Chapter 1
"That was great!" O'Neill shouted as they left the arena in Colorado Springs. Behind them a huge neon sign blinked, 'In Concert! Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band! One Night Only!'
"Yeah, thanks, Adam," Daniel grinned. "At least this time we didn't have to hitchhike."
Methos rolled his eyes, looking over his shoulder to where Samantha and Dr. Fraiser followed. Beside him, Teal'c was still rubbing his ears, but smiling. "I can't believe you've worked together this long and only just discovered there was one thing you all had in common."
"It's that close knit fraternity thing we've got going," Jack remarked as he led the way to the parking lot. "Head banging doesn't generally come up at the debriefing."
"Guess not," Methos grinned as Samantha suddenly smiled in his direction. A little of the ice between them seemed to have thawed, he thought relieved. It wasn't exactly bribery, but getting his hands on six front row seats to the hottest ticket in town had been a stroke of genius. More importantly, Carter was looking at him as something more akin to human and less like a potential science project. And if watching him dance and scream with 30,000 other music lovers was what it took to get him off her list of things to do, Methos was just as happy to do it.
"Food?" Jack asked a few minutes later as everyone climbed into the van he'd borrowed.
A chorus of "Yeah!" with accompanying nods greeted his suggestion.
"Okay. Where to?"
"Let's try that new place," Samantha suggested. "Bellinni's, over on Ninth. One of the techs mentioned they had a great menu."
"The one that's got it's own micro brewery?" Methos asked. He'd been meaning to check the place out, but had been too busy getting his new apartment in order between missions.
Daniel laughed as Carter nodded. "You never could pass up a beer."
"Not a decent one at any rate," Methos agreed. "Or the occasional fine wine. Not to mention a good sherry or glass of properly aged whiskey, brandy, or bourbon."
Dr. Fraiser cleared her throat. "Unless someone mentions the words designated driver," she threatened cheerfully. "I'm going to schedule all of you for a liver biopsy."
"That's me," O'Neill raised his hand. "Keep your scalpel sheathed, doc."
"So it's Bellinni's," Samantha grinned. "Take Main to-"
"I know how to get there, Carter," O'Neill interrupted in exasperation just as his cell phone rang. "Damn," he muttered, fishing it out of his jacket.
He answered, frowning as he listened. "Yes, sir. We'll be there in half an hour." O'Neill snapped it shut, slipping it back into his pocket. "Sorry, kids," he told them, turning in the opposite direction from where they'd planned to go. "We're back on the clock."
"What's up?" Daniel asked.
"One of our satellites picked up something in the Egyptian desert," he explained briefly. "Outline makes it look to be a Goa'uld transport ship. But nobody's sure."
"Why not?" Methos asked, surprised.
O'Neill shrugged. "Guess we'll find out, won't we?"
"This is familiar," Methos grumbled as he stepped out of the small passenger jet and onto the tarmac at the airfield in Cairo.
"That's my line," O'Neill muttered as he came from behind. "God, I hate commercial flights."
Methos grimaced as they waited for the rest of the team then followed the other passengers to customs. They'd taken the long route to Egypt. A military transport had left them in Denver where a connecting flight brought them to Chicago. From there they'd flown to Athens, switched carries to board yet another plane to Alexandria and then another, smaller jet to the local airport in Cairo. "I still say we should have flown O'Neill Airlines," he sighed. "But then why listen to me? What do I know about the desert?"
"This isn't about the desert," O'Neill reminded him. "It's about following the letter of the law-"
"If not the spirit."
"-of our little agreement with the Russians," O'Neill finished. "They shut down their Stargate and we share whatever knowledge we gather through ours."
"And since this mission technically has nothing to do with the Stargate," Methos added with a wry twist of his lips. "Your government feels safe playing fast and loose with the terms of the agreement. Because, as we all know, the Egyptians are allies of the Russians. I do get it, Jack. I just don't happen to agree. The free flow of information is important for a free society to flourish. "
"This isn't about information. It's about tactics. It was a tactical decision to go in undercover. And who says we won't share?"
"No one, Jack. Forget I even mentioned it."
"Mentioned what?" O'Neill grinned as they entered the main airport building and lined up.
Customs was a hassle, but they got through it and Methos was simply relieved to have his sword back and quite content to let Daniel take care of the petty details like taxis, hotels, currency exchanges and what not. An hour later they were safely ensconced in a moderately priced, yet comfortable suite at one of the less expensive hotels. Daniel divvied up the keys and gave out the room assignments. Carter, of course, had her own bedroom, while Teal'c and O'Neill took the back room that overlooked the inner courtyard. He and the Immortal would take the front room with its grand view of the pyramids.
Methos tossed his bag on the floor beside the bed nearest the door and threw himself down on the mattress, sighing with relief as a cool breeze from the air conditioner caressed his skin.
"You know," he drawled, closing his eyes as Daniel came in. "You might have let Jack and Teal'c take the room with the view. Rank should have its privileges."
"Jack hates the pyramids," Daniel said as he started to unpack. "They remind him of what they're bases for. Goa'uld ships. And Teal'c doesn't care. Besides," he added quietly. "I thought you might appreciate it."
Methos laughed softly. "Old home week? Not me. Never had much use for pyramids. Interesting structures, but I remember my first view of them when they still had their limestone facings and the priestly caste reigned supreme along the Nile."
Daniel paused and waited, but Methos remained silent. "So? What did you think of them that first time?"
"Incredible. Huge. Grandiose. Monuments to the gigantic egos of dead men who deserved much less than they thought they were worth. Although," he added thoughtfully, finally opening his eyes to stare at the ceiling. "I did like Hatshepsut. She certainly deserved to be remembered. Even if she did look a bit silly in that beard all the pharaohs wore."
"You knew Hatshepsut?" Daniel asked, quietly stunned.
Methos shook his head and sat up. "Nope. Saw her once in a procession though. She was fairly old, but her eyes were piercingly bright - made me think of crocodiles floating in the river on a moonlit night. Beautiful and deadly in a horrific sort of way."
In silence, Daniel watched as Methos removed his sword from its travel case and carefully laid it under the bed.
"Uh, is there something going on here that I'm missing?" he finally asked.
"No more than usual," Methos grinned and toed off his sneakers.
Daniel nodded slowly. "Jack won't let anything happen to you, Adam. Not even if he has to risk his own life. And neither will I."
"Thank you," he answered sincerely. "That's a lovely sentiment. But I'll warn you now. Never interfere in what I am or what I might have to do."
"But it's sick!" Daniel responded vehemently.
"Perhaps it is," Methos told him mildly. "But it's our way and I accept it. Now, I'm going to take a very long, very hot shower. Why don't you order everyone up some room service."
Daniel shook his head as the door closed behind Methos and he went to the phone. He would never understand how anyone, least of all someone as seemingly well balanced as his friend, could accept genocide as a way of life. On the other hand, what choice did he have?
An hour later, feeling refreshed and relaxed in a clean pair of jeans and a light cotton shirt, Methos wandered barefoot into the central living room following the scent of food. He smiled appreciatively as he lifted the various tray covers, finding a good mix of traditional Egyptian foods. He filled a plate with spicy lamb stew and flat bread, grabbed a bottle of Egyptian beer then found the remote, turned on the television and started flipping around the satellite.
"Anything good on?" Samantha asked as she came out of her room, dressed similarly in jeans and a tee shirt with her hair still slightly damp.
"Nope," he sighed and shut it off. "Ten thousand years of civilization and we're left with Leave it to Beaver and I Love Lucy reruns. Whatever happened to art?"
"I think it got lost somewhere between Bigfoot: Man or Myth and Big Rigs: The Accidents We Love To Watch."
Methos laughed and pointed to the dinner cart. "Try the lamb. It's excellent."
She did as he suggested and curled up on the love seat across from him to eat. "This is good," she said after taking a tentative bite. "My mom used to make something similar except with beef."
Methos nodded. "Modern Greek cooking."
"Dad was stationed in Athens for a year," she agreed.
"So, where is everybody?" Methos finally asked as he put his plate aside and settled back with his beer.
Between bites Samantha responded. "Colonel O'Neill's at the embassy getting our gear."
Methos nodded. That would be the classified stuff and ordnance they couldn't take on a commercial flight.
"Teal'c's meditating, and Daniel's off to look up an old colleague whose working on an archaeological dig not far from the coordinates the satellite identified."
"Trying to find out if he's seen anything unusual in the area," Methos surmised.
"She," Carter corrected with a brief nod. "From what I gather they were pretty close for a while. He's hoping to wrangle an invite for us out to the site."
"Whatever for?" Methos asked, getting up from his seat to stretch and make his way over to the tall French doors which dominated the room. The late afternoon sun lit the Nile and across her gleaming surface lay the distant pyramids of Giza.
"Cover," Samantha explained. "The colonel wants to rent a jeep to take us out there. As long as it looks legitimate at the start, he figures we can detour and head anywhere we want."
Methos nodded absently and stepped out onto the balcony. It was a good plan and he didn't doubt that Daniel would wrangle his way back into his old flame's good graces. The boy could be positively charming when he recollected he was a man and not a human history machine. Behind him, Methos heard the quiet clink of china as Carter put down her plate and the soft whisper of cloth as she joined him on the terrace. For a long time they stood quiet, just watching the sun lowering in the distance, until finally she spoke.
"What's it like to watch the world change?" she asked softly.
Methos gave her a puzzled look, not quite certain what she really wanted to know.
"I mean," she explained, managing to look vaguely embarrassed as well as extremely curious. "I can calculate the changes in the atmosphere, the geological shifts, all the variables and differentials of space until I know what stars were where and when and what it all must have looked like, but to see it all change in one lifetime... It's hard to imagine."
Methos smiled kindly. "I'm not sure I can answer that. I'm not sure anyone really can. I guess it's like reading a book. The first page pulls you in and you just keep on from there, absorbing what comes. Some of the chapters are interesting, some of them not, but there's always another."
Her brow furrowed slightly as she thought about that. "But what do you see when you look out there?" Samantha nodded toward the monuments in the distance.
"Same as you," he shrugged and followed her gaze. "They're a bit more tattered and worn from my point of view, but still essentially the same. And down there," he added, leaning against the rail to gaze into the street below. "Strip away the cars, the buildings, all the modern appliances the world has grown to love and the people are exactly as they were when the pyramids were built. In one sense the pharaohs were right. Egypt is eternal. No matter how many armies have passed through here, none could ever truly conquer this land. As long as the people remain, Egypt lives. And as long as the Nile flows, the people will remain."
If she had any other questions the sound of a door opening and closing behind them put an end to it.
"Hey, campers! Look what Colonel Jack's got!"
They turned as one, smiling as O'Neill set down his bags.
"Get over here, Pierson. I need you to take a look at this map."
"I am ever obedient to your will, O Great Satan," he responded sardonically, sprawling on the couch.
"That's, O Great Satan, sir," Jack muttered absently, tossing him the map. "Now, be a good minion and find us a way around that Egyptian military operation that seems to have sprung up overnight."
Methos ignored the jibe and opened the map. "Wonderful," he sighed as he got a look at the latest satellite pass. "Guess we aren't the only interested parties in town."
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