| Chapter Eighteen - Diamonds are a Riflemans Best Friend |
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I entered the bazaar to be hit at once by strange smells, people dressed in clothes of many cultures and the constant hubub of voices speaking a dozen languages surrounding me. Heading deeper into the throng of people I looked around for the man I had come here to find. As I passed stalls selling all manner of strange delights I finally saw him, a man in a red hat with a copy of the times under his left arm - I approached him subtly. It was time to see if I had the right man. Hoping I had the code right, I spoke to him. "The sun is low for the time of day". The man looked at me strangely and I at once felt apprehensive. "Yes but it gets lower in winter my friend... lower than the rooftops" I smiled - I had found my man. He suddenly set off at a fast pace through the stalls, so much so that I could hardly keep up with his rapidly departing figure. I barely had time to see the sellers around me as they proferred any number of exotic perfumes, golden trinkets and books written in languages that had not graced the earth for a thousand years. I saw my man duck into an alleyway between two suspicious looking men. It seemed obvious their job was to make sure no one got in who wasn't supposed to be there. I wondered what could be around the corner at the end of this strange entrance, suspecting some battered old room, or maybe just a group of seedy men offering their wares to me. How wrong I was...
We emerged into the sunlight and I beheld a beautiful courtyard. Among the blue lacquered walls, a fountain gushed its waters and songbirds sang sweetly in a cage. Seated in the middle of all this opulence was a rather portly gentleman dressed in silk. Looking to his sides, I first noticed he sat with a lady who had fine features, though she was now approaching middle age. Her kohl framed eyes were large and expressive, her lips picked out in a deep red displaying a sort of amused half smile, her skin the colour of whitened coffee. These two were flanked by two physically impressive looking men who regarded me with a degree of wary respect. "Welcome Captain, my friend in the west of the city told me you would arrive soon". A serving maid appeared from one of the surrounding rooms and took my coat, whilst offering me a refreshing drink and asked me to take a seat before her master- she was the embodiment of exotic calm efficiency. I sat and offered my card to the gentleman, which he took with a flourish and returned one of his own, I read it silently to myself: Mubeen Parkar. Merchant to princes, dealer in rarities normally unseen by man, antiquities from the four corners of the ancient world. "Well, thats quite a calling card" I said with a smile. "I believe our mutual friend told you what I require". My host spoke to me in a rich, deep voice like heavy syrup. "He has indeed informed me of your rather specific requests." He turned and spoke languidly in a foreign tongue to one of the guards who hurried towards a room adjacent to the courtyard. "I think you will be most pleased with our efforts Captain". The guard reappeared with a box in one hand and a staff in the other, placing the box on the table between myself and his master. He took the staff and in one firm blow, drove it deep into the ground. His master then sat forward. "Now watch Captain, first the test to show no trickery". Taking a magnifying glass from the table he held it so that it focused the light from the sun onto a block of wood. we all waited for a few moments and perceived that nothing was happening. At the merchants gesture I reached out and touched the block which though warm, was nowhere near ready to light. "So we can see the sun is not strong enough, even when focused to light this block of wood, however..." His voice trailed off as his nimble hands opened the mahogany box that had been placed between us and revealed, nestled in blue velvet, a diamond glittering in the sun. The merchant saw the look in my eye "A rare gem indeed, and made even rarer by your strange cutting directions, but I will admit we were most impressed by the outcome. If you ever feel you would like to explain how we could replicate the process, we would of course pay you handsomely, but for now, observe". The guard took a brief look at me and grinned, grabbing the diamond in his hands and cupping them tightly to sheild the gem from the sun. He placed it atop the pole and immediately jumped back. All that happened then seemed to be in slow motion. First the gem focused the sun onto the block of wood once more and yet there was something wrong, the light from the gem seemed to make the block seem darker if anything, as though not all the energy from the sun was being sent to the wood, Secondly I looked to the gem and noticed the way it glistened as though full of millions of beams of light and finally there was an eruption of light from the stone. The light fired from the gem making the air crackle, the beam hit the wood with a force that made the eyes squint, and then just as suddenly as the beam had erupted there was no more wood - just a pile of ash on the floor. The merchant and I looked at each other and smiled. Reaching out we shook eachothers hands, the deal had been done. I re-emerged into the bustling market and looked around hurriedly. No one was paying any attention to me it seemed, so far so good. I walked out into the crowds, acutely aware of the weight of the box against me. I got into a nearby cab and sighed with relief as we headed out of the market and toward Siraj's compound through some backstreets. Knowing that I would be able to complete my experiments in the lab he had furnished for me there at my request, whilst Will would be in the safety of one of Siraj's town centre safehouses. As soon as I reached my hosts house I hurried through the doors and into my makeshift lab. Bolting the door behind me I set up the piece of armour plate from the alien ship on a pedestal, placed the crystal in the cradle I had crafted for it in my newest invention, and stood back. I took a deep breath, lowering my trusty solar obscura goggles and pulled on a knife switch. The hum of the device's machinery was soon joined by a high pitched whistle. A beam of blue light flashed from the diamond and for less than a second danced on the alien armour's surface before, amidst a bright flash, the armour evaporated from sight. I threw the knife swtich back immediately but not quick enough to stop the thick stone walls some four feet behind that armour becoming very severely scorched. It seemed we now had our own long range energy weapon. |
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