by Rai Aren
Chapter 25
Help is Sought
TRAEUS was still very reluctant to speak with Assan. So far, he had been able to avoid him, have others run interference. But, based on the concerns his daughter had about the Pharom and Zhek Draxen, he knew the time had come to face him.
Assan was surprised when he had been summoned to the King’s private office. It had been a very long time since the two men spoke directly to one another. He wondered how it would go.
There was a knock at the door. The Royal guards announced the Head Priest’s arrival, “Assan is here, your Majesty.”
Traeus took a deep breath, then looked at his daughter, who was seated next to him. She was in a serious mood. “Let him in,” Traeus said.
The guards opened the door. The Head Priest walked in. He was a tall man, dressed in his long flowing robes, his head still shaved. Around his neck he wore his customary ceremonial ankh. He tried to hide his apprehension.
“My King,” Assan bowed deeply. “Princess Anjia.”
“Hello, Assan,” Anjia answered. “Thank-you for coming.”
“The guards said it was urgent,” he said, looking from father to daughter.
Traeus had not yet spoken or acknowledged him. He was avoiding eye contact with him. The tension between the two men was palpable.
Anjia decided to take the lead. “Please be seated, Assan.”
He took a seat across the table from them, his expression one of concern.
Traeus still averted his gaze. His face was tense. He shifted uncomfortably.
“Forgive me,” Anjia said, “but I must be direct. I feel the time we have is short. I have come to believe our people are in great danger.”
“Oh?” Assan said, his expression grave.
“Yes,” she replied, “but that is not all.” She told him of her vision and what she and her father had discussed.
“I see,” Assan replied. He leaned back in his chair, his hands pointed, touching, and pressed to his lips. “Zhek Draxen…” That was a name he had not heard, nor spoken in a very long time.
Anjia continued. “I believe he is alive. I know about Setar.”
Assan looked to the King, then back at Anjia. “I see.”
Anjia took a deep breath. “Daddy, remember I told you I had a premonition that made me realize it was time to return home?”
”Yes,” Traeus answered. “Are you saying your premonition had something to do with Zhek?”
“Possibly,” she said. She looked to Assan.
He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again.
Traeus noticed the exchange. He felt his face grow hot.
“The dream I had was of a fiery rain coming down from the sky,” she said. “I do not know what it means. But before the deadly firestorm, I also saw the Palace under attack by a vicious and terrible army. Tramen was calling for my help.”
“Maybe you were dreaming of past events, the coup the Draxens attempted, the catastrophic destruction,” Traeus offered, wanting to believe his own words.
Assan said nothing.
Anjia shook her head. “No, in my dream that had already happened. I saw the Amsara monument, headless. The Palace I saw, it was not our original home. It was more like the one that is here now, after being rebuilt.”
Traeus was highly surprised at the admission. “Anjia, why did you not tell me these details earlier? Why keep this to yourself?”
Anjia hesitated to answer.
Traeus looked to Assan, who pursed his lips, then back to Anjia. He suddenly realized what was going on. “You did not keep it to yourself, did you?”
Anjia shook her head.
“You!” Traeus turned and shouted at Assan. “You knew about this?”
Before Assan could answer, Anjia jumped in, “Daddy, please, I told him not to say anything…”
Traeus shot out of his chair. “I cannot believe this! Am I ever going to be privy to the truth? Will you always conspire against me?” he yelled at Assan.
“Daddy, listen to me,” she pleaded, “it is not his fault.”
“Can you not speak for yourself, Assan? Have you so little respect for your King?” Traeus was seething with anger. The feelings he kept barely below the surface burst forth. He wanted to strike him.
Assan calmly stood up. “Your Majesty, I have only ever acted in the best interests of your family. Princess Anjia is the Child of the Prophecy. She came to me. She asked me to allow her to be the one to tell you of her premonition. She said she would know when it is time.”
In that moment, Traeus did not think he would ever trust Assan again. He had fleetingly thought that somehow…maybe, one day…he could get over his anger towards him, but Assan was continuing with his policy of secrets. As irrational as it was, Traeus did not care that his daughter asked Assan to keep her confidence. All he could see was the man who took his daughter away from him, the man his daughter apparently trusted above her own father.
“Please, will you both sit down?” Anjia pleaded. She took a stand between them, holding out her arms.
Assan readily complied.
Her father stood standing, glaring at Assan.
Anjia gently took her father’s hand, which was shaking. Finally, he sat down.
“Daddy, please understand,” she said, sitting back down next to him, “you had so much to deal with regarding my return and the circumstances surrounding it. I did not want to burden you further with a nameless fear. I did not even really understand it myself, that is why I sought input from Assan, I thought he could help.”
“And did he?” her father asked angrily.
“No, he did not know what we should do either. All we could do was wait and see how events unfolded, if there was a sign of some kind.”
Traeus crossed his arms across his chest.
Anjia took that as a sign she could continue. “I also did not want to cause unnecessary panic among our people. Remember, it was just a dream, just a vision. I had no reason to believe the danger was imminent. I wanted to wait until I got back and could better sense where the danger might be coming from.”
Traeus looked down now, trying to hear what she was saying. “And now you know?”
“I believe so, yes,” she replied in earnest.
Assan had been carefully considering everything the Princess had said. “We never did find Zhek’s body. He might have managed to escape.”
Traeus recalled the discussion he and Assan had after the destruction, that they could not be certain what had happened to Zhek. He had long hoped the traitor had died that day, a hope that was now proving incredibly foolish.
“I will have yours and Setar’s guard stepped up,” the King decided. “I will speak with Commander Maraeven and inform him of what you have told me. I am sure he will want to increase Palace security even more now.”
“Assan,” Anjia said, “my father has informed me of what was decided about the Pharom.”
Assan looked to Traeus. The King looked away, he was not comfortable with entrusting the priesthood with this responsibility any longer.
Anjia read his thoughts. “Although my father has had some misgivings about keeping the current arrangement, I would like to ask you, do you think it is safe where it is?”
“I do, your Highness,” Assan answered.
“Then we should keep it where it is,” Anjia said, “with your permission, Daddy.”
Traeus decided not argue. He had other priorities to focus on. “Leave it be, but if Zhek is still out there, we need to find him before he has the chance to do any more damage.”
“Agreed,” Assan said. “I will speak with the priests, tell them to be on the lookout for anything or anyone suspicious. I will also personally speak with certain people I trust, start asking questions.”
&nbs
p; The King nodded. “I will ask Commander Maraeven to find out what he can, as well. If Zhek is out there, someone knows. He cannot have survived this long on his own, he would have needed help.”
The thought of that was a bitter one for the King. He had hoped the days of such rebellion were behind them, that his people’s growing dissension was not so serious that he could not rectify it. Now, here he was again, faced with the prospect that his family’s greatest enemy lived on.
Chapter 26
Contact, Present-day Egypt
THE Cairo International Airport was bustling with people. Khamir escorted the four American friends to their terminal. Mitch and Alex had argued with him and Dr. Khadesh for over two hours during their last conversation about being told to leave Egypt. They rationalized every way they could think of to convince them to let them stay and help, but to no avail. Their decision was final.
Jack and Bob were perfectly fine with that. Bob had reached his limit with this trip and Jack’s thirst for adventure had been quenched. The Stasi angle had seen to that.
They had said their goodbyes to Dr. Khadesh two days ago. He had left to secure the Pharom, chest, and crib notes in their individual hiding places on his own.
“I’m going to miss you,” Alex said as she gave Khamir a hug. She fought back a tear as he let go. “I wish you would allow us to stay and help you some more.”
Khamir laughed kindly. “You are not the kind of person to give up easily are you, Alexandra?”
She shook her head. Another tear threatened to fall. She had a lump in her throat.
Jack, Bob and Mitch gave him enthusiastic handshakes.
“Thanks for your hospitality, Khamir,” Jack said, smiling. “You’re a great cook!”
“Yeah, we really appreciate everything,” Mitch added. “We are sorry we couldn’t have done more.”
“Doing the dishes was thanks enough,” Khamir said, winking at him.
They all laughed.
“Bye,” Bob said, “and good luck with everything.”
“Thank-you,” Khamir said, patting his shoulder.
“Will we see you and Dr. Khadesh again?” Alex asked.
He took her hand, placing his other hand over hers in a warm gesture of friendship. “We will meet again.” He let her hand go, and looked at each of them. “Farewell, my friends. Safe journeys to you.” He stepped back. Then without another word he walked away.
Mitch and Alex could not help feeling guilty for abandoning their responsibilities, for abandoning Khamir and Dr. Khadesh.
After standing in line for what felt like hours, they finally passed through the initial security checkpoint and checked their luggage. They decided to grab lunch before heading to their gate. They had been dropped off early and still had lots of time to spare.
They found a table in a corner of the crowded food court, and were deciding on what to get for lunch when a voice caught their attention.
“Mr. Carver! Ms. Logan!” someone shouted in the distance.
The four friends looked at each other quizzically.
Again, the person called for Mitch and Alex. The voice was closer this time.
They spotted a young man dressed in airport personnel clothing, searching the crowds within the food court. “Over here!” Mitch shouted as he waved his arm, trying to catch his attention.
The young man came running over, squeezing through the tables clustered around.
Mitch kept his voice low as he greeted him, “I’m Mr. Carver, and this is Ms. Logan.”
“I have a package for the two of you,” the man said.
“Who is it from?” Mitch asked.
“I do not know,” he replied, handing Mitch the package. “I was told to tell you that it was from a close acquaintance. He did not give his name.”
“Thank-you,” Alex said. She felt very tense.
“Good day to you to both.” The young man bowed, then left.
Alex was visibly relieved to see him go. She looked around to see if anyone was taking special notice of them, but with the busy din of the airport food court, it didn’t appear there was. People were engrossed in their own food and conversations.
“What the heck is going on?” Mitch whispered to her. He looked at the package, turning it over. It was a box, smaller than a shoebox, wrapped in plain brown paper. There were no names on it, no markings of any kind. It had a bit of weight to it.
“No idea,” she whispered back, still scanning the crowd for signs of trouble.
“Another package?” Jack asked. “What is it with you two, getting mysterious packages out of nowhere from strange people?”
Alex shrugged her shoulders.
“Do you think it’s from Dr. Khadesh?” Bob asked. “Because no one else knows we’re here.”
She shook her head. “I doubt it. Why wouldn’t he have contacted Khamir? He just dropped us off.” Alex took the package, set it in her lap and examined it. “No, this doesn’t seem right.”
“I agree,” Mitch added, frowning as he looked nervously at the box.
They sat in silence for a few moments.
“Well, I guess we may as well find out what it is,” Alex said. “Every time we’ve been given something like this, it was pretty important for us.”
Mitch nodded. “True.”
She looked around again, but she couldn’t spot anyone watching them. She held her breath and ripped off the paper wrapping. Inside was a plain white box. She lifted the lid. On top was a typewritten note instructing them to phone the number indicated with the cell phone provided. She pulled out a cell phone wrapped in bubble wrap. It was charged and ready. She then took out a strange palm-sized item, also wrapped in bubble wrap. Alex started to unwrap the item.
She gasped. “Oh, my god!” She re-wrapped it quickly and put the lid back on the box then leaned over it, trying to hide the box with her body. She looked around to see if anyone saw it.
“What? What was it?” Mitch asked, as he reached for it.
Alex pulled away and wouldn’t let him have the box. Her face was burning red, she was perspiring, and her hands were shaking.
Jack and Bob leaned in close.
“Alex?” Jack asked.
She felt like she was about to hyperventilate. “It looks like one of Khamir’s sonic grenades,” she whispered. “I don’t know what to do.”
The expression on Mitch’s face was grim.
“Oh crap,” Jack said, beginning to panic.
“Ok, I’m freaking out,” Bob said, balling his hands into tight fists.
“That won’t help right now, Bob,” Mitch whispered. “Stay calm. Let’s think about this.”