by S. S. Segran
“Wow,” Kody gasped. “These pyramids are amazing. I can’t believe they were built on manual labor alone.”
“Crazy, right?” Aari said. “Over two million limestone blocks were used for the Pyramid of Khufu alone.”
“That’s insane. Okay, back to business… I see one guard by a low wall near the first pyramid. He’s on his phone. The other guy’s circling the farthest pyramid. And, um, do they just let camels hang out in the open?”
“That’s not what I remember the last time I was here,” Marshall said, frowning. “I know they use tour camels during the day, but the owners always take them back once the place closes at night. Are you sure those are camels, Kody?”
“No, you’re right, I must be looking at deformed giraffes.”
“Alright, alright.”
A rush of wind whooshed past them. Dominique appeared, clad in a black running jacket and sweatpants.
“Whoa.” Kody leapt down from the ledge. “I forgot, you’re a speedster.”
“And more.” Dominique’s teeth flashed in a grin. “Mariah, you don’t look too well.”
Mariah smiled faintly. “I’ll be fine.”
The six of them took off at a jog, cutting away from the road and onto the sand toward one of the ancient cemeteries right by the first pyramid. The towering structure extended over four-hundred-and-fifty feet from the desert plateau. Keeping low, the group ducked past short, crumbling walls and got as close to the distracted guard as possible. Aari counted sixteen camels sleeping in a semi-circle behind the man, all tied to flimsy posts in the ground.
“They shouldn’t be here,” Dominique muttered. “Their owners must have paid the guards to look after them.”
“Then let’s set them free,” Tegan said, a roguish glint in her eyes.
A few seconds later, one of the camels awoke with a start, braying like a dying man. The others snapped up, joining the fracas and petrifying the guard who about now probably wished his uniform didn’t consist of white pants.
Aari’s eye twitched. This is the most disturbing thing I’ve ever heard, he thought. I could’ve gone my whole life not knowing what noises camels make. Good grief.
The first camel yanked its head back, pulling the lead rope off its post. The guard could only take one step toward it before the animal bucked at the second camel’s post, snapping it in half. The guard ran after the pair, trying to grab their ropes, but the camel Tegan controlled galloped around the semi-circle, rousing the rest of the herd. They danced and brayed around the guard until the lead camel took off westward, away from the pyramids and into the desert. He ran after them, yelling and waving his arms uselessly. The guard on the other side of the pyramid complex heard the commotion and took off after the camels, hoping to block their escape.
Tegan darted out of hiding. “Come on!”
The group followed her out of the shadows, trying to stifle silly giggles. Marshall pulled a face. “Get it together, all of you.”
“You first,” Kody retorted. “Don’t think I don’t see those tears!”
As they approached the first pyramid, Aari removed one of the letters from the canister. “Alright. the last thing I remember was me—I mean, Lucius—hurrying with Carmel toward the pyramids. They were already pretty close, but I may be too close…”
He turned and, with the others in tow, loped away to put more distance between him and the pyramids. When he got to a spot that felt right, he grasped the letter firmly, expecting a flash, while the rest waited with bated breath. All that appeared were some undistinguishable images with static, not unlike an old television with a bad antenna.
“Do you see anything?” Tegan asked.
“No,” he said. “I don’t understand. Feels like I’m at the same distance from the pyramids as they were the last I saw them. How—” He slapped his forehead. “Agh, I’m an idiot!”
“What is it?”
“The pyramids. The largest one is to my left and the smallest one is to my right. But in my vision, it was the other way around. We’re on the opposite side of where Lucius and Carmel were.”
With the desert sky twinkling above, they raced between the pyramids. Aari, still admiring the structures when they reached the other side of the ancient masonry, thought, Human hands created all of this in a desolate land. Human hands created a disease to wipe out humanity. Human hands help and hurt. Human hands can do so much… why do we waste them on hate and destruction?
“Does this spot look right to you?” Dominique asked.
Aari looked around, the city lights just a few hundred meters behind them casting away the darkness surrounding the pyramids. “This isn’t it. I can only see two of them from here. I should be able to see all three.”
Dominique nodded toward a five-storey-tall limestone sculpture to their far left. “The Sphinx. That should give you the right view.”
When they reached the ropes that blocked access to the imposing monolith, Aari stared up in wonder. The enormous face, weathered over the centuries, almost seemed to smile shrewdly at the sprawling cityscape before it.
I see why the Arabs call sphinxes the Terrifying Ones, he thought. Sure wouldn’t want this coming to life.
He gently gripped the papyrus letter again. There was no static this time. When the flash burst and waned, he saw through the eyes of Lucius the unforgiving desert sun glaring down on the pyramids. He and Carmel were concealed in the shadows of the Sphinx’s massive paws. Carmel wore a dark wig and had lined her eyes with makeup in like manner of the Egyptians; she’d even donned a long white dress. Lucius motioned for her to stay put. Tightening the belt holding up the loincloth around his waist, he emerged into the open. Aari felt his apprehension like a heavy, wet rag draped over his shoulders.
Egyptian workers milled about and the Roman legionnaires were scattered around the ancient site, speaking amongst themselves and keeping an eye on the citizens. Lucius focused on a single centurion conversing with a young legionnaire. When he rubbed his head nervously, Aari realized that Lucius had shaved off all his hair, and his arms and torso looked even darker than when they were in the old fishing village in Haifa.
He’s trying to blend in with the locals, Aari realized.
As Lucius approached the centurion, the man halted mid-sentence and stared at the newcomer. Under his silver helmet, brief shock splayed over his scarred face. He held up a hand, gruffly ordering Lucius to stop, and dismissed the younger soldier.
As soon as the junior legionnaire was gone, sternness melted away and disbelief returned to the centurion. “Lucius,” he breathed, removing his helmet, “is that you?”
The wet rag of apprehension fell off Lucius’s shoulders. “Cassian. It is so good to see you, my friend.”
“What are you doing here? I heard you deserted us a year ago! What happened?”
“I will tell you everything, I promise. But I need your help.”
The centurion paused, then bowed almost imperceptibly. “Anything for you.”
“I travel with a woman, Cassian. We need to get somewhere safe. Somewhere far from the reach of the Empire.”
“Your brain must have rotted if you came all the way here to get away from the Empire.” Cassian spread his arms, indicating the dozens of armored men around the pyramids. “They have not stopped looking for you, Lucius. It is because of you that others found the courage to desert.”
“Their actions are not to be blamed on me,” Lucius snapped. “I was not the first to leave, and those who have fled won’t be the last.”
“It is not honorable,” Cassian muttered, moving to shield Lucius from the curious looks of passersby.
“Do you fault me for leaving?”
Cassian said nothing. Hurt and a touch of humiliation spiked in Lucius’s chest. “I understand,” he said flatly. “We sit on different sides.”
“Perhaps we do, but you were always my most loyal friend growing up. A brother. I will help you, Lucius.” Cassian gave the other man a teasing grin. “And I must a
pplaud your efforts to blend in with the Egyptians. I almost didn’t recognize you.”
“The things one does for love.”
“That… I won’t argue. Now listen. I know a man who can get you someplace safe. I will tell him to wait for you by the river five miles east of here.”
“Will he demand payment?”
“I will take care of everything. But, Lucius, I will not be there to send you off.”
“I know. Your help here is all I could have asked for.”
Cassian’s battle-hardened face softened. “Go. I will make preparations. If all is well, you should be able to leave two mornings from now.”
“Thank you. It was good seeing you again, Cassian.”
“Likewise. Take care of yourself, Lucius.”
They shared final, sentimental smiles, then Lucius hurried back to the Sphinx, head low. As he turned to enter the gap between the paws, he stopped in his tracks.
Carmel was gone.
His heart pounded in his throat as he spun around, hoping to find her amongst the throng of Egyptians. Faces passed but none were hers. Then, from the other side of the Sphinx, away from the crowd, he heard sounds of struggle. He tore around the statue, the sand hot on his sandaled feet.
A legionnaire had his back to Lucius, his hands reaching for Carmel’s dress. She backed away, hugging her bag close to her chest. Before Lucius could jump in, something stiffened Carmel’s back. She brought her arm up and the legionnaire found himself floating above the ground. He flailed his legs and as he opened his mouth to scream for help, Carmel swiped her arm across. He was flung into the shoulder of the Sphinx and slid down, out cold.
When Carmel spotted Lucius, the anger in her eyes dissipated into bewilderment at what she’d done. Lucius guardedly approached her as she dropped to her knees and hurriedly unfastened her bag, watching her open her precious brass-clad box in silence.
Five seeds rested in individual glass vials—all were unharmed.
Aari blinked twice and was pulled back to his time. He grabbed Kody to steady himself.
“What did you see?” Dominique pressed; her eagerness threw him off until he remembered that his newfound ability had not been seen by the people of Dema-Ki in at least two millennia.
“They came here because Lucius had a trusted friend in the legion who could help him and Carmel get away from the expanding Empire,” Aari said, crouching. He’d been standing still for so long, his legs had locked. “He was told to go east to a nearby river, which I’m pretty is the Nile. It’s a couple of hours away if they went on foot.”
“You could understand them?” Kody asked. “Wouldn’t they have been speaking Latin?”
“I didn’t even realize that! You’re right, it was Latin, but it’s like I was fluent in it.”
“You must get omni-linguism with retrocognition,” Marshall said in wonderment. “That’s remarkable. Two for the price of one.”
“Did Carmel have the box?” Tegan asked.
“She did,” Aari said. “And when she opened it, I saw five seeds in there.”
“Five!”
“Yeah. Also, I now know why this spot is an emotional geo-marker.”
“Why?”
“I believe it’s the first time that Lucius witnessed Carmel’s abilities, and the first time she used them since losing her memory. They were both in shock.” Aari rose and looked at Mariah thoughtfully. “She was just like you, actually. A telekinetic.”
Mariah seemed pleased for some reason. “So was that all you saw? Did they really go elsewhere, or are the seeds here?”
Aari held up the letter. “Let me try again.”
Another flash came and went. Lucius and Carmel were in a small riverboat, pulling at the oars as the sun began to set. Behind them, Cassian’s associate grunted with every breath as they steered the boat until they arrived where the river split around a small island.
“This is it,” the boat’s captain announced. “My duty to you ends here where the two rivers become one, just as I promised your friend.”
Aari felt Lucius getting ready to protest, but the memory froze and faded. He returned to his friends, grumbling. “I couldn’t get far, but I’m almost sure Carmel had her bag with her. They arrived at the place where two rivers meet the Nile.”
“Where the two rivers meet…” Dominique stared off toward the pyramids, her lips pressed lightly together in a contemplative pout. “Of course. Khartoum.”
“Where is that?” Mariah asked.
“Sudan.”
45
Marshall harrumphed from behind the Land Rover’s wheel. “Seriously, you guys?”
Kody didn’t look up from his phone. “What?”
“Since we left Cairo, you’ve all either been asleep, on your phones or reading. That’s almost twenty hours of silence.”
“I drove for a while!” Tegan protested.
“Yes, you did. Thank you again for that. But no one’s spoken a word, so I’m putting my foot down. I want every gadget tucked away in a bag.”
“But—” Aari started.
“Gadgets. Bag. Now.”
“Yes, Father,” Kody grumbled.
They’d left Egypt with an older but more suitable ride than Dominique’s minivan. With spare fuel cans and new supply bags in the back of the Land Rover, they felt ready for whatever Africa had to throw their way.
The friends passed their electronics to Kody. As he placed them in a bag he noticed a square device already inside. “Hey, Domi?”
“Yes?” she called, half-dozing in the front passenger seat.
“What’s this thing you’ve got here?”
“Ah. It’s something I recently decided to invest in: A portable satellite modem. We should be able to get Internet and phone coverage almost anywhere on the continent.”
“Ooh, cool.” Kody rummaged around until he found a pack of chips to share with Tegan beside him. “By the way, how are Jag and Danny doing, Teegs?”
“The last Jag checked in,” she replied, taking a chip, “they were already at the safe house. Doesn’t look like Reyor’s people picked up their trail. Or ours, for that matter.”
“You think we shook them for good?” Mariah asked; Kody picked up a tense lilt in her tone.
Tegan shrugged. “Dunno. My question is, how’d they find out we were in Israel to begin with?”
“Phoenix is a huge organization,” Marshall said. “We’ve seen how far their reach can stretch, and they have our faces and names. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve got contacts with their ears to the ground in almost every region.”
Kody tuned out the conversation, instead taking in the barren landscape outside. Desert, desert, desert… and, oh look, more desert.
Most of the settlements in the area rested along the banks of the Nile River, as did some sandstone hills. Anger spiked in Kody’s chest every now and then when the main road wound close to some of the villages, granting a view of vast acres of devastated crops. Strangely, he’d spotted a few tiny fields thriving among the colorless ones, all covered with thick meshes of chicken wire.
“How come some of these crops weren’t destroyed?” he asked.
“I’ve seen this in the DRC as well,” Dominique said. “These crops were planted after the nanomites’ initial sweep. They’re used to feed a section of the Sudanese army that have disbanded and disintegrated into highway bandits. Food is so scarce, the bandits struck a deal with the villagers—grow food for us, and we won’t harm you or your family.”
“That’s sad,” Mariah said.
“It is. And that’s how it works in this part of the world now. And you saw what happened at the border. The customs and immigration agents allowed us, non-locals, to cross from Egypt on land instead of using the ferry even though it’s forbidden. Yes, we had to cough up some money, but the point is that Sudan’s government, like many other countries in Africa, is in disarray from the crop destruction and the disease.”
“Egypt seems to be doing okay, though,�
� Kody noted.
“Because the military’s fully behind the president,” Dominique said. “And that’s only in Cairo. I heard on the radio as I drove to pick you up that in some of the rural governorates, unrest has been brewing and is threatening to blow up. It’s really not pretty around here. Or anywhere in Africa, really.”
Mariah sighed noisily. “You know, even if we do somehow manage to stop everything Reyor’s doing, the recovery will probably take decades.”
“The important thing is that we do stop it,” Tegan said.
Kody looked back out his window, toying with his sensory abilities. As he zoomed his vision toward the murky waters of the Nile on his right, he gasped. “Whoa!”
“Saw something?” Marshall asked.
“Crocodiles!”
There was a thonk as Aari slammed his face up against his window. “Where?!”
“It just slid into the water. That thing was huge, man. Like, fifteen feet long.”
Aari, still pressed against the glass, said, “Fun fact: Did you know that about two hundred people are killed each year by Nile crocodiles?”
Kody cringed. “I think you need to review what the definition of ‘fun’ is, Mr. Encyclopedia.”
“They’re apex predators,” Aari continued, as though he hadn’t heard him. “Some have even been known to take down giraffes, rhinos, and hippos.”
“That’s comforting. Remind me to never swim in the Nile.”
“Head’s up,” Marshall said. “Looks like a blockade.”
The Land Rover trundled to a stop a few meters away from an old Jeep obstructing the road. Two armed Sudanese in worn-out green uniforms strode up, one with a radio clipped to his belt, and rapped on Marshall’s window until the Sentry rolled it down. They prattled on in Arabic and Dominique translated for the group. “They’re saying that there’s been an accident somewhere down the road and they want us to take the path through the hills by the river.”
“Um…” Kody adjusted his vision. “Those hills are two or three miles away. If there’s an accident, couldn’t we, I dunno, drive around it? It’s just one long road and a wide desert. It’s not like there’s nowhere to go.”