The Atlantis Plague (The Origin Mystery, #2)(49)

“How do you know I’m not some gun-shooting expert?”

“I read your file, Kate. Be careful.” Without another word, he set off down the stairwell, practically leaping down the flights. He exited at the bottom before Kate could respond.

Kate followed at her own pace. At the lobby, the inhabitants—those still alive—scurried away from her, giving her a wide berth.

Through the glass revolving door, she saw Shaw talking with the three guards, waving his arms, the others laughing.

Kate made her way to the restaurant, which was similar to the other tower’s restaurant, but she thought maybe it had had a different theme, though it was too disheveled to make out at this point. There were people here, but far less than she had expected. They crawled away from her as her footsteps echoed in the dining hall.

She pushed against the doors to the kitchen, but they wouldn’t open. Something, maybe a bar, was blocking them. She pushed again, but they didn’t give. She peered in through the oval glass window.

Martin sat there on the floor, slumped against the stainless steel cabinet below the counter. A pile of empty water bottles lay at his feet. Kate couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead.





CHAPTER 44


Immari Operations Base at Ceuta

Northern Morocco


The guard adjusted the binoculars, hoping to get a better look at the rider. The horse was one of theirs, the one the colonel had taken. The rider wore a bedouin headdress. The guard sounded the alarm.





Five minutes later, the guard stood side by side with the other men of the perimeter detail as the rider stopped before the city gate and slowly raised his hands in the air. He reached for the red cloth wrapped around his head and unwound it.

The guard turned back to the men. “False alarm. It’s the colonel.” Then he looked back at the man. Something was different.





David walked into the officer’s lounge and made a beeline for the major.

The major set down his cards, leaned back in his chair, and smiled. “The mighty horse warrior returns! We thought the savages might be having you for dinner.”

David took a chair from an adjacent table without asking and inserted it between two men at the major’s table, shoving them aside without a word. He opened his shirt, revealing the seared, inflamed flesh. “They tried. Too gamey for them.” David glanced at the men around the table. “Give us a little privacy here?”

The major nodded and the men all grudgingly rose from their seats, taking one last look at their cards before muttering and tossing them back on the table, as if each knew he had the winning hand and it was just his luck that he couldn’t play it out.

“I can solve your Berber problem.”

“I’m listening,” Rukin said.

“Return the chief’s daughter. The raids stop.”

The major turned his head slightly. “Who?”

“The girl. Nwella. The one you sent to my room.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s true.”

“It’s a ruse.”

“Well, look, do you want to call Maury Povich for a paternity test or do you want to secure this station? That girl is all he wants. He’ll relent, stop the attacks, hell, he’ll even help us round up the other tribes. He’s set a time and place for the attack. He’ll serve them all up. But he wants his daughter and the other women first.”

“Impossible. I can’t turn them over.”

“Why not?”

“First off…” Rukin seemed to be grasping, rationalizing. “Releasing the women will likely only empower them—show them our weakness. The chief will parade the women as a sign of his own power and our weakness—our capitulation. It gives him the momentum. And that’s just the half of it. I need those women—for… morale. They’re about the only joy I can give these men in this desolate hellhole. I’ll have a mutiny on my hands the second they pass the city walls.”

“Men can live without sex. They’ve done it before. And the chief will stop the attacks. Look, I had a mission—to secure Ceuta before Chairman Sloane arrived. I’ve given you the opportunity to do that. You can turn it down, but if horse raiders are taking pot shots at Sloane’s helicopter convoy when he arrives, you’ll have to answer for it.”

The threat to Sloane and the possibility of failing at such a crucial moment seemed to weigh on Rukin. His tone changed. “You’re certain the attacks will stop?”

“Certain.”

“How? I mean, the idea that all these attacks, for months, have been to get her back?”

“Yes. Well, actually, those attacks were just to size you up. To test the city walls. You’ve only seen a tenth of their strength. There are other camps. They’ve just been figuring out the best way to take the base. They won’t take prisoners.”

“He’d risk them all for one girl?”

“Never underestimate what a parent will do to save their child’s life.”

Rukin looked away, searching for something to say.

David preempted him. “We’re going to give the girl back, and they’re going to help us round up the other tribes. That will secure this base and give us the freedom to focus on the upcoming mission, our role in the larger Immari plan. If we’re not ready, if we’re fighting to hold our city walls… heads will roll, and it won’t be mine. I’ve completed my mission. I’ve given you a means to secure Ceuta.” David stood and began walking away. Throughout the officer’s lounge, every table was quiet, every pair of eyes focused on him and the major.