by Tony Lavely
“Indeed, we must dig. We will excavate only where the likelihood is high that we shall unearth something of interest. The removed dirt will be stored until time to back fill the pits.” Chouj paused and gazed at the two men. “We believe, hope, that this site may provide us insight to the people contemporary with the Indus Valley Civilization being studied in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, and many other sites between those two.” He reached as if to take their hands. “The educational value alone is immense, and the opportunity to decipher the mystery that surrounds the language of those people…” He dropped his hands to his thighs. “Worth beyond compare.”
“What of the… things uncovered?” Khan asked.
“Any artifacts we discover will remain in Pakistan. While we will press to commission a museum in Baluchistan, perhaps here in Surab, to house them, the final decision rests with the Department of Antiquities in Islamabad. But no artifacts will leave Pakistan without their approval.”
Khan nodded. Rezaei peered past Leonid to frown at Beckie before turning his attention to Leonid. “And your role?”
He smiled. “I think you can describe it as well as I. Our task is to protect the archeologists working at the site, no matter where they may be. Then, to protect ourselves. Then, to maintain order and security at the site, allowing the archeologists to do their work in an efficient manner, thereby disrupting life here for as little time as possible.
“Finally, though I hope it unnecessary, we are committed by our principal…” He nodded in Beckie’s direction. “… Mrs. Jamse, to aid and assist as much as possible in the event of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, or a cyclone. You may recall Nilofar?”
While Rezaei didn’t react, Khan did. His surprise was evident as he gaped at Beckie. She gave him a small smile.
Before Khan recovered, Rezaei said, “I stress that our reaction will be severe—”
“I am sure. But no more so than mine, if pressed. I will do my job. Allow me to reiterate that my job is not to harass farmers and villagers, or curious but peaceful on-lookers. Acts of violence, however…”
“We understand,” Khan said. “Please return us. We will consult and determine our course.”
Beckie stood and said, “Shukran jazīlan.”
Khan and Rezaei stared, but said nothing as they walked toward the door. Leonid hurried to lead them. Fedor gave her a quick smile, then trailed them out the door.
Chouj turned to Beckie and said, “You’re welcome, very much.”
“I hope I didn’t mangle it too badly.”
“Your pronunciation was close enough to be recognized. I for one appreciate it. What do you think they will do?”
“I have no idea. I do know what Leonid will do. We should discuss it when he and Fedor return.”
However, when they returned, Leonid could offer no additional insights. He wavered around neutral when Beckie asked if he thought the meeting had been successful. “That, I understand,” she said ruefully.
Beckie started awake. The window was dark, no sounds from complaining trucks or belligerent goats. Or was that the other way around? The air smelled fresh; as her nostrils flared, she heard the wind. Coming off the Arabian Sea? It wasn’t from the delta; she’d smelled that the day before.
Slipping from under the covers, she felt for her boots. Quickly, she found the wall with the window and sidled along it to peer out into the night. Nothing moving there.
She backed away from the window and crossed to check the other side. Again, no action. She pulled her hair over her face rather than find a black balaclava and settled herself about three feet away from the opening.
Her room looked out over a thicket of one-story buildings. Most were sun-fired mud brick dwellings, with openings that provided light and ventilation for those inside. A few were shops, faded awnings now hanging limp and grey.
Northeast was the direction she’d faced looking at the base, so she was now looking away from the rising sun. With no clouds in the sky, the sun coming up behind her had nothing to catch its early light. She could see stars.
Her patience was eventually rewarded. Two men in shalwar kameez crept away from Leonid’s building. Now what were they doing that woke me? By the time she’d looked back, their dark clothing had blended with the night; they were gone. She gave a moment’s thought to tracking them, but she wasn’t really prepared for that.
She’d only just arrived. She’d had enough time to begin the nine or ten hour time change adjustment but not enough to be acclimated. Later today, she’d get to see the site. Not very impressive, Juri had told her while they drove. But when she worried that he might have lost interest, his eyes gave the lie to that worry. He was having fun.
The house remained still.
Beckie was conflicted. So what do I do now? She eased back to the bed and found her phone to check the time. Oh-four hundred. Okay. Her mind wandered: how’s Ralf doing? Hope he’s not giving Angel a hard time. Not that he would of course.
She went to the door but her foot slipped on something on the floor. All kinds of alarms went off when she saw an envelope under her toe. Have to talk to Leonid about security, for sure. Then… Could those guys really have gotten in and slipped this under my door? She examined the door; there was a clear half-inch gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. So, yeah, they could have slipped it under.
With the envelope in her hand, she sat on the bed. Phone in hand, she verified that less than five minutes had passed. Okay, the envelope.
It was the image of the one that Amy and the others had brought to her hospital room, starting the ‘Ian’s rescue’ planning in place of ‘Ian’s revenge’. Even to the address: Rebecca Jamse, President (Pro tempore) Ian Jamse, LLC.
She opened her pack and grabbed a knife. A quick slash opened the envelope. Nothing crept or spilled out; she teased the folded paper from its hiding place.
“Mrs. Jamse,” the bold script read, “you have twenty-four hours to withdraw your people from Surab, and thirty-six to depart Pakistan.”
Or?
That question was quickly answered. “We cannot force you, of course, but should you refuse, we do have control of Ian Jamse. And lately, your infant son has moved into our domain.
“Consider your choices well.”
She fell back on the bed, but in another second she had pulled herself vertical and grabbed her phone again. Following a cursory check through the door to see if anything, or anyone, was lurking in the hallway, she ran to rouse Leonid. The others were at the site; since there’d been no word, Beckie guessed this action was directed at her alone. Well, duh! Who else can do this for them, that they think they have leverage with? Real short list, Beck!
In five minutes, Beth had joined them in the kitchen. Beth read the note and handed it to Leonid before starting coffee. “Pretty sure we’ll need it, no matter what.”
“Vodka would be better,” Leonid said, as his eyes swept the few words a third time.
“First, I’m gonna call Shen; it’s…” Beckie looked at her phone and calculated. “It’s just after seven PM if I did that right…” Leonid nodded. “… and I can send him an image of this. He can compare it with the other one, and more important, he can get Willie and Shalin on board; make sure she and Ralf are both safe. And Kam and Kieran, too, so they don’t get mistaken.”
“Huh?”
“It’s just now they’ve realized about Ralf. Who knows what info they’d give a bomber or whatever.” She reviewed her experience in the van in San Diego. “Even though that was a bluff.”
It took less time than she’d expected to alert Shen and then Shalin and Willie. To Willie, she added, “Shen won’t forget Angel and Tamasha… Really, I think I’m stupid for even saying this, but make sure Shalin… hasn’t been, you know… compromised. Her kids are all she has of Kevin, and… I worry that someone might make that connection bright and clear for her.”
Willie didn’t speak for long enough that Beckie added, “I know it’s a stupid tho
ught, and unworthy of her, since she’s been really wonderful since forever, but the ‘moved into our domain’ has me worried.”
“Well, I’ll watch, but I have a hard time—”
“God, I know, Willie! Beth is here staring daggers at me… only because she left her real ones in her pack, I’m sure. But what else could that mean?”
“If I knew, I’d be eliminating the threat, Beckie.”
“I know.”
“This seems too much for a simple archeological protection job. What else is going on?”
“I got no idea, guy, and less than twenty-three hours to figure it out.” She disconnected.
“You guys heard Willie. Any substance to his idea that the job isn’t important enough to warrant this?”
Beth set three mugs down. “Here, this is yours. Leonid, tea. I hope I got enough sugar in it for you. Now. I’ve been telling you since you made the connection that there has to be something else tied in. I listened to those guys yesterday; they haven’t got the sense… Or the balls, to pull this off. They were sent as a delaying tactic, to keep us off guard until someone’s ready. And lo and behold, when they saw you, Beckie… Bing. Bing. Bing. Jackpot! Leonid?”
He put his tea down. The tired table creaked when he leaned forward on his arms. “Beth has been talking with all of us since she arrived. She has made excellent points and I give credence to her opinions.” He leaned back and gave the women a twisted smile. “Not that that makes them any more valid, but… I listen to her.”
“Thanks, Lyeka. I’ll stand up for you anytime.”
“Okay, okay. What the fuck is important enough? We’ve got damn little time, and—”
“What can it be?” Leonid said.
Beckie slapped her forehead. “We got no clue about what it is. But what do we know? Where it is. We know they want us to stop protecting the site and the archeologists. That would stop work there, right?”
“As long as they actually do depend on the protection, I suppose,” Beth said.
“One guy with a rifle could be pretty convincing, I guess.”
Leonid swung around to put his feet up on an empty chair. “It would. I sense that that would be a last resort, from the conversations with Khan and Rezaei. But someone getting beaten along the path, that could easily happen. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Khan was astonished that you directed us to assist in a humanitarian role.” She gave him her patented ‘WTF?’ look. He grinned back. “Women can’t think that far ahead, I guess. Or maybe, given the way they’re treated, they don’t care to save the men. All I know is he found it hard to believe. Talked for five minutes straight, until Rezaei cut him off.
“It’s also interesting that they don’t let Ian and Kevin go and have them stop the job. Or I found it interesting, anyway.”
“Ian wouldn’t do it. But then why take him? To keep us from taking the job? Why not flat kill him, then? It just makes no sense.”
“Because we don’t know all the answers,” Beth said.
“Damn straight! We don’t even know the fucking questions!” She took a deep breath and forced calm on herself. “Sorry. Shouting won’t help. What will? How about I go visit Khan? He seemed a little more… tractable, maybe? than Rezaei. And correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think we have any other leads.”
Leonid was about to speak when Beckie’s phone launched into the team members’ ring tone. “Yeah, Willie. What’s happened?”
“Little, except… first, Ralf’s okay, in the hands of a… Well, I don’t know exactly what to call them except capable as a group: Amy took him and Angel along with Lisa, Solène, Kerry and of course, Dylan. And Ethian. Oh, Cori, I think her name is, she went also.”
Beckie was beside herself, so confused she could do no more than mumble something that no one understood.
“Yeah,” he continued. “I’ll explain. It’s because when I went to Shalin to talk to her, she was headed to me for the same discussion. She got the message you predicted earlier today, and rather than ignore it any longer, she wanted to talk about it. She and I, and Boynton and Amy, agreed that Shalin would take the twins and vacation somewhere we didn’t talk about, and Amy and her crew would take Ralf and do the same.
“The difference is that Amy commandeered Patrice and the G150 and lots of cash for fuel and supplies. No credit cards. In the clear, they’ll be in touch daily. Encrypted, they’ll advise approximately what their plans are, and if they get within a hundred miles of you, they’ll let you decide if you can get together with them. Your sat phone’ll have the link info.” She muttered more indistinguishable sounds as Willie kept speaking, “It’s a fait accompli, now. The plane just left.”
“But… but…”
“This nattering about doesn’t suit you, Mistress Rebecca.” Maurice! He’s part of this too! Well, yeah, he would be, wouldn’t he? Beside her, Beth laughed. Even Leonid’s grave expression cracked into a quick grin before collapsing.
“Boynton’s right,” Willie said. “Get past what’s done and move forward.”
“Yeah… Just… Gimme a minute to absorb the fact that my son, my two month old son has been spirited…” She stopped to breath deep again. “Couldn’t fit Tamasha and her family in too, I guess? Did Shalin—and tell her I love her!—have any clue about who’s behind her warning?”
“Amy said they ran out of seats after Angel, who was more excited than we expected. As for the other, no, except it looked the same as the one you got before.”
“Okay, I guess. Make sure Shalin has what she needs to be safe. Keep the home fires burning. When you talk to Amy, tell her to pass the in-the-clear stuff through you. No need to put the bad guys in the know if they aren’t already. And Maurice, thanks for the smack upside the head!”
They all rang off and Beckie slid the phone back in her pocket. She pinned the other two, one at a time, with a piercing glare. However, before she could put words to the look, her phone sounded again.
“Willie, what’d you forget?”
“Nothing. But Else has new information.”
“Hi, Beckie,” Else Meyer’s clear, Germanic accented voice came from the speaker. “I’ve been tracing that web site, the most recent upload, and it probably originated in France. Perhaps the south of France, on the eastern side. Close to Nice.”
“What’s the certainty?”
“That it’s in France, near eighty percent. That it’s in the south of France, over fifty percent. That it’s in or near Nice… or Monaco, thirty percent.”
“Do I want to know how you got this?”
“You might want to, but we don’t have enough time. And it wasn’t planted, so there’s that. We’re not being fed information, at least, any more than anything else on the Internet.”
“Okay, that’s fair. We’ll think about it. Keep in touch, please.”
“Well, does this change anything?” Beckie said once her phone was back in her pocket.
“We can’t get to Nice before your time limit,” Beth said. “Do we think that Amy and her crew can keep Ralf safe, so we can ignore the threat to him?”
“No, but that just means we should keep it in mind. I trust Amy; she’ll do everything she can to keep Ralf safe. And the rest of her crew, too. They’ve all but Angel and Cori been through either your training or Elena’s, so… I’ll give Derek a call. He’s a lot closer than we are.”
“Yeah,” Beth said, “but where do we send him?”
“To the Nice airport,” Leonid said. “While it seems incredible, the Asian Arts Museum, Musée Départemental Des Arts Asiatiques, has been mentioned several times. It is supposedly just outside the airport, so Derek should be able to get there easily. The confluence of the two… mentions? Anyway, hearing Nice twice in similar contexts deserves some investigation, especially since we know nothing else.” He finished his tea. “The museum has provided a substantial amount of funding for this operation.”
“Why?”
“This site is considered Asian. If artifacts considere
d art were discovered, the museum could have an interest.”
“But Chouj said that nothing—”
“I know. I said it was incredible. And moreso that they would have anything to do with Ian and Kevin’s abduction. Removing the driving force—begging your pardon, Mrs. Jamse—but removing the driving force behind the group chosen to protect them seems to be, disingenuous? Self-defeating, at least.”
“I’d agree. There was no way for them to know I’d elect to take the job in his absence; however, they might have expected removing him and Kevin would end our interest. Especially since he’d had no plan.” She rose and walked back and forth. “But I come back to the same question: why keep them alive, then? I guess they could have feared the team would take the job, and plan to use him as they are, but it seems really far-fetched, like Beth and I were saying before. It feels like there has to be something else they want them for, and this is more like a smoke-screen.”
“Unless the site has something besides an archeological significance,” Beth said.
“Like what?” Leonid said calmly.
“No idea,” Beth said. “We’re what, a hundred kilometers from where the Pakistanis do their nuclear testing, right? Has a device or some material gone missing? Did someone find oil? Or a mineral deposit they want to keep secret?”
“I gotta say, Beth, those are just as unbelievable as the ideas I had. Except the nuclear device. We just did that; what are the odds? And what would they threaten with it, here?”
“While Baluchistan does have copious mineral and oil reserves, let us set those ideas aside for the present,” Leonid said. “Probably our best bet will be Khan.”
“Yeah,” Beckie said. “I’ll go myself. Beth, keep doing what you’ve been doing. Leonid, you’ve got a wire, right? Wear it and you can follow along. Maybe patch it to Else, too, just in case he says something she can act on.”
“Are you in good enough shape for this?” Beth asked.
“Yeah.” Beckie chose not to discuss her incision and excess weight and poor muscle tone. “I’ll do.”
“I’ll get the wire to patch through to Else,” Leonid said, “but if you show up alone, the best thing that would happen would be… he’d slam the door in your face. Or more likely, have someone else do it. I’ll go along to open the proceedings.”
