On the one hand, they were smack in the middle of a city with twice the population density of New York City. On the other hand, Grey knew from experience that even a megalopolis such as this was deceiving: in today’s world, with the right resources, people could be found anytime and anywhere.
The taxi wound deeper and deeper into the fray, through the concrete nightmare of the city center, past the medieval alleys of Islamic Cairo and then into the Old City, where a squat Coptic church and a coffeehouse flanked their destination.
• • •
The Imperial Sands Hotel was surprisingly classy for a hotel on the tour group circuit. It was one of those throwbacks to the British Empire, all wood and brass and green livery. After dropping his bags in his room, Grey changed and found an empty glass-enclosed gym on the second floor, an anomalous concession to Western business travelers. He had catnapped on the plane, and needed to work off some tension.
Grey finished his thirty-minute run and set the treadmill to cool-down speed. He chuckled as Jax walked by with a towel in his hand. Jax noticed him, and stepped inside the gym.
“We’re meeting for dinner in a few,” Jax said. “I’m taking a dip and heading down.”
“I see you decided to join the team.”
“I’m always up for a good time,” Jax said. “The weight room, eh? I wouldn’t have pegged you as the gym rat.”
“Just the treadmill. Running’s my meditation.”
“Rum’s mine. Hey, let me ask you something. Got any ideas on where to get some hardware? I can go the usual route, back alleys and pawn shops, but we might want something a little more up to the job, if you know what I mean.”
Grey stepped off and started toweling down. “No.”
“You got something already?”
“No.”
“You’re shitting me, right?”
“No.”
“If I may be so bold, why not?”
“I don’t carry unless absolutely necessary.”
“I’d say this qualifies as absolutely necessary.”
“Then again we differ,” Grey said.
“What if we have to do a job on the lab?”
“Then I’ll reassess. For the moment, we’re in a city of eighteen million people, and we’re not doing anything besides meeting a contact. I’m not going to risk a random tourist search. There’re tourist police all over the city, including this hotel.”
“What about if, just maybe, we need to be prepared to fight for our lives?”
“I am prepared.”
“You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight.”
“No, you don’t. Weapons have their place. But don’t underestimate the human body. It’s the most versatile short-range weapon on earth.”
Jax gave him a flat, disbelieving stare. “I beg to differ. I’ll take a gun or a knife any day, whatever the range.”
Grey took off his shoes. He tossed one aside and moved to an open area in the center of the gym. He tossed the other shoe to Jax. “The advantage to a knife is that it cuts from any angle. It’s a very effective weapon, much more effective than a gun in close quarters. The shoe’s the knife. Come at me. If you touch me with any part of it, you win the fight.”
Jax snorted. He looked at the shoe, then back at Grey. He set down his towel and the short wave, gripped the shoe by the heel, held it in front of him, and crouched. Grey waited, hands relaxed.
Jax lunged at his midsection. Grey stepped off to the side, fluid as a snake, and threw a brush block just above Jax’s elbow. The brush block deflected the thrust just enough to allow Grey to get past it, without disrupting Jax’s forward momentum. Before Jax had time to react, Grey straightened his forearm and caught Jax across the throat. At the same time he pushed in on Jax’s lower back with his other hand.
Jax collapsed like a card table, dropping the shoe. Grey kicked the shoe away, then sat on Jax’s stomach and put his knees on Jax’s arms.
Jax coughed from the blow to the throat and tried to sit, but he was pinned by Grey’s hold. Grey allowed himself a small smile when Jax wasn’t looking. He really didn’t like mercenaries.
“Ah, lesson learned,” Jax said. “I will never bring a knife or maybe even a bazooka to a fight
with you
.”
Grey helped him to his feet. “Sometimes demonstrations are the only effective teaching methods.”
“And what exactly was the point of the lesson,
sensei
, except to embarrass the hell out of me? I know we haven’t exactly hit it off, but that was downright rude.”
“We’re going to be putting ourselves in harm’s way together, if things go badly maybe fighting together. We need to be on the same page. Stefan and Veronica aren’t fighters. You are. I need to know who I’m fighting next to.”
Jax said, “And what wondrous things did you learn about me?”
“You’ll pull the trigger.”
“Damn right.”
“But you don’t like doing it.”
Jax picked up his towel and the shortwave. “I’ve been there. I know what it does to you. But if you didn’t like it at all you’d have a different job. You could make a lot of green with those skills, you know.”
“As a mercenary? I’m happy with my job, thanks.”
“Go ahead and look at me like you’re my guidance counselor while you straddle that line. I’ve never willingly harmed an innocent.”
“You think you can’t harm someone through money, or inaction, or arms transactions, or whatever else it is you do for people?”
“You have no idea what I do,” Jax said. “For all you know I’m a modern-day Robin Hood.”
“So are you?”
Jax grinned and spread his hands. “I know where I stand. Maybe one of us has lost his way, maybe one of us is fooling himself. But who is it?”
Grey gathered his shoes. “I’ll see you in the restaurant.”
“T
here is a legend of a lost oasis,” Professor Hilton began, “in the middle of the Great Western Desert, between Dakhla and Siwa Oasis. Until you’ve been there, you’ve no comprehension of how isolated this area of the world is. This is the same part of the desert where the Persian army of Cambyses, a force of 50,000 men, disappeared in a sandstorm in 524 B.C.E. and was never seen again.”
“There are many stories of lost oases. Zerzura in particular comes to mind.”
“Not of a lost oasis that was
underground
.”
Viktor’s eyebrows rose, and she took a sip of her tea. “The legend tells of a god that lived in an underground lake hidden in the desert, in a cavern hidden behind a limestone formation shaped like a gate. The mention of the gate must have been added at a date later than origin, of course.”
The corners of Viktor’s mouth curled. “Of course.”
“The rest of the legend is quite brief: it tells of how drinking from the waters of this lake led to extreme longevity. The lake was small, and only the chieftains knew the location. The god of the lake only permitted the chieftains to drink once a week, to preserve the waters.”
“A legend remarkably similar to the various elixir of immortality myths of other cultures.”
“To be sure, but again, there’s always a beginning. I was also told by these tribesmen that the lake was once the source of an underground river, that it was aboveground in the days when the gods walked the earth, that this river once fed four other rivers, and that these four rivers watered the earth. They referred to the source river which stemmed from the pool, of course, as the river of life. Sound familiar?”
“The four rivers of the garden of Eden. And I’m well aware of the theories that the garden of Eden was once located in Egypt, and that the four rivers flowing out of Eden were the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Nile, and an unknown river, and that all four once connected somewhere in the Sahara.”
She clapped her hands with childlike delight. “You stole my thunder.”
“I also see elements of Babylonia. Gilgamesh sought Utnapishtim, who possessed the secrets of immortality, at the mouth of the four rivers.”
“The commonality of certain myths is indeed remarkable: the flood stories, the elixir of life, the resurrections, just to name a few. It makes one wonder, doesn’t it?”
“And what happened to this legendary lost oasis?” Viktor said.
“The most commonly accepted version revolves around a greedy chieftain. The god of the lake was angry at the chieftain for abusing the water of life, so he struck the chieftain with a bolt of lightning, cursed his family line, and hid the entrance to the oasis with a giant sandstorm.”
“I have a colleague who’d be most interested to hear of this particular legend.”
She looked at him as if trying to gauge his sincerity. “Then there’s the version I posit. That there once was, and perhaps still is, an underground lake in the desert that served as an object of worship. There’s certainly geological evidence in support of water still existing beneath the desert, trapped in caves. The entrance to this particular pool might have simply been lost, buried by an earthquake or shifting sand dunes.”
Viktor nodded slowly. “That’s within the realm of believability. Thus, your thesis: the early peoples of the desert were animistic, their gods were the sun, the stars, the sacred rocks, the oases. The concept of Nu sprang from these peoples and, more specifically, from the worshippers of the god of this lost underground oasis.”
“Roughly, yes.”
“And the eternal life portion of the legend?”
She opened her palms and shrugged, a slow grin spreading across her face. “Maybe the ancient chieftains had good genes.”
“Was your thesis published?”
“Not that version, no. No one wants to consider the implications of such a link on established doctrine.”
Viktor considered the information. Intriguing, but ultimately unhelpful. “An interesting thesis, and I thank you for sharing it. If you have another moment, I’d like to discuss your conversation with the police.”
Dr. Hilton’s mouth formed a protective oval. “How did you-”
She cut off as she followed the flick of Viktor’s eyes to her desk, where a fax had been carefully placed beside the phone. At the top of the fax was a logo, a golden sword piercing a globe, which matched the logo on the Interpol identification card Viktor had extracted from his wallet and was pushing towards her.
• • •
Grey changed into a black T-shirt and linen pants. When he arrived at the staid dining room, everyone was already seated around a table, dabbing at a platter full of exotic hors d’oeuvres. He already felt uncomfortable. He took a seat next to Veronica, and she avoided his gaze.
Jax said, “There’s the man I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley.”
Grey took a menu from the center of the table. “I miss anything important?”
“I was just telling the group about the email I received from Dorian.”
Grey looked up. “You got a response? You didn’t mention that earlier.”
“You were too busy asserting dominance.”
“What’d he say?”
“He’s willing to meet,” Jax said. “Two grand in Euros, cash, just to get the party started. Can you believe the nerve? The Euro? What happened to the underground value of the dollar? It’s a brave new world, I suppose.”
“I’ll take care of the funds,” Stefan said.
“I accept your offer,” Jax said. “He wants to meet tomorrow night, in the City of the Dead.”
“Say what?” Veronica said.
“It’s a common location for doing business in Cairo you don’t want anyone to know about.”
“So it’s not really a cemetery?”
“Sure it is, love. An enormous cemetery where a bunch of poor people live and shady transactions happen pretty much by the second.”
Grey couldn’t tell if Jax was joking or not.
Veronica said, “I suppose we’re meeting the contact at midnight?”
“Ten, and no need to be brave,” Jax said. “I have to take Stefan, and it’s a rough neighborhood, so I suppose I’ll take dark and dangerous along also. I need you here, just in case.”
Veronica looked back and forth between Jax and Grey. “Just in case of what?”
“We might need a pretty girl to stroll in at the last minute, in case negotiations stall.”
“Are you always this annoying?”
“I find humor’s the best way to relieve tension. Otherwise I’m quite charming, or so I’m told.”
“He’s right,” Grey said. “It’s too dangerous. I’ll have Viktor stay with you while we’re out.”
“They found us before,” Veronica said. “What are the chances they know we’re here?”
“Extremely low,” Grey said, “as long as Stefan’s right about the shortwave. Our aliases are tight. None of this means we let our guard down, but we’ve bought ourselves a few days.”
They finished the meal in relative silence. Stefan had been pensive for most of the conversation, and Grey wondered if he was thinking about his son. Stefan pushed his plate to the side and stood. “Good night to everyone. The jet lag, I believe, is winning the war.”
Grey stood as well. “I’ll walk up with you.”
When they were out of earshot Stefan said, “We must be careful with him.”
“I agree. He’ll jump ship in a heartbeat, even if he’s watching our backs. So we need to make sure he’s never watching our backs.”
“We will watch each other’s backs.” Stefan clapped him on the shoulder. “Sleep well, my friend.”
• • •
Jax gave Veronica a cockeyed glance. “Looks like we’re the last two standing. I don’t know about you, but I could use a nightcap. Care to join me at the Explorers Club?”
Veronica glanced at the stairs, then turned back to Jax and sighed. “Why not?”
They wandered into a wood-paneled room with a long gilded bar and photos of British explorers. Veronica ordered a glass of Cabernet from a willowy Egyptian bartender she wanted to smack for having such flawless bronze skin. Jax went for a gin martini.
Veronica watched him. Confident, worldly, easy-going, flat out good-looking. He also had that international man of mystery thing going for him. The verdict: great for a one-night stand, horrible for a relationship of any sort. Despite the allure of the dangerous type, which leads to a false sort of love, Veronica knew the one thing that really gets to a woman, whether she likes it or not, is a man of integrity.
Damn
Dominic
Grey
.
Jax was giving her that lopsided grin again. She supposed that worked on most women. It was working on the bartender, and she had to admit it might have worked on her had the situation been different.