by S. S. Segran
When they reached the ropes that blocked access to the imposing monolith, Aari stared up in wonder. The enormous face, weathered over the centuries, almost seemed to smile shrewdly at the sprawling cityscape before it.
I see why the Arabs call sphinxes the Terrifying Ones, he thought. Sure wouldn’t want this coming to life.
He gripped the papyrus letter again. This time, there was a flash. When it waned, he saw through the eyes of Lucius the unforgiving desert sun glaring down on the pyramids. He and Carmel were concealed in the shadows of the Sphinx’s massive paws. Carmel wore a dark wig and had lined her eyes with makeup in like manner of the Egyptians; she’d even donned a long white dress. Lucius motioned for her to stay put. Tightening the belt holding up the loincloth around his waist, he emerged into the open. Aari felt his apprehension like a heavy, wet rag draped over his shoulders.
Egyptian workers milled about and the Roman legionnaires were scattered around the site, speaking amongst themselves and keeping an eye on the citizens. Lucius focused on a single centurion conversing with a young legionary. When he rubbed his head nervously, Aari realized that Lucius had shaved off all his hair, and his arms and torso looked even darker than when they’d been in the old Haifa fishing village.
He’s trying to blend in with the locals, Aari realized.
As Lucius approached the centurion, the man halted mid-sentence and stared at the newcomer. Under his silver helmet, brief shock splayed over his scarred face. He held up a hand, gruffly ordering Lucius to stop, and dismissed the other soldier.
As soon as the younger man was gone, sternness melted away and disbelief returned to the centurion. “Lucius,” he breathed, removing his helmet, “is that you?”
The wet rag of apprehension fell off Lucius’s shoulders. “Cassian. It is so good to see you, my friend.”
“What are you doing here? I heard you deserted us a year ago! What happened?”
“I will tell you everything, I promise. But I need your help.”
The centurion paused, then bowed almost imperceptibly. “Anything for you.”
“I travel with a woman, Cassian. We need to get somewhere safe. Somewhere far from the reach of the Empire.”
“Your brain must have rotted if you came here to get away from the Empire.” Cassian indicated the dozens of armored men around the pyramids. “They have not stopped looking for you, Lucius. It is because of you that others found the courage to desert.”
“Their actions are not to be blamed on me,” Lucius snapped. “I was not the first to leave, and those who have fled won’t be the last.”
“It is not honorable,” Cassian muttered, moving to shield Lucius from the curious looks of passersby.
“Do you fault me for leaving?”
Cassian said nothing. Hurt and a touch of humiliation spiked in Lucius’s chest. “I understand,” he said flatly. “We sit on different sides.”
“Perhaps we do, but you were always my most loyal friend growing up. A brother. I will help you, Lucius.” Cassian gave the other man a teasing grin. “And I must applaud your efforts to blend in with the Egyptians. I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“The things one does for love.”
“I cannot argue that. Now, listen. I know a man who can get you someplace safe. I will tell him to wait for you by the river five miles east of here.”
“Will he demand payment?”
“I will take care of everything. But, Lucius, I will not be there to send you off.”
“I know. Your help here is all I could have asked for.”
Cassian’s battle-hardened face softened. “Go. I will make preparations. If all is well, you should be able to leave two mornings from now.”
“Thank you. It was good seeing you again, Cassian.”
“Likewise. Take care of yourself, Lucius.”
They shared final, sentimental smiles, then Lucius hurried back to the Sphinx, head low. As he turned to enter the gap between the paws, he stopped in his tracks.
Carmel was gone.
His heart pounded in his throat as he spun around, hoping to find her amongst the throng of Egyptians. Faces passed but none were hers. Then, from the other side of the Sphinx, away from the crowd, he heard sounds of struggle. He tore around the statue, the sand hot on his sandaled feet.
A legionary had his back to Lucius, his hands reaching for Carmel’s dress. She backed away, hugging her bag close to her chest. Before Lucius could jump in, something stiffened Carmel’s back. She brought her arm up and the legionary found himself floating above the ground. He flailed his legs and as he opened his mouth to scream, Carmel swiped her arm across. He was flung into the shoulder of the Sphinx and slid down, out cold.
When Carmel spotted Lucius, the anger in her eyes dissipated into bewilderment at what she’d done. He approached her guardedly as she dropped to her knees and hurriedly unfastened her bag. Pulling out her precious brass-clad box, she opened it and peered in.
Five seeds rested in individual glass vials. All were unharmed.
Aari blinked twice and was pulled back to his time. He grabbed Kody to steady himself.
“What did you see?” Dominique asked. Her eagerness threw him off until he remembered that his newfound ability had not been seen by the people of Dema-Ki in at least two millennia.
“They came here because Lucius had a trusted friend in the legion who could help him and Carmel get away from the expanding Empire,” Aari said, crouching down. He’d been standing still for so long, his legs had locked. “He was told to go east to a nearby river, which I’m pretty sure is the Nile. It’s a couple of hours away if they went on foot.”
“You could understand them?” Kody asked. “Wouldn’t they have been speaking Latin?”
“I didn’t even realize that! You’re right, it was Latin, but it’s like I was fluent in it.”
“You must get omni-linguism with retrocognition,” Marshall said in wonderment. “That’s remarkable. Two for the price of one.”
“Did Carmel have the box?” Tegan asked.
“She did,” Aari said. “And when she opened it, I saw five seeds in there.”
“Five!”
“Yeah. Also, I now know why this spot is an emotional geo-marker.”
“Why?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s the first time that Lucius witnessed Carmel’s abilities, and the first time she used them since losing her memory. They were both in shock.” Aari rose and looked at Mariah thoughtfully. “She was just like you, actually. A telekinetic.”
Mariah seemed pleased for some reason. “So was that all you saw? Did they really go elsewhere, or are the seeds here?”
Aari held up the letter. “Let me try again.”
Another flash came and went. Lucius and Carmel were in a small riverboat, pulling at the oars as the sun began to set. Behind them, Cassian’s associate grunted with every breath as they steered the boat until they arrived where the river split around a small island.
“This is it,” the boat’s captain announced. “My duty to you ends here where the two rivers become one, just as I promised your friend.”
Aari felt Lucius getting ready to protest, but the memory froze and faded. He returned to his friends, grumbling. “I couldn’t get far, but I’m almost sure Carmel had her bag with her. They arrived at the place where two rivers meet the Nile.”
“Where the two rivers meet . . .” Dominique stared off toward the pyramids, her lips pressed together in a contemplative pout. “Of course. Khartoum.”
“Where is that?” Mariah asked.
“Sudan.”
45
Marshall harrumphed from behind the Land Rover’s wheel. “Seriously, you guys?”
Kody didn’t look up from his phone. “What?”
“Since we left Cairo, you’ve all either been asleep, on your phones or reading. That’s almost twenty hours of silence.”
“I drove for a while!” Tegan protested.
“Yes, you did. Thank you again for
that. But no one’s spoken a word, so I’m putting my foot down. I want every gadget tucked away in a bag.”
“But—” Aari started.
“Gadgets. Bag. Now.”
“Yes, Dad,” Kody grumbled.
They’d left Egypt with an older but more suitable ride than Dominique’s minivan. With spare fuel cans and new waterproof supply bags in the back of the Land Rover, they felt ready for whatever Africa had to throw their way.
The friends passed their electronics to Kody. As he placed them in a bag he noticed a square device already inside. “Hey, Domi?”
“Yes?” she called, half-dozing in the front passenger seat.
“What’s this thingamajig you’ve got here?”
“Ah. It’s something I recently decided to invest in: A portable satellite modem. We should be able to get Internet and phone coverage almost anywhere on the continent.”
“Ooh, cool.” Kody rummaged around until he found a pack of chips to share with Tegan beside him. “By the way, how are Jag and Danny doing, Teegs?”
“The last Jag checked in,” she replied, taking a chip, “they were already at the safe house. Doesn’t look like Reyor’s people picked up their trail. Or ours, for that matter.”
“You think we shook them for good?” Mariah asked.
Tegan shrugged. “Dunno. My question is, how’d they find out we were in Israel to begin with?”
“Phoenix is a huge organization,” Marshall said. “We’ve seen how far their reach can stretch, and they have our faces and names. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve got contacts with their ears to the ground in almost every region.”
Kody tuned out the conversation, instead taking in the barren landscape outside. Desert, desert, desert . . . and, oh look, more desert.
Most of the settlements in the area rested along the banks of the Nile River, as did some sandstone hills. Anger spiked in Kody’s chest every now and then when the main road wound close to some of the villages, granting a view of vast acres of devastated crops. Strangely, he’d spotted a few tiny fields thriving among the colorless ones, all covered with thick meshes of chicken wire.
“How come some of these crops weren’t destroyed?” he asked.
“I’ve seen this in the DRC,” Dominique said. “These crops were planted after the nanomites’ initial sweep. They’re used to feed a section of the Sudanese army that have disbanded and disintegrated into highway bandits. Food is so scarce, the bandits struck a deal with the villagers—grow food for us, and we won’t harm you or your family.”
“That’s sad,” Mariah said.
“It is. That’s how it works in this part of the world now. And you saw what happened at the border. The customs and immigration agents allowed us, non-locals, to cross from Egypt on land instead of using the ferry even though it’s forbidden. Yes, we had to cough up some money, but the point is that Sudan’s government, like many other countries in Africa, is in disarray from the crop destruction and the disease.”
“Egypt seems to be doing okay, though,” Kody noted.
“Because the military’s fully behind the president,” Dominique said. “And that’s only in Cairo. I heard on the radio as I drove to pick you up that in some of the rural governorates, unrest has been brewing and is threatening to blow up. It’s not pretty.”
Mariah sighed noisily. “You know, even if we do somehow manage to stop everything Reyor’s doing, the recovery will probably take decades.”
“The important thing is that we do stop it,” Tegan said.
Kody looked back out his window, toying with his sensory abilities. As he zoomed his vision toward the murky waters of the Nile on his right, he gasped. “Whoa!”
“Saw something?” Marshall asked.
“Crocodiles!”
There was a thonk as Aari slammed his face up against his window. “Where?!”
“It just slid into the water. That thing was huge, man. Like, fifteen feet long.”
Aari, still pressed against the glass, said, “Fun fact: Did you know that about two hundred people are killed each year by Nile crocodiles?”
“I think you need to review what the definition of ‘fun’ is, Mr. Encyclopedia.”
“They’re apex predators,” Aari continued, as though he hadn’t heard Kody. “Some have even been known to take down giraffes, rhinos, and hippos.”
“That’s comforting. Remind me to never swim in the Nile.”
“Head’s up,” Marshall said. “Looks like a blockade.”
The Land Rover trundled to a stop a few meters away from an old Jeep obstructing the road. Two armed Sudanese in worn-out green uniforms strode up, one with a radio clipped to his belt. He rapped on Marshall’s window until the Sentry rolled it down, then prattled on in Arabic. Dominique translated. “They’re saying that there’s been an accident somewhere down the road and they want us to take the path through the hills by the river.”
“Um . . .” Kody adjusted his vision. “Those hills are two or three miles away. If there’s an accident, couldn’t we, I dunno, drive around it? It’s just one long road and a wide desert. It’s not like there’s nowhere to go.”
Dominique conversed with the men, whose voices rose as they signaled angrily with their hands. She nodded, but even from the backseat Kody saw distrust in her eyes.
“I’d rather not cause trouble,” she whispered to Marshall. “Let’s take the other route.”
As they turned onto a dry riverbed to the right, Aari opened up a map of Sudan he’d referred to throughout the excursion, the paper unfolding across both his and Mariah’s laps. “Unless I’m mistaken,” he said, “these hills are part of a game reserve.”
Tegan combed her fingers through her dark hair uneasily. “I’m not the only one getting weird vibes from this, right?”
“Definitely not,” Marshall muttered.
The rocky ride didn’t ease as the riverbed narrowed through the hills. The tall sandstone mounds pressed in on them, and claustrophobia squeezed its grip around Kody. He checked to see if the Sudanese men were following them, but all was clear except for the clouds of dust the Land Rover’s tires kicked up as it crossed the uneven terrain. A few hundred feet ahead were the muddy banks of the Nile.
Marshall turned left onto a dirt road that ran parallel to the river, then slowed. “Oh, boy.”
Four uniformed men emerged from the bushes on either side of the path, rifles pointed straight at the Land Rover as they blocked the way. Two of them held up their hands, motioning for the car to stop. When it didn’t, the men fired warning shots over the roof of the vehicle. Kody and the others ducked instinctively.
Without taking his eyes off the human barricade, Marshall said, “Domi?”
When the other Sentry spoke, a snarl escaped her. “Do not stop. They will rob us of everything, including Asa’s artifacts.”
“What’s our best option?”
“Drive straight through.”
“You want me to run them over?”
“Trust me and do it.”
“Well, here goes nothing.” Marshall white-knuckled the wheel. “Everybody down!”
Ducking so only his eyes were above the dashboard, he stomped on the gas and the Land Rover charged forward. The bandits unleashed a torrent of bullets, puncturing the hood and shattering the windshield. Glass shards flew inward, invoking cries, but Marshall kept his foot on the pedal. When the bandits realized their target wasn’t slowing down, they leapt, rolling out of the way. The vehicle sped past, narrowly missing one of the men’s legs.
Kody peeked through the rear windshield. Two of the bandits were already up, weapons in hand. He heard the popping of gunfire and dropped down just as the rear screen was obliterated. A bullet tore straight through his headrest and lodged itself in the back of Aari’s seat. Another blew the rearview mirror away entirely, the shards cutting the Sentries. Marshall held firmly onto the wheel as bits of blood trailed down his scalp.
Two more pops sounded. Kody thought they were bulle
ts hitting the body of the car until the vehicle lurched abruptly.
“They shot our back tires!” Dominique shouted.
Kody gripped his seat tightly as the Land Rover fishtailed out of control. The rear end swung onto the muddy shoulder of the dirt road. As sludge caught onto the destroyed tires, the car slid sideways toward the incline by the river.
“Hold on!” Marshall yelled.
The drag on the tires threw the Land Rover to an unexpected halt, tipping the vehicle over. Screams erupted as the car tumbled over the shoulder and down the shallow slope. Kody lost his bearings as the world around him vortexed.
The car flipped over and over, parts flying off mid-fall until it landed upright in the shallows of the Nile. Water sloshed in through the broken windows. Marshall unbuckled himself with one hand and pressed the other against his head. “Everybody alright?”
Kody felt as if his brain was rattling around in his skull. “Define ‘alright’.”
A quick headcount determined that they were all fine save for some minor injuries. Marshall opened his door and more water sloshed in. “We’re sitting ducks in here,” he said.
They hastily waded out into the river, using the Land Rover as cover and making sure their heads weren’t visible through any of the broken windows. Kody pulled a face at the murky, chest-high water around them. “Ugh, I didn’t think the Nile would be like this.”
“We have a bigger problem right now,” Tegan said, cautiously peering around the car. “They’ve just split into two groups and are coming down the slope on either side.”
“What do they want?” Aari asked.
“They’re highway bandits,” Dominique growled. “The detour was nothing but a sham. They want whatever we have.”
“But they’ll kill us if we don’t cooperate,” Kody ventured.
Dominique gave him a tight-lipped look, then turned to Marshall. “I’ll take care of this.”
Marshall was appalled. “There’s four of them with guns. Even if you take down the first two, the others will get the drop on you before you reach them.”
As the Sentries exchanged rapid, tense words, Kody’s ears picked up a low rumble. He slowly turned around. On the mud flats a couple of hundred yards behind them, four burly crocodiles slithered into the water, their bone-plated backs and tails the only thing visible as they swam toward the group.
