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Chapter 2

Doctor Heidi Schmidt concluded her lecture on the role of King Cyrus of Babylonia in the history of the Israeli nation and turned off the PowerPoint display that had been projected on the screen behind her.

She moved with the casual grace of a desert leopard, and her recent expedition in the far eastern regions of Turkey had bronzed her skin to a hue that most women would have spent a fortune in achieving by other means.

The young male students in the class ogled her lithe form and enjoyed the single dream of one day sharing her tent on some future expedition.

Heidi Schmidt was used to the stares and employed her looks to her advantage without ever holding out to her students the smallest hint that they would achieve their desires.

Even so, the questions now aimed at her from the class, were, she suspected, more to keep her cleavage in view than to clarify the current topic.

***

From her seat at the rear of the lecture hall Raya Khan was less than impressed with the woman.

A small twist of her lips betrayed her thoughts as she watched the way Heidi stood on the stage above them. Her legs were slightly apart and the trousers she wore were tight across her buttocks, while her blouse was unbuttoned immodestly.

Khan, too, could see the way the male students devoured the woman with their eyes.

Raya Khan conveniently forgot that she too had been taught to use her own luscious figure to distract men and achieve her own ends at their expense.

***

Finally, the lecture was ended, and the students began to gather up their computers and books and file out of the hall.

Even so a few remained and approached Heidi with still more questions.

She answered each of them in turn, and was finally able to collect her briefcase and make her way out toward the door.

As she did so Heidi noted that there was a dark and extremely athletic young woman in a fashionable business suit, still seated by the door.

She stood up as Heidi approached.

‘Dr Schmidt,’ she began, holding out her hand, ‘I was wondering if I might have a few minutes of your time.’

Accepting her greeting, Heidi was impressed with what she saw. The stranger was almost a head taller than her, with broad shoulders and thick curly black hair. As she shook the woman’s hand, she looked Heidi directly in the eye which seemed to disconcert the teacher for a moment.

‘My name is Raya Khan.’

‘The same Ms Raya Khan who has left numerous messages on my message bank?’

‘The same,’ nodded Khan.

Heidi smiled, ‘I must apologise most profusely Ms Khan for my laxness. You see I only returned from Turkey two days ago, and my priority was to my students. There were essays to mark and lectures to prepare. I had every intention of returning your calls this afternoon.’

Khan nodded, ‘Your dedication to your students is admirable. The mark of a true leader is their dedication to the people in their care. I have the honour of working for such a man.’

‘Thank you for your understanding. I hope I haven’t caused you any trouble.’

‘Trouble? No. A small delay perhaps,’ she shrugged, ‘However the matter I wish to discuss with you has been an ongoing investigation for several years now, and a delay of several days is inconsequential, provided the desired goal is obtained.’

Heidi smiled, ‘Well then Ms Khan, I think we should return to my office and you can explain what your goal is, and how I can be of assistance.’

***

Once she had her guest seated in the cluttered cubbyhole she called an office, Heidi insisted on making them both a mug of coffee before discussing business.

Khan pretended to sip at the hot mug but its contents were an insipid Western version of the real thing served in her own country in thimble sized cups.

‘I must apologise for the cramped conditions here,’ Heidi began, ‘But I have only recently obtained my Doctorate and must accept whatever they have available. Luxury only comes with tenure I’m afraid.’

‘In my country, this would be considered most agreeable for any academic,’ as she carefully placed the hot mug on a small patch of clear desk. Khan had no intention of picking it up again. ‘And that brings me to the reason for my call.’

‘My office?’

‘No. Your Doctorate, or more importantly your Doctoral Thesis.’

‘The Sword of Gilgamesh?’

‘Precisely. A most unusual subject if I might say so.’

‘You’ve read my thesis?’

‘My superiors came across the reference to your thesis on the internet and have obtained several copies. They wish to discuss the topic with you.’

‘You haven’t read it then?’

‘My sole interests lie in the security of my homeland.’

‘And what has my thesis to do with that? Where is your homeland?’

‘Libya.’

Heidi was taken aback by the answer. She was totally at a loss as to how an ancient sword from Iraq could have any possible connection with the security of modern Libya.

‘I don’t understand.’

‘And I cannot supply you with the explanation that you seek. My mission was to ask you to come to Tripoli and speak with my leader.’

‘Gaddafi?’

‘He may wish to speak to you himself, but I doubt it. You will speak with those who understand, and they will relay the information to our great leader.’

‘What if I don’t want to go? I have many important matters to attend to with my students. Perhaps a conference call to Tripoli would be sufficient?’

‘I have certain instructions Dr Schmidt. They wish to speak with you in person.’

‘As I told you before, I have only just returned from Turkey. I can’t possibly go away again this soon. The university board will never grant me further leave, and if I go without their permission I may well lose my position here. There are many others who would like to take my place. I’m afraid it can’t be done. If I lose my place here then I’ll also lose what little funding I have for further research, and without that my entire career is in doubt. I’ve already had to return from Turkey early because of a cutback in funds and it came just as I was about to make an important breakthrough.’

Khan couldn’t have cared less about the career of a single Western woman or what she was hoping to achieve. She reached inside her shoulder bag and extracted an envelope which she threw casually onto Heidi’s desk. ‘Open it,’ she said shortly.

Curious, Heidi did so and gave an involuntary gasp at the thick wad of Euros inside.

‘There’s twenty thousand there. That should buy a few days of your valuable time,’ Khan said with a thinly disguised tone of disdain, ‘And I am instructed to tell you that if your meeting with my superiors is satisfactory then they will supply you with one million more. That should enable you to continue your research.’

Heidi considered the sum before her and wondered if she should accept it. Libya, its history and its people, held no immediate interest to her. The distant lands that surrounded the ancient city of Babylon were what held her imagination, just as it had her father and his father before him.

Still, the sum was substantial, and would allow her and a team of students to excavate the ancient ruins of the Middle East for several seasons. It might well be enough to secure the tenure Heidi sought.

‘I can’t promise you anything Ms Khan, but I will approach the university to see if they’ll release me for a week or two. If I show them how much money you’re willing to pay me I may be able to convince them that it would be a good investment to let me go.’

‘No!’ exclaimed Khan forcefully, ‘No one else must know where you are going, or who you will be seeing. This must remain a complete secret.’

‘That’s impossible! Other people must know. I have to find someone to do my lectures and look after the students, and I’ll have to book flights and hotels.’

‘Find someone to replace you, but tell them nothing! The rest I will arrange. No one must know where you are going, or what you are about to discuss.’

‘But why not? What is so important about it? Do you know where the sword is?’ she asked excitedly.

‘Your questions will be answered by others, if they choose to answer them.’

Heidi regarded the woman across the desk. For all her good looks there was a deeply disturbing aspect to the woman. She was obviously from the police or the military, Heidi decided, possibly from some intelligence department and almost certainly not a historian.

Therefore, she was someone to be wary of, and Heidi warned herself to be careful of every word spoken.

Finally, she nodded and stood up, ‘I’ll have my mother pretend to be far sicker than she really is at present, and begin ringing my colleagues to find someone willing to stand in for me.’

Khan stood as well. She handed Heidi a business card, ‘Ring me when the arrangements have been made and I’ll arrange to collect you from your home.’

‘I’ll write down my address for you.’

‘I already have it.’

A cold tremor of disquiet went down Heidi’s spine as Khan turned and let the curious woman out.