Osc had had no problems on the flight -- perhaps because he flew a lot, or because he had a vibration nullification field around himself so he had slept well.

Still, he rested -- he wanted to be at his best before tomorrow's big day.

"Good night team.  Salam elechem -- correct?"

"I bloody hate jet lag," Vosper groused.  She did a quick sweep of the place to make sure she had the general lay of the land.  Once done, she ate a large meal and retired to her room to try to sleep.

"'Night!" Amaranth waves back to Oscillator, and goes into her room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

OOC: Amaranth doesn't sleep, but we're in a strange place and everyone else looks exhausted, so being paranoid military types now, she'll kind of... keep watch.  By which I really mean, keep her door open and an ear out while she reads.

By which I really mean - she may not technically be `sleeping', but I don't have any reason to interfere with skipping ahead to morning. grin

On the flight to Gibralter, Muldoon had a few beers and then slept like a log and snorred like a chain saw until Poco had delivered a well elbow.

As the team adopted dress consitent with the mission, Mudloon had gone a step further and appeared to have very effectively disguised himself as an older academic with greying hair and a beard.

On the ground in Egypt, Muldoon stayed character as Professor Henry Klein.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:57, Fri 27 Sept 2013.

The night passes uneventfully and people are awakened promptly at 7:00am. Once everyone is dressed they are led down to a conference room with a big map of Egypt on the wall. Numerous tables are in the room, a couple of which contain various breakfast items and a large coffee dispenser. The team is instructed to grab some breakfast then take a seat at the tables facing the map.  The food is decent but nothing special, seeming to be an approximation of American breakfast items. The coffee is strong and helps to clear away the last cobwebs from the long trip over.

As the team is finishing their breakfast Falik enters the room with an older gentleman in tow who appears to be a scholarly type. They seat themselves at the table in front of the map and Falik greets the team; "Good morning, I trust you all slept reasonably well. The person with me is Hamdi Bin-Hassad, one of the curators at the museum of history. He will be providing rough information about the location of the all-seeing eye, based on the ancient information that was uncovered. Are there any questions before we begin?"

It is somewhat obvious that Hamdi appears a bit uncomfortable as he fidgets some and glances around nervously at times while Falik is speaking.

Muldoon, still looking and sounding like henry Klein, like the others no doubt, was a bit jet lagged so he shook his head and sipped the mud like coffee.

"No thank you. Please continue."

"Not before," Vosper said chipperishly.  "Maybe after, or during."

(Assuming no one else has a question)

"Do continue, Dr. Bin-Hassad."

Eddy sat, arms folded on the table before him, and his face buried down in them.
A soft purr already threatened to infuse the locale ... forecasting a solid snore.

Nightmare smiles, "I have one, small question."
"When we retrieve the eye, will the museum place it on public display or will it be reserved for private study?"

Oscillator had been anxious all night.  Now he was talking to another expert --
Osc had some questions to ask.

"Salam Alechem, Dr. Bin-Hassad.  It's a pleasure to have you helping us.
Please, if you might tell us what you know of this all-seeing-eye.
Might you have information which we may not have heard already?"

   Onyx just sipped his coffee, and looked around the room and at the speaker expectantly.

Falik nods at the questions of the group and gestures to Dr. Bin-Hassad who gathers a few papers and nervously walks to the podium. He clears his throat and fidgets a bit while he looks to get his information in order.

Dr. Bin-Hassad looks over the group quickly and clears his throat once more before falling into speech; "Yes, well as was said I am Dr. Bin-Hassad from the history museum in Cairo. Welcome to my country. And erm, yes, as to your question," where he glances at Nightmare; "I do not have a clear answer for you. I suppose it depends on if this all-seeing eye is truly what it is purported to be. If it is some artifact that can 'see all' I would imagine our government would claim it for research. I am sure there would be outcry from both your government and the Russians if this is the case but that is beyond me. On the other hand if it is merely a relic of great antiquity it would likely be turned over to the museum."

Looking over at Oscillator, Dr. Bin-Hassad coughs briefly then continues; "And as to your question I have here what information is currently known to us, and likely to the Russians as well. To the south and east of Cairo are the ruins of Heliopolis; a great city that was primarily devoted to the worship of Ra, the sun god. We have been slowly reclaiming portions of the city from the sands of time, new artifacts flowing into our museums and centers of study. The most recent find was an ancient scroll that was found in a secret compartment in the base of a large statue of Ra in the courtyard of what we believe was his primary temple."

Dr. Bin-Hassad stops to get a drink of water, fidgeting a bit more before continuing; "The translation of this scroll has been an arduous process. This is in part because it is so fragile, and partly because we have needed to cross-reference heiroglyphs to various sources to make sure of a more correct reading. The scrolls speak of a hidden temple in the hills and valleys southeast of Helipolis. It speaks of Ra himself coming down from the sun to select from his worshippers a group of people for purposes unknown. Ra took these people southeast into the hills and valleys, to this temple. Some of the highest priests in the city also went along and a regiment of soldiers for protection. It is said that Ra would bequeath the secrets of his all-seeing eye to the most worthy among them who could survive the trials ahead. This temple was to be hidden from the eyes of all as part of a greater plan. No one ever returned from that journey and it is assumed that Ra took them all up into the heavens with him."

Dr. Bin-Hassad stops again to take a breath and have more water; "It is said the all-seeing eye was within this temple and the power of Ra himself would protect it from the greed of the unbelievers. We have flown reconnaisance missions over the entire area, and have seen *nothing* to indicate the location of a temple, ruined or otherwise. This leads us to believe that the only way to find it is by ground, exploring each valley in turn until it is found. It was said the location of the temple was a paradise, an oasis beyond all reckoning so perhaps that is a clue to follow. All we have ever seen by air is dry, desert wasteland."

Dr. Bin-Hassad stops and looks up from his papers, glancing around the room with a little more confidence; perhaps from immersing himself in the ancient history and pride of his people. He speaks up again once more to ask a question; "Are there any questions on this all so far?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:08, Thu 07 Nov 2013.

Eddy growled in his sleep a moment, then returned to a gentle purr.

Muldoon posing as Professor Klein just sat and listened. But Muldoon wondered why the US government was working with the Egyptians on this or if they were really considering allowing them to keep such a possible threat to US national security.

Oscillator wondered if he might reconfigure his HAART to detect organic vibration in the desert, to ferret out a hidden oasis.

He filed the thought and nodded to the doctor. "Excellent.  Excellent.  A truly exciting opportunity for scientific discovery."

"Between you and I, let us hope the 'artifact' is nothing more than an artifact. I'm not sure I would want to 'see all'. It's likely to be less than I imagined, and somewhat disappointing."

Dr. Bin-Hassad nods at Nightmare's words; "I think I share your view on this object. There have been countless artifacts purported to have magical powers yet none have surfaced yet, this may well end up being another. For whatever reason the Russians believe it is real and your government doesn't seem to want to take any chances that it isn't. I guess we shall all see, but first the valley and temple need to be found."

Sitting near to the curator, Falik looks back and forth from the curator to the team, seeming as if he is waiting for something.

"Would there be any images of this scroll we might examine?"
Nightmare thinks a moment before continuing, "Also, are there any other objects purported to be from this temple?"

"I can't help but wonder if this isn't going to fall into that 'Things Man Was Not Meant to Know' category," Vosper ventured.  Then, frowning, she added, "What obstacles are we anticipating in reaching and gaining access to the temple?  These things are always warded and trapped." 

Dr. Bin-Hassad nods at Nightmare's question and pulls a few photos out of his file, passing them over to Nightmare. Looking at Vosper he listens to her concerns and pauses before replying; "Hmmmm.....the problem is unlike other temples and pyramids there have been no plans found. Most of the traps that you hear about is legend, stories to frighten away grave robbers. That being said those tales talk of deep drop-away pits, spikes which spring out from the walls, and falling blocks. Whether any of it is reality in regards to this temple is the question."

Nightmare looks through the photos. After he examines each one, he passes it to his left without looking to see who takes it.

"Dr. Bin-Hassad, what types of scanning technology have been used to find this temple?  We could use some historical references to narrow our search zone, and I am an expert in radio telemetry scanning -- I could rig up a field radio-telemetry vibration-differentiation scanner today, and perhaps we could attempt to scan from air?"

As he speaks, Oscillator wonders what super-types Egypt has at it's disposal, and whether they might have already used super-senses to find the temple...?

'Darn, I should have searched the databases on Egyptian supertypes!', Osc thinks.  He wonders if there's any prudent way to broach the subject.  He looks to Muldoon, Vosper, Amaranth -- they'd be better at asking than he would.

Vosper might be his best bet.  Osc moves over next to her and whispers softly in her ear, "Is there any polite / subtle way of asking if Egypt has had supers looking for the temple?"

Dr. Bin-Hassad takes in everything Oscillator is saying and consults his file folder for a bit; "Our government sent aerial reconnaisance over the entire area. Scanning that was done was visual, thermal, and with radar. Nothing was found with any of those methods. If it is someplace hidden, it is hidden *very* well. You are certainly welcome to try your radio-telemetry-whatever if you like but I don't know how much time there is. The Russians had not departed as of the last information but I am sure they aren't going to wait around. Also if visual, thermal, and radar scans didn't turn up anything what makes you think your method will?"

"You know, when you're in a race it's important to know how fast your opponent is going. Where are these Russians?"

Dr. Bin-Hassad looks flustered at the question, looking around at his papers. Falik comes to his aid though, speaking up from his chair nearby; "The Russians are at the Soviet embassy. We have some people on the street keeping an eye on them and reporting back to us. They arrived several hours before you did, having a shorter flight from the Soviet Union, and have been hiring guides and gathering supplies as well as making trips to the history museum."