The Quest: A Novel Part 49

Mercado started with their separate arrivals in Addis, and his finding Signore Bocaccio and his aircraft. Gann nodded, but he seemed to know some of this, and Purcell was impressed with the Royalist underground, or whatever counterrevolutionaries Gann was in touch with.

Mercado then described their aerial recon, and Vivian's wonderful photography, and remembered to thank Gann for the maps, but forgot to compliment Purcell on his flying. Purcell noted, too, that Henry didn't tell Sir Edmund that he, Henry Mercado, had recently f.u.c.ked Frank Purcell's girlfriend. But that wasn't conversation for mixed company, though Henry might mention it later to Sir Edmund, man to man.

Purcell looked at Gann, then at Miriam, then at Mercado and Vivian. He hoped he was as lucky when he hit sixty. He thought, too, of Signore Bocaccio with his Ethiopian wife and children. If all went well-which it would not-they'd be in Rome in a few weeks; he, Vivian, Henry, Colonel Gann, Miriam, and the Bocaccio family, sitting in Ristorante Etiopia, drinking wine out of the Holy Grail. That was not going to happen, but it was nice to think it.

Henry was getting to the good part-the part where Frank Purcell shot down an armed Ethiopian Air Force helicopter. Henry said to Purcell, "Perhaps you'd like to tell this, Frank."

Purcell understood that this was a good story for a bar, far away from Ethiopia. But here, it was not a good story. In fact, he had put them all in mortal danger. Though in Ethiopia, that was redundant.

"Frank?"

"Well, I think this chopper was looking for us, and I think our old friend General Getachu had sent him. So the game was up, one way or the other, and we-I-decided to take this guy out."

Gann asked, "Do you have weapons with you?"

"No." He explained about the rocket pod, and his creative use of the smoke markers. He didn't go into detail, but he did say, "I rode in a lot of Hueys in 'Nam, covering the war, and I saw them using smoke rockets." He added, "Looked easy." He also explained, "We were dead anyway. Or worse than dead if we landed in Gondar."

Gann nodded. "Quite right."

Vivian let Gann know, "They fired a machine gun at us. Frank was very brave. I was petrified."

Mercado admitted, "I was a bit anxious myself."

Gann thought about this, then asked, "Did you see any other aircraft?"

Purcell replied, "No."

Gann said, "They're probably looking for you on the way to the French territory."

"We thought about heading there, instead of here. Or Sudan."

"Well, good that you didn't." He informed them, "You wouldn't have made it." He let them know, "The Ethies don't have many jets-just a few Mirages-but they are getting Russian helicopter gunships with Russian pilots, and you would probably have met them on your way to Somalia or Sudan."

Purcell nodded, then said, "Sorry, though, if we've put you in a difficult situation."

It was Miriam who said, "We are already in a difficult situation. You are most welcome here."

"Thank you."

Vivian a.s.sured her, "We won't be here long."

Miriam looked at Vivian and said, "You are welcome to stay, and you are welcome to leave for French Somaliland, and we can help you with that journey." She continued, "But I would prefer if you did not go to the place where you wish to go."

Vivian replied, "We have come a long way to find this place." She a.s.sured Miriam, "We mean no harm to these monks, or to their religious objects."

"I understand that from Edmund. I understand, too, that you think you have been chosen to find this place. And I respect your beliefs. But I can offer you no a.s.sistance with your search."

Purcell asked, "Why not?"

She looked at him and replied, "We here in Shoan have a sacred covenant with the monks of the black monastery."

Purcell reminded her, "You're Jewish. They're Copts."

"That does not matter. We are of the same tradition for two thousand years."

"Right. Well, all we're asking then is a good night's sleep and food to take on our journey."

"I will gladly give you that, but I wish you would reconsider that journey."

"Can't do that."

Miriam didn't reply.

Purcell said, "And we may have to return here at some point."

"You are welcome to do that, but we may not be here when you return."

Purcell looked at Gann and reminded him, "You let us know you were here." He asked, "Why?"

Gann hesitated, then replied, "I would like to go with you." He explained, "I've spoken to Miriam, and she understands that we believe that the object you are looking for is in danger, and it must be taken to a safe place, though she believes the monks themselves could do that."

"Maybe they can." He asked, "But if we took it, where would we take it?"

Gann glanced at Mercado, then said, "It's not my decision to make." He let them know, "We need to discuss this."

Purcell pointed out, "We don't have it yet, and to be honest with you, we probably never will. So maybe this is moot."

Vivian said, "When we find it, we will know what to do."

Purcell thought that Henry had undoubtedly promised the Grail to the Vatican, and Gann may have promised it to the British Museum, to take the place of the Ethiopian royal crown the British had s.n.a.t.c.hed and given back. But in either case, the Grail, if it existed, and if they found it, was to be held in custody until Ethiopia was free again. At least that was the promise.

Mercado asked Gann, "What is the situation in the countryside?"

"A bit unsettled." He explained about the counterrevolutionaries, and the Royalist partisans, both of whom he was in touch with. He also said, "The Gallas have mostly gone east where the Eritreans are fighting for independence from Ethiopia. But there are some left to see if the fighting here resumes."

Purcell told him, "We saw some Gallas from the air." He said to Gann, "I meant to ask you-what do they do with all those b.a.l.l.s?"

"They eat them, old boy." He further explained, "Not the Christian or Muslim Gallas, of course. But the pagan Gallas." He added, "Gives them courage."

"Right. You'd need a lot of courage to do that."

"Never thought of that." Gann further addressed Mercado's concerns and told them, "The Israelis have smuggled in some firearms for the Falashas, to be sure the exodus goes off without a problem." He reached into an empty urn and retrieved an Uzi submachine gun. "Nice piece of goods." He handed it to Purcell and told them, "We'll take that with us."

Purcell looked at the compact weapon with a magazine longer than the barrel. "This should scare the h.e.l.l out of those monks."

Gann smiled. "I was thinking more of the Gallas-or anyone else who we may meet in the jungle." He also informed them, "Getachu has sent some units down this way, but they've gotten a bad reception from the Royalist partisans and the anti-Marxist counterrevolutionaries."

"Good." Purcell asked, "Do you have three more Uzis?"

"I'm afraid not." He let them know, "The few men left here need them."

Purcell pa.s.sed the Uzi to Mercado, who said, "Reminds me of the old British Sten gun," and gave it to Vivian.

Gann said to his guests, "It's a simple weapon, and I'll show you how to use it in the event... I'm not with you."

Miriam looked at her lover, but said nothing.

Mercado asked Gann, "Is Shoan safe?"

"It is to the extent that the Provisional government has agreed to let the Jews leave, unhindered." He added, "So far the exodus has gone well all over the country, though there have been a few incidents, and thus the Uzis."

Purcell asked Gann, "How do you communicate with the Royalists here, and in Addis?"

"I have a shortwave radio. I keep it outside the village, so as not to compromise the people here."

"Can you show it to us?"

"Of course. But my batteries have died, and I'm waiting for replacements." He added, "My Kipling poem to you was my last transmission."

"We would have brought batteries if they'd been left for us at the hotel."

"If you're found with a shortwave battery, you are shot. After being tortured."

"Right." Maps and photographs were maybe explainable. Shortwave radio batteries were as hard to explain as a gun. He'd rather have the gun, which could explain itself.

Gann took the gun from Vivian and said, "We should push off tomorrow." He asked them, "Do you have any idea where you would like to look?"

Purcell replied, "I hoped you-or Miriam-could suggest something."

"I'm afraid I can't, old boy." He said, "I thought perhaps you'd seen something from the air."

"We did. But we don't want to see all those places on the ground."

"Well, we may have to do that." Gann stayed silent for a moment, then glanced at Miriam and said to his guests, "As I mentioned to you in Rome, the people of Shoan have some contact with the monastery. However, those who had this contact are gone."

Purcell looked at Miriam. She told them, "The secret is with the elders who have left, and they took their secret with them."

Gann looked at his guests. "A relationship... a friendship, that has lasted four hundred years, since the monastery was built, is now severed." He told them, "The last meeting took place two weeks ago, and the monks have been told."

Purcell again had the feeling he'd slipped into an alternate universe. He asked Miriam, "When the people who went to this meeting place left, how long were they gone?"

She looked at him but did not reply.

He asked, "Which way did they go?"

She replied, "They went in a different direction each time, and they were never gone for the same number of days."

"Well, that narrows it down."

Vivian said to him, "Frank, you are being rude."

"Sorry." He explained his rudeness. "I just want to find this place and get out of here."

Miriam said to him, and to her other guests, "Let me think about what you have asked."

"Thank you."

Miriam said softly, "This is a difficult time for everyone. This civilization-Christian and Jewish-has come to an end. But we look to the future, which will be better. We must all leave here, but when we return, we must return as we were, with our customs and traditions, and our covenants unbroken."

Purcell nodded. "I understand."

Vivian said to Miriam, "We are here to do what you are doing. To take with us what cannot be left here. To keep things safe until this nightmare is over."

Miriam replied, "You should let the monks do that." She stood. "I must see to your comforts. I will return shortly."

The gentlemen stood, and the princess left.

Gann said to his guests, "Miriam and I have had this conversation, as you can well imagine, and I a.s.sure you, she knows nothing more than she has told you."

Mercado said, "I'm sure she'd have told you if she knew more."

Purcell wondered if Henry really believed that women told their men everything. If he did, he'd be cuckolded every year.

Vivian told Gann, "Tomorrow, we'd like to go to the spa." She explained that this was not a nostalgia trip, but a bone hunting expedition.

Gann replied, "Rather odd custom, don't you think?"

Mercado, former atheist, now a believer working for the Vatican newspaper, explained, "This is very important to the Church of Rome when a person is proposed for sainthood." He further explained, "A mortal remain is considered a first-cla.s.s relic. A piece of a garment is second-cla.s.s, other objects-"

"Yes, well, we can stop at the spa and look about for a bone or two." He added, "Short walk. Half a day at most."

Vivian continued, "And we'd like to see the fortress where Father Armano was imprisoned for forty years."

Mercado told Gann, "We spotted incognita from the air and it was, indeed, Prince Theodore's fortress."

"Good recon." He asked Vivian, "Is this part of the sainthood thing?"

She replied, "It is part of Father Armano's story. It is something I need to see."

"I see... Well, I'm sure it's on the way to something."

Mercado said, "Most of the suspected locations of the black monastery are a day or two walk from the fortress."

Vivian added, "There may be a clue there."

Gann nodded. "We'll take a look."

They had more fermented fruit juice as they discussed a few items on everyone's agenda. They agreed they'd be gone a week-or less if they found what they were looking for. If not, they would return to Shoan, and as Colonel Gann said, "Regroup, refit, and strike out again."