“Yeah!  Go, Orion!” Iris cheered beside her.  “You show that undead llama!  No one messes with us!”

Travis shook his fist at it.  “That’s right, bandage-butt!  You’re going right back to whatever hell you came from!”



It was a tough fight, but Orion proved victorious.  With a final hard crack to the neck joint from behind, he knocked the mummy to the floor.  “Stay down!”  The mummy tried to rise again, but Orion slammed him back down.

“You killed that poor guy over there, didn’t you?  Yeah.  He did,” Orion announced.  “He whispered it into my head.  He has powers like mine.  He was trying to invade my thoughts, distract me.  He knocked a statue over him and crushed him.  Well, you’re not going to kill anyone else, and you’re sure as plum not killing me or my family!”

He narrowed his eyes.  He hadn’t done it before, but there was a first time for everything, and if anyone deserved it, it was the undead evil mummy.  “That plumbob kicking was a taste of human martial arts, but this is from my Sixam side, to make sure you don’t attack anyone ever again.”  Orion put his finger to his temple, concentrated, and latched onto the mummy’s energy.  Instead of feeding it, like when he boosted someone, he drew it into himself instead, pulling it away and draining the undead creature’s energy and essence.



It felt cold, dead, and toxic, and he grimaced with the effort.  He could feel the mummy’s unnatural rage and evil flowing into him, and while it energized him, it felt dark and twisted, and he wanted no part of it.  As soon as the mummy started to weaken and wither, Orion used that energy to lift and throw him back into the sarcophagus and slam the lid shut.  The mummy stayed inside that time, inert and dead once more.  Orion panted, exhausted, glad to be rid of both the mummy itself and the toxic supernatural energy.



Iris hugged him tightly.  “You did it!  I knew you could!  I mean, I was a little scared, but not too much.  You totally kicked that undead loser’s plumbob!”

“I’m glad you’re all right, Orion,” said Maria.  “That was really impressive.  I was scared.  I didn’t want to say anything before, but this place, this room especially, it just… I had a bad feeling about it.  I’m so glad it didn’t hurt you.”

Patrick put a hand on his shoulder.  “It didn’t, right?  I know you won, but I don’t know exactly how the mummy curse works.  Is it like a virus where it can still infect you if you’re scratched or something?”

“No,” Travis said.  “It’s a magic thing.  It casts a spell on you.  This one might’ve tried if it beat Orion down, but I don’t think it expected to lose.”  He grinned.  “Guess he never dealt with anyone who had alien powers before.”

Orion couldn’t help feeling a little proud of himself.  “It was actually more my martial arts than my powers.  All I really used of those was the bio drain to take him out at the end there.”  He winced.  “And that part was… not fun.  I’ve done little bio drains like when you guys let me test them on you while I was learning,” he looked at Patrick and Iris, “but nothing like that.  I don’t think I will again if I don’t have to.  Don’t know if the lore says this, Travis, but if that’s what black magic and dark energy feel like, I’m never screwing with any witchcraft or evil spells.  It’s worse than anything my so-called evil gnome ever radiated.”

“Wow.  I’m glad you’re okay, then,” Travis said.  “But that’s kind of cool you got to find out what it’s like, even if it was bad.  So that whole ‘dark side power’ thing in books and movies is really a thing?  Whoa.  That’s awesome!”  He patted him on the back.  “Also, after beating up a real live undead mummy, you’re now officially the cool uncle despite not giving me any coins.  Sorry, Patrick.”



“That’s all right.  As long as you agree I’m still way cooler than your parents, especially your dad, I won’t hold it against you.  Besides, along with that title, Orion here won another grand prize.”

“Oh?”

“Yup. You, our champion the Sim Fu Alien, Travis’ Cool Uncle and Scourge of the Undead, have won the esteemed privilege of being the one that gets to tell your epic tale of victory in all its glorious detail to Mom and Dad.”

His smile faded.  “I think I had better odds against the mummy.”

“Look on the bright side.  You lived, right?  And you defeated a mummy!” Travis said.

“Yeah, but now he faces a new challenge,” Iris teased, walking with them up the stairs in a shambling imitation of Orion’s vanquished foe.  “The curse of the never-ending lecture.”

[Cheezey]

Author's Note: This is another long one, both text and image heavy, so it's split into two posts.

Chapter 102

After they finished exploring the pyramid, it was late in the afternoon.  Orion held off on telling what happened until everything else was done, but he got it over with once the last sample was packed and they were on their way out.  They’d already planned to stop, relax, and get something to eat and drink at a local hangout before going back to camp, but once they told them about the mummy, all the teenagers, Patrick, and Maria heard the entire way there was how dangerous that was and how lucky they had been.  Boyd, Susan, and Cycl0n3 were glad no one got hurt, but none of them liked that they’d taken such a risk.  Even though it turned out fine, and it was an exciting story and a memorable once in a lifetime experience, Boyd especially couldn’t help but imagine what might have happened if Orion hadn’t won that fight.

“We don’t even know how to cure that curse, aside from the local legends about pleading to a statue deep in the Sphinx—the place that almost roasted us!—or sleeping for days in a rare blessed sarcophagus, like we can just find one of those anywhere.  Oh, and some say a snake’s kiss can do it if you charm it right, but I don’t think Patrick’s training snake has curative powers or that he’d know how to make it do that.  Most I’ve seen him do is get it to wiggle a little to the beat.”

“I know, but the important thing to remember is they’re fine.  At least they got enough of a scare to know to be more careful next time.”  She swirled the nectar in her glass.  “I think they learned their lesson.”

“It’d be nice if Orion would stop learning lessons that involve near-brushes with death or grievous bodily harm.  He might think he’s invincible, but he’s not.”  Boyd took a hard swallow of his nectar.

“Finding out his alien senses could miss a sleeping undead menace had to have been a wake-up call, even if he won’t admit it.”

“You’re more optimistic than I am.”



“Boyd, Travis is more optimistic than you when you get like this,” she said bluntly, then patted his arm.  “I get where you’re coming from.  I do, and I agree, to a point.  But unfortunately, the kids are always going to learn some things the hard way no matter what we say.  Be it Orion and his rebellious I’ll-do-what-I-want syndrome, Iris and her boyfriend juggling, Patrick and his yell first, drink later approach to ninety-nine percent of his problems, or even Blair insisting on doing dangerous police work in her golden years.”

Boyd wished she hadn’t reminded him of that, either.  “Speaking of which, she said she’d meet us here.  How long can it take to get here from wherever she was?  I hope she’s all right.”

“She’s fine, or she wouldn’t have texted us saying she was on her way.  Relax, honey.  Finish your nectar and go get that snack.  You’ll feel better with more than those nasty energy bars in your stomach.  Then try and relax and enjoy this oasis of civilization before we have to go back to Camp Cave Sim.”

“Heh.  Sounds like a Patrick solution to me.  Have a drink, eat something good, and party, for tonight we sleep on the floor.”

“Not quite what I meant, but in this case, not altogether bad advice, in moderation.  Except the floor sleeping part.”

“Maybe we found enough coins today to buy a cushy Sultan’s Air Mattress if not the whole Tabernacle.”

Susan laughed.  “If we were anywhere near the market, I’d check.”



Travis came to their table with a container of ice cream.  “Hey Grandma and Grandpa.  This was bigger than I thought, and I can’t finish it.  Do either of you want to share?”

“Ice cream doesn’t pair well with this type of nectar, so I’ll pass, but thanks anyway.  Maybe Grandpa will take you up on it.  I think I’ll get myself a refill, though.”

“Do any of the other kids want any?  Go ahead and ask them first.”

“Maria and Patrick are already splitting one, though I think she’s eating most of it.  But don’t tell her I said that because I don’t want her to get all huffy thinking I called her fat or whatever.  Orion’s playing foosball and it looks like Iris is trying to impress that guy.”  He rolled his eyes.  “I guess I could ask Dad if you don’t want it.  It’s pomegranate and cherry.  They don’t have this flavor back home.”

“I’ll give it a try.  Have a seat and pass me a spoon.”

“Sure.”  Travis joined them and Susan stood.

“Looks like I don’t need to pick you up a snack while I’m up, then.  Travis, why don’t you tell Grandpa about the stuff you found and get his mind off the mummy incident?”

Boyd took a bite of the ice cream.  It was sweet and creamy and hit the spot.  “Mmm.  We’ve got to get some local orchard samples to take back home.  So, I hear you found some gems?”

“In the rooms behind the rock pile.  An alabaster sun, an emerald, and a smoky quartz heart.  Patrick said you might let me keep some?”

“As long as the archaeologists clear it, sure.  Any in particular you want?”

“They’re all neat, but mostly I want the smoky quartz heart.  I think Starla’d like it.”

Despite how dour Travis could be, the bright look in his eyes when he mentioned the girl reminded Boyd of Blair and highlighted how much he resembled her.  “If they let us keep it, it’s yours.”

Travis smiled back at him.  “Thanks, Grandpa.”



Blair arrived a few minutes later, and Cycl0n3 greeted her at the door.  “Hey!  Look who made it.  How was your day?”

“Adventurous.  I made some progress and picked up a few things that might surprise Mom and Dad.  How about you?  You’re looking pretty spry after a day of adventuring.  I figured you’d be all tuckered out after exploring ancient monuments all day.”

“There was enough excitement to inject some adrenaline into me.”  He told her about how they almost got into the Great Sphinx only to have their plans “torched,” and then the pyramid exploration.  First he told her about Boyd getting covered in bugs and doing “dance moves that make Chris and Tad look graceful” to get them off, then his discovery of coins in the wall, and finished with the kids’ foolish disregard of “horror movie survival 101” and running face-first into a potential curse-carrying mummy.

“Wow!  That is quite an adventure!  I can’t believe our Chief Engineer found a mummy and beat the bandages off of him.”  She paused.  “Well, I can believe he’d poke into a sarcophagus, because he’s more like my parents than they’d ever admit and they’ve never come across a natural law they didn’t wonder if they could bend, either.  I am surprised that they, and you, actually believed that any of them wouldn’t try something like that given the chance, though.”

Cycl0n3 scoffed playfully.  “We don’t all have a sixth sense about misbehavior like you do, cop mom.  Silly me, I thought Patrick would keep those bozos in line.  I believe he tried, but it was probably like herding circus monkeys.  And I’d have probably blown off orders from my loudmouth big brother, if I had one, back when I was a teenager, too.”

“Considering you still blow them off from me half the time?  I’m sure you would,” she teased.

“Not half!  More like ten percent.”

“Ha.  I’ll give you forty, maybe thirty, if you count when I’m looking.”

“Okay, maybe more like twenty.  Twenty-five at most.”

“Right.  Well, I’ll pretend I bought that while you pretend it’s true, and you can get me something to eat and tell me more about the pyramid and loot you found.”



After they finished their shared tub of ice cream, Maria clutched at her belly.  “Ugh.  I ate that too fast.  Brain freeze and it’s kind of sitting… bleh.”

“Aw, I’m sorry.  Guess you were pretty hungry?”

“Ravenous.  I’ve been starving all day.  I had the energy bar at camp and another one while Orion was clearing the rocks, then that.”

Patrick smiled at her.  “Maybe it’s because you’re eating for two and don’t know it yet.”

“I don’t think it kicks in that quick.  We just started trying last night.”  She grimaced as her stomach turned.  “Neither does morning sickness.  Especially in the evening.”

“Want some coffee or tea?  Might help the brain freeze at least.”

“Some herbal tea would be nice.  Maybe it’s just because of all the walking and bending and stuff.  I probably burned more than normal, but I didn’t think I was that out of shape.  I even did yoga twice last month!  And my FitSim app says I get almost halfway to my ten thousand steps most days, but today,” she checked her phone, “Wow!  It said I did almost twice my goal.”

“There was your sleep-walk last night, too.  You probably craved the sugar because you didn’t sleep much and were out moving around.  Then you were on your feet all day today.  How are they doing, by the way?”

“Throbbing now that I’ve been off them a while.  The bandages and stuff helped, but…”

“We’ll change them when we get back.”  He stood and smooched her.  “But first, I’ll get you that tea.  Stay put and off those feet.  I want you to rest well tonight.”

She gave him a coy look.  “Does that mean you don’t want to try again for a baby tonight?”

“I didn’t say I wanted to go to sleep all that early.”



Orion was playing on the foosball table when a girl around his age came over.  “Would you like to play a game, or are you just practicing?”

“Sure, but I’m not very good at it, just to warn you.”

“I’m no expert, either.”  She smiled, but her eyes lingered on him with a look he’d long since gotten used to, the one of someone wondering why he looked like that without wanting to be rude by asking.  “You’re… not from around here?”

“You caught the Sim Nation accent, huh?” he replied on a light note.  “Though we don’t all sound like me.  That’s more to do with the green thing.”

She seemed relieved that he brought it up, which was why he had.  It was easier to get the awkwardness out of the way right off the bat when meeting someone new.  “I heard a Sim Nation scientist family was working with the archaeology crews this week, and they had plantsim kids.  Is that your family?”

“Yup.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”  She glanced over at Iris.  “She looks a lot like the pictures of plantsims I’ve seen.  Very beautiful.  Your sister?”

Orion nodded.  “Yes.  Her name’s Iris.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, you look a little different.  Are you another kind of plantsim?”

“I’m more of a hybrid.”  It was simplest to just leave it at that.  “My name’s Orion.  Orion Wainwright.  It’s nice to meet you.”

“Dunya Barakat.  It’s nice to meet you, too.”



Orion and Dunya played foosball and chatted.  She was nice, and Orion enjoyed talking to her.  Despite being from different parts of the world—way different, if one considered the alien part of himself—they had a few things in common.  Neither was good at foosball, so they traded jokes about how terrible they were at it, and she mentioned she was better at real sports.  “If it wasn’t on this stupid table, I could get it straight in that goal.  But the little ball doesn’t move like a real one.”

“Yeah, so I noticed.”  Orion had the thought that a little telekinetic shove on it would improve his score greatly, but that would be cheating, and he genuinely enjoyed it more not doing so.  The only time he’d be tempted would be if someone was talking a lot of plum and he wanted to make a point to shut them up—not that he’d done that to Patrick or Chris in a game of gnubb that often, or recently.  “So, are you on a team?”

“At school.  We practice a lot during the season, but I try to keep up off-season, too.  Also at the gym.  Only a few of my teammates bother to go along with me regularly then, though.”

“Oh, so you work out a lot?  Me too.”  He looked her over, but her outfit was too loose and long to show off any definition underneath, although it was clear she was slim and fit.  Iris would be so proud.  I just checked this girl out.

“I can tell.”

She smiled back at him in a way that struck him as flirtatious, which surprised him.  Orion was hardly a ladies’ sim, and his odd appearance was usually a mark against him when it came to romantic attention.  Even Tara, early on in their relationship, blundered through some left-handed compliments about his looks, and she loved him.  Maybe she still does, a little voice whispered, but he chose not to dwell on that.  Why depress himself?  Why not chat with the nice girl who seemed to like him?  How do you know she’s not just interested because you’re a rich foreign kid and thinks you’re easy to butter up because you’re ugly?  That thought felt like something Buddy might say, and he dismissed it, too.  She didn’t give off that vibe in casual conversation, and he’d probably never see her again after vacation anyway.  Again, why depress himself?

“You’re dressed like a Sim Nationer new to the desert heat.”

“Yeah, guess so,” he said, snapped out of his thoughts and back to the conversation.  “It’s winter back home.  Colder than it probably ever gets here.  We had five inches of snow on the ground when we left.”

She faux-shivered.  “I’m cold just thinking about it.  I’m not used to that at all.  I’ve lived here all my life and haven’t traveled much.”

“At least I’ll go home with a tan, right?  Or an ‘olive,’ anyway.”

Dunya laughed.  “Either way, I think it suits you.”

The flirtatious note was back in her voice, and Orion couldn’t help but be flattered.  “Thanks.”  He smiled back at her, wondering if he should compliment her back, but he couldn’t think of what to say that didn’t feel weird, forward, or awkward.  Then she then missed her shot and spun her failed rod in protest.

“Oof.  I’m so awful at this.  Do you ever play gnubb?”

“Sometimes.  I’m better at it than foosball.”

“They have a set outside.  Want to go out and play a game?”

“Sure.  Let’s go.”



After polishing off his ice cream with Boyd’s help—and a few dips from Susan’s spoon, despite her saying it didn’t pair well with the nectar—Travis noticed his mom arrived.  He caught up with her and Cycl0n3, excited.  “Hi, Mom!  Did Dad tell you about the mummy?”

Blair couldn’t help but laugh at how enthusiastic he was.  “Yes, he told me all about you guys being big dummies opening up a sarcophagus looking for mummies!” she admonished, although not angrily.  While she didn’t like that he’d taken such a foolish risk, he’d already gotten an earful from Cycl0n3 and they’d all gotten a long one from her parents.  Furthermore, Cycl0n3 had already informed Travis he was no longer allowed to go off without him, Blair, or one of his grandparents present in any more pyramids or tombs, since he “already disobeyed the Captain’s orders,” and obviously required an “admiral’s supervision.”

“Aw, Mom—”

“Don’t ‘aw, Mom’ me.  That was dangerous! You’re lucky you weren’t hurt, and that Orion knows his Sim Fu!  He’s lucky he wasn’t cursed, and so are you.  Don’t think for one second that just because it only fought him, it couldn’t have cursed you, or Iris or Patrick or Maria or all of you!”

“He’s the one who opened it, though.”

“With no small amount of encouragement from you, I’m sure,” Cycl0n3 interjected, and Blair agreed.

“Don’t even try to deny it.  I know you too well.”  She gave him a pointed look, then hugged him.  “I’m not mad at you, but it’s only because I know how Grandma and Grandpa, especially Grandpa, already lectured you all with the force of another ancient curse that I’m stopping at this.  I love you!  But you have to be safe and stay sensible.  You got that?”

Travis nodded.  “Yeah, Mom.”

“Good.”



Cycl0n3 looked at Blair.  “Well, now that the obligatory Mom Lecture is out of the way, let’s hear about your adventures, whatever of them you can disclose.”

“Yeah, did you run into any shady smugglers or bad llama thugs?”

“It wasn’t quite a Simdiana Jones movie, but there were some moments.”  She lowered her voice.  “I got shot at, but please, don’t tell Mom and Dad.  They worry enough already.”

“Whoa!  You’re all right, though?”

She patted her stomach.  “He missed, but I’ve got Kevlar under the shirt.  Never leave home without it.”

Cycl0n3 shook his head.  “You know, the old fogeys over there aren’t the only ones that worry.  You got shot at?”

“Oh, this guy was an awful shot.  Missed me by a mile.  I can’t tell you the details, but, ooh, I can say this much.  That highbrow intellectual artifact collector snob façade drops fast when they think you’re swindling them with some counterfeit ancient coins.”

“They shot at you for that?”  Travis was surprised.

“He told me he’s shot some for less, which was really stupid since he said that in front of a guy who turned out to be an undercover Al Simhara operative who then busted him.  For illegal artifact trading and his pot shot at ‘an innocent civilian.’”

Cycl0n3 lowered his voice.  “And do they still think you’re a… semi-innocent, counterfeit coin peddling civilian?”

“What else would I be?” she replied with a wink, and adopted a faux haughty old lady demeanor.  “And I’ll have you know, sir, I had no idea those coins were fake.  I was swindled!  I paid top simoleon for those.  The nice man in the market promised me they were real.  Oh, fiddlesticks!  I feel so foolish.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Travis played along.  “Dad got us some real ones today, anyway.”

“Did he?  Well, maybe he should buy me an ice cream and tell me all about it.  And then you can tell me all the gory details of your mummy adventure.”



“Only if you promise not to lecture even more.  I invoke double jeopardy.  I can’t be tried for the same crime twice.”

“Well… all right.  But I reserve the right to lecture you on any other dumb-doofusery you disclose that’s not directly related to it.”

“Deal,” Travis agreed.  “Dad?  Mom wants ice cream.”

“Son?  I think you still owe some community service for the original offense, so you can serve her.  Treat her out of your allowance.  Your dumb-doofusery, as she so eloquently put it, is at least in part why she needs to relax with an ice cream.”

“Oh, fine,” Travis agreed with a sigh, while Blair grinned.

“Oooh.  Dad’s in hard llama mode!  But I won’t complain about you teaching him a lesson that gets me free ice cream!”  She kissed his cheek.



Susan and Boyd got up after they were done with their refreshments.  “Did you see?  Blair made it just fine.  And you were worried.”

“I’m always worried.  You know that,” he said with a half-smile.  “I’m glad she’s here.  Hopefully she had a less adventurous day than some of us did.”

“Not so un-adventurous as to be unproductive, though.  We wouldn’t want her mission to flop.”

“No.  I hope it succeeds, with as little danger as possible.  Then maybe she’ll consider retiring having accomplished her dream.”

Susan looked over at her daughter.  “We can hope, but she does love her work.”

“Can’t imagine what workaholic she learned that from.”

“Oh, stop.  I’m not that driven anymore.”

“The plum you aren’t.  Our age, and you still hardly take a break.  Even on vacation.  I saw you checking in on your tablet earlier.”

“I just like to make sure things are going smoothly.”

“Uh-huh.  I half expect you to pop in from the other side and haunt the place from time to time after we’re gone, just to make sure the management hasn’t gone to plum without us there.”

“Nah.  I’m not that dedicated.  Not if the other side is an amazing paradise like some say.”  She met his eyes.  “Though I’m not ready to head there just yet.  I think I’ve got a few good years left, and there’s still life in me.”

“And while it draws breath, you’ll work hard.  I’ve been with you long enough to know that’s one of the universal constants.”

“Mmm.  Much like you over-worrying,” Susan teased back.  “Tell you what.  I’ll take a break when you just plain relax.”

“So, when we’re dead, then,” Boyd joked.  “And like you said, hopefully not for a little while yet.”



Iris was enjoying a cold water with pomegranate slices and cherries in it when a local boy her age greeted her.  “Welcome to Al Simhara.  Are you enjoying your visit here?”

“Thanks.  It’s that obvious I’m from out of town, huh?”

“No plantsims live around here.  You’re the first I’ve met.”  He gave her a charming smile.  “And very pretty, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

Iris beamed.  “Not at all.  Thank you.”  He wasn’t bad looking himself, with nice features and warm brown eyes whose color reminded her of roasted cocoa beans.  Just the thing to warm you up in winter, she mused, even though it was only winter back home and the opposite here in Al Simhara.  “My name’s Iris.  It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Zaki, and the pleasure’s all mine.  How long are you here for?”

“A little less than a week, most of the winter break from school.  We go back right before Snowflake Day.”  She paused.  “I guess you don’t celebrate that here, huh?  No snow.”

He chuckled.  “No.  It’s very rare.”

“Well, I’d happily send some of ours your way if I could.  I’m about done with it, for obvious reasons.  The intense sun here is so nice, even if it does dry me out.”



“We’ve got a nice community pool here, just put in last year.  Tourists are welcome.  I’d be glad to show it to you before you leave,” he offered on a flirtatious note, and she smiled back at him coyly.

“That sounds nice.  I’ll have to talk to my parents first, though.  They might worry about me going off with someone without them or one of my brothers around.  Even someone my own age.  You are my age, right?”

“I’m sixteen.”

“Close enough.  I love swimming, so, it’s a date, then!  Assuming I get parental approval, and it won’t get you into any trouble with the girls around here,” she teased.

“A gorgeous girl like you would be worth any trouble I got into. Especially since any boys from Sim Nation that might trouble me over taking you out are all the way over there,” he said smoothly, and Iris giggled.

“My, aren’t you a charmer?  Not a complaint, by the way.  It sounds fun.  Let me get your number so I can text you later.”

He pulled out his phone.  “Sure, but I hope we can chat for a while longer.  I don’t have to leave anytime soon,” he said as they exchanged numbers.

Iris saw her various family members were all still enjoying themselves and didn’t seem inclined to leave soon, either.  “Yeah, I’d love to.”



Iris and Zaki chatted over another drink—the fruity water was divine after the long day in the heat—and she learned that she had more in common with him than she initially thought.  Like her, he was an honors student, and very intelligent.  It turned out that he participated in something the Al Simhara school had that was like the school debate club back home, which Iris was also in.  They shared experiences and stories about that, mixed with flirtation, and Iris couldn’t help but find it attractive.  As much as she loved Lester and couldn’t resist their intense physical chemistry, the intellectual spark and connection with Zaki reminded her of the one she used to have with Lane, who could talk and enthuse about plants with her for hours.  She still missed that sometimes, even though things were over between them, there were times she wished she and Lester had a non-physical passion in common, too.

That made it even harder to resist flirting with Zaki, not that she tried terribly hard.  Like she told Orion, she and Lester weren’t married or anything, and he was all the way back in Sunset Valley.  What happened on vacation would stay on vacation, and if she had a little fling or something… no harm, no foul.  Especially if Lester never found out, and who’d tell him?  Orion and Travis might make comments just to rile her up, but Orion wouldn’t say or do anything to deliberately hurt her or Lester, and Travis didn’t like him anyway or care enough about her personal life to get involved.



At least not beyond said comments, which Travis was the first to graciously offer.  She was dancing with Zaki, and he snapped a picture on his phone as he passed by with a snarky grin on his face.  “Glad you’re having a good time.  Thought I’d get a few pictures of everyone cutting loose.  Some looser than others… those dance moves, I mean,” he finished before she could say anything.  “Have fun.  Don’t worry.  I won’t tag you if I post it.  Wouldn’t want to pester Lester,” he said glibly, and strolled off.

Iris made an irritated face in his direction, and Zaki raised an eyebrow.  “My annoying nephew,” she explained.  “Being a llama, like usual.  Just ignore him.  I always do.”

“Sure.  But now I’m wondering, who’s Lester?  Someone back in Sim Nation I’m not going to trouble myself over?”  His tone was confident, charming, and utterly unconcerned—all things Iris found very appealing in that moment.

“Something like that.” She twirled into his arms as the song changed to a slow tune.

[Cheezey]

While Iris romanced Zaki on the dance floor, Orion and Dunya enjoyed their game of gnubb as the sun set over the mountains, casting a rosy glow over the desert.  “You’re good at this.  You must play often,” Dunya commented when Orion scored another good shot.

“I played with my brother and sister and nephew a lot.”

“The ones inside?”

“Different nephew.  Travis isn’t much for games that aren’t video games, except maybe chess.  I meant my other nephew, Chris.  He’s older than me and in university right now.  My family’s got some weird age differences in it.  One of its more normal weirdnesses.  My older sister was already married and had him when I was born and adopted.  My parents were pretty old then.  Even older when Iris came along.  My other nephew, Travis, the one in there, he’s the youngest.”

“You’re lucky to have such a big family.  I’m an only child.  I never had brothers or sisters to play with as a kid.”  She tossed the baton.

“It didn’t feel all that lucky back when I was little and Patrick and Chris messed with me like older brothers do,” Orion told her.  “Though I usually got even later.  It’s nice sometimes, but there’s got to be some good things with being the only child, right?  No arguing or feeling like your parents treat you different than the others?”

“I suppose, but my parents can be a little over-protective because I’m the only one.  I tell them I can handle myself, but sometimes I think they think I’m made of glass.”



“Oh, I know how that is!  No one worries like my dad.”  Except maybe Tara’s dad.  And Tara. No, he wasn’t going to think about her, he decided as their game ended with him the victor once again.  “Yours are like that, too?”

“More like my mother overreacts to everything.  It’s nice when she’s enthusiastic or excited, but if something goes wrong, she just gets hysterical and unreasonable.  My dad’s not as bad, but he’s a real neat freak.”  She’d already started straightening up the gnubb board for the next round.  “See, I do this out of habit because if I didn’t at home, I’d hear about it.”

“Ha.  My dad’s the opposite.  We even have a robot maid he and Mom built that cleans our house so they don’t have to.”

“A robot maid?  Lucky you!  Can you send me one?  My list of chores just makes me the maid.”

“Wish I could, but Plumboptimus is a prototype.  Sorry.  If they ever do sell them, though, you’ll be the first I tell.”



“Thanks,” she said with a light laugh.  “Good game, by the way.  I don’t think I’ll be able to beat you no matter how many times I try, but I still had fun.”

“Oh, does that mean you have to go?”  Orion was disappointed.  He was having a good time, and his family were all still inside and presumably not ready to leave.

“Soon, unfortunately, but I can stay a little longer.”  She moved closer to him, her gaze lingering on him in the twilight.  “I’ve enjoyed hanging out with you.”

“Me too.  You’re really… really nice.”  He met her eyes for a meaningful moment.  “I like you.”



“I like you, too,” Dunya replied sweetly.  “I’ve never met anyone like you before.  And I don’t mean because you’re green or because you’re from Sim Nation.  You’re just so nice to talk to and fun to play games with and be around.  Even though we’re so different with where we’re from and what our families are like, I feel like we have a lot in common.”

“Yeah, I get what you’re saying.  I noticed that, too.  I think we could be… good friends.”  It was hard to say that last part, but it was honest.  It wasn’t that he wasn’t attracted to Dunya.  He was.  She was pretty, very pretty, with long flowing brown hair and lovely eyes and a sweet smile with lips that looked so soft to kiss.  But he was only there on vacation, and he didn’t want to let himself feel something knowing it would last no longer than a sweet treat of ice cream under the hot desert sun.  Maybe Iris could do that—well, no maybe about it, if her coming outside arm in arm with that guy she was flirting with inside was any indication—but he couldn’t.  Not knowing in his heart that he still wasn’t over Tara.

Dunya nodded.  “Yes.  Good friends.  I’m tempted to want more… but it wouldn’t be right.”



Before he could say anything, she continued.  “You see, as much as I like you, there’s this other guy.  He’s not my boyfriend anymore, but his name is Ali.  We had this awful fight and decided to just be friends, but… well, even though he said he was talking to some other girl online and said he didn’t care what I did anymore…”

“You still care,” Orion guessed, and she nodded.

“I wish I didn’t, but yes.  That’s nothing against you, though!  I really do like you.  I wish… you see, when I first met you and you were so nice and fun and easy to talk to, I forgot for a little while and started to think maybe…”

“Maybe something could happen?”  He smiled back at her.  “I know exactly how you feel.”

She seemed relieved.  “I feel like such a llama.  I know we were just having fun and there’s nothing wrong with that, but when I saw Zaki—that guy with your sister, he’s Ali’s brother—saw me with you, a part of me said, you know what, I’m going to have the time of my life tonight with this nice Orion guy from Sim Nation, and let him tell Ali that!  And it makes me feel terrible now, because the longer we hung out, the more I really liked you and it had nothing to do with that anymore.  Even knowing you’re just visiting here and probably won’t be in Al Simhara very long.  A part of me wanted to see… but just now, when I was thinking it’d be nice if we kissed, I realized I just couldn’t lead you on like that.  Maybe if things were different…”



Orion was more relieved than disappointed. Like her, he wasn’t in the right place inside for a real romance, either.  “No, I totally get it.  Believe it or not, I’ve got kind of the same situation, just without my ex’s brother here to report back.  She and I broke up shortly before I came here. Even though I had a lot of fun with you, and how nice it was meeting someone so pretty and smart who’s got things in common with me, when it started feeling like we might… connect more, I felt guilty.  I don’t want to hurt you, either.”



“One more thing we have in common, then.  Which should definitely make us friends, then, right?”

“Absolutely,” Orion agreed, and they hugged.

“I can’t stay much longer, but I’d love to meet up with you again before you go home.  Maybe we could have lunch in the marketplace or go on a tour together?”

“That’d be great.  Are you on SimBook or Plumchat?  I’ll add you.  That way we can keep in touch after I go back home.”

“I’m on both.  I’d like that.”  They pulled out their smartphones and added each other to the networks they were both on, and then she realized what time it was.  “Unfortunately, I have to go now.  My parents are expecting me.  I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Sure.  It was nice meeting you.”

“You too,” she replied with a cheerful wave before heading home.



Orion wasn’t willing to gamble on a foreign fling, but Iris rolled those dice.  Zaki was very intelligent—possibly the smartest guy she’d ever been interested in—and she loved how easily he could discuss something on a deep intellectual level.  He was a little dry and humorless and matter of fact, but she found that mildly endearing and entertaining, perhaps because it was such a stark contrast to Lester and his sarcastic art snobbery and disdain for the mainstream.  Lester wasn’t a dunce or anything, but he also wasn’t on Iris’ genius level intellectually.  That in and of itself wasn’t an issue, but she liked being able to have a deep and meaningful conversation with a guy about something other than their romantic connection.  Unfortunately, most of the things Lester was that knowledgeable about, she wasn’t into herself.

Zaki, on the other hand, knew a lot about astronomy and Iris enjoyed that topic.  As a kid, she’d spent time on the telescope during the warm weather evenings, while her parents and sometimes Orion would tell her about the stars and constellations and the myths behind them.  So when she mentioned how clear and beautiful the stars were in the desert, and he asked her if she’d like to go outside and look at them with him, she said yes.

The hangout was on the edge of the town on higher ground than the road below, and they could see much of the desert beyond.  When they came outside, Iris saw Orion playing gnubb with the girl he’d been playing foosball with.  Good for him, she thought, as Zaki led her to the opposite side of the building, where the view was spectacular with the Great Pyramid and one of the smaller ones lit up against the night sky.  They settled into the sand against the side of the building and admired it all together.



“This is really cool.  A much better view than from camp, that’s for sure.  Thanks for showing me.”

“No problem.  Going out to look at the stars with a beautiful girl is hardly a chore.”  He put his hand on hers.  “Especially when the starlight makes her look even prettier.”

She batted her eyelashes at him.  “Charmer.  And here I’d always heard we plantsims did best in the sun.”

The humor was lost on him, but the flirtation wasn’t, and he leaned closer.  “You don’t need the sun to shine.”

“No, maybe not,” she replied on a sultry note.  “Maybe just for the energy and… heat.”

“Well, if you’re getting a chill now that the sun’s set, perhaps I could warm you up.”  He stood and offered her a hand up.

She accepted and eyed him coyly.  “And how exactly would you do that?”

“Plantsims kiss like the rest of us, don’t they?  That always works for me.”



“Always?  Does that mean that you’ve warmed up lots of girls on cool desert nights?” she teased.  “I was hoping I was special.”

“Oh, you are special, make no mistake about that.  And I wouldn’t say lots.  A few.”  He smiled flirtatiously.  “None as beautiful as you.”

“Smart answer,” she replied sweetly. “In that case, let me give you a little something special first.”  She inhaled, and with a come-hither look in her eyes, blew out a soft floral breath from her lips that carried a sweet scent reminiscent of roses in the summer.

It was intoxicating, and Zaki couldn’t help but inhale deeply, letting its heady aroma overwhelm his senses.  He looked back at Iris with a fluttering heart and desire burning in his eyes.  She had learned by now just how powerful the flower kiss could be, and how delightful it could make a passionate moment for both her and whoever she was with.  Lane had been the first she’d given one to, and Lester enjoyed them as well.  She knew Zaki would, too, and what better setting for it than a romantic first kiss under the desert stars?



“You’re amazing,” Zaki whispered as he drew her into his arms.  His lips met hers, and everything else faded away in that moment—the desert, the stars, the sky, even the little magic gnome that popped up to peek in at what was going on in that remote corner of the lot.  There was nothing but the two of them, and their budding vacation romance.



Later, after the Wainwright clan returned to “Camp Cave Sim” as Susan dubbed it, Blair sat with Maria and Patrick at a campfire he built in the fire pit.  Now that Maria’s stomach felt better, they were roasting vegetables like Patrick learned in Sim Scouts as a kid, while Blair broke out the hot dogs.  “Adventuring sure works up an appetite, and all I ate at the hangout was ice cream.”

“I bet,” Patrick said.  “I heard you got shot at.  Glad you’re okay.”

“Yeah, that had to have been so scary,” Maria sympathized.

Blair glanced around, relieved that her parents weren’t in earshot.  “Who told you that?  Travis?  I told him to keep his yap shut so Mom and Dad wouldn’t worry.  But I’m fine.  It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.  I’ve been on this job a long time.  I just don’t mention stuff like that, for the reason I said before.”  She lowered her voice.  “So, please, don’t say anything.”

Patrick chuckled.  “Are you kidding?  I know how they are, and I already heard enough with Mummygate today.  I think if someone told them that, Dad might actually have a heart attack on the spot.”

“I wouldn’t joke about that.  You know how old he is.”  Blair glanced over at them, talking by their tent.

“I was only half joking.  I worry about them, too.”

“On a brighter note, Cycl0n3 told me he heard from them that you two might be bringing in a new cousin for Chris and Travis?”

Maria looked over at Patrick, who was equally surprised.  “What?  Did you tell them?”

“I didn’t say anything to anyone yet.”

“They guessed it,” Blair said.  “Overheard you talking about ordering prenatal vitamins.  They’re pretty excited.”

“I’m not pregnant yet that I know,” Maria told her.  “But hopefully soon.”

“Good luck, then.  I can’t wait to spoil little him or her!”



While Blair, Patrick, and Maria gathered at the fire, the teenagers chatted amongst themselves.  “So, Orion, how was your date with that girl?”

“Her name’s Dunya and it wasn’t a date.  We’re just friends.”

“So that’s why you were Plumchatting with her a few minutes ago?  A ‘friendly’ outing?” Iris teased.

“Well, isn’t that what you’re going to tell Lester you were on if he ends up seeing any of the pictures I promised not to tag you in?” Travis needled her.  “Because even though I didn’t, you know how it is when mutual friends can’t keep their traps shut, and Mom loves showing vacation pictures off.  She might show Rashida or Alfonso’s mom some of them.”

“If he asks, I’ll tell him the truth: we were dancing.  Big honking deal.”

Orion snickered.  “Yeah, it’s not like you got pictures of her making out with him behind the hangout.”  That was how they found her when it was time to leave.  Iris was just glad it was Orion who’d spotted her and gave her the heads up, rather than one of her parents or Blair or Cycl0n3 or Travis.  The first three would’ve just been embarrassing, but the last two would’ve made obnoxious or cringeworthy comments in front of Zaki on top of it.  Orion didn’t, but he couldn’t resist a little ribbing now that it was just them back at camp.

“You totally could’ve gotten the same with Dunya if you played your cards right, you know.  I saw how she was looking at you.”



“I told you, I’m not interested in playing that game on vacation.  If she lived in Sunset Valley, maybe, but she doesn’t.”

Iris shrugged.  “It’s your choice.  Do what makes you happy.  Speaking of which,” she turned to Travis, “Mom told me you asked if you could keep the smoky quartz heart to give to Starla.  I’m proud of you.  That’s pretty romantic for a dark grouchy soul like you.  You should surprise her by sending it from here with a love letter.  Just don’t write it on mummy-themed stationery or anything weird or creepy that’ll ruin the vibe.”

Travis wasn’t amused.  “You’re hilarious.  Oh, wait.  You’re not.  As for love letters, why don’t you send one to Lester?  You could tell him how you missed him so much you had to find someone else to express it with.”

“Even if I did, it’d still probably come out more romantic than ‘Whoa, babe.  You wouldn’t believe it.  I watched Orion kick a mummy’s plumbob today, even though I was too wimpy to do it myself.  Wish you were here.  Love, Travis.’”

“For someone calling me wimpy, you sure passed that pickaxe to Patrick pretty quick.”

“He’s bigger than me, and besides, no one thought he’d actually need to use it.  Because, let’s face it, if it came to that…”

“We’d all be screwed, yeah,” Travis agreed, and the three of them laughed together.



Cycl0n3 joined Blair, Patrick, and Maria by the fire pit and warmed himself.  “For all that blazing heat we feel all day here, these desert nights are chilly.  How did you not freeze on your sleepwalk last night, Maria?”

“I don’t know.  I guess I was too asleep to feel it.”  She wished he hadn’t brought it up.  She’d barely thought about it after the other excitement that day, but now she couldn’t help worrying it might happen again.

“That sounds really scary,” Blair said, concerned.  “Have you ever sleepwalked before?”

“Not that I know of.”  Unless you count the abduction, she thought, which she’d rather not think about, either.

“I’m going to keep her real close at night the rest of the time we’re here.  So it’ll wake me up if she wakes up.”

“Hope you have better luck than you did with the mummy-hunting trio over there,” Cycl0n3 quipped.  Patrick frowned, annoyed, while Blair swatted at the air in Cycl0n3’s direction with playful admonishment.

“Oh, shush.  He did his best, and you know full well how well they listen sometimes.  Though I’m glad you’re all okay, and the Chief Engineer didn’t get hurt fighting it.”  She turned to Maria.  “Hopefully you’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight and that was just a stress thing from being somewhere new in a strange camp.”  She looked at Patrick.  “And you, cuddle up to her nice and tight, not that I think you’ll mind that.”  She giggled.  “We all heard you last night.”

Cycl0n3 snorted, amused Blair brought that up, and at the embarrassed looks that flashed across Patrick and Maria’s faces.  “Us and the whole freaking camp, you mean.  Those luxury tents are nice, but they’re not soundproof.  Keep that in mind next time you beam each other up, Captain.”  He turned to warm his rear end over the fire.



Patrick didn’t appreciate that remark, either, or the view, and he threw his now empty skewer down.  “Fine.  Speaking of my tent, I’m going there now, since what you always talk out of has obliterated my nice desert view anyway.”

Maria finished the last bites off her skewer and set hers down as well.  “I’ll go with you.  I’m exhausted, and I want to get out of these sneakers and let my feet rest.  Good night, Blair.  Good night, Cycl0n3.”  She stood, yawned, and reached for Patrick’s hand.  “Come on, Paddy-cakes.”

Patrick froze.  No.  Maria hadn’t been tired enough to call him by her private pet name for him right in front of Blair and especially not Cycl0n3, had she?

The gleam in Blair’s eyes and the soft snicker that came from Cycl0n3 indicated otherwise.  Maria realized her mistake a moment too late and gave him a contrite look.

Plum.  Well, at least the teenagers didn’t hear, and maybe Blair and Cycl0n3 would be mature enough to let it go.  Okay, Cycl0n3 wouldn’t, but surely Blair…

“Good night,” Patrick said firmly in a don’t-you-dare tone.

“Nighty-night,” Blair replied cheerfully.

“Good night,” Cycl0n3 echoed, and Patrick breathed a sigh of relief on his way to the tent.  “Paddy-cakes,” he then added, loud enough that not only Blair, but all three teenagers heard as well.

Freaking llama!  Patrick fumed as Cycl0n3 and Blair both snickered, while Travis muttered something that made both Iris and Orion laugh, and Maria apologetically squeezed his hand again.  He refused to dignify anyone but Maria with a response, but as he entered the tent, he already knew what the joke would be around the breakfast bar tomorrow morning.



When they got back to camp, Boyd and Susan were content to just spend time together by themselves.  Neither was hungry and the desert views were nice.  They sat and enjoyed them together, then decided to call it a night.

“I’m glad you’re finally feeling better and were able to relax some.”

“Thanks.  I always tell you being with you helps, even if it doesn’t seem like it sometimes.”

“Good.  Vacation’s supposed to be relaxing, even when it’s work-related.”

“All our vacations end up being work-related.  Shang Simla was a work trip with some vacation thrown in, and Champs Les Sims was a different sort of business trip.  You went for your chess grandmaster title, but we still came home with plenty of samples for the lab.  Heck, we even did that way back when we went to Isla Paradiso, remember?  Collecting shells and studying the local marine biology, and we even took that fishing class we wrote off as a continuing education work expense.”

“Back when we were just corporate scientist peons, before Patrick was even born,” Susan mused.  “Such a long time ago now.  But it was a lot of fun, and I’d sure love to be staying somewhere like that resort in Isla Paradiso instead of Camp Cave Sim here.”

“Not to mention, compared to Orion engaging murderous undead and monuments trying to roast us alive, taking a marine fishing class is downright low key.”

“Yet you still want to go fishing for crocodiles and mummy fish before we leave.”

“Iris wants to come, too, and Patrick said he might fish with us, but I know you won’t.  You hate that fish gut smell.”

“I’ll admire your catches when you’re done.  Might even give you a kiss after you shower the smell away,” she teased.

“Was that a hint?  Do I smell like old smoky tomb and desert dust now?  Sorry.  I didn’t notice.”

“No more than me, and not that bad.  I’ll let you slide until morning.”  She embraced him, and he held her close.  “Let’s call it a night.  Spend some more time, just the two of us, before we go out again tomorrow with the kids running around from pillar to post ticking things off our to-do list.”

“Couldn’t agree more, honey.”  Boyd followed her into their tent.

[mpart]

Wow, these past few chapters have been amazing! I'm kind of excited for everyone to find out that Maria is a werewolf. Especially since Patrick and her will be having a kid of their own soon. I get a feeling Iris's vacation romance is going to backfire on her. I wonder if she's going to have the Heartbreaker Lifetime Wish when she ages up? Also, poor Orion. I hope Tara takes him back. He's such a sweetheart.

[Cheezey]

Wow, these past few chapters have been amazing! I'm kind of excited for everyone to find out that Maria is a werewolf. Especially since Patrick and her will be having a kid of their own soon. I get a feeling Iris's vacation romance is going to backfire on her. I wonder if she's going to have the Heartbreaker Lifetime Wish when she ages up? Also, poor Orion. I hope Tara takes him back. He's such a sweetheart.

Thank you! I'm glad you've been enjoying them.

Poor Patrick has no idea what he's in for if both his wife and kid turn out to be werewolves. He's already got a bit of a complex being one of the only "normal" Wainwrights and the only one in the main household. (He doesn't consider his parents as anywhere near normal, even if we would, haha.)

As for Iris, you may be right.  Juggling romances is certainly hard to pull off without getting in a little hot water!


Author's Note: Since I wanted to wrap up the Egypt trip in this chapter, it's very image heavy, so I split it into two posts.

Chapter 103

Dear Starla,

Here’s the stuff from Egypt I told you I sent you.  Wasn’t the sarcophagus envelope cool?  I hope you like the mummified bandage covered pen and pyramid notepad.  The postcards were the coolest ones the shops had.  Three have better pictures of places we went than any of us could get, and the other one was just funny.  (As you saw, I wrote on them, too.)  No mummies other than the pen, though.  That’d be a llama to get through customs!  Not that I wouldn’t put it past Grandma and Grandpa to try, except they’re still mad about us setting that one loose, even though Orion kicked its plumbob.

Iris said I should stick a love letter in this, but I don’t know if this counts.  You know I suck at saying that kind of stuff, and it’s even weirder trying to write it down.  But I do miss you.  It sucks you couldn’t be here.

This is our last night here and this is going out in tomorrow’s mail right before we leave.  They got the last of the loot packed and now everyone’s chilling out.  We got so many cool relics, and I even got to keep a couple.  I also got something for you I’m bringing and not mailing, but you’ll have that by the time you read this.

I already told you about some of the trip on messenger, but there’s some stuff from the last few days I’ll write out here since there’s not much else to do with no TV at Camp Cave Sim, and my phone and tablet are both almost dead.  This crappy camp only has a couple of outlets and Maria and Grandma are hogging them.  I’d steal Maria’s plug, but she’d just whine and I don’t want to hear it, and I know better than to mess with Grandma’s.



One of the postcards is from the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut.  It was a better picture than any we could get of it.  We went there the day after the Sphinx and mummy.  Mom was even able to come with us for a little while.  She was going to tour it with us, but got called with a tip and had to go right when the tour started.  At least she got to see some of it.

It was really big and a lot of it was outdoors.  There were cool views of the desert from the top level, and Maria used the new camera Patrick got her to take some panoramic pics for her blog.  I’ll send you the link when she posts it.  Maybe you’ve seen it already by the time you read this.



The part inside open to the public was a lot smaller, but still cool.  That place was one of Iris and Maria’s favorites because of the historical love story around it.  Queen Hatshepsut had a secret (badly kept I guess) affair and another hideaway somewhere in the village of Al Simhara where they’d hook up, but no one’s sure where it is.  I got the impression that was a llama load they tell tourists and they do know where it is, but it’s probably owned by some important Al Simharans that don’t want tourists tromping all over their property.  I’d laugh if it turned out to be Iris’ Egyptian boyfriend’s family, though, since her thing with him here is about as well kept a secret as the ancient queen’s.



After that, we went to the Pyramid of the Sky.  This wasn’t one of the Great Trio, but a tomb built in an oasis called Water in the Sand.  They said the pharaoh it was built for loved this part of the desert so much he wanted to rest there forever.  It had a big pond, especially for the desert, and supposedly there’s a lot of water underground, too.  The ancient Al Simharans used it to fill the pool out front and the pools inside when they built it.  Yup, it has pools inside!



It was the nicest and best preserved of the pyramids we got inside to see. (We never got to go in the Great Pyramid which sucks!!!)  A lot of it wasn’t open for tours, but the main room with the pools was.  Ancient gold statues, sparkling pools, carvings and marble everywhere.  Patrick practically ran in when the doors opened.  Either he was really excited, or he wanted the plum out of the heat.  Or both.  It was really hot out.



I wish we could’ve seen more, but they were doing renovation in the chambers off the main one.  One of the pools in one had bad bricks and made the floor unstable, and on the other side there were old traps that I guess some tourist found by accident and got hurt, so now it’s closed until a government inspection says its safe.  Figures some dumb llama had to ruin it for everyone.  Between that and the Sphinx, it feels kind of personal, but it was still a really cool pyramid.  Maybe if someday we can go back, we can see it all together.



Grandma and Grandpa had a permit to dig for relics and collect samples at the Pyramid of the Sky oasis, so after the tour we did that.  Patrick and Orion helped Grandma dig, and Maria took pictures of stuff they found.  The coolest thing was a gold figurine.  Dad and I also looked around, but we only found some ancient coins, and Dad found garbage.  Dumb llama litterers.  They suck.



Grandpa and Iris went fishing in the pond while we were looking for stuff.



He said it was one of the best places in Al Simhara to catch mummy fish.  I guess he was right, because he caught some.  They are really cool-looking!  Iris didn’t catch any, but she caught some fish that Grandpa used for bait to get the mummy fish.  She caught a couple of crocodiles, too.  They packed them and the mummy fish in some high-tech aquatic coolers that they can live in until they get shipped back home to the lab.

Grandpa couldn’t carry the coolers, so Orion and Patrick did while Iris and I got stuck lugging the heavy relics back to the van.  That sucked.  Dad claimed his back was almost as bad as Grandpa’s and Grandma said they were too heavy for her.  Maria said she felt faint and didn’t want to risk heat exhaustion or some llama load.  I called her on it and Patrick got on my case, but Grandma actually backed him up saying Maria probably shouldn’t lift heavy stuff right now.  Why, because she might break a nail?  She’s such a big baby sometimes.



After we packed up the samples and relics, we went to Abu Simbel since it wasn’t far from there.  I sent you a postcard of that.  It’s a shot taken from the air because like Queen Hatshepsut’s temple, it’s hard to get a good picture standing by it because it’s so big.



We didn’t get to go in there, either, which sucked!!!  They said it was closed to everyone but some private archaeology group with a permit.  We didn’t have a permit specifically for there, but Grandpa told them he hoped they’d let us in just to see it.  Grandma even said we’d stay out of the way and they could hold our cameras and phones if they were worried about pictures.  Then she pointed to me and Iris and Orion and tried to pull the “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for the kids” card, but they were real llamas about it.  Then Dad offered them some ancient coins and they still said no, but maybe if we had some real valuable relics to “donate,” they might bend the rules.

But Grandma and Grandpa didn’t go for that.  The relics they found at the pyramid weren’t identified yet, and Dad said it was obvious they just wanted to rip us off.  Before we left, Patrick told them their mothers were llamas, with cussing that made Grandma make the same face Mom does when one of us drops a plum-bomb.



On the way out, Grandma spotted this neat butterfly that turned out to be a crypt moth.  While she was catching and analyzing it, Grandpa told us it was uncommon and only found in this region of Egypt.  It was one of the samples they really wanted, so she was happy to get it.

Remind me if I didn’t show you already what it looks like.  It’s like a spider web design on a butterfly that looks like something from a tomb (duh) or a haunted house or vampire castle.



Since Abu Simbel is right on the sea, we went to the beach near there so Grandma and Grandpa could get some saltwater sea life samples.  It was so hot that Iris and I put on our swimsuits and looked for stuff in the water, while Orion just took his shoes off and walked along the shore.  Patrick fished while Maria hung out with him, and Grandma found some half-buried stuff in the sand.  Grandpa cataloged it while Dad helped her dig it up.  They found a couple relics, some more coins, and a turquoise gem.  We just found seashells.



While we did all that, Mom was up on the mountain behind Queen Hatshepsut’s temple following her tip.  She found some old mining tunnels where they were digging and looking for relics and spent most of the day there.  She came home that night with some copper ingots and a bronze vase she said she found.



That night we all had dinner in the market since the food at the camp sucks.  I had falafel that was way better than anything Mom or Dad can cook.  One of the books Grandma got has the recipe, so maybe she’ll make it when we go home.  Patrick said he might try making it sometime, too.  I didn’t even know he could cook, but he said he learned back when he was at Sims U.

After dinner, I checked out the lit-up pyramids and monuments on the telescope they have by the general store.  They looked so cool!!!  You’d have loved it!  I also looked at the stars and planets some.  Did you know Mars is close to Earth right now?  It looked awesome from there.



The next day we didn’t go to any famous sites.  Since we only had a couple days left, Grandma and Grandpa wanted to try and get all the scientific samples they wanted.  Mom had to go out again, but the rest of us went to the biggest oasis in Al Simhara, Ship’s Oasis in Shipwreck Basin.  It was way out in the mountains and a long ride, but it was cool.  In the middle of it there’s the wreckage of an old ship.  Supposedly it got there in a record-breaking flood where the river came way up and created a waterway to the oasis, but then it got stuck when the waters receded.  It was one of the only places in Al Simhara not right on the river where grass grows.

Orion, Dad, and I explored the shipwreck, but you can’t really climb in it because it’s so rotted and unstable.  Maria sketched it after she took pictures for her blog.



Iris went fishing after Grandpa warned us to be careful around the water because of the crocodiles.  Then he saw what we think was a skeleton underwater at the base of the shipwreck, but it was hard to tell for sure because of the mud.  Orion said he’d try to pull it out, but Grandpa freaked out.  Grandma and Patrick even heard him from over where they were digging up some relics they found out of the mud.  Grandma found a cool canopic jar in it.  It was empty, but we think maybe it was originally on the ship.  Pirates and smugglers used to traffic tomb loot back when that ship was from.



Patrick also caught a Cleopatra butterfly.  Grandma and Grandpa said it was super rare even for here, which is the only part of the world it lives in.  They packed that up in their live specimen containers super-fast.



After we got done at the oasis, we went back to camp because Grandma and Grandpa wanted to get that butterfly to the courier ASAP.  We split up and did our own thing after that.  Grandma and Grandpa went to an orchard and got samples of the Al Simhara fruits.  I hope they grow and sell some to the diner.  Maybe they’ll make a version of that pomegranate ice cream I had.  It was so good.  If it wouldn’t melt, I’d send you some.



They went to a dig site near the quarry after that.  They got some copper and traded ancient coins with a miner for an ingot of mummitomium.  Cool looking metal, by the way.  Remind me to show you what it looks like if I haven’t yet.  They also found a couple more relics, but nothing all that rare or valuable.



Orion went out to lunch with that Dunya girl he met.  He said it wasn’t a date and they were just hanging out, but Iris didn’t believe him.  Whatever.  I don’t care.  I just wish the market had that pomegranate pie he said they had as a special when I was there.  That sounded good.



After that, he said she showed him some places most tourists don’t know about.  One was a little oasis called Pharaoh’s Oasis on the mountain footpath behind the pyramids.  I don’t know why that one’s called the Pharaoh’s when the one by the Pyramid of the Sky where that one pharaoh is buried is just called Water in the Sand, but maybe it’s for a different pharaoh.  Maybe one buried in one of the Great Trio.

Orion showed me pictures and it was cool, but it’s not as big or lush as the shipwreck or Water in the Sand.  Not worth the hike up the hill in the hot sun for me.  If he doesn’t post the pictures, I’ll have him send them to me so I can show you.



He said after that they went even farther up to see an abandoned copper mine.  That might’ve been cool to see if it didn’t mean hiking miles in the hot sun.  Mostly because she said people say there’s a monster that lives in the mine shafts and that’s the real reason it was shut down decades ago.  Supposedly the official reason is there was a bad mining accident and a partial cave-in where some people died, so it was for safety, but the locals believe the monster caused it.  When I get back on the internet, I’ll see what I can find out about it.

Orion found stuff buried up there, too.  Another neat old canopic jar and hunks of raw ore.  Mostly copper and silver, but one was mummitomium.  Grandma and Grandpa were excited about that, so that’s probably why they didn’t lecture him much about going off to explore around an abandoned mine in the mountains by himself with a local girl.