Desert Gods by Jim Buckner

Author:Jim Buckner [Buckner, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller, mystery, medical thriller, techno thriller
Publisher: StoneHouse Ink

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THREE HOURS’ WALK INTO the heart of the Rub’ al Khali, the procession came to a sudden stop. Simultaneously, a loud wailing racked the desert air. Every married woman in the group, some four dozen, released her stored-up grief. Beneath the isolating curtain of sand, each wail rose and fell like spirits emerging from the desert itself.

Adel had thought me joking when I first shared my modified plan. Then she’d been irate. Within the span of thirty seconds, she reached a level of determined assent. I couldn’t be sure whether she had agreed so quickly due to the cunning of the strategy or simply due to her frustration with the whole predicament.

But when the moment came, she didn’t hesitate.

As the majority of the procession rushed forward to prepare the pyres, the man guarding the water remained isolated near the back. I slipped behind the three camels carrying water, one of them clanking with an extra bundle sounding of metal. Withdrawing a single scimitar, I strode toward the head of the lead animal.

Coming suddenly upon the man charged with protecting the water, I discovered Adel had enacted her end of the plan with smashing success. Mesmerized and completely unaware of my presence, the man stood with his back to me.

Suppressing a chuckle, I slapped him upside the head with the broad side of the sword, dropping him instantly. Just as quickly, Adel tucked her gleaming, white assets back into her abaya. I handed her the reins of the lead camel, a blank expression on my face.

“Men. Idiots in every culture.”

“We know what we like.”

She shook her head.

“Here.” I handed her the sword. “After you ditch the camels to the north, work your way around due south. I’ll find you.” I removed the remaining swords, dashing ahead before Adel could argue.

I reached the gathering site of the ceremony as the members of the unit were being shoved toward the front. With little chance for a quiet exit, I hoped the prospect of fighting six armed men, five of them professional warriors, would encourage Hassan’s kinsmen to back down. Weaving quickly through the mourners, I scanned my psychic grid for Evie, who appeared as a bright star the moment I drew within range.

I gripped the hilt of a scimitar still rolled in camel’s hide. The wailing intensified, joined now by chanting men. The unit had been kicked forward and surrounded. Evie stood to the side, ten meters farther. I had to reach her first.

A leg jutted in front of me, a fist catching me across the back. Instinctively, I spun into the attacker, transferring my momentum into him. Dropping the bundle of swords, I slung the man into the sand and landed with my arm barred across his throat. “Petrosian, dammit.”

He grunted, pushing me off. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

“Anywhere but here, and you?” I snatched the camel hide and checked on Evie, who was heading in our direction.

“Now hold your water, son. We’ll be shoving off soon enough.”

“Soon enough for who?” I gestured toward the unit as Evie offered me a hand up.

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