Favoured Friends
Part 38/51
Summary: An invitation to the National Egyptology Conference quickly becomes deadly race for the mythic Ichriem against an old rival of Sydney's - the assassin known only as 'the Viper'.
Note: This is a round robin originally posted at the Relic Hunter Yahoo Group. Although I'm posting it, I did not write the entire thing. This part was written by LeiLani ( dawnleilani@yahoo.com )
Also, I have Support Services. That means that, if you want, you can put me on Author Alert and receive notice when other stories of mine are posted, even if you haven't paid yourself.
Posted: Monday, August 11, 2003
Sydney, too, read the glimmer in Nigel's eyes. She buried the panic it engendered in her. Her teaching assistant's heart was in the right place, but their enemy was a merciless killer, a man who hunted relics and humans with the same heartless disregard for what was right.
Then again, lately Nigel had begun employing his intelligence to overcome the devilry they encountered, often as not turning in streaks of ingenuity she didn't expect. There was the parking lot in which he disabled truck after truck, simply by yanking distributor caps. His simple and pretty much infallible plan probably bought them their lives, especially when he augmented it by using a working vehicle to break her out of a jail cell. Not long after, he used a jeep to scatter their enemies, rolling rough-shod over tents and driving pell-mell into armed soldiers. He could have been killed, but he jumped to her rescue, just the same. He was thinking on his feet.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Nigel was becoming a relic hunter.
The ground was rising to meet them. Whatever they were going to do, they had to do it quickly. Fresh out of ideas, she grudgingly accepted that whatever Nigel's plan was, she was going to have to go along with it.
"Sydney?"
Subtle inflections in his pronunciation captured her instant attention. She arced an eyebrow, and he grinned at her.
"Sydney," he repeated, and she finally understood. She also felt all the blood drain from her face. What worked in Sydney, Australia, worked on sheer luck. A fraction of a second's miscalculation and they'd be dead! Before she had time to object, Nigel looked her straight in the eye and said deliberately, "Sydney, I love you, and I am sick of you pushing me away." He turned to their captor and complained, "All I asked was one lousy kiss. That's all. I think if we're going to die, I should at least get a kiss, don't you?"
Amusement flickered over the Viper's face. "How touching. Sure, kid. Go get your kiss. I'll take over from there. Sydney owes me." He leered at her, making his intent perfectly clear.
Sydney hoped that the killer didn't notice how dark Nigel's eyes grew at the stark insinuations. She had to play her part and pray that lightning would strike twice. "Nobody kisses anybody," she hissed, leaning forward in her seat. Her palms were so slick with sweat that the upholstery was damp beneath her hands. "I am not going to air our dirty laundry here. You know very well why I turned you down. That blond tramp was more important to you than I was!"
Nigel was on his feet, facing their enemy. "I didn't touch the blond!" he protested. "All I did was touch her hand like this!" Moving faster than anyone expected, Nigel grappled for the gun, and all hell broke loose. The weapon went off, Claudia screamed, Nigel shrieked, and Sydney launched herself into the fray. Only this time, so did Lloyd and Preston! The resulting knot of arms, legs, heads, and torsos rolled onto the floor, and the pistol fired again.
There was a bump as the plane touched down, but the passengers were locked in a deadly five-way embrace.
"I SAID STOP!"
If nobody heard Claudia before, they heard that screech.
The wrestling match was over when all five pair of eyes rose to the slender secretary, who was standing in front of the pilot's compartment, pointing the gun into the middle of the fight. "Don't think I won't do it," she warned. "My daddy taught me to shoot, and I have three first-place trophies to prove my aim."
Without missing a beat, their pilot's voice came over the tinny loudspeaker. "Welcome to Sid Ifni." In one smooth motion, the swarthy pilot emerged from his seat and captured Claudia's wrist, wrenching the gun from her hand. "Thank you, my dear. I wondered how to get things under control. Looks like you did it for me." With a casual flick of the weapon, he gestured for Claudia to join her companions. He lifted a defiant face to his captives.
Sydney swore beneath her breath. From the bewildered expression on the Viper's face, she knew that the pilot wasn't a partner in his venture, either.
The five combatants slowly rose, peeling one off the next like layers of an onion, each eyeing the other. Preston blinked, Nigel shook his head, Lloyd rolled his eyes, and Claudia scowled at their new problem as she moved in to stand with the rest.
"Ama, my darling, you were right."
To Sydney's astonishment, the little Hindu woman pushed through them and sauntered to the pilot's side. "Davis Campbell, you were magnificent!" Leaning up on tiptoes, she brushed a kiss along his dark jaw. Sans cosmetics, her exotic features were difficult to categorize. Was she Indian, or Arab, or some other ethnic mix?
"Campbell!" Sydney gasped. "You're Artie Reynolds' assistant?"
"His former assistant, my dear Dr. Fox. You see, Artie and I had a little disagreement. He wanted to turn Ichriem over to some sterile scientific museum for study. I had somewhat more profitable thoughts in mind. I knew that if the Viper were involved, it meant big money. So I arranged for my little kidnapping, brought my little Ama into the loop, and voilá! But I knew I couldn't do it on my own. I needed Dr. Fox and her assistant to find the relic, and the Viper to connect me with his buyer. The extra two players were just pawns to get my queen into place. Now," he growled, "We have a boat to catch."
For good measure, he added, "And if I were you, I wouldn't try anything like those heroics again. Unlike your friendly Viper, I rather enjoy a good murder.
End Part Thirty-Eight