Chapter 6: Planning

“If you do not know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere.” – Henry A. Kissinger.

Isfahan, Seljuk Empire. April 1078

Luke sat in his dark, damp cell without moving. Moving took energy, and he didn’t have the energy to spare after being locked up for four months. With no natural light, Luke had no clue how long he had been stuck in his cell. Interrogations were done down the hall in another room without windows.

Between the lack of sunlight and the inferior quality of the food, Luke was getting weaker by the day but refused to break. He knew they would be nearly unstoppable if he broke and the Seljuks got their hands on the same technology he had given Marion. However, Luke wasn’t sure how much longer he would last. If he didn’t get better nutrition soon, Luke knew he would be too weak to attempt an escape.

During the latest round of questioning, his interrogators added a new twist. Instead of showing Luke food and drink like they had for the last few months, they began purposely wasting it before him. That move hurt worse than them eating before him. The food was so close, and Luke was so hungry; however, whenever he thought about talking, he reminded himself of the consequences, and his will to resist hardened. The Seljuks had a larger empire than the British, and any war would be fought on the Seljuk’s doorstep. That meant the British would be the ones with stretched supply lines. With matching technology, shorter supply lines, and more resources, the British would be massacred.

While Luke was falling asleep, he often slept 16 hours a day; Morvarid and Malik were having another argument regarding Luke. Malik believed the prisoner was close to breaking, although he was becoming frustrated, while Morvarid argued that since she knew Luke, she knew he would starve himself to death before he revealed anything. Morvarid claimed the way to get Luke to reveal his secrets was to get him interested in a problem and convince him that he was the only one who could solve it. Essentially, she wanted to plead with Luke for help in a dignified manner.

In the end, Malik threw his hands up. His approach wasn’t getting results, and although he didn’t like his sister’s idea, he was bright enough to realize that if he wanted results, it was time to try something else. Very few people had been able to stand a week in the dark cell, while Luke had held out for four months and showed no signs of breaking.

Once Malik was done throwing his tantrum, he signaled a guard to release Luke from the room that had been his home for the past four months and escort him to a room near where Morvarid had her quarters. She chose that room to watch him since she was now responsible for him. If he escaped, it was her head.

Luke was woken by the sound of a guard unlocking his door. He looked up and tried to get his eyes to adjust to the light from the torch the guards were carrying. Since he had just been interrogated, Luke was curious about what this was all about. By this time, Luke couldn’t move quickly, but that didn’t stop the guards from pushing Luke and knocking him to the floor a few times.

The walk to his new quarters was long and required going up several flights of stairs. The stairs were challenging for Luke to climb, but he finally figured out that they would be much easier for him to climb if he crawled up them. As Luke crawled, the guards pointed at him and laughed; Luke swore they would regret that one day. Finally, Luke reached his new room and was thrilled to find a bowl of water and a washrag waiting for him. Before the guards could leave, Luke stripped the rags he had been wearing to wash himself.

Luke started by using the wet rag on his teeth and used more water as mouthwash. Of all the things he missed about home, proper mouth-cleaning tools were at the top of his personal hygiene list. After his teeth were cleaner than they had been in months, Luke scrubbed his crotch. Thanks to not moving around much and constantly being in damp conditions, Luke developed several open sores that worried him. The last thing he wanted was to get blood poisoning or gangrene; he already had dysentery from the contaminated water he had been forced to drink.

With his crotch clean, Luke started at his head and worked his way down. The water that dripped off his body was almost black from grime. It took nearly an hour, but Luke’s body was much cleaner. Finally, he tackled his now long hair and had to settle for combing it since he didn’t have a pair of scissors or a knife. He would have rather removed his hair to quickly eliminate his lice infestation.

After scrubbing himself as clean as possible, Luke moved to the small bed, where he saw new clothes. He would have rather had his uniform, but that had been confiscated with the rest of his gear when he arrived in Isfahan. His new clothes weren’t much better quality than before, but at least they were clean. Dressed, Luke sat down and nibbled on a fruit basket and bread that was sitting on a small table. Despite how hungry he was, Luke knew not to eat too fast, or he might kill himself. It didn’t take long before Luke became jittery from the fruit’s sugar and stopped eating to sit down.

As Luke sat, he worked on a schedule to get back in shape. What he didn’t do was wonder why he had been transferred to a much better room. Luke figured he wouldn’t exercise much for the first week or two beyond his limited exercises in his dark cell. Those were mainly designed to keep his flexibility rather than gain strength. Once he could eat again and establish his new routine, he would begin exercising to regain his muscle.

Luke was stretching when Morvarid entered and sat down to watch. She had seen him exercise like this before and liked watching since it showed off Luke’s muscles. Now, speechless, she watched the shadow of the man she had fallen for work through his exercises. Morvarid swore she would do everything possible to ensure Luke returned to good health. What Morvarid didn’t know was the only reason Luke had survived was the numerous inoculations he had received from the Marines. Several were lifetime inoculations that kept Luke from becoming ill.

“Luke, I’m sorry about the last four months.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You should know my brother has entrusted your care to me, but you need to help me. You need to part with some of your secrets, or you will return to the darkroom.”

“Then you should send me back there because I refuse to help you. Your brother kidnapped me and has kept me from my family for over a year. Do you really think I would help your brother?”

“Please, Luke. I hated when you were down there.”

“Why would you care? You’re getting married soon and will be off. In the meanwhile, I will be stuck here.”

“But think of all the people you can help.”

“Like it would matter. This empire won’t last much longer, and another empire will rise in its place. It would already be disintegrating if it wasn’t for your brother’s strong rule. What do you think will happen once he dies? Empires rarely have more than two good rulers in a row.”

“What are you talking about? This empire will last forever.” Morvarid stated crossly as if she were a child. Luke tipped his head back and laughed.

“Thanks, I needed that laugh. Let me ask you something, how many rebellions has your brother had to put down while I’ve been here? Don’t tell me it was none because I know better. Do you think those rebellions will stop once your brother dies? No, they will continue; only they will begin succeeding, and regions will break away.”

Morvarid stood up and stormed out, slamming the door. Luke looked at the door and shrugged. He figured he would enjoy this room before being shoved back in that hole. He returned to nibbling on fruit and bread and continued working on his flexibility. To break up his exercise, Luke spent a short time standing in the sunlight coming through the window. The sun felt so good on his skin that he felt as if he were in heaven. Thanks to not having seen any sun during the past four months, Luke’s skin was pale white, so he had to be careful how much sunlight he received at any one time.