38
The library doors were still locked when they tried to open them.
“Guess it isn’t open. I could really go for a slice of ‘za,” Elliott said as he turned from the building. Jonas missed the movement inside as he turned with his friend.
“You just ate a massive breakfast—” Jonas started to say, before being startled by the doors rattling. They turned as and a lock clunked. Jonas was surprised to find a disheveled Lily smiling broadly at him.
“Hey you,” she said brightly. Her hair was mussed, and a red mark glowed on her cheek.
“Did you fall asleep in there?” He asked with concern. When he stepped closer, she pulled him into a hug. Jonas was confused, but liked the contact too much to argue.
“Who’s that,” she asked from his chest. Jonas, knowing who she meant still turned to look at his friends.
“My best friend Elliott, and his girlfriend Angie. They go to university here too.”
“So nice to finally meet you! I’ve heard so much about you.” Lily held her left hand out, keeping her right arm wrapped around Jonas. Elliott cracked a grin and awkwardly shook with his left as well. Angie waved from her cover.
“Let’s get inside, it’s pretty cold out here,” Jonas said. Lily nodded and pulled him inside. Elliott and Angie followed them in. Lily finally separated herself from Jonas to lock the door. She took his hand when she passed by, leading the group over to their table. He was shocked when she sat. There was another dozen books and piles of notes all over the large table.
“You’ve been busy.” He sat down, staring at the chaos.
“Yep!” She bounced as she sat down, sending the butterflies in his stomach into another series of flips.
Elliott nudged Jonas as he sat down nearby. Angie pulled a chair close, leaning against Elliott.
“What’s all this about? You mentioned research the other day, Jonas.”
Jonas and Lily exchanged a look. It said a lot without any words.
She nodded, and Jonas began to explain. He recounted the trip to Egypt, repeatedly bumping into Lily, the dreams, finding all the secrets in the pyramid, the club, and the fight afterward. She spoke up to provide little details. They talked about flying back, then the party where Jonas was jumped.
“Wait, is that why you were acting so weird and laying in the backyard at the party?” Elliott asked. He had placed his hands on the table as if he was readying to spring up.
“Yeah. I tried to explain it, but there’s something that happens to everybody’s memory. That’s where those weird trees in Kaala’s yard came from.” Jonas answered, exhausted from the retelling.
“Why don’t I remember—” Elliott cut himself off. “Oh, duh, you literally just answered that. So where do you go from here?”
“Well, that’s the thing. When we started researching all this stuff, Lily found a book—” Jonas said, indicating the journal in question. “We had to get it translated from German. We were going over it yesterday before I left for the party. That brings us up to the present.”
“That’s awesome,” Elliot said. He thumped the table with a closed fist in his excitement. “What does it say?”
Lily sighed. “It’s mostly really racist shit about Egyptians, and talking about general life during wartime. Guy was an officer for the Nazis.”
“Of course,” sighed Elliot. He put a hand to his forehead, shaking his head.
“What?” Asked Lily. She looked back and forth between Jonas and Elliott in confusion.
“Nazis,” Elliott started to explain. “Like in Indiana Jones.”
“He thinks I have a problem with the best movie in the world,” Jonas said at the same time.
“Hold on,” Lily said as she held her hands up. “One at a time.”
Elliott started before Jonas could say anything. “It had to be Nazis. There’s this little-known movie that came out a few years back called Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The sarcasm was so thick they could practically see it dripping from his words. “Johnny made me watch it five times with him. I have no idea how many more times he saw it while it was in theaters.”
Jonas shrugged as Lily looked at him. “It’s my favorite movie.”
“Tell her the other thing, Johnny.” Elliott pulled his head out of his hand, glaring at his friend.
“What other thing?” She asked, head still moving back and forth as they talked.
Jonas sighed. “It’s what inspired me to get into Archaeology.”
Elliott slammed his hands down on the table, startling the other three. “Exactly!”
“That’s cute,” Lily said as she looked at Jonas.
“I agree,” Angie said from Elliott’s side.
“Whatever. So, what’s in the journal?” Elliott asked, seeing he wouldn’t convince the women Jonas was crazy.
“The gist of it is that there was an accidental dig created by a tank battle, and they found things very similar to what Jonas found at his dig. Why are you still calling him Johnny?”
“I grew up with Johnny. I’m not calling you ‘Jonas’, especially because you chose that after seeing Raiders for the first time.” Elliott said, jabbing his finger at Jonas.
“It’s a cool name!” Jonas shot back as he stood. Elliott stood with him and they started to wrestle.
“Boys!” Lily shouted. Then she saw the two were laughing as they wrestled on the floor. “Come on, let’s finish up. I’ll go over what I found and we can get some food afterward.”
“Food,” Jonas grunted as his stomach rumbled. “Food good.”
Elliott and Lily laughed. Jonas stood and helped his friend up, then they righted their chairs and sat back down.
Lily shuffled her papers around until she found the one she was looking for. “You’re probably going to want to hear this though. I found the coordinates of the city they dug up.”
Jonas watched the expressions of Elliott and Angie as they digested the news. He had guessed as much when she greeted them at the door, so he wasn’t surprised. Their reaction was… blasé. Lily looked how Jonas felt.
“Well? Isn’t that cool?” She asked as she looked between the two.
“Well, sure. But what good does that do us?” Replied Elliott. He wrapped his arm around Angie and she snuggled in close to him. She nodded along with his words.
“Well, it seems to me that the inclusion of ‘Rakitaki’ and the mummies means it’s more likely to be the city that was built near the pyramid, and the one that Professor Calhoun is working on is the wrong city. Which doesn’t make much sense,” Jonas said hesitantly. “Can you point it out on a map, Lily?”
She nodded and pulled an atlas over. It was already open to a map of Egypt. She double checked the numbers she’d written down and pointed to a spot west of Cairo. “Should be right around here.”
“That would be more helpful if I knew where the original dig is.”
“I can help with that,” said a man from nearby. It was deep and rich. Elliott and Jonas leapt from their seats, turning to where the voice had come from. A tall muscular man stepped out of the shadow of a bookshelf. His dark skin had hidden him well, aided by the pitch-black suit. Even his tie was black.
“Davion?” Asked Jonas, taken aback by the man’s sudden appearance.
“You know this creep?” Asked Elliott.
Angie echoed with the same words. “Yeah, you know this creep?”
Jonas turned to his friends and started to explain.
“I met him in Cairo—”
“I am Davion Jenkins, and I represent the Department of Acquisitions. I met Mister Quartermain here in Cairo a few weeks back. His field trip was sponsored by my company. We also had a hand in his sudden departure from Cairo.” Jenkins smiled as he took a seat at the far end of the table from them. He clasped his hands together and leaned forward.
“We are interested in your findings, Mister Quartermain. Care to introduce me to your friends?”
“Not particularly. How the fuck
did you get in here? The door is locked.” Jonas glared at Davion.
“Miss Clark is not the only person here with contacts. I may be able to help answer your question, and you, in turn, can answer one that has been plaguing the Department for years.” Davion walked to the table and pulled a chair out, far from the other occupants of the table. “May I take a seat?”
“I’m not comfortable with that,” Lily said. Elliott was still on his feet, fists at his sides. He nodded in agreement. Davion took a step back, showing his hands. He slowly removed his jacket and placed it on the chair, showing his total lack of weapons. That would have been comforting, but the man was still pushing six-six and over two hundred pounds.
“Fair enough. What can I do to ease your mind?”
Jonas shook his head. “I don’t think you can. You have a nasty habit of turning up out of the blue. The first two times it was weird but okay. Now it looks like you’re stalking me.”
Davion shook his head and placed his hands on the back of the chair. “I’m merely keeping an eye on you for the Department. We are very interested in your career. After you left, the dig at both sites dried up completely.”
“Because the pyramid had already been thoroughly excavated and the city never had anything interesting aside from the buildings.”
“Exactly. You never once worked in the city, but the pyramid had continual massive finds.” Davion slowly sat, watching Elliott and Jonas.
Lily shook her head. “Correlation is not causation. Just because Jonas was at the pyramid doesn’t mean you found things because he was there. That’s a ridiculous assumption.”
“Ordinarily, you would be right. We believe Jonas has other qualities that led to the discoveries.”
“Oh yeah, like what?” Elliott challenged.
“His family is very interesting. Did you know his Grandfather was in the military?” Davion looked around the table.
“Yeah, of course. We grew up together. I even met him once or twice,” Elliott said. He, along with the rest of the table, was confused by the sudden change of topic.
“He was on the Enola Gay, and I don’t think I need to remind you what that plane did.”
“Okay, so what?”
“He also has an ancestor that was pivotal in a battle in medieval England.”
“Who doesn’t these days?” Lily asked.
“We, that is the Department of Acquisitions, work with another department that track family lineages. Mister Quartermain’s family has been a subject of interest for many generations.”
“So, what, I’m on a list somewhere because I was born into my family?”
Davion pointed a massive finger at Jonas’ face. “Exactly.”
“What do you want with him?” Lily asked. She put an arm around his protectively.
“We want him to return to Egypt. To lead a new excavation of the second city site.”
Lily shook her head. “That doesn’t really explain why you want Jonas. He’s a Junior in college, not someone experienced like Professor Calhoun.”
“Nic- uh, Professor Calhoun is busy with the original sites. With Jodie sick and Jonas deported, not to mention Simon’s recalcitrance to lead the pyramid site in Jonas’ absence, Nic is the only one doing all the paperwork. He is buried, figuratively speaking.”
“What happened to Jodie? And Simon?”
“Simon is much easier. He saw how much pressure you were under and figures you snapped because of stress. For all they know, that’s true. But it’s not, is it?” Davion asked as he looked pointedly at Jonas.
“I mean, I was really stressed out. And having pretty much non-stop nightmares. I kinda did break.”
Davion shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s it. I’ve read the reports.”
“Wait, what? Reports? The hell does that mean?” Jonas asked abruptly.
“I already told you, Jonas. You have been under surveillance for most of your life.”
“Fuck that, that is not okay,” Elliott said as he stood from his seat again.
Davion put a hand up. “I am being as transparent as I can be. In fact, I’m breaking a few rules telling you as much as I am. I want you to succeed, Jonas.”
“Elliott, sit down. It’s still not okay,” Jonas said. He looked directly into Davion’s eyes. “That stops now.”
Davion shook his head sadly. “I can’t. I don’t have the authority. I will say this though, it’s because we believe you have a very bright future, Jonas.”
“Why? How?”
“If you come work for the Department, I can tell you so much more.”
Jonas crossed his arms. “No deal. Especially since you just sprang that shit on me. And if going back to Egypt is contingent on me joining the Department, I’m out of that too.”
“No, there’s no strings attached to you returning to Egypt. Well, nothing like that, at least.”
Lily sat forward. “Then what are the ‘strings’?” She asked with air quotes around the last word.
“Jonas has to be present at the new dig five days a week.”
“Oh, hell no.” Jonas said. “Three to four was brutal enough. No way in hell am I working what… eighty hours a week? No.”
“Relax, Jonas. You would be working less than twelve hours per day. We just want you present. There will be at least one other person there specifically to help you with the paperwork.”
“Well, there’s the stick, what’s the carrot?”
Every head at the table turned to look at Angie. She blushed and shrank down into Elliott’s side.
Jonas slowly turned back to Davion. “She makes a good point. There’s nothing in this for me.”
“We’ll pay you ten-thousand a month for as long as you are there, with a full month’s salary as a minimum. We will also give you a weekly stipend of seventy dollars to do with as you please.”
Jonas thought he heard his jaw hit the desk. He saw Elliott go rigid in his peripheral vision at the same time Lily clamped down on his arm. He gathered himself for a moment.
“That… is a lot of money.”
“We want to make sure you are willing to go.”
Lily spoke up. “Why? Why so much money?”
“Based on our projections- and please don’t ask me about this, I seriously shouldn’t even mention this. Based on our projections, we need Jonas present to make what we want to happen… happen.”
“What is that? And how would I make it happen?”
“Luck, or something like it. As for what, I don’t know. Even if I did, I couldn’t tell you, Jonas. But please, trust me. I will be watching over you the whole time.”
“That is not comforting, not at this point.”
“Then what do I need to do to get you to go?”
“Let me bring Lily with.”
Davion looked at Lily before responding. “I don’t know if I could manage that.”
“Then let me go,” Elliott said. Angie clutched him tighter and shook her head against his side. “Babe, I can’t let him do this on his own.”
Davion put both of his hands up. “I will see what I can do. No promises.”
“How long would I be gone for?”
“Providing you don’t pull any more stunts like at the Discotheque, you’ll be in country for three months. Possibly less if everything goes smoothly.”
“You didn’t answer my question about Jodie.”
“Ah, I was hoping you forgot. She appears to have fallen ill. She was exposed to a substance during a weekend leave in Cairo. You might be familiar with it.”
“The Talky,” Elliott said.
“Rakitaki,” Jonas said at the same time. They looked at each other.
“Yes. She is currently being cared for in a Department of Acquisitions medical facility.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Jonas said.
“It is good. She has the greatest chance of survival in our hands.”
“Survival? What the hell happened? Jodie is a sweet girl!
” Lily said.
“She overdosed on Rakitaki. She was contained before she did significant damage or injured herself.”
Jonas looked down at his own hands and saw his veins glow red briefly.
“Take care of her. I might not like her, but nobody deserves to feel that.”
Lily turned to him. “You don’t like her?”
He shook his head. “She was pretty rude to me most of the time. Hardly gave me the time of day.”
“Weird. She was really nice in my Studies of Human Sexuality course.”
“That tracks,” Jonas said. “She preferred spending all her time with Sydney. Davion, I’m going to have to think on this. You’re asking a lot of me.”
“I see. I will contact you tomorrow afternoon then. Please let me know your answer then.” Davion stood and put his jacket back on, then walked out of the library.
“Think he’s actually gone?” Elliott asked.
Jonas shook his head. “I’m sure he’s gone. Am I still being watched? Probably.”
“Damn.”
“I don’t trust him,” Angie said.
“I think we can all agree on that,” Jonas said. Lily nodded on his shoulder. “But they want me to go lead this dig, and that is a boatload of money. I could pay Elliott back and still have like… thirteen dollars.”
Elliott burst out laughing, and Angie followed. Lily looked up at Jonas in confusion.
“Jesus Christ dude, don’t do that. I think I ruptured my spleen. You never have to pay me back.”
“Yeah. But I can pay my family back. Maybe get a car of my own, pay off some of my student loan bills.”
Lily nudged him.
“Oh, and take a lovely woman out for a date. Angie, are you available?”
Lily sat up and slugged his arm while Angie and Elliott howled with laughter.
39
“I can’t believe you’re leaving me behind,” Lily said as she held her hand against Jonas’ face. He smiled at her sadly.
Rakitaki: A Jonas Quartermain Adventure Page 28
