Chapter 39. The Code
They were slowly going down the cracked stairs leading to the tunnel through the ruins of the ancient watchtower. The Soldier held the limping Seer by the hand and examined the surroundings carefully.
“There’s an observation post up the tower, and there are sun glints on the glass of the optic sight. Dilettantes. However we can’t get to the tunnel inconspicuously.”
“Any ideas?” the Seer asked. However, what ideas can liquidation specialist have?
“We can sneak to the tower from the sunny side. We are lucky that the sun is bright today; they won’t see me, after it as the occasion demands.”
“There is no need to,” the Seer said with some irritation. “I shall try to knock them down for a while. Deep sleep is for good.”
The Seer possessed the ability of controlling men without seeing their eyes. He sat, closed his eyes: a ruined fortress appeared in front of him, he saw the repaired stars, the asphalted roof, the observation post and the two bearded men. One of them sat under the sunshade and pored over a book. The second one walked around the roof perimeter and sometimes looked into binocular. The Seer
saw the mobile phones and portable radio set, two automatic rifles, some magazines full of rounds and two closed tin boxes. He looked inside of them in his mind. One box contained small white boxes with large figures ‘5.56’ and small figures ‘32’, there were round grenades in the second one.
The Seer discerned the eyes of the book lover, ordered: “Sleep!” and added more impulsively, “Sleep! Sleep!” as if finishing off the boxer who reeled with knockdown with two punches. The second guarding was a hard nut, he was not easy to hypnotize. Besides, he was busy with watching the objects through the binocular. The Seer decided to use this. He concentrated totally. The Soldier who had seen a lot in his life felt uncomfortable, he felt the desire to close his eyes tight and turn back but the curiosity got the best. The eyes of the Seer became bloodshot, the pupils expanded, he was completely pale, his forehead being covered with small beads of sweat, his hands shivered and he panted as if he had difficulty in breathing.
The Seer sent the guardian the image of the smooth sea. The warrior was amazed; he put the binocular down, peered: there was definitely the sea instead of the mountains and desert. He reached for the water can. “I got him”, the Seer thought contentedly.
“You drink wine, it is heady and intoxicating. You feel good, you feel asleep, you need some rest. You are by the seaside, you are relaxed. Everyone is sleeping now. It’s time to sleep. Sleep, sleep, sleep.”
The observer swayed and lied down.
“That’s it,” the Seer said in a tired voice. “They are asleep, but we have no time. Go up the tower, be careful, take aim at the guardians of the tunnel but don’t shoot. Do you understand? Don’t shoot. I’m going to rescue the Stranger. He is here. Don’t let us down.”
The Soldier ran to the tower, near the entrance he slowed down, his heart sank. He looked closer and saw the trip wire. He stepped over it carefully. And felt better. Staying as close to the wall as possible he climbed up to the roof. He saw the sound asleep observers and shook his head admiringly, then collected the weapon and tied their hands behind. He took the automatic rifle, checked it, put the round into the chamber, switched the safety lock into the single-shot position and aimed the weapon at the guardians. He pointed to the different parts of their bodies. And suddenly stopped himself. “It’s like an illness, time to do away with this. I’m over!”
Trying to throw away the thought of pain, the toddling Seer went down the stairs and came in view of guardians. He summed up the situation at a glance: “One is enraged, the others are puzzled. The Stranger’s work, he can do it. I should deal with the nervous one, but first I have to control pain.” The Seer imagined the leg before the injury, fixed the recollection. The pain subdued. He felt inspiration: it was time to show these boys who the Seer was.
He picked up the broken twig, raised his hand and made eye contact with the hysterical captain. The Keeper was astonished: he saw a very tall man with glowing eyes, in light clothes belted with glistening sash, there was electric sparkling sword in his hand.
The captain reeled and fell on his knees. He looked at the heavenly creature with veneration and tears in his eyes, unable to utter a word. Two others heard the command: “lie down in the dust of the ground,” fell down and put dust on heads.
The Soldier looked at the Seer: a small man, with a twig in the stretched hand, at the prone-armed man in front of him and hardly resisted from laughing aloud at this comic picture.
“Open the door!” the Seer ordered to the kneeler.
The captain, still under illusion, reeling as if he was in dream came to the door and pulled the big iron door-handle. It didn’t open.
“There is a code,” the Stranger shouted, he recognized the voice of the Seer.
The Seer glared at the warrior of the desert and realized that he didn’t know the code.
“How are you, Stranger?”
“Fine, thanks. Is the Soldier with you?”
“Yes. He keeps a bead on me,” the Seer waved his hand to Soldier’s side.
“Are you scared?”
“No more than you,” the Seer snapped jollily.
“Will you help me with the code?”
“Can’t the one that helped you to come to the door do this?”
“He will do it through you.”
“I can leave now.”
“I wouldn’t do this. You are kept covered by the Soldier,” the Stranger played up to him.
“Ok. Let’s not waste the time. What lock is there?”
“Ten figures, a star and a hash key,” the Stranger answered. “Wrong dial means explosion. By the way, I am not alone, here is a young girl with me, try not to kill us.
“Don’t worry.” The Seer humped himself. Figures flashed in front of his eyes, some of them thumped in his brain. “Listen!” he shouted suddenly. “Star, zero, one, three, seven, two, one, hash key.”
The Stranger entered the figures without hesitations, having hidden the girl behind his back. The door clanked loudly and got stiff. The Seer grabbed the door-handle, dug his heels into the ground and opened the door. The Stranger stepped out from the darkness blinking in the sunlight. The girl fell down on the ground and burst into tears. She embraced the earth, stroked the grass and cried.
“The prophecy has become true with your help, Stranger,” the Seer said shaking his hand.
“And with yours too. Give the Prince his entrance and the exit to his Messenger. You opened the exit. Congratulations, you are the Messenger,” the Stranger said smiling.
“And you must be the Prince?” the Seer stared at the Stranger trying to read his thoughts.
“As much as you are his Messenger. We played by the rules of the desert warriors, that’s it.”
“Good. I see you are fine.”
The Seer shook his hand again. The Stranger helped girl up and wiped her tears.
“It’s not over yet,” he smiled dully.
The Soldier looked up in the sky and cried. The mobile phones of the desert warriors rang on and on. One of the observers woke up, saw the unfamiliar man with a gun, shook his head as if throwing away the illusion. He jumped up on his feet, but with his hands tied behind, he could not keep the balance and fell down.
The Soldier said in authoritative voice,
“If you jump up again, I will lay you down forever. How soon will your people be here?”
The warrior of the desert kept silent trying to gather wits.
“They’ll be here in a half an hour,” he replied.
“I see. It means we have about fifteen minutes. At most.”
He waved his hand to the Stranger, pointed on the wristwatch and crossed his throat with the finger.
“We have to leave,” the Seer said. “The warriors of the desert will come soon. I’m not able to hinder all of them.”
“Sit on my back, I’ll give a ride,” the Stranger
proposed. The Seer started to walk upstairs hanging on the Stranger’s arm and mumbling something.
A small posse hurried to the tunnel.
“Go up to the Soldier,” the Seer told the girl. “Tell him not to shoot. There are not much of them. You both stay there until I call. We will deal with it without shooting.”
The girl looked at the Stranger, he nodded. But when she moved, his heart sank: she should not go there.
“Wait. I’ll go myself. I’ll be right back.
The Soldier saw the Stranger, smiled but suddenly became pale. He rushed downstairs but his instinct ‘never leave an enemy behind’ made him go back. The Soldier jumped and punched the observer with the club.
“Stop, Stranger!” he screamed. “Don’t go!”
The Seer realized what is going on and having summoned the rest of his power gave a sign: “Stop. Trip wire. Entrance.”
The Stranger didn’t hear the Soldier screaming. On his way to the embrasure of the fortress he suddenly stopped, looked down, whispered something and stepped over the trip wire of the mine. The Soldier ran up to him, his face contorted with terror, carefully took the stretched hand, held his friend and whispered,
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’ll never leave you again.”
The Stranger told him with a smile:
“If you’d gone with us, we all would have been dead. You saved me with your decision. That was God’s will.”
“Is it true?” he asked looking into the Stranger’s face with doubt.
“It is. The Seer has a message for you: don’t shoot.”
“Ok. Is the Seer going to put on a show?”
“I’m not sure. He is tired and whacked to the wide. I’ll talk to him myself.”
“It’s dangerous, Stranger,” the Soldier said, but looked at his friend and added, “it’s difficult to become accustomed to all your tricks. I do not have enough faith.”
“It’s easier to rely on weapon, but it’s not better.”
“I got it. I won’t shoot. I’ll admire the ruins from above,” he whiffed and returned to the roof.
Nothing had changed: one of the observers was sleeping, the second one lied unconscious. The Soldier brought him round. The warrior of the desert vomited: it was concussion of brain. He hardly resisted crying of pain and fear. The Soldier brought water, let him drink and wiped with some cloth.
“Don’t be hurt. You’d better rejoice, your prophecy has become true. My friend, his name is Stranger, went through the death tunnel and your elders wanted to kill him for that.”
“Why did they want to kill him?” the observer asked jerkily trying to overcome the pain.
“Because he is unlike you,” the Soldier answered clicking the safety lock of the automatic rifle.
“One can’t be killed for this.”
“Not half he can be,” the Soldier smiled ironically.
The captain prayed devoutly and thanked God for the vision sent.
“Forgive my blindness, the God of the sky and the earth, the sea and the desert. I was up to no good against Your slave and you sent the heavenly messenger in the shining of Your glory to save him. Forgive our infidelity, mighty God. I shall wash away my guilt. If you want, take my life. If you want me to serve you, I am your slave. I shall find the Stranger and beg for forgiveness. I shall serve him and I shall persuade the brothers to bow him.”
The keepers woke up of the hypnotic stupor, kneeled and echoed the captain, stretching arms to the sky and exclaiming after his every phrase, “Let it be!”
“How do you feel?” the Stranger asked the Seer. “Can you go?”
“I can go, but I can’t run,” the Seer said smiling.
“They will catch us. Maybe we should let our friend open fire. I’m sure he will shoot all of them.”
“No. I’ll go out to them and talk. And you should leave.”
The Seer stopped for a moment listening to something.
“Go. You’ll be surprised, Stranger.”
“I’m hard to surprise.”
The Seer opened the wallet and gave him the piece of paper with address.
“Take it. She is waiting for you.”
The Stranger nodded and turned to the girl.
“You will go with the Seer. He needs help. And I am not alone,” the Stranger pointed up. The Bird thought that he spoke about the Soldier.
“Let’s go, baby. Don’t worry about him,” the Seer said.
The Stranger went down to the tunnel again. Three guardians were praying. Five warriors of the desert went in the combat formation: two foremen, two sidemen and one rear man. The Soldier saw the grenade attached to the belt of one the warriors. He aimed at it:
“If I hit it, two or three of them will be killed by the explosion, I can shoot the others, I have to do this now but they asked not to shoot.”
The Stranger assuaged his doubts. He spread his arms demonstrating that he was weaponless and moved towards the five guests.
“Who are you?” the kneed captain called.
The Stranger turned.
“I’m nobody. A slave of the God living.”
“Are you the Stranger?” the captain asked gingerly.
“It’s me.”
“Forgive me, Prince. We haven’t recognized you. Forgive us. We did as our fathers did.”
The Stranger remembered the words of the Seer. “Yes, you’re right. I’m surprised. You’re a sly one! I’m not ready for this development. I got out of the tunnel and the traps are still here.”
“Kneel up, please. I am blood and flesh. I am not the Prince. I am just a man as you are.”
The captain got to his feet. Five warriors came closer looking at the Stranger.
“This man passed through the Tunnel of Death, and I sinned against him. I wanted to kill the holy man, but a heavenly messenger appeared, three meters tall, in shining power and glory, with the sward like lightning in his hands and opened the door. Today the ancient prophesy has become true, brothers. It’s a big day. The liberation of the City starts from here and after all the whole world will become free from the dark powers,” his voice sounded solemnly.
The Stranger groaned in his mind. “Nice situation. If only they knew that the miraculous messenger was one meter sixty centimeters tall and his name was the Seer, they would kill me in a blink of an eye. How did he get the sword? It seems in the same way as three meters size.”
“Have you seen the heavenly messenger too?” one of the warriors asked the other keepers of the door.
“We haven’t seen him but we’ve heard his voice and fear hung upon us, after it we remember nothing.”
“Here, brothers, I was the only one to see the vision,” the captain said proudly. “And now we all place ourselves under orders of this man.”
The prospect of being the head of the terrorist organization surprised the Stranger even more.
“Good,” he answered serenely. “Now I should go. And your task is to guard the exit and not let anyone into the tunnel. I shall find you. But promise that you will keep the secret. My time hasn’t come yet.”
Without saying a word they bowed unto him. The Stranger quickly walked away.
The Soldier put gags in the observers’ mouths, tied them so that they were not able to move and went down to him stealthily.
“Let’s move out of here until they came to. Throw the weapon,” the Stranger said imitating the Soldier’s intonations.
Friends left the ruins, headed to the nearest neighborhood, stopped the taxi and drove to address written on the card.