The Expedition

The run back from Idfu had been done in what might have been considered, record time. Melanie would not give up the wheel, leaving her father and Stone nothing to do but hang on, gripping the various hand holds with white knuckles. She had made it a point to scold him all the way back about his assurances regarding a safe meeting, all his attempted protests waved aside. Taking his cue from Karl's shaking head and wagging finger, he sat back and took it, in silence. When they reached the university, Melanie stalked off still muttering her displeasure, leaving the two men to catch their breath and unload the truck. Arrangements were made for his belongings to be sent up from the hotel and they arrived the following morning, with a bill that the professor felt obliged to pay. Now, after a busy day organizing supplies and hiring guides, they were comfortably ensconced in the professor's office, putting the final touches on the plans for their trip into the Ghard. Melanie had appeared calm and collected, no indication of the previous day's upset.

"That makes seven of us. More than enough I should think." Karl tossed his pen on the desk and looked over his list again. "Do you think we should be worrying about this Baeder fellow?" He asked.

"Let's say I wouldn't discount the possibility." He raised his eyebrows in emphasis, "But then again, he's only one guy, right? And once we're out of Asyut, he won't know where we are anyway." Stone waved a dismissing hand and pointed to the professor's list, "Getting back to business. We'll need at least three or four days to reach Farâfra Oasis," Stone offered, between his boots that were resting on the corner of the professor's desk, "that's about the only place with a large enough herd to fit us out."

"But isn't that way beyond where we want to go," Melanie said, "why can't we pick them up sooner on this side of the Ghard?" She came from her station at the window and leaned her hip against the side of the desk.

Stone considered her warily. He didn't need any more lectures from little Miss Nitro. "Because right here is the soonest place- this side of the Ghard, and I don't think we want to spend our entire trip on camels- not to mention how much longer it would take." Stone smiled at the girl's annoyance, marveling at her boundless body language.

"Are you certain you know the area well enough to lead our little hunt Jeb?" Karl chewed expectantly on the tip of his pen, "Three or four days is a lot off the time that I can be away."

"No problem getting to Farâfra Oasis, after that we'll need to rely more on Massam Benji and his pals. But I can't help the time professor. It's not exactly what you'd call a throughway."

Melanie bent over her father's desk and picked up the list, a becoming frown graced her features as she read through the names. "This Massam's sister, Oura. Why do we need her?"

"Package deal," Stone replied, swinging his feet down and stretching mightily, "she goes or he doesn't. He is her only family and his sworn responsibility. Besides, she's as familiar with the desert as he is."

"But she's only what, fifteen?" Melanie persisted, having met the man she'd presumed to be the girl's father.

Karl exchanged an amused glance with Stone and leaned forward on the desk, addressing his daughter, "Oura is Massam's sister. She turned twenty this year Mel."

Her mouth dropped open as she looked at the list again. She could feel Stone's eyes on her and the sensation brought a dampness to her chest and sides. "I uh, I think I'll go and shower. It's a lot hotter than I thought it would be today." Mel placed the list on the desk, turned awkwardly, and left the office.

"I'm afraid my daughter acquired a rather hasty maturity after her mother passed away," Karl confessed, "she doesn't see herself as a twenty two year old. Sometimes she behaves as though she's my mother."

"She seems a pretty able woman to me," Stone countered, "but I bet she'll have a bird when she finds out Massam is the same age she is."

Karl looked over at the rugged young man, catching the admiration in his expression. Poor fellow, he thought to himself, Melanie's charm has struck again.

"Sadam and Amin will be ready to leave tomorrow," he spoke up, breaking his reverie, "they'll look after packing the supplies and see that they are loaded into the trucks. What do you make of those two, Sadam and Amin?"

"Seem okay to me. Massam hired them, and I know he's reliable. Why? Got a problem?"

"No, no. Just wondered. Well, unless there's something else I'd like to grab a shower too, pack my maps and research material and get a good night's sleep."

"Sure professor, I'll get out of your hair. I think I'll just hit up a few people I know and see if there's any poop on our friend Max." He picked up his hat and shook the professor's hand, "See you in the morning."

Karl stood as he left, a worried look on his face as he absorbed Stone's words.

*****

Max Baeder stood panting in the oppressive heat of the shop, his feet astride the sprawled legs of the trembling old man.

"There's plenty more where that came from you stupid shit." His wrist ached from the blow he'd delivered to the sprawled dealer's head. Kabbar rolled painfully onto his back, his keffiyeh twisted in a bunch beneath his egg bald scalp, smearing the streak of blood from the gash in his temple.

"One cannot tell what one does not know," he moaned, looking up at the stormy face of his attacker.

"Oh yeah! Well one can tell if he's hurting enough. See this little souvenir," he pointed to the cut on his forehead from Stone's maneuver with the hotel room door. Max leaned over delivering a crunching punch to the man's face. "Bring anything to mind?"

Kabbar dragged himself back to a half sitting position holding his broken, bloody nose, "I swear by Allah," he blubbered through his fingers, "I cannot tell you what you ask." He winced as the sting of Max's boot caught him on the thigh. This is my fate for dealing in information, he complained to himself, fearful of another attack by the crazy intruder swaying over him.

Sweating and frustrated from the exertion, Max swept the contents of the desk down in a shower over the cringing Kabbar. Dust plumed up from the floor, settling on the exposed, damp skin of both men. This whole damn jar business was getting up his nose.

"I found you, you piece of dung, I guess I can find them in Asyut. But if that's not where they went, I'll be back, and next time I'll show you what pain is." He swung his leg, letting out a harsh cheer, as he heard the crack of bone in the old man's side.

Kabbar lay still as he watched the brute trash his way out of the shop. Gasping and near unconsciousness, he grimaced at the agony of his beaten body, in counterpoint to the startled tinkling of temple bells.

*****

"He was in there about fourteen hours before anyone found him sir."

Sergeant Aju Rafiman peered through the filmy gauze curtain around the hospital bed, his eyes travelling over the tubes and bandages covering Kabbar's chest and face. The doctor had forbidden any interrogation until at least the following day, and Rafiman agreed, content with the possible upside of the situation. Two, out of the ordinary calls in one week, he thought, maybe things are looking up. "Who did find him?"

The Corporal turned and pointed down the hall to a waiting area, "The old beggar there. He says he usually goes into the shop every morning for a small portion of rice. Apparently the old man takes pity on him and lets him squat outside the door."

"Did he hear anything? See anything?" Sergeant Aju Rafiman started walking slowly down the hall toward the waiting area. The intruding, medicinal scent of the hospital, prodding his stomach.

"A few piastres loosened his tongue enough to describe a short, stocky foreigner dressed in fatigues, with little hair and a scar over his nose."

"Really? That's quite a wealth of information from a beggar- for such a small sum Corporal."

The policeman blushed and dipped his head to avoid his superior's eyes. "I uh- I gave him a pound note sir. On a department chit." He glanced up waiting for the expected chewing out.

Rafiman frowned, gauging his Corporal's nervousness, "Good work Surri. I think the department can afford a pound note for such information." He clasped his hands behind his back and strode down the hall, ignoring the beggar as he passed. The relieved Corporal scurried after him, waving away the outstretched hands of his witness and nodding his okay to the chit they held.

*****

The two Land Rovers left Asyut just before first light, following the Nile north to El Minya, a major port on the river and the start of the one hundred and forty miles long rail line to Cairo. They expected to arrive there around noon where they would stop over, refilling the gas and water tanks. Stone drove the lead truck with the professor, Melanie and Sadam, who insisted on sitting behind the rear seat with the piles of stores, unwilling to ride next to the white female. Massam and his sister Oura followed in the second truck with Amin jammed in the back along side the rest of the equipment and supplies. The sun was still low on their rear quarter but they could feel the beginning of its strength as it made its ascent.

Being the lead truck, Stone had the windshield down to let the warm air provide as much breeze as possible inside the vehicle. The difference barely warranted the occasional discomfort of flying sand. Unintentionally, he kept flicking his eyes to the rear view mirror, watching Melanie as she took in the passing scenery. He could just catch the open collar of her white cotton blouse and the azure blue scarf tied casually about her slender neck. Her hair was pinned and tucked under the wide brimmed bush hat, which kept flipping up and down with the steady breeze, causing a few errant strands to bounce across her calm face. She held a folded route map in her lap and he could see her refer to it every once in a while, comparing the landscape to the references marked on it.

"Okay back there?" He called to her, over the noise of the engine.

"Fine thank you."

"See that bit of a hump way over there off to your right. That's the ruins of Tell el Amârna."

"Yes I see it. We've been there on one of dad's field trips. I was looking at that huge river boat out there. They move so slowly."

"They're called feluccas. They've been around a long time. When there's no wind they have to row them. Lot of elbow grease needed for that." He found himself attracted to the reflection of her calm demeanor.

"Everything seems so- so, I don't know, like another time." She glanced up and caught him watching her in the mirror and immediately turned away.

"For the most part it still is," he smiled with his eyes as she turned, "the trains have taken over most of that kind of work on the river. But inland, like where we're going, it's still camels and horses that lug the goods."