“Reliable enough to consistently locate wells for their camels in hundreds of miles of empty desert, without fail.”
“Good enough,” Shane capitulated.
“So what’s the plan, then?” Tim asked, getting up and grabbing the coffeepot to refill his cup. He offered it to Nate.
“No thanks,” Nate said. “I don’t drink coffee.”
“That’s right,” Tim snapped his fingers. “So what now? Do we just go to the area and search?”
“More or less,” Nate responded. “T. E. Lawrence wanted to use airships, figuring he would be able to see more from the air than on the ground. We’re going to do the same, except we’re going to use the drones that Shane here has been nice enough to procure.”
“Top of the line,” Shane added with a wink.
“Okay,” Tim said. “Still a little nuts, but okay.”
“If we find this lost city of treasure, I assume we’ll be splitting the booty evenly?” Wally asked with a grin.
That wasn’t something Nate had even considered. At no point hadhe even thought about the monetary value of such a find. He wasn’t in this to get rich, but understood that it could be a powerful motivator for the men around him. They had agreed to come out of loyalty to him, but the chance at getting wealthy from the discovery of the lost city was certainly an added bonus.
“Naturally,” he agreed.
“Alright, then what’s the plan to get there?” Tim asked again.
“Shane?” Nate looked at the former engineer sergeant and their logistics facilitator.
“Check it out,” Shane said, pointing to the map of the Arabian Peninsula on the screen. “Once we’re off the coast of Al Ghaydah, the crew is going to bring us in on a small boat. One of the old contractors I worked with to build our camp back in the day is going to meet us outside the city down at the shore. Don’t worry, he’s good people. And I’m paying him.”
Trusted help was key, as the movement into and through Yemen was going to be the most dangerous part of the journey. There were still active terrorist groups in the region, and there was a war raging across the country. They would also be going in unarmed, at least until they were able to link up with Shane’s contacts.
“What are the odds we can work out a deal and get Shen to let us keep one of those AKs?” Nate asked.
“I think we can make it worth his while,” Shane answered. “Once we meet up with my guy, he’s going to drive us up the P5 to where it meets the N5.” The P5 and N5 were major roadways in eastern Yemen, and all the men were familiar with them from their time serving there.
Tim appeared to be doing the calculations in his head, reaching back in time to remember the roads. “That’s over a hundred miles, isn’t it?”
“Yep. He guarantees me the roads are pretty clear these days, and he’s confident he can bribe anyone we come across. We’ll stop short of the border complex and meet my other guys outside of town.”
“More trustworthy folk?” Wally asked.
“Not even remotely. Tribesmen who work as smugglers. They will provide us with two trucks, plenty of gas, rations, water, and guns and ammo. We’ll pay them and then head north to the border. Once we get into Saudi, it’s Nate’s show.”
“We’ve got our GPS devices, and compasses and maps as backup,” Nate said, taking over the brief. “Worst-case scenario, we can always go old-school and follow the ancient trails. They’ll walk us right into the area. Once we’re set, we’ll find a well, establish camp, and begin our search.”
Nate had also been taking time to sketch out the information and routes in his leather-bound journal. While everything he needed was on his laptop, he had learned that technology could oftentimes be unpredictable, and having a backup was common sense. There was a saying in the army:Two is one, one is none. And he wouldn’t bring his friends all this way only to fail them because of a technological issue.
“We have a few more days to hash out the finer points,” Shane said. In the meantime…” He left the room and returned with several cases of Stella beer.
“Where the hell did you get those?” Tim asked him, taking a case off his hands.
“Shen assured me that a couple crates always ‘fall off the boat’ and that these wouldn’t be missed.”
“Works for me,” Tim said, cracking open a beer.
They all followed suit, Ana included, and collectively the group began to relax. There were going to be some tense days ahead and everyone felt the need to unwind. Before long, a member of the crew poked his head in and said that dinner was served in the galley. They made their way down to the mess and returned with a pretty decent meal of Szechuan chicken and fried rice. After dinner, they turned on a bootleg copy ofStar Warsand sat around socializing.
A couple of rounds of drinks in, Shane approached Ana. Nate was curious to see what was going to happen, standing by to interject if he started a problem with her being aboard. He quickly realized he didn’t need to worry and watched the interaction with amusement.
“You ever been in a fight, lady?” Shane asked her.
