The Amulet of Power - Mike Resnick [25]
“Omar,” she repeated, trying to remember all the passengers’ faces. “What does he look like?”
“I’ve been traveling incognito,” said a voice behind her, and she spun around to confront the leader of the anti-Mahdists.
Her eyes widened in surprise. Things are getting very interesting indeed, she thought.
“I’m pleased to meet you too,” replied Omar the waiter with an amused smile.
9
It was still half an hour before sunrise when they set foot upon dry land, pulling the lifeboat ashore behind them. Two robed men were waiting for them, each holding three camels by the lead shanks attached to their halters.
“You have found her!” enthused one of the men. “You have found Lara Croft!”
“Yes,” answered Omar. “She does not have the Amulet, as we had hoped, but she has agreed to help us find it. Now we must reach Khartoum before the Mahdists find us.”
“We are ready,” said the man.
Omar shook his head. “You will not be coming with us—at least, not immediately.”
The men’s expressions registered disappointment.
“There is an Englishman onboard,” continued Omar. “His name is . . .” He turned to Lara.
“Kevin Mason,” she said promptly.
“His name is Kevin Mason,” repeated Omar. “He is a friend of Lara Croft’s, the son of a great scholar, and a worthy scholar in his own right. He may prove useful in our search for the Amulet. I want you to make sure that no harm comes to him on his journey to Khartoum.”
“If Lara Croft is not on the boat, why should any harm befall him?” asked the other man.
“The Mahdists may have spies aboard the boat right now. They will surely send more when it stops at Abu Simbel. He is the only Englishman aboard, and it is known that Lara Croft escaped Cairo in the company of an Englishman. If they capture him, they will surely torture him to find out where she is. If he tells them, they will be waiting for us when we arrive at the Bortai Hotel. If he does not tell them, they will almost certainly kill him. It is your job to make sure this does not happen. You will protect his life with your own.”
The men’s disappointed expressions were replaced by looks of fierce anticipation at the thought of fighting their enemies aboard the Amenhotep.
Omar uttered a low command, and the camels dropped to their knees. He walked over and mounted the smallest of them. Hassam followed suit. Gaafar handed a leather crop to Lara and climbed onto his own camel.
“Have you ever ridden a camel before, Lara Croft?” asked Omar.
“I still have the saddle sores,” she replied with a self-deprecating laugh.
“Just hook your left leg around what you would call the pommel of the saddle,” said Gaafar. “Lock your right leg over it, hold the reins in your left hand, and if you wish him to run, hit him with the leather whip, and yell ‘Hut! Hut! Hut!’ “
“Until such time as someone actually starts shooting at us,” answered Lara, “I plan to hold the reins in my left hand, tuck the whip in my belt, and tell my camel to walk slowly and gently.”
“We will walk until it becomes necessary to run,” agreed Omar. He turned to one of the men who had been waiting on the shore. “Leave the saddles on the other two camels. Gaafar, lead them by the reins until we are well away from the river and any dwellings.”
“Then what?” asked Lara.
“Then we will turn them loose. They’re herd animals; they will follow us.”
“Rather like a spare tire,” she suggested.
“Exactly,” said Omar. “We hope we won’t need them, but if we do, you’ll be very glad that we have them.”
“And if any small group should stumble across our tracks, this may cause them to think that we’re six instead of four,” added Gaafar. “It might cause them to think twice about attacking us.”
“I assume you have your route planned?” asked Lara, looking at the seemingly endless desert that began half a mile inland from the river.
“Certainly,” replied Omar. “The Nile goes all the way to Khartoum. We will ride inland, but parallel to it. There will be oases along the way, and once we are well into the Sudan, there will be