As soon as the wind blew in, it disappeared, leaving both Jonathan and Sky in a daze. They untangled themselves from each other's grasps and looked around. They were still on the boat, but it was stuck on its side in the bank of the Nile. They looked at each other with wide eyes, and then Sky looked at her hand where the star had been. In its place was a diamond, encased in the purest, hardest silver with hieroglyphics around the edges.

Jonathan took it from her gently and held it up to the moon. "Now that's a diamond! I've never seen one this perfect in my entire life!"

"Jon, I think I am going to," she drifted off, slumping against the railing of the boat. He stuffed the large stone in his pocket and worriedly checked her neck for a pulse. It was there, just barely, but still fighting. He slid an arm underneath her legs and under her back and gently lifted. She weighed less than he thought she did, and he carried her to her room, which was still unlocked.

Kicking in the door, he slipped in and lay her down on the bed. As much as he wanted to stay, he knew that he couldn't and rushed out the door, taking time to grab the key and lock it.

He ran to Rick and Evelyn's room and pounded his fist on the door.

"Rick, Evy! Get up! It's Sky! Something's wrong!" he yelled.

Suddenly, Rick greeted him, as rugged as ever. Again, his pants undone, in a tank top, unshaved and hair slicked back. He also had his 1911 Colt 45 drawn, ready to protect his daughter. "What is it? Is she alright?" he asked gruffly.

"I don't know. She fainted and barely has a pulse, but it's getting stronger. She's in her room," Jonathan answered all of Rick's unspoken questions at once.

Rick took off at a brisk jog around the deck till he got to her room. Trying the door, he cursed, "It's locked."

"Here," Jonathan said as he fished the key out of his pocket.

Rick nodded his silent thanks to him for thinking of his daughter's safety first, and then opened the door.

Seeing Sky on the bed just like he had left her made Jonathan's heart nearly break in two. She hadn't moved except to take off the leather cuff from her wrist, and the makeshift bandage from the morning before.

Rick took two long strides to her bed and knelt down beside it he checked her pulse, it was strong, but surely not near as strong as it usually was. He placed a hand on her forehead and nearly immediately drew it back. Her forehead was scalding hot. "Jonathan, get me a bowl of water and a rag or something," he said without looking up from his daughter's face.

"Rick," came from the door. He looked up to see Evelyn in a nightgown and his jacket. "Will she be alright?"

"I hope so. She's burning up," he replied as Jonathan came back with the water and rag. "What happened?" he asked.

"Well, we were walking around for a little bit and we stopped at the railing where she gave you the watch. A star shot across the sky and she reached up and grabbed it like it was nothing," he paused to dig the diamond out of his pocket. "Then we heard ancient voices that we couldn't understand and a rough wind blew through, and then disappeared. When everything died down, she held this in her hand where the star had been," he finished holding the silver-encased diamond out to them.

Evelyn took the diamond from Jonathan's hands carefully, noting the hieroglyphics all along the edge. "Oh my," she let out in a whisper, as the newspaper that Sky had slipped under the door slipped from under her arm. "This is man made, but how would it have come from a shooting star?"

"I don't know. When everything stopped spinning, I picked it up out of her hand and held it up to the moon to get a better look and she fainted," Jonathan said.

Just then they heard a small cough and all three of them turned to Sky. Her eyes were just now fluttering open. Her face suddenly contorted in pain and she held up her arm with the silver tattoo and it started bleeding, but the sun wasn't anywhere close to shining its golden rays upon the earth.

She coughed again, and tried to sit up to which Rick silently protested, putting a hand on her other arm. Shoving his arm off, she sat up anyway.

"Sky, you need to rest," Evelyn said, backing up her husband.

"Yeah, like I need another hole in the head. I'm fine. I must've hit my head on something when the boat landed in the bank of the Nile," she said, easing herself off the bed. She sat on the edge for a moment and checked her wrist. It was just starting to clot again. "Must've tore the scab on this thing when I took off the bandage," she sighed and arched her back, popping it all the way down from her neck to her hips. Standing up, she went to her saddlebags that she brought and dug out the medical kit again. She fixed the bandage on her wrist and then put the leather cuff on again.

She looked down at herself, noticing that she was still wearing Jonathan's jacket and smirked. She then noticed the newspaper on the floor at Evelyn's feet and spoke up, "Ah, I see you've found my true identity," pointing to the paper.

"What?" Rick asked, raising his voice.

"Ah yes, I found this slipped under our door after you ran after Jonathan. You must have stepped over it," she said as she handed the paper to Rick, who took it and scanned the front article, eyes growing wide in disbelief at first, then pride.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he asked, his eyes pleading with hers.

She stared at him coldly, without emotion for a moment and started in on her story. "I didn't tell you because I wanted an adventure. I wanted a change of scenery."

"Sky, I think he means the entire bit," Jonathan spoke softly from behind her.

"Ok. Same answer. I wanted to find my dad, true. But I didn't want you to automatically accept me just because I was your daughter. I wanted you to accept me because of who I have become, first and foremost. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to prove myself just yet. The reason why I came out here from Texas was to find adventure. I wanted to see my old country, see what kind of thrill I could dig up. The biggest thrill there is in Texas is getting a notch cut out of your own ear when you're trying to notch the calf's ear," she said pointing to her right ear, and walked out the door, leaving Rick, Evelyn and Jonathan in various states of confusion.

Sky walked around with her hands shoved deep in the pockets of Jonathan's jacket that she still wore. She noticed the ship's captain was sitting at a nearby table, rubbing his forehead stressfully. Pulling up a nearby chair with its back to the table, she sat down, with her arms resting on the back of the chair.

"I noticed we ran ashore earlier. How far are we from the village we were going to stop at?"

"Oh, twenty miles by land at the most. It would be hard to go that distance in the heat, especially by yourself. You are part of the O'Connell team, are you not?"

"Yes, I am. I'm Mrs. O'Connell's assistant," she replied, flashing a smile.

"Well, we should be well on our way by morning. I have sent a messenger to the village already that we would be later than expected."

"Thank you, very much," she said as she stood up. The old man stood politely and they shook hands and she meandered her way back to her group.

"Jonathan, why was she wearing your jacket?" Rick said as Sky approached her room. She ducked down out sight and sneaked along the wall that her room was on. Apparently, they thought I would be back.

"She was out cold and I didn't want her to freeze while I carried her in here," she heard Jonathan say, defending himself.

"Somehow I don't believe that very much," Rick said, annoyance creeping into his voice.

"Children," she heard Evelyn come into the discussion. "She is a woman now, as I'm sure Jonathan's quite aware of this. She does have her own life back in the States," she pointed to the newspaper article lying on the bed. "She has done quite well without you dear," she said pointedly.

"Evy, I can't just let her do whatever. I never new about her until now," Rick exclaimed. "I don't care how well she's done without me. She is still my daughter," he sat down with his head in his hands. "She's still my baby girl," he whispered, fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall. Evelyn came and sat down beside him and put an arm around his shoulders, comforting him more than she knew.

At this, Sky choked back a few tears herself. She had never been called 'baby girl,' by anybody else but one old boyfriend, and she had punched him for that. She couldn't hold them all back though. One, lone tear fell to her wrist and managed to work its way down to her tattoo. It hurt a little, but she was glad for the pain. It would take her mind off of seeing her father crying.

"Rick, me and Sky snuck over to your room and slipped that article under your door so that you would find it. She was cold, and our faces were about an inch apart. I slipped my jacket around her shoulders. When she was done putting that paper under your door, she slipped her arms in the sleeves," Jonathan said as he remembered the events of a few hours ago.

Rick looked up from his hands at Jonathan expectantly. "We walked around and then we stopped at that railing and it was a bit awkward for a while, but it wasn't bad. We just stood there; bumping each other's hands like two teenagers on their first date. I finally pulled her close to me and we stood there watching the bank of the Nile. She felt comfortable, and then that whole thing with the shooting star happened," he finished, shrugging his shoulders and putting his hands in his pockets.

Sky remained where she was. She could see everything she needed to with the help of a mirror that she found lying around. She saw Jonathan look right at her, and knew that he had seen her, but she didn't mind. She smiled and he nodded his head slightly and turned away.

"I'm sorry, Jonathan, but I don't approve of you falling head over heels for my daughter. I know that it wouldn't be entirely bad, but I still don't approve," Rick said finally standing up. "I would appreciate it if you kept your eyes and hands off of her," he finished, resting a heavy hand on Jonathan's shoulder.

"I- uh, I understand, Rick," he stuttered and turned away from him.

Sky saw her chance to pay Jonathan back and put the small mirror the chest pocket of his jacket as she stood up. She started to stamp her feet on the wood deck softly at first and getting louder as if she was getting closer to the door and then she started walking to the room.

Hearing her footsteps, Rick, Evy and Jonathan all regained their composure, and as Sky came around the corner to the door, they kind of smiled at her weakly.

"Sky, I would like it if you and Jonathan stopped seeing each other," Rick said after a few silent moments.

"I see," she started, grabbing her canvas gun bag. She slammed it down on the table in the room, startling everyone else in the room. She unbuckled each strap mechanically, smoothly, and forcefully pushed open the bag. It unrolled easily, revealing several sticks of high-powered dynamite, some of her favorite guns, including a Thomson sub-machine gun, a Walther P-38 and a short, hand shotgun, and plenty of ammunition to supply a small army.

Rick's eyes grew big, remembering a time when he did the exact same thing.

He slammed his gun bag on the table in front of Evelyn Carnahan. She had been reading some book when he did this and she jumped nearly out of her chair.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he said in a kind of fake apology.

"The only thing that scares me Mr. O'Connell, are your manners," she replied shortly, kind of waving her book around.

He took in a short breath and said, "Still angry about that kiss, huh?"

"If you call that a kiss," she retorted, her wit still in tact.

He narrowed his eyes as if accepting the challenge hidden behind her words, and unrolled his gun bag to reveal sides, lined with shotgun shells, both side arms, a shotgun in various pieces securely attached, and other various firearms. Sitting down he proceeded to take out his side arms and load them with ammunition.

"Um, did I miss something? Are we- are we going into battle," she asked, her eyes wide with excitement as she looked over the guns that were securely attached to the bag.

"Lady, there's something out there, something underneath that sand," he said a he placed a gun in the holster under his arm. He then took out the shotgun pieces and started to clean them, putting them together slowly and meticulously.

"Yes, well I'm hoping to find a certain artifact. A book, actually. My brother thinks there's treasure," she said still looking over the weapons in front of her. She paused a moment to pick up a curved piece of metal with a ring at the bottom and look at it strangely. "Well, what do you think's out there?"

"In a word, Evil. The Bedouin and the Tuaregs believe that Hamunaptra is cursed," he said taking the finger hook from her hand and placing it back where it came from.

"Oh look I don't believe in fairy tales and hokum, Mr. O'Connell, but I do believe that one of the most famous books in history is buried there. The Book of Amun-Ra. It contains within it all of the secret incantations of the Old Kingdom, its what first interested me in Egypt when I was a child. Its why came here, sort of a life's pursuit."

"And the fact that they say it's made out of pure gold makes no never-mind to you," he finished, surprising her a little. "Right?"

She smiled and said, "You know your history!"

"I know my treasure," he said as he finished with his shotgun.

"Um, by the way, why did you kiss me?" she asked tentatively.

He let out a breath laughing as he grabbed a Colt 1911 and said, "Oh, I was about to be hanged. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Oohh," she exclaimed angrily and slammed her book down on the table as she got up and walked away.

"What? What'd I say?" he asked, throwing his hands up in an 'I didn't do it' gesture.

Sky pulled up a chair to the table where she had opened her gun bag on and sat down, unbuckling the Walther P-38 to load it with ammunition, and stuffed it down into the side holster that no one had noticed she was wearing.

"Dear old Dad, I'm twenty-eight. I think I can handle myself," she said, pulling a small pair of glasses from a pouch in the bag. She put them on the bridge of her nose, letting them slide nearly to the end. Looking up from her guns, she stared at Rick over her glasses.

"I noticed," he said, looking at the guns appreciatively. "You know that the cocking mechanism on those Tommy's always jam, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I keep it for, uh, sentimental reasons. It was given to me after I bought my land in Texas."

"Right, well I still don't want you seeing Jonathan," he said, crossing his arms.

"Well, that will be rather hard to do since we are kind of on this expedition together," she said as she pulled the shotgun out and started cleaning it with an old greasy rag.

"You know what I meant! Evy, a little help would be nice?" he pleaded with Evelyn.

"She's your daughter, and besides, I think you can handle it," she said planting a loving peck on his lips.

"Listen, Dad," she said finally taking full control of the conversation as she loaded the shotgun, one shell at a time. Each click echoed in the deafening silence. "I wanted to find you so I would know what kind of blood I came from," she said, slipping the shotgun into the holster on her back underneath Jonathan's jacket. Standing up, she rolled the bag back up, and buckled the straps on it. She turned back to the group and leaned easily back against the table and crossed her ankles and her arms over her chest.

"When I was brought to the orphanage at birth, I was wearing that watch around my neck. I wore it there till I was ten. When I was little, I used to open it up and trace your name with my finger till I fell asleep. There's no tellin' how many times I stayed up all night just tracing my finger around that watch. I wouldn't let anybody else touch it. I believe Jonathan's the first person besides myself that I let touch it.

Anyway, when I was seven, I pestered the lady who ran the orphanage enough to tell me who the man was that had his name engraved on my watch. She said that he was my father. She also told me that my mother was the Prime Minister's daughter. She said that I wasn't supposed to know until I had turned eighteen.

I took that information and a little money that I had earned and pick-pocketed, and bribed the secretary at the records office. She told me who you were. She told me that the Prime Minister had left the country not long after I had been left at the orphanage. Where he took his family to, I never found out. I tried my best to find them, but do you realize how many Mohammed's' are in New York City, San Francisco, or even Miami?

Anyway, I settled in the States, bought my land and cattle, climbed my way up the food chain," she paused, standing up straight. She took her glasses off and slipped them into the bag behind her, and then looked Rick in the eye with cold steel in her own. "I never had anybody but myself. I think I did pretty well with it," she said, her voice seemed acidic to Rick's ears.

"I don't know how you think it's going to work. I found you, and all I want to know is if you are proud of me. I don't know if you think you're going to step in and run my life like you've been there the entire time, but you weren't," Sky continued, moving steadily closer to Rick an Jonathan.

Now she was staring Rick down, face to face, no more than a foot between them. Jonathan was standing with his chin in his hand, thinking, about a foot away from both of them. "I think I'll see whoever I want to see, Dad," she spit out, her voice seething acid as she grabbed Jonathan's hand without breaking the staring contest with her father.

Finally Rick looked down, tears threatening to overflow his tired eyes. "Come on Jon," she said as Jonathan followed her. "Thanks for the memories," she spit over her shoulder as stopped to grab her gun bag and they exited the room.