The Exfiltrator by Garner Simmons (read after txt) 📗

time Corbett returned, Tariq and Amaia were deeply in love.  Unavoidably, among the casualties of that love had been his friendship with Michael Corbett.

Eventually Amaia had been offered an opportunity to head a small rural medical clinic in the remote Basque-Spanish village of Xeria.  Having taken his degree, Tariq had tried to explain to her how his obligation to his father made things complicated.  An uncollected debt of honor.  But Amaia had been adamant.  Having accepted the offer in Spain, she was moving there.  And if he loved her the way he had claimed, he would come with her.  They could leave all the rest behind.  Start a new life.  She would earn enough for the both of them to live on, and he would have the time to write.

And so, he had agreed.  Without telling his father, he had followed her to Spain.  They had settled in Xeria and soon had a child, a little girl.  To overcome his feelings of guilt, he began to rationalize that if his father had needed him, he would have heard.  At the same time, he had independently decided to return to Islam, studying the Qur’an in earnest for the first time in years, searching for answers.

But the moment Amaia told him that Corbett had appeared at the clinic with news of his father, he knew.  The time to repay the debt had come due at last.

*****

As the winch came to a stop, Corbett stepped out of the cage onto the rock surface that served as a staging area.   Crossing to where Sebastian knelt methodically liberating the two fossilized skulls from the surrounding earth, he barely acknowledged Tariq as he operated the sieve.  In his left hand, Corbett carried a memory stick.

“Sebastian,” he called as he approached the university computer set up on a table beside the water cooler. “You’ve got to see this.” Setting down his tools, the older man rose to join him.

“Impeccable timing, Michael,” Sebastian grinned. “I was just looking for an excuse to stop.  What have you got?”

As Corbett inserted the memory stick into the USB port in the side of the laptop, it automatically booted up.  Clicking on the icon, the screen filled with an image of the interior cave wall below the entrance.  “I had Roberto and Karim spend the morning scanning the wall directly beneath us… and there it was, just as we thought.”

Sebastian stared at the computer screen.  Captured by the Scanner was what appeared to be a ledge descending from the cave’s entrance to the cavern floor below.  As Corbett enhanced the image, Sebastian moved closer, his enthusiasm mounting as the path became clearer.

“Bravo, Michael… increible.  You were right,” Sebastian said, pointing to the irregular line delineating an incline gradually descending into the cave. “So this was how the first cave dwellers must have found their way down.  Tomorrow perhaps we follow it and see for ourselves.”

“Exactly.  I’d suggest we do it now, but you’re right.  It’s getting late.  Better to call it a day,” Corbett nodded as he removed the memory stick.  “Why don’t you go on ahead and let Gorka know we’re coming.  I’ll begin sending the others down.”  Behind them, the winch again whirred to life as someone below was calling for the lift.

“Excelente,” Sebastian smiled. “See you in camp.”  Turning, he motioned to Nestor and Jennet to join him on the hike back down the mountain.  As the three of them headed off together, Corbett stepped to Tariq’s side.

“How you holding up?” he asked quietly.

Tariq stared at him ignoring his question. Then he posed a question of his own, the one that had been nagging at the back of his mind all afternoon.

“When does the helicopter arrive?”

“As soon as it’s dark.  I’ll send the others down. But you and I will stay here.  It will be easier if there isn’t a crowd.’

Taciturn, Tariq nodded, then walked back to the entrance of the cave and stared out at the gathering dusk.  Corbett moved to the water cooler.

“Hard work.  Let me buy you a cup of water.”  Taking two paper cups, he filled each with water.  Then glancing in Tariq’s direction to make sure his back was turned, Corbett slipped contents of the clear plastic envelope he’d been given by Fleckner into one of the cups.  Watching it dissolve, he moved to Tariq.

“Here you go.” He raised his cup. “To a better tomorrow.”

Tariq said nothing, but joined Corbett in a long slow swallow as the two men drank in silence.  Behind them, the sound of the winch kicked in as the lift started back up.  Crushing the paper cups, they tossed then into the waste container beside the cooler as the lift reached the surface.  Karim and Roberto stepped out followed by Hector.

“That’s it for today,” Corbett said, turning to Hector. “You and the others head down to camp and grab something to eat.  Where’s Ella?”

“Still working,” Roberto replied. “Said she has no hunger.”

Karim rolled his eyes.

“Women…” Hector said with an exasperated sigh. “If you took ten women and rolled their best qualities into one… I would fire her.”

The three men shared a laugh.  Watching them, Corbett shook his head.  Ella was right.  Machismo was alive and well.

Turning, Hector started down the mountain as Karim and Roberto lingered.  Stepping to the cooler, Karim took two paper cups.  Handing one to Roberto, he poured himself a drink.  Roberto did the same.

“So where are these double skulls we’ve been hearing about?,” Karim asked, glancing sideways at Tariq.

“Over there,” Corbett indicated. Taking out his LED flashlight, he turned it on and directed the beam at the partially excavated mound to the left side of the cave’s mouth.  Roberto and Karim stepped closer.

“Fantástico,” Roberto said, dropping to one knee.

“Remarkable indeed,” Karim added with a slow nod.  Behind them, Tariq started to speak, but his words