The Seventh Scroll - Smith Wilbur - Страница 109

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"Happy landings!" Nicholas gave them the toast in red Chianti.

"Eight hours between the throttle and the bottle," jannie apologized, as

he drank the toast in Coca-Cola.

They lay down their clothes to get a few hours' sleep on the bunks

bolted to the bulkhead behind the flight deck, but it seemed to Royan

that she was woken only a few minutes later by the quiet voices of the

two pilots completing their pre-take-off checks, and the whine of the

starters on the huge turbo-prop engines. As Jannie spoke on the radio to

the control tower, and Fred taxied out to the holding point, the three

passengers climbed out of their bunks and strapped themselves into the

folding seats down the side of the main cabin. Big Dolly climbed into

the night sky and the lights of the island dwindled and were swiftly

lost behind them. Then there was only the dark sea below and the bright

pricking of the stars above. Royan turned her head to smile at Nicholas

in the dim overhead lights of the cabin.

"Well, Taita, we are back on court for the final set." Her voice was

tight with excitement.

"The one good thing about being forced to sneak about like this is that

Pegasus may take a while to find out that we are back in the Abbay

gorge." Nicholas looked complacent.

"Let's hope that you are right." Royan held up her right hand and

crossed her fingers. "We will have enough to worry about with what Taita

has in store for us, without Pegasus muscling in on us again just yet."

They are on their way back to Ethiopia," said von Schiller with utter

certainty.

"How can we be certain of that, Herr von Schiller?" Nahoot asked.

Von Schiller glared at him. The Egyptian irritated him intensely, and he

was beginning to regret having employed him. Nahoot had made very little

headway in deciphering the meaning of the engravings on the stele that

they had taken from the monastery.

The actual translation had offered no insurmountable problems. Von

Schiller was convinced that he could have done this work himself,

without Nahoot's assistance, given time and the use of his extensive

library of reference works.

It comprised, for the most part, nonsensical rhymes and extraneous

couplets out of place and context. One face of the stele was almost

completely covered by columns of letters and figures that bore no

relation whatsoever to the text on the other three faces of the column.

But although Nahoot would not admit it, it was clear that the underlying

meaning behind most of this had eluded him. Von Schiller's patience was

almost exhausted.

He was tired of listening to Nahoot's excuses, and to promises that were

never fulfilled. Everything about him, from his oily ingratiating tone

of voice to his sad eyes in their deep lined sockets, had begun to annoy

him. But especially he had come to detest his exasperating habit of

questioning the statements that he, Gotthold von Schiller, made.

"General Obeid was able to inform me of their exact flight arrangements

when they left Addis Ababa. It was very simple to have my security men

at the airport when they arrived in England. Neither Harper nor the

woman are the kind of people that are easily overlooked, even in a

crowd. My men followed the woman to Cairo-'

"Excuse me, Herr von Schiller, but why did you not have her taken care

of if you were aware of her movements?"

"Dummkopf!" von Schiller snapped at him. "Because it now seems that she

is much more likely to lead me to the tomb than you are."

"But, sir, I have done-' Nahoot protested.

you have done nothing but make up excuses for your ilure. Thanks to you,

the stele is still an enigma,'

own fa von Schiller interrupted him contemptuously.

"It is very difficult-'

"Of course it is difficult. That's why I am paying you a great deal of

money. If it were easy I would have done it myself. If it is indeed the

instruction to find the tomb of Mamose, then the scribe Taita meant it

to be difficult."

"If I am allowed a little more time, I think I am very near to

establishing the key-'

"You have no more time. Did you not hear what I have just told you?

Harper is on his way back to the Abbay gorge. They flew from Malta last

night in a chartered aircraft that was heavily loaded with cargo. My men

were not able to establish the nature of that cargo, except that it

included some earth-moving equipment, a front-endloading tractor. To me,

this can mean only one thing.

They have located the tomb, and they are returning to begin excavating

it."

"You will be able to get rid of them as soon as they reach the

monastery." Nahoot relished the thought.

"Colonel Nogo will-'

"Why do I have to keep repeating myself?" Von Schiller's voice turned

shrill and he slapped his hand down on the tabletop. "They are now our

best chance of finding the tomb of Mamose. The very last thing that I

want to happen is that any harm should come to them." He glared at

Nahoot. "I am sending you back to Ethiopia immediately.

Perhaps you will be of some use to me there. You are certainly no use

here."

Nahoot looked disgruntled, but he had better sense than to argue again.

He sat sullenly as von Schiller went on, "You will go to the base camp

and place yourself under the command of Helm. You will take your orders

from him.

Treat them as if they come directly from me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Herr von Schiller," Nahoot muttered sulkily.

"Do not interfere in any way with Harper and the woman. They must not

even know that you are at the base camp. The Pegasus geological team

will carry on its normal duties." He paused and smiled bleakly, then

went on, "It is most fortunate that Helm has actually discovered very

promising evidence of large deposits of galena, which as you may know is

the ore from which lead is obtained. He will continue the exploratory

work on-these deposits, and if they bear out their promise they will

make the entire operation highly profitable."

"What exactly will be my duties?" Nahoot wanted to know.

"You will be playing the waiting game. I want you there ready to take

advantage of any progress- that Harper makes. However, you are to give

him plenty of elbow room.

You will not alert him by any overflights with the helicopter, or by

approaching his camp. No more midnight raids.

Every move that you make must be cleared with me before, I repeat

before, you take any action."

"If I am to operate under these restrictions, how will I know if Harper

and the woman have made any progress?"

"Colonel Nogo already has a reliable man, a spy, in the monastery. He

will inform us of every move that Harper makes."

"But what about me? What will be my work?"

"You will evaluate the intelligence that Nogo collects.

You are familiar with archaeological methods. You will be able to judge

what Harper is trying to achieve, and you will be able to tell what

success he is enjoying."

"I see,'Nahoot muttered.

"If it were possible I would have gone back to the Abbay gorge myself.

-However, this is not possible. It may take time, months perhaps, before

Harper makes any important progress. You know as well as anybody that

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