10- Between The Lines
"Just last night, members of my team contacted me to tell me they had found the missing pieces of the tablet."
Lara couldn't believe it.
"You found it here, at the archaeological site?"
"Not far from where we found the first half, yes. We had trouble locating it because of where it was at first, and the fact it's not all in one piece like the other part..."
"Do I have to understand it is all in pieces?" the adventuress asked hastily.
"A real jigsaw puzzle, if I may say so."
"That's just as well, because that's my speciality. But I don't suppose you've got them with you," she responded with little hope.
San shook his head negatively.
"Unfortunately not. I may be one of the chiefs here, but under no circumstances do I have the right to take out objects found on the site without prior permission... I'm sure you know what that's like..."
Obviously, yes. The adventuress's motivation dropped a notch. Given the time of day, this meant they would undoubtedly have to wait until the following day to get access to it.
"But I'm like any other man, or like any archaeologist who has made a discovery and wants to keep a record of it," he added, looking for something into his jacket's inside pocket.
He handed Lara his old-fashioned mobile phone. The quality of the photos on the screen was not the best, but they were enough to show what was supposed to be seen. Els, Eiji and Kurtis approached the young woman to take a look over her shoulder as she scrolled through the pictures. A satisfied smile played across her lips.
"Did you have time to tell Khin about this discovery?"
The Lux Veritatis looked at her.
He certainly shouldn't know, not yet at least. It would be better to-
For obvious reasons, we shouldn't talk about what's happened. And we mustn't tell him we carry the stone either. Thanks, I'm not stupid
She gave him an outraged look, which reinforced the sharp tone in which she had mentally addressed him. She was mad at him for allowing himself to penetrate her mind in this way - which had felt like a small electric shock to her brain, especially since it hadn't happened for so long - and, above all, for believing she could be so stupid as to divulge information that could embarrass them all and cause them to lose all credibility in San's eyes.
"Then again, as luck would have it, I was just about to call him when you arrived this morning..."
Lara stopped on one of the photos and zoomed in. The tablet's missing pieces had obviously been taken to a conservation room and carefully arranged on a large, bright table. Each had a small orange label to identify it; unlike the first part of the tablet, there were a considerable number of pieces, and some were not in very good condition. It was obvious that some of these stones would not be usable, some were even in pieces, so to speak. For a moment, she doubted they could get anything out of them.
"... but he didn't reply, so I went straight to his voicemail. I haven't heard from him for a while, but I'm sure he'll call me back as soon as he gets my message. It doesn't matter, I imagine he's probably still off somewhere, unless he's said something to you, Miss?"
From the corner of her eye, the Englishwoman saw Lance and Els exchange a knowing glance. For a moment, Yanis seemed to want to say something, but finally thought better of it, and just settled back in his chair.
"Well, we left Rangoon two days ago, and I haven't heard from him since either," the young woman lied.
She hated lying, and the ease with which she had answered San's question disgusted her deeply. She tried to tell herself it was for their own good and that it was better to save time. If she told what had really happened to the archaeologist, all would be lost.
San took another sip of tea before putting his cup down and clearing his throat.
"Not that I mind you being here, once again, it's really an honour to meet you... I'm just surprised he didn't tell me you were coming," he said, thinking aloud.
Doubt clearly started creeping into the archaeologist's mind, which was absolutely no good sign.
"Khin has given Lara carte blanche to continue her research. He was conciliatory enough to prepare some material and let her call on us to help her in this rather improbable quest," Kurtis then intervened in a calm and assured voice.
The adventuress gave him a murderous look, irritated at him taking the lead without her permission, at the risk of destroying what little trust she and Els had managed to build up since the morning. Then, she realised the conversation was turning towards something quite different ; the Lux Veritatis technique had worked, the archaeologist was thinking of something else.
"That's a good idea indeed. Multiplying and connecting all our knowledge and working together is exactly what we need here. What is your speciality anyway?" asked the archaeologist with appalling naivety.
"I'm a consultant. A freelancer," replied the American without thinking.
"I'm a scientist," added the Dutchwoman.
"And we're anthropologists for big American and European universities," Eiji lied for himself and the other guys.
"That's very interesting," commented San, who seemed genuinely impressed by this display of neurons. "Khin will really have to tell me all about it in detail."
"In fact, that's why we're here," interrupted Lara before he could go too far on the billionaire's subject. "We may have a lead, or at least something resembling one."
"So you and Khin have studied the first piece of tablet? And the poem that goes with it?"
"That's right," replied Lara. "But as I'm sure you've noticed, it's difficult to complete the puzzle when almost half the pieces are missing..."
San nodded slowly, clearly disappointed.
"But thanks to this other discovery, made by your teams, we'll certainly be able to find a serious lead," Els convinced him with a slight smile.
The man's face lit up with genuine joy.
"That would be absolutely fantastic! After all these years..."
Lara interrupted him, holding up the phone. An idea had just crossed her mind.
"Do you have a printer somewhere?" she asked suddenly, to everyone's surprise.
"Er, yes, of course," San stammered after a few seconds. "I've got one in my office here. But-"
"Would you allow me to borrow it?"
"Of course," replied the man, who, judging by the expression on his face, was obviously trying to work out what she was getting at without coming up with a logical explanation.
However, he stood up, a little awkwardly, and under the determined gaze of the English archaeologist, went out onto the outside terrace. Lance, Eiji and Yanis, who had remained motionless until then, stood up in unison. Kurtis and Els exchanged intrigued glances with Lara as the Burmese took the small staircase down into the ship's hold. They followed each other into the lower deck's narrow space, where a small corridor of lacquered wood led to several rooms just as modest as those on the upper deck. San entered a room that looked exactly like the office Lara had seen in the morning. The place wasn't very big and it was dark, there was a strong smell of mustiness and old papers. Through the small porthole that served as a window - the only one here - they could make out the river's water level outside. Its regular movements and ripples created a soothing background noise. San wove his way between the tables that were supposed to serve as desks to reach the small printer tucked away in a corner, behind a pile of various books and sheets of paper. He pointed at it, eyebrows raised. The machine didn't look the newest, but it would do the trick.
"It's perfect, thank you very much," said the Englishwoman.
Kurtis stood in the doorway and watched as the curator downloaded all the pictures from his email address, and printed them. Without stopping, San retrieved the them and passed them on to the Englishwoman, who looked at them attentively one by one before suddenly straightening her head. She stared at the far wall for a few moments, as if thinking. Then she finally moved forward, skirting as best she could around one of the desks overflowing with books. After a quick glance at San, who silently gave her permission, the young woman set about clearing everything off the desk. She gathered all the loose leaves into a pile and placed them on the floor. She then moved the books that were in the way, moving them to the other desk to pile them up with the other books already in the jumble. A strong smell of dust rose to her nostrils. She paid no attention to the mercenaries who had come down to see what was going on and had taken up positions at the entrance to the room. When she had finished, the adventuress spread out the photos, printed in large format so that they were clearly visible.
"Do you think you can put them back in order?" she asked, turning back to San.
The man thought for a moment and pouted.
"Undoubtedly, yes. But it would be easier and quicker if I had the other part of the tablet at my disposal. I don't suppose you've taken it with you?"
For a brief second, images of the reception at Khin's and the hand-to-hand combat with the Universals flashed through everyone's minds.
"No. Security reasons. And a bit too cumbersome," the Englishwoman tried to joke with a pinched smile.
The archaeologist laughed heartily.
"Of course. You're careful with precious objects. You're a serious person, that's obvious."
She thanked him for the compliment with a slight shake of the head, and at the same time caught the ironic sneer that had formed on the Lux Veritatis's lips.
If he only knew
Last time I checked, I didn't ask for your opinion, Grin Witch
She felt movement beside her. Eiji had stepped forward and handed her something. When she looked down, Lara saw that it was the young man's little notebook and a pen. He gave her a petty smile when she eventually grabbed them and decided to put down on paper the verses that had remained imprinted in her memory. She then gave her notes to San, who discovered them with a certain fascination.
"At first sight, everything seems to fit, yes", he muttered.
With the paper still in hand, he glanced at the adventuress to ask her permission to use other sheets, on which he rewrote the poem, this time spreading it over several sheets. The Burmese then turned to the photos spread out on the desk. He moved them one by one, interspersing them with the handwritten sheets and shifting them as he thought, as if they were pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
"My teams have already more or less translated certain parts of the text, so it shouldn't take long," he said confidently.
It took him only a few minutes to put the missing pieces back in the right order. When he straightened up and glanced at the Englishwoman and the other mercenaries, his excitement had reached its peak. He looked like a little boy about to open his Christmas presents.
Everyone admired the mixture of photos and small sheets of paper that formed a strange and original patchwork.
"This is where it gets interesting," announced Lara.
"The Eastern wind disp- the snow
-city, as if sprinkled with j-,
And the victorious land have found the silence again
The case closed, the dem- are no more
On this river going by,
I do no- -ee the Darkness,
I do not see the Flames,
I think of the immensity of - Sky and Earth
Alone, so h-rtbro-en that tears flow."
The last lines died with San's voice, and silence fell again in the small room. All the mercenaries had now entered and had instinctively gathered around the table where the extracts from the reconstructed poem were displayed.
"Well, it looks like something after all," commented Eiji.
"There are still some bits missing that will be lost or destroyed for good, unfortunately, but the text as a whole is relatively coherent and, above all, understandable," said San.
"And it's easy enough to deduce which letters or words are missing," added Kurtis, pointing to certain lines. "The Eastern wind disperses the snow..."
"The city..." then said Lance.
"... as if sparkled with... um, the last word is illegible," noted Eiji as he leant forward.
They all thought in silence.
"Doesn't that tell you anything?" Lara asked, turning to her archaeologist colleague.
The Burmese seemed to be thinking very seriously, his fist pressed against his mouth, but he couldn't come to a satisfactory conclusion.
"Perhaps we should just concentrate on the rest of the text? Here, the demons, for example?" Els kept going as San kept quiet, still deep in thought.
"The demons are no more, yes, that makes sense," replied Eiji.
"And probably I do not see the Darkness, which would get a link with the next line," added Kurtis.
"And finally, the Sky and Earth, and then heartbroken, I suppose," Lara concluded.
Everyone fell silent again and studied the text carefully.
"The Eastern wind disperses the snow
The city, as if sprinkled with j-,
And the victorious land have found the silence again
The case closed, the demons are no more
On this river going by,
I do not see the Darkness,
I do not see the Flames,
I think of the immensity of the Sky and Earth
Alone, so heartbroken that tears flow."
"There is a certain lightness, a certain carefreeness, or even a certain melancholy in these lines," San stated.
"You can feel the calm after a difficult period, like peace that returns after a huge storm," added Eiji.
"But when you look at it closely," Lance interrupted, "sounds like he's actually describing a war and its aftermath."
He pointed to the phrases 'the victorious land have found the silence again', 'the demons are no more', and 'I do not see the Flames'.
He might not be that stupid after all, Lara bitterly thought for herself.
"Indeed, it looks like he's actually referring to a battle," the adventuress conceded.
"A war that is over, and that gives way to the renewal of life after the darkness," Kurtis underlined with a serious voice.
"Maybe he's referring to a battle against the Universals?" Els suggested.
"It's likely, yes," agreed San. "They were his sworn enemies."
"Hence the reference to demons," confirmed Yanis.
"And the flames a little further on," added the Dutchwoman. "It does remind me of the flames of Hell, vaguely?"
"What's Hell got to do with it?" the Frenchman cut her off.
"Well, destruction, chaos, emptiness... all those stuff, you know," the young woman retorted, a bit annoyed at the slightly haughty tone in which he had addressed her. "The image of fire, and therefore of war destroying everything. The forces of evil arrayed against him and his men, the ravaged lands..."
"Yep indeed, when you look very, very closely at it, he also says that he ate some fucking tea sandwich that day."
"And does it say you should go and fuck yourself, Legrand?"
"I don't think so, but it seems he's clearly saying that you're going a bit too far in your reasoning," her Japanese comrade said, mocking her a little too.
"Perhaps you have a better interpretation than mine then? I'm listening."
"He's not entirely wrong about the fact we can't exactly talk about hell, given that we're dealing with something linked to an Asian religion..." added Eiji.
"Come on, are you fucking trying to annoy me too?" Els retorted, turning to him.
"Hell, strictly speaking, is a representation of a place that forms an integral part of the Judeo-Christian religion," he explained. "In the case of the Buddhist religion, as here, there are several forms of hell. I don't think that-"
"Right, and how is that supposed to help us with our subject?" Lance spat as he glared at him, exasperated.
"I was thinking that maybe Ogedei Kahn didn't want to come to war here, but rather to the demonic forces themselves?" the Japanese man surmised.
"It amounts to the same thing!" exclaimed Els.
"The Universals were linked to the forces of evil," commented Yanis. "That would seem log-"
"I don't think this is what really matters here," Lara cut them off, covering the other voices with her own and waving her hands to make them stop speaking.
She didn't need to turn her head to see the mercenaries' furious and dismayed gazes were all on her.
"Right, and so what would really matter then, Mrs Smart?" grumbled Lance.
Lara gave him a look heavy with implied meanings, before resuming.
"The image of a war that has ended, certainly not in the best way, is obvious, yes. But this poem is full of other references, and as I told Khin before, the most interesting for us here is what's hidden between the lines."
She took the time to briefly explained to the others what she had explained to Khin some days ago, and told them about her speculations.
"And so, if I get it right, you're saying this poem could be a map, technically speaking," Yanis thus said.
"A map of the actual location of Genghis Kahn's tomb," Kurtis added. "The one where the Eye of Fire comes from."
Lara turned to San, his eyebrows suddenly raised in puzzlement.
"San, do you have a map of Burma somewhere by any chance, please?"
He remained impassive for a fraction of a second, the time it took for his brain to process the information, then turned around and went to rummage through a cluttered drawer in one of the pieces of furniture behind him. He handed Lara a large, dusty and slightly damaged map.
"Thank you."
The Englishwoman unfolded it and spread it out on a pile of books.
"So the idea is to take all the elements of the poem and try to figure out what they're really referring to," said the Dutchwoman, glancing over the adventuress's shoulder.
"Some of them at least," replied Lara.
She remained silent for a few seconds, circling several words and bits of sentences with a pencil on the photos and papers that made up the poem.
"So, if I start with the basic idea that the Eastern Wind does not actually refer to the wind itself..." she started to explain.
But her thought died on her lips as she concentrated on then drawing large lines on the map. The Burmese man next to her looked at the result doubtfully: she had drawn two lines that formed a kind of cross, thus dividing the map into four distinct parts.
"Eastern wind… The East?" Els thought out loud.
The Englishwoman shook her head in agreement.
"So, you think only the eastern part of the country will interest us here?" San stated in turn, pointing to the whole right-hand side of the map.
She confirmed again with a tiny movement of the head.
"Ok there's some logic in your reasoning indeed, but how can we be a 100% sure?" Yanis retorted.
"Actually, we can't."
"That's fucking stupid," Lance grumbled.
Lara turned her head to him and gave him a murderous look.
"Again, poems like this are full of references that go beyond simple descriptions of landscapes. It's much more subtle than mere words."
"What are you fuckin' insinuating here?" The American suddenly snapped, taking a step forward.
His eyes were flashing and he was suddenly breathing heavily, his fists clenched tightly. He looked like a bull ready to charge. Unlucky for him, Lara had met far more ferocious and frightening bulls.
"I'm just saying that maybe it's time for you let me do my job and let me think, Uncle Dumb," she coldly replied, not looking away in any way.
For the next few seconds, Lara thought Lance was really going to pounce on her, until Eiji intervened to calm things down.
"So this would correspond to our search area..." the Japanese said, pointing to the part of the map corresponding to the East.
"That's still very big," Els replied.
"That would be quite a large area, almost 5,000 km2..." San explained very seriously, "stretching from here, Pagan, to the other end of the country. But then again it might be too simple if that was all it was..."
Lara remained pensive for a few moments, turning her attention away from the map to read the poem's lines again.
"It may be a bit too easy, yes, but at least it will define a search area," she retorted after a moment of thought.
"Here he also mentions an open place, from which the land can be observed in the distance, somewhere between the sky and the earth," added Kurtis.
He turned to their host.
"Why not a pagoda or a sacred temple high up on a hill or something?"
"Certainly, it's pretty obvious there too," replied the Burmese, shrugging his shoulder once more. "But like many pagodas in the country, which were built prominently on certain plateaus in order to dominate the land, but rise towards the sky as tradition intended..."
"And what about the river he's referring to?" Lara then added, pointing to the second verse.
San looked at the sentence in question.
"Well to me, it could be any river. There are hundreds of them all over the country counting all the tributaries or smaller rivers..."
"But perhaps it is the path of the water we need to follow precisely," Els suddenly stated.
Lara watched her move slightly forward and literally stick to Kurtis to get a look at the map. The Englishwoman repressed with all her might the extremely powerful wave of sensations that swept through her when the Dutchwoman leaned on the mercenary's shoulder, tracing down with her fingertip the zigzagging path on the map, which literally cut the country in two, and which ran through the land without interruption from north to south.
"Irrawaddy, our sacred river?" the archeologist asked, slightly incredulous.
"On this river going by..." Yanis insisted. "It could refer to a place directly linked to the river."
"That would make sense, indeed," Lance grumbled, silently observing all this brainstorming.
"Kurtis was right when saying we should think from the writer's point of view," Lara retorted with determination and as she tried to ignore the image of Els staying that close to the Lux Veritatis. "We know that poets drew their inspiration from the natural elements that surrounded them. And that's what Ogedeï Kahn precisely used here: generalised and moreover sacred references that spoke to everyone, or at least to the people willing to continue his fight."
"I guess the idea was to scatter information here and there but keep it hidden from everyone," Eiji said.
"He had to keep it secret, but the essential information had to be found anyway," confirmed Kurtis. "What better way than to use images that speak to all, but whose real meaning escapes most?"
San nodded softly, his gaze had regained a bit of hope.
"Then it would be surprising if he was referring to a simple little river lost in the middle of the jungle indeed," he conceded.
He considered all the new elements that had just appeared before their eyes, and took another look at the photos and papers in front of him.
"And there's another important element Ogedeï Kahn also talks about here," Lance told them as he pointed to one of the first verses.
They all looked down.
"A city, yes," San responded.
"Could it be a lost city or something like that?" Els then asked.
San shrugged a shoulder.
"Well, again, it's pretty vague... finding a city among thousands all over the country..."
The Burmese man didn't finish his sentence, obviously in doubt. The excitement he had felt a few moments earlier seemed suddenly to have completely disappeared, even if his gaze betrayed the confused jumble of all the ideas running through his head.
"I don't know, there are so many..." he repeated, clearly at a loss.
Lara turned to him and gave him a reassuring look.
"I'm perfectly aware of the effort I'm... we're asking you to make, San. It's a complicated task, especially given the little information we have. It's obvious that Ogedeï Kahn knew what he was doing when he wrote that poem..."
A shy, if ironic smile formed on the archaeologist's lips.
"We all knew it wasn't going to be easy when we embarked on this crazy adventure, if I may use the expression, Miss..."
Lara smiled back.
"And this adventure has only just begun. I still need your help, San. You've already done a great deal for us, but at this stage, only you know which cities might be relevant to our research."
The man ran a hand over his face. He was beginning to feel tired. After a few seconds of hesitation, he picked up the pencil and pointed to several places on the map. The archaeologist circled the names of a dozen towns in all, including Mandalay, Laukkaing, further east on the border with China, and several others all over the territory he had previously marked out.
"And then there's here... the royal city of Bagan," he concluded, tapping the corresponding point on the map with the tip of his pencil. "But I'd be surprised to find anything there..."
"The place is full of tombs though, isn't it?" Yanis asked hastily, hands on his hips.
For the first time since they had been here, Lara saw the archaeologist so offended that he was clearly about to get angry. He turned to the mixed-race and held his piercing green gaze without hesitation.
"I've been working on one of the oldest sacred cities's archaeological site of this continent for over twenty years now, and I've been in charge of it for almost five years. I know its every nook and cranny, so to speak, and I'm aware of absolutely everything that could have been discovered there."
"And isn't there an area here, on the archaeological site, that has attracted your attention in one way or another?" Kurtis softly asked.
"Apart from the tablet's pieces and the poem discovered a few days ago… but there was absolutely nothing of interest in this area... everything was found in the middle of roots and earth, there was nothing nearby, no buildings..."
"The city of Bagan is immense, are you sure all the temples have been uncovered and excavated?" insisted Lara.
The Burmese didn't reply, clearly in the throes of doubt and thoughts. He ran a distracted hand on his bare head, staring into space. He huffed. Then, without warning, he suddenly turned around and headed for one of the pieces of furniture behind him. He rummaged around noisily for a long time, moving books and papers while grumbling. Then, finally, he stood up, holding up a crumpled piece of paper like a trophy. He laid it flat on top of the map on which Lara had drawn. It was a plan detailing the boundaries of the archaeological site, as well as all the pagodas there.
"Here," he explained, "is the area that now corresponds to the administration and management part of the site."
He pointed to a spot on the map.
"The offices we saw this morning," commented Els.
The man nodded in agreement. He then pointed to several other places on the old map.
"The site is made up of almost a hundred different temples and pagodas of all sizes, scattered literally all over the place. The six main sacred structures have all been excavated down to the last nook and cranny. An underground gallery has been uncovered beneath one of them, but research has never turned up anything concrete about it - it was probably just a tunnel used during the construction of the pagoda in question."
The Burmese suddenly caught the adventuress's curious gaze. Immediately realising what was going through her mind, and the question that would follow, the man shook his head sharply, unable to control the feeling of panic he felt rising up inside him.
"Honestly, I really don't think that-"
"All options must be considered," commented the young woman, cutting him off gently.
"And what about the temples still being excavated?" Kurtis asked.
San marked them all with a cross on the paper. That was only a few.
"We have to proceed by elimination," Lara said. "Pagodas that have virtually nothing left or are completely in ruins will be of no interest to us."
San showed her the map.
"That still leaves a hell of a lot of temples that could potentially correspond to what we're looking for," murmured Els, a little disappointed.
"We mustn't spread ourselves too thin. Perhaps the simplest way to start would be to divide the search areas into several sections, and scour them in small groups," suggested Kurtis.
"That would be quicker and more efficient, yes," conceded Lance. "Otherwise, we'll risk spending an eternity on it and wasting precious time."
Instinctively, Lara and Kurtis leaned over the map.
"Tomorrow, some of us can concentrate on the eastern part of the site..." explained the American.
"... while the others will scour the western part..." added Lara.
"... that will be the easiest way to proceed at the moment, and it will already give us a good idea of what we need to focus on..."
"... and I'll go and have a look around this tunnel, just in case," concluded the adventuress.
Everyone seemed to silently agree on this new plan, and a kind of new enthusiasm seemed to overtake everyone. A wave of invigorating energy swept through the Englishwoman. She also felt something press against her shoulder, and a gentle warmth spread through her. It took her a few seconds to realise that it was in fact Kurtis's shoulder, against which she was leaning without even realising it. They both turned to each other, then both recoiled, as if an electric shock had run between them. They looked at each other for a brief second before looking away, surprised by this unexpected closeness.
"Let's do it this way," said Lara, straightening up and moving away from the mercenary. "And if the search doesn't turn up anything tomorrow, we can concentrate on other leads."
"And access to the site won't be a problem?" The Lux Veritatis then asked, pretending to ignore what had just happened with the Englishwoman.
"No problem for me, you'll have full authorisation. You can go wherever you like on the site," replied the Burmese. "You have carte blanche."
"I promise to make good use of it," retorted the adventuress with a grateful smile.
"Perfect then!" exclaimed the archaeologist, stamping his feet. "Oh my God, I'm so excited! Sorry... But if I had ever been told that... Anyway, would you fancy a good diner with me to celebrate this marvelous discovery?"
"Well, we haven't discovered anything yet," replied Lara with some amusement.
"It won't be long now, obviously!" Retorted San in a very enthusiastic way.
Before any of them could reply, the Burmese turned his back on them and disappeared through the small office door. Yanis, Els, Lance and Eiji turned to each other, surprised by this welcoming and jovial reaction. Then, believing that they were safe to take advantage of their host's hospitality, they finally moved out one after the other. Kurtis was the last to leave the room. Behind him, he closed the door and locked it, before slipping the key into his pocket.
Just in case.
—
RANGOON'S MAIN HOSPITAL, THE DAY BEFORE
He cast a disdainful glance at the nurse who passed him. With his tall stature, his American footballer's build and his impeccable suit, he stood out completely from this aseptic, decrepit place. His gait was nonchalant, almost heavy, but he moved with a confident stride despite the several hours jet lag, which made his temples throb slightly.
He hated hospitals to the bone; the smell of the drugs almost made him nauseous. He concentrated on the room numbers scrolling past him, his face closed to any interaction the people he passed might have tried to establish with him. In his own country, he would have been stopped at least two or three times to be asked what he was doing there, but here, it didn't seem to worry the nursing staff too much. Which was just as well.
He branched off into a corridor on the right, then made his way to room 1096. Here, the rooms were fewer, individual and better maintained. There were fewer people too. The door was already ajar, so all he had to do to enter was push it slightly. The other man was waiting for him, sitting on the large hospital bed, his eyes riveted to his smartphone, which screen glowed in the half-light.
He gently closed the door, and the Burmese finally looked up at him. His face was partially hidden under a huge white bandage. Only one of his eyes was visible and his swollen, purple lips protruding. The man in the suit couldn't contain his surprise.
"Holy shit! When you said you were a bit banged up, I thought about a few scratches, but not the elephant man type..."
"Save your fucking Christmas cracker humour, Hage, I'm frankly not in the mood."
The dark-skinned man didn't hold back his laughter, then took a few more steps, rounding the bed. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, opened one of the windows and lit it. Leaning against the wall, he spat out the smoke he had just inhaled without making the slightest effort to ensure that it dissipated outside and didn't invade the rest of the room. From this side, he could see the Burmese's damaged face and body in greater detail. Large catheters were literally gushing out of his hands and neck, and he seemed to be struggling to breathe.
The Namibian looked down enviously at the tray of fruit and cakes on one of the bedside tables.
"At least Khin has a good health insurance," he laughed, grabbing a few grapes and gulping them down.
"Khin's dead."
"No surprise there. What do we do now?"
The Burmese man rose abruptly from his bed, staggered for a moment and then started pacing up and down in the spacious hospital room.
"I have no longer access to nothing... Everything he had, all the information he'd gathered over the years, all his research... nothing is accessible any more, everything has been sealed off because of the attack... we're not going to be able to use anything..."
"That's to be expected," commented Hage, taking another drag on his cigarette. "You said it yourself, certain elements won't be of any use to us anyway. Besides, you've managed to gather a certain amount of information yourself so far, haven't you?"
The other man seemed to ignore his question, lost in his own thoughts. With his arm folded against his stomach, his thick bandage around his head, his skin covered in haematomas, his gait shaky and shuffling as he dragged his pain, he looked like he'd come straight out of an episode of The Walking Dead. He leaned back in a chair, out of breath. His legs were killing him.
"And the stone?" insisted the Namibian between puffs of cigarette.
"Gone too."
"What do you mean, gone?" he exclaimed.
The Burmese looked into his eyes and gestured to him to lower his voice, at the risk of the nursing staff arriving and jeopardising their discussion.
"Croft ran off with it," he explained in a calm voice, almost whispering.
"Is this some kind of fucking joke? Didn't anyone stop her?"
"She was not alone."
"I thought she was alone on the job?"
"For what I know so far, the bunch of bastards that have been on our trail for some weeks now were there too. They infiltrated the team of waiters that Khin had hired for the evening. They wanted the stone too and obviously teamed up with that fucking bitch. They fucking conned us," hissed the Asian man through clenched teeth.
"Are you fucking telling me that no one managed to stop them?"
"Thutha and Hnin are not too bad, but..."
"What, but? What about the others?" The Namibian asked aggressively.
The Burmese tried to sit up, hands on the chair, but the pain was sharp. He winced, or at least the part of his face that was still visible twisted as best it could.
"For fuck's sake Hage, didn't you watch the News? Khaing, Maung, Phyo, Lwin, Mon... they're all dead..."
"What do you mean, all dead?"
"That fucking slut and her bunch of dogs killed them all, how am I fucking supposed to explain?" the Burmese retorted with rage, jerking the chair back.
The man in front of him suddenly looked down and ran a nervous hand over his clean-shaven head. He was ranting.
"Fuck..." he muttered.
A long, heavy, tense silence fell for a few moments between the two men. A nurse slipped her head discreetly through the door to see what was happening, but went away as quickly.
"We need to warn the others," the Asian man finally announced as he hobbled back to the bed. "This case is taking on a lot more importance than I thought."
"Croft could be anywhere as we speak..." grumbled the black man.
The Burmese let out a grunt as his bottom finally sank into the sheets and the uncomfortable mattress. The feeling of nausea faded slightly, but anger bubbled in his veins. He tried to think, but the effect of the painkillers prevented him from seeing clearly.
"She's not much further along in her research than we are. It's true that she has the stone at the moment, but as for the sanctuary... Khin didn't have anything concrete, so she won't be able to get very far. With a bit of luck, I should have a bit more information in a few hours…"
The Burmese leaned back against the raised back of his large hospital bed. Those few steps had exhausted him. The Namibian threw the rest of his cigarette on the floor and stubbed it out with the tip of his foot. He seemed to have calmed down a little, even if his eyes betrayed the determination and excitement that were mixed in.
"... but to tell you the truth, I've got a pretty good idea who they might have gone to see."