The Great Thirst Boxed Set

by Mary C. Findley

  The man looked decidedly uncomfortable. “Very well. It is a serious breach of our rules, but I cannot deny you this, since you have been of such enormous help. We shall pray for a miracle, because it is hard to imagine them surviving to be rescued. I am sorry, my dear,” he hastened to add as Talia started to cry again. “So very sorry.”

  “How are you going to get these wherever you’re going?” Keith asked.

  The man clapped his hands and ten youngsters appeared at the door of the tent. They flooded in, hefted grain bags, and vanished. The man led them around behind the tent and showed them the boys tying the sacks onto camels. “They shall go by ship,” he smiled. “The great ship of the desert.”

  “Cool,” Keith grinned. “We’ll be praying for you and all the Guardians. Keep in touch.”

  “Be assured that we will,” the man replied. “Will you alter your schedule, or leave for the United States as originally planned in two days?”

  “We’re not leaving without Talia’s aunt and uncle.” Keith crossed his arms.

  The man shook his head. “I wish I had hope that you will recover them safely. I must pray for greater faith. You shame me. God guard you.”

  Mrs. Salter tapped on Keith’s door. He answered it while pulling his bathrobe tie tighter and hoped she didn’t see his half-dry clothes underneath and the sand sifting out into his bedroom slippers.

  “All present and accounted for, Mr. Bradley. I wish I could say all asleep, but I don’t want to lie to you.”

  “No need, Mrs. Salter. I saw them sneaking up those thermoses. They’re the ones who’ll be getting poked awake on the bus tomorrow when we get to the day’s attractions.”

  “We’re still going on with the tour?” the woman’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Has there been a ransom note? Is there any news at all about Doctor and Mrs. Ramin?”

  “It’s Doctor and Doctor,” Keith corrected. “No news yet, but we expect developments. We are going to find them. Don’t you worry about it. And yeah, Ms. Ramin can handle the travelogue as good as they could have, so the kids will get their money’s worth. Get some sleep, Mrs. Salter.”

  “Good night.” She padded away.

  Keith awoke ‘way too early to pounding on his door. He opened it to find uniformed officers who didn’t speak any words he understood. When he tried to pantomime that he needed to get dressed and get translation help, two of them grabbed him under the arms and pulled him out into the hallway. Just as they were about to shove him into the elevator Talia showed up with one of the hired security guards. A rapid-fire exchange ensued but several minutes passed before the men very reluctantly released Keith.

  “They say we failed to report Amu and Zanamu’s kidnapping,” Talia said. “They are claiming that’s a serious crime here. What they are concerned about is their reputation and the tourist trade. They don’t like private security firms, either, because us having these guys makes it look like the country is unsafe to visit. We’re going to have to go to police headquarters and fill out forms and probably pay a ‘fine’, which is code for a bribe. I hope we don’t have to give them too much information. They want to interview everyone on the trip, but I told them that was nonsense; that they can’t have access to the students.”

  Keith and Talia ended up spending hours at the police station. Part of the time they were separated and Keith could barely understand the translator the Syrians provided. The woman referred to what seemed to be a foreign phrases book.

  “Nothing wrong my English,” the woman snapped, leaning over the desk with her face an inch from Keith’s. “You try hide Syrian government incident of stolen persons not to inform on artifacts from us you smugglers.”

  “What?” Keith groaned. She almost slapped him but restrained herself. Instead she spun on her heel and marched out. Almost an hour later, Talia entered the room where he sat. She looked ragged with exhaustion.

  “They’re deporting us, and we have to leave immediately,” she said. “They said they will investigate Amu and Zanamu’s kidnapping themselves, but I don’t know if they’ll do anything. The good news is that they don’t intend to make anything public, so the kids’ parents won’t see it on CNN. They didn’t ask anything that would have meant involving the Guardians, either. They also don’t seem to consider Jiggly to be involved. I paid for his hotel room separately, and no one has asked about him or questioned him. We’re going to have to trust him to take the ax back to the Guardians, and that someone will do something to help find Amu and Zanamu.”

  Having the Syrian government at their back, even though it was to push them out of the country, seemed to be great for getting them a direct flight to the States. Keith knew Talia was barely holding herself together. He wanted to put a fist through the cabin wall himself at the thought of leaving Naddy and Sophie behind. Instead they made sure no students forgot anything, pulled the last chaperone out of the airport gift shop, and got everyone seated on the plane.

  Half a dozen uniformed men boarded the plane as the flight attendants prepared to close the doors. They didn’t say a word. They walked up and down the aisles, stared at everyone, and walked back off. Some kids started crying. Some swore, but not very loudly.

  “It’s one,” Keith said, but not with much heart. The kids still subsided immediately, even the crying ones. “We need to pray,” he said, standing up as the flight attendants once more closed the doors. “Lord, please protect the Doctors Ramin and bring them safely back to us. Please give us a safe trip back home, and may these students never forget that people are at war over Your Word. Protect it too.”

  Amens rippled around the cabin. Keith sat down and endured some stares from the flight attendants before they began the preflight instructions. Afterward, as an attendant passed his seat, she touched his shoulder, feather-soft, and said something he didn’t understand.

  Keith’s eyes darted up to her but she shook her head and continued down the aisle. He gripped Talia’s hand she mouthed, “She said Prayer changes things.” They locked eyes and only moved their lips as the plane took off. Many of the kids clasped hands and bowed heads.

  Chapter Forty – Going in Hot

  “Welcome home, Mr. Bradley,” said a man holding a sign that said the same thing. Keith and Talia had gathered the kids and chaperones together at the baggage claim area. “I’m Drew Summers from Magnum Security. I have instructions to escort everyone to the school. We have vans and plenty of protection.”

  “The school?” Mrs. Salter asked. “We need to get home. My husband is on his way to pick my daughter and I up.”

  “Ma’am, I’m very sorry, but we have information that indicates it isn’t safe for you folks to scatter.” Summers gestured and half a dozen men and women wearing earpieces and identical dark jackets surrounded the group. “Mr. Bradley, Ms. Ramin, you should both have updates on your phones confirming these plans.”

  Talia glanced at her tablet as the camel bell ringtone sounded. Keith checked his phone upon hearing the same noise. The messages were identical. Air Freight pickup deliver BCS Stat. Please accept security update by pressing pound. Talia put a hand over Keith’s as he started to press pound. “But who are your orders coming from? Not from my uncle. Do you know he was kidnapped, and so was my aunt?”

  “Ms. Ramin, we had clear instructions if Doctor Ramin did not return as scheduled,” Summers said. “We’re just following them. We’re not being paid to stand around and argue. Please, everyone claim your luggage and follow us to the vans.”

  “No,” said Talia. “Nobody move. This isn’t the right protocol. You said the wrong thing. All of you back away and leave us alone, or you will hear such screaming as never hit your eardrums, and security will come.”

  The man calling himself Summers waved to his people as they started to back away. “This isn’t up to you,” he said. “We have control of Magnum. You know what that means to Mr. Bradley. To his family.”

  “Don’t listen to them, Keith,” Talia ordered. “Here. Take these.” She gra
bbed Keith’s phone, pressed rapid sequences of keys, and threw it and her tablet at Summers. “All you’ve done is hack our phones, and now you’re locked out. You have nothing else. Run with your tails between your legs like the dogs you are. Run!”

  The man pushed into Talia’s space and reached for her. She grabbed his belt, pushed his shoulder, and kicked him hard in the knee, scraping her boot all the way down to his instep and stomping hard on it. He screamed and went down in a twisted ball. Most of the females screamed too, and airport security did indeed appear.

  “Don’t any of you move,” Talia ordered the other people in Magnum gear. “These people are impersonating members of a private security firm. They tried to kidnap us. I want them arrested,” she told the airport people.

  “Wow. I see why Jiggly kept calling you Warrior Angel,” Keith said. “Are you sure about Magnum? About my dad and –”

  “Ms. Ramin!” a man ran up to them. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God – ”

  “But the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever,” Talia exclaimed. “Oh, thank goodness! But – are you hurt?”

  The man impatiently wiped blood from his scalp. “No, mostly embarrassed and very, very glad you weren’t taken in by that guy who got the drop on me and stole my phone. I’m Drew Summers, by the way, the real one. I already called in a system-wide password change and alerted Magnum to the breach. Mr. Bradley, I give you my word your family is safe. I spoke to your father right after I called in the alert, so I could reassure you. He says to tell you Joana and your grandmother can’t wait to hug you big, big, big, sir.”

  Keith finally broke into a grin. “Same here,” he said. “So what now?”

  “Magnum advises the folks to keep to whatever homecoming plans they already have in place,” Summers said. “We are not authorized to provide protection for everyone, for which I’m sorry. We are investigating what those people intended to do with you and will co-ordinate with airport security and police.”

  Talia and Keith hugged kids and gathered their things. Summers led them to a van and they drove away from the airport. “Things have calmed down a lot since that panic right about the time you folks left. Funny that the government couldn’t make a case that people who study the Bible were out to get them.”

  He glanced back at them in the rear-view mirror. “Sorry, sir; miss. I know this is very serious to all of you. Regarding our kidnapped employers, we are in contact with the Syrian government and they do have an interest in getting the Doctors Ramin found and safe. They had to make a show of ejecting you, but they meant it for your own safety. This kidnapping blindsided them. They swear it’s not terrorists or anybody from Syria. Your aunt and uncle aren’t even US citizens, so this thing baffles them.”

  “Thank you for all you’re trying to do,” Talia murmured. “I need to get to my apartment as quickly as I can. There are things I need to do.”

  “Of course. I’ll drop you off there, Ms. Ramin.”

  “Is my family at my house?” Keith asked.

  “Of course, sir. Magnum only kept them at the safe house a couple of days, while we thoroughly inspected the house and your grandmother’s apartment. We sure did find a lot of bugs, but it looked like they’d been placed very recently. Your father had a tough time doing it, but he convinced your grandmother it was best if she moved into the house. Makes our job easier, and she bakes us cookies.”

  “Grandma makes the best cookies,” Keith sighed.

  “That’s what grandmas do. Here you are, Ms. Ramin. I’m told your car should be delivered sometime tomorrow. The airline apologizes. Guess that’s the ultimate in lost luggage, huh?”

  Talia managed a smile. Summers and Keith helped her bring her bags to the apartment door. Keith wanted to hold her, hug her, kiss her. But not with Summers here.

  “You’ll have new phones before the day is out.” Summers cleared his throat and checked his watch. Talia nodded and held onto Keith’s hand before sliding her fingers free.

  “See you soon,” Keith whispered.

  “Hug your family big, big, big for me,” Talia whispered back.

  “We’ll all be praying for Naddy and Sophie. I promise we won’t let up hammering on heaven’s gates.”

  “I know you won’t.” Talia stretched up and kissed him on the chin. He kissed her on the top of the head and followed Summers back to the van.

  Inside the apartment, Talia dropped her luggage by the door and pressed buttons on a security panel until a certain beep satisfied her. Inside the second bedroom/office, she locked the door behind her and followed a similar routine on a smaller panel. An ornate, inlaid cabinet with mother of pearl and carnelian mosaics stood in a corner. She unlocked it and pulled out a new, sealed laptop. Dropping down onto the carpet, she sat cross-legged, undid the seal, and turned on a small but very rugged-looking portable router.

  “Come on. Come on. Come on!” she chanted, until the messaging application appeared. The characters she typed were not English.

  Arrived stateside. Keep your word.

  The response came after a long lag. How many lies to pull that off?

  Talia ignored the taunt and repeated her message.

  Location of artifacts? Was the only response she got.

  Proof of life first.

  You withheld dive info. The response accused her.

  Proof of life.

  A video link appeared after some delay, time-stamped to within moments of the current time in western Syria. Talia forced herself not to react to the sight of her aunt and uncle in a small room half-filled with sand, lit only by slits near the roof, and no apparent water or food. Naddy paced like an angry bear, but very slowly and clumsily, slipping on the sand. Sophie sat huddled in a corner. Sand kept sifting into the room from the slits. The video clipped off abruptly. Talia typed in co-ordinates of the dive site off Ugarit.

  What recovered? the question blinked into view.

  Nothing. 50+ witnesses can confirm. You searched our stuff. We left. Let them GO.

  A longer pause ensued than the last one. Talia wiped blood off her lip from chewing it. Another video popped up – Naddy and Sophie being pushed out of a desert-camoed hummer onto a dirt road surrounded by a windy, barren landscape. The vehicle drove away and both of them collapsed.

  You can’t just leave them! Talia pounded the keyboard. Where are they? How can I send help?

  You only said let them go. Be careful what you wish for.

  Talia typed threats, demands, pleas. No response. Finally something clicked in her brain. She subjected the video to a rigorous examination, hammered out searches, and finally sent another message. Almost an hour passed this time before a response from a different message source popped up a string of numbers. Geo-positioning coordinates, followed by the phrase there’s always room. Talia tried to smile but her lip hurt. This was the password she and Jiggly had agreed on if she needed his help, and that of the ax. It was part of an old Jell-O commercial slogan. It meant Sophie still had the corundum chip necklace with her and Jiggly had been able to get a position.

  “Praise God. Praise God.” From the same cabinet, she grabbed a satellite headset. “Cherub-rider, I need a big favor,” she said into the mic when she had finally made the connection. She spoke Hebrew this time.

  “Copy that, Evangel. Anywhere you say; anything you want,” came the reply in the same tongue.

  Talia repeated the co-ordinates. After a pause, the male voice that had answered swore. “Syria? You want to stir up the part that’s been quiet so far?”

  “You know what you owe me,” Talia said. “Pick up two packages, critical. Whatever’s needed. I’m good for it.”

  “Means going in and out hot. May need to pay some fines for me.”

  “Send me a bill. Hot is exactly what I need. Sending you video feed.”

  “Holy crap,” the voice said a few moments after Talia had sent the feed of Naddy and Sophie in the desert. “Should I be blowing something up afterwards? No charg
e for that. God knows where I’d be if it wasn’t for those two–”

  “Not yet, but maybe later.” Talia finally allowed herself to smile. “Thank you, Cherub-rider.”

  “No, thank you, Evangel. The honor is to serve. Cherub-rider going in double hot.”

  Talia disconnected the satellite connection, closed the laptop, and locked everything back in the cabinet as the doorbell of her apartment rang. She checked the monitoring system and saw a FedEx messenger standing in the hallway with a package.

  “Put your ID up to the peephole,” Talia ordered.

  The man complied. Talia pressed the touchscreen on her monitor. The guy flinched when a blue beam washed over him. A message popped up. Verified.

  “Thank you,” she said, opening the door and signing for the box. The return address said “Magnum Security.” Still, she locked her apartment door and held the box up to the security monitor.

  The screen display reeled off specs and a tablet make and model. No harmful devices detected.

  Back in her study Talia ripped the package open with a curved Turkish letter opener. She tossed aside the Magnum enclosure and popped the battery into place. Anxiously she got through the setup and security protocols and at last the phone was ready to use. She punched a speedial code.

  “You are impatient, Evangel. Or did you want to see how hot I got firsthand? Packages onboard. Seems if I add water, they will reconstitute.”

  “Thank you, Cherub-rider. From my heart.”

  “I wish I had your heart, Evangel. You know what I mean.”

  Talia caught her breath as an image of Keith popped into her head. She shook away the doubts and the how many lies from the kidnappers’ message that tried to crowd it out. “Already spoken for. Sorry. Tell Amu to call me as soon as he can.”

  “I think that’s what he’s pantomiming to me that he wants to do, but I gotta keep both hands on the wheel until I get that whistle of his a little wetter. Going out triple hot. Headed for the first big red cross I see. Your heart-holder is one lucky SOB, Evangel. Cherub-Rider out.”