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.Gabriella's hand suddenly flew to her throat, her fingers patting the skin as if feeling for a piece of jewelry she'd lost."Where is it? Do you have it?"'What's that?" Leda asked.'Our amulet containing a lock of Antony's hair and a scrap of cloth soaked in his blood from his mortal wound.We gave our priests specific instructions that the amulet must be interred with us."'Well, that would be on your mummy, I imagine," Leda said reasonably."Gabriella, don't you recall seeing something like that in the casket? We were lucky to be allowed to take the sampling of DNA out of the country.The other artifacts belong to the Egyptian government.They'd be with the mummy and the scrolls back at the museum in Alex."'We must have it back so that Antony may be revived to rule at our side when we take our rightful throne once more," Gabriella's Cleo declared.'We wish you luck, then," Leda said."We've got a one way ticket back to the States and no severance pay.Our services are no longer needed."But Gabriella didn't seem to hear, or if she did, to care.She had turned her attention inward and was presumably engaged in an internal dialogue.Leda addressed her own inner queen."Who is this blended entity anyway? Your evil twin? I thought you'd clued her in about your—our—all of our—role, or lack thereof, in your country's political structure? Any attempts on our part to take over the government of Egypt would be very much frowned upon.""You think it was not before, when our siblings waged war against us for the crown? Mere frowns are of no consequence to us, Leda Hubbard."'Maybe not.But you had a right to the throne then that I think would be a little hard to enforce now.Besides, I don't want to be stuck in a throne room all the time.I'm allergic to all that perfume you used to splash around.I kind of thought what with your linguistic ability and all the books that had been written since you di—since your last life—you and I could haunt the libraries of the world when you're not helping locate other sites where promising DNA samples might be obtained, such as Alexander's tomb.Speaking of which, why didn't you mention your mummy was sporting DNA-enhanced jewelry? We could have pinched it before thegovernment got into the act, at least long enough to liberate Marc Antony's relics."'I forgot to mention it in all the excitement.If you will recall, our joining was completed under circumstances more distracting than these idyllic ones our other self enjoys.Our urgent concern upon awakening with you was with maintaining your status as a living host for my ba."'I see your point," Leda agreed, recalling the life-and-death struggle for Cleopatra's DNA that had resulted in her blending with the queen herself."You do seem to have different priorities than Cleo 7.2, though, you have to admit.She seems determined to make up for lost time."Leda was surprised to see dawn breaking over theMediterranean when she, Chimera, and Gabriella emerged from the underground labs into the courtyard of the old Crusader castle.The castle crowned a volcanic crater at the center of the corporately owned Greek island of Kefalos.Graceful white houses with blue-painted window frames and red-tiled roofs cascaded down the sides of the cinder cone to the intense blue-green horseshoe-shaped bay.Small sailing craft, several yachts, and a couple of company freighters dotted the harbor.One stretch of the white beach was paved with white-painted concrete that served as a landing strip, chopper pad, and motor pool for the Helix compound.The air was still slightly cool with early breezes, and gulls coasted on the currents overhead.Leda gave the vista from the citadel a last regretful look.Chimera motioned the women to board the company golf cart and drove them down to the landing strip.The place was even more of a hive of activity than it had been on Leda's previous visits.The changing of the regime was evident in the number of items being loaded onto and off of small aircraft.When Gabriella climbed out of the golf cart, Leda followed and started to give her friend a farewell hug.'Bye, Gabriella.Stay in touch."'Of course," the Egyptian girl said.'We will always be a part of each other," her voice added in huskier tones.Leda felt an answering "yes" from within her.With a playful bilateral air kiss Gabriella skipped away to board the chopper that would take her back to Alexandria.Wordlessly, Chimera climbed back into the cart.Leda cast a last look at the gangly, dark-haired figure climbing aboard the helicopter.'I wish we were going to be around to keep an eye on those two," she told Chimera, turning away from the field and continuing toward the villa."I'm a little worried about them."The state of Chimera's villa announced his departure.Formerly, the rooms had been uncluttered but comfortable, elegant in a minimalist less-is-more way.Now, except for packing boxes, the whole place was virtually bare.'I hope you didn't pack my beer yet," she said.'No need," the scientist said."We will not be taking the fridge." She grabbed one of the beers as Chimera opened a large white cardboard box and pulled out a tall glass.This was filled with iced tea from the pitcher that was the only companion of Leda's imported beers.They dragged boxes out onto the piazza to sit on and another for a table.Sipping their beverages and perched on boxes, each gazed at the sea [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]