Part 20 (1/2)

Jill held up her hand. ”And I can a.s.sure you, gentlemen, I am here to arrange the purchase of millions of dollars of precious metals a year from your operation. My superiors insisted that I not agree to anything until I have met the head of your organization in person.”

”As you are aware, Sala Jihan's methods are different than what you are used to in the west.” I tried not to chuckle as I translated that. No s.h.i.+t.

”Meaning that he uses slave labor?” Jill replied. The men s.h.i.+fted awkwardly. ”We're fully aware of that, but we're expecting an emerging demand for copper that is unprecedented from the Indian market this year, and my company intends to fill that need. We don't care about the slaves. We care about building a long-term relations.h.i.+p so we can make a lot of money before one of our compet.i.tors grows the b.a.l.l.s to come here themselves. You are sitting on billions, but you're limited to what you can sell through greedy mobsters. My company is offering a legitimate distribution channel. We feel the profit opportunity outweighs the possible negative press, but my superiors don't even know that Sala Jihan is real. I meet him, or there will be no deal.”

The hirelings looked at each other, fearful of losing this deal, but more scared of contacting their boss. Talak actually choked when I translated cojones. He spoke up. ”I will inquire if the Master is available. In the meantime, please continue with your negotiations.” The big man left the room.

The meeting continued, only now that they knew Jill was playing hardball, it was a lot more heated. Ironically, since our entire operation was imaginary, Jill was having quite a bit of fun sticking it to them and playing up the heartless corporation angle. Twenty minutes later the door slid open and Talak entered, looking rather grim.

”The Master will see you now.”

The trip across the compound alone was worth it. I was able to see more of the security, where the interior choke points were, where the vehicles were parked, and and where the guards slept. All of that would be good stuff to pa.s.s on to Ibrahim. Most importantly, I was able to spot which building had been the Russian brig. A handful of prisoners watched us from the other side of the bars with eyes pleading for mercy. It was very possible that-if he was still alive-Bob was inside that prison building. I scanned every window, but unfortunately didn't see a single giant, bald Caucasian.

Talak took us to a concrete slab with an elevator shed on top of it. Behind the shed was a giant circular depression in the snow. A Brother stood to the side of the door, studying us with goggled eyes, arms folded, and weapons slung over his back.

”He seriously lives in a missile silo?” Reaper asked. Talak didn't bother to respond, he only nodded at the guard, who continued to watch us soundlessly. The faceless black mask was strangely intimidating, but he stepped out of our path.

The elevator car was basically a steel frame with a mesh wire floor to stand on and handrails to hold on to, and a giant exposed pulley above us. It swayed dangerously as we stepped into it. Talak picked up a wired control box and punched the down b.u.t.ton. With a lurch, the car began to descend. It was dark and strangely humid inside the shaft.

”I cannot promise a long visit,” Talak explained, only his eyes and teeth really showed up in the dark. There wasn't a single light installed on the car. ”He is a very busy man and agrees to speak with very few. You are rather fortunate.”

”That will be quite all right,” Jill responded after I translated, obviously agitated. I had forgotten that she was a little bit claustrophobic.

Talak turned to me, and the look he gave me indicted that this message was for me alone. ”Listen, translator, if your employer says anything insulting, I would caution you not to relay it, or you will not make it out of this hole, because he will kill the messenger. Understand?”

I nodded slowly.

”Excellent.”

After what seemed like forever, the car clanked to a halt, and Talak opened a scissor gate. We stepped into some sort of control room. The ancient computers were covered in cobwebs and dust. Punch cards were slowly eroding into the floor. He pointed at the far door. ”Through there is the Master's living quarters. I will wait here for your return. Are you certain you wish to do this?”

If they wanted to kill us, they would have just done it on the surface and saved themselves the work. This was just more of that superst.i.tious weirdo c.r.a.p that Jihan was using to control The Crossroads. I glanced at Reaper. He looked even whiter than usual. Jill was sweating, surely thinking about the tons of rock crus.h.i.+ng down above us. This Jihan really was a master of the mind f.u.c.k. ”Ma'am,” I gestured forward.

Jill swallowed hard. ”Of course.” She screwed up her courage and went through the far door. There was a long hallway, interspersed with submarine-style blast doors. They were currently open, but I made note that if Ibrahim needed to get down here, he was going to need to need explosives, cutting torches, and time.

We emerged into the flickering light at the bottom of the silo. It was a big area, the giant missile long since removed or launched. The open s.p.a.ce spiraled up toward the surface, finally disappearing into shadow. I had been expecting some sort of palatial thing, with gold and diamonds, and the gaudy things that warlords liked to adorn themselves with to impress the fearful, greedy, and stupid. This was nothing like that.

The s.p.a.ce was mostly open. The outer ring was just a walkway that circled the entire room. A catwalk extended to the center, where there was a circular concrete pad about twenty meters across. The base of the concrete disappeared into a pool of dark water that had settled in the bottom of the silo. The center pad had no decoration, just some nice, but very basic furniture; a bed, and some wardrobes, mirrors, and cabinets. On the far side of the pad was what appeared to be an altar, illuminated by candles and two large, metallic pans that were burning wood and incense. The crackling fire was the only source of light, and the smoke drifted toward the top of the silo.

”Weird,” I muttered.

”I am Sala Jihan,” a voice boomed from the island. ”Come closer.”

Jill started down the catwalk, with me right behind her. Reaper lagged a little bit behind. The metal echoed under our boots, and through the steel mesh, you could see down into the water. I couldn't see the bottom.

Sala Jihan was waiting for us, reclined on a plush red couch, facing the catwalk. He was wearing what looked like a red silk bathrobe tied with a black sash, was barefoot, and his hair was wet, like he had just gotten done swimming. The legendary Sala Jihan lived up to his t.i.tle, the Pale Man. His skin was white, not like Reaper, but like a cave fish, almost translucent. I thought he was an albino until I saw his pitch black eyes.

Two more Brothers flanked Jihan. Even here in the near-dark they were still wearing their goggles. I didn't see any weapons, but I had no doubt the squat little men were fully ready to destroy us.

”h.e.l.lo, I am Maria Consuela Garcia, and these are my a.s.sociates-”

Jihan silenced her with a wave of his hand. ”I know who you are,” he answered in perfect Spanish. ”Your translator will not be necessary,” then he switched to accentless English. ”Or would you prefer this?”

”Either will do,” Jill responded slowly.

Jihan stroked his face thoughtfully. He had a thin mustache, pointy goatee, and long black hair. He was kind of like me, difficult to guess an age, but he appeared relatively young and fit. ”I do not normally agree to meet outsiders. What would you ask of me?”

”My company just wanted to know what manner of man we were dealing with.”

Jihan smiled. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but his teeth looked like they had been sharpened, then his lips closed and I could no longer tell. He gestured at his surroundings. ”I am but a humble man who likes to dig in the Earth. I find precious things as I dig, and sell them to people like you. It funds my . . . hobbies.”

He exuded evil. It was hard to explain. A man like me needed to be an expert judge of character. I had known truly evil men before, but not like this. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and in some of those men, I had seen broken souls, or in the case of Eddie Montalban, an emptiness. But in these black orbs, I saw something . . . else.

”Thank you,” Jill said, her voice quavering slightly. She felt it as well. ”I, uh . . . well . . .”

I noted the altar behind him. I had just a.s.sumed that Jihan would have been another Muslim warlord, but that altar was from something different, something older. ”And what is it that you're digging for?” I asked, not knowing why I spoke, but regretting it immediately.

The warlord turned his head slightly, as if noticing me for the first time. The two Brothers visibly tensed beneath their robes. Jihan paused for what seemed like an eternity, studying me. It was as if somebody had turned on a million candle power spotlight, and I wanted nothing but to slink away and hide.

Finally he broke the awkward silence. ”You are no mere translator, little man.” He let that hang. I didn't respond, rather I tried to look as pathetic and bewildered as possible, but his black eyes were on me like a CAT scan. He continued to stroke his goatee. ”You are a killer of men . . . a son of murder. So tell me, Maria, why did you bring an a.s.sa.s.sin into my home?”

My stomach rolled over in an acidic lurch. n.o.body ever saw anything in me that I didn't want them to see. I was grey, unreadable. What kind of man is this?

”He's also my bodyguard,” Jill spoke quickly. ”The Crossroads have a reputation for being dangerous, and my company felt that security wo-”

He raised his hand to silence her. I felt the adrenaline begin to flow, fully expecting him to give the order to have the Brothers gun us down. Jihan smiled again, those strange eyes never breaking away from my own. ”Yes, this country is quite dangerous.” Something large splashed in the water under the catwalk. Reaper jumped. ”It is wise to have one such as this to do your bidding.” He gestured at me. His fingernails ended in points. ”You may return to your organization and tell them that you have spoken with Sala Jihan, and that I am real. The precious things I take from the earth are yours to purchase. You may go now.”

”But I was hoping to-” Jill began.

”That will be all.” Jihan said in a manner that left no doubt that we would be feeding whatever the h.e.l.l was in the pool if we didn't go away right now. The Brothers stepped forward and escorted us to the edge of the catwalk. I couldn't wait to get out of there. We walked-entirely too fast-across the catwalk back to the outer concrete ring. The Brothers stopped at the edge and folded their arms, a definite barrier to reentry.

”One last thing, oh, son of murder.” Jihan's voice boomed behind us. I froze, a feeling of dread tingling up the base of my spine. Then I pushed Jill after Reaper out the blast-door exit before turning around.

”Yes?”

Jihan rose, the flames and smoke dancing behind him. ”Where you have gone, death has followed like a loyal servant, but do not think to return to this place . . . For here, death answers only to me.”

I nodded once, turned, and left the room.

We'll see about that.

”s.h.i.+t! What the f.u.c.k was that?” Jill shouted once we were back in the relative safety of the Glorious Cloud and away from spying ears. ”Weird-a.s.s bizarro s.h.i.+t! Did you feel that?”

Of course I had. Sala Jihan gave off a vibe similar to a bag of serial killers and electric eels, but I played the stoic. ”Feel what?” I muttered.

”It was like all of the good in the universe got squished at the door to that place. Just, kind of . . . h.e.l.l, I don't know . . . wrong.” Jill threw up her hands in frustration, lacking the words to explain it.

”He's a slave-trading warlord. I warned you before we ever came. You wanted to play this game? Well that's the opposing team. What did you expect? A nice house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, maybe some garden gnomes?”

”Not that, that's for sure,” she answered. ”There's something wrong with that man.”