CodeY

by Lamar Rutherford

  Pele, relieved he did not have to press the matter, replied “Thanks. I’m ready to depart.”

  The officers drove them through the elegant front gate of the sparkling new Four Seasons. Lush exotic flowering bushes lined the driveway. As they stepped out of the Egyptian Army SUV, Pele turned to Rane, “Rane, you stay here, check in and follow up with Devon and Drew. Pace come with me.” Pele knew Rane would rather be with them, but he needed her here. She and Devon made a good team when it came to infiltrating the enemy communications. It would be better to have her here where he knew she would start setting up intelligence systems for them.

  They split up, Pele and Pace headed straight for the docks, eager to get going. Darkness was settling in and it would be harder to see them the longer it took to get underway. They wove through the elegantly designed gardens, pools and golden strands of beach. Vacationers lounging and strolling around them, seemingly oblivious to the world’s turn of events.

  Rane had followed the guards toward the lobby for check-in, winding in and out of the different patterns of foliage and pathways. Exhausted and hungry, she started to relax, relieved they had all made it safely off the Arab Peninsula. She looked forward to regrouping in the privacy of their hotel room.

  But suddenly her intuition perked up, partially from her own senses, but also because she saw Kaz start to be on guard. He was observing all the people carefully. As discreetly as possible she kept walking, but now much more on alert. As they wove through the paths of the resort compound, she realized she and Kaz were attracting looks from several of the guests. After all the media attention, especially with Kaz by her side, it was almost impossible not to be recognized. She wondered if it might have been a mistake for her to head to the room alone. How much would the Egyptian guards protect her?

  As they approached the front desk, the guards stepped aside, she moved forward, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see them whispering to each other. The front desk clerk asked her name, she replied “Rosen” quietly.

  He glanced up, and at that moment his look seemed to freeze. Kaz started to growl softly. The clerk slowly continued to check her in, clearly trying to act nonchalant so as not to raise any suspicions, but Rane no longer felt comfortable that she and Kaz were safe. The clerk handed her two keys to the suite. She briskly thanked him, hastily told the soldiers she would be fine, and then swiftly headed for the elevators, no longer sure she could trust them. She knew that if she could get into her Robustor suit, she and Kaz would be safer on their own. As she headed toward the elevator, she slipped down a different hall and into a conference room to change.

  As soon as she was out of sight, she started a text to Pele asking him for Drew and Devon’s location. She knew he had the Locator map on his phone. However, before she could finish, she heard Kaz growl softly. Looking up, she saw a hotel staff member standing before them, holding a tablecloth, clearly surprised to see them. At the same time, Rane could hear footsteps running rapidly down the hall behind her.

  Thinking quickly, she asked innocently, “Pool?”

  The staff person looked confused but pointed to the door behind her. Rane, paralyzed for a moment, scanned the room. Seeing a restroom on the far side, she pointed to the bathroom. The steps get louder behind her. The staff person looked confused, but slowly nodded acquiescence.

  Rane and Kaz bolted for the Ladies’ room. They were barely inside before the door to the conference room burst open and there was a hasty exchange between the staff person and the security guards. The guards threw open the Ladies room door, searching earnestly for Rane and Kaz. A window towards the back was open. The three guards quickly filed out in hot pursuit. A few seconds later Rane dropped down quietly from above one of the stalls, where she’d been holding herself out of eyesight. She slipped Kaz out of his waste basket hiding place, giving him an appreciative pat. Swiftly, she slipped on her suit and put Kaz in his protective gear. They slipped out the same back window, watching cautiously for the guards. Seeing them in the distance, she sprinted across several lawns, Kaz in the lead, and then jumped up onto the roof of a low building, using the extra speed and spring from the Robustor suit to reach a destination farther and higher than her pursuers would ever expect. The darkening sky helped hide them, but it also made it more difficult to identify their pursuers. She waited quietly until the searchers seemed to head in a different direction.

  Once it was quiet again, she checked the text back from her Dad. Devon and Drew appeared to be in a building toward the back of the resort. She slipped from the roof and headed off to find them, Kaz trotting by her side. As she approached their room, she stopped first to shed her suit and slide Kaz’s protective gear off, then stepped inside greeting them both warmly, not wanting them to suspect anything at this stage. She would fill them in later.

  “Ah, look who’s here,” Devon greeted her warmly. “We were just about to come find you in the room.”

  “I couldn’t wait to see how you were doing, El Capitan,” Rane used Drew’s nickname affectionately.

  “Well, fortunately, my wound isn’t too serious. The worst part is a tear to some ligaments,” he said ruefully.

  Rane smiled, “We better get you to where you can elevate and ice it!” Several of them had gotten minor injuries during their training drills and Drew was always ready to apply the freezing ice pack, so she and Devon both relished the opportunity to return the favor.

  Drew rolled his eyes, “I bet you can hardly wait for the chance to get out that freezing ice pack!” They all laughed.

  Once they were out of earshot of the guards, on their way to their room, Rane quickly gave Drew and Devon the rundown on what had happened to her. Devon was clearly concerned, “We should have never left you alone.”

  Rane gently rested her hand on his shoulder and replied reassuringly, “It’s okay. It all worked out. Nothing to worry about now.”

  He glanced over at her and gave her a quick hug, saying without words how relieved he was that she was okay.

  They decided to swing by the lobby and see if Drew, without the two of them, could ask to change rooms, hoping he was less recognizable and could make the switch without alerting anyone.

  They were in luck, as they reached the lobby, a different clerk was at the front desk. Rane, Kaz and Devon, hung back out of sight as Drew hobbled up on his crutches and asked for a different room, explaining the one they had seemed to have a funny smell. He also changed the name on the record as an extra precaution, stating it should be on his credit card, not Rosen’s.

  This clerk did not seem to register the name as he responded, “No problem, we’ll move you into Suite 216. It should have a nice ocean breeze.”

  Drew responded politely, “Thank you kindly. Very nice of you. I hope I’m the only guest sensitive to that smell. Can I offer you a tip for your help?”

  “Oh, that’s very kind of you sir,” said the clerk eagerly as he slipped the cash into his pocket, furtively checking to make sure none of his colleagues saw him.

  “Thank you very much,” Drew smiled and hobbled away. The others joined him at the elevator. “Let’s hope we don't have any unwanted visitors in this room!” he said adamantly as they headed up.

  Chapter 22

  As Pele and Pace boarded the Coast Guard vessel, Pele got another text from Keece, “Dead in the water. I think we’re near Elba National Park’s mango groves.”

  Pele borrowed one of the Egyptian’s handheld translators so he could communicate the message to the captain. The captain nodded and shouted to his crew. The boat immediately pulled away from the dock and proceeded out to sea. They were soon zooming down the coast, trying to beat the setting sun.

  Pele texted back to Keece, “Hold tight. We’re on our way in an Egyptian Coast Guard boat.”

  He hoped his communications with Keece were safe. He guessed ISEX probably had not yet discovered that Rane and her family were not among their hostages, so they were not targeting their phones yet. ISEX also likely did
not know about his efforts with Drew and the children to track their plans and communications, so hopefully, none of his group were on the enemy’s radar yet.

  Pace asked a crewmember for binoculars so he could start scanning the horizon for any signs of the boat. Pele was using the Locator app to track them, especially as the visibility diminished with the darkening sky. They seemed several miles ahead.

  Pele noted with concern that the Locators for Cole, Shanta, Jadyn, and Jaya were still separate from the group. Keece had said “most” of them were safe, did that mean the others were still on the Peninsula? What had happened to them? Cole’s Locator was still in the same place, but the others had moved out of the stadium. Pele’s best guess was that the others had gotten separated from Keece and her group, and ISEX was now moving the younger ones to a new location. At least the three of them were still together.

  As he communicated the position of the boat from the Locators to the Captain, he got a text from Rane. “Dad can you send me the location of Drew and Pace?” He thought for a moment that it was a bit odd that she could not simply ask the Egyptian officers, but maybe they had left her in the room alone, and it was easier to ask him than track them down again. He sent the location to her and then was soon engrossed with tracking the boat again.

  In what seemed like an eternity, Pace finally spotted the boat bobbing in the waves. It had two small lights, one on the bow and one on the stern, and appeared to have several people aboard. Pele called Keece and this time she answered.

  “Pele?” he could hear the excitement in her voice.

  “Can you see us?” he asked, trying to sound reassuring.

  Keece, yelling enthusiastically now, “Yes, I think so! So very happy to hear your voice and see you!”

  It was difficult to hear her over the rumble of the boat’s engine and the waves slapping against the bow, so Pele simply replied, “Yes, talk more soon. I love you.”

  He barely heard her response before he hung up, “Love you, too!”

  Several minutes later, they pulled up beside the small boat and loaded everyone onto the Coast Guard cruiser.

  Keece and Pele eagerly embraced. Keece thought to herself how relieved she was to see him. She had been so happy to have him back in her life after so many years apart. She felt such so much love for this man, for all his devotion and support.

  Then everyone was hugging, grinning and talking at once, all excited to see each other and hear their stories.

  “Boy, are we happy to see you two!” proclaimed Keece, whose sentiments were reiterated by all. They all looked bedraggled from the day’s events, but relieved and delighted to be rescued. Pele took a quick count, a habit from his military days of tracking his squadron; Kala, Sanji, Calice, Zander and, Keece were all there. He was relieved his family was safe, but he couldn’t help worrying about the ones who were still missing. He looked at Keece searchingly.

  “We do have one challenge,” she added somberly, “We lost Jadyn, Jaya, and Shanta on the way out. They were captured.”

  Pele, almost afraid to ask, “And Cole?”

  Keece looked directly into his eyes, tearing up. A hush fell over the group.

  Pele quickly commanded Pace to take the others below deck and get them blankets and hot cocoa.

  He pulled Keece out of earshot and direct view.

  “Oh Pele, it was so senseless. Jadyn, Jaya and Shanta got separated at the exit. The guards you hired kept me from turning back, but they weren’t quick enough to stop Cole. All he did was run after his own children, and they shot him in the back, without even giving him a chance to stop. It was horrible. It was over before any of us could even blink, let alone try to save him. All I could do was hustle the rest of the kids out as fast as I could to save them.” She sobbed into his chest as she finished.

  Pele was silent. Struggling with his own emotions. Distraught at the loss of his good friend. Wishing he could go back, forgive Cole sooner, and spend more time with him. The loss seemed so final.

  After a few moments, he sighed heavily, kissed Keece on the head, “All we can do now is focus on saving his kids and Shanta.”

  She hugged back in agreement. “How are we going to find them?”

  Pele answered a little sheepishly, “Well, I did put Locators on all of you so I could track your whereabouts in case we got separated.”

  Keece gave him an appreciative squeeze. “Locators!? You sneaky, smart bastard! I am very happy you did it this time, but in the future, please let me know if you’re going to be tracking my whereabouts!”

  Pele smiled, “Don’t worry. It was extreme circumstances.”

  Keece continued, “Can you tell where they are? Can we go get them?”

  Pele shook his head, “We’ll have to get back and re-group first. I’m not sure how easy it’s going to be to get back on the Arab Peninsula and free them, but we’ll figure it out.”

  Pele, seeing Zander approaching looking strained and somber, put his arm around him. “I’m very sorry to hear about your father, Zander. He was a very good friend and a good man. But I know he would want us to do everything we can to get your brother, sister, and Shanta back.”

  Zander still looked distressed but answered gratefully, “I know. I’m actually mostly worried about Shanta. Jaya and Jadyn could probably get out of any situation. But I don’t think they’d leave her. I’m afraid she might push them to do that, however.”

  Pele knew Zander was right. “We’ll get them all out, one way or another.”

  They decided it was best to tow the small boat back, rather than abandon it in the middle of the sea. No need to leave clues behind of their whereabouts. Their return trip back was slower, but they arrived at the hotel safe and sound. It was very late by now. The resort was quiet, except for a few stragglers in the bar. They headed straight to the suite number Rane had texted them earlier.

  Rane, Devon, and Drew greeted them eagerly. A spread of tasty snacks and beverages lay before them as they entered. Drew had ordered it for everyone, knowing how hungry they all must be after the long trip. Amidst the greetings, they all dove into the feast, hungry and thirsty after the strain of the last hours.

  Devon found Zander for a brief aside, “Hey, so sorry about your dad,” he offered, a rare expression of compassion from the typically low-key teen.

  He reached out and gave Zander a quick hug.

  A cloud of pain crossed Zander’s countenance before he stopped it. He was clearly trying to maintain a brave face, “Thanks, man.”

  Neither needed to say more.

  Pele checked on Drew’s injury, making sure it was well taken care of by the local medics. Drew explained the diagnosis. “The bullet did some damage to my calf muscle and ligaments, but they think it will heal up fine.”

  Everyone settled down after satiating their appetites.

  Rane and Devon returned to a couple of computers they had already set up on the kitchen island. Pele stopped by them.

  Rane explained, “Drew asked the military if we could borrow a couple of laptops since ours are still back in our rooms in Jeddah.”

  “Good idea,” Pele confirmed. “Can anyone access the data on our computers there?” The question was clearly directed at Devon, the best programmer of the bunch.

  Devon nodded, turning slowly toward Pele, as if being dragged from an engrossing problem, “Fortunately, our secure cloud servers don’t seem to have been hacked. But I went back into all our computers, did an extra back up, wiped everything on the local drives, and then deleted any links to our secure cloud storage.”

  “Great.” Pele agreed.

  Devon turned back and seemed instantly to be immersed in the activity on his screen.

  Rane said to Pele, “By-the-way, General Adams sent a message. He is debriefing with us in the morning at 7am local time. He’s sending over reports as they come in for us to review in advance. The first ones are up on the screen now.” She pointed to the computer where she was sitting. Pele could tell from her expression t
he reports did not look good. He sat down to begin his review.

  “Dad?” Pele looked up in response to Rane.

  “One other thing I should mention,” she filled him in on her escape earlier that evening. She wasn't sure if it was the clerk and his cohorts, or the Egyptian guards, or both, but either way, someone had tried to capture her. They had to be careful who they trusted. And word was clearly out that she and the others were here. They all agreed Drew was the only one to answer the door and no one was to go out without careful planning.

  Chapter 23

  Jadyn, Jaya, Shanta, and Amethyst awoke as the sun streamed in through the windows of the shabby warehouse. They had spent a restless night huddled together, crowded in amongst the other women and girls. There were hundreds of them in this warehouse, and who knew how many other warehouses were filled with more.