The Blood Line

by Tom Hunter

  Karim shook his head. “It would be so much easier if you just told me the truth, friend,” he sighed, abruptly changing his approach. “I can’t imagine that a refined French gentleman like you would cope well in one of our local jails. Our prison governors aren’t known for their respect of human rights. We have more prisoners than cell space, so you’ll be crammed in with other so-called tourists who thought they could lie to the authorities, twenty to a tiny cell. Round here, torture is a popular pastime. We don’t care if you’re telling the truth. We’ll continue to beat you just for the fun of it. And if you think you can escape with a not guilty verdict, think again. The wheels of justice turn slowly in my country. We like to take our time before we bring villains to trial to give them a chance to repent so they plead guilty at trial to save us all money. It’s not unknown for people to rot in prison for years before they finally see a judge.”

  The soldier leaned forward conspiratorially. “In comparison, when someone pleads guilty straight away, we look upon them favorably. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. Nobody should be punished for a simple misunderstanding. All you have to do is tell me the truth about why you’re here and I’m sure we can arrange a deal.”

  “I am telling the truth.” Basile kept his cool. “My friends and I are here to visit your magnificent ancient sites.”

  The soldier glared at him, as Basile held his breath. Eventually, however, he reached forward and patted Basile on the cheek.

  “Be careful out there,” he warned. “If I find out you’ve been lying to me, I won’t be a happy man. And believe me, you don’t want to see me when I’m not happy.”

  Satisfied he had got everything out of Basile he could, Karim pushed his chair back and stalked over to talk to the cook again.

  Stunned, Basile reached for his coffee cup, forgetting it was already empty until he tried to drink from it.

  “What do you think? Do you believe him?” The cook tried to keep her voice down, but Basile could still hear every word of their conversation.

  “Meh.” Karim shrugged. “They don’t pay me enough to carry out prolonged interrogations. I’m not convinced he’s being entirely honest with me but that doesn’t mean he’s with the Bruard. Still, I’d very much appreciate it if you kept an eye on the comings and goings of him and his companions.”

  “Is there a reward for any information?” asked the cook.

  “Not from the army, but I could reward you if you like,” grinned Karim suggestively.

  “Karim!” The cook batted at his chest. “I told you! My boyfriend!”

  Their flirtation was interrupted by a blast on Karim’s radio.

  “Calling all members of sector 587! All members of sector 587!”

  “One moment.” Karim held up a hand to the cook, turning away to listen to the message.

  “We have accounts of possible Bruard activity in the area,” came the radio message. “All resources are being recalled. Return to base immediately and await further instruction.”

  “That’s my cue.” The soldier made a little salute at the cook. “Maybe we’ll go for that drink sometime anyway. You’ll get bored with that boyfriend of yours sooner or later.”

  He didn’t bother to wait for her reply, as he dashed out to head back to base.

  Absently, Basile went to drink some more coffee, discovering once more that his cup was empty. He smiled to himself, as he pulled out his wallet to leave a tip.

  “Thanks for the service,” he called over to the cook, who stared at him in hostility.

  Basile didn’t waste any energy on taking offense, as he turned to race upstairs to fill in Samuel and the others on what had just happened.

  Ten

  Basile banged on Waleed’s door.

  “Open up!” he urged. “Come on, Waleed. Open up!”

  “All right, all right. There’s no need to tear the place down.” Waleed yawned, as he opened the door. His hair was scruffy and he was pulling down his shirt, having been halfway through getting dressed.

  “Meet me in Samuel’s room right now,” Basile ordered. “There’s been a development.”

  It wasn’t long before the six members of Samuel’s team were gathered in the archaeologist’s room. Akhenaton took up position by the door, listening out for a potential ambush while Basile filled in everyone on what had just happened.

  “We need to get out of here immediately,” Basile warned. “I’ve just been interrogated by a soldier in the dining room.”

  “A soldier? Here?” Shafira frowned.

  “He was looking for a group of ‘suspicious looking people’.” Basile made air quotes with his fingers. “Naturally, the cook told him about us, and since I was in the dining room, the soldier immediately came to talk to me. I told him a story about us being on a tour of ancient Roman sites, which was as close to the truth as I dared, but who knows whether he believed me? The only reason he didn’t ask any further questions was because he was called away to deal with the discovery of Bruard agents active in the area, which can only mean one thing.”

  “The Bruard are hot on our heels,” remarked Samuel grimly.

  “What are we going to do?” asked Shafira. “We can’t stay here anymore. That much is obvious.”

  “We knew we weren’t going to be able to rest for long,” Samuel pointed out. “All right, so we haven’t had quite as much time to plan as we might like, but this doesn’t really change anything. We still need to get to Dougga as quickly as possible.”

  “Whichever route we take is going to be risky,” observed Waleed. “The Bruard are known for their network of undercover agents, so if they’ve been spotted in the area, the chances are high that whatever the army’s seen, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Their agents are sneaky and can lie dormant for years undetected. I think it safe to assume there are eyes wherever we go.”

  “Right. So let’s check out our options.” Samuel pulled out his portable holographic map, and had it home in on their location. Soon there was an image before them of Carthage and the surrounding areas recreated in minute detail.

  “We’re here.” He pointed to a tiny dot that represented their current location. “And we need to get there.”

  “That’s easy!” declared Basile, clapping his hands in victory. “Why don’t we simply walk to Tebourba by foot? Looking at this, I would have thought we could be there in a day.”

  “Yeah, a day if we didn’t have to wade through hostile desert terrain,” Josh pointed out. “We’re simply not equipped for that. Forget about it. We need a better solution.”

  “If only we had access to a desert strider,” sighed Akhenaton. “That would make life easy.”

  “If wishes were horses, we’d be there by sunset,” snapped Josh. “A desert strider would be great but we haven’t got one and we haven’t got any means of obtaining one. Stay focused on the task in hand, people.”

  “We might not have a desert strider, but we do have Akhenaton,” Basile commented. “Surely his experience with living in the desert counts for something? He could help us get supplies and garments that would make crossing the desert more feasible.”

  “Sure, I could make the trip,” agreed Akhenaton. “But just because I can doesn’t mean the rest of you could keep up with me, even if we did have the time and money to gather up everything we need.”

  “Well, unless we luck out and find a cab driver who’s willing and able to plough his way through whatever blockades are going to be in our way, we may not have much of a choice,” said Samuel. “It might take us a bit longer than a day to get through the desert, but the Bruard are unlikely to guess that we’ll go that way. They’ll be watching all the roads leading out of Tunisia, but if we’re lucky, they won’t be quite so diligent outside of the city. Once we reach Tebourba, we can rent a car and drive the rest of the way to Dougga along the C50 and P5 routes, which should only take a couple of hours at the most. This might be the one way that gives us a chance of escaping unseen.”

  “Yeah, the Bruar
d are unlikely to guess that we’ll go through the desert because only a fool or a lunatic would even think about it,” muttered Josh. “Still, I have to agree it’s the best of a bunch of bad solutions.”

  “Do we have time to walk though?” asked Waleed. “We could put our foot down on the gas and power through any barricades to get to Dougga in record time. In comparison, if we walk, we’ll be lugging a load of heavy gear with us on top of what we’re already carrying that’s going to slow us down. Not all of us are as fit as we could be.” He looked pointedly at Basile, who simply waved him away nonchalantly.

  “It’s no worse than carrying a kit during basic training,” Josh pointed out. “It’s pretty standard when you sign up for the army back in the US, and we all survived.”

  “I never wanted to be in the army, but I’m game if the rest of you are,” Shafira put in. “Depending on what gear Akhenaton can scrounge up from the local markets and shops, we may just have to be ruthless with what we take from our own things and dump anything that isn’t absolutely essential.”

  “Don’t look at me to do that.” Waleed was quick to put his hands up in a motion of denial. “Thanks to you guys, I’ve lost all my money already. I’ve got little else to give. What meager possessions I still have, I’m holding on to. You’re not going to make me dump them.”

  “You may not have to,” said Samuel. “I-”

  Before he could explain his idea, Akhenaton interrupted by clearing his throat and waving for silence. Swiftly, he turned and pulled open the door, revealing the woman who had been talking to the soldier earlier, ostensibly watering a plant in the hallway, conveniently placed right outside their room.

  She stared at Akhenaton, who stared back, as the water from her can filled the plant pot and overflowed onto the floor.

  “Here. Let me help.” Akhenaton strode forward to lift up the pot to put something under it to stem the flow of water, but the woman shrank away from him.

  “S-sorry. I have to go,” she stammered, dropping the watering can, and scurrying away.

  “Looks like I’m going to have to give you some more lessons in how to deal with the ladies, big guy,” chuckled Waleed.

  “Shut up, Waleed,” the others chorused.

  Akhenaton came back into the room, closing the door behind him. “I think we can all agree that we need to move sooner rather than later, no? Like, right now.”

  “Yep.” Samuel nodded sharply. “All right, everyone. We’re going to have to skip breakfast here and make a move. We can pick something up while we’re shopping.”

  “No fair,” grumbled Shafira. “I was really looking forward to some of those delicious pastries that Basile mentioned.”

  “Maybe if you hadn’t traded for our wine last night, you wouldn’t have overslept,” teased Josh.

  “Enough bickering,” snapped Samuel. “We’ll find you some pastries in town, Shafira. We haven’t got time to waste. We all need to get our things and go. We’ll reconvene in reception in five minutes, check out, and get the heck out of here.”

  Taking their cue, the others got up and went to get their belongings ready for whatever fate held for them next.

  Eleven

  “Have you heard the latest reports?”

  The mercenary kept his voice low as he spoke to his colleague while they stood guard over the helipad on Pin’s island.

  “From Mongolia, you mean?” The other merc spoke out of the corner of his mouth, his lips barely moving. Both of them knew the penalty for being caught gossiping while on duty.

  “Yeah. It doesn’t sound great, does it? I heard that Mongolia has broken through one of our lines and are making great inroads in taking back its old territory. All that money and effort for nothing.”

  “That’s what I heard too. A lot of the troops are disappointed that Pae is sunning himself here on the island instead of going to lead the men to victory. He’s needed on the front. Recent events prove that. He should be worrying about his war, not wasting his time attending the funeral of a complete nobody.”

  “I don’t get why we’re making such a fuss over Gord. It’s not like anybody liked him. As far as I can tell, he was here as much to protect Pin from his own staff as he was to do his dirty work. Pin better watch his back now he’s lost his attack dog. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone decided that they were better placed to do his job. He’s not exactly been competent himself in recent months.”

  “You better watch yourself. Look who’s coming…”

  The soldiers snapped to attention when they saw Pin heading towards them.

  “Anything to report?” asked Pin. If he’d heard any of the conversation between the two men, he gave no sign.

  “No, sir,” came the reply. “It’s all been quiet since that woman escaped the island. We’re not expecting any other intruders.”

  “Well, keep your guard up. Now one VTOL has been stolen, it may well give others ideas, especially since we’ve uncovered evidence of traitors on the island. Just because it’s quiet for now doesn’t mean that there aren’t still threats all around us. Don’t trust anyone. Maintain the highest security protocols until I give the order otherwise.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The soldiers saluted again, as Pin carried on his way. As he turned a corner to head towards the comms center, he saw Valentina standing in the middle of the path, clearly waiting for him.

  Pin shook his head. He was in no mood to exchange small talk with the woman. Why didn’t she just do the decent thing and stay in her quarters? Why did she persist in interfering all the time?

  “Out of my way!” he barked, when she showed no sign of moving.

  “I don’t think so.” Valentina shook her head. Her insolence made Pin’s blood boil. Everyone else on the island recognized the importance of showing him respect, regardless of their personal opinions. Despite her recent catastrophic failures, she seemed to believe she was above everyone else. “I want to know why it is you can control the Bruard dictator the way you do.”

  “What do you mean?” Pin frowned.

  “You have him wrapped around your little finger,” Valentina observed. “You say jump and his response is to leap as high as he can without question. He doesn’t even seem to realize what’s happening. How do you do it?”

  “What nonsense is this?” spluttered Pin. “This is preposterous! I can’t make our Glorious Leader do anything he doesn’t choose to do for himself. He simply sees the wisdom in my recommendations as his most trusted advisor. There’s nothing strange about that and it’s highly insulting that you would suggest there is. Keep this up and I’ll have you thrown in the cell Shafira left vacant. You can stay there until we’re ready to leave the island.”

  Valentina shook her head. “No. I call BS on that. There’s something else going on here. Look, I’m not going to try and stop you. All I care about is winning back my good reputation. Whatever goes on between you and your boss is your business and nothing to do with me. If you have your own plans for him, good for you. Still, I’m curious to how you’re managing to manipulate him the way you do. I’ve never seen anything like it, and, as you know, I’m the queen of manipulation. I could learn a thing or two from you and I’m always willing to further my education.”

  “It’s the strength of my advice, nothing more,” Pin insisted. “I guess you’re just not as good at working your mark as you think you are.”

  “Is that so?” Valentina drew closer to him, standing so that her breath tickled his cheek as she spoke. “Because I’m willing to bet that this… thing you’ve got working for you has got a lot to do with that cap you keep so close at all times.”

  She ran a hand down his arm, making Pin snatch the hat away, as her fingers reached its brim.

  “Touchy!” she laughed. “Something tells me I’m onto something. Unless you would be willing to let me try your hat on for size..?”

  Pin narrowed his eyes. “You will never mention nor lay a hand on my artifact, or else.”

  “Of
course not.” Valentina stepped back, lowering her gaze apologetically to acknowledge that she’d crossed a line. “I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any offense. It’s just that for a woman in my position, I always have to plan for the long term. I simply wanted to understand where the real power lay between you and your master because I need to know who I’m going to be answering to once all this is said and done. I’ve come to the realization that I’ve been a lone wolf for too long. I want to commit myself to the Bruard cause, working full time for something that has true meaning. You and Pae are changing the world, in the right direction as far as I can see. I want to be part of your new order. You are the future, and I know all too well the benefits of being an early adopter of the latest innovations.”

  “Is that right?” Pin arched an eyebrow. “You’ll forgive me if I’m not entirely convinced by your change of heart. However, I will concede that you are a valuable commodity, recent events notwithstanding. I’m afraid I am not at liberty to answer your questions in detail, but I will confirm that my orders still stand. If you serve us well, you’ll have your chance at vengeance and more. Do your job, and you’ll be rewarded with enough wealth to rival the greatest Korean monarchs.”

  “I can ask for no more than that.” Valentina bowed deeply. “Trust me. I will serve you to the very best of my abilities.”

  Seemingly satisfied, she turned and walked away.

  Pin clicked his tongue against his teeth as he watched her leave. He knew better than to take Valentina on face value. She was as slippery as a snake and he’d be a fool to think that would ever change. Nevertheless, the woman had guts combined with intelligence, a heady combination. She was the first person to have figured out the source of his power and openly confront him about it, which meant she was going to require careful observation moving forward.

  “Are you going to be friend, or foe, I wonder?” he mused, wondering whether it would be better to cut the head off this particular serpent.