“No,” he said plainly. “I have taught you from a young age, ever since your father died. And I have sworn to protect you, even from yourself. So I will speak and you will listen and then you decide what to do when I am through.”
Jinn looked up in shock, enough so that his instinct to kill Sabah for disobeying him was checked.
“This consortium,” Sabah began, “they’ve given billions of dollars to your effort. And they are powerful men in their own right, bound to flex their muscle every now and then.”
Jinn gazed at Sabah as if mesmerized, listening as he often had during the years.
“The fact that they come as one suggests danger,” Sabah continued. “They’re unified.”
Jinn looked around his office. There was little in the way of decor. But weapons of the past were displayed on one wall, a curved scimitar caught his eye.
“Then I will kill them all,” Jinn said. “I will cut them to pieces with my own two hands.”
“And what would that get us?” Sabah asked. “They have not come alone. Each brings a squad of armed men. In total numbers they are almost equal to our own. It would bring only war. And even if we won, others would undoubtedly investigate, perhaps even seek revenge.”
For the first time in a great while, Jinn felt vulnerable, cornered. If they had known what they were stirring in him, they would not have pressed the issue.
“This could not have come at a worse time,” he said. “We have other guests to prepare for.”
“They will be dealt with,” Sabah insisted.
“Fine,” Jinn said. “What do you suggest?”
“We must send a message that does not start a war. I suggest we show them what they want to see. One to see it closely, the other to observe from a distance.”
A sinister look came over Sabah’s face, and Jinn began to understand. He had to discount Sabah as old and out of touch, but no more.
“Order the test bay flooded,” Jinn said.
“It has been configured to simulate the attack on Aswan.”
A smile crept onto Jinn’s face. “Perfect. Proceed with the demonstration. Give them a front-row seat. It would make me very happy for them to see more than they bargained for.”
A flash of understanding appeared on Sabah’s face.
“I will do as you command,” he said.
Jinn looked back through the glass partition to his workers below. They moved here and there. The machines were operating again, running at full capacity. At the end of the production line a trickle of silver sand had begun to fill a yellow plastic drum. Beyond it, fifty-nine other drums waited. They would carry the latest batch of his horde. And if Jinn was right, they would break the will of Aziz and force Egypt’s military leaders and their wealth back into his hands.
CHAPTER 21
KURT REACHED THE TOP OF THE BLUFF A FEW SECONDS ahead of Joe. He studied the layout.
The landing pad was set up three-quarters of the way to the front edge. A Russian-made helicopter sat in the center of the pad. The cargo door was rolled back, and a pair of men dressed like guards sat in the open doorway, sharing a cigarette and talking.
Glancing around, Kurt saw no one else. “Can you get them both?”
Joe nodded. “Two birds with one stone,” he said. “Or, in this case, multiple wires.”
Kurt was glad to hear that. He pointed to the far side of the copter. Joe moved that way, clinging to the side of the bluff like a rock climber.
When Joe reached a covered spot beside the gray machine, Kurt pulled the cloth of the caftan across his face. He stepped from his own hiding spot and walked toward the men, holding his hands out and muttering something about a lost camel.
The men snapped to attention and moved toward him. One put a hand on his sidearm but didn’t draw it out, perhaps because Kurt looked like a local, perhaps because he had his hands up as he spoke.
The men seemed utterly baffled. They continued toward him looking angry, never seeing Joe move in behind them.
They fell forward silently. Reveling Joe grinning and holding a Taser, which he’d fired into the two men.
“Oh where, oh where has my little
“Great thing about Tasers,” Joe said, “they work so quick, people can’t even yell out.”
The coiled wires were still attached, and when the men began to move, Joe zapped them again.
“I think they’ve had enough, Dr. Frankenstein.”
Joe switched the power off, and the tension left the two men instantly. Kurt was on them, jabbing a tranquilizer dart into each and watching their eyes roll up in their heads. As the men went limp, Joe pulled out the Taser wires and helped Kurt carry the two back to the helicopter.
They piled the men inside, climbed in after them, and then slid the door shut.
A few moments later the door opened. Kurt and Joe came out dressed in the guards’ dark blue clothing, complete with kaffiyehs that covered their faces and hair. While Joe pretended to watch the helicopter, Kurt looked around for the tunnel he’d seen.
He discovered a cut in the stone and followed it to a ladder that dropped straight down. At the bottom he found a door made of steel with an electronic sensor lock above the handle. It looked familiar, like the locks in any hotel.
“Let’s just hope we have a reservation,” he said to himself as he rummaged through the guard’s pockets. Finding a card key in one, he slipped it in the card reader and pulled it out. When the light went green, he turned the handle.
“Easy as pie,” he whispered.
Propping the door open with a small rock, he climbed back up the ladder and whistled to Joe. A moment later they were in the tunnel and taking a steep set of stairs downward.
“Into the rabbit hole,” Kurt said. “Just keep an eye out for the Jabberwocky.”
“What exactly is a Jabberwocky again?” Joe asked. “I was never quite sure.”
“It’s something bad and scary,” Kurt said. “You’ll know it when you see it.”
They descended the stairs and came to a warren of tunnels. They took one that angled downward and came to another crossroads.
“I feel like I’m in an ant farm,” Joe whispered.
“Yeah,” Kurt said. “I can just imagine giant people watching us through the glass.”
They moved down the tunnel to another intersection.
“Which way?” Joe asked.
“No idea,” Kurt said.
“We either need a guide or a map.”
Kurt’s brow wrinkled. “If you see a lighted display that says ‘You are here,’ be sure to let me know.”
They found no such thing, but then Kurt noticed something else.
Up above, a series of pipes ran through the tunnel. Power conduits and possibly water or natural gas. All the things a production center needed.
“We need to find the factory,” he said. “I’m thinking we follow the power lines.”
They moved along a tunnel, tracking the conduits. It led them to a larger hallway, wide enough to drive a car through. A pair of men dressed like them walked toward them, coming from the opposite direction. Kurt forced himself to remain relaxed as they approached. Nevertheless, he was ready for a fight. But they passed without a word, and he breathed a little easier.
At the end of the tunnel they came to an open section of the cave. Concrete flooring had been put in, and a
