Chapter Thirteen
Held Back
I breathed out slowly, as I swiveled on one heel looking through the various levels of the gallery in search of anyone who still needed killing. My upward gaze connected with Talaric’s father’s gaze and I blushed slightly, as he inclined over in a slight bow at the waist.
I let my guns fall to my sides, as I saw Talaric approaching me with a strange emotion written across his face.
“I’m sorry! I know you told me to stay, but I had to come! I……”
I don’t know really what I was going to say next, because Talaric shocked all thought from me when he seized my face with both of his hands and smashed his lips passionately to mine.
As I lost myself in the passion of the moment I brought my arms up around Talaric wanting to touch him back and hold him nearer to me.
Abruptly Talaric jumped back from me saying, “Ouch!”
I stared at him in surprised cluelessness as to what had just happened. Then it dawned on me. As I had folded my arms up around Talaric I had forgotten that I was still holding the pistols in my hands. The muzzles of both pistols were still glowing cherry red from having just fired several hundred rounds each.
“I’m so sorry!” I exclaimed, as I jammed the pistols back into their holsters. I started to apologize again, but Talaric was laughing and he stopped me with a couple of fingers to my lips.
“Serves me right for reaching out to touch the flame. All right hot stuff we’d better get out of here.” He said, even as he smacked my rear firmly.
I started for the exit route happy inside that he wasn’t mad at me for disobeying him and that I had been of help.
“Eva?” I looked back over my shoulder at Talaric and he gave me a big thumbs up, “That was a very nice dance! You should teach it to Titus, as he could use a little more movement in the heat of the moment. He just stands there firing away with his cannons, while he acts as a beacon for every bullet in the place.” Talaric finished in a dry tone.
Titus had since gotten to his feet carrying Katie along with him.
He harrumphed sourly and responded, “My cannons need a firm foundation to have effect, can’t have that if ‘n I be ah hot footing it all over the place.”
I shared a grin with Talaric at Titus’s expense. All humor abruptly vanished as the ground beneath us moved up and down some. On the tails of that movement came Sparky and Ellanarra bursting out of the exit tunnel.
“We’ve got to leave! Now!” Sparky hollered out, as excited as I had ever seen him before.
As one we took off after them down the exit hallway, as the ground shifted under us more violently than before. It seemed like it took forever to reach the entrance to the surface. Talaric’s mother looked at us in concern as we rushed into the space.
We all felt the hot blast of air coming down the hallway at our backs. Sparky fiddled with a panel and amazingly two doors opened to reveal the harsh midday light of the Saharan sun outside. Blinded by it, we never the less, rushed outside into the blinding light and dove off to the sides of the exit.
Seconds later billowing clouds of flame and smoke shot out from the mouth of the tunnel. The flames retreated, but we could hear the tunnel collapsing. At least we wouldn’t be followed.
Black billowing smoke and what looked like high pressured ash clouds were shooting up out of the desert where the main facility had been located underground. The ground continued to shake for a while and then it subsided. Entire sand dune mounds cascaded into the still smoking abyss in the distance.
Talaric after taking stock of everyone said, “Let’s get headed back to the plane.”
And somehow knowing the direction, he headed off for it as the rest of us followed behind. We were actually closer to the plane than we had been before.
Cresting a dune I saw the plane ahead. There was a sudden explosion followed by a billowing cloud of black smoke.
My heart stopped and I stumbled the rest of the way up the dune, as fear consumed me. My horror stricken eyes found what they had desperately not wanted to through the smoke.
The Saratoga was burning!
“RAF……!” I had started to scream, but a hand came across my mouth, while an arm slid around my middle clamping my arms to my sides.
I was jerked over backwards to the sand. My screams were muffled by the hand, even as my eyes were blurred by my tears. I fought to get free. I bit the hand on my face hard and it jerked away, even as I bucked and strained to free myself.
I crashed my head backward against the chest behind me and heard a whoosh of escaping air. I was crazy with the need to be free. Two powerful hands came down over my mouth and immobilized my head in the process.
I tried to kick, but whoever lay behind me had wrapped their legs up and over mine. I continued to strain my body burning from the effort, as I went crazy within my mind.
Didn’t they understand?
My baby was down there!
A voice came from whoever held me from behind and I recognized it as belonging to Talaric and in that moment I hated him!
“Are both helicopters gone?”
Titus’s grim reply came back in response.
“Just one, the other one is still just sitting there. I don’t see nobody moving around. Looks like there are some bodies laying in the sand. It’s probably safe enough now to go down.”
“Let her go, son.”
Both hands holding my mouth and head were removed and I saw that it had been Roric holding my head still. Suddenly I was free and I scrambled away from them and up and over the sand dune.
Tears blurred my vision, but the still burning plane was wasn’t hard to miss. There were bodies laying in the sand before the plane, but I ran past them. None of them were either Eleanor or Rafael, just more of the black clad special forces that had stormed the underground hanger bay.
I ran up to the burning plane and around it searching in vain for what I had lost. I stopped in front of the open doorway, which flames were still shooting out of. I dropped to my knees in the sand screaming with loss and unrequited anger, which was directed mostly at myself.
I should never have brought Rafael here!
I had followed my heart instead of doing what was best for Rafael. I should’ve taken the money and run with him!
‘And then what?’, came the corresponding thought. What would’ve happened when the money ran out?
There were as many, if not more, dangers down that road than the one I had taken. I just didn’t know. I just didn’t know.
Talaric stopped back from Eva a short distance. More than anything he wanted to go to her, but he felt like it would be a mistake somehow. He was grateful when he saw his mother fall to her knees beside Eva along with his sister, both of them reaching out to hold her.
He looked away from Eva to the burning Saratoga. What was he going to do now?
His father’s hand came to rest on his shoulder and he glanced to the side at him and saw understanding reflected back at him in the depths of his father’s eyes.
“Don’t despair. It’s times like these that God’s glory and provision are manifested like never before, only believe and keep doing what you know to do.”
Talaric nodded, but his jaw tensed with the emotion that he was keeping bottled up inside.
“Sparky what can be done? Can we salvage anything?”
Sparky pulled his glasses off to clean them, as he shook his head no. Putting his glasses back on he turned to look at the abandoned chopper that showed signs of gunfire on it.
“Maybe with this one.”
He started rolling up his sleeves, as he approached the shot up chopper.
Titus finally had to look away from the sad scene of Eva crumpled over on her knees in the sand. He walked out into the desert a little needing some space. Folding his big hands with his back to the others he looked out over the desert not really seeing it.
“Oh dear Lord, this old life just ain’t fair sometimes. If you could please help Miss Eva. She needs you now oh Lord. Poor girls broken. I hope Miss Eleanor be with you now Lord. She sure was a good one!”
He stopped not really knowing what was left to say. He started to turn back to the others, when something ruffled in a sudden breeze, which was unusual for the middle of the day. It was a book.
“What you trying to tell me good Lord?”
Walking to the book he picked it up. Sand spilled out of it. It was one of Eleanor’s books, ‘Jules Vern’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea.
Opening the cover he found that a crude hollow had been made by cutting out the center of the pages. The hollow had been filled with wet sand. His brow furrowed deeply in concentrated thought.
He turned to bellow at Sparky, “Get over here little man!”
Sparky soon arrived accompanied by most of the others.
Titus handed him the book, “Miss Eleanor never treat a book like that excepting she had a reason to!”
Sparky looked at the book curiously, “Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea?”
He picked up some of the wet sand, “Wet sand? Everyone spread out and look for anything unusual, especially more books!” Sparky said excitedly.
Everyone spread out and soon three more books were found. They were all classical tales of Pirates and treasure; all three were filled with dry sand.
“What does it mean?” Sparky muttered out aloud.
“Well even I knows what it means!” Titus said matter-of-factly.
Sparky looked over the brim of his glasses at the big man, “Well then, would you mind enlightening the rest of us!” He said testily.
“Well Sir, the way I sees it, is the first book plays off the book title, only instead of water something is buried under the sand, which is in place of the water.”
“We got that!” Interjected Sparky heatedly.
Titus held up a hand forestalling him from continuing, “Hear me out little man, all in good time. These other three books are pirate books about treasurer and the such. Their filled with dry sand and we haven’t found any more than just those three. These books is a map for something. There’s treasure buried under the sand and as everybody knows ……”
Sparky cut in excitedly, “X marks the spot! Each of you men go to where the four books were found!” Sparky said.
As individuals found their positions Sparky aligned himself up between the four men.
“Search this area around me!” He said indicating the space around him.
Moments later Ellanara called out, “Over here!
As one everyone rushed over to her. She indicated a black hose laying on the surface that disappeared down into the sand.
Titus started to reach for it, but both Ellanara and Sparky screamed, “No!”
They both sank to their knees and started scooping sand away as fast as they could and out behind them. Talaric joined in and within moments their fingers struck a wooden crate that the hose disappeared into. Lifting the crate revealed a scared looking Rafael.
“Rafael!” I screamed pulling him up into my arms.
“Oh God! Thank you God!” I said, as I pulled back to look him over to make sure that he was okay.
“Are you okay Rafael?” I asked worriedly, as I rejoiced at the feel of him in my arms.
Shocked at the sight of the burning plane behind me he continued to stare at the flames, but he nodded yes.
“Where’s Eleanor, Rafael?” I asked.
He looked around for her and then back to me his little face having an awful expression of fear on it, “I don’t know! We were playing a game. I thought she’d forgotten about me!”
I hugged him close again, “No she didn’t forget about you Rafael! She saved you! God bless her, she saved you!”
Sparky pulled a case up out of the sand that lay next to the old crate. Opening it he pulled out his personal laptop.
Initializing it his screen popped up that showed an ever changing topography map that had a green flashing icon moving on it.
“She’s still alive Talaric! She must’ve tagged herself with a tracking chip. They’re taking her north. It looks like somewhere in central Europe.” Sparky said softly.
Talaric looked at the green dot for a moment, “We’re going after her!” He said in a tone that indicated that he would tolerate no other consensus of opinion.
“Yes, yes we are, as well as after what they took.”
Sparky looked at the burning Saratoga and then back to the green blinking dot, “This has all been my fault!” He finished.
Talaric spoke up, “You couldn’t have known this was going to happen Sparky!”
But Sparky shook his head solemnly, “The crystals, in my study of them I detected and energy frequency signal emanating from them. They must have tracked the signal to the Saratoga. Not only do they now have the crystals, but the crystals themselves I believe to be the essential components of the bar-Seth’s main drive. It’s possible that the signal I noticed could be backtracked to the bar-Seth itself, which could be the source of the signal! We have to go! I only wish I’d realized the significance of the signal earlier and shielded it somehow!”
Ellanara reached out and touched Sparky’s arm, as he continued to stare dejectedly at the computer screen.
“I need your help with this flying contraption. Once we are up and running we can go about fixing the situation. Will you help me, please?”
“Yes, we must fix it, we must!”
They both headed off towards the chopper. I carried Rafael toward the shade offered by a nearby sand dune not letting go of him for even a moment.