Part Twelve – Gone!
Something nagged at the back of Rick O'Connell's mind.
He couldn't explain it, nor could he identify the source. He only knew that something, somewhere was not quite right.
He turned a bit away from the people around him, as if looking at one of the paintings displayed on the wall, took a deep breath and concentrated inward, letting his heartbeat be the focal point of his meditation. It was a trick he'd learned among the Med-jai and, though he was still a long way from perfecting the self-induced trance, he found that the conversation around him fading to a dull hum.
Once he found his center, he closed his eyes and let his other senses fly. While spoken words were now a mere whisper, other sounds became unnaturally clear. Crystal glasses clinked on silver trays, numerous heels clicked against stone and wood floors, fabric rustled on bodies. He could smell a dozen different perfumes and colognes. He could pick out the unique scent of his wife from where she stood beside him and the scent he'd come to recognize as Khay's across the room. His body took another deep breath, as if his subconscious knew the answer and was trying to convey it to his conscious mind. Scent.
The inner alarm was even stronger now. Something about the way the room smelled was different. Something was here that wasn't before. His forehead furrowed as he concentrated. No, that wasn't it. He took another deep breath. It wasn't that there was something new. There was something missing.
"Ardeth!" Rick's eyes flew open and the trance fell away.
"I beg your pardon?" The elderly benefactor that had engaged Evy and him in conversation was giving him a queer look.
Evy, on the other hand, was instantly alert. "What about Ardeth, Rick? Is something wrong?"
"I have to find Ardeth. Excuse me." He turned to leave but Evy took hold of his arm. He looked down into her face to see that she was very concerned.
"Rick, what is it? What's wrong?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Probably nothing. I just want to talk to Ardeth about something. I'll be right back."
Evy wasn't convinced. "Something is wrong. Why won't you tell me?"
Rick shook his head again. "I don't know. I just . . . it's a feeling, okay? I just have a funny feeling and I want to ask Ardeth if he can . . . if he feels a funny feeling, too."
His wife looked only slightly mollified. "Alright. But let me know when you talk to him."
O'Connell kissed her lightly and smiled. "I will."
"I love you," Evy mouthed as he left her.
"You, too," he mouthed back. He spent several minutes searching the room but couldn't find his brother. That in itself was odd because he and Ardeth were two of the tallest men there. He finally gave up looking for Ardeth and began looking for Khay.
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Khay excused herself from the group that she had been chatting with and walked toward the open gallery doors. Several of the tall windows were open, letting in the mild air, and she breathed of it, deeply.
Ever since Ardeth had been called away to meet Rick, she'd been uneasy. A vague sense of impending disaster threatened the outer edges of her psyche and the feeling was building with each minute her husband was gone. She closed her eyes and concentrated, much in the way Rick had done earlier. The sense of something being terribly wrong got stronger. She wondered if Ardeth felt it, too, and she reached her senses out to look for him. Her bond with her beloved was still new and she found that when she wasn't concentrating specifically on him, it was harder to feel him. Her father had assured her that this would pass in time, that eventually she would be able to feel him wherever he was. She wished that was so right now, because right now, she couldn't feel him.
Khay frowned. There was nothing that gave any indication Ardeth was near. She deepened her trance and was about to try again when the sense of terrible danger overwhelmed her. So distinct was the feeling, she gasped out a cry and her hand went to her throat. In the back of her mind, she knew that she was not the one in danger. Ardeth was. And it was his emotions that she was feeling. She knew through her bond that her husband was fighting against incredible odds and that he was alone.
Khay wanted to cry out to Rick, to anyone, to help him but she felt as if her mouth was being covered and she couldn't speak, could barely breathe, then the world slowly turned black. She did not know her knees were buckling beneath her, nor was she aware that Rick was sprinting to catch her. She only knew that Ardeth was gone.
"Khay. Khay. Come on, sis, you gotta wake up for me."
She heard her name as if from far away. Strong arms circled her waist and she realized that she was sitting down which was odd since she could have sworn she was standing not a moment ago. After a brief struggle with her eyelids, she managed to convince them to open and found herself staring into the face of Rick O'Connell. Rick knew from the way Khay's eyes widened when she saw him that his feeling of dread was not misplaced.
"Where's Ardeth," he asked, his voice shaking slightly.
"He's gone!" Khay cried. "He went off as soon as he got your message and now he's gone!"
The look that crossed Rick's face said it as clearly as if he'd spoken.
"You didn't send for him, did you," she stated as she slowly stood up, horror dawning in her eyes.
Rick's eyes mirrored hers. "No. I didn't." He looked around the room, searching one last time for any signs of the Med-jai. "Look," he finally said. "Let's not panic." Yet, he added silently.
"I'm not sure anything is even wrong. He might have just stepped out to use the john. But let's find him just the same. "I'll take the outer exhibit halls. You take the gallery. Okay?"
Khay nodded and took a deep breath. They both knew something had happened, they just needed to make sure before they acted. It was very sensible idea and she found herself wondering at it. From what she'd heard and learned of Rick O'Connell in the past few weeks, sensible was not one his strong suits. She turned the thought aside and went searching for any sign of her husband. Carefully, she skirted the gallery and climbed the stairs to the balcony. It didn't take her long to see that Ardeth was nowhere in sight. Khay descended the stairs, her sights set on finding Rick when she heard a loud cry cut through the sounds of the gathered crowd.
Rick! She ran, along with most of the other people, toward the sound of the voice. When the crowd stopped, she kept going, pushing her way forward through the mass of people. When she finally broke through the front of the crowd, she saw her brother-in-law standing dead still in the center of the exhibit hall, his face a mask of tormented anguish, Ardeth's white jacket clutched in his hands.
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There were voices. At least he thought they were voices. It was hard to tell through the deep fog that penetrated his mind. He felt as if his head had been wrapped in blankets. He wanted to open his mouth to ask where he was, open his eyes to see where he was, but his body would not cooperate. He was trapped in this place for now so he let his tired body rest and allowed blackness to reclaim him.
"I think he's trying to come around."
Black only nodded as he watched Bey's eyes move under his lids. "I don't think it will be soon," he observed as he saw Bey's body go slack again, losing the battle to regain consciousness. "That idiot gave him too much chloroform."
"Well," Croft gave a loud yawn and stretched. "I'm going home. Shall I check back in tomorrow then?"
Black shook his head. "No. I do not believe I'll be needing you again soon and it would be unwise for us to be seen together too much. No, you go home. I will let you know if I need anything. Besides," a sinister grin curled at the corners of his mouth, "I think I can handle our Mr. Bey myself."
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Evelyn O'Connell watched as her husband paced. It had been eighteen hours since Ardeth had vanished and he had yet to sleep. Not that any of them had actually tried to sleep. Instead they had waited, tense and fearful, for any word from either Scotland Yard or the London Med-jai about what might have become of Ardeth. They both jumped as the front door banged open.
"Nothing!" Nadhir Alaa al Din ranted as he surged through the door, several of his men in his wake. "Not a trace! Not a clue! It's as if he vanished into thin air! I knew I should have sent guards along with him. I should have insisted. I should have demanded that he obey me!"
Despite his concern, Rick snorted loudly. "Demanded? Of Ardeth? Sorry, Nadhir, no one 'demands' anything of Ardeth. Not you, not me, not anyone."
"Still, I should have tried to convince him. I should have made more of an effort to get him to listen to reason."
"You and me both. I asked him more than once if he wanted someone there to watch his back and he said he had me. Me! What good did I do? I let him down, too. I let him . . . "
"Enough!" Khay's raised voice held the command of a queen. Both men looked at her pale, determined face and backed down. "You are beating yourselves up for nothing. Your efforts can be put to better use."
"Did you find him, grandfather?" No one noticed the girl creep down the stairs until she spoke.
Nadhir knelt down and opened his arms, gathering the tiny child into his embrace. "Not yet, poppet, not yet. But we will. I promise you." He kissed Azizah's head and held her close. His eyes flashed fire as his gaze met Rick's.
"The Med-jai will not rest until we have your father safely home."
Something nagged at the back of Rick O'Connell's mind.
He couldn't explain it, nor could he identify the source. He only knew that something, somewhere was not quite right.
He turned a bit away from the people around him, as if looking at one of the paintings displayed on the wall, took a deep breath and concentrated inward, letting his heartbeat be the focal point of his meditation. It was a trick he'd learned among the Med-jai and, though he was still a long way from perfecting the self-induced trance, he found that the conversation around him fading to a dull hum.
Once he found his center, he closed his eyes and let his other senses fly. While spoken words were now a mere whisper, other sounds became unnaturally clear. Crystal glasses clinked on silver trays, numerous heels clicked against stone and wood floors, fabric rustled on bodies. He could smell a dozen different perfumes and colognes. He could pick out the unique scent of his wife from where she stood beside him and the scent he'd come to recognize as Khay's across the room. His body took another deep breath, as if his subconscious knew the answer and was trying to convey it to his conscious mind. Scent.
The inner alarm was even stronger now. Something about the way the room smelled was different. Something was here that wasn't before. His forehead furrowed as he concentrated. No, that wasn't it. He took another deep breath. It wasn't that there was something new. There was something missing.
"Ardeth!" Rick's eyes flew open and the trance fell away.
"I beg your pardon?" The elderly benefactor that had engaged Evy and him in conversation was giving him a queer look.
Evy, on the other hand, was instantly alert. "What about Ardeth, Rick? Is something wrong?"
"I have to find Ardeth. Excuse me." He turned to leave but Evy took hold of his arm. He looked down into her face to see that she was very concerned.
"Rick, what is it? What's wrong?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Probably nothing. I just want to talk to Ardeth about something. I'll be right back."
Evy wasn't convinced. "Something is wrong. Why won't you tell me?"
Rick shook his head again. "I don't know. I just . . . it's a feeling, okay? I just have a funny feeling and I want to ask Ardeth if he can . . . if he feels a funny feeling, too."
His wife looked only slightly mollified. "Alright. But let me know when you talk to him."
O'Connell kissed her lightly and smiled. "I will."
"I love you," Evy mouthed as he left her.
"You, too," he mouthed back. He spent several minutes searching the room but couldn't find his brother. That in itself was odd because he and Ardeth were two of the tallest men there. He finally gave up looking for Ardeth and began looking for Khay.
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Khay excused herself from the group that she had been chatting with and walked toward the open gallery doors. Several of the tall windows were open, letting in the mild air, and she breathed of it, deeply.
Ever since Ardeth had been called away to meet Rick, she'd been uneasy. A vague sense of impending disaster threatened the outer edges of her psyche and the feeling was building with each minute her husband was gone. She closed her eyes and concentrated, much in the way Rick had done earlier. The sense of something being terribly wrong got stronger. She wondered if Ardeth felt it, too, and she reached her senses out to look for him. Her bond with her beloved was still new and she found that when she wasn't concentrating specifically on him, it was harder to feel him. Her father had assured her that this would pass in time, that eventually she would be able to feel him wherever he was. She wished that was so right now, because right now, she couldn't feel him.
Khay frowned. There was nothing that gave any indication Ardeth was near. She deepened her trance and was about to try again when the sense of terrible danger overwhelmed her. So distinct was the feeling, she gasped out a cry and her hand went to her throat. In the back of her mind, she knew that she was not the one in danger. Ardeth was. And it was his emotions that she was feeling. She knew through her bond that her husband was fighting against incredible odds and that he was alone.
Khay wanted to cry out to Rick, to anyone, to help him but she felt as if her mouth was being covered and she couldn't speak, could barely breathe, then the world slowly turned black. She did not know her knees were buckling beneath her, nor was she aware that Rick was sprinting to catch her. She only knew that Ardeth was gone.
"Khay. Khay. Come on, sis, you gotta wake up for me."
She heard her name as if from far away. Strong arms circled her waist and she realized that she was sitting down which was odd since she could have sworn she was standing not a moment ago. After a brief struggle with her eyelids, she managed to convince them to open and found herself staring into the face of Rick O'Connell. Rick knew from the way Khay's eyes widened when she saw him that his feeling of dread was not misplaced.
"Where's Ardeth," he asked, his voice shaking slightly.
"He's gone!" Khay cried. "He went off as soon as he got your message and now he's gone!"
The look that crossed Rick's face said it as clearly as if he'd spoken.
"You didn't send for him, did you," she stated as she slowly stood up, horror dawning in her eyes.
Rick's eyes mirrored hers. "No. I didn't." He looked around the room, searching one last time for any signs of the Med-jai. "Look," he finally said. "Let's not panic." Yet, he added silently.
"I'm not sure anything is even wrong. He might have just stepped out to use the john. But let's find him just the same. "I'll take the outer exhibit halls. You take the gallery. Okay?"
Khay nodded and took a deep breath. They both knew something had happened, they just needed to make sure before they acted. It was very sensible idea and she found herself wondering at it. From what she'd heard and learned of Rick O'Connell in the past few weeks, sensible was not one his strong suits. She turned the thought aside and went searching for any sign of her husband. Carefully, she skirted the gallery and climbed the stairs to the balcony. It didn't take her long to see that Ardeth was nowhere in sight. Khay descended the stairs, her sights set on finding Rick when she heard a loud cry cut through the sounds of the gathered crowd.
Rick! She ran, along with most of the other people, toward the sound of the voice. When the crowd stopped, she kept going, pushing her way forward through the mass of people. When she finally broke through the front of the crowd, she saw her brother-in-law standing dead still in the center of the exhibit hall, his face a mask of tormented anguish, Ardeth's white jacket clutched in his hands.
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There were voices. At least he thought they were voices. It was hard to tell through the deep fog that penetrated his mind. He felt as if his head had been wrapped in blankets. He wanted to open his mouth to ask where he was, open his eyes to see where he was, but his body would not cooperate. He was trapped in this place for now so he let his tired body rest and allowed blackness to reclaim him.
"I think he's trying to come around."
Black only nodded as he watched Bey's eyes move under his lids. "I don't think it will be soon," he observed as he saw Bey's body go slack again, losing the battle to regain consciousness. "That idiot gave him too much chloroform."
"Well," Croft gave a loud yawn and stretched. "I'm going home. Shall I check back in tomorrow then?"
Black shook his head. "No. I do not believe I'll be needing you again soon and it would be unwise for us to be seen together too much. No, you go home. I will let you know if I need anything. Besides," a sinister grin curled at the corners of his mouth, "I think I can handle our Mr. Bey myself."
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Evelyn O'Connell watched as her husband paced. It had been eighteen hours since Ardeth had vanished and he had yet to sleep. Not that any of them had actually tried to sleep. Instead they had waited, tense and fearful, for any word from either Scotland Yard or the London Med-jai about what might have become of Ardeth. They both jumped as the front door banged open.
"Nothing!" Nadhir Alaa al Din ranted as he surged through the door, several of his men in his wake. "Not a trace! Not a clue! It's as if he vanished into thin air! I knew I should have sent guards along with him. I should have insisted. I should have demanded that he obey me!"
Despite his concern, Rick snorted loudly. "Demanded? Of Ardeth? Sorry, Nadhir, no one 'demands' anything of Ardeth. Not you, not me, not anyone."
"Still, I should have tried to convince him. I should have made more of an effort to get him to listen to reason."
"You and me both. I asked him more than once if he wanted someone there to watch his back and he said he had me. Me! What good did I do? I let him down, too. I let him . . . "
"Enough!" Khay's raised voice held the command of a queen. Both men looked at her pale, determined face and backed down. "You are beating yourselves up for nothing. Your efforts can be put to better use."
"Did you find him, grandfather?" No one noticed the girl creep down the stairs until she spoke.
Nadhir knelt down and opened his arms, gathering the tiny child into his embrace. "Not yet, poppet, not yet. But we will. I promise you." He kissed Azizah's head and held her close. His eyes flashed fire as his gaze met Rick's.
"The Med-jai will not rest until we have your father safely home."