by Tom Hunter
“What a shame you don’t have better news for me,” sighed Pae. “Very well. You have bought yourself a little more time. Remain at your post for now until I make my final decision. When I have need of you, I will be in touch.”
The screen went blank as he ended the call.
“Foolish tyrant!” Pin roared as he grabbed the communicator and threw it out of the window, before standing up so abruptly that he knocked his chair flying across the room. “How could he even think of wasting my talents in the bunkers like a common mongrel? Do all my years of loyal service mean nothing to him?”
He stormed up and down the room, cussing and swearing.
“Can he not see that I am worthy of so much more?” he ranted. “How can he be so willing to toss a man of my ability aside like that? How can he allow his advisors to fill his head with such ridiculous ideas? If we lose this war, it will be entirely down to his weak leadership. I will be the first in line to say ‘I told you so.’”
He snatched up St. Augustine’s hat from the desk, the feel of it in his hands immediately calming him.
“If it weren’t for you, I don’t know what I’d do,” Pin murmured to the hat. “You promise so much. Could one such as Pae ever deserve the gifts you have to offer?”
He crossed to the window, gazing out at the calm seas as he pressed the cap to his cheek, caressing it as though it were the love of his life. “Perhaps when we recover your companion, the scepter, I will have the power to alter Pae’s mind. With your aid, I’m sure he will see that my mission is the only thing that can assure us of certain victory. He’ll be able to see that sending me into the ditches to scrabble around in the dirt will instead guarantee nothing but failure.”
He placed the hat on his head, exhaling slowly as it made the now familiar connection with his mind.
Eighteen
“Are we nearly there yet?” whined Waleed as their car bounced down a road on their way to Meroe.
“Oh dear god,” groaned Josh. “Just give it a rest, will you? Look at the GPS if you want to know how much longer the journey’s going to be.” He took one hand off the steering wheel to point to the GPS device set in the dashboard, which revealed that they had another sixty miles left before they reached the ancient city. “And if we didn’t have to take the back roads to avoid the trouble you brought down on us, we’d be there a lot sooner.”
There was a slight bump as they drove onto a bridge, with the river Nile spreading out beneath them.
“It’s so beautiful,” breathed Shafira, awestruck as she admired the view.
“Yeah, but will it look so great from the inside of a prison van?” Josh indicated the security checkpoint waiting for them on the other side of the bridge. He looked over his shoulder in preparation for doing a U-turn.
“Don’t.” Samuel put a hand out to keep Josh going straight. “It’ll only look suspicious if we turn around now.”
A soldier held out a palm towards them, ordering the group to halt and wait their turn for inspection as they checked out the vehicles already lining up.
“What are we going to do?” panicked Basile. “If they discover the guns we’re carrying, we’ll be locked up for sure. I’m too pretty to go to prison!”
“We all are,” remarked Shafira grimly. “Sudanese prisons are some of the worst in the world. They’re overcrowded and there are no beds and no cells, so everyone’s just crammed into one large area together. There’s no clean drinking water and the food is so bad, that they might as well not bother serving it. Prisoners rely on friends and family to bring them in bottled water and something to eat, so we’d be completely screwed. I don’t know about the rest of you, but there’s no way that my parents would trek all the way out here to look after me, not when I’ll have brought such shame upon our family.”
“For Chrissakes, Waleed. This is all your fault,” cursed Josh, slamming his hand against the steering wheel. “If you hadn’t suggested we arm ourselves, we wouldn’t have had to flee the city and we wouldn’t be risking our freedom just to cross the Nile.”
“I hate to be the one to say I told you so, but I told you so,” wailed Basile. “What are we going to do? If we all jump out of the car and run, they can’t go after all of us at once, can they?”
“Quiet, everyone!” snapped Waleed. The other five shot him dark looks and he held up his hands in placation. “Please, my friends. Relax. There’s no need to panic just because you’ve seen a man in a uniform. We’re not in as much trouble as you might think.”
“Is that so?” Basile shook his head in disgust.
“It is,” Waleed nodded, ignoring Basile’s attitude. “Now I think we’re all agreed that we find ourselves in the temporary career of gun runners, correct?”
“And then some,” huffed Basile.
“One of the most important parts of being a gun dealer is to play it cool,” Waleed explained. “You tell the authorities what they want to hear and everything’s fine. Now, is anyone willing to take on the role of spokesperson and lie to the guards?”
The others glared at him, but no one took him up on his request.
Waleed shrugged and smiled. “No volunteers? Just as I thought. Leave it to me. I’ll handle it.”
“Waleed! Wait! No!”
Basile lunged after him to try and stop him getting out of the car, but he was too late. Waleed slipped out of his grasp and jauntily walked towards the officer overseeing the searches. As his horrified fellows watched, he hailed the soldier and began talking to him.
“What are they saying?” asked Basile anxiously. “Someone. Anyone. Tell me what they’re saying!”
“They’re too far away.” Josh shook his head. “I can’t hear anything. I can’t even see clearly enough to attempt to lip read. We’re in Waleed’s hands for now, and I can’t think of a more terrifying prospect. That rat would sell out his own mother for profit. We haven’t got a chance with him talking to the authorities. He’ll be telling them some cockamamie story about how we’ve kidnapped him, no doubt.”
“We should trust him,” Akhenaton suggested. “I know his methods are unconventional, but from what I’ve seen, his heart is in the right place.”
“I agree,” nodded Samuel. “He’s slippery as a snake. If anyone can sweet talk his way out of here, he can.”
“Uh-oh. Heads up, everyone.” Josh straightened in his seat. “Waleed’s coming back and he’s got company.”
He rolled down his window as Waleed returned with the officer in tow. He leaned down to talk to the others, his eyes wide and mournful.
“I’m sorry, guys,” he began. “I did my best, but we’ve been caught.”
“I knew it!” yelled Josh. “Waleed, I-”
“Quiet!” barked the guard.
Josh was obviously fuming, but he had the sense to obey orders, tightening his grip on the steering wheel and letting it go again to release tension, rather than punching a certain someone.
“Akhenaton, could you be so kind as to pass me my bag?” Waleed requested, pointing to the backpack by Akhenaton’s feet. “No, not that one. That one.”
Akhenaton gave him the right bag and Waleed rummaged around inside before producing the big bag of weed he’d swiped from the gang house.
“I’m really sorry, officer,” he sighed, shrugging at his companions in the car. “As you can see from my friend’s behavior…” He pointed at Josh, who narrowed his eyes at him. “We’ve all been working a little too hard recently and were hoping to unwind once we were free of the city limits. I know it was the wrong thing for us to do, but we really have been under a lot of stress. I hope that you can find it in your heart to be lenient, now that we’ve confessed.”
The soldier opened the bag, wincing as the strong smell of marijuana came wafting out.
“All right.” He closed the bag again, sucking in his cheeks as he considered what to do. “I should really arrest you all for this. But given that it’s a first offense and you are visitors to our country, I can let you off wi
th a warning. But, you must make it worth my while. A caution will cost you, but if you don’t pay me, I’ll be forced to follow protocol and arrest your entire group.”
“Of course.” Waleed nodded in agreement. Turning, he winked at Shafira out of sight of the soldier. “Shafira, if you could be so good as to pay the officer? A few hundred dollars will suffice to buy our freedom.”
Shafira glared at Waleed, but didn’t argue as she reached into her purse and took out three hundred dollars. She was careful not to let the soldier see the wads of cash she still had in case he decided that the ‘fine’ wasn’t big enough.
“There you go, my friend,” Waleed beamed, handing the money to the guard. “And thank you for your mercy. May God go with you.”
The soldier counted the cash quickly. “And with you.” He nodded curtly before waving them on.
Waleed got back into his seat and Josh drove off before the soldier could change his mind.
“Much as I’m grateful to have avoided a Sudanese prison, do you think you could avoid gambling with our lives like that?” scolded Shafira, as Waleed laughed. “You had me thinking we were going to be locked up and they’d throw away the key. You could have warned us in advance about what you were planning.”
“What are you complaining about?” he asked. “Look on the bright side. You’ve still got most of your money. I already saved you two thousand dollars on the price of the guns, money you were more than willing to pay. That was just a drop in the ocean in comparison.” Seeing that Shafira was genuinely upset, he patted her on the shoulder. “I’m sorry if I hurt or scared you,” he said. “But we were never really in any danger. The border guards have nothing to do all day and they like being able to show their superiors that they’re doing their job. Thwarting some wannabe drug smugglers makes them feel good about themselves. There’s nothing like a bit of baksheesh to compensate for a crappy salary.
“Since we haven’t had time to get to a bank to redeposit your money, I knew we had enough cash to buy his silence and I had evidence to give them that would make sure that they wouldn’t search the car for anything else. Being so open about one criminal activity made it less likely they’d investigate further. There’s enough dope in that bag for them to be able to show their superiors that they’ve been working hard and if they choose to keep some of it for themselves…” He shrugged. “Well, I hope it brightens their day.”
He turned to look out of the window so that the rest of the team wouldn’t see the self-satisfied smirk that spread over his face. He’d well and truly proven his worth at the checkpoint. The others might complain about him, but who else could have gotten them out of such a tight spot?
Nineteen
It was still dark when the lights of Meroe appeared on the horizon. Josh was the only one awake to see it, however. The rest of the team were fast asleep in their seats. He didn’t mind that he’d driven for hours to the accompaniment of their snores and the drone of the car. One of the reasons why he’d become a helicopter pilot was because he enjoyed working alone. If he was honest with himself, Josh was beginning to find the pressure of being around the others day and night without a break a little too much to bear.
“Get off!” Samuel jolted awake, crying out in his sleep.
“Interesting dream?” smirked Josh at the bemused look on his friend’s face.
“Something like that,” nodded Samuel, as he yawned and stretched. “I dreamed that Waleed had failed to get us past the checkpoint, so we were all thrown into prison. I was squashed between you and Waleed, who had turned into a giant teddy bear. It all went downhill from there.”
“Sounds delightful!” laughed Josh.
Samuel squinted at the GPS. “Looks like we’re almost there,” he observed.
“You don’t need to check the GPS. Just use your eyes. Look.” Josh pointed up ahead where the outline of Meroe had appeared in the distance.
“Are we nearly there yet?” asked Waleed blearily, leaning forward to stick his head between Josh and Samuel.
“Yep,” Josh replied, putting his foot down to go faster. With their destination in sight, he wanted nothing more than to get out of the car and stretch.
By the time they reached Meroe, the ancient city was just opening up for the day. As they approached, Josh followed the signs to a parking lot. There were only two cars there already, a reflection of the early hour.
Seeing them coming, a guide rushed forward to wave them into the best available slot. As he switched off the engine, Josh looked round pointedly at the empty spaces all around, but chose not to make a sarcastic comment at someone who was just doing his job.
“Good morning, and welcome to Meroe,” beamed the guide. “We hope you enjoy your visit to our unique ancient city. Please take your time to walk around and take in all the sights. The entrance to the city is over there, or you may prefer to start at the cultural center, where you can pick up a map and learn more about our incredible history.”
“Thank you. We will.” Josh palmed the guide a dollar as the rest of the team climbed out of the car. Akhenaton had to shake Basile awake. The Frenchmen was still snoring on the back seat, blithely unaware that they’d reached their destination.
“What did you do that for?” he protested, pushing Akhenaton away. “Can’t you see when a man’s getting some much needed rest?”
“Nous sommes arrivé,” Akhenaton, showing off some of his limited French vocabulary. “I didn’t think you’d want to miss out on all the excitement. Unless you want to wait in the car while the rest of us explore?”
Basile hurriedly got out and started helping the others unload the trunk, gathering together the supplies they thought they’d need for the day.
Waleed discretely took one of the guns out of his bag and tucked it into his belt, pulling out his shirt to conceal it from casual glances. He handed the other to Josh, who nodded in gratitude before similarly hiding his weapon away.
“What’s the plan, guys?” asked Shafira as Josh closed the trunk and locked up the car.
Samuel scratched his head as he considered their next move. “The way I see it, so far, the Knights have protected the relics using one of two approaches. Either they hide themselves in plain sight, like the hospital in Annaba, or they use cloaking technology to add an extra layer of security on top of an already difficult-to-find location, such as the cave in Egypt.”
“So which one are they using here?” asked Basile. “We need to have some idea of what we’re looking for otherwise we’ll be here forever. I mean, there are over 200 pyramids in Meroe. We can’t go round checking each of them for a hidden entrance. Besides, if we go snooping around where we’re not supposed to, we’re more likely to draw unwanted attention long before we find what we’re looking for. If we’re lucky, it’ll be the Knights, but what if the Bruard finds out we’re here?”
“If only I had a helicopter to hand,” sighed Josh. “If we could only get a sky high view of the region, we might be able to see if there are any suspiciously blank spots worthy of exploration. After everything we’ve experienced so far, we’ve got a much better idea of the tell-tale signs left by St. Augustine’s men. I’m sure I’d be able to spot them if I could only get high enough.”
“Hmmm…” Samuel’s archaeological brain went into overdrive as he recalled everything he knew about the region. “Rome never invaded Nubia,” he told the others. “Which means that it’s unlikely that St. Augustine passed through here. That would suggest that the scepter was brought here sometime during the 5th century when the cell of the Order charged with protecting it escaped and fled to Meroe. If that’s the case, I’m guessing that they probably interred it, perhaps with the last known ruler of the city. They would make a fitting guardian for such an important relic. And after all, we are surrounded by pyramids. That would be the epitome of hiding in plain sight?”
He chuckled, as an idea struck him. “Does anyone fancy playing at being a tourist and exploring the cultural center?”
Basi
le frowned. “Why?”
“Call me crazy, but I have a funny feeling that the tourist information office is going to offer up some clues on how we can find what we’re looking for,” Samuel explained. “At the very least, they might have some aerial images of the area Josh can examine. In the absence of a helicopter, it’s the next best thing. Heck, we could probably buy a print. It would be a lot cheaper than hiring an aircraft.”
Twenty
As soon as it was open, Samuel pushed open the door to Meroe’s cultural center, the others following him inside. For the most part, the center was laid out similarly to a museum. The only difference was that you could purchase almost everything that was on display. Thick, academic tomes shared shelf space with pamphlets and maps detailing the layout of ancient Meroe. Display cases contained replicas of artifacts that had been excavated during the many digs that had been carried out in the area.
By unspoken agreement, the group split up into two teams. Waleed, Josh, and Akhenaton went to look for drinks in the tourist section of the store, looking to top up their supplies.
“Will you just look at this rainbow-colored teddy bear?” Waleed remarked loudly, starting a never ending commentary on how amazing everything was. “My niece Zubeida would simply love it. You two better hold me back or I’m going to buy everything in this shop!”
Akhenaton and Josh rolled their eyes at each other, as Waleed continued to do his best to keep the attention of the bored-looking store clerk, so that the other three could carry out their research unobserved.
Samuel, Shafira, and Basile spread out through the academic side of the shop, looking for information that would either confirm Samuel’s theory, or suggest a better line of investigation.
“Look at this!” Basile beckoned to Samuel and Shafira to join him as he flicked through a book detailing the final years of the city of Meroe. “It says here that although much mystery surrounds the time, during the final active period of the city, a victory stele was erected which was thought to belong to a ruler of Aksum. This king was believed to be Ezana, otherwise known as the King of the Aksumites and Omerites.”
