House of Scarabs

by Hazel Longuet

  Part Four

  ELLIE’S QUEST

  Luxor-bound

  "Kareem, set sail now," Ben wheezed as he leapt onto the boat, running to release the mooring lines. "Quick - they'll be here any minute."

  Ellie ran to help release the lines. Gerhard kept watch on the quayside, turning to spring on board as the boat drifted from the riverbank. Kareem directed the boat into the river's deep channel, ditching the sails in preference for the speed of the motors.

  As the boat eased away from the centre of Kom Ombo, heading into the rural countryside, they saw a crowd running towards the quay. A buzzing hive of anger, emphasised by the wild gestures and shouts of the crowd, was left in their wake. A shot reverberated through the air, missing the boat and lodging into the bank with a puff of dust. They cranked the engine, and the boat surged forward, moving out of range.

  Kareem eyed their bedraggled outfits and dirt-streaked faces. "A great success, I take it?" he said with a raised eyebrow. "So, that's the mob you're running from?"

  Ellie nodded, sinking onto the bench next to him.

  He watched her for a second before wrapping her in his arms. "Come here, habibti. Thank God you're okay," he murmured as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

  She resisted for a moment before relaxing into his familiar embrace. With a large breath, she pulled back and looked into his eyes. "How long can we outrun them in The Thebes?"

  He rubbed her back, shaking his head. "We can't outrun anything on the river except a felucca or a rowing boat. The motor's for emergency use. It's not powerful, and there's no wind for the sails. I'm sorry, Ellie, but now they've seen the boat. It's so recognisable, it's not safe for you."

  She nodded, suppressing a sob, and leaned into him, pressing a long kiss on his cheek. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I've abused your friendship and brought trouble to your door. I'm so sorry." Ellie turned to Gerhard and Ben. "We've got to protect Kareem. Ideas?"

  "Ellie, I'm a grown man. You don't need to protect me. I'm armed and have contacts at every point down this river. I'll be fine. They want you, not me!"

  "You don't understand!" she shouted. "They have connections everywhere. We know nothing about them. It's like fighting a ghost with a sword. One of your bloody connections could be with them, and they've killed! Do you think they wouldn't torture to get information to help them find us? For God's sake, we don't even understand why they are chasing us, but they are relentless, and they won't stop until we stop them. They're deluded." She turned desperately to Gerhard. "Tell him. Make him see reason. TELL HIM."

  Gerhard opened his mouth to reply, twisting his head to one side. Then he turned as a flotilla of small motorboats appeared from the bend in the river behind them.

  At least ten small boats with large outboard engines roared towards them, as well as one large pleasure boat at the rear. Kareem grabbed his gun from the floor of the cabin and jumped outside. Before anyone could react, he was firing rounds of ammo at the incoming vessels.

  Ellie watched helplessly as he gestured for Gerhard and Ben to grab the other guns he'd brought on board and join him. Kareem had done his years of military service and knew his way around the gun, as did Ben and Gerhard, to Ellie's surprise. She, however, had always been fervently anti-gun. This was the closest she'd ever been to one. She ran to the wheel of the boat and manoeuvred it to hide the vulnerable sides and present only the stern to the vanguard of the attackers.

  The air was heavy with the reverberation of gunfire. Shots dislodged shards of The Thebes’s wooden hull, which flew like shrapnel, embedding in the upholstered seat of the captain's chair behind her.

  "Don't fire on the pleasure boat," Ben screamed. "It's firing at the smaller boats." Ellie tried to see but ducked down as the window behind her shattered, raining down splinter-thin shards of glass. No matter how she tried, the boats were gaining on them and flanked both sides of the boat. Three men couldn't compete with the overwhelming gunpower of the other side.

  "Gerhard - behind you!" Ellie screamed as a thickset Egyptian man with one eye clambered on board, pulled out a knife, and lunged at him.

  Gerhard turned and grabbed his attacker’s forearm to stop the knife. As his hand touched the man's dirty sleeve, a blue glow spread up the sleeve and around the Egyptian's flowing gown, wrapping itself tighter as it engulfed him. The man looked to Gerhard in shock before gasping and falling to the floor, staring up from a sightless eye. Gerhard stumbled backward, escaping the truth at his foot. He'd killed the man with just a touch. His eyes met Ellie's before he straightened, ready to face the next man already making his way on board.

  Ellie searched around, desperate for inspiration. She saw the lamp rocking with the sway of the boat, turned back to the wheel, and swung it to the far left. As the boat turned, it banged into the boat to its left, knocking the people trying to board into the dark and fast running waters of the Nile. Still, it was hopeless. They were so outnumbered.

  She saw Ben sprinting towards her, horror streaked across his face, his eyes focused behind her. She dropped to the floor as he raised his gun and shot where she'd been moments before. A man smelling of hot days in the sun fell on her. Blood splashed her face. Ben dragged her up as her would-be assailant grabbed her ankle. Ben kicked him and delivered a punishing punch to the wounded man's face. Where the blow made contact, the blue mist expanded, wrapping the man in its deadly grip. As his life stuttered to an end, he released her ankle. Ben stared in disbelief, unable to process what he'd just seen. What he'd just done.

  "Your touch will kill them. I saw Gerhard do it," Ellie shouted over the rumble of the fighting. She bent and retrieved the gun and gave it to Ben, pushing him towards Kareem, who was surrounded by three men. "Go help him."

  As the fight progressed, Ellie lost sight of Gerhard, who'd taken to reaching over the side of the boat and grabbing anyone who tried to board. It was an effective defence strategy, with bodies falling into the gaping mouth of the Nile at every touch.

  Ben and Kareem were fighting back-to-back but overwhelmed with the volume of attackers. Ellie saw someone climb the sail and raise his gun to fire at the two men. Before she could shout a warning, he fired. A screen of shimmering blue energy flew up, and the shot bounced back at the man, killing him. As it deflected the attackers' targeted shots, the fight evened out until just one man stood on deck and empty boats bobbed on the current of the Nile.

  Ellie peered at the pleasure boat that had come to their rescue. Haloed against the burning sun, it was little more than a dark outline. She saw an arm, silhouetted against the sun, raise and wave at them. The engine rumbled on full throttle as the high-powered boat raced towards them.

  Kareem turned his gun from the prisoner to the fast approaching boat. "No offence, but we don't know who you are. Show yourself before I unload this gun into your hull."

  A man stepped out of the wheelhouse into a pool of sunlight.

  "Sam?"

  The Ally

  Ellie gasped and grabbed the boat’s rail. Kareem leapt from the deck onto the other boat and grabbed Sam by both arms, staring at him for a moment before pulling him into a back-slapping hug. Ben stared, open-mouthed, looking from Sam to Ellie, who were staring at each other.

  "What the hell, man! It's so good to see you. We wouldn't have made it without you distracting them. The old military service skills came through, huh?" Kareem slapped him on the back again before pulling him in for another hug. "Damn, it's good to see you again!"

  Sam nodded, never taking his eyes from Ellie.

  Ellie nodded briefly before turning away and walking to Gerhard's side. "We need to get information out of this guy. More may be coming, and we should be elsewhere when they arrive." She ignored Ben's gaping stare and walked up to the sole survivor of the attack. "What's your name?" she asked in Arabic.

  He spat at her, phlegm dripped down her cheek.

  "Oh, I wouldn't have done that if I were you. Did you notice how my friends can kill with just a touch?
I'm curious if I can do it... shall we try?" She reached towards him, and he jumped back, avoiding her touch. "Don't fancy that, huh? I'll repeat the question. It's a simple one. What is your name?"

  "Hossam," he mumbled.

  "Hossam, now we are getting somewhere. You see how this works? I ask a question and you answer. Now what is the House of Scarabs?" Ellie asked, leaning close to stare into his eyes.

  "You are," he spat back. "The three of you are the House of Scarabs – or will be, if we don't succeed."

  "Succeed in killing us, I suppose?"

  He nodded.

  "What organisation do you represent?" she asked with her finger trailing through the air next to his cheek.

  He pulled back again until his back was against the shining teak wall. "We are the Guardians of the Ankh," he stated, lifting his chin and staring into her eyes. "And we will not fail. Kill me – it doesn't matter. There are many others who would take my place to serve such a cause. Who would gladly die to stop you."

  Ellie shuddered at the mania in his eyes. He was a fanatic in its truest sense. Why did he hate them so?

  "Tell me, Hossam, why is the House of Scarabs so bad? What have any of us done to stir such hatred?"

  "You're heretics. Your existence is an insult to my God. You will wreak such evil on this world. You will not make it to Karnak. We will stop you."

  He surged towards her and wrapped his fingers around her throat, closing her windpipe. She fought back, struggling to take a breath. She pulled at his fingers, trying to release them to let air pass. He was a large man and well-trained; her efforts achieved nothing. Kareem and Sam jumped back onto The Thebes, rushing to help, as Gerhard moved forward and raised a fingertip to the man's straining hands.

  Hossam's last conscious act was to squeeze tighter before the life flowed from his body and he released Ellie. She fell into Ben's arms as she struggled to reclaim her breath.

  "Gerhard! Why? We needed to know if any more are coming. We could have learnt more," she croaked.

  "Nein, mein kleiner liebling, we need you alive more than we need that information. There will be more; we know that. We will not be safe until you've met Khepri. It’s clear we must make our way to Karnak. We got that from him. Ben and I appear to be virtually impervious to danger now. You're not. We must move on. Come now, let's not waste time."

  "Elena! My Elena, are you okay?" Sam said, running to her side.

  She looked up "You. Are. Not. Welcome. Here. GO!" She pulled free and walked away, towards the lounge. Sam grabbed her arm. She pivoted, slapping his hand away. "I am not your anything. You gave up the right to call me that the first time you touched that woman. Go now. We have enough problems without you adding further complications."

  "Elena, I didn't..."

  She shook her head, "Don't deny it. Just don't. Why are you here? Did you tell him where we were going?" she said, whirling to point a finger at Ben. "Or maybe it was you?" she shouted, glaring at Kareem.

  Sam walked up behind her, stopping a few feet away, "Neither told me anything, Ellie. Ben said you wouldn't listen to him and to move on. I haven't seen Kareem in months, years. When you visited his houseboat, I followed and listened in at the window. I heard what you were planning and decided to follow, hoping I'd get a chance to talk to you. So, I borrowed the boat from a colleague, and here I am. No one plotted against you."

  "Grand marital drama. I get it, very important and all that, but maybe not now, whilst we have these Ankh guys trying to kill us. Priorities, peeps!" Ben said, earning glares from both Ellie and Sam. "Only saying," he said with a shrug of the shoulders. "Jeez, don't shoot the messenger."

  Gerhard nodded. "He's right. This isn't the time."

  Ellie glanced from one to the other before nodding. "Okay, well, I guess we need to get rid of these bodies and clean the boat, so..."

  "Ellie," Kareem said, turning her to face him. "I've seen things today that will take time to absorb, if I ever do, but the fact remains you are my oldest friend. You must get away from here, and fast. For God's sake, leave me to scrub the boat down. I'll continue towards Luxor. Who knows? I might even distract them. Just promise me you'll explain all this when you can."

  She nodded mutely.

  "My prayers will be more ardent tonight. Of that, you can be sure," he said, wrapping her in one of his huge hugs. "Be safe, Ellie."

  "I think we should take one of these speedboats," Ben said, peering down at the boats that surrounded them.

  "It's too far to travel to Luxor in that. You'd need to refill the tanks, and you'd stand out like a sore thumb in the remote villages between here and there. I'll take you in my boat," Sam said.

  "No! No way. Absolutely not!" Ellie spat out at him. "We'll take our chances with the speedboats."

  Kareem stepped forward, blocking Sam from Ellie's sight. "Habibti. Elena, honey, put this to one side, in the name of God. Sam's right. Your only chance of avoiding notice is to go on his boat. The two of you can fight this out another time. In fact, you should. But for now, backbench your emotions and allow logic to prevail. Those men were not messing around; they mean to kill you. Save your life to fight another day. Please, honey. It's your only hope."

  Gerhard and Ben kept their own council, just watching the drama play out. Ellie turned to them. "What do you think?"

  "That's a loaded question if ever I heard one, Ells," Ben murmured, shifting from one foot to another. "If I answer it, you'll say I'm siding with Sam. You need to find the truth yourself."

  Gerhard nodded in agreement. "Ben's right, Ellie, my dear. The path of greatest wisdom is often the one of most discomfort."

  Ellie stared towards Kom Ombo, watching the white egrets wading among the reeds at the river's edge. The gods were mocking her, forcing her into close quarters with the one person she couldn't bear to be with. She sighed, strengthened her shoulders, and gave a bleak nod in their general direction.

  The men rushed to clear the deck of the bodies, throwing them overboard. Ellie went below to pack the necessities, placing the Gayer-Anderson cat on the dining table with a note to Bertram. She trusted Kareem would make certain the statue found its way back.

  At the last second, she penned Kareem a letter. She wasn't sure she'd make it through the coming days, and it felt right to say how sorry she was for involving him, for hurting him when she'd run away all those years ago. She'd boxed her emotions in ice for so long, she'd forgotten how important he was. As Sam had been her heart, Kareem had been her roots. She owed him a goodbye.

  When she finished, she brought the paper to her heart before tucking it under a cushion, where he wouldn't immediately find it. She couldn't risk him trying to save her. She wouldn't risk his life. This was her battle. She'd fight it alone.

  She went back upstairs, hugged Kareem briefly, and left The Thebes.

  Guardians of the Ankh

  Dressed in white galabiyas, the two men dug around the foot of the mammoth columns, affixing the explosives to the foundation stones and then covering their exploits with a thick layer of sand.

  "I don't feel comfortable with this, Hazem. Do you? I mean, this is our heritage."

  Hazem looked down at him. "As long as it pays well and doesn't end in my death, I couldn't give a shit."

  Aboud stood and observed the frenetic activity around him. He'd known most of the guys since his special ops days. He'd joined up with a passion for Egypt and a burning desire to serve his country. Yes, things had changed, and now he had to make his income selling his specialist skills to the highest bidder. But that old fire still had hot embers, and he couldn't equate the huge purse he'd get from this job with destroying one of the world's – and Egypt's – greatest treasures.

  What did they know about the client? Yes, he was an esteemed and well-known man, but this action went against everything Aboud thought he knew about the guy. What would drive such a man to destroy something he so clearly loved?

  Shaking his head, he knelt back down to lay the next ring of explosive
s around another of the three-thousand-year-old columns.

  Tjati studied the bustle of people moving in military precision and felt the familiar ache in his chest. He'd lost so many trusted comrades, he'd had to resort to hiring ex-military resources, and it didn't sit well with him. Members of The Guardians shared his philosophy. Their families had been associates of the order since it began; they were steadfast. These mercenaries were just bodies for hire. They had no loyalty to anything except a deep and golden bursa, and that worried him profoundly.

  Command central was an ageing, yellowed canvas tent erected on the scrubby land in front of the Scarab's statue. This was where he believed the fight of his life would take place if he didn't stop the trio from reaching Karnak. He stared at the temple, gleaming in the early morning sun, proudly watching over the Nile as it had for thousands of years. He prayed to God that he could spare it, that he would find them before they reached here. His role as Tjati took precedence over his own personal desires, so he would destroy it if he had to, but he prayed it wouldn't come to that.

  The flap of the tent opened to allow Eurydice to enter. Gone was her usual disguise. Instead, she stood in camouflage fatigues, an elderly woman washed in sorrow but with the glint of determination of a true zealot.

  "Is it done yet?" he enquired.

  "The explosives will be in place within the hour. We have ten members of the Guild with remote detonators to ensure that unforeseen fatalities will not stop the mission." She handed him a small, pocket-sized box. "Here is yours. To set off the explosives, you lift this safety cover and press the button. The explosions will occur instantaneously, so make certain you are away from the hot zone before you press it."

  "That may not be possible."

  "No," she acknowledged. "Probably not."

  "Come, Eurydice. Let us pray together. Our God will hear our prayers today and bless our righteous mission." She rolled out her prayer mat to face Mecca, and he dropped to his knees in the dirt. The Muslim and Christian prayed together, side-by-side, to save their unified view of the world.