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Chapter Eighty-Three

Six hours later, the Bonanza landed at the Tripoli International Airport, in Libya. Its wheels rolled along the scarred runway with a series of bumps before rolling to a stop. The International Airport had been closed since it had been badly damaged in 2014 during the Second Libyan Civil War. The Beechcraft was small enough and slow enough that the Libyan Airforce ignored their landing in an unauthorized airport. Next to where their aircraft had stopped, a Sikorsky Nighthawk stood with its rotary blades still turning.

Sam shook the pilot’s hand. “Thank you, Khalid.”

The pilot shook his head. “Don’t thank me. I did it for Zara. Now make sure you get her out of the country before someone decides the money is worth more than her life.”

Sam nodded. “We’ll look after her.”

Veyron approached the cockpit and handed the pilot a neat bundle of hundred dollar bills in US currency. Khalid took the money, nodded and then pushed the engines of his little plane to their maximum, sending the Beechcraft rolling along the runway, and back into the air.

Thirty seconds later, Sam, Tom, Zara and Veryon were all sitting inside the Sikorsky and they, too were back in the air. It was a short flight. In less than twenty minutes, they landed on the helipad at the aft section of the Maria Helena.

Sam slid open the side door of the Sikorsky and climbed out. Tom was next out, followed by Zara. Veyron opened the navigator’s side door and came around to the undercover section directly behind the Maria Helena’s main pilot house.

Veyron shook Sam’s hand. “Welcome back. We were starting to think you’d found the diamonds and decided to run away with them.”

“We found the diamonds. Would have happily run away with them, if it wasn’t for coming across this young lady, who it appears half the people in the Sahara are interested in killing.” Sam turned to Zara, “This is Veyron. He’s our chief engineer. Veyron, this is Zara Delacroix. A renowned archeologist in the region.”

Veyron shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Ma’am.”

She nodded. “Thanks for getting us out of Libya.”

The loud whine of the Sikorsky’s engines finally ceased, and the blades became silent as they slowly settled, and stopped turning. Sam watched as Genevieve climbed out of the cockpit. She wore an expression which said I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks, right now. Her hair, so dark brown it was nearly black, was cut short and neatly tied back, giving her the appearance of an elf. Probably the most deadly elf on the planet. She had deep blue eyes, full of intelligence, and long eyelashes. She wore no makeup whatsoever. Never did. Her naturally tan complexion appeared to be the result of hours working under the sun, rather than genetic heritage.

Sam smiled, as she walked straight up to Tom and threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him passionately on his lips. It lasted about thirty seconds, and then she broke the entanglement, and walked away, having said nothing.

Sam smiled at her as she went past. “Thanks for coming and getting us, Genevieve.”

Genevieve met his eyes, ignored his comment and said, “Not a word, Sam. I don’t want to hear a word.”

He turned to make a comment to Veyron, but the man quickly turned to run through a series of safety checks on the Sikorsky.

Elise stepped onto the deck. “So, you made it.”

Sam smiled. “We made it. I hear you came looking for us. Thank you.”

“Forget about it. I was mostly indifferent. I figured you got yourself into the problem, you could get yourself out of it. But Genevieve was pretty keen to come get the two of you, and equally keen to kill anyone who got in her way.”

“Yes, well, I guess we now know why she was so emphatic.” He turned to Zara, “This is Zara Delacroix. She’s the reason we were late.”

Elise looked at Zara, studying her like she would a fine painting. She smiled, reassuringly. “So, you survived. What about the book? Are you still in possession of it?”

Zara nodded. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Sam asked, “How do you know about Zara and the book?”

Elise's smile was mischievous and tormenting at the same time, without revealing anything about what she knew. “We have a visitor, Sam. You’re going to want to meet him, right away. We found him at a Libyan archeological camp. He says he’s heavily involved in the United Sovereign of Kongo and he needs your help. Oh, and bring the girl, she's going to want to hear what he has to say, too.”

Chapter Eighty-Four

Adebowale sat up when he saw his visitors enter. His wounds were healing well despite it only being two days since Elise and Genevieve found him in the camp and managed to remove the bullets in his abdomen. They didn’t bother trying to find the one imbedded in his head. Elise had informed him that he would die in a matter of months if it wasn’t properly operated on by a neurosurgeon. He’d refused to lose the time it would take to travel to a mainland hospital and then perform the risky procedure. Besides, what did it matter to him? He already knew how he was going to die, and it wasn’t from an infection in the brain, that’s for certain.

He smiled and offered his hand. “Sam Reilly. It is nice to meet you.”

Sam gripped his hand, warmly. “Adebowale. It’s good to meet you, too. I have to tell you, my position in Sahara was purely as a treasure hunter, trying to locate some lost diamonds, and I’m not authorized to negotiate any deals on behalf of my government.”

“That’s fine. I don’t need the help of your government to do what must be done. What I need, is your help.”

“My help?”

“I will explain soon.” Adebowale glanced at Zara, who was standing quietly beside Sam. “Why Doctor, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so lost for words.”

She blushed. “I’m sorry, Adebowale. I thought you were dead, as the result of my own failure. I just heard you started the USK movement. I heard you were beaten pretty badly by General Ngige’s men, and left for dead. Are you feeling any better?”

He smiled kindly. A big, full smile of a naturally born leader. “There is nothing that time won’t heal. Tell me, do you still have the book?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Keep it. The time will come, soon, when you will need it to find the answers. Without it, all will be lost. You are a very intelligent woman, Doctor, I think you will work out what it means in time.”

“In time for what?”

“To save the human race from extinction, of course.”

She paused. Her eyes wide, and her mouth slightly open. She held her tongue between her teeth and then grinned. “How could you possibly know that?”

“Because General Ngige is terrified of the book. He believes that the book of Nostradamus is the only thing stopping him from ruling the world.”

Zara asked, “What does he think will happen if the book is destroyed and he’s allowed to rule the world?”

“He told me the human race will cease to exist in three hundred years.”

Zara stared at him. “And that doesn’t bother him?”

“No. He told me, why would it matter, he would be long dead by then.”

Sam sat down beside him. “What do you need me to do?”

Adebowale opened up a computer tablet. He typed a series of GPS coordinates and pressed enter. The computer quickly ran through a series of search programs, until it identified the location, and magnified it using current satellite images. The image showed a lake in the northern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He passed the tablet to Sam.

Sam took it, glanced at it, and asked, “How could this end humanity?”