Читаем The 13th Tablet полностью

‘That’s good, isn’t it?’ Mina said, sitting up, her hair flowing down, covering her breasts.

‘It’s alright, but I’d rather be there already.’

‘Me too!’

He kissed her, ‘I’m going downstairs to have breakfast.’

After a short drive through the countryside, Jack and Mina had joined the M25, the infamously congested ring-road, which would take them all around London, westward to Heathrow. The departure from Hildersham had been an emotional one. As British as the Bamarts were, they had hugged both Mina and Jack for a long time and wished them the best of luck. They agreed to meet after the New Year to discuss future plans concerning the tablet.

‘I wanted to ask you something,’ said Mina, ‘when you said your mother and sister had never travelled before, you meant abroad?’

‘Yes. They’ve travelled a few times to Philadelphia, to see my dad’s brother and his family, but that’s about all.’

‘So where are we going in Thailand?’ asked Mina.

‘Well, our final destination is Phuket, but we have a stopover in Bangkok.’

Jack thought about the last time he had travelled to Thailand. It was a covert operation in cooperation with the D.E.A. and Thai military forces. The operation had been successful in uncovering a drug smuggling ring with international connections. He had been sent as a military liaison officer, to make sure that their coordinated efforts would run smoothly. After the happy conclusion of the operation, he had spent a wonderful holiday travelling on a chartered boat in the Andaman Sea, stopping here and there in secluded coves to swim to his heart’s content. He had been to Thailand a few times before for other, more personal reasons and always felt at home there. He smiled to himself, remembering his last conversation with his mother.

‘Jack? A penny for your thoughts, as the Brits say?’ asked Mina.

‘I was just thinking of the efforts I had to make to convince my mum to go to Thailand.’

‘And?’ asked Mina, quizzically.

‘It was so funny. How often do you have to convince people to go on holiday?’

‘You didn’t have to talk me into it!’

‘Well, it was quite different with my mum. She could’ve stayed in any remote spot, without another tourist on the horizon. But instead, she preferred to be somewhere where other Americans stayed.’

‘Ah?’ said Mina, ‘not very adventurous, is she?’

‘Yeah. In the end, I bought them a package holiday to Phuket. She’s terrified of anything new and exotic. Jen, my sister, is hardly different. Anyway, that’s why I sent them to Patong beach: even if you’ll find as many sex shows as restaurants there, she wanted to be somewhere full of tourists, rather than one of Phuket’s more secluded beaches.’ A few more miles and Jack had to slow down almost to a halt, as they were stuck in traffic. Mina had been thinking of her own situation for a time.

‘I’m not sure I want to return to Iraq when we get back from our travels. I think I have enough material now to wrap up my PhD at Columbia and surprise the academic world.’

‘You might want to be a little careful.’

‘Why? Now that we’re pretty sure that something will happen in a decade, and the secret will be out in the open before long, won’t everything sort itself out?’

Jack looked at her. He didn’t want to disclose his fears about Wheatley, so he chose his words carefully; ‘I don’t think the Intelligence services would appreciate us going public without preparation,’ he said.

‘I wish you hadn’t contacted your… friend,’ Mina said, speaking through gritted teeth.

‘Who? Stella?’ Jack asked.

‘Yes Jack, Stella. Don’t play dumb with me.’

Jack could not believe his ears. With everything they had gone through, Mina was fishing for information about another woman. He responded with just a hint of a smile. ‘She’s just a friend, a really old friend in the service.’

‘Oh. That’s it, just a friend?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Was she more than a friend, years ago?’

‘Alright. We had an affair but it didn’t work out. Come on Mina, don’t tell me you’re jealous?’

‘You’re right. Why should I be? First you put me on a train to Cambridge on my own and then you run off to meet some wonder-woman in a pub in London. Hey, why should I be jealous of an operative who was previously your superior officer?’

He laughed and she punched him in shoulder.

‘Why are you laughing?’ she asked.

‘I never thought I’d enjoy fighting with you so much.’

‘You’re impossible,’ she blurted.

Heathrow airport. Thai Airways check-in desk.

Mina crossed her fingers, and prayed they would make the flight that evening rather than the next day. Unfortunately, around eight p.m. the final call for passengers sounded in the departure zone and their names weren’t announced. Jack was quite dejected.

‘Don’t worry, Jack. I’m sure we’ll catch tomorrow’s flight and you’ll find your mum and Jen are just fine. They probably went off on a fishing trip or something.’

‘Yes, you’re probably right,’ he replied absent-mindedly.