Читать книгу The Blade of Gilgamesh - Jeff Edwards - Страница 12

Chapter 4

The selection of clothes proved easy as Heidi had often visited Islamic states and was used to the various levels of modesty required in those countries.

With that problem out of the way, the two women spent the rest of the day relaxing in Samal’s comfortable home.

Heidi learned that Suffa had spent her senior school years in a private college in France, and the pair exchanged stories of teenage adventures. Heidi described her own youth spent in exotic lands while on archaeological digs and in some of the remotest parts of the world, while Suffa talked about her time spent amongst the radical students in cosmopolitan Paris.

The women quickly found an affinity for one another and were soon close friends.

Heidi felt she could confide on Suffa, and said, ‘I was brought to this country by a very strange woman named Raya Khan. She and the other women on my flight did not seem like other Arabic women. They were very cold, even emotionless, people.’

Suffa nodded. ‘They’re robots. Part of our leaders’ team of virgin mindless soldiers.’

‘Virgin soldiers?’

Suffa laughed, ‘You don’t know about Gaddafi’s bodyguards?’

‘No?’

‘Well then, let me explain. He selects the tallest most athletic women to be members of his personal bodyguard. Tall, so that they can stand directly behind him and protect his much shorter body from an attack from the rear. Every one of them is trained in hand to hand combat and he believes that having women as his protectors gives him an advantage as a male assassin would be reluctant to attack a female.’

‘You said virgin robots.’

‘Ah yes. The women are forced to take an oath to protect Gaddafi and to maintain their virginity at all costs.’

‘But why?’

Suffa smiled, ‘It’s all a sham………propaganda. The women come to him as virgins, but he and his senior staff make sure that they don’t remain so for long. The women are at the beck and call for Gaddafi and his friends.’

‘It can’t be much of a life for them.’

‘They remain loyal to the leader and would gladly give their lives for him. Many privileges go with their exalted position and the women obviously believe the costs are worth whatever is demanded of them.’

***

Ahmed Samal returned to his home an hour before sundown to collect his guest.

After donning her new clothes Heidi said her goodbyes to Suffa and exchanged private e-mail addresses while promising to keep in touch before Ahmed Samal led her outside to where their limousine awaited.

As they made their way through the busy streets Heidi asked, ‘Is this interview taking place at your university?’

‘No. Our leader has decided that he may wish to attend therefore it will be carried out at one of his palaces for security reasons.’

‘One of his palaces?’

‘For security reasons, he must continually move from one residence to another, especially after the US bombing raids.’

‘But that was a long time ago, surely he no longer has anything to fear.’

‘There is always something to fear, and caution can never be underestimated.’

‘Will I be blindfolded so that I can’t reveal where the palace is located.’

Ahmed smiled, ‘I fear that the US already knows exactly where the palaces are located, which is why our leader must continually move from one to another. Your knowledge of where the leader is living today will not compromise his safety tomorrow.’

***

The limousine turned off the main highway and onto a secondary road lined with nondescript houses and shops.

They turned off this road and passed beneath an arched portal and the limousine came to a halt in the centre of a small paved courtyard.

Heidi looked around as she stepped out and found herself surrounded by four tall brick walls whose unadorned surface was only broken by a few narrow windows and a single door. The door was flanked by a pair of beautiful female guards who ran a metal detector over Ahmed and Heidi and searched her briefcase thoroughly.

When nothing untoward was discovered, one of the guards reported to her superior on a two-way radio and the small door was opened from inside.

The room they were admitted to was bare except for a desk behind which a further female guard sat.

Heidi was intrigued that the women all wore military uniforms topped with bright red berets whose colour matched perfectly with their lipstick and varnished nails. Two wore polished military boots while with leader wore patent leather high heels.

Ahmed gave the woman their names and the guard handed each of them a security pass after checking off their names in her appointment book. She then ushered Heidi and Ahmed to a lift and used a security code to call it.

When the lift arrived, the guard used a keypad to activate the floor selection and pushed Floor 3, before stepping aside to allow Heidi and Ahmed to enter.

Heidi was surprised when instead of going up, the lift dropped the three floors, and as the door opened they were greeted by a tall, angular man in tribal dress who had the piercing eyes and beak-like nose of a desert falcon.

‘Professor Ilmann, this is Doctor Schmidt.’

Ilmann nodded tersely in her direction and made no attempt to shake her hand. ‘This way,’ he said shortly, ‘They’re waiting.’

With that he turned on his heel and made his way around a corner and along an echoing corridor.

They made several more turns in this underground labyrinth before Ilmann came to a halt outside a featureless door, and entered without knocking.

Inside, Heidi found herself in what appeared to be a conventional western classroom, with a large whiteboard covering one wall and rows of desks facing it.

Ahmed directed Heidi to a comfortable office chair that was set facing the desks, and as she sat down she noted that there were two other men present. They sat at the back of the room, close to the only door. She also noted that there was a large mirror on a side wall and guessed that there were unseen people in the adjoining room who were watching her every move.

To settle her nerves Heidi took the opportunity to open the briefcase she had brought with her from Germany and extracted a large file containing not only a copy of her thesis but numerous other supporting documents. The briefcase also contained several other items including her grandfather’s diaries, but she chose not to reveal those precious items immediately.

Ahmed Samal and Professor Ilmann had taken seats in the front row and Heidi was surprised when they did not begin the questioning. Instead it was one of the men close to the door who stood up and came forward.

Heidi had not been introduced to either of these men and the one who now stood before her made no attempt to remedy this situation. ‘You have been brought here to answer questions,’ he began without preamble, ‘You will do so truthfully and fully. Do you understand?’

‘Yes. Of course.’

‘If you do answer the questions to our satisfaction you will be paid the sum of one million Euros.’ He then snapped his fingers.

Behind him the second man rose and joined his companion. This man carried a satchel which he placed on the floor near Heidi’s chair. He then unzipped the satchel revealing bound wads of notes neatly stacked inside.

Without saying a word, the second man then returned to stand beside the door.

The first man turned to Heidi. ‘If you attempt to deceive us the consequences will be grave.’ He waved at the satchel. ‘The choice is yours Doctor.’

The second man then opened the door, and held it open for the first man to leave, before following and closing the door behind.

Heidi was in no doubt that they would remain nearby in case they were needed.

***

There was a moment of silence in the room after the closing of the door and Heidi took a deep breath.

Slowly Professor Ilmann came to his feet.

‘The Sword of Gilgamesh,’ he began, ‘A sword of great power that has existed since the most ancient of times. That is the subject of your thesis is it not?’ he asked harshly, and it seemed obvious to Heidi that this was the man who she needed to convince more than any other.

‘That’s correct,’ she replied quietly.

‘The Sword of Gilgamesh,’ he repeated, ‘A sword of such great significance, and yet, in all my years as a Professor of Antiquities I have never heard of such a sword until your extremely ‘interesting’ revelations. Our great leader has actively looked for an item such as this for a very long time, yet I had found not a trace, not even a hint of such an items existence.’

‘Are you calling me a liar?’ Heidi asked coldly.

Ilmann stepped closer to Heidi and fixed her with a stare from his hawk-like eyes. Heidi could feel the frigid gaze pierce her. ‘My friend here, Professor Samal and I have been making discreet enquiries, not only throughout the Middle East but throughout the world, and do you know how many people we have located who knew of the sword before your treatise? None! None!’ He raised his hand and pointed a stick-like finger at her, ‘This entire story is a charade. A fiction created by an inferior academic who was too lazy to do any sort of real research to achieve her current position.’

‘Simply because you hadn’t heard of the sword doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,’ she spat back at the man towering above her. ‘You obviously haven’t been looking in the right places.’

‘Right places!’ he scoffed, ‘Are you telling me that the entire antiquities world doesn’t know what they’re doing and that you are the one and only person in the world who does?’

‘There have been years, generations, of work done to locate the sword. My entire life has been devoted to finding it.’

‘Years? Generations?’ roared Ilmann. ‘What rubbish is this? You’re nothing but a fraud!’

Ahmad Samal clambered to his feet and rushed to stand between pair. ‘Please! Please calm down, both of you. This is getting us nowhere.’

‘The woman is obviously attempting to dupe us,’ Ilmann exclaimed.

‘It’s true I tell you!’ Heidi responded.

‘Calm down! Both of you. Please return to your seat Professor while I have a quiet word with Doctor Schmidt.’

Reluctantly Ilmann did as his associate asked. He slumped into a chair and stared at Heidi with a look of utter loathing. If the woman was proved to be a liar it would look badly on him for agreeing to bring her to Tripoli, but even worse, if she were able to prove her story to be correct it would make matters even worse. For a Professor of Antiquities to have spent over a decade looking for something as significant as the sword and finding nothing, and for a mere woman to succeed where he had failed was intolerable.

In the meantime, Ahmad Samal leaned over Heidi and spoke softly to her. ‘I’m afraid he’s right. We found no reference to the sword anywhere other than your thesis. We need more information before we can proceed.’

‘And if I refuse?’

‘Then the consequences for you may be dire.’

‘Are you trying to threaten me?’

‘Of course not!’ he exclaimed in a hurt voice, ‘But there are others who do not take kindly to being deceived, especially by a woman.’

Heidi considered her current position. She was in a foreign country and to the best of her knowledge none of her friends or colleagues had the least idea where she was. These people could do whatever they wished and the world would never know.

‘Alright,’ she sighed resignedly, ‘I’ll tell you the full story.’

Ahmed Samal turned toward his seat. With his back to Heidi she failed to see the look of superiority the shorter man gave to his hostile associate.

Heidi took a deep breath as Samal sat down and slowly began her story.