The Amulet of Power - Mike Resnick [34]
“I thought I was in big trouble when I was buried in that tomb,” said Lara. She grimaced, remembering her confrontation with the hideous god Set. “Now I think that Fate was just giving me a chance to rest before really putting me through the wringer.”
They continued riding through the night, Lara asking Omar an occasional question about the Sudan, Gaafar and Hassam constantly scanning the darkness for enemies.
Finally they came to the shore of Lake Nasser. Lara climbed off El Khobar and filled her canteen.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” she said, straightening up and looking out across the lake.
“It is the largest man-made lake in the world, created when they built the High Dam,” said Omar, “but it is the water of the Nile all the same. There is nothing to compare to it.”
“There is one lake,” replied Lara. “Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, made when they built a dam across the Zambezi.”
“I have never been there, but I have seen maps. It is nowhere as large as Lake Nasser.”
“No,” she agreed, “but it’s much deeper. In fact, the weight of the water caused the floor of the lake to collapse. It’s known as the lake that put a dent in the Earth.”
“The Zambezi is not the Nile,” said Omar, convinced that if they were having an argument he had just won it.
Gaafar walked up to them. “We’d better start riding,” he said. “We must find a boat before sunrise.”
Omar nodded, and a moment later they were going south along the lakeshore. In three miles they came to a small village, and silently lifted a felluca and carried it to the water.
“We will tether the camels and leave them here as payment,” said Omar.
“Won’t the villagers scream to the authorities?”
Omar smiled. “Five camels are worth an entire fleet of fellucas. They will consider themselves blessed by Allah, and they will tell no one, for fear that the government will confiscate some of the camels in lieu of taxes.”
Gaafar and Hassam finished their work and moved the saddles, saddle pads, rifle sheaths, and all the other equipment the camels had been carrying into the felluca. Then Omar tethered the camels’ forelegs, he, Lara and Hassam got into the felluca, and Gaafar, the largest and strongest of them, pushed the boat away from shore and jumped in.
“Good-bye, El Khobar,” said Lara softly, looking back at the camels. “You’ll be a lot safer without me.”
El Khobar turned his head briefly at the sound of her voice and snorted once, as if in total agreement.
12
After Gaafar and Hassam had rowed against the current for an hour a wind came up, and Omar quickly attached the sail to the small mast of the felluca. Their speed picked up considerably, and each of the men took a drink from their canteens.
“At least we won’t have to worry about water for the rest of the trip,” said Omar.
“It’s a comforting thought,” agreed Lara. “I do have a question, though: What are we going to do for food?”
“There are fishing poles and nets on the bottom of the boat. We’ll catch some fish along the way.”
“Good thing I like sushi,” said Lara.
Suddenly there was a ripple in the water, and Lara pointed it out. “What is that?” she asked. “It seems big for a fish.”
Omar shrugged. “The Nile is a big river. It grows big fish.”
“What about crocs?”
“Crocs?”
“Crocodiles. Are there any around here?”
“No,” answered Omar. “The last of them was killed a very long time ago.”
“That’s strange,” commented Lara. “I’ve seen huge crocs—some as long as eighteen feet—in Lake Turkana in the north of Kenya, and in Lake Tanganyika, and everyone refers to the species as Nile Crocodiles.”
“Once there were tens of thousands of them here,” answered Omar. “Half were killed because they were a menace to the villagers who lived on the Nile, and the other half were killed to make