Jack tapped some keys. “We’ve got to find out if Wizard and Zoe got the Second Pillar from the Neetha. Hopefully, they’ve left a message for me on the Net.”
He brought up the Lord of the Rings chat room, punched in his user name—STRIDER101—and password.
A new screen came up, and Jack scowled. “Nothing.”
No message awaited him.
Wizard’s message would not arrive on the noticeboard for another three days.
Lachlan said, “Jack, there’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“Since we got here we’ve been scanning the military frequencies, searching for news of you or the others. Over the last twenty-four hours, a whole bunch of African nations have scrambled their air forces. There’s also been a spate of air traffic lockdowns in the south of the continent: first Zimbabwe and then Mozambique, then Angola, Namibia, and Botswana. No commercial air traffic allowed. Someone’s cutting off all the air corridors to South Africa.”
Jack thought about that. “The next vertex is underneath Table Mountain in Cape Town, you say?”
“A little to the south of it, yes,” Lachlan said.
“We have to get there,” Jack said, suddenly standing. “We have to get there before the deadline.”
“What do you mean?” Julius asked.
“The way I see it, there are two ways this thing can pan out—one, Wizard, Lily, and Zoe get the Pillar and get to Cape Town; which means they’re going to be arriving in Cape Town with enemies hot on their heels. They’ll need us there.”
“And second?”
Jack bit his lip.
“The second option is worse. It’s that Wolf gets the Pillar and heads for Cape Town with it. If he sets it in place, that’s fine by me—it saves the world for a little longer. But as you’ve just said, Wolf’s CIEF team has been compromised by the Japanese Blood Brotherhood. At least one member of his team, this Switchblade, is a traitor— and he does not want to see the Pillar set in place at all. He wants to destroy the world, to erase Japan’s shame. And if Switchblade is part of Wolf’s Cape Town team, then he’s going to make sure they don’t successfully lay the Pillar.”
“Which would be very bad,” Lachlan said.
“End-of-the-world bad,” Julius said.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “So, either way, we have to get to Cape Town, to help Wizard or—and I can’t believe I’m going to say this—to help Wolf.”
Julius asked, “But how do we get to South Africa within four days and not do it by air?”
Jack gazed out the window.
“There’s one man I know who might be able to help us, but we haven’t a moment to lose.” He stood up. “Come on, gentlemen. We’re going to Zanzibar.”
NAIROBI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
DECEMBER 13, 2007, 1800 HOURS
4 DAYS TO SECOND DEADLINE
THAT EVENING,Jack stood on the tarmac at Nairobi International Airport, about to board a chartered private plane, a little Cessna that he’d paid for wholly in cash, adding a grand to ensure that no questions were asked.
The Kenyan pilot took the money without so much as a blink. Such payments weren’t uncommon for people traveling to Zanzibar.
As the twins boarded the plane, Jack remained on the tarmac with Pooh Bear.
“I guess this is it,” he said.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve with you, Jack West Jr.,” Pooh Bear said.
“The honor has been mine, my friend.”
“When you see Lily again, please give her my love.”
“I will.”
“I am sorry I cannot go with you from here. But I just can’t leave Stretch to—”
“I understand,” Jack said. “If I could, I’d go with you.”
They stared at each other for a long moment. Then, as if he were struck by a thought, Jack reached down and unstrapped his bulky wristwatch. He handed it to Pooh. “Here. Take this. It has an SOS distress beacon, a GPS locater. If you get in trouble, press the button and I’ll know where you are.”
Pooh Bear took the watch and put it on. “Thank you.”
Jack regarded Pooh for a moment, then he stepped forward and embraced the Arab tightly.
“Good luck, Zahir.”
“Good luck to you, too, Huntsman.”
And then they separated and Jack watched as Pooh Bear walked purposefully off the runway, and as he stood
