Nile Shadows

language while blowing coded smoke signals in the air, without anyone noticing a thing. Certainly no self-respecting member of any superior race would ever show his face there, so it's our kind of place, Joe. A club that will have us without examining our forged credentials, a home of sorts for those who haven't been home since the Babylonians took Jerusalem, say about 586 B.C.? . . .

Joe smiled to himself as he moved along in the evening crowds. What in the world are all these people doing? he thought. Don't they have any idea there's a war on? . . . And so the evening had begun in an ordinary quiet neighborhood and Joe almost laughed out loud, thinking of Stern back there. A kind of relief, he knew, from the tensions building up inside him. But it was stunning all the same. . . . Stern dressed as a beggar? Sitting in rags in the dust at twilight at the end of a cobblestone lane?

A wonder, he thought, that beggar hasn't changed. He probably decided the moment he saw me to try to get a coin. He'd like that, Stern would, just the sort of thing that would give him a quiet chuckle. I'll have to ask him about it sometime.

But the giddy mood didn't last. Almost at once he felt the muscles in his stomach tighten.

Fear, he thought. Out-and-out fear and why not, this whole thing scares me to death. Nothing's looking easy now, just the opposite and getting worse.

Codes, he thought. Ahmad keeps saying Stern has codes on his mind. Well Stern must know his codes all right after all these years, especially these codes we call people and how to unlock their meanings, because that's what Stern's always been . . . a master cryptologist, a master decipherer of the human soul. Only maybe even more so now as the stakes climb higher. So we'll just have to find out why Stern was a beggar in the dust tonight, surveying his limitless kingdom, ah yes. . . .

***

Liffy was in the bar, standing at the counter. He smiled as Joe walked up.

Good evening, Mr Gulbenkian, Liffy called out, using the name that was on the false passport Bletchley had given Joe, part of his strange cover as a naturalized Lebanese citizen of Armenian extraction, a dealer in Coptic artifacts, in transit.

And a very good evening to you, said Liffy again, and welcome to the world of the underclasses. How fares the pursuit of Coptic artifacts on this fair night?

Let's go outside for a walk, said Joe.

They left the bar and moved away from the crowds, finding their way down the paths of a public garden beside the Nile.

Disaster? whispered Liffy uneasily, staring straight ahead.

Not that bad yet, replied Joe. It's not vodka time. Crisis only.

What happened?

Stern's back in Cairo. I saw him near the restaurant where he and Maud go. I didn't have a chance to talk to him because I didn't realize it was him until too late. He was disguised as a beggar. But Bletchley said Stern was going to be away for two weeks and now he's back without Bletchley knowing it, against Bletchley's orders. Why? Everything's moving fast and all of a sudden I don't have a couple of weeks to pick up the signals, nothing like it. I don't know enough yet to go to the Sisters, but I may have to try to see them soon anyway. I wanted to talk with you about it.

In answer, Liffy merely nodded. He was staring straight ahead as they moved along, withdrawn in a way that wasn't like him. A thought struck Joe.

It doesn't seem to be news to you, Liffy. Did you already know Stern was back in Cairo?

Liffy said nothing. For some moments they walked in silence.

I didn't know it for a fact, whispered Liffy at last.

Oh God, thought Joe. . . . Listen, he said quietly, I don't have to tell you Bletchley's been holding out on me from the very beginning, and now Bletchley's got to find out pretty soon that Stern isn't where he's supposed to be, and that's going to start all kinds of trouble. It makes things seem hopeless all of a sudden, because there's no time anymore and I'm nowhere and I can't help Stern this way. So if you can tell me anything. . . .

Liffy groaned. He turned.

Oh look, Joe, I feel very close to you and I feel very close to Stern, but this just isn't my kind of work. I don't really understand any of it and I don't really want to. I'm only a prop here, I told you that.

I know you did. And I respect the fact that you don't want to get pulled into Stern's affairs, and mine.

Only because I'd make a mess of it for both of you, said Liffy, because I know I'm no good at this sort of thing. You'd think I would be after all the time I've spent with disguises and playacting, but that's just it.

What the Monks and the Waterboys do just isn't real to me and I can't take it seriously. Playing at it or laughing about it is fine, but no matter how hard I try I can't really convince myself that any of it makes any sense. Maybe that's because so much of the time I'm wearing some ridiculous costume in some ridiculous role. It's strange, but to me it's like being with Cynthia.

In what way, Liffy?

Well, you know when I go to see her she likes me to pretend this or that, because she thinks it's romantic, and I don't mind because it's still a game in the end, and I know that and so does she.

And this isn't? Is that it?

Well that's the point. This is a game to me but it doesn't seem to be to other people. Other people seem to take it seriously. To me, Cynthia is real. When we're holding each other late at night, that's real. But not the red cloak I might be twirling around in front of her earlier in the evening. That was just fun, nothing, a game.

I know, said Joe. I feel the same way.

You do?

Of course, Liffy. Nothing in this world is ever as real as a woman you hold in your arms. That's as close as we ever come to the truth of being alive, knowing it and not just thinking about it, which is always a second-rate activity.

But how can you manage it then? Doing this?

I can't very well, said Joe. And I know I can't and that's why I gave it up a long time ago. But I came here because I believe in Stern, and someone has to find out the truth about him for his sake, so he won't die thinking it's all been for nothing. Someone has to bear witness now and it doesn't matter whether it's you or me or Maud or somebody else, but I do know it has to be now if it's going to be. Now, God help us.

They were sitting on the bank of the river, gazing at the reflections of light on the water. Liffy was trembling, and when he spoke his voice was so weak Joe could hardly hear him.

. . . someone implied, yesterday, that Stern had just returned to Cairo . . . someone who trusts me, who would never imagine I'd say anything about it to anyone.

This man's involved with clandestine work?

Yes, whispered Liffy, but not the way we are, not with ours. At least that's what I think, I'm not really sure of anything.

This man knows what you do? Whom you work for?

Yes.

He knows Stern well?

Yes. That's how I met him originally. Through Stern.

Why does he believe you wouldn't say anything?

Liffy looked at Joe.

Because I'm a Jew and he knows me. Does that surprise you?

No, I thought it was probably that. He works for the Jewish Agency then?

Liffy made a nervous gesture with his hand, as if brushing something away from his face.

I don't think that's supposed to be known. I'm sure it's not.

Joe nodded.

Do you know which section he reports to? Is it the political section?

Some part of it, I imagine. Would Stern be involved with that?

It's likely, said Joe.

Once more Liffy made the nervous gesture, passing his hand over the side of his face.

Joe? I don't know what's right anymore, I have no idea what's right. . . . Oh why can't things be simple?