The Secret of Excalibur_A Novel

by Andy McDermott

  So what was the password?

  Nina looked back at the letter. Nothing suggested a password—except the telephone number. She typed it in and hit return. The laptop made a warning bleep, then cleared the prompt, ready for another attempt. If the password was some variation of the eleven-digit number, that meant—she quickly did the mental arithmetic to work it out—almost forty million combinations. Never mind the rest of the flight, it would take the rest of the year to try them all. So much for that.

  She tried again, using her own name. No result. Then she moved on to her parents’ names, then Rust’s. Still nothing. She’d briefly met Rust’s wife at the memorial service—what was her name? Sabine? Sabrina? Not that it mattered, since neither worked.

  “Are you going to keep binging and bonging on that thing all night?” Chase complained.

  Nina muted the speakers. “It’s encrypted, and I don’t know the password.”

  “Why, who’s sending you encrypted files? Is it porn?”

  “No, it’s not porn,” Nina snapped. “I don’t know what it is, actually.”

  “Then it might be porn! Here, let’s have a look.” He sat up, Nina batting his eager hands away.

  “It’s from an old friend of my parents. He said he needs to talk about whatever’s on the disc—and about them. See, he gave me a phone number.”

  “So call it.”

  “What?”

  “He’s obviously not going to give you the password until you talk to him.” Chase indicated the side of Nina’s seat. “There’s an airphone, give him a bell. Only do it on your own credit card, ’cause it’ll probably be about ten dollars a second.”

  “Cheapskate,” Nina said with a smile. But it was a good idea, so she found her credit card and made the call. The phone rang several times, then:

  “Hallo?” said a sleepy yet wary German voice.

  “Hello,” Nina replied. “Is this Bernd Rust?”

  “Who is this?” All tiredness was suddenly gone, but the voice was now more cautious than ever.

  “It’s Nina, Nina Wilde. I got your letter.”

  “Nina!” His relief was clear even through the echoing crackle of the satellite link. “Yes, this is Bernd Rust, yes! Thank you for calling!”

  “I got your disc as well, but I can’t access it. The file on it is encrypted.”

  “I know. I wanted to be sure that the wrong people could not read it.”

  “So now that the right person’s got it, what’s the password?”

  There was a pause. “I … I can only give it to you in person. Not over the phone.”

  Nina immediately became suspicious. “Why not? What’s going on?”

  “Everything will make sense when I see you. But I must see you, face to face. Where are you now?”

  “On a plane, actually. I’m flying to England—”

  “England!” Rust exclaimed. “That is perfect, I will take the first Eurostar this morning. Will you be in London?”

  “No, no,” said Nina, trying to slow things down. “I’ll be in Bournemouth. I’m going to meet my fiancé’s family—”

  “Bournemouth, I see. I will meet you there, then.”

  “What? No, I mean—”

  Rust laughed. “Nina, I know this must all seem rather strange.”

  Nina’s own laugh was rather more desperate. “Uh, yeah! Kinda!”

  “Do not worry. I will not take up much of your time. But I promise you, you will want to hear what I have to tell you.”

  “About my parents?”

  She heard nothing but static for a moment. Then: “Yes. About your parents.”

  Chase was looking decidedly quizzical by now, and Nina wanted to wrap up the call before Rust invited himself into their hotel room. “Look, I’ll give you my cell number, it’ll work in Europe. Call me after nine o’clock, English time. We should be out of the airport by then.” She recited the number.

  “Very good. I will call you then. Oh, and congratulations on your award. And on your engagement. Good-bye!”

  “Uh, thanks,” Nina said to the click of disconnection.

  “So,” said Chase, “sounds like this bloke really wants to meet you.”

  “I guess.”

  “So we won’t be able to meet my family? Oh, what a shame! Maybe next time, then.” He seemed quite pleased at the idea.

  “No, we’re still meeting them.”

  “Tchah!”

  “Wait, I’m the one who’s nervous about it, why am I …” Nina shook her head. “Oh, whatever. Anyway, he wants to come to Bournemouth to see me.” She stared at the icon of the mysterious disc on the laptop screen. “Why’s he being so secretive? And what’s it got to do with my parents?”

  “How did he know them?” Chase asked.

  “He’s a historian, so I suppose they met when my parents were doing archaeological research. I don’t really know—I only met him a couple of times. The last time was at their memorial service.” She sat back, closing her eyes. “Funny. I’d been thinking a lot about them recently, and now this …”

  “How come?”

  “You know, with us getting engaged. It’s sad that they’ll never get to meet you. They would have liked you.”

  “Well, everybody likes me,” Chase said smugly. “Apart from the arseholes who want to kill me, anyway.”

  “At least there haven’t been any of them around for a while.”

  “Don’t say that, you’ll jinx it!” he protested. “But yeah, everything you’ve told me about your mum—mom, I mean—and dad, they sounded like really great people.”

  “They were.” Nina sighed, for a moment lost in memory. “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “You never talk about your parents. I mean, you told me what happened to your mother, but—”

  “Nothing to talk about. I left home to join to the army after my mum died and haven’t been back since.” He shifted in his seat, turning slightly away from her.

  “Why not?”

  “Hmm?”

  Nina knew Chase well enough to recognize the tone of his nonreply: a mock-casual I wasn’t listening disguising a Can we change the subject? “I said,” she went on, mildly needled by his attempt at evasion, “why haven’t you been back home since then?”

  “Because there’s nothing I want to go back for.” The tone in his voice was now irritation.

  “Yeah, but why?”

  He looked around at her, frowning. “Jesus, is this a fucking interrogation? Why’re you suddenly so interested in my family?”

  She gave him a disbelieving look. “Come on, Eddie! We’re going to get married, so they’re going to become my relatives as well. You can’t claim that part of your past is a state secret! I just want to know what they’re like, and why you don’t talk about them.”

  “If there was anything important to tell you, I’d tell you.”

  “What, like Sophia being your ex-wife? Took you long enough to bring that up—”

  “I don’t get on with them, all right?” Chase snapped. “’Cept for my nan. To be honest, if my sister didn’t live in the same town, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way for you to meet her as well.”

  They sat silently for several moments. “That’s a shame, Eddie,” Nina said finally.

  “What is?”

  “I don’t have any family anymore, except for some distant cousins I last saw when I was maybe twelve. You still do, but you don’t want to see them? To me, that’s just …” She let the words trail off, unspoken.

  Chase turned his back to her and pulled his blanket up over his broad shoulders. “Not every family’s as close as yours. Now, any chance I can get some kip?”

  Nina leaned over and kissed the back of his head. “Good night, Eddie,” she whispered, before looking back at the mystery on the laptop screen.

  TWO

  England

  So, this Bournemouth place,” Nina asked as Chase brought their rented Ford Focus onto the M3 motorway. “What’s it
like? What’s there?” She’d looked at a map of southern England before leaving the States, but aside from the town’s being about a hundred miles from London on the country’s south coast, it hadn’t revealed a great deal.

  “Fuck all,” said Chase. “There’s a pier, and that’s about it.”

  Nina smiled. “This isn’t one of those English ‘north-south divide’ things I’ve heard about, is it? I mean, I know you’re big on the whole ‘roof, toof, Yurkshah-man from oop narth’ thing—”

  “We’ve been together over two years, and that’s the best Yorkshire accent you can manage?” Chase interrupted incredulously.

  “Hey, it’s better than your American accent. We don’t all sound like John Wayne with severe blunt force trauma. Well, maybe in Alabama. Anyway, this place must have something going for it for your grandmother and sister to have moved there in the first place.”

  “Lizzie moved ’cause she married this ponce from there,” said Chase. “Nan moved after my granddad died because the weather’s better, that’s all.”

  “And she wanted to be near your sister. And your niece.”

  “Maybe. Whatever, the place is still dead boring.”

  Any further comment of Nina’s was interrupted as her phone rang. She glanced at her watch as she answered it. Not even one minute past nine. “Hello?”

  “Hello, Nina! This is Bernd Rust.”

  “I thought it might be,” Nina said, giving Chase a resigned smile. “Where are you?”

  “In London. I am trying to find out how best to get to Bournemouth. Are you on your way?”

  “Yeah, we’re on the freeway. Motorway, I mean.”

  “Excellent! I shall meet you there, then. Where are you staying?”

  “The Paragon Hotel. But look, Bernd, I’ve got other commitments. I’m meeting my fiancé’s family. I can’t just drop everything to see you as soon as you arrive.”

  “I understand. When will you be able to see me?”

  “Well, we’re having lunch, so …” Nina looked across at Chase for suggestions, but he only offered her a don’t-ask-me shrug. “Okay, how about if you meet me at the hotel at three o’clock?”

  “Three o’clock, the Paragon Hotel. I shall see you there. Good-bye!”

  “Couldn’t you have made it two o’clock?” Chase grumbled. “That way, we’d have a guaranteed escape route.”

  “But you’re not meeting Bernd.”

  “Yeah, but they don’t know that.”

  “Aw, come on, Eddie,” said Nina. She realized that Chase was, for once, barely exceeding the speed limit. Clearly he was in no rush to reach their destination. “They can’t be that bad.”

  “Well,” he said, voice flinty, “we’ll see.”

  • • •

  Nina’s previous visits to England had taken her only to London, so she wasn’t sure what to expect outside the capital—especially after Chase’s disparaging description. But Bournemouth turned out to be a quite attractive seaside town, the pedestrianized main street an appealingly random jumble of architectural styles and eras above the standardized shop facades of the national chains.

  They had arranged to meet Chase’s family in the middle of town, another pedestrian zone called the Square. A park stretched away down to the beach and the pier; Nina and Chase had strolled through it to reach the town center after checking into their seafront hotel, passing a large tethered balloon offering tourists an aerial view of the resort.

  To Nina’s delight, the Square was playing host to a street market, stalls selling a wild and wonderful range of foods from all over Europe, everything from German sausages to exotic fruit. The air was filled with mouthwatering scents, forcefully reminding her that the only thing she’d eaten was an airline breakfast. Only the knowledge that she would soon be having lunch stopped her from sampling everything—although she was still sorely tempted.

  She had an odd feeling in her stomach, but it wasn’t solely from hunger. “I’m … I’m a bit nervous,” she admitted to Chase.

  “Why?”

  “Y’know, meeting your family for the first time. It’s just a weird thought, getting a whole new set of relations all of a sudden. And what if they don’t like me?”

  “If you’re that worried, we can just leave,” Chase suggested, almost hopefully. “Get a head start on that trip to Indonesia. I’m up for it—I’d rather be somewhere exotic having an adventure than pissing about here.”

  Nina smiled. “Tempting, but you’re not getting out of this that easily.”

  “Arse chives. Oh, there they are,” he said unenthusiastically. The center of the Square was occupied by a circular café topped with a clock tower. Outside it, Nina saw three people: a small, gray-haired old lady, a girl whom she guessed to be in her midteens and a woman of around forty with a rather severe haircut. The old lady and the girl waved at Chase; the woman did not. “Well, here we go,” he said. Nina touched her pendant, wanting all the luck she could get.

  They met the trio by the café’s outdoor tables. “Uncle Eddie!” cried the girl, running to him. She hugged him. “I haven’t seen you for ages!”

  “Hey, Holly,” said Chase, returning the hug and smiling. His pleasure on meeting his niece again seemed completely genuine to Nina. “I’ve been busy.”

  “I know! And I know why!” Holly released Chase and turned to face Nina, long brown hair swishing. “I know who you are,” she said, beaming.

  “You do?” Nina asked.

  “Of course! Come on! You discovered Atlantis! It was so great when it was announced, ’cause it meant my history teacher had been totally wrong about it not being real. That was fun, seeing his face when he had to admit it. I’m Holly, by the way. Holly Bennett.”

  “Nina Wilde. Hi.”

  “Hi! So, you’re going to be my aunt! That’s so cool. When’s the wedding?”

  “Yes, when’s the wedding, Edward?” said the old lady, tottering up to Chase. “Ooh, let me have a look at you. It’s lovely to see you! My little lamb chop. Come on, give your nan a kiss.” Chase, to Nina’s amusement looking decidedly sheepish, bent down so his grandmother could kiss him noisily on both cheeks, then pinch them. “It’s so good to see you again!”

  “Hi, Nan,” said Chase, cheeks pink, and not solely from the pinches. “Nan, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Nina Wilde. Doctor Nina Wilde. Nina, this is my nan—my grandmother, Catherine.”

  “Call me Nan: you’re going to be family.” She shook Nina’s hand vigorously. “And you’re a doctor! Holly tells me you’re famous too. It’s wonderful that Edward’s getting married again. And you seem so much nicer than his first wife. I never liked her, she was very uppity. Where is she now, Edward?”

  “She’s in prison at Guantánamo Bay, Nan.”

  “Best place for her. Oh, it’s good to meet you.” She shook Nina’s hand again, then turned back to Chase. Nina belatedly realized she hadn’t been able to get in a single word. “So, when is the wedding?”

  Holly also moved back to crowd Chase. “So why aren’t you famous too, Uncle Eddie? I wanted to show my friends pictures of you finding all these amazing things, but you’re never in any of them!”

  “You know me, love,” he said. “Just naturally modest.” That provoked a sarcastic snort from the third woman in the party. Chase’s expression tightened. “Oh, and Nina, this is my sister, Lizzie.”

  “Elizabeth,” the woman said firmly, stepping forward to greet Nina. “Elizabeth Chase. I changed back to my maiden name after my divorce.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Nina replied, not sure how to respond to being given an answer to a question she hadn’t asked. Elizabeth was clearly related to Chase in looks, but while he was only of average height and quite stocky, she was a couple of inches taller, thin and rigidly upright. Her expression was just as closed as her brother’s. Whatever Chase’s problem with his older sister, the feeling was apparently mutual.

  “You too. So, how long have you two been engaged now?”

  “Near
ly a year.”

  “And Eddie still hasn’t committed to a date.” It was a statement, not a question. “Well, that doesn’t surprise me.”

  Nina felt obliged to defend him. “We’ve been busy. But now that the discovery of Atlantis has been officially announced, we should have more time together, so we can decide what we want to do.”

  “Speaking of deciding what to do,” said Chase, looking up at the clock, “are we going to have lunch? They do drinks in this place, right? Lizzie, you could have some whine. Or maybe a pint of bitter.”

  “Yeah, let’s have lunch,” said Nina hurriedly, trying to defuse the situation by taking hold of Chase’s arm and resting her head on his shoulder. “Let’s sit out in the sun, it’ll be nice. Won’t it, Eddie?”

  His response was distinctly lacking in enthusiasm. “Yeah, I suppose.”

  Holly, on the other hand, was energized at the prospect. “So you’re going to tell us about all the cool places you’ve visited, aren’t you?” she asked. “You’ve been all over the world—you must have seen tons of amazing stuff. Much better than being stuck here in boring old Bournemouth.”

  “Told you,” Chase said to Nina. He led the way to the café’s entrance, walking slowly to let his grandmother keep pace. “Well, when we started looking for Atlantis, the first place we went was Iran …”

  • • •

  Chase—with help from Nina to correct the historical inaccuracies and tone down his more fanciful recountings—told Holly and Nan about the hunt for Atlantis and the discovery of the Tomb of Hercules over a leisurely lunch. Elizabeth, meanwhile, sat on the sidelines, disinterested. It wasn’t until they’d finished eating and were wandering up another pedestrianized shopping street curving uphill out of the Square that she offered Chase anything more than a perfunctory response. “I suppose I have to give you some credit. That’s the first time lately Holly’s seemed interested in anything that didn’t involve text messaging.”