He Who Lives By The Sword...

[The Corsair]

Ethan cared little for the British soldiers. He felt some loyalty to Longeye but that feeling waned as he realised his association with them had pulled him away from the potential comfortable life he had so long wished for and almost attained. He had no choice but to stay with them for he knew no way back himself but he would only help when it was required and would otherwise be a sideliner.

[Dr. Madd]

"If this IS 1890, I request we be allowed to keep our pistols. "

Madd fired a blowgun dart into the shadows of the ceiling. Bats stormed out of the darkness... Madd grinned and used a piece of canvas to catch a few.

"Never know what you'll need."

[Professor Griffiths]

"No, leaving them here can cause even greater harm. In 100 years they could be dug up and no one will know why they were here, or why they date to 1890, clearly a time when they should not have been here. No we can not leave them here. Or someone could stumble on them tomorrow out here. The Nomads travel these deserts all the time and the sandstorms can uncover even things 10 feet deep in the sand."

He pointed to the commander.

"We can keep his men and weapons together, on my airship, locked away so that no one can take them."

[Dr. Madd]

"Or we can let these fellows do what they do best till we get this sorted out."

[Professor Griffiths]

"And what does that mean sir? We let them wage war? To fight and kill in a time not their own?"

[Augustus Longeye]

"Their involvement must be kept to a minimum! I'm not professor, but time isn't something you should mess around with. The very fact they're here could do lots of damage in the future, and if we let them 'do what they do best' we could cause something very bad to happen. Admittedly we could cause something very good to happen, but are you going to be the one who takes that weight? Will you be held responsible? I won't. If they start taking lives they have no right even witnessing I will do my best to stop them an No" he said as the commander opened his mouth "you do not get a say."

[Professor Griffiths]

"I concur. We cannot let them do "what they do best". We need to keep them as minimally involved as possible. That is why I suggest they go with us, weapons and all. I will lock their weapons and uniforms on my ship and once we know how to send them back home, then they can have their things."

Balthazar was finished packing his things in his satchels and his night pack.

"If I haven't said, my name is Balthazar Griffiths, a Professor at Miskatonic University."

[Augustus Longeye]

"I'm Longeye, Captain of the... Well, Captain of nothing until I get my ship repaired. You said Miskatonic university? Have you ever heard of transportations like this happening before then?"

[Dr. Madd]

"And what does that mean sir? We let them wage war? To fight and kill in a time not their own?"

"Why not? Long as its not our side.. Who knows? Maybe they'll ease our lot in the future. Besides, who know what's causing all this hullabaloo with time. "

[Dr. Madd]

"And I, as I said, am Dr. Melvin Quinine Madd, Zoologist and living weapons researcher, formerly of Jefferson Davis's Confederate gov't. "

[Jack Raptor]

Jack puffed out his chest a little. "Gunner Jack Michael Estfield of the 154th Sturm Raptor battalion, normally stationed aboard the H.M.A.S Ark Royal, but based in India at this time. What can I do to remedy the situation?"

[Professor Griffiths]

"No, I have not heard of these shifts nor has anyone else in recent history. But that is why I am here. This Pyramid lays exactly on a Ley Line, as does Stonehenge. My friend, Dr. Jarod Northern is working at Cambridge University, he knows the Old Pagan religions and Celtic History. We decided that these two places were the best to begin our search. We figured that perhaps the ancients realized the Ley Lines were a source of power or a pathway or something, and built these monuments to tap into these powers."

He looked at Madd.

"We are to try and preserve time as best we can, sir. Not do things that will cause these shifts to be worse. What if someone from the future did something to cause these events? What if each time a shift occurs our future is further placed in jeopardy, as is our past? Wouldn't do us any good if all of a sudden a war dropped in on our ancestors killing them and there by erasing us from existence now, would it?"

[Dr. Madd]

"No, I have not heard of these shifts nor has anyone else in recent history. But that is why I am here. This Pyramid lays exactly on a Ley Line, as does Stonehenge. My friend, Dr. Jarod Northern is working at Cambridge University, he knows the Old Pagan religions and Celtic History. We decided that these two places were the best to begin our search. We figured that perhaps the ancients realized the Ley Lines were a source of power or a pathway or something, and built these monuments to tap into these powers."

He looked at Madd.

"We are to try and preserve time as best we can, sir. Not do things that will cause these shifts to be worse. What if someone from the future did something to cause these events? What if each time a shift occurs our future is further placed in jeopardy, as is our past? Wouldn't do us any good if all of a sudden a war dropped in on our ancestors killing them and there by erasing us from existence now, would it?"

Madd chewed a bit of dried fruit from his haversack thoughtfully.


"That would be somewhat inconvenient. I take it this thing is like a swingset. The harder we push it, the more and harder it swings, would I be right about that?...Hmmmm.. Is it possible this thing would drop a dinosaur in our laps? "

He grinned..

"That would prove.. interesting."

[Augustus Longeye]

"I have no idea if what we do actually effect these events, but what they do will most certainly effect our future... even if it isn't their future... Probably best not o find out though, if this stuff is related to the cause then we could end up sending chunks of London right back to the flood!"

[Dr. Madd]

"But couldn't what's already happened have done just that?" Madd replied.

[Augustus Longeye]

"It has! It undoubtedly has done, but we need to limit it. A little change like this will hopefully not do much, it they start taking out armies who knows what will happen! Professor," Longeye said, turning to Griffiths, "When is your airship due?"

[Professor Griffiths]

"It will arrive in the morning."

He walked to his cot and lined up his satchel and pack. He pulled out his shotgun and checked to ensure it wasn't dirty. He then sat.

"Not many seats gentleman but get comfortable, sundown is in about an hour, and the temperature drops to about 30 degrees. and sandstorms are very common."

[Augustus Longeye]

Longeye nodded. He hadn't lowered his staff yet, and the captain was beginning to look uncomfortable.
"You may go and tend to your men. Bear in mind that you could put up a fight, but if you try you will be the first to die." Longeye lowered the staff and indicated the door, and the man hesitated before walking out and ordering his troops to bunker down.

[Dr. Madd]

Madd followed the British captain outside, and like before, rolled into his blanket and nestling himself into the sand until only his head emerged from the sand.

[Professor Griffiths]

"So, Captain, you were brought here by the shift......tell me about it, how did it feel, what did you see?"

He pulled out his field journal and was poised to write whatever the man said.

[Augustus Longeye]

"... I don't know... there was so much, and I saw it all at once... but there was one thing that stood out... a person, bigger than you can imagine. It said something to us, or maybe it was just screaming... I'm not entirely sure what was there and what wasn't, all I can clearly remember is the feeling of horror and of being so out of place. It's not something I'd ever do again if I had the choice." He shivered and looked over his shoulder, the faint feeling that there was something there bothered him.

[Professor Griffiths]

Balthazar wrote and then held the journal out to the Captain.

"Please sign this, as an eye witness to the events."

He then pointed to the wall.

"You see those Hieroglyphs. They speak of the path to the afterlife that those mummified would travel. Its why they built the pyramids, as places to hold their things to take with them to the afterlife. Do you suppose that they knew the Ley Lines were those paths? That the ancients knew they lead to somewhere so they built these monuments as gateways?"

He looked thoughtful as he spoke, as if he was far away.

[Augustus Longeye]

Longeye signed it, confused that the vagueness of his 'statement' needed anything. He too looked at the walls, but he could't understand anything. In the end he shrugged and sat down against one of the walls.
"I just hope that we can stop this soon... Lord knows what will be moved next."

[Professor Griffiths]

"Your right. We need to find the source. The Ley Lines are obviously a key. My Colleague at Cambridge, Dr. Jarod Northern. He was studying Stonehenge. We need to plot these events along the lines and see if London was indeed the beginning. If so, then London is where it all began and where it will most likely end. I fear that someone or something has found a way to manipulate energies beyond their comprehension and caused all of this."

[Dr. Madd]

As Madd slumbered, his brain faded into the dense tropical green of his adopted home in the Amazon, the fresh jungle rain, the squawking of Macaws, howling of howler monkeys, and the rushing sound of the river, the smell of the fresh water and the pungence of the stagnated pools near it.

A lot different He thought, Than this desert.. And yet the Egyptian desert was, in its own way, comforting, with the cobras, the cry of jackals and cackle of hyenas, the fresh, clean, dry air, the soft, warm sand.