The Quest: A Novel Part 38

"We need those maps."

"We have an aircraft."

"Aerial recon is not a subst.i.tute for terrain maps. One complements the other. Also, Colonel Gann has skills we don't have."

"I believe we can do this without him. But I can't do this without you and Vivian."

Purcell looked at Mercado and asked, "Why are we actually doing this? Tell me again."

"My reasons, like yours, Frank, change every day. There are days I think of my immortal soul, and other days I think how nice it would be to become rich and famous on a world Grail tour. The only thing I'm sure of is that we-all three of us-were chosen to do this, and I believe we will not know why until we are in the presence of the Holy Grail and the Holy Spirit."

Purcell nodded. "All right. If Gann doesn't show up, I'm still in. I'll ask Vivian."

"You don't have to ask." Mercado looked toward the lobby. "But if you'd like to, here she is."

Vivian came into the room carrying a tote bag and wearing khaki trousers, a shapeless pullover, and walking shoes. She spotted them and came toward the table, smiling.

Mercado rose, smiled at her, and pulled out a chair.

Vivian gave them both a peck on the cheek, then sat and said, "I thought I might find you both in the bar as usual."

Mercado replied, "It is now the breakfast room. But I can get you a b.l.o.o.d.y Mary."

"No thank you." She asked, "What have you two been talking about?"

Purcell replied, "Aerial recon."

She took his hand. "Frank, you were absolutely magnificent. What other skills do you have that you haven't told us about?"

"I can tie a bow tie."

She laughed, then took Purcell's toast. "I'm famished."

Mercado said to her, "I was telling Frank that we were impressed with his flyby."

Vivian glanced at Purcell, who was trying to get a waiter's attention, then she looked at Mercado and their eyes met. He smiled. She gave him a look of mock annoyance.

The waiter came and Vivian ordered tea and fruit, then ate one of Purcell's sausages. Mercado told her, "We were feeling guilty about the famine."

"Did you cause it, Henry?"

"I'm having only a cornetto."

"Well, you should keep up your strength. You're going to need it."

"Excellent point." Mercado was not getting the full satisfaction from this moment, so he suggested, "Perhaps we should clear the air about this morning."

Vivian responded a second too late. "What do you mean?"

"Frank was wondering why we were having coffee together on my balcony."

She looked at Purcell. "What were you wondering about?"

"I think Henry misconstrued my question."

She looked back at Mercado, who said to Purcell, "Sorry, old man. I thought you were showing a bit of jealousy."

Purcell looked at him and said, "I was actually wondering how you got your old a.s.s out of bed so early."

"I set my alarm to see you, Frank. And then I thought, What if Vivian oversleeps? So I rang her up and asked her to join me for coffee while you buzzed by." He joked, "If you hadn't seen either of us, then perhaps you should have wondered where we were."

Purcell was not amused, and Vivian kicked Mercado under the table and said, "Can we change the subject?" She asked, "Have we heard from Sir Edmund?"

Mercado replied, "We have not."

"Should we be worried?"

"Frank thinks not."

"Can we do this without him?"

"Again, Frank thinks not." Mercado added, "The maps."

Vivian reached into her bag, withdrew a thick manila envelope, and put it on the table. "This was at the front desk."

Purcell saw that it had been hand-delivered, addressed to "Mercado, Purcell, Smith, L'Osservatore Romano, Hilton Hotel." There was no sender information.

Vivian asked, "Shall I open it?"

Purcell glanced around the room. "Okay."

Vivian used a knife to cut through the heavily taped flap, then peeked inside. "M-A-P-S."

Purcell said, "See if there's a note."

She slid her hand in the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. She read, "I am in Addis. Will contact you. Good flying, Mr. Purcell." Vivian told them, "It is unsigned."

Mercado said, "Thank G.o.d he's here and safe."

Purcell pointed out, "Being here is not being safe."

"Well, in any case, we have the maps, and if he does not contact us, we three can continue on."

Vivian asked Purcell, "How did he know you were flying?"

"I suppose we're being watched by the Royalist underground."

Vivian said, "This is exciting."

Purcell a.s.sured her, "It gets more exciting when the security police knock on your door."

They finished their breakfast and Purcell said he'd call Signore Bocaccio to see if they could get the airplane for seven the next morning. He advised Mercado, "We don't need you on board, but another set of eyes would be good."

Mercado hesitated, then replied, "I wouldn't miss the experience, Frank."

"Good."

Mercado said he was going to the Imperial to check telexes and catch up on rumors and gossip. He added, "I will also write a story on the famine." He told Purcell, "I saw that story you filed about the Catholic refugees, saying that the Provisional government was not helping them."

"Hope you enjoyed it."

"Was any of it based on fact?"

"I'm taking a page from your notebook, Henry, and being creative."

Mercado did not reply to that, but said, "It is true that newspapers are a rough draft of history. But not a rough draft of historical fiction."

Purcell was getting annoyed. "Looking forward to your factual coverage of the famine."

"My story will stress the government's selling of national treasures to buy food for the people."

"That is not what is happening. They are buying guns."

"My point, Frank, has nothing to do with truth or fiction-it has to do with not writing anything that will get us expelled from the country. Or arrested."

"I think I know that, Henry."

"Good. We can tell the truth when we get out of here."

"When you're in Ethiopia, it's if, not when."

"Meanwhile, I've told the paper to hold your story."

Vivian, who had stayed quiet during this exchange, said, "When we get out of here, we will have a much bigger story to tell." She said to Mercado, "We have agreed to work together, Henry, and to be friends and colleagues, and to forget the past." She looked at him. "Didn't we?"

He smiled. "We did." He wished them a good day and left.

Vivian stayed quiet a moment, then said to Purcell, "I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"You know."

"Look, Vivian, I know you're still fond of him, and that's all right." He recalled what Mercado said and reminded her, "We're going to be in close quarters when we get out of Addis, so we all need to put aside the... jealousies."

She smiled and asked, "So can we all bathe together in the nude?"

"No."

"See? You are jealous."

"What do you want to do today?"

"I want to take pictures of everything I lost when I was in jail and those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds ransacked my room."

"Sounds good."

"I need to get my camera." She stood and said, "Will you come upstairs with me, Mr. Purcell? I want to show you my new F-1."

He smiled and stood. "Remember that we work for the Vatican, Miss Smith."

"I will shout, 'Oh, G.o.d!' at the appropriate moment."

He picked up the envelope and they went to her room.

As he was getting undressed, he noticed the white shamma she had been wearing, draped over a chair. He also noticed the hotel bathrobe lying on her bed. It was a very cool morning and he thought she should have worn that on Henry's balcony.

Chapter 36.

The small Fiat taxi climbed the fog-shrouded hills with Purcell and Vivian in the rear and Mercado in front with the driver.

They reached the airstrip, where a swirling ground mist obscured the runway and the hangars. Purcell said to Mercado, "It's okay if you want to go back." He added, "It's not a bad idea to have a potential survivor."

Mercado did not reply.

"Someone to carry on with the mission. Or tell our story."

Mercado opened the door and got out of the taxi.

Purcell told the driver to wait, and to Vivian he said, "In case there's a problem with the authorities. Or with Henry."

"He's not good in the mornings."

"I wouldn't know." He got out of the taxi and walked to the hangar to file his flight plan. He found, to his surprise, that he was still annoyed with Henry-and with Vivian-about their coffee date. There was no reason for her to be alone with him. But as they all knew, there would be more such moments in the weeks ahead.

A young air force lieutenant sat behind a desk in the hangar office, smoking a cigarette. Signore Bocaccio had given Purcell a few flight plan forms and advised him how to fill them out, which Purcell had done in English, the international language of flight-except here, apparently.

The lieutenant looked at the flight plan, and it was obvious he couldn't read it.

"Where go you?"