Episode 9-The Tablet of Osiris

9

The Tablet of Osiris

Cairo was a city of wonder.  It was a series of ancient buildings, some dating back to the time of pharaohs, set to a background of more modern skyscrapers.  The two intermingled in a fascinating combination of old and new in a way that made E feel like she was on cloud nine.

The city itself was populated to the point of bursting.  People where everywhere, Cairo was packed full of youth and energy, making the city feel wild and alive.

E had caught up quick on her Arabic, having to deal with so many fast talking Middle Eastern people.

She had however, After all it was what she did as a living and she was damn good at it.

She couldn’t help but smile as she rounded the corner heading back to the down-trodden hotel room Karl had rented them for the night.  She shouldn’t have been in a good mood considering what she had gone through in the last few days.  She had fallen out of a plane, been attacked by a giant Mongolian thug, and of course been dragged halfway across the world.

Still it had a strange feeling of right.  She turned to look at the sun as it was beginning its descent and it illuminated the ancient metropolis in a way that sent chills through E’s body.  She could almost hear the history whispering to her.  It whispered of loves and battles, victory and defeat.

How could the sight of this not be worth it?

She had seen more and done more in the last two days than most did in their entire lives.  She could only think about all the times she sat between two stuffy old business men and helped to broker by translating a deal.  It had been her job for the last ten years, but this, this was the reason she wanted to speak other languages; to explore, to find things.

This was a reason to get up in the morning.

She turned and entered the hotel, climbing the steps to their room and knocking twice before entering.  Karl had stayed behind.  He would have been useless at this part anyway.  E had gone out to find out what she could about the situation, recon, Karl had called it.

She entered the room and put her bags down on the table, not seeing Karl in the small room.  “Hello?”

As soon as she said that, Karl walked out of the bathroom wearing only a towel.

E’s eyes widen as he crossed the room to where he had laid his clothes out on the bed, having not noticed her yet.  She could only stare in wonder at Karl’s hard body, damp from the recent shower.  His stomach was tight and defined by a six-pack, his arms were not overly muscled but instead thick and sturdy.  His thighs matched his upper body and his entire body glistened.

She cleared her throat finally to let him know she was there and he whipped around.  For a second, it looked like the towel was going to fall.

For a second, she wished the towel would fall.

He relaxed at the sight of her.  “Jesus, E.”

“Sorry,” she said, turning to shut the door and hide the deep red that her cheeks were turning.  “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I’m not scared,” Karl said, having been spooked, obviously bothering his warrior instincts.  “Just jumpy, I guess.  You find anything out?”

She turned smiling.  “Of course I did.  It’s what you pay me for, isn’t it?”

He grinned.  “I guess so.”

She smiled.  “According to the locals, the Fortress Babylon has been closed off for weeks now.  They have been hiring free workers to go in and work during the day… digging.”

“Sam was right.”  Karl suspicions justified.  “The cup is under the fortress.”

E shrugged.  “That, or this Bomani thinks it is.  Anyway, that’s probably where Sam is, but from what I can tell, they haven’t taken any workers up there in a couple of days.  I found one of the workers and although he didn’t know what they were doing down there, he said there were a lot of Asian looking men with guns.  He said they all took their orders from a Mongolian man with bad teeth.”

“Hoi,” Karl hissed with no small amount of disdain.  “You find out how many?”

“The worker said including Bomani and Hoi there are nine men, all armed with machine guns.”  E answered.

Karl frowned.  “Damn it!  How am I supposed to deal with that?”

His question was rhetorical but E smiled and walked to her bag on the table.  “With these.”

She dumped the bag and two Colt model 1911 semi-automatic pistols and four clips fell out onto the wood.

“Holy shit,” Karl said as he stared in shock.  “E, how did you-”

“A good translator can speak the language.”  E smirked.  “A great translator uses it.”

Karl looked at her and smiled.  “You are one hell of a woman.”

E found herself blushing again.  “It was nothing.”

Karl picked up the guns and went through a quick field check of them.  He then set them down.  “Okay I’ll leave tonight.  I’ll have a better chance in the dark.”

“You mean we’ll?”  E interrupted and Karl turned to see her cheeks flushed now with anger.

“E, you can’t come.  You’ve helped a lot but I can’t put you in that kind of danger.”  Karl said with sympathetic eyes.

“You can’t put me in that kind of danger?!” E scuffed before getting into his face.  “Eight hours ago, I fell out of a plane.  Guns cease to scare me.”

“Look, these men are killers,” Karl protested.

 “You can’t do this alone,” E said.  “You lost the right to do it alone when you brought me.”

Karl took a deep breath.  “Okay.”

“Good.” E said putting a period on the conversation.

The two now lingered in a weird place.  The adrenaline was still flowing but now it was flowing in a different way.  E knew Karl felt it too.  Sam was endearing in his mad scientist sort of way, but Karl was earthy.  He was a man with bloody knuckles, a determined warrior.  He struck something deep and primal in E, a female need to pick the biggest and the strongest.

“God help me.”  She said as Karl leaned in to kiss her.

The towel slipped away.

****

Sam had not had the chance to sight see.  He had his hands tied and was hustled into a car and driven directly through town to the fortress.

The operation had taken pull and a lot of money but somehow, Bomani had gotten permission to dig in the basement of the fortress.  He had found the original exit to the cup’s tomb.

They entered the man-made tunnel and Bomani suddenly began to talk.  “It took time, much like when the Egyptians built the pyramids.  They had tricked the laborers inside and collapsed the way out, sealing the tomb and the knowledge of the tomb inside.”

Sam nodded, having already guessed as much.  “Where is your digging crew?”

Bomani turned with a smile.  “No longer needed, we found the tablet.”

Sam’s eyes went wide as they walked through the tunnel.  “The tablet is real.”

“Of course,” Bomani said turning away.

Sam stared at the back at his head and Bomani finally turned, feeling his eyes on him, “Question?”

“I don’t get it,” Sam began.  “You worked for the Taliban.  They’re religious zealots.  How does a Muslim zealot go searching for a Pagan artifact?”

Bomani took a deep breath and for the first time Sam could see pain on his face.  “I believe in the cause.  I believed in the holy land.  Believed in god.  I watched so many die to send the infidels to hell, all the time thinking there would be a place for me in heaven.”

“What happened?” Sam asked honestly curious.

“The Ankh,” He answered.  “It is a thing made not of this earth, but not made of my God. The more I learned of this legend, the more proof showed itself and I realized that the cup’s existence is proof that my God does not exist.”

“That must have been a mind blower, huh?”  Sam’s words had a grounding effect on Bomani.

Bomani shook his head and his soft smile returned, the pain in his eyes vanishing. “Whoever drinks from the cup gains the strength and immortality of a God.”

Bomani turned back to the man made cave in front of him.  “There is no eternity waiting for me, Mr. Bier, so I will make my own.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Episode 8-Becuase You Need To Know

Episode 8

Because You Need to Know

Sam stood and stared for a second before dusting himself off and charging.

He could only think of his brother and E, free falling through the air, knowing their death was imminent.  He saw Karl, the man who kept him in check slamming into the ground at terminal velocity and knew that as much as this Egyptian was at fault, so was he.

Sam saw the man’s neck and, for the first time in his life, he wanted to kill a living thing.

Hoi went for his gun as Sam charged but it didn’t deter him.  Sam had long past left his need to stay alive behind.  The Egyptian put up his hand to stop Hoi.

Sam reached for the man and it happened fast.

The thief side-stepped Sam’s attack and rolled his hand over Sam’s wrist.  With a hard twist he sent Sam head over heels out of the port hatch and crashing down the stairs.

Sam rolled, bouncing violently down the stairs and slammed into the tarmac.

The pain was everywhere, washing over Sam’s body.  He moaned loud and low and saw stars.

Instinctively, he rolled away from the stairs trying to gain distance.  The man walked down the stairs.  Hoi was behind him.  He made a tsk tsk noise with his mouth.  “Mr. Bier.  I was hoping you would be more civil.”

 Sam scrambled to his feet and came to the realization that he was surrounded by men of Mongolian decent.  “Fuck you!  And fuck your pet gun runner.”

Hoi showed his shark-like, broken teeth in a deep frown and again the Egyptian put up his hand to stop him.

Sam’s eyes narrowed as his very random brain finally caught up with what was happening.  “You went after my brother because he protected me.  E, because she was a witness.  But not me.  We both know Hoi wants to gut me like a fish and you’re stopping him.”

The Egyptian raised an eyebrow.  “Your point?”

“You need me.”  Sam smiled.  “You need me to get you through the catacombs that lead to the cup!”

Sam began to laugh out loud but the Egyptian’s smile never faded.  “Mr. Bier, this still doesn’t change your position.”

Sam stopped laughing.  “The hell it doesn’t.  You need me to help you and I’m not going to.”

The Egyptian cut Sam off.  “Help me?  Come now, Sam.  We both know you are going to help me.”

Sam frowned and the man continued.  “You are going to help me because you didn’t come here to bond with your brother and you didn’t come here for a souvenir.  You came here to find the cup.  You came here to see if you can do it.”

Sam almost broke down because as much as he wanted it to be different, this man had him pegged.

Sam couldn’t let it go and just walk away.  That was an ability he had not been born with.

“You’re going to kill me too?  When we find this thing?” Sam asked knowing the answer.

“Undoubtedly.”  The man answered without missing a beat.  “But that doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Sam’s self loathing had never been higher because in the end, he had to know.

****

Karl watched her.

He had been watching her since their narrow escape of death.  They had lucked out and not landed in the desert, instead hitting a road forty miles outside of Cairo.  It was a matter of time before a bus had shown up on the road.  Karl flagged it down and negotiated their way onto the bus.

In all that time, E had not said a word.

She had been silent and Karl had worried she had snapped under the pressure.  Either way, the poor New York translator was in a deep shock.  Karl couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt.  It was his fault she was in this.

He took a breath to say something when his phone rang.  It was Carolyn and he decided E could wait.  He answered.

“Karl?  Is that you?” Carolyn’s normally hard voice sounded concerned.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Karl asked, deciding he wouldn’t tell her about the last hour unless he had to.

“Turn around and come home.  You’re in deep shit.” Her voice was stern but still carried the concern that he had heard before.

Karl raised an eyebrow.  “Talk to me.”

“I found your Egyptian,” Carolyn began to explain.  “His name is Bomani.  He is an international terrorist, but not in the ‘kill himself for his God’ sort of way.  This guy went freelance after starting in Al-Qaida which is extremely rare, and then vanished only to pop up a half dozen more times, always linked to bombings or military actions, then vanishing.”

“He sounds like a movie cliché.” Karl responded, sarcastically.

“Look, this guy is bad news.”  Carolyn ignored Karl’s comment.  “He’s not someone you are going to be able to deal with alone, especially if he’s working for or with Hoi.  Turn yourselves around and call off the hunt.”

Karl took a deep breath and tried to rub the headache from his brow.  “I can’t.  He’s got Sam.”

Karl had come to this conclusion from the plane attack, knowing that a man this well trained would be waiting for the plane on arrival.  There was silence on the other end, and behind him a chicken screeched, reminding him of how hot and crowded the bus was.

“He’s gone then.”  Carolyn said finally, her voice was dead cold.  The concern was gone.  “He’s gone.  You and your translator go in after him and you will just end up joining him.”

Karl frowned.  “Thanks for the info Carolyn, but screw you.”

Karl hung up on her.  He found it hard to be mad at her for her suggestion.  She was a cold hard facts sort of girl, and she was looking at the numbers.  Karl, from a strategic stand point, was more valuable.  Karl had more chance of leading a successful and happy life while functioning in society.  This chance went up tenfold when you subtracted a crazy brother dependent.

This was why Karl had stopped seeing Carolyn and quit the FBI.  Sometimes you had to forget the numbers.

“What’s wrong?” E’s voice broke his train of thought and slightly startled Karl.  With the stress of the situation, he had momentarily forgotten about the woman.

“We’re in over our heads and Sam is being held by the Egyptian.  His name is Bomani.”

“Warrior.”  E said in response and this confused Karl.

“What?” Karl questioned.

“Bomani.  It means warrior.”  She said and Karl remembered her trade of choice.

“Of course it is,” Karl said nodding.  “Look, he’s bad news so when we get to Cairo I will have a private plane take you back to the states.”

“No thank you.”  E said quickly with plenty of fear, the free fall having scared her of flying.

“Not up for debate.  You are going home and that’s-” Karl was cut off mid rant by a kiss from E.  It was soft and gentle and perfect and conveyed her emotions with a silent passion.

“Look,” Karl said finally when she broke contact.  “This isn’t going to change my mind.”

E shook her head.  “You caught me as a plummeted to my death.  Thank you.”

Karl nodded and was quiet.  He found it hard to respond to that.

“Besides,” E continued.  “You’re going to keep me around because you need me.”

This woke Karl up fast.  “How do you figure?”

“You don’t speak Mongolian or Egyptian.” She said matter-of-factly.

She had him there.  At the end of the day, Karl spoke only English, but was about to go head to head with a Mongolian drug syndicate and a high ranking freelance terrorist.

“I can’t protect you, not in there.” Karl said very calmly and quietly.

E took a deep breath.  “I know, but I’m the only one who can help you save Sam.”

Karl gritted his teeth realizing that she was right, even in some small fashion.  She knew the language and, when it came down to it, she would be the most valuable tool in reconnaissance that Karl could have.

She wasn’t a tool, though, she was a human being.

A tool that Karl was very afraid he could not protect.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Episode 7-Free Fall

Episode 7

Free Fall

Karl knew his window was small, incredibly small.  He had one clean shot and that was it.  If he screwed it up, he had a long fall to think about it.

He let go of E.  At the same time, he also let go of his brother’s foot.

“NO!” Sam screamed as Karl watched the fear in his eyes grow like an unchecked infection.

He had no time to reassure his brother, he just had to act.

In the second that he was sucked out the air lock, Karl reached out both hands and grabbed the female assassin by the strap of the parachute and clamped his fingers down.

The force lurched the woman forward suddenly and in that instant Karl, the assassin and E were in a free fall.

Karl knew he had little more than seconds to save himself and E.  He was expecting a fight from the assassin but he quickly realized she was not moving.  The sudden inertia of him grabbing her and jerking her out of the plane had snapped her neck.

Karl put it out of his mind and went to work grabbing the center buckle that held the parachute onto the assassin.  The free fall was insane.  The wind forced E to rush past his head and Karl forced himself to stay calm and not to panic.  He had done jumps before, part of his training from a life that seemed far away, now.

Although he had never jumped out of a plane not wearing a chute, he had also never had to try to save a woman in mid air either.

Details.

****

“Karl!” Sam was still screaming as he watched his brother sacrifice himself and another woman to save him.

He had done it to save Sam.

Sam felt the tears stream down his face as he was whipped back and forth by the air pressure.  He wanted to let go, to follow his brother.  He didn’t want to be the one to make it through.  He didn’t deserve to make it through.

What was he going to do without Karl?

The plane dipped below the pressure line and the air equalized.  Sam dropped to the floor, the suction relinquishing its hold on him and there he laid, the wind still whipping through the cabin of the plane.

Tears ran down his face.

What the hell was Sam going to do?

****

Karl managed to pull the chute away from the lifeless female assassin and kicked her body away sending it rag dolling into the wind.

Karl immediately went about the task of getting the parachute around his shoulders and fastened, which was easier said than done while free falling at terminal velocity.

Karl tried to force himself to focus on the job at hand and not on the ground rushing up at him.  He knew that he was on the clock and that clock was ticking fast.  The need to know how long he had until he hit the ground was overwhelming but he willed himself to see only the task at hand.

Don’t look down.

He felt the buckle clasp latch around his mid section and breathed a quick sigh of relief. The job wasn’t done yet and he turned, spinning in mid-air, trying to find E.

There!

He caught his eye on her and found hope.  She hadn’t drifted too far from him.  He clasped his hand to his side and made himself into an arrow, increasing his fall velocity to catch up to the screaming flailing translator.

Hold on!

He got close to her and opened his arms and halted his speed reaching out to grab her.

Come on…

He grabbed her hand and dragged her toward him, the shock stopped her screaming and she stared at him mystified as to what was happening.

“Hold on to me!” Karl yelled it as loud as he could but the words seemed to die on his lips.  They were swallowed up by the wind.

Nonetheless, she seemed to comprehend and nodded, wrapping her arm around his chest under the chute, then her legs around his waist.  She held on so tight Karl could barely breathe.

Karl wasn’t sure this would work.  The force of the parachute stopping their fall might have been to great for them to hold on.  He might not have tightened the buckle enough.  It didn’t matter, he was out of time.

Karl pulled the rip-cord.

The harness system tightened as the chute opened and caught the wind.  The force of gravity was mighty.  Karl felt his own grip give at the same time E’s did and he struggled desperately to stop it from happening by reaching out.  She did the same as the pull threatened to claim her.

Karl caught her wrist and took the rest of the force onto himself, his arm nearly tearing off.

He held fast, straining with everything he had.  She latched onto his wrist with the same hand, digging herself in so tight that her nails broke his flesh.

Suddenly, there was silence.  The wind had stopped and all that could be heard was their panting and the far off echo of the plane that they had once occupied.

Karl knew they weren’t out of the fire yet.  The parachute held but they had at least ten minutes before they touched down.  He could see the land now, past the struggling E. Although he held her, he only had one of his hands on her.  Soon his arm would give out and instinct would take over, releasing the woman to fall to her death.

Her weight pulled his one side forward too much and he couldn’t get his other hand in a good enough position to help.  To make matters worse, she was panicked and flailing like a lunatic.

“STOP MOVING!” Karl tried to yell and ended up half growling, half groaning the words.

She froze like a person in a car that teetered on the edge of a cliff.  He could tell she was even holding her breath.

“Don’t let go.”  She whispered, pleading.

Karl shook his head.  “I can’t hang on for much longer.  You have to pull yourself up.”

E shook her head, tears streaming down her face.  Karl felt a ping of sorrow.  The poor thing was probably in shock, it was a wonder she held on this long.

The worst part was that it was his fault.

“Listen to me.  If you don’t do anything, I’m going to drop you, not because I want you but because I can’t keep this up.  You have to pull yourself up.”

“What if you let go when I pull?”  She asked, trying to bring herself back from a fear and shock-addled brain.

“If you try, I’ll hold on.” Karl said, staring at the woman in the eyes.

He watched her resolve change and a strength came over her that he had seen on her before when she helped with the Mongolian in New York.  He welled with a deep respect born out of a shared experience with death and flexed as she pulled with her arm.

Every muscle in his arm screamed in pain but he willed himself to hold on.  He would not let her go.  Not today.

She pulled herself up straining and finally reaching with her other hand to catch Karl’s free hand.

With the new position it was easier for him to pull her up and she latched onto him again.

Karl started laughing.  “Holy shit.  I can’t believe we did that!”

****

Sam just sat on the floor, back against the couch with no sense of guidance or direction, only the absolute and utter emptiness.

What was the point of anything?

He felt the plane touchdown, having completely ignored the fasten seat belt warnings or the oxygen masks hanging from the ceiling.

The plane taxied to a stop and then a ladder was wheeled to the opening where the door would have been.

Sam continued to sit there in silence, not noticing the men who walked up and into the cabin.

“Hello Sam.”  Sam recognized the voice and looked up to see the broken rotting teeth of Hoi’s toothy grin.

Sam took a deep breath as he realized that Hoi was behind it all.  He was behind the murder of his brother, which made it Sam’s fault.

Then a new figure entered the cabin.  The well-dressed and good looking Egyptian thief.

“Mr. Bier.  I believe you can help me with this.” He held up the Ankh.  “I want the cup of Osiris.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Episode 6-Trust Me

Episode 6

Trust Me

The next couple of hours were a whirlwind.  E was told to pack a bag, which bothered her since she didn’t bring a bag in the first place.  This seemed to irritate both brothers, which in turn, irritated E.  Nevertheless, Sam took her to a large second closet in his room and slid it open revealing a wide range of clothes.  Everything from designer jeans to expansive evening and dinner wear decorated the large closet.  Sam told her to pick anything she needed and handed her one of his suitcases.

“Why does a man have a closet full of expensive women’s clothing?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sam gave her a sly grin.  “Let’s just say they’re lost and found.”

E found some clothes, mostly jeans and shorts, and socks, the necessities. Although she did pack one long black dress with a deep slit up the right side and a low cut front.  That was more wishful thinking than anything else.

Then they were in the limo and on their way to JFK International.

“So,” E broke the silence and grabbed the attention of both Karl and Sam.  “What the hell is going on?”

Sam blinked twice.  “I thought it was self explanatory?”

E took a deep breath and contained her anger, remembering that these two were still her boss.  “Okay I just met you yesterday and I met him,” she nodded towards Karl, “one hour and fifteen minutes ago, right before a giant and an Egyptian blew up half your apartment for an ankle.”

“It’s an Ankh,” Sam snorted.  “Although, I guess I see your point.”

“So what is the cup and how do you know it’s in Cairo?” E questioned.

“The Cup of Osiris,” Sam began with the simplest answer.  “Osiris is one of the ancient Egyptian Gods.  Osiris was the God of Agriculture.  He is also the giver of beer.”

E looked confused.  “The Egyptians had beer?”

Sam chuckled.  “Everyone had beer.  In fact, there is a pretty credible anthropological study that says society as we know it came from beer.  You see, in ancient Mesopotamia-”

“Sam” Karl cut him off.  He could see his brother was about to digress.  “Stay on point, bud.”

Sam stopped himself.  “Oh yeah, where was I?”

E raised her eyebrow.  “Osiris?”

Sam’s face lit up.  “Oh yes, of course.  So, Osiris fell for one of the other Gods, Isis, but Osiris’s brother, Set, is jealous of their love and challenges him to a duel.”

“With swords?”  E asked, enthralled.

Sam frowned.  “No, with puppets.  Of course with swords or whatever other weapon Gods dueled with.”

E frowned at his sarcasm and Karl quietly interjected.  “Mean Sam.”

Sam stopped himself, Karl’s words bringing his scattering back together.  “Well, it was a stupid question.”

E had to wonder where the man who had seduced her the night before had gone.  Had the drinks really clouded her judgment that much?  Was this mad man the same person? One thing was for sure, she now understood, without a shadow of a doubt, that why Karl had quit his job and come home.

Sam looked back to E to continue.  “Anyway, the night before the duel, in the interest of fair play, Set invited Osiris for a drink.  The legend says that Set presented Osiris with a pre fight gift, a finely crafted drinking cup.”

E raised an eyebrow.  “So let me guess, Set poisoned him?”

Sam shrugged.  “Not really sure, there are tons of versions of the story, some say poison, some say drugged, others say he just got too drunk and Set knew he would.”

“Either way, I’m guessing he lost the duel.” E said knowingly.

Sam smiled at the comment.  “Now you’re with me.  Damn straight he lost, was killed and became the God of Death as well.  Later the bastard son of Osiris and Isis would rise up and take vengeance for Osiris by killing Set, but none of that really matters to us.”

“So this cup you are trying to find is the cup that Set gave to Osiris, the cup that he got drunk from?” E questioned, putting it together.

Sam’s smile widened.  “The Cup of Osiris.  You got it.”

“So how do you know it’s in Cairo?” E asked finally.

“Cairo, like a lot of other Egyptian cities was founded from military outposts.  A general would set up shop there and civilians would flock in to provide services to the soldiers, and before you knew it, you had a city.  Cairo was different, though. They weren’t just there to set up a military outpost, they were there to hide something.” Sam explained.

“The cup,” E said with a smile, getting excited by the story.

Sam clapped.  “You got it, sister!  While they built up they built down, under the Babylon fortress in Old Cairo, a secret tomb.”

E smiled and took it in.  It was quite a fantastic story, Gods and love triangles and hatred, woven together perfectly so that even though the tale made no sense, it still somehow seemed right.

“So why do you think the cup is under the fortress?” She asked finally.

Sam scoffed.  “I know, I always know.”

E blinked.  “Alright then, what do a renegade Egyptian and a Mongolian arms dealer have to do with the cup?”

Sam opened his mouth to speak, then paused.  He took a second to reflect, his face curling in irritated concentration and then he looked at her and said.  “I have no idea.”

The car arrived at the airport and was shown onto the field like V.I.Ps.  E marveled at this.  She had to go through many different airports in her line of work.  Each time proved more irritating then the last, but never had she just skipped the security check and been personally driven onto the tarmac.

The car stopped near a private jet.  They exited and Sam was already on his way to the jet, walking ahead of them like an excited puppy.  The staff of the plane grabbed his bags from the trunk of the car.  Karl got out and told the staff he would carry his own luggage.  E watched this and smiled, gaining a certain amount of respect.

She hung back until Karl came around.  She had some questions she wanted to ask him.  “Is he always like that?”

Karl raised an eyebrow as the two walked toward the plane together.  “Like what?”

“You know,” She said trying to be sensitive.  “All that mad scientist talk in the car.”

Karl grinned.  “You tell me.”

She could tell what he was getting at.  “Look, he wasn’t like that the first night, he knew all the right things to say.  He was just, I don’t know, different.”

Karl nodded.  “I know, Sam’s ADD is pretty bad.  He has a hard time focusing or staying on any one subject.  He can only pull it together when he’s researching or …”

 E looked at him quizzically.  “Or?”

Karl turned and smiled.  “Or trying to get a woman to sleep with him.”

E frowned and ignored the last part.  “So this is the reason for the quests?”

Karl chuckled.  “So Dan warned you about us, huh?”

E shook her head.  “He didn’t have to, you two are infamous throughout the company.  No one will work with you two.”

Karl smiled at her.  “And yet, you’re here.  Why is that?”

E thought of her lonely one bedroom apartment and her lack of friends or romantic prospects and couldn’t help but smile.  “I guess I needed a change.”

****

The plane ride from New York to Cairo was more than long.  Karl and E chatted after they took off while the two beautiful stewardesses took turns turning down Sam’s advances.

E found Sam’s change interesting.  His passes at the two women were perfectly timed and his words rolled off his silver tongue in a way that E marveled at the women’s ability to turn him down.

Her main interest, however, was Karl.  He was soft spoken and hard lined but had the face of an old soldier with more scars than he cared to talk about.  His eyes, on the other hand where hawk-like and no matter how into the conversation with E he became, she could tell he was also always watching Sam.  He was, without a doubt, Sam’s caretaker.

She could feel he was attracted to her and she shared the feeling Karl was her type in every way, with the exception of the fact that she knew, without a doubt, that to commit to Karl was to commit to Sam.

It wasn’t long before sleep took the three of them.

E slowly began to wake from a perfect dreamless sleep, she heard the two stewardesses talking back and forth in Arabic.  Unfortunately, she wasn’t as fluent in Arabic as she was in other languages.  They seemed to be resolved to do something and to agree that now was a good time to do it.

E listened harder, stirring and focusing on the fast words tumbling out of their mouths, trying to use her brain to translate.  What were they talking about?  Something about parachuting or skydiving?  Then the one took her coat off and revealed a small parachute harnessed around her body.  The one with her coat still on said something about the sexy one.  E assumed they were referring to Sam…

E sat up and squinted at them, they both turned to her and froze.

“Did you just say ‘killed’?” E asked.

The next part happened so fast it was hard for E to follow.

****

Karl had been awake for some time but continued to feign sleep.  He watched as the two stewardesses seemed to converse in hurried Arabic.  He couldn’t understand what they were saying but he had an idea.  Then, when he saw the one drop her coat to reveal a thin, covert parachute backpack, he knew they were all in trouble.  He was seconds from making his move when he felt Ethel sit up next to him and ask them.  “Did you just say ‘killed’?”

The one closest to Karl with her coat still on raised her hand and a medium sized throwing knife slid from its hiding place in her sleeve and into her palm.

She hurled it with deadly perfection at E’s head.

Karl’s reflexes were put to the test as he lashed out his hand and snatched the blade out of the air.  He caught the thing by the blade and it cut into his palm.

He ignored the pain.

Karl was already in motion and the two would-be assassins were caught completely by surprise.  Karl wheeled into a high back-spin kick.  His heel connecting with the ones temple, the blow was hard and absolute.  She spiraled through the air crashing into the sleeping Sam.

Sam woke screaming as the unconscious body dropped on top of him, “WHAT THE HELL?!”

Karl turned as the second assassin charged, knife in hand, she stabbed for his abdomen.  Karl dropped the blade he had caught to free up his hand.  He caught her wrist and placed a hard front-kick to the woman’s mid section.

She flew across the plane and crashed into the exit door.

“Seriously, what is going on?!”  Sam screamed as he stood and whirled.

Karl focused on the assassin.  “Who are you?  Who sent you?”

She began to speak Arabic at an alarming rate, E still sitting and near shock tried to translate.  “She’s saying you’re dead.  That we are all dead…”

Karl maintained focus on the woman.  “It’s over, you have no options left.”

The assassin stood and laughed then grabbed a safety bar and stood to the side of the door before using her other hand to grip the emergency hatch release lever.

Karl’s eyes widened.  “Wait!  Don’t!”  was all he could manage to say before she torqued  the lever, popping the hatch and breaking the seal on the pressurized cabin, sending the door spinning into the air.  The plane shook and the sudden rush of air flooded the cabin, sucking everything toward the opening.  Sam leapt, just in time to grab the base of the chair he had slept in.  It was bolted to the plane and wasn’t going anywhere.

Karl managed to catch Sam’s foot as the air pressure lifted him into the air.  E had no idea what was going on and was pulled from her seat.  She screamed as Karl reached out and caught her hand as she flew past him.  The three hung there in mid-air as the plane suddenly began to dive to get low enough to balance the pressure.

Karl looked up and saw his brother’s grip slipping.  They wouldn’t make it low enough before they would all be pulled through the opening and fall to their deaths.  Karl had to think fast.  He looked back toward the stewardess who remained standing right next to the door holding on and laughing as she watched the three’s hope diminish.

Karl had an idea.

He looked down at E who now floated there in front of him, her eyes begging him not to let go.

“Do you trust me?!” Karl Yelled to her.

“I just met you!” She yelled back.

Karl frowned.  “That’s gonna have to do.”

Karl took a deep breath and let go…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Episode 5-Destination Cairo

5

Destination, Cairo

Carolyn rode the ridiculous elevator up toward the penthouse where the brothers lived.

When Karl had called her and asked her to come over fast and alone, she had wanted to tell him to shove it.  After all, he was the one who had left the bureau and her, twisting in the wind to brew beer.  So why should she help him now?

Because she owed him.  Plain and simple.

She shifted back and forth wanting this to be over already.  She pushed her strawberry blonde hair over her ear and adjusted her suit coat.  The elevator dinged and the doors opened.

“Carrie! So lovely to see you again.”  Sam’s voice cut the silence suddenly and Carolyn frowned.

Carolyn hated Sam.

The reasons for this hatred were numerous, including the fact that he was one of the biggest reasons Karl had left the bureau and eventually her, but he was also just plain unlikable.

She also hated being called Carrie.

“Don’t start with me, Sam.” She turned at him with a hard and stern look.

Sam grinned.  “But I missed you so much.”

Carolyn ignored him as she walked into the penthouse and looked at Karl.  “Okay, I’m here.  What do you want?”

Karl looked like he felt awkward, “Well we had a situation.”

Sam chuckled.  “A situation?  We were attacked by terrorists!”

E came down the stairs.  “They weren’t terrorists, the big one keeps saying Nahoi will make us pay.”

Carolyn’s scowl intensified and Sam tried to look innocent.  “How?  How, Sam?  How could you possibly get into it with that psycho?  Last time you got in with that psycho you almost ended up dead and we had to quell an international incident!”

“How was I supposed to know it’s rude to make eye contact?” Sam got defensive.

E barged in.  “Excuse me, but who is Nahoi?”

Carolyn raised an eyebrow and looked over E.  “Who’s the skirt?”

“Who’s the skirt?” Sam mocked.  “Were you born in 1952?”

Carolyn gritted her teeth.  “Karl put a muzzle on him, or I will.”

“What the hell are you doing with a muzzle?” Sam never missed a beat.

“Sam, give it a rest.” Karl played peacekeeper.

E was yet again being forgotten about.  “Excuse me, but no one answered my question.  Who is Nahoi?”

Karl turned to E first.  “He’s a Mongolian weapons dealer, mostly dealing in stolen guns, but he also has a pension for acquiring rare artifacts.”

Karl then turned back to Carolyn.  “She’s our new translator.”

Carolyn gave Karl a knowing look.  “Sure she is, a little too hot for a translator.”

Sam shrugged.  “I don’t know, she’s a high seven, tops.”

E snapped a glared at Sam.  “Screw you buddy.”

“Kidding!” Sam said, chuckling.

“Wait,” Carolyn interjected.  “My turn for questions.  What happened here, how are you involved with Hoi again, and what does she mean by the big one?”

Karl took a deep breath and looked at Sam.  Sam shrugged and smiled.  “Hey, this is all you.”

****

“So let me get this straight,” Carolyn said as she watched the security camera footage from the research room.  “You guys stole an artifact from Nahoi-”

“Reclaimed.”  Sam interrupted.

Carolyn continued ignoring him.  “Then this guy shows up with his Mongolian buddy to take it back.”

“Steal.” Sam corrected again.

Carolyn continued to ignore him, “And you two manage to fight them off, during which, one jumps out your broken window.  You need to report this.”

Karl shook his head.  “I think we are going to keep this one between us.”

Carolyn turned from the footage.  “So, what exactly do you want me to do for you?”

“Take the big guy off our hands, for one.  Turn him over to the C.I.A or Interpol.  Then, off the books, try and find out who the Egyptian is.” Karl answered.

Carolyn’s eyes narrowed.  “And how should I explain the big guy?  I just ran into him in the super market?”

Karl grinned.  “Be creative, don’t forget… you owe me.”

Carolyn sighed.  “Fine, but when this is over we are even.”

****

The Thief

He boarded the private jet and took a seat.  A very attractive American woman walked over with a glass of champagne on a tray.  She bent over to the thief and he smiled, before taking the glass and saying ‘thank you.’

The flight attendant smiled back.  “Of course sir, we will be taking off in fifteen minutes.”

The thief nodded before pulling out his phone, it was time to give Hoi an update.

He scrolled through his contact list and found Hoi.  He selected the option to call and waited for his Mongolian, gun-running associate to answer.

“Hoi.” He answered in English with a heavy accent.

“It’s me.” the thief said in perfect English.  “I’m on my way back now.”

“You get the ankle?” Hoi said flubbing the last word.

“The ankh,” The thief corrected him.  “Yes I did, although sacrifices had to be made.”

Hoi laughed.  “I told you Karl was a tough bastard!  What happened?”

“I will be coming home alone.” The thief said.

Hoi hesitated to respond, and the thief could read the silence.  Hoi didn’t like the fact that the thief had left his man behind, used him as a large distraction.  He would be worried that his friend would roll over on Hoi, not to mention he would have to replace the loyal soldier.

Finally, Hoi spoke.  “You used him as a distraction to steal the thing and left him behind?”

The thief paused while considering how to answer this question.  “Yes.”

He went with honesty because there was no reason not to.  The ankh was the last piece of the puzzle.  He would now finally be able to enter the vault and get to the cup, and Hoi had already spent too much on the operation to back out now.

“You better not be thinking of pulling that shit with me.” Hoi threatened.

The thief was planning exactly that.  “Of course not, what is one soldier in the face of the millions you’re going to make?”

The question was rhetorical and Hoi changed the subject.  “Fine, you get back fast and I send a car.  I want to get out of this fucking desert.”

The thief smiled.  “I will call.”

The thief hung up the phone as the plane began to taxi onto the run way.

****

The Brothers

Carolyn had left and taken the enforcer with her.  It was easy for her after the damage Karl had done to the big man’s knee and face.

Now the brothers and E walked through the disaster area that was the research room. This room was Sam’s temple, when he wasn’t drunk, that is.  He would be here for hours scouring through books and internet pages in order to decipher ancient legends and come up with locations for the treasures they hunted.

Karl was unequivocally the muscle, his skills in combat and war were unparalleled.  He was also gifted with a good business sense and an ability to learn anything quickly.

But no one researched like Sam.

He was never wrong about a location or a puzzle.  His brain craved the challenge.

Sam now went through the papers and books scattered around the floor, picking them up and trying to organize them.

Karl was inspecting the damage as well.

E turned over a chair and plopped down, looking exhausted.  Karl turned seeing her stressed face.  “You can go if you like.”

E looked up, not quite understanding.  “Are you firing me?”

Karl chuckled.  “No, of course not, but you looked as if you wanted out of here.”

E pushed herself up.  “I’m fine.  All in a day’s work, and I have no interest in quitting.”

Karl raised an eyebrow.  “Are you sure?  It can be dangerous with us.”

E thought about her empty, one bedroom apartment and the complete lack of excitement in her life and managed a smile.  “No worries.”

“Ooh, I think she’s a keeper.” Sam said it with a certain insinuation.

Both Karl and E gave him dirty looks, then Karl looked back to E.  “Well that’s good, although it doesn’t matter right now.  Without the ankh, we are dead in the water.”

E frowned.  She was actually slightly bummed at the cancelling of the adventure.

Sam began to grin.  “Not so sure about that.”

Karl and E turned back toward him. “The cup is in Cairo.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Episode 4- Big Problem

4

Big Problem

The Biers’ research room was to be envied.  It was 40’ x 40’.  One wall was a series of windows overlooking the city.  The wall opposite the entrance was a large 5’ safe complete with combination lock that housed all the most important items.  The other two walls were lined with books of all shapes, sizes and origins.  Across the middle of the room where two long tables covered in maps writings and open books.

The place had the feel of a mad scientist’s lair.  Primarily because this is where Sam usually spent most of his time, when not partying that is, concocting theories on the location of the strange artifacts they hunted.

Karl exploded into the room, the door swinging open violently.  Inside he found the strange Middle-Eastern man and his large Mongolian accomplice.  The two intruders spun at the disturbance and the Middle-Eastern barked an order in the Mongolian’s native tongue and the large man charged Karl.

The Middle-Eastern stranger turned back to the safe and went to work on the number dial.

Karl knew both men would be unarmed for two reasons, one being that security downstairs is under strict orders to never let guns on the premises, and two, if they had guns they would have used them on Karl.

They obviously didn’t.

Karl’s muscles tensed in preparation for the inevitable fight.  The big Mongolian opened with a big hooking right hand.  Karl quickly dodged the tree trunk of an arm striking a hard response blow to the Mongolian’s ribs.  Karl wasted no time coming up and striking a second quick hard jab to the big man’s face.

The blows affected him, but not in a big way.  Karl wound up and threw a big left hand.

The Mongolian caught the punch in his own fist with a loud clapping noise.  The Mongolian front kicked Karl to the chest and sent him through the air and slamming into one of the book selves.  Books rained down on him while he gasped for air.  “That didn’t go as planned…”

The Mongolian was on him before Karl could catch his breath grabbing him by his throat with both hands and effortlessly lifting Karl off the ground in order to choke him to death.

At this point, awakened by the noise, Sam, still completely naked, stumbled into the room.

“What the hell is all of the racket?” Sam began before suddenly seeing the situation.  “Holy shit, Karl, is that the Mongolian from the train?!”

Although being choked, Karl still managed sarcasm.  “Good observation.  Help!”

 Sam lunged into action.  Naked action.  He cocked his hand back and gave a still right hand to the large Mongolian’s face.

The Mongolian didn’t notice.

Sam, however, screamed in pain as he held his hand.

“Sam!” Karl gurgled.

Sam turned around and began to machine gun punch at the big man’s ribs with no effect.

“ARE YOU EVEN TRYING?!” Karl managed.

“What do you want, the guy is a tank!” Sam responded.  “And I don’t have any pants on!”

“What do pants have to do with it?!” Karl screamed.

Sick of watching Sam fail, E who had been standing in the doorway, walked behind the large intruder, wound up and kicked the man in the groin.

 The Mongolian grunted and lost focus on Karl’s neck.  Karl dropped his hands on the big man’s elbows, breaking the hold he had on his neck.  Karl dropped to his knees and gasped for air.

The Mongolian turned and right crossed Sam, who stagger and went ass over head over one of the tables.  

As Sam crashed to the floor in a heap on the other side, the Mongolian turned his attention to the woman who had done him the injustice.  E.

E’s face turned to one of fear and regret as the giant lumbered toward her.  She instinctively moved backward, prepared to run.

Karl caught his breath and ran forward, leaping onto the giant’s back, trying to get his arms around the big man’s neck.  The Mongolian struggled and began to thrash as Karl hung on for dear life.

E was trying to figure out how to help Karl with the lumbering beast when she heard the loud click and turned her head toward the Middle-Eastern man, opening the large safe door.

E grabbed a pen off the table and against her better judgment, decided on a plan.

****

The thief had no interest n the fight behind him, so long as it gave the thief the time he required to get the safe open and get to his prize.

The fight had the desired length and effect, and as the last tumbler slid into place the thief popped open the safe and pulled the large heavy door open.

Inside was a stifling amount of junk, books and money.  None of that interested the thief. His eyes scanned for the item of his desire until finally he landed on the last piece of a very old puzzle he was determined to solve.

The man reached in slowly and grabbed the golden Ankh, finally putting his hands on the key to his life’s work.

A stiff object pushed against his back and his smile faded, he heard a woman’s voice, “Don’t move!  FBI!”

The Thief was worried for only a second till he used his honed powers of deduction understand he was in no real danger.  “I doubt that very much.  Are you not the woman from the hallway?”

E’s resolve faded.  “So?  Just because I was naked then doesn’t mean I don’t have a gun now.”

The thief smiled.  “I am impressed with your bluff, but not impressed enough to be afraid.  A gun to your back has a very different feeling than a fountain pen.”

“Don’t move, I swear…” E tried futilely to keep up the façade.

“Game over, my dear.” The thief said as he pulled a concussion grenade out of his pocket, pulled the pin and dropped it at E’s feet.

The thief swiftly moved for cover.

****

E watched as her idea failed in the worst way.  She wasn’t familiar with stuff having to do with war and killing, but she wasn’t stupid.  She knew a grenade when she saw it.

The explosive device dropped to her feet and she couldn’t move.  She was frozen there in the moment of her impending doom.  All she could do was make a sort of muffled sob.

That’s when she felt the hand…

****

Sam wasn’t a fighter.  In all respects he hated fighting.  It never solved anything and he only ever ended up with pain.

This time the pain was in his head.

He was starting to shake off the blow when he saw the bomb hit the floor.  Sam had only a couple of seconds to react, reaching over the table and grabbing E’s collar and in one motion, dragging her backward over the table to the floor, falling over her.

The grenade went off with a deafening boom and a blinding flash of light.  The force of the blast blew out the windows, assaulting the room with the warm morning air.  The smell off burnt sulfur filled the air.

It took a second for Sam to regain his awareness but as he came to, he watched the Middle-Eastern thief run across the room and leap out the window.

“Weird,” he muttered before looking down and seeing E below him blinking awkwardly.

Sam smiled.  “That’s the second time in twenty-four hours I have been naked on top of you.”

E frowned.  “Don’t remind me.”

Their conversation was cut short as a shadow was suddenly cast over them.  Sam and E looked up to see a very angry, very large Mongolian standing over them.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”  Sam muttered, deflated.

Karl was suddenly there and drove his foot into the back of the Mongolian’s knee.  The pop of its dislocation was audible.  The Mongolian giant lurched forward and howled in pain, dropping to a knee as his joint collapsed.  Karl stepped in behind him wasting no time with a brutal chop to the man’s collarbone with just enough force to fracture it but not kill.

Karl then grabbed the back of the giants head and drove it into and through the corner of one of the hard oak tables.

Dislocated knee, fractured collar bone and a major concussion put the giant down for the foreseeable future.

Karl watched to make sure the man stayed down.  He did, then turned to Sam and E, “Are you guys okay?”

E just nodded and Sam smirked.  “Can’t say I haven’t been better.”

Karl looked around the room.  “He got into the safe.”

“He jumped out the window,” Sam added.

Upon investigation, Karl noticed that the thief hadn’t merely jumped, he had attached himself to a rappelling rope and basically ran down the side of the building.

“He’s good.  You know him?” Karl asked as he investigated the rope.

Sam sauntered over to the open safe with no regard for his nudity.  “I do not, but he was Middle-Eastern, I would guess Egyptian, and we definitely know what he was after, he only took the Ankh.”

“I’m calling Carolyn.” Karl said.

Sam got a sour face.  “Do we have to?  I hate Carolyn.”

“Excuse me.”  E had been standing there watching the scene play out as if it were a normal occurrence for a giant Mongolian to attack them while a thief blew up their house and jumped out a window in order to steal from them.  “Does this happen often?”

The two brothers looked at her wide-eyed, then back at each other then back to E.

In unison they said.  “Kinda.”

TO BE CONTINUED…