“Our way home. All we have to do is rig a rope across the drop and swing over.”
“Oh, is that all?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll fashion you a harness like they have in baby seats.”
Drake caught Curtis as he swung down. Alicia came over next and took a long moment to hug him, the embrace only broken when Mai landed lightly beside them. “Can I join in?”
Drake looked hopeful. Alicia turned and gave the Ninja a flat stare. “I saved your life up there, Sprite. Now back away.”
“Ah, did you save my life or did I save yours?”
Alicia shrugged and held out a hand. “A little of both, I think. But Mai, let’s talk. As soon as we get away from here, let’s friggin’ talk.”
Drake’s mouth fell open in confusion, in happiness, in admiration. Alicia Myles had thrown away all the bonds of her life and opened up, offered to resolve an impossible situation, spoken first to help an old foe out of an intolerable corner.
Mai found her voice after several seconds. “I would like that. Truly I would.”
The ledge soon became crowded as more and more people jumped down. Dahl and Kenzie swept off another ledge and then another, keeping busy, hearing Hayden’s story and trying to decide how to help the people in the caves leave securely.
“It’ll be a slow process, and hard,” Dahl told them all. “But we use ropes. The same ropes we have tethered up there.” He pointed to the rappel lines that now hung against the mountain and dangled about ten feet above. “We untie them, get people cross to the mountain pass, and then get more people up from below. Are we ready?”
Sunshine blazed down, a sign of good hope for all.
Drake started to climb for the first rope.
CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN
Tonight, the sun diminished in the west, the shadows lengthened, and darkness began to broaden its reach across the lands. Tonight, there was little light shed by the moon as clouds warped all around it and fought to quench its brightness. Tonight, the mountains rose pitch black and eternal, barely outlined, uncompromising and uncaring sentinels standing resolute against every elemental challenge that was thrown at them.
Tonight, Kimbiri stood without chains — free, liberated, secure for the first time in many months. The villages of Nuno and Quillabiri and homesteads that spread for miles were similarly released and had all made their way to Kimbiri for the celebration. An enormous fire, laid out atop a nearby hill, marked the center of the merriment, and around it many sat cross-legged on the grass or leaned against low walls. Conversation vied with the crackling embers for the most decibels, but the sound of happy laughter always came out on top. The SPEAR team had been busy for days, but now the recruits were safe in Cusco, the militia was on the run and even the CIA were comparatively happy. One last night, Hayden had said, and the others capitulated with ease. The villagers needed this — and had played their part right from stepping up to help protect their village, to putting their lives on the line to fight alongside the soldiers.
Hundreds now filled Kimbiri. Food was prepared and eaten, and the homemade brews were starting to flow.
Alicia, full of good food and of contentment for tonight stood staring at a warmly dressed farmer and his son, who’d brought along some of their livestock. All furry, wrapped around with the thickest of clothes, and viewed through eyes that were only slightly hazy, she found herself squinting hard.
“I don’t get it,” she whispered into Drake’s ear.
The Yorkshireman coughed delicately. “What’s the problem?”
“Which one’s the alpaca?”
“The animal, dear.”
Alicia stepped closer. “Huh. All look the same to me. But if I’m being honest, I’d leg it if I saw any of ’em coming over the hill.”
Together at last, the team reveled in a night off. Painkillers helped with the scrapes and bruises, but nothing would ever rid them of lasting images. By mutual agreement they’d all decided that if it didn’t need to be covered then it would never be spoken of again. Their encounter with Dantanion and his followers was the most bizarre op they’d ever undertaken, but also one of the most rewarding. As Drake said, when you save New York from a nuclear event, nobody knows and you fly straight off to the next mission, but when you save a small village and fight alongside its people — you make friends and receive embarrassing thank yous that soldiers never asked for. Still, this once, it humbled even the most jaded members of the team.
Kenzie sat alongside Dahl, as quiet as Alicia had ever seen her. The ex-Mossad agent couldn’t hide the happy awkwardness in her eyes and hadn’t been able to crack a nasty jibe all night.
Could Dahl be right? Could Kenzie be reprieved?
No mind. Truth be told, she found it hard to trust anyone anymore. Anyone, that is, beyond her most trusted circle of friends. Drake, Dahl and, oddly, Mai. The slow change in her had been welcomed by most, if not all. Of course, nobody could change if they didn’t want to or if the new person was a phony. Alicia was becoming the person she’d always wanted to be, always should have been.
The alpacas approached and she shied away, still seeing treble. One snorted as it passed, she couldn’t tell if it was human or animal, making her reach for her gun; but of course it wasn’t there and Drake stood laughing. Alicia punched his arm. They wandered back among the villagers, shaking hands and smiling, hugging those who’d fought with them and thanking those who’d let them go. Kimbiri would survive all this because of the spirit of its people; and the same went for all the others in the area. Nobody could keep a good person down forever.
Alicia forced her way into a circle formed by the SPEAR team with Drake at her side. “Boy,” she whispered. “Am I fucking glad all that’s over.”
Dahl nodded in agreement. “Give it a week and some normality and we’ll start to forget how bizarre it all was.”
“Hope so,” Alicia said. “I really do.”
“That man had so many so cruelly trained.” Mai stared into the dark heart of their circle, where the flickering flames didn’t cast light. “And they accepted it. I saw it in my childhood and I see it still. Will the world ever change?”
Drake shook his head. “Nope. But there will always be people like us.”
“Not enough,” Mai replied.
“I agree.”
Dahl coughed, staring over at the fire. “And now on to Egypt,” he said. “A world event, they say. And then the other corners of the earth. Just to make it clear — we draw the line at bloody Yorkshire. We ain’t risking our lives to save fish and chips, Meadowhall and the York Minster.”
Drake allowed the Swede a serene smile, letting him have the joke. “Can’t say Harvard and Eton are high up the list either.”
“Matt Damon? Natalie Portman?” Dahl asked.
Alicia growled softly. “Yeah, I’d save both. For a special reward.”
“Both Harvard alumni,” Dahl said, then turned away as if wondering why the hell he was defending a place he’d dropped out of. Alicia listened as tomorrow’s travel plans were clearly stated and watched the surreal vision of a pair of goats picking their way through the villagers.
“Never ceases to amaze, or make me smile,” she said. “Or I drank more of the potato punch than I recall.”
She found herself seated beside Hayden, the boss sporting a new bandage that covered the end of her finger. Of all of them, Hayden had suffered in the most personal way and had, so far, been the quietest. Alicia took a moment to think of how she could help.
“Sorry you had to go through that, Hay. Even I seem to be at a loss for words.”
“It sure sucked balls.” Hayden waggled her digit and then sighed. “But it bought us time. All of us.”