Darkness filled the airfield on the other side of the terminal window. Jets moved causing a stream of flashing lights as some took off and some landed.
‘Professor Lourds.’ The man’s voice was tight and controlled, carrying just enough to reach Lourds.
He pushed Olympia behind him. His knees quivered and he tried to ignore it. ‘I’m Lourds.’
‘Of course you are.’ The man nodded towards one of the doors. ‘We’ve got a private plane waiting.’
Lourds looked at the e-ticket in his hand. He had collected it at the front desk. ‘I guess this isn’t any good.’
‘No.’
Lourds took a deep breath.
‘Do you have the scroll, Professor?’ The man remained calm.
‘Yes.’
The hard eyes searched Lourds’. ‘I’m not going to ask for it here. My employer is going to ask for it himself. At that time, you will give it to him.’
Lourds tried to speak and couldn’t.
‘If you don’t,’ the man continued just as pleasantly, ‘I’m going to kill you. If that’s what my employer wishes. He’s not one to trifle with.’
‘Good. I’m glad that’s clear. Now, kiss your lady friend goodbye and let’s get going.’
Olympia stepped in and hugged Lourds. Her voice when she spoke was a whisper meant only for his ears. ‘Be careful, Thomas.’
Lourds returned her hug tightly, then released her, picked up his rucksack and preceded the man out of the airport. When he stepped out of the terminal, the humid night closed in round him. He controlled the fear running rampant in him only by concentrating on the permutations of the mysterious fifth language he felt certain would unlock the message contained in the Joy Scroll.
Stone Goose Apartments
Zeytinburnu District
Istanbul, Turkey
7 April 2010
Sevki sat at his computers and watched the monitors. One of them was dedicated to the news coverage coming out of Saudi Arabia. American and British news anchors and reporters focused on the massing of ships and military hardware. Reports continued to stream in from Vice-President Webster. The man didn’t miss a photo op.
‘Are you there?’
Cleena’s voice drew Sevki back to the communications links he’d set up.
‘Yes.’ Sevki’s hands flew over the keyboards as his various snooper programs sought to break in through the Saudi Arabian cybernetic defences. ‘Where are you?’
‘Closing in on the coastline.’
Sevki triangulated her transponder signal and tracked it back to the Saudi Arabian coast north of King Abdullah Economic City. ‘I see you.’
‘Let’s hope you’re the only one.’
Tension knotted Sevki’s guts. He felt certain several
‘I am.’ Sevki scanned the surrounding terrain. ‘All the action is south of you.’ He stretched his fingers to relax and rejuvenate them. ‘For the moment, you’re safe. But I don’t understand how you hope to get around inside the city.’
‘Once you’re in-country, getting around is easier.’
Sevki stared at the images of the battles filtering across the news presentations. ‘It looks like a war zone over there.’
‘It is a war zone.’
The calm acceptance in her voice surprised him. Then he thought about the fact that her sister had been taken. Sevki knew the people responsible would have hell to pay.
Cleena’s voice drew him back into focus. ‘Do you know where Lourds is?’
Turning his attention back to the computers, Sevki tapped the keyboard. A map of King Abdullah Economic City filled one of the monitors. A blue light pulsed on the screen.
‘He’s still an hour or so out of the city.’ Sevki ran a GPS route and confirmed his estimate. ‘As long as Eckart stays with Lourds, we’ll have him. If they separate, I can’t guarantee anything.’
Webster. Sevki still couldn’t get over the fact that the United States vice-president was behind the current unrest in the Middle East. Growing up in Turkey, where the American military had maintained a presence for so long, he’d become used to American politics and thinking. He’d never agreed with most of it, but he’d always believed the United States government was behind everything that went on.
Not one man.
‘Our best guess is that Eckart is one of Webster’s best men.’
‘I trust us.’
And there’s nothing else we have at this time, is there? Even as he thought that, Sevki felt guilty. He knew he should have faith. That was what this was all about, wasn’t it? He pushed away the immensity of the task, limiting it to the part he had to play with the computers.
‘We also have to hope that the GPS locator Eckart was tagged with wasn’t given to someone else to lay down a false trail.’
‘So far that tracer is heading in the right direction. Let’s play this one out.’
‘All right.’ Sevki judged the distance again. ‘You’ve got maybe fifty minutes before Professor Lourds lands there.’
‘Then we’ll have to make the most of it, won’t we?’
Silently, Sevki watched the pulsing blip slowly cross the computer monitor.
Central Business District
King Abdullah Economic City
Saudi Arabia,
7 April 2010
Webster stared at the screens depicting the street to street violence breaking out throughout the city. More battles erupted along the borders; the bloodshed was mounting.
‘My, my, it does look like your war is getting off to a grand start, Mr Vice-President.’ Vicky joined Webster. Her eyes burned with intensity. Her headset ran along her jaw line and she made notes one-handed on a PDA.
‘Not big enough.’ Webster paced the floor and felt the excitement roaring within him. He had waited for a long time for this. ‘Not yet. But soon. How long will it be before your people are ready to go live with a broadcast?’
‘Eighty or ninety minutes.’
‘You’re certain I can get the broadcast attention I want?’
Vicky smiled at him and patted his cheek. ‘You are the man of the hour, Mr Vice-President. Stuck here in enemy territory, the world hovering on the brink of disaster. Everyone wants to talk to you. The hardest part of this is deciding who will be allowed their fifteen seconds of fame with you.’
‘Only fifteen seconds.’ Webster was firm about that. This was his show, his play, and he was going to run things.
‘Limiting the number of politicians?’
‘No politicians. You’re going to be talking to people the public of any country can recognize. Academy Award-winning actors. Several televangelists.’
‘All people who know how to work the limelight.’
Vicky smiled. ‘Of course. And all people who support the view that the Middle East is a hotbed of danger.’ She looked at him. ‘You’re certain when you deliver your plea for help that we will get out of here? If Prince Khalid hasn’t thought of holding us hostage before then, he will at that time.’
‘I’m counting on our young prince doing exactly that.’ Webster paused to watch a Saudi Arabian tank run over a mass of people. ‘That’s why I asked you to have a live camera crew ready to film our “escape”. And that’s why Eckart will be taking care of us at that time.’
‘Where is Eckart?’
Webster consulted his watch. ‘His plane should be touching down momentarily. He’ll call me as soon as he’s on the ground.’
‘And he’ll have Professor Lourds?’
‘Yes.’ Webster couldn’t wait. Once the Joy Scroll was in his hands, there would be no turning back. Everything would be his to control.
‘You’ve never said what part the professor will play in this?’
‘Will he be in the escape?’
Webster shook his head. ‘No. I’m afraid Professor Lourds will have outlived any potential interest he might have in things before we get that far.’ In fact, the vice-president was going to make certain of that.
After he
took possession of that cursed scroll.
Lourds rode in the cargo area of the big Chinook helicopter and tried to keep his thoughts ordered. He sat under guard, watched over by a half-dozen armed men, including Eckart. All of them looked positively fearsome. Lourds didn’t believe he could have taken the weakest among them in a fair fight. Having six of them watch over him was merely adding insult to injury. Even worse, they’d handcuffed him in the disposable plastic cuffs he’d seen in the movies. At least they’d had the mercy to tie them in front of him, rather than behind his back. He could scratch his nose, which was itching furiously. He swayed and jerked to the Chinook’s gallop as they approached the city.
Anti-aircraft missiles exploded hot and bright against the night sky. Lourds drew his extremities in, as if being sprawled out too far might incite the anti-aircraft gunners to aim better.
‘Isn’t there a chance we could get shot down?’ Lourds asked nervously.
Lourds wished he had the man’s simple faith, but Eckart knew his tools best. Lourds just gritted his teeth and prayed that he survived.
Several minutes later, the Chinook’s approach altered. It heeled over at an angle and started descending. More anti-aircraft bursts filled the air round them. A couple seemed to bounce off the helicopter.
‘They’re getting better, sir,’ one of the other soldiers said.
Eckart grinned. ‘For all the good it will do them. Wait until they’re face to face with American special ops guys. You ask me, I wouldn’t care for the locals’ chances.’
The men laughed, and the harsh barking noise sounded alien to Lourds’ ears. Not for the first time, he wondered if his decision to accede to Webster’s demands had been his wisest course of action.
Don’t worry, Cleena had told him as he made his preparations to meet Webster. I’ll be there. Lourds hadn’t asked how. He hadn’t wanted to know because he’d been afraid all he would do was pick apart any plan she and Joachim presented. Joachim and the other monks were coming with her in a small strike force.
The Chinook landed with a harsh bounce. More anti-aircraft fire lit up the sky overhead. Lourds squirmed in his seat and tried to free the restraining belt.
‘Thanks,’ Lourds said automatically, forgetting just for an instant that he was a prisoner and not a guest.
‘Don’t mention it,’ Eckart said. Then he grabbed Lourds by the shoulder and propelled him through the cargo doors. ‘Get him into the building.’
One of the soldiers held Lourds by the handcuffs and hauled him across the rooftop. The man moved so quickly Lourds almost fell. He envisioned himself getting dragged bodily across the roof.
‘Incoming!’ someone yelled.
The soldier pulling at Lourds whirled suddenly and clapped a big hand on top of Lourds’ head. He shoved Lourds face first onto the rooftop. Lourds hit the ground hard and his breath exploded from his lungs. As he tried to recover, he spotted the Chinook rising into the air like a fat goose. A Saudi helicopter gunship settled into the airspace. It opened fire with some kind of weapon. In an instant, the Chinook turned into a whirling mass of fireballs and broken debris. Razor-sharp pieces of metal sliced down around Lourds but thankfully none of it touched him. Sour bile erupted against the back of his throat.
‘I’m hit! I’m hit!’ someone yelled.
‘Get up!’
The soldier accompanying Lourds got to his feet and yanked roughly on the plastic cuffs. The hard material sliced into Lourds’ hands. A slight trickle of
Eckart and his men turned their weapons on the offending helicopter. Bullets chopped into its body and Plexiglas nose. The pilot tried to get away, but he reacted too late. Out of control, the helicopter veered away and slammed into a nearby building. For a moment it looked like a bug crushed against a windshield. Only bugs didn’t explode into thousands of fiery pieces.
The soldier guided Lourds to an access door and they went in to the building.
Cleena stared through her binoculars as the Chinook exploded. The flare of the explosion made it look like the whole roof had caught fire. Half a dozen men scattered across the building with fire extinguishers and fought the dozens of fires that spread out from the destroyed helicopter.
‘Lourds?’ Joachim stood at Cleena’s side. His voice was quiet and controlled, but there was no mistaking the anxiety in his words.
‘He’s all right.’ Cleena watched Lourds as he was hustled across the rooftop and shoved into the building’s access hatch. Eckart trailed them and she let out a sigh of relief. ‘Sevki, do you mark the location?’
‘Yes. The building that currently houses the vice-president.’
‘Webster’s still there?’ Cleena and Joachim had been cut off from the news services while they’d made their way across the city. Thankfully they’d managed to
‘Yes. He’s overdue for a response, though. Some of the news show anchors are starting to get fidgety.’
‘He’s building the anticipation like a circus ringmaster.’ Joachim’s disapproval was thick and angry.
Cleena silently agreed. ‘But he’s not counting on us being here.’ However, she would have felt better if Lourds had been able to translate the scroll. Without it, they wouldn’t have a chance against their enemy.
Lourds tried to catch his breath as the soldiers forced him along an immaculate passageway. He couldn’t take notice of the details around him. They passed the elevator by, which he couldn’t believe given how far they evidently had to travel to reach ground level, and hurtled down six flights of stairs. Just when he thought he was going to collapse or throw up for certain, the soldier pulled Lourds through a doorway instead of down another flight of stairs. They negotiated a maze of corridors and ended up at a suite of rooms.
Guards in black suits stood watch over the doors. They acknowledged Eckart and his men, then opened the doors and allowed them entrance.
United States Vice-President Elliott Webster stood on the other side of the door. Other people, some of them with faces Lourds thought he recognized from the news, stood inside the room as well.
Webster smiled disingenuously. ‘Welcome, Professor Lourds. It’s a pleasure to see you.’
The nearest soldier tripped Lourds and sent him sprawling. Hands bound in front of him, he landed in a heap before Webster, unable to keep his face from thudding into the floor. Groaning in pain, Lourds pushed himself to his knees before his enemy.
‘I trust your trip wasn’t too much of a hardship,’ Webster said, but his casual tone indicated that he didn’t care.
‘Not as bad as the last week or so has been,’ Lourds admitted. He was surprised that he spoke so casually.
‘I would guess not. All those places and all those treasures. It must have been exciting.’
‘Under better circumstances,’ Lourds said, ‘and if we’d had more time, I would have considered the time spent pleasant.’
Webster smiled. ‘You haven’t lost your sense of humour.’
Lourds didn’t respond.
‘That’s one of your traits I really admire,’ Webster said. ‘I enjoyed your books immensely. Especially Bedroom Pursuits. Although it was a little tame for my taste.’
‘Glad I was able to provide a little diversion.’
‘You know, since your capture, I’ve even toyed with the idea of having you as my chronicler.’
‘Chronicler?’
‘Anything I can do to help.’ Lourds looked at the men round him, wondering why they didn’t react to what Webster was saying.
‘They don’t hear exactly what I’m saying to you,’ Webster said. ‘That’s just one of my abilities. When I speak, I can make the listener hear whatever I want them to.’
‘Must have been a great trick back in junior high school.’
‘You have no idea. Truly.’ Webster held a hand out and gazed at it. ‘When I first decided on this route for my return to this world, the idea gave me pause. The idea of allowing myself to be born into a mortal body, to deal with the frailties and hardships of
the flesh – not all of them, mind you – was an anathema to me. But now I’m quite used to it. The serpent’s body was more elegant, more sure, but the pleasures are enhanced dramatically in this form.’
Lourds remained on his knees. He gazed around the room and spotted a woman and three men. One of them sat at a laptop and occasionally hit the keyboard.
‘It’s good to have friends,’ Lourds said. ‘Especially when you’re planning on taking over the world.’
‘It’s a big job.’
‘One supposes.’
‘Indeed. You wouldn’t have got this far without your friends. Then again, the Joy Scroll might have been left lingering out there as well. So we both succeeded in our pursuits.’
‘Too bad they weren’t mutually exclusive and mutually beneficial.’
‘You’ll have to take that up with God,’ Webster said. ‘I’m not the one who plays by the rules. If it were me, I wouldn’t have created a weapon that my enemy could have used against me.’
‘And maybe he was a little too understanding when it came to letting his greatest enemy live.’
Webster grinned. ‘Oh, he didn’t have a choice about that after he’d created the light and the dark. You simply can’t have one without the other. And he did try to keep you humans from knowing such things as good and evil existed.’
Lourds’ stomach turned and threatened to empty. Even though he knew who he was talking to, part of him wanted to deny that was what was really going on.
‘Exactly.’ Webster walked over to Lourds and invaded his personal space. ‘You can see me, hear me, know who I am, and your first impulse is to deny my identity. You people grasp at a God you can’t touch
‘I think most people blame God for that.’
Webster backhanded Lourds without warning, so fast that Lourds didn’t register the blow until his head had popped back and pain filled his right cheek and temple. He worked his jaw, not certain at first if it hadn’t been broken.
The Lucifer Code (2010) Page 33
