The Killing Ground

Lacey cut him off. “This engine wasn’t its usual happy self, so we’re going to check it out.”

“Working for the United Nations is good,” Parry told him, “We not only get excellent wages, but very good expenses. We’ll spend it later in a better place, Dubai.”

“Or the South of France,” Lacey smiled. “You get a better class of girls there.”

“I see your point. I see from the files that you were here before.”

“A couple of years ago,” Lacey said calmly.

“The United Nations again?”

“Well, for Professor Stone, really,” Parry said. “The United Nations Ocean Survey funds him.”

“All for the sake of some old boat ninety feet down. In the old days, there were sponges down there. As a boy my father was one of those who dived to the boat. He and his friends jumped holding big rocks and the weight took them straight down.”

“Jesus,” Parry said, “hadn’t they heard of the bends?”

“They would snatch a sponge and go straight back to the surface. Such youths were much admired for their bravery.”

“Well, they would be,” Lacey said drily.

“The café in the terminal keeps going even when business isn’t good. Her cooking is to be recommended. She is a cousin of mine on my mother’s side.”

Lacey said, “I’ll see how the engine goes, but I’ll need to test-fly it. Will that be okay?”

“Of course. Whenever you want. You can see what it’s like here. Agraveyard.”

He turned and walked away. Lacey said, “I think you can say that’s sorted. I vote we check out the café.” Parry gazed out over the single runway, everything shimmering in the great heat, the mountains in the distance lining the Empty Quarter. “I know one thing,” he said as he joined Lacey. “This has to be the last place God made.”

“You can say that again.”

“I wonder how they’re doing on the Sultan.”

“I’ll call them later. Give them time to settle in.”

They entered the small terminal, where there were no passengers to be seen, just Arabs here and there who were obviously staff. The restaurant was open, and the smell was appetizing.

“My God, that does look good. Let’s give it a try.” And Lacey led the way.

THE WIND WAS BLOWING in from the land, warm and musky, with a certain amount of sand in it. Dillon and Billy sat amongst the diving equipment and got ready and Billy was so eager he was first. He was wearing a green diving suit and clamped a tank to his inflatable and an Orca computer to the line of his air pressure gauge. He spat in his mask and pulled it on, made an okay signal with a finger and thumb, and went over the rail backward.

Dillon went after him, the complete bliss of it enveloping him, the great blue vault of the sea, the myriad of fish. He checked the dive computer, which told him his depth, how long he’d been down, how long he could stay.

The old freighter was clear below at ninety feet, covered in barnacles and marine growth of all kinds, fish passing in and out of portholes. Billy ventured inside through the jagged hole the German torpedoes had left and Dillon followed. They played a kind of hide-and-seek in those dark, sunken passageways, emerging by the stern and hovering over a mixture of sand, sea grass and detritus that was what was left of the ancient Phoenician trading ship. Billy had found a figurine there once, a temple votive figure of a woman with a swollen belly and big eyes. In Hazar he’d come as close to death as a man could, but he’d made it through because in his pocket was Sam, the name he’d given the votive figure. She was his good luck piece and yet, when an old boy at the British Museum had gone potty over her, Billy had handed her over. Still, he knew the glass display case she lived in, could see her whenever he wanted.

He turned away and pointed, a gloved hand on a rail. Dillon beckoned to him and they started up toward the keel of the Sultan and the diving platform at the bottom of the boarding ladder. As they surfaced, a large rubber boat swept past. Hamid was at the tiller, Hassim in the bow, an AK across his knees. Sara was seated in the center beside Jasmine.

IT HAD NOT BEEN INTENDED, the excursion round the bay, but Hussein and old Jemal had been summoned to what was called the South Port along the coast from where the freight ships for the Indian trade operated, the terminus for the single-track steam railway and the oil pipeline. They were late for an appointment, and when Sara asked if they could cruise the harbor, the old man, half-deaf, was in a fuss and under pressure and relented, telling Hamid he had full responsibility and not to go far.

“On Wednesday morning, I’m taking you to the mosque to meet the Imam. Don’t forget. Study your Koran. I want him to be impressed with you,” he told Sara.

“Of course, Uncle.”

The truth was the business at South Port in which he and Hussein were mixed up was very delicate and involved arrangements for various illegal cargoes north to militia sources in Iraq. In any case, the young people set off in their boat, its powerful outboard motor pushing them very fast on a crisscrossing route in the harbor, and Sara became more demanding, urging them on. She’d observed the Sultan, the people on deck and those entering the water.

“They’re diving,” she said. “Circle around,” which Hamid did, and Hassim leaned over, cradling the AK, and peered down through the incredibly crystal clear water.

“You can see everything, Sara-the boat, the divers-look, little cousin.”

He had spoken in English and she replied in the same language. “Gosh, it’s absolutely marvelous.”

On deck, standing beside Hal Stone, Caspar Rashid heard her voice and moaned slightly and one foot moved forward, but, cloaked in his desert robes, the fold of his turban hiding half of his face, there was no way she could recognize him. Hal Stone squeezed hard on his arm, felt Caspar pause and then a sigh went out of him.

And now Sara said exactly the right thing. “I wonder if you’re Professor Hal Stone of Cambridge University?”

“Why, yes, I am, but how did you know that?”

“Oh, I’ve been told all about you and the old freighter down there on top of the Phoenician ship. I’m from the big house over there on the bluff. My name is Sara Rashid. It’s a pretty romantic story.” At that moment, Dillon emerged, followed by Billy, and they grabbed the edge of the diving platform.

Hal Stone, thinking very fast on his feet, took his hand out of the pocket of his bush jacket, palming two of the small photos provided by Roper.

“Fancy you knowing all that. Of course, it’s not quite true. I am a professor at Cambridge, but home is Fifteen Gulf Road in Hampstead. It’s awfully nice to meet you.” He leaned down, dropping to one knee, and pressed the palmed photos into her right hand as he shook it.

She frowned, and for a moment might have ruined everything, but it was only a small moment and Hal carried on. “We’ll be here for a while. Perhaps you could visit us properly. But what am I thinking of? I’ve offered you no hospitality. Caspar, ice water for our guests.”

And Caspar Rashid responded with a nod, turned as if to go and the strangest thing happened. Her face was wiped clean for the briefest of moments, and then she smiled and it was the most wonderful smile Hal Stone had seen in his life.

Hamid said, “Thank you for your offer of hospitality, but we must go now, Sara.”

“I hope to see you again, Professor. Are you diving again tomorrow? I can’t come on Wednesday, I’m visiting the Imam at the mosque.”

“Oh, yes, tomorrow you can see the divers at work. The water is so clear and we always hope to find something special.”

Caspar said, “I think we already have.”