"Did anyone see you coming here?" Tom asked. His voice was filled with aggression.
"No," Alex replied and walked toward the water filter which was mounted on the desk next to a coffee machine. He filled the use-and-throw cup with water and drank it hurriedly as if he would die at any second if he didn't drink the water quickly.
He relaxed for a few minutes, and finally said, "I want my money."
Tom laughed. "Money? You'll get the money after Ford's death."
"But he is almost dead," Alex complained.
"No—"
"Let him have his money." A voice interrupted. Alex looked to his left, and spotted an another door, connecting to a dark room. A dark figure stood in front of the doorway.
Alex squinted. "Who are you?"
The man walked out of the darkness. Alex gaped. "You!" He roared.
"Yes, me," Luke Tesla said.
"Y-You were the one who gave... that speech!" Alex stammered.
"Yes. Did You like it? Of course, you did. Everyone does." He sat on the chair and pulled out six bundles of Australian dollars.
"What are you doing?" Tom demanded.
"I'm giving him the mone—"
"But Ford is not dead!" Tom said.
Luke ignored him. He stared at Alex, and said, "Take them. It's all yours. Two million as we had promised."
"That makes it four million," Alex grunted, "I want eight. Four million per kill. Four for Ford. Four for that shitty, old woman. I took two million advance, which means you have to give me six million."
"What if I refused to give you Six million?" Luke asked hotly.
"Then the whole world will come to know that you were behind Ford's death."
Luke stared at him, and said, "Fine." He pulled out more bundles. "Give him a bag," He said to Tom.
Tom returned with a bag, and reluctantly handed it to Alex. Alex started shoving the money in the bag.
Luke yawned, "Damn," he muttered, and stood up and started for the coffee machine. "Tom, you want coffee?"
Tom sullenly nodded, glaring at Alex.
"What about you?" Luke asked Alex.
"Yes," Alex said happily.
Luke returned with three cups of coffee. He handed one to Tom and another one to Alex. Alex happily drank it.
Tom drank the coffee, shaking his head. He still could not believe that Luke was paying Alex eight million dollars. When he was halfway through his cup, he heard someone choking. He jerked his head toward Alex, and found Alex shaking—white liquid oozing out from his mouth.
Luke chuckled, staring at Alex. "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. You rub me in a wrong way... then..." He started laughing.
Alex dropped his head on the desk and died. Tom started back at his own coffee in horror and quickly kept it on the desk.
Luke stood up and said to Tom, "Wash his body, and throw him in the ocean. And make sure that coastguards find his body." He again laughed and started walking out of the office.
20
The glass doors slid open, making way for them to walk out of the airport. The air outside was pleasant and cool; the crescent shaped moon floated in the star-studded, cloudless sky; A statue of the sphinx, much smaller than the real one, stood in the center of the plaza that was lined with the green gardens on both the sides.
They walked past the sphinx statue. A cold breeze blew, ruffling and parting Karthik's hair. He glanced around. They all looked tired, dragging their suitcases.
Lilly pulled Karthik close to her and whispered. "Why is he coming with us?" she was talking about Mr. Walker, the pilot.
Without stopping, Karthik glanced over his shoulder. He could easily see the old man dragging his suitcase, a few feet behind them. He looked back to Lilly. "Come on, he can stay with us."
"NO, he can not." Lilly insisted.
"Then next to us. I don't want to leave him alone," Karthik replied, “He is an old man.”
Lilly gave him a scornful look but said nothing.
"Folks, wait-up!" Mr. Walker cried, trying to catch up with them. Karthik and Lilly dropped behind.
"Mr. Walker, can I help you," Karthik said to the Pilot, reaching for his suitcase.
But Walker pulled his suitcase out of Karthik's reach. "No need. I'm strong enough to take care of that," he said.
Karthik chuckled. "Yes, you are."
There was a broad road that arched in front of them. Two vehicles were parked at the edge of the road; a man with a sign board was standing in front of the first car. The signboard read: Robert Kelly.
"I rented those cars," Jack announced.
"Robert Kelly?" Piper asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Fake name." Jack shrugged.
They walked past a woman and a man; the man was rocking a small, crying baby. Karthik glanced around and realized that the plaza was filled with the tourists. Tourist taking selfies; eating fast foods—all families. All enjoying their time. And again that lonely feeling swept over him. N-No, think of something else. Think of something else, He kept repeating to himself.
They stopped in front of the cars.
"Mister Rubert Kelly?" The man with the sign board asked.
"That's me," Jack said, walking toward him.
The man stared at him, suspiciously.
"I already paid the advance," Jack said. He pulled out his cellphone and showed the payment message to the man. The man nodded.
"Can I pay the rest in cash?" Jack asked.
The man thought for a while, and finally said, "We only take dollars."
Jack smiled. "That will do."
Jack was driving the car; as he drove, he kept glancing at the GPS navigation to make sure that they were on the right path. Karthik sat in the shotgun seat. At first, he passed his time by just staring at the reflection of the passing building on Jack's glasses. Then staring at the moving red arrow on the navigation screen.
He glanced behind; Piper and Mr. Walker were sound asleep; Lilly was wedged between them. She smiled at Karthik. Karthik smiled back.
"You're American?" Karthik asked her. He didn't know why he asked her; he just asked her.
Lilly nodded. "Manhattan."
"Okay, I’ve been there. It’s really a nice place. "
"I thought you wanted to sleep?" She asked Karthik.
"Yes," Karthik replied, "But not here."
"Take some rest," Jack said, "It's still a long way to go. The hotel, which I have booked is pretty far away from the airport—almost at the edge of the city."
"Why so far?" Karthik asked, shocked.
"My contact told me to do it. He knows where we can find that fourth scientist. He told me to rent a room in that hotel. He said that there are no security cameras in that hotel. It will be a safe place to meet."
Karthik nodded. He stared at the passing buildings and started nodding off—and finally dozed off.
As he slept, far away, in Sydney, Luke Tesla received a radio call. The call was from Gun Katz.
"Hello," Katz's voice crackled from the speaker of the radio phone.
"Hello," Luke replied, laughing a bit. He felt relieved as the owner of PharmaGen was now out of his way.
"Hmm. You are laughing?"
"Of Course, I'm," Luke said. He was sitting in the seat, behind the desk; in his office. "And I have all right to be happy—we have cleared one hurdle from our path."
The door to his left opened. Two men carrying the nude, stiff, wet body of Alex Muffin burst out. They dropped his body on the floor covered with a plastic and started dressing up his body.
"See I told you he is the best man for the job," Gun Katz said.
Luke gazed at the dead body of Alex Muffing and chuckled. "Yeah, right, the best man for the job." He again laughed; soon his laughed was followed by the hiccups. He drank a glass of water.
"But I've heard that he is in a coma?" Katz said, there was a hint of disappointment in his voice. Luke felt it.
"Don't worry. I've already taken care of that." Luke replied. "How did t
he serum experiment went?"
"It was great. But there is a problem. Its effects die out after two or three hours."
"Oh-huh." Luke muttered; now he was feeling disappointed. The serum was very important for his mission.
"I know you’re not happy to hear it. But there is still a hope for us. Alex Bill said that only one man can help us—Dr. Sharif."
"But he is hiding in Egypt?" Luke asked.
"Don't worry about that. My men are already in Egypt. They will soon find him—And there is a little change in the plan." Katz said.
"What do you mean?" Luke asked.
"We are not going to run the tests in Antarctica."
"Then where?" Luke demanded.
"Jammu and Kashmir, India."
21
Jack pulled the car in front of a two-story structure; the building was half the size of a tennis stadium; it silently stood in darkness, outlined by the stars in the background. Something was printed on the banner in front of the entrance in Arabic; Probably the name of the hotel.
Jack climbed off the car. "Guys, wake up." He said and slammed the door with such a force that it made Karthik jump out of his seat.
"What the—You scared me to death!" he said glaring at Jack.
"Sorry man," Jack said, balancing his wire-framed glasses over his nose. “We have reached our destination.”
“We have?” Karthik shifted on his seat and gazed out the window. “That’s where we are going to stay?” He asked.
Jack nodded.
One by one they all climbed out of the car and dragging their suitcases they trudged their way to the entrance gate.
"Are you sure, it's the right place?" Lilly asked Jack.
Jack nodded. "According to the GPS, yes. It's the right place."
"I want to get some sleep," Piper muttered, fretfully and drowsily. She kept bumping into Karthik, who was walking in slow motion in front of her.
"No way! I'm not sleeping here," Mr. Walker grumbled, "Look at it," he pointed at the hotel. "There are so many seven star hotels in the city and all you managed to find is this..." He again pointed at the Hotel, disgusted, as if it was the ugliest hotel in the world. Maybe it was. Even in the darkness, they could easily see the jutting out bricks, and peeled walls. But Karthik didn't care. All he wanted was some rest.
Slowly they filled in the reception area, which was a small, cramped up, dark hall. An old man was sitting behind the desk, snoring. A small fan was thudding overhead, hanging from the ceiling.
"Hello," Jack said to the snoring old man. The man kept snoring. Jack ringed the bell kept on the desk, but to no avail—The old man didn’t wake up. Jack glanced back at the other, frowning─And he started hammering his fist on the bell. Clink! Clink! Clink!
The old man woke up with a start, "Burglar! Burglar!" He cried at the top of his voice. And suddenly froze, staring at them, his eyes cold with the fear. Suddenly he pulled out the shotgun from below the desk. "Who are you?" He demanded, pointing his gun at them.
"Whoa, Whoa, Relax man..." Jack said in a placating tone, raising his hands.
"We are not Burglars," Piper said.
A chill ran down Karthik's spine. His whole skin Prickled with goose bumps. He wondered whether this old man can kill them? Maybe, yes.
The wrinkles on the old man's forehead started fading. His eyes darted from one face to another, and he slowly lowered his gun. He started smiling. "You people are not Burglars. That means you are..." He started raking his memory.
“Guests,” Piper said suggesting.
The man nodded fondly at her.
"We are here to rent some rooms," Lilly told him.
"Oh!" The man's eyes twinkled with delight. "Sorry, I thought you were Burglars." He dropped his gun on the floor. There was a sharp clank, which made Karthik wince. "Have a seat, please."
"No, It's Okay," Jack said, "We are very exhausted. Are there two rooms empty?"
"Make it three," Mr Walker said, "I'm not going to sleep with you─No way."
"Don't worry about the rooms. The whole hotel is empty," The Old man said, "By the way I'm Ramses. I'm the owner of this hotel."
"I'm?" A woman's voice boomed from the door behind him.
"That's my wife. We both are the owner of this hotel," Ramses said forcing a smile.
"Why is the hotel empty?" Piper asked him curiously.
"Because it's haunted," Karthik said, exasperated. "Will you please stop asking questions?" he added.
Piper shot a resentful look at him. "Fine," She snapped; Crossed her arms in front of the chest and went over to the flowerpots.
Jack paid the money.
"Come on," Ramses said, "I'll show you your rooms."
He led them across the narrow, dark corridor and toward the wooden stairs. As they walked, Piper spotted a trap door. "What's that?" She pointed at the trap door.
"Basement," Ramses replied. He pointed at the double-doors of his left. "That's also the basement door."
"You have two basements?" Piper asked.
"No," Ramses replied. "They both are the different opening for the same basement─and you people are not allowed to go there. Okay? Good."
They started climbing the wooden stairs. It creaked and moaned under their weight. Soon they were on the second floor. Ramses showed them their rooms. Handed them their keys and wishing Goodnight, he climbed down the stairs and disappeared into the darkness.
Piper and Lilly wished them Goodnight and disappeared into their room.
"Are you sure, you don't want to sleep in our room?" Karthik asked Mr. Walker while Jack was wrestling with the jammed lock.
"I already told you. I can take care of myself," Mr. Walker replied.
Karthik heard jack cursing and berating the lock. "Okay, good night then," He said.
"Good night," Mr. Walker said, closing his door.
Karthik sighed.
Click. "Yes!" Jack said and turned to Karthik. "It's easier to hack a bank server than to open an old, stupid lock."
Karthik managed to smile. His smile soon turned into a yawn. "Let's get some rest."
They went in the room.
***
Karthik was aroused from his sleep by an Arabic song playing on a radio somewhere. He sat upright in his bed, grimacing in pain. His back felt stiff as if it had lost all its flexibility.
The window in front of him was facing the city of Cairo. The scenery outside was breathtaking. The city filled with ancient domes and modern building stretched in front of him. He could hear the traffic noises from the street below him. Karthik flung his legs off the bed, still holding his back. It seemed to him that he had slept on the concrete floor. He frowned at the bed.
The bathroom door to his left flung open. Jack stepped out of the bathroom; a towel was wrapped around his waist. "Good morning," He said cheerfully.
"Morning," Karthik replied. He was still holding his stiff back.
Jack chuckled and crossed the room and pulled out his suitcase from under the bed.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Remember Piper was asking: Why is this hotel empty?"
"Yes,"
"By now, she must have found the answer," Jack said, gesturing at the bed.
Karthik laughed, "Yeah, right."
"But, the shower is really nice." Jack said, "Oh, and quickly...get ready─"
"Where are we going?" Karthik asked.
"To meet an old friend. He works for C.I.A."
22
Daniel Ford sat alone in his luxurious library, reading a mystery novel. The room around him was large and was covered with many bookshelves and thousands of books. Fresh, morning sunlight poured in through the huge, rectangular windows, and reflected off the polished marble floor; the place looked more like a public library. The unusual sharp, and fresh smell (Like the smell of a new book) floated in the air.
Daniel Ford turned a page and heard sounds of approaching footsteps. He raised his eyes from the book and gazed at the maid who was standin
g at the doorway.
"Master," The maid said, softly, "I am sorry to bother you, but we have a visitor."
Daniel Ford placed the book on the table. Stood up, and said, "It’s okay. Tell him that I'm coming."
"Uh... he said that he wants to have a private talk with you," The maid said timidly.
Mr. Ford smiled and nodded. Must be Karthik, He thought. But he is out of town? "Who is our guest?" He asked the maid.
"Dr. Alex Bill..." The maid replied.
Alex Bill? When did he return? And why the hell he wants to have a private conversation with me? "Okay, send─" before he could complete his sentence, suddenly everything around him changed.
He found himself again sitting in a small, bright room, staring at the doorway. Soon a hunched figure materialized in front of the doorway. It was Alex Bill. For some reason Alex Bill looked older than his real age; he was wearing a white lab coat, and his body were tilted to the left side by the weight of the thick briefcase he was carrying in his left arm. Beads of sweat slid down his bald head. He smiled uncertainly at Daniel Ford. He looked distressed. What's wrong with him?
"Hey─after so many days?" Daniel Ford said; standing up and extending his hand.
Alex Bill smiled, shook arm with him.
"Yes, I was busy with the... government project," Alex Bill replied. He carefully placed the briefcase on the floor and seated himself in front of Daniel Ford. He produced a handkerchief and wiped his forehead.
"So," Daniel Ford said, tilting his head toward Alex Bill. "... how can I help you?"
Alex Bill shifted in his seat and began fidgeting. "U-Uh," He stammered, "I don't know from where to start?" He was staring at the floor.
"... from the beginning," Daniel Ford said calmly, and leaned back into his chair.
"Well, you already knew that one year ago, I had received a call from the W.H.O. They wanted me to become a part of a highly classified project. The Project Outlander."
Daniel Ford said nothing. He just nodded and gestured him to go on.
Alex Bill bent down and opened his briefcase. He produced a thick Black file. "Read it," He said and handed it to Daniel Ford.
Daniel Ford started reading the file. His eyes widened. "It's Impossible!" He finally said.
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