EXT. NAGADA – DAY
Kasuf’s entourage leads the away team members through the streets on toward the heart of Nagada. A growing throng of captivated townspeople follow along behind them, eagre to look upon these otherworldly visitors from another place.
As this grand procession is underway, we’re finally afforded a clear picture of Nagadan culture; Nagada is essentially ancient Egypt if ancient Egypt had managed to survive into the 19th century. While the architecture recalls the stone temples at Luxor and Karnak, the presence of carriages, advanced plumbing, and gas lamp posts brings to mind Europe or the Americas around the turn of the last century.
As they walk, Kasuf and Daniel converse, trying desperately to break through the language barrier between them but making little leeway. A little ways away from the two men, the girl who had washed Daniel’s face keeps sneaking glances at him, drawn to him but too shy to hold her gaze on him for more than a couple seconds.
Meanwhile, back a ways from those three, O’Neal walks more-or-less alone. That’s when NABEH – a Nagadan boy who suffers from hydrocephalus, from the looks of him – abruptly bumps into the American. O’Neal spins around, giving the boy a silent, dirty look. Nabeh, face slack, near-whispers an apology and backs away from the intimidating man. Come to the finalization that Nabeh is no threat, O’Neal faces forward and resumes his march.
The slack expression on Nabeh’s face then disappears, replaced with a large, crooked smile. Looking down, he examines the shiny metal cigarette lighter he managed to pick from O’Neal’s pocket. Turning to his friend, who happens to be Skarra, he presents the lighter to him.
SKARRA: (irritated) Nabeh!
Smacking Nabeh across the head, Skarra wrenches the lighter out of the other boy’s hand and speed-walks up to O’Neal. As he taps the colonel on the shoulder, the colonel turns around, facing the boy with as much hostility he showed Nabeh. When Skarra shows him the lighter, though, much of the harshness leaves his features and he takes the lighter back with a nod of thanks.
Finally, they all come to their destination. At the heart of the city stands the Palace of the Elders. A multi-tiered step pyramid 24 metres high with a base 55.3 metres across, it brings to mind the Pyramid of Djoser back on Earth.
INT. PALACE OF THE ELDERS/ATRIUM – DAY
Kasuf leading the way, the Earthlings are brought into the atrium of the palace where several servants – paid and indentured alike – lounge about in relaxation while on breaks and in between shifts. With a majestic sweep of his arm, Kasuf signals them all to stand at attention, and they quickly obey, halting in mid-step or rising from their couches and reclining cushions, eyes and ears intent upon the next signal from their master or his visitors.
Striding forth to the back of the chamber, Kasuf turns on his heel toward the newcomers, planting the end of his staff down upon the floor with a loud CLACK. Uttering a litany in reverent tones, Kasuf then bows to the Earthlings, the palace servants quickly mirroring his actions. As they bow, a large purple curtain – which had been hiding the back wall from view – is raised, revealing a large metal disc affixed to the red granite behind it. Wrought from tarnished copper, it is a larger cousin to the gold pendant worn about Daniel’s neck, bearing the same symbol of the stylized human eye.
DANIEL: (examining the disc) The Eye of Horus. (to his companions) He’s the Egyptian sky god. I think they think he sent us here.
O’NEAL: Yeah? (takes hold of Daniel’s pendant) I wonder what could’ve given them that idea.
Approaching Kasuf, Daniel brings forth the pendant.
DANIEL: Horus?
When Kasuf frowns quizzically, Daniel gives himself a mental slap in the head; the elder wouldn’t know the falcon god by his Hellenized name.
DANIEL: Haru?
That draws a reaction, but not quite the one Daniel expected.
KASUF: (shakes his head) Na’nay, na’nay! (points to his eye then the disc) Atum! Atum!
DANIEL: (perplexed) Atum?
KAWALSKY: Another friend of yours?
DANIEL: Atum was the primordial god, parent of the air and rain deities Shu and Tefnut. He was worshipped as the father of creation until later generations sidelined him in favour of the sun god Ra. (beat) He was never associated with this symbol.
O’NEAL: So, they know the Egyptian gods and one Egyptian symbol. (beat) Jackson, would you say it would stand to reason if they know one Egyptian symbol …?
DANIEL: (awareness dawning) … they’ll know others! We can write to one another. Let me try.
Daniel begins rifling through his pockets in search of paper and a pen or pencil.
DANIEL: Uh … anybody have a pad of paper, maybe a pencil?
Brown fishes out a small pad and a pen and hands both to the unorthodox Egyptologist. Taking them, he writes a message in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Once he has finished, he hands the pen and pad to Kasuf. Taking the two items, the elder studies the message, scrutinizing the words, then scrawls out his own message.
Taking the pad, Daniel looks Kasuf’s response over, face lighting up with hope. The nascent smile quickly dies on his lips.
KAWALSKY: (frowns) What?
Daniel presents the pad to the others. Beneath Daniel’s clearly written hieroglyphs is a line of unrecognizable cursive script.
DANIEL: These aren’t hieroglyphs. I don’t know what they are. I certainly can’t read them.
BROWN: Back to Square One ….
At that very moment, the great horn stationed at the city gate is blown. The foghorn blast is carried through the air to the palace, where it can still be heard with clarity even from those distances. Hearing the call, the palace servants go into a frenzy.
Brown’s radio then crackles to life.
BROWN: (puts the radio to his ear) Come in, come in! (beat) Feretti, I can’t hear you. (to O’Neal) Sir, I can’t make this out!
O’NEAL: (takes up his own radio) Feretti, say again.
BASE CAMP – DAY
A thick, furious sandstorm has come out of nowhere and hit the base camp with full, vicious force. Reilly, Porro, and Freeman hurry to pack up their equipment while Feretti attends to the radio, stinging sand relentlessly pelting them all.
FERETTI: (into radio) Must abandon base camp! Repeat: must abandon base camp!
PORRO: It’s useless! It won’t work in this!
FERETTI: (to the other men) Alright! Let’s go! Let’s move! Everybody back inside!
Abandoning the radio, Feretti hurries to take what he can carry and head straight for the shelter of the pyramid.
EXT. NAGADA – PALACE OF THE ELDERS/ENTRANCE – DAY
O’Neal steps out. Raising a hand over his eyes to cut down the suns’ glare, he sees just what it is that caused the horn to be blown; the roiling clouds of billowing sand from the approaching sandstorm buffet the front wall of Nagada, threatening to blow over and through the rest of the city.
KAWALSKY: (joining O’Neal) What is it, Colonel?
O’NEAL: Sandstorm, coming this way. (beat) We’ll have to stay here until it’s over.
O’Neal then turns around and heads back inside.