Moments later the second, central courtyard, larger and more intimidating than the first, presented itself. Again she fired shots at the likely sniper positions, again without any result.
— There‘s only one more, Yusef said. -It‘s smaller, but because it‘s at the front there are more places to defend it.
Soraya saw at once that he was right, and that no matter what they did they‘d never be able to reach the parapets on either wall without being shot dead.
— What now? she said to Amun.
Before he could think of a reply, Yusef said, — I have an idea. I knew Ahmed all his life, I think I can imitate his voice. He looked from Chalthoum to Soraya. -Shall I give it a shot?
— I don‘t see how it can hurt, Chalthoum said, but Yusef didn‘t move until Soraya nodded her assent.
Then he brushed by ahead of her and, crouching in the shadowy mouth where the corridor debouched onto the courtyard, he raised his voice. It wasn‘t his voice, but one neither of them had heard before.
— It‘s Ahmed-please, I‘m hurt! Nothing but echoes. He turned to Soraya.
— Quick! he whispered. -Give me your shirt.
— Take mine, Chalthoum said with a glower.
— Hers will be better, Yusef said. -They‘ll see it‘s the female‘s.
Soraya did as he asked, unbuttoning her short-sleeved shirt and handing it over.
— I‘ve killed them! Yusef called in Ahmed‘s voice. -See here! Soraya‘s shirt fluttered onto the cobbles of the courtyard like a bird settling onto its nest.
— If you‘ve killed them, a voice came from their left, — come out!
— I can‘t, Yusef replied, — my leg is broken. I‘ve dragged myself this far, but I‘ve fallen and I can‘t take another step! Please, brothers, come fetch me before I bleed to death!
For a long time nothing happened. Yusef was about to shout again when Chalthoum cautioned silence.
— Don‘t oversell it, he whispered. -Be patient now.
More time passed, it was difficult to say how much since in their situation time was bent like taffy, minutes seeming like an hour. At length, they discerned movement on their right. Two men could be seen making their way down to the ground. They moved cautiously, keeping their sides toward the mouth of the hallway. The third man-the one who had queried Yusef-was nowhere in sight. Clearly, he was covering them from his hidden position on the left.
Chalthoum motioned silently to Yusef, who lay down and moved slightly so that the two men could see that one leg was drawn up under the other. Soraya and Chalthoum retreated several steps into the gloom.
— There he is! one of the men cried to the man covering them-who was, it appeared, their leader. -I can see Ahmed! He‘s fallen, just as he said!
— I don‘t see any other movement, the leader‘s voice floated down from the parapet. -Go get him, but make it quick!
Running in a semi-crouch, the two men approached Yusef.
— Hold it! their leader said, and they obediently squatted on their hams, their rifles laid across their thighs, their avid eyes on their fallen comrade.
There was movement from the left as the leader abandoned his eyrie, clattering down stone steps to the courtyard.
— Ahmed, one of the men whispered, — are you all right?
— No, said Ahmed. -The pain in my leg is terrible, it‘s-
But he‘d said enough at close range for the other man to move back a pace.
— What is it? his companion said, aiming his rifle into the mouth of the hallway.
— I don‘t think that‘s Ahmed.
That was when Chalthoum and Soraya, Glocks firing, moved out on either side of Yusef. The two crouching men were struck immediately, and Chalthoum kicked their weapons away from where they lay sprawled on the ground. The leader, scurrying to find cover where there was none, fired off-balance and Chalthoum went down with a grunt.
Soraya, running, aimed and fired at the leader, but it was Yusef, from his prone position, who shot the leader in the chest. The man spun around and fell. At once Soraya veered toward him.
— Check Amun! she called to Yusef as she stooped, picking up the leader‘s rifle. He was writhing, bleeding from his right side, but he was breathing. The bullet hadn‘t punctured a lung.
She knelt down beside him. -Who hired you?
The man looked up at her and spat in her face.
A moment later she was joined by the two men. Amun had been shot in the thigh, but the bullet had gone through and the wound, Yusef said, looked clean. He‘d tied off the area above the wound with a makeshift tourniquet made from her shirt.
— Are you all right? she said, looking up at Chalthoum.
He nodded in his usual dour way.
— I‘ve asked him who hired him, she said, — but he‘s not talking. -Take Yusef and see about the other two. Chalthoum was staring intently at the fallen leader.
Soraya knew that look of determination. -Amun…
— Just give me five minutes.
They needed the information, there was no question about that. Soraya nodded reluctantly and, with Yusef, walked back to where the other two men lay near the mouth of the hallway. There wasn‘t much to see. Both had taken multiple shots to the abdomen and chest. Neither was alive. As they gathered up the rifles, they heard a muffled cry that, in its inhumanity, sent shivers down their spines.
Yusef turned to her. -This Egyptian friend of yours, he can be trusted?
Soraya nodded, already sick at what Amun was doing with her consent. There was silence then, except for the desperate voice of the wind, keening through the abandoned rooms. After a time, Chalthoum returned to them. He was limping badly, and Yusef handed him a rifle to lean on.
— My enemies had nothing to do with this, he said in a voice that had not been changed one iota by what he‘d just done. -These men were hired by the Americans, specifically a man known ridiculously as Triton. Mean anything to you?
Soraya shook her head.
— But these might. She saw four small rectangular metal objects swinging from a length of cord. -I found these around the leader‘s neck.
She examined them when he handed them over. -They look like dog tags.
Amun nodded. -He said they came from the four Americans who were executed back there. These bastards murdered them.
But she had to admit the tags weren‘t like any she had ever seen. Instead of carrying name, rank, and serial number, they were laser-engraved with what looked like-
— They‘re enciphered, she said, her heart beating fast. -These might be the key to proving who launched the Kowsar 3, and why.
Book Four
31