Chapter LXV - Suez

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After intense deliberation, they had decided to come here to Suez. Every morning at six o’clock, ships would gather into a convoy. The northbound convoy would head in single file up the narrow channel. Every morning, Hunter, Hongo, and Virgil would investigate the new group of ships and do what they could to stop or delay the ships that could be the Alexander.

Tiyana poured over maps. She looked at satellite images of the earth and tried to think about where someone like Ghaelvord would attack first. She maintained contact with port authorities all over Europe. All the while, she worried that Ghaelvord’s attack would land somewhere else entirely. When he had them bound and kneeling, he could not have known that they would escape. He could not have even suspected it. On the other hand, he seemed very open about his plans, almost too open. Of course, he had spent a lot of time and put a lot of effort into his planning. It would only be natural for him to want to share the fruits of his labors. He seemed pleased with himself. His desire to gloat could have outpaced his prudence, or not. Tiyana did not know. She did know that a week had gone by. She knew that Hunter, Virgil, and Hongo had spotted every ship that was the size of the Kasse Alexander. Virgil had been able to slip unnoticed onto some of the ships. His snooping revealed nothing. They had employed myriad tricks to shed light on other ships. They called in anonymous bomb threats. They shot at the decks. They bribed officials to perform random inspections. Their efforts had gotten nowhere.

Tiyana had not left her desk all day. She muttered unintelligibly to herself periodically. Her hair was a mess. She had not worn makeup in days. She felt that if she thought hard enough and if she stared at her work for long enough that she would figure it all out. She would figure out Ghaelvord’s plans. She would figure out how to stop them. She would complete the whole puzzle.

Meanwhile, Hunter napped on the hotel’s large bed. He woke up every morning at three to join Virgil and Hongo in investigating the new group of ships waiting to begin their journey up the canal. He came home around noon and usually collapsed.

Hunter awoke. Tiyana felt Hunter’s hands massaging her shoulders. She had built up a lot of tension in the last few days. Her posture had grown noticeably worse. She had been hunching over her small hotel desk for several hours at a time. The massage felt good. She had begun to forget what human contact felt like.

“Get dressed, dear. We are meeting Hongo and Virgil in the hotel bar.” Hunter said softly.

“I’m getting close. I just need more time.” She said.

“You need a break. Come with me. Then come back. Look at it with a fresh set of eyes.” He said.

“A fresh set, a fresh set, fresh look, ok, ok.” She muttered in an entranced, distracted way.

Then, at that moment, Tiyana snapped out of it. She consciously pushed all the trains of thought out of her head and looked Hunter in the eyes.

Tiyana said, “You are right, dear. I do need a break.”

“We all do.” He replied.

Their hotel had a large well-decorated lounge area with an Arabian feel. The quartet sat in low, comfortable lounge chairs around a round coffee table. They ordered drinks and food to munch on while they tried to relax. The group’s nerves had grown edgier with each passing day. The anticipation filled their thoughts. The rest of the hotel’s patrons buzzed about, engaging in their daily business without the slightest idea that something was wrong with the world. An impending doom hung over them and they knew nothing about it. Hunter reflected on these things briefly before pushing the thoughts away and starting a conversation. Hunter wished that he could talk about something else in order to relieve the tension, but he could only talk about one subject because he could only think about one subject.

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