by Jason Kasper
Each wall bore a single door of a different color: green to my left, crimson to my front, and black to my right. I turned around to see Elnaya looking back at me with a slight grin, his featherweight body draped in a simple white tunic and loose red pants tarnished with dust .
He was an elderly man with bizarrely childlike eyes set deeply above wide cheekbones and a sparse white beard tightly curled and cropped close. His face was withered and dark, and his expression assumed a quiet dignity that seemed to regard Jais and me as unfortunate travelers he was compelled to help .
“My friends,” he said, “eat a proper meal now. We have a banquet for you.” As he spoke, his Adam’s apple bobbed slowly on a thin neck draped in loose skin .
Jais nodded graciously. “Sir, we thank you for your hospitality. With your permission, I would like to speak with her .”
He frowned slightly. “She is resting. Please, eat now .”
Without waiting for argument, Elnaya turned and exited through a white door behind him. As it swung shut, Jais stepped forward to check the dull brass handle but found it locked .
He looked at me with a raised eyebrow .
I strode around the right perimeter of the room. My eyes drifted upward to find a small dome in the ceiling that hung directly over the feast, its concave surface crowned with a gold disc. Looking down, I checked the thick brass handle of the black door. Finding it locked, I followed the wall to the crimson door at the far side of the room before confirming it too was locked. When I looked up, Jais was turning away from the green door with a mournful shake of his head .
I shrugged and said, “Let’s eat .”
We walked to the food and stiffly lowered ourselves to the floor. I painfully arranged my shins until I was sitting cross-legged while Jais extended his left leg straight out beside me. The platters were piled high with yellow rice, chunks of meat, biscuits, and cakes. There were no utensils, and instead I grabbed a plate and used my hands to heap an assortment of food onto it .
Jais did the same while saying in a low voice, “I don’t like this. Any of it .”
I ripped off a length of flatbread, using it to roll a mass of rice and meat before biting off a chunk. The meat was unmistakably goat, but far better seasoned than I’d ever tasted while on deployment .
I swallowed. “Not to contradict you, boss, but I like this a whole lot better than our previous situation .”
“Why would they lock us in here ?”
“Who cares? Our orders were to do whatever they said, and they say to sit here and eat, so I’ll sit here and eat. Besides, if they wanted to kill us they could have done it without herding us into Somali Disneyland .”
I looked up again at the golden disc on top of the dome, now seeing that the blue space around it was painted with hundreds of tiny birds in flight, each moving in the same direction to form an endless swirl .
I asked, “How long do you think we were in that truck ?”
“No idea. I slept through most of it .”
I whispered, “We searched satellite imagery for hundreds of miles in every direction of the landing zone trying to see where they’d take us. There wasn’t anything with a domed roof. Hell, I don’t think there were many structures as big as this one room .”
He nodded to the center of the banquet. The small tree rose from a stone pot lined with a neat row of symbols resembling those on the wall: vertical shapes made up of lines, circles, and crescents connecting in odd geometric patterns unlike anything I’d ever seen .
Then he said, “The script on that pot and these walls is pre-Islamic. You can bet we’re off the beaten path for it to have survived this long. And you may want to be careful with eating that meat, my friend .”
Chewing another mouthful of goat, I replied, “Eh. We’ll be back to the land of antibiotics before any of this hits me .”
Jais pinched salt from a small bowl and rained it over his plate. Then he offered me the bowl. I shook my head, instead filling two clay cups with tea from a tin kettle .
We picked up our respective cups and toasted each other, the brittle clay clinking together hollowly .
“To victory,” Jais said .
“To victory,” I repeated, taking a sip that tasted of honey and jasmine. “Your leg good to go now ?”
“Better, yeah. I was more worried about the dehydration .”
“You and me both. I needed the first few sips of water to put me back on planet earth .”
“Me too .”
“If they hadn’t found us there — ”
“They did,” he cut me off. “Everything was shot to hell, but we made it. Now we have to get what we came for .”
I nodded. “So be honest with me, Jais. On a scale of one to ten, where does this foray rank in terms of difficulty ?”
His eyes were distant as he took a sip of tea and then lowered the cup to his lap .
“This is an easy seven. But most of the people who see eight and beyond come home in body bags, so don’t get too jealous .”
I inhaled deeply through my nostrils and let out the breath. I couldn’t see any vents, but the still air in the room was clean. And there was more food arranged on the floor than Jais and I could put a dent in. After eating more than our fill to compensate for our trek across the open desert, the platters still looked like they hadn’t been touched .
Jais suddenly asked, “What were you starting to say back in the desert, just before our booby-trapped truck exploded ?”
My eyes ticked downward. “I’m not sure .”
“Something about last summer. After your discharge .”
The white door flew open with a loud clang, and I looked up expecting to see the aged figure of the Silver Widow .
Instead, Elnaya walked hurriedly toward us .
Jais somehow seemed to rise effortlessly, while I rolled onto all fours and stiffly transitioned my standing weight onto swollen knees .
Elnaya strode with youthful efficiency as he said, “My friends, we have two rooms for you. Rest now until she is ready .”
Jais nodded diplomatically. “Sir, thank you again for your hospitality. But it is very urgent that we see her as soon as possible .”
“Please,” Elnaya said, “it is a dishonor to deny rest to travelers. You will go to your rooms until she summons you. This is our custom .”
Then he touched Jais’s arm and nodded to the green door, then led him there as I remained in place, watching them. Elnaya procured a set of keys, unlocked the door, and guided Jais inside .
When Elnaya reemerged, he closed the door and locked it from the outside. He walked to the opposite wall, circling the banquet before unlocking the black door and extending a hand to me .
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a nod. He remained silent, but his wide eyes watched mine as I passed him, the irises appearing wet and black under the torchlight .
I entered a much smaller room lit by a single torch in the corner. The floor was covered in ornate carpet and lined with a variety of large pillows, and an adjoining doorway led to a toilet chamber consisting of a hole in the floor .
The door closed and locked behind me, leaving me alone. I glanced around the featureless stone walls, incredulous that, while on the brink of delirium during our desert passage, I had almost told Jais the truth about my past with Boss’s team .
The urge to be completely honest with another human being, to break the walls of the impossibly dense maze that compartmentalized my life into oblivion, seemed to grow stronger every day since my separation from Karma. I wondered if I would ever be able to tell anyone the truth; maybe someday I’d have the opportunity to confide in some ally encountered along the way who desired the same end for the Handler that I did .
But that person would never be Jais .
He was simultaneously my friend and mentor, a born leader to whom my allegiance was unwavering. But his loyalty to the Handler was a far more dominating force, one that I could not, would not, break. Were our paths to cross again�
��me on a journey to harm the Handler and Jais on a mission to serve him—I had no doubt that Jais would have to kill me, or vice versa. There could be no other outcome .
With eyes growing heavy from food and the long journey, I lowered myself to the floor and unfolded my limbs to ease the pressure on my joints. I took a weary breath and arranged a pillow behind my head, grateful for the respite from events spanning a freefall over the edge of the Indian Ocean to the sanctuary in which we were now protected from both the elements and the enemy .
Well-fed and on solid ground, I desperately wanted to close my eyes again. Folding my hands over my stomach, I felt my body sinking into the ground as the space around me went dark .
* * *
An eternal blackness flashed into whitewashed brilliance with a streak of lightning, the foaming crests of colossal waves revealing a single ship skewing sideways on the water. When the squalling heavens brightened again, the ship pitched and rolled violently until its splintered masts were submerged and the hull vanished under a crushing wave —
My head leapt off the pillow as I reached for a weapon that wasn’t there, instead taking in my surroundings. My chamber looked exactly as it had when I departed consciousness, save the open doorway beside me .
In its space stood a slight female figure cloaked in a long scarlet and gold dress with a sash wrapped over one shoulder. Her face was concealed by an intricate headdress of interlocking silver pieces that flowed to a point well beneath her chin, leaving only her eyes exposed .
She turned and drifted away .
I was on my feet in seconds and moving to the doorway. The woman had already crossed the central room and was passing through the crimson door to my right. The other two doors—one we had entered through and one Jais presumably remained behind—were closed. The torches burned as before, swathing the main chamber in pools of light and shadow .
I quickly strode to the open doorway she had disappeared through. Beyond it stretched a narrow hallway dimly lit by a single torch at the far end. The woman’s silhouette slipped through a door on the right. I crossed a surface of crumbling shale and followed her inside .
She was seated atop a circular pillow that faced an elevated silver tray. On its surface rested a long, dark object I couldn’t make out .
The room was perfectly square and lit by rows of candles that ascended the side of one wall. It was warm, peaceful, and completely silent, and the air held a faint smell of woody incense. A long, low bed sat at the far end, its shape clouded under blankets bearing elaborate stitching .
Her head was bowed, her features still concealed behind the mask of shimmering, interconnected silver discs draped over her face like chainmail. Opposite the sash, her exposed arm revealed skin the color of ebony wood that was beset from shoulder to fingertips with intricate, interconnecting patterns of henna more detailed than any tattoo .
She said, “Close the door .”
Her voice was so quiet I could barely hear it, her accent both African and something else I couldn’t place .
I said, “I would like my friend to be present as well .”
“Do you want the case ?”
“Of course .”
“Then you stay alone .”
Frowning, I reached back and grasped for the door handle, pulling it shut while keeping my eyes on her. She lifted her right hand to the circular pillow on the opposite side of the silver tray .
“Sit.”
I slowly approached and lowered myself onto the pillow. Settling into a loose cross-legged position, I folded my hands respectfully in my lap and faced her from a distance of three feet. I glanced at the tray between us, which held a long, narrow pipe with a stem gracefully curled into a delicate bowl. Beside the bowl lay three crudely carved wooden matches lined up in a neat row .
Her eyes appeared old and weathered in the flickering candlelight as she reached behind her head. Unlatching her headdress, she removed the mask to reveal a face not of age but vibrant youth .
Her complexion was as radiant and dark as night, and her ethnic Somali features showed no emotion as she sat perfectly still. High, sculpted brows arched over exotic, smiling eyes of tremendous depth. She must have been in her late teens, if that, far younger than even I was. She set the silver veil down beside her .
I smelled faint traces of fragrant lavender perfume as she reached toward the tray, delicately lifting the small bulb at the end of the pipe and placing its slender neck beside her lips. “Help me,” she said .
Retrieving one of the matches from the tray, I struck it against the stone floor. The flame sparked to life, and I brought it smoothly to the open bulb of the pipe. I held it as she puffed until embers began to glow within and then shook the life out of the match .
She inhaled deeply, breathing out a long stream of smoke with a rich, velvety floral smell .
Then she held the pipe toward me .
“I don’t smoke,” I said .
“Then I do not give you the case .”
I waited another second, and when she didn’t withdraw the pipe I took it from her. Taking a small drag, I was surprised to find the sweet aroma tasted like sour licorice in my mouth. I let the smoke billow from my parted lips and then handed the pipe back .
She took another drag before handing it back to me. The smoke floated from her mouth as she said, “Once more .”
I took a second puff, noting that her endlessly deep eyes were searching mine, as if waiting for some indication from me. Her sculpted lips assumed the faintest trace of a smile, and as I handed her the pipe, her warm hand grazed mine. Then she gently set the pipe atop the elevated silver tray, where a faint trail of smoke rose between us .
I waited for her to speak, my mind remaining perfectly clear as I breathed out the last of the smoke. When she offered nothing, I asked, “What now ?”
She breathed deeply through her open mouth, which shifted into a smile .
“Now you see the case .”
As the last word left her mouth, her dress blazed with a deep scarlet glow and appeared to float around her as if suspended underwater. A rippling tingle of lightheadedness bloomed in the front of my brain, but my body pulsed with luxurious warmth and contentment. I felt as airy as if I were hovering eight feet above the floor .
My upper body wavered slightly, yet my mind churned with a godlike sense of control .
She unhurriedly lifted the silver tray between us and set it to the side, revealing a rectangular shape covered in gold cloth. Grasping a corner of the fabric with the thumb and forefinger of one hand, she pulled it back to reveal the case .
I stared at it in awe .
The case, the object of my desire that was necessary for me to walk the unlit path toward the Handler, appeared more sublime than any priceless work of art in the outside world .
It was just under a foot and a half in length, perhaps nine inches wide, and five inches deep. The brushed metal frame was colored somewhere between silver and copper, and the space between each corner was finished in a dull, ridged black surface. The leather-wrapped handle was flanked by black clasps next to twin brass combination rollers both set to the numbers 629. I reached for it, finally placing my hand on its surface after a brutal journey to find it .
She fiercely slapped her henna-covered hand atop mine .
I looked up to find my surroundings had melted away .
Suddenly I was alone, floating amid an infinite blackness with a murky glow. Squinting, I realized I was watching a vision of myself seated at a desk in a darkened room. The only light came from the blank white screen of a laptop. Its cursor blinked in silence .
I watched my own form take a sip of bourbon from a glass to his left and then place both sets of fingertips over the keyboard .
He typed the words, Relax. We all knew this was coming .
Sitting back, satisfied, he reached once more for the bourbon before stopping abruptly. He briefly rested his hand in his lap before reaching into the shadows beside the computer and
picking up the .454 revolver sitting on the desk .
A sigh of contentment, and then he put the barrel in his mouth and unceremoniously pulled the trigger .
The blast exploded around me, dissipating with a surreal echo as I startled, returning somehow to my seat in front of the case. Blinking my hazy vision clear, I looked across from me to find that the woman seated there was now Karma .
She appeared exactly as she had when I first saw her, with pale lipstick offset by pink-streaked blonde hair. The henna patterns of the Silver Widow’s arms were replaced by the bright Koi fish and cherry blossoms etched into Karma’s skin. Her petite, lithe body shifted as she raised one arm at the elbow, the smoke lazily drifting from a cigarette perched between her fingers as her clear blue eyes narrowed with the onset of a grin .
I gasped sharply, and she opened her mouth to say something, raising an assuring hand as my first stuttering blinks caused her to vanish from sight .
Now her features had transformed back into the young Somali woman, her hand still atop mine over the case .
She released my hand, and suddenly my mind was clear and her face had returned to its previous clarity. I looked around the room. Everything was exactly as before—the candles, the smell of incense, and the case on the floor between us .
She said, “Now I am glad I did not allow your friend here .”
I was breathing quickly as though catching my breath after a sprint. “Why ?”
“He is loyal to your employer .”
“Yes. So am I .”
She shook her head. “No, you want to recover the case .”
“Of course I do. My friend and I have been through much danger to get it .”
“No, you have not .”
“I’m not sure you understand what it took for us to get here .”
“I understand completely. You want to recover the case, but not because you serve your employer .”
“Why else would I bring it back ?”
“So you can draw a blade across his throat. Believe me, David Rivers, the danger is ahead of you, not behind .”
