The Blood Line

by Tom Hunter

  “All right.” Karim nodded. “Get the hell out of here. I never saw you. Leave the Bruard to us. We’ll make sure they don’t get any further.”

  “Thank you.” Samuel and the soldier grasped each other’s wrist to seal their agreement. “Akhenaton! Josh! Let’s get out of here.”

  His friends needed no second telling, as they rushed over to join Samuel.

  “Let them through!” ordered Karim. “These are not the people we’re looking for. Eyes front at the real enemy. All soldiers, fire at will at the Bruard. Fire at will!”

  The soldiers opened fire on the approaching Bruard soldiers, providing cover for Samuel and his friends as they raced deeper into the town, looking for a safe way to continue their journey.

  A bullet ricocheted off a shop front, causing them all to duck behind a bench with a trashcan next to it.

  “Did anyone think about what we’re going to do if there are snipers watching over all the exits from the town?” asked Waleed, glancing anxiously around the trashcan to see if he could catch the glint of a long range rifle peeking out from the top of a surrounding building.

  “We can’t think like that,” replied Josh. “We just have to keep moving and hope for the best. Karim’s soldiers have got our backs and there’s no way Pin was organized enough to send enough trained snipers to this little backwater. No, if any of us get hit, it’ll be more down to bad luck than anything else.”

  “Dead is dead,” muttered Waleed, as they edged towards an intersection, keeping as low as possible, and clinging to the side of the building.

  “Wait a moment.” Samuel put out a hand to pull him back before they could go round the corner. “I know we haven’t got much time to waste, but I need you guys to promise me something.”

  “Don’t go there, Samuel.” Shafira shook her head, anticipating what he was about to say.

  “We have to,” he said. “Look, we all know what’s at stake here. If I fall, you have to take the scepter and keep moving. Nothing matters but the mission. We all knew that a moment like this was going to come sooner or later. If I’m hit, you take the scepter and run. No looking back or wasting any time checking on me. Got it?”

  “No way.” Shafira folded her arms. “We don’t leave anyone behind. What if you’re only injured? The Bruard would come and finish the job and that would be the end. Worse, they’ll throw you into one of their cells. After what happened with me, I don’t think they’ll be so slow to give you to one of their torturers. No, if you’re hit, we take you and run.”

  “That’s a noble sentiment, but Samuel’s right,” observed Akhenaton. “Much as the thought of leaving anyone behind is incredibly painful, we don’t have a choice right now. Samuel, I give you my word that if you’re taken out, I’ll grab the scepter myself. We can’t afford to let the Bruard capture it.”

  “We’ve got another more pressing problem,” said Josh grimly. “Look round the corner. We’ve reached the end of the road - literally. We’ve managed to make it to the edge of town, but there’s no cover after this. If we leave the town, we’re easy targets. The Bruard will pick us off like fish in a barrel.”

  “They’ll have to catch up with us first,” boasted Waleed. “The Tunisians will hold them off. They won’t take kindly to the Bruard acting so blatantly in their territory. They’ll have slaughtered the invaders like the pigs they are.”

  “Are you so sure about that?” Josh held up a finger for silence.

  Samuel and the others looked at each other in horror at the sound of Bruard soldiers shouting commands at each other. Given how clear their voices were, they couldn’t be far away, and they were drawing closer every second.

  Time was running out and so were their choices.

  Fifteen

  “What are our options?” asked Shafira.

  “Not many, and none of them good,” replied Josh. “If the Bruard catch us in this alley, they’ll mow us down and recover the scepter at their leisure. We’ve got no real cover here unless we can break into one of the houses, but it’ll be pretty obvious which one we’ve broken into and they’ll find us, wherever we hide. But that’s nothing compared to how exposed we’ll be out in that field. We might be out of range of the first sniper, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they had another one covering all that ground. It’s an obvious exit point and with so much open space, it wouldn’t matter where we left the town; they’ll be able to pick us off one by one. We won’t make it across.”

  “So what do we do?” Waleed shook his head. “We can’t stay here.”

  “And we can’t move forward,” finished Shafira.

  “I know I was acting all cool about you guys going on without me, but I must admit that looking at how bare that field is, running doesn’t seem like such a good idea after all,” said Samuel. “Even an Olympian wouldn’t be able to run faster than a Bruard bullet.”

  “If we can reach that thick copse of trees over there, we’ll be all right,” Basile observed. “Those trees will provide plenty of cover against a sniper.”

  “Yeah. It’s just the 70 yards of killing field before it that’s the problem,” Josh pointed out.

  Akhenaton looked up and down the alley. “We could always try our luck against the Bruard,” he suggested. “Just because there’s a team heading this way doesn’t mean we can’t escape them. If we double back to the blockade, maybe we might be able to get some help from the Tunisians. Perhaps they’ll lend us an armored vehicle, radio ahead to any other blockades and let us through. The Bruard won’t dare to fight us if we’re under the protection of the army.”

  “Get real,” snorted Josh. “The Bruard didn’t give a stuff about the Tunisian military. They went for the blockade head on. I’ll be stunned if any of those soldiers are still alive. No, we’re outgunned and outnumbered. Going back plays right into the hands of the Bruard. It’s nothing short of suicide.”

  “So we find something we can use as body armor. Maybe we can get a really sturdy bucket to protect our heads,” joked Basile. “After all, if it works in the cartoons…”

  “Not funny, Basile.” Shafira worried at a hangnail on her thumb. “All we’re doing is wasting time now. Samuel, you’re the one with the scepter. What do you think we should do?”

  “I’ve got one idea,” he said slowly. “It’s a long shot, but it’s just crazy enough to work.”

  “Spit it out, man!” urged Josh. “We haven’t got time to waste. Either you’ve got a workable plan or you haven’t.”

  “I think it’s safe to assume that there’s a sniper guarding the field, right?”

  The others nodded.

  “And a sniper won’t care who he targets. He just wants to retrieve the scepter, wouldn’t you say? He’ll have orders to get it from whoever’s carrying it.”

  Basile’s eyes widened, as he followed Samuel’s train of thought to its logical conclusion. “I knew you were mad, Samuel, but this is crazy. You can’t seriously be considering becoming bait?”

  “It’s the only chance we’ve got of all of us making it through alive,” Samuel pointed out. “If the sniper sees the scepter, they’ll fire on me instead of the rest of you, giving you time to reach cover.”

  “No, Samuel,” protested Shafira. “I won’t let you. What if you get shot? We’ll lose you and the scepter.”

  “Look, the way I see it, there’s more to this than my waving around the scepter to divert the sniper’s attention,” said Samuel. “We know there’s a lot more to this scepter than meets the eye. It has some kind of power, an ability that’s saved us before. While I might not have figured out how to wield it on command, maybe I can get it to work again if I focus my mind.”

  “That’s the biggest pile of hippy crap I’ve ever heard,” spluttered Waleed. “You’re going to save the world with meditation while bullets rain down on you from all sides? Get real!”

  Josh swatted him on the shoulder.

  “Hey!” yelped Waleed.

  “Any more remarks like that and I’ll hit you
harder,” Josh warned.

  “It might be hippy crap to you, but unless anyone’s got a better plan, I’m going to start meditating,” announced Samuel, sitting cross legged on the floor.

  Shafira gently massaged his shoulders reassuringly. “You can do this,” she whispered in his ear before stepping away.

  “Okay, Samuel. Remember what I taught you,” Josh said. “Focus on your breathing. Let the rest of the world slip away as you feel your breath moving in and out… in and out… With every in breath, draw in peace and love. With every out breath release any negativity or stress.”

  Samuel’s breathing became more relaxed as he listened to Josh’s instructions to enter a meditative state. As he deepened his breathing, the sounds of battle slipped away, the fear of Bruard soldiers finding them becoming little more than an irritation.

  When he felt ready, he unwrapped the scepter from the bundle of clothes camouflaging it. Letting out a deep breath, he tried to connect with the energy of the relic. The scepter seemed to grow warm as it responded to his efforts.

  Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. “All right everyone. Follow me and do exactly as I say.”

  Scrambling to his feet, he ran straight out into the field, with Josh, Shafira and Akhenaton hot on his heels. Basile and Waleed exchanged a brief glance of bemusement, before the Frenchman shrugged and followed the others trailing the archaeologist.

  “Stop!” Samuel suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, as a bullet flew over his head, close enough to give his hair a new parting.

  “This way!” He ran diagonally towards the trees. “Josh! Duck and roll!”

  Without hesitating, the pilot did as he was told, avoiding a bullet that would have hit him had he remained standing.

  “Waleed! Go left! Basile! Go right!” The two men split up, heading in opposite directions to reach the trees, as Samuel threw himself to the ground to evade another bullet.

  “Shafira! Run as fast as you can!” One by one, Samuel’s companions followed his instructions to get to the safety of the copse, leaving Samuel on his own in the field.

  “Bite me!” He raised a middle finger in the direction of the sniper, dropping his hand just in time to avoid it being shot off before the archaeologist disappeared into the trees to join his friends.

  “Was that rudeness really necessary?” Shafira sighed.

  “No, but it was fun,” grinned Samuel, as Akhenaton clapped him on the back to congratulate him on leading them through to safety.

  “Much as it would be great to stay here and enjoy one big love fest, the Bruard aren’t going to be far away,” Waleed reminded them. “Now they’ve got us in their sights, they won’t stop until they’ve captured us. We’ve got to keep moving.”

  “Yeah, these trees are enough to stop a sniper, but we can’t exactly hide here,” Josh agreed. “We’re still easy targets. We have to keep moving. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to lose the Bruard once we hit Tebourba, but the way our luck’s been recently, I won’t hold my breath. I’d almost be tempted to suggest we go somewhere completely different to throw them off our scent, but we can’t risk Pin getting to Dougga first”

  “I’m getting mixed signals from the scepter about what’s going to happen next. I can’t pinpoint exactly what’s going to happen,” Samuel reported as he tucked it away again. “You’re right. We’ve bought ourselves a little bit of time, but not enough. Let’s get going.”

  Sixteen

  “The tracks head in this direction!”

  “No, we need to go this way – I saw movement!”

  “They’re down there! I’m sure I spotted a flash of the woman’s dress.”

  Silently, Samuel and his team hurried through the forest, doing their best to stay out of sight in the sparse woodlands. However, from the shouts of their pursuers, it appeared they were only moments away from capture. It was going to take a miracle to evade the soldiers.

  Suddenly, Samuel stumbled, slipping down a sharp hill, to come to rest at the bottom against a fallen tree trunk. Looking up, he saw a trio of Bruard soldiers coming up behind his friends. A thick bush concealed them from sight for the moment, both parties utterly oblivious to the presence of their opponents, but as soon as the soldiers came past the bush, all would be lost.

  As his friends peered down after Samuel to see if he was all right, he waved at them to take cover, scrambling over the tree trunk so he could crouch behind it. Heart pounding, he did his best to slide underneath the trunk to cover himself as much as possible. Luckily, his friends took the hint, ducking out of sight.

  “I could have sworn I heard something crashing through the undergrowth,” scowled one of the soldiers. “It was right here.”

  “Must have been an animal,” grunted one of his fellows.

  “Either that or Jamal’s heavy footsteps,” chuckled the other. “He’s not exactly known for being light on his feet. I told you we should have gone the other way. We’re wasting our time here.”

  The three soldiers turned and went back down the path away from the hiding adventurers, and Samuel let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. When it was safe to come out of hiding, the rest of the group slowly came down the slope to join him, sitting on their butts and crawling down carefully to minimize their noise. When at last the six of them were reunited, they took a moment to rest against the tree trunk, senses on high alert in case they needed to duck out of sight again.

  “That was too close for comfort,” whispered Waleed. “Maybe we should have fought through the blockade after all. It would have been kinder to my blood pressure.”

  “What’s wrong with using the scepter to get us out of here?” asked Basile. “We could have been through here by now with its help.”

  “Impossible.” Samuel shook his head. “My heart is pounding and my brain’s all foggy. I need to be clear headed to interpret the visions of déjà vu. Unless…”

  Hands trembling, he unwrapped the scepter again. “Why didn’t I think of this sooner?”

  “What?” asked Shafira.

  Samuel motioned to the rest of them to stay out of sight. “The scepter amplifies emotions,” he reminded them. “Including my own. If I can’t think straight, then neither should anyone else. If I can infect the soldiers with my nerves, they’ll be so caught up in chasing their own shadows, they won’t notice us getting away.”

  He clambered up the slope, going to sit in the shade of a tree out of sight of the soldiers spread throughout the area. Closing his eyes, he connected with the scepter. This time, instead of trying to relax, he focused on doing the exact opposite, spreading chaos and confusion throughout anyone in range.

  Although they were prepared for the emotional onslaught, when the scepter’s power hit them, Josh and the others couldn’t help but feel panicked. Basile bit down so hard on his tongue he drew blood as he fought to stop himself crying out for help. Shafira and Josh squeezed their eyes tightly shut, clinging to each other to get the strength to resist the overwhelming urge to run away.

  However bad they felt, it was nothing compared to what the Bruard soldiers were going through. With no preparation or meditative techniques to help them, the scepter’s power washed over them like a tsunami of fear. Confused shouts filtered through the trees, moving further and further away, as they lost sight of why they were even there, in their desperation to flee.

  Seventeen

  Later that afternoon, Pin was standing to the side of the helicopter landing pad on his island, watching as a Tunisian military VTOL lowered gracefully down to land. Hands clasped behind his back, he observed dispassionately as the door on the side of the plane slid open to reveal two Bruard agents dragging a dead Tunisian soldier between them.

  Marching down the landing ramp, and across the helipad to the edge of the island, they hauled the corpse over to the edge of a cliff, one of the soldiers grabbing it under the shoulders while the other grabbed the ankles. They swung it between them, counting to three before launching the body out to sea
. Laughing and joking about how well fed the fish were that lived round the island, the two men headed back to join their fellows.

  “Pin!”

  Pin turned to see Pae approaching.

  “Glorious Leader.” Pin bowed deeply.

  “I came to see if you and your men are ready to depart yet,” said the dictator. “It’s been a most pleasant break on your island, but I think my soldiers are getting twitchy with not enough to keep them occupied. They are wasting their time here with nothing to do. Time for us all to get back to work.”

  “Indeed,” nodded Pin. “I’ve hand-picked a team of my very best men. I will send word to the woman to join us, and as soon as she’s ready, we can head out.”

  Pae smiled, reaching out to clap Pin on the shoulder. “I don’t know if I’ve said this to you often enough, but you have no idea how proud I am to have you as a soldier by my side fighting on behalf of my empire. I expect great things from you once the final artifact is claimed.”

  “You will see how the world changes for all of us once all the artifacts are secured,” Pin promised. “Rest assured that the delay in Mongolia will be well worth it. Time is running out for our enemies. Soon all will regret that they ever thought to oppose us. I cannot wait to make a prime example of a few choice dissidents. A certain archaeologist and his teammates spring to mind.”

  “I have complete faith in you and your vision for the future,” beamed Pae. “I’m sure you’ll do everything you can to recover the relics. You haven’t let me down in the past so there’s no reason to assume that you’d start doing so now. You are doing your best. Of course you are.”

  Although the words were encouraging and supportive, there was a catch in Pae’s voice that spoke of doubt and insecurity.

  Pin narrowed his eyes. Was his influence over Pae waning or was he simply distracted by everything there was to be done? They had the upper hand for now, but until the final relic was in his hands, there was still a chance, however slim, that McCarthy would get there first.