Close Up the Sky (41 page)

Taylor knelt
beside him. In the moonlight, Nessif's face was even
uglier
than it had been in the bright sun. "You know this man?" she asked.

"Yes. This is
the criminal I told you about. It looks like he finally got what he was asking
for."

He stood up and
moved over to the giant. Summerhour was already there, kneeling beside him. He
wore a pained expression, as though it hurt him to look at the man's body. Matt
had never seen a face so mistreated by nature. One of the eyes had been shot
away and blood oozed from a ragged hole in the bony forehead. It appeared that
Nessif had gotten off two shots and put them where they did the most damage.

"It's
Bolek," Summerhour muttered. He reached out and brushed a few strands of
hair away from the pitiful face.

"Bolek?"
Matt repeated. "You know him?"

Summerhour stood
up, took a deep breath, and blew it out slowly. "Yes. He was just a poor
disfigured misfit who lived alone in the desert. He was so ugly that his tribe
refused to allow him to live with them. An outcast you might say. He scared the
hell out of me the first time I ever saw him; nearly gave me a heart attack. It
was a few years ago when I led an exploratory team into the Valley of the Kings
to look for a certain tomb. It was twilight, and I had wandered away from the
rest of my team looking around in the rocks for the hidden entrance. I had no
idea that anyone else was around. Old Bolek here just popped up out of nowhere.
I almost shot him, but I quickly realized that he didn't mean any harm. Turns
out he was as gentle as he was big. After we all got used to him we started
using him as a laborer to move some of the heavier rocks from the dig. I guess
we were the only friends he ever had." He paused and scratched his head. "I
wonder what he was doing here, so far from home?"

Matt looked down
at the huge body and sighed. "I think I know."

Taylor and
Williams came over and joined them.

"What the
hell is
that
?" Williams asked
when he saw the enormous corpse.

Matt gave him a
sidelong look. "A friend of mine," he said.

"What do you
mean?" Summerhour asked, puzzled.

"Just a
minute. I want to check something." He knelt down and examined the body. On
the left front of Bolek's robe were two small holes with dark stains around
them. Matt opened the robe and saw bullet wounds in Bolek's side that matched
the holes in the cloth. The wounds were old, but still unhealed. He removed a
flint knife with a long blade from a pocket inside the robe and held it up to
the light. He nodded, but said nothing to the others, remembering the condition
of the Morruk bodies in the desert.

"This must be
the giant who pulled me out of Nessif's fire pit and killed the Morruks,"
Matt explained to Summerhour. "He probably saw the green flash from the
stellarite beam when we transported in, but the storm prevented him from
finding us. I saw some big footprints in the sand while I was making my way out
of the crevasse. My guess is that Bolek saw me fall and came looking for me
when the storm abated. You probably missed seeing him because he was inside the
crevasse searching for me. I can pretty well guess at the rest of the story. When
daybreak came he followed my tracks through the desert, but hid when the
Morruks came along. Later, when they had me in the pit and were burning me
alive, he had to act. While he was fighting them I heard the gun being fired
until it ran out of ammo. Nessif apparently hit him twice, but not fatally. A
guy this big could have taken a lot of punishment before he went down."

"Why do you
think he saved you?" asked Taylor.

“He must have seen
the L-suit and figured I was a friend of Summerhour’s. I don’t suppose there
are too many black jumpsuits in this part of the world. But I can tell you one
thing for certain: If it hadn't been for him I'd be dead now."

Something suddenly
dawned on Taylor. She looked at Summerhour. “Is this what you meant back in the
hut when you said you believed Matt would be taken care of?”

He nodded. “I knew
Bolek was probably out there somewhere. This is the same time period as the one
where I first met him. I also hoped that if Matt survived the storm, he would
eventually encounter him. But I never figured on anything like this.”

"He must have
followed you and this ugly dude to Thebes, Matt," Williams said, referring
to Nessif.

Summerhour shook
his head. "He was probably afraid to come any closer to the city than this
spot because of past experiences with people. It's a despicable shame."

Taylor put her arm
around Matt's waist. "It looks like he evened the score for you," she
said.

The captain of
their escort had been conducting his own crime scene investigation. When he was
finished he came over to where the four of them were standing. "I found
these on the body of the desert tribesman." He held out the pager and the
second magazine. "Do you know what they are?"

Matt took them
from him. "Yes," he said. "These were taken from me during my
trial earlier tonight. That is the man who gave false testimony against me in
court." He pointed at Nessif’s body.

"And the
other one?"

"Another of
his victims," Taylor answered.

"It appears
he will have no more victims," the captain observed dryly. He motioned to
the soldiers who had been standing by at a discrete distance and two of them
came forward. The captain poked the Morruk's body with the toe of his sandal. "Throw
this garbage into the river for the crocodiles," he commanded. "And
see that the giant is properly buried." He looked at Summerhour. “We must
leave now. My orders are to have you aboard your ship as soon as
possible."

The captain turned
and started back toward the city. The others followed, not wishing to look
back.

B
alkem had arranged for a
large sailing barge equipped with forty rowers, and they reached Ipu by late
afternoon the following day. They had made good time, and the caravan
transporting Edward Leahy was only two days ahead of them. To ensure they
experienced no unnecessary obstructions or delays in overtaking him, Ramses had
assigned a young court official named Haremheb to accompany them. After their
arrival he had gone into the city to begin making arrangements for a small
caravan to take them to a point on the Euphrates River just north of where it
joined the Tigris. From there they intended to take a boat to where the
combined rivers flowed into the Persian Gulf. It was somewhere in that area
that the Babylonian traders had reported the location of the sea people’s
village.

Ipu was nothing
compared to Thebes. A large temple dedicated to Amen was located there;
otherwise the town consisted of just over two hundred houses, buildings, and
huts. There were a few shops where travelers connecting with caravans to
Babylon and other eastern cities could purchase supplies and make arrangements
for transportation to various places along the Nile, but the grandeur of Thebes
was absent. The city's permanent population was less than a thousand, and the
people they encountered seemed indifferent to their presence. For the most
part, the inhabitants went about their business in a languid fashion,
apparently neutral to anything that did not personally involve them. At
Summerhour's insistence the four of them had acquired additional contemporary clothing,
and now wore the loose fitting robes preferred by desert dwellers. In order to
avoid any controversy, they had removed the L-suits and packed them in their
luggage.

During the trip
Matt had not been alone with Taylor long enough to explain the details of
Babylon Station, but he had hinted that there was far more to their mission
than she knew. He felt certain that Summerhour was aware of the existence of
the secret base, but to avoid a confrontation in front of the Egyptians he
decided to wait him out and see if he would broach the subject. So far, that
had not happened. He was unsure of just how Summerhour figured into the scheme
of things, so he opted to play it safe for the time being and not reveal his
hole card. Moreover, any discussion concerning the base would probably take
place in Williams's presence, and it was not something that he needed to know
about unless it became absolutely necessary.

They were sitting
in the shade of a palm cluster near the riverbank eating a meal of fruit,
cheese, and bread when they saw Haremheb returning. Matt judged the young
Egyptian to be about eighteen years old, tall and straight, with all the
exuberance of energy attendant to his age. During the trip from Thebes he had
become hopelessly captivated by Taylor, and blushed each time they spoke to
each other. Matt found his infatuation amusing, and never missed an opportunity
to tease Taylor about it.

When Haremheb
reached them he dropped to his knees near Taylor and sat back on his heels. “The
arrangements are complete, my lady. The caravan master is loading supplies and
will be ready to depart within the hour. We are to gather at the north side of
the temple."

Taylor smiled at
him. The boy blushed and dropped his eyes. Matt shook his head and grunted;
Taylor hit him in the ribs with her elbow.

"Thank you,
Haremheb," she said. "You have done well. Come and sit with us while
we wait. There is plenty of food and wine."

Haremheb held
back. He rubbed his palms on his thighs and did not look up. He obviously
wanted to say something, but seemed to be searching for the right words.

"Is there
something more, Haremheb?" Her voice was gentle.

Haremheb looked up
at her. "Yes, my lady. But please do not think me presumptuous." He
paused for a few seconds.

"Yes?"
Taylor prompted him.

"Forgive me
for speaking, my lady, but I am concerned about your safety. The caravan master
I have retained has seen the man you are seeking. He says that he is quite mad.
While they were preparing his litter for the trip across the desert, he attempted
to escape several times and had to be restrained by the soldiers. They say he
fought them like one possessed by a devil. I cannot stand the thought that you
might be injured when you overtake him." Haremheb also wanted to warn her
of something else; to tell her of another fear he felt, but found he could not
speak of it. If he was wrong it might cause a terrible backlash, and his heart
could not endure a rebuke from her. Besides, he could not say what needed
saying while the men were present and could not think of a way to get her
alone.

Matt, who was
relaxing next to Taylor against a tree, sat up when he heard Haremheb's report.
He and Taylor exchanged alarmed looks. The others also seemed shocked at the
revelation. He was aware that the boy was in awe of the men who sometimes wore
strange black clothing, so he spoke as calmly as possible to avoid upsetting
him any further.

"Haremheb,
why do they think he is mad?"

Haremheb twisted
his hands. "They say it is because of his terrible head wound, lord. Drool
pours from his mouth and he speaks in an unknown tongue to invisible people. I
think that if it were not for fear of the pharaoh they would have killed him
and buried him in the desert. But instead they bound him and are taking him to
his people as rapidly as possible."

Matt stood up; the
others followed suit. Taylor had informed him about her discussion with
Nefertari in which she had mentioned Edward's wound, but the queen had not
expounded on its seriousness. He looked at Summerhour. "I’ve been meaning
to ask you; did you know he was hurt?" he inquired in a calm voice.

"No, not
before now," Summerhour responded. "I told you what I saw when I
examined the bodies of his teammates. He may have been injured then, but I had
no way
of
knowing it. If he's delirious, or mad, like
the boy says, it could explain his disappearance."

Taylor turned to
Haremheb. "Go see if you can assist the caravan master. Tell him it is
urgent that we depart as soon as possible."

"Yes, my
lady." Haremheb jumped to his feet and started to leave.

"Just a
minute." Summerhour reached out and grabbed the boy’s arm. "Did the
caravan master say anything about the green stone this man was carrying?"

"No, my
lord."

"You're
sure?"

"Yes." He
jerked away and took off toward the temple.

"Let's get
our gear together and see if we can help with the preparations," Matt
said. "The sooner we're out of here the better."

Before leaving
Thebes, Balkem had informed them of the route they would have to take if they
intended to arrive at the same destination as Edward. The first leg of the
journey, reaching Ipu, had been accomplished swiftly thanks to the Egyptian
sailors. From there they would have to cross a hundred miles of desert to reach
the west coast of the Red Sea. The Egyptian navy maintained a small fleet of
ships there, and would ferry them to the other side where Ramses had
established a military outpost of several hundred men to monitor Egypt's
eastern flank. Nomads frequently traded with the troops stationed there, and
Haremheb hoped to retain some of them as guides to get their party across the
Arabian Desert to the Euphrates.

They departed Ipu
when the sun was high. All of them knew it was going to be a long chase, but
with the exception of some dark and threatening weather they experienced while crossing
the Red Sea, the first part of their journey was uneventful. After reaching the
outpost it took two days to arrange transport across the vast desert. Early on
the morning of the third day they said goodbye to Haremheb. The men shook his
hand, which he considered a strange custom, but Taylor thanked him with an
embrace and a kiss.

The boy stood by as they mounted their camels and departed on the next
leg of their journey. He watched them until they were lost in the distance. His
heart was heavy for the people he had come to know in so short a time. The
woman was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, and the thought that
she might die gave him a sick feeling in his stomach. He had seen much cruelty
in his short life and his instincts told him that one of the men in her party
was devoid of compassion, capable of killing without remorse. During their trip
to Ipu Haremheb had more than once observed this man watching the others with a
strange expression. He had no doubt that he was dangerous, even more so than
the demented one they were pursuing. Though Haremheb was a grown man by the
standards of his time, it did not stop tears from pooling in his eyes. Miserable
and dejected, feeling like a coward for not speaking out, he turned and walked
toward the ship that would take him back across the Red Sea.