Into The Past (MST3K 4ever & Colonial Marines_Chick)

[MST3K 4ever]

July 1948—Los Angeles, California.​

A gentleman standing about six-foot tall, weighing in at about 210 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes, wearing a brown suit and glasses strolled into the side entrance of the UCLA Library. The sun was just breaking through the morning clouds as the gentleman carried a brief case and whistled a happy little tune as he nodded politely to each person he saw along the way.

Reaching an office door a young woman sitting at her desk looked up from her typing and said, "Good Morning Dr. Burnett."

Dr. Burnett stopped whistling and in his tracks as he looked down at the blonde haired hazel eyed young woman. He cocked his head to the side and asked, "Valerie? What have I told you for the last 18 months?"

Valerie rolled her eyes and shook her head. As she replied, "Sorry about that Nate. It's just in some ways you remind me of my dad. Hope you're not offended."

Nate chuckled a bit and said, "Not at all I'm sure your dad is a good man, but just so you know if you call me Mr. Burnett I'll start looking for my dad. Now if he's here I'm shocked and scared because he's been gone for a little over three years now. All that being said Nate is fine anyway any appointments today?"

Valerie looked at her appointment book and said, "Yes you are meeting with the other librarians in two hour to discuss the upcoming Fall Semester assignments, lunch with Director Abrahams at 12:30 about your upcoming vacation days, at two you're meeting with Dr. Richards about talking to his Egyptology class sometime this semester, and from three to five you're covering the reference desk."

Nate shook his head and let out a small sigh as he said, "Ahh the thrilling life of a University Librarian. If it gets any more exciting I won't be able to take it." Nate let out a small laugh and Valerie let out one as well. He said, "Thank you for your help Valerie. I have no idea what we'd do without out you. Please hold my calls for the next half hour got some last minute paper work to catch up on."

Valerie replied, "Not a problem Nate."

Nate unlocked his office and walked in setting his brief case on the couch beside him. Nate closed the door and leaned against the door frame for a moment as he slowly closed his eyes. Letting out an exhale Nate said to himself in a whisper that was almost like a prayer, "Just get through today Burnett. Just make it through today." Nate crossed over to his desk and sat down. Gazing out his mind drifted back to three years ago. That one expedition to Egypt into a city that hadn't been seen in over 1,500 years. It didn't even exist on any maps for the last two hundred years and it was supposed to be deserted.

It was supposed to be a quiet little milk run expedition, but then things went wrong. Everyone but Nate was killed and Nate should've been killed as well but survived by dumb luck. There was one other man who survived and for the last three years Nate has been convinced this one other explorer Paul Anders was the one who set the expedition for its doom. Nate still couldn't believe Anders' betrayal to this day. All for a few more dollars, a larger share of treasure, and his name in the books. This group was friends and colleagues they went through Hell and back only to be betrayed by one of their own. That betrayal cost Nate his name, his identity, and everything that made him who he was. Nate was always afraid that if Anders knew he was still alive he'd come looking for the one man who could prove what happened. Truth was Nate just wanted to live his life in peace so using a Government Contact, as he recovered in a secret Medical facility, Nathan Burnett was born and Rick Spenser died. The Government owed Rick more than a few favors so they were willing to help him out, but there were times Nate missed being Rick and this was one of them.

Nate opened up his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of scotch. It was the last reminder from that doomed expedition that Nate had kept all those years. He poured himself a drink and as he held up the glass Nate said, "To the Black Rose. May you all rest in peace."

Nate downed the shot and put the bottle away. He pulled out his folder for the upcoming meeting and began scanning through it, shaking his head slowly, and saying "This could be done in a memo."

 

[Midnight Rose]

Cairo, Egypt​

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities was rather unusually quiet and empty for a Friday afternoon in July. Possibly due to the fact of the scorching summer heat playing a big role in it, and keeping the tourists and some of the curious locals from exploring Egypt's rich ancient history -- whether it be from learning about its priceless artifacts or the mummies from long ago. It was eerily silent for such a nice day.

Back in one of the many storage units that was held in the back part of the main building, stood a beautiful young woman by the name of Nailah Harding who was impatiently waiting on Ahmed Bishara, the curator of the museum to arrive. She was dressed in a explorer-style outfit that was retrofitted to fit her tall, athletic, willowy frame (a pair of tan-colored khakis, with a white button-up blouse and a slightly darker tan-colored vest that she wore over the thin cotton fabric). Her silky, dark ebony hair was also donned in a tight braid that fell to the middle of her back, just the way she liked it.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting, Miss Harding..." A low gravelly voice answered.

The dark haired beauty slowly turned to face the old man with a look of annoyance in her upturned sea-green eyes. "What do you want, Ahmed?" She said in a irritated voice, her words heavily accented with an English flair she inherited from her English father, Dr. Robert Harding; an archaeologist who mysteriously vanished three years ago.

"A package arrived late last night with your name on it," Ahmed handed a small-shapely paper brown parcel to Nailah. "Wait a minute, tha-that's my father's handwriting... but that's impossible! He's been gone over three years now..." She teared open the package revealing a small notebook that fell to the ground, and an unusual box that closely resembled an octagon. At first glance it looked like a small, metal music-box with tiny hieroglyphic symbols etched all around the small item. Unfortunately for her, the symbols were too worn out to read and Nailah's ability to read the ancient writing was a little bit rusty, even though she was half Egyptian herself and lived in Cairo practically her whole life.

"Fascinating..." Bishara stepped closer to Nailah getting a better look at the 'box' in her hand. "Can you make any of it out?" She handed the box to Ahmed very carefully. "It seems if it's encrypted in some kind of code, but I'm afraid I can't decipher it...but I do know a colleague of mine who can help. His name is Nate Burnett, he's an American from Los Angeles, California. You can trust him, my dear."

He went on to explain about Dr. Nate Burnett and his line of work, which Nailah wasn't too please to learn that she had to fly to the states to find this Dr. Burnett, just so he could crack the code.

After closing hours, she finally bid farewell to Ahmed and return to her parents' estate to begin her journey. But before she boarded the plane, Nailah quickly skimmed through her father's leather-bound notebook. It chronicled all of Robert Harding's findings and sketches from the expedition he went on three years ago, in finding a lost city that hasn't been seen in over 1,500 years. But what struck Nailah odd was the fact her father kept repeating a sentence in every single page: 'The blood of Nefertiti will unlock the key.'

​

 

[MST3K 4ever]

In Nate's former life as an adventurer he had survived many traps and forms of tortures, but few of them could compare to the seemingly endless number of meetings that he had to deal with during the day. Serving on the Reference Desk in the middle of summer was a special kind of pain for Nate. He was at times a bit of an intellectual snob so suffering fools who only wanted to know where the bathrooms were, or where the newspapers with the sports section was located almost made Nate nostalgic for running through the Amazon for two days with no sleep and rain water and bugs as the only form of nutrition.

Nate arrived back at his apartment about three blocks away from the school and was in the process of getting cleaned up to go out for the evening. Nate's shrewd investments left him fairly well off, and if there was one thing Nate loved as much as his work was Jazz. He was part owner of a club in the downtown district called "The Blue Parrot" and that club was his safe space. There he could forget the politics of academia and everything about Egyptology and just enjoy some drinks with a few friends along with some great music. He looked at himself and the mirror in the finely cut black Italian suit with his sapphire blue shirt, silver tie, and black loafers and said, "I look like I should be carrying a violin case with a machine gun in it." Nate chuckled at that and said, "Dressed to kill." As he started to head out the door Nate realized he almost forgot his glasses which he wore them only to help with hiding his identity. Nate figured if Clark Kent could get away with it then it should work for him too, and so far it had. Putting them on he said, "Okay now that the outfit is complete time to go have some fun."

Just as Nate took two more steps to the door just as his phone rang. Nate stopped for a second and wondered if he should answer or just go on out. He looked up and asked, "You don't want me to go out and have fun tonight do you?" Nate shook his head and answered the phone, "Hello Dr. Burnett"

There was a good bit of static on the line which told Nate right away that this was an international call. Just then he heard the thick Indian accent of his friend Ahmed Bishara curator of The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities say, "Good morning or should I say evening for you Nate."

Nate smiled hearing the familiar voice of his friend as he sat down and said, "Ahmed. Good to hear from you my friend how are things in Cairo?"

Ahmed replied, "They are well my friend still enjoying Los Angeles?"

Nate said, "It has its moments. What can I do for you? Ahmed I know you well enough to know you just don't call from out of the blue for no reason."

Ahmed replied, "Very true Nate. Today I had a most interesting visitor she had what appeared to be an ancient Egyptian turnkey with several Ancient markings and writings on it. I recommended that she come to see you for transcription on it. I suspect she is on her way and you will see her very soon she seemed quite determined to have her questions answered."

Nate shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well I appreciate the recommendation and I'll do what I can to help, but surely there are others in your country who could help her out just as readily as I could. I would hate for her to come all this way and not get any answers."

Ahmed replied, "Ahh yes Nate, but the interesting part is whom she is and how she received the turnkey. Her name is Nailah Harding and she received the turnkey in a package where she verified the handwriting on the package as that of her father."

Nate could make a list of things that he was ready to hear about on this day. What Ahmed had just said was nowhere near that list. He was grateful that Ahmed couldn't see him at this moment, because Nate was visibly shaken, but at least with his voice he could try to disguise his shock. Nate said, "Oh well that's very interesting. Okay I'll do what I can to help her out, but if this what I suspect then she's in for a major disappointment. My guess she has something that she believes will lead her to the ancient lost city of Nepharani. She'll find out though like everyone else that it's a myth at best. People have been chasing after that dream for centuries, but I'll see what I can do."

Nate and Ahmed made some more small talk for about another ten minutes before they finally hung up. When he hung up the phone Nate ran his fingers through his hair and bowed his head with his eyes closed.

When Rick Spenser was alive Dr. Robert Harding was the leader of the Black Rose group. They were each a specialist in their respective fields when it came to going on expeditions, and Robert was the glue that held that group together. The group would usually get a message from someone in a Government somewhere to go find something that had been lost in the mist of time. It was usually of some historic significance or to keep someone who shouldn't have it from having it. In that case it was usually some kind of artifact that was believed to bring about a reign of darkness or the end of humanity. Something along those lines although Rick would usually roll his eyes and shake his head at that kind of thing, but that was until the Nepharani expedition. The kind of work they did was not for thrill seeking or for a treasure hunt of some kind, but any treasure they found they got to keep. All that being said they never delved into each other's personal lives, because what they did was off the record and also it kept things on a need to know basis so they could enjoy their lives outside of the group. However Robert and Rick did eventually break that rule and very quietly became friends. Rick knew of Nailah but never saw her and Robert spoke of her frequently to him, so much so that Rick felt like he knew her.

Nate knew that Robert's DNA was in Nailah which meant she wasn't about to let this go. Nate sat up and looked to the ceiling and began to wrestle with the moral debate raging within in him. Should he help Nailah, or try to stop her to keep her from sharing the same fate as her father and also keeping his identity a secret? Not to mention the writing being in Robert's handwriting was on his mind as well. Robert was dead that was a fact he died in front of Rick.

Nate shook his head as though he were trying to get rid of an annoying bug around him. He decided that the debate could wait for a while longer. Tonight was his reward and he was going to enjoy it.

Nate left his apartment and within ten minutes he was standing at the side door of The Blue Parrot. During the walk down to the club as much as he wanted to Nate couldn't forget the moral debate he was having. He took a deep breath and said, "Showtime." With that he walked in through the kitchen and said with great enthusiasm to the kitchen staff, "It's Friday Night! Look alive and have at it!" The kitchen crew greeted Nate with shouts of "Hey" "Boss Man" and others as he walked through the nodding and smiling. Nate made his way into the club area and stopped to shake hands and make small talk with many of the patrons. They were politicians, athletes, and a few of the more well-known stars in Hollywood as well.

Nate stood at the bar where a sizable African American woman stood there looking around. Upon seeing Nate she looked at him as though he were a child who had gotten caught coming home after curfew. Her name was Delores McPhee but everyone called her "Mama Love" and she was the club manager. Nate relied on more than anyone else without her Nate knew the club would be dead in the water.

She said, "You're late you were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago."

Nate replied, "I know Mama I had something come up. I'm sorry."

Mama nodded and replied, "Right. Come give Mama lovin'"

Nate smirked and gave her peck on the cheek and Mama smiled as she said, "That's better sugar. How are you Nate? I can tell already something is on your mind."

Nate knew that he couldn't hide anything from Mama. She had a sense when things were wrong, and a gift for reading people. Nate replied, "Nothing to worry about right now. Let's enjoy the night and keep the customers happy."

Mama nodded and said, "Okay but we will be discussing this again later tonight."

Nate replied, "Fair enough. If you'll excuse me I'm gonna be in my office for the next thirty minutes. Unless the club is about to burn to the ground I need quiet time."

Mama knew something was really up. Rarely did he ever ask Mama to run interference for him as she said, "You got it Sugar."

Nate walked into the back part of the club into his office. He closed the door and locked it as he sat down. The sound of jazz filtering through the wall usually made Nate feel relaxed, but not tonight. He unlocked a desk drawer, opened it up and reached towards the back. Pulling out a picture of the Black Rose crew just prior to leaving for Nepharani. It was the only picture that they ever had taken and Nate just stared at it as though it might give him his answers.