Part 42 (2/2)
He turned suddenly to Switchblade. ”What about the Orb, the Delphic Stone?”
”It's gone, sir. As are Professor Epper and his group.”
Wolf snorted. ”Alive or not, Epper won't be happy. Because he knows that we now have every trump card in the deck: the first two Pillars, the Philosopher's Stone,and the Firestone.”
”There's one more thing, sir,” Switchblade said.
”Yes?”
Switchblade nodded to someone, and from the crowd another prisoner was brought forward.
Wolf's eyebrows arched in surprise.
It was the warlock of the Neetha.
The gnarled old man's hands were cuffed, but his eyes blazed with rage.
”And just how canyou helpme ?” Wolf said, knowing the old shaman couldn't possibly understand him.
To his surprise, the old man answered him. But he didn't speak in Thoth. Rather, he spoke in a language that Wolf recognized: Greek, cla.s.sical Greek.
”The Second Corner of the Machine,”the warlock drawled in slow but perfect Greek. ”I have seen it. I will take you there.”
Wolf leaned back in surprise, a sly smile forming.
”Switchblade, Broadsword. Fire up the choppers and call our people in Kinshasa. Tell them to prep a plane for Cape Town. It's time to get our f.u.c.king reward.”
AS THE HALICARNa.s.sUS soared southeastward in glorious peace, Zoe and the others joined Sky Monster in the seating area immediately behind the c.o.c.kpit.
Ono and Diane Ca.s.sidy were introduced and Sky Monster explained what had happened to him since they'd left him in Rwanda.
”After Solomon's boys arrived with some startup fuel, I flew to the old farm in Kenya and gave my baby a full checkup and refuel, even had a brandnew engine mounted.”
”You keep spare jetengines there?” Zoe asked.
”I might've...found...some in my travels and kept them for a rainy day,” Sky Monster said bashfully. ”Anyway, I've been tracking every aerial scramble in central Africa, and sure enough, earlier today, I spotted these Congolese guys on the satellite scanner-in some Clipper transports and escorted by a few US choppers-all heading to this region.
Figured they'd found you, so I tagged along from a distance. Then when I saw you take off in the other direction, I figured it could only be Zoe flying.”
”Hadehaha,” Zoe said.
Sky Monster said, ”Hey, where's Solomon? I gotta thank him for sending that fuel.”
Zoe shook her head.
”He died defending me,” Lily said, her eyes downcast.
”Oh,” Sky Monster said softly. ”And Alby?”
”Don't even ask,” Zoe said, rubbing her temples, clearly still dealing with that issue.
”Hopefully, he's not dead, too.”
She glanced at Lily as she said this, and their eyes met. Lily said nothing.
While they talked, Wizard tapped away on a computer, posting an encoded message on theLord of the Rings noticeboard he, Lily, and Jack used for such communications. If Jack was somehow alive, he would check in on the noticeboard eventually.
”You think Daddy's still alive?” Lily said, moving behind Wizard as he typed. ”Even after that man showed us his helmet?”
Wizard turned to face her.
”Your father's a very resilient fellow, Lily. The most resilient, stubborn, brilliant, loyal, caring, and difficulttokill man I know. As far as I'm concerned, Jack West isn't dead until I see his unmoving body with my own eyes.”
This didn't seem to encourage Lily.
Wizard just smiled. ”We must always retain hope, little one. Hope that our loved ones are alive, hope that good will prevail over evil in this epic conflict. In the face of powerful opponents and overwhelming odds, hope is all we have.
”Never lose it, Lily. Deep in their hearts, bad people like Wolf have no hope and so they replace it with l.u.s.t: l.u.s.t for dominance, for power-and if they ever gain that power they're only happy because now everyone else is as miserable as they are. Always have hope, Lily, because hope is what makes us the good guys.”
Lily looked at him. ”That Wolf man said on the phone before that he's my grandfather, Daddy's father. How can Daddy be so good and Wolf be so bad?”
Wizard shook his head. ”That I cannot explain. The path a person takes in life is often determined by the strangest, most incidental things. Jack and his father are alike in many ways: both are fiercely determined and incredibly intelligent. Only Jack acts for others, while his father acts for himself. Somewhere in their lives, they eachlearned to act in these ways.”
”What will I be like then?” Lily asked nervously. ”I want to be like Daddy, but it seems that's not guaranteed. I don't want to make the wrong choice when it matters.”
Wizard smiled at her, tousled her hair. ”Lily, I cannot ever imagine you making the wrong choice.”
”And now that Wolf man has got Alby,” Lily said.
”Yes,” Wizard said. ”Yes-”
At that moment, something pinged in the c.o.c.kpit and Sky Monster went to check on it.
Two seconds later, he shouted: ”What in the name of...?”
Zoe and the others raced into the c.o.c.kpit to see what had upset him.
They found Sky Monster pointing at a satellite aerial map of southern Africa.
Dozens of little red dots filled the air above the northern border of South Africa. Many more blue dots flanked the western coast just off Cape Town.
”What is it?” Zoe asked.
”See all those dots,” he said. ”The red ones represent military aircraft, the blue ones wars.h.i.+ps. And there's a repeating message coming in over all frequencies: the South African Air Force has blockaded South African airs.p.a.ce to all foreign air traffic-military and commercial. At the same time, their Navy's formed a perimeter around Cape Town, Table Mountain, and half the Cape of Good Hope.”
He pointed to a few whitecolored dots on the ocean south of the Cape. ”Those white dots, they're the last civilian craft that were allowed in about an hour ago. Judging from their transponders, they're South Africanregistered fis.h.i.+ng trawlers returning from the Indian Ocean. They're the last ones they've let back in. Now all the sealanes are closed.”
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