The Hidden Oasis by Paul Sussman

Author:Paul Sussman
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 0802145078
Publisher: Grove Press
Published: 2008-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

After she’d left, Kiernan eased herself into the armchair Freya had just vacated. The hiss of the shower echoed from the far end of the flat.

‘She’s just like Alex, don’t you think?’

Flin was working through the photographs again, still in his filthy shirt and jeans.

‘Different as well,’ he said, not looking up. ‘Darker. She’s definitely got baggage.’

He held one photo above his head, squinted at it.

‘Alex never did tell me what happened between them,’ he added, almost as an afterthought. ‘It was the one thing she’d never talk about.’

He lowered the photo and held up another. Kiernan watched him, drumming her fingers on the arm of the chair.

‘See anything?’

Flin shook his head.

‘Although this one’s interesting.’

He handed her the picture he’d been examining – a statue of a human figure with the head of a crocodile. It stood on a large, cube-shaped plinth on whose face – clearly visible – was a hieroglyphic text framed within the coils of a serpent.

‘Sobek and Apep?’ asked Kiernan.

Flin nodded.

‘The same curse formula as in the Imti-Khentika papyrus. May evildoers be crushed in the jaws of Sobek, and swallowed into the belly of the serpent Apep. Except here there’s something more. See.’

He leant forward and tapped a finger on the bottom of the picture.

‘And inside the serpent’s belly,’ he translated, ‘may their fears become real, their resut binu – that’s evil dreams – a living torment. Not exactly revelatory, but intriguing from an academic point of view. Another tiny fragment of the mosaic.’

‘Does it get us any closer to the actual oasis?’

He grunted.

‘Not even a millimetre.’

He took the photo back, flipped through the rest of the pile one more time, then dropped them on the sofa and stood.

‘By all means get them enhanced, but I can tell you now there’s nothing here,’ he said. ‘You’re wasting your time, Molly. They’re useless.’

He rolled his neck and walked across to a wooden cabinet on the far side of the room. Opening it, he pulled out a three-quarters-empty bottle of Bell’s whisky and a small tumbler.

‘Medicinal,’ he said, noting the disapproving look on Kiernan’s face.

He filled the tumbler, knocked it back in one slug and refilled it, replacing the bottle in the cabinet and returning to the sofa. For a while he just sat there, swirling the whisky around, the liquid lapping the inside of the glass like a dirty gold tongue. The hiss of streaming water could still be heard from the bathroom. Then, downing half the drink, Flin fixed his eyes on Kiernan. ‘There’s something else, Molly.’

She raised her eyebrows, tilted her head slightly.

‘I think someone might be hacking into your mobile.’

Kiernan said nothing, although the way her fingers suddenly stopped drumming suggested Flin’s comment had taken her by surprise.

‘When Freya arrived in Cairo she left a message on your voicemail,’ he went on. ‘Letting you know she was coming to see me at the university. Thirty minutes later a bunch of goons turn up and make straight for my office. It’s conceivable someone on campus

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