Chapter 18

2009 - Egypt

Once again we were fully dressed and all the ladies were silent when we had our breakfast in the hotel restaurant. I had reserved and paid for the rooms for three days, so nobody would question if we left the hotel carrying only some light packages with us. Of course, it was also good to have some kind of backup plan if my initial plan failed for some reason. I just wasn’t yet sure what that backup plan would be. If we were betrayed now, there was a big possibility that I wouldn’t need any more plans, ever.

We got a taxi outside our hotel without any problems, and I gave the driver the address of a business building close to the embassy. Since he noticed that I wasn’t a local, he of course tried to rob us. As I didn’t want him to get suspicious, I only allowed him to rob us a little, and I did call him a dog and with some other nice names. Working with construction workers really does wonders for your vocabulary!

We stopped for a moment in a park near the embassy, and I told both Hana and Pam what to expect. We would enter the embassy with our falsified documents, since Hana and Naiya had no real documents. Once we got safely inside, I was sure that I would get things figured out. When I noticed that Pam and Hana were talking silently between themselves I whispered in Karen’s ear.

“If something happens outside the embassy please make sure that all the girls and you get inside. Show them your passport, and say loudly that you are a US citizen.”

Then I slipped her both her and Pam’s passports. Even with her heavy clothing I could sense that suddenly she was really worried. That was exactly what I wanted. It is much better to be scared than dead!

When we slowly walked along the road going by the embassy I noticed at least two cars in which were people watching the people who entered the gates of embassy. One of those cars was clearly governmental. I wasn’t worried about that one. What really worried me a bit was the other car. When I noticed that the man inside the car used a camera instead of cell phone I was worried even more. If he had used a phone there might have been someone else with a telescopic sight. On the other hand, with digital images they would be able to use face recognition software.

We had no problems in getting to the gates, and the first security check went without problems. I knew that I’d taken a risk by leaving the satellite phone in the hotel, but the main issue today was to get inside the embassy. If we would look like something other than what we said we were, they’d kick us out faster than I could say Jack Robinson. I could not really blame them. I could see that the people in the queue looked quite uncomfortable because of the bomb dogs which were used in checking the queue. I did my best to ignore them, and I had warned the girls that they should not look like they’d be familiar with the dogs, either.

The queues were long, since Egypt had started to show signs that everything was no longer under control. All those people who could afford it and who thought that they might have something to fear in the future, decided to take some precautions and decided to apply for visa - or political asylum. When it was time for us to get inside there was another security check and I even had to open my mobile phone. After that we got a number and started waiting again.

I did my usual thing and started following my environment. As far as I could see, all the security people were normal soldiers - efficient yes, but normal soldiers. There were three desks behind which the officials questioned the people, and these local officials seemed to make the first-level decisions. Because of the queues, I could understand some of it, but still I found it interesting. The people in the embassy seemed to put a whole lot of trust in these people. At some point there was a heated discussion going on with one of the officials, and an older couple talking to him. When they were finished, the result of the discussion was visible on the faces of the couple. At that point I left my seat to get a glass of water. In the middle of the room I accidentally ran into the man and, while apologizing him, I also talked to him in a low voice.

“If possible do not leave the embassy area, but wait in the yard, for your own safety.”

The older man was no dummy, and after a brief moment of hesitation he smiled to me and apologized to me loudly. I returned to my seat, and soon it was our turn. By sheer luck we got the same official as the older couple. While rising from our seats I turned to my ladies.

“Please, trust me a little bit longer, even if it might feel odd for a moment.”

Then we all headed to desk. Instead of Arabic I addressed the official in English.

“Good morning, sir. I’m an engineer who has just escaped Sudan with my family, and I think we’d need a safe way of getting back to States.”

One look at his face told me everything I needed to know. Surprise, anger and then triumph had all flashed in his eyes, until his professional self took over.

“I see. Do you have some documentation you can show me?”

“Yes, of course.”

I gave him my passport which had traveled here with us, inside the bottom of our suitcase. As soon as he opened my passport there was another flash in his eyes. I noticed how his leg moved under the desk and I could hear hurried steps behind us. Then the official looked behind me.

“Corporal, please guide these people out of the embassy area, and don’t allow them to enter again.”

I could hear the women gasp but the Corporal Miller seemed to take his responsibilities seriously as he lowered his gun, and started guiding us out of the building. Once we got outside I turned my head a bit.

“Corporal, if you don’t want to spend the rest of your assignment in the kitchen peeling potatoes, you let me have a few words either with the driver of the ambassador or Gunnery Sergeant Hollis before you force us out. By the way, that peeling potatoes happens ONLY if you are very lucky. Now you should hurry.”

It took him a few seconds to make a decision but then he asked us to stop while he talked with low voice into his headset. It took few more minutes then there were approaching steps.

“Corporal Miller, what do you have here?”

“Sir, these civilians...”

I interrupted him before he could say anything more.

“Sergeant, today’s code is Bravo - Five - Papa - Victor - Four - Zero - India - Foxtrot. Correct?”

He blinked his eyes only once before looking at the Corporal.

“Corporal, WHEN you are asked, you will say that you carried out your orders as directed. You are released.”

“Yes, Sergeant!”

Then he turned to me.

“Could you please follow me.”

“Sergeant, the man behind desk number two is probably making a call or planning to make a call right now. Can you listen and track it? And then there might be an older couple inside the embassy yard. They should not be allowed to leave.”

He first gave quick instructions through his mic and earpiece, then he asked for more details about the couple. After a minute or two he got confirmation, and then nodded to me, smiling grimly.

“It seems that you had a point in both cases. Now, could you please follow me. I’m sure there is a story here, and I’m quite sure my boss would like to hear it.”

Before anything else, I made sure that my family and Karen were taken care of. There were some apartments inside the building for just that purpose, and after some discussion we agreed on a small apartment with two bedrooms.

The following four hours were quite intense for me. Before answering any of the questions, I demanded a call back to US. I checked with my old friend if it was ok to share the information with the top dog of this embassy. Once he agreed, I gave the phone back to the head of security at the embassy. I had no idea what my friend back at home told this local guy on the phone, but whatever it was, I had no problems about them taking me seriously. I guess the fact that my friend back home also wanted to hear everything first hand, had something to do with it. For a moment, I wondered what his official position inside the company was. We had never discussed that.

When I was finally finished I delegated someone from the embassy to go to our hotel and empty the room. No reason to leave any extra trails. At some point the Sergeant I had met previously came in, and looked at me and then his boss. After his boss gave a small nod, he gave a report about the guy who had been working behind the desk. Sometimes I just hated to be right. When we were finished sergeant Hollis turned to me.

“You threatened Corporal Miller about what would happen to him if he refused to ask for me. What would you have done if he had not believed you?”

I looked at him and smiled.

“I would have disarmed him, and forced him to call you, of course.”

“Sir, Corporal Miller is a trained marine.”

“That is why I was happy I wasn’t forced to do it, since it might have been difficult not to hurt him.”

Since the security people were not sure about all the people working at the embassy, they asked us if we could spend the evening inside our quarters. I guess none of us really minded.

The evening that followed was almost like a sequel to our last night at the hotel. Before we parted to the separate bedrooms I looked at Hana and Pam.

“You might want to pick up a towel from the bathroom. Even if I think that what happens inside these doors is nobody else’s business, until we get back home and have everything organized we might need to keep a low profile.”

The girls blushed - and giggled. I could not help smiling to myself, and for once it was a relaxed smile. However, I wasn’t prepared to see Karen come to me carrying a big towel.

“Karen, I’m not sure if that is a good idea.”

“Come on, we are both adults and I’ve not had much sex lately - and according to what you said neither have you. Just some nice relaxing sex.”

Later that night, when Naiya was safely sleeping, and I was tonguing Karen to her second orgasm, I managed to think that even if it had started with nice relaxing sex for me it didn’t always end that way. Unfortunately, I forgot that as soon as Karen started sucking me.

2008 - China

My relationship with Jia was like shadow-boxing. Occasionally one of us tried to tease some secrets out of the other, but mostly it was just a game or sometimes as part of our foreplay. We were lovers and we were close but yet there were some things that were never discussed between us. Like what we were feeling towards each other.

I had been promoted from an engineer to a serious security consultant, and even if some people at the US embassy would have liked to use me in generating some political pressure against the Chinese, I simply refused. After all, I was not working for them, I was working for the Company, who had leased me out as a security consultant. No politics involved. I might not agree with the Chinese politics but I wasn’t in a position to argue with them.

Sometime in the spring I was informed that Jia had arranged a two week holiday for us - for her, Pam and me. The idea was to visit her sister in Central China in mid-May. Once we had visited her we would go play tourist for a bit, and see the Great Wall and some other places. I had a feeling that my relationship with Jia was about to become more complicated. To my own surprise I found out that I was not fully against the idea, but instead of being active I decided to go with the flow.

It was the 10th of May when we took a flight from Beijing to Sichuan, and from there we took a bus north-west. Since this was not Beijing and we had no official relationship, we had different rooms and I made sure that there was no reason to think that she would be something else than my translator and guide. And now I really needed a translator since the dialect spoken here was something completely different than what was spoken in Beijing.

We spent a day in the nearby area, and we were supposed to meet her sister and her family the day after tomorrow. We had all had a tiring day but still I had problems falling asleep since I kept on wondering where my relationship with Jia would be heading.

The following afternoon we were in a park walking back to our hotel when the earth under our feet started moving. I was able to stay on my feet but both Pam and Jia fell to the ground. When the shaking and moving just went on and on I found myself hugging the ground next to them. There was what sounded like a deep voice of someone who was angry at us small people for walking on the surface of his planet. Finally it was over but it didn’t mean that it would be silent. There were people screaming, there were cars whose anti-theft systems were yelling and there were clouds of dust in several places.

I checked both Jia and Pam and was happy to find that they were both just a bit bruised but otherwise fine. Only then it came to me what those clouds of dust were. They were buildings. Buildings that didn’t exist anymore. Suddenly I felt cold, terribly, terribly cold.

Both Pam and I had been there before but it didn’t really help. Well it helped in a way; we were able to work and organize whatever little could be organized. Despite the protests, I decided to take some calculated risks and I visited a partly collapsed market with a trolley and I filled it with bottled water. When the shop collapsed in an aftershock a few hours later, Pam yelled at me for almost fifteen minutes. I could not really blame her.

The following hours were filled with helping those who were hurt, and calming down those who were just hysterical. I was sure that there were people trapped inside the ruins, but right now we had our hands full helping those who could come to us in the park. Besides, the aftershocks made it extremely dangerous to go even close to the buildings. It was early evening when we could hear the helicopter scouting the area, and some fifteen minutes later some army trucks carefully drove between the buildings to the park.

If I had thought that the worst was over I couldn’t have been more wrong. Well, maybe the worst was over for some of the locals, but it certainly wasn’t over for me. The man in charge of the arriving group was an old school colonel who was stiff-necked and believed in good old values. As an American I was an enemy and if I couldn’t be held responsible for the earthquake, at least there should be no way that I could see the damage it had caused to the great nation. So I spent the next few hours handcuffed and guarded at the back of a truck. I had understood enough of the colonel that I kept my knowledge of the language hidden from him. Had he known that I understand some Chinese he would probably have executed me himself.

When I finally heard the voices of Jia, Pam, and some male, I wasn’t in my best humor; but I stayed quiet when my cuffs were opened, and I was allowed to come down from the truck. I hugged Pam and looked at Jia, ignoring the young man in officer uniform.

“Greg, this is Lieutenant Chan who is now in charge of this area. Colonel Kwan has been invited back to the headquarters to organize the rescue operations.”

Only now did I turn to face the lieutenant.

“So, Lieutenant Chan, are you willing to use my expertise in rescuing people from the ruins? We have already wasted several hours because of the stupidity of the colonel.”

I wasn’t sure which surprised or hurt him more, blaming his superior or the fact that I had spoken Chinese to him. I didn’t care. I was pissed off and I had to admit that I didn’t like the way that Lieutenant had looked at Jia.

After two days I had learned to admire the young lieutenant, at least a little bit. I knew that he hadn’t slept any more than I had, and while I had been able to focus on securing the structures and helping to save some people, he also needed to give orders to his men and communicate with his superiors. But I still didn’t like the way he occasionally looked at Jia.