by J C Ryan
“Ah, now that was very nice! What was it for?” she asked when he moved his lips away from hers.
He smiled. “Because I am the happiest man in the universe, because I am so grateful to have you as a wife, and because you are right here with me. What else can a man desire?”
Before Mackenzie could respond, the secure satellite phone rang. It was Irene. Mackenzie answered. Carter went to the kitchen to start the coffee machine. When he returned with the two mugs of coffee, he was just in time to hear Mackenzie ending the call with, “Don’t worry. There’s enough space for everyone. Yes, I’m sure. Looking forward to see you tomorrow, Irene, and I’ll let Bly know you’re coming. We’ll expect you around ten o’clock then. Have a safe flight.”
Carter handed Mackenzie her coffee. “Who’s coming? Sounded like it’s more than just Irene and James.”
“Yes, Sean and Dylan will be coming as well.”
“Sean and Dylan . . . Hmm, I wonder what they have in mind. I actually planned to talk to them but first wanted to run the idea by you.”
“What were you thinking?”
“Well, I am of the opinion, now that we are back in the snake pit, it will be wise to get a security detail in place again. Like I had before.”
“Great minds think alike!” Mackenzie laughed. “I was actually going to talk to you about that.”
“In that case, we’ll have to think about extending the cabin or building separate quarters for them. What do you think?” Carter asked.
“Let’s discuss that with Sean and Dylan when they’re here, but I would prefer them having their own quarters — if that’s practical.”
“Agreed. It would be easy to build a few single bedroom cabins out there. Ahote could oversee it — he constructed their cabin,” Carter replied. “If it’s the same guys who were on my protection detail, they can also take on the task of training the two of us. They’re tough, but they know what they’re doing.”
“Just as long as I get a nice back scrub from you, like this morning, every day during our after-training showers.” Mackenzie chuckled.
“That’s a deal.” He laughed. “Okay, where were we before the phone rang? . . . the kiss and the reasons for it?”
“You already gave the reasons, and I love it. Can we now have a look at the Sirralnnudam before you get distracted again?” she said sternly.
“Ah, well if you insist.” Carter grinned. “After all, it is this book that led us to find you.”
“Well, it seems to me the old saying ‘crime doesn’t pay’ has been proven wrong then. At least in this instance,” she said.
“Mackie, if ever there was a grateful man for a crime his wife committed, you are looking at him. I just don’t know how we would ever have reached you, Liam, and Beth if it wasn’t for your crime when you copied this book.”
“I know I should feel guilty, but somehow I can’t. It’s what saved us and brought us back to each other.”
Carter nodded quietly. “Let’s just hope my criminal deed of stealing the library of the giants produces the same lifesaving results as yours.”
“I won’t exactly call that theft, Carter. I like to think of it as crime prevention — or rather terrorism prevention.”
“Thanks, Mackie. You have a way of making me feel a bit better about it. But I’m sure that’s not how my archeologist colleagues will see it, and neither would the courts, especially the Egyptian courts.”
He sat down next to Mackenzie and looked at her computer screen, where she had the book open. She handed the mouse to him. He scrolled back to the first page and started reading, mumbling inaudibly as he looked at the words.
“Hey, I am here.” She waved her hand in front of his eyes. “Tell me what you’re reading.”
“Huh? Oh, sorry. It’s written in proto-Arabic. In other words, an ancient version of Arabic. The name Sirralnnudam literally means ‘the scroll of secrets of blood.’ It says that this book was compiled from several older sources and information passed on through the ages . . . wait, no, not ages . . . that word there means millennia — thousands of years.”
“Carter! That’s amazing! Wow! I mean you can just read it like that. Does it give the names of the other sources?”
“No names yet. I think we’ll see the names later in the text. A pity these old scripts didn’t have an index. That would have made it a lot easier to know what’s inside.”
“Well, let’s scroll through and see if you can get the gist of what it says.”
“It’s not going to be that easy — my ancient Arabic is a bit rusty. It’s going to take some effort to get back into the swing of it. I think it’s best if you get on with something else. I’ll copy it to my tablet. Then I can carry it around and read it anywhere. I’ll make notes for you as I go.”
With the book copied onto his tablet, Carter walked out and sat down on the deck, reading, highlighting text, and annotating. Hours later, he thought his tablet had run out of power, but when he looked up, he saw that the sun was setting. He’d been so fascinated he didn’t hear Mackenzie getting busy with dinner preparations in the kitchen.
Carter went back to the study, plugged the tablet in to recharge, and joined Mackie in the kitchen. Beth was in her carrycot on the couch. She was almost three months old, and to the delight of everyone, a week or so ago she’d started smiling and laughing whenever she saw one of them. It quickly became a contest for all of them to make her smile and laugh. Carter tickled her tummy, and she started giggling. She was elated to see his face and made happy sounds when he picked her up.
“Any interesting stuff in the Sirralnnudam?” Mackenzie asked as she handed Carter a glass of red wine.
“Oh yes, I found—”
He didn’t get any further as Liam and Jeha came bursting through the door. “Mom, Dad, have a look here!” he shouted. “I landed four big ones! Uncle Ahote filleted them for us.” Proudly, he held up the plate with fish fillets for them to see.
“Oh my, Liam! That’s a big catch,” Mackenzie said. She gave him a hug while she took the plate from him.
Carter smiled. “It certainly looks like you two had a good day, son. That’s an excellent catch. But you’ll have to go back tomorrow and get us some more; we’re having four guests arriving.”
Liam’s face exploded with pride. “I will go and tell Uncle Ahote.”
“Wait, I’ll go with you. Let me just put the beanie over Beth’s head, and she can come with us.”
Mackenzie smiled and nodded. “Dinner will be ready in about an hour.”
***
Later that night when the children were asleep, Mackenzie nestled in Carter’s arm, they returned to discussing the Sirralnnudam.
Carter explained he found references to other sources, which they would have to try and track down. Some would probably be somewhere in the Middle East, if they still existed. Others would be in India or Pakistan, and some could even be in China.
Mackenzie was getting excited. “That means we’ve got some traveling coming up?”
“It appears to be the case,” Carter replied. “But we won’t be going out there alone. We’ll need a protection detail to go with us. I’m not putting us in danger again.”
“Agreed. One more thing to put on the agenda to discuss with Sean and Dylan,” she replied. “So, apart from the references to the other scripts, did you manage to get an idea of what is covered in the contents?”
Carter nodded. “Yep, some of it. So far, I gathered that the document is categorized into topics covering the functions and composition of blood, the human circulatory system, blood-borne diseases and ailments, treatments and cures, but there is a lot more to read. So far, nothing about respirocytes, although I doubt, even if they were familiar with the concept, that they would have referred to it by that name.”
“Hmm, I can understand that. I’ve been thinking how I could get Liu involved again. She was such a good friend during our ordeal in Saudi Arabia, and not only that, she is a genius when it comes to the
translation of ancient texts.”
“Strangely enough, that thought has crossed my mind a few times. My only concern is about her security and safety if she is working on the translation off-site and on her own. Maybe it’s another topic to discuss with Sean and Dylan.”
“Yes, let’s do that. I would love to continue working with her. We understand each other so well, and she knows exactly what I’m after.”
“By the way, I got the impression there was a thing going between her and Dylan,” Carter said. “Or was that just because she felt lonely and scared during the rescue mission?”
Mackenzie chuckled. “No, you’re right about the thing going. I speak to her often, and all I hear is Dylan this, and Dylan that, and Dylan and I . . . Reading between the lines, it seems to me Dylan has been spending more time in Boston than DC lately. I’m not surprised — after all, he carried her in his arms out of her room and up those stairs. Very romantic.”
“Huh, what was so romantic about that? It was a do or die situation, no time for romance,” Carter mumbled.
“Carter, let me educate you a little about women. Any woman gets rescued like that by a man — it’s romantic.”
“As opposed to stepping on her toes in a dark alley at the University?” Carter laughed.
Mackenzie replied with an elbow to his ribs.
“Ouch! You will never let me forget about that, will you?” He laughed.
Chapter 15 -
They’re inconvincible
The next morning, Carter and Mackenzie continued their training regimen, followed by a tantalizing shower, which included the contractually-agreed mutual back scrub, and finally breakfast before they settled down in the study to work.
Right on time, ten a.m., they heard the plane approaching, dropped what they were doing, scrambled out to the electric carts, and drove out to the landing strip. They arrived just in time to see Sean Walker landing the Executive Advantage twin-engine, four-seater Beech Baron 58.
Soon after, Bly turned up in another electric cart to welcome the visitors and help transport them and their luggage.
Sean taxied the plane into the hangar next to Carter’s plane, where they all emerged, greeted each other with hugs and handshakes while packing their baggage into the electric carts, and drove off.
A little while later, they were all gathered around the kitchen table at the Devereux cabin, where Mackenzie and Bly treated them to coffee and carrot cake.
Later, they all strolled up to one of the vantage points close to the cabin, from where they enjoyed the stunning scenery over part of the eastern side of Freydís. On the way, Sean’s and Dylan’s whispering and exchanging of a few meaningful looks and nodding didn’t escape Carter. He didn’t ask what it was about — they would tell him in due time why they were there.
Right after lunch, Bly left as they all retired to the comfortable living room to talk about the projects.
James started by giving Carter and Mackenzie an overview of the meetings they had with President Grant and the Director of the CIA, Bill Griffin. He nodded for Irene to continue.
“You can’t imagine how relieved we were when Carter called us a few days ago to say the two of you are ready to jump back on the wagon.” She smiled. “We, especially Jim,” she mocked, “thought the two of you would never want anything to do with us again.”
“It took a bit of convincing, Irene.” Mackenzie grinned, but didn’t explain that Carter was the one who had to be swayed.
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise,” Carter mumbled.
“What was that, Carter?” Irene asked.
“Proverbs 6, verse 6 — Solomon.” Carter grinned and then told them about the conversations he and Mackenzie had about the projects and how watching the wolves helped him change his mind.
“Those wolves are the most remarkable animals,” Irene replied pensively, as she remembered how the wolves had been instrumental in discovering Mackenzie and Liam were still alive and their eventual rescue. “Well, the most important part is that you’re back. We admire you for that and are grateful that you’re ready, willing, and able to continue.”
For the rest of the afternoon, they delved into the details of Carter’s and Mackenzie’s projects and what A-Echelon and others could do to help so that the work could be progressed at the best possible pace.
Mackenzie told them they had decided to make Freydís their home base for the foreseeable future and that Liam would be homeschooled until he was old enough to go to a private boarding school — maybe in Quebec City or Montreal.
Sean and Dylan traded a quick this-is-going-to-work-out-just-fine look between them while Mackenzie was talking.
Carter explained that he planned to contact the University and hopefully renegotiate his contractual arrangements with them. He was keen to continue his association with them and hoped they would agree to him becoming a guest lecturer and researcher. If necessary, he could give lectures via the video link — if the Dean was agreeable.
“While we’re on the topic of the University,” Mackenzie said with a small conniving smile, “Dylan, we, Carter and I, were thinking of asking Liu to take a break and come and help me with the translation of the Sirralnnudam and other documents. Do you think she might be interested?”
“Mackenzie,” he grinned, “let me answer both your questions.”
“What do you mean both? I—”
“Yes, both. I know you and Liu talk at least three times a week.” Dylan chuckled. “And I’m sure she is keeping you informed about what is going on between us. The answer to your hidden question is yes, I’m in love with her. The answer to your other question is I think she’d like it very much, but you’ll have to ask her yourself.”
Irene and Mackenzie stood and started clapping their hands in applause. Irene laughed and said, “Now all you have to do, Dylan Mulligan, is to tell her what you told us — both of your replies.”
The men were just shaking their heads at Irene’s and Mackenzie’s antics — women! Incomprehensible, yet impossible for men to live without them.
Mackenzie had just gotten up to start the espresso machine when Beth let everyone know she’d woken from her afternoon sleep and required attention. Carter went to her room, changed her diaper, and brought her out to the living room, where she immediately became the main attraction. She was not shy of strangers.
James got the first honor of holding her on his lap and coaxing a smile from her, followed by Irene. Even Sean and Dylan, the two hardened Special Forces operators, succumbed to her charms.
With coffee in hand, the conversation turned to the ancient nuclear weapons — Carter’s project, which came to a halt when Mackenzie and Liam were abducted and the search for them was begun.
Carter told them although he may not have been actively working on it, he’d been thinking a lot about it and had some ideas.
“We’ll have to cast our nets much wider — expand our search efforts. That information retrieved from Algosaibi’s laptop about the nuclear site the True Sons of the Prophet discovered at Palmyra, Syria, is worrying. And what is more worrying is it was found right in the heart of ISIS country.
“We’ll have to assume by now there’s more than one fanatic out there who knows about the ancient nukes, and I’m willing to bet is also out looking for them.
“From that report, I gathered the radioactivity levels in those tunnels are lethal, and the people who entered the tunnels without protective clothing died from radiation poisoning.”
“Music to ears of the radicals,” Sean muttered.
Carter slowly nodded. “I have no doubt anymore. Actually, I stopped questioning the reality of those weapons a long time ago. They are as real as the sun out there.
“The challenge we have is to find out who built them, where, and how they did it. And my guess is that’s exactly what the extremists are thinking — who, where, and how.”
“Any ideas how we can stay ahead of them?” James asked.
&nb
sp; “Digging, Jim, digging — with picks and shovels.”
“Where?” Jim was serious.
“Start in the east and dig our way to the west . . . .” Carter started laughing.
James snorted as he realized Carter was having him on. “I should’ve known you’d pull a fast one on me at the first chance you got.”
“Don’t worry, Jim, there won’t be that much digging,” Carter said. “I think we have to do more underground surveying of those sites we identified before and dig them up to see if we can find information. I’m hoping at least one, maybe more, will produce written records that could give us some clues.”
“What about the library of the giants?” Irene asked.
“I’m about to start working on that again. I might need help with it though — the last time I looked at it, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. But then that was in the midst of the planning and preparations for the rescue operation. Maybe I'll do better now that I can apply my mind to it . . . without distractions.”
Mackenzie smiled as she remembered how distracted Carter got the previous day when they were working in the library and couldn’t help herself. “I’ll make sure he stays focused.”
Irene started giggling, and then the men caught on when they saw Carter’s embarrassed look.
Before anyone could prolong Carter’s suffering, Liam and Jeha came to his rescue as they arrived with a big noise and a bucket full of fish fillets.
Liam stopped in the door when he saw all the people and went quiet. Then he recognized them all, handed the bucket with fillets to Mackenzie, and went around quietly greeting everyone — the smell of fish following him like a wave.
He also gave Beth a little hug and kiss, which made her laugh out loud.
Jeha followed Liam, sniffing out everyone. She showed she was happy when she recognized them from their previous visits and allowed each of the guests to give her, to her delight, a little pat or ear-scratch.
Liam’s arrival brought an end to their discussions — they would continue after dinner. Bly turned up shortly after with some salads and dessert and to help Mackenzie and Irene prepare the rest of the dinner. Ahote would join them shortly.