The Sahara Legacy

by Ernest Dempsey

  Break into a prison/military base and get everyone out alive?

  Sean had faced challenges before and overcome them.

  He could do this. But it was just going to require a little help.

  Chapter 21

  Dar Falim Prison, Libya

  Tommy sat with his hands bound behind an aluminum chair. His wrists were cuffed to one of the supports. To his left was Hank; to his right Adriana. Both were similarly attached to their seats.

  Two soldiers with automatic weapons stood in opposite corners, staring at the three prisoners with cold, vapid eyes. Tommy knew the soldiers would have no problem cutting them down with a shower of bullets were they so provoked.

  Being shot to death sounded merciful compared to some of the things he’d heard about Libyan prisons.

  “What do you want with us?” Tommy asked for the third time. He used his best Arabic.

  The men didn’t answer.

  “You know they’re not going to talk to us, right?” Hank spat. “These morons just do what they’re told.” He directed the last barb at the two guards. “They’re robots, dirty, smelly, non-thinking robots.”

  He shook his chair violently in a vain attempt to free his hands.

  The guards didn’t move. They just stood there like statues, staring at the prisoners.

  Adriana maintained more composure than both men. It was a difficult thing to do considering what could happen to women in a place like that. The men in that part of the world were sexually starved. The men in the military were even more so.

  That made for a nightmarish combination for a pretty woman such as herself. Still, she remained stoic in the face of potential atrocities.

  On the way into the compound, some of the soldiers had called out to her, saying despicable things in Arabic. She didn’t let on that she understood their words. Her Arabic wasn’t perfect, but she knew enough to comprehend their intentions.

  Then there were the prisoners, men who’d been cooped up for so long they’d almost forgotten what a woman looked like. Seeing her was like finding an oasis in the desert.

  The metal door in the center of the wall opened, and the man in charge of the arrest stepped into the room. He still donned his sunglasses despite being indoors. Tommy figured it was an image thing. The guy was probably trying to look as intimidating as possible.

  “Your men here,” Tommy said, “won’t tell us what is going on. What do you want with us? We’ve done nothing wrong.”

  The officer reached up and slowly removed his sunglasses. His mustache twitched as he pulled the shades off and folded them in his hand. He raised his head and stared deep into Tommy’s eyes.

  “Nothing wrong?” the man said in English. “Is that what you call trespassing, entering the country illegally, and stealing?”

  “Okay, first of all, we are just visiting your beautiful land. We wanted to check out some of the historical sites. Do a little research. You’ll find that I’m—”

  “I know who you are, Thomas Schultz. I know who all of you are.” The man’s voice thundered in the tiny room. “You think you can come into our country, destroy public property on a protected historical site, and then walk out of here without paying for it?”

  “Oh, so I just need to pay for it? How much money we talking here? Few hundred bucks?”

  “Silence!”

  “Few thousand?”

  The officer took a giant step forward and smacked Tommy across the cheek with the back of his hand.

  “You think this is funny? We will see how funny you think it is when you and your friends are in the bowels of our prison for the rest of your miserable lives.”

  Tommy grimaced from the stinging sensation coursing through his face. That didn’t keep him from sneering at the man.

  “You’re making a big mistake,” Tommy said through clenched teeth.

  “Huge,” Hank added, albeit with less confidence.

  “There’s a madman out there who is looking for something at Leptis Magna. If he finds it, it could mean trouble for the entire world. Not just Libya. Not just America. Everyone.”

  He didn’t have any proof behind the statement. For all he knew, Dufort had no idea where Tommy and his companions had gone after they left Egypt. It didn’t matter if the story was credible or not. The threat was the point, not the truth behind it.

  “This madman,” a familiar voice resonated from the hallway, “does he have a name?”

  Tommy’s eyes widened as Dufort stepped through the doorway. He had a smug look on his face Tommy wished he could knock off with a right hook. Tommy felt his wrists tense against the metal cuffs, but there was no getting free from his bonds.

  “Dufort,” he said with disdain. “You just keep turning up, don’t you?”

  The Frenchman was holding a small metal case in one hand and the medallion in the other.

  “Some people consider persistence to be a good quality,” Dufort said. “I take it you don’t agree.”

  Tommy turned his attention to the officer in charge. “So, that’s it? You sold out to this guy? How much did he pay you? Huh? I guess everyone has their price.”

  “Mr. Dufort was kind enough to let us know there were criminals desecrating a historic site. In return for his assistance, we are allowing him to borrow the artifacts you tried to steal so he can research their origins and return them to the Libyan government.”

  “And you believe that?” Tommy’s voice escalated.

  “I can assure you that I have nothing but the best intentions for these items,” Dufort said. He turned and faced the officer. “These tablets were stolen from another country by these three and their friend. I’ve been tasked with returning them as well.”

  “He’s a liar,” Hank said. “You can’t trust anything that comes out of his mouth.”

  Dufort ignored him. “Speaking of their friend…where’s Sean?” he asked.

  “I have no idea,” Tommy said. “But when he finds you—”

  “Yes, I’m sure he’ll do horrible things to me in the name of justice and revenge and all that. Except I’ll be gone, and you three will be here.”

  The officer moved closer to Adriana. He’d been staring at her for the last few minutes with eyes full of lust. An old scar stretched from the corner of his right eye almost all the way down to his jaw.

  He reached out and ran the back of his hand along her cheek. “What do you want me to do with these three?” he asked.

  “Anything you like,” Dufort answered. “We’ve been on their trail for a long time. I can’t begin to tell you how many people they’ve killed. They are dangerous. Use the utmost precaution when dealing with them. That being said, feel free to be as creative as you like when it comes to how you treat them here.”

  Dufort turned and stepped toward the door.

  “Sean’s still out there,” Tommy said, his tone full of warning. “No matter what they do to us in here, nothing will stop him from coming for you.”

  Dufort paused at the door’s threshold and waited for a moment. He didn’t turn around. “I hope he does.”

  The Frenchman stepped out into the hall and disappeared, leaving the three prisoners alone with the officer and his two guards.

  “Don’t worry,” the commander said. “I’m going to hurt all of you in ways you never imagined.”

  “That sounds like the exact sort of thing we should be worried about,” Hank said.

  “You’re right. It is.”

  He started unbuttoning his shirt while he continued to stare at Adriana.

  “Um…what are you doing?” Tommy asked as he shifted uneasily in his chair.

  “What do you think?” He turned to his guards and said something to them in Arabic.

  The one on the right closed the door and resumed his position.

  With all the buttons unfastened, the officer removed his shirt and tossed it at Tommy. It hit him in the shoulder and dropped to the floor. The guy leaned close to Adriana and ran his hand through her hair. She didn�
��t flinch, didn’t strain, just stared him in the eyes with unwavering intensity.

  Near the base of her ponytail, his fingers wrapped around her hair and squeezed, yanked it back, and exposed her neck. Her nostrils filled with the stench of his breath and the obvious odor that came from days without a proper shower.

  “You have courage,” he said. “I admire that in a woman.”

  He ran the index finger of his left hand down the side of her neck, around to the front, and then to the collar of her tank top just above her breasts. He pulled back the fabric and looked down, getting a full view.

  He looked over his shoulder at the guards. “I think she likes it.”

  “You leave her alone!” Tommy roared. “Don’t you touch her, you sick freak!”

  A knock came from the door.

  The commander’s face instantly turned to a scowl, furious that someone would interrupt his fun.

  “What do you want?”

  No answer came.

  The officer turned his attention back to Adriana. He leaned in closer, sticking his tongue out to lick her face.

  Just before he could, more rapping came from the door.

  “What is it?” the commander shouted.

  He turned around and motioned to one of his men to open it. “See what they want. Maybe our French friend forgot something.”

  The guy on the right stepped over and turned the doorknob.

  The second he did, the door flew back and struck him in the face. He staggered back against the wall, momentarily stunned.

  A man in a matching uniform with a scarf over his face charged in. He raised a pistol at the surprised guard on the left and fired a round into the man’s head. Then he turned to the other guard and shot him twice, once in the chest and once in the forehead. Then the masked gunman stepped toward the officer with a pistol in each hand. He pointed the guns at the commander, who immediately put his hands in the air.

  “Keys,” the gunman said in Arabic.

  The man’s eyes widened with fear. His hands shook. He raised one index finger and pointed to the dead guard on the right.

  The shooter sidestepped over to the body in the corner and eased the door shut. He kept one gun on the commander in case the guy tried to do anything stupid. When the intruder found the keys, he ripped them off the guard’s belt and stepped back over to the leader.

  “Uncuff them,” he ordered.

  The officer swallowed hard and turned his head from one side to the other. The gunman responded by lowering one of his pistols. He aimed it at the man’s bulging crotch and tensed his finger on the trigger.

  “Why is your shirt off? Is that…what is wrong with you?” the gunman asked in English.

  The fear on the officer’s face changed momentarily to curiosity.

  Sean pulled the mask down and grinned. “Seriously, I would really appreciate it if you’d unlock those cuffs so my friends can go free. Otherwise, I’ll have to shoot you first and then do it myself. If that’s the way you want to do it, fine, but I’m going to start with…whatever it is you’ve got going on down there.” Sean turned to Tommy. “I think he’s aroused. Was he about to fool around with my girlfriend?”

  Tommy and Hank were just as shocked as the officer to see Sean, but Tommy managed to get ahold of himself. “Yeah, you know, I think he was.”

  “Really? That’s why you have your shirt off? I thought maybe it was just hot in here.” Sean turned and looked at the dead guards for a second. “You were going to do that in front of all these other guys? What’s wrong with you?”

  The officer’s tone grew brazen, his face replaced fear with resolve. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you are a dead man. There are more than two hundred armed soldiers stationed here. You cannot escape. You will all die here. I swear it.”

  “You know, I think I asked you to uncuff my friends, but you’re just not doing it fast enough.”

  Sean lowered the weapon and fired. The commander doubled over instantly, grabbing his groin with both hands. In less than three seconds, it was a bloody, mangled mess.

  He screamed in agony as he dropped to his knees and rolled over onto his side, swearing in Arabic.

  Sean went to work on the cuffs, unlocking Adriana’s first then Tommy’s and finally Hank’s.

  “Get those guns,” Sean said, pointing at the guards. He handed one of his pistols to Adriana while Tommy and Hank scrambled to take the automatic rifles from the dead men.

  Sean stood up straight and loomed over the writhing officer. “Oh, and when you said there were two hundred men, I think you may have overestimated. It was more like fifty…and they’re all dead.”

  “You’re the devil,” the officer spat in Arabic.

  Sean shook his head. “Me? No. I always heard the devil wears a dress.”

  He moved over to the door and waited.

  Adriana hovered over the officer for a moment and then pointed her gun at his head. Her finger tensed on the trigger while the other three waited and watched.

  “I don’t think you deserve such an easy death,” she said. Then she stepped to the door, leaving the man to squirm on the floor in his own blood.

  Sean flung the door open and stepped outside. He checked to the right while Tommy cleared the left hallway.

  “Clear,” Tommy said.

  “Clear this way,” Sean said.

  “How do we get out of this place?” Hank asked. “You heard him; there are probably guards everywhere.”

  “There were,” Sean said. “Not anymore, although I may have missed one or two.”

  “Wait. You really did kill fifty guys?”

  Sean sighed. “I wasn’t keeping count, Hank. That sort of thing will keep you up at night. Best to just think of it like a ballpark estimate.”

  Sean started down the hall and made a left at the next turn. The others followed quickly behind with Tommy covering the rear. The next hall was shorter and split off in two directions. Sean took the right corridor and pressed ahead. They passed two dead guards lying facedown on the floor.

  “You do that?” Hank asked.

  “Do you really have to ask, Hank?” Sean responded.

  Lights flickered overhead, and suddenly an alarm started blaring. Red swirling lights started spinning above the door at the end of the hall.

  “That for us?” Tommy asked.

  “No,” Sean said. He kicked open the door and kept going.

  “No? How is it not for us?”

  “First of all, that officer is in no condition to raise the alarm. Second, the only way I could think of to get us out of here in one piece was to cause a riot.”

  “A riot?”

  “Yeah.”

  The conversation died for a moment until they reached a set of windows along another corridor where they could see down into the cafeteria. The huge room was flooding with angry inmates who immediately took out the few guards occupying the area. The guards only managed to get off a few shots before they disappeared beneath the swarm.

  “You let out all those inmates?”

  Sean didn’t answer immediately. When they reached the next door, he stopped, looked through the window, and then yanked it open.

  “Well, most of them. We figured a diversion would be good. Not to mention they’ll take out the rest of the guards.”

  Tommy looked horrified. “Yeah, and what happens when they decide to take us out?”

  “Hopefully, we’ll be long gone by then.”

  Sean rushed down the next hall toward the exit. He passed another passage on the left that was sealed off by a metal door. The door had a wire-reinforced window. That reinforcing was being put to the test by an inmate with a chair.

  The man was banging the chair’s legs against the glass in an attempt to break through. The window was severely cracked but still holding for the moment.

  Sean kicked open the last door and motioned the others through. “Hank, take point. Get them to the helicopter.”

  “Helicopter?” Then Hank sa
w the chopper sitting in the middle of the courtyard. “Where in the world did you—”

  “Just go, Hank. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Hank nodded and took off, lumbering across the courtyard toward the helicopter.

  Adriana went next, checking both sides of the facility as she ran. The second Tommy sprinted through the door, Sean gave one last look down the hall and then ran after him.

  Inside the chopper, Sid increased the RPMs and readied the aircraft for takeoff. He saw Hank and the others running toward him and gave one last instrument check to make sure everything was good to go.

  Sean was the last to climb aboard. He looked around the perimeter again, sweeping his weapon around to provide cover just in case.

  He’d done a thorough job of clearing out anyone who could take down the helicopter during their escape.

  Sid pulled the stick back a hair, and the chopper started to rise. At the door, Sean could see some of the prisoners spilling out into the courtyard. The reinforced door must have finally given way.

  They rushed forward, hoping to catch a ride on the helicopter, but the skids were already twenty feet off the ground by the time the first inmate arrived.

  Sid guided the aircraft over the walls and back out into the desert. Once they were clear of the base and prison, Sean eased into one of the seats and slid the door shut.

  The other three stared at him in disbelief.

  “How in the world did you pull that off?” Hank asked. “I mean, the guards must have been tough enough. But how did you find us in that place?”

  Sean’s lips creased slightly. “People will tell you anything you want to know when you apply the right amount of pain.”

  Tommy looked crestfallen. “I…I lost the medallion and the tablets, Sean. Without them…we have no idea where to go next. Dufort took them.”

  Sean sighed, frustrated.

  “Luckily, I know we need to head south,” Tommy added.