“Based on the geometry, I’d say that’s the same pipe that tried to wash us off the ladder,” Joe said.
Renata was glancing around, getting her bearings. “I’m no hydro engineer, but does it make any sense to have a bypass tunnel running at ninety degrees to the course of the river?”
“No,” Joe replied quickly, “and I am an engineer. That water has to be coming from somewhere else.”
On the floor, a new argument broke out. This time, the words were more hushed and the flow of the conversation too quick to catch.
“Probably arguing about whether to get on the tram,” Joe suggested. “For the record, I wouldn’t.”
“Unfortunately,” Kurt said, “that’s exactly what we have to do.” He unzipped his own waterproof pouch, pulled out a 9mm Beretta and began easing down the stairs. “Let’s go.”
46
Inside the security center of the Osiris hydroelectric plant, the malfunctioning camera had been detected. A security guard on duty had flipped through the options for resetting the camera and had tried everything from changing the contrast and brightness settings to cycling it on and off several times. When the effort failed, he called his supervisor.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“Looks like the sensor burned out,” the supervisor said. “We’re still getting a little bit of detail around the edges, but everything else is just flared. Can you replace it?”
“As long as we have a new sensor,” the technician said. He went to a supply cabinet, rummaged through the boxes stacked on the shelf and found what he was looking for. “This is the one.”
“How long will it take?”
“No more than twenty minutes.”
“Better get to it,” the supervisor said, taking over the command seat in front of the computer screen and getting comfortable. “I’ll wait here. Check in with me when you’re ready to test it.”
The technician grabbed a set of tools and was about to step out when the camera came back online.
“That’s strange,” the supervisor said. He cycled through the diagnostic checks. Everything suddenly looked fine. But for how long?
“Better go replace it anyway,” he said. “If it’s a bad sensor, it could go out again at any moment.”
The technician nodded and stepped out. The supervisor glanced at the clock on the wall. He had a little more than an hour to go before the third shift took over.
A mile from the Osiris compound, Edo was already packing up. He folded the tripod and stowed it, snapped the lens caps over the laser emitter and the sighting unit and slid the entire thing into a box. He placed the box on the passenger seat so he’d be ready to toss it overboard should anyone stop him.
He gave the boat a shove, pushed it back into the river and climbed on board. Firing up the engine, he bumped the throttle to quarter speed. There was no need to draw attention to himself and no reason to hurry.
The plan was to wait a mile downstream from the Osiris plant. He would be near the west bank, sitting at anchor with every light in the boat switched on. Assuming the three infiltrators escaped unharmed, they would drift down the river, spot him easily and swim up to the stern.
It was a simple plan, he thought. Simple plans were the best. There was little that could go wrong with them. But, the cautious part of his mind nagged at him, little did not mean nothing.
He pulled a Russian-made pistol from a shoulder holster and advanced a shell into the chamber. He hoped he wouldn’t need it, but he liked to be prepared.
47
Joe and Renata followed Kurt down the stairs, moving quickly and quietly. In single file, they cut across the floor of the generator room, arriving at the yawning section of the wall just as it began to close.
“Inside,” Kurt said, ducking into the darkness. Joe and Renata followed, and all three were in the tunnel when the door finished shutting.
The door sealed to the ground and the darkness was nearly complete. In the distance they could see the lights of the tram striking the walls and ceiling as it moved off.
Another tramcar sat empty on the rails beside them.
“Should I see if I can get this thing started?” Joe asked. “Or do we hike?”
Kurt looked down the line. The other car was speeding away, showing no signs of stopping.
The sound of its motor was reverberating off the walls. The strange, echoing acoustics made it hard to tell the distance, but these same acoustics would also make it difficult for the men inside it to realize they were being followed.
“Let’s take the car,” Kurt said. “I’ve had my exercise for today.”
Joe climbed into the tramcar and found the controls. As Renata went aboard, Kurt went to smash the headlights.
“Or we could use the off switch,” Joe said. “Just a suggestion.”
Kurt held back. “A good one at that.”
Joe flipped a few switches and pulled a fuse just in case. He pressed the start button. Three small indicators on the control panel lit up, but nothing more. Like a golf cart, the battery-powered motor remained off until he pressed the throttle.
“All aboard.”
Kurt joined Renata in the back as Joe eased the throttle forward and the electric motors engaged. With a soft hum, the car moved into the darkness, traveling slowly and maintaining a separation of several hundred feet from the first tram.
The tunnel never veered, and the pipeline to their left was a constant companion.
“So what’s this pipe for?” Renata asked in a hushed tone. “It’s clearly headed away from the river.”
“It could be a storm drainpipe… for runoff,” Joe answered quietly.
“Seems a little large for a desert city that doesn’t get much rain,” Renata said.
“Maybe the system from the city funnels into one place and then gets aggregated into this pipe.”
“It’s not a storm drain,” Kurt said. “Water was pumping out of it when we passed it in the river channel, but it hasn’t rained here in weeks.”
“Then where’s the water coming from?” Joe asked.
“No idea,” Kurt said.
“Maybe some other Osiris project we’re not aware of,” Renata said.
“Maybe,” Kurt replied and then changed the subject. “The man in the suit. One of the Arabs called him Piola. You seemed to recognize that name. Do you know who he is?”
“Possibly,” she said. “Alberto Piola is one of the leaders in our parliament. He’s been an outspoken critic of American interference in Egypt, especially Libya. It’s a sore spot for him, and for many in my country, because Libya used to be our colony.”
“What would he be doing here?” Kurt asked. “Especially now when half the continent is falling apart?”
“Assuming I heard correctly, he’s here to negotiate something. But exactly what that might be, your guess is as good as mine.”
“I think,” Kurt said, “that he’s here to negotiate some kind of tribute to Osiris.”
“Tribute?” Renata said.
“Think about it,” he said. “Based on what former major Edo told us, Osiris has risen from nowhere to become a force of power. Shakir, the man who runs it, fancies himself a kingmaker. He was connected with the old guard. And the old guard, thrown out so quickly a couple of years ago, is now in full ascendance in all these other countries, rising up with a swiftness no one could have predicted. All of it aided by a sudden water shortage that no one can explain.”
He looked at them, they were waiting for more.