by K. T. Tomb
“Sport?” Chyna asked, as she lifted the glass carefully and blew on the hot beverage.
“Ah, yes. Mohammed would like to introduce us to the ancient Egyptian sport of falconing. He says the camp is overrun by destructive, but delicious jerboa.”
“Now, that’s different. I may have to take him up on that; I really miss Luxor.”
“Perhaps when Agent Stewart returns to Istanbul, a little holiday will be in order,” he said, winking mischievously at her.
Chyna smiled a telling smile and blushed a little at the comment. She missed Tony too. He was busy closing up the affairs of his assignment to the consular agent in Izmir and wouldn’t be reporting to the Istanbul consulate for another three weeks.
“Perhaps,” Chyna replied, sipping her tea.
“Mohammed and Jamila spend their time watching the Valley of the Kings for grave robbers these days, but they are content; they feel useful and the Watchers are all still comfortably supported by the foundation.”
“It’s good to know that Nassir and his colleagues have such dedicated and skilled protectors.”
“It’s true. Where are Oscar and Lana? I haven’t seen them in weeks.”
“Oscar is in New York. He bought a whole shipment of equipment for the company and he and that genius assistant of his are waist deep in getting them ready for installation. They should be here next week to outfit our office here in Istanbul. As for Lana, she’s in Iraq on contract. An archaeological team there is about to ship out and needed help to document and package the artifacts for transport. I haven’t heard from her in a couple of days but she should be back any minute.”
Sirita walked into the office carrying a beautiful white cattleya plant and placed it on the entryway desk. She could hear Chyna’s bubbly laughter flowing from her office as she spoke to someone animatedly.
“Who’s with Miss Stone?” Sirita asked Mina, the receptionist.
“Mr. Mohammed is visiting from the museum, Miss Patel,” she replied. without looking up from the files she was organizing.
“Thank you,” Sirita replied.
She turned from the reception desk and was just walking towards Chyna’s door when the phone on her own desk rang. Sirita stopped dead in her tracks. That phone was the direct office line which they only gave to their highest ranking clientele; and only to be used by them in abject emergencies. She ran to the desk and snatched up the receiver.
“Found History Istanbul, Sirita Patel speaking.”
“Oh, Sirita!” the voice on the other end said. “It’s Ilea Le Gal, UNESCO. Is Chyna there?”
“As a matter of fact she is, Ilea. Let me just connect you to her.”
She put the call on hold and grabbed the UNESCO files from her tray, moving rapidly towards Chyna’s office door.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Abdullah,” she said, bowing her head slightly and then turning to Chyna. “It looks as if we may have our first adventure.”
“What’s up, Siri?” Chyna asked, standing to follow her to the desk.
Rashid put down his tea glass and followed them as well.
“Director Le Gal, from UNESCO Headquarters, is on the line. She wants to speak to you.”
Chyna went around the desk and pressed the hands-free button. The others turned to leave the room.
“Stay,” Chyna said. “Both of you. Rashid, could you get the door?”
He closed it and they both respectfully took seats on the other side of her desk and listened patiently.
“Ilea!” Chyna said, as the call was connected. “How can I help you?”
“Hello, Chyna,” the voice said, “It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Likewise. I have my office manager Sirita and a colleague from Hagia Sofia here with me.”
“Hello, you two.”
They both replied cordially to the greeting.
“So, tell me what’s up.”
“We instructed an archaeological team that we fund to clear out of their camp near Hillah, Iraq three weeks ago. There’s something brewing near Baghdad and we didn’t want our people caught in the mix.”
“Argo,” Sirita interjected.
“Indeed,” Ilea continued, “Anyway, the American team broke camp, gathered the data and left. They arrived in Baghdad the day after they received their instructions. That was nineteen days ago, Chyna, and we haven’t heard from them since.”
“What about the group that was handling the artifacts, Ilea? Tell me you know where they are and that my girl is safe.”
“We lost contact with them yesterday. I’m sorry, Chyna.”
“Ilea, this is very serious. Have you sent anyone after them? Alerted the authorities?”
“Nothing has gone public yet. We wanted to see if we would hear from the people responsible first.”
“Great, but that was almost three weeks ago and your delay put the rest of the team in danger; now they’re missing as well.”
“That’s why I’m calling you. We put someone on the ground but he doesn’t seem to be able to come up with anything. We need you and your team to go to Iraq and bring our people home, Chyna.”
“Oscar’s in the States; he can’t get here until tomorrow at the soonest and Tony is in Izmir.”
There was a pregnant pause as Chyna chewed her bottom lip.
“We’ll be in Baghdad by tomorrow night, Ilea,” Chyna finally announced. “Be sure to send everything over immediately. I’m going to need the names of all your people over there, especially the investigator who couldn’t find them; he’s going to have to take point on this.”
“That’s fine, Chyna,” Ilea replied, with a sigh of relief. “Bill us whatever you need to.”
“Of course, I will,” Chyna said, ending the call.
***
Chyna’s head swam as she absorbed the information Ilea had given them over the phone. Lana was missing and no one knew who had taken her and the other scientists or where they were. The only thing they knew to some level of certainty was that they had not left Iraq; at least not by way of the Baghdad airport. It was becoming clear that they’d found something in the ruined city that had provoked somebody, or at least sparked an interest. She wished she had followed up with Lana’s findings and progress there more carefully.
“Siri, could you bring me Lana’s last report from the site, please?”
“Yes, Chyna,” she replied, hurrying away to her desk to retrieve the files.
Rashid stood and was about to excuse himself when Chyna looked up from her desk and gave him a questioning look.
“Have you no ‘Watchers’ in Persia or colleagues who might be able to assist us there?”
“No ‘Watchers’ are stationed that far east but I think the Eastman might have a contact or two there. I could give him a call to find out,” he replied.
“I would really appreciate that,” Chyna said, as Sirita reentered the office.
“Here are the files.”
“Well, Siri, you wanted to be an office manager at Found History, did you think that in your third week on the job you’d get your first opportunity to train as an investigator?”
Sirita’s eyes grew large in her head. She could hardly believe what she was hearing.
“Are you serious?” she asked, disbelievingly.
“Of course, I can’t take a bunch of strangers with me and Oscar won’t be here until eight o’ clock tomorrow morning and that’s only if he catches the flight Sandra booked for him. Mina can manage here if Rashid checks in periodically but I can’t go into the field by myself.”
“Fair enough, Chyna. It’s really an exciting proposition.”
Rashid smiled at her and said, “Aren’t you glad you spent those extra hours with me at the firing range? You didn’t know you’d get the chance to see action so soon, did you?”
Sirita laughed and left the office. She returned a few minutes later with a stack of paper from the fax machine.
“Ilea sent the names and other information on the missing teams, both the A
merican scientists and the archaeologists that Lana was with. What do you want me to do with these?”
“Put them here on the desk, Siri, and get a notepad; there’s several things I need you and Mina to handle immediately if we are to be in Baghdad by nightfall tomorrow,” Chyna instructed. She looked up to see her friend standing and placing the tea things neatly on the tea tray. “Are you leaving Rashid?”
“I must get back to the museum, Chyna, but I will call you and let you know what the Eastman said.”
“Thank you.”
Chyna paused for a moment to gather her thoughts while Sirita stood poised in front of her with pen and paper. When she looked up again, there was surety in her eyes and she immediately started reeling off instructions to an instantly intimidated Sirita.
“Okay!” she started. “I need you to book us three seats on a midafternoon flight straight into Baghdad; no connections. I find it’s always too difficult with the extra security checks and we will all be carrying firearms, as well as Oscar will have some of our most sensitive equipment with him. I certainly don’t want a repeat of the ‘Great Istanbul Hacking,” she commented.
They both laughed at Chyna’s quip before she continued.
“Make sure that copies of our licenses for the guns and such are all sent ahead to the airlines and Iraqi customs along with any credentials Ilea sent over from UNESCO. We’re going to need a double executive suite booked at the Palestine International Hotel; you can speak to Ihram Ibrahim, he will know what to do. The next thing is security. Could you get in touch with Thorin and Demetri? If they’re in the region and not on assignment I need them to meet us there. You’ll need to make their flight arrangements if that’s the case.”
“And if they’re engaged?”
“They’ll give you the names and locations of the men they’ll send, but it’s more than likely true that they will call in replacements on their current job and come themselves.”
“I see,” Sirita said.
“We’re going to need armored cars in Iraq, preferably Land Rovers,” Chyna added, as she flipped through the giant old fashioned Rolodex in front of her.
She stopped at a business card and said, “You can call Masoud Limos for those; two of them. Black, armored and tinted and we won’t be needing drivers, just an airport pickup. We’ll drop them back at the dealership and sign the papers. I think that’s it.”
“Let’s see,” Sirita said, “We’ve got flights, accommodation, security and transportation. That sound about right, Chyna?”
“It sure does,” she agreed. “All I have to do is put our ‘Plan B’ into place and we’re all set.”
“‘Plan B’?” Sirita asked.
“Yes, Siri, ‘Plan B’,” Chyna confirmed. “That’s your first lesson as a would be investigator at Found History; we never go into hostile territory or take on a major investigation without a ‘Plan B’. So, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be getting started on it. Thank you.”
Sirita nodded and left the room, closing the office door behind her. Chyna took her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and dialed Tony’s number.
“Hey, Babe,” came his voice on the other end.
“Hi there,” she replied smiling, “how are you doing?”
“It’s going good, Chyna,” he said. “Missing you is all. I can’t wait to see you next weekend.”
“Oh dear!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ummm, nothing. It’s just I forgot about that, Tony. Something serious has just come up at the office.”
She could hear him exhale deeply on the other end. He was worried.
“Tell me,” he finally managed to say.
“Ilea Le Gal called from UNESCO headquarters this afternoon. Her entire team has gone A.W.O.L. One group of Americans disappeared in Baghdad on their way to leave the country and they lost contact with the others yesterday.”
“UNESCO? Why does that sound familiar?”
“Because that’s the assignment Lana went on two weeks ago in Hillah; the Babylonian excavation. She was supposed to help them get the pieces ready for transportation.”
“Oh yes! Don’t tell me she’s among the missing!”
“She is, Tony! And I don’t know what to do.”
“Well first of all, don’t panic. She’s a really skilled girl. She’s well trained and she has good instincts. She may not be able to get them out of there, but she will certainly be able to keep everyone alive until you can find them and rescue them from whoever’s kidnapped them.”
“I’m sure you’re right, Babe. I just feel like I’m about to lose it.”
“Relax. You’ve got this, remember?”
“I do got this!”
“What can I do to help?”
“I’m going to need an evacuation route ready just in case we need to haul ass out of Iraq; and the likelihood of that, depending on who we’re dealing with, is quite high.”
“I’ll make all the arrangements for you. How many people were in the UNESCO team?”
“Let’s see,” Chyna said, as she rummaged through the paperwork that Sirita had brought in from the fax machine. “We’ve got sixteen; nine Americans, four Italian and three Brits.”
“How many of your personnel?”
“Including Lana, we’ll be six.”
“Did you get Demetri and Thorin?”
“Sirita’s working on that but we’ll have two stand-ins if they aren’t able to come.”
“Okay, so that’s twenty-two in total,” he said, whistling. “I’m going to have to call in a whole lot of favors but at least there’s still a huge amount of U.S. Air Force in the area.”
“I appreciate your help, Tony. We leave for Baghdad tomorrow afternoon. I’ll call you as soon as we get there.”
“Sure thing, Babe. You can ask for Agent Hamilton at the U.S. Embassy.”
“Awesome! I’ll stay in touch, Babe.”
“You just be careful.”
They ended the call on that note and somehow Chyna felt a little bit better. She was in sheer turmoil with the loss of Lana. There wasn’t a clear way that she thought she could handle it. The worst part was that they were going into Baghdad blind; they didn’t have a clue where to start, they didn’t know who they could trust.
Suddenly, Chyna stopped dead in her tracks.
“Sirita! Get in here right away.”
Sirita came running through the doors a minute later; she was obviously in a state of surprise.
“What is it Chyna?”
“I think its official; I must be the stupidest person in the world!”
“Why would you say that?”
“Shut the door and come closer,” Chyna instructed. “When we’re in the field, every Found History employee and every piece of our luggage wears a tracking device. It’s a little distress signal unit that can be activated either by the wearer or remotely through our server. Lana’s is sewn into the lining of her boot. We haven’t gotten an S.O.S. signal from Lana’s so I would assume either it’s been taken away from her or she hasn’t had the chance to safely activate it as yet.”
“Hmm, I’ll get Oscar on the line,” Sirita said, picking up the telephone.
“Hello!” Nigel said, loudly into the phone.
“Hi Nigel, how are you?” Chyna said cordially. “We need to talk to Oscar.”
“I’m fine; Miss Stone, but you just missed him. I just got back from taking him to the airport.”
“Oh that’s fine, Nigel. I’m sure you can help us.”
“I’ll sure try my best!”
“Could you activate Lana’s distress signal? We need a location on her.”
Chapter Two
“Where are you taking us?” Lana asked calmly, as the two men, one blond and the other dark-haired, escorted them down the hallway of a rundown hotel.
“Shut up, bitch,” the blond one responded.
He spoke with a distinct French accent, confirming to Lana that they hadn’t been taken by Iraqis. She breathe
d a sigh of relief and decided to obey him. Suddenly the group was stopped outside the double doors of what appeared to be a suite and the dark haired man shouldered his rifle and turned the knobs, throwing both doors wide open. The blond man ushered the eight of them into the room.
It was dusty, but well furnished. Clearly, housekeeping hadn’t been inside the suite for many years. Bullet holes dotted the walls here and there and the window they’d obviously penetrated the room from years ago was still broken even though they had been cleverly blacked out using tarpaulin and plywood boards from the outside; the overhead fluorescent lighting flickered as if on cue.
The hotel must have been a remnant from the invasion of Baghdad by coalition troops in 1991. Suddenly, Lana was taken back to that world-famous news broadcast. She had to consciously restrain herself from reciting ‘The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated…’. She smiled at the thought of it.
The kidnappers had made their second mistake by bringing them to this location. From the damage to the room, Lana didn’t need to look out the window to know that they were probably near the afflicted Baiyaa neighborhood; it was good to have some bearings even if they were only speculation.
There was no way to know why they had been kidnapped; the group had been taken from their cots in the middle of the night. The little camp outside Hillah had been cleared out by a group of men wearing paramilitary gear; they loaded every crate and box into the back of a truck and put each of them, handcuffed into another. Lana could only think that they must have been after the artifacts that had been unearthed by the dig team.
It was true that when she left Istanbul to go on the assignment, she hadn’t been impressed by the dossier; it just wasn’t in her to pass up the chance to see Babylon, even as ruinous as it currently was.
It had been declared a World Heritage Site in 2003 and ever since there had been a resurgence of interest in excavating the site. Of course, with the occupation by U.S. and coalition troops after the Persian Gulf War, that was not an easy task.
When things improved slightly, UNESCO was sure that they were the first to get in there and for the following ten years, they had successfully bullied any other organization or government out of gaining access to the site.