The Blood Line

by Tom Hunter

  Twelve

  Akhenaton led the way through the market, searching for the right stalls as the team gathered the supplies they’d need to survive a long trek through the desert.

  “Why aren’t we buying more equipment from that guy?” asked Waleed, as Akhenaton concluded a negotiation and moved away from the trader. “I may not be an expert in desert travel, but even I can see that they had almost all of what we need, if not everything.”

  “If we buy all the bits and pieces we need from different stalls, hopefully nobody will have time to put two and two together and figure out where we’re going,” Akhenaton explained, as he headed towards another stall that sold canvases and tarps. “We know the Tunisian military are closing in on us, as well as the Bruard. If we only went to one stall, all it takes is for a soldier to come to the market and ask the right questions and we’ve lost what little advantage we’ve been able to carve out for ourselves.”

  “My feet are complaining about all the walking,” moaned Waleed. “And we haven’t even hit the desert yet. Was it really worth it for the sake of thirty minutes’ head start?”

  “This is our last stop,” Akhenaton reassured him. “Once we’re done here, we can hail a cab to take us out of the city limits as far as we dare before there’s any risk of hitting a blockade. Give the driver a good enough tip and he’ll keep his mouth shut if anyone asks about his recent passengers. You can put your feet up during the drive, all right?”

  “Speaking of which, do you think you could speed things up a little?” requested Josh. “With the amount of time we’ve spent wandering the stalls, the military have had more than enough opportunity to set up a perimeter. I get where you’re coming from, but I have a horrible feeling that all you’ve done is wasted more time than you’ve saved. With the military on high alert, a cab might not be able to take us very far. Forget about putting your feet up, Waleed. We might be better off starting out on foot. At least that way we won’t be leaving a cab driver behind who can take them straight to our departure point. A large tip won’t be enough to keep him quiet if he’s faced with the barrel of a soldier’s gun.”

  “I think you’re right,” Samuel agreed, as Akhenaton finished his business at the stall. “Cabs are useless to us now. The trek through the desert is only thirty miles or so. Adding on an extra mile or two at this stage isn’t really going to make any difference and it’ll be a heck of a lot safer. We need to stay as far away from roads and settlements as we can on our way to Dougga so nobody sees where we’re going. The net’s closing in on us. We need every tiny bit of help we can carve out for ourselves. I don’t like our chances of sweet talking our way round a blockade. We’ve still got a number of guns, remember, and the Tunisian authorities frown upon anyone carrying unlicensed weapons.”

  “You can pry my gun from my cold, dead hands,” swore Waleed.

  “Don’t worry,” Samuel reassured him. “Nobody’s going to have to give up their weapons. We need them too much. So if we’re all done here, we’ll head out and hit the desert. Akhenaton, you’re in charge.”

  “Got it.” The Knight nodded, hurrying out of the market and making his way towards the edge of the desert. He deliberately took a circuitous route to shake off anyone who might be following them, heading down alleys and side streets to stay out of sight. If anyone was following them, they were exceptionally good at concealing themselves.

  As they approached the outskirts of the desert. Akhenaton motioned for them all to gather in the shade of a whitewashed building.

  “Let’s share out the equipment so everyone has what they need,” he instructed. “You’ll need to fashion a water pump to keep yourself hydrated during the trek, and wrap yourselves up to protect your skin from the harsh rays of the sun.” He demonstrated to the others how to use the supplies he’d bought to build a rudimentary water pump. It wasn’t long before they were all as ready as they were going to be to face the arduous desert crossing.

  “All right, everyone. Stay close to each other and we’ll be in Tebourba sooner than you know.” Akhenaton smiled encouragingly underneath his facemask, forgetting that nobody could see him.

  Akhenaton consulted his compass and looked up at the sun overhead, checking they were still on course.

  “By my calculations, the town ahead of us is Oued Ellil. It’s just off the Internationale Route 7, which means we’re about two thirds of the way there. Congratulations, everyone. I know it’s been hard, but we’ve made great time.”

  The group gazed down at the town spread out before them, making out the signs that announced the presence of a number of strip malls that stretched out across the settlement interspersed with residential areas. It might be a backwater, but it seemed to offer plenty to the dedicated shopper – unless you looked closely enough to realize that many of the retail buildings stood empty and abandoned, waiting for the next owner to nurse them back to life.

  “All right, guys,” said Samuel, as he started to lead them around the edge of the town, not wanting to risk cutting through the center in case they got caught up with the authorities. “Just play it cool. If anyone spots us from Oued Ellil, simply smile, nod, and ignore. We’re just tourists exploring the desert. Mad tourists, perhaps, but tourists nevertheless.”

  “Why do we have to go round the outside of the town?” complained Waleed. “We’ve been on the road for six hours already. If we cut through the center of Oued Ellil it’ll save us an hour or more. Nobody knows where we are right now and even if they do catch sight of us here, we’ll be long gone before they can do anything about it. The military isn’t going to paying any attention to a town in the middle of nowhere. We’re long since past any barricades.”

  “Waleed’s right,” added Basile. “My feet are aching and I could do with a caffeine infusion to keep going. Can’t we stop off at a coffee shop and grab an espresso to go? It would make the world of difference to this last leg of the journey if we got a little boost of energy.”

  Samuel looked to the others for guidance. Shafira said nothing, but her eyes were pleading for a break. Josh simply shrugged.

  “I think you should listen to your people. We won’t be able to survive the desert if everyone’s falling over with exhaustion,” pointed out Akhenaton. In stark contrast to the others, he didn’t seem to be suffering from their time in the desert. “I did warn you it’d be tough for those who weren’t used to it.”

  “All right,” Samuel decided. “We’ll go through Oued Ellil rather than around it. I’ll try and find the most direct route. We’re not going to make any detours for coffee, though. If we see a place on our way, fine. We can pick something up. Otherwise, you’ll just have to wait for Tebourba for your caffeine hit.”

  Gratefully, the group followed Samuel as he led the way into the town. It felt good to be walking on proper sidewalks again instead of trudging through sand, but Samuel couldn’t relax. His hackles were up and he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching them.

  “Something’s not right,” he muttered.

  “What do you mean?” asked Shafira.

  “Look around you. It’s midafternoon, what should be prime shopping time, yet look at how many shops are closed.”

  As if to illustrate his point, as they approached the entrance to one of the malls, a security guard pulled the shutters down, glaring and waving them away as the metal grid rattled into place. They could make out shoppers huddled inside, whispering to one another before disappearing into the depths of the mall.

  “This isn’t good,” muttered Josh grimly. “If we’re lucky, all that’s happened is that the military have been through here and warned everyone to be on their guard against strangers. If we’re not…”

  “You think it could be the Bruard behind all this?” asked Basile.

  “I don’t think so.” Samuel shook his head. “I suspect Josh is right. I think the government’s sent out an alert to people to be on their guard because the Bruard’s on the move, so they’d be like this towards any
one who isn’t obviously from around here. They won’t be closing down for our sakes. It’ll be because of whatever Pin’s up to.”

  “I hope you’re right,” said Josh, as he drew his head covering up again to cover his features.

  “Keep calm, everyone,” advised Samuel, stopping in his tracks when they turned a corner to see a military vehicle parked in the middle of the road, blocking their way forward. “The last thing we want is to appear suspicious.”

  “Easy for you to say,” said Basile. “I’ve already had to deal with soldiers this morning. They have a way of making you feel guilty, even when you’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “They won’t be looking for us,” Waleed reassured him. “We should be able to walk past them without any problems.”

  “And what if we don’t?” asked Basile. “What if we’re exactly the people they’re looking for after my little chat with them? I don’t want to go to prison when we’ve come so far. Do you?”

  Samuel tapped his foot nervously, looking back the way they’d come. “Well, I don’t think we have much of a choice,” he said at last. “They’ve clearly got the whole town on lockdown. We can try going another way, but we’ll still have to deal with them sooner or later. If we want to make it out of this town, we might as well get it over with now. Just stay calm and it’ll be fine.”

  “Are you so sure?” Basile gulped as one of the soldiers strode towards them. “That’s Karim, the soldier who interrogated me over breakfast.”

  Hearing his name, Karim grinned humorlessly. “I’m glad to see you remember me, Monsieur Rossignal. Since we are such good friends, out of common courtesy, I’ll give you spies one chance to explain what the Bruard wants in the region.”

  Thirteen

  The sound of a gun being locked and loaded came from the soldiers still at the truck, who aimed their weapons at Samuel and the gang.

  Samuel’s team exchanged glances with each other, worried about how they were going to talk their way out of this one. One false step and they were going to be cut down without warning, an ignoble end to their quest after everything they’d been through.

  “I must say, Monsieur Rossignol, I’m genuinely surprised to see you all the way out here,” remarked Karim. “Carthage was a mere hop, skip, and a jump away from the inn where you were staying. Given your alleged interest in ancient ruins, why aren’t you exploring the ancient city instead of coming out to a modest town in the middle of the desert? For such aficionados of the past, this place has nothing of value to offer you. I can’t think of a single reason why you would be here, so please. Enlighten me. I’d love to know what motivates a man like you to come to a place like this.”

  Basile’s eyes darted from Samuel to the soldiers then back again as he desperately tried to think of a cover story.

  “We already visited Carthage.” Samuel stepped in to rescue his friend from coming up with a plausible lie. “As you can tell from our gear, we decided to see if we could find somewhere that was less of a tourist trap than the usual haunts. You find the most fascinating places if you dare to follow the path less traveled and we grew tired of the crowds in the city. We thought we’d follow an ancient pilgrim trail we read about in a history book.”

  “Is that right?” Karim sniffed. “And who are you?”

  “My name is Samuel McCarthy.” Samuel held his hand out for Karim to shake, withdrawing it again when the soldier sneered at him. “I’m an amateur archaeologist. When I heard Basile wanted to vacation in the area, I knew I had to join him. I’ve wanted to explore this area for some time. We’ve had some amazing adventures together.”

  “And how exactly does that tie in with your discussion about Christian mythology?” asked Karim. “Oh yes. I know all about your little chats. We have eyes and ears everywhere. Perhaps you could explain to me how Catholicism fits into your supposed interest in the Romans?”

  “Didn’t you know that it’s Roman Catholicism, dumb ass?” whispered Josh, but he had the sense to keep his remark too quiet for the soldier to hear.

  “All ancient mythology is of interest to us,” replied Samuel smoothly. He opened his mouth to continue, but he was prevented from saying anything else as a soldier got out of the armored truck and hurried over to Karim. He pulled the officer to one side and muttered something into his ear.

  “I see.” Karim nodded before turning to Samuel and his team. “I wonder if you could clear something up for me. We’ve had reports of a suspicious group traveling through the desert following a path running roughly parallel to Route 7 but a couple of miles into the sands as if they were hoping to avoid detection. Long distance photography have produced reasonably clear images of the suspects. Lo and behold, I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when my subordinate tells me we’ve just been sent a photo that matches the six of you. Perhaps you could explain to me how that could be?”

  He didn’t wait for a reply before continuing. “Even better, why don’t you just tell me what you expect to find in Tebourba? You see, after our little conversation this morning, if you were really who you claim to be, I would have expected you to stay in Carthage, wait for the military to carry out its sweep of the region before continuing. Why risk drawing attention to yourselves if you are innocent tourists? Moreover, why head straight into Bruard territory? The news is filled with reports of dangerous agents active in the area. Any sensible person would be holed up in their hotel waiting for the all clear. The only possible reason for going into the desert would be if you were spies on a mission wanting to elude the authorities. Unfortunately for you, you were too stupid to realize that the Tunisian military always gets its man. You’ve walked straight into our arms and you won’t be leaving our hospitality any time soon.”

  “We’re not spies!” protested Samuel. “We’re on the same side as you. We hate the Bruard and everything they stand for. If you could only let us go, you’ll see we’re not what you think we are. If you lock us up, you’ll be doing the Bruard’s work for them.”

  “Men!” Karim beckoned for his troops to come forward and take the group into custody. He shook his head at Samuel. “You might as well save your breath for our interrogators. You are going to be detained and subject to questioning until we have all the answers we need. And then you’ll be charged with spying and thrown into a jail cell to rot for the rest of your miserable lives.”

  “Please don’t do this,” begged Shafira. “Samuel’s telling the truth. We’re working against the Bruard. If you imprison us, you’ll be helping them.”

  “Silence!” ordered Karim. “I don’t want to hear another one of your lies. Save it for our interrogators.”

  Exchanging a look with Akhenaton, Samuel surreptitiously reached for the scepter. It was their only chance at escaping the soldiers. If he could only get them to see sense, there was still an opportunity for them to get to Tebourba.

  KA-BLOOM!

  The guard who had come to tell Karim about the photo fell to one side, the top of his head blown away by a sniper shot.

  “Take cover!” yelled Samuel, as the soldiers opened fire in the direction of where the shot had come from. The friends were caught right in the middle of the crossfire.

  Fourteen

  Samuel grabbed hold of Karim, throwing himself and the soldier down to the ground. A bullet skimmed the spot where Samuel’s head had been a second ago, tearing a chunk of the road free.

  “What are you doing?” snarled Karim, struggling to push Samuel off. He fumbled at his holster for his pistol, pulling it out and pointing it at Samuel.

  “What are you doing?” cried Samuel. “I just saved your hide!”

  “You Bruard scum!” Karim spat in Samuel’s face. “You’re only trying to save your sniper friends. You’ve just forfeited your chance of pleading your case.”

  He cocked the gun, but before he could pull the trigger, Basile barreled in, knocking the gun out of Karim’s hand.

  “Come on, Samuel!” he cried. “Let’s get out of here!”

  H
e turned to lead Samuel back the way they’d come, into the desert. But, the group stopped in horror, as Bruard agents spilled from the apparently-closed buildings. The air was filled with the cracks of gunfire.

  Samuel scooped up Karim’s gun from the floor. He turned to the soldier, who paled at the weapon in the archaeologist’s hands. Samuel turned it round, offering the handle to Karim.

  “Here. Take it,” he urged.

  After a moment’s hesitation, Karim took his gun back.

  “I told you, we’re working against the Bruard,” Samuel said. “If we get captured here or killed even, it’ll mean the death of millions. You have to let us go or the Bruard Empire will take over the world. We’re on a mission to stop them.”

  “You can’t be serious,” protested Karim, but another sniper shot hit the ground by Samuel’s foot.

  “Why do you think they’re aiming at us?” cried Samuel, as they all ran towards the military truck to take cover behind it. “It’s not you they’re trying to wipe out. It’s us because they know that we’re the only ones standing in the way of their evil plans. If you don’t believe me, then at least believe the evidence of your own eyes.”

  Karim bit his lip in indecision, as Akhenaton drew his sword, going to stand shoulder to shoulder next to the other soldiers against the Bruard.

  “Look, if you want, we’ll help you fight them and we can talk some more afterwards, but we’re not trained soldiers,” said Samuel. “We might slow you down. If you’re serious about serving your country, let us go. Pretend you never saw us. If you can wipe out the Bruard troops here, nobody will know this is the way we came, which will buy us some more time. If you help us, we can complete our mission. I promise you, we have the means to stop the Bruard but we have to get out of this town to do it.”