by Toby Tate
As Mad Dog directed everyone to the Range Rover, One Shot opened the passenger-side door and slid in. “Boss, we didn’t have any choice,” he said, pulling off his black hood. “Abel demanded that we bring them along or he wouldn’t come. He broke his flex cuffs off like they were nothing and just stood there. What do you want to do?”
Scooter glanced in the back as people began filling up the vehicle and sighed. A Range Rover only carried five—they would be packed in tighter than a stuffed Thanksgiving turkey.
“What do I want to do? I want to shoot ‘em all and leave ‘em here. But since I can’t do that, tell them to hurry the fuck up so we can get out of here.”
Chapter Thirty
Once out in the desert beyond Riyadh, Scooter found Bio and Max in the MRAP, and One Shot and Mad Dog moved to their vehicle to make more room in the Rover. According to Bio, the radio was indeed alive with talk about Russian Special Forces kidnapping Abel, along with Lydia. They had bought the ruse. After deciding who was riding with whom, the two vehicles began the long trek back to Kuwait. So far, no one was following them.
Scooter glanced in the rear-view mirror at his new passenger, who had moved up a seat to give his wife and children more room. Beside the man sat Lydia. “So, you mind telling me who all these people are, and why you didn’t tell us about this earlier?”
“I didn’t tell you because I was afraid you would say no,” she said.
“Oh, I get it. Better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.”
“I made her do it,” Abel said from the passenger seat. “It wasn’t her fault. I wanted the doctor and his family along, as well. Cain has already killed everyone they cared about, their friends and colleagues. When the Saudi government finds me gone, they will hold Dr. al-Shamari and Lydia responsible, regardless of the fact that the Russian Spetsnaz was set up to take the blame.”
“Abel is right,” al-Shamari said. “They would have interrogated us both and we would have been forced to talk. Besides, there is nothing left for us here. We will help you find Cain, and then try to make new lives somewhere else, maybe in America.”
Scooter grunted a laugh. “Yeah, from what I’ve heard about this Cain, he’s gonna be almost impossible to find.”
“No, he won’t,” Abel said. “I know exactly where he’ll be.”
“Oh yeah? How do you know that?”
He tapped a finger on the front of his skull. “Because I’m inside his head.”
* * *
They drove most of the way in silence, Lydia glancing at Abel periodically, wondering what he was thinking. Was it about her? Was it about Cain? What did he have in mind that would help them? Even she wasn’t privy to his plan, only that he had some kind of psychic connection. She had tried over the past few months to break through to his inner sanctum, but could only get so far. He was a very guarded individual, and with good reason.
And what of her family? She hated leaving her parents behind, but she had no choice. She prayed to God that the operation they had pulled off would be enough to fool the government, send them chasing the Russians. If they ever found out she had been complicit in Abel’s disappearance, they would go after her family, especially since they were known Christians. They would be tortured, imprisoned and possibly executed for treason because of her. Could she really live with that? Probably not. But it was done now—there was no turning back. She would just have to have faith that things would turn out the way they were supposed to.
One thing she did know—she had done the right thing, and would do it again.
She glanced out the window at the endless expanse of sand dunes that seemed to make up most of her country and suddenly felt profoundly sad. In spite of the fact she had spent her life hiding her face in public, had never been allowed to drive a car or go anywhere without a man, she still loved Arabia, the place of her birth. She would miss her home, her family and friends. She had nothing now, other than Abel and Dr. al-Shamari. They had left everything behind, as well, so at least she wasn’t alone in that, she figured. She would have to start a new life, hopefully in America. Surely the CIA would be able to do something for them, to give them asylum until they could become citizens. To come back here would mean certain death.
Lydia sighed deeply and Abel turned from the front seat to glance at her. He smiled and she felt warmth rising up inside her, telling her that everything would be okay. She was glad he was here with her. She felt safe with him, loved and needed. She smiled back at him and then, reassured, leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
Chapter Thirty-One
Gabe knew something was going to go wrong with the op—she could feel it. Her intuition was validated when she got the sat-phone call from Scooter informing her Abel had demanded they bring along Lydia and Dr. al-Shamari, plus the doctor’s wife and kids. That was a considerable complication to an already impossible task. But if there was even the smallest chance that Abel could help them find Cain, then that was a small price to pay. Besides, she figured that the US Government would be more than willing to give them all new identities and help them start new lives if they knew Cain was no longer a threat.
She and Gordon stood by at one of the unused Quonset buildings on the base, waiting to get a debriefing and plan on where they would go from here.
The pre-fabricated building was a small, semicircular cross-section of galvanized steel with two wooden framed offices, a communications room and a bathroom. They sat in the communications room at a folding table surrounded by chairs, drinking coffee from a coffee maker that gurgled at one end of the table. It was already noon and sunlight streamed in through small windows set into the side. An old air conditioner blew ice-cold air from one of the windows, keeping the oven-like heat at bay and squealing as if it was about to draw its last breath. Gabe and Gordon both wore blue-jeans and t-shirts.
“I think we’re getting more than I paid for,” Gordon said, his loafers propped up on the table as he sipped his coffee. “Getting all these people out of Saudi Arabia wasn’t part of the deal. But then again, I guess since you’re technically in charge of the op, it’s your problem.”
“Thanks for your heartfelt concern,” Gabe replied.
“I’m just trying to face facts, here. Do you really think the CIA is going to be able to promise these people sanctuary? I mean, with jihadists threatening anybody and everybody in the world, the politics alone are going to be hard to overcome. Besides, they’re the ones who bought Cain in the first place.”
Gabe glared at him. “You know Gordon, just when I start thinking you might be okay, you say something stupid and screw it all up. Are you forgetting that you’re the one who sold Cain to them? That’s about the most hypocritical bullsh—”
Before she could finish, the door opened and Scooter strode in, followed by a stream of people. Everyone filed into the small building and began to surround the table as Max closed the door behind them. Abel stood to the side and glanced down at her. He looked pretty much the way Gabe figured—tall and lanky with short blonde hair and sunglasses covering what she figured were probably silver eyes. He was dressed in traditional Arab garb which she found amusing on someone with porcelain-white skin. At least now she knew he was real and not just a dream. Al-Shamari’s wife was olive-skinned and beautiful, but a sadness surrounded her like a dark halo. She wore a traditional abayah but without the hijab head-covering, as did Lydia. The children, who she figured were around eight and ten, both stood close to their mother, staring at everyone, probably not understanding a word that was said. The guys from Scooter’s team stood by the walls, waiting patiently for whatever would come next.
Gabe glanced at al-Shamari. “Doctor, there are some bottles of water in the corner. You and your wife and children can take some. Everybody that wants one, go ahead. There’s plenty to go around. I know it’s hot outside and you’re probably all dehydrated.”
Scooter grabbed a chair and sat, took off his ball cap and laid it on the table. “Well, I guess you know
the situation.” He jerked a thumb at the young man beside him. “This is Abel, in case you haven’t already guessed. He says he already has a plan. I’m anxious to hear it.”
Abel pulled out a chair and sat next to him, folded his hands on the table in front of him.
“One thing I want to know, Abel, is why they kept you locked up,” Gabe said. “If you’re in touch with Cain through some sort of telepathy, then you must be part of a similar project. But I know Cain didn’t have a twin.”
“No, you’re quite right. He did not.”
“So then how is it you can tap into his mind?”
“I can answer that,” al-Shamari said from the other end of the room. All eyes swiveled in his direction. “Abel is only a few weeks younger than Cain, but he wasn’t born the way Cain was born. He was created in the lab.”
“You mean like in-vitro fertilization?”
Al-Shamari glanced at Lydia, and then at Abel, as if unsure whether or not he should continue talking. Then he turned his eyes back to Gabe.
“No, not fertilization,” he said. “I mean that Abel is a clone.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
A hush fell over the room as everyone took in al-Shamari’s revelation. If Abel was a clone, then that meant he was essentially a copy of Cain. Did that mean he possessed the same powers? He certainly didn’t seem to have the same wanton bloodlust that Cain had.
“I thought we were years away from the ability to clone humans,” Gabe said.
“It isn’t a matter of ability. We have the ability. It was always a matter of ethics. Islam forbids human cloning,” al-Shamari said. “But as we all know, Cain is only partially human.”
“Why did you clone him in the first place?”
“To see if it could be done. Obviously, we were successful. Abel is an exact duplicate in every way. But he is also an individual and can make his own choices. Unlike Cain, he chose not to fight, and not to kill. The government’s dream to build an army of djinn was smashed. That is why they locked him up.”
Gabe glanced at Abel. “Why did you choose not to kill?”
“Because of Lydia.”
“Lydia?”
“Yes. She came to visit me every day, brought me food, books, talked with me. It was from her that I learned about human compassion, forgiveness, kindness. When I grew into a man, we fell in love.”
Everyone glanced at Lydia and she blushed at the sudden attention. Gabe smiled and quickly changed the subject.
“So, why are you helping us? Because of her?”
“My compassion isn’t just for Lydia. I want to save the human race. This is your planet. You are rational beings, endowed with unalienable rights by your creator. Cain has no right to exterminate you like insects. His motives are purely selfish, his evil knows no boundaries.”
“Can you tell us what he’s doing right now?” Gordon asked.
“Yes. He is in Cairo, assassinating a man.”
“Assassinating who?”
“A businessman. You have probably never heard of him. He will be dead in minutes, so there’s really nothing you can do to stop it, unfortunately. But we may be able to stop the rest.”
“He has more assassinations planned?”
“Yes, many more. He’s accumulating wealth, using it to further his plans.”
“His plans for what?” Gabe asked.
“It’s hard to read emotions, so I’m not one-hundred percent sure, but he’s building something in the desert, near his home in the UAE.”
Gordon took his feet off the table and sat up. “There are hundreds of square kilometers of desert in the UAE. The signal from the GPS chip in Cain’s head can only be read up to four miles. Can you get us within that range?”
“It will be difficult, but I believe I can. I can see the things that he sees, like looking out the window of a moving vehicle. I should be able to recognize landscapes.”
“Landscapes? In the Middle East? It’s nothing but sand dunes.”
“Even sand dunes have their own peculiarities, Mr. Powers.”
“Hey, none of that ‘Mr. Powers’ crap. My friends call me Gordon.”
“You consider me your friend?”
Gordon watched him for a moment, and then replied, “Until you prove otherwise.”
“Is Cain able to read your mind the same as you read his?” Gabe asked.
“No. In the time that I was locked away, I was able to spend it developing my mental abilities. Although Lydia told me who I was and who Cain was, he was never told about me. I believe that gives us an edge. Most of the scientists were unaware of my existence, and I trained Lydia and Dr. al-Shamari how to conceal their thoughts, so he has virtually no idea that I exist. I constructed what you could think of as a firewall, a kind of shield which allows me to receive but prevents others from getting a signal from me. Even if Cain did try to read my mind, he wouldn’t be able to find it. It would be virtually invisible to him.”
Scooter glanced at Gabe. “So what do you want to do?”
“I think we should load up that C-5 and head for the UAE,” she said. “The sooner we get a jump on Cain, the better. He’s not just going to roll over and let us take him. What do you think, Gordon?”
“This is your op. I’m just the money man.”
“Well, believe it or not, your opinion matters to me. You have more experience with these kinds of things than most of us here. What do you think we should do?”
“I think we should head for the nearest airport and let Scooter handle it. But since I know that’s not going to happen, I feel I should make a couple of points. Number one: we don’t know whether it’s just him, or a whole army, so we need to take everything we’ve got. Number two: we need to decide if we’re just going to go in with guns blazing, or do some recon and see what we’re up against, which I would advise. Number three: this guy is a cold-blooded, and I do mean cold-blooded, killer. From what Dr. al-Shamari told us, we’re insignificant insects to this guy, lower life-forms meant to be squashed under his feet. But I’d like to make one more point, which I think everyone might want to consider before embarking on that plane.”
“What’s that?” Scooter asked.
“Some of us may not come back alive.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
It was decided that Lydia and Dr. al-Shamari and his family would go with Gabe, Gordon, Scooter, and the others to the UAE and stay on the air base there. That afternoon, Gabe and Gordon took them all out to get them some food and also bought them some new clothes at the commissary, since they had brought very little with them. They bought them an iPad, as well, so the kids would at least have some games to play. Gordon gave them some cash just in case, and Gabe pitched in as well. If al-Shamari or Lydia tried to access their bank accounts, the Saudi government would track it. They would have to wait until they were completely out of the Middle East.
After shopping, they went back to the apartment where Powers cooked up an amazing meal.
Later in the day, Scooter and his team met in the apartment with Gabe, Gordon and Abel to once again go over their plans.
“We’ll fly into Al Dhafra Air Base tomorrow morning and offload everything,” Scooter said. “As soon as you can give us a general destination, we can figure out which way to go.”
“I know some people in Abu Dhabi,” Gabe said. “I can find out if there have been any desert land acquisitions in the last year or so. There can’t be many people, other than oil companies, who would want to buy land in the middle of the desert.” She glanced at Abel. “Did you say Cain lived somewhere in the UAE?”
He nodded. “Yes. I get a distinct picture of a large house on a palm-shaped island.”
Gabe and Gordon looked at each other. “Palm island!” they said in unison. Gabe turned to Abel. “Can you find it?”
“I know the address,” he said. “I’ve seen it several times.”
“I think we should go there first and see what information we can get,” Gabe said. “There may be something that c
an help us, probably computer files. He won’t be expecting us, since he figures nobody knows where he is. My bet is he’s living under an alias, too.”
“He is,” Abel said. “He has several of them. And although I don’t know the contents of all of his computer files, I do know the passwords.”
They wrapped everything up with Scooter and once again headed their separate ways. Gabe wanted to get in some down time before taking on what would probably be the most challenging op of her life. If she got out of this alive, she figured she would definitely be taking a long vacation.
* * *
Once again, Gabe and Gordon were alone in the apartment, watching TV from opposite ends of the couch, their feet propped up on the coffee table. Since they were American citizens, they managed to connect to Netflix. The Bourne Legacy was playing, which happened to be one of Gabe’s favorite movies, mainly because Jeremy Renner was in it. Gordon liked it for the action, but said the premise was unrealistic.
“Is it more or less believable than what we’re going through right now?” Gabe asked.
“Hmmm—probably less.”
Gabe’s mind wandered for most of the show. She was so tired, she could barely focus. She knew she would have to go to bed soon. But she realized that she actually liked spending time with Gordon. It seemed that in spite of his self-worship, he was growing on her. She found him surprisingly easy to talk to. He could be a good companion when he wanted to be.
As Gabe watched, Jeremy Renner was about to shoot down a Predator UAV with a high-powered rifle.
Chalk one up for the good guys.
“So what do you think our chances are, Gordon?” she asked.