Shiva (53 page)

That wall was still coming up fast. Then Lopez put the flaps up full. Their last wide arc brought them around to the wall. With an almost gentle tap, the wing hit the wall
,
then they stopped.

For a moment
,
no one moved. The
n
Lopez whooped.

“
That is how it is done!
”
The corporal turned to Levont.
“
Well? Did you get it?
”

“
Duh, man,
”
Levont answered as he lifted the camera for all to see.

Davidson sat back in his seat. Th
at
was quite the introduction to the Basque region.

CHAPTER 21

═══════════
═══════

Basque Region

1:
3
6
p
.
m
.
(
CEST
,
Central European Standard Time)

As the SUV revved up the mountain, Rebecca settled in for the long drive. Eve
n though they had landed in San Sebastian
, they were still a good three and a half hours out from the Basque village
of Lennore
. Vakasa seemed to understand this was going to be a haul and snuggled up against her leg, folding her hands on Rebecca
’
s thigh to act as a pillow.

The scenery was magnificent, rich and lush and rocky and mountainous all at once. It was the variation that Rebecca had come to identify with Spain in general. So many different types of terrain, all existing in a space that you could fit inside of Texas and rattle around. It was astonishing, really. Those extremes could often be found right next to, or even right on top of, one another.

Rebecca put her hand on the little girl
’
s shoulder. As Vakasa drifted off to sleep, her lips formed a lazy smile. Rebecca glanced up to find Brandt equally ready to nap.

“
Are you sure that you don
’
t want me to explain why Basque? Why this village?
”

Her fiancé didn
’
t even crack his eyes open.
“
Nope.
”

Still
,
Rebecca tried again.
“
Not any historical context of the region or how it impacts Vakasa?
”

“
Still nope,
”
Brandt stated
,
then turned his head to the side, resting it against the SUV
’
s door
jam.

She should have seen it as a sign of trust and respect. Unfortunately
,
Rebecca wasn
’
t all that sure she had it right. Without a sounding board, talking it out, she was getting more and more anxious that she
had
missed something. And when you were talking about millennia
-
old mysteries, missing something pretty much meant you were screwed.

Hell, she
’
d even take Bunny right about now, but they were still under radio silence. After contact
ing
Bunny and giving them the cursory details, all electronics had been abandoned and new ones bought at the airport.

“
You guys are kidding me, right?
”
Levont asked from the backseat.

The rest of the men shook their head
s
. Talli even snorted.
“
Get some sleep while you can.
”

“
Sleep?
”
Levont questioned.
“
I don
’
t want to blink around you guys.
”
He glanced to Rebecca.
“
Ma
’
am
,
if you are game
,
I would love to know what
’
s going on.
”

Rebecca smiled. It had been a long tim
e since she
’
d been called
m
a
’
am
. It felt kind of good.
“
Al
l
right
,
then. What do you know of the Basque region?
”

“
Wait,
”
Levont said, his easy grin fading
,
“
i
s this going to be a quiz?
”

“
I am a professor first and foremost,
”
Rebecca confirmed. How she loved a fresh new mind to explore.

“
Um, well…
”
Levont fumbled a bit
,
then found his intellectual footing. The guy looked like a brute linebacker
,
but she knew he could speak five different languages and had proven himself incredibly bright and flexible in the field. And how she wished she
’
d
only kn
o
w
n
that from Brandt
’
s stories. Rebecca had experienced it firsthand.

“
Al
l
right,
”
Levont said
,
starting slowly
,
then gaining speed.
“
T
he Basque region is known for its hyper-patriotism. It is now an autonomous state within Spain after a pretty brutal road to independence. A lot of which would put the IRA to shame. But since the accord in the
seventies,
the violence has died down. The state department lifted a visitors
’
advisory a decade ago. Now the danger in Spain is the economic crisis and the bands of bandits that have formed to steal from the tourists.
”

Rebecca shook her head, laughing lightly.
“
That would be an awesome briefing for the team
.
H
owever
,
what
I am looking for is why the Basque people are so nationalistic? Why they wanted their own government? Why we are here?
”

“
Oh, crap…
”

“
Ha!
”
Lopez announced from the driver
’
s seat.
“
Even I know that one.
”

Rebecca knew she looked skeptical, but come on
,
this was Lopez. He probably knew the driving time between each and every city, town
,
and village, but
their
history? That would be a first.

“
Enlighten us
,
then,
”
Rebecca encouraged.

Lopez glanced to her in the rearview mirror.
“
I shall, little missy.
”
The corporal took in a deep breath before starting.
“
Okay, the Basque people have been settled in the region for like
…
ever. At least ten thousand years
,
which makes them the longest continuous European population. So they are kind of proud of that. Like
,
super
proud of that. They have their own language that pre-dates any others in the region and is more like
Arabic
than Spanish. So they pretty much figured they should have their own government as well.
”

“
A-
plus,
”
Rebecca commended.
“
And how did the Basques
avoid being assimilated into
all of the conquering nations that swept through Europe over the ages?
”

Lopez nodded out the window at the steep cliffs rising up around them.
“
These mountains, darlin
’
. Geographical isolation. I
t
was just too hard or expensive to mount a campaign up here.
”

“
Like I said
,
A-
plus.
”
Rebecca smiled as Lopez beamed.
“
Now the bonus round. What does that have to do with Vakasa?
”

At that
,
Lopez frowned.
“
No clue.
”

Before Rebecca could answer
,
Talli stirred in his seat.
“
Al
l
right, let me give a stab at it.
”

She was as surprised as the rest of the car that Talli was contributing. He
’
d been fairly withdrawn this mission, more than usual.

“
Christianity,
”
h
e stated. O
ff her nod
,
he continued.
“
Strangely
,
this region was the first to be evangelicized as early as the
five hundreds
yet resisted the new faith more than any other population.
”

“
Whoa there,
chico
.
”
Lopez chuckled.
“
This area is hardcore Catholic.
”

“
If you
’
d let me finish,
”
Talli retorted
,
“
I was going to say, once they adopted Catholicism,
however
,
they took to it like fish to water.
”

“
Al
l
right
,
then,
”
Lopez answered
,
seeming satisfied.

“
And what does that have to do with Vakasa?
”
Rebecca asked Talli. The man squirmed a bit. Because he didn
’
t know the answer or didn
’
t want to speak it?
”

* * *

Davidson spared Talli Rebecca
’
s expectant glare.

“
The Black Madonna,
”
Davidson stated.

Rebecca grinned.
“
Exactly.
”

Levont looked from Rebecca to the little girl curled up on her lap.
“
I don
’
t get it. I mean, I get it. She
’
s supposed to be the
M
essiah
,
and she
’
s black
—
and
representing
,
I might add
—
but…
”

Davidson
’
s eyes flicked over to Rebecca. She didn
’
t seem nearly as confident about this aspect as she had the rest. He stepped into
the silence.
“
The Black Madonna
s are revered by some and dismissed by others.
”

Lopez shook his head.
“
They are just paintings for statues that have been stained black over time.
”

“
Case in point,
”
Davidson retorted
.

“
Prove
it,
”
Lopez challenged.

Davidson sighed. While fallen, Lopez still held on
to his Catholic roots. His
Hispanic
Catholic roots. They were some of the
staunchest
anti
–
Black Madonnas around.

“
If the white skin of the statues were stained by age and soot, why are the golds in their gowns still gold? Or the blues, blue? Or the reds, red? Why is only the skin affected?
”
Davidson overrode the corporal.
“
And why are other paintings of white saints still
white
.
”

Lopez sputtered,
“
But, but
…
Even though the skin is dark, the features of those Madonnas are European.
”