Authors: The Sands of Sakkara (html)
'You mind me asking where you're
billeted, sir?'
'At Amiriya.' Haider sounded
irritated. 'Look, is all this really necessary? I can understand you've got a
job to do, and my ID's a little out of date, but, good Lord, man, it ought to
be evident I'm British, not a bloody enemy agent. Give Amiriya a call if you've
nothing better to do. Ask to speak with the CO. If the old man's not in too
foul a mood, he'll vouch for me. Carry on, Sergeant, I'll wait here with the
corporal.'
The sergeant hesitated, pursing
his lips in indecision, but the blunt offer seemed to satisfy him. 'That won't
be necessary, sir. But if I were you I'd get the ID sorted out as soon as
possible.'
'Of course. Damned negligent of
me.' Haider slipped it back in his pocket. 'Bad luck our two chaps being
killed. Christ, you'd think we were bloody safe from that sort of thing after
we kicked Jerry out, but apparently not. It all sounds pretty serious.’
'Not half as serious as it's going
to be when we catch them, sir.
'I'm sure you're right.' Haider
glanced at his watch and sighed. 'Well, I suppose I'd better find something to
do until the right train arrives. I wish you luck, Sergeant.'
'I'm pretty certain we'll find
them, sir. We only got the word ten minutes ago as we were passing through
town, but I heard that checkpoints are being set up on every road into Alex.
They haven't got a ruddy hope in hell of escaping.'
Haider left the station feeling
utterly depressed and walked back to the Jeep, slipping in beside Rachel. He
removed his cap and wiped sweat from his brow. Rachel said, 'Is there a
problem?'
'I think you could say that. It
looks like they're definitely on to us.' He explained the situation, then
reached across and touched her hand. 'The whole thing's a damned mess. Even if
I let you take your chances alone, you'd still be in trouble.'
'I'm not so naive as to think I'll
get gentle treatment if I'm caught. I'd still rather take my chances with you.
You're sure there's no other way we can get to Alex?'
'I don't see how. The checkpoints
on the roads are bound to be thorough. We're caught like rats in a trap,
whichever way we turn.' He gestured northwards, towards the sea.
'We could attempt heading towards
the coast and try stealing a boat from somewhere, but I wouldn't rate our
chances of getting very far before the theft was reported. And we'd be sitting
ducks out on the water, once the army came after us.'
'There must be some way we can get
on board the train* If we wait around here, ¦we're bound to be caught.'
'Short of following in the Jeep
and trying to jump on, but that would give the game away.' Haider shook his
head. 'I can't think of anything else, unless we can get rid of our two friends
watching the ticket counter.' ‹ 'What did you tell them you were doing at the
station?'
Haider explained. Just then they
heard the whistle of a steam engine. Further down the track a plume of thick
smoke rose into the air. The train was only minutes from arriving. 'Any
suggestions?'
Rachel looked over at the Military
Police Jeep. 'Just one. But will it work?'
Rachel saw the two military
policemen as soon as she stepped into the station. The sergeant approached her.
'Excuse me, miss.
Are you travelling?'
'Yes. Why?'
'Where to, miss?'
'Alex.'
'May I see some identification,
please?'
Rachel pretended to search in her
bag. 'I'm sorry, I don't seem to have any with me. I came out in such a rush
this morning, you see. I must have forgotten my papers.'
'Are you British, miss?'
'South African.'
The sergeant said politely, 'And
may I ask what you're doing in town?'
'I came on an earlier train to
meet a friend at the station, but he didn't turn up.'
'And who might that be?'
Rachel frowned. 'Look, do you mind
telling me what all this is about?'
'That isn't any of your business,
miss.'
'It is if I'm being stopped,'
Rachel said boldly, and glanced at the corporal beside the ticket gate. 'You're
looking for someone, aren't you?'
The sergeant's eyebrows rose. 'Now
why would you ask that?’
'My father's a colonel, serving in
to know when something's up with the military - they get in such an obvious
tizzy. Who or what are you looking for?'
'That's privileged information,
miss. And I'll need some sort of confirmation of your identity. Otherwise I
can't let you board.'
'Well, I can't help you, unless
you phone my father in Alex.
Look, I've had a difficult enough
morning as it is. I came here to meet my boyfriend, and he stood me up. His
name's Captain Jameson and he's stationed at Amiriya. Perhaps if you could
radio the camp and find out what's happened to him? If he's there, I'm sure he
can vouch for me.'
'Jameson, miss?' The sergeant
frowned. 'He was here only five minutes ago. Thought he'd got the train times
mixed up.
But he said he'd be back.'
'Really?' Rachel pretended relief.
'Well, thank God for that - I thought I'd made a wasted trip.'
Beyond the ticket barrier, the
waiting passengers were dragging their belongings closer to the platform, and
there was the faint rattle of metal wheels. Rachel said to the sergeant, 'Look,
I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you've done me such a good turn. Is
that your vehicle outside?'* 'Why do you ask?'
'I just saw two men a few minutes
ago, acting awfully suspiciously. They drove up to the station in a Jeep, and
when they saw yours they seemed to panic. They got out of their Jeep and took a
military staff car parked near by, then drove off in a hurry. The whole thing
looked terribly suspect.'
The sergeant's face clouded. 'What
did these men look like?'
'It all happened so fast. I didn't
get a proper look. But one of them wore an officer's uniform and the other was
dressed in a civilian suit. That's all I remember.'
The sergeant pulled out his
pistol. Behind him, an ancient black train came alongside the platform in a
squeal of metal and clouds of steam. 'Did you see which way they went?'
'Out of town, heading east. I hope
you don't mind me telling you all this.’
'Not at all, miss, you've been a
great help.' The sergeant beckoned the corporal. 'Get out to the Jeep, Charlie,
quick as you can. I think we're on to something.' The corporal raced towards
the exit, and the sergeant tipped his cap at Rachel as he followed him out.
'Thanks, miss. Thanks a lot.'
Moments later, Haider joined her
at the ticket barrier. Rachel had bought two tickets and they boarded. The
carriages were ancient and filthy, smelling of stale sweat and coal smoke, many
of them filled with noisy peasant families, the overhead racks packed with
their belongings - sacks and baskets of farm produce bound for the bazaars and
markets of Alex. They had to move to the end of the train before they found an
empty carriage to themselves, and Haider slumped into the hard wooden seat as
the train pulled out.
'That was damned close. I really
didn't think we'd make it.'
He smiled at Rachel without humor.
'One hurdle over with.
How many more to go? Up to now,
the military didn't know what we looked like. But that'll soon change as soon
as those MPs can't find who they're looking for and put two and two together.'
'How long will it take to reach
Alex?'
'Barring no more problems, about
half an hour. Let's hope our two friends are kept busy for at least that.'
'But what if there are more police
checking papers when the train pulls into Ramleh station?'
'It crossed my mind. Which is why
we'll get off one stop before Ramleh and take a tram or taxi the rest of the
way into the city. According to Achmed, there's a train for Cairo at two
fifteen, which should give us plenty of time to scout out the station and see
if the police have got it under watch.'
'And what if they have?'
'Let's worry about that if and
when we get to Alex. In the meantime, I ought to get out of this uniform, and
you'd better change your clothes. Did you have to show your papers to the
sergeant?'
'No.’
'Good. It might make things a
little easier. They won't have a name to go on. Have you make-up in that bag of
yours?'
'A little.'
'Try to alter your appearance as
best you can. I'll ditch my suitcase and put some of my things in with yours -
we can't go traipsing around looking like bewildered refugees. And well done,
by the way. You must have given a convincing performance.
Those MPs drove off like they had
a rocket attached to their Jeep.'
'I still don't know how I mustered
the courage,' Rachel admitted.
'That's simple,' Haider said.
'Just think of the alternative.'
Harvey Deacon was in his office
when the telephone rang. He picked it up anxiously. 'Deacon.' He listened, then
thanked his caller. 'I'm grateful for your help, Omar. I know I can rely on
your discretion. If you get any more information, call me at once.'
He slammed down the telephone and
sat grimly shaking his head, dabbing his brow with a handkerchief before
stepping over to one of the cabin portholes. As he lit a cigar to help steady
his nerves, he saw that his hands were trembling. His contacts should have
landed over eight hours ago, and arrived in
He'd gone to the Pharaoh's Garden
opposite the railway station at nine that morning, wearing his Panama hat and a
fresh rose in his buttonhole, to await the first train from Alex. He'd sat
outside on the terrace drinking coffee and reading the Egyptian Gazette, but
they hadn't shown up. He'd gone back to the cafe three hours later, before the
second train arrived, but with the same result. The next wasn't due until after
four, and Deacon had decided to return to the club, a terrible feeling of doom
in the pit of his stomach.
As he paced the room, his anxiety
deepened. Something had gone drastically wrong, and now that he knew what it
was, his nerves were even more on edge. In desperation, he had telephoned the
Royal Egyptian Air Force Headquarters and asked for Captain Omar Rahman. The
captain had contacts in all the right places, police and army, and ten minutes
later he returned his call, this time from a public coin box. Another call half
an hour later and Deacon had the information he had been dreading. The army and
police were looking for a man and a woman, suspected German infiltrators, whose
aircraft had crashed in the desert south of Alex. A massive search was about to
get under way.
'They're sealing up Alex as tight
as a tomb,' Omar told him.
'That's all I can find out, my
friend. But it sounds serious.'
Where the other two Germans had
vanished to, Deacon hadn't a clue, and he didn't dare enquire, but the
information confirmed his worst fears. He'd suspected all along that
operation together too hastily. Now the whole thing was a terrible mess. A man
and a woman, Omar had said. There were supposed to be four people; three men
and a woman. What had happened to the other two? There had to be something he
could do to try to rescue the situation. But if the four had split up and gone
in different directions, it wouldn't help matters, and time was against him.
How could he even hope to find them before the police and army, let alone get
them out of Alex? And if they couldn't make it to the boat at Rashid, they'd
almost certainly be caught.
For several minutes Deacon stood
at the porthole, his brain working feverishly, until he made up his mind what
to do, then he crossed to the wall and pulled a tasselled cord.
His manservant appeared.
'Effendi?'
Deacon tugged on his Panama hat,
picked up the keys to the Packard. 'I'll be gone for an hour, perhaps less.
Stand by the phone. If anyone calls looking for me, take their message and tell
them I'll call them back.'
'It seems they might have been two
British officers, missing from the army base at Amiriya. A Captain Jameson and
a Lieutenant Grey.’
As Captain Myers put down the
telephone, Weaver sighed.
He was in Myers's office at Alex
Military HQ, while Sanson carried on the desert search.
'That was their CO I just spoke
with,' Myers added. 'He reported them missing an hour ago. They didn't show up
for duty this morning, and he thought they might have got into trouble during
the sandstorm.'
'What else did you learn?'
Myers glanced at the information
he'd jotted in his notebook.
'The lieutenant was twenty-one.
He'd only been commissioned and posted to
captain went to a card game hosted by some military friends in Hammam yesterday
evening.' He looked up. 'They were probably caught in the storm, all right, but
somehow stumbled on the crash site. The poor chaps walked right into trouble.'
Myers hesitated. 'I trust
Lieutenant Lucas has been of help? Sorry I couldn't meet you this morning, but
I had a staff meeting to attend.'
'Sure,' Weaver said distractedly.
He studied the wall map and found Amiriya. Myers came round from his desk - a
small, barrel-chested man, quick on his feet, with a crisp English accent. 'You
said you'd like to know what routes these intruder chappies might try and use
to escape. That's assuming they don't stick around Alex.'
'I don't think we can assume
anything, except that they're armed and highly dangerous. But if I was them I'd
be trying to lose myself in the biggest city I could find, either here or
Myers pointed to a map of the
city. 'We've got the main railway and tram station, right here in the centre of
town. It's called the Ramleh. The trains run to
evening, and the last one at midnight.
There's also the main road, which
takes about three hours by car or public bus. The buses for
station. As does public transport for all other major destinations -
on.'
Are there any other routes?'
The captain scratched his jaw.
'There's always open desert, of course, which avoids the main roads. But trying
to cross terrain like that would be suicidal. Far too many minefields still
around that haven't been dealt with, and the journey's slow and difficult.
You mind me asking what you think
these infiltrators are up to, sir? The nearest German lines are in
war's been over in this neck of the woods for months. It seems rather odd.'
'We don't know,' Weaver lied. 'But
it's imperative we find them.'
Myers shrugged. 'The problem is we
don't have any idea what they look like, and exactly how many there are. You
say at least two people, possibly more.'
Weaver nodded. 'Most likely
they're German, but don't discount them being Egyptian, or disguised as Arabs.'
'It's all very vague, and that's
going to make things difficult.
But I can have the rail and bus
stations watched, and the main roads. I'll ask the local police to help. We'll
see what turns up.'
'Remember, they're dangerous and
on the run. If they see troops and police all over the place, there could be
trouble. So I want a plainclothes presence at the stations, not uniforms, and
tell the men to be extra careful. I don't want the shoot-out at the OK Corral
and bodies piled on the streets. What about the desert route?'
'Sir?' r 'How can we cover that
way of escape?'
'It's really too vast an area for
us to mount effective patrols.
But I can try and get a spotter
plane up.'
'Then do it. How many airfields
are there in Alex?'
'Two main ones, and two more minor
airfields towards
Myers shook his head, knowingly. 'They're strictly for military use and
security's tight. They'd never get past the gates, let alone board an aircraft
without the right travel permit and passes.'
'Still, you'd better alert them
just in case. Are there any other ways out of the city?'
Myers pointed to the map again.
'From the harbour. But it's hardly an ideal choice, even if they managed to
steal or get on board a boat. The route's too slow, and where can they go? Our
naval patrols carry out spot checks on all civilian vessels in this part of the
Med.’
'Even so, you'd better detail some
men to keep watch on the port.'
The captain raised his eyes in
mild protest. 'That's an awful lot of manpower, sir. We'd have to stretch
things a bit thin to cover everything.'
'Just do it, Captain. And I'll
want transport and a driver. The main railway station is the most likely way
out of town, so I'd like to keep it under close watch. And I want all the
hotels and pensions in the city checked for new customers, especially anyone
who's arrived within the last three hours.'
'All of them, sir?'
'Every damned one, Captain. Big
and small. Flophouses included.'
The captain looked flustered. 'But
there are hundreds in Alex.
That could take days.'
'You'll have to work faster than
that. The longer we delay, the more likely they are to kill again, and the
better their chances are of escaping.'
The captain sighed. 'Yes, sir.' As
he reached for the telephone, it rang. He picked it up, listened for several
moments.
'Right, I'm on my way.' He put
down the phone, looked up.
'We're in luck. It seems we may
have spotted two of the people you're looking for.'