The doctor and the nurse had stopped, seeing them come in. Both of them bowed as Tarik approached. For his part, the rebel leader walked from bed to bed, speaking softly to one child, rearranging a sheet for a second, offering a glass of water to a third. The children smiled when they saw him or felt him nearby. For a brief moment, Scarlett saw them forget their pain. Tarik made sure he connected with every one of them. He spoke briefly to the doctor. Then, with Richard and Scarlett still following him, he left the ward through a door on the other side.
They were glad to be back in the open air, even with the heat and the sand whipping around them. Richard was already wondering what point Tarik had been trying to make. He soon found out.
“Those children were taken from the street,” he explained. “They had nothing to do with this war. Did you see their injuries, Scarlett? El-Akkad launched an attack on their neighbourhood, looking for insurgents, and they were caught in the crossfire. If we had not brought them here and looked after them, they would have been left to die. What sort of man, do you think, can behave like this? What sort of man wages war against his own people? I will tell you. He is vicious. He is ruthless. And nobody in Egypt will be able to live without fear until he is dead.”
“What are you asking? Scarlett said.
“You know what I am asking. You have this power – or so you claim.” He couldn’t keep the scorn out of his voice. “Use it! Help us! You can rain down fire from Heaven on this man and end his tyranny once and for all.”
Richard stepped forward. “You’re asking her to commit murder,” he said.
“This is not murder. This is war.”
“She’s fifteen years old!”
“The youngest child in that ward is eight and a half.”
“I’m sorry, Mr Tarik.” Scarlett had never sounded so helpless. “I know why you’re asking me to do this. I understand. But I don’t think I could do it, even if I wanted to. I was only able to control the storm in Hong Kong because Matt and Jamie were there. That’s how it works. We have to be together. We’ll only be strong enough to take on the Old Ones when all five of us meet … which is why they’ve always wanted to keep us apart. And right now I’m on my own. I’ve never been more on my own and I don’t think I could do it. I really don’t.
“But I’ll be honest with you. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. I don’t want to make you angry and I am grateful for what you’ve done for me. But no matter how bad this man is, I don’t think it’s my job to kill him. I’m not sure I’d be able to live with myself if I did. That’s just how it is.”
Scarlett faltered and came to a halt. Richard looked at her with genuine admiration. She was standing there, inside the compound, surrounded by heavily armed and grimly determined men. And she had defied them. But he wondered what was going to happen next. If Tarik couldn’t use her as he had hoped, would he continue to protect her?
But the rebel leader had already come to his own conclusion. He lowered his head briefly, admitting defeat. “I understand how you feel,” he said. “And there is no need for us to discuss it any further. Perhaps I was wrong to ask you but we cannot ignore any avenue in this great struggle. We must consider now what is to be done with you, Scarlett. One thing is for sure. You must leave Cairo as soon as possible. El-Akkad does not share your scruples and will do anything to find you. We are all in danger while you are here.”
He snapped out a few words in Arabic to one of his officers, who nodded and left. Richard and Scarlett were standing together. Albert Rémy was looking at them gloomily from the side.
“I have a lot of work to do and we may not meet each other again,” Tarik said. “We will see what can be done and I will inform you as soon as I have a plan.”
And that was it. Tarik took one last look at her, then walked away. As he went, one of the soldiers raised a fist in a sign of defiance and suddenly, all around the compound, everyone was doing the same. At the same time, they called out his name, chanting it over and over again as he sprang into a waiting jeep and was driven towards the exit. At the last moment, he raised his own hand in acknowledgement. Then the metal gate was slid aside, the jeep disappeared into a cloud of sand and he was gone.
Rémy said nothing and Scarlett had no doubt that, whatever Tarik might have said, he was disappointed by the stand she had taken. Richard put an arm around her shoulders.
“You were right,” he said, quietly.
“I wonder…”
Scarlett had seen the way Tarik had looked at her before he went. He was a hero to these people. He was fighting for their freedom. And he was on her side. But even so it had been clear that he was angry with her and she wondered what might be the result.
FIFTEEN
Two days later, with the sand clouds glowing orange as the sun tried to break through, the rebel second-in-command came to see them. They knew that his name was Samir but he had told them nothing else about himself. Maybe there was nothing else. He was utterly loyal to Tarik. For him, the war was everything.
Richard and Scarlett had hardly spoken to anyone since their encounter with Tarik and they had both come to the conclusion that even if all the details of their discussion hadn’t been made public, everyone knew that there had been some sort of disagreement and that Scarlett had refused to co-operate. They were still given food and water. A doctor had come up to take one last look at Scarlett’s wound. But generally the men avoided them, drifting away whenever they approached.
Only Albert Rémy stayed close and he didn’t seem too concerned about what had happened.
“Of course he was disappointed but Tarik is a remarkable man,” he told them. “He’s devoted his whole life to his people and he would do anything – demand anything – to further their cause. It’s hard for him to accept that the war we are fighting, the war against the Old Ones, is even bigger than the battle here in Egypt. I’m sure he’ll see sense. We have to find the others … that’s what matters. Matt and Pedro, Scott and Jamie. When the Five are together, everything will change.”
But there was no sign of the other four. Whenever she could, Scarlett searched for them in the dreamworld, only to find herself utterly alone in the arid landscape. Just once she glimpsed someone and hurried towards them, but even as she drew close, she realized it was the man in the shirt and waistcoat who had made his first appearance when she was in hospital. Once again he turned his head and she saw his dark glasses and gold teeth and heard him mutter the same word: “Five!” She was glad to wake up.
During the day, she and Richard could spend a whole hour in silence, staring out at the endless sand as if just wishing it could make Matt and the others appear. The sand blew. Distant gunfire rattled through the streets. From time to time a jeep would come racing in and a broken, bloody body would be unloaded onto a stretcher and rushed into the hospital. But whatever was going on around them, they weren’t part of it.
And then there was the question of Scarlett’s power. Would she really have been able to do what Tarik demanded? Richard had to ask her – and did, while they were having lunch together.
“I don’t know, Richard,” Scarlett replied. Lunch was flatbread, some cheese and a dip made from chickpeas and garlic. “I think I do still have some sort of power. Do you remember this morning – about eleven o’clock?”
“The storm stopped for a few minutes. I could actually see some blue in the sky.”
“That was me. At least, I think it was. I was just experimenting really. I wanted to see what would happen so I sort of willed the sand to stop blowing. And it did for a bit. I was only able to keep it up for about five minutes though…”
“Well, I’d keep practising if I were you. If we’re going to bust out of here, we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
That had been the day before. And now, here was Samir; a thin, serious man who had been a student at Cairo University when the war began and, with his wispy beard and wire-framed glasses, still looked like one. He had been wounded in some of the earlier fi
ghting. Scarlett had once seen him with his shirt open. The front of his chest was a mass of scar tissue. But he never complained. He was devoted to Tarik. He, more than any of them, had been shocked that Scarlett had refused to do what she had been asked.
He didn’t greet them. He made no attempt to be friendly or polite. He simply marched in with two soldiers alongside him and Albert Rémy following behind. “You are leaving Cairo tomorrow morning,” he said.
“Where are they going?” Rémy asked. It seemed to Richard that the Frenchman had aged since they had arrived. He looked tired and there were more creases in his face.
“To Dubai.”
That made a certain amount of sense. The rebel army received its supplies from Dubai, as Rémy had already explained. It was still an independent country with a government in control and a working airport, although little had been heard from there for a while now. But at the same time, there was nothing for them there. It was a long journey to nowhere.
“What’s the point of sending us there?” Richard asked. “The door is here, in Egypt, at the pyramids. That’s our way out.”
“It has already been explained to you, Mr Cole. An assault on the pyramids is not feasible. They are too well guarded.”
“Then how are you going to get us to Dubai? Are we taking the bus?”
“You do not need to know that. Transport has been arranged. All you need to know is that you will be leaving here at first light. Six o’clock. Tonight you will return to your rooms early and you are not permitted to go out. Tarik will be coming here tomorrow morning and he will travel with you on the first leg of your journey.” He turned to Rémy. “You will also go, Mr Rémy. You are no longer required here and you have no reason to stay.”
“Of course. My place is with Scarlett.”
“So what happens when we get there?” Richard asked. He wasn’t sure why, but there was something he didn’t like about this and he was unable to keep the suspicion out of his voice.
“That is not our business. You wish to find your friends. You can start from there. Six o’clock tomorrow. Be ready.” Samir and the other two men wheeled round and left.
Scarlett didn’t look much happier than Richard, but Rémy was delighted by the news. “I told you that Tarik would come through!” he exclaimed. “You have no idea how much it will have cost him – the time and the resources – to arrange this for us.”
“And what’s in it for him?” Richard asked.
“You don’t understand the man,” Rémy replied. “He’s doing the right thing because that’s what he always does.”
“What about Dubai?” Scarlett asked. “Is it the same as here?”
“I haven’t been there for three years but there is no fighting in Dubai,” Rémy said. “We’ll find other members of the Nexus waiting for us. It’s better than being here.”
“But there’s no doorway in Dubai. Not like the Great Pyramid.”
“There are planes. There are cars. There is fuel and there is food. Please, don’t worry, Scarlett. I promise you this is for the best.”
But much later, when the darkness had drawn in, Richard and Scarlett were still concerned. They were sitting in Richard’s room, and although they were supposed to be asleep, they both knew there was little chance of them closing their eyes before the morning.
“I think we should just slip out,” Scarlett said. “If we can make it back to the Great Pyramid, maybe we can take them by surprise. We can just run through the door and be gone before anyone notices us.”
“I think it’s too dangerous,” Richard replied. “Field Marshall Whatever-his-name-is knows about the door. It’s all he knows. He will have made sure that we can’t get anywhere close.” He stopped. “Of course!” he went on. “That’s what’s been bothering me…”
“What?
“Why do we have to slip out? Why is it that suddenly they’re treating us like prisoners? Why did Samir tell us we weren’t allowed out tonight?” Richard went over to the window and craned his head so that he could see along the side of the building to the front door. A moment later, he turned back. “They’ve put a soldier outside,” he said.
“They’re protecting us.”
“I wish you were right. But I think they’re guarding us. There’s something happening inside this compound that they don’t want us to know about.” Richard paced back and forth and Scarlett could see he was turning things over in his head. He came to a decision. “I want to take a look around,” he said.
“Is that a good idea?” Scarlett asked. “I thought we were already in enough trouble.”
“They’re getting rid of us tomorrow so I don’t see that it can hurt. Are you going to come?”
“Of course.”
The two of them were still dressed. They opened the door and looked down the corridor, which was lit by a single bulb, burning low. There was nobody in sight. Together, they crept forward, passing the room where Rémy was quartered, and up to the door that led out into the compound. They saw at once that there was no way out. Samir – or maybe Tarik – was taking no chances. A guard had been posted there, standing in the doorway with his back to them.
Richard and Scarlett backed away again.
“We need a diversion,” Richard whispered. He thought for a moment. “Look, I can do this on my own,” he continued. “Do you mind? I’ll say you’re ill. Everyone worries about you and nobody really cares about me. While they’re looking after you, maybe I can have a quick sneak around.”
“Where are you going? What are you looking for?”
“I don’t know, Scarlett. Actually, I want to start in that ward we were shown. The one with all the children.”
“Why?”
“I’ve just got a feeling. I don’t think Tarik was telling us the whole truth.”
Scarlett nodded, her face pale in the darkness. “Just be careful, Richard. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”
“You’d be fine. You’re the one with the power.”
“Just make sure you come back in one piece.”
The two of them separated. Richard waited until she had disappeared from sight, then hurried over to the guard, doing his best to look alarmed. The guard heard him approach and spun round, his hand automatically reaching for the gun that he carried. He was clearly unhappy to see Richard. This wasn’t meant to be happening.
“It’s Scarlett,” Richard said. “She’s not well. She’s really ill. She needs help.” He didn’t know if the man understood English and as he spoke he rubbed his stomach and pulled a face as if he was being sick.
The guard hesitated. He didn’t want to leave his place but saw that he had no option. “Wait here,” he said, and ran off in the direction of the hospital block.
Richard followed him. It was almost pitch-black inside the compound and, as always, the swirling sand was adding to the cover of darkness. Of course there were guards at the gate and in the observation posts, but they had their backs to him, for if there was going to be an attack, it would come from outside and that was the direction they were facing. He saw the guard disappear into the building, waited a few seconds, then went in himself. The guard had gone upstairs. Richard heard his feet tramping on the concrete. He was alone in the wide corridor that he had followed just two days before. As in the accommodation block, a few light bulbs, barely glowing, lit the way ahead. He knew he had little time before Samir and the others were alerted, but still gambled on the fact that they would be so worried about Scarlett that they would forget about him. He hurried forward.
Once again he went through the doors and into the ward where the injured children lay in their two straight lines. Richard had been afraid that there would be a nurse or a doctor in attendance, but they were alone. Walking more slowly now, he moved between the beds. All the children seemed to be asleep but one or two of them were whimpering, unable to escape their pain. Richard hated being here. He felt nothing but pity for them. But there was something he had to know.
&nb
sp; The cupboards. Each one of them was identical, with exactly the same space between them. That was what had puzzled him about the place. It all just seemed too uniform. And there had been something else. They were all boys. He hadn’t registered it at the time but he saw it now and it made no sense at all. If, as Tarik had said, these had been innocent children caught up in the fighting, surely there would have been some girls among them. And where were their parents? Where were their relatives and friends? How could you have a children’s ward without at least a few visitors?
He stopped between two beds and tiptoed between them. He opened the cupboard. And there it was, exactly as he had expected. A set of miniature desert khakis hung on a peg with the military red ribbon attached to the pocket. A rifle had been propped against the corner. He tried a second cupboard and found exactly the same thing, except that this time the weapon was a pistol.
These weren’t innocent bystanders. They were child soldiers, part of Tarik’s army. He had been using them to fight the government forces. Richard wasn’t sure what shocked him more. The fact that Tarik had lied to them, using these terribly injured children to make Scarlett come round to his way of thinking. Or the fact that he had been prepared to use children in the first place. There were boys here as young as eight. What had been the point in sending them into battle? They would have been cut down where they stood.
Somewhere in the building, he heard raised voices and the stamp of feet as Samir and the others hurried over to examine Scarlett. Richard planned to fall in behind them. He would reappear and hopefully nobody would notice that he had ever been away.