TW06 The Khyber Connection NEW (12 page)

"Poor bastards," Phoenix mumbled under his breath. "Sayyid Akbar must be really something. It takes a truly sick mind to come up with this."

"I've seen sicker," said agent Fox, standing close to Phoenix. "But this one is right up there with the best of them."

"There must be well over ten thousand men here," said agent Sable. "And if it's true that the Mad Mullah's coming here with his followers, that will make it at least twice as many. None of the garrisons in the area will be able to cope with a force that size."

"They didn't cope," said Phoenix. "Landi Kotal was overrun. It hasn't happened yet, but it will."

"Look," said Fox. He pointed to several men wearing khaki uniforms and turbans with red swatches of cloth in them.

"Khyber Rifles," Phoenix said. "Colonel Warburton’s legendary native regiment. According to history it broke Warburton's heart when he found out his men deserted to the Ghazis. He trained them into the finest fighting force in the country, and this was his reward. Still, I wonder if you can really blame them."

"What does that mean?" Sable said.

"Put yourself in their place," said Phoenix. "You take service with a regiment whose duty is to keep the Khyber Pass open and to protect caravans from banditry. Suddenly you're faced with a war in which you have to fight your own people, not just bandits, but your countrymen, members of your tribe, maybe even blood relations. Worse, it's a jehad and there you are, a good Muslim, forced to fight against your own people in a war your faith tells you is a holy struggle to rid the country of infidel invaders. Invaders whom you serve. It has to tear you up. So you desert and get twice as fanatical and twice as savage as anybody else, to prove to them and to yourself that your heart was in the right place all along."

"I'd like to get a look at this Sayyid Akbar character," said Fox.

"You'll get your chance," said Phoenix. "I understand he grants an audience to each arriving chief and khan, along with his retainers. We'll be with the latest bunch that came in. We go in at sundown."

"Sundown, eh?" said Sable. "Dramatic. What is this guy, a vampire?"

Phoenix glanced back at the pit. "After seeing that, I shouldn't wonder." He looked up at the sky. "It's almost time. Come on. Let's go pay our respects."

They joined the group gathered by the gates in the wall outside the house. Phoenix glanced up and saw that the gun tower over the house was manned. Sayyid Akbar was security-conscious. As the sun went down, the gates were opened to them and they went inside with a group of about twenty other tribal chiefs who had recently arrived. They crossed the small courtyard and went into the house, into the large central chamber which was decorated with tapestries and silk hangings. A number of lamps had been lighted to give the room a soft, dim illumination.

They were directed to wait at one end of the room, opposite a platform with a throne upon it, made from wood covered in hammered gold and silver. As the last rays of the sun disappeared, a group of heavily muscled guards came in to stand between the platform and those who had come to attend the audience. The men were armed with captured British Martini-Henry rifles, as well as officers' Webley-Wilkinson pistols. They all had charras tucked into their belts, along with smaller knives.

"On your knees before the Light of Islam!" one of them called out. Sayyid Akbar appeared seated on the throne, materializing out of thin air.

Amidst the shocked reaction, agent Sable whispered to Phoenix, "A warp disc! We've hit the jackpot!"

They dropped down to their knees, touching their foreheads to the floor. Phoenix raised his head slightly, staring at Sayyid Akbar intently.

"Arise, my faithful ones," Akbar said in a deep, rich baritone.

"Drakov!" Phoenix said under his breath. He kept his head lowered, hoping Drakov would not get a good look at his face.

"I am Sayyid Akbar," said Drakov. "I have come to join with you in the Great Jehad." He got up and approached them, flanked by his bodyguards. "The time has come for the faithful to arise and throw off the chains of the invaders. The infidel
firinghi
has come to our land, seeking to claim it as his own. He comes seeking to expand his empire and to enslave us. He comes with arms to subjugate us. He comes with missionaries to attack our faith, seeking to make us infidels like himself. He comes to change our way of life, to take our land, to make us join his soldiers and to deny us Paradise. In so doing, he has raised our wrath and he has raised the wrath of higher powers."

His piercing gaze took them all in as he came closer, establishing magnetic eye contact with each man as he spoke.

"This day we are all one. Afridi, Mahsud, and Waziri; Yuzufrai, Mohmand, and Utman Khel: Swan and Orakzai—all joined together in the holy cause to fight for freedom. Today we are all Ghazi. Today we arc mujahidin—holy warriors of the Great Jehad!"

He was coming closer. Phoenix kept his head down.

"The day is close at hand," said Drakov. "When next the moon is full, it will be the Night of the Long Knives." His hand closed around the jewel-encrusted hilt of his char.-a. "On that night the gates of Paradise shall open. A great host shall come forth to fight with us in our holy struggle. The British forts shall burn and the flames shall be seen in their own homeland, so that they will know never again to—"

He paused, standing before Phoenix. As if with great humility. Phoenix kept his gaze averted, looking down at his feet.

"You," Drakov said. "What is your name?"

"I am called Sharif Khan, Holy One," said Phoenix.

"Look at me."

Slowly Phoenix raised his head, meeting Drakov's gaze. Drakov's eyes widened for a moment, then he gave a faint ghost of a smile.

"Take this man," he said. "He is a British spy."

The bodyguard were on them instantly. Fox and Sable found their arms pinned behind their backs before they could get their weapons clear, and Phoenix was seized, the sharp point of a
charra
at his throat. The other tribesmen began yelling, pulling out their own knives and threatening to cut the agents to pieces on the spot. Drakov raised his arms and silenced them. Slowly, theatrically, he lowered them.

"Leave this man with me," he said. "As for the other two . . ." He turned and nodded to his guard. Moving with lightning speed, two of the guards plunged their long knives into Fox and Sable. The agents never even had a chance to cry out.

They appeared like wraiths from the shadows all around them, gliding like ghosts out of the darkness.

Ortheris lay upon the ground, clutching at his left shoulder.

A voice called out to them in English, "Throw down your weapons and you will not be harmed! Resist, and you will all be shot dead where you stand!"

"Bloody hell," Mulvaney said, "that sounds like a bloomin' Yank!"

Finn and Andre stood rooted to the spot. stunned.

"There are twenty rifles trained on you," the voice from the darkness said. "You're more valuable to me alive than dead, but if you force my hand. I'll take the loss.

Finn dropped his rifle. The others followed suit.

Andre lowered her revolver. As it fell from her fingers, she stared at Finn and said, "It can't be!"

The man walked forward into the firelight. He was dressed in Temporal Army base fatigues, but they were field gray instead of black, and the insignia were different, unlike any they had ever seen before. He wore a patch over one eye, and in his right hand, held a laser at his side.

"Lucas?" Andre said with disbelief.

"See to the wounded soldier," the man in the gray uniform said. Another man similarly dressed came into the light and crouched down over Ortheris. He removed a first-aid kit from his pack. Others now moved into the light, and they could see that there was only one other man dressed in gray fatigues. The others were all Pathan tribesmen.

"Lucas, it can't be you!" said Andre. "We buried you!"

"Did you? What a shame. I guess I'm late to my own funeral."

"Blimey!" said Mulvaney. " 'E looks enough like the Father to be 'is ruddy twin!"

"Finn?" said Andre, looking at him wildly.

"It isn't Lucas." Finn said slowly. "At least not
our
Lucas."

"Congratulations, Lieutenant. Or is it lieutenant? What is your actual rank?"

"It's lieutenant. Second Lieutenant Finn Delaney."

"And you?" he said to Andre.

"Sergeant Andre Cross," she said numbly.

"Sergeant?" said Mulvaney. "Would someone mind tellin' me what in bloody 'Ell is goin' on 'ere?"

"It would only confuse you, soldier," said the twin. "I apologize about your friend. It was meant to be a warning shot, but these tribesmen tend to get a bit overzealous. Keeping them in check can be difficult. I strongly advise you to cooperate so as not to provide them with any excuse to give in to temptation. I believe you're carrying dispatches. May I see them, please?"

"What dispatches?" said Mulvaney. "We were only escortin' — "

"Please, Private, don't waste my time. The dispatches."

"Do as he says, Mulvaney," Finn said.

"What manner of uniform is that?" Learoyd said as Mulvaney removed the dispatches from the saddlebags. "You're not British, surely."

The twin Priest smiled. "It's the uniform of a captain in the Special Operations Group of the United States Temporal Army."

"The United States?" Learoyd said. "I don't understand. What's your interest here?"

"That," said the twin Priest, "would take a bit of explaining. And frankly. I don't have the time. Let's have those dispatches."

Mulvaney handed them over.

The twin Priest glanced through them quickly. "Yes, well. I'm afraid we can't allow these to get through."

He handed them to one of the other men. He glanced at Finn. ‘Interesting," he said. "but not completely unexpected. Paradox piled upon paradox. Zen physics run riot in the presence of a confluence. I assume from your reaction on seeing me that my counterpart was with your unit. Pity. I would have liked to have met him."

"What is he talking about?" said Learoyd.

"Not now, Chris," said Andre, the initial shock having passed. "What are you going to do with us?"

"Take you prisoner," said the twin Priest. "After all, I have as many questions to ask you as I'm sure you have to ask me."

"What about them?" Finn said, jerking his head toward the others.

"We'll bring them along, just to ensure your cooperation. I wouldn't expect commandos to be very cooperative by themselves, but with hostages, it might be different.”

"Look 'ere," said Mulvaney, striding forward belligerently. "I demand to know just what in bloomin' blazes—"

The twin Priest signaled to one of his men. There were three sharp, hissing sounds and Mulvaney and Learoyd dropped to the ground. Din slowly backed away, eyes wide.

"You there!" the twin Priest said, pointing at Din. "Come here!"

Din froze, petrified with fear.

"They're not dead," the twin Priest said. "They've just been put to sleep for a while. You have nothing to fear if you obey instructions."

Swallowing hard, Din came forward. The twin Priest looked at him hard. He spoke to Delaney. "This one's not a soldier. He with you?"

"He's just a Hindu attendant we hired." said Andre. "He's no danger to you."

The twin Priest looked at Din uncertainly for a moment. "Perhaps. I think we'll bring him along, just the same."

He turned and spoke briefly in Pushtu to the Pathans, telling them that he was leaving one of his men in charge and that the British soldiers were to be brought to the temple unharmed or else there would be dire consequences.

He then addressed the two commandos. "Your warp discs, if you don't mind. Carefully. Don't try anything or the others die."

Reluctantly Finn and Andre surrendered their warp discs. The twin Priest glanced at Din, who stood quaking.

"He doesn't have one," said Andre. "I told you, he's only a—"

"Search him," said the twin Priest.

After a thorough search yielded no warp disc, he was satisfied. "Right. Follow me."

They went off a short distance into the rocks, to a spot where three Afridis stood guard with one gray-uniformed soldier over a warp disc about the size of a dinner plate. It was large enough to generate a field that could transport a platoon of men at one time. They took up position around it, within its field radius, and the uniformed man activated it. The Afridis dropped to all fours, pressing their foreheads to the ground as the disc began to glow. A moment later they disappeared.

A thorough search had divested Phoenix of his weapons and his warp disc. He sat cross-legged on a small cushion in a room on the upper floor of the small palace. Two muscular, armed guards stood by the door behind him,
tulwars
held across their chests. Four guards flanked Drakov, two on either side. Under other circumstances Phoenix might have found the scene amusing, reminiscent of
The Arabian Nights
. Drakov reclined before him on an elevated, cushion-covered platform. They were surrounded by rich silks and tapestries. Incense made the air fragrant. Drakov smoked a water pipe, adding the pungent odor of latakia to the smell of burning incense.

Beautiful young girls with diamond nose studs, emerald and ruby ornaments in the centers of their foreheads, and bracelets of hammered gold and silver on their wrists and ankles, waited on them, gliding in and out of the room in their flowing, silky costumes, bringing them platefuls of fruit and sweetmeats. One dark-eyed young beauty lounged on a cushion by Drakov's side, staring at Phoenix as Drakov absently fondled her breast. It was a fantastic scene, surreal except for the horrifying image of the guards plunging their knives into Fox and Sable.

"You're not eating, Martingale," said Drakov in English, so that they could converse in privacy.

"Did you expect me to have an appetite?" said Phoenix.

"After all we have been through together. I certainly did not expect you to be squeamish. Or sentimentally moralistic. I should have had you killed as well, but that would have left a lot of unanswered questions. Our meeting like this only serves to prove what I told you once before, that our destinies are linked. I gave you a position of power and responsibility. You betrayed me. I would like to hear your reasons. What did the Time Commandos have to offer you that I could not?"