Lourds took a slow, cautious breath. ‘All right. Where do you want to meet?’
Fear chafed Lourds as he stood in the boarding gate at the airport. Late-night travellers filled the terminal. With everything going on in the Middle East, air travel had backed up and become problematic.
Olympia stood at his side. He felt the tension rolling off her in waves.
‘You don’t have to do this, you know.’
Lourds glanced at her but didn’t allow himself to be totally distracted from the people milling round them. After everything that had gone on these past few weeks, he was totally paranoid about the men and women surrounding him.
‘I do.’ Lourds kept his voice quiet, barely audible above the air-terminal noise and PA announcements.
‘We don’t know that Webster has Cleena’s sister.’
‘Cleena says her sister is no longer where she left her in New York.’
‘How did Webster’s people find her so fast?’
‘He is the Vice-President of the United States.’ And a fallen angel. Lourds didn’t give voice to the last.
Olympia stared into his eyes. ‘This isn’t what I brought you here for, Thomas.’
Recognizing her guilt, Lourds made himself smile in spite of his fear and doubt. ‘I know that.’
‘You weren’t supposed to get hurt. You weren’t supposed to be at risk.’ Tears glinted in her eyes.
‘I don’t think any of us have any right to expect safety and security under these conditions. I mean, look at who we’ve been chasing.’
‘I know.’
‘John of Patmos foresaw this.’ Lourds gripped her shoulders. ‘He gave us the weapon we need to defeat our enemy.’
‘I’d feel better if you’d translated the Joy Scroll.’
‘I would too.’
‘I don’t mean any recrimination.’
Lourds kissed her forehead and inhaled the scent of her. ‘I know.’
‘And I can’t help feeling upset with you over Cleena.’
Wrapping her in a hug, Lourds nodded. ‘I understand.’
‘I swear, you’re like a kid in a candy store at times.’ Olympia turned her head up to his. ‘So juvenile and so selfish. But I think that’s what makes you so passionate and so good at what you do.’
‘Maybe. And it could just be a flaw.’
‘I want you to be safe.’
‘Me too.’ For a moment, Lourds clung to her and thought about the situation he was about to walk into. Everything in him screamed to run. He wasn’t a hero. But the secret of the Joy Scroll tantalized him. The symbols kept floating through his mind, constantly in motion and making different connections. Unfortunately, none of those connections were the right ones. Fear might seek to drive him away, but curiosity kept him circling the flame even more strongly than saving Cleena’s sister.
Darkness filled the airfield on the other side of the terminal window. Jets moved causing a stream of flashing lights as some took off and some landed. A fresh surge of passengers deplaned. Lourds caught movement in the glass and saw the reflection of a big man bearing down on him as he held Olympia. Lourds recognized the man instantly as one of those who had pursued them in Istanbul. Even though he wore civilian clothing, it couldn’t hide the military bearing. Lourds was pretty certain the man wasn’t carrying a weapon in the airport, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous.
‘Professor Lourds.’ The man’s voice was tight and controlled, carrying just enough to reach Lourds.
He pushed Olympia behind him. His knees quivered and he tried to ignore it. ‘I’m Lourds.’
‘Of course you are.’ The man nodded towards one of the doors. ‘We’ve got a private plane waiting.’
Lourds looked at the e-ticket in his hand. He had collected it at the front desk. ‘I guess this isn’t any good.’
‘No.’
Lourds took a deep breath.
‘Do you have the scroll, Professor?’ The man remained calm.
‘Yes.’
The hard eyes searched Lourds’. ‘I’m not going to ask for it here. My employer is going to ask for it himself. At that time, you will give it to him.’
Lourds tried to speak and couldn’t.
‘If you don’t,’ the man continued just as pleasantly, ‘I’m going to kill you. If that’s what my employer wishes. He’s not one to trifle with.’
Unable to say anything, Lourds nodded.
‘Good. I’m glad that’s clear. Now, kiss your lady friend goodbye and let’s get going.’
Olympia stepped in and hugged Lourds. Her voice when she spoke was a whisper meant only for his ears. ‘Be careful, Thomas.’
Lourds returned her hug tightly, then released her, picked up his rucksack and preceded the man out of the airport. When he stepped out of the terminal, the humid night closed in round him. He controlled the fear running rampant in him only by concentrating on the permutations of the mysterious fifth language he felt certain would unlock the message contained in the Joy Scroll.
26
Stone Goose Apartments
Zeytinburnu District
Istanbul, Turkey
7 April 2010
Sevki sat at his computers and watched the monitors. One of them was dedicated to the news coverage coming out of Saudi Arabia. American and British news anchors and reporters focused on the massing of ships and military hardware. Reports continued to stream in from Vice-President Webster. The man didn’t miss a photo op.
‘Are you there?’
Cleena’s voice drew Sevki back to the communications links he’d set up.
‘Yes.’ Sevki’s hands flew over the keyboards as his various snooper programs sought to break in through the Saudi Arabian cybernetic defences. ‘Where are you?’
‘Closing in on the coastline.’
Sevki triangulated her transponder signal and tracked it back to the Saudi Arabian coast north of King Abdullah Economic City. ‘I see you.’
‘Let’s hope you’re the only one.’
Tension knotted Sevki’s guts. He felt certain several things – several lives – hung in the balance in Saudi Arabia at that moment even though he didn’t comprehend everything that was going on. One of those lives belonged to Cleena. She’d trusted him to help the ship she’d hired steer clear of Saudi Arabian and American protection.
‘I am.’ Sevki scanned the surrounding terrain. ‘All the action is south of you.’ He stretched his fingers to relax and rejuvenate them. ‘For the moment, you’re safe. But I don’t understand how you hope to get around inside the city.’
‘Once you’re in-country, getting around is easier.’
Sevki stared at the images of the battles filtering across the news presentations. ‘It looks like a war zone over there.’
‘It is a war zone.’
The calm acceptance in her voice surprised him. Then he thought about the fact that her sister had been taken. Sevki knew the people responsible would have hell to pay.
Cleena’s voice drew him back into focus. ‘Do you know where Lourds is?’
Turning his attention back to the computers, Sevki tapped the keyboard. A map of King Abdullah Economic City filled one of the monitors. A blue light pulsed on the screen.
‘He’s still an hour or so out of the city.’ Sevki ran a GPS route and confirmed his estimate. ‘As long as Eckart stays with Lourds, we’ll have him. If they separate, I can’t guarantee anything.’
‘They won’t separate. Eckart’s one of Webster’s top people.’
Webster. Sevki still couldn’t get over the fact that the United States vice-president was behind the current unrest in the Middle East. Growing up in Turkey, where the American military had maintained a presence for so long, he’d become used to American politics and thinking. He’d never agreed with most of it, but he’d always believed the United States government was behind everything that went on.