The Knights of the Spring Dream

by Tom Hunter

  “There is another explanation,” Akhenaton suggested. “I agree with Josh that it isn’t a coincidence that Gord’s in Annaba, but what if it isn’t about us? What if he’s looking for the leader of my Order as well?”

  The air in the room seemed to turn as cold as ice as the others realized that Akhenaton had a point.

  “I hate to say it, but you could be right,” said Samuel.

  “And that would explain Gord being here,” nodded Basile. “It’s probably our bad luck that we chose the same hotel he did, but if he captured one of Akhenaton’s comrades, it’s more than possible that he tortured them into telling him about the Order.”

  “None of the Knights would reveal anything to the Bruard,” protested Akhenaton hotly. “None of us would ever tell the unworthy about the Order.”

  “You told me, and I’m classed as unworthy,” Samuel pointed out gently. “In the right circumstances, the Bruard can be highly persuasive.”

  “He’s right,” Shafira confirmed. “I’ve seen the kind of thing they do. I would have said that Director Haisam would never have told the Bruard anything, yet Pin knew all sorts of details that only the Director could have told him. I don’t think it would matter how loyal a Knight was. Pin could have got him to talk.”

  “I’m sorry, Akhenaton,” said Samuel, “but we’re going to have to work on the basis that the Bruard know everything about our mission, which means that we’re running out of time to track down the leader.”

  A gloomy silence descended as the team considered a world in which the Bruard had taken the one person who could decipher St. Augustine’s secret for them.

  “So what can we do?” asked Basile at last. “Could we perhaps visit the clinic now? We could use Josh’s ankle as an excuse. After all, he could do with someone looking at it, just in case.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Samuel shook his head. “From what I saw on the website, the clinic doesn’t offer a 24 hour emergency service, so if we show up en masse at this time of night and try and get in, it’s likely we’ll all end up needing medical attention. If we’re right and it is run by the Order, they’ll have guards there. If they’re anything like Akhenaton’s crew, they won’t think twice about cutting down intruders. We’ll just have to wait until morning. But I don’t want anyone on their own, just in case Gord or another Bruard agent comes back to finish the job. Basile’s already agreed to let me stay in his room, and Waleed, you bunk down with Akhenaton. Shafira, I know that it’s a big ask for you to share a room with a man, but would you be okay sharing with Josh?”

  “It’s all right,” Shafira replied. “Josh is probably the one man my father would trust to watch over me. He knows that he would never try anything inappropriate.”

  “Good.” Samuel smiled reassuringly at his team. “Now, in addition to sharing rooms, I think we should have someone on guard duty all night. Decide between yourselves who gets which watch, but I want someone in each pair awake at all times. If you see anything suspicious, anything at all, raise the alarm and the rest of us will come running. Got it?”

  “Got it,” echoed the others, as they got up and headed back to their rooms, none of them feeling like they’d be able to sleep at all with the shadow of the Bruard looming over them.

  Forty

  Gord leaned against an alley wall, clutching his sides as he fought to get his breath back. For all his bravado, it had been a long time since he’d had to do so much running to escape pursuers, and his body was punishing him for the extra effort it had taken him to get away from Josh and Akhenaton. They’d been ridiculously determined. “Dammit, Gord!” he cursed, slamming his fist against the brick wall, barely feeling the damage to his knuckles. “Could you have messed up any bigger?”

  When Pin found out that he had gone against his express wishes, Gord was under no illusions as to what would happen. Ever since they’d stolen the relic from under Samuel’s nose, Pin had been even more unstable and cruel than usual, and Gord didn’t like to think what his boss would do if he discovered that Gord had potentially jeopardized their mission.

  “Think, dammit, think!” he urged himself, pacing up and down. The only way to cover his mistake was to wipe out all the witnesses. But, how could he take out a team of six people who were undoubtedly going to be watching out for him?

  Could I poison them? he mused, but there was no way he could get poison into all their food unnoticed. Gas? A more reliable method, perhaps, but it would take time to gather the resources necessary, time he didn’t have. Sniper rifle? Gord had the skills to take them out, that was for sure, and a gun would be more easily sourced than deadly gas, but Pin would hardly appreciate the publicity a mass assassination would bring.

  His ponderings were interrupted by the sudden buzz of his cell phone. Yanking it out, he swiped to answer without bothering to check who was calling.

  “Make this good,” he growled.

  “What a wonderful way to greet a lady,” Valentina laughed. “I could just hang up and call back tomorrow, next week, next year…”

  “I’m sorry,” he said through gritted teeth. “It’s been a bit of an evening. What have you got for me? And much as I don’t want to upset your delicate sensibilities, I really do need some good news, so please tell me you have the target.”

  “While I don’t have her in custody, you’ll be pleased to know that I have visual confirmation of your target. I can now reveal that she is the head doctor at a local clinic. She will be there all day tomorrow, so I take it that you will want to go and pick her up in person?”

  A wave of relief washed over Gord. “Excellent work,” he beamed.

  “I told you,” drawled Valentina. “I have never failed to satisfy my clients’ requirements and I certainly wasn’t going to start with your assignment. I have full details of where to find the clinic as well as a few suggestions as to the best way of collecting the woman without scaring her into hiding which I will give you on receipt of the final payment. Does that sound reasonable?”

  “Of course, of course,” nodded Gord. “Shall I bring the cash to your address?”

  “No. I never sully my home with anything so vulgar as money,” replied Valentina. “I’ll send my driver to collect you and we can talk in the car. I take it you’ll be waiting at the motel for me?”

  Gord silently cursed his mistake for the hundredth time as he realized that he couldn’t risk waiting around at the motel and running into Samuel and his friends.

  “No,” he finally replied. “Give me some time to get everything together and then pick me up at…” He hurried out of the alley, trying to find a convenient location for their rendezvous. Looking up and down the street, he couldn’t see any signs with the name of it and, being unfamiliar with Annaba, he had no idea where he was. At last, he spotted a café further down the road. “Do you know the Bar Royale a couple hundred yards from the motel?”

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll be there with your money in two hours.”

  “I’ll see you then.”

  Valentina hung up. Fortunately, Gord had the foresight to book a room at the corner of the motel, so if he was discreet, he should be able to sneak in and out without attracting the attention of his enemies.

  He clenched his fists, thinking of how much he wanted to go and smash Samuel’s face in, but he simply couldn’t take the risk of being caught. It had been tough enough getting away from the police earlier and with Samuel reunited with his friends, six against one weren’t the kind of odds Gord liked.

  “You’ll keep, McCarthy,” he muttered, as he dialed Pin’s number.

  His boss picked up on the second ring. “Do you have news for me?” he said, not bothering with any niceties.

  “I think you’ll be very pleased with my progress,” Gord replied. “We’ve got some important details to discuss. I’m going to need some help very soon.”

  Forty-One

  “Is this the place?” asked Waleed, as Samuel paid off their cab driver. “
It doesn’t look like the top secret hideout of an international order of Knights.”

  “Appearances can be deceptive,” Akhenaton reminded him as they all gazed upon the Silver Birch Clinic from the bottom of the drive.

  It was an unassuming two story building. A small line of people in need of medical care was already forming, despite the early hour. It looked just like any other clinic, with tastefully planted shrubs and bushes designed to create a warm, natural feel to take the edge off the stark white walls.

  However, as they walked towards the back of the line, Samuel nudged Shafira. “See that?” He pointed at a small statue on the left side of the driveway.

  “It’s St. Augustine!” gasped Shafira.

  “Members of my Order would have placed it on the left side to symbolize how his teachings are always held in their hearts,” Akhenaton advised, overhearing them. “Although it’s a myth that the heart is exclusively on the left hand side of the body, the tradition of associating the left with love and compassion endures. This is a clear sign that we’re on the right path.”

  “All right, everyone,” whispered Samuel when they reached the back of the line, as the others huddled round him. “It looks like we’re in the right place, or at least somewhere where we might be able to get a clue to the actual whereabouts of the leader of the Order. Josh’s ankle gives us an excuse to be here, but we need a plan to get past the doctors and find the person we’re looking for.”

  “As I said last night, you need to leave it to me. I’m an expert at breaking into places,” Waleed boasted.

  “We noticed,” deadpanned Samuel. “But I think we can do without holding up the leader at gunpoint. We want to make a good impression on them, remember? We’re here to get their help, not permanently alienate them.”

  “I wasn’t suggesting that we point a gun at anyone,” Waleed protested. “I was thinking more that Josh create a diversion while I sneak round the back and scout the place out to find anyone who seems leader-like. Then I use my powers of persuasion to convince them to help us.”

  “I can’t imagine anything more likely to guarantee that we fail in our mission.” Josh rolled his eyes, sighing heavily. “Does someone want to tell me why we didn’t just leave him back at the motel to guard our things?”

  “Because he might be useful.” Samuel glared at Josh. “We need to work together, now more than ever.”

  Waleed grinned smugly at Josh.

  “But much as I appreciate the offer, I agree with Josh in that a break-in is the worst way to deal with this,” Samuel went on, as Waleed’s face fell.

  “What about if we send in Akhenaton?” suggested Shafira. “I mean, you must know some sort of secret signal you can make to let them know who you are.”

  “That wouldn’t work. Each cell has their own way of communicating,” Akhenaton explained. “It’s all part of our strict secrecy laws that partition off individual cells. If we were walking into a building affiliated with my cell it wouldn’t be a problem, but here it would look like I was making random gestures that they might not even notice.”

  The group fell into silence until Samuel snapped his fingers.

  “Leave it to me,” he said. “I have an idea that might just work. Does anyone have a pen and paper I can use?”

  “Here you go.” Basile handed over a notebook and pen. Samuel tore off a sheet and got Basile to turn around so that he could use his back to rest against while he wrote something on the paper.

  “Thanks.” Samuel folded up the paper, passing back the pen and notebook.

  “Hey! The line’s moving,” Josh pointed out, as the people ahead of them started shuffling forward.

  “I wouldn’t get excited if I were you,” grumbled Waleed. “With the number of people ahead of us, we’ll still be here in a couple of hours. I Spy anyone?”

  Despite Waleed’s pessimism, it was only a half hour before they reached the front of the line and were passing through the automatic sliding doors that led to the reception.

  “They process people pretty quickly here,” remarked Waleed. “Do you think they take the really sick ones out back and shoot them?”

  “Enough, Waleed, or I’ll give you a reason to need a doctor,” snarled Josh as Samuel strode up to the reception desk.

  “Good morning, sir,” smiled the receptionist. “How may we help you today?”

  “I’d like to speak to the head doctor of the clinic,” Samuel replied. “Or if they’re not available, perhaps I could talk to the owner?”

  The receptionist’s smile lost a little of its shine. “I’m sorry, sir.” She shrugged apologetically. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. She doesn’t accept special requests. We treat everyone equally here, and I can assure that all of our doctors are just as well qualified. Now if you could give me some information about your ailment, I’m sure you’ll be very happy with the doctor assigned to you.”

  Samuel took out the piece of paper he’d written on earlier and slid it over the desk to the receptionist. “I’m sure that will tell you everything you need to know,” he said as she opened it up.

  She did a double take when she saw that Samuel had drawn the universal symbol of the Knights of the Spring Dream, a simple flower with four petals set in the middle of a cloud.

  “I see.” She cleared her throat and pressed a button on her intercom. “Saeed, could you come over and take some special guests up to the main office?”

  Looking up at the group, she pointed to a set of double doors to the side of the reception area.

  “If you go through there, someone will meet you,” she told them.

  “Thank you.” Samuel nodded his head at her before leading his friends through the doors the receptionist had indicated.

  “How did you know that would work?” asked Shafira as they walked into an unassuming waiting room.

  “I’ll admit it was a gamble,” he replied. “But I figured it would pay off. The best way to hide is in plain sight. There were enough signs about the place to tell you that this was a base for the Knights of the Spring Dream if you had eyes to see them.”

  “That was pretty clever,” chuckled Akhenaton.

  “My plan would have worked just as well,” grumbled Waleed as a man came forward to greet them.

  Forty-Two

  Their guide led them through the rabbit warren that made up the clinic. They walked down seemingly never ending corridors lined with consultation rooms on either side, and a small pharmacy with a waiting line of patients.

  “This will be why the line moved so fast,” observed Josh. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a charity hospital with so many clinicians. It’s impressive.”

  “And all low cost or free,” Saeed told him proudly. “In accordance with St. Augustine’s teaching, we help anyone who needs it, regardless of circumstance. We never pry into people’s financial backgrounds, simply asking them to pay what they can afford.”

  “But don’t you worry that some may take advantage of your generosity?” asked Waleed.

  “God will provide,” shrugged Saeed. “We live in His hands and are at His mercy. We trust to Him to ensure that we have what we need and He has never let us down.”

  “Are you kidding?” scoffed Waleed. Akhenaton elbowed him hard.

  Saeed appeared not to have heard as he reached an elevator door. He tapped in a code to the keypad to the side, and the doors slid open. The team crowded into the elevator and Saeed pushed his thumb to a sensor to make the doors close and take them up to the next floor.

  A moment later, the doors opened again, to reveal a large statue of St. Augustine opposite the elevator. Before taking them any further, both Saeed and Akhenaton made a gesture of respect to the statue, with their heads bowed and their left palms upward.

  “May St. Augustine bless you and your journey,” intoned Saeed, before heading over to yet another secure door that required a different code to open.

  “What’s with all the security?” whispered Waleed as they walked through
. “Doesn’t it seem over the top to you if we’re just going into the administrative area?”

  “Still convinced that your plan would have worked?” Josh smirked as they entered a large, sound-proofed room. It was as though they’d just walked straight onto the set of a Jackie Chan movie. People in robes were going through a combination of martial arts exercises, each movement flowing seamlessly into the next. If they were taken aback by the sight of a group of strangers walking through their midst, none of them showed it, all too focused on their practice to be distracted.

  “This is where we train the younger members of our Order,” Saeed explained, as he took them through a door to the side of the room and into another corridor.

  “This is amazing,” breathed Akhenaton as they walked past rooms filled with Knights studying, Knights practicing, Knights praying or meditating. “This is a world apart from my cell. The resources you have are incredible. If we had just a fraction of this in my cell, we could achieve so much more.”

  “We are in St. Augustine’s heartland,” Saeed reminded him. “His voice calls to many here, and many answer.”

  At last, he came to a halt outside a room with a frosted window. In the middle of the window was painted the same symbol that Samuel had used to gain entrance to the Order.

  Saeed knocked on the door.

  “Come in!” called a female voice.

  Saeed pushed open the door and stepped aside to let Samuel and his companions walk through to an office. In stark contrast to the customized training rooms they’d just gone past, this office was nothing special, and could have been in any religious clinic. In a corner of the room a coffee and tea maker was bubbling away, while bookcases lined the walls, stuffed with stacks of books and reports. A sophisticated comms device was in the corner of the room, with a number of flat screen monitors in a row next to it displaying various conversations and communications from cells around the globe.