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.
Not one man.
‘Our best guess is that Eckart is one of Webster’s best men.’
‘I trust us.’
And there’s nothing else we have at this time, is there? Even as he thought that, Sevki felt guilty. He knew he should have faith. That was what this was all about, wasn’t it? He pushed away the immensity of the task, limiting it to the part he had to play with the computers.
‘We also have to hope that the GPS locator Eckart was tagged with wasn’t given to someone else to lay down a false trail.’
‘So far that tracer is heading in the right direction. Let’s play this one out.’
‘All right.’ Sevki judged the distance again. ‘You’ve got maybe fifty minutes before Professor Lourds lands there.’
‘Then we’ll have to make the most of it, won’t we?’
Silently, Sevki watched the pulsing blip slowly cross the computer monitor.
Central Business District
King Abdullah Economic City
Saudi Arabia,
7 April 2010
Webster stared at the screens depicting the street to street violence breaking out throughout the city. More battles erupted along the borders; the bloodshed was mounting.
‘My, my, it does look like your war is getting off to a grand start, Mr Vice-President.’ Vicky joined Webster. Her eyes burned with intensity. Her headset ran along her jaw line and she made notes one-handed on a PDA.
‘Not big enough.’ Webster paced the floor and felt the excitement roaring within him. He had waited for a long time for this. ‘Not yet. But soon. How long will it be before your people are ready to go live with a broadcast?’
‘Eighty or ninety minutes.’
‘You’re certain I can get the broadcast attention I want?’
Vicky smiled at him and patted his cheek. ‘You are the man of the hour, Mr Vice-President. Stuck here in enemy territory, the world hovering on the brink of disaster. Everyone wants to talk to you. The hardest part of this is deciding who will be allowed their fifteen seconds of fame with you.’
‘Only fifteen seconds.’ Webster was firm about that. This was his show, his play, and he was going to run things.
‘Of course, Mr Vice-President. You will be the man with all the answers. We’re lining up the celebrity news and religious leaders now.’
‘Limiting the number of politicians?’
‘No politicians. You’re going to be talking to people the public of any country can recognize. Academy Award-winning actors. Several televangelists.’
‘All people who know how to work the limelight.’
Vicky smiled. ‘Of course. And all people who support the view that the Middle East is a hotbed of danger.’ She looked at him. ‘You’re certain when you deliver your plea for help that we will get out of here? If Prince Khalid hasn’t thought of holding us hostage before then, he will at that time.’
‘I’m counting on our young prince doing exactly that.’ Webster paused to watch a Saudi Arabian tank run over a mass of people. ‘That’s why I asked you to have a live camera crew ready to film our “escape”. And that’s why Eckart will be taking care of us at that time.’
‘Where is Eckart?’
Webster consulted his watch. ‘His plane should be touching down momentarily. He’ll call me as soon as he’s on the ground.’
‘And he’ll have Professor Lourds?’
‘Yes.’ Webster couldn’t wait. Once the Joy Scroll was in his hands, there would be no turning back. Everything would be his to control.
‘You’ve never said what part the professor will play in this?’
Webster smiled. ‘A small one at best. And one that’s very tragic.’
‘Will he be in the escape?’
Webster shook his head. ‘No. I’m afraid Professor Lourds will have outlived any potential interest he might have in things before we get that far.’ In fact, the vice-president was going to make certain of that.
After he took possession of that cursed scroll.
Lourds rode in the cargo area of the big Chinook helicopter and tried to keep his thoughts ordered. He sat under guard, watched over by a half-dozen armed men, including Eckart. All of them looked positively fearsome. Lourds didn’t believe he could have taken the weakest among them in a fair fight. Having six of them watch over him was merely adding insult to injury. Even worse, they’d handcuffed him in the disposable plastic cuffs he’d seen in the movies. At least they’d had the mercy to tie them in front of him, rather than behind his back. He could scratch his nose, which was itching furiously. He swayed and jerked to the Chinook’s gallop as they approached the city.
Anti-aircraft missiles exploded hot and bright against the night sky. Lourds drew his extremities in, as if being sprawled out too far might incite the anti-aircraft gunners to aim better.