Sandfire by Andrew Warren

Author:Andrew Warren [Warren, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller
ISBN: 1230002504797
Amazon: B07D6K9V91
Barnesnoble: B07D6K9V91
Goodreads: 40187235
Publisher: Andrew Warren
Published: 2018-05-19T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Kimberley drove her Fiat out of Sana’a’s congested nighttime traffic, and through the Central Highland mountains. In the early hours of the morning, as the sun rose ahead in the east, they hit the Al Qaeda controlled ‘checkpoints’ in the township of Ma’rib.

Caine spoke to the heavily armed guards, using practiced phrases Safiya had taught him earlier. He explained they were Bedouin, returning from a trip to Sana’a where they had sold rugs. He was the only one talking, since Al Qaeda didn’t deem to speak to women. His story was that Safiya was his wife and Kimberley was his daughter. The aid worker’s age was close to his own, but that didn't matter. With all but her eyes covered, no one could tell her real age at a glance.

Caine’s weapons were never once questioned.

After a few minutes of awkward negotiation, he paid their ‘protection’ money. The guards let them through.

By early morning they entered the desert. The sun climbed higher in the sky, and soon they were deep within the dunes of the world’s largest sand desert. Most of the sand rifts were more than two-hundred feet high. When they stopped for a break, Caine stared north towards the heart of the Empty Quarter. They had parked on a rise, and all he could see were wave after wave of dunes. The towering mounds stretched a hundred miles or more, and vanished beyond the horizon. A thousand aircraft could crash into that desert and none would ever be found again. He felt humbled by the vast expanse before him.

“It’s impressive,” Kimberley said as she came up behind him.

“It is,” he agreed.

“These dunes are tiny, compared to what we’ll find deeper in.”

“You’ve been inside the Empty Quarter?”

She shook her head. “I’ve travelled further north than this, but I’ve only stood on its edge. Those dunes move by the way, up to thirty meters a year.”

“So, you can’t even use them as landmarks?”

“That’s right. They're like waves in the sea, only in slow motion.”

Caine squinted in the harsh, over-head sun. He turned to look back at her. “How do you know so much about the Quarter?”

Kimberley shrugged. “I don’t know. I like to immerse myself in the history of the places I visit. The geography, the culture. There is much that is beautiful about this country. The Empty Quarter is beautiful in my eyes, as well.”

He looked out again over the endless sea of burning sands. “I agree with you,” he said, shading his eyes with his hands. “It is beautiful. Beautiful and dangerous. Like a tiger, or a leopard.”

She laughed but said nothing.

“We should get going,” he said. “So far no one’s followed us, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t being hunted.”

They left quickly. Caine took a turn driving, with Kimberley in the seat next to him providing direction. Safiya, being the smallest of the three, again squeezed into the back.

While they drove, Kimberly translated as Safiya told her story to Caine. Her trek across the Rub’ al Khali. How she had found the plane, loaded with American weapons.

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