Beckett of Arabia
By UCSBdad
Disclaimer: It is written that I do not own Castle. Rating: K. Time: An AU period slightly after A Deadly Affair.
He slid down from the turret, making too much noise as his feet hit the engine deck of the tank. He heard something in a language he didn't know, followed by a burst of fire. He returned the fire, hosing the area behind the tank with an entire thirty round magazine.
The gunfire brought everyone out of the tank. Someone tossed a flare behind the tank.
He heard Cowboy yelling.
"Castle! You okay."
Rick began checking himself for wounds. He found none.
"I'm okay, I think."
"You just think you're okay? Someone check him out."
Cowboy, LoDon, Sundance and Duad all jumped off the tank and moved slowly to the rear of the vehicle. Someone threw another flare.
"Are you okay?" Kate asked, coming up to Castle.
"Yeah. I think so."
"You just think so? I'd better check you out."
Kate waited for the expected riposte from Castle but he said nothing. She examined Castle for wounds in the dying light of the flares.
"I can't find anything wrong with you. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I guess." He paused for a moment. "When he fired at me, I could see the muzzle flash of his gun. It looked like it was inches from my face. And the noise…Both his and my weapons. The noise was deafening. It was…terrifying."
Kate put her arm around him.
"You'll be okay, Castle. You did the right thing."
Cowboy and the rest came back.
"Daud says there were just two of them. Two sets of tracks leading here and none leading away."
"Where are they?" Castle asked.
"Dead, Jefe. You got both of them."
"They're dead?"
"You took one fella's head nearly off and the other one bled out from wounds to his chest and stomach about fifteen yards from here. My guess is they were planning to sabotage the tank and then attack us when we were immobile. You did good, Rick."
"I never killed anyone before." Rick said softly.
"It was them or us, Castle." Kate said softly. "Your shift is over. Come into the tank with me and get some sleep."
Castle found himself on the floor of the tank, next to Kate. He reflected that he'd often imagined what it'd be like to have Kate Beckett sleeping next to him. He'd never imagined that it would be after he'd killed two men. It took a while, but he got to sleep.
They got bad news the next morning from Marian.
"The bastards managed to rip out our electrical wiring last night. It can be fixed, but it'll take hours. I think we should plan on staying here for the day and moving on the next day."
No one disagreed.
Daud went to talk to the village headman as his sister and the others worked on the tank's engine. The headman and the village elders came to examine the dead. They swore they weren't from their village and that the men were complete strangers. They said they'd heard nor seen anything until the gunfire erupted. Daud didn't believe them, but thanked them in the name of his great grandfather. He was sure to mention that old Sheik Sidki was not a man to be trifled with and that he'd soon be out to exact vengeance upon the attackers of his family and those under his protection.
Daud told the others what he'd found out, little though it was.
"But, I did learn they have public baths here. We are a bit dirty, so I suggest we use them. They have separate accommodations for men and women, of course. I suggest we go in two groups in case of trouble."
Daud stayed with Marian who was still working on the tank. Majida went with Kate to the women's bath and Castle and Sundance went to the men's bath.
The baths turned out to be in the same building, a mud brick place covered by a dome. Majida talked to the man in charge and found that they were allowed in free as the guests of Sheikh Sidki.
There were no other men in the baths and Castle and Sundance were done in a few minutes, having gone in fully dressed to clean their clothes as well as their bodies.
Sundance headed back to the tank while Castle stayed to look around. He wanted to soak up the atmosphere in case he ever did writer a book about Nikki Heat in Arabia. Majida walked out of the women's bath and waved at him.
"Kate will be out in a minute. You might wait for her, just in case. This may still be a dangerous place."
Castle agreed and sat down by the entrance to the baths and leaned his back against the wall. When Kate walked out, she was wringing water out of her blouse.
"Beckett!" Castle said, staring. "You don't have your top on."
"I have a bra on, Castle. People have seen more of me in a bikini."
"It's just…Um…Well…"
"What?" She asked.
"Your bra is black and lacy and…frilly."
Kate cocked her head and smiled at him.
"What? Did you think I'd be wearing a Kevlar bra or something?"
"No, of course not."
"Then what's the problem?"
"It's just that I didn't expect you to be wearing such…" Castle knew he was talking himself into trouble and stopped.
"Oh, is that it, Castle?" Kate said lowering her voice to a sexy whisper. "You didn't think Detective Kate Beckett would wear sexy underwear?" She winked at him.
"No. I mean…I thought…You're always so…" Castle stopped.
She walked over to him and leaned down.
"Maybe there's more Nikki Heat in me than you thought." She said and walked away, putting some extra sway in her hips.
She was almost out of sight when Castle realized he was supposed to be protecting her from whoever was following them. He got up and ran after her.
Marian finished working on the tank's electrical system and went over the other systems. The radio didn't work at all, but the engine seemed to be in good shape for as old as it was. Cowboy and his friends, plus Majida went over the weapons, but still didn't know if the cannons would fire.
After dinner, Daud spoke to the village headman and the elders and told them that he'd contacted his grandfather by radio, which was a lie, and told him what had happened in the village the night before. The headman had all of the village young men standing guard with their weapons for the whole night. Cowboy still had them do guard duty, but Castle found it wasn't that bad. For one thing, the locals had set fires all around the village. Anyone trying to get to the tank would be seen at once.
They left before dawn, happy to be out in the desert where they could see anyone coming after them from a long way away. And see they did.
"Our damned tagalongs are back." Cowboy said. "But now there are five of the bastards."
There were now five pickups shadowing them, three to their left and two to the right.
"That's gotta be more than just curiosity." Sundance said. "Should we shoot at them?"
"No. They're too far away for the machine guns to hit and we don't know if the damned cannons work. And they don't have any heavy weapons that I can see."
They drove for another fifteen minutes.
"Holy shit!" Cowboy cried. "Incoming."
Castle looked through the viewport and saw a line of what looked like bright green tennis balls headed for them. The tennis balls bounced off the desert floor and exploded.
"What are those?" Castle yelled.
"Something we don't want hitting us." Cowboy yelled. "Now's the time to see if the 37mm works. Grab a round and load me up, Castle."
Castle grabbed a round and slammed it into the breech of the gun.
"Halt the damned tank." Cowboy screamed. "I can't hold no sight picture with the tank moving."
The tank stopped and Cowboy fired. Nothing happened. He re-cocked the weapons and tried again.
"It's a dud. Give it to Daud and have him toss it. I don't want the damned thing deciding to go off in here."
Castle handed the round to Daud and reloaded the cannon. Cowboy tried firing three times, but nothing happened.
"Dump this one and gimme another. Sundance, can't you get in a shot at the bastard?"
"I'm trying, but he keeps moving to my left. Every time I get a good sight picture, you have the damned tank stop and he moves away.
Two things happened in rapid succession. First was an enormous clang from something hitting the tank, then Daud began firing the top machine gun.
"Anyone hurt?" Someone yelled.
No one was, but Marian yelled to them.
"We took a round to the glacis plate of the tank. It bounced off. That's where the tank's armor is thickest. Daud, why are you firing?"
"Two of the trucks are trying to get behind us to shoot up our engine. I think they have a machine gun of some sort on one of them."
There were two more bursts of machine gun fire from Daud, followed by a loud scream.
"Daud! Are you all right?" Marian screamed.
"Yes. I hit the truck with the machine gun. Oh, its burning. Oh, but it burns so well. Men are running to the other truck."
That was followed by another long burst of fire.
"Oh, they got away, but I may have hit another man. Run, run. Run from Daud."
"Don't move the fucking tank. I got a sight picture on the technical." Sundance yelled.
That was followed by a burst of profanity.
"What happened?" Castle yelled,
"Misfire. We had to dump the round. I got anther one up the spout. I'll try again."
That was followed by more profanity.
"Another fucking dud. I'm gonna…"
Whatever Sundance was going to say next was blotted out by an explosion right by the tank.
"Did they hit us?" Cowboy yelled.
"No, the fucking useless round went off when we tossed it out. I got another round ready to go. Marian, turn left a bit more. That's it."
This time there was a roar as the tank's main gun fired.
"Did we hit them?" Castle yelled.
"No, dammit. I can't even see where the round went. I'm going to try again."
There was a brief pause and another roar from the main gun.
"Better! Better!" Sundance yelled. "I missed the bastards, but the shell exploded. I'm gonna try…"Ah, hell. The bastards are pulling out."
In seconds there was no sign of the firefight except for one burning truck sending a column of smoke into the still desert air.
"The smoke can be seen for miles." Daud said. "It'll attract attention."
"Is there anyone to see it out here?" Castle asked.
"The desert is less empty than people think."
"We may have a problem." Marian said.
"More?" Cowboy said.
"The area ahead of us is more broken than what we've been going through. It'll be too damned easy for them to ambush us from close range. If we head southeast, we'll be in open country. We'll see them coming."
"And the problem is?" Kate asked.
"We'll end up a good hundred miles to the west of Masirah Island. We'll have to go along the beach and there are cliffs above the beach. Again, they could ambush us from close range."
"Shit." Sundance said.
"But, if we go further to the west, there are small ports where you can probably get a ship back to Masirah island."
"What kind of ship?" Castle asked.
"A dhow. A local sailing vessel, although some have engines."
"Anyone have a better idea?" Cowboy asked.
No one did.
"I'd like to stop when we get to open country and before dark to clean out the air filters again."
And so, they headed off into the desert again.
TBC
